Books To Pine For (1)

Books To Pine For are books that may or may not have been released, that I would love to add to my bookshelf, but haven't gotten my hands on yet.

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Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: HaperCollins
Release Date: 11/15/11
Purchase: Barnes and Noble

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to fine, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice:
Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

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Title: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: 2/28/2012
Pre-order: Barnes and Noble

Lauren Oliver captivated readers with Delirium, the first book in a thrilling dystopian trilogy in which Lena Haloway dared to fall in love with Alex and escape the cure, the government-mandated procedure that renders a person immune to the disease of love. Lena and Alex staked their lives on leaving their oppressive society, but only Lena broke free.

Pandemonium continues Lena’s gripping story. After escaping from Portland, Maine, Lena makes it to the Wilds and becomes part of an Invalid community, where she transforms herself into a warrior for the resistance. A future without Alex is unimaginable, but Lena pushes forward and fights, both for him and for a world in which love is no longer considered a disease. Swept up in a volatile mix of revolutionaries and counterinsurgents, Lena struggles to survive—and wonders if she may be falling in love again.

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Title: Forgotten
Author: Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Release Date: 6/7/2011
Purchase: Barnes and Noble

Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come.

When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

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I can't wait to get my hands on these books!

Delirium (by Lauren Oliver)

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Purchase: Barnes n' Noble / Amazon


The Beatles said "all you need is love." But, in Lena's world, love is the last thing you could want or need. Love is forbidden, it is even feared. Lena lives in a United States that has identified love as a disease and perfected a cure for it. When the book opens, Lena is counting down the days till her procedure, ninety-five days to be exact. Then she will be safe and become one of the thousands of other "cureds." The "cureds" are the U.S. citizens that have had the "love" extracting procedure and are marred by a scar that they are proud of. After she is "love-free," Lena will go about the life that the government assigns her, forgetting her former joys, friendships, cares, heartfelt wants and needs.

A world without love was like trying to see without eyes. I was both baffled and intrigued by this concept. To begin with, I was surprised most that Lena wanted the life of a "cured." She believed that love was deadly and for a person like myself, that believes love is in everything and is everything, I had a hard time seeing what she saw. But as the story progressed, I began to see how love can be deadly. For we die loving one another and without love, what is life? So if you never experience love, how can you die from never knowing it? It's the same concept of "what you never have, you never miss." Although I understood Lena's fears, I had the hopes that see would "she the light." And (spoiler alert) what sets the story in motion, is that she does.

I love this book. The characters were brilliantly developed, as was the plot. I felt every emotion strongly and both cheered and morned for Lena. I loved the progression of Lena's character and the characters that she encounters and builds relationships with. The relationships that develop, were set in a timely way that felt real and true to life and were fantastically lovely.

I strongly recommend this book and praise Lauren Oliver's work.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my beautiful, intelligent, loving mother; both of my caring fathers. My amazingly stunning, witty, fast-talking sister, who I have laughed and cried with. My two sweet stepsisters. My dogs, Lola and Chloe, who continue to love me endlessly and who make coming home a joy. My health that God grants generously. My freedom that those have fought for. My education that is a miraculous gift. My memories that I cherish. Most of all, I am thankful to wake up everyday and see the amazing people that make up my life and experience all of these wonderful things. I am thankful to be alive!

The Boy Who Cried Book

I found this article a couple of months ago and happened upon it again today. As an avid book reader it's safe to say I went through the whole "held-in-your-hand, there-in-the-flesh, hard-bound-book" extinction 'freak out'. Before I bought my Nook, I was convinced they were evil. Then I bought the Nook and then I read this article. So this is for those of you out there, that went through or still are going through, the worried stage that good 'ole fashioned books are going away. I think this somewhat humorous (and genius) article will help with the anxiety.


Ding, Dong the Book Is Dead!
To anyone who is worried about the survival of the printed book I present this:

Yes, that is Captain Jean Luc Picard, enjoying a hardcover book in the 24th century.

Case closed. Books aren't going anywhere.
....
Okay. Fine. So maybe only sexy, refined men will continue to read hardcover books, and the rest of us will make use of paperback books, e-books, audio books...Ugh, I can't even get worked up about it. We still have movies even with the advent of tv. Some are still in black and white even with color film. Not every movie is in 3D yet. We still have stage plays, for pete's sake. Although cassettes and 8 tracks are gone, we still have Cd (for the moment) and records (enjoying a new resurgence). Radio is still around, and if you include podcasts its more popular than ever. And while digital books might be taking a larger share of the market, regular ol' paper books are still being sold, and after everyone figures out their preferred mode of reading, sale will probably even out between the two.

The thing is, I wouldn't worry about any of our storytelling mediums, because people will always want and need stories, and people will always have preferences for how they want to experience those stories. In Chicago, where I live, I've attended a couple of the Moth Storyslams, which is just live storytelling on a theme, and that event sells every single month. If live storytelling--the oldest form of storytelling there is--still has a home in this world, then the beloved book has absolutely nothing to worry about.


*Article published on www.officialbealibrarianbloger.blogspot.com on August 2, 2011.*

Original post

IMM(4)

In My Mailbox is a weekly feature hosted by The Story Siren, where book bloggers share what books they bought, borrowed or received in the past week.


"The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by. Katherine Howe
"Last Breath" by. Michael Prescott

Just In Time... for The Weekend

After the day today's been, this comic felt appropriate. Have a wonderful weekend! and enjoy :)



*Comic strip taken from the "Dilbert" comics by. Scott Adams, (C) 1994 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.*

A Comment I'll Never Forget

I thought I'd post about a nice thing done. Author Jay Asher visited my blog yesterday and left a comment on my post. I thought he deserved recognition for taking the time out of his day to do so. For an author as busy as he to visit a fan's personal blog was definitely worth mention. Thank you Mr. Asher!

Oh So Exciting!

My night has been made! Earlier today I left a comment on author-extraordinaire- Jay Asher's latest blog post, which was about his last author speech and his adorable son. And then tonight when I checked his blog again- he (SURPRISE) commented me back! Oh my goodness, what could be more exciting?! *Doing my happy dance*

If, by some weird reason, you have not read Mr. Asher's masterpiece Thirteen Reasons Why, you can pick it up here!

Foster The People "Pumped Up Kicks"

Before I Fall

This is probably the only book that I've ever read that I felt the immediate feeling to go back to the beginning and reread it all over again. Just keep reading and re-reading it, like it's never ending. Of course- it did end, and do I ever regret the decision to start the last chapter. But, how can I really regret it? when I so eagerly began reading it. So many conflicting feelings...(tsk, tsk) that's what this book does to you. I cried many times since the beginning of this book. From the very first chapter to the last- I cried. But so many were happy tears, tears that sprang not only out of longing but out of fulfillment. I'm gonna miss this book and the life of Samantha Kingston beyond words.
Samantha Kingston has it all, the "best" of it all. The best of bestfriends, the best boyfriend, the best clothes, the best parking spot... one of the best "lived" lives at Thomas Jefferson High School. Until one Friday night in the blink of an eye- it's over. Samantha Kingston becomes the Samantha Kingston. And as fate would have it, she gets to relive the last day of her life- seven times over. One last week to relive it all. What would you do on the last day of your life? What would you say? Who would you spend it with? What would you wear? Who would you kiss? Would you eat turkey or roast beef? Would you go to school or would you hang out with your little sister? Would you go "all the way" with your boyfriend? or would you fall for someone else? Those are all questions that Samantha must make, and make the right ones she must-, in order to live... just one more day.

Excerpt from "Before I Fall": The thing is, you don't get to know. It's not like you wake up with a bad feeling in your stomach. You don't see shadows where there shouldn't be any. You don't remember to tell your parents that you love them or- in my case -remember to say good-bye to them at all. If you're like me, you wake up seven minutes and forty-seven seconds before your best friend is supposed to be picking you up. You're too busy worrying about how many roses you're going to get on Cupid Day to do anything more than throw on your clothes, brush your teeth, and pray to God you left your makeup in the bottom of your messenger bag so you can do it in the car. If you're like me, your last day starts like this:

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Purchase Before I Fall here

Country Bumpkin' News

Today I watching the five o'clock news and found myself laughing at the content. The head story was about a home that caught on fire and, sadly, killed the two people inside. The woman was in her eighties and lived with her son who was missing a leg. The story ended with the news respondent telling how one of the few remaining pieces of the fire was the victim' prosthetic leg, which then flashes up on the screen, propped against the ashen front porch. I guess that's the kind of news that makes headlines in Kentucky. "As firefighters scoured the remains they found the 60 year old victim's prosthetic leg, detached but still in good condition..."

IMM(3)

In My Mailbox is a weekly feature hosted by The Story Siren, where book bloggers share what books they bought, borrowed or received in the past week.

"Before I Fall" by. Lauren Oliver
"Delirium" by. Lauren Oliver

Blind Pursuit

I just wrapped Blind Pursuit. I really enjoyed it and was totally taken for a ride- a very fun ride. It's full of heart-pounding scenes and many shocking twists. Mr. Prescott, once again, delivered. This is my third read of his and comparing Blind Pursuit to the others, it wasn't as awesome as Stealing Faces but much better than Shiver. Take that for what it's worth.
Blind Pursuit leads with the abduction of Erin Reilly. Her captor goes by the name of Harold Gund. He kidnaps women and burns them alive, and now he wants Erin. He intends to use her profession as a psychiatrist to help cure him of his sick and deadly addiction. Gone in the middle of the night, she leaves no clues as to her intention, except a poorly written and forced letter to her twin sister, Annie. Erin must now depend on her gut, wits and Annie's perseverance to survive the inferno that is the mind of Harold Gund.

Excerpt from "Blind Pursuit": The man was tall and heavyset, red-bearded, an uncombed shock of scarlet hair spilling out from under a baseball cap, the bill cocked low over his eyes. On the collar of his winter coat lay a bristle-toothed leaf, deposited there by the sword fern in the alcove where he had lain in wait. His hands were gloved. In his right first, a gleam of metal. She almost screamed, and then his left hand shot out, seized her shoulder, slammed her up against the elevator doors. The impact winded her. She had no breath, no voice. Thrust of his right arm, the metallic thing digging into her stomach below the breastbone, two sharp prongs pinching her skin through the robe and pajama top. From a yard away she stared into his eyes, blue and cold.

Title: Blind Pursuit
Author: Michael Prescott
Purchase Blind Pursuit here

Here's a beautiful song to start out a wonderful month!
Christina Perri "Arms"