Anyone Watch Extreme Makeover?

Anyone watch Extreme Makeover tonight? They were at the Oregon School of the Deaf. Every year OSD does a haunted house and this year Extreme makeover redid the dorms and the Nightmare Factory (the name of the haunted house).

I live less than five minutes away from OSD and my parents have been taking me and my sister to the Nightmare factory since we were little. This year I went with a big group of people because I had to for my ASL class I'm taking. Let me tell you, E.M.O. did a FANTASTIC job redoing the Nightmare Factory. I was so scared the whole time. I ended up bruising my sister's hand cause I was holding on so hard.

They redid the haunted house so well that over 30,000 people have shown up for it. Not surprising cause the night I went the line was over 2 hours long. I got the VIP pass and was able to cut to the front. Yay!

This place is doing so well this year that they have added on a few extra days. It'll be going all next weekend too. so if you live anywhere near Salem Oregon, make sure to go to the Nightmare Factory. It'll scare the pants right off of you, but it'll be worth it.

Yes, that's right, I'm promoting a haunted house. I've recently started taking ASL and adore it, so I'm going to promote the OSD haunted house.
Anywho, Happy Halloween! I'll end this post with a picture of my pumpkin that I carved.

Book of the Week (15)

Book of the Week is a weekly thing I do to give more love to a book I think deserves it.

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

published by NAL Jam

Genre: Paranormal YA

248 pages

What it's about:

From the author of the popular Weather Warden series comes the debut of an exciting new series set in Morganville, Texas, where you would be well advised to avoid being out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

Why?

I love this series.  For one, it's set in a college town so you don't have the high school drama. Then you have vampires, which is always fun. Then you have Shane. He's reason enough to read this series. haha.

Let's all do the hop and follow!

Blogger hop is hosted over at Crazy For Books

This weeks question: "What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?"


My Answer:
haha I was just joking about this to some friends yesterday. What I want more than anything is to have a credit card that I can buy anything book related on it and to have SOMEONE ELSE pay for it. Book related things could be paying for gas to get to a signing, books, remodeling a room to make myself a library and so on.





Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkee

This weeks question:
If you have, or would have a daughter, what book would you want your daughter to read?


My answer:
Well, I don't have a daughter, but my future kids will read Harry Potter. HP is one of those series that can get even the most reluctant of people to become obsessive readers. Plus I think it teaches kids great things. It's all about love and loyalty.

If you decide to follow my blog (and you should cause it's awesome! haha) make sure to leave me a comment saying that you are. I always follow back :)

A Late WoW-- Mad Love

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted over at Breaking the Spine.

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

published by Walker books for young readers

Genre: YA

Release date: Jan 4, 2011

What it's about:

Writing her own love story could drive a girl insane!

When you’re the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can’t write it. Alice needs a story for her mother—and she needs one fast. That’s when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol’s voice in her head and see things she can’t explain, she must face the truth—that she’s either inherited her mother’s madness, or Errol is for real.

 

Why?

I love Suzanne's books! They are always so cute and fun. Plus this plot sounds very unique. How many other books are out there with one of the main characters being Cupid???

Finished 100 book challenge!!

I have officially reached my 100 books read in 2010 goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I finished reading Everlasting by Angie Frazier today and that made book 100. I did it in less than 10 full months too. Wow I have no life. hahaha. So now to go celebrate this finishing of a goal, I'm going to go do sign language homework. yay!!

Review: Eternal Ones

Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

published by Razorbill

Genre: YA (paranormal?)

$17.99 (hardback)

416 pages

FTC: I bought this book and will not be compensated for this review.

What it's about:

What if love refused to die?

Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

My thoughts:

I thought the idea of this book was really cool. I figured it was going to be a big, sweep you off your feet romance. Turns out it really wasn't and that I really disliked this book. I had to force myself to finish it.

The real romance didn't even start until about 150 pages into the book. In those first 150 pages, you learn about Haven's small town life and how everyone in her town thinks she's possessed by the devil. A big reason why I hated this section was because I really try and stay away from books with religions in them. Especially fanatic religions. So this whole section really bothered me. I felt like it dragged on forever and wasn't really necessary for the overall plot of the story.

The love story between Haven and Iain wasn't all that great. I loved the idea of how they had been in love for over 2,000 years and some how always managed to die before they could really have a life together. I've read other books like that (such as Reincarnation which is in my review section) and loved how that was pulled off. In this book however, it never really felt real. It felt like Miller was telling me they are in love, but I never believed it. Haven was such an idiot when it came to Iain that I never really understood if she was actually in love with him.

By the end of the book, some weird supernatural thing pops up and is never really explained. Then the ending is kinda bitter sweet and is open for another book. Bleh.

So in other words, I was really hoping for a fantastic, sweep you off your feet, love never dies romance, and instead I got a disappointing love story with some weird paranormal things and small town life. It really wasn't what I wanted.

My rating: 5/10

Blogs taking a hit

Sorry guys, I'm lagging in my blog posts lately. This term at school is pretty crazy. Taking a full load and all my classes are piling on the reading/papers/mid terms. All of this homework and studying is taking up all my free time. I hope to have some spare time this upcoming week so I can write a bunch of posts.

--Ariel

Book Blogger Hop and Follow!

Book Blogger hop is hosted by crazy for books

This weeks question: "Where is your favorite place to read? Curled up on the sofa, in bed, in the garden?"


My Answer: My favorite spot to read is in my bed in the middle of the night. It's 100% quiet that way and that's the best way for me to read.




Follow friday is hosted by Parajunkee

This weeks question:
What are you currently reading?

My answer:
I just finished reading Firelight by Sophie Jordan. Now I'm reading Fried Green Tomatoes for one of my english classes, but for fun I'm reading Everlasting.

If you decide to follow my blog, make sure you leave a comment saying you are following and leave me your blog url if you want me to follow back!

Demon Glass cover revealed!

Rachel Hawkins revealed on her facebook what the next book cover in her Hex Hall series looks like!

Look how pretty it is!!!! I know I'm excited for this book!

Last time I looked, Demonglass is scheduled to be released March 1, 2011

Review: Lost Hero PLUS Rick Riordan signing

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

published by Disney Hyperion

Genre: Midgrade

$18.99 (hardback)

553 pages

ftc: this is my book and I will not be compensated for this review.

What it's about:

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.

My thoughts:
AHHHHH!!!!!! THIS BOOK IS SOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not going to say much about this book because knowing me, I will give something away and I'd hate to be the ass hat who gave away too much information on this book.

The new characters are so much fun in this book. While I was hoping to see more of some of my old favorites (like Annabeth, Nico, Tyson, and so on) this book was perfect without them. Jason, Leo, and Piper are all such fun and interesting new characters that you couldn't help but fall in love with them almost immediately. Could I pick a favorite of the new big 3? Never. They are too much fun together to pick a favorite.

You get to see another side to the Gods that we all know and love, and get to know even more about them. I loved getting to know a few more gods even better than you did in the PJ series. Also learning more about the different cabins and new demigod powers. One word: Clovis. hahahaha.

This is a book that you shouldn't read UNTIL you've read the first 5 Percy Jackson books. And if you haven't read the Percy Jackson books yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Go get them right now!

My rating: 11/10.
Yes that's right, I gave it an 11! The ending will leave you shocked and needing more! But you'll have to wait a year like the rest of us. It's lame, I know.

My Rick Riordan signing experience.

Last night Rick Riordan was doing just a signing over in Beaverton at Powells. I took two of my babysitting kids, my sister, and my sister's friend. We all decked out in Camp Half Blood shirts that I made, along with a beaded necklace my friend made for me. Yup, we're that nerdy. My sister got there earlier than I did and by 4:30pm, over 800 people had shown up. The signing didn't even start till 6pm. It was INSANE! I'm going to take a wild guess and say that about 1100 people showed up that night. It's about the average number of people that show up to his signings according to his blog.

By 7:30pm we got our books signed! They had to do it real fast but I did have enough time to ask him a question. My eng 218 teacher made me promise to ask him if he gets to pick his titles (she doesn't believe me that authors don't get to pick them, but they do have a say in what they are going to be). He told me he works with his publisher and they come up with a title together. So Dr. Lange, if you read this, nener nener nener, I told you so. hahah. Just kidding.

Sadly, you couldn't take pictures with him, but you could be stalker creepy and take pictures of him from the side. So we did.

He was so sweet. He talks and smiles to everyone. He even signed two things for my sister even though you were only supposed to get one. Btw, the lady next to him is his publisher.

My signed book. It took a while to decide which book to get signed, but this one is in the best shape so I went with this one.

Yup, that was the signing. It was awesome!

Ahhh!!! I just finished the Lost Hero

It is currently 1:55am where I'm at, and I just finished The Lost Hero.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I really am freaking out about the whole freaking book. Has anyone else finished it yet? Because I believe a massive in depth conversation is in need.

Oh.My.Gods. That's all my mind is thinking after finishing the book.

BTW all Oregonians and some Washington peeps, Rick Riordan is going to be at the Powell's in Beaverton on Tuesday at 7pm to talk about The Lost Hero. Poor Rick, I'm probably going to go crazy fan girl on him. It shall be fun. This is what I'm probably going to look like at the signing...

Uh, I'll probably post my review for this book tomorrow. It's going to be shoving it's way to the top of my reviews to post list. But as of right now, it's bed time!

WARNING!!!
Comments do have HUGE spoilers in it. Don't read the comments unless you have finished the book!!!

Review: Daemon Hall

Daemon Hall by Andrew Nance

published by Henry Holt and Co.

Genre: YA Horror

$8.99 (paperback)

272 pages

FTC: I borrowed this book from the library. I will not be compensated for this review.

What it's about:

Is winning a writing contest worth risking your life?

Nothing exciting ever happens in the town of Maplewood—that is, until famous thriller writer Ian Tremblin holds a short-story writing contest with a prize that seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime: five finalists will get to spend the evening with Tremblin himself in the haunted mansion Daemon Hall, and the winner of the best short story will see publication.

Wade Reilly and the other finalists could never have imagined what they find lurking in the shadows of this demonic mansion. During a suspenseful night of tale-telling, strange incidents mix the realms of the real and the supernatural. What is Tremblin really up to, and can he be trusted? What about Daemon Hall—is it alive? And, more to the point, will any of the contestants make it out of this hall of horrors to tell their story?

In the tradition of Stephen King, this chilling novel will have teen readers on edge in anticipation of what’s to come with the next extinguished candle.

 

My thoughts:

The plot of the book is 5 kids go into a creepy house so they can win a contest. This then reminded me of "The Haunting" meets "Willy Wanka." Throughout the reading, you can also add in "The Breakfast Club" and "10 Little Indians" to the mix and that is what Daemon Hall is. A really warped version of all those movies combined. 

 

I read this book because I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit and was told this book was very scary. While the whole book wasn't scary, there were parts of it I was freaking out at.  The book is made up of lots of different stories. While the 5 kids and the author are in Daemon hall, they sit in one room and tell scary stories. There are 10 stories in all. About 3 of them freaked me out. The scariest being "The babysitter revisited." Yikes. There are also a few illustrations that were very creepy in some of the stories. Then there were some that I thought were funny, like the one about the bus driver. I kept picturing Mrs. Crabtree (yay south park reference!)

 

While this book wasn't always scary, it was definitely creepy. If you want a book to get you into the Halloween mood, I'd pick up this one. It worked for me.

 
My rating: 8/10

Awards!

I feel bad because I've received quite a few awards in the past months and have been avoiding posting them because the last time I did it, it took me almost 3 hours to pass it along and post about it. Today I have lots of free time because I've done lots of hw already (yay!) so I'm going to post them all at once.

Cherry On Top award:
I got this one from Bits and Pieces. So thank you!

I have to answer the question that goes along with it.

Question: "If I had the chance to go back and change one thing in my life, would I, and what would it be?"

My answer: I'm going to be the lame person and say nothing. I would not change a thing in my life because everything I have done has taught me something.

The Versatile Blogger award:

I've received this from Book Loving Mommy, Readaholics Anonymous, Midnight Bloom Reads, The Ramblings of a Book Addict, nymfaux, Words on Paper A and C Book Junkies Down the Rabbit Hole elenasbookcafe After the Fall

So I'd like to thank all those lovely blogs who gave me the award.

Okay, so I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself.
1. I've been a vegetarian my whole life. Even as a baby I refused to eat meat. I'm hardcore. haha
2. My favorite place I've vacationed at is Edinburgh Scotland
3. My dog's name is Isabelle (from Mortal Instruments), and my cats are named Billy Beckett (singer from The Academy Is) and Lady Jane (she's gray. get it? Lady Jane Gray?)
4. Animals really love me. Spiders, snakes, birds, and fish especially. They all tend to follow me around to an abnormal extent. This makes me great fun to go to zoos/aquariums with because the animals tend to come out and see me. Very awkward.
5. My favorite smoothie flavor is peanut better banana
6.I collect anything Alice in Wonderland (and I have LOTS of AiW stuff) and Donal Duck.
7. I have a tattoo of the cheshire cat on my left ankle.


Life is Good Award

I received this one from My Head is Full of Books
Part of getting this award is answering the questions.
1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?


Uhh no. I don't care to blog anonymously. I like blogs better when you get to know the blogger because then you can see if you can match up your tastes in books better. Plus blogs that show the bloggers personality are always more fun.
2.Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side?
Too many to count! I'm very stubborn and don't really like the word "no" very well.


3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
uhh I'm going to be very literal on this question and say "red hair"

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?
Water or strawberry lemonaide

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
READ! Or paint. I'm usually doing one or the other. I like to make tshirts too. That also involves painting though.


6.Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
I'm only 21, there is lots of stuff I want to accomplish in my life. Owning my own bookstore and going back to the UK make the top of my list.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?

In high school, I was the class suckup and an art nerd. I was also the teachers pet. I'm still all those things actually....

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see?

Umm My Italy/Greece trip, my Paris/Edinburgh/London trip OR this one time I took a few of my friends to the beach. One of the happiest days of my life. Oh! or the 7th harry potter midnight release. I will never forget that night.
9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I'm a very very very open person. I don't have issues writing about myself/other people/events in my blog.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
Depends on who I'm talking on the phone with. I used to talk on the phone all the time, but now I mostly text. I still call my bff though. Reading is something I'm always doing though being a english lit major and all.


So for each one of these, I'm supposed to say 10 different blogs I'm going to give them away too. Well that's not exactly how I want to do it. Because honestly, if you are a blogger that posts at LEAST 10 posts a month, works on your blog, and tries to do different kinds of posts (not all just reviews or WoW's and what not) then give yourself one of these awards. You deserve it. yay!

Hop and Follow Friday!

Blog hop friday is hosted over at Crazy For Books

This weeks question:
"When you read a book that you just can't get into, do you stick it out and keep reading or move to your next title?"


My Answer:
If I've been struggling with the book and I'm about 150 pages into it, or have been trying to read it for a week or two (books should never take that long to read), then I give up. If it is by an author I normally tend to love, I will eventually get back to reading it when I'm in the mood for it. If it's a book that everyone has told me is horrible, most of the time I will give up on it for good. Life is too short for bad books.
 

Follow Friday is hosted by parajunkee

This weeks question:
What is your reading suggestion this week?

My Answer:
I'm reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and loving it. So that. OR any of the books that I posted in my top 10 favorites of this year. That post is the one right before this one.

If you decide to follow me, make sure to leave a comment saying you are following me and a url/link back to your blog so I can follow back!

Top Ten Favorite Books This Year

I really like doing these top ten posts. I've done my favorite boys/girls/bad guys, and now I think it's time to do my favorite books I've read this year. Hopefully I've already written reviews for all of these and they will all be in my Review Page.
These are in no order. Just whatever came to my mind first.

1. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Gah! I can't get over how much I adored this book!!!!!!!!! Evie is one of my favorite leading ladies now, along with Lend being in my top favorite fictional boys list. Awesome.

2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Does this one even need explanation?

3. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Unique story plot, well written, and a fantastic love story. That's all I need in a book.

4. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
This is a book I can't seem to get enough of. It was so well thought out and so well done that I fell madly in love with it.

5. Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
The second one in this series was even better than the first. I'm dying to know what happens in the final book!!!!!!

6. Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
I'm madly in love with Kim's works. It's not like that's a secret at all so of course this book is going to make it on my list. Duh.

7. The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade
I thought this was a really fun debut novel. The idea of a cheerleader and a goth falling for each other has been done many times (ie twice alone on this list. Nevermore) but it was still great.

8.You Wish by Mandy Hubbard
oh this book was so much fun! I couldn't wait to see what crazy past wishes were going to show up next. I've heard rumors of this being turned into a movie and I hope that's true. I loved this book enough that I ran out and bought Mandy's other books.

9. Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
Out of all the books, this one had the ending I never saw coming. I even freaked out about it to Brandon when I went to his signing. He thought it was funny. *Sigh*

10. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Did anyone else see that ending happening for this book? No? Me either. That's why I love it so much. How the hell is Rose going to get out of it this time?

If you haven't noticed before, but the ending of a book/movie is what really matters to me the most. The book can be fantastic all the way through, have a crap ending and I will hate it. This is why most of the books on this list had either a really happy ending that I loved, or a very shocking ending that gripped me.

Anyone have any good book ideas that have fantastic endings to them that I haven't read yet? Cause I'd love to hear about more great books.

p.s. also if you look over to the right side, you'll see I'm almost done with my 100 book challenge!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED! I'm going to make my challenge the first year I tried. woo hoo!

Review: paranormalcy

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

published by harperteen

Genre: YA paranormal

$16.99 (US hardback)

335 pages

FTC: I bought this book and will not be compensated for this review.

What it's about:

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

My thoughts:
I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK! I want to say it is my favorite book I've read this year, but I can't say that for certain, so I'm going to say it is in my top 5 favorites of 2010 so far. So now I'm going to sit here and gush about why I adore this book.

From the first sentence, I knew I was going to love this book. Right from the beginning, you can tell that the voice of this story is unique and fun. This stayed true throughout the whole book. You know a book has a fun voice when it uses words like "lustylicious" (which btw, happens to be my new favorite word).

I honestly can't decide who I love more, Evie or Lend. While Evie is fun and quirky, Lend is well, Lend. I love how Evie is such a 16 year old girl, but at the same time she can kick your butt. She even has a hot pink (with rhinestones on it) taser that she calls Tasey. I love how she is obsessed with lockers and how she sprained her ankle while rocking out to her ipod (cause I can honestly see me doing that as well). And Lend is the sweetest boy ever. I'm not going into detail why I love him because people need to be surprised with him. Only thing I have to say is, why is he not my boyfriend? haha.

Besides the wonderful characters in this book, the paranormals are pretty unique. I love how White created her own "monsters" instead of sticking with the normal guidelines. How vampires use glamours to hide their rotting corpses or how mermaids act nothing like The Little Mermaid (I picture them looking like the mermaids from Harry Potter personally). This whole story was very unique and I couldn't get enough of it.

My rating: 10/10! Duh!
For once I'm really glad that a new book I'm reading is going to be a series, cause I can't wait to read more about Evie and Lend.

A fantastic quotes:
"Lish tried to swear--which is always funny, because the computer won't translate it. It went something like this: 'Bleep stupid bleep bleep faeries and their bleep bleep bleep obsessions. He had better stop bleep bleep bleep the bleep bleep rules or I will bleep bleep bleep the little bleeeeeeeeeeep."

Bud, my self-defense and combat skills teacher, was still trying to get me to learn knife fighting. "Silver knives! Painful and sometimes deadly to nearly all paranormals!"
"Tasey!" I countered. "Hot pink and sparkly!"

New Jeaniene Frost books update

The lovely and talented Jeaniene has posted some very exciting news on her blog a few days ago. I'm just going to quote it.

"I’m typing this as I wait at the train station in New York after having a wonderful time at ComiCon (look for another post with pictures and details about that later, but I simply couldn’t wait to share this news). Remember how I’ve not-so-subtly hinted on this blog and in other places that I really, really would like to write books on Vlad? And how I had more plot in my head than novels contracted for Cat and Bones’s storyline, so I wasn’t sure if I’d end the Night Huntress series at book seven like I’d originally intended?
Pretend you remember me saying those things, even if you don’t.

Well, I am thrilled to announce that I will be writing two more novels for the Night Huntress series, ending Cat and Bones’s storyline now at book nine instead of seven. AND, if that wasn’t enough to make my day, I am also contracted to write the first two books in a new series featuring – you guessed it – Vlad as the hero and a new character named Leila as the heroine.

I am SO excited about the opportunity to extend Cat and Bones’s storyline into nine books so I can implement the plans I have for them, instead of cutting things out to squeeze everything into seven books. Plus, anyone who’s spoken to me for longer than five minutes knows I’ve been itching to showcase Vlad in his own books, and I’ve got just the heroine to give Mr. Hot Hands a run for his money that he’ll never be expecting. Right now the tentative plan is for the first Vlad and Leila novel to release in 2012. 2011 will see the releases of the fifth Cat and Bones novel titled This Side of the Grave, Cat and Bones 6 (untitled as of now), and the holiday-themed anthology I’ll be in with Lynsay Sands that will also feature and Cat and Bones story (untitled as of now). My publisher and I are not sure if Vlad’s new stories will be called Night Huntress World, or something else since it’s the start of a new recurring-character series. More data on that once I have it.

Of course none of the above could be possible if not for the amazing support readers have given to the Night Huntress series and the Night Huntress World novels. I feel beyond blessed to have the chance to write more stories with the characters that I love. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!

*throws confetti and passes out cyber-champagne!*"

WHO ELSE IS VERY EXCITED?????? I've been listening to "Halfway to the Grave" on audiobook the last few days and it has put me in a Jeaniene Frost mood. I am a huge fan of hers (even if I haven't read Eternal kiss of Darkness yet) and couldn't be more excited that there are going to be lots of new books from her. 2 cat and bones books just next year? AWESOME!

Found this info on her blog here:  clicky clicky

Book of the Week (14)

Book of the week is a weekly thing I do to give more attention to a book I think deserves it.

Nevermore  by Kelly Creagh

Published by Atheneum Books

Genre: YA paranormal

$17.99 (hardback)

543 pages

What it's about:

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due--so unfair--on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he'd rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can't help but give this enigmatic boy with piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has ereated through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.

His life depends on it.

Why?
I can't get over how much I loved this book. Everytime I see a picture of the cover, I get all giddy and think "I loved that book!" This is one that when I'm not so lazy, I will update the Must Read page and add it.
My review can be found here: Nevermore

Blast from the past: Replica

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the books I used to love. The ones that got me addicted to reading. I'm going to start doing a weekly thing (hopefully) show casing a book I used to love. I'm going to call it "Blast from the past"

Amy, Number Seven  by Marilyn Kaye

published by Skylark

Genre: Mid grad

208 pages

What it's about:

Amy Candler knows she's different. In fact, she's perfect—a perfect twelve-year-old.

Overnight, she can see and hear things from awesome distances; she can tumble, twist, and turn like a top gymnast; and she knows the answer to every question her teachers ask.

But Amy doesn't have the answer to the mystery of her past.

All she knows is that her recurring nightmare seems very real.

That her crescent-shaped birthmark wasn't there yesterday.

That a stranger is taking photos of her.

That her mother is acting weird.

That someone is sending her anonymous warnings to keep her talents a secret.

Slowly Amy is piecing together her identity, but she'd better hurry.

When I read it:

I used to be addicted to this series when I was about 11-13 I believe. Me and my best friend both owned all of the books (up to #12 cause that was the last one out while we were reading them. It now goes to #24). I used to love it cause you had a weird secret from the mother, a awesome best friend, and of course the major crush. That was everything I wanted in a series.

Blog hop and follow friday!

Follow Friday is hosted by parajunkee. 

How to do it:

click on the image above. Sign up using your name and link to your blog. Start going to other peoples blogs and follow follow follow. If you decide to follow my blog (which you should cause it's made of awesome-ness ;) please leave me a comment saying you are following me and a link to your blog. I always follow back if you do that.

Blog hop is hosted by Crazy for books. 

This weeks question: What's your favorite beverage while reading or blogging, if any? Is it tea, coffee, water, a glass of wine, or something else?

 

My answer: I mostly drink water. On days that it's cold and gray out and I don't have to wake up early in the mornings, I'll drink PG Tips tea. I'm in love with british morning tea.

Review: Infinite Days

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

published by St. Martin's Griffin

Genre: YA paranormal

$9.99 (paperback)

308 pages

What it's about:
Lenah Beaudonte is, in many ways, your average teen: the new girl at Wickham Boarding School, she struggles to fit in enough to survive and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy lacrosse captain. But Lenah also just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire queen. After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah is able to realize the dream all vampires have -- to be human again. After performing a dangerous ritual to restore her humanity, Lenah entered a century-long hibernation, leaving behind the wicked coven she ruled over and the eternal love who has helped grant her deep-seated wish.

Until, that is, Lenah draws her first natural breath in centuries at Wickham and rediscovers a human life that bears little resemblance to the one she had known. As if suddenly becoming a teenager weren’t stressful enough, each passing hour brings Lenah closer to the moment when her abandoned coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as she can. But, to do so, she must answer ominous questions: Can an ex-vampire survive in an alien time and place? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?

My thoughts:
I've read lots of great reviews for this book. Everyone talks about how great it is.
This will NOT be one of those reviews.

I honestly really disliked this book. The main problem I had with it was Lenah. I couldn't connect with her at all. She was an idiot who was constantly making the wrong choices. I also couldn't get over how she spent 500+ years killing children, women, and men just because she was bored and miserable. Granted, she was a vampire, but still. That was another problem I had with the book. I really didn't like the vampires in it. I won't lie, I prefer my vampires to be a little less emo. They don't need to sparkle, but they have to have a personality. These ones did not.

As for the love part of the book, I never really felt the connection between Lenah and Justin. I just couldn't fall for it. Her whole reasoning behind liking him at first was just because she thought he was hott. After that I never really saw how they were falling for each other.

The one good thing about this book was the best friend, Tony. His character I really liked. I was disappointed when Lenah fell for Justin because that meant she would never get with Tony. Tony was fun, artsy, sweet, and understanding. I was hoping Lenah would go for the fun Asian guy instead of the obvious blonde jock.

My rating: 4/10
Yeah, I disliked it that much.

New Harry Potter posters

Is everyone else really enjoying all the new Harry Potter posters that are coming out? It seems like every day the HP movie fanpage on Facebook is posting links to new posters. I can't wait to get my hands on some of these posters.

Just in case everyone hasn't seen them, here they are along with links.

Mugglenet has two new posters that are pretty awesome. One is Snape and one is

Voldemort. Link: The Hunt Begins

7 new ones of just the characters faces. (I'm dying to get my hands on that Harry poster!!) Link: Gah!!

There are 4 posters in this link. All of which are amazing. Link: Nowhere is safe

And these are my sister's personal favorites. Dan, Rupert, and Emma did posters for the library. Link to view FB of them: READ    Link: link to buy




If you haven't "liked" the HP movie page yet, you should! They post lots of great stuff there. Right now they have tons of new pictures from the upcoming movies. My favorite is the 7 Harry's picture. Why are some of them wearing skirts?? haha
Here is a link to the FB page: Facebook page

Waiting on Wednesday (14?)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

published by Flux

Genre: YA Paranormal

paperback

288 pages

Release Date: Feb 1, 2011

What it's about:
Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.


When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect

Why?
I've recently learned that I actually really do like faerie books. I used to dislike them and thought I just didn't like faeries. Turns out I just didn't like those books and really enjoy faeries.
This one I think sounds really good. Plus, look at the cover! It's so beautiful. I know I say that a lot in WoW's, but I do really enjoy a good cover.

Top 10 Favorite Bad Guys

I've done posts for my ten favorite boys and my favorite girls. Now it's time for my favorite bad guys! Once again, these aren't in any real order. Just whoever popped into my mind first.
**Note** this does contain a spoiler. If you haven't read the Fablehaven series and want to, I'd recommend not reading this.

1. Voldemort:
I think this guy makes it onto everyones favorite bad guy list. How can he not?

2. Valentine (Mortal Instruments):
This guy is a fantastic bad guy cause he honestly doesn't see himself as one. He turns his children into demons or kills them and doesn't think twice about it. WTF? I also love this bad guy because he seems real because once he was a friend, husband, father before he went coo-coo.

3. Al (The Hollows):
Oh Al. This one is a weird one cause I absolutely love his character. He can be whatever he wants, do whatever he wants, and what he wants to do is make Rachel's life hell. Yet at the same time, he always seems to help Rachel.

4. The Capitol (Hunger Games):
These people are nuts! They enjoy watching kids kill each other in a crazy game.

5. Vampires from Morganville (Morganville Vampires):
Okay, so they are good and bad, but I love them! They are the scary monsters you love to hate.

6. Zombies from the Night Huntress:
These things are so scary that they terrified the most powerful vampires ever. Damnnnn.

7. Sphinx (Fablehaven):
This gives away big spoilers so I'm sorry about that. But he was the perfect bad guy cause you had no idea he was a bad guy and that he was running everything. Frienemy is the best term for him.

8. Luke (Percy Jackson):
Best friend turned enemy. I just really love his character, especially in the movie.

9. Pinfeathers (Nevermore):
This summer I saw a Lion King production in Animal Kingdom and they had people dress up like monkeys and do gymnastics. Well that's how I imagine Pinfeathers to look like even though that's not at all how he is described. I loved how he was a type of devil on your shoulder.

10. Queen of Hearts (Alice In Wonderland):
She's the freaking queen of hearts! How can you not love her?

Book of the Week (13)

Book of the Week (13)

botw is a weekly thing I do in order to give more attention to a book/series I think deserves it.

Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson

published by Disney Hypiron

Genre: mid grade

$8.99 (paperback)

336 pages

What it's about:
In this fantastical thriller, five young teens tapped as models for theme park "guides" find themselves pitted against Disney villains and witches that threaten both the future of Walt Disney World and the stability of the world outside its walls.

Using a cutting-edge technology called DHI—which stands for both Disney Host Interactive and Daylight Hologram Imaging—Finn Whitman, an Orlando teen, and four other kids are transformed into hologram projections that guide guests through the park.
The new technology turns out, however, to have unexpected effects that are both thrilling and scary. Soon Finn finds himself transported in his DHI form into the Magic Kingdom at night. Is it real? Is he dreaming?
Finn's confusion only increases when he encounters Wayne, an elderly Imagineer who tells him that the park is in grave danger. Led by the scheming witch Maleficent, a mysterious group of characters called the Overtakers is plotting to destroy Disney's beloved realm, and maybe more.
This gripping high-tech tale will thrill every kid who has ever dreamed of sneaking into Walt Disney World after hours, and wondered what happens at night, when the park is closed.

Why?
I read the first of this series while I was in Florida and finished it two days before I went to Magic Kingdom. It was great timing. This book was really fun. Who wouldn't love to run around Disney at night after the park is closed? And then to have the characters be real? That is truly amazing. Each one of these books takes place in a different Disney World park. If you like Disney, I'd read these books.
My full review should be posted soon.