The Friday 56 #7

The Friday 56

This is a weekly meme hosted over at Freda's Voice.

The rules are simple-- grab the book you are currently reading and turn to page 56 (or 56% of your e-reader). Then copy a few sentences and post them.

These are the books we are currently reading and a snippet of page 56.



Max
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
"I was quickly caught up in the legend. The idea of making seven men fight and face possible death to win your hand was unimaginable to me."

 Tessa
Towering by Alex Flinn
"But a few hours later, I woke once again to an eerie voice, singing on the wind. It wasn't the Star Trek theme. It came from outside my window. I bolted up and walked across the room, thinking maybe it was Danielle. But there was no one there, only the voice."



Cassia
[Note: Umm hey guys, I have to do page 112 again. I just can't get into this one. Thanks!]

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

"Perched on the edge of my desk now, his legs splayed wide, hands on either side, Jacob looked completely at ease while I felt fidgety, self-conscious, yet utterly conscious of his every movement."

Top Ten Tuesday #7: Book Cover Trends

This is a weekly meme hosted by the amazing girls at The Broke and the Bookish.

Who said don't judge a book by it cover? Obviously they have never been into a book store. With all of the options, appearance is going to a factor.

This week's list is our top ten best and worst book cover trends.

Max
COOL TREND: That really cool font and fonts like it like the one on Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

ANNOYING TREND: When book covers just features a girl and what she's wearing but don't even show her face, like Everneath by Brodi Ashton.
 

 

COOL TREND: Doodled/Cartoony cover pictures like Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Tessa

 

ANNOYING TREND: The couple's faces smooched together, like Just One Year by Gayle Forman


 

ANNOYING TREND: Things that never really happened in the book/misleading covers designed just to attract readers, like Taken by Erin Bowman.



COOL TREND: Simplistic, but elegant covers, like Angelfall by Susan Ee.



 

Cassia
 

ANNOYING TREND: Close-ups of models meant to represent the protagonist and absolutely nothing else, like North of Beautiful by Justina Chen.
 

ANNOYING TREND: In romance novels: unidentified, faceless male, like Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. By the way, I love all the covers in this series, but it is an example of the trend.
 

ANNOYING TREND: Hidden face, face in concealed in shadows. I haven't actually read this book, Frostbite by Richelle Mead, but I was looking for a good example.
 

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Picture courtesy of Goodreads

The Art of Lainey

Author: Paula Stokes
Release Date: May 20, 2014
Pages: 384
Review by: Tessa

Lainey is almost the most popular girl in school. Her friend Kendall pushed Lainey to the top of the social food chain, and hooked her up with the most popular boy in school, Jason. Lainey and Jason have been blissfully dating since freshman year of high school, and Lainey has already planned want will be the most epic senior year of all time.
But that all changed when Jason dumped Lainey over the summer, at her parents' coffee shop!
Lainey is devastated, but refuses to plan revenge. She just wants her perfect boyfriend back. And to do that, she has to go to war.
When Lainey starts to read The Art of War by Sun Tzu for her required reading, her plans come into place. She convinces Micah, the strange boy from the kitchen, to join in her plan so he can get back at his ex-girlfriend too. Lainey and Micah being to bond over revenge and the words of a deceased Chinese thinker.
Even though this dude has been dead for centuries, he just might have the advice to help Lainey win back the heart of the boy she loved.

Review | White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat 

Author: Holly Black
Series: Curse Workers #1
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Pages: 310
Review by: Cassia

Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of curse workers: people who, with the touch of a bare hand, can make you love someone, break your leg, give you good luck, take your memories, or even kill you, depending on what type of worker they are. But Cassel isn’t a worker, and he’s an outsider in the one place he should feel like he belongs: his family. Oh, and he killed his best friend Lila when he was fourteen.

But he doesn’t know why. All he can remember is the feeling of gleefulness as he stared down at her body. When Cassel starts sleepwalking and having weird dreams about a white cat, he knows he’s being worked. What he doesn’t know is who could be doing it.

The Friday 56 #6

The Friday 56

This is a weekly meme hosted over at Freda's Voice.

The rules are simple-- grab the book you are currently reading and turn to page 56 (or 56% of your e-reader). Then copy a few sentences and post them.

These are the books we are currently reading and a snippet of page 56.



Max's
 Enders by Lissa Price

"'Sorry it couldn't be longer,' Hyden said, nodding to the airscreen. 'But we can't risk any interceptions.' I stood and faced him. He stepped back. 'So you drugged my family?' I said."



Tessa's
Alienated by Melissa Landers

"'I start tomorrow,' Aelyx added. He looked forward to his first day of school with all of the enthusiasm of a man facing a lobotomy."




Cassia's

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

"And now I did most of the driving for Mom. She'd never been a comfortable driver, but after her sister, my Aunt Susannah, died in a bus crash, Mom practically had panic attacks whenever she got behind the wheel."

Introducing: Hardcover to Hollywood Chats

Hey everybody! Cassia here! As you all know, many books are being turned into movies. Some people are happy about that, and some aren't. Here at Crazy For YA, we love book-to-movie adaptations. For the most part. As much as we love these adaptations, the movie people always get something wrong, and being the bookworms that we are, we've got something to say about it. So, we are going to do what we call Hardcover to Hollywood Chats, where we'll basically talk about certain movie adaptations of books. What we liked, what we didn't like, etc.

How it's going to work is we'll alternate who "moderates" the discussion, and that person will simply ask questions (What was good? What was bad? etc.) and attempt to keep the conversation on topic. We'll be typing it, and it will look like this:

Cassia: Words

Max: More words

Tessa: And even more words

Basically an Instant Messaging Chatroom.

And we'll do this for who knows how long on Google Docs, and then we'll post it. It will literally be a conversation. Kind of like a Google+ Chat, but without the video.

These chats will be done sporadically (not weekly), and whenever we can all get on at the same time to do it.

We have a list of movies we'll do it with, and if any of you have a suggestion for any other movies we should chat about, please tell us in the comments!

Here's a rough draft of the list of books/movies:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

Once again, please suggest more movies in the comments!

Also, please answer the poll on the right and vote for which movie you would like to see us chat about. Thanks!

Goodbye for now,
Cassia

Our Progress with Social Media

Recently, we have taken to blogging again. And we have realized that blogging is now a lot more than simply posting reviews. We put our hearts into every post we write, and we want them to be recognized. So, we started our adventures with social media. We are not complete strangers to the realm of social media, but we have only used it for personal reasons (mostly sharing book-related humor that makes our friends question why they put up with us). But now we are using it to spread the word about our blog and interact with our wonderful followers (yes, that is you). The fun started with the cute little buttons on the sidebar. They are, in order, links for our Facebook, Pinterest, and email accounts. Use these links anytime you want.
 
To start, we *cough* Tessa *cough* made a Facebook page for the blog. We will regularly be posting our reviews on the page and many other surprises for our loyal readers.

Also, Max started a Pinterest account for the blog. Max and I just discovered the wonders of this addictive social media. It is the hidden gem of the Internet. Basically, pictures are taken from websites and "pinned" to virtual corkboards to be saved for later. The best part is scrolling through other people's boards and seeing what they have (its less creepy than it sounds).We will be posting our reviews and other book-related humor on that account.

We did not start this to publicize our blog, but to interact with our readers. If you have any social media, message us with your account and we will make sure to follow you.

Thanks and wish us good luck,

Tessa

Top Ten Tuesday #6: Top Ten Books on Our Summer TBR List

This is a weekly meme hosted by the girls at The Broke and the Bookish

Following the theme from two weeks ago, this week's topic is books on our summer TBR (to be read) list. We're really looking forward to reading these books this summer, and we hope you get to knock some books off of that ever-growing list.

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Yesterday was the last day of the Sweet Summer Read-a-thon hosted by The Book Tower.
Our TBR shelves are empty and the paper cuts are countless, but we survived the week.
This was our first read-a-thon, but I think we rose to the challenge.
Special thanks to Hannah at The Book Tower for hosting the read-a-thon and Jessica from Book Review from a Christian Girl for sticking with us though the read-a-thon.
All of our posts from the week are linked below, so check them out if you missed any.

The Final Results

Max

Books Read: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, and My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Total Pages Read: 2137! (WIIIIIIIIINER!)

Challenges Completed: Read 2 or 3 summer themed books.

Tessa

Books Read: Dangerous by Shannon Hale, The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, Ink by Amanda Sun, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, and The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Total Pages Read: 2130

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.

Read a summer themed book.

Cassia

Books Read: The Elite by Kiera Cass, The One by Kiera Cass, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, and I started White Cat by Holly Black.

Total Pages Read: 963

Challenges Completed: Get to the end of The Selection series QUICKLY.
Try to like Jace a little more.

Links

Goals

Day #1

Day #2

Day #3

Day #4

Day #5

Day #6

Rainbow Spine Challenge

Spell It Out Challenge

Something Old, Something New Challenge

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #6

I cannot believe that there is only one more day left in the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower.
The words are starting to blur on the pages and the fatigue is catching up to us. One more day of reading is almost too much to handle, but we only have one more day to finish all of our goals, challenges, and TBR books. Wish us luck.
Yesterday, we all completed the Something Old, Something New Challenge hosted by Beth at the Coffee House.

Max

 

Books Started: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Books Finished: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Pages Read: 479

Impressions: I'm not entirely sure, but I think I liked We Were Liars. It was definitely worth reading but if I told you how I felt about it, I'd probably by lying, because I'm really not sure. Go out and read it, though! It was interesting, that's for sure. The Distance Between Us was adorable and loads of fun, and the main character was snark-tastic and hysterical.

Frustrations: I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style of We Were Liars---there was sometimes a lack of paragraphs and the narrator Cadence described things in odd ways, but that was just a small issue.

Challenges Completed: The Something Old, Something New challenge. Read an average of 200 pages. Read a summer themed book (We Were Liars).

Total Books Finished: 6

Total Pages Read: 1743

 

 

Tessa

 

Books Started: Ink by Amanda Sun

Books Finished: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Pages Read: 371

Impressions: Ink has me intrigued. I have not read a book about Japanese culture before, and I am very open to the idea. I have a strong case of wanderlust, and anything that lets me travel around the world without leaving my home is extraordinary.

Frustrations: The Moon and More did not live up to the expectation of a Sarah Dessen novel. Some things I did like, but I found the book generally shallow and lacking the charm that Dessen usually incorporates into her stories. I felt like I was reading a book full of stereotypes.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.
Read a summer-themed book (The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen).
Something Old, Something New Challenge

Total Books Finished: 4

Total Pages Read: 1761 (I beat Max by 18 pages!)

 

 

Cassia

 

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 80

Impressions: I do not like Clary

Frustrations: Clary. Even though I have read it before, her decisions still surprise (and annoy) me.

Challenges Completed: Something Old, Something New Challenge

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 898

 

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon: Something Old, Something New Challenge

This is a fun challenge hosted by Beth at the Coffee House.

The rules are simple:

• Post the earliest book that you remember reading (it has to be a full length novel, not a children's book)


• Post the latest book that you finished reading

Max
 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Tessa 

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis

 

 

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Cassia
 

 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The One by Kiera Cass

Sweet Summer Read-a-thon Day #5

This is the end of the fifth day of the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower.
Even though yesterday was an unlucky day (being Friday the 13th) we managed to keep reading (and avoided being killed by maniacs with chainsaws, but just barely).
On the other hand, our reading was anything but scary, even though Tessa's was a bit dangerous.

Max 

Books Started: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Books Finished: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Pages Read: 382

Impressions: Finishing City of Lost Souls made me excited to read City of Heavenly Fire. I think I liked reading it this time around more than I did the first time (which may not be saying much because I distinctly remember not enjoying it the first time.) I'm not sure what I think of We Were Liars yet.

Frustrations: Once again, Clary's decisions didn't really make sense to me most of the time.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages.

Total Books Finished: 4

Total Pages Read: 1264

Tessa

Books Started: None

Books Finished: Dangerous by Shannon Hale (see the pun in the intro)

Pages Read: 204

Impressions: I loved the ending of Dangerous, I did not see it coming! I love how the book kept me in suspense throughout the entire book. I am slowly progressing in The Moon and More.

Frustrations: I think that I am in action deprivation. Since I finished Dangerous, I am craving action from The Moon and More, but I have figured out that just because "moon" is in the title does not mean that it is about fighting aliens.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages every day.

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 1390 :)

Cassia

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 111 :(

Impressions: Umm, basically the same thing as last time: I love this book!!!! I have decided to get the boxed set. Plus City of Heavenly Fire.

Frustrations: I have absolutely no idea why I can't get into this book (City of Bones)! Well I was distracted by my DVR... Anyway I don't like to read two or more books at the same time, not that I can't do it, but because it just makes a lot of clutter that I do not want to deal with.

Challenges Completed: Try to like Jace a little more. Except now it's a lot more. :D

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 818

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #4

This is the halfway point for The Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower. There are only 3.5 more days to complete our goals and empty our TBR shelves. These fast-paced days full of reading and blogging have been going by like lightning.
So far, our progress has been slow, but we hope to change that during the weekend. With no plans for these three days besides reading, we should (hopefully) be able to pick up the pace.

Max

Books Started: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare and The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer

Books Finished: None :(

Pages Read: 210

Impressions: City of Lost Souls has been pretty intense, but I'm not going to be reading The Inventor's Secret for this read-a-thon, or maybe even at all. I think it'll take too long for me to read it.

Frustrations: I had forgotten how much Clary and her decisions could annoy me sometimes--does she ever think things through? And The Inventor's Secret is not my genre, I just haven't gotten into it, and I'm not sure I'll be able to.  

Challenges Completed: I read more than 200 pages.

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 882

Tessa

Books Started: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Books Finished: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Pages Read: 266

Impressions: The Moon and More is a standard Sarah Dessen book is equal parts of teen angst and family problems. I am enjoying it so far. I am going to count it as my summer-themed book for the challenge.

Frustrations: I am still reading Dangerous, and it has proven to be a rollercoaster of a book. One page I am completely aware of what is happening, but the next page leaves me in a confused stupor. So many things are occurring that I do not know what I think of the book yet.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 1186 (Victory!)

Cassia

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None (City of Bones is long, okay? ;))

Pages Read: 151

Impressions: I forgot how much I love this series. I'm so happy to be reading it again. I really just want to forget the other books I said I would read this week and just plow through the whole series, but City of Ashes isn't at the library yet and I said I would read the other three books. Oh, boy. Three books... In short: I love love LOVE this book! Clare's writing is amazing; it's filled with little things that are very descriptive and I can't believe I forgot what a wonderful treat her writing is.

Frustrations: As much as I love this book, this series, this world, this writing, I can't get into it. And I have no idea why. But when I read it I love it. I guess it's me trying to savor it. I plowed through The One, so I don't know. Let's just go with I'm savoring it.

Challenges Completed: Try to like Jace a little more. He's working his charms. Again. :)

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 707



Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #3

The third day of the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower has ended. We are already almost halfway through the week, and it has been grueling. Nothing is more difficult than reading all day long. But somehow we are still alive and reading.

Max
 

Books Started: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Books Finished: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Pages Read: 364

Impressions: While a bit predictable, The Art of Lainey was adorable and loads of fun--it was exactly like reading a chick flick! The dialogue was great, the characters and relationships between the characters were really solid, especially the friendships, and I enjoyed it a lot!

Frustrations: Sometimes I thought Lainey was a little bit self-centered, more than a little bit shallow.

Challenges Completed: Read more than 200 pages a day.
 Spell It Out Challenge hosted by The Book Tower.
 

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 672

 

Tessa
 

Books Started: Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 321

Impressions: Dangerous is a promising book. It has been a long time since I have read a book with actual science to back up the technology that the author creates. Call me a nerd, but I love the explanations of the science in a book's world-- it makes the book seem more realistic.

Frustrations: Why did I pick such long books?

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.
 Spell It Out Challenge hosted by The Book Tower.
 

Total Books Finished: 1

Total Pages Read: 920 (at least I am still winning here)
 

Cassia
 

Books Started: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Books Finished: The One by Kiera Cass

Pages Read: 196

Impressions: I loved loved LOVED the end of The One! You thought it was going to end, and then she threw in another plot twist. It was nerve-racking and thrilling and ahhhh it was just awesome. And, umm, I guess this goes here, but for those of you who have read The Infernal Devices...
"Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor b****** who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."
~Jace
That made me happy. :D

Frustrations: Why do I keep watching the movies for books? The City of Bones movie is so different from the book and I keep finding myself picturing scenes from the movie instead of how they are in the book (because we all know the movie people screwed it up). Therefore, I have decided that when I re-read books after I watched the movie, I am keeping it separate from the movie.

Challenges Completed: Get to the end of The Selection series quickly. And try to like Jace a little bit more. (Yes, it's true. But I think it's more of a tortured soul kind of thing.)
 

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 556

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon: Spell it Out Challenge

Since the last challenge went to well, we decided that we would all participate in The Spell It Out Challenge hosted by The Book Tower for the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon.

The rules are to spell out your blog's name with book titles. So it is basically a literary acrostic.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
You Against Me by Jenny Downham

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The One by Kiera Cass
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Just One Year by Gayle Forman (Sorry, but we had two Y's, so please cut us some slack.)
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #2

Yesterday was the second day of The Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower.
Unfortunately, our first day was not as productive as we thought it would be, but we managed to pick up the slack today.

Max and Tessa completed a daily challenge together that was hosted by The Rainbow Bookshelf. The challenge was to create a rainbow out of the spine of books.

Max

Books Started: None.

Books Finished: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Pages Read: 308 (WHOOO!)

Impressions: I was really impressed with Burn for Burn. I wasn't sure initially if I was going to like it or not, but I tore right through it. All three of the characters were enjoyable to read about and I'm excited to see what's in store for them in the next book.

Frustrations: That I don't have the sequel! The ending really surprised me--I think I actually scoured the book for more pages like I had missed them or something.

Challenges Completed: I read 300 pages and did the Rainbow Spine challenge with Tessa! The picture's down by her challenges section.

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 466

Tessa

Books Started: None

Books Finished: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Pages Read: 374 (still winning)

Impressions: The Distance Between Us was a great start for this read-a-thon. It was a light read, but it still addressed serious themes.

Frustrations: Why is City of Lost Souls so long? I do not remember it taking me this long to read it the first time.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.
Rainbow Spine Challenge (completed with Max)
 

Total Books Finished: 1

Total Pages Read: 599

Cassia

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 165

Impressions: Not many, actually. Mostly how similar and different The One is from the other books. It seems like the series keeps repeating itself with how America reacts to things. Not that it's bad, but it just keeps happening like it did with the other books. But, she is doing better with it, because the stakes are higher.

Frustrations: Nothing with the book, just the fact that I couldn't read as much today because I was in the car most of the day, and I can't read in the car. It drives me nuts, but that's just the way it is.

Challenges Completed: None

Total Books Finished: 1

Total Pages Read: 360



Sweet Summer Read-a-thon: Rainbow Spine Challenge

Today, Max and Tessa completed the second challenge of The Sweet Summer Read-a-thon hosted by The Book Tower.

*drum roll*

The Rainbow Spine challenged hosted by The Rainbow Bookshelf.

The challenge was to stack books from your bookshelf in the order of the rainbow. For those who are color-challenged (see what I did there?) the order was black on top, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and white on the bottom.

This actually was a challenge for the two of us because we don't really own any books, let alone books with yellow spines! But I think we managed pretty nicely.

Our list includes:

 

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Sweep Volume 1 by Cate Tiernan

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Ink by Amanda Sun

 



Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #1

Yesterday was the kick-off of the Sweet Summer Read-a-thon hosted by The Book Tower. We posted our ambitious reading goals and challenges here.
It's not too late to sign up.
All three of us will post our progress daily, which includes the books we finished, the amount of pages we read, and our impressions of the book.
So, without further explaining, here is our progress for Day One.

Max

 

Books Started: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (115 pages) and Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian (43 pages)

Books Finished: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages Read: 158

Impressions: The part I read of Nobody, the ending, was really intense and enjoyable, and I complete forget now why I had waited so long to finish it. It was adorable but also chock-full of action and I thought it was fantastic. I began Burn for Burn , which seems really interesting and I'm not really sure what's going to happen.

Frustrations: This is just a personal preference, but both of these books are told through multiple points-of-view, which for me, takes a while to get into, especially third person like Nobody.

Challenges Completed: None

 

Tessa

 

Books Started: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West (158 pages) and City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare (67 pages)

Books Finished: None yet

Pages Read: 225 (I am winning!)

Impressions: I am really enjoying The Distance Between Us. Caymen, the main character, is amazingly sarcastic and one of the most realistic characters I have read about in a while. Also, I am glad that I am re-reading City of Lost Souls. Apparently, I forget most it, so I have to read it before I start City of Heavenly Fire.

Frustrations: I am disappointed that The Distance Between Us is not a summer book (to me the cover screamed summer). I did not read as much as I thought I would today. I honestly wanted to finish at least one book.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.

 

Cassia

 

Books Started: The One by Kiera Cass

Books Finished: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Pages Read: 195

Impressions: The Selection is mostly about character development. From the beginning of the series, America has really changed. Not always for the better, but I enjoy seeing her change and try to find her way in the midst of a revolution, and two boys.

Frustrations: Her indecision. Oh, and Aspen. Why can't he just not say anything about Maxon? If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, Aspen. He's the main reason America doesn't trust Maxon, and she loves Aspen too much to see that he's manipulating her. And I know America is very passionate, but you would think she wouldn't mess things up as much between her and Maxon. Sometimes I just want to scream at her, "Maxon loves you!!! Why can't you see that and let go of Aspen?" Nonetheless, I really do like her. I am just very frustrated.

Challenges Completed: None

 

 

Sweet Summer Read-a-thon Goals

       Finally! The summer is here. I cannot wait for those long days filled with sun, sand, and, most importantly, books. To kick-off this wondrous season of lazy days and heat waves, we decided to participate in The Book Tower's Sweet Summer Read-a-thon.
       The event starts on June 9th and goes until the 15th. The goal is to read as many books as possible and compete in some pretty cool (or hot) challenges along the way.
       So, we will be posting every day of the challenge with our updates, progress, and frustrations.
       In the spirit of the challenge, we are all making lists of the books we would like to read during the week and challenges we want to complete.

Tessa's

Books to Read
 

1. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West 

2. Ink by Amanda Sun
3. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
4. Dangerous by Shannon Hale
5. (re-read) City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Grand Total: 2051 pages

Challenges

1. Read an average of 200 pages a day
2. Read a summer themed book

Cassia's

Books to Read

1. (finish) The Elite by Kiera Cass
2. The One by Kiera Cass
3. (re-read) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
4. White Cat by Holly Black
5. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen
6. The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore  

Challenges  

1. Get to the ending of The Selection series QUICKLY
2. Try to like Jace (at least a little bit) when I re-read City of Bones (sorry guys, but he's not my favorite)  

Max's

Books to Read

1. The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer (on my kindle, that purple thing at the top)
2. (finish) Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
3. The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
4. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
5. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
6. (re-read) City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Challenges

1. Read at least 200 pages a day.
2. Review any book I finish the day I finish it.

The Friday 56 #5

The Friday 56

This is a weekly meme hosted over at Freda's Voice.

The rules are simple-- grab the book you are currently reading and turn to page 56 (or 56% of your e-reader). Then copy a few sentences and post them.

These are the books we are currently reading and a snippet of page 56.

Max's

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zuzak

"'You were always so handsome,' she tells me. She even touches Jimmy's face in the photos, and I see what it is to love someone like Milla loved that man. Her fingertips are made of love. When she speaks, her voice is made of love."

Tessa's

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

"'By the way, I don't think senior citizens are supposed to be rocking pigtails.'

Mom slaps my hand away. 'Senior citizen? I'm only forty-six.'

'Fine. Elderly people.' I say with a gleam in my eye."

Cassia's

The Elite by Kiera Cass

"The United States was invaded at the beginning of the Third World War after they couldn't repay their crippling debt to China. Instead of getting money, which the United States didn't have, the Chinese set up a government here, creating the American State of China and using the Americans as labor."

Anomaly by Krista McGee

Picture courtesy of Goodreads

Anomaly

Author: Krista McGee
Series: Anomaly #1
Release Date: July 9, 2013
Pages: 312
Review by: Tessa

Thalli was just marked for death. She is sitting in the room full of fake flowers and their fake aroma to await a "humane" death. As if annihilation could be humane.

Thalli is not ready to embrace death yet -- she just discovered the truth about her world. The Scientists, the only ones to survive the apocalyptic nuclear war, created her small world and supposedly made it better by removing emotions from the population. Yeah, very humane.

The Scientists were her idols, including their newest apprentice and Thalli's childhood friend, Berk. But then Thalli slipped and showed her creators that she was an "anomaly," also known as a human with actual feelings. That is why she is scheduled to death and Berk, her precious friend is just going to watch it happen.