Me on Recent Books I've Read Part 1

(and props to @abbymumford for making me blog)

i've been reading a lot lately, mostly because i just figured out the password for my library card for the library in downtown Vancouver. ;) i also learned that i get 50 free holds a year. i've been using them.

a lot. :)

most have been YA, because i've come to love it over the last few years (thank you, children's lit class). i haven't been writing enough of it because of this book overdose that started last Monday, but i'm going to try and write some more. i really need to get this book out of my head and into the Word file.

below is a quick and dirty review list of recently read books. most i really liked, some i sort of liked. none i totally hated, so yay. :)

and Falling, Fly by Skyler White: i don't think i read enough urban fantasy. i read a fair amount of paranormal romance, though, and i sort of wanted a change. plus it sounded cool: angels and vampires. :) i liked it. i thought the change in tenses/narrators was a bit odd (1st person when focusing on Olivia, 3rd person for Dominic), but it was okay.

A Year in Europe: Three Novels by Rachel Hawthorne: i've read 3 out of 4 of her YA werewolf novels, & when i saw this at the library i had an instant high school flashback when i'd read 1 or 2 of these 3 three stories. reading this was a wonderful refresher, and i felt it was like a pre-read for Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (X-mas present hint hint ;)). it was cute YA chick-lit that appealed to my inner 16 year old hopeless romantic (and so i bought my own copy because i know i'm going to read it again). ;)

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev: YA plus Shakespeare plus magic. it was sweet and beautiful. it brought me back to my love of Shakespeare, especially the comedies. Bertie is wonderful, a young girl having grown up in this strange magical theatre, surrounded by characters from many different plays. her close friends are the faeries from the plays, like Peaseblossom and others (i'm spacing out on the names, please forgive me). i want my own copy of this book. it reminds me that theatre is far from dead, & that YA doesn't always have to be about kids in high school dealing with peer pressure. book 2, Perchance to Dream, is in my library book bag upstairs. :) also, i loved Nate. love interest who's a nice pirate?? yes. ;)

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston: the spine had a little Canada flag sticker on the spine cause Lesley's a Canadian author. :D i loved this. this was like book 2 out of 2 in my YA Shakespeare/faerie pile. more in the modern world than Eyes Like Stars, more dangerous & action-y, still good. i bought a copy. i want to read the next 2, then Lesley's next series. i'm all for supporting Canadian writers & their books (& also for getting more YA authors to come up to Canada on book tours, but that's a topic for another day *getting off my soapbox*).

The Devouring by Simon Holt: it was creepier than i'd expected. i thought there'd be an easing into the Vours and Reggie's little brother getting taken over by them, but no. and then there was all the weird stuff about what the Vours do and the Fearscape and Reggie going after Henry to find him. i liked it, don't think i didn't. it got weird and twisty and turned into a book i didn't expect to read (The Replacement also did this to me).

part 2 with the rest of my mini-reviews will be up later tonight. i have to make dinner. :)

Me on Forgetting More Things

i really need to blog more. it would keep me from talking to myself.

i think i forget because i don't think i have anything interesting to share. usually nothing exciting happens during the day for me, unless i get something in the mail or i have to go to the store and i see cookies on sale.

why does that sound like i'm middle-aged?? i'm only 23.

maybe i should share what i'm researching for the Ghost Idea (search #GhostIdea on Twitter if you're curious). it's pretty much what i'm working on right now, a YA paranormal novel about a teen girl that starts to see ghosts after (almost) dying in a car accident.

or share what i've been reading. i really liked Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Take, and Brian Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim books. and Kiersten White's Paranormalcy. :)

or what music i'm listening to. right now it's Keane's "Your Eyes Open." very good. :)

hmmm. well, with any luck i'll remember to blog more often. maybe.

if i leave myself a note. ;)

At Home with Paranormalcy contest entry

in case you weren't sure, i loved Paranormalcy. it was wicked cool. Evie was interesting, Lend was so hot (book crush), Reth was... not quite sure how to put it. what word means creepy and dangerous and attractive all at the same time?? but i like Lend more. ;)

and i think Kiersten White is funny. i wish there was a signing closer to me. the closest right now is on the 11th in Salt Lake City. but it would be a 16 hour drive. *sigh*

so, when this contest came up, i thought i would enter. i've only ever won one contest before, and that was for some makeup and i forgot i'd entered it. then there was the signed copy of a Michele Jaffe book that arrived in the mail one day. i was really confused for a little bit, cause i thought i'd entered for that 6 months beforehand. hmmm.

well, even if i don't win this one, it was still fun to plan out pictures. i'll put up all the other ones on Twitter so you can see my weird ideas.

i think this one was the best, though.

"Queen of the Mountain" ;)

tsk tsk, Paranormalcy. beating up on some of my favourite YA books. and they're all there: Hush, Hush (i'm on pins and needles waiting for Oct. 19th). Jealousy. Linger. The Dark Divine. Sisters Red. (oh, the werewolf love :D) Forgive My Fins. Sea. Sea Change. (mermaid love. :) now i'm thinking about Lish. oh, bleep) Bleeding Violet. Wings. Vampire Academy (and Spirit Bound). Revelations. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. plus, there's a hidden Meridian by Amber Kizer in there somewhere. :)

and, of course, Scott Pilgrim. :D

so, this is what happened to me when Paranormalcy arrived: she kicked some book butt to show who's boss (and without a taser, too).

oh, and no books were harmed during the taking of this picture.

i might've gotten a paper cut, though. ;)