Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! I hope you are all having fun celebrating with your friends and family. I know that I have had a great Christmas so far-- Listening to Christmas carols, hanging out with my family, buying and receiving presents, going to church at midnight, and I hope you're having fun as well!

Anyway, just a quick little post. :) Merry Christmas guys!

Maggie Stiefvater- What She Does Well In Her Writing

So if you are a ya literature fanatic as I am then you have definetely heard of Maggie Stiefvater.  If you don't know who she is then let me explain. She is the author of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series (Shiver, Linger, Forever), author of The Raven Boys, The Scorpio Races, Lament, and Ballad.  So far I have read three of her books: Shiver, Linger, and The Raven Boys. And each time she has amazed me.

Why did she amaze me? Well, the way that she is able to pull her readers into the story is astounding. Her writing style works really well with the stories she tells. So today I am going to break down for you what it is exactly that she does well.

• Pulls her readers in from the first page. Her first lines of books or first paragraphs are always highly intriguing. For example, the first line of Shiver is, "I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves." The first line of The Raven Boys is, "Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times someone had told her she would kill her true love." Now is that amazing or what? 
• Creates a thoughtful and different story line while using techniques that teens love. I admire the way that Maggie is able to choose a unique topic to write about while at the same time she stays in the general vicinity of where teenagers like to go- Her Wolves of Mercy Falls series is about werewolves which are very popular in young adult books these days- but she manages to make them non-cliche and pretty awesome. Well the Raven Boys was not something like I'd ever read in young adult literature before but it was amazing because of that. So she is very unique.
• Is one of the most unique YA author voices of today. First Maggie's voice is so clear, she's not one of those authors that just slips out of the scene.  She writes in a different kind of way that makes her voice sound different than all the other ya authors of today.  She says things like, "She grunted to the negative," which is just another cool way of saying that she mumbled no. I love the way she does that and is able to put a picture in her readers mind without going completely overboard *cough* Tahereh Mafi *cough*
• Writes such good books! I've enjoyed all reading experiences by Maggie and her books are simply amazing. If you have not read one of them then you must pick one up immediately! Or at least the next time you are at the bookstore or the library. 

Anyway that was just a quick author profile so I hope this helped you . This is the 1st installment I'm doing of a series called "What Makes a Good Writer (WMAGW)". Throughout the month I will be sharing with you several different talented authors and what makes them so talented. Have a nice week!

Love, Love, Love,

annabel (:

New Memes!

My new memes are going to be Waiting on Wednesday (posted Wednesdays), I'm Not Impressed (posted randomly),  and US vs UK (posted Monday.)

Hi guys! Happy thanksgiving :)

I did a few memes early on in my blogging career, but being a novice, my memes kind of faded away sadly. But after searching for good meme ideas, I'm super excited to say that I'm going to be introducing 3 new memes that will be posted pretty regularly on my blog: Waiting on Wednesday (posted Wednesdays), I'm Not Impressed (posted randomly), and US vs UK (posted Mondays).



Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking The Spine. It

spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  Posted every Wednesday (or, in my case, posted Wednesdays when I CAN.)

I'm Not Impressed is a meme that's not hosted by anywhere I know of, but it's become a pretty popular meme and I wanted to participate in it because it's fun.  I know we've all heard of the Makayla Maroney  "not impressed" face, right? Well, I'll feature things that I'm not impressed with, and post Makayla Maroney's not impressed face afterwards. :p I'll post it whenever I feel like it. :)

US vs UK is a meme hosted by Book Passion for Life.  In this meme, I will post a US and UK cover from the same book, and my followers will vote on whichever one they like the best! I'll keep track of the score. Posted Mondays, or most Mondays.

I can't fully commit to posting my memes every week since I'm a busy girl, but I'll do as best as I possibly can. Mondays should be easy enough, it's the Wednesday meme that might be tricky.  And I will usually post the I'm Not Impressed meme over weekends, usually Sundays since I have the Saturday Scoop on Saturday. thanks, guys! 

Upcoming Releases of 2013

I know a lot of you YA crazy fans are anticipating an exciting year for YA books coming up, and it's called 2-0-1-3!  So many exciting debuts, sequels, prequels, and other fun stuff is coming out next year! So I've decided to feature just a few of the books that avid young adult readers are most excited about these days. :)

Boundless (Unearthly, #3)
The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfil her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3)
Who's forgetting the finale to this epic series? I certainly am not!

Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
I know personally that I was one of those few people that fell head over heels in love with the first book in this series. 

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

The Elite (The Selection, #2)
I know I'm very much anticipating the sequel to The Selection. 

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestsellerThe Selection.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Which 2013 release are YOU most looking forward to! Drop me a comment, it'll brighten my day. :)

 that's all for today, but throughout the rest of 2012, I'll be featuring a few more upcoming releases of 2013, so keep looking for the posts! 

New Info: The Elite, Taylor Swift, and Me.

Hi!   Today I'm taking a day off from school voluntarily to catch up on a lot of things, such as sleep, homework, studying, reading, and my blog. This is going to be a triple post: as in, 3 completely different things crammed into one big post.  Hope this doesn't scramble your mind too much.  :p

Today I'm going to be talking about three things that I feel are important. One, the release of Taylor Swift's new album, Red, and a quick album review. (Something I'll start doing when I buy more albums, haha.)  Two, Kiera Cass's second book in The Selection series, The Elite. I decided to pick this day to take a look at this book because "elite" is one of my English vocabulary words, and because it's possible that the second cover just might be as pretty or prettier than the first cover. I'll give you the inside scoop on it, as well as what I'm planning to regarding reading this book.  And three--me, myself, I.  Me as a blogger. Me as a fashion blogger. Me as a reader. And me as myself.  :)

First things first: Thank you for all of you patient followers. I know my posts have been unpredictable and scattered the past month and a half, and I thank you for bearing with me during these crazy weeks of my life. :p

Now, I don't know if you're a Taylor Swift fan, but as you've definitely figured out by this point, I am.  A die-hard T-Swift fanatic who refuses to become skeptical of her new decisions even when she supposedly crashes a wedding. Oh, Taylor. Those are the moments when you shake your head and laugh.  But, back to my point. HER NEW ALBUM. Released yesterday.  I got picked up from school early for a dentist appointment (which is impossible when you have top and bottom braces, a herbst, and other various torture devices glued into your mouth), and I saw the Walgreens sign flashing to all those who drove by: "Taylor Swift 'Red' $11.99!" My eyes widened. I waited until my mom had picked me up from the dentist to sweetly try to convince her that this was a once-in-a-two-year experience. That REAL Taylor Swift fans bought her albums the day they came out.

After much persuading, she finally handed 3 crumpled bills to me and told me to run into Walgreens.  I did, and after I almost got lost and finally found the display of albums, I walked out hugging the carefully wrapped album to my chest, sighing with pleasure.  A great thing to indulge in on a depressing Monday night. (Especially when your gums are bleeding because the lady literally went at you like you were some sort of scientific experiment.)

Instead of talking on and on like I always seem to do, I'll get straight to the point, my dear friends.  This album is amazing. All of the songs.  I have several new favorite songs: "Treacherous", "I Knew You Were Trouble", "All Too Well", "22", and who could forget "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"? But that's not a new favorite song.  Also, this isn't about the songs at all, but the photography is gorgeous. Although, I did notice quite a contrast between different songs. You'd see her in a silky dress with dreamy curls floating around her face as she sings a depressing ballad, and then you'd turn the page and she'd have on those sunglasses and tight black skirt.

Anyway, I'm obsessed. I'm listening to "I Knew You Were Trouble" right now, in fact, as I type.  Two-thumbs up to Taylor Swift with her new album, I am extremely impressed.
____________________________________________________________________________

One subject down, two to go!

Next. The Elite by Kiera Cass.

This just about settles it: I'll be dragging my parents to the bookstore the day this book comes out, just for the cover, once again. Yes, I did like the first book quite a lot and would buy this book anyway, even if it had a grotesque cover. But I would have been able to wait a few days before I got it.  This clinches it: I am not waiting.  The moment this book is available for public eye, I will be holding it. It is gorgeous. More than gorgeous, it looks very good.

If you scoll through Goodreads, a lot of people say that they won't read this. I understand. I actually respect them for overlooking the cover. But here is one thing logical about my desperation to have this book: I did like the first book. Quite a lot. So, naturally, I'll read the second. If it had had a normal cover I might be just "Yay, cool" about it, but I'm sort of like "YYYYAAAAYYY COOOOL!" about this one, because that's just me.

This was kind of a short section, but I don't have much to say about this except that it is pretty, and who wants to read about prettiness for a gazillion minutes of their day? I don't.

______________________________________________________________________________

Next! Me.

Bad picture, but whatever...
Anyway, so the last few days I have been posting a lot. That was partly because I felt bad for not posting for 2 weeks, and also because I am a bored person with a boring life. Well, not really. Actually my life is anything but, haha.

I'm still feeling sad about summer being over (I know, I know, it's late October, and I'm still getting over summer...sad), ESPECIALLY because that means no more reading for long periods of time. When I can read, it's brief and I can only read a few pages at a time, which makes me so sad.  I miss my daily book review posts! :( I also miss reading all my other fellow bloggers' daily book review posts.

Again, I promise I am still alive if I don't post every week. I will try to post as often as possible and try not to make my posts TOO repetitive (after all my life is pretty repetitive: wake up, go to school, go to practice, come home, eat dinner, do homework, shower, go to bed, then the cycle starts again).

Anyway, thank you for  reading this long and probably boring post! Bffn!

The Story of My Crazy Busy, Super-Hectic Life.

I have been MIA for two weeks. I apologize to my community. (Got that one from The Giver. Is it possible I study too much?)

HI, guys! I feel like I've been away for, like, forever. So I'm not that much different from what I was almost 2 weeks ago, but I feel different. Like my life has taken a different shape. Well, no, not really, haha, but I do feel like a slightly different person. I've noticed 2 things in the past couple weeks.

- Thirteen is an awkward age.
- It's annoying when girls go off and have secret conversations that they push you out of and u feel incredibly awkward just standing alone because everyone is having secret conversations with each other.
- It is very awkward talking to boys. Unless it's not. But it usually is.
- I hate some people I loved 2 days ago, and I love some people I hated 2 days ago.
- Social life is stressful.

Well, I could use the word awkward several more times but I don't think I will primarily for your benefit.  Since it's Friday (thank the Heavens), I get to save all my homework for Sunday evening and just chillax all weekend because that's the way I live and function.  Last week was the interim and my grades are all well and good except for math where there's that one ominous 84. (C+). Ugh. Whatever, though. I scored a few goals in field hockey this weekend which I'm happy about, also there's this boy who pretends he hates me but everyone knows he likes me, Oh! And there's this girl who I used to like but now i hate. Fun life, right?

I am exhausted. More than exhausted, I am suffering from major sleep deprivation.  There's the drama queen in me, but I am so tired I could just collapse in a heap on my bed and never wake up. Or, at least, wait until Christmas break to wake up, when my sister would come home and there would be no school, no mile runs, no friend drama, no boy drama, no nothing except me and presents and cake and Christmas trees. Ahhh. A beautiful thought.

Even though it might sound as if I loathe my life, I love it. Life sucks sometimes and life rocks sometimes. It depends on the day. Today was half and half.  The school part was ok, the social part sucked, the practice part rocked! Miss Brooks was in a verrry good mood and we decided to just play games in the gym with the boys soccer team since it was wet and rainy outside and everyone was in a sucky mood. Luckily, our sucky moods were quickly turned to happy moods when we found out we could show off our sexy athletic skills to the hot soccer boys. Just kidding. No, we were just happy that we didn't have to run the 5-lap test. :p

Anyway... I love all of you guys, and even if I sound like a sleep-deprived, half drunk maniac, I promise I am still my normal self and will post a civilized post soon enough. Bffn. :)

I'm (Finally) 13!

This is a bit of a late post since my birthday was Tuesday and it's now Friday (4 day weekend! woo-hoo!), but I'm now officially 13 and officially can call myself a teenager.  It is very surreal, might I add? Probably the majority of you readers are teenagers/have been teenagers so it's probably not a big deal to you, but... I'm sure you remember when you became a teenager within 24 hours of your life, and how surreal it felt.

It is both a moment of happiness and a moment of sadness.  I'll never be 12 again. I want to be like Tinker Bell, like Peter Pan, never growing up, staying a little girl forever.  I look back on all of these years and remember my faery-house days, my ever-present hair ribbon days, and the days when I was a foot shorter than my mom.  I'm now just about as tall as she is, maybe like half an inch shorter.

Blowing out birthday candles is something that also changes over the years.  When my mom brought out the glowing birthday cake with the glittering 14 candles (one extra for good luck), I sighed in happiness but when I blew them out, my wishes differ from the ones I made even just a year ago.  I wish for selfish things.  I think I'm too old to believe in magic things like birthday candle wishes, but it still counts, I think.  I can't tell what I wished for, I'm still that way; but let me just tell you that it wasn't for world peace or for hungry children to be fed.

Well, anyway... Just a quick little note from your (teenage) writer, ^^ to say hi to all of you and to celebrate my 4 day weekend and gift certificate to Barnes & Noble! Ahhh so excited to go!

I love you guys,

love, love, love
Annie :)

2.5 Crazy, Awesome Weeks

Now that it's Saturday I am so excited to be back and posting on my blog! Well I just wanted to say that I have had a totally and completely awesome first couple weeks of school and am so happy and enjoying life right now, :) The weeks are hectic, no doubt, and sometimes stressful, but mostly I'm lovin' it.

The most exciting thing about last week was our first field hockey game of the season.  We won 2-0 and I got to play two different positions-- Right Wing (forward attack) and Left Mid.  It was such a fun experience and our team is really good for having not played together before (I say with a hint of brag in my voice).  Playing field hockey makes me forget how much i LOVE, genuinely enjoy, playing it. It's not like that for a lot of things. I mean, I enjoy ballet, I enjoy tennis, but not in the same way as I adore field hockey.

Besides field hockey, my life is good. I'll be 13 a week from Tuesday, which I'm pretty dang excited about XD. I'm really hoping I'll get a cell phone but that's kind of a long shot, you know? I have a lot of homework every night, but surprisingly I don't really mind, it makes me feel very productive and accomplished.  In English I mostly get A's, in math I mostly get B's and C's, so what? Im enjoying myself so thats just everything that matters. I'm also making a lot of new friends, drifting back and forth between the "popular" group and the "non popular" group (yes, I hate these rankings but sady when you're in 7th grade that is how it is).

The only thing I'm feeling a bit down about is the amount of reading I'm fitting in, which is about...um...a book every two weeks? I feel bad and totally disconnected from the world of books. Sadly, I was very proud of myself when i finished a book during the week this week. Also, my blog. As I've said in my post policy i'll post on weekends but that never seems like enough.  Nonetheless I'm looking for some feedback on my blog:
- Do you think I should post more often? Less often?
- Do you think my posts are too mixed up and scrambed? Should I keep my blog to one subject, not many different ones?
- Do you like the layout of my blog?
- What kind of posts interest you about my blog and why?
- What should I post more about? Less about?
Please please PLEASe give me your opinions, I will definitely not be offended if you hate something about what I wrote, I am just lookin for feedback and what I can do to make my blog better.

Now to my followers! I freaking love you guys. I don't think I wouldve keept up with this blog if it weren't for you. Although I have nearly 50 followers I really want to give a shout-out to 3 of my most common commenters (LOL):

- Grace from The Humble Watermelon (always makes my day with her sweet comments)

- Delaney from Random Ranting (makes me laugh both on and off her blog)
- Erika from Living For The Books (she was my first-ever follower!)

Now I'm not gonna bore all of you with mushy useless "thank you so much" comments, but I do want to say thank you to ALL of you, especially those I listed above. You guys rock!

I'm Back!

Hi to all my lovely followers! I haven't posted in 5 days but that is because of my incredibly busy schedule these days *sigh*. I've been feeling kind of depressed that summer is over but I'm enjoying school so far :) I haven't had much time to come online because of school (um, duh), field hockey practice, homework, and just getting settled in to start the school year.  Now its the weekend and I'm finally scraping up some time to write a quick little post on my blog XD

One thing that's making me especially depressed about the summer ending is that I don't have any time to read! Sometimes I have a few extra minutes in study hall to read a page or two, but I've been feeling completely detached from the world of books this week.  I haven't read in a week and if I did read, it was my US History homework, so, I guess that doesn't really count.

As I stated in the Post Policy I posted a couple of weeks ago/a week ago/a few days ago?!, (I honestly can't remember when I posted it; all of the late August days are blending together in my mind and I can't tell one from the other haha) I'm going to try the best I can to post on weekends and occasionally weekdays if my homework situation isn't bad.  I might be able to post on Mondays since I don't have practice on Mondays, but I guess i'll play it by ear. And posting on weekends should be fairly easy since I'll generally finish all my homework Friday nights and I don't have practice or games on weekends (...yet).

So I hope all of you are having a good start to the year and wish me luck in the upcoming months! Bye girls! (and boys!)

Clockwork Princess Teasers!!

If you're a Cassandra Clare fan then you definitely know that everyone's going crazy for the upcoming novel--Clockwork Princess-- to be released March 19, 2013! I know I'm very excited about it! I don't know if this really matters or not, but if you haven't read the first two books, you might not want to read the teasers just because there might be some minor spoilers in them.

I've decided to feature a few teasers every couple of weeks from this book until it comes out.  I might be a little unpredictable because I have no idea when I'm going to have time to post once school starts, but I'm going to try and post them as much as I can! I found these teasers from TMI Source so if you're interested in hearing more, stay tuned to my blog or check out this website! If you have a Goodreads account you can also check out some of the discussions about teasers on there. Sooo... I'll stop blabbering away and get to the part you all want to hear--the teasers.

Today I'm going to feature four of them, analyze them, and them leave your comments! thank you for reading them.

Teaser #1: Jem knotted his fingers in the material of Will’s sleeve. “You are my parabatai,” he said. “You said once I could ask anything of you.”
Analysis: This seems to mean that Will and Jem are struggling somehow with their friendship. And I have a feeling it's about Tessa, one way or the other.  Maybe Tessa decides that she is fit for Will, not Jem, and decides to break off her engagement, which starts drama between the parabatai? 

Teaser #2: And the gold of her ruined wedding dress.
Analysis: Someone, or something, has gotten in the way of Jem's and Tessa's marriage. Obviously, someone's wedding dress is ruined, and we're almost sure it's Tessa's, but how can we be sure? Something happens in a wedding of someone (probably Tessa and Jem) and causes this to happen. 

Teaser #3: Tessa put a hand against the wall as she made her way numbly down the stairs. What had she almost done? What had she nearly told Will? 
Analysis: For me, this means that she's nearly told Will something that she would never forgive herself for, or something extremely dangerous that could get her in trouble later. 

Teaser #4: “You are not really dying,” Will said, the oddest tone to his voice, “are you?”
Analysis: To me this means that Jem is well and probably not going to die.  But it also means that Jem might have told a big lie sometime in the first books. 

Reading these teasers makes me want the book even more, doesn't it you? I know I'm really excited for the book to come out and even more excited to find out what happens to Will, Tessa, and Jem! Happy reading :)

♥αηηιε

Post Policy!

Well since school's almost back in session, I suppose I should say a bit about how I'm going to manage this blog when school starts.  In these couple weeks before it does, I will post as often as possible (probably once every two days, or if I'm not busy, once a day). During the school year, I will try to post on weekends and whatever days I have free on weekdays. So that's when you can expect posts from me. Just thought i'd let you know :) Happy rest of the summer!

New Design?

Day after day I looked at my blog and thought it looked kind of boring. Compared to all the other cool blogs I visited daily, mine looked drab and same-old, same-old, so I wanted something different... and this is what I came up with.  I think I'll probably make a few other changes in the future but for now this is what my blog's going to look like.  I'm not sure about it...the other design had that sweet, innocent, cute look and this one looks a little more aggressive-toned. Do you like it? Does it fit the tone of my blog? Please let me know because I would love to hear if you like it or not. I just wanted to say that www.thecutestblogontheblock.com was the biggest livesaver ever! They offer really really cute backgrounds (hence the name of the website) and they are so helpful! so if you're ever in need of a cute blog background, I'd recommend going to that website :)

Anyway--just thought I'd tell you guys so that you werent totally confused when you went on my blog! if you'd like to leave me a quick note about what you think about the new design i would love to hear it. thank you for visiting my blog!

To-Read books!

Synopsis:
We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Synopsis:
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 find, 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.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

Synopsis:
After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, who is charming, eloquent, and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself the center of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.

This is a story of love and loss, religious belief and spirituality—it will move the hearts of any who read it.

Synopsis:
Twelve-year-old Lucy Desberg is a natural problem-solver. At her family’s struggling pharmacy, she has a line of makeover customers for every school dance and bat mitzvah. But all the makeup tips in the world won’t help save the business. If only she could find a way to make it the center of town again—a place where people want to spend time, like in the old days. Lucy dreams up a solution that could resuscitate the family business and help the environment, too. But will Lucy’s family stop fighting long enough to listen to a seventh-grader?   In a starred review, Kirkus said this novel “successfully delivers an authentic and endearing portrait of the not-quite-teen experience,” and Booklist called it “a warm, uplifting debut.” Readers everywhere have responded to Lucy’s independence and initiative—not to mention her great style.

Synopsis:

Somewhere in South America at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening until a band of terrorists breaks in, taking the entire party hostage.

But what begins as a life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different. Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion and cannot be stopped.

Ann Patchett has written a novel that is as lyrical and profound as it is unforgettable. Bel Canto is a virtuoso performance by one of our best and most important writers.

Everyone's thoughts?

The Hunger Games debate

I'm a huge Hunger Games fan, and think the books are great.  But then, you hardly ever see people who aren't crazy fans of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, right? I talked and debated with my sister, Hadley, and her friend Nando about the various reasons why the book didn't have the same effect on them that it had on a lot of other people who read the book. 


Hadley: The thing I like about the books, and appreciate, first of all, I think Katniss is a pretty compelling girl, who's like kind of a badass, and that's going to be rare in books in fantasy or sci-fi. At the same time, I think the writing is not very good, and that's my first criticism. I think it's really, like, fluffy, just bad writing that's only driving the plot forward telling that. And then, I'm just not crazy about the whole premise of kids killing each other, and then I'm really not crazy about the love plot. Also, what's the deal with the names? Why are the names in this book outrageous? So, I get that it's like a dystopian future, right? Part of the reason I feel like the writing's not very good is that I feel like it's just not very fleshed-out, the details of that world, how it came into being, and  why she's writing about it. Like, why is there a breadmaker? Peeta's the breadmaker.

Annie: Hadley--

Nando: Oh my god, I hated that movie.

Annie: God! She was starving, okay? she was about to die! He saved her life! He threw her the bread. Seriously. He saved her life , she returned the deed by saving his life!

Hadley: I just like the romance plot is just- For having Katniss as this female protagonist that's pretty great and pretty strong and interesting, the majority of the plot is about these two guys, and her like choosing between them, and some of them are throwing her bread and some of them are hunting for her, I just I think it's weird.

Annie: Do you think that the idea of kids killing kids is interesting or more horrific?

Hadley: Well, I think it's both.  I  think it's really interesting that these books have taken off not just among kids, among adults too. And I think it's--people say the books are not about the killing, which I think is a really interesting distortion of a reading experience, because the books are really clearly about the killing. Pretty much driven entirely by the killing, and when they're not talking about the killing, they're talking about the guys. Those are the two plots.  It's like, "Which of these two men is Katniss going to end up with?" SO when people say it's not about the killing, I want to ask them if they actually erad the books, because it's actually all about the killing.  And I'm fine with it, I'm not going to pass judgement about why people like to read about kids killing ids, I just think it's really strange that that's what they enjoy. It's a really strange distortion.  LIke when you read Harry Potter, no one's like, "Well, it's not really like the magic." You know what I mean? it's like you took the premise of the book, "Oh lets just throw that out," and then it's like, "Then what's left of the book?" it's weird, right? I mean, what did you find compelling about that, Annie? Why did you enjoy reading about it?

Annie: WEll, in a way, you're kind of like right, because we are kind of like the Capitol because people keep reading and enjoying these books.  It's so weird because it's weirdly compelling. I don't know.

Nando: It's people dying, it's dramatic!

Hadley: What I found manipulative about that was it would be cool if the author put it in perspective of enjying the killing.  Like, If she put it in an authorial perspective. But I don't think she does that.  I think you figured out that the author didn't intend, which is cool and interesting to think about, but's it like it puts no effort into making her readers think through it and that's why people have an easy time saying it's not about the killing, because the author is casual.  I think adults reading the book are just dumb.  Kids are just so manipulated by the books.

Pretty Covers I Just Can't resist

I'm SUCH a sucker for pretty book covers, so I decided to make a post of a whole collage of them.

- The Selection by Kiera Cass
I am just completely obsessed with this cover, even though I haven't read the book and have talked to a lot of people who didn't like the book despite the beautiful cover!  A bad habit of mine is that I judge books by covers and just looking at this cover makes me want to have it sooo badly. This is kind of a silly post but I consider this to be an important part of my reading, so I had to make a post for pretty covers.

What I Love About This Cover: 
-The colors.  I love the blue/turquoise and white combined.
- the girl's dress and pose.  I love the way she's standing.  I know it sounds completely ridiculous.
- the lettering.
- even the title and the author's name!

How I live Now by Meg Rosoff

Even though this book wasn't my favorite book ever, I couldn't help but feel a little love towards it because of this cover.  I got the book in England, so it's not the American cover, it's the British, and for some reason I just like British covers better.  Take the Harry Potter series.  The UK versions are SO . Much. better!

What I Love About this Cover
- the title lettering.  I like how it's cursive but not really cursive and how it clashes (in a good way) with the girl's hair, which is brown.
- the texture.  Obviously you don't know what it feels like but it is so smooth!
- The way the girl's ponytail is slightly messy and the hair ribbon
- the author's name! Meg Rosoff- that name is soo pretty.

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

I liked this book as well as the cover, so it was really a win-win situation here.

What I liked:
The way the girl is looking down
The way her hair is position
The pretty pink lettering at the bottom

My Upcoming Reads!

 For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagine. 

I plan to read this soon.  The main reason I would like to read it is that it sounds really interesting, but also it has a very lovely cover (isn't it just beautiful?!!).  Does anyone have any thoughts on this book? What did they like about it? What didn't they like about it? No spoilers please, since I haven't yet read the book! :)

An independent-minded young maid tells the story of social-climber Peggy Shippen and how she influenced Benedict Arnold’s betrayal of the Patriot forces. Revolutionary Philadelphia is brought to life as Becca seeks to find her "missing pieces” while exploring the complicated issues of the war between the impoverished independence men and the decadent British Tories. 

I also plan to read this soon! The other day I was searching for a good historical fiction book and the woman who worked at the bookstore recommended it to me! Does anyone have anything that I should know before I read this book?What did you guys like or not like about it? Again, no spoilers! Thank you:)

It's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn't get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family's coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie's concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family's small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive

I think I started this book a long itme ago but never really finished it.  I plan to read it soon, because it was on the list for 7th grade summer reading at school.  The list only required me to read 2 of the 4 books listed, and I already read 2, but I thought I'd give this one a second chance.  Thoughts? No spoilers!!!! 

I actually started this book already but I'm not that far and would love to hear what other people think! 

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

I'm not like out of my mind impressed so far (I'm only like 60 pages in!) but I wanted to know what other people thought! No spoilers!