2015 Book Blog Bingo Challenge

I found this challenge over at Follow the Yellow Book Road, and thought it sounded like fun, as well as something I should be able to do!  So I decided to sign up, even though it is a little late into the year. 

The Details

• The challenge will run from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015.
• Create a sign up post and add your post to the link up here.
• Only books read in 2015 count
• At the beginning of every month, there will be a round up post for you to link and show your progress.
• There will be at least one mini-challenge sometime during the year for all participants, so check in every month and make sure you link up your progress!
• There will be a giveaway at the end of the challenge for all participants.
• To qualify for the challenge related giveaway(s), participants must be signed up via the link up on this post and must track their progress (either on your sign up post or in a separate post, it's completely up to you).

My Goal

 

• I plan to just work towards one Bingo, to make sure that I complete this.

 I'm guessing I've already reached some.  I will come back and update this post as I have time. 

Review: Landry Park by Bethany Hagen (TBR Challenge #8)

I'd been interested in this book for awhile, the cover of course caught my eye first, then I read the synopsis and was really intrigued.  I got this book in February through the Books & Bloggers swap hosted by Chaotic Goddess Swaps.  My swap partner was Emily from Follow the Yellow Book Road, and this was one of the books I got from her.

What it didn't tell me in the synopsis, but was one of my favorite parts of this book was that it all took place in Kansas City, where I live!  I could picture so many things in the story just from the author naming the locale or a landmark that I was familiar with from living here my whole life.  It was also cool to find out that the author was from KC.

It is a dystopian society where classes have once again become the way people live.  The East, China, Japan, etc., fought a war against the US, and now a lot of our country is gone.  Not only because of that though, but because of global warming and the depletion of the fossil fuels that led to the creation of a nuclear fission type of material that was expensive and harder to come by, mainly for the wealthy.  The main character, Madeline Landry is the descendant of the creator of the charges that are used for electricity now.  So of course her family is one of the highest regarded in the gentry.  As the oldest/only child, she must marry and take over managing the estate one day.  But Madeline wants to go to the University, something that first children don't get to do.  She doesn't care about getting married, would prefer to wait until after she has at least attained the education she so wants.  But her father will not let her, he only sees the responsibility she has to the family.  And when a very eligible boy comes to town, her mother hopes for her to make a match with him.  His name is David Dana, and when Madeline first meets him, she is intrigued by him.  He doesn't seem to be the same as her other peers who are pretty much proud to be gentry, and feel as if all is deserved to be given to them.

But a tragedy occurs when a childhood friend/enemy of Madeline's, a girl named Cara, is attacked outside a debut party.  The gentry assume it is a Rootless, the people who change the charges for them, and end up dying younger because of all the radiation poison they get in their lifetimes.  Soon the gentry are persecuting the Rootless because of the attack.  And Madeline's father seems to be leading the hunt.  But Madeline knows Cara is hiding something, because she has grown up and knows the signs when Cara is lying or covering herself.  Soon David and Cara debut together, and while there seems to be a connection between David and Madeline, she can't quite figure out why he is still being Cara's boyfriend in public.

A great story, I kind of wondered about some kind of little twist at the end that had to do with some stories about Madeline's childhood earlier in the book.  It didn't really seem to fit in until the end, when I thought, yeah, I knew it had to do something with what was going on.  And I'm guessing the sequel will go into that much further.

Books & Bloggers Swap Reveal

Okay, so today I got my awesome package in the mail from my awesome partner, Emily at Follow the Yellow Book Road.  The first glance when I opened the first flap of the box was this:

I saw the cover of Landry Park, and if I hadn't been at work in the high school library where I work, I would have screamed and danced!  I have wanted this book for a long time, and even last night when I was working at the bookstore I was thinking about how much I wanted it.  So this was very exciting.

Now, here is the picture of everything my awesome partner sent me:

The rules were to give:

1. A book from your partner's wishlist:  Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
2. A book you loved:  Graceling by Kristin Cashore
3.  A book you've wanted to read: Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

My partner had sent an email the first day letting me know she might not get my package mailed by the set date, and she decided since she was late to throw in an extra book, The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa.  Honestly, she didn't need to do that, I totally understood, but with that being the extra book, I'm definitely not complaining either!  Of course I still have to finish the The Iron Fey series before I can start that one, but it will happen!  Another thing that was part of the deal was some kind of book swag, etc.  I got a cool The Fault in Our Stars bookmark too.  I'd actually been talking to my bookstore manager about Graceling last night, so I'm now excited to have my own copy to read.  And  Born of Illusion is a book I remember seeing around a lot, and wondering about, so now I'm very excited to get to read it as well!

Thanks so much Emily!  This was a lot of fun.  I think everyone who can participate should try to do that in the future!