Stacking the Shelves - March 16th, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  Not too many this week, but since one was my WOW from this past Wednesday, that makes for a good week!

Won in a blog giveaway:

I was lucky enough to win this during the Leap Into Books Giveaway Hop from Therin Knite at Knite Writes.  Now I can work on this series for my Challenge this year.

Purchased:

Along with some books I purchased at Barnes and Noble with my employee discount to replace ones discarded in the high school library where I work, I saw this on the bargain table, and it was one I'd wanted to read when it first came out.

E-galleys from Edelweiss:

The first one of course was my WOW this past Wednesday, can't wait to read it!  The 2nd one is a prequel to a new series by the authors of the Beautiful Creatures series.  Which I need to finish that series this year for sure.  

E-galleys from Netgalley:

If you remember from my last STS, I got the 2nd book in the His Fair Assassins from the YA Book Exchange.  I did that so if I requested and got the e-galley of the 3rd book that you see above, I'd be ready to read it.  The 2nd one is not really a galley, as the book is already out.  But I went ahead and requested the second book in the Quarantine series, so that once again, I can request the e-galley of the 3rd one.

Not a bad week I'd say. I also bought some of the little bitty tiny Moleskine notebooks to keep in my Nook case to help me keep track of what e-galleys I have downloaded and when they will expire.  Hoping that will keep me on track with my reading them so I make sure to get as close to all of them read as possible.

What books did you add to your shelf this week?

Review: The Taking by Kimberly Derting

First of all thanks to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I thought it sounded really good, and then was even more excited to read it when I found out Kimberly Derting is supposed to be one of the authors at the panel I might be getting to lead in May.  And let me say this, even though the book doesn't come out until April, I am already needing there to be a sequel!  While there isn't one listed yet on Goodreads, the fact that it has in parentheses: The Taking #1, makes me know that I won't be disappointed!

The main character is Kyra, and she is a softball player and we begin with her team having just won the championship.  She's so excited and ready to go the celebration with her best friend Cat and boyfriend Austin.  But she promised her dad she would ride to the celebration with him because he had something important to talk to her about.  On the drive they get in an argument over what college she should go to.  Kyra's dream is to go to college with her boyfriend.  Her dad of course wants her to go to one of the good colleges that is offering her scholarships for her softball.  They keep fighting until Kyra orders her father to stop the car and she will walk the rest of the way.  As she gets out, her father also gets out to try to convince her to get back in the car.  All of a sudden there is a really bright light, and she hears her father yelling for her, and then there is nothing.

When she wakes up she is behind a gas station.  She's not sure how she ended up there, why she would spend the night behind the gas station.  So she walks home.  As she walks home, things in her town are the same, but something seems off, she can't quite put her finger on it.  When she gets to her house, she realizes she'd left all her stuff in her dad's car, so she reaches in the hiding place for the house key, and it isn't there.  She looks in the window and sees a little boy she doesn't recognize in her house.  Then a man comes to the window.  When he opens the door, she asks why they are in her house.  Nothing is figured out, so she goes across the street to her boyfriend Austin's house.  His mom is there.  So she feels at least like things aren't completely wrong.  But then she finds out it is 5 years later than the day she last remembers.

Everything is changed.  Her mom and dad are separated, that kind of thing is always traumatizing to married couples it would seem.  Part of the problem is that her father is so sure that she was "taken" or abducted by aliens.  And he has really gone a bit crazy with all of his research.  Her mother is now remarried, and the man and little boy at her house are her new stepfather and younger brother.  All Kyra has thought about since she got back was seeing her boyfriend Austin, and then of course finding her best friend Cat.  They are now 22, and so away at college.  But things have changed with them.  Something that is even more changed is Austin's younger brother Tyler.  Tyler is now basically the same age as Kyra, since she doesn't seem to have aged at all.  And he looks a lot like Austin, she almost mistakes him for Austin at first.  But while things have changed in the world around her, she has changed as well, even while staying the same age with the same bruise from the day before, and the same tan lines.  Food doesn't taste the same to her.  When she tries to throw a softball, she throws it so hard it busts through a wooden wall.  And there is an NSA agent bugging her.

Kyra must figure out what happened, where was she for 5 years?  Why is there an NSA agent after her?  Is it okay to have these feelings that seem to be developing for Tyler?

This book kept me on the edge of my seat.  Was she abducted by aliens?  Or not?  What did they do to her if she was abducted?  How will she fit into this new world that has gone on without her for 5 years?  And the ending?  Wow!!!!!  I can't believe it ended like that!  I don't know if I can wait a year or however long it is until a sequel comes out.  I am going to have to talk to this publisher about letting me on the list to get a copy of the sequel as an e-galley or ARC.  Love, love, loved this book!!!!

Cover Characteristics - March 14th, 2014 - Fairy Tales Retold

Cover Characteristics is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.  Here are the guidelines for how it works if you want to join in:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

This week's characteristic is: Fairy Tales Retold

5.  A re-telling of Cinderella

4.  A re-telling of Beauty and the Beast

3.  A re-telling of the Frog Prince

2.  A re-telling of Sleeping Beauty

1.  My favorite cover of a re-telling of The 12 Dancing Princesses

Now unlike the other times I've done this meme, I've only read my number 1 choice.  I own copies of two of the others, and want to read the two that I don't own as well.  But I chose these this week because I love them all so much!  This was fun to do after the Epic Reads big YA retellings map they made that you can see HERE.    What are your favorite covers for fairy tale retellings?

Review: Resurrection (Ripper #3) by Amy Carol Reeves

Again, thanks to Flux and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  I have to say this was a perfect conclusion to this story.  All the loose ends left from the last book were tied up.  We learned basically all about the past of the bad guys, as well as the families of the good guys.  My only complaint is something that has absolutely nothing to do with the story really.  Since this was an e-galley I'm sure there will still be so much editing done before it is published.  But this is the first time I have read one with so many errors.  My guess is that the author was just so into the story that she just wrote and didn't go back and spend a lot of time making sure it all flowed.  There were sentences that seemed like she started to say something one way, but then finished the sentence another way, which could mean repeated words.  Now both ways would work, but just not together.

Our main character Abbie is back, along with her friend Simon, and her love, William.  The love triangle is still there to a point.  But Abbie knows that she loves William for sure, even though Simon does still love her, and everyone else feels that Simon would be better for her.  She's back in London with her grandmother, and working at the hospital.  But there are still the undead out there attacking people.  And there is someone new to care for, Laura, who is the granddaughter of the main who helped them get to the island where they found the Lamia that they killed in the last book.  William starts the book recovering from his injuries from the last book.  And Abbie and her grandmother are attacked in her grandmother's home by one of the resurrected.  In fact it is Abbie's friend, yet she has changed besides being dead.  She now is a killer, and enjoys it.  She kills their maid, and tries to get Abbie's mother.  Fortunately they end up getting away that time.  But now Abbie must tell her grandmother about all that has been going on, and she must move her out of the London house.  Only it isn't over, Max is still following Abbie.  He wants her to become immortal like him, to take the elixir.  And he is not the only one, there are two other men that have been around him.  One looks so much like William it is scary.  And there is a reason for that, they are related.

There is a lot of action in this story, and it all concludes in a really exciting suspenseful confrontation between Abbie and Max, at the location they first met, the White Chapel hospital.  I loved the story, the way it concluded was great, even if it was really sad.  And the final bit?  I loved it.  Just the thing I want to know about what happens after a story ends.  I'm a huge fan of this series, and will always recommend it to others.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  The book I've chosen this week is a final book in a trilogy.  It was the series that was my introduction to reading the popular author Julie Kagawa.  I got the first book at BEA 2012, and then was able to read an e-galley of the 2nd book.  And I am now a huge fan of the series, and can barely wait till April 15th when the new one is published.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads.com:

VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?

With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

MONSTER

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

Doesn't it just sound so good? And intense?  Now, honestly, I'm not a fan of the cover, wasn't for the 2nd book either.  I found the Australian cover, and it matches my original book's cover, and I like it much better:

Isn't that one so much better?  And even the UK cover is a lot better than our boring US cover.

Doesn't match any other covers that I have, but I still like it much better than the plain purple colored one.

I'll be able to use this book to help me in the Prequels and Sequels Challenge I'm doing this year as well.

So, what book are you eagerly awaiting this week?
 

Teaser Tuesday - March 11th, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.(The button for this was so tiny I wanted to make my own, so you can see my attempt above!) Anyone can play along!  Just do the following:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page
•  Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

"William, Simon, and I walked about the room.  Jars and jars lined the shelves with strange preserved jellyfish, creatures I've never seen before.  I stepped back, almost collided with a preserved chimpanzee's head floating in a large glass jar near me, its eyes milky white."

~ 60% in Kindle e-galley of Resurrection (Ripper #3) by Amy Carol Reeves

Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This is a book I got as a Christmas gift from my youngest sister's boyfriend.  I believe he said it was his favorite book.  I've read a couple books by Neil Gaiman and liked them.  So I figured this would probably be a good read as well.  I've not read any Terry Pratchett, although the titles of many of his books are pretty humorous.

This is kind of a fun look at the end of the world.  Now, I almost put the book down right away when it started talking about how old the Earth is.  When it said dinosaurs weren't real?  Well, as a former science teacher, I just about was done with that.  But, I gave it a shot, as I know it was supposed to be funny, and in a way, reminded me of episodes of Supernatural.  Which I guess that show would have to not think dinosaurs were real, and I love that show.  It also began by reminding me of another favorite book of mine by Christopher Moore, Lamb:  The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.  

The book begins with an angel and a demon, Azariphale, and Crowley.  I love the name Crowley too, as it is one of the big demon guys in Supernatural.  And they both get the message that it is time to start the end of the world.  By the delivery of the baby that will be the Antichrist, and he must be switched with another baby.  Well, the switch goes wrong, and the baby doesn't end up with the family it is supposed to be with. And so as certain people, nannies, tutors, etc., are sent to help get him ready to end the world, it doesn't seem to work.  Plus, the angel and demon we met at the beginning?  Well they both kind of like humans, and don't really want the world to end.  So the angel sends people to try to counter the evil of the nanny, etc.  At a certain age, a dog is supposed to go meet the Antichrist.  Crowley is waiting to see it, but it never shows up.  At least not with the child they'd thought was the Antichrist.  Instead we soon learn that the baby went to a small town and grew up pretty normal.  Now, things may happen that are unexplained, but nothing major.  And he does get a dog, but the dog isn't quite what is expected, or at least it changes.  Now, all of these events have been predicted by a witch named Agnes Nutter.  And some other characters in the story are Witch Finders, who are supposed to find them, and of course burn them.  And then we also have a witch that lives in the small town, or has just moved to the small town, where the true Antichrist lives.

It's a lot funnier than I make it sound. There were parts I had a little bit of an out loud chuckle.  In the fashion of British humor I guess you would say.  I did notice that one of my favorite authors, Maggie Stiefvater, gave the book 5 stars.  Which doesn't surprise me really, as her Raven Cycle books include ley lines, which it talks about in this book as well.  If you enjoy parodies of religious stories, and British parodies of anything,  you will enjoy this book.

Stacking the Shelves - March 9th, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  I think I've remember all of them this week. I feel like I might be missing an egalley or two.

YA Book Exchange:

I received an ARC of the first book in this series quite a while back. But as usual, I didn't get the ARC to the sequel, didn't even see it as an e-galley to try to download. So when I saw an ARC of this available on the YA Book Exchange, I jumped on the chance to get it.

Purchased:

The first one I actually bought last Sunday, after I'd already done my post for last week, and have already read and reviewed HERE.  The 2nd one, The Blood Gospel, is a book I'd started a few weeks ago.  I had a stripped cover copy from the bookstore. Well, I got about half way through, and got to a point where there were some chapters turned upside down.  And they were the chapters I'd just read, and 4 chapters were missing.  So I ordered another mass market copy into the store, because it was getting good and I needed to finish it.  But when I went in to purchase my order that had arrived last night, I found the hardcover of the book on the bargain display, and purchased that instead because it was cheaper than the mass market.  The 3rd one, Odd Apocalypse, is a the next book in the series by Dean Koontz that I need to read.  My mom had tried to pick a copy up at Costco a while back, but made a mistake and got the one before it, which we already had.  I found this hardcover also on the bargain display.  And finally, the last book is the 2nd in a series, that I still haven't read the first one.  But, again, the hardcover was on the bargain table for cheaper than the paperback would be, plus my employee discount, so I couldn't pass it by.

E-galleys from Edelweiss:

Found this one, and although I haven't read this author before, it sounded pretty good!

E-galleys from Netgalley:

The first one I downloaded after an email from Netgalley saying it was available to download.  I've only read one book by this author, but this one sounds more up my alley.  The 2nd one is by an author that I've also only read one book by, but she is a local author, and that book was really good.  And this one is about tornadoes, something we deal with quite often in the spring where I live.  So I was pleased to be approved for that one.

So, quite a few things added to my shelf this week, mostly my e-reader shelf though.  What new things did you get this week?

Review: The Selection Stories: The Prince and The Guard by Kiera Cass

I bought this last weekend at the bookstore when the main book I went to purchase had to be ordered.  While I'd already purchased and read the first one, The Prince, as an e-novella, I went ahead and bought this physical copy because not only did it have the next novella, The Guard, but it had some great extras too!  So first I'll review the 2nd novella, then I'll tell you about the extra goodies.

The Guard is 2.5 in the series.  It happens after The Elite, almost kind of during it as well.  We get to see the story through Aspen's eyes.  If you've read the series you remember that Aspen is the boy America was in love with at the beginning of The Selection.  But then of course, he told her to go ahead and enter the contest, which she did, and now she is conflicted of course, between Prince Maxon, and her first love, Aspen.  Aspen has realized of course, that he still loves America, and that she is the ONE for him.  But now he must see how he can convince her.  Only, he is now a guard in the palace, so while he does get to see America, to try to be romantic with her would only get him punished.  As well as America.  In this book we get to see the punishment of another contestant from book 2, but this time through Aspen and the other workers of the palace's eyes.  While it does make me like Aspen better than I did after what happened at the very beginning of the first book, I'm still a Prince Maxon fan all the away.

Now, on that note, let me say that I'm very worried about who America will end up. The reason for that is because of something I read in the Bonus Contest, the Q&A with the author.  I won't tell you exactly what she says, and she doesn't even say who America will end up with.  She just says something along the lines that she didn't know for sure what would happen until America told her, and she says it in a way that makes me think she was a bit surprised.  Which worries me!  While there is a short excerpt from The One, the 3rd and final installment in the series, and one of my most anticipated books of 2014, the question section is my favorite part of the bonus content.  But there are some other really cool things:  explanation of each of the levels of the castes.  I would be a 3 for example, because first I was a teacher, and now I am a librarian.  Then there are the family trees for our three main characters, America, Aspen, and Maxon.  After that is a playlist of songs for both the first and the second book.  Makes me want to go back and read them while listening the songs that go with each section.

This is definitely a good value, and I would recommend buying it and reading it if you love the series.  Especially if you own physical copies of the book, you'll need this instead of the e-novella versions.  Now, I must wait till May.  And the possibility that I may get to moderate a discussion with Ms. Cass and some other awesome authors!

Throwback Thursday/Top 10 Tuesday - Popular Authors I've Never Read

So, I saw all the people doing this one on Tuesday, and a few people even jumped in yesterday.  And it was so much fun, I decided I needed to do this myself.  Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish.  
This week, we're hanging our heads in shame and admitting to the fact that we've not read ALL the popular authors! Try not to judge us too much. 

1. Sarah Dessen - I'm not much of a contemporary book person, so I've not read any of her books, such as Along for the Ride,  Lock and Key, and This Lullaby, to name a few.
2. Lauren Kate - To be honest, I had Teardrop downloaded as an e-galley, but never got around to it before it expired.  She is one that I do want to try though!
3. Richelle Mead - I am a vampire story lover.  But, after Twilight, which I loved, I started feeling like any other vampire books were just copycats.  I must say after now seeing the Vampire Academy movie though, I may have to pick up that series.
4. P.C. Cast - another vampire series author that I haven't given a try.  Don't know if I will or not.  The series is the House of Night series that I have heard of specifically.
5. Marissa Meyer is another, although I do have a copy of Cinder sitting on my TBR shelf at home to read.  My goal is to try to read it sometime this year!
6. Kelley Armstrong - now this is one I should probably read since I may be getting to moderate a discussion with her and some other authors in May, I assume about her new book, Sea of Shadows.  And of course there are other books of hers like the series that The Summoning is a part of.
7.  Jodi Picoult - as of now I can proudly say I've not read any of her books.  They just aren't the type that I like.  But, there is the one that is a YA title that she wrote with her daughter, I believe it is called Between the Lines, and I had a student tell me I would like it, so I might give it a chance.
8. Gillian Flynn - I know Gone Girl was a big hit, and I've had several people suggest that I read it. But I just don't have any desire.  I figure I'll go see the movie and be done with it.
9. Khaled Hosseini - I am kind of ashamed of not reading these.  I really need to.  The Kite Runner is the one most people say I need to read.  Some day, when I'm in the mood I guess.
10. Dave Pelzer - Now, these are nonfiction, but A Child Called It is something that I've had students, friends, customers at the bookstore, all tell me I need to read.  It is a sad, and often horrifying story I'm told, but something that I feel I do need to read.

So, are you shaking your heads in disgust at me?  Do you agree with the ones I haven't read that I really should read them?  What do you think?  I'd love to hear your opinions!

Waiting on Wednesday - The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  The book I've chosen this week is by an author that is the coolest author I've ever met.  And that is saying a lot, because I've met a lot of authors, and pretty much every author that I met was cool.  I began following her on Twitter after I read her first book, Spellbound.  And she followed me back.  At the time I was walking at least 3 miles a day, and I would listen to my ipod as I walked, and then tweet the songs that I was listening to.  She often commented on songs that she liked.  Then, when my sister moved to NYC, and I went to visit her for the very first time, I had kind of hinted that it would be really cool if I could meet her somewhere.  This was before BEA, so there wasn't any scheduled book signings or anything going on.  And I will admit I'd tweeted some other authors I followed to see if they'd be around that I might be able to meet them.  Well this author agreed to meet me one night.  So my sister and I went and met her and then we went and had a drink!  We talked for a couple hours, and found so many things we had in common.  Here is the picture of us meeting that night:

So you're probably saying, so she's a really cool person, what about her books?  Well her books are ones that remind me of a picture I saw on Facebook the other day, that talked about a reader's problem, of missing the characters after you finish a book.  I literally was disappointed when her books were over because I wanted to stay in that world, with those characters that felt like people from my own life.  I mean part of what I loved is how the characters were sarcastic and funny with each other, the way I am with people in my life.  So I am now so excited for her 3rd book, a new series called The Dark World.  Here is the blurb about it from Goodreads.com:

Paige Kelly is used to weird--in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer-and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons-and she might never make it home.

So it sounds really good to me!  And I'm sure I'll love the characters just as much!  I will have to buy a copy for sure before I go to BEA this coming May, and hopefully I'll get to meet up with her again like I did in 2012 when I went to BEA, and I'll be able to get it signed.  Here's a picture of Cara, her friend Nancy who is a fellow book blogger, and me and my sister who now lives in NYC.

So, what are you eagerly waiting on this week?

Review: Cured (Stung #2) by Bethany Wiggins

As usual I must first thanks Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  I got to read the first book as an e-galley as well and really enjoyed it.  You can read my review of Stung HERE.  I enjoyed it so much that it is one of the first titles I ordered for the library in the school where I now work.

I was very excited to get this e-galley, but when I started it, at first I was a little confused at whether the story was way after the first one, or maybe going to tell the story before.  The main character in this book is a girl named Jacqui, or Jack, a boy as she has had to become in this new world when women are scarce.  Turns out she is the neighbor girl from the first book that gave that main character, Fiona, some food when she was running to find her brother.  Jacqui had decided she is tired of hiding in her family's home, and wants to go find her older brother who had left awhile back to get Fiona's mother to a safe place when she was kicked out of the walled city.  On her way to find her brother, she ends up at the city and gets Fiona and Bowen, as well as Fiona's twin brother Jonah, to help her go find her brother.  While they've brought not a lot of supplies, they did bring a huge backpack full of water.  Although it turns out, this may not be just plain water as we learn later on.  Along the way they must try to avoid the Raiders, as well as other dangers.  Their first stop is to get help from someone who is supposed to have maps.  Turns out he is a raider, and sets the others on their trail.  They run into a guy named Kevin, who helps them out, even leading them to an underground bunker full of food and basically as safe as can be.  Something about Kevin seems off though.  He knows that Jack is really Jacqui, but no one has told him, so that's a mystery.  Plus, there is something familiar looking about him.  And the shelter has a passage that goes to a house, where Jacqui learns more about who Kevin really is when she sneaks up there.

This book has lots of exciting moments, and while it is somewhat of a traveling book, they are trying to find people, there is a lot of dealings with the Raiders.  It gets really dangerous when some of them are caught, and they are threatened to be bait for the new dogs that have been created with the virus.  Jacqui's brother is found in an unusual place, and the backpack full of water turns out to be a big help as well.  The people being searched for are found, and so I wonder if this is the final book, or if it will go on.  There is nothing else listed on Goodreads, and this could definitely be an ending, but it is also left open for more possibly.  I will keep my eyes and ears open in hopes.

Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

First, thanks to Edelweiss and Harper Collins for allowing me to read an e-galley of this.  I am a fan of Lauren Oliver's Delirium series, as well as her first book, Before I Fall.  So I was excited to get a chance to read the e-galley of this one.  It is a contemporary mystery story basically.  It is set in a small town where things are not great, lots of jobs were lost, and people are pretty much hurting for money or things like that.  There are two characters that we get their points of view throughout the book, Heather, and Dodge.

The title, Panic, refers to a secret game that occurs every year after high school graduation.  The seniors enter, and it is made up of many dangerous challenges.  What is the purpose?  Well, throughout the year students give money, according to our narrators, the money is given whether they want to or not.  And by the time of the competition, there is a huge prize amount.  Often $40,000 or more!  Many people have their own reasons to enter, of course the money is a big one.  Originally, Heather's friend Nat was going to be the one of their group to enter.  But then at the night of the first event, Heather sees her boyfriend with another girl, and decides to enter as well.  Heather's  home life isn't great, she can really use the money to help get herself and her younger sister out of the trailer park where they live with their druggie/alcoholic mother.  Nat is not happy with Heather at first.  And their other friend, a boy named Bishop, is worried as well.

Dodge has a reason besides money to enter.  Revenge.  It was only a few years ago when his sister Dayna was competing, and in a car accident, the last challenge, was paralyzed.  And Dodge wants to get revenge against the younger brother of the boy who won that year and crippled his sister.  Dodge isn't well liked, he has been picked on and treated like an outsider, even though his family had lived there for a few years.  Longer it seemed than his family had lived in other places.  He has always been interested in Heather's friend Nat, except that at a party one time she called him by the wrong name.  As he begins hanging out with Heather, Nat, and Bishop, he soon learns that the name mistake may be due to the fact that Nat is a bit of a drinker.

As we go through all the challenges, the cops get called, people get hurt, someone dies.  There are deals made to share the winnings, and then later deals are made with others, then broken.  Not all three can make it till the end in our group.  It will get down to just two of them and one other at the end.  The judges who create the competitions are anonymous, only Dodge might just figure out who one is.  One of them will end up in the hospital after a challenge, but then make it out to go on to compete again.

A lot of suspense, and a good ending that had me gasping when a twist occurred, only to turn out to be the perfect way to end the story.  The characters' lives will change in many ways.  Reasons for revenge may be changed, love interests develop, and friendships are tested.  Family problems will develop, and then will actually help to learn what real family is.  A good story, I recommend it for a contemporary read.

January/February 2014 Prequel and Sequel Challenge Wrap-up

Didn't do one of these at the end of January, will combine it all in one post.  Here is my original post for this challenge.  I will list below the books I read for this with links to the reviews:

January:

1. Independent Study (The Testing #2) 2 points
2. Insomnia 2 points
3. The Diviners 2 points
4. Beta  2 points
5. Die For Me 2 points
6. Pandemic (Infected #3) 2 points

February:

1. Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3) 2 points
2. Resistance (Replica #2) 2 points
3. Walking Disaster (Beautiful Disaster #2) 2 points
4. Viral Nation 2 points

So I guess I'm coming along okay. Although technically a few of these were the first in their series.  Their sequels should be out this year, so I must get them in time to finish them, or else the whole series is out and I just had the first one sitting on my TBR shelf.  Here is a link to the page we are linking reviews up for these two months.  I'm at 20 points so far.  Now three of the books would actually complete the series for me.  But one of those I don't have posted reviews for the earlier books in the series.  And the other two I still have some little novellas to read to complete the series and earn my 10 points for that.  I'll keep you posted on that!

Stacking the Shelves - March 1st, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected. This week totally made up for the small haul I had last week.  I made quite a few trades on YA Book Exchange.  I got a book from Harper Collins, and I won a giveaway from another blog.

Free e-book:

I saw this was free somewhere, or really cheap.  I forget. But it sounds good, so I grabbed it!

ARC from Harper Collins:

I think I got an e-galley of this, but I was excited to receive an actual physical ARC in the mail this week for this.  I think it was through a giveaway in Shelf Awareness.

Traded for through YA Book Exchange:  

You might remember a few weeks ago my Waiting on Wednesday had to do with some lost books.  Well, to make up for the lost book, which wasn't her fault at all, the trader, Mia, sent me an ARC of Charm and Strange.  I actually hadn't heard of it before, but it sounds pretty good!  So thanks to her!  I also got another trade from her, one that finally made it through now that I've had them sent to my work address.  White Space was one I was reading as an e-galley, but it was hard to read, so I really wanted a copy of it, and Mia was willing to trade me the ARC of it.  Yay!  I saw Eternity Cure on the website, and while I have a copy of the first book in the series, The Immortal Rules, and I've already read this one, I don't have a copy of it, so I traded for that.  And my final book traded for was an ARC of Spells.  I just read the first one, Wings, last summer when I got a free copy of it at the RT Convention.  I really enjoyed it, and while I could just check the others out from a library, I saw this older ARC, and traded for a good deal on it.  If you haven't been to YA Book Exchange, you really need to check it out!  I have a few things up for trade, and there are some really awesome traders out there!

Won from another blog:

I won this from Stormi at Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!  And it came on the perfect day you could say, as I finally went and saw the movie last night.  I know the movie didn't get rave reviews, but I still enjoyed it, and learned a lot of things.  Although I'm still irked that George Clooney's character talks about the World War I museum as being in St. Louis, when it is not, it is in my hometown, Kansas City.  It may not be a book, although there is a book to read.  But I did win it from a book blog, so thought I'd share it!

So, what have you added to your shelves this week?

Review: Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes

I won this book during the Debut Authors blog hop from Sandy at Magical Manuscripts.  I finally got around to it this past month.  This is a very interesting dystopian story.  And one of the big selling points is that it has an autistic main character.  I also like that it uses a service dog that she has to help her with dealing with things that normally overwhelm or upset an autistic person.  It was neat to be reading about it as the local news was running a story about service dogs and autism.

The main character is Clover.  She lives in a world that has been devastated by a virus.  It was sweeping through the population when Clover was born.  Fortunately the Company found a vaccine, in the future.  But now they control everything.  The whole country is split up into walled cities to protect the citizens.  Inside the walls they get their vaccines every day.  And their allowed to get the food and other supplies they need based on a lottery type system.  One that even includes a bit of gambling to try to increase the worth of the wages they get.  Clover's mother died when she was a baby, her father killed her to try to save her from the virus, all this before the vaccine became available.  When it did, his whole family was saved.  But then he went and worked for the executioners, the people who kill those that information from the future shows they will commit a crime.  In that part it reminds me of Minority Report.  Since he's away, has to stay in the military/Company barracks, Clover and her brother West are watched over by a neighbor.  One who now is getting elderly, and West and Clover kind of look after her as well.  When West finished school, he went to work on the Farms. But what he hopes to do, now that Clover is almost done with school, and should be accepted into the Waverly-Stead Academy where she'll stay in a dorm, he hopes to go work for the Company.  But all of that becomes a lost cause when Clover is refused admittance to the Academy, supposedly because of her service dog.

It seems handy that the person in charge of the school just happens to have a letter recommending her for a job at the Company.  Working with the Time Mariners, the team that travels to the future.  She finds out on one of her missions that her brother's name is going to come up as a killer.  And when she gets back, she goes to try to figure out how to save West.  In doing this, they end up contacting one of the men who started the Company, the man who first went to the future and found the vaccine.  And they find allies in other kids that came from the Foster City.  They soon realize that they must be a part of the rebellion, to find out just what the vaccine actually does, and what the Company really wants from the people like Clover that seem to be hired often for the Time Mariners.

A different type of dystopian in a way, but still has a lot of the same details and storylines.  The time travel methodology is an interesting one.  Especially that they can only travel exactly 2 years into the future at any time.  And even with what we do learn, there is still much more to know, due to a surprising death or two at the end of the book, and some plot twists.  I'll keep my eyes out for the 2nd one to find out more.  And I'll be donating my copy to the high school library where I work in order to get the kids interested as well!

While you're here, don't forget to go enter my 1900 follower giveaway for up to $19 worth of books from the book depository or an Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC for that amount.  It ends tomorrow at midnight!