Blogging Break

It's hard to admit, but I need to take a short break from blogging. I have three law exams in the upcoming weeks and still A LOT of studying ahead. At the same time I have to prepare for the big move on July 19th (worrying about which books to put in one box. Book friends need to stay together. And I have to be careful so that Jace and Four don't know from each other. Book boyfriends can be pretty jealous ;D)

So there might be occasional posts in the next weeks and blog comments from me, but I can't keep up a 5-7 posts per week schedule.

I'll continue reading (no exam can keep me from that!) and I'll still be on Twitter (especially at times I am supposed to be studying).

Love,
Sarah

New Books On My Shelf #54

New Books On My Shelf is the new label for my former In My Mailbox (The Story Siren) posts. Here are my new books of the last two weeks.

Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry (Netgalley)
Something Like Normal by Trish Doller (Bought. Read it. 4/5 stars)

Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Publishing Date: 29^th September 2011

Length: 384 pages

Keywords: YA, contemporary romance, San Francisco, exceptional style, boy next door

Source: Bought

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Summary by Goodreads  

Sequins, glitter and colours – that's Dolores' world! And because that name doesn't really keep up with her shiny personality, let's call that girl Lola.

I was cautious at first, not convinced that I would love this new protagonist Lola as much as good old Anna. She is that colourful and crazy and really talented, really creative girl. I can totally identify with creative, still I was afraid that she would be too sparkly. Once I started reading I gave up my resistance fast. Despite her sparkly appearance, she's got a very decent and down-to-earth, reliable personality.

Stephanie Perkins presents unique characters, who fill out the entire story.

Cricket is a complex character himself and although I knew how he felt about certain things it was still so much fun to figure him out every time anew. I loved him, and I wouldn't mind him playing with my mechanisms -does that sound too dirty? He's smart, a nerd, an inventor and has style. Swoon!

Cricket is such a fantastic protagonist and it was a nice change to actually know about his feelings. He isn't the bad boy or in-transparent mystery, he's simply the nice guy living next door. Exactly that makes him so adorable. 

We've got several issues like drugs, sex and also the gay couple who are Lola's parents.

I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to such topics, I encourage their thematisation, when dealt within a respectable and serious way.

Lola's two dads are too funny and I appreciated the way Stephanie Perkins pictured their relationship being very serious, at the same time involving light jokes. I was very amused and delighted by the two Dads!

The story is mostly about Lola and her discovering her feelings and what she'll make out of her talent.

I hoped there to be more accentuation on Calliope and Lola’s relationship since she's Cricket's twin sister. But I do like that there is so much interaction between Lola and Cricket.

And I was so happy to meet Etienne and Anna again, although funny as it sounds I first didn't get that it was the talk of the French kiss Anna when Lola talked about her co-worker Anna. It's awesome to get the chance to read more about them, their lives and their super cute love.

I can't wait to meet them all again in ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

1) it is told with style, a lot of glitter and sequins

2) of two very well-known guests, to ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS fans

3) it's all about contrasts and appeal

4) it's not about where you come from, but what you do with your talents

5) of the new telling about the moon and stars

5/5 ***** LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR- Sparkling, shiny and beautiful!

LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR is like that new outfit you'll never want to take off again. This book just fits perfectly and is so comfortable. There are so many contrasts in LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR and it's delightful to have such a crazy and outgoing, extravagant heroine. Lola rocks!

 

* Haven’t read it yet? Read ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS now!

* Read an excerpt of LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR here. 

*  Click here to read about Stephanie’s Top 5 Must-See San Francisco spots. 

* Visit for further information about Stephanie Perkins and her books. www.stephanieperkins.com

Teaser: Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller


"And I know I should be embarrassed, but this is Harper, who doesn't try to tell my everything is going to be okay. She stands there and keeps me from drowning."

p. 187

New Releases: June 18th - June 24th

June 19th 
 
Something Like Normal by Trish Doller
This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers


I'm hoping for my copy of SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL to arrive tomorrow!! I'm sure there must be more books being released this week. Help me out?

Book Review: Angel Burn (Angel #1) by L.A. Weatherly

Title: Angel Burn (Angel #1)

Author: L.A. Weatherly

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publishing Date: May 24^th 2011

Length: 464 pages

Keywords: YA fantasy, romance, angel

Source: Netgalley

They're out for your soul.
And they don't have heaven in mind...

Willow knows she's different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people's dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. she has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself does. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces and that he's one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil.

Summary by Goodreads

I had the copy of ANGEL BURN for several months until I got to it. With all the people raving about it, I simply couldn’t ignore it any longer. I definitely had great expectations, which were not entirely fulfilled.

It’s right that the story starts with a hot guy and hot car. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Still I didn’t feel any connection to the story or the characters in the beginning. ANGEL BURN is mainly told by Willow as a 1^st person narrator. She is shown in her usual school and domestic environment in interaction with her family and school pals. The hot guy is Alex whose parts of the story are told from a 3^rd person point of view. Alex travels around the US to search for suspicious angel activities and fight them.

These two characters, Willow and Alex are supposed to fight each other. It’s Alex’ job to extinguish every single angel in the country. Willow is half-human half-angel. I think you get the conflict.

I don’t know what it was about the story, but I somehow didn’t really get into it until the half of the book with a hesitant relationship between Alex and Willow developing.

When they are together they are both characters that are easy to like, easy-going and convenient to be around. Alex is a very attractive and strong, well-trained, well-skilled and clever boy who does have bunch of fans I’m sure of.

Great about ANGEL is that L.A. Weatherly created an entirely new concept of heavenly angelic being. The United States are plagued by an invasion of angels and there are even more about to come. Angels in ANGEL BURN are nowhere near friendly and good-willed, they feed off humans and steal their energy to live off it. There’s a big conspiracy hiding behind the angel cult the people are living. That’s definitely an aspect I found interesting about ANGEL BURN.

There are large parts of the story in which we also see what the enemies are up to.We get to read the story from Raziel's and his subjects' perspective which unfortunately felt dragging and bored me.

 1) of exciting chases

2) of the best hiding spot in the world

3) of finding your other self

4) of a new concept of angelic beings

5) of unexpected allies

3,5/5 ***/* ANGEL BURN- Willow and Alex, the new pair of supposed enemies falling in love and a totally wicked angel invasion. Anything better for angel fans?

Wild pursuits, great efforts put into hiding the key to fighting the angel pest that infected the country, making new allies and new enemies, overcoming the past and starting into a bright new future, falling in love with your supposed enemy. That all is ANGEL BURN! A very promising and enjoyable mixture of story elements, that is only realised after half of the story.

I did enjoy ANGEL BURN in the end, but large parts of the story were simply too uneventful for me. I love me a book with a high page count, in this case I would have preferred a cut version only written out of the perspectives of Willow and Alex. 

* Don’t miss the sequel ANGEL FIRE!

* Read an excerpt of ANGEL BURN here. 

* Watch the US book trailer here. 

* You can have a look at the photostream and follow Alex and Willow on their trip through America. 

* Visit www.angelfever.com for further information about L.A. Weatherly and her books. 

New Releases: June 11th - June 17th

June 12th

Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2) by Richelle Mead

Timepiece (Hourglass #2) by Myra McEntire

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Chosen Ones (The Lost Souls #1) by Tiffany Truitt

Coveresque feat. Tempest by Julie Cross (US vs. French vs.German)

US                                         French                                   German

TEMPEST by Julie Cross was one of my favourite reads in January. I brought it with me on my Sweden holidays and it was a fabulously entertaining story. Jackson and Holly's chemistry was just perfect and that's why I love the US cover so much. It was the cover that drew my attention to this 2012 debut novel with its energizing background of a dark and powerful storm. In the middle of it are Holly and Jackson torn apart by time, their pose full of tension and longing.

The French cover is plain at first sight, held in greyish colours. The longer I look at the cover, the better I like it. My favourite detail are the target rings around its title "Les ennemis du temps"(translated to: "The enemies of time" I guess).

Purple is my favourite colour, still the German cover is my least favourite out of these three. The effect of the guy walking on the 3D-like title is interesting though. "Sturz in die Zeit" can be translated to "Fall in time".

What do you think?

New Books On My Shelf #53

New Books On My Shelf is the new label for my former In My Mailbox (The Story Siren) posts. Here are my new books of the last two weeks.

Bought

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger (Tempted to start it tonight)
Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti (Cute read!)

For Review

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini ( 2nd copy! Thanks to Pan Macmillan UK! Enter my GIVEAWAY )


What did you get? Please leave links to your posts in the comment section!

Giveaway: ARC of Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

I got a second UK ARC of DREAMLESS in the mail today, so now's your chance to win a copy of the second book in the STARCROSSED series by Josephine Angelini and Pan Macmillan UK.

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies’ cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen’s sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Summary by Goodreads

 * You enter for a chance to win one ARC of DREAMLESS.
* INTERNATIONAL
* The giveaway starts on June 9th and will end on July 5th.
* Good luck :)

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson & The Rules of Friendship Guest Post

I'm very happy to welcome Morgan Matson on my blog today with a guest post about The Rules of Friendship for my tour stop. I loved SECOND CHANCE SUMMER very much (review coming soon) and have to smile every time I see its gorgeous UK cover. Now enjoy reading Morgan's guest post and don't forget to visit all the other fun tour stops!


 
4th June - Book Passion For Life
Q&A with Morgan Matson

5th June - Belle Books
Morgan Matson on writing romance

6th June - Jess Hearts Books
An extract from Second Chance Summer

7th June - Miss Page-Turner's City of Books
The Rules of Friendship - guest post

8th June - Books of Amber
Morgan Matson bumper giveaway!

9th June - Daisy Chain Books
Morgan Matson's favourite summer reads

10th June - Books for Company
The Second Chance Summer playlist 

.....................................................................................................

 The Rules of Friendship

One of my favorite parts of writing Second Chance Summer was that I got to have a real friendship in it – something that Amy, in Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, didn’t really have, as she traveled from state to state!

Lucy and Taylor were best friends until they were 12, when things ended badly between them.  The novel picks up five years later, with Lucy still mad, as they try and find their way back to being friends again.  But this inspired me to think about some hard and fast rules of friendship – things to follow to avoid a huge fight like Taylor and Lucy had!

1.      No lying to your BFF! It’s only going to backfire in the end.

2.      Your best friend’s boyfriend is off limits. For real.

3.      Share your candy.

4.      If your friend calls you at 2 AM and needs help – even if you’re fighting – you have to go.

5.      You’re never too old for a slumber party (complete with makeovers and cookie dough).

6.      When it’s obvious to everyone except your BFF that someone is crushing on her, it’s your job to point it out.

7.      The person who has been your best friend for years know you well. Don’t try and keep secrets – she’ll be able to see right through you.

8.      When your friend is going through something tough, you don’t have to know the perfect thing to do – just being there is enough.

.....................................................................................................

About Second Chance Summer

 

Taylor's family might not be the closest-knit – everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled – but for the most part, they get along fine. Then they get news that changes everything: Her father has pancreatic cancer, and it's stage four – meaning that there is basically nothing to be done. Her parents decide that the family will spend his last months together at their old summerhouse in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven't actually gone anywhere. Her former summer best friend is suddenly around, as is her first boyfriend. . . and he's much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses, the Edwards become more of a family, and closer than they've ever been before. But all of them very aware that they're battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance – with family, with friends, and with love.

Summary by Goodreads

.....................................................................................................

About Morgan Matson 

 Morgan Matson was born in 1981 and grew up in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut. She attended Occidental College in Los Angeles but halfway though a theater degree, she started working in the children's department of Vroman's Bookstore and fell in love with YA literature.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, inspired by Morgan's three cross-country road trips, was published in May 2010. Her second book, Second Chance Summer, will be released in May 2012 and draws largely on her experiences spending summers growing up in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Morgan currently lives in Los Angeles, though she loves to travel and does it whenever she can. She is currently writing another book, to be published in 2014.

.....................................................................................................


Huge thanks to Morgan Matson and Kat from Simon & Schuster UK for organising this fantastic blog tour and for letting me be part of it. I'm concluding this post with another story of  friendship. My best friend Mila and I have known each other for about 16 years now. We spent many days laughing and crying together, having good and bad times. Went to Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Austria and Switzerland. Last year we had an awesome time at Frankfurt Book Fair and already planned this year's trip. Jane Austen and William Shakespeare belong to our favourite classic authors and we always have new books to talk about!

Everyone who knows what it means to have true friends can be very lucky. To the joys of  friendship!:)

Cover Reveal: Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

Here's the UK cover for the final instalment in the HUSH, HUSH series by Becca Fitzpatrick. FINALE, published by Simon & Schuster UK will be released October 2012. What do you think?

Armchair BEA: Tuesday Post Favourite Reads in 2012

 

First, a big thank you to the awesome Armchair BEA organisers. The page, posts, participants and events are a nice compensation for everyone not able to be in NYC this week. I didn't have time to do an Armchair BEA post yesterday. But today I want to share my favourite reads of 2012 so far and two BEA 2012 titles I want to count to my favourites soon!  

Let's start with three of my favourite YA contempories. Wanderlove (Kirsten Hubbard) overwhelmed me with its fascinating and exotic scenery. The Fault In Our Stars (John Green) made me cry as much as no other book before. And When You Were Mine (Rebecca Serle) is a fresh and perfectly engaging new take on one of my favourite plays, Romeo and Juliet.

Insurgent (Veronica Roth) and City of Lost Souls (Cassandra Clare) were both on top of my list of most anticipated books of 2012 and they definitely didn't disappoint. Both authors belong to my favourites and it just felt so good to spend time with Jace & Clary and Tris & Four again. Another book that totally surprised me with its awesomeness is Shatter Me (Tahereh Mafi), a 2011 debut. 

Two BEA 2012 books I'm sure will belong to my favourites soon are Stealing Parker (Miranda Kenneally) and The Raven Boys (Maggie Stiefvater).

If you could choose two BEA titles to land in your mailbox in the blink of an eye which would you pick?

New Releases: June 4th - June 10th

5th  

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger
 Mirage (Winterhaven #2) by Kristi Cook
Arise (Hereafter #2) by Tara Hudson  
All These Lives by Sarah Wylie 
Surrender (Possession #2) by Elana Johnson
Monument 14 (Monument 14 #1) by Emmy Laybourne
Shadow & Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Stunning ( Pretty Little Liars #11) by Sara Shepard
Keeping Secrets by Alyson Noel



Let's start into June with some really nice new releases! Have you read any of them? I finished ARISE yesterday, pre-ordered A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE today and am currently reading ALL THESE LIVES.

Book Review: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1) by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

Author: Beth Revis

Publisher: Razorbill

Publishing Date: January 11^th 2011

Length: 416 pages

Keywords: YA, sci-fi, fantasy, spaceship 

Source: Gift

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Summary by Goodreads 

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was my first book out of the sci-fi genre. I’ve never been very into stories about space ships or space wars. The universe with its wide expanse, planets and stars have always fascinated me in some way though. So ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was a perfect pick for me to approach this foreign genre.

The story begins with a decision that has to be made by our female protagonist Amy. She has to decide whether she wants to go on a mission with her parents and be cryogenically frozen for about 300 years or stay on earth all by herself. Doesn’t that sound like the hardest choice? The process of being frozen is described so vividly and detailed it’s pretty scary and I don't know if I would have been able to make such an important and life-changing decision. 

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE embraces about eighty chapters, alternating between the perspectives of Amy and Elder. They are rather short and allow small reading breaks.

The romance between those two is subtle. They need their time to approach each other, both grown up with very different views on the world and relationships.

Amy and Elder are great protagonists and two witty and sharp-minded investigators. The main focus of the story lies on the investigation of the murders of various innocent and helpless…frozen people. I was glued to every step Amy and Elder traced the murderers footprints. I was so eager to figure it out!

The entire ACROSS THE UNIVERSE cast is pretty crazy and everyone on that ship seems to have their own issues that start to influence not only the relationship between Amy, Elder and his best friend Harley and the leader of the ship Eldest, but all the other people, too.

It’s an interesting chase for the evil mind in the limited space on Godspeed. The closed space and number of possible antagonists makes ACROSS THE UNIVERSE a really mysterious and exciting story.

The actual story of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is set in future and has many opportunities and inventions to offer, medical-wise for example. It involves a few very cool elements like frozen people, a total agricultural system inside a space ship of a gigantic size and of course all kinds of other advanced technologies.

The US hardcover copy comes with a very helpful print on the inside of the book jacket with a blue print of the entire space ship of Godspeed. There are several levels on that space ship and many rooms and different parts of it that need to be remembered. Although the story is limited to the setting of Godspeed, a spaceship caught in space, the possibility of settings is very complex. It’s a gigantic project!

1) of a really fascinating setting

2) of finding the courage to stand up against your own believes

3) of a promise in weightlessness

4) of the boy who loves the stars

5) of an exciting murder investigation

5/5 ***** ACROSS THE UNIVERSE- A space ship setting of epic expansion, a murder mystery with goose bump potential and a subtle but sweet romance make Beth Revis’ debut novel shine as bright as the stars.

Beth Revis has a really engaging writing that gives every single character of her Godspeed inhabitants a unique and very authentic voice, especially Amy and Elder as the two protagonists. The conspiracy plot of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is very well-constructed by Beth Revis. If I would have to name a captain of my space mission it would definitely be her!

I can’t wait to start A MILLION SUNS and dive deeper into the romance of Amy and Elder and future of the space ship Godspeed. 

* Loved ACROSS THE UNIVERSE? Then don’t miss its sequel A MILLION SUNS!

* Read an excerpt of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE here. 

* Watch the UK book trailer here. 

* Want to explore Godspeed? Click here. 

* Visit www.bethrevis.com for further information about Beth Revis and her books.