November 24, 2011

Okay readers - it's the final round in the Goodreads Choice Awards. Go and cast your vote! 

The list of categories include:
  • Favorite book of 2011
  • Fiction
  • Mystery & Thriller
  • Historical Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Paranormal Fantasy
  • Science Fiction
  • Horror
  • Romance
  • Humor
  • Nonfiction
  • History & Biography
  • Memoir & Autobiography
  • Food & Cooking
  • Travel & Outdoors
  • YA Fiction
  • YA Fantasy & Science Fiction
  • Middle Grades & Children's
  • Picture Books
  • Graphic Novels & Comics
  • Poetry
  •  Goodreads Author
See, there is a category for everything you read! So go and let your voice be heard. 

November 23, 2011

There's more than Silence between Patch & Nora

I am a huge fan of Becca Fitzpatrick and her characters Patch and Nora. When I started the YA teacher book club at my school, Hush, Hush was the first book I wanted to introduce to my colleagues. I anxiously await each of her novels. There is something about her writing style that really speaks to me as a reader.

I'm even on a mission to make sure Fitzpatrick visits the Decatur Book Festival next year because I am dying to hear her speak and have her sign my book. Check out the picture to the left. I'm planning to do a post on this, so keep your eyes open for more.

In the mean time, let's discuss her latest novel, Silence. 

Summary (from the book jacket):

Nora Grey can't remember the past five months of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks--with no one knowing where she was or who she was with--she tries to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge her mom's creepy new boyfriend. 

But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she can almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows. 

And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing. 

Then Nora crosses paths with a sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers...and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

My thoughts:

In the latest installment,  Nora must come to grips with her past, present, and future with only the help of those around her. She cannot remember the last five months of her life, which means she is missing a big piece of herself...Patch. But destiny is what it is, and the two will not be kept apart for long. Fitzpatrick masterfully intersects these two in the only way that would satisfy fans of the series - Patch saving Nora.

From the moment Nora awakens in a graveyard until the novel's conclusion, I was engrossed. The writing in this novel provides an intriguing, well-paced plot that left me feeling satisfied. Readers will be pleasantly surprised with where we are taken in this novel. While I predicted where she would take me, I was still satisfied with the "reveal." 

There is war on the horizon between Nephilim and the fallen angels, and the leader of The Black Hand needs Nora. There are two questions that will be answered in this installment: who is The Black Hand, and why does he need Nora?

As a reader, the toughest part of this novel was  experiencing the lies and misinformation Nora's mom and best friend give her; while they are trying to protect her, they seem to not realize that the one they are keeping her from, Patch, might be the only one who can save her from The Black Hand, and from herself.

The chemistry between Patch and Nora is still there, and this is a result of Fitzpatrick's gift of storytelling. Even though these two are not "together" in this novel, when the two of them are on the page together, there is heat. Yes, you read that correctly - heat. And that heat cannot be ignored by either one of them, as much as they want to.  

If you are a lover of paranormal romance and you have not yet experienced Becca Fitzpatrick's series, you must make sure to add it to your mound of reads. It is worth every single page.

Patch and Nora FOREVER!

November 12, 2011

MIA?

Hello fellow readers! My last post was right before Halloween, so you might be wondering where I've been (or not).

See that arm...that COULD be mine!
Well, I have been drowning. That's right - drowning in papers. And not even in books but in papers of my students. I've also been working on my teacher of the year paperwork, which is due this Tuesday and still is not done yet.

Oh yes, instead of getting a parade as TOY, I get to write several essays about why I am awesome, why my teaching is awesome, why others should think I am awesome. I think I prefer the parade, but alas 'tis not meant to be. How ever did I survive teaching AND Grad school? 

I have been reading Silence by Beccca Fitzpatrick, but by the time I finish working on paperwork and scoring essays, my brain is so exhausted that I reward myself with just a single chapter (it's all I can take at this point). So, I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving break next week when I can at least enjoy a few of the great books I've put my hands on recently.

So in the midst of keeping up with my grading and essay writing, I've also been plotting. I am on a mission to bring Becca Fitzpatrick to the Decatur Book Festival next year. And if she cannot make DBF, maybe the Southern Book Festival. Either way, I'm on a mission to hear her speak next year! 

What have all of you been reading? What steals your time away from books? I would love to hear from all of you.

Happy reading!

Cathy effectively demonstrates what my living room currently looks like...and the beads of sweat? 
Yep, that's me!


October 30, 2011

A few of my favorite witchy reads...

It is almost Halloween - the night where ghosts, goblins, and witches come out to celebrate their night. I thought I would share a few of my favorite witchy teen reads, after all, there is nothing I enjoy reading more than witchy tales. 

I have grouped my reads by category of why I recommend that you add them to your reading mound. Enjoy!

Before Harry Potter, there was...
Beatrice Bailey and The Chrestomanci series are both worth your time.


Looking for a fun witchy read?
These three series are so much fun. They would make great TV. If you've never seen The Worst Witch, Netflix it today!


If you enjoy historical fiction...
All four of these capture the historical frenzy around accusations of witchcraft


Of course, the Mecca of witchy reads...
What would a witch reading list be without the master of witchy storytelling?



 Original Witchy Reads...
These three tales are quite original in the way they bring witches to the page. Worth every moment!


 Favorite Odds and Ends of Witchy Tales...
These are great reads, but they don't fit into one category...except maybe AWESOMENESS!

Are there any above that you read and loved? Are there any suggestions you have for me to add to my collection?

In My Mailbox (15)


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme sponsored by The Story Siren.  This is a great way for bloggers to network and share what books they are reviewing, borrowing, and/or buying.

My mailbox this week is quite small. I have been busy grading, so I have had little time to read and book shop. It is the price I pay for taking a week to relax during fall break, but it was worth it! 


Purchased from B&N

Beautiful Creatures 
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Purchased for my classroom library

How to Rock Braces and Glasses
Meg Haston
It had me at the title!

Cupcake Diaries: Alexis and the Perfect Recipe
Coco Simon 
This is such a cute series!



Won from Goodreads

Drama: An Actor's Education
 John Lithgow 

   
That's what is in my mailbox - what's in yours? Have you read any of the above?

Happy reading!

 

October 24, 2011

Victoria Schwab's Giveaway of Witchy Epicness

Victoria Schwab, author of the amazing The Near Witch, is having a giveaway to celebrate Halloween.

If you have not yet read The Near Witch, you should. It is such a great read, especially for this time of year.

Visit her blog here and enter.

Good luck to you all!

October 23, 2011

In My Mailbox (14)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme sponsored by The Story Siren.  It is a way for bloggers to network and share what books they are reviewing, borrowing, and/or buying.
 
This week's load is quite large because I spent a bit of money on my classroom library. Most of them are books I have previously read and have waited for them to come into paperback.
 
I'm excited for the new reads I have added for myself. I have already read a couple of them (I love fall break) and cannot wait to dive into the others.

Purchased from B&N

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
 I've already read and loved it 
 
Fury by Elizabeth Miles
I fell in love with the cover and with the plot idea
 
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
It's Maureen; do I need to say more?
 
 

Received as an ARC
 
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
LOVE the cover on this one; I have already read and reviewed it
 


Received from The Compulsive Reader
 
Emily the Strange: Piece of Mind by Jessica Gruner, etc.
Black Boy White School by Brian F. Walker
 
 
Purchased for my classroom
 
Life As We Knew It, The Dead & Gone, and This World We Live In by Susan B. Pfeffer
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation by M.T. Anderson 
The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
The Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray
Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Matched by Ally Condie
Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles
I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Beastly by Alex Flinn
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Tyrell by Coe Booth
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Heist Society by Ally Carter
Jane by April Lindner
 


Any thoughts on the books above? Happy reading to all!


October 22, 2011

Happy ShatterDay!

You can read a chapter every hour on the hour for 24 hours here.

I read the ARC on Friday and loved it!