Last Friday Finds of 2010

From Left to Right

The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell
In a Time of Treason by David Heck
Here, There be Dragons by James A. Owen
Tangled Up in Daydreams by Rebecca Bloom
Blue Moon by Peter Duchin & John Morgan Wilson

Books I've Read in 2010

January
Rekindled - Barbara Delinsky
Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts

• Morrigan's Cross
• Dance of the Gods
• Valley of Silence

February

The Hundred Secret Senses - Amy Tan

Irish Born Trilogy - Nora Roberts

• Born in Ice
• Born In Fire
• Born in Shame

March

Twisted - Jefferey Deaver
More Twisted - Jefferey Deaver
The Lucky One - Nicholas Sparks

April

Clear and Convincing Proof - Kate Wilhelm

Airframe - Michael Crichton

The Mermaids Singing - Lisa Carey

May
Shopaholic Series - Sophie Kinsella

• Confessions of a Shopaholic
• Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
• Shopaholic Ties The Knot 
• Shopaholic & Sister 
• Shopaholic & Baby

June
The Third Twin - Ken Follett

Sands of Time - Sidney Sheldon

Impulse - Nora Roberts

For One More Day - Mitch Albom

Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom

July
A Long Fatal Love Chase - Louisa May Alcott
Dear John - Nicholas Sparks
The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
Homeport - Nora Roberts

Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts

• Vision in White
• Bed Of Roses
• Savor The Moment

August

Angelology - Danielle Trussoni

A Painted House - John Grisham

WhiteOut - Ken Follett

Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy

• A Great and Terrible Beauty
• Rebel Angels
• The Sweet Far Thing

The Stanislaski Family by Nora Roberts  

• Taming Natasha
• Luring A Lady
• Falling for Rachel
• Convincing Alex
• Waiting for Nick
• Considering Kate

September

In Her Shoes - Jennifer Weiner

Paranormalcy - Kiersten White
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - series

• The Lightning Thief
• The Sea of Monsters
• The Titan's Curse
• The Battle of the Labyrinth
• The Last Olympian

October

Something Borrowed - Emily Griffin

Sanctuary - Nora Roberts

C. S. Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia

• The Magicians Nephew
• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
• Prince Caspian
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Silver Chair
• The Horse and His Boy
• The Last Battle

November

Public Secrets - Nora Roberts
A Little Magic - Nora Roberts
Halo - Alexandra Adornetto
Happy Ever After - Nora Roberts
Harry Potter -J.K. Rowling

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

December

I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It - Adam Selzer
Valentine Princess - Meg Cabot
The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
Deep Waters: Lawless and Tilley - Malcolm Rose
The Body Farm - Patricia Cornwell
Evernight Series - Claudia Gray

• Evernight
• Stargazer
• Hourglass

Merry Christmas!

WoW: Afterlife

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I'm fairly new with this meme so help me out, friends.

I've decided to join this meme because I just want to share my anticipation for the Evernight series' final book - Afterlife - the story of Bianca and Lucas.

Title: AFTERLIFE
Author: Claudia Gray
Hardcover, 368 pages

Expected publication: March 8th 2011
Characters: Bianca Oliver, Lucas Ross, Bathazar More
 
This is what Goodreads have to say.

The fourth book in this electrifying vampire series has all the romance, suspense, and page-turning drama that have made Claudia Gray’s Evernight books runaway successes.

Having become what they feared most, Bianca and Lucas face a terrifying new reality. They must return to Evernight Academy, Lucas as a vampire and Bianca as a wraith. But Lucas is haunted by demons, both personal and supernatural. Bianca must help him fight the evil inside him, combat the forces determined to drive them apart—and find the power to claim her destiny at last.

Readers have fallen in love with Bianca and Lucas, and they will be thrilled to read this exciting conclusion to their romantic adventure

TCP: Shrek the Halls

For this week's Family Christmas theme in Tuesday Couch Potatoes, I choose Shrek The Halls. I know that this is not really a full-length movie, but it was a Christmas Special featuring Shrek with Fiona and their babies and friends celebrating the Yuletide Season. (TV-Movie or short-movie from a tv channel in the U.S.)

The story is about Shrek quietly living in the swamp with his family when the Christmas season arrives. Under Donkey's urging, Shrek reluctantly promises Princess Fiona a special Christmas surprise. Unknown to Donkey, this is Shrek's first Christmas, because "ogres don't celebrate anything."

So Shrek goes to the local bookstore to try to find a present for Fiona, but since he doesn't know what Christmas is all about, the shopkeeper gives Shrek a copy of Christmas For Village Idiots, a step-by-step guide to celebrating the holiday.

Shrek proceeds to follow the book's advice by decorating the house and getting a tree so he can spend a quiet Christmas Eve with his family, but Donkey brings the entire "family" to the swamp, ruining Shrek's plans.

I specifically love the part when Donkey realized that Shrek is going to great lengths to celebrate Christmas for the first time and then he said,

"'Christmas ain't Christmas until somebody cries', and that's usually me."

This is my share for this week 's Tuesday Couch Potatoes

Teaser: Body Farm

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

"She wasn't hit by a car," I told him. "Her head's been twisted clockwise by ninety degrees!"

page 136 - The Body Farm

by Patricia Cornwell

Weekend Read - Dec 18-19

The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

The fifth book from Kay Scarpetta novels

Hourglass - Claudia Gray

Bianca will risk everything to be with Lucas.

After escaping from Evernight Academy, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas take refuge with Black Cross, a fanatical group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at their hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend - the vampire Balthazar - hiding is no longer an option.

Soon, Bianca and Lucas are on the run again, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful leaders of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they travel, Bianca can't escape her destiny.

Bianca has always believed their love could survive anything . . . but can it survive what's to come?

 

Hourglass - the third (!) installment from the Evernight series.

 

I've just finished Hourglass and I must say, I was more than surprised and intrigued for the next book. My gosh, it just goes to show that I really did not research for this book because I really want to feel the thrill and suspense and Bianca's overwhelming change and Lucas' determination to stay human.

I really enjoyed Evernight and Stargazer, but i think, Hourglass surpassed the first two books in the series by leaps and bounds. Claudia caught me offguard with a lot of surprises - Raquel a tomboy? Maxie the almost friendly ghost, Vic being cool about Evernight as a vampire school, Ranulf hobnobbing with Vic's family and Balthazar in a Chinese community..

Well, those minute details are freakingly awesome but the center of the universe revolved around LUCAS and Lucas alone. Forget Bianca!

Lucas has sacrificed a lot for their relationship and in the end, was about to become a vampire - something he did not ever, ever wished to be, even if his one true love was "once" a vampire.

No, no no.. I can't wait for the next book. Yes, there's a fourth book! While I was reading the second to the last chapter of Hourglass, I really thought it would be the end of the series, but nO!! The ending is a cliffhanger! I'm definitely happy because there's a fourth book and I can't wait for the next one - AFTERLIFE. The title itself is enough for me to anticipate another great book!

Another two thumbs up for Claudia Gray. Hourglass is definitely a good read. Beats the hell out of Twilight saga. The Evernight series is defnitely a much better catch, in my opinion. Don't throw tomatoes if you don't agree. This is my blog anyway so I can say what I want, LOL.

And so my rating for Hourglass is - 5 bookmarks! 

Stargazer by Claudia Gray

The vampire in me was closer to the surface . . .

Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all - vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.

But Bianca fell in love with Lucas - a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross - or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca's secrets will force her to live a life of lies.

Yet Bianca isn't the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by the evil force of th wraiths that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning.

Like Evernight, this second book, Stargazer is as exciting and cliffhanging as the first one. Although Lucas & Bianca spent most of the entire year with secret rendezvous, stolen moments & kisses, the fact that their love for each other never fade was really something to look forward to. The "fight" between vampires and ghosts were new to me and Gray's detailed story about them made me understand about wraiths and the undead.

But the best is yet to come. I'll surely start book 3 - Hourglass right away!
For Stargazer, my rating is - another 4 bookmarks!

Evernight - Claudia Gray

After the pandemonium that Twilight saga had caused a couple of years ago, I thought there was no other vampire story that would catch my attention. I know I was kind of biased, thinking Edward was the best looking vampire I met, but I realized, I didn't give myself a chance to broaden my horizon.

Then one day, I chanced upon Evernight by Claudia Gray. I didn't have any idea what this book was all about; I didn't even accessed Google nor Wikipedia for a glimpse. I was so intrigued about this boarding school that made Bianca ran away on her first day. And then she met Lucas and fell in love..

Bianca Olivier is a new student to Evernight Academy, a Gothic boarding school with "perfect" but predatory students. Ahe knows she doesn't belong but she can't escape because her parents are now teachers at the school. Bianca believes the best of her parents and trusts them about everything even when her brain tells her not to.

As school progresses, Bianca befriends Lucas, Raquel, a loner like her, and Vic, Lucas' roommate. She develops enemies, like Courtney and Erich, who are what Bianca calls "The Evernight Type". At a party, she befriends a handsome, popular, but friendly guy, Balthazar More.

Balthazar asks her to the Autumn Ball. There, she, Lucas and Balthazar get into an argument, and Balthazar leaves them alone. Outside, under the gazebo, she and Lucas kiss for the first time. Bianca gives in to temptation, bites Lucas and drinks his blood. After she realizes what she did, she screams for help. Upon hearing, Courtney comes out and says "Well, it's about time you grew up and became a vampire like the rest of us.".

At first, the story was a little dragging, that it took me about 7 chapters before I learned about Bianca's true identity. I got excited from there on. The end of the story was left hanging which is good because it allowed me to come up with my own theories about the Vampire academy.

So far, I enjoyed the first book, and I can't wait to finish the second one. Kudos to Claudia Gray :) I think I like her story more than Stephenie Myers'. With that, I give Evernight a 4-bookmark rating :)

teaser tuesday - Stargazer

 Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

For My Teaser Tuesday: page 107 - Stargazer by Claudia Gray

The ice cracked so loudly that it made me jump. As I watched, eyes wide, the frost etching its way across the window obscured the view outside, blocking the gargoyle and even the moonlight, but somehow I could still see.

The room possessed its own light, now. All the many lines of frost on the window broke this way and that, not at random but in a pattern, creating a shape that I could recognize.

A face.

Weekend Read: Evernight

 Evernight by Claudia Gray

A Little Magic

A LITTLE MAGIC...includes three of Nora's Irish favorite stories: Spellbound, Ever After and In Dreams.

Nora Roberts is a master at depicting both the legends and the lore of Ireland and the tender, enchanting passions of its people. Together for the first time in one volume, these delightful stories of magic and romance capture the everlasting beauty of this charming land -- and prove that this #1 New York Times bestselling author is truly "at the top of her game." (People)..
.
In Spellbound, a beautiful lady casts a thousand- year spell on the man of her dreams-- and unleashes a nightmare only love can conquer.... 

Ever After follows an enchanting woman as she journeys to an otherworldy land -- and introduces a handsome artist to the transforming power of love... 

In Dreams links a young woman to a stranger's past - and to the curse that has trapped him forever in the eternity of his own dreams..

TCP: Alvin & The Chipmunks

Yep, it's December - time for a new series of topics for Tuesday Couch Potatoes and this month is about films that are centered on the Family and as Kikamz call it -Christmassy.
For this week - our topic is - Family Adventure Movies.

For me, the family that watches the movie together, stays together - that's what I believe in. Whenever there's a feel-good family shown on TV or downloaded on the computer, I make sure that Hubby, our kids and I are gathered around the TV (or PC) so we can all watch and stay happy. So far, my kids' favorite is Alvin and The Chipmunks (1 and 2).

This is a really hilarious yet happy family movie, seeing how close the chipmunk brothers are and what they do to keep Dave as their "foster" father; even helping him with his zero-luck love affair. Kyle likes annoyingly cute but groovy Alvin while my bunso likes super cuddly Theodore. They love the part when David Seville would scream ALVINNNN!!

Here's a summary of Chipmunks Part 1:

Three chipmunks -- voiced by Justin Long (Alvin), Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon), and Jesse McCartney (Theodore) -- are kicked out of their pine tree home when it's chopped down and shipped to a record label's headquarters as a Christmas tree. They end up sneaking a ride with Dave (Jason Lee), a down-and-out song composer who's none too happy to discover he has new rodent pals.

Eventually, of course, the trio starts singing and inspires Dave to write a Christmas song that wows an oily label exec (David Cross). The rest is chipmunk history.

The Squeakquel (Part 2):

Charice was on it, what's not to love?

Alvin learns to overcome his arrogance and need for acceptance -- i.e. joining the football team -- and fulfill his responsibilities to his family. Alvin's brothers refuse to perform without him because their act has always been about teamwork rather than any individual. Eleanor begins to feel bad about her body image but learns to accept herself the way she is. The evil talent agent and school bully are both humiliated as punishment for their behavior. The movie portrays video games as a means to avoid social interaction and focus on more family time. 

and that's my Family Movie Adventure for this week.. Happy Tuesday!

Teaser: The Lost Hero

 Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

For My Teaser Tuesday:

Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, way older than any place Leo had seen before. In the center was an actual castle - at least Leo assumed it was a castle - with massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.

"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo exclaimed.

- - page 118 of The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

I Kissed a Zombie...

AND I LIKED IT...

Halloween is over but I still get a knack after reading this wonderful Young-Adult book from Adam Selzer. When I first saw the book, I said to myself "Yuck, kissing a Zombie? Ewww.." But my curiousity got the best of me, so I decided to give zombies a chance. And so far, I was not disappointed. I Kissed a Zombie and I liked it.. I really like the story.. Gonk rocks!

Picture credit: RandomHouse

Algonquin “Ali” Rhodes, the high school newspaper’s music critic, meets an intriguing singer, Doug, while reviewing a gig. He’s a weird-looking guy—goth, but he seems sincere about it, like maybe he was into it back before it was cool. She introduces herself after the set, asking if he lives in Cornersville, and he replies, in his slow, quiet murmur, “Well, I don’t really live there, exactly. . . .”

When Ali and Doug start dating, Ali is falling so hard she doesn’t notice a few odd signs: he never changes clothes, his head is a funny shape, and he says practically nothing out loud. Finally Marie, the school paper’s fashion editor, points out the obvious: Doug isn’t just a really sincere goth. He’s a zombie. Horrified that her feelings could have allowed her to overlook such a flaw, Ali breaks up with Doug, but learns that zombies are awfully hard to get rid of—at the same time she learns that vampires, a group as tightly-knit as the mafia, don’t think much of music critics who make fun of vampires in reviews

Friday Finds for December

here are some new books i've acquired and plan to read in the next coming weeks.. my Friday Finds!

From the creator of Percy Jackson and The Olympians:  two new series from Rick Riordan

The Lost Hero:

Heroes of Olympus

and The Red Pyramid from the Kane Chronicles.

and here are from David Keck:

In the Eye of Heaven

In a Time of Treason 

and lastly, from James Owen: 

The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica

 Here, There Be Dragons

Book I

If you'll notice, all of these are children's books! I was so happy when the last three (In the Eye of Heaven, In a Time of Treason & Here, There Be Dragons) were actually on sale in Book Sale! so I didn't have any second thoughts, I bought the three on a whim! For the two Rick Riordan books, The Lost Hero  & The Red Pyramid, i got them from National Bookstore :)

caspian

hmm.. I've finished reading the 7 books of Chronicles of Narnia, starting with The Magician's Nephew up to The Last Battle.

Inasmuch as I would like to share my reviews about this series, I'd rather keep my mouth shut - because I might say something offensive. Basically, the point is: I didn't enjoy the books..

BUT...

I really love how they were transformed to movies.. And if Ben Barnes looks as handsome as this as King Caspian, all the more reason I'll watch The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.. Caspian is utterly gorgeous!

Narnia

I'm re-joining Tuesday Couch Potatoes although I'm two days late. Nevertheless, I can't help but share one of our fave films with snow all over the place.. Yes, for this week's ON ICE theme, I choose the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe..

My kids simply love the movie. They have great respect for Aslan and my Kian finds Lucy Pevensie "cute but with big eyes".. Kyle loves the scene where Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus by the lampost with the ice crystals or snow dropping on their heads. Kyle says, they look cute.. hahaha..

Film synopsis below:

The film begins with the 1940 bombing of Finchley, London, during the Blitz. The Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are in direct danger from the falling bombs.

The children are evacuated to the country home of Professor Digory Kirke. One day while they are playing hide and seek, Lucy discovers a wardrobe and enters a wintry fantasy world called Narnia. She spends a few hours in the home of the faun, Mr. Tumnus, who explains that Jadis, the White Witch, cursed Narnia, and it has been winter for one hundred years. In accordance with her orders, if a human is ever encountered, a Narnian must bring them to her. However, Tumnus likes Lucy and can't bring himself to kidnap her so he sends her home. When she returns, hardly any time has passed in the normal world, and when the other children check the Wardrobe, all they see is a normal wooden back - the portal is gone.

A few days later, Edmund follows Lucy into the wardrobe, and he meets the White Witch and her dwarf Ginarrbrik. She offers him Turkish Delight, as well as the prospect of becoming king if Edmund will bring his brother and sisters to her castle. After she departs, Edmund and Lucy meet again and return to tell the others. The Professor has a private talk with Peter and Susan; he does not understand why they do not believe Lucy's story and gives them three possible explanations of Lucy's behavior — madness, dishonesty, and sincerity — the others know she is neither mad nor dishonest, so she must be telling the truth.

On another day, while running away from the housekeeper in the wardrobe after breaking a window, the four siblings enter Narnia. They discover Mr. Tumnus has been taken by the Witch's Secret Police and meet talking beavers who tell them about Aslan. According to the beavers, Aslan is on the move to take control of Narnia from the White Witch. The four must help Aslan and his followers; it has been prophesied that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sit in the four thrones, the Witch's reign will end.