Bookish Five Fridays (6) - I'll read it if they write it

These are five authors I'll pick up no matter what they write as long as their name is on it.

1) Kathy Reichs - Adult mysteries and YA paranormal adventure stories are her specialty.

2) Tamora Pierce - If you didn't know this, I don't know where you've been.

3) John Green- I've been reading John's books for years and I am always more in love with the latest one I've read than the one before.

4) Rick Riordan - I can't not preorder his books anymore. I want them in my hands ASAP.

5) Jennifer L. Armentrout - I've only read one series by her but now I want to read all the things.

Last Week's Five Fav -----> Buzz/Keywords

Celebrate the Book Event!!

This past weekend I attended a small book event in my area called Celebrate the Book! This event was a small gathering of all things book from the Carlisle area. This community event has been going on for several years and features speakers, authors, publishers as well as local independent book stores.

http://www.celebratethebook.org/index.php

Zoraida Cordova and Jennifer Armentrout
at the "Balancing Act" YA panel in Carlisle, PA.

I heard about this from Jennifer Armentout's blog and a packet of information we received at my work about local events. Luckily my best friend is a very good sport about my obsession with all things book related and agreed to travel over an hour with me to watch a YA panel. Sadly I could only stay for one panel and a book signing, but I thought it was well worth the drive.

Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect when I headed into this event. We also got lost on the way there so there was plenty of uncertainty and adventure along the way. Even so, I really enjoyed myself and met some wonderful authors of books that I've adored or admired from afar. I would definitely recommend looking into local events if you can find ones like this. I was able to purchase books from independent book sellers that I wasn't aware of which was really cool as well!



We went to the panel "Balancing Act" which was about how authors manage what they want to write, what fans want to read and what publishers want authors to write. It was super interesting and covered a lot of topics including how authors decided what to keep in and throw out of a book. There was also a tangent about readers wanting everyone to live and who we, as readers, become attached to. Very interesting stuff.

I ended up getting my copy of Obsidian signed as well as my copy of the Vicious Deep. Then I purchased a copy of Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins and got that signed as well. The event was low key (I don't know if there were 100 adults in the building), but that also made it more interesting.

Thanks to everyone who put this event on because I had a lot of fun here and I hope I can go next year as well!!

Bookish Five Friday (5)- Keywords/Buzz Words

There are certain words that peak my interest and make me investigate a book farther even if I've never heard anything about it before. I have a weakness for certain subjects and if a book summery mentions them, I'll definitely be looking into the book or possibly walking out of a store with it.

1) Gods - One of my favorite topics in books is gods. Elemental, Greek, Roman, magical, Egyptian, ancient or vengeful. I'll take it on. I just love to read about gods! 

    

2) Angels - If a book features angels, you can bet I'll give it a try and probably fall in love with it.

   

3) Girls in a powerless situation and having a secret way to become powerful - I love stories where girls are in a bad situation and they take charge or find a way to become powerful either through secret powers or just strength of will.

    

4) Dragons - If you give me a dragon, I'll want it to fly. Other than that I cannot ignore a dragon book.

     

(another one for dragons would be the Game of Thrones Books)

5) Dystopian/Apocalyptic - I have a weakness  for these types of stories and sometimes I just cannot put this genre aside.

   

Book Tag Video - Because Feelings Matter!

This is a tag that I did just for fun! All the links for the original video and where I saw it are below and in the video description.

QUESTIONS:

1. What book made you feel confident, either about yourself or your life?
2. What book made you feel sympathetic or sympathise greatly with the characters?
3. What book made you feel anxious?
4. What book made you feel annoyed?
5. What book made you feel disappointed?
6. What book made you feel confused?
7. What book made you feel satisfied?
8. What book made you feel like you could really relate to the main character?

Original Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWQ38eg08sI

Bookables: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7HasTwg0SI

Review - The Maze Runner

By: James Dashner, Narrator: Mark Deakins

Series: Maze Runner #1
Published: Oct. 2009
Pgs: 374
Format: Audiobook by Listening Library 

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

I think I am late to the game with the Maze Runner books. I have heard about them forever and I know the last book is coming out in paperback fairly soon. I've heard a lot of people talk about them and I thought they were all good things so going in I had fairly steep expectations for this books. I mean the plot sounds fantastic and I'm positive I've heard movie buzz around this so it seemed like a good time to jump on the bandwagon.

To say I was disappointed isn't quite right. I wasn't disappointed as much as I was expecting more or different I guess. Something just didn't work for me as I read. The plot was good, the characters were engaging and I wanted to find out what happened, but something didn't click with me. I think what initially turned me off was James Dashner's writing style. There are only so many analogies a girl can take!  I was especially conscious of this because I listened to this on auidiobook. There was a predictable pattern in Dashner's writing that really annoyed me as I listened. It kind of put me off to the whole book even though I liked many of the other elements of the book.

As far as characters go, I really like Thomas and the rest of Gladers. I really liked the dynamics between the boys and Dashner wrote all his characters as intelligent people and that came across very well. I really liked how the boys had adapted to living in this world and you could see how some of them still struggled with the transition and having no memory. This is a very interesting idea and I am still interested to see what happens next and where the boys (and Theresa) go from here.

Overall I liked the suspense and excitement of the book. I wanted to find out what happened and I was invested in the characters, but I'm not thrilled. I'm not sure why I cuoldn't connect very well with this book, but something put me off. I'll have to see how The Scorch Trials compare. I do recommend the read though because it was enjoyable and very thrilling.

Rating - 3/5

Bookish Five Friday (4)- Book Worlds

I think everyone has a favorite alternate world they love slipping into after a long day of work or school. I know I have several that I love to explore. Whether you like fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, adventure, mysteries or contemporary, any book takes you to a world where certain rules don't apply. I love to use my imagination to examine the amazing possibilities which can be explored in a world that is fictional! These are just some of my favorites.

1) The Wizarding World - Harry Potter was one of the first books I remember pretending to live in and wanting to be a part of. Just knowing that JK. Rowling has more of this world mapped out in her imagination, and she hasn't shared, sometimes drives me crazy. I would devour anything she wrote pertaining to magic.

2) Percy Jackson's Reality - I've had a love of the Greek Gods from a young age and reading about Percy's adventures make me not so secretly with I could go to Camp Half-Blood. Controlling water would be fairly awesome too...

3) Night Circus - If I could travel around in the Night Circus around the world, I think I would be happy forever. I loved the twist on magic in this book and the magical feats in this book are mesmerizing. It would would be fantastical to step inside this story.

4) Shadowhunter World - Even though the Shadowhunter World is also set in present day, I really loved the Infernal Devices. I am a little bit in love with Victorian England too so if I could step back in time that would be really awesome.

5) Vessel - I just finished Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst and I loved it so much! I was enchanted with the dessert world of tradition, freedom and magic. The clans and gods were really interesting and Liyana was one of my favorite heroines that I've read in a long time.

Bookish Five Favorites(3)- Series I need to Finish

This week I've been thinking about all the series I've started and loved, but even though I have the books I haven't finished them! I really want to finish as many of these as I can before the end of the year. These are only out of series that I own all the book and are completed. So some of my favorites actually are missing!

1) Castor Chronicles - I have the last two books in this series to read. I really enjoyed Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness so I am very excited to see what happens to Lena and Ethan next!

2) Beka Cooper Series - You all know how much I love Tamora Pierce. Sadly, I am very far behind on reading one of her newest series. I loved Terrier so I cannot wait to jump back into Tortall and finish reading Beka's story.

3) The Heroes of Olympus - I loved the first books The Lost Hero. I cannot wait to read Son of Neptune and I've already pre-ordered House of Hades so I'm ready to get caught up.

4) Girl of Nightmares Duology - I love Supernatural so of course I was obsessed with Anna Dressed in Blood and I've heard things only get better.

5) Wolves of Mercy Falls Series - I read Shiver over a year ago so I'm pumped to finally have the other two books in this series to finish it off.

The biggest reason I haven't finished these is because I don't have enough time! As soon as I find the time to read these books, I will be tearing through them.