Study Break

Here is the deal, I am currently living on a Caribbean island where there is no bookstore, and the only library available to be is Vet school one, which is lacking in the fictional book area.  Therefore, my source of new reading material is my Kindle, which may be the greatest gift someone has ever given me (Thanks Mom!). Unfortunately, buying books constantly on my Kindle can get a little pricey, and since I am just a poor vet student, I needed to find a way for reduce my book cost. 

First, I started using my brother's library card from back home to check out books digitally. (Mine is no longer good because it hasn't been used since I moved here.) That worked great for a couple of weeks, but now, the Georgia library downloads won't let me on to check out book for the last week.  Don't panic, I have my brother on the case to figure out why.  Still, even library has only so many books available for Kindle.

And that brings me to my main point, did you know that you can lend certain digital book on Amazon?  Crazy right, but then who do you know that wants to borrow your books and who has books you want to borrow from?  Well, I recently find the perfect website a solution to that problem: http://www.booklending.com

And why yes, I did find this when I should have been studying for Large Animal Medicine and spent over an hour on there.  While, not every book is available for lending because of publisher restrictions, this place is a great resource for ones available.  I already have 2 books on hold for when someone has them available, and I am sure in the future there will be more.

YA Book Tour- Delaware

Next up on the United States of YA book tour Delaware represent by Julie Schumacher's The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls. Let me just go ahead and throw out there that there must not be many YA books that take place in Delaware, because if this one was the top pick for the state then there must be some slim pickings.

Adrienne Haus injured her knee and is unable to go on her planned camping trip for the summer.  So her mother creates a mother daughter book club with mothers of other girls in her upcoming AP class.

Let me start by saying that in theory this sounded like it could be a good book, but it totally missed the mark, in fact I think it went in the opposite direction of the mark.

Adrienne's character has an extremely dull personality, and is easily talked into things she that she really doesn't want to do by one of the other girls, CeeCee.  In fact in the beginning of the book CeeCee ask Adrienne what kind of girl she is, and even she can't come up with her whole personality.

CeeCee's character is definitely pushy and snobbish, which did not make her likable. Jill was kind of a know it all, and also very pushy. Wallis seemed like the only character with potential.  She basically invites herself to the book club, and her mother is never able to attend.  She is very private about where she lives and having her picture taken.  And after a strange encounter with a drunk Adrienne, you are really left wondering what is her deal.  SPOILER ALERT: you are still wondering what her deal is at the end of the book.

I really felt like that there was not really a cohesive plot to the book, and that it brought up way too may topics that author never really addressed to my satisfaction.  Besides Wallis issues, I was left wondering what is the big secret about Adrienne's father, and what bad thing happened to Adrienne's mother at the beach many years ago.

On top of all the the character and plot issues, the format of the book was a little off putting.  It was suppose to be like Adrienne's English paper, so at the beginning of each character there was a definition to the components of story telling.

Oh, and one more thing, that probably wouldn't bothered me so much if the rest of the book was good, the girls are suppose to be going into 11th grade, but somehow they are all 15.  I don't know about Delaware, but most of the rest of the country starts their junior year of high school at 16.


Currently Reading:
Pretty Little Liars
by Sara Shepard

YA Book Tour Update

The ones with stars are books that I have either read or am currently reading up until now.  I will continue to repost this map about every 10 books or so with the stars added.  I know the pattern seems a little crazy so far, but that is because the books I have read recently were ones I could get from the library on my kindle.

I plan on the the other books to go in an order that appeals both to OCD and history dork in me.  I will reading them in the order they gained statehood.

I do have a couple still on hold with the library, assuming I can get them.  The account is having technical difficulties which I hope to have sorted out by the end of the week.

This may be my last post until next week because finals start on Monday.

Also, I don't know if I said this, yet, but please feel free to comment on any post.  Agree or disagree just be polite please.

Tethered

Tethered is the follow up novella to Meljean Brook's Heart of Steel.  It is part of her steampunk romance series, The Iron Seas.  This is one of my favorite steampunk series, and I highly recommended it anyone.

Yasmeen and Archimedes are continuing to grow in the new found love for each other when Archimedes ex- salvaging partner  and friend, Bilson, shows up.  His brother has been taken by New Eden, which is an airship flotilla that takes other airships and forces the crew and passengers to join their uptopian society or die.  He wants to use Yasmeen and her airship for the rescue mission.

Archimedes refuses to use Yasmeen's ship and crew for the rescue after what happened to her last ship.  Bilson, however, has other plans and blackmails them into helping him. He even has contingency plans in case the other plan falls through.  Yet, he still underestimates Yasmeen and Archimedes, who definitely out think him.

One of my favorite moments of the book was as Yasmeen carefully dissects Bilson's character, and explains the fatal flaws he makes in his plans.  He chooses to go for people's weakness to get them to do what he wants, instead of playing to their strengths to make them want to help him.

I love the progression of the love between Yasmeen and Archimedes, and how each discovers that their love for one another is a great strength.

Side Note: Probably tomorrow, I will post a list of the YA book tour update, and explain how I decided to progress through the remaining books.

Currently Reading:
The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls
by Julie Schumacher

Hereafter

So I am taking a short break from my United States of YA book tour, although Hereafter by Tara Hudson does have a tie in to it.

Amelia has a traumatic past.  Traumatic as in she is dead, and died by falling from High Bridge into the river and drowning.  She knows very little about her life, only her first name and that she died by drowning.  That all changes when she tries to save a boy that has crashed his car into the river. She tries to find a way to save him even though she is no longer among the living.  He opens his eyes, and he can see her. Even as they carry him into the ambulance he talks to her.

After the incidence with the boy, she starts to become more aware of the world.  It is no longer like she is drifting through it.  Several days after the incident she is on the bridge again, when the boy, Joshua, shows back up.  He not only able to see her and talk to her, but he can touch her.

Joshua reintroduces Amelia to the world of the living.  As she becomes more involved with him, she gets more flashes of her life.  Together they discover who she was when she was alive.

Of course, life (or death in Amelia's case) never really can go that smoothly.  First there is Eli, another ghost who has a huge creepy factor going on, and what exactly is his job is even more sinister.  Then there is Joshua's grandmother, Ruth, who like him is a Seer, and she is not crazy about her grandson hanging out with a ghost.  In fact, she is convinced that Amelia is evil and needs to be banished from the world of the living.

Overall I really liked this book, but there were moments I felt like I had read this story before.  I think it is because the principle of the story reminded me a lot of Meg Cabot's Mediator series. Only this one the girl is the ghost and the boy is the Seer.  It definitely has a  darker tone than the Mediator series, but I think that helps the story.  The book has me really wondering how this romance between Amelia and Joshua  will progress throughout the series.

Oh, and as for the YA book tour tie in, the second book in the series is the book for Louisiana.

Currently Reading:
Tethered
by Meljean Brook

YA Book Tour- North Carolina

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen represents North Carolina on the United States of YA book tour.

Macy Queen's Dad died about a year and half ago in front of her, and ever since then, she has been doing her best to be perfect and in control of everything.  Her boyfriend, Jason, is the perfection she strives for, 4.0 GPA, student council president, works at the library, and is involved in lots a community service projects. He has been her calm since her dad died, and he going away to Brain camp and she is taking over his library job for the summer. Oh, and he is kind of elitist jerk.

Macy is miserable at the library.  The other girls working there are snubs of the highest order, and are in no way, shape, or form welcoming to Macy.  Her summer really starts to turnaround when she meets the staff of Wish catering who work one of her mothers sells parties.

The highly pregnant Deila and her quirky staff really start to teach Macy to live again.  There is the adorable Bert, who is obsessed with Armageddon. Kristy, who is looking for extraordinary boys, and maybe the best friend that Macy has ever had.  Monica, Kristy's sister, who is slow and really only says three things. And most of all Wes, the artist with a bad boy past.

Her new friends, especially Wes, teach her how to grieve fro her father which she has never really done, and how to be happy again.

While never experiencing a loss quite like Macy, I felt the book really gave the reader an understanding of her grief, and how she learns to deal with it. All the characters felt relatable in one way or another, like people everyone knows in their own lives.  It really was a good book for showing how life throws curveballs, but we have to roll with the punches because life will never be perfect.

Currently Reading:
Hereafter
by Tara Hudson

YA Book Tour- California

Next stop on my YA book tour is Richelle Mead's Bloodlines for California.  The book is a new series from her, but set in the same world as her Vampire Academy.  I have not read the Vampire Academy series, and I felt at a slight disadvantage for it, so if you want to read this probably want to read the other books first.

Sydney Sage is an alchemist, which are humans dedicated to keeping vampires existence from being known by other humans, and protecting them from the vampires.  She has been given a chance to redeem herself from re-education after she basically went rogue. (Pretty sure it happened in one of the Vampire Academy books.) Oh, and vampires are divided into two types, which are pretty much good and bad.  The good are Moroi and the bad are Strigoi, and then there are the half vampire protectors of the Moroi, the dhampir.

Sydney is being sent to protect the Moroi princess, Jill, because if she is killed her sister can no longer be the queen. Because apparently you need to have a living relative to be elected queen of the Moroi. Jill had an assassination attempt on her at Court, and is being sent to hid at a boarding school in Palm Springs. Maybe not the wisest choice to send a vampire to a desert community in Southern California, especially since her magic is water magic.  Oh, and Sydney is going to have to enroll in the school to be with her, even though she has already graduate. (Talk about my own personally hell, repeating high school.)

She has to report to Keith, a major d-bag, whom she as a history with.  She knows he has done something really bad, but the book is almost finished before you find out what that is, despite hints being dropped several times throughout the book.

Sydney and Jill, along with a dhampir, Eddie, start school at Amberwood, and Sydney really seems to like school.  Probably because she has never really had a experience like this, being home schooled with Alchemist training.  Jill on the other hand is having a very hard time getting the hang of it.  Sydney gets noticed for her unique Alchemist gold lily tattoo, many of the students are demanding to know where she got it.  She notices that several students has metallic tattoos, the copper ones for a euphoric high and the silver ones for strength.

Sydney spends about half her time trying to appease Adrian, another Moroi, who there for Jill's support because of what happened at Court.

Like I said before I really felt I as missing out by not having read the Vampire Academy books before reading this one.  I think reading them would not only help with the references to past events, but also understanding to Moroi society better.

Sydney was definitely a socially awkward character because of her up bringing and the prejudice instilled in her by the Alchemist.  Despite that she is very adaptable and is slowly becoming more social, and she is miles a head of Keith.

Oh, then there is Trey.  He is another student at the school, Sydney's chem partner.  At the end, there was definite hints that he is more than what he seems.

Currently Reading:
The Truth about Forever
by Sarah Dessen