On My Wish List

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.

Thanks to Attackofthebooks and her post about the audio books from audiosync I was able to download a FREE COPY of the audio book Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater for my last trip out of town. Sadly, I wasn't able to finish it, as my trip wasn't as long as the book, but I really loved it so far. So I cannot wait til a) I finish this first one and b) get my hands on the other two in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

Shiver -
the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Linger -

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Forever -

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater

In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Review - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Wither
Chemical Garden #1
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publish Date: March 1, 2011
Hardcover, 358 pages

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I have been working on writing, as one day I would liek to have one of the many books that are in my head actually written down on paper and maybe even published and this book is a prime example of grabbing the reader from the get-go. The first few pages when Rhine gets kidnapped, put in the back of a van and dragged out to picked out by a wealthy man to be his next bride to have his children. She is, unluckily chosen and very quickly, luck to have been chosen because they shoot all the girls he did not choose.

This book touched me so deeply from just being a woman to knowing what it is like to want to be free not just in body but from mind and spirit too. The challenge of choosing the people who you have been forced to live with and the life you could one day have, if only you didn't get attached. My favorite character was, of course, Rhine the main character whose life is turned upside down and imprisoned in a house of mirrors where nothing is what it seems and yet she is forced to find her own happiness. There is her two sister wives, Jenna and Cecily who live amongst her, but couldn't be more different. Jenna is a few years from her dying age, wants nothing more than to just die in peace whereas Cecily dreams of love, children and wealth only to discover things are not as they seem.

I don't know that I will ever get over the feelings when reading this book that talks about the things I have every day of my life as being old and nevermore. Things like roses, handkerchiefs, food, a bed, living freely, traveling, not being locked up; all of these things I take for granted. As I read Wither, I realize over and over how lucky I am to be experiencing these things as they grow and thrive around me. I am allowed to choose the one I want to live with. I can choose to work, to play, to whatever my heart desires. These things, I forget, are not allowed to all.

The sadness with which Rhine lives grips me and holds on. My heart and soul cry for her; the loss of her brother, even the little life they had together, it is still gone. Her life forced to share a bed with a stranger, a life with two other women and a home with nothing she truly needs. She is lucky to be able to see the world with kindness, even in it's darkest days like the day she is forcefully married to a wealthy man after other girls were shot point blank because they were not as pretty. She sees Gabriel, one of the help as a friend and a confidant. She sees Rose, her new husband's dying wife as someone she can briefly enjoy stolen moments of laughter and sharing. In her new world, where little trust is had, she finds it. She builds a some-what at arms length relationship with her sister wives and all the while wanting, needing to get out and live her own life of her own choosing.

The journey which Rhine goes through is amazing and the description and emotions Lauren DeStefano uses are truly what make this book great. I could not put this book down and books don't get better than that. Glad to know this is one of three books in the series. I cannot wait for the next one.

Summary -
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb — males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape — to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left

I'm going to ramble today (and it's all blogger's fault)

I was trying to write a post last night and blogger would not let me into the system, so eventually I gave up and went to bed only to wake up and realize I didn't have any posts under draft to just post. So here I am writing down all the sad and weird things that got stuck in my head. Let's start with the most obvious and grossest, shall we?

Dear Yoga people,
Before you put on your yoga clothes to check for holes, stains, sheer or see-through areas. Now let me tell you, I do not oogle people in my classes, but we have many times worked with partners doing handstands or other such nonsense and I right away notice really gross things like crotch stains or sheer pants in the butt range. When you are close and personal with a stranger, I am trying really hard to find the appropriate place to look and it can be difficult not to notice these things. So take a moment and stretch in front of the mirror before class, yes?

My home doesn't have air conditioning, something I am sure my realtor mentioned while looking through it originally, but alas not something I paid attention to until my recent trip home to walk in the house that was so stuffy and hot I couldn't breath. I waited a couple of days with the windows open at night to try and see if that would cool the air, nope. So I went out and bought an ac fan which did nothing but annoy my cat, Izabel because of it's noise. Then I bought another one, thinking it would help lower the temperature and because it was a good price. And that would also be a no, it didn't work. So off I went to Home Depot and looked around only to find a pretty good price on an indoor unit that holds water. Does anyone else despise assembly??? Once it was put together and the reservoir filled up, now it is nice and cool in my place, albeit humid as well, but I don't mind humidity. Oh and it sounds like my bedroom is in a wind tunnel because the darn thing is so loud, but beggars can't be choosers.

My boyfriend and I have been together for two years and a half (like a kid who's birthday is in seven months and six days, no?) and I am dying not being able to see him all the time as we live in separate towns. He won't propose because he doesn't like having to tell people his wife lives in another city which I totally get, but I occasionally turn in to a psycho woman who is planning a wedding, life and children with a man who has yet to propose or marry me. The other day I decided my wedding color will be green, as it is my favorite color, I was even imaging a beautifully simply white gown with a large green satin bow. Seriously, crazy.

The last four or five books I have read have somehow or another been about crazy serial mass murders and I just noticed the other night that I can't sleep. Odd, no? So I have made myself put down the crazy books in lieu of sleeping and instilling a bit of happiness into my head again. I have been reading all the teen fiction books of love, high school meanness and a few christian fiction again. Any good, happy books you recommend?

I dragged my boyfriend's bookcase out in to the hallway so I could fill it with the books that have been stuffed into my night stand and are now becoming a small safety hazard as they spill out of the nightstand on to the floor. I have a shelf for the James Patterson Women's Murder Club series, a shelf for the TBR list and the shelf of books I have read. My mom also knitted me this beautiful book cover in cream with a pink ribbon that I decided makes a better decoration than use and I put it center of the shelves. I have all of these extra books that I've read, that are just sitting there and I am thinking about doing an entire week of giveaways to get rid of them. Whadya think??? Do you have any giveaway tips?

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Book Review - Yours To Keep by Shannon Stacey

Title: Yours To Keep
Author: Shannon Stacey
Publisher: Carina Press
Publish Date: June 6, 2011
201 Pages

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Barnes and Noble (only $3.99)
Amazon

I was looking for a nice, happy read after the past couple of books I have read were a bit on the freak-me-out side. This one was sitting in my Nook and I thought I'd give it a go. I am not sure why, but my first thoughts were this book would be fun, but not great. Maybe it is feeling that romance tend to be good, but not great. Who knows. I honestly didn't expect to be laughing out loud throughout this whole book! I seriously laughed and laughed and laughed. Shannon Stacey did so good with the banter and fun loving a real couple experiences.

I did not realize this was book #3 in the Kowalski series, so of course . . . now I have to go track down the first two if they are anything like the joy I had reading this one.

Summary -
Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiancé. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother’s upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn’t like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma’s offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home.

Emma’s not interested in a real relationship either; not with a man whose idea of home is wherever he drops his duffel bag. No matter how amazing his “pretend” kisses are…

Book Review - The First Victim by JB Lynn

Title: The First Victim
Author: JB Lynn
Publisher: Carina Press
Publish Date: June 13, 2011
EBook

GoodReads
Barnes and Noble (only $3)
Amazon ($3.99)

What a fantastic nail bitter. I literally had my Nook gripped with white knuckles. This book was like a train wreck. It was so scary and so horrible, yet I could not look away.

I do not generally like books that contain negative thoughts, especially those that include the thoughts of serial killers. I do not need anymore negativity in my head. I have the imagination of a 4 year old. I can freak myself out without any help. BUT this book was so good I could not put it down.

Seriously I loved this book!!

Emily is a woman who has moved away from her childhood home because she was taken, abused and got away from her kidnapper. When her father experiences an accident, she must come home to take care of her younger sister and face her fears. I cannot imagine the fear one must feel to come back to the place your worst nightmare has come true - as a KID, but Lynn did a spectacular job detailing the horror of the child and as an adult reliving it all over again. As Emily tries to get comfortable for her sister's benefit, a body shows up and notes start appearing letting everyone know that the serial killer is back. Come to find out it is a serial killer the FBI has been trying to catch . . . since Emily was a child. She may have been the first victim, but they won't know if they do not catch him.

It was such a wonderfully done book. I could not get over how much I loved Emily and could feel the scare, the vulnerability and the need to survive. I also hated the serial killer chapters, but they were so right on what I would think a maniac would think and feel. It just made my skin crawl. I really liked the connection between Bailey, Emily's friend she left home after a kiss gone wrong. There was also Evan, who found Emily escaping from her kidnapper ages ago. The dynamic to try and figure out who don it, was really fun.

Seriously, GO BUY THIS BOOK!

Summary -
She was like all the other victims. Naked, flawed, helpless...

Fifteen years ago, Emily Wright barely escaped from a serial killer dubbed the Baby Doll Strangler. She wants nothing to do with the small town where she was abducted, but when her father is hospitalized she reluctantly returns home to care for her teenage sister.

When her sister's friend is killed and left in front of Emily's house, Emily begins to relive the nightmare she endured long ago. Soon she realizes that her sister, too, is in danger from the killer—and the only person who can help is the man Emily left behind: Deputy Bailey O'Neil. Together, Emily and Bailey must discover the killer's identity before he claims his next victim...

JB Lynn did an incredible job of one chapter with Emily and the opposite chpaters with the serial killer.