2013 Quarterly Challenge Update Post #2

We're half way through the year! Is it just me, or did that go really fast? Before we know it, it'll be 2014 :O

This year I'm partipating in five reading challenges. So far I've managed the following...

                             20/30 read for the OTS Challenge
                             23/30 read for the ODY Challenge
                                     7/10 read for the EBC
                              9/12 read for the GVR Challenge
                            17/20+ read for the BSR Challenge

Just like the first three months of the year, I think my progress these past three months has been good. I've no doubt that I'll finish my challenges by the end of the year - and it won't be a mad rush like it was last year! 

Here's a list of the books I've read over the past three months, and which challenges they count for: 

15. The Host by Stephenie Meyer OTS, ODY, EBC, BSR
16. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks OTS, ODY, EBC
17. Insurgent by Veronica Roth OTS, ODY, BSR
18. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart  OTS, ODY, EBC, BSR
19. The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes ODY, GVR
20. Splintered by A.G. Howard ODY, BSR
21. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl OTS, ODY, BSR
22. Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs OTS, ODY, EBC, BSR
23. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake OTS, ODY, BSR

Wishlist Wednesday (8)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly Meme hosted at Pen to Paper

This week I'm wishing for...

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Summary from Amazon:
"They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie." 

Why I'm Wishing for It:
I've heard amazing things about this series for agessss now, and finally I decided to order the book online. Now I'm just patiently waiting for its arrival. Hopefully I enjoy it as much as everyone else has!

What about you? What are you wishing for this week?

Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake
Release Date: 30th August 201

Publisher: Tor Teen Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 316
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life."

Review:
It has been quite some time now since I read this book - a couple of weeks in fact. But I still remember what happens, and what I liked...and didn't like so much. So our story centres on Cas, at 16-ish (I can't remember what his actual age is) boy who happens to hunt down murderous ghosts. One day he is told about Anna, who will prove to be the most challenge - not just because she is insanely powerful, but because Cas and Anna develop a connection.

Ok, so going into this book, I was excited to read about the murderous ghosts. This is what first piqued my interest in the novel - everything I had heard and read about the novel told me that this was a YA horror book, and the opening scene had me convinced that I was in for some good killings. And don't get me wrong, there were killings in there. And the story of how Anna became such a murderous monster in the first place was quite intriguing. I wanted to know how Anna died, and storyline was so tragic and interesting. These parts I enjoyed.

And then comes the love aspect. I guess I should have seen it coming. Anna does spare his life, even though she's compelled to kill every person who enters her home. And my novel does say this is a 'boy-meets-girl' story, but I was still surprised when it came up. It just seems so damn ridiculous to me. She's a ghost Cas - she's dead. You can't be with her, she's dead. Did I mention that she's dead. Plus, have you not made it your mission in life to hunt and kill these ghosts because of what happened to your father? You have a pretty good reason to hate all ghosts. You shouldn't have been having nice little conversations with Anna, you should have been fighting her!

I guess I was just expecting more killing and gore. There was enough to keep me satisfied, but I just felt that a romance got in the way and really wasn't needed. Regardless, this was a book I enjoyed - it had interesting (and funny) characters, some solid plot points, and everything went down in an interesting way.

Blogging Hiatus

So you may have noticed that I haven't really been posting lately. The uni semester is drawing to a close, which means that over the past few weeks I've had a crazy amount of uni work to do - assignments, tests, lab reports - all the things I need to get done before semester ends. And now that that's all done, exams are starting next week. Which means there's going to be a lot less activity on the blog, since I'll now be spending my time reading text books as opposed to novel. Isn't studying for exams such fun?

Suffice to say that posts will come every now and then, but I won't be sticking to a schedule, and there really won't be that many. I still have my review to write for Anna Dressed in Blood, which I finished a week ago but still haven't reviewed yet. And I'm sure that there will be points where study just isn't happening, so maybe I'll do some posting then. I won't be reading over the next couple of weeks or so, but after my last exam on the 25th June, I'll be jumping right back into reading and blogging. 

The Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt Tag

So on Youtube the other day, polandbananasBOOKS (she's a great book Youtuber, you should check her out) posted this video:

It looks like fun! Now I don't make Youtube videos, so I thought I'd write a little post about it. If you can't tell from the name of the tag, the aim is to find a book on your bookshelf that fits each of the criteria. So lets give it a go!

1. Find a book where the title or the authors name contains a letter 'Z'.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2. Find a classic.

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers - this would be considered a classic, right?

3. Find a book with a key on it.

NADA - I couldn't find anything with a key on it :(

4. Find something that's not a book.

Oh lots of stuff - photos, candles, moneybox, signature bear, DVDs, sporting trophies, etc etc 

5. Find the oldest book on your shelf.

Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye

6. Find a book with a girl on the cover on it.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross; Wither by Lauren Destefano; Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon; Slide by Jill Hathaway; Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza...nailed that one :D

7. Find a book with an animal on it.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen...it's got an elephant in the background, so it counts

8. Find a book with a male protagonist.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

9. Find a book with only words on it. 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

10. Find a book with illustrations in it.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

11. Find a book with gold lettering. 

Rumors by Anna Godbersen 

12. Find a diary (truth or fictional).

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison 

13. Find a book written by someone with a common name. 

Splintered by A.G. Howard

14. Find a book that has a close up of something on it.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (close up of hands with an apple); L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (close up of candy); Cinder by Marissa Meyer (close up of a foot) - just to name a few

15. Find the book on your shelf that takes place during the earliest time period. 

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (1500s?)

16. Find a hardcover book without a jacket.

Luuurve is a many trousered thing... by Louise Rennison

17. Find a teal/turquoise coloured book.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

18. Find a book with stars on it.

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

19. Find a non-YA book.

All my Marian Keyes novels, of which I have 10

Annnnd that's the end of the tag. I WAS SO CLOSE - IF ONLY I HAD A BOOK WITH A KEY ON IT! Oh well, 18 out of 19 ain't bad either. 

Think you can defeat the Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt Tag - have a go for yourself!

Book Review: Fatal Voyage (Tempe Brennan #4) by Kathy Reichs

Fatal Voyage (Tempe Brennan #4) by Kathy Reichs
Release Date: 25th June 2002

Publisher: Random House
Format: eBook
Pages: 448
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY, 2013 EBC and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"She has a passion for the truth . . . and this time, it's taking her down.

A commercial airliner disaster has brought Tempe Brennan to the North Carolina mountains as a member of the investigative agency DMORT. As bomb theories abound, Tempe soon discovers a jarring piece of evidence that raises dangerous questions -- and gets her thrown from the DMORT team. Relentless in her pursuit of its significance, Tempe uncovers a shocking, multilayered tale of deceit and depravity as she probes her way into frightening territory -- where someone wants her stopped in her tracks."

Review:

**This review has spoilers! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself). Read at your own risk!**

These books never cease to be fascinating. Yet again Kathy Reichs has pieced together a complex murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. I will admit, I was convinced that the centre of our mystery would be the place crash. We opened with it, it was established pretty early on that a bomb could have been involved, and they were following lots of leads. Then Tempe leads us to the cabin, and I was sure that whoever lived at the cabin had something to do with downing the flight. It wasn't until I was quite a fair bit in that it because pretty obvious that the cabin had nothing to do with the plane crash, but involved something else entirely. 

And boy, that storyline. I have to hand it to Reichs, she writes some of the most compelling, but also disturbing, mysteries that I've ever read. (That being said, I'm sure there's more disturbing stuff out there). This is the fourth Tempe Brennan book I've read, and I still can't figure out the ending until it happens - Reichs is good a throwing you red herrings, which send you down the wrong path. 

Whilst I immensely enjoyed this read, it was confusing at times. Lots of people involved, lots of details to remember - if too much is thrown at me at one point, I can get confused quickly. That being said, Reichs is pretty good at explaining things as she goes. Another thing that bothered me was the excessive description at times - Reichs wants to make sure that you understand everything completely, but a full description of a diner isn't really neccesary if nothing of importance if going to happen there. Also, I've read the description of the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale (where she works in Montreal) 4 times now. I guess with the books being able to be read as stand alone novels with little back story confusion, Reichs feels the need to include these descriptions everytime in case someone picks up a novel midway through the series. All the same, it bugs me. 

Overall, a strong 4th book for the series, and a really interesting read. I would highly suggest this series. 

Book Review: Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Release Date: 12th October 2010

Publisher: Little Brown Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 503
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems."

Review:
Boy did I enjoy this book. Whilst I will say that there were some things wrong with this book, I thought that it was a solid follow up to Beautiful Creatures. 

I really am enjoying having the story told from a male POV. What with YA fiction dominated by female narrators, having Ethan tell us the story is something different. I also think it's a clever choice. Ethan is a mortal who is just being introduced to the Caster world, just like us. He learns as he goes along, and we're right there with him. I think having Ethan as our narrator is more effective than having Lena might be, so smart move by Garcia and Stohl.

I've heard that some people found Beautiful Darkness a bit hard to get through. But I absolutely loved it - I just couldn't get enough! I thought the plot did well in following up what was established in Beautiful Creatures. I thought it tied in well with both Lena's caster problems, but also the problems of teenage love - I liked reading both problems side by side. And overall, we moved forward, finding out more information of Lena's problems and her indecision over the most important decision in her life.

I have to say, some parts of the plot didn't make sense. Especially involving Macon - I tried to wrap my head around that one, but I honestly don't see how that would have worked. And then there's Lena's decision at the end. I have a hard time believing that the well being of the entire Caster world rests of the decision of one girl. I also have a hard time believing that Lena is the only caster ever to have issues with deciding to be dark or light. So yes, some parts of the plot didn't make sense, but overall, I really, really enjoyed this book, and am excited to continue on with the series soon!