WWW Wednesdays (9)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

*Note: all links go to Amazon, except for when you click on the pictures :)

My Answers:

1. I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wifeby Audrey Niffenegger - it is so amazingly good!
   
   
2. Last Wednesday I finished reading Vixen (The Flappers) by Jillian Larkin {review here}
   
   
3. Definitely Cinderby Marissa Meyer - it's my first read for the Debut Author Challenge!
   

Teaser Tuesday (9)

Teaser Tuesday is a Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, as long as they do the following:

• Grab your current read. 
• Open your book to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. 
• Warning:  Avoid spoilers in your teaser as not everyone has had the pleasure to read your current read
• Share the Title & Author so anyone can add your current read to their list if they wish to do so. 
• Note: links go to Amazon
  

The Time Traveler's Wifeby Audrey Niffenegger
Release Date: 1st October 2004
Publisher: Vintage
Pages: 318

"It seems like such a small thing to ask. Continuity. Surely if there is a God, he wants us to be good, and it would be unreasonable to expect anyone to be good without incentives, and Clare is very, very good, and she even believes in God - I open my eyes. All the tiny porcelain fixtures have iridescent auras, and I resign myself to going, there's no stopping now, and I am shaking, 'No!' but I'm gone"

WWW Wednesdays (8)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

*Note: all links go to Amazon, except for when you click on the pictures :)

My Answers:

1. I'm not acutally reading anything at the moment, I only just finished my last read this morning!
   
   
2. On Saturday I finished reading The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)by Michael Scott {review here} and this morning I finished reading Vixen (The Flappers)by Jillian Larkin {review here}
   
   
3. I'm thinking I might read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger or One Day by David Nicholls  

Book Review: Vixen (The Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin

Vixen (The Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin

Release Date: 9th August 2011
Publisher: Random House
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 448
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge and 2012 ATS Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . ."

Review:

This book reminded me a lot of Anna Godbersen's books - her latest series is also set in the flapper era, also centered on the lives of three young women. But, I think that I enjoyed this book slightly more (only slightly, though). I can't really place my finger on what exactly I enjoyed more about this book, but I think it might have something to do with the inter-racial relationship depicted between Gloria and Jerome - something that would have been so scandalous back in the 1920's was really interesting to read about. 

I enjoyed reading about all three of the girls. Gloria's story was interesting because of her relationships, Clara's was interesting because of her deepest, darkest secret (that actually shocked me a little when it was revealed), and Lorraine's, well, Lorraine is one of those characters where you just think to yourself "Oh Lorraine, why, why, why?"

Vixen isn't a book that will plunge you deep into thought, nor will it tug at your heartstrings - its just a good, fun read. There were a couple of basic editing mistakes that I picked up on, but besides that, there wasn't really anything that I disliked about the book. If you don't usually read young adult fiction, let alone read at all; or maybe you don't usually read historical fiction, I would recommend this book as a book to try, to expand your horizons a bit - I don't doubt that you'll enjoy it. 

Teaser Tuesday (8)

Teaser Tuesday is a Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, as long as they do the following:

• Grab your current read. 
• Open your book to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. 
• Warning:  Avoid spoilers in your teaser as not everyone has had the pleasure to read your current read
• Share the Title & Author so anyone can add your current read to their list if they wish to do so. 
• Note: links go to Amazon
  

Vixen (The Flappers)by Jillian Larkin
Release Date: 9th August 2011
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 448

"At first she thought it was Bastian who'd hit her. But as she recovered from the shock of it, holding her smarting cheek, she met Gloria's boiling eyes

'How could you?' Gloria asked

'Glo?' Lorraine said, wildly confused. 'No. It's not-'

All at once, the world around her - the roaring crowd and the blinding, dizzying stage lights; the myusic that was now blaring - didn't matter. All Lorraine could see was Gloria, whose face said: You betrayed me, you ruined my life, you destroyed everything" Pg 245

Book Review: The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #2) by Michael Scott

The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #2) by Michael Scott

Release Date: 28th April 2009
Publisher: Random House
Format: eBook
Pages: 496
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge 

Summary from Amazon:

"In the second book in the New York Times bestselling series, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris, the City of Light, home to Nicholas Flamel. Only this homecoming is anything but sweet. Niccolò Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, lives in Paris and is working for Dr. John Dee. He’s in hot pursuit, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenelle. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world’s only hope. . . . If they don’t turn on each other first."

Review:
Just like the first book in the series, Michael Scott has managed to write a very entertaining and enthralling novel. Again, this book threw you directly into the action, taking off from where the first book ended. And, again, the book managed to keep me enthralled for almost 500 pages (and I struggle to read books that are that long). But because of the way the book was written - with non-stop action and short chapters - it doesn't feel like to book is 500 pages long, and you could easily get through it in a matter of days. 

And I'm really enjoying the plot - the action is non-stop, the story is progressing at a good rate, and new and interesting characters are being introduced. And while each book only really covers the events of a day or two, the books doesn't seem drawn out because so much is happening. The other side of it is that people could criticize the book because too much is happening at a time, but I think Scott has done a good job at deciding how much to put in each book - its got just the right amount of plot progression, just the right amount of character development and just the right amount of action.

I'm really enjoying this series at the moment - hopefully the next book will be just as good!

Book Review: The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1) by Michael Scott

The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1) by Michael Scott

Release Date: 24th June 2008
Publisher: Random House
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 400
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge 

Summary from Amazon:

"He holds the secret that can end the world.

The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time."

Review:
I'm going to keep this review short and sweet because I'm currenlty reading the second book in this series, and want to get back to it - because these books are really, really good. From the first few pages, I was drawn in. Unlike some books, this one threw you directly into the action within the first few chapters, and managed to keep up the momentum for the rest of the book. And since the book was so engaging, with action pretty much non-stop, it made it extremely easy to read. 

Whilst the book was really good, I gave it a rating of 4.5 because the writing style, at times, annoyed me. Some facts were repeated excessively - it was as if Scott thought we had short-term memory loss and couldn't remember the important facts so he had to continually remind us. But if you can get past that, the book itself was a really enjoyable read. If you like anything involving magic, action, history and the supernatural, then you will enjoy this.

WWW Wednesdays (7)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

*Note: all links go to Amazon, except for when you click on the pictures :)

My Answers:

1. I only just started reading The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)by Michael Scott today. I'm not very far in, but if it's anything like the first book in the series, I know it will be good!
   
   
2. I've been really busy this week - Last Thursday I finished reading The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz {my review here}, on Monday I finished reading The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins {my review here} and earlier today I finished reading The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamelby Michael Scott {my review here}
   
   
3. I don't know what I'm going to read next...I have so many books on my TBR pile that its hard just to pick one!

Teaser Tuesday (7)

Teaser Tuesday is a Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, as long as they do the following:

• Grab your current read. 
• Open your book to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. 
• Warning:  Avoid spoilers in your teaser as not everyone has had the pleasure to read your current read
• Share the Title & Author so anyone can add your current read to their list if they wish to do so. 
• Note: links go to Amazon
  
  

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
Release Date: 24th June 2008
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 375

"Sophie?" Josh whispered, unable to keep the terror from his voice. "Sophie..." His sister, wrapped in an undulating silver glow, was floating in the air directly before him. The light from her body was so strong that it painted the circular chamber in shades of silver and black. It was like a scene from a terrifying horror movie" pg 237

Book Review: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

Release Date: 3rd July 2010
Publisher: Scholastic 
Format: eBook 
Pages: 384
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge and 2012 ATS Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed."

Review:
When I picked up this book I had no doubt that I would enjoy it. I learned about the Hunger Games series long after they were released, so I knew that not only did they have a pretty strong following, but they were also being translated to the big screen. And everyone knows that a book has to be pretty good for Hollywood to consider making a movie version. 

From the beginning, I was drawn in. The one thing you've got to love about dystopian novels is that they fully immerse you into a new and different world, and with Panem being so different and so interesting, you can't help but get pulled in. And then you have the characters. Katniss is definitely my favourite character (I really can't go past a strong heroine), but I also loved Peeta, Haymitch, Cinna and Rue too. And, whilst this may be a little grim, I absolutely loved reading about the Hunger Games themselves. The action and adventure that took place was exciting to read, and I did also enjoy seeing how the character's dealt with being thrown into a battle to the death.
I pretty much loved everything about this book - the setting, the storyline and the characters melded so well together that I got through this book within a matter of days (which is a feat for me). If you haven't read this book yet, you need to add it to you TBR pile.