Review: Pale by Chris Wooding

Title: Pale
Author: Chris Wooding
Pages: 67
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: September 10, 2012
Publisher: Stoke Books
ISBN: 9781781120910

Goodreads Summary :

The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead. Only thing is, it turns you into a Pale. Jed can’t imagine anything worse, but then the choice is taken out of his hands…

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

So this is a REALLY quick read. It’s only 67 pages which made me finish it in about an hour, maybe less. It felt like less. The Story was predictable but still well told.

I just would have loved to get to know the characters better and everything. It was a little too short for my taste. But I totally understand that I am not really the target audience so if I was an early reader this would be a nice start. It probably would make me want to read more in dept books like this.

Another thing I figured was, that this book can be considered Dystopian but it still has a lot of truth to the world as it is now. You would just have to switch “Pale” with “(Illegal) Immigrant” or “Ex-Prisoner” and it would still make as much sense as it does now. Made me think about the topic, especially as bullying at school is also a trending thing right now. Sadly.

So if you have an hour to kill you can check out this Novella or one of the other  16 or so books Chris Wooding wrote so far. That’s a lot isn’t it? Given that he is only 32…that’s only 2 years older than me. Gosh! I need to start do important things in my life!

Cover: This Cover reminded me SO MUCH of Starters by Lissa Price and as I loved her book I was probably not very objective about this one at first. Maybe this was also the reason why I was a little bit disappointed with this book which isn’t really fair. You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover – and especially not by some other books cover!

Rating: 3 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• First in a Series

IMM #15 – In my Mailbox August, 19th 2012

So the past couple of weeks I was first sick (stupid summer flu) and then really busy so I didn’t do any IMM Posts for a few weeks. But don’t worry, you won’t miss anything, because I will tell you what I got the past 3 weeks. As I haven’t been to the Library (even tho I REALLY need to go by now – books overdue) I only have NetGalley Books except one Book I got offered by the Author on Goodreads which I just downloaded a few minutes ago. I will split the Post by weeks.

Books I got at NetGalley (Week 1: July 30th – August 5th):

Will write Release Date next to Titles.

    

Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor LaValle (July 23, 2012)
Oreimo Volume 1 by Tsukasa Fushimi (September 5, 2012)
Tab Bennett & The Inbetween by Jes Young (April 30, 2012)

Books I got at NetGalley (Week 2: August 6th – August 12th):

    

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley (April 2, 2013)
Etiquette for the End of the World by Jeanne Martinet (August 1, 2012)
Right where I belong by Krista McGee (December 11, 2012)

Books I got at NetGalley (Week 3: August 13th – August 19th):

    

The Archived (Sneak Peek)  by Victoria Schwab (January 22, 2013)
The Paradise Diaries #1: Dante’s Girl by Courtney Cole (July 1, 2012)
Point 4 #2: The Future we left behind by Mike A. Lancaster (November 13, 2012) (D’oh! Didn’t realise that this is a second book in a series until now)

    

Atticus Claw Breaks the Law by Jennifer Gray (September 6, 2012)
Katya’s World by Johnathan L. Howard (November 6, 2012)
Miriam Black #2: Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig (August 28, 2012) (Noo! Another one I didn’t realise it was 2nd in a Series!)

This is a Bindup of:
The Matchmaker’s Mark and
Shadows of Justice #1: Justice Incarnate by Regan Black (August 1, 2012)

Book I got offered on Goodreads today:

Please Stay by Denise Kim Wy (August 2012)

Ok, now you are up to date again with the books that I got. I’m a little angry about myself that I didn’t see that two of the books where 2nds in Series especially as they look really nice but I don’t want to read books of Series out of order. Seems like I will have to find the first ones first and read. Also I wanted to mention that I love most of the covers of the books that I got the past three weeks. Nearly all of them look really intriguing and awesome and/or cute.

What did you get this week? Hope you had a great week too and Happy Reading!

Wrap up: July 2012

So this month I finally picked up the pace a little after the end of Uni. Now I can allow myself again to read more without having a bad feeling about it (or at least not THAT bad of a feeling).

These are the books I read in July (underlined Ratings are Links to Reviews):

    

    2,5 Chocolate Hearts             5 Chocolate Hearts               2 Chocolate Hearts

 

     

    5 Chocolate Hearts                 4,5 Chocolate Hearts           3 Chocolate Hearts

So this was a pretty good month for me even tho some of the books were pretty or very short but I am still proud of myself. I nearly reached last years total amount of books read and it’s only July! Woho! Also I finally managed to read a few Netgalley Books.

So what did you read that month? Have you had a good or a bad month in Reading?

IMM #14 – In my Mailbox July, 29th 2012

This week was a rather quiet week in regards of books. I didn’t have to go to the Library (even tho I was for about ten minutes or so to show a friend around) so I didn’t get any books from there. Also on netGalley there wasn’t a lot of excitement or at least I wasn’t aproved for a lot of books. Only for two to be precise. But it could have been a lot more because I realised that we have a Shakespeare & Company in town and went there with friends on Friday but stayed strong and didn’t buy any books. I am really proud of myself.

Books I got at NetGalley:

Will write Release Date next to Titles.

  

Zombie by J. R. Angelella (June 5, 2012)
One Breath away by Heather Gudenkauf (July 6, 2010)

So that’s it already for this week. That was the shortest IMM I ever did. I hope you still enjoyed it and got some great books for yourself. See you next time and happy Reading!

IMM #13 – In my Mailbox July, 24th 2012

Again a long time has passed since I did my last IMM Post. One part of it being me MIA and one part trying to not get too many books at the library as I have way to many NetGalley books left to read (And they are constantly coming in too). Still I was a bad girl this week. It started off pretty innocent as I “just” wanted to return some books that were due… and ended up getting 6 new books *sigh*. Yeah, whatever. So here they are. (All of them exciting enough to not being able to leave them at the Library)

Books I got at the Library:

    

Uglies #2: Pretty – Erkenne dein Gesicht (Pretties) by Scott Westerfeld
A House of Night #5: Hunted by P.C. and Kristen Cast
A House of Night #6: Tempted  by P.C. and Kristen Cast

     

Riley #4: Der erste Kuss (Riley Bloom #4:Whisper) by Alyson Noel
Awaken #1: Die Rebellion der Maddie Freeman (Awaken #1) by Katie Kacvinsky
Der Nachtzirkus (The Night Circus) by Erin Morgenstern

(aren’t these Covers amazing? The Riley Bloom book even has sparkle on it! I am a sucker for sparkling things!)

And now for the NetGalley books. Did I already mention that I have some kind of Obsession or NetGalley addiction or something like that?

Books I got at NetGalley:

Will write Release Date next to Titles. (Only the ones I got last week. Got way too many since my last IMM which was way too long ago)

     

Inbetween (Kissed by Death #1) by Tara Fuller (August 28, 2012)
The Intruders by Olive Peart (February 28, 2010)
A Life in Parts by Vicki Bennington & Daniel Brannan (October 8, 2012)

     

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (August 14, 2012)
Pushing Upwards by Andrea Adler (September 17, 2012)
Frozen by Mary Casanova (September 1, 2012)

 

The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer (August 28, 2012)
Pale by Chris Wooding (September 10, 2012)

  

The Tall Tale of Tommy Twice by Nathan Leslie (October 30, 2012) (Couldn’t find a better Cover Picture for that one)
The Enchanted Truth by Kym Petrie (March 9, 2012)

Woho I’m done! What did you get last Week? See you next time and Happy Reading!

Review: Unbreak my Heart by Melissa C. Walker

Title: Unbreak my Heart
Author: Melissa C. Walker
Pages: 240
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: May 22, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781599905280

Goodreads Summary :

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

If you are looking for a light quick summer read then this is for you! But be warned! You might – just as I did – desperately want to go on holiday (preferably on a boat) after you’ve read this. Don’t blame me for it in the end, I told you .

What I like about the book that it is two stories in one. So one story is Clem going on a sailing trip over the summer with her family and the second story is the past year at school and how all the mess she got into started. So you slowly get to know Clem and her story over time.

This isn’t a book with a lot of stuff going on or twists or thrilling moments but it doesn’t have to. It’s a quiet little story more about feelings and relationships than about a big plot. I for myself liked it.

Also it wasn’t like all happiness and everything more about how to get it back. This made me think a little and also left a cosy feeling within me when I finished reading it.

Cover: I adore this cover. It is simple but I liked it the second I saw it and made me want to read the book. And it didn’t let me down.

Rating: 5 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
• 2012 YA Contemporary Reading Challenge
• Just Contemporary Reading Challenge

Review: The Journeys of John and Julia in Chapter One – Genesis

Title: The Journeys of John and Julia in Chapter One: Genesis
Author: Aurelia
Pages: 264
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: June 29, 2012
Publisher: Gerber Rigler
ISBN: 9780984001965

Goodreads Summary :

The Journeys of John and Julia begin.
The Twenty-Two are watching.
Reality is about to change.

It all starts when Julia’s parents totally mess with her summer. First Julia’s dad takes off to start a whole new family. Then Julia’s mom yanks Julia from cheerleader camp to spend the summer with her grandmother in the land of no signal, no mall, no best friend Kellie. Julia’s only hope for human contact is geeky John Freeman, who is six months younger than she and about a million years behind her idea of cool.

If only Julia knew that her mom plans to dump her at Grandma’s not just for the summer, but for a whole year. If only Julia knew that a collective of wondrous beings called The Twenty- Two are watching over her and trying to make contact. If only Julia knew that they could tell Julia every thought she never knew she had and bend her reality in any way they choose. And that she’d be with John Freeman when it happened. He’d think that was way cool.

And that is just the beginning. For this seemingly mismatched pair have cracked open the door to another reality. And their enemy-to-be, the beyond evil Niem Vidalgo Oten, is about to enter the picture.

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

To be honest I’m not totally sure what to say about this book. I finished it pretty quickly and it was nice to read but…

I think I missed the connection to the main Characters. I couldn’t really connect  and feel with them. In one way they just didn’t bother me enough? Also some events or dialogues just confused me. A few times I was like “what? why did that happen now?” or  “Why did he do that?”

I mean I am aware that there is supposed to be something mystical or magical or however you want to call it in the book but sometimes I just didn’t see the reasons or connections. Probably I would have needed some more explanation and in depth description or the book was just not for me.

However I still finished it which means that it’s not totally lame and boring otherwise I  would have stopped at some point.

Cover: I am not very fond of this Cover. It’s not bad but also nothing spectacular.

Rating: 2,5 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 Debut Authors Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
• First in a Series

Review: Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame by L.L. Samson

Title: Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame (The Enchanted Attic #1)
Author: L.L. Samson
Pages: 144
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 9780310727958

Goodreads Summary :

A hidden attic. A classic story. A very unexpected twist. Twin twelve-year-old bookworms Ophelia and Linus Easterday discover a hidden attic that once belonged to a mad scientist. While relaxing in the attic and enjoying her latest book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ophelia dozes off, and within moments finds herself facing a fully alive and completely bewildered Quasimodo. Ophelia and Linus team up with a clever neighbor, a hippy priest, and a college custodian, learning Quasimodo’s story while searching for some way to get him back home—if he can survive long enough in the modern world.

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

I just finished the Book and wanted to do the Review as long as it is still “fresh” in my mind. First of all I have to say I had a bit of a hard time getting into the book. It might have to do with the language that is used in the Book. English is not my first language so a lot of words weren’t really familiar to me and it through me a little out of the Story sometimes. But I got used to it.

Funnily a lot of the words I didn’t know where explained in the book. There happens to be a Storyteller who is telling the story to us and as he is proud of his use of the English Language he likes to use “nice” words but is at the same time kind enough to explain the complicated ones. This is especially important as this is a Middle Grade Book for Ages 9-12.

It was a nice short read but still took me ages as I kept putting it down. I am not entirely sure why. Another thing I liked about the book was that you get to know a Classic at the same time. So this is the perfect start for a younger reader who doesn’t quite dare to read “the real stuff” yet but is interested about what else there is in Book World.

Cover: It’s a well made Cover which is Age Apropriate and matches the Story.

Rating: 3,5 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• First in a Series

March Summary

First of all I have to apologize to everyone who follows my Blog via email. You have probably gotten a few strange emails yesterday. I was trying to install Windows Live Writer and it didn’t let me. Sorry for spamming your Inboxes, Guys!

I decided to do some kind of Summary from now on about the last Month. It could include stuff like the Books I read that Months, Challenge update, Reviews written and statistical numbers. I might split this in more than one Posts if it is getting too long. This might or might not change every month I will see how it goes and if I like it the way it is. As it is April already, this will be the Summary for March. If you want me to, I can do that for the past few months too and if we all like it, I might do it every Month from now on.

Statistics:

Books read:
NetGalley:	0
Library:	2
Bookshelf TBR:	0
Kindle TBR:	0
Total:	2
New Books:
via NetGalley:	26
via Library:	14
bought:	0
Total:	40
Books I had to return:
Library:	14
Total Books TBR: (Beginning of Month / End of Month)
Bookshelf:	65/65
Kindle (excl. NetGalley):	121/121
NetGalley:	54/80
Library:	25/25
Total:	265/291

I’m not totally sure if all of these numbers are correct but I will go with that now. Too Difficult otherwise. Also I just realised that this Statistics are pretty depressing. Lol! I really should read a little quicker but I have to add that March was a really bad Month for reading. I was pretty stressed out and I did read a lot more the previous Months. I hope this will get better next month too.

The tremendous two Books I read in March are:

1. Dash & Lily’s Winterwunder (Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares) by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (4,5 Chocolate Hearts)
2. Blogging Queen by Jutta Profijt (4 Chocolate Hearts)

Stuff I did on the Blog:

1. I wrote a total of 8 Blogposts,
2. participated in the Emerald City Blog Tour,
3. had a Cover Reveal for Pretty Amy and
4. participated in the Bloggiesta Event.

IMM #12 – In my Mailbox April, 8th 2012

It’s a long time since I last did an IMM Post. I tried to do a Video for it for so long and never managed to get around to so I finally gave up and do it the old fashioned way now. Wow, it’s April already! Can’t believe how quickly the time flies by when you are stressed. At least Spring is finally coming around the corner. I was soooo waiting for that, I hate Winter and cold. As I didn’t do the IMM Posts in a while I have LOADS of Books to show you today so better get started. But before I start I have to tell you that – because it’s so many books – I will leave the Summaries out today. If you want to know more about the Book simply click on the Cover and it will lead you to the Goodreads Page of the Book. First of all the Books I got from the Library.

Books I got at the Library

The exciting ones that I look forward to read:

    

Die Purpurrote Schleife by Carla Miller, Isabelle Metzen & Kathleen Weise
Cathy’s Book by Jordan Weisman, Sean Steward & Cathy Briggs
Die unrühmliche Geschichte der Frankie Landau-Banks (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks) by E. Lockhart

     

Nicht schon wieder ein Vampir! (Tall, Dark and Dead) by Tate Hallaway
Elfenkuss (Wings #1) by Aprilynne Pike
Grau (Shades of Grey) by Jasper Fforde

     

Austenland by Shannon Hale
Das absolut wahre Tagebuch eines Teilzeit-Indianers (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian) by Sherman Alexie
Abby Cooper #1: Detektivin mit 7. Sinn (Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye) by Victoria Laurie

ZWEIundDIESELBE (The Adoration of Jenna Fox) by Mary E. Pearson

And then I got a few books I need(ed?) for a paper. Not that interesting:

(The Covers aren’t interesting either so I won’t bother you)

Postkoloniale Soziologie: Empirische Befunde, theoretische Anschlüsse, politische Intervention by Julia Reuter, Paula-Irene Villa (Hg.)
Postkoloniale Theorie: Eine kritische Einführung by Maria do Mar Castro Varela (Wow, what a Name!) and Nikita Dhawan
Geschichte der Konsumgesellschaft by Wolfgang König
Kursbuch Medienkultur: Die maßgeblichen Theorien von Brecht bis Baudrillard

(All of them are German originally so no english titles, sorry! But they are boring anyway )

Ok, let’s move on to the NetGalley Books I got, I don’t even want to know how many these are…. We will find out together shortly:

Books I got at NetGalley:

Will write Release Date next to Titles.

Week 1
(February 27 – March 4)

     

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers (April 3, 2012)
Interrupted: Life Beyond Words by Rachel Coker (March 1, 2012)
Halflings (Halflings #1) by Heather Burch (February 1, 2012)

     

State of the World 2012 by The Worldwatch Institute (April 15, 2012)
Cooler Smarter by The Union of Concerned Scientists (May 14, 2012)
The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost (September 25, 2012)

   

The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel (August 28, 2012)
Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield (September 11, 2012)
Fitz by Mick Cochrane (November 13, 2012)

Week 2
(March 5 – March 11)

     

The Punk Ethic by Timothy Decker (May 1, 2012)
The Stein & Candle Detective Agency #1: American Nightmares by Michael Panush (March 9, 2012)
No-Name Baby by Nancy Bo Flood (March 1, 2012)

    

Nevermore by William Hjortsberg (March 13, 2012)
The Shapeshifter’s Secret by Heather Ostler (June 12, 2012)
The Summer my Life Began by Shannon Greenland (May 10, 2012)

  

Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi (March 8, 2012)
The Lynburn Legacy #1: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (September 11, 2012)

Week 3
(March 12 – March 18)

   

Richard Linklater by David T. Johnson (April 30, 2012)
David Lynch by Justus Nieland (April 2, 2012)
The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall (May 29, 2012)

     

Hollywood in Heels by Charity Gaye Finnestad (April 3, 2012)
Empowered Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 by Adam Warren (February 29, 2012)
Yesterday by C. K. Kelly Martin (September 25, 2012)

Week 4
(March 19 – March 25)

No Books this week!

Week 5
(March 26 – April 1)

     

Danger Girl: Revolver #1 by Andy Hartnell (June 26, 2012)
Between Gears by Natalie Nourigat (March 6, 2012)
The Comic Book History of Comics by Fred Van lente (June 5, 2012)

     

Skinnydipping by Bethenny Frankel (May 1, 2012)
Dollhouse: Epitaphs by Andrew Chambliss, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen (April 11, 2012)
The Compleat Terminal City by Dean Motter (February 29, 2012)

.

Pampered Pets Mystery #1: Desperate Housedogs and #2: Get Fluffy by Sparkle Abbey (March 31, 2012)

Week 6
(April 2 – April 8)

   

Making Piece: A memoir of love, loss and pie by Beth M. Howard (March 27, 2012)
Blood of Eden #1: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa ( April 24, 2012)
Nine Months by Paula Bomer (August 21, 2012)

     

That’s not a Feeling by Dan Josefson (October 2, 2012)
The Never Chronicles #1: Exiled by J.R. Wagner (May 5, 2012)
Imperfect Bliss by Susan Fales-Hill (July 3, 2012)

   

Chrysalis Chronicles: The Eyes of the Desert Sand by Edwin Wolfe(January 11, 2012)
Enrepreneur You by Holly Marie Katko (January 1, 2012)
Building Projects for Backyard Farmers and Home Gardeners by Chris Gleason (April 1, 2012)

     

Adventures into the Unknown! Archives Vol. 1 by Edvard Moritz, King Ward, Mac Elkan (June 6, 2012)
Channel Zero by Brian Wood ( May 30, 2012)
FLCL Omnibus by Gainax, Hajime Ueda (May 16, 2012)

The Unholy by Heather Graham (June 19, 2012)

I promise myself (and you) that I won’t wait that long ever again until I write the next In my Mailbox post. This took insanely long to write it’s ridiculous! If you read that far: Bravo! Thank you for your patience. So Happy Easter and see you next week (I’ll really try!)