Foreign Cover Friday: Anna & the French Kiss

Foreign Cover Friday is a weekly meme hosted by The Reading Fever, where foreign covers of the books we know and love are spotlighted and discussed. To join, either pick your favorite foreign cover or pick many foreign covers, and start discussing!

This weeks book is...

Anna and the French Kiss 

by 

Stephanie Perkins

(US Version)

I think this one wins for being the best.

I like how we see Anna's face but the boy is left a mystery. 

(Version Unknown)

This one is just a tad too awkward.

(German Version)

 Iy Iy Iy. This one is just bad on so many levels.  

(Turkish Version)

Almost identical to the US version except for some changes in the font and type placement. I really love the typeface used on this one and the pink! 

Any thoughts? Which one is your favorite?

Wordlover Wednesday: Cruciverbalist

It's time for another segment of "Wait, There's a Word for That!" Where I'll share crazy words for things you never would of dreamed existed. 

So this weeks word is...

Cruciverbalist- One who loves doing crossword puzzles

I'm no cruciverbalist, but I do enjoy the challenge of a crossword puzzle every now and then. 

Even though I spend the whole time frustrated by how impossible the clues are!

How about you? Are you a cruciverbalist?

Randomness: Contest Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS to Lexie Hogan!!!

She is the winner of the Gallagher Girl Release Day Contest and has won a hardcover copy of

I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter!

Breathtaking Book Cover: Between Shades of Gray (2)

Todays Breathtaking Book Cover is...

Between Shades of Gray 
by
Ruta Sepetys

Click Here To Add This Book On Goodreads =)

I was absolutely in awe when I first saw this cover a few weeks ago! I've actually featured this book before awhile back, with a different yet equally beautiful cover (Click here to see original). I don't know why they changed it but how lucky for the author, she gets two stunning covers for one book! 

Foreign Cover Friday: Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Foreign Cover Friday is a weekly meme hosted by The Reading Fever, where foreign covers of the books we know and love are spotlighted and discussed. To join, either pick your favorite foreign cover or pick many foreign covers, and start discussing!

This weeks book is...

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight 

by 

Jennifer E. Smith

(US Version)

The cover we've all seen at least a million times.

I like how everyone else in the photograph is out of focus except for Hadley and Oliver.

 I also like that everything is black & white except for the heart around them and the word love.

I think this cover is a lot more cutesy and portrays the more light-hearted funny side of the book.

(English Language Editions, not quite sure from where...)

Practically the same as the US just with a little color change, which I think takes away from it. 

(German Version) 

Surprisingly this is the only cover that shows them on the plane! I really love the transparency of this photo, the silhouette of the girls face against the blue cloudy sky. 

(French Version) 

I'm not always a fan of sticking the characters right on the front but this one I really love! 

(Norwegian Version)

I can see what the thought process for this one was and it is  cute (I especially love the little heart shaped gleam in his eye) but at the same time I can't help but seeing some distorted alien face with crooked eyes when I look at it haaha! 

Overall, this is a great group of covers.  I would have picked up this book with any of these covers! 

How about you? Is there any you wouldn't choose?

Book Review: Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

Title: Never Eighteen

Author: Megan Bostic

# Of Pages: 204

Publisher: Graphia

Publication Date: January 17, 2012

Level: Young Adult

Rating: 3 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Amazon.com)

Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

My Verdict

Before I read the book, I had heard a lot about it and once I started reading I was surprised when I seemed to know some things that I wasn’t supposed to until the end. 

The story is told from Austin’s point of view, which is the only view that would have made sense in this case, because even though Kaylee is with Austin on his journey she spends most of the time sitting in the car.

I loved Austin’s enthusiasm and love for life. Even though he knows he doesn’t have much time left he spends the time that he does have living it to the fullest and striving to make an impact while he still can.

I found it unrealistic that Austin had a friend going through every single hardship you could imagine. Out of all my friends none of them are going through any issues like that so it just seemed a little cliché that everyone he knew was dealing with some big issue.

One of the things I really liked was how you see all the different little stories come together in the end. As Austin goes on his journey meeting with so many different people I was wondering if any of them would play a part later on. 

I couldn’t believe how little this book was. Not only were there only 204 pages, but they were tiny pages! I blew right through it in a matter of a few hours.

While I liked the underlying storyline of the book I found myself wishing that the author had beefed it up a bit. It felt like just bones and no meat. Everything was very direct and to the point, with no room for fluff. Another downfall to the shortness of the story was that I didn’t feel particularly close or connected with any of the characters, which is always disappointing. Language is always another big point with me and unfortunately, there was quite a bit of swearing in this one, including a handful of F words.

This is awful, but in the end I didn’t even shed a single tear. 

Wordlover Wednesday: Agelast

It's time for another segment of "Wait, There's a Word for That!" Where I'll share crazy words for things you never would of dreamed existed. 

So this weeks word is...

Agelast- A person who never laughs

I don't see how it's even possible for someone to never laugh. How depressing. 

Book Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Title: Under the Never Sky

Author: Veronica Rossi

# Of Pages: 384

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Level: Young Adult

Rating: 4 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Amazon.com)

Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

My Verdict

I’m finding that I have an extreme case of writers block when it comes to this review. I think the problem is the fact that it took me almost a month to read it, which kept me from getting absorbed into the story or the characters.

The story dives right in to the excitement, I was hooked within the first 30 pages. This was especially nice because I started it after giving up on a book after 50 pages of nothingness.  So I liked that it wasted no time in getting to the good stuff.

The world that Veronica created was described to us very well throughout the story. The people are divided into two groups; the dwellers and the outsiders. The dwellers live within pods full of high tech gadgets and spend their time escaping into “Realms” where they can travel anywhere and do anything they want. This aspect reminded me of that movie (Surrogates) with Bruce Willis where the people never leave the house and live through robot doubles. 

Meanwhile, the Outsiders are fighting for food, and survival. All of the outsiders live in tribes and a lot of them have heightened senses, able to smell emotion, or hear for miles.

After Aria witnesses something that could bring down the head council member, she is left for dead on the outside! It’s not long before Perry finds her and forces her to help him make contact with the dwellers, who have kidnapped his nephew. Together they must embark on a journey to meet a guy named Marron who can fix the one thing they have that can help them both, Arias smart eye.

I found that I liked the secondary characters more so than the main ones. Perry’s best friend, Roar, was instantly likable and I grew to favor him over Perry.

Perry’s seven-year old nephew, Talon, isn’t even in much of the book, but when he was, he was adorable. I loved the relationship he and Perry shared.

The ending was absolutely perfect! I couldn’t have asked for anything better. It’s a completely satisfying ending in itself yet leaves enough doors open for the sequel Through the Ever Night, which I look forward to reading! 

Breathtaking Book Cover: Wide Open

Todays Breathtaking Book Cover Is...

Wide Open

by

Deborah Coates

Click Here To Add This Book on Goodreads =)

Love the tree roots, the sky, the colors, I'm awestruck! 

Randomness: Spring Break Wrap Up

Unfortunately, Spring Break is officially over =`(

Although, I didn't get to read all the books in my stack I was able to make a sizable dent. Out of the eight books I got through five of them.

Wrap Up

Read & Reviewed

Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala

Read

Legend by Marie Lu

Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Didn't Finish

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

I also read & reviewed one that wasn't in my pile, Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

As you can see I'm a little behind on writing the reviews... I should go work on that.

Author Interview: Guadalupe Garcia McCall

As part of the Novels In Verse Reading Challenge I'm going to be doing an author interview each month with an author in this genre. This month's interview is with Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of YA novel Under the Mesquite.

Welcome Guadalupe!

Although, this is Guadalupe's debut novel, she has had a number of smaller works published over the years. If you want to learn more about Guadalupe and her work you can visit her at: www.guadalupegarciamccall.com

Book Synopsis- 

As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead—and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script. Click here to add this to your Goodreads shelf.

Now, on to the interview! =)

Born Bookish: Under the Mesquite is your first novel, how does it feel when you see it on store shelves?

I have to admit, I am ecstatic every time I see Mesquite on shelves, in someone's reading bag, or in a friend's hands. It's just indescribable how happy I am to see this dream come to fruition. I get such a warm fuzzy feeling when I see it at stores. I take out my phone and take pictures of my little book sitting prettily on those shelves. Here's a recent one from my local B&N.

Born Bookish: This book was based on your real life experience, did that make it harder to write or easier?

I think because so much of it came from my own experiences it was both. While I was able to draw easily from my own experiences how I felt, what I went through, what I thought, it was also very difficult to relive that heartbreaking time in my life. But it was truly a story I needed to tell.  

Born Bookish: What made you want to tell your story in verse, opposed to traditionally?

The book was born from a collection of poems, so it wasn't so much a conscious decision to use that format to write a novel in verse. It just evolved in that format, but it feels very organic and natural to tell that story that way.

Born Bookish: As I mentioned above, this book was based on your experience growing up, why is it classified as fiction and not a memoir?

Early on in the process my editor, Emily Hazel, and I made the decision that the story needed to be fictionalized. There were many reasons for the decision, but mainly it provided me the opportunity to be more creative in the process.

Born Bookish: What is your favorite novel in-verse?

OUT OF THE DUST is absolutely my favorite novel-in-verse, but HEARTBEAT by Sharon Creech is not far behind. 

Born Bookish: Did you read many books in-verse to prepare yourself to write one of your own?

I actually didn't read many novels-in-verse in preparation for writing Mesquite. I had read a lot of poetry, Gary Soto and many other Hispanic writers. I had also read OUT OF THE DUST in my classroom, and I knew I loved it, so that was helpful.

Born Bookish: A lot of people are hesitant to try reading this format, why do you think that is?

I think a lot of people are afraid of poetry, mainly because some can be hard to understand and we've all had to try to figure out the meaning of some pretty challenging poetry in English class when we were young, and were totally lost. But free verse poetry can be very accessible and shouldn't be feared.

Born Bookish: If you could take any classic novel and re-write it in verse, which would you choose?

I don't think I'd re-write, but I would love to do a re-telling of several Greek Myths in verse form as a collection perhaps, just to put a new spin on them.

Born Bookish: Do you have any other books in the works that you can tell us a little bit about?

Yes, my second book, a YA novel entitled SUMMER OF THE MARIPOSAS is coming out in the fall from TU BOOKS. It is a re-telling of The Odyssey, only the characters are Hispanic and the mythological creatures are all from Mexican folklore. In the story, Odilia and her four sisters get into all kinds of adventures as they take a trip into Mexico to try and return the body of a drowned man to his family in El Sacrificio, Coahuila. On the way they meet all kinds of monsters, which they must defeat to get back across the border. But their biggest challenge is waiting for them when they get home.

Also, I am currently busy finishing up a YA Historical novel-in-verse entitled, JOAQUIN, THE JACK OF HEARTS. It is the story of a shy, introverted boy struggling to find his voice, assert his identity, and win over the girl he loves while enduring the racial tensions, savagery, and turmoil caused by the infamous Plan of San Diego in the Nueces Strip of South Texas during the time of the Mexican Revolution.

Born Bookish: Here at Born Bookish I have a segment called Breathtaking Book Covers where I post the cover image of a book that I think is stunning. Is there a book cover that has ever taken your breath away? If so, what book?

Oh, so many to choose from. In YA, I think the one cover that made me stop, read, and buy was THE GIVER. The old man's eyes on the cover, his melancholy, made me reach for it, and I loved it. But I would have to say the one book cover in regular fiction that caught my attention as I walked by it in a bookstore was THE RED TENT. I love that book cover. It made me stop in my tracks, read the excerpt & first pages, and buy the book.

PS: The book didn't disappoint.

Thanks again Guadalupe! =) 

Randomness: Contest Winners!

AND THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS...

Michelle from Re-Reading High School

The 3 Runners Up are...

Lisa Szumicki Peake

Vickie Reljin

Christina Farley from Chocolate for Inspiration

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED AND CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!!! 

Randomness: Spring Break Update #3

I know I haven't checked in for awhile, so here's the scoop.

Finished:
I finished off the rest of Legend by Marie Lu. I had some small issues with this one but still enjoyed it overall.

I also read Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, which is a novel in verse. This was another enjoyable read that I finished in one short sitting of about an hour and half.

Up Next:
Now that most of the library books have been finished and returned, I'm finally going to start on some of my new purchases. First up, Hallowed by Cynthia Hand! Book one, Unearthly, was one of my favorite books this year and I'm sure Hallowed will not disappoint!

Randomness: Gallagher Girl Release Day + Giveaway

Today is the release day of book number five in the Gallagher Girl Series by Ally Carter. Wahoooo!
This is one of my favorite series of all time! I've read the first four books multiple times each and cannot wait to see what happens next! I pre-ordered my copy months ago, did you? If you haven't read this series yet you really should. Right now. Go!

So in honor of the release of Out of Sight Out of Time, I've decided to giveaway a hardcover copy of the first book I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You.

Breathtaking Book Cover: Such A Rush

This weeks Breathtaking Book Cover is...

Such A Rush

by

Jennifer Echols

Click Here To Add This Book on Goodreads =)

Review: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Title: Inside Out & Back Again

Author: Thanhha Lai

# Of Pages: 272

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: February 22, 2011

Level: Middle Grade

Rating: 4 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Amazon.com)

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

           

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.

My Verdict

This is a touching story about the journey of a ten year-old girl named Ha, and her family as they deal with the affects of war and the changes it brings to their lives.

The story is actually based on author Thanhha Lai’s real life experiences as a child.

Told in free verse and divided into four main sections the story flowed seamlessly from one part to the next.

This book focuses on Ha and her family (her three brother and her mother) who flee from Vietnam during the war and end up living in Alabama where they are forced to start over. When Ha starts at a new school where nobody understands her and talks to her like she’s dumb, we get to see the frustration of dealing with a language barrier. We also get to see the power of friendship, which doesn’t always need words.

Ha was one tough cookie for ten years old. She was strong willed and full of emotion, she was spunky, funny, and able to bring humor to some hard situations.

The one thing I found hard to follow was the brothers’ names: Quang, Vu, and Khoi. For some reason I couldn’t keep them straight and didn’t know who was being talked about, until I learned to identify them by personality rather than name. 

This was a quick read that took just a little over an hour from start to finish. For such a short book it sure is full of love, life, and loss. I highly recommend you pick it up! I’ll be on the lookout for anything more written by Thanhha in the future.

Randomness: Reading Update #2

Time for another check in.

Unfortunately, I haven't done as much reading this week as I would have liked.

Recap:
Finished and reviewed Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala

Didn't Finish:
I started reading The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder and after about 50 pages decided to stop. I pretty much hated the main character Cam from like page 3 when we are first introduced to the "Flamingo List," a list of things she wants to do before death. The list pretty much consisted of wanting to shoplift, cheat with her best friends boyfriend, and a bunch of other not-so-nice things. From there it was all downhill for me.

Next:
I am currently reading Legend by Marie Lu. I'm about a 150 pages in and loving it!

Book Review: Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala

Title: Don’t Breathe A Word

Author: Holly Cupala

# Of Pages: 320

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Level: Young Adult

Rating: 3 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Amazon.com)

Joy Delamere is suffocating.

From asthma, from her parents, and from her boyfriend, Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out. She can take his cruel words, his tender words . . . until the night they go too far.

To escape, Joy sacrifices her suburban life to find the one who offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. He introduces her to a world of fierce loyalty, to its rules of survival, and to love—a world she won’t easily let go.

Set against the backdrop of the streets of Seattle, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the secrets we keep, and the ways to redemption. But above all, it is an unflinching story about the extraordinary lengths one girl will go to discover her own strength.

My Verdict

This was quite an intense book! I enjoyed it but also found it to be emotionally upsetting. I tried reading a little before bed one night. Not a good idea. Small doses during the day turned out to be the better route, for me anyway.

The story is about Joy who has severe asthma and has almost died from it more than once. Her family has become so protective of her, never letting her out of their sight, they don’t realize that they are the ones who are suffocating her. Joy’s boyfriend Asher is rich, good looking, seemingly sweet, the perfect boyfriend, on the outside at least. Nobody knows the real Asher, the one who abuses Joy in more way than one, the one controlling her every move, her every breathe.

Finally when things go too far, Joy decides there is no other way to escape then to run away. She runs to the streets of Seattle, which serve as home to thousands of homeless adults and teens.

I wanted to wrap Joy in a huge hug and tell her that everything would be okay! I hated that she put up with Asher and all his abuse for so long. I wanted her to tell someone! But I understood why she couldn’t.

Once on the streets, Joy finds her place with three other teens: Creed, Santos, and May, who live together in an abandoned house. They take her in, accept her as part of their family, and teach her how to survive on the street. All three of them were such great characters, that I immediately fell in love with them all.  

I can’t get over how well written Asher’s character was. He was absolutely revolting; I wanted to both punch him and puke all at once. The terror that he used to control Joy completely jumped off the page and scared the crap out of me.

I thought the story was very well written and I really liked how it was set up. We slowly learn about Joy & Asher’s relationship through flashback chapters. This added a sense of suspense and mystery to the story, and it also helped it from being too overpowering. I think if all the chapters about her and Asher were all at the beginning I would never have kept reading. It would have been too much to handle. 

As for objectionable content, there was quite a lot of swearing especially the f bomb. There were some sexual things that were referenced but never described in detail. Lastly, there were a few instances of violence and blood, mostly not bad except for one instance that was a little graphic.

I think what made reading this book so hard, was knowing that this stuff really goes on everyday. It serves as a great tool in bringing attention to the world of teen homelessness. It definitely pulls on your heart and makes you want to do something to help.  

Randomness: Reading Update!

It's time for my first check in!

Finished:
Last night I finished Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala, which was very raw and emotional.  My review will be up within the next few days. I give it 3 hearts.

Up next: 
The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder.

Wordlover Wednesday: Abliguration

It's time for another segment of "Wait, There's a Word for That!" Where I'll share crazy words for things you never would of dreamed existed. 

So this weeks word is...

Abliguration- Excessive spending on food and drink

Does that make me an abligurate? Haha! I eat way to much fast food. It's just so good... 

Randomness: Spring Break!

This week I'm on Spring break! Well sort of... this semester I'm taking classes at two different schools, which means two different schedules and two different breaks. So I don't actually have a week where I'm fully off, I have one week with just two classes, and one week with three.

Anywho, I haven't had much time to read  these last few weeks so I'm super excited to cozy up with some books and start reading! I put together a list of everything I hope to read over the next two weeks and I'll be posting frequent updates on my progress.



Here's the list:

1. Don't Breath A Word by Holly Cupalu (currently on pg. 70)
2. The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa
3. The Vow: The True Events That Inspired The Movie by Kim Carpenter
4. Legend by Marie Lu
5. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
6. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
7. Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
8. The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

And hopefully my copy of Pandemonium will hurry up and come in the mail so I can read that too!

Breathtaking Book Cover: Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls

Todays Breathtaking Book Cover Is...

Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls

by

Mary Downing Hahn

Click Here To Add This Book on Goodreads =)

This is such a serene and peaceful cover, not what you would expect for a suspense novel about murder. 

Blog Segment: Author News

Author Ally Condie stopped by entertainment weekly today for a mini-interview and to reveal the cover of the third and final book in the Matched trilogy. You can check out the article HERE.

So without further ado...

Awesome right!?!

Foreign Cover Friday: Inside Out & Outside In

Foreign Cover Friday is a weekly meme hosted by The Reading Fever, where foreign covers of the books we know and love are spotlighted and discussed. To join, either pick your favorite foreign cover or pick many foreign covers, and start discussing!

This week I've decided to do a set of books.

Inside Out & Outside In 

by 

Maria V. Snyder

(US Covers)

These covers are interesting enough. I really like the typography and how they've made that into a main design element rather than just using a plain typestyle. 

(Australian Covers)

I like these ones too! The type isn't as exciting as the ones above, but I really like the use of the blue and green as the last word of the title, which ties in with the color of the authors name. I also like the border around the pictures that looks liked scorched paper.

(United Kingdom)

These are my favorite! I love them! I find them to be so much more dynamic and eye catching than all the others, maybe because there not just a shot of someone's face...

So what do you guys think? Do you have a favorite?