Recommendations

Hi All!!

Beyond the review on the Hunger Games Trilogy (just in time for the first movie release) there are a bunch of books coming out in January that we are excited to get reading. While there will definitely be reviews on those, I have to ask.... Any books in the Young Adult genre that any of you would recommend? We love suggestions and in return I (Amanda) will be coming up with a list of the top ten books I'd recommend to anyone that enjoys the Young Adult/Paranormal Romance arena.  Just comment below or on our facebook page and I promise I will try to read them all!  Thanks and even if you've read the Hunger Games eons ago, please comment on the review that will be out in the next few days. We LOVE everyones opinions! :)

~Amanda~

Countdown to Clockwork Prince

I'm a little behind schedule and I am just now reading Clockwork Angel...which I LOVE!!! I knew I wouldn't be able to resist this series considering I am such a huge fan of the Mortal Instruments series ( I mean how can you not love Jace..swoon).  So in anticipation of the release of Clockwork Prince next Tuesday December 9th I thought I would share the book trailer!! I also love that Ed Westwick does the voice narration ( I'm a not so secret Gossip Girl fan).

ENJOY!!!

Bianca

Latest Book I'm Lovin' On...

And we're back. Sorry we've been slacking but our reading hasn't stopped! Now on to what brought me out of our review/blogging stupor! Significance by Shelly Crane! Get it at Amazon.com or click on my awkward link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Significance-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B0055PJHPY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320431679&sr=8-2

Ok, there is probably a much more suave way of linking to the book, but just click on it anyways.  I'm out of practice.

Now, about this much loved book.  It is a supernatural romance but doesn't have any of our beloved vampires/werewolves/fairies/etc.  This is a bit more of a soul mate and all the great things that can happen once you meet your soulmate kinda book. 

While I am going to depart from the usual route of going over the entire plot, I will give you a basic synopsis to get you on the bandwagon that I am clearly trying to recruit for, so here it is:  Maggie is a teenager who meets Caleb on the night of her highschool graduation and the moment they accidentally touch, they have a bond that can't be broken. So basically- it is this all consuming love they immediately have for each other and it freaks Maggie out.  Caleb is familiar with why it is happening and he is there to help Maggie understand what she has just stumbled into.

Shelly Crane is able to weave so much chemistry between Maggie and Caleb that you are eagerly reading as fast as you can to find out what is going on between the two of them. While there are some classic Young Adult scenarios throughout the book, i.e.- Maggie is a loner.  Shelly Crane does a great job of using some of those devices in a new way.  Maggie wasn't always a loner but her senior year of high school brought some major changes.  Thankfully Caleb is also introduced in a way that doesn't feel stale. No 'brooding new guy' to stare at Maggie from across the classroom.  This book feels like it hits all the classic themes of a young adult book without it feeling recycled. 

I know I usually gush about books I love on here but I implore you guys to read this book and the sequel, Accordance and tell me you don't love Maggie and Caleb.  So check out the books and get back to me!

~Amanda~

P.S. My kindle has passed away and I am heartbroken. Hopefully Santa brings me a new one this year, so until I get a new one, I can't buy anymore books that are strictly for Kindle.  I have found that some of those books are the best reading and for the best prices!

Music Monday (On Tuesday)

When Amanda and I first started this blog back in December I wasn’t exactly sure what direction we were going to take it in but I was eager to start posting to the world. So for two Mondays I started a little segment called Music Monday where I posted a video of a song I just couldn’t take off of repeat. Well I wanted to try to start that back up again with a video from a song that I just couldn’t get out of my head while reading Matched by Ally Condie. The song is Skip the Charades by Cold War Kids. Their new cd is amazing and if you like this song you should pick up their cd that just came out this summer.

ENJOY!!!!

Bianca

M.I.A.

We know we have been a little absent as of late, so today Bianca and I were trying to figure out what exactly we wanted to achieve with this blog. It is pretty simple; we love books and want to share our love with others. So seeing as how we have been learning the art of reviewing, we have decided that while we continue to review books we are also going to give you little insights into just how obsessed we are with books.

These little snippets will just be fun/interesting things that somehow tie into the books we love or even didn't love so much. A little example of this is how some authors have 'playlists' that is sort of a soundtrack to their books. Kind of a musical log of how a book progresses for them. Maybe we won't do a playlist, per se, but a song will remind us of a book or character from time to time and it's fun to share.

With that in mind, here is an awesome example of when that happens: in a complete coincidence, while we were talking about songs that relate to books we have read, the band Mumford and Sons came up. The song White Blank Page seems to be written from none other than Jacob's (Twilight) point of view. Both Bianca and I had expressed this thought to other people before ever telling other. So it must be true, no?

So tell us dear dear readers, do you ever hear a song and feel as though it goes perfectly with an unrelated book? Share!

Amanda

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

One hour to rewrite the past . . . 

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there; swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back. 

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past. 

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened? 

http://www.myramcentire.blogspot.com/

I have to start by saying what a story!!!!!  From the first couple of pages you are so enthralled in Emerson's story  it is hard to put the book down.  I can't believe that this is Myra's first novel!!!

Emerson is a young girl who has been through some pretty horrific events within the last couple of years and has taken that pain and made herself a strong individual. You love her so much because Emerson doesn't seem to realize the strength she has gained through her pain becoming a little spitfire.  Thomas, Emerson's brother, has arranged for her to meet Michael, this tall, dark, and handsome guy, who believes every word Emerson says and doesn't think she's crazy.  Michael can also see people or "rips" from the past.
The two of them have real electric chemistry and it grows stronger with each physical connection.  But Michael continues to want to keep their relationship professional. I found myself flipping a few pages ahead to see if they finally kiss because I couldn't take the tension anymore.

When you think you what is about to happen the story takes a twist and you find yourself not believing what you are reading.  I can't wait to read the next book and see how Emerson and Michael's story continues.

Bianca

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.
Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.
Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood. (http://www.tesssagratton.com/)

Tessa Gratton has written an incredible novel that had me hooked after the first couple of pages.  I really loved Nick and Silla and the chemistry between the two of them.  Silla is a strong and brave character and you can see why Nick gravitated to her so quickly against the advice of so many around him.  I loved how as I was reading the story I could feel the energy and tension between Nick and Silla through Tessa's writing.

As I was reading I really thought I knew where the story was going and what the ending outcome was going to be, but was blown away by a couple of plot twists. I couldn't put the book down until I read what happened.  Everyone should definitely put Blood Magic on their must read list!!!

As a side note I can't wait to meet Tessa when she comes with Maggie Stiefvater to the Borders in Novi in July!!!

Bianca