Slllooowww month

Not to say it's been slow in book gathering (just the opposite) it's just been a slow posting month. I've been job searching, out enjoying what little good weather my state gets, and general busy work.
Sept should be sooo much better. :)

Mini Update

I've been wanting to post my "Thank You Mr. Postman" entry but I'm still waiting on a book to arrive. *sigh* The waiting game, it is no fun.
I figure since I have to wait on the book to arrive I'll go ahead and wait to make/post my awesome book-y finds as I'll be attending a first annual swap meet that looks like it will be tons 'o fun.
In other book type news I am spreading the love of Unwind, one friend at a time. So help me if they mess up my copy. :P
I have a couple reviews to come (Paper Towns by John Green, Legend by Marie Lu, and Gone by Michael Grant), the hauls/TYMP, and I may do a meme.




.....



Told you this was a mini update.

This is why I hate ordering online

As well as love it.

I just received part of my order from Amazon (an 11 book order, I may have a problem but I do enjoy it :) ) and I got three books that weren't as described. :/
One book is 'Sisters Red' by Jackson Pearce that was listed as 'Good' was actually an ex-library copy with stamps all over, stickers everywhere, and that annoying plastic covering. On top of that it was the wrong cover. They advertised it as the shiney red cover but it's just the typical cover.
The second book is Fearless by Francine Pascal (technically it's a bind up so it can be considered the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, books). It was listed as 'Like New' but it has black residue on the upper left hand of the cover and all over the spine, which is quite noticeable on a stark white cover, it has a huge crease in the front cover, and god awful dents all along the pages like a three ring binder was pressed really hard against it.
The third is 'Delirium' by Lauren Oliver. I was on the hunt for a specific cover so when I found listed as 'New' I lept on it (it was also only about $6 and change, shipped). Sadly, in transit it got all banged up and actually got the corner bent in. Yes, on a hardcover book. Bah. I'm keeping it, though, it's just too difficult to find this cover. It's the blue one with the words showing through a picture of a girl. I much prefer that cover and I know you shouldn't really care about covers but I do. I do. :)
What I do love about ordering is the great deals you can get. I got a couple hardcovers for only 2 bucks a piece, a hard to find book at less than cover price, and free shipping (so it saves on gas).
Fair warning though, if you order from Amazon directly and it's their bargain books, odds are they will have remainder marks. *sigh* I had no idea that would be the case, I haven't gone back to see if there is any mention of having marks, just that they were new. Oh well. The ones with remainder marks were less than $4 so I'm not too put out.

When the rest of my order comes in I'll be sure to make a "Thank You Mr. Postman" post (my form of book haul/IMM/Stacking the Shelves) as well as a vid. I'll let you know what happens with getting a replacement for the two misrepresented books.

Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
by
RANSOM RIGGS

Pages:  352
Genre:  Supernatural
Age:  YA
Part of a Series:  Probably
Finished: July 1st 2012











Ugh.. argh... *grumble*
I was quite disappointed in this book. I so wanted to love this but I didn't.
First let me help with something that people have been having trouble with; the name is pronounced "Pair-uh-grin".
Secondly, the pictures were pretty.
Okay, I'm done with my review. That's enough, right? -_-
I have had to force myself to write any further as I was just that annoyed with this book. The author was quite arrogant with his writing. made annoyingly cocky characters, and really forced this book. There was a LOT of "oh, like in that picture?" or "he must do that a lot because there was a picture" or "you look a lot like a photo". OKAY! We get it! There are freakin' pictures in the book! Stop announcing it! It's as though he figures the reader is a moron and won't make the connection between photographs. Which, by the way, may have been a bad idea after all. The pictures are lovely, as their own seperate thing but when being forced on the reader as pictures of the actual characters in can get screwy as none of them look a like. There will be 7 pictures, all supposed to be of one character, and none of them will look like the other. It also makes it so you can't develop an idea of a character on your own. It's like putting a photo on the cover of the book and telling us that's the lead. Well, maybe my idea of the lead would have been much more kick ass and you've now forced this lesser heroine/hero on me and it just flops.
Ignoring the photo concept (hard to do) the storyline was also a wash. It had potential but round about the middle of the book it was like the writer got bored and just rushed about to shove as much crap in as he could before the end.


*SPOILER*
Also, what the hell was up with the lead hooking up with his grandpa's sloppy seconds?? How sick is that?! Mr Riggs, you've lost a reader of any of your future or past works. I don't want to risk reading anymore filth like that. Ugh.


-end spoiler-
This book is also one of those that ends like there should be at least another chapter but is instead bound to be followed with a sequel, because the world hates me.
Honestly, I wouldn't waste a penny on a copy. If you really must read it, grab a copy at your local library.

Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

UNWIND
by
NEAL SHUSTERMAN

Pages:  335
Genre:  Dystopian/SciFi
Age:  YA
Part of Series:  Yes/First
Finished:  July 12th 2012









Oh. My. Goodness. I loved this book. Of course there were parts that annoyed me. No story is perfect and neither is any writing. I still loved the book, despite it's use of 'but' at the begining of a sentence followed by another starting with 'and' (that will never be acceptable to me!).
A brief synopsis; there's a second cival war, pro-lifers versus pro-choicers. Things were getting so bad the government came up with a possible agreement and those at war agreed. The agreement? Abortion is made illegal but retro-abortion is allowed. When the child reaches the age of 13 (until they are 18) the parent/guardian may sign an Unwind contract and have the child sent to be unwound at a harvesting camp. The child's organs are harvested and distrubited to those in need (or anyone with the funds just wanting to "upgrade" as it were). There are also "tithes", children born for the sole purpose of being "given to god".
Parents also have the option to "stork" their baby. It involves the parent leaving the baby on a doorstep (it's not made clear if it must be done a doorstep or if they could leave it elsewhere) and the person who finds the baby must keep it. If the parent is caught leaving the baby the parent must keep it (also not made clear if the parent can't just try again later).
The main characters are;
Levi "Lev"- A tithe, the tenth born in his family. Age 13.
Risa- A ward of the state. The state doesn't have the funds to support so many children so a few are sent off to be unwound, Risa amongst them. Age 14.
Connor- A troublemaker, always getting into fights and getting bad grades. His parents sign the order to have him unwound because of this. Age 15.
This book was very well written. There were parts that actually brought me to the verge of tears. There is great character development and coming of age.
Very rarely will I say this- so don't get used to is- but I think this would make a great movie (and in fact I think I heard it might be made into one, so, yay).
I had originally checked a copy out from the library but ended up loving it so much I bought it. :D
Will have to check out Mr Shusterman's other books. There's going to be a sequel to this book called "Unwholly" which I can't wait to read. Soooo very excited for it.

Oh, hey there!

So, I have tried the blog thing over and over again and just find myself forgetting to update or find I have nothing to write. What am I doing here, than? You ask. I figure I'll give this another go.
I only recently found out that book blogging/YouTubing exsisted (yes, I am obviously behind in the times and I'm only 25 *sigh*). With my increase in reading lately (a lack of a steady job will do that, ah, the joys of nannying) I thought I'd try my hand at blogging about my fav and not so fav reads, the recent treasures I've found, or the great book I found at the library.
You won't find me talking about the ebook I recently found for my Kindle/nook/whatever as I dispise ebooks. I'll be honest and say I have a few but I paid not a dime for them and only have them for review purposes/figure out if I want to buy the book for real. I read them on my laptop, I will never own an ebook reader. Don't get me wrong, everyone should read and if the only way you're going to read is on some electronic device, I suppose it's better than nothing. Do keep in mind, my book will never get a glitch or virus, if my book gets wet it will dry out and be read again not be lost forever, if I drop it it won't break, if I misplace my one book it won't make my entire library disappear, and I will be able to read my book all day and all night without having to worry about the words vanishing because the battery ran out. It just urks me the amount of people getting rid of all their books with the excuse "Oh, I got a Kindle, I don't need books anymore". Arrgghh. These are the same people who will have a fit when their laptop goes on the fritz in class and all their notes are lost (I'm the student off to the side with a pen and a notebook only having to worry about a writer's callus).
Now this is a way to start a blog, not with gumdrops and rainbows but with sarcasam and bitterness. I'm off to such a great start. ;)


Coming up in following days a couple reviews (Unwind by Neal Shusterman and Divulgent by Veronica Roth), a few massive hauls (as soon as I can get my video editing software to work), and anticipated reads.