Its Late...

So, as you guessed it, its late. I am probably at least a little bit loopy, due to lack of sleep. But, I would like to tell you guys/girls that there might not be that many reviews or posts this week. I have two projects due in the next two weeks, and I have a feeling that I'm going to have a lot of homework. But, then again I will probably procrastinate and their might be a huge load of posts (that will probably happen). So if you don't hear from me, I'm not dead or sick or anything, I'm just busy.

Thanks and Best Wishes!
Zoe

Cornelia Funke Challenge

SO, I have finally decided to host a challenge. It is the Cornelia Funke Challenge. It starts on December 1 , 2008 and ends March 1, 2009. Cornelia Funke has written numerious books, one of which is currently becoming a movie.Here are the rules:

1. You must read at least three books that are written by Cornelia Funke (i.e. Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath, etc.)

2. When you join, please leave a comment on this post, with a link to where you posted which Cornelia Funke books you are going to read.

3. You can join at any time between today and March 1, 2009.

Thanks, everyone!

New Books (2)

I got very few new books in the past week or two, but I'd thought I would share them with you:

Wide Awake by David Levithan

Once again, David Levithan amazes me. Here is the summary (taken off of David Levithan's website):

In the not-too-impossible-to-imagine future, a gay Jewish man has been elected president of the United States. Until the governor of one state decides that some election results in his state are invalid, awarding crucial votes to the other candidate, and his fellow party member. Thus is the inspiration for couple Jimmy and Duncan to lend their support to their candidate by deciding to take part in the rallies and protests. Along the way comes an exploration of their relationship, their politics, and their country, and sometimes, as they learn, it's more about the journey than it is about reaching the destination.Only David Levithan could so masterfully and creatively weave together a plot that's both parts political action and reaction, as well as a touching and insightfully-drawn teen love story.

Every book I read of David's gets better and better. They are all surprising and cute and totally worth reading. One part, I admit isn't really suitable for "younger" readers, but the overall message of this book is something all readers no matter what age should be taught. It teaches us to accept others, no matter their religion, skin color, or which gender they find attractive. We are all humans, who live on this earth, and we need to learn to accept people for who they are. I think this message is heavily discussed in this book. You should read it at one point in time, if you haven't already.


Silence is silver, but Books are golden...

Hey Everyone (an update)

Hey Everyone,

I would just like to tell you that I am going to post a review of Wide Awake by David Levithan tomorrow, it was a really good book and like I have said many times, he is a really good author. Tonight I will be writing some more on my novel and possibly reading more books, I will be doing this from 3pm to 9am, though. I most likely will only be able to go on the internet until 6pm. If I am pleased by what I managed to write on my novel, I might post the first part of it (the first few chapters), because I am still in the beginning stages of writing it. I will miss the blogging world tonight, and I will hopefully be getting reading for a loaf more posts. "See" you all later!

Love,
Zoe

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Wow, I am speechless. This book was so amazing. Here is a summary of it ( taken off the authors website) :

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he's found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul's not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.

I loved this book so much. I found myself slowly melting into the story, wishing it wouldn't stop. This was David Levithan's first novel ( at the time) and it was magnificent. When/If you read it, you might feel that one of the characters (Noah), is very uneasy and not so willing to be in a relationship with Paul, I realized that. And, I loved the kind-of-tension that that brought. After reading this, I seriously was speechless, it was such a great novel that I was blown away and just wouldn't speak to anybody for a few hours ( which is very unusual for me). I strongly recommend this book, it is one of my favorite books that I have read this year.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Hey everyone! I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks you to everyone who reads this blog, you don't know how much it means to me that you read and comments my reviews on books.

I know have to get back to cooking, cleaning, reading, and procrastinating! So I will "see" you all soon! I am also going to post a book review of Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan soon (it was the most awesome book I have read in a while).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Contest...

Hey everyone, Bookluver-Carol is having a contest (it is only open to people in the US). I encourage you all to go check it out! Thanks, and there are going to be more reviews coming soon...

The 2009 - 100+ Reading Challenge

I've been looking around blogs lately, and again, I discovered this challenge. I did something similar to this, this year, but my goal was 50 books. I have gone way past 50 books this year, so I'm going to try for 100 books. If you would like to joint his challenge please go here.

Here are the guidelines:

1) You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading your books prior to 2009.

2) This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is December 31, 2009.

3) You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.

4) All books count: children’s, YA, adults, fiction, non-fiction, how-tos, etc.


If you join, you don't have to decide your books ahead of time.

My Books:

1. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
2. E.E. Cummings: Selected Poems
3. Frenemies by Alexa Young
4. Ariel by Sylvia Plath

My 2009 Young Adult Book List

I said I would post it, so here is my list of Young Adult books I am going to try to read in 2009.

1. Hoy to be Bad by Lauren Myracle, E. Lockhart, and Sarah Mlynowski
2. King Dork by Frank Portman
3. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
4. The Host by Stephanie Meyer

There is more books to be added to the list, which I shall add at a later date.

2009 Young Adult Book Challenge

So, I found this challenge recently and I was like "Hmm, it sounds pretty cool, lets try it" So, here are the rules:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Read 12 Young Adult novels. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

3. Challenge begins January thru December, 2009.

4. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.

If you want to join, please go here

I will post a list of the books I am planning on reading, really soon.

Waiting on Wednesday

You've Got Blackmail by Rachel Wright
Release Date: April 2, 2009


Lozzie Cracknell is a girl on the edge. Her parents have recently separated; she forgot to mail the invitations to her mum’s super-important client party; the school bully is out to get her following an unfortunate e-mail incident involving Photoshop and a picture of a horse’s behind; and now it looks like Mum might be dating her English teacher, the utterly loathsome Mr. Hilary Barnett.

Just when she’s got about as much stress as she can handle, Lozzie and her best mate Dex stumble upon a tantalizing mystery—it seems Mr. Barnett is being blackmailed. But who on earth would blackmail a bore like him, and why? As they delve deeper into the mystery, questions pile on top of questions, and the one thing that does become clear is that danger can lurk in totally unexpected places . . .

I just recently found out about his book, and the first thing I thought was "Ooooh...pretty cover". I mean, I LOVE that cover, it is beautiful. Then I read the summary, and thought it seamed interesting. The next thing I noticed was that one of the characters was named Dex, I really don't know why I like that name so much, but any character with the name Dexter or Dex I love.
I don't really like mystery books, but I thought I would try to read this... what harm could it do?


You can find the creator of Waiting on Wednesday, Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

After I bought this novel, I read the back, and there were three reviews of the book. All three of them said that the book was creepy/scary. Here is the plot:

When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline will have to fight with all her wits and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

I admit, though I thought this book was a little child-ish, it scared me a little. I had to stop about fifty pages in and take a break from reading because it started getting creepy and I don't normally read creepy books. I thought Neil Gaiman did a good job writing this and it made me want to read more of his books. It was a fast-read because it was only 162 pages, but it felt longer because of the strange content. Overall, I recommend this if you haven't read it, but if you really don't want to read it, you don't have to.

Silence is silver, but Books are golden...

Twilight: The Movie

So, we all know about the release of this certain movie...that involves a guy named Edward and a girl named Bella. I saw it last night, and I thought, since I haven't had that much time to read and haven't made a blog post in a while... so what the heck! I will make a blog post about a movie based on a book.
I went to go see this movie with someone who HAS read the book and someone who HASN"T read it. So my experience was interesting, the thing that I didn't like was there was a lot of inside jokes that viewers only would have gotten if they read the book.
Personally I didn't like the actor who played Bella and thought that Edward was more appealing in the movie than in the book. I went to school today, and of course almost all of the girl in my class had gone and seen it, some people I noticed had started reading the first book, which makes me happy because those people normally don't read. I think that movie had that effect, because the person that I went with who hadn't read it, started reading it the after we got back from the movie theater.
I admit though, I think this movie could have been way better, today for about 40 minutes during lunch, girls in my class and I fangirled the movie and the book series. If you haven't read the book series than you should read it, and then, after you read the first book, go see the movie.

Go Buy a Book!

Some of you already know this, but some of you may not, so I'm going to tell you. The publishing business has been having some trouble. So, "how can I help" you ask. Well, I shall tell you.

YOU can buy a book, by doing this YOU are making a diffrence in the publishing world. Even if it costs a little amount of money, it still helps. So go buy that nook you've been wanting, or that book you were going to get from the library. Heck, its almost Christmas/Hanukkah! Buy books for your family members or friends.

I bought Maximum Ride a few days ago, and will most likely buy more books within the next week. What books have you gotten,or will you get?

The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan

This is a really nice book, though some parts are kind of confusing I recommend it to a lot of you. I don't recommend it to young children, some of the content is a little edgy, but if you enjoy poetry, love, and David Levithan books this is the book for you! Here is a summary taken off of the jacket flap:

Here's what I know about the realm of possibility- it is always expanding, it is never what you think it is. Everything around us was once deemed impossible. From the airplane overhead to the phones in our pockets to the choir girl putting her arm around the metalhead. As hard as it is for us to see sometimes, we all exist within the realm of possibility. Most of the limits are of our own world's devising. And yet, every day we each do so many things that were once impossible to us.

Enter The Realm of Possibility and meet a boy whose girlfriend is in love with Holden Caulfield; a girl who loves the boy who wears all black; a boy with the perfect body; and a girl who writes love songs for a girl she can't have.

It took me a long time to read this book, but I'm glad I did. David Levithan is a brilliant author and he really understands some teenagers lives. In this book, almost all of the poems are written by different people, so to me, I didn't really get to know the characters well, but through their poetry you get to know the part of them that they might not want other people to know. I fell in love with this story when I started reading it, and I hope you do to.

Silence is silver, but Books are golden...

New Books

SO this week I got quite a few new books, both library and store bought. First I will show you the ones I added to my personal library:

I also got a book from my teacher that has some Jack London stories in it.

Next is the vast amount of books I got from the library.


Be expecting a review of Realm of Possibility very soon!

Silence is silver, but Books are golden...

USA Today's Top Selling Books

I recently found a post by S. Krishna's Books where she listed USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books of Last 15 Years. So I thought I would try it out:

So here's the deal: bold what you've read, italicize what you own, star books on your TBR list!

1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
2 Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution - Robert C. Atkins
3 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
10 Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson
11 The South Beach Diet - Arthur Agatston
12 Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
13 Angels & Demons - Dan Brown
14 What to Expect When You're Expecting - Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway
15 The Purpose-Driven Life - Rick Warren
16 The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
17 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
18 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
19 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus - John Gray
20 The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
21 Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter
22 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
23 Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... And It's All Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
24 The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
25 Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
26 Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
27 The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
28 The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
29 The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
30 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
31 A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
32 Oh, the Places You'll Go! - Dr. Seuss
33 The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
34 Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
35 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
36 Body-for-Life - Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso
37 New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
38 Night - Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway
39 Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
40 The Greatest Generation - Tom Brokaw
41 Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
42 The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
43 Wicked - Gregory Maguire
44 Good to Great - Jim Collins
45 Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
46 Eragon - Christopher Paolini
47 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells
48 Your Best Life Now - Joel Osteen
49 In the Kitchen With Rosie - Rosie Daley
50 Simple Abundance - Sarah Ban Breathnach
51 A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer
52 A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
53 The Testament - John Grisham
54 Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger
55 Deception Point - Dan Brown
56 The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
57 Marley & Me - John Grogan
58 Dr. Atkins' New Carbohydrate Gram Counter - Robert C. Atkins
59 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
60 The Brethren - John Grisham
61 The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide - Arthur Agatston
62 The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - John Grisham
63 For One More Day - Mitch Albom
64 The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg
65 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
66 The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
67 What to Expect the First Year - Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway
68 Love You Forever - Robert Munsch, art by Sheila McGraw
69 Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss
70 A Painted House - John Grisham
71 The Rainmaker - John Grisham
72 Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
73 Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
74 The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
75 Life Strategies - Phillip C. McGraw
76 Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand
77 The Summons - John Grisham
78 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
79 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
80 The Runaway Jury - John Grisham
81 Goodnight Moon Board Book - Margaret Wise Brown, art by Clement Hurd
82 The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger
83 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
84 The Giver - Lois Lowry
85 Embraced by the Light - Betty J. Eadie
86 The Chamber - John Grisham
87 You: On A Diet - Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz
88 The Prayer of Jabez - Bruce Wilkinson
89 Holes - Louis Sachar
90 Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
91 The Shack - William P. Young
92 The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
93 Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
94 A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
95 The Seat of the Soul - Gary Zukav
96 Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff
97 The Partner - John Grisham
98 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
99 Eldest: Inheritance, Book II - Christopher Paolini
100 The Broker - John Grisham
101 The Street Lawyer - John Grisham
102 A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 1: The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket
103 The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
104 Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
105 The King of Torts - John Grisham
106 The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
107 The Horse Whisperer - Nicholas Evans
108 Hannibal - Thomas Harris
109 The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama
110 Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
111 The Glass Castle: A Memoir - Jeannette Walls
112 My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
113 The Last Juror - John Grisham
114 The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
115 Left Behind - Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins
116 America (The Book) - Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show
117 The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
118 John Adams - David McCullough
119 The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans
120 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares
121 Sugar Busters! - H. Leighton Steward, Sam S. Andrews, Morrison C. Bethea, Luis A. Balart
122 Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
123 The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
124 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life - Don Piper, Cecil Murphey
125 The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
126 1776 - David McCullough
127 The Bridges of Madison County - Robert James Waller
128 Where the Heart Is - Billie Letts
129 The Ultimate Weight Solution - Phillip C. McGraw
130 Protein Power - Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades
131 Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff
132 Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
133 Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
134 Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
135 You: The Owner's Manual - Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz
136 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List - Patricia Schultz
137 Self Matters - Phillip C. McGraw
138 She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
139 1984 - George Orwell
140 The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
141 The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko
142 The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
143 The Zone - Barry Sears, Bill Lawren
144 The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve
145 The Lost World Michael Crichton
146 Atonement - Ian McEwan
147 He's Just Not That Into You - Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo
148 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
149 The World Is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
150 Cross - James Patterson

My Total: 27
My Total Read:21

A New President for the United States of America

If you haven't heard it already, I will now tell you that the new president of the United States of America is... Barack Obama!!! Though I am happy about this, some of you may not be, so please don't judge me for my opinion in the next few paragraphs.

I am beyond excited about this. I believe that Barack Obama can help get the United States out of the problems its facing. Though, I am disappointed that he won't officially be president until the middle of January.

Change...thats what Barack says he will do. Though some people may not think it, change is a powerful word, it can bring happiness, fear, disappointment, or joy. I think he did a brave thing using that as a slogan.

My best wishes go out to Barack Obama, in hope that he will be a wonderful president. I would also like to send my condolences to the Obama family, and say that I am sad that Barack's grandmother isn't here to witness her grandson make history.

Angels on Sunset Boulevard by Melissa de la Cruz

This is the first Melissa de la Cruz book I have read, and it was really good. Here is a summary(taken from Melissa website):

Johnny Silver is the world’s soon-to-be biggest rock star, but on the eve of his debut concert in Los Angeles, he mysteriously disappears, causing global pandemonium. His friend Taj tries to discover the truth about his disappearance, which leads her to TAP.com and its shadowy founder, Sutton Werner, who throws the wildest parties in Bel-Air.

TAP started out innocently enough, as a website that dishes the dirt on the kids of Sunset Boulevard and beyond. But it has become something more. Membership is a privilege with responsibilities and consequences.

At Sutton’s parties, anything goes, especially in the legendary backroom rituals nicknamed The Angels Practice. Rumors abound of a special drink handed out at the parties that tap into otherworldly sensations.

One night Taj meets Nick, a Westside preppie who doesn’t buy into the TAP mayhem, especially since his kid sister never came home from attending one of its blow-out bashes. Slowly the two of them are drawn to TAP and to each other. But Taj just might know more than she’s letting on....

Are you ready for the darker side of Tinsel-town’s brightest lights?

I really liked this book, I found it interesting and I wanted to keep reading. I loved the way Melissa de la Cruz brought out the message that the world doesn't except people. Which brings the people who feel alone to the point of paying for friendship. And paying for friendship is wrong, people should like you for who you are and not for the gifts or money you give them. I am really looking forward to reading more of Melissa's books, ans I hope when I'm older I stumble upon this book again, because it reminds you to stay grounded.

Silence is silver, but Books are golden...

NaNoWriMo!!!

So, some of you may know about NaNoWriMo, but if you don't I will know briefly explain it:

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, the people who choose to participate, challenge themselves to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. If you would like to sign up to participate in NaNoWriMo, please visit nanowrimo.org you won't regret it.
It starts today so start as soon as you can.