Review...The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Title: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Author: Kate DiCamillo

ISBN/Publisher: 9780763649425/Candlewick Press

Age Group/Genre: Children's Fiction

There's a rabbit named Edward Tulane and he belongs to a little girl whom loves him very much. However, Edward does not know what love is and soon goes on a journey without his little girl.

How will the China rabbit, Edward Tulane's journey end and will it leave us sad?

This is such a simple and easy book to read. Yet, there is more to the story that meets the on coming eyes. The readers will soon discover a story that deals with love, loss, hope, sadness, and even happiness.

I went into this story thinking that it will be an unemotional read and quite fast. However, I found myself thinking about my childhood and the toys I played with. How did I treat them? And where are they now? Then I thought more deeply about love. I am a single woman wondering if love will come my way and yet this book makes me realize how many different kinds of loves there are.

Kate DiCamillo does it again with a wonderful written story. I definitely recommend this book to everyone!

Favorite quotes...

"There's no point in going on if you feel that way. No point at all. You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next." -Chapter 26

"Open you heart [...] Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart." -Chapter 26

 

My Rating:

(This book was borrowed and downloaded through the San Diego County Library website)

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

I'm Baaack

So everyone...

I am back and truly back because I have wireless internet with my laptop (my old one was an XP and was not compatible with the wireless that is in my big brother's home).
So here is to new reviews and meeting old and new book friends.

: )

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Wish List Wednesdays (03/23/2011)

Wish List Wednesdays is hosted by Jenn-ay at My Tea Time is Book Time. It's a weekly feature and if you want to share, them feel free to leave a link to your list or leave it the comment box!!! I'm always looking for more books to add to my wish list (and all book lovers have one of those...right?).

Here are some of mine...

So, what's on your list???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Teaser Tuesdays (02/22/2011)

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MiZB at Should Be Reading (make sure you check out this blog).

Here are her instructions:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser this week...
Tales of the MADMAN Underground by John Barnes page 83

"Wonder what's wrong with that there laddie, 'e's a weird one 'e is, eh, eh, eh? A weirdie you know. Eh?"

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Contests Around the Blogosphere...

 

• La Femme Readers: Happy St. Patrick's Day Giveaway (open to U.S. & Canada) and ends April 7th.(Click on image above)
• A Good Addiction: Invincible Summer (open internationally) and ends April 6th.
• All About {n}: Giveaway-Night Road

Seriously...I plan on being back blogging world

Hi Everyone!!!

I moved back to Southern California and I am so enjoying myself. As much as I loved and enjoyed living in the Philippines, I missed my California lifestyle. So now that I am back and starting to get a routine down with reliable internet, I should be able to blog and also check out other blogs more often.

I appreciate everyone that stuck around with my...and I cannot wait to dive into all the books that you all recommend and talk about.

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings!!!***

P.S. I bought a nook the week I came back and I now have a library card to the library down the street from my neighborhood. So yay to more reading!!!

Thursday Cover Throwdown (02/03/2011)

Thursdays will be the day that I compare book covers for one book and we decide which ones we like best. The books I choose to feature are usually the ones where there are multiple covers and I have a debate at the bookstore on which one to get. Or if I know there is another cover out there in the world...do I wait until I find the cover I like?

Here is one of those books...

I absolutely adore Deb Caletti and her books. I actually own this book and I have the one that is in the middle. Although when I look at all these covers, I think I prefer the one on the left. Hmmmm...

What about you...which one do you like???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Kari is our guest grab her preference of an iced caramel macchiato (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Oh and I have a baby update on my sister...She gave birth to Andrew Cole on Wednesday, February 2nd at 1 in the afternoon. Mama and baby are doing awesome. My big sister had an all natural birth and she was a tough mama. Baby Andrew came into this world weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and just shy of being 21 inches long...yikes! He's adorable!!!

Wish List Wednesdays (02/02/2011)

Wish List Wednesdays is hosted by Jenn-ay at My Tea Time is Book Time. It's a weekly feature and if you want to share, them feel free to leave a link to your list or leave it the comment box!!! I'm always looking for more books to add to my wish list (and all book lovers have one of those...right?).

Here are some of mine...

So, what's on your list???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Kari is our guest grab her preference of an iced caramel macchiato (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Teaser Tuesday (02/01/2011)

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MiZB at Should Be Reading (make sure you check out this blog).

Here are her instructions:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser this week...
Hate List: A Novel by Jennifer Brown page 157

"Tell us what to think, Valerie. Tell us how it really went down."

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Kari is our guest grab her preference of an iced caramel macchiato (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

P.S. I'm waiting for my sister to go to the hospital to bring a new addition to the family. Come on Baby Andrew...the world is waiting to meet you : )

Featured Blogger...Kari from A Good Addiction

This week our featured blogger will end January 2011 with us and take us into February : )

This week we shall welcome Kari from A Good Addiction. So now lets learn a little bit about a fellow reader!!!

1. Why don't you tell us about yourself???

I’m 25 and work for a radiologist group in Dallas, but am also an aspiring writer. I wrote three manuscripts in 2010, the first of which I am doing the final revisions on to query, and working on tightening up the other two to send out to my beta readers. Other than that, I have a dog who I feature weekly in my IMM post and he’s a pain, but I love him… and that’s about it.

2. Tell us about your blog. When did you start it and why? Anything interesting for readers to expect or special features?

I started in September 2009 when a friend insisted I do it. We talked books constantly, and she had a blog, so I figured ehh why not. Like I said above, my awesome beagle/basset mix is featured in my IMM weekly, and I get a lot of comments of people coming just to look at him. I can't really blame them. He’s adorable. Monday’s I do my From the Boy Closet post, which is basically me gushing about a different hot boy from YA every week. Thursday’s I do my Ladies and Their Tramps feature, which is a couples mishmash, creating new couples I think would be awesome using a boy and a girl from two different books.

3. What type of books do you read? 

Basically all YA, and mostly contemp at that. I just love contemp. It’s what I write as well. It’s so intense and emotional, and there is such an incredible range within it. From happy to sad to tear your heart out, there is honestly something for everything, and I don’t find the overlap within it that I do with paranormal/fantasy. Don’t get me wrong, I love those too, but I can't read them a lot at a time. With that kind of genre, there is expected overlap, and I have nothing against it, I just need a break from it. I also love dystopian… especially the ones that really make me think.

4. If you were stuck on an island and can only have 3 of your favorite books, what would they be and why?

Is it cheating if I say Vampire Academy, as in the series? No way I could pick just one of those, though it would be book 4 or 5 if I had to. I also completely adore Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala, and I think it’s one that would continually make me think with every reread. And for the times when I want good romance (though I guess if I’m stuck alone on an island I might not really want to see other’s happiness), I’d take Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.

5. If you had to leave our world, but can live in any book, which one would it be? And why?

Hmm…. This is a hard one, but I think I would go with Paranormalcy. Not only would meeting Evie and Lend be awesome, but just the entire world is so well done, so intricate, and so original. Plus, I’d totally take my taser to the hags. 

6. I find that many readers develop crushes while they read books. Do you have a crush on any book characters???

Adrian from Vampire Academy is without a doubt my favorite YA boy. He’s sweet and sexy, and the sardonic playboy does me in. Running a very close second is Will from Angelfire. I’d want to fight reapers just to watch him fight with his six foot sword, and hope the poor boy doesn’t get impaled…

7. Lots of YA books are being adapted into movies. Do you watch them and if you do, what’s your favorite adaptation? And which ones are you looking forward to watch?

I will watch them, just because it is interesting to see how someone else took what I read and how they saw it, and turned it into something visual. I really enjoyed how the Harry Potter films have been done and though I did dislike how they’ve handled a few things, overall, considering the actual content of those books and the size and scope of them, those movies really do tell the story. Definitely cannot wait for the last one of those, and it’s probably the one I am most waiting for. Although a screenwriter is about to start work on Firelight by Sophie Jordan, and that’s another one that I think would make a fantastic movie, so hopefully that one does come to fruition.

8. I love music.  So I was wondering what you listen to since I’m always looking for new songs, what songs and/or artists are on you listening to right now on your ipod or CD player?

I’m a big fan of country music, and on a Matt Stillwell kick right now. Tim McGraw and Reba are my favorite singers, ever, though, so I do listen to both of them a lot. And yes, I own all of Tim’s CDs and almost all of Reba’s. On the rock/alternative side, I listen to a lot of Sick Puppies, Breaking Benjamin, Trust Company, and… plenty more.

9. Any last thoughts to share with us???

 Thanks for having me, and check out my blog. From cute dogs to hot boys, I have a range. I also corun The {Teen} Book Scene, a site dedicated to setting up promotional blog tours for YA authors, so I have been able to work with and talk to a lot of awesome authors through that which is such a reward.

10. Oh, and before I forget, when you go to a Starbucks or Coffee Bean (or any coffee/tea serving place)…what do you order???

Iced caramel macchiato.

Great answers Kari!!! I'll let you take a series onto the island because it'll be too much of tease if you can only bring part of the series ; ) And I definitely like your choice of Perfect Chemistry (I heart this book). I enjoy learning so much about fellow bloggers and I hope you all did too. Thanks again Kari!!! Now everyone...go hop over to her blog and check it out : )

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Kari is our guest, grab her preference of an iced caramel macchiato (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Thursday Cover Throwdown (01/27/2011)

Thursdays will be the day that I compare book covers for one book and we decide which ones we like best. The books I choose to feature are usually the ones where there are multiple covers and I have a debate at the bookstore on which one to get. Or if I know there is another cover out there in the world...do I wait until I find the cover I like?

Here is one of those books...

I actually don't own this book, but I really do want it because I want to finish the series. Or maybe I'll just borrow it from the library...hmmmm. However, if I do get some extra cash to own this book, then I choose the hardcover because I like how the crown is more dominant on the cover.

What about you...which one do you like???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Wish List Wednesdays (01/26/2011)

Wish List Wednesdays is hosted by Jenn-ay at My Tea Time is Book Time. It's a weekly feature and if you want to share, them feel free to leave a link to your list or leave it the comment box!!! I'm always looking for more books to add to my wish list (and all book lovers have one of those...right?).

Here are some of mine...

So, what's on your list???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Teaser Tuesday (01/25/2011)

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MiZB at Should Be Reading (make sure you check out this blog).

Here are her instructions:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser this week...
Kick by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman, page 30

All morning in school I felt eyes looking at me. Whenever I turned to look at someone who I felt was staring, we'd make eye contact for a brief second before they turned away quickly.

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Review: The Lying Game

 

Title: The Lying Game

Author: Sara Shepard

ISBN/Publisher: 978-0-06-186970-9/Harper Collins

Age Group/Genre: Young Adult

Summary...

Emma is a teenager and she has been in foster care since she was a little girl because her mom took off one day. So Emma never really knew her family and until her foster brother shows her video of a girl that looks exactly like her...things change. Emma discovers that she is a twin and goes on a search for this look alike girl named Sutton. So she leaves the life that she knows and heads out to Arizona. This search leads to something weird because the reader knows that Sutton died. However, no one else knows...not Sutton's  friends or family. While in Arizona, weird and threatening notes are given to Emma when she become suspicious about her twins disappearance. Will Emma find out what happened to Sutton???

Thoughts...

This was my first book by Ms. Shepard and so I went into it knowing that she was a popular author, but not realizing that this would be such a mystery. I'm not much of a mystery novel type of girl, but this book totally sucked me in. 

I'll be honest, I was a little confused during the first few chapters because the narration was coming from Sutton and then we get Emma's story. So it took me a bit of getting used to, but it got easier to understand who was who. But I was really captivated by the mystery of the story and the want to figure out if Emma can help her sister (even if she'll never meet her). Then, we read about mean girls. Now living in a world of bullying, it was sometimes hard to read because I couldn't and didn't want to believe (even if it is fiction) that this could happen. So I really appreciated the end where Ms. Shepard recognizes that these were mean acts that she came up with and that they in no way should happen in real life.

This is book one of The Lying Game series and I really cannot wait for the rest of the series to come out. I want...no I NEED to know what will happen to the characters. I wish the book didn't end!

Go pick this one up if you're a fan of YA mysteries!!!

(This was an Advanced Readers E-Proof downloaded from NetGalley)

Rating

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Mariah is our guest, grab her preference of a salted caramel hot chocolate OR peppermint hot chocolate (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Friday Finds (01/21/2011)

Friday Finds at the Store is a weekly feature here at My Tea Time is Book Time. It is totally easy and I encourage you let me know what you find. Basically just post the books you found at the bookstore or library or in your mailbox. Now others can see the great finds you had and maybe they will pick it up on their next bookstore/library run. HAPPY readings!!!

From the back cover of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Holly Castellucci

Geektastic celebrates all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, of if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic has something for everyone. Get your geek on!

(This book was bought from a store called Fully Booked.)

What did you find???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Mariah is our guest, grab her preference of a salted caramel hot chocolate OR peppermint hot chocolate (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Thursday Cover Throwdown (01/20/2011)

Thursdays will be the day that I compare book covers for one book and we decide which ones we like best. The books I choose to feature are usually the ones where there are multiple covers and I have a debate at the bookstore on which one to get. Or if I know there is another cover out there in the world...do I wait until I find the cover I like?

Here is one of those books...

 

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was one of those books that I HAD to read before I watched the movie. And I'll be honest...I did prefer the movie. However when it came to choosing which book ti buy it was an easy choice for me. I like the simplicity of the book on the left and that is the one that sits in my bookcase.

What about you...which one do you like???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Mariah is our guest, grab her preference of a salted caramel hot chocolate OR peppermint hot chocolate (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Wish List Wednesdays (01/19/2011)

Wish List Wednesdays is hosted by Jenn-ay at My Tea Time is Book Time. It's a weekly feature and if you want to share, them feel free to leave a link to your list or leave it the comment box!!! I'm always looking for more books to add to my wish list (and all book lovers have one of those...right?).

Here are some of mine...

So, what's on your list???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Mariah is our guest, grab her preference of a salted caramel hot chocolate OR peppermint hot chocolate (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Teaser Tuesdays (01/18/2011)

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MiZB at Should Be Reading (make sure you check out this blog).

Here are her instructions:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser this week...
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, page 89 

I often walked inside to find my mother crying.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's your sister," she said. 

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Mariah is our guest, grab her preference of a salted caramel hot chocolate OR peppermint hot chocolate (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Featured Blogger...Mariah from A Reader's Adventure

Yay...we're into week three for the featured blogger : )

This week we shall welcome Mariah from A Reader's Adventure. So now lets learn a little bit about a fellow reader!!!

1. Why don't you tell us about yourself???

I am an 18 year old book lover! I have been reading everything I could get my hands on ever since I could read on my own. Because of this some people find it odd that I am planning to go to school to become a biomedical engineer. What can I say I love reading, writing, and science!

2. Tell us about your blog. When did you start it and why? Anything interesting for readers to expect or special features?

I originally started my blog to keep track of what books I was reading and what I thought of them. I am thinking about doing a new feature about kick-a** heroines so look out for that!

3. What type of books do you read? 

I read YA fiction primarily, because I am a young adult I find these books to be the easiest to relate to. But once I am no longer a young adult I think I will continue to read YA because it is such a diverse and fun compilation of books that anyone can relate to. Also the authors are so nice!

4. If you were stuck on an island and can only have 3 of your favorite books, what would they be and why?

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker this is the funniest book I have read in a long time!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

And either the Lioness Rampant series by Tamora Pierce (unless that is cheating) or Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

For all of these I would choose them because they all have amazing female characters that keep me entertained for hours!

5. If you had to leave our world, but can live in any book, which one would it be? And why?

Probably the world of Graceling, I mean it sounds so beautiful, I would not want to mess with the villain but the world itself would be amazing! And Po, Po, Po.

6. I find that many readers develop crushes while they read books. Do you have a crush on any book characters???

Well as you can see above I totally fell in love with Po. But there are many different love interests that I have really liked but some of my favorites are, Valek, from Poison Study, and Jonathan from the Alanna books.

7. Lots of YA books are being adapted into movies. Do you watch them and if you do, what’s your favorite adaptation? And which ones are you looking forward to watch?

I have only seen one or two and I did not really like them. I did like the Disney adaptation of Meg Cabot’s Avalon High even though they changed the ending. I am really excited for the Moral Instruments movie, and of course the Hunger Games!

8. I love music.  So I was wondering what you listen to since I’m always looking for new songs, what songs and/or artists are on you listening to right now on your ipod or CD player?

I don’t really listen to music too often beyond classical.

9. Oh, and before I forget, when you go to a Starbucks or Coffee Bean (or any coffee/tea serving place)…what do you order???

During the winter I order peppermint hot chocolate, or my new favorite salted caramel hot chocolate.

Great answers Mariah!!! I need to go grab the Meg Cabot's Avalon High, then I need to check out the movie. I enjoy learning so much about fellow bloggers and I hope you all did too. Thanks again Mariah!!! Now everyone...go hop over to her blog and check it out : )

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Mariah is our guest, grab her preference of a salted caramel hot chocolate OR peppermint hot chocolate (or whatever beverage your prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Friday Finds (01/14/2011)

Friday Finds at the Store is a weekly feature here at My Tea Time is Book Time. It is totally easy and I encourage you let me know what you find. Basically just post the books you found at the bookstore or library or in your mailbox. Now others can see the great finds you had and maybe they will pick it up on their next bookstore/library run. HAPPY readings!!!

No books this week, but what did you find???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Lanna is our guest, grab her preference of a mocha (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Thursday Cover Throwdown (01/13/2011)

Thursdays will be the day that I compare book covers for one book and we decide which ones we like best. The books I choose to feature are usually the ones where there are multiple covers and I have a debate at the bookstore on which one to get. Or if I know there is another cover out there in the world...do I wait until I find the cover I like?

Here is one of those books...

Audrey, Wait! is one a favorite book of mine and is so much freaking fun to read. When I first saw this book, I didn't pick it up because I wanted to go home to see what other covers were available. The only one I found at the bookstores was the paperback version (the one on the right). And it's a good thing that was the one available because I like it best.

What about you...which one do you like???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Lanna is our guest, grab her preference of a mocha (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Wish List Wednesdays (01/12/2011)

Wish List Wednesdays is hosted by Jenn-ay at My Tea Time is Book Time. It's a weekly feature and if you want to share, them feel free to leave a link to your list or leave it the comment box!!! I'm always looking for more books to add to my wish list (and all book lovers have one of those...right?).

Here are some of mine...

So, what's on your list???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Lanna is our guest, grab her preference of a mocha (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MiZB at Should Be Reading (make sure you check out this blog).

Here are her instructions:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser this week...
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard, page 46

Emma's pulse began to slow, and her shoulders slowly fell from their crunched position be her ears. She pulled out her BlackBerry and stared at the screen.

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Lanna is our guest, grab her preference of a mocha (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Featured blogger...Lanna from Bloggers [heart] books

Here is to week two for Featured Blogger.

This week we will be visiting with Lanna from [Bloggers [[heart]] Books]. (and yes, this blog was featured last week, but remember...it is shared by Julie and Lanna)...

1. Why don't you tell us about yourself?

I'm Alanna... I prefer to be called Lanna or Allie. I turned 22 at the end of October, but I only really act my age when the moment demands it (it's funny, Julie is technically younger than me but 80% of the time she is the more mature one). I live in Scotland. I ramble a lot. I love to read, but that's obvious. I love to write and draw, but I'm not particularly good at either. I hate talking about myself... =P

2. Tell us about your blog. When did you start it and why? Anything interesting for readers to expect or special features?

The blog history is kind of complicated. I used to ramble about books on my personal blog all the time, so I decided to make a separate blog for book reviews and I invited a whole bunch of friends to join it too (at one point, the blog had more than 10 members)... we didn't really take it seriously until a while after Julie joined and it was just the two of us reviewing. The blogs been around for a few years, but we only started properly book blogging a little over a year ago? Something like that. Julie probably explained better than I did, we have a blog history post on our blog.

3. What type of books do you read?

As long as it's YA with some romance in it, I'm not majorly fussy. I will read outside of the YA catagory and books without romance in them if the book sounds interesting enough, but that's my preference. I love reading contemporary, supernatural/fantasy/urban fantasy.

4. If you were stuck on an island and can only have 3 of your favorite books, what would they be and why?

Gone With the Wind... not sure if that's a favourite or not, I adore the movie but haven't read the book yet - as for the why? The book is massive, so it'd kill a lot of time reading it. And Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because I love those.

5. If you had to leave our world, but can live in any book, which one would it be? And why?

Harry Potter world probably, so long as I was a witch instead of a muggle. The reason is pretty obvious, a world where magic exists? Awesome. If not that then maybe The Mortal Instruments world, if I could be a shadow hunter or something.

6. I find that many readers develop crushes while they read books. Do you have a crush on any book characters???

Oh, plenty. My literary crush list is almost as long as my favourite books list (Peeta from The Hunger Games, Jace from The Mortal Instruments, Jonah from Jellicoe Road, Marcus from the Jessica Darling series etc. I even have a girl crush on Alaska Young from Looking for Alaska).

7. Lots of YA books are being adapted into movies. Do you watch them and if you do, what’s your favorite adaptation? And which ones are you looking forward to watch?

I definitely watch them. My favourites are probably Speak (based on Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson) and the Harry Potter movies... those are the only ones I can think of right now. There are others that I enjoyed, but they're either adaptions that were so different from the book that they just became good movies in their own right while being technically bad adaptions or they aren't YA.

One that I really want to mention though: the movie Keith, it's awesome and it's based on the short story of the same name by Ron Carlson (found in the book The Hotel Eden Stories).

Ones I'm most looking forward to are The Hunger Games and City of Bones (more now than ever for City of Bones, because they've cast Lily Collins as Clary who was actually one of my dreamcast picks for Clary).

8. I love music.  So I was wondering what you listen to since I’m always looking for new songs, what songs and/or artists are on you listening to right now on your ipod or CD player?

I love music, I listen to every genre (but I go through phases where I'll favour one genre more than the rest). The music I like changes with my mood. My favourite songs today (which could change within a few hours); Wolves at Night by Manchester Orchestra, On Your Porch by The Format, Jessica by Jakil, Keep Me In Mind by Little Joy, Steer by Missy Higgins, Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons, Fireflies by Ron Pope, Where Are You Now by The Summer Set ft. Dia Frampton, Hazelton by Bon Iver, The Horror of Our Love by Ludo (mostly in an indie phase right now, obviously).

9. Any last thoughts to share with us???

Um... seeing as this is a book blog thing, last thoughts: go read Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, The sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, Stolen by Lucy Christopher and anything by John Green. /BookRecs.

10. Oh, and before I forget, when you go to a Starbucks or Coffee Bean (or any coffee/tea serving place)…what do you order???

Confession: I have never been to Starbucks (in my defence, they don't have one where I live and I'm not sure if they have Coffee Bean in Scotland). I don't really like coffee/tea much, I fail at being British. If I did go somewhere like that and I had to choose a coffee/tea type thing, then I'd probably get mocha though.

Thank you so much Lanna for taking the time to answer these questions. And everyone else...thank you for stopping by. Now hop over to Lanna's blog or start to look up some music like I did. Thanks for sharing again Lanna : )
P.S. Now I want to finish The Mortal Instruments series because I remember Jace now : )

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Lanna is our guest, grab her preference of a mocha (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Review: Impulse

Title: Impulse

Author: Ellen Hopkins

ISBN/Publisher: 978-1-4169-0357-4/Simon Pulse (part of Simon & Schuster)

Age Group: Young Adult

Summary...

Connor, Tony, and Vanessa are three teenagers that have each attempted suicide and now have been brought to the Aspen Springs Psychiatric Hospital. Connor is the rich kid, but fell in love with a person older than him. Tony went to jail after an incident with his mother's abusive boyfriend, and Vanessa is a cutter who struggles with mood changes...just like her bipolar mom. The three teens meet and even become friends. But will their friendships help them get through this part of their lives???

Thoughts...

This was my first book by Ellen Hopkins and it will definitely not be my last. Impulse is such a raw and honest story that tells the lives of three teens. And as sad as the story can get, the writing of Ms. Hopkins' is wonderful with the free verse. Each teen has their own tone and it is very notable which makes the individual narrators more real. 

Connor, Tony, and Vanessa are teenagers that can be found everywhere in the world and it is important that their stories are heard in today's society. Impulse brings attention to topics such as depression and the situations that lead to depressed teens. This is a VERY important book that I suggest parents, teachers, and councilors take notice of. As an adult reading this, I find that other adults can learn from the three main characters and find ways to talk to their students/children. I also find that this book can be helpful to the teenagers out there as well. This will help teens understand that they're not alone in the world and people are out there that want to help even when it feels like the world is out to get you. And for teens who aren't going through similar situations as Connor, Tony, and Vanessa...they'll still learn something. I learned a lot and I even have a better understanding about what goes on in these situations.  

Impulse is one of those stories where I felt sick reading about what happened to these teens.  I cringed at the idea of cutting and the thoughts about sex with minors, but at the same time I found myself wanting to jump into the book to be there for the characters. And when I invest so much time and care for characters of a book...you know it's a must read!

Favorite Quotes...

I wonder if they give everyone Prozac on their twice daily med deliveries. Do they actually try to diagnose first, or do they think everyone is depressed, just by virtue of being here? pg. 20

Stories about Daddy are the stuff movies are made of. pg. 272

Everyone's afraid of everybody else...maybe because we're all afraid of ourselves. pg. 468

"Sometimes loving someone means letting them go."[...] Love means holding on to someone just as hard as you can because if you don't, one blink and they might disappear forever. pg. 596

She's incredible, not that she's perfect. But you once said imperfections create character. She's got character all right. pg. 607

Impulse is a great book! So don't be like me and let it sit in your to be read pile. Pick it up now and read!!!

(This book was bought at a store called FullyBooked) 

 Rating

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest from Bloggers [heart] Books, grab her fave hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings*** 

Friday Finds (01/07/2011)

Friday Finds at the Store is a weekly feature here at My Tea Time is Book Time. It is totally easy and I encourage you let me know what you find. Basically just post the books you found at the bookstore or library or in your mailbox. Now others can see the great finds you had and maybe they will pick it up on their next bookstore/library run. HAPPY readings!!!

From the back cover of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Chloe Saunders used to have a pretty normal life. But that changed on the day she met her first ghost. Locked up in Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens, she finds out that there's more to the home's teen residents than meets the eye. Will Chloe be able to uncover the dangerous secrets of Lyle House...or will its skeletons come back to haunt her?

 

(This book was bought from a store called Fully Booked.)

What did you find???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest from Bloggers [heart] Books, grab her fave hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Around the Blogosphere...Contests!!!

• BloodyBookaholic: Good Bye 2010 Contest and 3 winners will be chosen. Open internationally and ends February 1st. 

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest from Bloggers [heart] Books,  grab her fave hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Thursday Cover Throwdown (01/06/2011)

Thursdays will be the day that I compare book covers for one book and we decide which ones we like best. The books I choose to feature are usually the ones where there are multiple covers and I have a debate at the bookstore on which one to get. Or if I know there is another cover out there in the world...do I wait until I find the cover I like?

Here is one of those books...

Speak is one of my favorite books. Heck, I even did a final class assignment on this book for college (I planned a whole lesson plan for this book). When I first saw this book, I really went back and forth on which cover I like best. And the one on the left won for me (actually the way the pages looked from the side is what won for me). But when I'm a teacher, I'll probably buy each cover I find of this book and put it in my classroom library. I'll fight for this book to be in my classroom if there are any book banners out there : )

What about you...which one do you like???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest from Bloggers [heart] Books,  grab her fave hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Wish List Wednesdays (01/05/2010)

Wish List Wednesdays is hosted by Jenn-ay at My Tea Time is Book Time. It's a weekly feature and if you want to share, them feel free to leave a link to your list or leave it the comment box!!! I'm always looking for more books to add to my wish list (and all book lovers have one of those...right?).

Here are some of mine...                                                                                              

 

So, what's on your list???

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest from Bloggers [heart] Books, grab her fave hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Teaser Tuesdays (01/04/2011)

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MiZB at Should Be Reading (make sure you check out this blog).

Here are her instructions:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser this week...
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins, page 323

Gack! Disgusting. What is it with these people?

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest from Bloggers [heart] Books, grab her fave hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***

Featured blogger...Julie from Bloggers [heart] books

It is a new year and a new blogging quest for me. One of the new things I am going to try is to feature a blog a week here at My Tea Time is Book Time. For this feature I will have a little Q&A with the blogger. (So check your emails or email me if you want to be featured here).

This week we will be visiting with Julie from [Bloggers [[heart]] Books].

1. Why don't you tell us about yourself?

My name is Julie (well, it's actually something else very similar but I GO by Julie), I'm 16 years old and live in New York. I have three siblings, one of them who's currently hopping around the living room and I must kind of hate myself with all the work I take on and the constant procrastination!

2. Tell us about your blog. When did you start it and why? Anything interesting for readers to expect or special features?

The blog was started by Lanna, my co-blogger, and some of her friends to be a place where anyone could write reviews. In February 2009 I was invited to the blog and I posted casually, not really taking it seriously. In November 2009 Lanna and I were wrapping up NaNoWriMo when I started finding a bunch of YA blogs and was inspired to get serious about blogging. A couple other girls got serious with us at the time. At this point, Lanna and I are the only ones on the blog. We've done a couple features like Historic Saturday (which I now never keep up with) and we did a series called What We Wish We Knew which was full of things bloggers wish they knew before they started blogging back in May.

3. What type of books do you read?

I read YA, almost any kind. My favorite genres in YA is historical fiction and dystopian. I also read a lot of paranormal and I'm starting to read a lot more contemporary.

4. If you were stuck on an island and can only have 3 of your favorite books, what would they be and why?

Definitely a copy of Pride and Prejudice. My copy is falling a part, so I'd probably jack someone else's copy. Then I would probably bring The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray because I've been wanting to reread that series lately and that book is effing BIG. Then probably Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg as my contemporary read because just...so much love. And it'll be a good replacement when I've worn out Pride and Prejudice.

5. If you had to leave our world, but can live in any book, which one would it be? And why?

Hmmm, tough question. I think it might be the world in The Season by Sarah MacLean. Mostly because I REALLY want more of that world but can't get any. My second option would be the world in Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble. Because I have so much Dimitri love.

6. I find that many readers develop crushes while they read books. Do you have a crush on any book characters???

I have SO many literary crushes. Obviously Darcy and any form of Darcy in a Pride and Prejudice reimagining. Stefne Miller writes some amazing boys, one is Riley from Salvaged and one I can't talk about. Heidi Kling also wrote an amazing boy in Deni in Sea. St. Claire from Anna and the French Kiss would also make the list if he's grow a few inches! I admit to needing some height on my boys! I'm 5'7" and feel like a giant most times which means I require someone to make me feel less like a giant.

7. Lots of YA books are being adapted into movies. Do you watch them and if you do, what’s your favorite adaptation? And which ones are you looking forward to watch?

I do watch some, though not all. I try to wait until I've read the book first. One I'm really looking forward to is Beastly. Beastly's a brilliant book and I don't mind staring at a hideous guy if said hideous guy is Alex!

8. I love music.  So I was wondering what you listen to since I’m always looking for new songs, what songs and/or artists are on you listening to right now on your ipod or CD player?

Well, I'm a major Gleek first and foremost. Otherwise, I love Marianas Trench and Between the Trees. Between the Trees is mostly in the south and Marianas Trench is mostly in Canada, so nobody really knows the where I am. Floral Terrace is an awesome band local to me. More well known, I love Pink and Michael Buble. For so many reasons. And I'm currently a huge fan of Animal by Neon Trees and Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars.

9. Any last thoughts to share with us???

Thank you for having me! I've never been interviewed before (nor do I see a reason anyone would WANT to interview me) so go you for daring to get me going!

10. Oh, and before I forget, when you go to a Starbucks or Coffee Bean (or any coffee/tea serving place)…what do you order???

I actually don't drink coffee or tea. Shocks many people. But my caffeine of choice is hot chocolate. I've ordered it once from Starbucks and it had too much chocolate! Horribly disappointing.

Thank you so much Julie for taking the time to answer some questions. And everyone else...thank you for stopping by. Now go over to Julie's blog and check out all the cool thoughts they have on books. Oh and Julie...I'm excited for Beastly to come out in theaters, too : )

***Now go and grab your fave cup of tea or because Julie is our guest, grab her fave: hot chocolate (or whatever beverage you prefer) and HAPPY readings***