My Sept. TBR pile!!

I read 11 books in August, so hopefully I will be able to get through all of these in Sept. My August Wrap-up post will be up tomorrow, including my favorite book of the month, as well as the books I read this month!! Also Forgot to mention in the video that Monthly TBR piles were started by Misty at The Book Rat and Liz at Consumed by Books

Waiting on Wendsday (1)

Ashes by: Ilsa J. Bick 

Goodreads Summary: 

It could happen tomorrow... 

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed." 
Can one teen really survive on her own? 

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human... 

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse. 

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive.

Hardcover, 480 pages 

Expected publication: September 6th 2011 by EgmontUSA

dystopian, a cataclysmic event what else could you possibly need in a book??!! 

Teaser Tuesday #1

This is my first Teaser Tuesday EVER!! so bare with me and if I'm doing something wrong, feel free to let me know in the comments. Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Mizb at Should be Reading. 

This Week's Teaser comes from:

" The photos were from a website called "rich girls". Rosalie was almost whispering, Kids took gross pictures of one another, usually on cell phones, and sold them there. And they were on it"

10th Anniversary Review Post: Sloppy Firsts by - Megan McCafferty

Now let me preface this by saying that this was supposed to be posted Yesterday, which marked the 10th anniversary of the publication of Sloppy Firsts, but due to Hurricane Irene stealing electricity I was not able to post it until today. Better Late then never though for a great book right??! 

ReadingNook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Why oh dear God, WHY did I not hear about this book until I became a part of the blogging community, although this is my first year in the blogging community, I've been a very avid reader since a young age, and feel like this book should have been on my radar along time ago!! Such great bloggers as Ginger at Greads and Jen at MakeShift BookMark are the ones that made this book appear on my radar, and I thank them so much for letting me experience all that is Jessica Darling!

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I would like to say that although this first book takes place while Jessica is in High School, this is considered an adult series, and in a way i'm kinda glad I didn't read this book until I did, because being out of high school for almost 9 years now, it took me back in time and made me remincise on all that is high school drama. Megan McCafferty hit the drama and hilarity that is High School on the head with this book, the characters were downright hilarious and reminded me of people I went to high school with, haha but I will keep names to myself. 

I loved the relationship between Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie, and come on, who didn't have a crush on the bad boy in high school, i'm pretty sure we all did. That being said, i'm so happy this was only book one in a series of 5 and cannot wait to read the rest of the series. If your in the mood for a downright hilarious, but hilarious because its true novel, then Sloppy Firsts is a must read for you!! 

IMM week ending August 26th

In My Mailbox is Hosted by Kristi over at the Story Siren. This is a day late unfortantally due to hurricane Irene and the lack of power, But I hope you still enjoy it was a pretty slow week, but im not complaining because it's nice to be able to try to catch up on your TBR pile!!

Purchased:

This was my Hurricane Read purchase, although i'm letting my MIL read it first!! 

Review:

Recieved from publisher!! Thanks again!! 

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher

Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher

That's it for me this week! still a good week, and I cannot wait to read all of these books, what did you guys get in your mailbox this week??

Guest Post & Review with Britney Bronte for her book: Don't Lick the Phones

Guest Post with Britney Bronte: 

You will know when you are a professional writer, not by holding a copy of your book in your hot little hands,  nor even when you get your first royalty cheque, no; you will know you are a professional writer when someone t akes the trouble to hate your work. There are two types of critic, the ones who know what they are talking about and the ones who don’t.  You will attract both, and it’s important to learn the difference between them. There’s a tendency to think that a publisher or agent rejecting your work thinks that what you have written is rubbish. It’s not always the case. They may think it has merit, but that it isn’t commercially viable.  When you get constructive criticism, leave it alone til you get over it, then come back later and have a look;  it may be that there’s something there for you to use. There’s not much to say to someone who just doesn’t think your subject matter is going to get anywhere.  They don’t think people will read it, you do.  But if a respected professional tells you your style nee ds work, consider what they say.  Don’t go into meltdown but do look at how you write. Check your punctuation, look at your basics.  Get someone to read your material back to you aloud, see if it makes sense to your ears.   Look at the work of an author whose work has inspired you, see how your sentence structure compares to theirs.  No need to copy them – just be conscious of how they work and how you work. Thinking of showing your work to a non-professional?  Don’t get too overjoyed if your mum says it’s great, or downcast if your friends don’t like it.  I recall showing Do Not Lick The Phones to a friend of mine, who promptly showed it to her husband,  and came back to tell me that he didn’t like it. I asked her what he liked and she told me; ‘Andy McBain, action stuff! SAS operations, that kind of thing!’ ‘But you knew it was chicklit!’ I told her, ‘If you knew it wasn’t his style, why show it to him?’ There’s a lesson in this; share your work with those who like and know the genre.  That includes specialist agents, publishers and friends. There is no point showing it to people who, with the best will in the world,  don’t know what they are talking about. On a good day they’ll give you a false impression of how wonderful it is . On a bad day, they may well drive you to chucking your work in the bin! There’s another kind of critic of course, and that’s the type who feels challenged or threatened by your work.  Regarding Do Not Lick The Phones I had one who hated the book, claiming it would not reflect well on media psychics.   Too right, I thought, exactly my point! And exactly the reason for her criticism. I was talking about her line of work.  She was never going to approve of me laughing at it. Sometimes there are agendas. Don’t imagine them everywhere, but they do exist.  Harden your heart, accept that people have opinions, and don’t let yourself be crushed.  Critics have something to offer you, even if it’s just a lesson in toughening up.  Learn from the ones you respect, discard the rest, and just keep going. Review For Don't Lick the Phones:

Britney being the proud Londoner she is is donating all proceeds of this book to the recent London Riots Cleanup efforts

to purchase this book visit Here!

ReadingNook Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Britney Bronte wrote a fun, at time hilarious book about a character named Britney Bronte (yes, same as the author) and set her into this whirlwind world of Daystar, a tv production company that specializes in phone sex solicitors, but Britney is going for a job for a new branch they are trying to start in the field of tarot card reading and fortune-telling.

Britney deals with some quite unusual workplace antics, and is questioning a future of her own with potential love interests in her office. The characters are all unique and different, as well as the plot is refreshing in the fact that i've never read anything quite like this before, in the chick-lit genre or any other genre as well.

Unfortantally, the first 50 or so pages were boring in my opinion and it took me a while to get invested in the storyline and the characters. Although, for me it took a while to get into I started to enjoy it more around page 75 and so on, but for a shorter novel, it was a little late in my opinion to be grabbing my attention.

Britney definitely has a unique voice in her novel though, and although it didn't quite pull through for me, I think it was an overall decent read, and think that if you like chick-lit and british humour you should give this book a try, and with Britney donating the proceeds to a great cause, what do you really have to lose?

IMM week ending August 21st

A Whole lot of books from the past two weeks!! Enjoy!!! And As Always IMM is hosted by Kristi over at the StorySiren.com.

Final Readathon UPDATE!!

My Personal Goals for this Readathon: 1.) Finish Pride and Prejudice and Zombies = 137 pages 2.) Finish Ashfall by: Mike Mullin = 290 pages 3.) Legend by Marie Lu = 301 pages 4.) OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy =247 pages 5.) Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst = 398 pages Completed:  1.) Finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies =137 Pages 2.) Finished Ashfall  =290 Pages 3.) Finished Legend =301 Pages 4.) Finished OyMG =247 Pages 5.) Finished The Hijab Boutique = 52 Pages 6.) Drink Slay Love =50 Pages read Total Goaled Page Count = 1,373 Total Pages Read = 1,077  Needed to Complete Challenge = 296 pages!!  Mind you I still have until midnight tonight to complete this, but I have to get up super early tomorrow so will probably  be going to sleep by 10pm the latest and don't forsee myself finishing it tonight!  If you were involved with this challenge,  please comment below and let me know what you read!!

Review: Ashfall by: Mike Mullin

ReadingNook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

It has taken me a few days to be able to put my thoughts together enough to write this review, and I still don't think i'll be able to do this book justice. Mike Mullin made me reminesce to my past of why I fell in love with reading in the first place. I'm sure you guys have all heard of/read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book had that feel for me, and as a young girl that book had a huge impact on my love for reading. The theme of survial of the fittest, and going to extreme measure to survive captivated me from the very first page. This book also reminding me of the movie, Dante's Peak which growing up was one of my favorite movies. Now let me say this book is extremely original and i've never read anything that came close to the subject matter of this book.

This book follows a young boys journey through the devastating aftermath of a supervolcano that has erupted in Yellowstone National Park. As soon as I heard the synopsis for this book, I knew I needed to read it, because anything dealing with natural disasters and disasters in general always peak my interest and I love learning about them. Mike Mullin captivated me from the first page, to the very last sentance, and even then I didn't want it to end, and cannot wait for Ashen Winter, which is the sequel due out in Fall of 2012.

This book is not for the faint of heart, and honestly if the protaginists weren't teenagers I would say this book is an adult book strictly because of the content, parts of this book are extremely graphic, but in my opinion extremely neccesary to the overall impact of the book, he makes you really understand the struggles that these survivors go through, and although parts of this novel shook me up, it never felt like it was forced or put into the story simply for dramatic effect.

Mike Mullin literally blew my mind and rocked my socks off with this book. Hands down the best debut i've read all year, dare I say best book i've read all year, and definitely in my top ten books EVER!! This is not a book to pass by. Mike Mullin is a literary superstar and i'm sure he'll be around for a long time to come in the literary world!!

Preorder Ashfall here: Here!!

Readathon Update!!!

My Personal Goals for this Readathon:

1.) Finish Pride and Prejudice and Zombies = 137 pages
2.) Finish Ashfall by: Mike Mullin = 290 pages
3.) Legend by Marie Lu = 301 pages
4.) OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy =247 pages
5.) Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst = 398 pages





Have Currently Read: 
-Finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies= 137 pages
-Finished OyMG= 247 Pages
-Currently Reading Ashfall and have 270 pages remaining




Pages Read thus Far in Readathon= 404
Pages Still to Read= 969!! 


Ohhh boy still have a long way to go to meet my goal, so i'm going to keep this short and sweet and get back to my massive TBR pile!!!! My final update post will be on Monday, August 15th!! Stay Tuned and Happy Reading.


Also- if you decided to join along with Laura, Kate, and I, i would love to see your updates see either leave a link in the comments or post what you've read, what you still hope to read in the comments below!!! 

Review: But I Love him by: Amanda Grace

ReadingNook Rathing: 3 out of 5 stars

Ann is starting her senior year, she's a track star, and has a great boyfriend and she thinks she has it all together, but Conner is not liked by her friends or by Ann's mother, they think he is bad for her, and with good reason. Conner is possessive and abusive both physically and emotionally. Ann has given Conner all the pieces of her heart, Literally. But what happens when she forgot to save a piece of it for herself?

But I love him opened my eyes to a way I once felt about abusive relationships. I always said that if a man every laid a hand on me, I would be gone so fast their heads would spin, and thank God i've never had to go through that situation, but this book made me see why leaving isn't always the easiest thing to do. Conner was very malipulative and made her feel bad for him, he'd break down after the abuse, and say that he'd never do it again, and don't know what came over him, etc. I could see how Ann felt trapped by his love, because when it was good it was really good, but the lows were even worse then the highs.

I think every teen/adult should read this book. It was very eye-opening to me, and i'm sure that EVERYONE has been in an abusive relationship or has known someone else that has, and if this book dosen't help you, then maybe it will help you help someone you know that's dealing with this. Amanda Grace's writing style in this book was real, emotional, and pulled at your emotions, and i loved it! The only reason why this book didn't get 5 stars for me is because of the jumping around of the timeline, I know a lot of people enjoyed that but for me I found it took away from the story and was a bit confusing at times. 

Mini Readathon with Laura!! August 8th-August 15th

One of my bookish bff's Laura and I were talking last night and are completly overwhelmed with how many books we have to catch up on, so we decided to host an impromptu readathon for this week!! Be sure to check out her blog Books are Precious Gems and check out her giveaway for a signed copy of Shiver by Maggie Stievater. My friend Kate over at Literary Explorations is also going to participate in this readathon as well. If you'd like to join in feel free, the more the merrier!!


My Personal Goals for this Readathon:

1.) Finish Pride and Prejudice and Zombies = 137 pages
2.) Finish Ashfall by: Mike Mullin = 290 pages
3.) Legend by Marie Lu = 301 pages
4.) OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy =247 pages
5.) Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst = 398 pages


Total= 5 books with a total of 1,373 pages!!


I will update this book hopefully on Wendsday to let you know where i'm at, and make sure to check out both Laura and Kate's blogs as well!!

Giveaway of Perfect Chemistry by: Simone Elkeles (CLOSED)

Rules:
*Simply Leave a comment below and include your email address on this post to enter!!
* US residents only
* Must be 13 years or older and have parental permission
* Must be a follower!!


Good Luck Everyone
*Contest will end on August 31st at 11:59 EST

Winner was Contacted, Congrats Kelly!! and thanks for entering everyone!! 

IMM week of August 6th

For Review:

Between by: Jessica Warman (Thanks to Bloomsbury)

Perfect Chemistry by: Simone Elkeles (Thanks again to Bloomsbury)

Cold Magic by: Kate Elliott (Sent to me by the Author)

  

Rockstar's Girl by: J.F. Kristin (Sent by Author for ChickLitPlus blog tour)

Won:

Love you More by: Lisa Gardner (Won from @GalleyGuy on twitter)

From Netgalley:

Wanderlove by: Kirsten Hubbard

The Girl in the Park by: Mariah Fredericks

The Juliet Spell by: Douglas Rees

There you'll find me by: Jenny B. Jones

Another Great IMM week!! What did you guys get in your mailboxes, leave a comment or link me to your blog site to check it out!!