Spring Horror Readathon Wrap (and warped) Up

I made it!  And I got some books read from my TBR shelf, go me!  But I'm a little bummed it's over.  I had a lot of fun.  I wish I could have done more challenges, but there's always next time!

Here's what I read:
     

      Kate's springintohorrorreadathon book montage
   

 

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Kate's favorite books »
 
 

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I finished the very end of Grave Secret, and the last 140 some pages of Meet Your Match, Cupid Delaney.  I started, but did not finish, Envy and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (audio).   

Books I didn't get to at all: Divergent and 77 Shadow Street... kind of bummed about both and of course several review books showed up this week, so they'll have to wait a bit.  Again.
    
I pretty much loved everything I read this readathon, and I'm so glad I signed up!  I will definitely be doing any readathon's hosted by Castle Macabre.  I was really impressed by how it was run, and thanks to all the bloggers and authors who donated their time to challenges, prizes, posts and reading!  As much as I love the blogging community, I feel most at home with those that like the occasional darker story. ;)

     

Underworld Review

Underworld 
by Meg Cabot
Expected Publication: 05.08.12
From Goodreads:

Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead.

Not this time.

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.

And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.

My Thoughts: The fist book in the series, Abandon, was just okay for me.  I was expecting to love it, since I've been a long time fan of Meg Cabot's chick lit books, and Heather Wells is probably one of my all time favorite characters.  I liked Underworld more, but I'm still not clicking with main character Pierce.  Of course I'm not a gorgeous, rich, 17 year old girl with a hot centuries old death deity in love with me, so we really don't have that much in common.

This second book worked a bit better for me than the first, as we're given a lot more answers about John and Coffin Night. I'm still not sure what to think of Pierce and John's relationship, it feels almost like an old fashioned romance love than anything a contemporary teen would be into, but John is still sexy. I also very much enjoyed meeting John's Underworld crew, they added some humor as well as history to the story. Normally Meg Cabot's books are a wonderful mix of humor and romance, but for some reason this series isn't huge on the laughs. Pierce is still all over the place about... everything, but she has enough spunk and self awareness to make up for some of the incredibly naivety and unawareness she also displays.

There is some smexy times in this book, but I thought Cabot handled it brilliantly, it wasn't crude, it wasn't too much (it was one of those "I saw stars" and then fade to black kind of scenes). Because it's hard to believe that when teen boys and girls hookup with paranormally hot peeps that some smex isn't going to go down. Trust me, if there'd been a hot death deity haunting the Underworld of Nicktown, PA back when I was a teen then my good Catholic girl status would have taken some serious hits. That said, I don't want to read YA books full of smut... that's what Fifty Shades of Gray is for! ;)

While the first book was a bit slow and laying down the groundworkish, book two was definitely faster paced. I'll read the next book in the series, but I'm still looking more forward to the next Heather Wells book! 


Underworld gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

I know, I gave 4 stars on Goodreads, but I always star up on that site since you can't do half stars!


The cover gets a Midnight Book Cover Rating of:

I both love it and have problems with it.  Mainly because the dress seems ill fitting- seriously why is her chest so low down?  She's 17, not 70!  I do love the pose and the hand grabbing her to pull her down, very Persephone looking,  and the colors are gorgeous. 


**Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Around the World Arc Tours in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mailbox Monday #1

 Since my one of BEA roomies and blogger friend, Cindy of Cindy's Love of Books is hosting this meme for the last time this month, I thought I'd actually participate! Plus, I gots some cool books.

For Review:

Underworld by Meg Cabot. Already finished this one and I'll be mailing it off to the next blogger on the tour this morning.  Review will be up soon!

Arise by Tara Hudson. Haven't read the first book, hope that doesn't make a difference.  Love the cover!

Timepiece: Hourglass #2 by Myra McEntire.  God bless you, Netgalley!

Gifted:

SIGNED copy of Boy's Life by Robert McCammon!  God bless you, Midnyte Reader!! She attended the 2012 World Horror Convention and picked this up just for me (and now McCammon totally knows my name!).  And then she shared a cab ride with him and Sherrilyn Kenyon.  I am awash in jealousy and awe. But mostly I'm thankful for the book! ;)

Borrowed:

 Divergent by Veronica Roth.  Kim was nice enough to lend me her copy and I have promised to read it with the utmost care and consideration. ;)

Sundays In Bed With... Envy and Divergent

Sundays In Bed With... is a meme I've started to share the book we're spending the morning in bed with, or the one we'd like to stay curled up in bed with all Sunday if only our busy lives would allow!  For fun, take a picture of the book in your bed, or simply write up a post or comment below sharing your Sundays in Bed With book.

Here's what I'm spending my Sunday morning in bed with:

I'd like to finish Envy and at least start Divergent.

And it should come as no surprise to my readers, but I so love the cover of Envy.

It's the last day of Spring Into Horror Readathon, and I'm going to try to get a lot of reading done... but there's soooo much housework to get to too... I hate being an adult.

What are you reading this morning?

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SpringHorrorRAT Update

How is your Readathon going?  And if you aren't readathoning, then how was your reading week?  I've been fairly productive this week.  Here's what I've read going into the weekend:


Meet Your Match, Cupid Delaney (finished this one Monday but had started it Saturday)
Anna Dressed in Blood- soooooo good!
Grave Secret- finished the last hour of this audio book. I'll miss Harper Connelly!
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour- finally got to it, and it was a great read!
The Night Circus- re-read for my book club that's meeting tonight. Can't wait to discuss!
Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft- read last night before falling asleep. Fantastically creepy!

Tuesday and Thursday were probably my slowest reading days because I had work, and then Thursday night I did an hour long Zumba class with Kim from On The Wings of Books.

Today I'm hoping to read Underworld by Meg Cabot and maybe read a bit more of Envy, which I started on Wednesday.  I have a busy day- work in the morning, then book club at 6pm, then working overnight starting at 10pm.  Thankfully I'm already mostly done with my Sundays In Bed With... meme post, and hopefully I'll get some major reading done on Sunday- would love to at least start Divergent!

What are you're weekend reading plans?

Spring Into Horror Readathon has Sprung!

I am so glad I signed up for this challenge!  So far I've finished Meet Your Match, Cupid Delaney (of course the only way that's scary is for teen girls freaking out that prom got cancelled) and Anna Dressed in Blood.  Anna is awesome, by the way, and if I die and become a ghost I kind of hope I get to be all kick ass like Anna... only I don't want to die all violent, but the ripping people in half thing could come in handy...

I'm also currently re-reading The Night Circus (for book club) and Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour.  I hope to start Envy today too, since I spreading The Night Circus out a bit.  I have today off, so things look promising BUT our house is getting a new roof... which is loud, very loud.  I will be leaving the house some today, for sure!

Onto the mini-challenges!  This one is being hosted by Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Be prepared to be amazed by all the Stephen King books I own!  Just saying, peeps.  It's impressive.  Although I will be surprised if I win this challenge, since there's so many other Stephen King loving bloggers participating and some of mine are duplicates.

Okay, let's start in the living room and then move into the office, shall we? 

1. Black House*
2. Just After Sunset*
3. The Talisman (graphic novel #1)*
4. Everything's Eventual*
5. The Green Mile (hardback)*
6. Under the Dome*
7. Cycle of the Werewolf*
8. Wizard and Glass*
9. Song of Susannah*

10. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (pop-up book)*
11. The Bachman Books*
12. The Talisman*
13. Danse Macabre*
14. Eyes of the Dragon*
15. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (paperback)*
16. Nightmares & Dreamscapes*
17. Needful Things*
18.The Wastelands*
19. The Green Mile*
20. The Drawing of the Three*
21. Dreamcatcher*
22. Bag of Bones*
23. Thinner*
24. Four Past Midnight*
25. Needful Things (hardback)*
26. Nightmares & Dreamscapes (hardback)*
27. The Stand **
28. The Dark Tower*
29. The Regulators*
30. Lisey's Story*
31. From a Buick 8*
32. Duma Key*
33. Eyes of the Dragon (Hardcover) **
34. Wolves of the Calla*
35. Cell*

36. Four Past Midnight (hardback)*
37. Stephen King Collection (The Shining, 'Salem's Lot, Night Shift and Carrie)*
38. It (hardback) **
39. Desperation*
40. The Drawing of the Three (another paperback copy)*
41. The Gunslinger*
42. Storm of the Century*
43. Blaze*
44. Insomnia*
45. On Writing*
46. Stephen King Three Novels (Carrie, 'Salems Lot and The Shining)

On My Kindle
47. The Colorado Kid*
48. Full Dark, No Stars*
49. Mile 81*
50. Blockade Billy*
51. The Stand*
52. Cujo*
53. Under the Dome*
54. UR*
55. 11/22/63 *(I had the hardback version too, but it's been stolen by my family ;)

On Audio:
56. The Dark Half*
57. The Gingerbread Girl*
58. It*
59. The Mist*

At one time or another I've owned almost every Stephen King book, but between multiple moves across state and one house fire, this is what I'm left with.  I think other than his book on baseball and Stephen King Goes to the Movies, I've read every book he's come out with. I'm surprised I don't have a copy of Dolores Claiborne though, that's one of my favorites.  Time to start buying SK books again!

Top Ten Tuesday Favorite Characters

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This is my first attempt at writing a blog post on my phone, so please forgive any errors, but I just couldn't resist today's meme.

Top Ten Favorite Characters 


1. Odd Thomas- okay, ya'll knew my Odd one would have to be on here. I just love him, I love how moral he is, and how funny he is and really just everything about him. I can honestly say he's my favorite character of all time.

2. Drusilla from the India Fan by Victoria Holt- I really don't expect her to be on anyone's list but mine, but I adore her. She's just this plain girl from the rectory that gets all caught up in the lives of the rich Framlings. From England to France and to India, I was along with the ride, unsure of what would become of Drusilla.

3. Severus Snape- of all the Harry Potter characters that I truly love, and in fact this entire list could just be HP characters, Snape is my favorite. Would I love Snape as much as I do without Alan Rickman playing him on the movies? Probably not. Truly inspired casting.

4. Bailey from the Night Circus- I know it might be a bit soon to call him a favorite, but I instantly loved him. I was all in knots to are if he would join the circus, and it was through his eyes that I came to see the beauty of Cirque de Reves.

5. Tyrion Lannister aka The Imp- oh how I love the brilliant, cunning, witty Imp! Out of all the charctets from the Game of Thrones he is far and away my favorite.

 6. Rhett Butler- even without the handsome Clark Gable to bring Rhett to the silver screen, he's completely swoon worthy and the only man who is strong enough to go head to head with Scarlett O'Hara. But do I believe that he really doesn't give a damn? No, I do not.

7. Heather Wells- Meg Cabot's full figured ex POP star turned amateur detective is one of the best characters to ever come out of chick lit. She's got a new book coming out soon and I can't wait!

8. Beverly Marsh- as the only girl in the loser's club from Stephen King's It, I was instantly jealous of Bev, probably the first literary character that I wanted to switch lives with... Yes, I was an odd child.

 9. Harold the dog from Bunnicula- dogs in books are a favorite of mine, especially when they're food obsessed as Harold is. Harold, along with Chester, Howie and Bunnicula are amongst my favorite childhood characters.

10. Hannibal Lector- Yup, he's a bad guy. He kills and mains without conscience, but he's also a genius who can manipulate people with ease. He's both charming and violent. He's my kind of character.

So who's on your list?

Glimmer Review

Glimmer
by Phoebe Kintadis
From Goodreads:

What if you forgot your identity and had to rely on other people to tell you who you were?

And what if to discover your true self, you first had to unravel a mystery so big and terrifying you were not sure you’d survive solving it?

When Marshall and Elyse wake up in each other’s arms with zero memory of how they got there or who they are, it’s the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, the two make a pact to work together to find the answers that could jog their missing memories. As they piece together clues, they discover they’re in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls, where everyone seems mysteriously happy, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town’s perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything—not the death of Marshall’s mom, not the hidden shame in Elyse’s family, not even the day-to-day anguish of high school.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marsh and Elyse fall into an intense relationship...but the secrets they uncover could be the death of this growing love—and the death of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

My Thoughts: Another YA amnesia book, but Glimmer managed to set itself apart and not be annoying with the soap opera drama of amnesia.  The entire book surprised me, and I found the plot wonderfully original.

There are so many elements to Glimmer, there's the Stepford like setting of Summer Falls, the ghosts, the magic, the heatnaps, the chemistry between Elyse and Marshall.  And I don't even like those names very much, so it's saying something that I ended up really liking the characters.  Plus, neither Elyse nor Marshall were perfect people, they were both flawed (especially Marshall), but their very realness is what makes you root for them to uncover their memories.

I really enjoyed reading about Elyse and her discovery of who she was, and how disappointed she was when she realized that she wasn't the person she expected to find out she was (the fact that she thought she was tall was actually pretty funny).  It also got me thinking, if my memory was wiped, what would I think of the person I am?  Would I be proud to have written this blog, to have read the books that line my many shelves or would I be disappointed that I'm obviously an inept housekeeper and that I've wasted most of my money on books?  It's actually a bit thought provoking...  

The town was super spooky and creepy.  It added to the atmosphere of the book, making me fear that both Elyse and Marshall wouldn't survive, let alone, succeed in their mission to figure out who they were, why they ended up naked in bed with each other, and why Summer Falls was so freakishly picture perfect.   And there was a small part of me that couldn't help thinking that it'd be nice not to have to remember the bad things that happen in life, the petty fights, the hurt feelings... the horrible accidents and dismemberment that happens occasionally in life.  That's the draw of dystopian worlds though,  they're often disguised as utopias.  Want to forget your troubles, literally and forever?  Come to Summer Falls!

There was a lot of elements in play in Glimmer, but they all worked for me.  Honestly, I was a bit turned off by the title of the book, because at first I just assumed that it was a YA story about faes or something along those lines.  I'm so glad I decided to give it a try after reading the summary though! 

Glimmer gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover gets a Midnight Book Rating Cover of:

I actually really dig this cover (even if the cover model looks a lot like a super blonde Kiera Knightley).  I don't know that it really reflects what the book is about, but I guess having two naked teens on the cover would have been a little too much...

Spring Into Horror Readathon Starting Post!

Obviously I just can't get enough of Readathons!  The Spring Into Horror Read-a-Thon is being hosted over at Castle Macabre, so stop there to read about the event. This is one I feel good about making some progress with (I participated in 22 out of the 24 hours of Dewey's Readathon, but didn't get much reading done!) and maybe I can make a nice dent in my TBR shelf too!

And this is Readathon that is practically custom made for this Midnight Book Girl!  An entire week of Readathon, complete with some challenges and prizes, and every participant has to read at least one "scary" book. 

I've already started reading today (after sleeping the majority of yesterday away like some fairy tale character).  I finished a book that I had started for Readathon on Saturday but then put aside because it just wasn't holding my interest.  Here's what I read:

Meet Your Match, Cupid Delaney by Ellen Leroe

Quick Mini Review: This is a sequel to a much beloved book from my childhood, Have a Heart, Cupid Delaney, and I was so excited when I found out that there was a sequel and I was able to get a copy from PaperbackSwap.  Alas, YA of the late 80's and early 90's isn't quite what it is now.  But I still love the premise of cupids helping out love lorn teens, and all my favorite characters are back in play.  Yes, it's super mushy and the teens act more like grade school kids, but I'm glad I went back and finished it.  The ending was perfect for Cupid Delaney, and Alvin and Helen got the ending they deserved.  But the dude's arms on the cover are kind of scary, as my friend Steph pointed out.  Horrible cover, cutesy story, good nostalgic times!

But I bet you're wondering what other books I'm hoping to get to this week, since the above book doesn't quite go with the Spring Into Horror Readathon theme.  So here's what I'm hoping to get to:

I know, it looks like a lot, and it is, but 3 of the selections are Graphic novels, but I think it's a reasonable goal for me since I'm not working a whole lot this week.  Night Circus is a re-read for book club, so I'm sure it'll be faster this time around, but since I'm already almost done with my current audio book, I might just re-listen to the audio version. 

So are you participating?  It's not to late, you have until Friday to officially sign up!  And you can follow the Readathon on Twitter at #SpringHorrorRat. 

I'm about to start Anna Dressed in Blood, and I'm so excited to finally read this book!  I feel like it's a long time coming (and it is).  Any books on your list or tbr shelf that you can't wait to read?

Unraveling Review

Unraveling
by Elizabeth Norris
Expected Publication Date:
From Goodreads:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming.

My Thoughts: I instantly connected to this book and it's main character.  I loved the writing style, and the obvious connections and references to X-Files.

Despite the fact that I figured out the identity of the baddie pretty early on, the book still threw some curve balls at me.  One in particular comes about half way through the book, and it was a shocker (no, Kim, not like the wtf moment in Fingersmith, or even as big as the one in the book I read for readathon).  Another one at the end actually disappointed me and I thought it was unnecessary even if it was realistic.  

Towards the end the book lost a little of my attention, and I think it was because I was mad at Janelle for putting Jared and Alex aside in favor of Ben.  It just didn't ring true for who I thought Janelle was, and it just made the Alex storyline that much harder to take at the end.


Unraveling also has a lot of swear words mixed in.  Yes, teens swear, but sometimes it honestly felt like it was too much and a little forced.  Normally I don't even blink at curse words in YA, it's a hell of a lot more realistic than having the kids speak like they're in an episode of Sesame Street, but I actually found myself rolling my eyes at some of the f bombs that were dropping. But it's a fairly minor complaint.

The beginning of the book is fairly attention grabbing, and I knew right away that I was going to like this book.  Since it's in the summary, this isn't spoilerish, but in the beginning right as Janelle is getting hit by the truck she makes the point that she always thought she was a fairly observant person and so she finds some humor in getting hit, because she never saw it coming.

I liked that the book wasn't afraid to be a little sci-fi.  I liked that it wasn't a huge stretch of the imagination that Janelle could become so involved with her FBI dad's case.  Overall this was just a great read for me, and something just a little different.  The writing and dialogue was fun and interesting, and I will definitely be reading more by this author!

Unraveling gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

The cover gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

I like the cover, although I think it makes Janelle's hair look a little on the red side, which isn't how she's described.  Ben is exactly how I pictured him though!

Readathon is Over, and I'm Overtired

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 21, it was almost 6am here and we all had agreed to crash at 6am... so of course I was instantly exhausted!

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
My actual reading was pretty pitiful, but The Invention of Hugo Cabret was a good Readathon book, and so was the Lisa Gardner thriller.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Well, next time around I think I need to volunteer to do more of the harder jobs (instead just hosting a challenge and cheering, more helping to orginize), but I'd like to see more communication and pre-Read-a-thon activity to get people excited.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Twitter and the Hour 20 commercial that was posted- that woke me up!

5. How many books did you read?
I finished 2 half read books, 1 manga and 1 full book.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Finished Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich and The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner, read House of Odd manga, and read all of The Invention of Hugo Cabret... and 27 pages of Meet Your Match, Cupid Delaney... didn't really live up to my tween memories of it. :(

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
House of Odd, since it featured my literary boyfriend Odd Thomas.  But the ending of The Perfect Husband was really edge of my seat... and Plum Lucky had me laughing even though I don't enjoy the in-between-the-number books as much... okay, I'll go with House of Odd.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Meet Your Match, Cupid Delaney... sometimes you can't go back again when it comes to childhood favorite reads...

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Just prepare some cheers ahead of time, but make sure you're connecting on some personal level before you post your cheer.  Also be prepared to be frustrated by bloggers who use word verification.  Yes, it's a pain in the rear, but I'm just going with the assumption that some bloggers aren't even aware that it's on their comments and that they're not actually trying to torment me.


10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I am 100% likely to participate, I take off work and cancel any plans that might interfere.  I am a fan of Readathon.  I plan on stepping up and taking on a larger role.  I guess I've  been a bit afraid of taking on anything larger than cheering or hosting a mini-challenge, but I realize that it's time to step up and help out the event that I love so much.  Dewey's Readathon is what got me started in book blogging, and it's time to honor that.

April Readathon Hours 9-17

 Okay, I'll actually be updating this after Hour 13, but I needed a place to put my Hour 11 mini challenge post.


So Steph is hosting this challenge (and actually sitting on the couch next to me), so I can't actually win, but we're all participating in each other's challenges.  For this challenge we have to write about an anti-hero:


My anti-hero is Driver from the book Drive by James Sallis.

 Ryan Gosling


Driver is a, big surprise, driver for anyone that's needs it- mostly bad guys robbing banks and stuff.  He also is a stunt man.  He gets involved with his neighbor (not sexually but emotionally, and not as deeply as in the movie... which is awesome) and ends up involved in her recently out of jail husband.  Driver only drives, he doesn't like to get involved in shiz, but he gets double crossed, so he goes up against the bad guys, but mostly to get revenge and not because he's trying to be a hero.  He is awesome, and Ryan Gosling plays him in the movie.  And I know I've posted this before, but once more:

Title of book(s) read since last update: 
Finished The Perfect Husband (which was a partial read from before Readathon)
House of Odd *manga
Meet You Match, Cupid Delaney- actually only read 27 pages, but I doubt strongly that I'll be coming back to this book but I wanted to mention it. 
 


Thoughts on current read:
Currently I'm reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which is really good but now I just want to watch the movie!

Number of books read since you started:
Finished 2 half read books, and a manga, half way done through my current read.

Pages read since last update: 
593, but Kim thinks I shouldn't be able to count all that since over half those pages were manga or drawings in Hugo Cabret, but I think she's just jealous.  ;)

Running total of pages read since you started:
709

Snacks Devoured:
I don't want to talk about it.  Why did vomitoriums go out of style?

I'm not tracking websites right now, mostly because if I'm not reading, I'm talking to Kim and Steph.  Now I'm off to cheer!