Torment - Reviewed

Torment
Author: Lauren Kate
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Released: September, 2010
Pages: 452
Target Adult: Young Adult
Source: Library

Summary from Goodreads:
Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students -Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

First just let me say I hate writing reviews for books I didn't enjoy.  That being said I always aim to give honest reviews no matter where the book came from.  So here goes.  I spent so much time groaning through this book. Luce is so whiny that she becomes extremely annoying. I almost put it down for good more than once. Luce and Daniel are probably my least favorite young adult couple.  They don't communicate, they keep secrets from each other constantly, secrets that just cause more problems, as most do. Luce is away from Daniel for a few short days and starts questioning her love for him and thinks that maybe she would rather be with Miles a boy from the new school. Speaking of school, the whole book had a same story different school feel to it.  And once again all of the action and the climax of the story happened right at the end of the book.  I'm okay with cliff hangers as long as the rest of the book has something remotely interesting going on.  The best part of this book for me were the side characters and the abilities of the shadows.  They are the only reason that I finished this book.  I won't be reading the next book.
This book has been on the New York Times bestseller list so obviously I'm one of the few who haven't enjoyed this series.  I guess you just can't like them all.

In My Mailbox (2/27/2011)

Not a bad week here at my house!

From the library:

Nothing by Janne Teller

13 To Life by Shannon Delany

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

For Review from NetGalley:

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Invasion by Thomas Nelson

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren.  You can stop by her blog for a whole list of bloggers showing off their weekly loot. So what's happening in your mailbox?

Third Line Thursday (7) Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither (Chemical Garden #1)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Third Line Thursday Page 62 according to my nook

Outside. I never thought the word could make my stomach flip-flop like this. It's one of the small freedoms I've had all my life, and now I'd do anything to have it back.

  My simple rules for Third Line Thursday are as follows: Pick up the book you are currently reading, go to chapter 3 or page 3 or any page or chapter with a 3(13, 23, ect.) then type in the third line (sentence) from that page. See simple!

Waiting On Wednesday (2/23/2011) Anna Dressed In Blood

Anna Dressed In Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Expected Release Date: September 2011
Summary from Goodreads:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we (bloggers) are anxiously awaiting.  

 


 

Teaser Tuesday (2/22/2011) The Iron Queen

The Iron Queen (Iron Fey, #3)
Author: Julie Kagawa

"Big giant insect thing holding me several hundred feet in the air? What's there to be nervous about?"

Excerpt from page 230 (according to the nook)

The Iron Queen is now available.

Miz B and Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Beyond Beautiful - Reviewed

Beyond Beautiful 
Author: Jan Bornstein
Publisher: Back Channel Press
Released: December 2006
Pages: 286
Target Age: Adult
Source: Given to me from the publisher for review
Summary from Goodreads: 
It's hard enough for us mere mortals. In the rarefied, high-wattage atmosphere of the music world, rock stars Jenna Bradford and Scott Tenny struggle to find love.Two beautiful people living their lives in a fish bowl, where every rumor of happiness or grief becomes grist for the gossip mill, where every public moment is chronicled in close-up by paparazzi armed with cameras. Two human beings grappling with realities present and past as they seek to establish common ground and trust where their love for one another can blossom and grow. Two individuals experiencing the truest love either has ever known. Two giants of the music industry, both industries in their own rights, trying to make a life for themselves that is Beyond Beautiful.
JAN BORNSTEIN makes her literary debut with Beyond Beautiful, volume one of The Song Trilogy. A registered nurse, with degrees in psychology from Bridgewater State College and nursing from UMass Boston, she granted herself a hiatus from a busy career in home nursing care management to indulge her inner writer. She makes her home south of Boston.

There was so much going on in Jenna and Scott's lives but for some reason I was unable to connect with either of them.  As rock stars both Jenna and Scott are damaged goods however their problems seemed really forced and not quite believable to me.  I found myself putting this book down for long periods of time because I would lose interest and pick something else up.  I have to admit I won't be picking up the next book in this trilogy.  As always this is just one reviewers opinion and I know that there are some other reviews out there that are very positive.  So if you were thinking of reading this book and would like some other opinions you can view them here and here.

In My Mailbox (2/20/2011)

This week has been a great week for books here at my house! 

First I bought this amazing book.

I got this two days ago and have been glued to it since.  I've even decided to do my own year long Crazy Sexy Journey.

From the library I picked up.....

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

For review:

Stay by Deb Caletti

and

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

In My Mailbox is a weekly event hosted by The Story Siren.  You can stop by her blog for a whole list of bloggers showing off their weekly loot. So what's happening in your mailbox?

On My Wish List (2)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post(found out Book Chick City). If you want to know more click here.

Right now I'm looking at and wishing for:

Initiation (The Warrior Book 1)

Author: Rebecca Royce

Released: February 2, 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

My name is Rachel Clancy. Thirty years before I was born, the world ended. Today is my sixteenth birthday. Today I will go Upwards to fight the monsters and, statistically speaking, I won’t be coming back—at least not still living.

Initiation is the story of sixteen year old Rachel Clancy, born with a specific set of genes that let her fight monsters, she has trained her entire life to kill Vampires and Werewolves. Knowing since birth what her destiny would be has not made the onslaught of emotions she faces as she journey Upwards any easier. It doesn’t help that her father is drunk and her best friend just doesn’t get ‘it.’

Rachel isn’t prepared for the level of deception she faces, and before long she will find herself on a quest she is in no way prepared to handle. What happens next will alter not only Rachel’s life but the lives of everyone she knows. She will learn beyond a shadow of a doubt that sometimes the monsters we know are worse than the ones we don’t and that love can surprise us when it comes from somewhere we never anticipated it.

If she lives, she will be a Warrior. If she doesn’t, no one will ever remember her name.

Not Fiction but I really want to read this. 

Eating Animals

Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

Released: November 2, 2009

Summary from Goodreads:

Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between carnivore and vegetarian. As he became a husband and a father, he kept returning to two questions: Why do we eat animals? And would we eat them if we knew how they got on our dinner plates?
Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, and his own undercover detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales justify a brutal ignorance. Marked by Foer's profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, huge bestsellers, Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we've told--and the stories we now need to tell.

I've heard this one is really good!

Paranormalcy

Author: Kiersten White

Released: August 31, 2010

Summary from Goodreads:

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.
But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.
So much for normal.

I really want this too even though it's not a book.  It sounds amazingly yummy though. 

A vegan strawberry frappe.  Oh can you feel the drool? 

http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/strawberryfrappe.html

So what are you wishing for this Saturday?

Winner of the Books With Love Blog Hop

Thank you everyone for stopping by and checking out My Neurotic Book Affair.  I loved reading all of your comments about your favorite romance.  I think Pride and Prejudice was the winner by a lot, so I guess it's finally time I read that.  Seriously though I know why you are all here today, you want to know if you were the winner, right?  After randomizing all of your names and extra entries over at random.org the winner is....................................................................................

Carina L. Tai

Congratulations!!!!!
Once again thank you all for stopping by.  I hope you'll be back again and again.  Oh and just so you know I'll be offering more great books in the spring blog hop. 

Valentine's Day Blog Hop Giveaway

Welcome to My Neurotic Book Affair! I'm really happy to have you here for the Valentine's Day Blog Hop. This blog hop is all about love so for one of my lucky blog followers I giving away one of the following books.  Your choice of book of course. 

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

Anna and the French Kiss

If I Stay

Shiver

Matched

So if you want to win one of these books all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite "love" story is.  I'll be giving extra entries to anyone who is a follower, old or new.  Also let me know if you follow me on twitter or facebook and if you send your friends here using twitter or facebook leave me the link to how you did so and I'll give you more entries. The twitter hash tag for the blog hop is #bookswithlove. Don't forget the blog hop ends at 11:59 PM on February 16th.  Thanks again for stopping by and hey what do you think of my new blog layout?  Good Luck!!!

On My Wish List (1)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post(found out Book Chick City). If you want to know more click here.

I haven't really heard much about this one so I'm hoping it's good.

Entangled
Author: Cat Clarke
Released: January 2011
Summary from Goodreads:

The same questions whirl round and round in my head:
What does he want from me?
How could I have let this happen?
AM I GOING TO DIE?

17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with a table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got here.

As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see?

Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here?

A story of dark secrets, intense friendship and electrifying attraction.

This one has been recommended to me and I have to admit it sounds awesome!

Laney (The Brookehaven Vampires, #1)
Author: Joann I. Martin Sowles
Released: October 2010
Summary from Goodreads:
In a small college town in Northern California, Laney Alexander leads a regular, uneventful life–that is, until the charming and alluring Oliver Knight enters her world. Who is this gorgeous and mysterious stranger? Or, rather, what is he?

As Laney’s sophomore year of college begins, so does an unbelievable adventure–including a love she didn’t know she longed for. She soon learns that Oliver is not ordinary, nor is the rest of his family, including a sister who openly hates her and a brother who will stop at nothing for revenge. As she fights for her life, and Oliver’s love, Laney discovers that the fictional world of vampires isn’t so fictional after all. Nobody is safe, especially Laney, Oliver’s most important priority, and he will stop at nothing to protect her. With her mortality at risk, and a commitment revealed that she, without a doubt, knows she wants, Laney’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn…

I just heard about this book yesterday and it sounds really cool. 

Regression 
Author: Kathy Bell
Released: June 2009
Summary from Goodreads:
Fourteen-year-old Adya Jordan is too good to be true. Her skills with people, information, and technology make her the perfect new intern at megacorp Three Eleven, the company which covertly controls the world in an alternate 1985. Could this be because this is not her first lifetime? Or even her second? Or does it have more to do with the strange sequence of DNA in her cells?

Find out what makes Adya tick as she and a group of elite scientists strive to prevent a global disaster.

So there are a few books I'm excited about getting, how about you what are you wishing for?

Melvin Beederman Superhero The Curse of The Bologna Sandwich - Reviewed

Melvin Bedderman Superhero The Curse Of The Bologna Sandwich
Author: Greg Trine
Release Date: May 2006
Publisher: Tandem Library
Pages: 138
Target Age: Children
Summary from Goodreads:
Bad guys tremble at the sound of his name!
Meet Melvin Beederman. He's a pretty good superhero, even though it always takes him five or six tries to get launched and flying. His weakness (every superhero has one) is bologna, which makes it hard to go into a deli. Still, Melvin manages to keep the city of Los Angeles free of nasty villains—once he's airborne.
Crash! Splat! Thud! Kabonk!
This series has it all: hilarious story lines, amazing classic-comic-inspired illustrations, fearless new superheroes, and SNACKS!
Bad guys tremble at the sound of his name!
Melvin loves fighting crime in Los Angeles, until the McNasty Brothers, the baddest guys of all, start robbing banks—and Melvin's superpowers mysteriously disappear. Enter Candace, a third-grade actress with some surprising new talents. Once they team up, nothing can beat these partners in uncrime. Nothing but bologna, that is . . .

I read this to my six year old son recently and he LOVED it.  When I asked him how many stars he would give it he replied "28 stars". We are headed to the library tomorrow to pick up the next book in the series.  It is a longer children's book taking me about 45 minutes to read aloud, my son was so into Melvin and his cape difficulties that he didn't want to stop reading until we had finished. So a definite two thumbs up from boy-boy and his mama!