Reading Blogs & Eating Popcorn #1

While I've been missing from my blog the past few weeks, I have been stalking reading other blogs. So I thought I would share with you some of the blog posts I've read and adored. Before you ask, eating popcorn has nothing to do with me reading blogs. It's actually what I'm doing right at this very moment and it's the only cool title I have for this post.

 

Kat from Cuddlebuggery talks about why stats don't matter. I loved this post and it made me remember something. When I started book blogging I was, to be completely honest, one of those people who obsessed over stats. Then I realized how much stressful it was and how it was completely ruining the blogging experience. And like Kat says, I've had that moment where I scratch my head and shake it because there's always a blog post or a book review that gets so many page views it completely baffles me, and then there's the one I'm hoping will get many views, thst doesn't. So, the way I see it, blog and enjoy ;)

  

Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner talks about how feelings, experiences and values influence how we read. I think she's right, I do think that there's something that makes each reader experience a book in a very different way and I do believe reading is personal.

Sarah from Workaday Reads talks about how difficult it is sometimes to write reviews for series. It is difficult, especially with series that have one (or two or three) major characters. 

What about you? Do you have blog posts that you read, loved and you want to share?

Early Book Review: The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

Author: Mindee Arnett
Series: The Arkwell Academy #1
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: March 5th 2013
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: NetGalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder. Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

I love it when authors try out new things, daring things. A Nightmare Affair caught my eye because of that particular thing: it's freshness. Besides the gorgeous cover, the thought of a sixteen year old Nightmare got me all kinds of curious to read this book. I've never read a book about Nightmares before, so for me this is fresh territory. The world in this book is fantastic. The creatures, the way magic is shown, the mythology, everything makes reading this book a great experience.

Dusty is such a cool heroine. I love that she's sometimes a little awkward, sometimes strong, sometimes she's daring and brave, sometimes not so much. I love that she has those two sides of her. She's also funny, which I very much like.

Eli is... he's a mystery. I would've though he'd be more resistant to certain aspects of this world, but given the fact that he really has nothing to do against it, it does make sense that he'd accept things pretty fast. I like that he stands up for Dusty when she needs it. Not that she'd admit it :P

What I liked was that there was a love triangle. Yes, they're not new or fresh, but I think it's way better than the "insta-love" idea. Though it's not difficult to predict some of the things that happen, especially how this love triangle ends, I still think it was done beautifully. And don't worry, you won't predict it all. There are some big twists and turns that I for one didn't see coming.

I am now waiting anxiously for the next book. Also, I want to know more about Dusty's best friend and her story. There's a lot I want to know, not only about Dusty and her powers and about her relationship with Eli and about her friends, but also about the entire world.

So if you're in the mood for something new, read The Nightmare Affair.

TV Madness: Elementary

A few weeks ago, my very dear and best friend Lucy told me about this show. She said it was great, that it was a modern twist on Sherlock Holmes and that she loved it and that I should see it. Of course, because I'm a stubborn creature (...err...wait, no, that's wrong. I have a strong will...Yes, that's better) I didn't see it right away. I already am WAY behind with all of my fave TV shows, I really didn't need another new one to see. And I also barely have time to read, so I thought I should maybe wait for summer vacation when maybe, possibly, though not very likely, I'll have more free time.

Anyway, those plans where shot to hell when on one particularly stressful night, when I couldn't sleep at all, I was watching a local TV channel and Elementary was on. Because besides stressed I felt way too tired to even change the channels, I decided to watch it. Oh, what a great night that was.

I loved it. I honestly don't know how to tell you how completely perfect I think that show is. The actors are fantastic, the setting, the cases, the story line, everything. Though I can't say anything about how accurate it is because I haven't read Sherlock Holmes, I believe the writers did an amazing job.

I'm hoping there's a second season coming because honestly there's nothing I hate more than to fall in love with a TV show and with some characters and then find out it's been cancelled. Not that having more seasons softens the blow (*coughs* Leverage *coughs*). But at least I can see how the story and the characters develop.

Have you seen Elementary? If not, do see it. It is worth your time and it's a change from the regular TV drama/crime shows.

Obsessed With Covers #5

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:

• 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
• books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.

Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. 

*all links and covers go to the Goodreads page of each book.

Oh, I so adore this cover! The sky, the clouds, the flying couple, the colors of the clouds, everything. I can even imagine that if I had superpowers and was able to go inside the cover, the air would smell like rain (yes, I love rain :D) 

Let The Sky Fall - Shannon Messenger 

This is another cover that I stared at for entire minutes, without getting tired. I love it. I love the frosted tree lashes, I love the birds flying over the eye and at the same time looking as if they left the said lashes, I love the icicle-like tear...Anyway, I believe it's an amazing cover. Makes me wonder about the book. I have it on my TBR pile, so don't yell at me for not reading it! I will make time *sheepish*

Unravel Me - Tahereh Mafi

What covers do you love this week?

Early Book Review: Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza (YA)

Author: Debra Driza
Series: MILA 2.0 #1
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: March 12th 2013
My Rating:5 cups
Source: NetGalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past —that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity–style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

 

Oh man, oh man, oh man! I have to say, when I received this galley a few days ago, I didn't expect to love the book as much as I did. I already told you that I love the cover. The idea of a girl disintegrating into tens of tiny puzzle pieces is brilliant. Once you  read the book you  realize that Mila really is a puzzle.

The book started a little slow, yet it was Mila herself that kept me glued to the screen of my reader. Not remembering certain details from before the fire that took her father's life, her mother not answering her questions, her new friends, everything was a huge mystery and it all made me want to know more. And then there's the new boy in town, who I actually believed for a moment he was someone completely different than what he claimed.

Once Mila finds out the truth and her world crashes down around her, the pace picks up and you get anything that you could expect: suspense, conspiracies, secret government organizations, trained fighters and more. Oh, and there's drama. You can't have a book like this without a thread of drama. The ending was a little predictable, even though I kept hoping that maybe some things wouldn't happen. Even so, I am completely in love with this character and with the world.

One thing I need to mention. Looking beyond the fact that Mila is an android, I loved how the author made her be different but human at the same time. Yes, she's very strong and smart and she has a lot of super cool abilities, but she also has the regular teenage doubts that we all know (and hate).

I think this is perfect for a debut novel and I am definitely going to read the next books in this series. So if you want to read about androids, go get this book when it's released.

Follow Friday #18

Welcome to Follow Friday hosted this week by Parajunkee and Alison!
The main idea behind FF is just to go see a bunch of new blogs you may never have seen before, and follow the ones you like (and they’ll follow you back!) It’s a total win/win, so take a peek around!


This week’s question is:



Confess your blogger sins! Is there anything as a newbie blogger that you’ve done, that as you gained more experience you were like — oops?


Oh, so many. One of them was choosing my blogger alias based on my hair color. Yes, I lack imagination when it comes to names. Then there's NetGalley. Oh, how I love that site. I do. But when I first started blogging I didn't have a compatible ereader and I found it terribly difficult to read on my computer for hours and hours and hours. That and I also requested books like a crazy person. I now know not to overwhelm myself and request fewer books. But I do mistakes even now. Not posting every day, not commenting as much as I should, not socialize as much as I should. Another big mistake was overwhelming myself with reading challenges. Most of them are great and at least half of them helped me discover more authors and new genres than I wouldn't have without them. But I think it's best if I do about 4 "officially" and the others sort of in the background, like an inspiration to the big "what to read now?" question.

What about you? What are your blogger sins?