Book Tour: My Name is Jake by Jennifer Turner w/ Giveaway!

Book Details:
Title: My Name is Jake
Author: Jennifer Turner
2012, Peaks Press
ISBN: 978-1938032059
Genre: Young Children's

Book Summary (from Amazon):
My Name Is Jake is a colorfully illustrated, rhyming book centered around a boy named Jake. Each page leads the reader through an activity that rhymes with Jake. This book is perfect for a young child or an early reader, just beginning to put letters into words and rhyming them together.

My Review:
My Name Is Jake is a sweet little children's rhyming book about a boy named Jake. Each page has one line that says something about and rhymes with Jake, like "We make sandcastles at the beach in the summer." or  "My family takes walks by the lake." Each phrase is accompanied by a lovely illustration like the one pictured above on the front of the book. My three-year-old son enjoyed the pictures and the story.

My only negative about the story is that the story line did not seem very cohesive. The story seems to start on a natural path, but then ends up kind of jumping all around. It mentions activities from Fall, Summer and Winter, but there is no Spring. It seems to start at the beginning of a day, but then it doesn't continue that way.

I'm not sure that those things matter much to a three-year-old though as long as it has fun pictures and wording. =)

Disclosure: The book was provided to me free of charge by Peaks Press  for my honest review. All opinions in this post are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.

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Fracture by Megan Miranda - Good Choice Reading Book Tour

Book Details:
Title: Fracture (ARC)
Author: Megan Miranda
2012, Walker & Company
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2309-3
Genre: YA


Book Summary:
A lot  can happen in eleven minutes.
Decker can run two miles easily in eleven minutes. I once wrote an English essay in ten. No lie. And God knows Carson Levine can talk a girl out of her clothes in half that time.
Eleven minutes might as well be eternity under water. It only takes three minutes without air for loss of consciousness. Permanent brain damage begins at four minutes. And then, when the oxygen runs out, full cardiac arrest occurs. Death is possible at five minutes. Probable at seven. Definite at ten.
Decker pulled me out at eleven.


My Review:
What an amazing book! This was an awesome read and I highly recommend it. From the moment I opened the front cover, I was hooked. I read this book in less than 24 hours. I stayed up until midnight reading the first day even though I knew I had to get up in less than 8 hours.


Delaney Maxwell, the protagonist, is a 17-year-old girl who fell through the ice on Falcon Lake one day. Her best friend,  Decker, pulled her back out eleven minutes later - dead. Against all odds, she wakes up 6 days later - basically fine. Normal life resumes... or at least she tries to make it normal.


Nothing is the same. Not her relationship with Decker. Not her relationship with her parents. Not even with other kids at school. Then there is Troy. The strange boy who seems to know all about her, but she's never seen him before. 


And why does she keep having these weird pulls towards people who seem to be sick or dying? Can she do anything about it? And why is Troy always there also?


I can't answer any of these questions without giving away the book - but if you like good endings, I think this book has one. Although I was unsure of how it was going to end right up until the last two pages, I felt like things were resolved and I was satisfied. The author did an excellent job of weaving the story through all of the questions and keeping the reader guessing as to what was going to happen.


I definitely recommend this book. It has a slight resemblance for me to The Unbecoming of Mara Dryer, but was also completely different.

This book is set to be released January 3, 2012.
Thank you to Good Choice Reading for hosting the Fracture Book Tour and giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Legend by Marie Lu - Good Choice Reading Book Tour

Book Details:
Title: Legend (Legend #1)
Author: Marie Lu
2011, Penguin
ISBN:978-0-399-25675-2
Genre: YA, Dystopia


Book Summary:
  Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a military prodigy committed to her country.
  Born into the slums of the Republic's Lake Sector, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal.
  From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered. And Day becomes the prime suspect.
  Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival while June tries desperately to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together and the sinister lengths to which their country will go to to keep its secrets.


My Review:
  I received this book to read as part of a book blog tour - I signed up for it and I was a little unsure about whether I was going to like it or not. I wasn't even exactly sure what it was about. I LOVED this book. I read it in two days - and that's with a 2-year-old running around my house. 
  This book really reminded me of The Hunger Games in a couple ways - obviously because it's about young people, the crazy militaristic government, the drastic comparison of wealth and poverty, and lastly it's dystopian era. Post-natural disasters and destruction of the United States-type world.
  The book chapters alternate between the perspective of the main characters, June and Day. June is a wealthy kid who has had everything and is slated for a top job in the country's military. Day failed the Republic's test and has ended up on the streets acting out against the country government who is oppressive to those who live in his Sector.
  You can read the synopsis above and get the general idea of what the book is about. The characters are interesting and intriguing. They have chemistry together and it seems like you as the reader really feel their frustrations, hopes and worries. There are some good secondary characters also.
  The plot carries the reader along - I didn't want to put the book down. There are no dead areas of this book, no times when you're bored. I think the author takes a unique look at a post-destruction world.
  Overall - great book. I definitely recommend picking this one up! I don't think you'll be disappointed! I'm looking forward to finding out what happens in the second book of the series!

This book is set to be released November 2011.
Thank you to Good Choice Reading for hosting Legend Book Tour and giving me the opportunity to review this book.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - Good Choice Reading Book Tour

Book Details:
Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
2011, Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781442421769
Genre: YA

Book Summary:
Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

My Review:
I'm not even sure where to start with this review. I was left with a very "hmm.... soooo???" at the end! If felt like the ending was completely unresolved. This was not a happily ever after type book - but it just ended weird!

Characters: Good - loved Mara and Noah. They had great chemistry and the book kept you guessing whether Noah was a good thing or a bad thing in Mara's life for quite some time. There were lots of good secondary characters - Mara's brothers added a lot to the story.

Clean? Depends on how you view it. There was some foul language, but no sex.

Plot line: Good. I really had no idea where this book was going for quite some time, yet I was compelled to keep reading it. My husband and one point was like, "You just can't put that book down can you?" Nope - and what higher marks can you give a book than that? =) I did feel like there were a lot of weird events that seemed kind of random throughout the book - although because Mara thought she was psychotic, I guess it kind of fit.

Overall impression: It was an interesting book. Definitely interesting to read. I wouldn't say it was the most awesome book I've ever read, but it was a fun read, easy to get through and kept you guessing. Like I said at the beginning - I'm still not really sure what happened at the end, so if you like clean endings, then this is not the book for you.

This book is set to be released on September 27, 2011.

Thank you to Good Choice Reading for hosting The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Book Tour and giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter: Good Choice Reading Book Tour

Book Details:
Title: Blood Rights (House of Comarré Bk #1) ARC
Author: Kristen Painter
2011, Orbit
ISBN: 978-0-316-08477-2
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal

Book Summary (from Goodreads):
The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely-wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers.

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.


My Review:
This was a great book. It's amazing to me how many different takes there can be on vampire stories! This one is unique because of the comarré, which is a human who is bred to feed the vampire nobles. In return, the vampire saliva helps keep them young, strong and with ultra-sensitive senses. A patron buys a comarré's blood rights for exclusive use.


Chrystabelle's patron has been murdered and they think she did it. She is on the run and her only hope is Malkolm, a vampire noble who has been cursed and discarded by the rest of the nobility. The two of them team up to defeat a power-hungry vampiress and clear Chrystabelle's name.


The story was unique, the characters were strong, likeable and intelligent. My only complaint was that there were a lot of made up vampire-ish terms that were a little confusing. At the end of the book I saw there was a glossary of these terms and wished I'd known that at the beginning for reference. It was also a very clean read - which surprised me. Only a few 4-letter words and two kisses  in the whole thing!


I am looking forward to the next two books in the series and highly recommend this novel if you are a fan of vampire paranormals.




This book is set to be released on October 1, 2011.


Thank you to Good Choice Reading for hosting the Blood Rights Book Tour and giving me the opportunity to review this book.

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy - Once Upon A Twilight Book Tour

Book Details:
Title: The Apothecary (ARC)
Author: Maile Meloy
2011, Penguin
ISBN: 978-0-399-25627-1
Genre: YA

Book Summary:
It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. There, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and becomes fascinated by his son, Benjamin Burrows - a boy who isn't afraid to stand up to authority and who dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping those secrets out of the hands of Russian spies. Discovering transformative elixirs they never belieed cold exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending nuclear disaster.

My Review:
This was a very different book. I don't read a lot of Young Adult fiction, but this was a fun read. I felt like it was definitely geared for a little bit younger set - early high school rather than later. The characters were very innocent (which I liked) and I felt were pretty fitting for fourteen-year-olds in the 1950s.

The story takes place during about one month in 1952 London. Janie's parents have had to move from LA because they work in Hollywood and they are suspected of being Communists during the Red Scare. They move to post-war London, England, but there is a new threat - the Cold War and nuclear weapons.

I thought the author did an excellent job of weaving the characters in and out of the storyline. The plot is definitely fanciful, but you are always urged to "believe in the possibilities...." Benjamin and Janie had good chemistry - although they don't have too much time for romance, since it's one action-packed scene after another.

This book is filled with spies, amazing science (that reminds me more of spells and potions, than science) and Russians! "Science" is used to transform and mask humans, as well as simple things like memory erasing, truth-telling and painting boats! Definitely an interesting read and worth picking up if you like anything sci-fi or just a little bit unbelieveable.

One other note: of the books that I've read as an Advanced Readers Copy, this was probably the best-edited book I've seen. There was maybe one typo that I picked up on (I'm not saying there weren't more!) and I really appreciated that!

This book will be released October 4, 2011.

Thank you to Once Upon A Twilight for hosting The Apothecary Book Tour and giving me the opportunity to review this book. http://www.onceuponatwilight.com/

Too Many Book Tours??

Realized that I'm on track to receive at least 4 books from various blogs for book tours.

I'm thinking this will be fine because they will all come at different times.... right?

Hopefully.

Because you only have a week to read them and then send them on! Ack!

Maybe I should keep better track of what I sign up for!

Upcoming...

• Bloodrights by Kristen Painter
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by  Michelle Hodkin
• Legend by Marie Lu
• The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

I think I'm most excited about this last one... The Apothecary.

Sounds interesting.

One of the things I like most about these book tours, 

is that it gets me to read some books that are out of my usual realm.

Most of these I wouldn't choose to just pick up on my own.

More ARC Tours - Blood Rights

Just found out I'm getting to participate in an ARC tour for

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

through Good Choice Reading!

Seems a little more hard-core 

paranormal than I usually pick up 

(uh... Sookie Stackhouse or Twilight anyone?)

but the summary sounds intriguing, 

so I'm up for it.

I'm last on the tour, so it'll probably be 6 weeks

before I get it, but I'll get a review up to tell you

what I thought about it!

Abandon by Meg Cabot Once Upon a Twilight Book Tour

Book Details: 
Title: Abandon (The Abandon Trilogy #1) 
Author: Meg Cabot 
2011, Scholastic 
ARC Copy 
Genre: YA fantasy/paranormal

Book Summary: 
Pierce knows what it's like to die because she's one it before. 

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help ut feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone ... because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. 

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid. 

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away ... especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. 

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld. 

The myth of Persephone ... Darkly Re-imagined. 

My Review: 
I was very excited to read this book - and a little skeptical. I love Meg Cabot's books, but her last one about the vampires made me wonder why she was attempting another one of these paranormal sort of books and not just sticking to The Princess Diaries type. 

I was pretty happy with this one though! First, I've always been a big Greek Mythology fan, so to find out that this series is based loosely on the Myth of Hades and Persephone was intriguing to me. Meg Cabot's characters are always kind of flaky and quirky and I wasn't sure at first if I liked that about Pierce, but she really grew on me as the book went on. 

I also really liked the character of John - a death deity. He is mysterious, brooding, protective and loving all wrapped up in one person. I expected him to actually BE in more of the story, but he was kind of in the background for most of the book. Cabot also used some interesting secondary characters that I liked, Pierce's parents, cousin, and Mr. Smith, the cemetery caretaker, and the Furies. Cabot used a lot of historical facts or references for this fiction book - I always like a book that is based on something realistic. 

I have to say I was a little frustrated at first because I felt like Cabot just jumped right into the story and I had no idea what was going on - and it took her half the book to slowly explain it. But although I was kind of annoyed about that, I still couldn't seem to put the book down! 

I am greatly looking forward to the next installment of this series to find out what happens with John and Pierce! This one really left the reader hanging at the end and wishing for the next one! 

Thank you to Once Upon A Twilight for hosting the Abandon Book Tour and giving me the opportunity to review this book. http://www.onceuponatwilight.com