This is a kind of meme floating around, where bloggers interview each other. I was interviewed by Cate over at Here's my answers!

You’ve gone to see the school talent show. The closing talent called in sick, and your friend (the director) begs you to fill in. What talent do you show off?
Well... I might do a few lame jokes, or I'd recite a monologue, or... something like that.

Okay, here’s a serious one. If you were given the opportunity to redo one day of your life, would you? Or do you think that every mistake made is a lesson learned?
My first instinct is to say that I would want to redo a day. But... looking back, I think it was all meant to be.

Oh no- it seems that you’re the victim of a prank! An obnoxious mustache has been painted on your face, and it’s not coming off. You’ve still got to go to school- what do you do?
Oh! That one's easy! I pretend to be the new French-exchange student! Ah huh huh!

Do you have a ‘bucket list’ of things you want to do before you die? If so, pick one and explain it.
Geez! These are hard questions! I guess the biggest thing on my list is: "Survive to finish list." Does that really need explaining?

Wildfires come dangerously close to your home, and firefighters give you less than two minutes to grab a few items from your room. You pick up a book, something that has a good memory attached, and an electronic device. Tell us the specifics of these items.
I pick up... oh. That's hard too! What book... what book... First instinct is to say my hardback copy of Enna Burning that has my favorite message from Shannon. That's my book and memory I suppose.
And then the electronic device is EASILY my laptop. I LOVE it!

Wow. My interview wasn't nearly as cool as everyone elses. *sigh* But that's still cool.

If you want me to interview you, just post in the comments! I'll make up new questions.

~Enna Isilee

The Bar Code Tattoo

In the world of 2025, everyone is getting a bar code tattoo. This tattoo allows you to be scanned and instantly a person can see your driver's license, bank accounts, and any criminal records. There are some that don't want the tattoo, but soon there may be a world where you either have one, or you can't do anything.



This book had a lot of promise, and I actually really liked it. It's a good mystery/sci-fi thriller. Kayla Reed, the main character, is realistic, and a good main character.



And then it all went wrong.


Meet, The Bar Code Rebellion.

In this sequel, there are magical telepathic powers (woah! Where the carp* did that come from?), clones spliced with bird DNA (once again, what the carp?), and a plot that wraps up in TWO PAGES. Okay. You can't wrap up a series in TWO PAGES. And then we kept meeting new people-- new important people-- and then leaving them behind and never talking about them again. What the carp?

This book once again follows Kayla, but now she's out in the wild resisting the now mandatory bar code tattoo. While in the wild, she goes through all that crazy stuff I listed above.

This book had SO MUCH POTENTIAL! To the point that I actually wished I could rewrite the book for her! But it was so disappointing.

All in all, I wish I could say read the first one and not the second, but the first one ends all cliffhangerish, and it would be really annoying to not know what happens. So I'm going to have to say skip this series. Which is unfortunate, because it had such potential.

~Enna Isilee

*Carp is not a typo. I have a thing against saying "Crap," so I just switched around the letters. Now "carp" has kind of become my word.

Okay, I know I've already asked about a rating system, but I'm going to go again.

I know that ME, as a reader of reviews, if I see a long review, or a review that begins with a book summary, I'll just skip it. I don't want to read a whole novel about a novel. I often enjoy reviews that say something like: Plot 6/10 stars, characters 7/10 stars, intensity 3/10 stars, average 5/10 stars. Then I'll read the review if I'm intrigued.

What do you guys think? Do you like seeing a rating first? Do you prefer reading the review and THEN seeing a rating? Do you just like reviews? Maybe I'll create a poll for this...

Thoughts please!

~Enna Isilee

Was there a point to this book? Maybe, but I had a really hard time finding it.

I felt bad, because I LOVE Witch Child and Sorceress by this same author but the entire first part of this book is about conspiracies, and then it seemed that the last part just focused on Sovay herself. Plus Sovay had A TON of love interests. At first I thought, "Ooh. Love triangle." But then it turned into a love square, then a love hexagon, then it jumped to an octagon! And finally she picked a guy I DID NOT like, and I didn't understand why she liked him.

Okay. Now that you've read my review, you can read this summary. I usually don't like to post summaries (as most of you probably know) because I'm afraid they bore people, but I'll include one here so you can have some idea of the book I just reviewed, there's a bit more review after it.

England, 1783. When the rich and beautiful Sovay isn't sitting for portraits, she's donning a man's cloak and robbing travelers in broad daylight. But in a time when political allegiances between France and England are strained, a rogue bandit is not the only thing travelers fear. Spies abound, and rumors of sedition can quickly lead to disappearances. So when Sovay lifts the wallet of one of England's most powerful and dangerous men, it's not just her own identity she must hide, but that of her father. A dazzling historical saga in which the roles of thieves and gentry, good and bad, and men and women are interchanged to riveting effect.

So you'd think it was about her being a bandit, right? No! It's all about her trying to escape this corrupt government.

Anyway, it's not a book I'd recommend. It's not "bad" it's just pointless.

~Enna Isilee

October 1st, 2008 The Hunger Games sent out a spark into the world of YA literature. And starting September 1st, 2009, that spark is now Catching Fire and spreading!

Eh? I thought that was pretty clever!

Anyway:

THIS BOOK ROCKS!!! Honestly. Hunger Games fans will not be disappointed.

We are reunited with all our favorite characters-- Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Prim-- and even some of our favorite hunger games contestents are remembered in this book, though they do not appear themselves.

And I will warn you now, that we DO get to experience The Hunger Games again. So once more 24 people will enter the area and fight to the death. Allthough it lacks the strength of the first Hunger Game, it's still extremely intense. The Hunger Games was just so unbelieveably strong that even this book pales in comparision.

All in all, Catching Fire has romance, violence, and a gripping story. I didn't put it down for over 6 hours! I loved it! I'd definitely say that I enjoyed The Hunger Games more, but I liked this maybe one teeny, tiny percent less. Definitely a Squeaky Book.

~Enna Isilee

Congratulations! I'll send you an e-mail so I can send out your copy of Eyes Like Stars right away!

Thank you to all who participated. I'm updating my link list and my Reader feed to include all of your blogs!

Stay tuned to SqueakyBooks! I actually read some books turning this contest, so reviews are coming! Wahoo!

~Enna Isilee

What am I doing? Wow. Summer has really got my brain all messed up. I didn't say I would end my contest THIS Thursday! I said NEXT Thursday! All right, you all have another WEEK to promote the contest.