First of all, I promised to remind you when Marie Lu's Legend came out. It's out now, and it's wonderful. See my review here.

Secondly, since I didn't want that to be the only thing in this post, here's a purty funny video.

Hey y'all!

So in one of my classes I have to read a YA novel about someone with a disability. I've already read Freak the Mighty, so I'm drawing a blank. This is for my "teaching students with disabilities" class, so it can be virtually any disability. Mental, physical. Born or acquired. Whatever.

What's probably going to be a BIGGER issue is that it also needs to be clean-ish. Meaning no extreme profanity (more than 2 f-words and extreme use of other words) or vivid sexual scenes.

Help please?

Some of you may be familiar with the tournaments regularly hosted by the YA Sisterhood. The've done villains, crushes, and they aren't stopping there! In December they're hosting theTtournament of Heroines! If you want more info you can click here.

But the really exciting news?


So that means that I will be leading the charge in Karou's journey through the tournament. I'll be keeping you updated on whenever Karou fights so you can be sure to help her win! I've got a lot of plans for Karou, but almost everything depends on YOU!

How can YOU show your support and help Karou win? LOTS of ways!

1. VOTE! Every match is determined by votes. If you don't vote, she won't win! I'll let you know every time you can vote for her! EVERY vote is important!
2. Follow me on twitter, and follow YA sisterhood on twitter. For that matter, you should follow Karou on twitter, and Laini! Everybody!
3. Tweet with the hashtag #HeroineTourney and #TeamKarou
4. TELL YOUR FRIENDS! Karou needs all the support she can get!
5. Post about the tourney on your blog, twitter, FB, etc.
6. Grab a button/banner! I've got a bunch to choose from! Check them all out below!

Here are all the competitors and a bracket of who they are fighting and when:



Now grab a button!

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HELP! If you've read Mara Dyer, and feel like you know HER (Mara) fairly well, PLEASE e-mail me! I have some questions for you! THIS IS A MATTER OF [fictional] LIFE AND DEATH!

Here's my email: SqueakyBooks@yahoo.com

You don't have to LIKE the book. In fact, if you DIDN'T like the book, I especially want to hear from you! But no, I'm not going to ask you to bash it. We keep things nice and violent happy on Squeaky Books. *wink*

I saw that Nicole at WORD for Teens did this. And it looked super-fun! And I'm sick, ergo too lazy to write a review today. If you decide to do this, leave a link in the comments!

Age: This is one of those things that I never reveal, as it would compromise my secret identity. Muahaha!

Bed Size: Twin

Chore that you hate: I've always hated dusting the blinds. So tedious!

Dogs: I'd love to get a Shi-tzu or a Jack Russel Terrier some day.

Essential start to your day: Shower. I literally CAN NOT function if I have not showered in the morning.

Favorite colors: My favorite base color is bright green. But I like to pair it with pink, orange, blue... so... my blog colors.

Gold or silver: I'm actually a big fan of two-tone! Is that cheating? I'd like my [completely hypothetical] wedding ring to be a mix of both gold and white gold (which is silver-y).

Height: 5'9" I'm one inch away from being able to join the tall club.

Instruments you play: At one point in time I could play the piano, flute, guitar, and nose flute. Now I can make sound with all four, but can't really play a song...

Job title: Reptile handler, theatre teaching assistant, library page (No joke. All three.)

Kids: HA! I have younger siblings? Does that count?

Live: Happy Valley! (I'll leave it to you to figure out which one)

Overnight hospital stays: Um... once I stayed overnight for a drug trial... but it wasn't really at a hospital. Most of my hospital stays happened during my "I want to eat everything" phase. And I don't really remember it.

Pet peeves: Boy, howdy. Hows about I just leave this one blank? Your computer my crash if I wrote them all down.

Quote from a movie: "You ask a serious question, I'll give you a serious answer: Happy enough. I don't expect much. I don't get much, I don't give much. I generally enjoy whatever comes along. That's my answer for you, summed up for your feminine consideration. I'm happy enough."

Right or left-handed: Right.

Siblings: Two brothers.

Time you wake up: Do I have school? Then probably around 6-8:30 depending on the day. No school? Closer to 11.

Underwear: Have you seen this video? I know not to answer this question online.

Vegetable you hate: Most of them... but particularly anything cooked. I'm fine with most raw vegetables.

What makes you run late: Mostly the internet, but also sleepiness.

X-Rays you've had: Teeth, and back. (My neck and spine are backwards!)

Yummy food that you make: Hm... one time I made awesome cookies. I also like to make bread. But... I don't cook a lot.

Zoo animal: Tigers!

Just kidding. This post is purely for me, so I can remember the day my blog got on a poster.


That is all.

I couldn't find my FLIP camcorder today, so I had to use my webcam. The quality of this video is SO BAD that I almost didn't post it. But it's been so long since I did an IMM vlog, that this needed to be done.

Enjoy... I guess.

EDIT: Ugh. Nevermind. The quality is so poor I don't want it just sitting on my blog. Is that irrational? If you really want to see it, you can click here to go to the YouTube site.

I gotta find that FLIP.

I'm working on an IMM vlog for later today, but has anyone not yet received their prize from the Birthday Bash?

I'm realizing that some people slipped through the cracks during my harder-than-normal semester. But now it's a holiday and I can think again!

Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Genre:  Romance, Paranormal, Mythology
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 370
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's.

Blurb: Love. So unique and wonderful.

Review: This book is absolutely brilliant. I love how it weaves the mythology of Hades and Persephone into the story, but doesn't make it that EXACT story. Everything is fresh and interesting (and sometimes absolutely heartbreaking).

Now let's talk about that love interest. I guess SOME could argue that there are two love interests (though one is pure evil, so no. I'm going to ignore him). WHY were there no guys like Jack in my high school? Heck! There are no guys like Jack in my college! It's not often I get swoony over guys in books (especially not guys with facial piercings), but I was falling head over heels for Jack. And he's HUMAN! I love it when two HUMANS fall in love!

Even though the primary focus of this story is romance, it didn't bother me. I have got no problem with romances with a little bit of paranormal. What I have a problem with is books that are trying to pretend to be a paranormal story, when really they're all about romance and the paranormal-ness is just a gimmick. It certainly isn't a gimmick here. The romance in this book is what pulls you along. You HAVE to know what happens. Meanwhile the dark supernatural forces add flavor to the romance that makes it utterly irresistible.

And that ending. OH! That ending. I tell you what, Brodi deserves a degree in Torture Sciences. That ending broke my heart, but left me just enough to hold onto hope. I'm in AGONY people. When's that next book coming out? 2013?!?!? Oh geez. I'm done for.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

I've had an interesting question come up recently: how do you feel when an author comments on your review of their book?

Personally, I LOVE it. If it's a positive review I love to see that I've made the author happy. If it's a negative review (so long as the author remains courteous) then it reminds me that my words are out there for anyone to see, and increases my desire to responsibility for those words. (Here's an example of a tweet I got from an author after I posted a negative review.)

Same with tweeting, when an author tweets at me saying they read my review I GET SO EXCITED. It happened today with Jodi Meadows and I about blew my top. And Diana Peterfreund always comments on my reviews of her books. And I don't even have to MENTION the awesomeness of when Shannon Hale comments on my blog. But when I was talking with Ashley and Zoe Marriott on twitter, Zoe says she's worried about making bloggers feel uncomfortable.

What say you? How do you feel about author comments?
And let's just assume these are authors with tact. I know we all hate getting hateful comments from anyone, especially authors.

Release Date: January 31st, 2012
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Sci-fi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 384
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Blurb: Amazingly powerful, beautiful, and unputdown-able.

Review: This book is AMAZING! First of all, the premise is so interesting. A world where there are no new people? You're just reincarnated over and over? How cool is that?! Well... cool for a premise. After reading the book I don't think I'd want to live in that world.

But it brings up so many interesting ideas! What would the world be like if it was just made up of the SAME one million people forever? Everyone knows everyone. Everyone is born with the skills they need to survive (if not the physical strength). Would you ever have wars? The people you killed would just come right back. How would you love? Would you love life-by-life, or through lifetimes? And then there's the interesting bit about not always coming back the same gender.

Imagine being tossed into this world. Everyone knows everything, and you know nothing. TERRIFYING, right? I loved watching Ana struggle through this exact issue. How is she supposed to fit in? Everyone thinks in terms of lifetimes, but she might only have one! So how is she supposed to live her one life? Jodi does an amazing job of making both Ana and the reincarnates REAL people. I believed everything they thought, said, and did.

And on top of that THERE ARE DRAGONS. Dragons and sylphs and centaurs and who knows what else! Just when you thought this story couldn't get more interesting! Now, sometimes when books put so much into their storyline you feel like some of it is underdeveloped or just shoved in there for "wow" factor, not with Incarnate. Jumping from reincarnation to dragons was smooth and made perfect sense. By the end I was saying "Of COURSE there would be dragons in this world!"

All in all, an amazingly powerful book that will keep your brain spinning through all 400 pages!

And yes, I will remind you about this one closer to its release date.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Release Date: November 1st, 2011
Genre:  Romance, Adventure, Dystopia
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 384
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Series: Matched #2 (Review of #1)
Summary: (Spoilers, highlight to view)

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.


Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Blurb: I've never read anything so poetic. Condie truly is a master of words.

(I'm going to try to avoid spoilers in this review, but I can't promise that there won't be something you  might consider spoiler-ish)

Review: Oh my word. From the second I opened this book I was hooked. I'm averaging about one book every two weeks this semester, and I read this one in less than TWO DAYS.

The first thing that struck me was how poetic this book is. Matched has a lot of poetry, and it's a big theme in the book. Crossed IS poetry. Some of the chapters are actually written in stanzas! The story flows together beautifully, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Which is why I was surprised when I went to my mother's book club and people said they had heard Crossed was bad. Apparently, the main criticism it is receiving is that it's too slow, and doesn't go anywhere. I disagree. It definitely goes somewhere. There are very few moments where the characters are just doing nothing. And even if they aren't actively running for their lives, there's always intrigue, betrayal, mystery, etc.

Speaking of betrayal: THERE IS NO SEQUEL PHASE IN THIS BOOK! That made me so happy I almost cried. Yay for love interests staying loyal!

But, I will nod my head to the critics and say that if you didn't like Matched, you won't like Crossed. If you loved Matched, you'll probably like Crossed.

The only problem I had (and it's a small one) is that the book is written in first person, but the chapters alternate between Ky's perspective and Cassia's. I got so swept up in the story that I often forgot who was narrating and found myself flipping back to the chapter heading a lot. I wish their names had been at the top of each page. But it wasn't a big deal.

In conclusion, Crossed was amazing. It didn't quite give us as much information as Matched but it is even more beautifully written. I LOVED it.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Release Date: November 8th, 2011
Genre:  Dystopia, Romance
Publisher: Roaring Brook
Pages: 368
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?

Blurb: AH-MAZING!

Review: I LOVED Birthmarked, and so I had incredibly high hopes for this book. I'm happy to say that I LOVED this book as well, but for different reasons.

Once again, in Prized we are thrown into a dystopian society. And once again, Caragh is BRILLIANT at creating mind games. In the first book I couldn't help doubting whether or not what the Enclave was doing was BAD. WHAT they were doing was good, but HOW they were doing it was bad. It really messed with my mind, but I always believed in Gaia's cause.

In this book we really get to see into Gaia's mind. And while reading I was so deep in her mind that the changes she went through were so subtle that I didn't even know they were happening until it was too late. She HERSELF was beginning to believe that everything was all right in the world, which made ME believe everything was right, even though it clearly wasn't! THE BOOK BRAINWASHED ME! How cool is that?!

There was some SERIOUS sequel-phase going on in this book. However... it was good. Really good. Awesome good. I don't know if I've EVER thought that sequel-phase was a good thing before, but it was amazing here. Because the two love interests split up, you really got to analyze their relationship. Did they ever love each other in the first place? How well do they know each other? Maybe they AREN'T meant to be.

If you want a book that will make you THINK, have you on the EDGE OF YOUR SEAT, and make you want to be A BETTER PERSON. Then this is the book for you.

Absolutely brilliant.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

I think I've decided NOT to do a secret santa this year. It sounds like a fun thing to do NEXT year, but based on the feedback I recieved there would be a lot of bugs to work out and I just don't have the time to try and solve all of the possible problems.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, I found three other secret santas you can participate in if you want to! If you know of any other secret santa book exchanges, leave a link in the comments!

• The Broke & The Bookish Secret Santa
• Book Blogger Holiday Swap
• My Bookworm Santa

Hey y'all. Would anyone be interested if I hosted a secret [book] santa event this year? It's exactly what it sounds like. You give books to someone, someone else gives books to you. It's all around fun-times!

Could you take a second to fill out this SHORT [anonymous] form to let me know if this is a good idea? I need to get the ball rolling!

CLICK HERE to fill it out, or fill out below:

It's that time of year again! At the end of this year I'll post my favorite books that I reviewed in 2011. But before then, I want to hear from YOU!

That's right. PLEASE let me know your top 5 books that were released in 2011! If they haven't been released yet (but will still be released in 2011), you're welcome to list them as well. If you can't think of 5, you can list as few as 1, but you can't list more than five. Sorry!

I'm hoping to compile a list, and then use the most nominated titles for some Holiday-giveaway fun times!

Also, to one lucky nominator I'll give away a random prize pack of books and swag! You must be in the US to win the prize pack, but international peeps are more than welcome to list they're their (EDIT 12-16-11: woah! That typo was there for over a MONTH?! You've gotta tell me about these things peeps! there their they're is one of my pet peeves! *ashamed*) favorite 2011 US releases (The Holiday giveaway WILL be open internationally, just not this one). Prize pack will have 2-3 books/ARCs and some swag (including book-themed t-shirts and these really cool... well... you'll find out if you win).

Sound good? These nominations will be open until December 16th and I'll put the list together that weekend, and get the BIG holiday giveaway started on the 19th! That'll be after finals, and I should have my brain together.

Fill out the form below, or click here! Be sure your nominations have been/will be released in 2011! So Everneath by Brodi Ashton (which comes out 1-24-12) doesn't count. And don't just list books you want to own, list your FAVORITES. Remember that 2011 started 11 months ago. People have  a tendency to list only books released in the last 2-3 months.






Curious in seeing the list that Squeakers (that's you!) made last year? CLICK HERE to see it!

It's not often I get to say that I am 100% satisfied with a cover to a series I love.

I can today.

Yes! Today is the release of Ally Condie's newest book: Crossed! What better way to celebrate then with these AWESOME pumpkins?!
Pumpkins carved by my super-amazing friend, Laura. You can see more of her pumpkins today at Shannon Hale's blog!

My review of Crossed will go up as soon as my brain gets back from it's "vacation" to school-land. Which could be quite a while...

...stupid math history.