Currently reading

World War Z by Max Brooks

A book about zombies (=
http://maxbrooks.com/books-wwz.php

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

The Chemical Garden Trilogy Book 1
A dystopian thriller.  My favorite kind.
http://thechemicalgardentrilogy.com/

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare on audio book

The Mortal Instruments Book 4  (-:
http://www.mortalinstruments.com/

Audio books

Ok, I have a confession to make.  I am addicted to audio books.  As I read Across the Universe, I finished 3 audio books as well.  I will not be giving long reviews of them but I did want to let you know what I thought super quick. 


  The Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi 

This book was interesting because the main protagonist was male.  The scenery was very believable as well as the characters and story line.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.  Check it out. 

  Wings by Aprilynne Pike

This story was very quickly done.  The story moved much too quickly for my taste.  There was a lack of details in areas that I wish there was more and too much details in other areas.  My 11 year old on the other hand was intrigued by this story.  I give this 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

  Spells by Aprilynne Pike

I am giving this book the exact same review as above.  The only exception will be that I drop it down to 3 out of 5 stars.  I do this only because I didn't notice much of a difference with the characters between books.  Usually the characters grow and expand and I just felt like they did not do that here.  The main change was the scenery.  Again, my 11 year old enjoyed this story, I just did not feel it.

Lenmeo

After the Book

 

.

Across The Universe

www.acrosstheuniversebook.com/

The President called it the "epitome of the American Dream." 
     Daddy called it the "unholy alliance of the of business and government."
     But all it really was, was America giving up.  Bailing out in order to join the Financial Resource Exchange.  A multinational alliance focused on one thing:  profit.  Fund global medical care to monopolize vaccines. Back unified currency to collect planet-wide interest. 
     And provide the resources need for a select group of scientists and military personnel to embark on the first trip across the universe in a quest to find more natural resources-more profit.
     The answers to my parents' dreams.
     And my worst nightmare.

~~~~~~~~~~~~An exerpt from Chapter 3 of Across the Universe


This is the story of Amy, the daughter of a battlefield analyst and a genetic crop splicer.  Amy and her parents are cryogenically frozen passengers aboard "Godspeed", the FRX ship travelling across the universe to a new planet.  The journey will take 300 years and be run by generations of people born aboard the ship to get "Godspeed" and it's passengers to the new world.  It has been 250 years and things are going as scheduled, until someone tries to kill Amy by unplugging her cryo unit and leaving her to drown in the melting cryo fluid.  Now she must find out who and why.

Elder is next in line to take over command of "Godspeed".  Someone has tried to kill one of the passengers and he must prevent them from doing it again. 

*****This book was a bit of a slow read.  The story was well thought out and took time to unfold in some sections and then very predictable because of it. I found that I knew who the main suspect would be at the moment that they were introduced into the story. For me that just guarantees that the story will be a slower read. 

The characters all had unique personalities that I was able to picture easily with Beth's descriptions.  I wish that more description was given the the scenery and surroundings of the ship.  I believe that it would have helped the unfolding of the story go by much quicker. 

In the last ten or so chapters of the book is where I was glued to it.  Beth ties all of the strings together to confirm all of my assumptions from the story.  I was happy with the coming together of all of the pieces.  There was a piece of the story that I did not catch or expect at the end which both left me smiling and questioning at the same time.  I can tell you that I think it could have been delivered differently. 

All in all this book was not a nail biting experience, but one that I am glad that I read to say that I did. I will give it 4 out of 5 stars.  

Until next time,

Lenmeo
After the Book

I Just Wanna Sit Here And Read!: Guest Post: Maria V. Snyder & Giveaway!

I Just Wanna Sit Here And Read!: Guest Post: Maria V. Snyder & Giveaway!: "I'm soooo (!!) excited to have Maria V. Snyder on the blog today. I love her Inside Out series and I'm ecstatic that she is here today to t..."

Forever ARC contest

Maggie Stiefvater is offering a contest for FB and Twitter to win an ARC of Forever.  Go check it out.

http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/203134.html

Delay

Ok, so after reading Divergent, I just haven't been able to concentrate too much on Across the Universe.  That and the fact that school just ended for us here and having to participate in all sorts of end of year activities has been draining up most of my extra free time outside of work.  Now that school is out and summer is here, the book reviews will be coming more frequently I promise (I hope). At any rate, I just wanted to let you know that I am determined to finish Across the Universe this week and give you my thoughts on it.  Don't give up on me.  The reviews will be back.  =)

Lenmeo
After the Book

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

   http://www.bethrevis.com/   

Just started reading this one, I'll fill you in as I go and then give it my honest opinion.  So far so good, I am already hooked.  I have to be honest though, my last book had me so wrapped up in it that I am going to try and read this one a little slower.  =P

Lenmeo

After the Book

Divergent by Veronica Roth

http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/

                        
Abnegation:  The Selfless
Erudite:  The Intelligent               These are the 5 Factions
Candor:  The Honest                    that society has created
Amity:  The Peaceful                       to keep the peace.
Dauntless:  The Brave


Beatrice Prior (Tris), at 16 years old, must decide how she will live the rest of her life. The Aptitude Test is administered to every member of society in their 16th year.  In theory it will tell you which of the 5 factions you would be best suited for and the happiest in. 


After choosing her Faction, Tris must undergo iniation before she can be accepted as a member of that Faction.  During the initiation process Tris discovers more about herself than she ever thought possible.  The process is brutal and involves both physical and emotional tests of fealty to the faction. She must not fail.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I loved this book.  I followed Tris into her faction of choice and felt her physical pain with every word that I read.  I cried everytime she cried.  I recognized all of the choices and decisions that Tris made as ones that I could very well have made for myself  had I been in her shoes.  I felt the strength and the weaknesses that she carried on her shoulders as she went through iniation.  I ached to be loved and accepted as Tris did on her journey to discover who she really was and where she really belonged. 


The descriptive writing style of Veronica Roth kept me holding my breath from page to page with my thumb nail suffering from the emotional roller coaster ride that I was on.  I couldn't read it fast enough or take it in well enough to feel satisified until I got to the very end.  Once I finished, I was relieved and charged full of energy so I picked up the book and opened to the title page and started it again. 


If you love Dystopian stories, you will fall to pieces in love and pain with Divergent.  Go get it now.  Start with the title page and experience it for yourself.  Tris and her story will not be easily forgotten!

Lenmeo
After the Book