Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Vacation Reading List/Suggestions!

Its vacation time! I am off to my cottage on beautiful Lake Simcoe in Ontario where I am excited to spend time with family and of course read a few good books. My reading list is a little short this year but with a three month old baby to love and look after my reading time is limited.

Books that take place in a dystopian society have captured my attention over the last few years, with a few of my favorites being The Hunger Games series and The Forest of Hands and Teeth.  The novel, Divergent by Veronica Roth, has recently come to my attention so that is the first novel on my vacation reading list.

Divergent (Divergent Trilogy)

Next on my reading list is a novel a little outside my usual scope of interest, The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  My interest in reading this novel is solely based on the fact that most members of my family have read it! 
The Forgotten Garden: A Novel 
While I am unsure what to expect of this next novel, after reading Night by Elie Wiesel a few years ago, The Boy In The Striped Pijamas by John Boyne has long been on my "to read" list. (Click here for my review of the novel within my post titled "Books With Impact")

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 

And if three books in ten days (oh my how my ability to read copious amounts of books in short periods of time has changed) is not enough I have the following books waiting in the sidelines! I have chosen so many in part because two are review copies that I need to complete and three are books that have been siting on my shelf begging for me to start reading ASAP. I am one of those people that can't just read any book it has to be a book that I am....in the mood for. Many times I have put a book down due to disinterest after just a few chapters to only gobble up in hours a month later.
SwoonOnce Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery, Book 1)Another FaustCity of Souls (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 4)City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments, Book 4)

As mentioned in a previous post I have been out of the blogosphere for a little while now and I have struggled to find books that have been able to capture my attention. Suggestions for new novels or series that have been published in the last year would be welcome! If you are a blogger yourself feel free to leave a link to your review of such a novel and I would be excited to read it!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Help and Win a Free Book!

The contest is closing tonight at 11:59pm and my competitor keeps catching up! Please help my son win a baby contest and in return I am offering a free book from the book depository of your choice under $20.00! Click here for more info!

Follow Friday

It's good to be back and participating in book blogging once again! Can't wait to check out some new blogs and visit some old friends! Thanks to Parajunkee for hosting Follow my book blog Fridays!




Thursday, August 18, 2011

Review: Spell Bound by: Kelley Armstrong

Title: Spell Bound
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Published: August 2, 2011
Format: EBook ($9.99)
Age Group: Adult
Copy: Purchaced from Kobo

Additional Links: Otherworld Wiki


Synopsis: 

Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she's powerless to help herself. At the conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would help a young girl. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise.

And now, witch-hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell-casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Spell Bound gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope and others, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.


My Review: 


I have been so out of touch with reading for the past year that it has been a struggle as of late to find a book that has captured my attention enough to read it.  Kelley Armstrong has been a favorite author of mine for years and after reading Waking the Witch in August of 2010, I fell in love with the protagonist Savannah Levine. As a character I enjoy her feisty spirit and tenacity, which is balanced by a vulnerability instilled in her due to her chaotic past. I first became intrigued in her character while reading the novel Stolen, featuring Elena Michaels (the only known female werewolf) and my interest only grew while subsequently reading Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic featuring Page Winterbourne (witch) and Lucas Cortez (sorcerer), Savannah's legal guardians.


My favorite element about the Otherworld series is that though each book has a main protagonist many of the other characters are old friends from previous novels. My favorite female leads from this series include Elena 
Michaels and Jamie Vegas (T.V Spiritualist and Necromancer) who both play a role in Spell Bound.


What I enjoyed most about Spell Bound was the suspense of reading the romantic and sexual tension between Savannah and her long time love interest Adam Vasic. Adam has characteristics that most woman look for/long for in a male protagonist including his protective, stubborn, and flirtatious nature.


My only real disappointment in the novel was that I felt it ended to soon and left to much unresolved.  While I assume the reason for the loss of her powers and other elements of the novel will be resolved in a future novel, I felt there was to many loose ends with the only one plot line coming full circle (which I won't write about for fear of spoiling it for you!).


Props to Kelley Armstrong for writing yet another great addition to the Otherworld series.  As always I look forward to the next installment where hopefully all the loose ends from Spell Bound will be resolved! 


My Rating: 3.5/5


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Contest!

Oh my beloved blog and bloggy friends how I have missed you! This past year has been the most wonderful and exhausting of my life! Between working two jobs, getting pregnant, and being the mother to a newborn I have hardly read any books never mind doing any book reviews. With that said in the past three months my reading has slowly begun to gain momentum as I get into a routine and in turn I will hopefully get my groove back!

I have been wanting to have a contest to help me get back into the swing of things and then I had an idea....apparently as a mother you would do just about anything for your baby....my baby is in a contest...to win a photshoot and be on the cover of a local free parenting magazing....I am winning...not by much...I need more votes....help?...I give you a free book?...

Ok yes I am shamelessly asking for votes in exchange for any book purchased from the book depository that is under $20.00! But its a win win situation! Just look below at how cute my son is :)

So to win a FREE book $15.00 or under from the Book Depository please vote for my son by clicking here and then clicking "like" on BOTH City Parent and Emmet's photo. Please also comment in this post that you voted so that I can enter you in the random draw. I realize this magazine is irrelevant to most of you so by all means after the contest is over and the winner announced feel free to "unlike" the page. Contest closes on August 19th.

Me pregnant 34 Weeks (Emmet was born early at 36 weeks)


The first time I ever held him


The day he came home


This is him yesterday having fun in his bumbo chair



And this is the photo you will be voting on!


Good luck to all who enter and THANK YOU for your vote!