Bloggiesta!

Image reproduced with permission of There's A Book
28-30 September
Bloggiesta is an event for bloggers, allowing them to work on their blogs and tick off items on our to-do lists to help improve them. It is hosted by There's A Book and It's All About Books. If you would like to join too, head over to There's A Book to register your blog and find out more information.

So I will be working on my blog during this weekend, however due to a busy personal life, I won't be able to put as much effort in as I would like. Nevertheless, I hope to achieve some of these items and tick them off my to-do list:

• Update reviews and make sure all of the book information is streamlined
• Write some over-due reviews
• Ensure that all of the information on the blog pages (under banner) are up to date
• Participate in some mini-challenges (in events like this I usually neglect them, but these look like very helpful and useful challenges)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Video review of Shatter Me. Further book details and a quick review overview is located below the video, if you just want an idea of what I thought about the book.






Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Released: November 15, 2011
Series: Shatter Me Series [Book One]
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 388
Source: Purchased
Buy it: Book Depository (free shipping)

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Image & Synopsis 

Review Overview:
The plot is extremely captivating, dragging you right in to the story. I could not put this book down.

I loved the writing style. It was beautiful, poetic, lyrical and very visual language. The crossed out portions of the book were very intriguing, enabling you to really get inside Juliette's mind and see what her true feelings and thoughts are.

Juliet was a wonderful and strong main character who has been through some

Adam started out a bastard, but you soon learn why this was and what his motives were.

I loved Warner. He was a fantastic antagonist. He is pretty messed up mentally, but he was a very solid character. He had feasible reasons for his actions, and he was pretty much just a really evil character.

YA Story Scavenger Hunt! 4/12

I'm today's hunt stop for the 2011 YA Story Scavenger Hunt!

Follow the hunt every day during the month of December! Answer the daily trivia questions from MG and YA books published during 2011 to be entered into the YA book giveaway.

Today's question is from The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson.

Question #9: List two countries where Ginny went to.

Remember to fill out your answer in the form at Most Important Letter here!

Banned Books Week 2011

Hello all! Sorry for the mass of video posts this past week. I promise, I will be posting a written review later on! I am just getting the hang of this whole BookTubing thing and I am having a lot of fun.

So ANYWAY. Banned Books Week; 24 Septmber - 1 October, 2011.


For more information, check out the Banned Books Week and ALA websites.

This video is about my opinions on banned books, those I have read, and those that I hope to read in the future. Please show your support! This year, BannedBooksWeek.org is hosting a Virtual Read-out, so why not make your own video, where you read from one of your favourite banned or challenged books? I will be back later this week with my virtual read-out from one of the books mentioned in my video below.



Books read:

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - religious, violence, sexually explicit
Crank by Ellen Hopkins - drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit
Harry Potter by JK Rowling - occult/satanism, violence, religious viewpoint, antifamily
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - occult/satanism, offensive language, violence
TTYL by Lauren Myracle - drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group


To Read:

The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbowsky
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Shermen Alexie
Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


Share your thoughts on banned books and Banned Books Week. What do you think? Are you for or against the banning of books?

Book Blogger Hop (2)

Hosted by Crazy for Books

“As a book blogger, how do you introduce yourself in your profile?”

I took a very long time making my profile. It may not look like it, but I did. I detest creating online profiles, and this was no different. I just seem to have trouble writing about myself.

Anyway, my profile has a little information about the blog, and why I started it. There is also a little information about my interests and reading preferences, as well as a picture of me. I didn't want to bore everyone, so I tried to give enough information for readers to get a vague idea of who I am.

What about you guys? How do you introduce yourself on the interwebs?

Top 100 Most Popular YA Books

I came across this interesting list over at Death Books and Tea, who in turn found it at The Book Swarm. I have backtracked a little, from the blogs along this chain, and I along with everyone else have no idea where this originated. But anyway, following is a list of the supposed top 100 young adult books!

I have highlighted those that I have read, and underlined those that I own but have gotten around to reading yet.

1. Alex Finn – Beastly
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3, 4)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2, 3, 4)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3, 4)
18. Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2, 3)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2, 3)
31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2, 3)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3, 4,)
44. Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)
86. Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

I am obviously REALLY far behind on these.

Why don't you post this list and share which ones you have read?