TGIF at GReads (27 January 2012)

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads!
Question of the Week:
Buy or Borrow: Where do your books that you read come from? The bookstore? The library? Do you prefer to own a book, or have it on loan?

Putting the cards out, I am a high school librarian, so some of the books I read would be from the library itself. But that’s just on the side, I mostly bought my books, (usually the ones of my favorite author. Support!) But then again, I also get books from my friends or authors to review. I much prefer having my own books rather on loan. But if I could loan, yeah… it’s not I’m keeping everything anyway.

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Feature and Follow Friday

RULES
To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules: 

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee and Alison Can Read} 
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers 
3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts. 
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you. 
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI” 
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers 
7. If you’re new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Question:
Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?
Political books. I totally hate them. Too much agendas and dramas, not to forget about spin doctors.

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Teaser Tuesdays (24 January)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Goddess Interrupted
By Aimee Carter
Expect Publication March 12, 2012

“She hates you.” Ava squeezed my hand. “It’s the kind of hate that’s all-consuming, and it doesn’t stop for anything. Especially not-reason.”

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And the Dragon Year Begins

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NF Book Review: 100 Must-Read Life-Changing Books By Nicholas Rennison

rate } ♠♠♠♠
genre } non-fiction | booklist | reference
release day } 25th September 2008
acquired } 22th January 2012
publisher } A&C Black
format } paperback
isbn } 9780713688726
pages } 148 pages
source } borrowed
age group } general
interest } all ages
awards } -
Buy @ Amazon.com | Nolly Book | D BookHaus

100 Must-Read Life-Changing Books
By Nicholas Rennison

Via Goodreads
Novels which transform our ideas about human possibilities, biographies which celebrate the achievements of extraordinary individuals, polemical works of non-fiction which oblige us to alter our views of the world or of human society: all of us can remember reading at least one book which made us think about the world anew. Here, the author of the popular Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide, selects the very best books which may or may not have changed the world, but which have certainly changed the lives of thousands of people who have read them.

Some examples of titles included:
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - a poignant recording of the author's triumph over the obstacles of being black and poor in a racist society.
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. Santiago's meeting with the alchemist opens his eyes to the true values of life, love and suffering
The Diary of Anne Frank Half a century later the story of a teenager coming to maturity in the most terrible of circumstances remains profoundly moving.
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet Gibran's poetic essays reveal his thoughts on everything in life from love and marriage to the enigmas of birth and death.
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Pirsig's narrator creates a philosophical masterpiece that has the power to change lives.

My 2 Cents
This book was an incidental find. A friend who is far more list crazed than I am have this laying around on her floor. So naturally I picked it up and find another list of books to play with *snickers*

Cover. Honestly, the only one grabby for me is the words Life-Changing. Otherwise it is nothing less than a pass by for me.

This book features books by authors and the “reasons” why they are life changing. Such examples are Elie Weisel’s Night; Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own; Leo Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You; JRR Tolkien’s The Lord if the Rings; and a few others. I’m glad Toni Morrison is also in this list and J.K Rowling too. This book also feature book suggestions after you’ve read the books mentioned. I have to admit, most of the names in this book, are new to me.

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Still Durian Season

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Love is a Cycle

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It’s Durian season in Brunei!!!

And they come in all shape, sizes and color!

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Children Book Review: Garbage! Monster! Burp! By Tom Watson

rate } ♠♠♠♠♠
genre } fiction | picture book | children
release day } 9th March 2011
acquired } 15th January 2012
publisher } Tom Watson
format } e-book
isbn } B004RCNVWG
pages } e-book
source } bought
age group } children
interest } all ages
awards } -
Buy @ Amazon.com | Nolly Book | D BookHaus

Garbage! Monster! Burp!
By Tom Watson

Via Goodreads
A monster at the bottom of a hill eats all of the garbage generated by the town on top of the hill. This provides two important benefits: The monster is happy with plenty to eat and the town stays nice and clean. Unfortunately, as the town grows, so does the amount of garbage the monster must consume. He gets bigger - and he starts burping. This is, as you can probably guess, a bit unsightly and stinky. In the end, the kids figure out how to solve the problem - despite the nasty mayor's doubts and objections.

My 2 Cents
I was surfing through the Kindle collections via Amazon.com when I found this odd (free too) ever so curious little title.

Cover. it does makes me curious when there’s not a peek of said monster on it. So I thought sure.. give it a try. Love the “blue” cover.

Overall verdict, if you like Dr Seuss, you would like this. I do feel sorry for the monster. Such an evil mayor. :( But I do like the way this story goes where it showed kids can make a different.

This would be a good quick read. To bad it’s not available in print, or I would have get it for my school library, cause I know they would actually enjoy reading it

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When She BBQ

We decided we have a BBQ today… Yummy! What we had was Crabs, Lambchops and Chicken wings!

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YA Book Review: The Lipstick Laws; By Amy Holder

rate } ♠♠♠♠♠ ♥
genre } fiction | young adult | chick lit | bully | high school
release day } 4th April 2011
acquired } 02th January 2012
publisher } Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
format } paperback
isbn } 9780547363066
pages } 240 pg.
source } bought
age group } PG 13+
interest } pg 13 + all ages
awards } -
Buy @ Amazon.com | Nolly Book | D BookHaus

The Lipstick Laws
By; Amy Holder

Via Goodreads
At Penford High School, Brittany Taylor is the queen bee. She dates whomever she likes, rules over her inner circle of friends like Genghis Khan, and can ruin anyone’s life with a snap of perfectly manicured fingers. Just ask the unfortunate few who have crossed her.

For April Bowers, Brittany is the answer to her prayers. April is so unpopular, kids don’t know she exists. One lunch spent at Brittany’s table, and April is basking in the glow of popularity.

But Brittany’s friendship comes with a high price tag, and April decides it’s not worth the cost. Inspiring and empowering, this is the story of one girl who decides to push back.

My 2 Cents
Honestly said.. I’m late in catching up with the fuss when this book came out last year. Little do I know, this turned out to be a very good read. Should have read it earlier. I am surprised this book didn’t made it to any Award list though.

Don’t give me that look. It should have!

If you are looking for a book that has any subject of bullies and high school, I would suggest this book for you.

Cover-wise. Honestly, this is the exact reason why I didn’t pick it up. I was too distracted by the candy bite and that plain no catchy look for me. It turned me off completely from reading it. Yup.. that was sad wasn’t it. But I think that’s one reason this book doesn’t popped out much. Come on… if just judge it by the book cover, you would expect this is a romance book instead of YA. The only reason I remembered having this book around was I was looking for books on bullies.

Characters. I don’t like… make that.. I despise Brittany Taylor. Most of us would have had encountered with our own “Brittany Taylor” at least once in our life time. The backstabbing thorn in our life. But only some of us survive like April Bowers. Brittany’s toy that bit her back. She fought back and yes I like… love it!

Otherwise… I love the way I drowned into this book and enjoy this book. I think I could relate that way, but nevertheless of the I love it. It’s realistic in a way to say, every one of us have our flaw, and we shouldn’t be picking on other’s flaws so you could hide yours.

I’m in a dilemma on to weather get this for my library or not. Why? Because there’s a bit of cursing going on in there hence my reluctant. As good as it is, I’m stuck not knowing to get or not to get. I like to add this book in the school library due to the subjects of bullies but I’m not sure if it’s appropriate with the cursing.

What you guys think?

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BTT: Interview Part 2: 12/1/2012

 

Hosted by Booking Through Thursday.




1. What’s your favorite time of day to read? At night, just before bed every night and early in the morning if it’s off day from work.

2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.) Yes. Read a few lines from the Quran for my day.

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)  Lots of favorites. I much enjoy fried rice with sausages, eggs and clams.

4. How many hours a day would you say you read? I  made sure to eat at least 30 minutes per day. If I’m lucky, I would read till day (considering of course it’s not a working day)

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?Yes I admit. Before I started working, my reading was splendid. I get to finish 3 books per day. Now.. It’s lucky if I actually finish a book under a week span.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?  Yes. But only when I need information fast. But I can’t bear reading through fast my novels.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  Read like Bicentennial Man

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go? Yes! Always!

9. What KIND of book?  It can be a physical book or a e-book! I’m arm with a e-books always via my iphone

10. How old were you when you got your first library card? If I remember right, I was 7. I still remember I borrowed a book about grasshoppers.

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?) My mom’s dictionary.

12. Do you read in bed?  Of course.

13. Do you write in your books? NO!!!!

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be? You can stop and choose another book if it bored you. But do please give the book a chance to page 50.

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Teaser Tuedays (10 January 2012)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Popular
by Alissa Grosso

My heart is racing and my palms are sweating. Not because of Chance, but because I think Hamilton knows, and I don’t want her to know. I don’t want Hamilton involved. I want Chance. And I want him to be pure and untainted by Hamilton.

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New York Times (NYT) Most Notable 2011

Read more about each book (including links to NYT reviews) on this page.

FICTION AND POETRY
01. THE ANGEL ESMERALDA: Nine Stories.By Don DeLillo.
02. THE ART OF FIELDING. By Chad Harbach.
03. THE BARBARIAN NURSERIES. By Héctor Tobar.
04. BIG QUESTIONS. Or, Asomatognosia: Whose Hand Is It Anyway? Written and illustrated by Anders Brekhus Nilsen.
05. THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC. By Julie Otsuka.
06. CANTI. By Giacomo Leopardi. Translated by Jonathan Galassi.
07. THE CAT’S TABLE. By Michael Ondaatje.
08. CHANGÓ’S BEADS AND TWO-TONE SHOES. By William Kennedy.
09. COME ON ALL YOU GHOSTS. By Matthew Zapruder.
10. 11/22/63. By Stephen King.

11. THE FREE WORLD. By David Bezmozgis.
12. GHOST LIGHTS. By Lydia Millet.
13. THE GRIEF OF OTHERS. By Leah Hager Cohen.
14. GRYPHON: New and Selected Stories. By Charles Baxter.
15. HOUSE OF HOLES: A Book of Raunch. By Nicholson Baker.
16. THE LAST WEREWOLF. By Glen Duncan.
17. THE LEFTOVERS. By Tom Perrotta.
18. LIFE ON MARS. By Tracy K. Smith.
19. THE LONDON TRAIN. By Tessa Hadley
20. LONG, LAST, HAPPY: New and Selected Stories. By Barry Hannah.

21. LOST MEMORY OF SKIN. By Russell Banks.
22. THE MARRIAGE PLOT. By Jeffrey Eugenides.
23. A MOMENT IN THE SUN. By John Sayles.
24. MR. FOX. By Helen Oyeyemi.
25. MY NEW AMERICAN LIFE. By Francine Prose.
26. 1Q84. By Haruki Murakami. Translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.
27. OPEN CITY. By Teju Cole.
28. THE PALE KING: An Unfinished Novel. By David Foster Wallace.
29. PARALLEL STORIES. By Peter Nadas. Translated by Imre Goldstein.
30. SAY HER NAME. By Francisco Goldman.

31. SCENES FROM VILLAGE LIFE. By Amos Oz. Translated by Nicholas de Lange
32. THE SENSE OF AN ENDING. By Julian Barnes.
33. SEVEN YEARS. By Peter Stamm. Translated by Michael Hofmann.
34. SHARDS. By Ismet Prcic.
35. SPACE, IN CHAINS. By Laura Kasischke.
36. STONE ARABIA. By Dana Spiotta.
37. THE STRANGER’S CHILD. By Alan Hollinghurst.
38. THE SUBMISSION. By Amy Waldman.
39. SWAMPLANDIA! By Karen Russell.
40. TALLER WHEN PRONE: Poems. By Les Murray.

41. TEN THOUSAND SAINTS. By Eleanor Henderson.
42. THIS BEAUTIFUL LIFE. By Helen Schulman.
43. THE TIGER’S WIFE. By Téa Obreht.
44. THE TRAGEDY OF ARTHUR. By Arthur Phillips.
45. TRAIN DREAMS. By Denis Johnson.

NON-FICTION
01. AND SO IT GOES. Kurt Vonnegut: A Life. By Charles J. Shields.
02. ARGUABLY: Essays. By Christopher Hitchens.
03. THE ART OF CRUELTY: A Reckoning. By Maggie Nelson.
04. ASSASSINS OF THE TURQUOISE PALACE. By Roya Hakakian.
05. THE BEGINNING OF INFINITY: Explanations That Transform the World. By David Deutsch.
06. BELIEVING IS SEEING: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography. By Errol Morris.
07. THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE: Why Violence Has Declined. By Steven Pinker.
08. BLOOD, BONES AND BUTTER: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. By Gabrielle Hamilton.
09. BLUE NIGHTS. By Joan Didion.
10. THE BOY IN THE MOON: A Father’s Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son. By Ian Brown.

11. CARAVAGGIO: A Life Sacred and Profane. By Andrew Graham-Dixon.
12. CATHERINE THE GREAT: Portrait of a Woman. By Robert K. Massie.
13. CLARENCE DARROW: Attorney for the Damned. By John A. Farrell.
14. COCKTAIL HOUR UNDER THE TREE OF FORGETFULNESS. By Alexandra Fuller.
15. DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. By Candice Millard.
16. THE ECSTASY OF INFLUENCE: Nonfictions, Etc. By Jonathan Lethem.
17. 1861: The Civil War Awakening. By Adam Goodheart.
18. EXAMINED LIVES: From Socrates to Nietzsche. By James Miller.
19. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. By Charles C. Mann.
20. GEORGE F. KENNAN: An American Life. By John Lewis Gaddis.

21. GREAT SOUL: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India. By Joseph Lelyveld.
22. HARLEM IS NOWHERE: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America. By Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts. (Little, Brown, $24.99.)
23. HOLY WAR: How Vasco da Gama’s Epic Voyages Turned the Tide in a Centuries-Old Clash of Civilizations. By Nigel Cliff.
24. IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin. By Erik Larson.
25. INFERNO: The World at War, 1939-1945. By Max Hastings.
26. THE INFORMATION: A History. A Theory. A Flood. By James Gleick.
27. INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion. By Janet Reitman.
28. IS THAT A FISH IN YOUR EAR? Translation and the Meaning of Everything. By David Bellos.
29. JERUSALEM: The Biography. By Simon Sebag Montefiore.
30. THE KEATS BROTHERS: The Life of John and George. By Denise Gigante.

31. KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World. By Lisa Randall.
32. MALCOLM X: A Life of Reinvention. By Manning Marable.
33. THE MEMORY CHALET. By Tony Judt.
34. MIDNIGHT RISING: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. By Tony Horwitz.
35. MOBY-DUCK: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, 36. Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them. By Donovan Hohn.
37. MY SONG: A Memoir. By Harry Belafonte with Michael Shnayerson.
38. THE NET DELUSION: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. By Evgeny Morozov.
39. ONE DAY I WILL WRITE ABOUT THIS PLACE: A Memoir. By Binyavanga Wainaina.
40. THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution. By Francis Fukuyama.

41. PAULINE KAEL: A Life in the Dark. By Brian Kellow.
42. PULPHEAD. By John Jeremiah Sullivan.
43. THE QUEST: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. By Daniel Yergin.
44. RIGHTS GONE WRONG: How Law Corrupts the Struggle for Equality. By Richard Thompson Ford.
45. RIN TIN TIN: The Life and the Legend. By Susan Orlean.
46. [SIC]: A Memoir. By Joshua Cody.
47. THE STORM OF WAR: A New History of the Second World War. By Andrew Roberts.
48. THE SWERVE: How the World Became Modern. By Stephen Greenblatt.
49. THINKING, FAST AND SLOW. By Daniel Kahneman.
50. TO A MOUNTAIN IN TIBET. By Colin Thubron.

51. TO END ALL WARS: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918. By Adam Hochschild.
52. A TRAIN IN WINTER: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France. By Caroline Moorehead.
53. VAN GOGH: The Life. By Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.
54. WHO’S AFRAID OF POST-BLACKNESS? What It Means to Be Black Now. By Touré.
55. WHY THE WEST RULES — FOR NOW: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future. By Ian Morris.
56. A WORLD ON FIRE: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War. By Amanda Foreman.

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Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 2011

The Publisher's Weekly Interactive Guide to the best books of 2011 can be found here.

PW's Top Ten Books of 2011

1. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
2. The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
3. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
4. After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh
5. Bossypants by Tina Fey
6. Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
7. There but for the by Ali Smith
8. Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson
9. One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
10. Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens

Fiction

1. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
2. The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
3. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
4. There but for the by Ali Smith
5. The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad
6. The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky, trans. by Tim Mohr 
7. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt 
8. Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman
9. Volt by Alan Heathcock
10. The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
11. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
12. Changó's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes by William Kennedy
13. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
14. The Call by Yannick Murphy
15. The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
16. Cain by José Saramago
17. Luminarium by Alex Shakar
18. Someday This Will Be Funny by Lynne Tillman
19. I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck
20. Leche by R. Zamora Linmark

Mystery/Thriller

1. The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
2. Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
3. Revenger by Rory Clements
4. Hurt Machine by Reed Farrell Coleman
5. A Simple Act of Violence by R.J. Ellory
6. Field Gray by Philip Kerr
7. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
8. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
9. Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson

SF/Fantasy/Horror

1. After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh
2. Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
3. Triptych by J.M. Frey
4. Unpossible by Daryl Gregory
5. Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan, Vol. 1 by Caitlín R. Kiernan
6. Erekos by A.M. Tuomala

Non-fiction

1. Bossypants by Tina Fey
2. Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
3. Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson
4. One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
5. Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
6. The Convert: A Parable of Islam and America by Deborah Baker
7. The Anatomy of a Moment by Javier Cercas
8. The Beautiful and the Damned:A Portrait of the New India by Siddhartha Deb
9. Blue Nights by Joan Didion
10. Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
11. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
12. Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert
13. A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War by Amanda Foreman
14. Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
15. Love and Capital: Karl Marx and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution by Mary Gabriel
16. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick
17. Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
18. A Book of Secrets: Illegitimate Daughters, Absent Fathers by Michael Holroyd
19. Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History by Robert Hughes
20. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
21. Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis
22. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
23. Believing Is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography by Errol Morris
24. Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
25. The Long Goodbye: A Memoir by Meghan O'Rourke
26. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
27. The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity by Jeffrey D. Sachs
28. Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin
29. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson

Children's Fiction

1. The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
2. Chime by Franny Billingsley
3. Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booraem
4. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
5. Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach, Antonio Javier Caparo
6. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
7. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
8. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
9. Legend by Marie Lu
10. The Apothecary by Maile Meloy, illus. by Ian Schoenherr
11. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, illus. by Jim Kay
12. The Flint Heart by Katherine and John Paterson, John Rocco
13. Divergent by Veronica Roth
14. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
15. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
16. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
17. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
18. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, illus. by Erin McGuire
19. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, illus. by Ana Jua
20. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg et al
21. Variant by Robison Wells
22. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
23. Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
24. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Poetry, Romance, Comics, Children's Picture, Children's Non-Fiction, Religion, and Lifestyle categories can be found HERE.

List copied from NotableBooks.

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2012 Fairy Tales Challenge

 
January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012
Hosted by Tif Talks Books
I am so excited to announce that the Fairy Tale Challenge is returning for 2012!  For all those who love fairy tales, both in writing and on the screen, this is your opportunity to share your love with other fans.  Just as last year, we will have four different levels:

• Fairy (Level 1):  Read 1 original tale.  Read 1 modern tale.  Watch 1 film.  (Total of 3 selections.)
• Dwarf (Level 2):  Read/watch any combination of original tales, modern tales, or films, resulting in a total of 6 selections.
• Royal Prince or Princess (Level 3):  Read/watch any combination of original tales, modern tales, or films, resulting in 9 total selections.
• Happily Ever After (Level 4):  Read/watch any combination of original tales, modern tales, or films, resulting in 12 total selections.

Here are a few other notes of importance:

• The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012.
• Selections can include any age level or genre, from picture books and classics to young adult and even graphic novels.  Creativity is completely acceptable here!
• You do not need to determine your list of fairy tales.  Go with what moves you at the time!
• A blog is not required, but it is encouraged.  You are also welcome to keep track of your selections via GoodReads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, or simply the comment section.
• Reviews are not required, but are encouraged.  Other participants enjoy receiving recommendations!
• A Mr. Linky is below for sign-ups.  Another post will be made for adding your reviews.  Both direct links can be found on the left sidebar.
• You can overlap your choices with other challenges.

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2012 Dewey Decimal Challenge

 
January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012
Hosted by The Introverted Reader

The Challenge:  Read any non-fiction book(s), adult or young adult. That's it. You can choose anything. Poetry? Yes. Memoirs? Yes. History? Yes. Travel? Yes. You get the idea? Absolutely anything that is classified as non-fiction counts for this challenge.

I always like levels in my challenges, so here are mine:

Dilettante--Read 1-5 non-fiction books
Explorer--Read 6-10
Seeker--Read 11-15
Master--Read 16-20

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2012 The Doctor Reading Challenge

Rules
*challenge runs 1 January to 31 December 2012 - any books must be read in the 2012 calendar year to count
*any format is allowed
*cross-overs between challenges allowed
*link your post/reviews from your blog, goodreads, shelfari, librarything or the comments section (no blog necessary!)
*no list is needed beforehand - you can choose as you go (or change your choices!)

First Doctor - read 2 Doctor Who books
Second Doctor - read 5 Doctor Who books
Third Doctor - read 10 Doctor Who books
Fourth Doctor - read 15 Doctor Who books
Fifth Doctor - read 20 Doctor Who books
Sixth Doctor - read 25 Doctor Who books
Seventh Doctor - read 30 Doctor Who books
Eighth Doctor - read 40 Doctor Who books
Ninth Doctor - read 50 Doctor Who books
Tenth Doctor - read 75 Doctor Who books
Eleventh Doctor - read 100+ Doctor Who books

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Teaser Tuesdays; (Jan 3)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Lipstick Laws
By Amy Holder

"I should call my mom to let her know I'll be a little late," I say in the back of Erin's red Neon.

"Use your cell," Jessica yells over the blasting music.

"Remember, my parents took it away this summer," I yell back. Britney turns down the music. "Let her worry about you. She deserves it. It's her fault you don't have your cell. She shouldn't get mad if you can't call."

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Review Policies & Requests

 
First and foremost, book blogging is a hobby that I have enjoyed for years now and I honestly love it. Nevertheless, I am not a full time professional book reviewer (well.. not yet).

What you can expect from my blog.
♠ Honest reviews. I reserve all rights to be true to my opinions of any books I be reading. Though, I won’t be releasing any book reviews that I rate ♠♠ and ♠ until I send my reviews to the authors and have them give me permission to do so.
♠ Book Date Release. Occasionally, I be doing date release post of ARCs & AREs that I’ve reviewed.
♠ Memes. Of course. I am also participating in several book memes in the blogosphere as an added spice for my blog. It’s pretty nice way to meet people and have fun, not to forget finding books that you don’t know existed. Some of my favorite memes would be In My Mailbox Monday, Teaser Tuesdays, Waiting on Wednesday, Booking through Thursday, Friday Finds, Sunday Stealing.
♠ Occasionally, I do some Brunei related posts and a few others.

Open Policy 
Books that I review in this blog are generally books from my purchases, ARCs & AREs from publishers, prizes from giveaways, book fairies, library books borrowed, book swaps, friends lending, new books for the library I work at.

Currently:
I do accept books for review. A bit of myself is, I am Secondary & Pre-U  school librarian in Brunei, South East Asia. I expertise in books from primary, secondary (teens & young adults) and adult fiction. Having a blog gives me an opportunity to pour out my love of books to the community, plus I get to introduce books to my fellow bloggers, friends and the public community, as I am connected to Twitter, goodreads, librarything, stumbleupon and other sources.

…To Authors, Publishers, Publicists and anyone else…

Have a book you like me to review?
I’m open for book review requests

Books I read/ Review for work:
♥ Arthurian
♦ Chicklit
♥ Children, Teens, Young Adults, Juvenile
♦ Elementary Chapter books/ Beginner Readers
♦ Elementary level non-fiction
♥ Fantasy
♥ Graphic Novel
♥ Horror
♦ Humor, Drama
♦ Middle Reader Fiction Books
♥ Mysteries & Thrillers
♦ Picture Books for students age 5-12
♥ Science Fiction & Fantasy
♦ Series (I will not read a series out of order, so if your book is a part of a series, that’s not a stand alone, please make sure to send other installments)

Books I Read/Review for Leisure
♦ Adults
♦ Arthurian
♦ Biographies (latest addition)
♦ Children
♥ Fairytales Retelling
♦ Fantasy: Dark, Goth
♥ Mythology, fairytales, Legends, Folklores
♦ Paranormal Erotica, Romance
♥ Supernatural fiction: Demons, Ghosts, Lycans
♦ Urban Fantasy

Books I don’t Review
♦ Inspirational Books
♦ Non-Fiction
♦ Political Related
♦ Religious Books.

***If your genre is not available here, feel to contact me, you probably have a book I am interested in. =^_^=

♠ Having an iPhone. a Sony Reader & a Samsung Tab, I will accept any e-books (preferably in epub) format, galley, AREs, ARCs, Review copy, Hardcovers/paperbacks finished copy.

♠ I will also be accepting any Self-Published & Debut authors authors at this time and to request to be feature in my blog.

♠ If you wish to promote you new book release with an interview, guest blog, giveaways or anything else, please do feel free to contact me.

Disclaimer: I am not the author of these books, unless otherwise stated. To whoever wish to contact me, please do so via the form available at the bottom of this post. Thank you. 

Time Frame:
# Time frame for me to read and review a request book could vary as I have a full time job to accommodate and there are just so many hours in a day. But no worries, all requests will be fulfill upon queue, within the maximum of three (3) weeks upon receive. And with the amount of books I receive on a daily basis, I will prioritize the ARCs, AREs, Review copies and requests. If you have a deadline that is outside of my time frame please let it be known I will try to accomodate your books

Format of Reviews: 
♦ Book cover of the book itself 
♦ Book Title (Series, #) 
♦ Author’s name
♦ Genre
♦ Rating (Group Age)
♦ Date Released
♦ Edition (Publisher, Page number)
♦ ISBN
♦ Acquisition (borrowed, bought, library, publishers, author)
♦ Purchase copy link (I get a bit of affiliation fee when you buy with my links)
♦ Interests
♦ Book description
♦ Quote
♦ My 2 Cents / Spades Rating
♦ Librarian Muse (career-wise related, where I suggest, try to pinpoint where the book would be perfectly catered. library-wise)

Crossposting at:
♦ Goodreads
♦ Amazon
♦ Librarything
♦ Shelfari
♦ Bibliophil
♦ Living Social

% If you wish to have me crosspost my review somewhere else, please do tell me. I will try to accomodate.

 

You could reach me through this handy Email form. I'll try to reply any email in a few days. =^_^=

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