Monday, September 30, 2013

Secret Readers and their Reviews.

I meant to do this at the end of August, but I was moving and on vacation and it was all a big mess, so here we are with the links to all the participant's Secret Readers reviews for the months of August and September. So please be sure to check them out and if you're interested!

For August:

Mariah read Pushing The Limits.
Kelly had GoldenThe Obituary WriterShades of EarthThe Clockwork PrincessThe Madness Underneath, and The Distance Between Us.
Sana got Everneath.
Nichole finished The Moon and More.
Montana got to knock off Strange Angel's.
I read Hemlock.
Hannah never finished Unravel Me.

For September:

Anastasia had to read Little Women.
Montana read Dare Me.
Shelly got Rush.
Kelly read The Elite and 45 Pounds (More or Less).
Megan was given Anna and the French Kiss.
Nichole had to read The Darkest Minds.
Kaitlin got Of Poseidon.
Mariah read my favorite, Shatter Me.
I was assigned Obsidian.
Hannah finally read Harry Potter. (But never finished it.)


Sunday, September 29, 2013

Obsidian

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Goodreads Rating: 4.34
Pages: 335
Format: Finished Copy from BEA12

Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. 
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 
If I don't kill him first, that is.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Greatest Show On Earth

Author: Richard Dawkins

Goodreads Rating: 4.20
Pages: 470
Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity.
In The Greatest Show on Earth Richard Dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of ‘Intelligent Design’ and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection in birds and insects; the ‘time clocks’ of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology and genetics. All of this, and much more, bears witness to the truth of evolution.
The Greatest Show on Earth comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the fact of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in America. In Britain and elsewhere in the world, teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. Richard Dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly and comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. At the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Death Masks

Author: Jim Butcher
Goodreads Rating: 4.29
Pages: 451

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing professional wizard, should be happy that business is pretty good for a change. But now he's getting more than he bargained for.

A duel with the Red Court of Vampires' champion, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards...

Professional hit men using Harry for target practice...

The missing Shroud of Turin...

A handless and headless corpse the Chicago police need identified...

Not to mention the return of Harry's ex-girlfriend Susan, who's still struggling with her semivampiric nature. And who seems to have a new man in her life.

Some days, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. No matter how much you're charging.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Obsidian Mirror

Author: Catherine Fisher
Goodreads Rating: 3.65
Pages: 384
Format: ARC from NYCC12


Jake's father disappears while working on mysterious experiments with the obsessive, reclusive Oberon Venn. Jake is convinced Venn has murdered him. But the truth he finds at the snow-bound Wintercombe Abbey is far stranger ... The experiments concerned a black mirror, which is a portal to both the past and the future. Venn is not alone in wanting to use its powers. Strangers begin gathering in and around Venn's estate: Sarah - a runaway, who appears out of nowhere and is clearly not what she says, Maskelyne - who claims the mirror was stolen from him in some past century. There are others, a product of the mirror's power to twist time. And a tribe of elemental beings surround this isolated estate, fey, cold, untrustworthy, and filled with hate for humans. But of them all, Jake is hell-bent on using the mirror to get to the truth. Whatever the cost, he must learn what really happened to his father.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Perfect Ruin

Author: Lauren Destefano
Goodreads Rating: 4.25
Pages: 356
Format: Bound Manuscript from BEA13


On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.
Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Doon

Author: Carey Corp and Laurie Langdon
Goodreads Rating: 4.15
Pages: 368
Format: ARC from ALA13


DOON…

Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months.

But the Scottish countryside holds other plans.

Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

DOON is loosely based on the premise of the musical Brigadoon, with permission from the Alan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the journey at http://www.DoonSeries.com

~Destiny awaits!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Unfed (Undead #2)

Author: Kirsty McKay
Goodreads Rating: 4.22
Pages: 288
Format: ARC from BEA13


Fresh meat! From a hospital of horrors to a runaway zombie train, it's an all-new onslaught of the slavering undead in the sequel to Kirsty McKay's killer debut!
Just when you think you're out...it's the morning after the night of the return of the living dead. Or something like that. After running/bus-driving/snowboarding for her life alongside rebel Smitty, geeky Pete, and popular Alice, Bobby thought she'd found the antidote to the Carrot Man Veggie Juice that had turned the rest of their classmates into zombies. When Smitty (mmm...nom, nom) got chomped, Bobby pumped a syringe full of it into him herself.
But now Bobby's a prisoner in some hospital of horrors, with no clue how she got there. And Smitty is missing. What if he isn't cured after all? Bobby knows she's got to find him, even if it means facing Scotland's hungry hordes -- plus Alice's buckets of snark -- again. And this time, zombies aren't the only evil stressing her out. The brain-dead are bad enough, but how can Bobby stop the big pharma business behind the epidemic? Especially when her own mom works for the company?

Monday, September 9, 2013

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Author: Holly Black
Goodreads Rating: 4.03
Pages: 432
Format: ARC from BEA13


Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.
One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Goodreads Rating: 3.84
Pages: 360
Format: ARC from ALA13

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…
Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. 
Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?
Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back. 
Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.
Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Secret Readers: October



Welcome to the second functioning month of Secret Readers! I think that everyone that started with us last month, enjoyed the beginning of the process, but we'll see once they all post their reviews. I already read my book, and already I'm loving that I'm clearing books off my shelves.

How this works:

You sign up below on the Google Survey. You have until September 15th.
Then you hang out and wait while Hannah and I pair you someone. This is where the secret part comes in. On September 20th we will give you your assignment, and then you have to keep it a secret! You can't go around telling everyone who you got. We will include the person's name and the link to their blog and other various information. By September 25th, you have to tell Hannah and I what book you have selected for your chosen partner. Once we have been informed, we'll let your partners know, and then you have until September 31st to post your review.

Sound fair? We think so to.

This is for reviews to be posted in the month of October. And just for clarification purposes, you're only picking one book, and your TBR shelf should be books that you currently have or can easily get to. IE. I don't own The Future of Us by Jay Asher, but I can just hit my library to get it because they have it, or I can borrow it from a friend. If the library isn't easy to get to (Mine is around the corner from my house) then don't add it unless its a book you really want to read, but need to have a good little shove.

Makes Sense? I tried, if I didn't, please feel free to email cleanmyshelves@gmail.com with any questions, and I'll make a Q&A post so everyone is on the same page. I'll add a link to a sample list of mine later in the day. So what are you waiting for friends? If you can't access the form below go ahead and click this link!








Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Boy Nobody

Author: Allen Zadoff
Goodreads Rating: 3.97
Pages: 337
Format: ARC from ALA13

They needed the perfect assassin.
Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target. 
But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission.
In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...