Perfect way to end the summer!

Major apoligies for the lack of reviews! With school, SATs, and my allergies all happening at the same time, I am a little overwhelmed right now. But I am trying, please don't give up on me!
Love,
Alex

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Publish Date: December 2, 2011
Source: Bought

Summary: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

My Thoughts: This book, oh, this book! How can I put into words how awesome this book is? Well, I can't. But I sure am gonna try.

This was the last book I read in the summer, and as much as I regretted the end of yet another summer, I did not regret this book as my choice for my last summer read.

It had everything I looked for in books.


The funny/captivating dialogue: 
It seemed like every other page I turned, I giggled. It was rare not to catch myself smiling every time I flipped the page. I also let my friend borrow it, and just as I thought, she was giggling through the whole time she read it while I was with her. The amount of conversation we had while she was reading is minimal (other than to squeal over the adorable Etienne moments!).


The Anna:
If I had to list 5 of my favorite main characters, Anna would be one of them (along with Lola from Stephanie Perkins second book, but that is a different review all together). She is one main character that you definitely want to meet. After 100 pages of this book, you insulted her, you insulted me.

The Etienne St. Clair:
What can I say about Etienne? Nothing will do him Justice, but when I finished this book, I was ready to get on the next flight to France. Because honestly? Swoon, this boy makes me swoon.


The Setting:
J'adore la France! I have never been to France and I have wanted to, but this book, again, makes me want to book a flight to France, RIGHT THIS SECOND. Stephanie Perkins wrote about France as if it were another world (probably is). 


The Romance:
Just how I imagine a perfect romance story would start, none of that "insta-love" we tend to read about occasionally. True "awkward-opps-got-a-girlfriend/boyfriend-already-but-I-like-YOU" thing that tends to happen in real romances. You can see and feel how both of the characters want to be with each other, the only thing left is for THEM to realize it.



In Conclusion: 
Do not be fooled by the cover folks! There is a great story hidden behind that kinda plain cover. I loved it along with the characters that made it up, and I really think you will too.


Rating:

Book covers--Do they have a say in your book selection?

This is a guest post question/answer I participated in a while ago on iRandomBlogger: Random Thoughts that is run by my friend Patrick. Check it out! I wanted to post it here so you guys who didn't get a chance to read it, can read it now, if you want, you don't have to. Please read it? Comment? Thoughts?

Q: "Book covers--Do they have a say in your book selection?"

A: Short (but confusing) answer: Yes, and no.

Let's say I am browsing the store or Goodreads.com (to add to my to-read list) and I stumble upon a book whose cover looks like this:

or like this:

You can be sure I will be taking a look at the book's synopsis.

There are many factors that influence what book I am likely to pick up at a bookstore. The cover is one of them.The cover attracts my attention, so in a way it does have influence in my book selection. I did have one book that the cover was beautiful , but the book was frustrating to read and all together hard to finish. I saw a friend with said book, and they asked me what I though of it. When I told them that I didn't like it, they were surprised, they said it had such a pretty cover that it couldn't be that bad. Long story short, they didn't like it.

So yes the cover grabs my attention, but if the synopsis is not as attractive as the cover you can be sure I will not be reading it. In the case of the books with the covers above, I did like both (cover and summary) and ended up loving the books!

There are also the books that have non-extravagant covers, simple and nothing exotic about it.

Example:

The Hunger Games is one my favorite books ever. I will admit I hesitated at starting it because of the cover, it looked like a boys book and three years ago the only books I read where the girly kind. I want to slap my 13 year old self now, because this book was pretty much amazing. It wouldn't matter what kind of cover this book had, I would re-read it the same amount of times I have re-read it now.

There are many of amazing books out there with covers not as impressive as other books. The story inside the book is what matters, a beautiful cover is just a bonus.

New BOOKISH School Year Resolutions

It is that time of year again...going back to school! New teachers, harder classes, and more responsibilities; all great things to look forward to. Right now, this is me:

Because going back to school will mean I will be doing this:

Instead of reading, Internet browsing, blogging and all the fun stuff.

But I am gong to write up a couple of things I want to stick to doing this school year so I can get in some more reading and blogging time. Also, I am going to write up some things that I gotta stick to during the year so I won't  be so distracted with reading and blogging.

1. Try to read one book a week, and review that book at the end of each week. (One book a week is an accomplishment for me during the school year, that is how much homework I get.)
2. Do NOT read before gong to sleep. I always end up telling myself "One more chapter", two hours later I am going to sleep at 3 AM , and wake up tired.
3. Homework first; reading/blogging later. I did NOT stick to that last year, and ended up doing homework at the last minute.
4. Limit Twitter time. I am addicted to twitter, so I will limit my time to 30 minutes a day. I will try to stick to that.
5. Take a book everyday to school. You never know when you will have random free time.
6. Sleep early wake up early. If I don't have to wake up earlier that usual to study, I will wake up earlier to read. 
7. Study as far as away from books that I read for fun as possible. When I was in studying hell last year, I used to grab a book from my bookshelf and start reading it (short attention span), no studying got done after that.
8. Have fun this school year! I cannot tell you all the stress I went through last year, I took everything so seriously  I don't want to do that anymore, I will take my school work seriously but not kill myself over it!
9. READ AS MUCH AS I CAN!

How about any of you guys? Do you have any back to school resolutions? Any advice? 

High School students, have a great year!

Deadly Little Secret

Deadly Little Secret (Touch #1) by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Release Date: December 23, 2008
Publisher: Hyperion Publishing
Source: Bought
Summary*:

Some secrets shouldn't be kept... Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes anything but ordinary.
Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help--but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something... but he's not the only one with a secret.
From the best-selling author of Blue is for Nightmares comes a story of paranormal romance that's sure to be a thrilling and chilling teen favorite.

My thoughts:

         To begin with, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have read this book in the privacy of my own home with no people other than my family starting at me every time I laughed out loud, seriously. The dialogue was that funny. Of course, there was plenty of suspense and mystery, but the quirky dialogue between Camelia's friends  ( Kimmie and Wes)   is a good reason alone to have to read this book.

      Comedy aside, this book also has enough creepy moments that you will immediately want to make sure your blinds/curtains are closed. Adding to said creepiness, are the various chapters written as a diary entries from the mysterious person that is stalking Camelia. That person is seriously mentally disturbed.

      But the mystery took front stage throughout the novel. Everyone was a suspect, and I kept studying the diary entries and studying the characters to see if they fit the criteria. Of course, I came up with a possible  culprit, and I was so sure I was right. But surprisingly I wasn't, and the turn of events just were very unexpected. Even though my conclusions  were far from what really happened, the whole "investigator" thing was fun to do.

    The characters, both main and secondary, really came to life the more I read on. Though sometimes Kimmie, Camelia's best friend, seemed kind of annoying and sort of mean, she made up for it by being a quirky and very animated character. Ben, the mystery boy, was such a sweetheart and even though he kinda looked like the bad guy sometimes, you really hoped he was good.

     Sadly have to say though, from all the suspense that was being built up, I would have expected a better conflict at the end. When Camelia seems to have run into some serious trouble, she is out of trouble after about 11 pages. I mean really? That was sort of disappointing, while I really wanted Camelia to be safe, I was sort of hoping for more of a "WOW" factor, while all I got was a "meh" factor. That will affect my rating of the book in general, sine the conflict is such a big part of a book. Sorry for my vague wording, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who will read it in the future.

    I also noticed there was some Twilight-ism through the book. Meaning, that there was some Twilight-esque scenes going on. Like when Camelia is saved by Ben while a vehicle is rushing wildly towards her. Or how she gets Ben as a Lab Partner in a science class. Also, how he flinches away from her touch and seems to have a secret, and yet Camelia is attracted to him. Those are some things I noticed, but maybe I am just being paranoid. Still thought I should mention it, it didn't really affect the story so much as it took some originality away from it.

    Yes, there was some things that could have been different in the story, but I really did enjoy the romantic tension between Camelia and Ben, the quirky dialogue between Kimmie and Wes, and how the author mixed the contemporary and mystery/thriller with some paranormal.


Rating:

Would have rated it a 4 1/2 were it not for the conflict.

What's Next?

Deadly Little Lies (Touch #2) by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Released: November 9, 2009 

Which means I will be getting my own copy soon. 

* From Goodreads.com 

In My Mailbox

It is Saturday, so most of my blog feed consists of IMM* posts and I love it! It is time for me to contribute to the IMM* madness....

Here is what I have gotten in the past couple of weeks:

(Links take you to Goodreads.com book pages.)

For Review:

Love Story by Jennifer Echols (SIGNED!)

Dark Parties by Sara Grant 

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (not pictured, lent it to a friend)

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (lent it out)

Bought:

 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K Rowling (Better late than never!)

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Vampire Academy Box Set # 1-3

(Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss) by Richelle Mead

Trade:

The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle (Thank-you Katie)

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (Thank-you Katie)

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler (Thank-you Erica)

EDIT:
Borrowed:
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
(not pictured; already sent out, thank you Brooke)

Gifted: 

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon (Thanks April)

Thank you: Jennifer Echols, Little Brown Co., Razorbill, LibraryThing, 

Katie, Erica, Brooke and April.

*Meme hosted by The Story Siren