Six Month Blogoversary Giveaway

So, guess what? My blog turns 6 months today and I think it's time for a giveaway, don't you?

I've had a great time so far and I can't wait for the next 6 months!

Do you want to know about the giveaway?

* I'm giving away a book of your choice from the book depository up to 10 USD.

* This giveaway is International.

* You must be at least thirteen to enter.

* Giveaway is open until May 10th.

* You must fill in the form

Thank you for entering and good luck!

Blog Hop (18) & Follow Friday (18)

The Book Blogger Hop is a meme sponsored by Jennifer at Crazy For Books.

This week's question is:

HI! Welcome to my blog! I am participating in Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee's View.

Hop on please leave comment, link your blog, and follow, and I will follow you as well.

This week's question is:  

"Do you judge a book by its cover?"

Yes, sometimes I do. The cover of a book is the first thing that draws my eye to a book, after all. If I really like the cover Ill find out what the book is about and if the plot interests me I will read it.

I'm not the type of person who won't read a book because of its cover, though. I won't read a book I don't find interesting because it has a great cover either.

Review - Looking For Alaska by John Green

Title and Author: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Publisher: Puffin

Publication Date: March 3, 2005

Paperback/Hardcover: 221

Genre: YA

Summary:

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Review:

It took me a while to finally read this book. I had heard a lot of things about it and wasn’t sure it would actually be an enjoyable read.

I am definitely glad I’ve finally read Looking for Alaska, though because it is an amazing book. All the good things I heard about it are true.

Looking for Alaska is about friendship, loss, grief and learning how to deal with it. The book follows one year in the life of Miles Halter who begs his parents to enroll him in Culver Creek Preparatory School. Miles doesn’t have friends and he hopes to start a new life in Culver Creek. He dreams to seek what François Rabelais called “The Great Perhaps.”

Miles quickly befriends his roommate, Chip also known as The Colonel and falls in love with Chip’s friend, Alaska.

I loved all the characters in this book. They are all extremely well written and well drawn. They have unique backgrounds and their emotions are real. Even the secondary characters are well developed. As I read the book I got the feeling I knew exactly who each character was and how they felt. There are no card board cut-out characters in this book, which is a great plus.

I have to say The Colonel is my favorite character. I love the fact he’s a walking human encyclopedia, a good friend and a prankster.

As a narrator Miles is extremely reliable. His voice is clear. He’s honest and easy to connect to.

As the plot develops and the characters try to find out who they really are and what the answer to, for instance, Simón Bolívar’s question “How will I ever get out this Labyrinth?” is, you can’t help but feel connected to them. No wonder this book has won several awards. It is extremely well written and deals with important issues.

Looking for Alaska is a book I would recommend to anyone. John Green wrote a beautiful, heartbreaking story that will stay with you for a long time. It will make you think about life and dead and the effect some people have on your life.

It will make you think about some of lives’ most important questions.

Rating: Must Read

Good Reads

Book Depository

Cover Vs Cover

Last week the US Paperback cover of Looking for Alaska by John Green was the winning one. It  really is a great cover!

This week's cover comparison is: Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel.

                              German Cover                                          UK Cover

 

US Cover

For me the US cover is definitely the best one. It is incredibly pretty and the single tear immediately captured my attention.

What about you? Which cover do you think is the best?

pollcode.com free polls

Which cover do you prefer?

German Cover UK Cover US Cover

Blog Hop (17)

The Book Blogger Hop is a meme sponsored by Jennifer at Crazy For Books.

This week's question is:

"Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?"

It's April Fool's Day in Portugal as well! I can't remember any really good pranks, though. I'm sure there are some but I'm not a very big prankster nor are my friends. :S

Review - Love Is The Higher Law by David Levithan

Title and Author: Love is The Higher Law - David Levithan

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: August 25, 2009

Paperback/Hardcover: 176

Genre: YA

Summary:

First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.

Review:

This was the first David Levithan I read and I’m glad I did. In this book Levithan tells the story of three teenagers living in New York on 9/11 and the effect the day had on them.

Claire lives close to the World Trade center and on the morning of 9/11 she’s in school. She helps taking care of the little kids and her brother in the elementary school as she waits for her mother to show up.

Peter is waiting for a record store to open so he can buy a cd when the attacks happen.

Jasper is sleeping.

Love is the Higher Law is about dealing with events that somehow or another change your life. I’m not American but I do remember where I was and what I was doing when I found out about the attacks. Like most people I saw the second plane hit the tower on life TV. In my opinion, it’s important to remember 9/11 so we can learn. History has a way of repeating itself, after all.

I found this book incredibly moving and captivating. The characters emotions are very raw and you can’t help experiencing the events of 9/11 and the aftermath of that day with them.

One think I really like was the three different points of views and the three different time periods (before, during and after) present in the book. Levithan is able to explore the after perfectly, giving enface to the necessity of moving on even after a terrible event.

The book is beautifully written. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the emotions brewing inside of people on 9/11.

Rating: Must Read

Good Reads
Book Depository

Cover Vs Cover

So, last week people chose the German cover of The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson as their favorite.

This week's cover comparison is: Looking For Alaska by John Green

                             German Cover                                    New Zealand Cover

                             Portuguese Cover                                      UK Cover

                               US Hardcover                                   US Paperback

I have the UK cover of this books so I guess that's why I'll choose it as my favorite. I do like the US Paperback cover as well, though. It's very pretty. 

Which cover would you choose as your favorite?

pollcode.com free polls

Which cover do you prefer?

German Cover New Zealand Cover Portuguese Cover UK Cover US Hardcover US Paperback

Review - Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Title and Author: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Publisher: New American Library

Publication Date: March 1, 2011

Paperback/Hardcover: 324

Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance

Summary:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

Review:

I’ve read a lot about this book in the last few weeks and was really excited about it. Gladly, I wasn’t disappointed. Falling Under is a fast read that was able to keep me interested and entertained.

Theia Aldersons life changes completely when she sees a burning man falling from the sky.

Theia has always lived a very sheltered life but when she sees the new kid at school for the first time, she immediately knows something is very wrong. That new kid – Haden Black – is the same person that she saw fall and that haunts her dreams every night…

When it comes to the characters, Theia is extremely likeable. I was immediately able to connect with her. She led a sheltered life and it was great being able to see her grow into her own person.  She was willing to do anything for Haden, even switch places with him, which I think shows exactly just how she felt about him.

One other thing I liked about her was that she  was prepared to believe in what was unbelievable from the start.No beating around the bushes here.

Haiden was my favorite character, though. He is wonderfully sexy and extremely complex. He’s a mix between a bad boy and an innocent boy and the mystery surrounding him only made him more interesting. Even when I found out what he was I could still see the boy in him. I couldn’t help but to root for him.

Theia’s friends were also very good characters. All of them brought something interesting to the story.

The romance between Theia and Haden was a little too similar to Edward and Bella in Twilight but I was able to overcome that. (I like Twilight!) It felt right to have them both together and it was obvious how they felt about each other

Falling Under is a well written book. Hayes is capable of describing situations and things in a very realistic way. The world she created was very well described and her characters were believable.

I enjoyed this book very much and I think that if you are a Twilight and paranormal fan you will like this story.

Rating: Worth Your Time

Good Reads
Book Depository

Cover Vs Cover

So, last time there was a tie between the US and the Bulgarian cover of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.t

This week's cover comparison is: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

 

                                German Cover                                        UK Cover

                                 US Hardcover                                     US Paperback

I like the German cover. It's simple and it's pretty.

What about you? Which cover do you prefer and why?

pollcode.com free polls

Which cover do you prefer?

German Cover UK Cover US Hardcover US Paperback

Blog Hop (16) & Follow Friday (17)

The Book Blogger Hop is a meme sponsored by Jennifer at Crazy For Books.

This week's question is:

"Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?"

It depends on the books I'm reading. I tend to read one book at a time, though. Maybe it's stupid but sometimes I'm afraid of mixing up the plots. :P

HI! Welcome to my blog! I am participating in Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee's View.

Hop on please leave comment, link your blog, and follow, and I will follow you as well.

 

This week's question is:  

"How did you come up with your blog name?"

Oh, it took me a while to chose this name. I obviously wanted something connected to books. I ran across a livejournal page once that was names mosaic and dealt with books, The name Library Mosaic come from that. :P