Blog Hop (19) & Follow Friday (19)

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 have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her."

Yes, my roommate and friend. We have similar tastes and once we finish reading a book we like to tell each other about it. I've read many books she found interesting and liked them as well. It's actually quite nice being able to tell someone what I think about a particular book and hear her opinion.

Review - A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens

Title and Author:  A Season of Eden by Jennifer Laurens aka J.M. Warwick

Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing

Publication Date: October 20, 2008

Paperback/Hardcover: 248

Genre: YA, Romance

Summary:

He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible.
I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. "I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?" The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden." My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. "Let me stay," I said. "Please." "You're going to get me in trouble," he said

Review:

The description of this book immediately intrigued me. It deals with a taboo relationship between a young teacher and a student (the student is 18 and the teacher is only 22).

I love the kind of stories you know the characters aren’t supposed to be together but can’t help being drawn to each other. This is that kind of story.

Most of the story happens during Eden’s senior year in highschool and it’s obvious how her relationship with James (the teacher) helps her grow up and become a smart young woman instead of a spoiled teenager.

Eden is the “agressor” is this story while James is somewhat innocent and all around adorable. I couldn’t help immediately liking him.

The romance between Eden and James was very well written. The whole book is a big seduction and it’s all about the anticipation of the moment they will actually get together.

All in all I really enjoyed reading A Season of Eden. The plot is interesting, the book is well written and the way the relationship between a teacher and a student was portrayed was very refreshing. Plus, I really liked the ending, even though I was left hoping for more.

Give this one a shot! :)

Rating: Worth Your Time

Good Reads

Book Depository

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, It  features upcoming releases that are  eagerly awaited for.

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been
through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.

You can't tell by the description exactly what this book is about but it seems pretty interesting.Plus, it has an amazing cover, doesn't it?

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