2013 Books I am Sad I Missed: New Year's Challenge

Welcome to the Book Blogger New Years Challenge hosted by Parajunkee!

Today I am going to share all the 2013 releases I am sad I missed. This was a easy question as their wasn't enough time to read all the books I wanted this year!

2013 Books I am SO sad I missed

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Fuse by Julianna Baggott

Have you read any of these books? Were they as good as I think they will be?

If they are, feel free to yell at me for waiting so long and convince me to read them right now!!!

Pros and Cons of Blogging: New Year's Challenge

Welcome to the Book Blogger New Years Challenge hosted by Parajunkee!

Today I am going to share my blogger pros and cons. I narrowed them down to four in each catergory. However, I could have definitely kept going.

Book Blogging Pros

1) Sharing my love of books with people who love books just as much!
2) Connecting with other bloggers, authors, and publishers
3) Being able to write out my thoughts and be creative.
4) The pride you feel when you think "I run a pretty cool blog!"

Book Blogging Cons

1) Reading slumps
2) Lack of time. Blogging is so time consuming!
3) Occasional stress.
4) When my muse decides to take a vacation after being overworked

My Blogger Resolutions: New Year's Challenge

Welcome to the Book Blogger New Years Challenge hosted by Parajunkee!

Today I am going to share my blogger resolutions. I narrowed them down to four. However, I could have definitely kept going.

Without further ado, here is my list of resolutions. Oh, and I must wish you all a happy 2014!

My Resolutions- 2014

1. Post at least two reviews a week- Book reviews are the hardest posts for me. I always take way too long writing and editing these posts! As an effect, I have less reviews up than I would like. That will change this year!

2. Take notes- I always attempt to take notes about the review books I read. I end up failing most of the time. This year I am determined to note-take!

3. Be Social- I haven't been very social for the last couple months, and I don't like it! This year I am determined to visit new blogs. Also, I'm finally getting a Twitter and Facebook account up and running!

4. Update my sidebars and pages- Please don't look at my "Upcoming Tours" section in the sidebar. *Hangs head in shame*

Do you have any resolutions for 2014?

Waiting on Wednesday #32

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

Publication Date: January 23th, 2014
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.
            
After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

I am dying to get my hands on a copy of this book! There have been so many good reviews, and I love books about girl power!

Review: Mila 2.0

MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza 

Publication Date: March 12th, 2013
Genre: YA SciFi/Thriller
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

I was so, so excited when I finally got the chance to read Mila 2.0. I had heard (actually, I read) a lot of high praise for the book and, let’s face it, the cover and title are pretty cool. All that aside, I was majorly disappointed by the words inside. Mila 2.0 was purely an “eh” book for me. 

So, we start out the book with a major dose of school and home drama. Ah-hem. Where is all the action and Bourne Identity stuff I was promised? Finally, after a long wait, some interesting events happen. Sadly, for me, it was too little and too late.

I also have a lot problems with the supporting characters. For your sake, I can sum all of these little quips into one sentence: The secondary characters had no depth. And, for a book the size of three average books, that is a terrible crime. The evil guys are... evil. The cute guy is... cute. And the mean girl is... mean. How boringly generic. *cue sleepy face*

Fortunately, I did like Mila, our main character who happens to be not human. While I wasn’t emotionally invested in her story, her voice did seem authentic. I loved how the author handled her thoughts and inner turmoil. I know that if I just found out I was a robot, I would have lots and lots of inner turmoil!

Overall, Mila 2.0 was not for me. There were some good parts, but the bad overruled the good for me. Mainly, I was just kind of yawning through the novel, when I wish I could have been on the edge of my seat throughout the book!

2/5 Stars

If you decide to read Mila 2.0, I hope you enjoy the story much more than I did! Happy Reading!

Review: Cracked Up to Be

Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summer

Publication Date: December 23rd, 2008
Genre: YA Contemporary
Amazon/Barnes and Noble

When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.

Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault. 

Cracked Up to Be was my first experience of reading a book by Courtney Summer’s. I have to say, I will definitely be coming back for more.

 Let’s start with Parker. Holy Guacamole, is she a character! I have never, EVER read about a character like this girl, which is a good thing. I am tired of Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen copycats. 

The first thing you should know about Parker is that she treats people like dirt on the bottom of her boot. She just wants the whole world to leave her alone. In other words, she is extremely unlikable, bitter, and mean.

However, you can see how much she is suffering inside. I felt so attached to Parker, and was rooting for her throughout the whole book. There must be so many real people like her out there, and yet we barely ever read about them. 

The story is also told in a series of flashbacks. I thought this was an amazing way to get across the feelings of pre-suicudal Parker. Also, the flashbacks added some oomph to the novel.

The ending of the novel was so amazing. While the ending is not quite a happy ending, it leaves the reader in hope of one. It was also a fulfilling ending, and when I read the last sentence, and put the book down, I felt as if I had just finished a race. 

Overall, I cannot recommend Cracked Up to Be highly enough. The writing is realistic and gritty. The characters do not feel fictional. Why not pick this book up?  

4.5/5 Stars (rounded to 5 Stars)

Happy Reading! Have you read any of Courtney Summer's novels? If you haven't, do you want to?

The Best and Worst of 2013

As most of you know, it is December and 2014 is on it's way! So, it is time to recap my favorite and least favorite books of 2013!

The Best Books published in 2013:

Wow, the covers, quite oddly, color coordinate. Apparently blue, red, and yellow covers are signs of a great book!

The Best Books I Read in 2013... but were published earlier:

The Worst Books I read in 2013: (published in a variety of years)

So, there is my little recap of the best and worst books of the year! Also, I discovered I like books with blue and gold covers!!!

What books made your list?

Heartbeat: Tour Stop + Giveaway

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Publication Date: January 28th, 2013
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

Praise for Heartbeat

“An intense examination of a family coping with grief, this absorbing character study easily keeps pages turning.”

— Kirkus on Heartbeat

Note from Emily

For those of you who haven't heard of Elizabeth Scott, I must recommend you read one of her books immediately. After happening upon and loving Scott's novel Love You, Hate You, Miss You, I knew she would become one of my auto-buy authors.

I have had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of Heartbeat, thanks to HarlequinTeen and Edelweiss, and I have to say that Heartbeat is one of her best works yet!

About the Author:

ELIZABETH SCOTT grew up in a town so small it didn’t even have a post office, though it did boast an impressive cattle population. She’s sold hardware and panty hose and had a memorable three-day stint in the dot-com industry, where she learned that she really didn’t want a career burning CDs. She lives just outside Washington, D.C., with her husband, and firmly believes you can never own too many books.

About Elizabeth Scott - Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Tumbler

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