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Did you enter to win Perfect ? It's Monday is hosted by Book Journey . I love being nosy and seeing what everyone else is reading, so I stop by there often! This week I have a new plan. Hee-hee! All of my other plans have failed because I work at a library and I get distracted by books I find on the shelf, or ones that come in tucked into the new book bag. Ah, the new book bag. It's like Christmas morning all of the time..... But I digress. This week's plan is to read ONE ebook. I don't care which one, but I have tons uploaded and need to read them. Then I will read one library book (you don't want to know how many I have checked out, but I think I am carrying the statistics for my branch). Then, I will give my middle grade reads a rest, and read one book I own. I'm sure this plan will go to heck when a tour book shows up, but for now, that's the plan and I will try to stick to it! Last week I read: Away by Teri Hall Banished by Sophie Littl...

Did you enter to win Perfect yet? Can you believe it is snowing here in NJ, in October? This layer of white slush has put me in the mood for the holidays. Not Halloween, but the Christmas season. I just signed up for Bookworm Santa here . Don't you just love secret santas? I have met some really great bloggers this way, AND, as a parent, I can't always justify buying books for myself when my kids come first (which, of course, they do). This is a guilt-free way for me to share my love of books with another bookworm. I like to stalk my santees (is that the right word?) and send a book they really want. I hope they send me the name of someone who likes crafts as well.

Christi the Teen Librarian and I had the great fun of meeting Ellen Hopkins in Princeton last week. I want to share this great event with a reader who would love to own an autographed copy of Ellen's latest YA novel: Perfect. This is a finished copy, not an arc. Here's the skinny. No fancy forms, no extra entries (you know, I think those things are bunk anyway!), and no hoops to jump through! *you must be 13 to enter *I can only ship to US addresses only (sorry!) *Giveaway runs until November 11 *winner will be determined by Random.org So leave a comment with your name, and a way to contact you. Follows are NOT required, but I have more giveaways planned so you may want to follow just so you have a head's up on those.

I finally got a copy of Away by Teri Hall!!!! Yeah! I don't know what took the library so long. I read The Line last year and remembered really liking it. Plus, if you read The Line, you know it left off on a crazy cliffhanger! Away By Teri Hall Published: September 15 by Dial Sequel to The Line Find it on Goodreads Here's the breakdown from goodreads: After crossing the Line, Rachel finds herself in a world where survival is never guaranteed - a world where bizarre creatures roam the woods and people have strange abilities. Everything has gone to ruin Away and the survivors have banded into warring clans. Rachel finds her father being held prisoner by a tribe of Others, and she and her new friends set out to rescue him. But when they cross back over the Line, Rachel and Pathik make a foolish decision, bringing them into further danger that can only be resolved with an unthinkable sacrifice. An adventure filled with life-and-death choices, dark conspiracies, and hea...

Ah, another Monday. Well, at least there are a million books to read.... It's Monday! What are you reading is hosted over at Book Journey . I love this meme, and I will probably forget to link up, but hey, at least I have a map for my reading this week. Last week was a total FAIL. I still have not finished Triangles, Frost, or started Dearly Departed. I got distracted by this book: And it was fabulous!!!! At least I can count it toward my Middle Grade read of the week. It was so good, I am putting this into the hands of anyone feeling the emptiness left behind by the end of The Series of Unfortunate Events. And this book: Which is good because it is one I own and the "book diet" dictates I should work on stuff I have. I had a hard time getting into this one, but once it got rolling, I could not put it down. So this week my plan looks like this: Steampunk: An Anthology (from library) Darth Paper Strikes Back (my middle grade read) And one book I own ...

I am putting together a bunch of book trailers to screen for the TBC (Teen Book Club) for our next meeting. I just wanted to share some of my faves for Fall 2011: The Name of the Star The Flint Heart (so pretty!) The Death Cure (not my fave, but the TBC did The Maze Runner) One more! I think this one is great! Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick One more, I swear! Something spooky for Halloween! A Monster Calls That's all for now. As you can see, I am becoming a trailer addict. If you are into watching more great trailers check out this site . She even has ready made book talks with Prezi slides. Unfortunately, my lib does not own half the books on her list, but I enjoyed making my own anyway.

This is my first ever It's Monday post, and it's funny because I do this every week anyway, so why not blog about it? What are you reading is hosted by Book Journey (click to go there) and it is a fun way to see what people are reading. So, I just finished Breadcrumbs today. It was wonderful. I have been pretty good about my challenge (to myself) to read one middle grade book per week. I will have the Breadcrumbs review up on Wed. Last week, I read The Flint Heart , Sparrow Road the week before,  and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda  which started the whole thing off for me. I don't count middle grade books in my personal challenge to read 111 books in 2011, but I don't think that's weird. I just don't feel they are long enough to count as novels. Am I alone on that? Anyway, this week, I have some choices: I have Perfect too, but I really want to go with Christi to hear Ellen Hopkins in Princeton. So, I need to read Triangles or Perfect. I ...

Pure By Julianna Baggott Out: 2/12 Review Copy: tour Stars: 4.5 out of 5 Super short booktalk: In the future, after deadly bombs have laid waste to all of civilization there is a society of survivors living in a dome. In the wastelands, there are survivors as well. They are mutated, and waiting to be "saved" by the folks in the dome. One young man, in the dome, has just learned that his mother may be alive and living in the wastelands. He wants his mommy, even if he has to bring the entire world crashing down to get to her. Okay I can't say this is one of the best dystopians of 2011 because it does not come out until 2012, but believe me, it's a winner. All of the elements are right-the geography, the society (both in the dome and out), and the creatures, oh, the terrifying creatures. Horror fans will be pleased as well. The characters are drawn so well, they come to life. I felt a connection with all of them. The story is told in alternating POVs, each ...

The Flint Heart By Katherine Paterson and John Paterson Illustrated by John Rocco Out now! Review copy from my library I was not sure I would enjoy this one, as anyone who knows me knows that my tolerance for fairies (or pixies or brownies) is minimal. This is a charmer, however. From the moment the story first begins, in the Stone Age, I was transfixed. I do love how the story remains constantly intelligent: there are words in the story I needed to look up. "So the message was sent, the charades were acted, and the cold collation eaten." (271) This is a story that does not "talk down" to to children, and in fact, forces them to ponder such things as whether or not it is wise to consider the Point of View of someone else, the value of a hot-water bottle (made in Germany), and what could make a simple, kind person decide to make it their mission in life to be in charge of everything and every one. The tale reminded me very much of Alice in Wonderland...

Under the Never Sky By Veronica Rossi Published: Feb. of 2012 Stars: 2 out of 5 She is a dome dweller, he is from the dangerous sticks. He has super smell and sight, and she has been genetically altered to sing like a bird. They meet in the wasteland. Yawn. Okay, to be fair, this book just was not for me. And to be even more fair, I feel as though I have read every dystopian book out there, so I have a great idea of where the bar is set. This one is very middle of the road. I did not care for Aria at all (spoiled, clueless, in denial for most of the book, and she is rude). Perry came off like a fifty year-old with a gruffness that did not translate to sexiness, and a chip on his shoulder that made me dislike him even more. I constantly forgot he is supposed to be a teen boy. So, I forced myself to finish this because it was for an arc tour. There are just too many wonderful books to read, and I believe life is to short to keep going with one that is not working for you. ...

Glow by Kathleen Ryan Goodreads listing Published: Out now Stars: 3 out of 5 Quick Book Talk: In this story, two teens aboard the spaceship Empyrean are on course to colonize a New Earth on a new planet. That means that they (as the oldest of the new generation) are expected to marry and procreate-and soon. Something goes wrong when the first ship sent from Earth a year in advance, the New Horizon, slows down to wait for the Empyrean to catch up. All hell breaks loose. In space. I have to confess that one of the driving reasons I wanted to read this book is because there is a huge spread in the reviews! People either seem to love it or hate it. I have read reviews that claim that Glow is just religious propaganda, and reviews that call Glow a "Lord of the Flies in space" . (I loved that, and agree). Lesson the first: and you would think I would know this by now: stop reading reviews before reading the book. Lesson the second: books hit people in different ways. T...