Secret Santa 2011

The Broke and the Bookish are hosting Secret Santa again this year for all the book lovers out there.  If you're interested, I suggest you head on over to their post that explains the guidelines and links out to the sign-up form.  You need to sign up by Friday, November 18 if you wish to participate.  I'm excited to participate (the surprise and suspense makes it worth it).

In My Mailbox

The "In My Mailbox" post consists of which books we bought during the past week, hosted by The Story Siren.

From the Library:

• Three To Get Deadly by Stephanie Evanovich
• Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready
• My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent
• Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

If you'll notice, every single one of these books is the second in a series except for the first (which is the third in a series).

Purchased:

• Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

I've read all of Richelle Mead's books except for this series.  Figure I might as well start this one...

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Kody Keplinger's website

Description (taken from Kody Keplinger's website):

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.


Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all. She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.




When I first started this book, it was falling flat pretty quick.  Lissa's strict and strong characteristics were thrown across the page in a fast and furious kind of way.  She's bossy, neurotic, obsessive compulsive, and she counts when flustered.  But once the book establishes that she has issues, you don't seem them as strongly in the later parts of the book.

The book did get better, and there were some funny parts to the book.  But I really didn't like the main character, Lissa, all that much.  It doesn't matter that I'm bossy, obsessive compulsive, and used to count things when I was a teen.  Even though I could relate on some small level, I didn't want to relate to the character.  However, the story line was good (even though I wanted to throw the book across the room a couple of times).

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Genre:  YA Paranormal Fantasy

Soul Screamers, Book 1

Rachel Vincent's website

Description (taken from Rachel Vincent's website):

She doesn't see dead people, but she senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next...

This book was super cliché where the nobody-girl gets the attention of the hottest guy in school.  But there was more to the story (in other words, the main character wasn't really a nobody).  So I would say it worked for this book.  It was very interesting to learn how soul screamers work, and the fact that there's more to the story than what's in this book.  It's definitely a series I will most likely continue.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Genre:  YA Speculative Fiction
Unwind Trilogy, Book 1

Neal Shusterman's website

Description (taken from GoodReads):

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.




This description does not do the book justice.  It's actually what captivated me and got me to read the book.  And let me tell you:  wow...  Just woah.  No words.

This book was really, really good.  Ever thought of what happens to a society when you take the human part out of the humanity equation?  And is it wrong to de-humanize others for the sake of saving yourself? This book doesn't ever answer that, but boy does it make you think and question your thoughts.

This book isn't for the faint of heart.  It's like the author was creating a beautiful yet graphic rug.  And each thread has a meaningful purpose that you don't understand until you see the whole picture (and sometimes that picture isn't pretty).  The intricacies in the plot were amazing.  I think everyone should go read this book.