Tune In Tuesdays [1]

I'm still slacking in the blogging world. While I was going through some of the blogs that I follow, I noticed this new little blog thing about connected music with our blogs. This makes me really happy because I love music as much as I love music. I always love getting introduced to new music and also sharing my favorites. A huge thanks to GReads! for coming up with this new idea!

My first song I'm going to introduce is called:
Song: Mr. Right
Artist: A Rocket to the Moon

I stumbled across this a couple of weeks ago and just fell in love with this band. This song kind of goes along with my life right now, but since this weeks theme is suppose to be relating a book with music,I can't really think of any song and book right now so I'm just going to show you some songs that relate to me and that I adore.
Second Song
Song: Like We Use To
Artist: A Rocket to the Moon

This song also goes along with me life.
I hope you guys enjoy my music!

Once Upon A Read-A-Thon

Once Upon a Read-A-Thon last from July 11-July 13. I didn't start last night because I was really sick. I got up early this morning and read the last couple of page in Vampire Academy. I'm not counting that book in this challenge because I started it awhile ago. I will review that book shortly.
I'm not quite sure what books I'm going to read in this challenge. I have so many on my TBR pile. I'll try to update after each book. I'm sure I'm not going to get through a lot. I've had stuff randomly popping up that I have to do. Ah well I'll try my best and keep ya updated!


+Update+ If you really want to know what I'm reading then check out my Goodreads. It will be the most updated. I've decided to read Twisted (Fearless #4).
Good luck to everyone!

Peronally Saturdays

I've been researching and thinking this week about something special I could do on my blog, that no one else really does. I thought and thought, but just couldn't think of anything. This past Thursday I decided to clean and rearrange my room. I just can't stand coming into my room and it looks the same day after day. So every couple of months I get into this cleaning-arranging-spree. I think it runs in my family. I noticed that my mom and aunt does it. I was also informed that my grandmother, who passed away when I was small, did the same thing as I do. Anyways, while I was cleaning I found this old journal that I haven't written in years. Some of you may have heard of the Me Journals. It's a little different then journals that I usually have. One every page of this one is several questions then on the back is a blank page where you can make notes. This old journal is what gave me the inspiration on Personally Saturdays.

I'm going to use some of the questions on the journal page, but I'm also going to put my own little "spark" in it. It's basically an update of whats going on in my life. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I will.
Here it goes!

Date: July 9, 2011                                                                                              Time: 12:30 pm

What was the weather like this week?

     It was extremely hot! We had a few thunderstorms at night, but it was still scorching in the day. I was really wishing I had a pool this week!

New & Events with family and friends:

    My Aunt and that side of my family returned from Florida. My great-grandmother passed away last week. I didn't attend the funeral services because I had never met her. See I'm adopted by my great-uncle and great-aunt. I don't really know anything about my biological father's side of the family. I'm just recently getting to know them. I was suppose to go hang out with my Aunt today, but I didn't get up til 3 pm. I just haven't felt good today. I'm hoping to see her tomorrow!

I am excited about:

     They are quite a few things I'm excited about. One thing is Once Upon a Read-A-Thon. I hope I get to make a dent in my TBR pile. Another thing I'm excited about is I received a letter from my new college telling me my dorm room and my roommate's name. I found out that my dorm room is in the brand new dorms that they are opening up this fall. So I can take a shower in my room without worrying about catching something. If you had seen the last college I was at, you would understand why I'm so excited to have a clean dorm. The past college I went to, had disgusting dorms and bathrooms. I'm so ready to start this college. I can't believe me of all people is wanting to start school! I'm sure after a week or so after starting I'll probably be wishing for a break.

I am concerned about:

    I'm concerned that my new roommate and I won't like each other. So far in my dorm-life I've had pretty cool roommates. Another thing I'm concerned about is having really hard classes. 

New music:

   I got a couple of songs this week. 

   1. Lost 

        - Avenged Sevenfold

   2. Video Killed the Radio Star

       - Amber Pacific

   3. Scream

       - Avenged Sevenfold

   4. Too Close

       - Next

   5. Dying

       - Stone Sour

Did you win any contest?

   Actually I won two contest this week. Which is a miracle because I hardly win anything! I won a signed copy of Burning Skies from Bitten by Paranormal Romance. I'm excited to receive it! Then I also won the Freedom Hop on The Wormhole blog. I got to choose between a couple of books by Leanore Elliott. I chose the Soul Trilogy.

Did you buy anything this week?

  Believe it or not I didn't buy anything this week. I'm trying to save up money to have while I'm at school.

Books you started/finish:

   I finished My Blood Approves. I started Vampire Academy Signature Edition: A Vampire Academy Novel. 

Goals/Ideas for a better tomorrow:

  Make more time for reading. Take more time out to tend to the blog. I think I'm going to try to read 5 books in the Read-A-Thon. Ahhh wish me luck. I would really like to finish Vampire Academy today!

This is my first time doing Personally Saturdays. I hope you guys like it. If you have any opinions on what I should add or take away to make it better, please tell me! Don't forget to enter my Harry Potter Giveaway.

In My Mailbox

This is the first In My Mailbox, for this blog. If you don't know much about it, The Story Siren does a fantastic description!

So today, I came in from school and noticed I had a box from USPS. It was my College Algebra book that I ordered on January 4, 2011 (this past Tuesday). Not that a college math book is totally interesting, but I thought it would be great considering the place that I ordered it from to try and give it exposure.

The place I ordered the book from is called AbeBooks. Any college student knows that books are expensive if you buy them from the bookstore, so like I do for everything else, I looked online. Amazon and eBay are my go-to places for online shopping, but they didn't have the book cheap enough. The book is $158 retail, and online at Amazon and eBay they were only about twenty dollars cheaper. I'm always seeking a better deal, so I Googled the ISBN.

I stumbled upon a link, which happened to be AbeBooks. The book was the exact one I needed and brand new for only $19.00. Standard shipping was $4.80 while Priority was $9.00. I hit the motherload with this deal. At first I didn't think it was legit, and since you can only pay by credit card (the only downside to the site; I tried paying with my debit card but it was declined) I looked up to see if there were other users who had used it before with positive results. Luckily, there were good opinions about it. So of course I bought that book with Priority shipping because I needed it by the end of this week for the class.

Despite my skepticism, the book was in the mail today. I was ecstatic. The first reason being that I got it so cheap, the second reason being I got it so fast (three days!), and the third being that this site is completely legit. So now my mission is to give exposure to them and let people know it really works and their prices are legit.

Check out the photos of the book and the thank you note the seller sent me in the package. The thank you note had a pack of Smartees attached to it. I thought that was a pretty nice little extra.

Here's the link for anyone interested: http://www.abebooks.com/

Drive-By Review: Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

Hello everybody and Happy New Year to you all!

So this morning after sleeping off the New Year's hangover (kidding, I don't drink) I set a goal to finish one of the books I borrowed from the library; not a New Year's Resolution but merely a daily goal I set for myself. I read from the second chapter to the end in one sitting so I was pretty proud of myself considering it only took a few hours.

The book I read was Hot Six by Janet Evanovich, which is the sixth book in the notorious Stephanie Plum series that is still being written today (the most recent is Sizzling Sixteen, which you guessed it: is the sixteenth book in the series).

Because I like to ramble and because I read so many books, I don't actually have time to do a full review of each and every book I read, so I'm going to start doing "drive-by reviews"; however, on occasion I might do a full-blown review on a book if it was just that amazing. Now this book was good but this series is a pretty easy read (considering it took a few hours to read), but "easy read" does not hold a negative connotation by any means.

In these "drive-bys" I will give an excerpt from the first chapter, a couple of sentences on my opinion of the book, and my favorite part(s) of the book. So here goes:

Excerpt: "Truth is, I didn't for a minute think she'd jump. For one thing, she was wearing a four-hundred-dollar jacket from Wilson Leather. You just don't jump off a bridge in a four-hundred-dollar jacket. It isn't done. The jacket would get ruined. Carol was from the Chambersburg section of Trenton, just like me, and in the Burg you gave the jacket to your sister, then you jumped off the bridge."

Favorite parts:

#1 "Munson knocked the two of us aside and streaked down the stairs. He ran the length of the house and out the back door. I was close behind, and Lula was about ten feet behind me. His foot had to be killing him, but he ran flat out through two yards and then cut off to the alley. I took a flying leap and caught him square in the small of his back. The two of us went down to the ground and rolled around, locked together, swearing and clawing. Munson was trying to scramble away, and I was trying to hang on and cuff him. It would have been easier if he'd had clothes to grab hold of. As it was, I didn't really want to grab what was available.

"Hit him where it hurts!" Lula was yelling. "Hit him where it hurts!"

So I did. A person reaches a point where she just doesn't want to roll around anymore. I hauled back and gave Munson a knee in the gonads.

"Ulk," Munson said, and assumed the fetal position.

Lula and I pried his hands away from Mr. Sad Sack and cuffed him behind his back.

"Wish I had a movie of you wrestlin' with this guy," Lula said. "It reminded me of that joke about the midget at the nudist colony who kept sticking his nose in everyone's business."

Mitchell and Habib had gotten out of their car and were standing a few feet away looking pained.

"I could feel that all the way over here. If we get the word that we have to rough you up, I'm wearing a cup." Mitchell said.

#2 "It's his legs," Lula said. "They froze up in a seated position." She pulled a lawn chair off a stack at the back of the garage and set the chair next to the dead guy. "If we put him in a chair he'll look more natural, like he was waiting for a ride or something."

So we picked him up, set him into the chair, and backed away to take a look. Only, when we backed away, he fell out of the chair. Smash, right on his face.

"Good thing he's dead," Lula said, "or that would have hurt like the devil."

We heaved him back into the chair and this time we wrapped a bungee cord around him. His nose was a little smashed and one eye had been jarred closed from the impact when he fell, so one was open and one was closed, but aside from that he looked okay. We backed away again, and he stayed in place.

#3 "Amen," Lula said, and she made the sign of the cross.

"I thought you were Baptist?"

"Yeah, but we don't got any hand signals for occasions like this."

This book, like all in the series, is hilarious and even though they all have the same basis with Stephanie running around getting into shenanigans, they are quick reads and will provide entertainment so don't hesitate to read any of them. The first one was published in 1994 and she's written one a year since then. I will be moving onto the seventh book eventually and I look forward to the next "chapter" in Stephanie's life.

Evermore Review

Evermore: The Immortals

Synopsis:
After a horrible accident claims the live of her family, 16 year old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way  to avoid human contact and suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school--but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.
Damen is gorgeous, exotic, and wealthy. He's the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head-- wielding a magic so intense, it's as though he can peer straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she's left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea just who he really is--or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she's falling deeply and helplessly in love with him.

My Thoughts!
This book was pretty good. It's wasn't as good as everyone made it out to be, in my opinion. I like the whole "immortal" thing, which had nothing to do with vampires! Hah! It was also funny how Damon kind of made fun of the idea, that Ever thought he was one. I felt thought, the beginning was a little prolonged. Most of the juicy action parts didn't come until near the end. I hope in the next book we get to learn more about Damon's past. This book was very vague with his and Drina's past. Like why did she turn so evil? How did he fall in love with her? Just things like that. Overall, the book was good and I would recommend anyone who like a good paranormal, coming of age, and romance series!

Personal Demons Review

Do you guys remember me telling y'all I won the ARC of Personal Demons, well I just now got around to reading it and finishing it. Hah! Yay me! Next, I'm starting Evermore: The Immortals.

Synopsis: (back cover)

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance--even her closest friends--and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same...until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from him.

What she doesn't know is that Luc is on a mission. He's been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie's soul. It should be easy--all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn't stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can't be far behind. And sure enough, it's not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie's soul.

But if Luc fails, then will be Hell to pay...for all of them.

My Thoughts:

Have you ever read a book and thought, this would be so much better if it had a different author?!? Well that’s what I thought throughout this entire book. I did not like the author’s style of writing at all! It was really annoying. Of course it was her first book, so I’m cutting her some slack. It did end up getting better towards the ending.

It really pissed me off that we didn’t get any of Gabe’s POV! The author never even gave him a chance. It really wasn’t a love triangle at all. It was more of Luc and Frannie with tidbits of Gabe, here and there. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t made up my decision about who I like the best. The readers don’t get a chance to get to know Gabe, like we do Luc. So it’s really an unfair advantage. 

Rate: 3/5

Happy Readings to All! 

Urge (and responsibility) to Blog

So it's near one o'clock but I got the urge to blog. I've just been up on the computer for awhile since I've been away from home for about a week. I'm glad to be back home and enjoy the rest of Christmas break. I'll try not to ramble too much. This is a book-ish blog so I guess I should talk about a book.

So yesterday (well actually two days ago--Saturday) I finished the fourth Rizzoli and Isles novel Body Double by the extremely talented Tess Gerritsen. I actually became a big fan of the show and then realized there were books, so of course I got into them. It's a bit strange that I'm so enthralled by the series, but I love murder mysteries and thrillers. So I was immediately drawn to this series. Her books are PHENOMENAL, honestly.

First off, the characters actually make me feel connected to them in that they are irreplaceable (cue Beyonce song, "to the left, to the left"). The storylines are amazing as well, and everything is described in such detail I get thrown into the story. I guess that's a little cliche but it's the God honest truth. There's always a twist (of course) in most murder novels, but in this series there is a brain exploding twist that makes you feel like you should have known. Even after four of her novels, I still am unable to 100% complete the mystery before it's revealed. However, in the one I just finished I actually came about 94% close to the solution to the mystery.

The first two books were about Jane Rizzoli only, then Maura Isles is introduced in the third book, The Sinner. The books and show are much different because they obviously can't fit a whole book into an hour-long show each week; however, one of the episodes was based on the first book The Surgeon.

These books will have your heart pumping and adrenaline running, which is a difficult thing for me because I watch scary/horror/thriller movies and shows all the time (take Dexter, courtesy of the last post). The novels are by no means "scary" like supernatural or anything (like what you readers are most likely more acquainted with) but are more thrilling in their nature.

Just because it may not sound like "your type of book/genre," you might be surprised how enjoyable they are.

Books in Order of Publication:

• The Surgeon
• The Apprentice
• The Sinner
• Body Double

So here is the section where I tell a fact about me and the book I'm currently reading. Another fact about me is that I'm a Macintosh fanatic. There. Now let the hate mail ensue.

I was intensely reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter in the last post, but I kind of strayed. I can't really say I'm reading one book because I normally start about three to five but mainly focus on one.

My "subordinate reads":

1. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
2. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
3. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

My "main read":

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Au revoir readers. Keep on reading. In case I don't blog before Christmas/the New Year, Merry Christmas (screw "happy holidays") and Happy New Year! Woot: 2011!

Firelight Review

Wow guys, I'm on a roll!! Two book reviews the day after each other! Oh Yeah!

 

 Firelight

Synopsis: (Inside Cover)

A Hidden Truth.
Mortal Enemies.
Doomed Love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki--a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.
Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away--if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.  

My Thoughts:

Wow..............I really love this book. It was so different from all the other books that I have read. I have never read a book about draki. It was purely amazing! Nowadays all you see is vampire books or werewolves. Ok people, seriously it gets old after a while! Ever since Twilight got made into a movie, all the authors seem to write are vampires! Give us a break! Please! Hah. Anyways, this book was highly different then what you see on shelves now. The author, Sophie Jordan, really wrote the romance in this book, greatly and not too overbearing. It wasn't all just some sappy love story. It actually had some action. I never saw dragons are loving creatures, until I read this book. This is really random, but I love the name "Jacinda". 
Jacinda was faced with a lot of difficulties everyday. Her pride was controlling her and her mom also. Every way she turned she was being told what to do and what not to do. I felt really sorry for her. Everyone kept secrets from, even all the way to the end of the book. 
Well I don't want to ruin any of it for you. I highly recommend this book though!! Can't wait to fins out what happens next.....

Happy Readings to All!!

New Addition to the Blog

Hello all,

I suppose I've been formally introduced in the last blog post by its creator, so thank you for having me. I was called on to come and write posts occasionally about the books I read but hopefully I will be posting regularly. I will try to share things about myself that way you can get to know me and I will most definitely be bringing a variety of book genres to this blog.

The books I read tend to be more of the murder mystery and psychological thriller types, but I also enjoy a good humorous or satirical book. I also am trying to read some of the "classics" but overall I'm just exploring different genres in literature because I aspire to become a writer myself one day.

This was just a brief introduction and I hope to be blogging more soon to all you readers. With each post, I'll try to share at least one piece of information with you about myself and the book I'm currently reading.

This post's tidbit is that I'm currently reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. It is now on the Showtime channel and has been running for five seasons; it's been picked up for a sixth.

And a fact about myself is that this is my 32nd book since July 1st. I know that seems like a strange fact to keep up with the number of books, but I'll elaborate more in the next post as to why that's so important.

Thanks and Happy Reading!

J. Pardue

Be sure to check out my blog (which I've been slacking off with lately) at: http://www.fujitsumaniac.wordpress.com

And hit me up on Twitter: @Pardooki

Early Christmas Present!

Guess what guys............ I have another author on my blog now. He is one of my closet friends. I asked him to be an administrator, since I've been really slacking on my duties as a blogstress! Yes, I'm completely aware that I just created a word. Which, personally, I think is wicked! Anyways, totally distracted there for a bit. I'm so busy with High school, college, and work that I don't have enough time to read as much as I use to. A few years ago, I read about a book or two a day! Now it takes me several weeks to complete one.
Another reason I asked him to team up was because he reads different kinds of books than me. So maybe we can hit a wider range of follower's interest. Plus he is like ten times better writer than I! Lol

Update: I finally finished Hunted (A House of Night Novel). I will try my best to post "what I think" by the end of the week.

Happy Readings to You All!! 

Currently Reading.....

   Since I finished Torment a couple of days ago, of course I had to start reading something else. It took me awhile to choose what to start next. I have so many books on my shelf that I haven't gotten around to picking up and reading. Yet, I keep buying more and MORE books. Ok, ok, ok I admit I have a Buying Books and Not Enough Time To Read Them Addiction. Hey, at least I completed the first step to an addiction. Hah! Which is, admitting that you have an addiction. Gosh I know I have one! If only I could complete the steps of an addiction and overcome that addiction. Wow I just can't stop laughing while I write this. Anyways, back to what this post is suppose to be about is the first place. I'm currently reading Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) and Hunted (A House of Night Novel).
    I started Hunted months ago. I bought it right when it was released, but I got bored and one of my EX-friends begged me to borrow. So, I let her and I just got it back not too long ago. The Book Club that I belong to has a lot of members that are reading the series for the first time. Well some of the are finally on the fifth book, so I decided to join in. I just hope I can keep up with these awesome peeps of mine.
    I started reading it today and its actually a lot better than I remember. Hopefully, I can get through the whole book without putting it down. Lately I have been very good about finishing books! One thing I dont like about Shiver is that it has really short chapters! But, we will see, we will see!!!

HAPPY READINGS TO YOU ALL!

AHHH look guys!!!! Look what I found on my bed when I got home!! I've been waiting forever! It's been killing me hearing about everyone else talking about reading it. And now, finally I get to do the same!! I pre-ordered it weeks ago, but it's just now arriving I'm so excited! It always feels like Christmas when I get a book or movie in the mail! :D 

Ok.....here...I go.......

Ok, well I have never actually done a blog before, but it seemed like it would be fun. So I guess I could tell a little about myself. hmmmm....Well I'm 17. I love to read, watch TV, go to the movies, and hang out with friends. I like all kinds of movies, but not so much scary ones. I'm a chicken when it comes to those. Now books on the other hand, i like horror, science fiction, teen, supernatural, and i guess romance. Sometimes I will read historical fiction, but I get bored really quick with those. Of course, my life is never like stable. It has its ups and downs, but really who's doesn't?