June summary

I might as well give up the fight!

bought
140) Sarah Rees Brennan: The Demon's Covenant
141) Erin Healy: Never Let You Go
142) Jessica Leader: Nice and Mean
143) Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway
144) Simone Elkeles:Leaving Paradise
145) ELizabeth Scott: Something, Maybe
146) Teri Hall: The Line
147) Eileen Cook: What Would Emma Do?
148) Aprilynne Pike: Wings
149) Louise Rennison: Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging
150) Sapphire: Push
151) Alice Sebold (ed.): The Best American Short Stories 2009

read
45) Andrew Davidson: The Gargoyle
46) Emmett James: Admit One - My Life In Film
47) August Wilson: Fences
48) Jennifer Solow: The Aristobrats
49) Angela Morrison: Taken By Storm

PFL: Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.



Fat Vampire by Adam Rex
pub date: July 27, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

Doug Lee is undead quite by accident—attacked by a desperate vampire, he finds himself cursed with being fat and fifteen forever. When he has no luck finding some goth chick with a vampire fetish, he resorts to sucking the blood of cows under cover of the night. But it’s just not the same.

Then he meets the new Indian exchange student and falls for her—hard. Yeah, he wants to bite her, but he also wants to prove himself to her. But like the laws of life, love, and high school, the laws of vampire existence are complicated—it’s not as easy as studying Dracula. Especially when the star of Vampire Hunters is hot on your trail in an attempt to boost ratings.…

Leave it to Adam Rex to create a thought-provoking novel that takes on teen angst, sexuality, identity, love, and undeath in ways that break it out of the genre.

I haven't read about fat vampires yet and adding teen angst and first (?) love - I think this might just be a fun variation of a vampire novel.

PFL: The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.



The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood
pub date: July 20, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

Jessamine Luxson lives with her father, Thomas, an apothecary, in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle. Thomas’s pride and obsession is his locked garden full of dangerous plants, which Jessamine is forbidden to enter.

When a traveler brings an orphan to their cottage, he claims the boy has special gifts that Thomas might value. Jessamine is drawn to the strange but intriguing boy, called Weed. Soon their friendship deepens into love. Finally, Weed shares his secret: He can communicate with plants. For him they have distinct personalities—and some are even murderous. From the locked garden the poisonous plants call to Weed, luring him with promises of deadly power.

When Jessamine falls inexplicably ill, only Weed’s relationship with the Poisons can save her. But Thomas is determined to exploit Weed’s abilities, even if it risks Jessamine’s life—or drives Weed to the brink of madness.…

Doesn't that sound great???

In My Mailbox monday (June 27)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books I found in my mailbox and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie. To join in, please visit Kristi's blog!

Mailbox Mondays is a weekly event hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page. To join, please visit her blog!

This week was fairly quiet. I received one book (Angus), which I had ordered last week because I want to read the book before I watch the movie. The other two books were pretty sponaneous acquisitions. In other words: I can't leave a book store without buying a book *sigh*


Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison



Precious aka Push by Sapphire



The Best American Short Stories 2009 by Alice Sebold & Heidi Pitlor (eds.)

PFL: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.



Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
pub date: July 20, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love--the light and the dark, the warm and the cold--in a way you will never forget.

What can I say? *sigh*

Follow my book blog Friday by Parajunkee

This is my first time joining Parajunkee's Follow my book blog Friday. Basically, it seems to be a great way to find more people around the book blogging world, so let's see what happens!

Letting it all out...

Okay, so I haven't been around much lately and maybe my PFL posts are a bit much right now (I'm playing catch up here, but I promise I'll be done soon and then it'll spread out more!), but in a way, I've been feeling a little lonely in the past - and the BEA only made it more evident. (And yes, I know I haven't finished my BEA post yet - I'll get there, promise!)

I'm a German girl, ahem, woman blogging in English*, while most of the book blogging community is set in the USA and Canada. So meeting up with other bloggers, getting to know them better or just tweeting at the same time is very, very difficult. It seems as if all the good ideas always pop up on Twitter first, but I only hear about them long after they first started, that way, I feel pretty left out (It doesn't help that this is a sore spot for me because back at school I was always the odd one out because of all the books I read - for pleasure! *gasp*). Also, I don't really get to meet up with anyone. Don't get me wrong, on Day 3 of BEA, I got to meet and talk to a few of my awesome fellow bloggers and it was great, but my lack of abilities when it comes to small talk doesn't help with keeping a conversation going. I still really, really appreciated the time I got to spend with those bloggers. Even with my social awkwardness, it was great to have people talking about books around me!!!

Some days, it really seems as if I'm so far on the outside, I don't even count as part of the book blogging community anymore. And BEA made that even more obvious to me because it seemed as if everyone knew each other there. There were always groups of bloggers running from booth to booth and signing to signing. I didn't have a group to spend time with, so I was just standing there on my own in line after line. I mean, I couldn't possibly just jump right in front of a group of people and say "Hi, I know your blog and absolutely love it!". That would seem soooo stalker-ish (sort of like Kasey's behavior on this season's The Bachelorette)...

Or maybe it's just that while I can still talk about the books I read, I don't get to talk about them with someone else. I just don't know anyone who reads books as soon as they're out in real life, and by the time I can buy the copy, it seems as if everyone already said all that was to say.

So yes, I'm throwing myself a pity party here, and I assume the heat (I'm melting in this room without AC!) and the fact that the guy** (obviously male and so not good for me) seems to be semi-back don't help too much. Even without those additional factors, I would still feel like that, but maybe I wouldn't feel the strong urge to write it out. Come to think of it, what doesn't help either is that I'm a shy person who takes things to the heart - too much, actually. Plus, I think I just revealed how flawed a person I am. I think I'll put me back in the corner of the Dreamworld where I've been for the past 4+ years.

---

*For the record: I have a German book blog as well, but I tend to feel a little guilty when I rave about a recently released book for which I couldn't even find a German pub date (it happens, although it has gotten better - and I'm no longer one of the few who stick to books in the original). Plus, when I read a book in English, it is easier for me to write about it in English. That way, I don't have to think about the best German word every other sentence. Or maybe it's that I have higher expectations for my book reviews when I write them in German. The ones you find here are pretty much as I would talk - only with less hmm's.

** From now on TG, should I ever feel the need to refer to him again.

PFL: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.



Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
pub date: July 6, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old Realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor of the day pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive of a sadistic psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered spirit back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

The truth doesn’t always set you free.

I have a thing for thrillers where a victim survives and has to figure out who exactly abducted her.

PFL: Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.



Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
pub date: July 13, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

His love captivated her... his secrets might kill her.

Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.

After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.

But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.

Creepy, scary plot that makes me go Wow! - what more could I ask for?

PFL: Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.



Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck
pub date: July 1, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

Daisy Crispin has 242 days to find the right date for the prom. There's only one problem--her parents won't let her date or even talk to a guy on the phone. Oh, and she's totally invisible at school, has to wear lame homemade clothes, and has no social skills. Okay, so maybe there's more than one problem. Can she talk her parents into letting her go to the prom? Or will they succeed at their obvious attempt to completely ruin her life? With hilarious and truthful writing, Kristin Billerbeck uncovers the small--and large--mortifications that teen girls encounter. Readers will fall in love with Daisy's sharp wit and resourcefulness as she navigates the world of boys, fashion, family, and friendship.

Oh, YA chick lit? I'm German, for those who haven't figured it out yet, so the concept of a prom is not all that familiar to me. But I am intrigued and I think by now I know how important it is to go to the prom with a suitable date. What I know very well, though, is the whole dateless situation, Daisy finds herself in. So yes, I can't wait to read this one!

Possible Future Love (PFL): Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.


Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala
pub date: July 1, 2010

Summary from GoodReads

Tell me a secret, and I'll tell you one…

In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own.

Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own.

In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her own future.

What can I say, I'm intrigued! We've had a few dead siblings in YA lit in the past, but as far as I know, the pregnancy is new.

Possible Future Love: Majix by Douglas Rees

There are many different memes out there for bloggers to feature the books they're really, really looking forward to. Unfortunately, none of them really meet my needs as I tend to find books I consider my possible future loves in droves rather than one at a time. And I don't feel like featuring those books in droves either. When I fall for a book before its pub date, that usually means something! That means, from now on, you will occasionally (or for the next few weeks: quite some days) find this new feature here.

Majix by Douglas Rees
pub date July 1, 2010

Summary from GoodReads:

Kestrel (don't call her Susan) Murphy is angry. Forced to leave her posh San Francisco Bay Area home by her father's illness, she's living in Jurupa (sounds like vomiting), Southern California. It's too hot. The people are stupid. And you have to chew the air to get the oxygen out of it. On the plus side, Kestrel is a witch. Well, a witch-in-training. And she's going acquire the magic she needs to get her life back to normal. At first, she barely notices the people around her-Aunt Ariel, who's taken her in and is herself a well-known white witch; Jose Iturrigaray, the quiet, talented young artist; Blake Cump, troublemaker extraordinaire; Laura Greenwood, who wants to be Kestrel's friend. But life has its own magic, and gradually Kestrel finds that much of one's success as a witch lies in being open to it.

I can't resist a good witch story, so this is so right up my alley!

blame game time (June 21)

It is time for another blame game! The blame game was first done by Chris from Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, but I have adapted his rules to fit my needs.
Bloggers to blame this time are a few more, especially because it has been a while since I last blamed anyone.

To make it easier for those interested in the reviews, you can just click on the blamee's name. The link will direct you to the review.

Nina of J'adorehappyendings posted about Kisses for Lula by Samantha Mackintosh

Kathy of Bermudaonion's Weblog reviewed The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen

Rebecca of Rebecca's Book Blog recently read Deceptions by Lee Nichols and it sounds amazing!

Jenn of Books at Midnight posted about Insatiable by Meg Cabot - she didn't love it, but it sounds really interesting to me.

Steph Su of Steph Su Reads talked about The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

Jami of YA Addict reviewed Plus by Veronica Chambers, a chick lit novel about a plus-size model

Esme of Chocolate & Croissants apparently enjoyed Marjorie Hart's Summer At Tiffany

Kari of A Good Addiction wrote about And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman

Kari also reviewed Shari Maurer's Change of Heart

Ann-Kat of Today, I Read... recommended The Clearing by Heather Davis

Kathy of Bermudaonion's Weblog reviewed Nujood Ali's I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Kari of A Good Addiction blogged about Kristin Tracy's A Field Guide For Heartbreakers

Robin of My Two Blessings wrote about Mr Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattilo

Eleni of La Femme Readers raved about Crash Test Love by Ted Michael - apart from the fact that I feel like an old failure when I look at the author's biography, the book sounds awesome!

Stormi of Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! mentioned Summer in Paris by Michele Ashman Bell

At Bookworming in the 21st Century I found Amanda-Lee of Storywings review of Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Kristen of BookNAround reviewed Allison Winn Scotch's The One That I Want

Gautami of Everything Distils Into Reading reviewed the third in this series and now I have Irene Hannon's Against All Odds on my wishlist (I have to start with the first book!!!!)

In My Mailbox Monday (June 20)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books I found in my mailbox and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie. To join in, please visit Kristi's blog!

Mailbox Mondays is a weekly event hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page. To join, please visit her blog!


Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf


Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles


Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott


Wings by Aprilynne Pike


The Line by Teri Hall


What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook

Reading Right Now: Jennifer Solow's The Aristobrats

Okay, yeah! I did start another book. But I can't lug around 700 pages with me. But I am reading one of the books I got at BEA: Jennifer Solow's The Aristobrats

Look at this cover:


(Sorry for the somewhat poor quality!)

I really like the cover because it shows the four main characters - Parker, Kiki, Plum and Ikea - along with their friendship rings (at least I think they're supposed to be the girls' friendship rings).

Book Review: Fences by August Wilson

Author	August Wilson
Title	Fences
Publisher	Continuum
Date of Publication	1987
Page Count	107
ISBN	978-0-826-49648-5
Series	The Pittsburgh Cycle / The Century Cycle (1950s)

Note: This is one of the first times I am attempting to review a play, so be patient with me while I try to figure out a way to make this work.

Fences is about race relations, troubles between the generations and infidelity (and a few other themes). In a conversation at the beginning of the play, we learn that Troy Maxson just stood up to his boss, complaining about the company's habit of having black men as garbage men while the white men are the drivers and as a result has to go to the union's office the next week. Still sitting on the poarch, Maxson's oldest son Lyons, a successless musician, comes up to ask his father for money knowing he will eventually get it - if through his step-mother, Rose. After Lyons has trudged off again, Rose reveals to Troy that their younger son Cory might have a chance to be recruited as a college football player.

Fences is probably August Wilson's most acclaimed play (granted, I haven't checked each and everyone yet, but I guess it is safe to assume so). The play earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama in 1987 and a total of seven Tony Awards as well as three Drama Desk Awards (an award that is complementary to the Tony Awards).

Reading it, you can see glimpses of why this is justified, although I think seeing it on stage would be so much better. After getting used to the language in this play, I raced through the 107 pages. It is amazing how much of the decade Wilson could put in this play.

Fences is part of Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle or Century Cycle, which consists of ten plays with each set in a different decade starting in the 1900s. Wilson's aim was to sketch the experience of African Americans in the 20th century. Nine of the plays are set in Pittsburgh's Hill District, which is a mainly African-American neighborhood.

If you are in or close to New York City, you might be interested in watching this play at the Cort Theater on Broadway. The current revival with Denzel Washington as Troy Maxson and Viola Davis as his wife Rose won three Tony Awards last weekend. When I was in NYC for BEA (I'm still working on my post) I tried to get a ticket, but sadly failed miserably!

For more information on August Wilson himself, check out this site dedicated to his life and work

Book Review: Admit One by Emmett James

Author	Emmett James
Title	Admit One: My Life in Film
Publisher	FizzyPop
Date of Publication	February 1, 2010
Page Count	216
ISBN	978-0-9842-5810-9

In his memoir Admit One: My Life in Film, Emmett James takes us on a trip down his memory lane to show us events related to famous movies. When he was a child going to the movies was an event. His parents would take him and his brother to the nearby town. This involved a one hour bus ride and it was something he looked forward to every time. Later on, he would go with his friends and they discussed the movies both before and after seeing them.

Emmett James, while being an actor, is not particularly a Hollywood celebrity stalked by paparazzi day and night. His biggest role so far was that of a waiter in Titanic - but then, this is not what his memoir is all about. Now granted, if you start reading it with the expectation to hear all about his Hollywood experience, you'll be sorely disappointed, but if you like glimpses into other people's lives and have a thing for movies, you will enjoy Admit One.

While it is not all out exciting or a thrilling memoir, I enjoyed it for taking me down my own memory lane, trying to remember when I first watched the movies mentioned (ET? When I was about 10, around the time I got the book with pictures from the movie.). All in all, I had a nice time reading it - chapter by chapter and with breaks for my own thoughts.

Thanks again to Lisa Roe of OnlinePublicist for this review copy!

Bloggiesta wrap-up & looking for guest posts

Oopsie-daisy! - quoting a friend here, but still, it's the somewhat polite word for what I was thinking just now (at 1:05 am my time, my vocabulary is all the way down in the gutter).

I haven't posted my Bloggiesta wrap-up post yet, but then, I still have quite a few things on my to do list. Hopefully this weekend, after I have written one of the essays I need to write for one of my classes, I will get some more work on my blog accomplished.

Anyway, during Bloggiesta, I worked on my blog for about 8 hours. I have updated my blog roll (if you're not on the extended version and want to be on it, please leave a comment with a link and I'll add you as soon as I'm back on my computer!), I created an About Me page (what do you think about it?) and I now have a review policy (I don't know whether it is that necessary for me, as I'm in Germany, but I guess it won't hurt).

I also started working on my BEA / America posts, but it is going slowly. I know exactly what I want to write, but the how is really bugging me. I hope to finish it soon, but I can't promise anything.

Anyway, it is late and I need to be at work tomorrow morning, so I better get going!

Oh, one more thing: I might not be close to a computer for some time later this summer, so I'm looking for guest posts. So far, I've semi-recruited a friend of mine to write a few reviews during the next 10 weeks, Courtney from Stiletto Storytime will write something and I have a few things in mind, but I still have quite some gaps. If you're interested, please let me know (either in the comments or at dreamworldofabookaholic AT googlemail DOT com )!

URGENT REQUEST!

Okay, I have an urgent request. You might remember that about a month ago I posted my blogiversary and birthday giveaway winners. I have finally found all the things I want to send on, so I am about to pack everything up (unfortunately, my 10 days in America slowed me down a bit, sorry!!!)

One of the winners was Cindy C, but unfortunately, I don't have a last name for her.

Cindy, if you're reading this, please contact me at dreamworldofabookaholic AT gmail DOT com! I would like to send your things off as soon as possible :D

Bloggiesta update

Just checking in after a few more Bloggiesta-related works and I could scream! While doing some maintenance stuff I decided to see what Google has to say about my page rank. Last time I checked it was not that bad, but now my page is not ranked? Could this have something to do with the fact that I changed my url so that it resembles my blog's name earlier this year?
If anyone has an idea about that, please let me know!

And here's my update in general: I did a few more things and have now spent about 4 to 5 hours online for Bloggiesta:

1. finally write some overdue e-mails
   
2. write a BEA / America post or two
   
3. finish up a few reviews
   
4. find out why the heck a review scheduled for two weeks ago didn't show up
   
5. write another blame game post (long overdue, I think!)
   
6. About Me-page
   
7. do I need a review policy?
   
8. update my blog roll
   
9. finally get the list of author's websites back up (what happened to it in the first place?)

Bloggiesta - first update

Well, Bloggiesta has been up and running for 24 hours already, but I didn't get online earlier. I spent a few hours yesterday on working some things for my blog, though.

Some of my tasks for this bloggiesta are:

1. finally write some overdue e-mails
   
2. write a BEA / America post or two
   
3. finish up a few reviews
   
4. find out why the heck a review scheduled for two weeks ago didn't show up
   
5. write another blame game post (long overdue, I think!)
   
6. About Me-page
   
7. do I need a review policy?
   
8. update my blog roll
   
9. finally get the list of author's websites back up (what happened to it in the first place?)

Yesterday, I already worked a bit on my post about BEA and my time in NYC (for about half an hour) and I also made a list of overdue e-mails (another half an hour).

Today's the day - THE PASSAGE by JUSTIN CRONIN is out!

Well, today's the big day! The Passage by Justin Cronin is finally for sale and even though I've not yet finished it I have to gush about this awesome sci-fi/fantasy novel!!! I am absolutely amazed and it is hard for me to not open it up while I'm in a rather boring class... I just don't want to put it down. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not always good with books everyone just loves and praises, but with The Passage I have to admit and scream it out loud: This book is wonderful and has the best chances to end up in my list of best books read in 2010!

If you already reviewed the book, please leave a comment with a link so that I can add it to a link list I'm going to prepare for this book (once I'm back at home where I have a real computer and don't have to type along on my iPod).

48 Hour Book Challenge - the sad summary

Let's make this a short one, okay? I'm still not my old self and slept soooo much last weekend, I only got about 4-5 hours of reading in. But I did make a nice dent in both my current books:



An Angel From Hell by Ryan A. Conklin

This is a very interesting book and (I think) despite the serious topic, Ryan Conklin's wonderful sense of humor still shows! In case you haven't heard about An Angel from Hell yet: It is a memoir of a very young Iraq war veteran (he enlisted in the aftermath of 9/11, pretty much as soon as he turned 17).




The Passage by Justin Cronin

I seriously recommend you re-think your decision if you haven't pre-ordered this book yet. I am very cautious with hyped books, but so far this one holds true to all the promises! It is out for sale TOMORROW, so you might want to hurry and get a copy before you hear all the wonderful details!

In My Mailbox Monday (June 7)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books I found in my mailbox and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie. To join in, please visit Kristi's blog!

Mailbox Mondays is a weekly event hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page. To join, please visit her blog!

After the BEA madness (yes, I know I haven't told you anything at all about my wonderful, awesome time in America and at BEA and who I met, but I will get to that later this week!), I was glad this week slowed down a bit. I'm still recovering from jetlag and all that, but enough with the whining!

During the last few days I unpacked the most awesome swag package I won from Jen @ The Extreme Reader! I got a Change of Heart by Shari Maurer soccer stress ball, a The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting sticker, a signed The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos bookmark, a Mistwood by Leah Cypess bookmark, a Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus bookmark and magnet, and an Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia card and author business card. In short: I. Am. Thrilled! Thank you so much, Jen, for all this!

A review copy for Erin Healy's Never Let You Go. As the book is already out, I guess I'll hurry to read it very, very soon! (Plus, it of course sounds very interesting!!!)

Also, my pre-ordered copy of The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan finally arrived, so I have to read the first in this trilogy (The Demon's Lexicon) sooner rather than later!

Also, I received my very, very long awaited (and also pre-ordered!) copy of Nice and Mean - which, oh yeah, is not supposed to be out until tomorrow, but was announced for early May in Europe (now I'm confused!)...

But Nice and Mean is a completely interesting story anyway. I picked up this huge (!!!) package and wondered what it was all about:



To give you a better idea about the size, I placed a standard, one-disc DVD case next to the box...

And this is what I pulled out of it:



That's the same DVD case next to the book that was inside the huge box!!!

48 Hour Book Challenge

Usually, I am not very good with dates - and MotherReader's 48 Hour Book Challenge just proves that. I thought I had another week to recover from my USA trip to visit part of my family there and attend BEA and Book Blogger Con, but well, apparently I could have started reading this morning already. So I am going to start now and we'll see how it goes.

My goals for this weekend will be rather simple.

I need to finish up the two texts for university (I have to write an essay on one of the texts, so this will happen during a time where I feel very awake!).

And then I'm reading The Passage by Justin Cronin, which I have as an ARC (picked up at BEA 2010!) and An Angel From Hell by Ryan A. Conklin.

Wish me luck that I'll make it! My starting time is 20 minutes from now!

Back home - sort of

For those who haven't heard it yet: I'm back in Germany. Well, sort of! My inner clock is somewhere between the East Coast and German time and I am tired most of the time. This early, early morning / later in the evening for you, Nicole from Linus' Blanket and I talked about books and reading on Nicole's web radio show, That's How I Blog! Nicole assured me I was coherent, but if you're interested, you can listen for yourself, as the show is already archived. I apologize for every single grammatical mistake I made and for every word I mispronounced! And also, I already know a dozen things I left out *sigh*

In case you're wondering how I liked my vacation in America and my time at BEA, I will have a post up later this week (or more like two, as Maryland and BEA each deserve a post of their own!). For now, let me tell you that I am very glad I have an awesome cousin who will keep a whole bunch of books I got hostage until I come back for another visit. I just couldn't fit them in any of my bags. Jennifer, you're the best!

May summary

Let's not talk about this, okay? ;-) It was BEA and it was The Strand Book Store! (Actually, I don't even remember the titles of two of the books I got at the Strand.)

bought
90) Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace
91) The Complete Idiot's Guide to The American Accent
92) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Well on a Budget
93) The Complete Idiots Guide to American Government
94) Emmanuel Jal: War Child
95) Laurie Viera Riegler: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
96) ???
97) ???
98) Lauren Kunze with Rina Onur: The Ivy
99) Melissa Marr: Radiant Shadows
100) Bree Despain: The Dark Divine
101) Jesse Petersen: Married with Zombies
102) Richard Peck: Three Quarters Dead
103) Henry Chang: Red Jade
104) Cara Black: Murder in the Palais Royal
105) Mordecai Dzikansky & Robert Slater: Terrorist Cop
106) Michael Koryta: So Cold The River
107) Jonathan Maberry: Rot & Ruin
108) Charlie Higson: The Enemy
109) Keith Stern: Queers in History
110) Gena Showalter: Intertwined
111) Hoy Kersh: Suitcase Full of Dreams
112) Peter Moore: Red Moon Rising
113) Simone Elkeles: Return to Paradise
114) Heather Brewer: Eleventh Grade Burns
115) Maria V. Snyder: Inside Out
116) Adriana Trigiani: Brava, Valentine
117) Justin Cronin: The Passage
118) Darren Shan: The Saga of Larsten Crepsley - Birth of a Killer
119) Claire LaZebnik: If You Lived Here, You's Be Home By Now
120) Bekka Black: Dracula
121) Jennifer Solow: The Aristobrats
122) Ivy Devlin: Low Red Moon
123) Carly Phillips: Kiss Me If You Can
124) Cassandra Clare: Clockwork Angel
125) Laurie Halse Anderson: Forge
126) Beth Kephart: Dangerous Neighbors
127) Wendy Mass: The Candymakers
128) Tricia Rayburn: Siren
129) Staci Boyer: Motiv8n' U
130) Tess Gerritsen: Ice Cold
131) Lisa Gardner: Live to Tell
132) Robyn Carr: The House on Olive Street
133) Jennifer McMahon: Dismantled
134) Jeri Smith-Ready: Shade
135) Michelle Monkou: Trail of Kisses
136) Alexandra Diaz: Of All The Stupid Things
137) Amy Brecount-White: Forget-Her-Nots
138) Lee Childs: 61 Hours
139) Ryan A. Conklin: An Angel From Hell

read
41) C.J. Omololu: Dirty Little Secrets
42) Emmett James: Admit One
43) Joy Berry: Good Answers to Tough Questions - Disasters
44) Calvin Alexander Ramsey & Floyd Cooper: Ruth and the Green Book