Tournament of Heroines

Heard about the YA Tournament of Heroines yet?
I'm voting for Karou from "Daughter of Smoke and Bone"!
Enna Isilee over at Squeaky Books is hosting a contest involving this book, so be sure to heard over there and check it out!
And make sure to vote for Karou!

Top 100 YA Books List

Bolded: ones I have read
Italics: ones I started but didn't finish
Underlined: ones I want to read

1. Alex Finn – Beastly
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Callagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)
18. Christopher Paolini - Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44. Lemony Snicket - Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld - Leviathan (1, 2) And they're both sitting on my bookshelf. I know I'll read them eventually.
86. Scott Westerfeld - Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

So I would say I definitely don't agree with some of these. Personally, I think Shannon Hale's books should be way further up the list than they are, as well as The Queen's Thief books. But I don't know who made the list, so it doesn't matter. Besides, this kind of thing is a matter of opinion, so it doesn't really matter if I agree or not.

SIS Read-a-Thon, hosted by Enna Isilee at Squeaky Books

So originally I had planned to just do friday, and try to put in as many hours as I could before I got to Vancouver, but I'm going to count today too. I'm pretty sure I read more today anyway.

Update: I really wish I had gotten more time, because it's kind of sad how little I read.
Total books read: 2/3 of a book.
Total pages read: 400 (the book has 600 pages so this explains why I didn't even finish one book)
Total time read: 4 hours
How I'm currently feeling: wishing I could have had more time to read, but I went to a wedding today, so that makes up for it! Maybe next time I'll be able to read more.

And now for report #2, since I'm too late for the first one.

1.First of all, give us an end-of-read-a-thon status update. Books read, pages read, you know the drill!
Since this is all in one post, I've already listed it above.
2. What is your favorite book you read during the read-a-thon?
Ha, only read one book, and didn't even finish it.
3. Did you participate in any mini-challenges? Which ones?
Yes, challenges 1, 6-8, and 11.
4. Which mini-challenge was your favorite?
I think 6 was my favourite, because it's always interesting to think how two characters would get along.
5. What has been your favorite thing about the read-a-thon?
Just trying to find the time to read. I haven't been reading as much as I normally do lately.
6. Are you satisfied with how much reading you got done? Did you do more than you expected? Less?
I am not satisfied with how much reading i got done, but I think it would have been different if I had today free to just read.
7. What did you think of the updates? Too close together? Didn't like the time limit?
I think if I had been doing the read-a-thon normally, just at home, I would have enjoyed posting updates.
8. If you could change one thing about the read-a-thon, what would it be?
Maybe the time limit for the updates, but I'm only saying that because I wasn't at home for the whole thing.
9. Would you participate in another read-a-thon hosted by Squeaky Books? Why or why not? (Again, I won't cry if you say "no")
Yep, I definitely would, and I'd probably get a lot more read a second time. If you actually end up reading this Enna Isilee, I really hope you do another one!
10. Any last comments on the read-a-thon?
Good job on your first read-a-thon! I think you organized it really well and the updates with the mini-challenges are a fun idea.

Enna Isilee had us do a a bunch of updates and mini-challenges, but since I've only just gotten home, I thought I'd do them all in one post. Plus nobody reads this blog anyway, so I can do whatever I want. I'm in Canada, so I can't win anything now, but I figure it's fun to do anyway.

Mini-challenge #1:
Favourite and least favourite movie adaptation of a book. Sadly my answers are super similar to Enna's. Apparently we read similar books. But I'd say Harry Potter has been my favourite movie adaptation. They've been really faithful to the books, especially with splitting the last book into two movies. There was too much in that last book to capture in one, so I'm glad it got split up.
And my least favourite adaptation is Ella Enchanted. I loved that book growing up, and originally I was excited about the movie. However, the movie was not faithful to the book, tried to add in modern pop culture references, and added a lame villain. It disappointed me in so many ways. And it gave the book a bad name! I thought it was terrible.
Oh and another favorite movie adaptation was Howl's Moving Castle, because it is awesome.

Mini-challenge #6 (because it's my blog, so I choose which ones to do!): Choose 2 characters from a book and why they go well together.
Going to say Eugenides from The Thief, and Bartimaeus from The Amulet of Samarkand (I'm currently reading the sequel). I feel like they would get along really well, because they're both clever, cheeky, and sneaky. I think they could be friends easily.

Mini-challenge #7: Pick a book that should be taught in school
I am an admitidly biased fan of The Queen's Thief series, but I think it should be taught in class. MWT's books are so clever, they make people smarter. And the first book is so great for middle school ages. I think it could be good in high school too. Good thing I'm going to become a teacher!
I also think that Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" series should be taught. It's a really important subject for many young girls, and it addresses their concerns about looks. Plus I think dystopians are awesome and should always be taught.

Mini-challenge #8: If I had bookshelves full of my favourite books, how would I organize them? This is kind of a boring question for me. The same as I organize them now: alphabetically, and within series.

Mini-challenge #11: If you could live in the world of one book, which would it be?
So first up dystopians are off the list. Probably a book based off of a fairy tale. Because obviously I'd either be a princess, or become one :) Is it cheap for me to just say the world of Grimm's Fairy Tales? I have their complete collection after all.

The Seer and the Sword-Victoria Hanley

This book was a surprise to me. I found it while browsing at the library, which I don't do very often. Usually I request books online rather than getting them on a whim. But I'm so glad I did! This book was so not what I thought it was going to be. It was inventive, and surprised me. This book is apparently Victoria Hanley's first YA novel, and I think she did very well.
The book is about Princess Torina, and her friend Landen, prince of Bellandra, a kingdom Torina's father has conquered. So going in I had some ideas about what the book would be like, what would happen, but I was totally wrong, and glad for it. The author creates believable twists to the story. The book is well written, and very believable. It's a story about two people who have everything taken away from them, and their slow paths to redemption. And about two people who take years to reunite.
I'm so glad I picked up this book. I think this one is a definite re-read in the future. It's a very complex story, but because it's a YA novel and not an adult novel, it's easier to read.
I'll stop the review here so I don't go gushing about how awesome some of the characters develop to be.
Going to give this one 4.5 stars, for being awesome.

Squeaky Books's Read-A-Thon!

This post is to announce to the world that I'm participating in the Spring into Summer read-a-thon hosted by Enna Isilee of Squeaky Books!

This read-a-thon is going to be so great! It's two days where you try do NOTHING but read. It's a great chance to get rid of some of those books that have been sitting on your TBR pile forever.

But that's not all! There will also be awesome mini-challenges and a TON of giveaways! In fact, just for signing up you are entered to win a $25 gift card to Amazon! SO GO SIGN UP! And if you say that Clairedelune sent you, you'll get 5 extra entries to win that gift card! CLICK HERE to enter to win, and know all there is to know about the read-a-thon.

Here's my goal:

I plan to participate on: FRIDAY ONLY
I plan to read:3 books or 600 pages
I hope to read: The Druid's Tune, the Book Thief, and the Seer and the Sword.

Well, have you signed up yet? DO IT NOW!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Edit: had to change two of the books I'm hoping to read. I had to return one of them to the library without reading it, so I can't read the next one either.

My views of ebooks

So I recently began trying out ebooks, because a year ago for Christmas my parents gave me an ereader. I've been getting books from netGalley, but I'm finding it kind of hard to actually read ebooks. I much prefer solid books that I can physically turn the pages of. I'm going to give it another shot though, because the one book I have from netGalley at the moment, C. S. Lakin's Wolf of Tebron, sounds really good. It's just hard for me to get into a book when I have to stare at a screen to read it. If I do end up reading this book, I don't think I'll try any more ebooks for a while. Especially not when I have eleven books on my floor waiting to be read.

The Princess and the Snowbird-Mette Ivie Harrison

So this book was a bit of a lucky find. I happened to chance upon it when I was browsing the library. I had heard about it, but I hadn't known our library had it, so I was very pleased. I saw some reviews for it on Goodreads, and what really puzzles me is that there are so many negative reviews! I don't really understand why people didn't like it, but I guess people are just different in their tastes. As for me, I loved this book. It read like a dream, had no lulls, and was very engaging. I really liked both the main characters, and I really enjoyed reading it. I've read both the two books before this one, and I found myself liking it as much or even more than the previous book. Harrison's writing style is marvellous. The book feels a bit like a fairy tale, only with more substance. I really got into the book. There were definitely a few parts where I was so engrossed, that some of the more dangerous scenes for the characters had me very anxious for them! All in all, I thought this book was great, and it comes highly recommended, especially if you read the previous two books and enjoyed them. 4 stars

Beauty-Robin McKinley

I've been meaning to read this book for a couple years now. I've really enjoyed most of McKinley's books, and only disliked a couple, so I knew I'd be in for a treat with this one. I wasn't disappointed.

This book was so well paced. It reads very easy, with no convoluted long sentences that I've found in other McKinley books. I liked that she stayed quite close to the original fairy tale in her adaptation. I also really liked the characters in this book. The fairy tale focuses on Beauty and her father, but this book made her sisters convincing and sympathetic characters, and I really enjoyed that. Occasionally Beauty's stubbornness was annoying, but this was very minor. It really was only annoying when she insisted how plain she was, even when others told her otherwise. However, I didn't find it realistic that she somehow had gotten pretty red hair by the end. Unless I'm mistaken, hair can't turn red from blonde. People have to be born with it. But that obviously is a very minor annoyance and I'm rambling now.

Overall, this is a great adaptation on the classic tale Beauty and the Beast. Well written and very enjoyable, it's one of my favourite McKinley books. 4 stars!

In the Forests of Serre-Patricia A. McKillip

I really enjoyed this book. I've never read a book by McKillip, but I think in the future I'll have to. I really loved her writing style in this book. It was languid and flowed well, like a dream or a fairy tale. I loved all the fairy tale elements in this book. I don't think I've read a book like this in a while. Her writing style is very well done, with an excellent choice of words. She knows what should be said and what doesn't need to be. I think the book ended well; the conflict was resolved, but I was left still wondering at what might happen to a couple of the characters. The little bit of wonder left at the end of this book was just perfect. Overall I greatly enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it to lovers of fairy tales. 4 stars.

Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban

This book surprised me. I felt it had a slow start, and it took me a while to get into it, but once the real story started, I really enjoyed it. This book didn't turn out anything like what I expected, and I really enjoyed that. I figured that it would be all about her time in California and less about her own world, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was a little bit confused about the time differences between the two worlds though. Andrea started the book at around 14 years old, but when she was in California, the equivalent age was 17. I was a bit confused because I figured her immaturity came from her young age, being 14, but that might not be the case. Nonetheless I found her character to be the most believable in the book. I really enjoyed the whole second half of this book. The author's writing is quite good, but I felt the dialogue was a bit awkward at times, simply because the characters occasionally used a word or phrase that didn't really fit with the medieval setting, but I was able to ignore that and focus on the story, which was intriguing. I felt that the language problems were brushed over a bit too easily as well, but I was also able to ignore that. I'd definitely recommend this to teens who enjoy an interesting book. 3 stars.

Happy Easter!

I'm home for Easter this weekend, with only one more exam to finish on Wednesday. I'm glad to be almost finished the school year! It'll mean many more books for me to read, which means more book reviews! Can't wait. Although the only thing about the summer I'm less enthusiastic about is the fact that I need to find a new job. I have no idea what to apply for. Maybe a job at the library. We'll see. Anyway, I'll have a new book review up within the next two weeks!

-Clairedelune

Pegasus by Robin McKinley

Goodreads summary
As some of my past reviews have shown, I've loved some of McKinley's books, but disliked others. However, I really loved this book. Her description is just beautiful, and rather than making me lost, it brought me deeper into the world she's created here. She's really thought out the concept of pegasi, and her descriptions of their world make sense. I love the contribution she's made to pegasus mythology here. Although I got annoyed with the character a few times, her actions made sense. The writing of this book is really good, and I loved the story, however when I finished this book I found it was one of two books. McKinley normally doesn't write sequels, but this book will have a sequel sometime in the future. The downside to this was the point in which McKinley decided to end this book. I felt that it ended midscene, which created a really jarring effect when I was done. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot better if she had ended the book at a different point. It didn't make sense to me where it ended, and that was a disappointment to me. However, I really enjoyed the book, and I would recommend reading it if you can stand waiting for the sequel. Or better yet, wait until the sequel is out and then read both. I'm excited to see where she goes with the story, and I'll definitely be reading the sequel with it comes out. Overall, a rating of 4 stars, because of the ending.

Court Duel

The Goodreads summary for this book is very brief, but basically it's a sequel to Crown Duel, and is about a court following the removal of a corrupt ruler. I've been re-reading it over the past day, and it's really renewed my love for this book. It's wonderfully written, and it had me completely engrossed in the story. Sherwood Smith is excellent in her description of the world of this book. It seems very realistic, and the extra touches about court etiquette were really interesting. This book was great as a re-read, because I noticed so many little things that went right over my head the first time. The prose is well-written, and the dialogue doesn't sound forced at all. Unlike other books I've read where they try to use language to evoke a sense of the medieval, it felt natural. Also, I loved the romance in this book. Meliara is such a well-written character; she stays true to herself and is willing to admit her own faults. Overall, a great read, and highly recommended. I love this book so much that it kept me from studying for finals! I'd give it 4 stars.

Reckless by Cornelia Funke

Summary on Goodreads
After a long hiatus, I'm back, hopefully for good. I recently read Reckless, and loved it! It was everything I was wanting in a book: fairy tales, complex characters, adventure, and wonderful writing. I loved the new world Funke gives us here. I also really enjoyed the relationship between the two brothers! The pictures at the beginnings of every chapter were a bonus, but one chapter near the beginning really freaked me out because of them! All in all it was a good read, although I felt there were a few loose ends. I would recommend reading this if you're a fan of Funke and fairy tales. (Bonus alliteration!)