Haven't posted in a while...

Hi!

So I haven't posted in a really long time, since I had decided to go on a hiatus from blogging. It takes up too much of my time! But, I'm considering restarting again. So, let me direct your attention to something going on at Enna Isilee's blog, Squeaky Books:

Have you been following Enna Isilee's birthday bash? No?! Well allow me to inform you:

Enna Isilee is the operator of the YA book-blog Squeaky Books, and from August 23rd-September 22nd she's been celebrating her birthday in style with author interviews, guest posts, and giveaways featuring some of the hotest YA titles. It's been a blast so far! CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF EVENTS

The bad news? IT ALL ENDS TONIGHT!

That's right, all FIFTEEN (15) giveaways end at 11:59 pm MST tonight! But don't worry! You still have time to enter! Below I've listed all of the possible things you can win. The winners will be announced tomorrow (September 22nd) on Squeaky Books.

If you live in the US you are qualified to enter every giveaway! Most giveaways are open to Canadian residents as well. Sorry international friends, no contests are open to you. But if you have a friend in the US or Canada that will mail to you then you are welcome to enter!

So? Have you entered yet? NO?! What are you waiting for? Check out the links below and enter to win some wicked sweet prizes!!

• 
  Paranormalcy By Kiersten White!
  
  


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  Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala!
  
  


• 
  One of the GORGEOUS UK Versions of Shannon Hale's Books
  
  


• 
  ARC of Pegasus by Robin McKinley!
  
  


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  Swag and an ARC of Dust City by Robert Paul Weston!
  
  


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  Swag and a signed copy of Spy Glass by Maria V Snyder!
  
  


• 
  Swag and a pre-order of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer!
  
  


• 
  Win one of three sets of punctuation earrings!
  
  


• 
  A signed copy of Ice by Sarah Beth Durst and some Enchanted Ivy swag.
  
  


• 
  Pre-order of Matched by Ally Condie
  
  


• 
  UK edition of The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
  
  


• 
  Win I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
  
  


• 
  Swag and a copy of It's a Mall World After All, by Janette Rallison
  
  


• 
  Two different Janette Rallison Books
  
  


• 
  Pre-read SIGNED ARC of Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
  
  

Graceling and Fire

So, I've decided to combine Graceling and its sequel Fire. I'm sure most people have heard about these books by now, so I'm not going to go into a summary.
My opinion: these books were great! The second was about completely different people, set in a different region, but I didn't mind at all because Graceling was finished so well it was clear the author was done with those characters. I really liked the pace of these books, and thought they were really well written. I liked that the author was able to create realistic "villains", because I sometimes find these kind of characters are less developed. The character of Cansrel was particularly intriguing. All in all, I really enjoyed these books. (They were my Christmas presents!) 4.5 stars.

New Layout

I decided to change up my layout a bit. I was getting bored with that old one and wanted to try a premade one. Do you like it? I was a little annoyed that the layout doesn't let me put a header with the title of the blog. Anyone know how to do that? It would be greatly appreciated if you could tell me. There are a couple other layouts I want to try, so I think I'll test this one out for a few months and see if I like it. What do you think?

Secret Santa

So this year I decided to take part in a secret Santa that was hosted by Kate at The Neverending Shelf. Since her website is mostly about books, everyone was sending out various books to an assigned partner in their country. I was very pleased with the ones I got, which were Aurelia, which I've been meaning to get for a while, and a book I hadn't heard of called The Stepsister Scheme. That one seems to have a fairy-tale theme to it, which i'm sure I'll love. I'll post the reviews of those books soon. I won't mention what I got my partner, just in case she hasn't gotten her package yet.
And on a side note, I'm almost done exams! Yay! First term is almost over. And I watched Mulan last night too. In an all guys house, where I was the only girl in the room. Who knew they liked Disney that much? Well it was fun, but I've got to go study now.
Happy reading!
-Clairedelune

An actual new book review

Yay, I started reading again! I went home for Christmas a few days ago, and it's great. So of course I had to take a trip to the library in between frantic shopping and baking of cookies. And I picked up Alex Finn's new book A Kiss in Time. Her last book was Beastly, which I also reviewed. Oh, and look! It was my first book reviewed too. I think that was quite a while ago, maybe two years? Anyway, about the new book:
Although I didn't like the title of the book because it made it look like one of my mother's romance novels, I did like the story. Alex Finn has again chose to base her story off of a fairy tale, and this time it's Sleeping Beauty. I really enjoyed this book. At first I thought the boy in it would be like in Beastly: a jerk turned into a good guy. But Jack was already a nice guy. The story line was interesting, and I liked that there were actual underlying reasons for the "bad" character's actions. All in all, a quite entertaining read. If you liked Beastly, you'll like this. 4 stars.
I'll be back for a few more books this winter break.

Quick Update

Just a quick update. I don't have a new book to review, since this week I have 3 essays to write, but up next week will be a review of Anne Michaels' stunning book Fugitive Pieces. University life is awesome as always, and I've made a few new friends! Make sure to enter Enna Isilee's contest for Cleopatra's Daughter!
Clairedelune

The Maze Runner

Just look at that cover. Looks creepy, right? Well, it is.
This book is full of mystery and suspense. Almost every chapter ended with a cliffhanger! So it didn't take me very long to read it.
Here's the summary.
You'll notice it says this book is part of a trilogy. What? I didn't realize that until I finished and it said "End of Book One". I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to learning more about this crazy horrible world they live in. But I also think this book can be a stand alone. I didn't think it needed another one, until I hit the epilogue, which throws something new at you. I thought this book was original, and creepy in a Lord of the Flies kind of way. It was perfect for a late birthday present to myself. (hehe) It was incredibly gripping, and interesting, and therefore deserves 4 stars. You go James Dashner!

Hmm. You may notice in the next week or so a certain lack of posts. I'm sorry! I already don't post that often, but I have a midterm and 3 term papers to write. I'll tell you all about it when I'm done.
Oh and something cool is you like musicals: my residence does a musical every year, and I'm going to audition this year. And a possible musical is Beauty and the Beast! I want to be Belle so bad. I am her, in almost every way. I really hope I get the part if we do it. I'll keep you guys updated on that as well.
Cheers,
Clairedelune