Book Review: Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt

Title: Sometimes it Happens
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Links: Website | Twitter
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: July 12th 2011
Format: Hardback
Pages: 320
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Barnes & Noble | Amazon
Summary from Goodreads:
On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Ryan dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction--and one night, into a passionate kiss. The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Ryan, and Noah all in one place. Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think...

Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake ( Anna #1 )

 Title: Anna Dressed In Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Series: Anna #1
Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: August 30th 2011
Format: Hardback
Pages: 316
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Summary from Goodreads:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

New challenge, sort of.

Due to me being high school, I had this sudden idea/ challenge of some sort. In high school, you're forced to read tons of classic books, right? So, why not do it before they're assigned? ;D I will now be reading a classic book, a Spanish book, and a book that I have to read for this mini book club my friends and I have sort of going on. The thing is, I don't want these books to take up most of the now little time that I have for read and I really would rather read YA than classics. I'm not judging, this is sort of my preference at the moment but, hey maybe that'll change in the near future/ future. So, to read those AND have time to read others, I'll be trying to fit one of each at least, every month. Even though this month is nearly at its end, I went ahead and choose my first picks which were;
Classic pick: Which I've already already finished as of today ( 09/24/12 ) and I quite enjoyed it. It was an interesting read and it made me think a lot. >.<

My Spanish pick was Marcada which is Marked from the House of Night series. Yes, I've read it in English, but hey, I'm starting off easy in Spanish because I haven't read in it since years ago. :P

So, any good classics you enjoyed? Any recommendations in general? Spanish, English, doesn't matter. (x

Book Review: Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins ( Temptation #1 )

Title: Temptation
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Series: Temptation #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: June 26th 2012
Format: Paperback
Pages: 383
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Barnes & Noble | Amazon
Summary from Goodreads: 
Your heart misleads you.
That's what my friends and family say. 
But I love Noah.
And he loves me.
We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms. 
It should be 
ROSE & NOAH 
forever, easy.
But it won't be.
Because he's Amish.
And I'm not..

Book Review: Heaven by Alexandra Adornetto ( Halo #3 )

Title: Heaven
Author: Alexandra Adornetto
Series: Halo #3
Links: Facebook | Twitter
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: August 21st 2012 
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Summary from Goodreads:
Only sixteen when she started the series, Ally Adornetto knows how teen hearts beat, and this long-awaited conclusion is certain to be her most popular book yet. 
Bethany, an angel sent to Earth, and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier, have been to Hell and back. But now their love will be put to its highest test yet, as they defy Heavenly law and marry. They don’t tell Beth’s archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, but the angels know soon enough, and punishment comes in a terrifying form: the Sevens, who are rogue angels bent on keeping Beth and Xavier apart, destroying Gabriel and Ivy, and darkening angelic power in the heavens.
The only way Bethany and Xavier can elude the Sevens is to hide in the open, and blend in with other mortals their own age. Gabriel and Ivy set them up at college, where they can’t reveal their relationship, and where there is still danger around each corner. Will Bethany be called back to Heaven – forever – and face leaving the love of her life?
*Please don't read if you haven't read the beginning of the series; there might be spoilers >.<

Book Review: Moonlight Mayhem by Sherry Soule ( Spellbound #2 )

Title: Moonlight Mayhem
Author: Sherry Soule
Series: Spellbound #2
Links: Website | Twitter
Publication Date: July 2nd 2012
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Summary from Goodreads:
Otherworldly Creatures. Dazzling Magic. Fiery Romance.
Shiloh Ravenwolf thought she was getting used to the strange events in Whispering Pines, until the full moon brings another surge of supernatural threats to her coastal town. Ferocious wolves, deadly necromancers, and shambling zombies have descended upon the neighborhood, so Shiloh needs to gain control of her magical abilities—fast!
It sucks that she has a crippling fear of the dark, which for a demon hunter can be an epic problem. But she spends so much time wallowing in the darkness, how can she not become a part of it?
When her classmates are attacked by a mysterious creature and her father is murdered, Shiloh vows vengeance. Forcing her phobias aside, she forms an unlikely coven of supernaturally gifted teens to help her eradicate this menace. Except that’s not all Shiloh has to worry about. She’s battling a different monster within herself and struggling not to become the very thing she fights: evil.
But with demon blood inside her—anything can happen…
May contain spoilers, please don't read if you haven't read the first book in the series.

Book Review: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan ( The Lynburn Legacy #1 )

Title: Unspoken
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: The Lynburn Legacy #1
Links: Website | LiveJournal | Twitter
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 11, 2012
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles
Summary from Goodreads:
Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.
But all that changes when the Lynburns return.
The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Book Review: Silver by Talia Vance ( Bandia #1 )

Title: Silver
Author: Talia Vance
Series: Bandia #1
Links: Publisher: Flux
Publication Date: September 8th 2012
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Summary from Goodreads: 
"As I step into the room, a silver flash blurs my vision. Before I can take a breath, the world falls away."
Brianna has always felt invisible. People stare right past her, including the one boy she can't resist, Blake Williams. But everything changes at a house party where Brianna's charm bracelet slips off and time stands still. In that one frozen, silver moment, Blake not only sees her, he recognizes something deep inside her she's been hiding even from herself.
Discovering she is descended from Danu, the legendary Bandia of Celtic myth, Brianna finds herself questioning the truth of who she is. And when she accidentally binds her soul to Blake, their mutual attraction becomes undeniable.
But Blake has his own secret, one that could prove deadly for them both.
Bound together by forbidden magic, Brianna and Blake find themselves at the heart of an ancient feud that threatens to destroy their lives and their love.

Book Review: Blackwood by Gwenda Bond

Title: Blackwood
Author: Gwenda Bond
Links: Website | Twitter
Publisher: Strange Chemistry (Angry Robot)
Publication Date: September 4th 2012 
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Summary from Goodreads:

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

Waiting On Wednesday ( 3 )

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week I chose...

Book Review: Scary School by Derek The Ghost

Title: Scary School
Author: Derek The Ghost
Series: Scary School #1
Links: Website
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: June 21st 2011
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Barnes & Noble | Amazon
Summary from Goodreads:
You think your school's scary?
Get a load of these teachers:
"Ms. Fang," an 850-year-old vampire
"Dr. Dragonbreath," who just might eat you before recess
"Mr. Snakeskin"--science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie
"Mrs. T"--break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry "Tyrannosaurus rex"
Plus
Gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose
The world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch
And
The narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost
Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends--including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf--and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky.

Book Review: Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: Take A Bow
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
Format: Paperback
Pages: 278
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Summary from Goodreads: 
Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.