Thursday, March 29, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday



Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Parajunkee’s View and Alison at Alison Can Read. It is a great way for bloggers to make new friends and find new blogs to follow. Go to either blog, follow ALL the instructions and then add your link to the list. It’s just that easy!

This week’s question:


Do you read one book at a time or do you switch back and forth between two or more?


I usually read more than one book at a time. Right now I have five books on my Goodreads "current reading list" but in reality I am reading three right now.  I don't move them to my "read" list until I have posted a review.  I am pretty good and switching back and forth between multiple books.


Please leave your answer to the question in the comment section and I will stop by and check it out!  

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Sometimes Life Throws You a Curveball...

Hello followers!

As you may have noticed, I have been MIA for about 2 weeks. Part of that was due to taking a much needed break during our official Spring Break. I planned to return to posting regularly after that break ended, but as the title indicates, life threw me one gigantic curveball.

First, I was trying to get a new job (a much needed new job), but that fell through. So I spent a couple of days moping about that. Then, over the course of two days, both my daughter and I were in separate car accidents. We are both okay, but the emotional toll has been difficult. I couldn't even string two words together in a coherent Facebook status update, let alone write a review or any kind of post.

But finally, it seems that life might be calming down. At least, I hope it is. I will be easing myself back into posting over the next week or so. I am going to set aside the writing of a review that is driving me nuts and write one on a different book. I am going to jump back in to the weekly memes I participate in as well.

Thanks for hanging in there and supporting Mom Reads My Books.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Spring Break 2012

This week is Spring Break for my children and I. We have the whole week off! Yay! I have spent the last three days just hanging out, watching chick flicks with my girls and doing some crafting. Oh, and some of this:




Except I am not nearly as cute as this puppy! 

Never fear, my week off will come to an end (sad face) and I will be posting reviews again soon. I just needed some time to chill out without the constant pressure I put on myself. I am actually reading a book that I will NOT be reviewing~shocker! So stay tuned for some new reviews going up in the next few weeks. 

Happy break!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Teaser Tuesday March 13


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
·         Grab your current read
·         Open to a random page
·         Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
·         BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

This week's teaser is from page 162 of Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr:


"And Donia was beside her before the words could come out. She put her hand on the center of Aislinn's stomach and pressed ice-tipped fingers into Aislinn's skin. The ice pierced Aislinn, but as fast as that ice melted , more extended, cutting deeper into Aislinn's stomach."


Fragile Eternity is the third book of the Wicked Lovely books. Very, very good books about Faeries. I have really enjoyed them.




Please leave a link to your Tuesday Teaser in the comment section and I will stop by and check it out!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday #28





Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Parajunkee's View and Alison at Alison Can Read. It is a great way for bloggers to make new friends and find new blogs to follow.  Go to either blog, follow ALL of the instructions and then add your link to the list.  Be sure to follow the featured blogs. This week's they are Hesperia Loves Books and Novel Days. It is just that easy!


This week's question:


Have you ever looked at a books cover and thought "this is going to be horrible?" But instead, you were pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.


Hold on, I am going to go stare at my bookshelf. By which I mean I will go stare at my "Read" shelf on Goodreads. 


I found one! That was hard. I tend to be a "judge a book by its cover" kind of girl.  But, the new cover for the book The Way We Fall does not appeal to me at all (I think it is because of the yellow, I don't like yellow very much). I know there is a picture within the words, but unfortunately, the yellow is what I see, it distracts from the image of the girl on the road. 



This book was excellent. I really enjoyed it. It is the story of a teenage girl trapped on a quarantined island due to a strange virus that is killing the island's residents. This cover could have really been a turn-off for me, but I requested the book from NetGalley when it had this cover which I actually like better:



So, have you ever disliked a cover, but loved the book? Leave a link to your Feature and Follow Friday in the comment section and I will stop by and check it out.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Review: Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould




Title:  Cross My Heart  
Author:  Sasha Gould
Genre:  Young Adult Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Random House Children’s Books
Imprint:  Delacourt Books for Young Readers
Format:  Digital Galley via NetGalley
Release Date:  March 13, 2012

Venice 1585

When 16-year-old Laura della Scala learns that her older sister, Beatrice, has drowned, she is given no time to grieve. Instead, Laura’s father removes her from the convent where he forcibly sent her years earlier and orders her to marry Beatrice’s fiancĂ©, a repulsive old merchant named Vincenzo. Panicked, Laura betrays a powerful man to earn her way into the Segrata, a shadowy society of women who deal in only one currency—secrets. The Segrata seems like the answer to Laura’s prayers. After she joins their ranks, Vincenzo is publicly humiliated and conveniently exiled. Soon, however, Laura begins to suspect that her sister’s death was not a tragic accident but a cold-blooded murder—one that might involve the Segrata and the women she has come to trust. (Summary courtesy of NetGalley)

Cross My Heart is set against the backdrop of beautiful Venice, Italy. But that beauty is not always what it seems. Mystery, intrigue and even murder abound in a city with more secrets than one can imagine. Those secrets are collected by the Segrata, a group of society women that may be more powerful than the men who run their city.  Somehow, Laura della Scala has found herself entwined with these women and she is unsure if that is a good thing…or the worst mistake of her young life.

I must admit, I am a sucker for historical fiction. The beauty and pageantry of the 1500s to the 1700s fascinates me. The fact that this book is set in 1585 was an immediate draw for me. Another draw: it is set in the one country in the world I am dying to visit—Italy. So, Cross My Heart had a lot of expectations to live up to right off the bat. Luckily, it did not disappoint. It gives the reader a strong plot and great characters.  It has a good, strong plot—after spending six years in a convent, Laura is suddenly summoned home after the death of her sister. Sadly, the death of her sister is not the only difficulty Laura must overcome. Cross My Heart also has some wonderful characters, ones I came to really like and care about. Laura is a wonderful heroine, searching for who she really is and finding her way in a world that is completely foreign to her. Despite the time period the book is set in, Laura is a strong female character with a mind of her own. And my new book crush has to be Giacomo. Granted, I do tend to melt when it comes to those Italian boys (after all, I married one), but Giacomo stole my heart. He is so sweet and sensitive, I just adored him. 

Perhaps the best part of this story was the mystery of Beatrice’s death and the Segrata. I cannot really say too much about it as I could give away integral parts of the story, but suffice to say that this book will keep you guessing. I swear every time I thought I had it all figured out, I turned out to be completely wrong. And I mean completely wrong. That is part of what makes this book so good. I don’t want to read a book that I figure out early on, I want it to keep me guessing right up until the end. Cross My Heart did just that.

Finally, I absolutely loved the fact that Cross My Heart is a stand-alone book. It is not “Book 1” or “Part 1.” I actually liked that, because I am getting a little weary reading books that leave me hanging. Being able to sit down and read a book from beginning to end and not have to wait another year for any kind of resolution was wonderful! That is not to say that I wouldn’t enjoy reading more from Ms. Gould or reading more about Laura della Scala or the Segrata, I just enjoyed reading a book that had an actual end.

All in all, Cross My Heart is a great read. It is filled with mystery, intrigue and beauty. I really enjoyed it and I will be recommending it to my librarian and teacher friends, as well as my daughters.

My grade for Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould:

 
 


Monday, March 5, 2012

Teaser Tuesday (March 6)



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
·         Grab your current read
·         Open to a random page
·         Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
·         BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)


Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!



My teaser this week comes from Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig (this is an digital galley, so the quote is subject to change when the book comes out on March 13):


"And, well, in public school, where there were all sorts of fashion statements and disasters on a daily basis, no one had ever seemed to care what I wore. But now I could feel eyes on my nondesigner skirt as I crossed the courtyard. Eyes of the very worst kind. Girl eyes."




Please leave a link in the comment section with a link to your Tuesday Teaser and I will stop by and check it out! 





Thursday, March 1, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday #27




Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Parajunkee’s View and Alison at Alison Can Read. It is a great way for bloggers to make new friends and find new blogs to follow. Go to either blog, follow ALL the instructions and then add your link to the list. It’s just that easy!

This week’s question:


What book would you love to see made into a movie or television show and do you have actors/actresses in mind to play the main characters?


Most of my favorite books have recently been made or are about to be made into movies, so this is a tough question. I just read a book that I really liked, Cross My Heart**, a historical fiction piece with no paranormal aspects, that would make a great movie. There is action, romance and intrigue and I really enjoy period pieces.  I think Molly Quinn would be perfect for the main character, Laura. I can't think of anyone for the main male character, so perhaps an unknown actor would be the best choice. 


This is Molly Quinn (she plays Alexis on the tv show, Castle).






What about you? Let me know what book you would like to see made into a movie by leaving a link to your Feature and Follow Friday in the comment section. I have several options for following my blog:  Twitter, Facebook, GFC, Networked Blogs and Linky Followers!  


**I will be posting a review of Cross My Heart in the next few days. It will be released on 3/13.