Discussion: Do You Have Any Book Related Pet Peeves?

Everyone has pet peeves, right?  A few months ago I let my sister borrow one of my books and she returned it to me in a much less pristine condition that when it left my hands.  I know a lot of people that will not lend their books for this very reason, but I love books and I love to share them as well.  I started thinking that I have some other book related pet peeves:

• I don't like to dog ear mark my books.  Instead I use whatever I can find around to keep my place (actually, I have a post every Monday about my impromptu bookmarks).

• I do like to lend my books, but only to some selected people.  After all I love them all!

• I like to keep my books organized and clean.  I dust my bookshelves at least weekly.

• I HATE to return a book late to the library, I mean I have palpitations just thinking I might get a fee and God forbid something were to happen to a library book while in my possession. 

What are your pet peeves about books?  Did you have one and learned to overcome it?  Do others think you're crazy (I know my hubby does :)

Winner Shower of Books Giveaway!

Hi there!  The winner of the Shower of Books Giveaway is:  

EZRA!

I have email the winner, please email me back within 48 hours :)

Feature and Follow Friday

Feature and Follow Friday is an awesome blog-hop hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read

This week's features are Book that Thing!  and Laura @ Little Read Riding Hood this week's question is:

 

Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then "broke up" with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

 

This is a hard question, let me see… I can think of a few instances in which I was disappointed with a character:

Gabriel from Wither by Lauren DeStefano (just finished it, review coming next week).  I just felt that we didn’t get to know him enough, that his character was not well developed.  

Rebekkah from Graveminder by Melissa Marr.  This is an adult book and I don’t feel like she was mature enough or that she knew her own mind half the time.

Pierce from Abandon by Meg Cabot.  She turned out to be too whiny for my test.  If I were given a second chance at life I would be thankful and try to make a difference!

Nash from the Soul Screamer series by Rachel Vincent.  Oh Nash!  I was so in love with you at the beginning, but you changed (for the worst I might say, even if not all his fault), I couldn’t help but change teams. 

That’s all I can think of right now.

What characters disappointed you?  Please leave a comment and a link so I can stop by :-)

Review: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey (The Monstrumologist #2)

Title: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

Published: October 12, 2010 by Simon & Schuster

Source: Library

Format: Audio book

Challenge(s): Support Local Library,  ABC Challenge

Grade rate: A+

NOTE: This book falls in the genre of horror, I would recommend it to an older reader

While Dr. Warthrop is attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, his former fiancée asks him to rescue her husband, who has been captured by a Wendigo—a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh. Although Dr. Warthrop considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and performs the rescue—and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, and whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius and madness.

My Review

I’m sure that it doesn’t matter how hard I try I can never do this series justice.  The Monstrumologist is a masterpiece and it was hard to imagine that Mr. Yancey would be able to match it, but indeed he did.

The Curse of the Wendigo starts very soon after the end of The Monstrumologist with brave Will Henry as our narrator and protagonist. 

The book can be divided in two parts: first, the expedition to the Canadian forest in search for Dr. John Chandler, and second, the trip to New York City for the monstrumologist’s annual convention.  Both parts have their up and downs and we get introduced to many new characters and a new and perfectly horrid “monster”.  We learn in this book about Dr. Warthrop’s ex-fiancé and one of the reasons why he behaves the way he does (coupled with a very un-loving childhood).  We also meet many of Warthrop’s colleagues in the search for the “Wendigo”.

One of the most fascinating things about this series is not only its mesmerizing story line and plot, but the brilliant writing by Mr. Yancey.   He makes images and pictures come to life just by stringing words together.  He makes a forest comes to life and be another living character, he describes monsters and the monstrosities they commit in a way that had me cringing in disgust and despair.  Take the following paragraph for example:

“There is no future in it, Will Henry,” he said pensively. “The future belongs to science. The fate of our species will be determined by the likes of Edison and Tesla, not Wordsworth or Whitman. The poets will lie upon the shores of Babylon and weep, poisoned by the fruit that grows from the ground where the Muses’ corpses rot. The poets’ voices will be drowned out by the gears of progress. I foresee the day when all sentiment is reduced to a chemical equation in our brains—hope, faith, even love—their exact locations pinned down and mapped out, so we may point to it and say, ‘Here, in this region of our cerebral cortex, lies the soul.’”

Needless to say, I cannot wait to read The Isle of Blood, the third installment in the series.   This series is not for the faint of heart, but it is so, so good.  If you like horror movies (which I do not) give The Monstrumologist a try.

About the cover:  The cover is a lot less scary than The Monstrumologist’s was, and still there is a scary face in the background, kind of sneaking on you.  We can also see the forest and the red symbolizing death and blood.

Waiting on Wednesday: Changeling by Philippa Gregory

Title: Changeling by Philippa Gregory 
Published by: Simon Pulse
Release date: May 28th, 2012

Dark myths, medieval secrets, intrigue, and romance populate the pages of the first-ever teen series from #1 bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.Italy, 1453. Seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is brilliant, gorgeous—and accused of heresy. Cast out of his religious order for using the new science to question old superstitious beliefs, Luca is recruited into a secret sect: The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and danger in its many forms, and strange occurrences across Europe, in this year—the end of days.      Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl shut up in a nunnery so she can’t inherit any of her father’s estate. As the nuns walk in their sleep and see strange visions, Isolde is accused of witchcraft—and Luca is sent to investigate her, but finds himself plotting her escape.     Despite their vows, despite themselves, love grows between Luca and Isolde as they travel across Europe with their faithful companions, Freize and Ishraq. The four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers as they head toward a real-life historical figure who holds the boundaries of Christendom and the secrets of the Order of the Dragon.      The first in a series, this epic and richly detailed drama is grounded in historical communities and their mythic beliefs. It includes a medieval map of Europe that will track their journey; and the interior will include relevant decorative elements as well as an interior line illustration. And look for a QR code that links to a note from the author with additional, detailed information about the setting and the history that informed the writing. With Philippa Gregory’s trademark touch, this novel deftly brings the past—and its salacious scandals—vividly and disturbingly to life.

Why I want to read it:  I have read some of Philippa Gregory's books and love them, I can't wait to start this new YA series. I also love historical books and the premise of Changeling sounds truly amazing.

What's in your WOW this week?

Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Top Ten is hard (or too easy!) as I cannot manage to narrow it down to just ten, so please forgive my cheating : -)

1.  Ash from The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa - Dear reader, if you have visited this blog before you know that I LOVE Ash.  He is handsome, loyal, loving, brave and just pure awesome. 

2.  Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I love Mr. Darcy and how he tried to change and to fix things for Elizabeth, just because he loved her.

3.  Rose from The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead - Rose is one awesome protagonist.  She is also loyal and brave. 

4.  Dash and Lilly from Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (told you I was cheating!) - Funniest couple ever!

5.  Harry Potter and Hermaine Granger from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - Need I say more?

6.  Jax Stone from Breathe by Abbi Glines - So very romantic (*sigh*).  I know is corny, but I just love a take-care-of-me, fall-head-over-heals kind of guy.

7.  Edward Cullen from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer - I just love Edward, I wish Stephenie would have finished Midnight Sun.

8.  Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins - What an incredible woman this is!  The inspiration and the catalyst for change, so brave, resourceful and caring.

9.  Hartley Featherstone from Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday - Another funny lady, a bit of an airhead, but with her heart in the right place.

10. Four and Tris from Divergent by Veronica Roth - Another pair of remarkable people that are not afraid to do what's right.

And because I couldn't stop at ten, here are some more:

Vincent from Die for Me by Amy Plum, Tamani from the Wings series by Aprlynne Pike, Sookie Stackhouse from the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris, Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Evie from Supernaturally by Kristen White, and the list could go on and on and on...

What is in your Top Ten this week?

Remember to enter Reading with ABC's Shower of Books Giveaway here

Review: The Goddess Hunt by Aimee Carter (Goddess Test #1.5)

Title: The Goddess Hunt by Aimee Carter

Published: March 1^st, 2012 by Harlequin Teen

Source: Purchased

Format: eBook

Challenge(s): 2012 eBook Challenge

Grade rate: A

A vacation in Greece sounds like the perfect way for Kate Winters to spend her first sabbatical away from the Underworld...until she gets caught up in an immortal feud going back millennia. Castor and Pollux have been on the run from Zeus and Hades' wrath for centuries, hiding from the gods who hunt them. The last person they trust is Kate, the new Queen of the Underworld. Nevertheless, she is determined to help their cause. But when it comes to dealing with immortals, Kate still has a lot to learn....

My Review

The Goddess Hunt is a short story that happens right after Kate leaves Henry for the first time to spend her six months apart from him.  As you might recall from the end of The Goddess Test, her plan is to go to Greece with James.  While in Greece she gets in the middle of a power struggle among gods that has been going on for over a thousand years. 

I love The Goddess Hunt, and let me count the ways:  1)it was short and sweet, 2)we get to see how gods think, how petty they are, and how long they can hold a grudge for (after all they live forever, right?).  3) It also shows a stronger, fearless Kate, with firm ideas of what is right and wrong, 4) we also learn how much Kate really doesn’t understand about the inner workings of the family she just inherited. AND 5) we get a bit of insight about Henry since some parts are told from his point of view.  I think this is what I liked the most, his pragmatic personality and his carefully concealed feelings (I assure you he has plenty!)

The Goddess Hunt is a short story that I really enjoyed (more than book #2 actually) and I hope we get to see more adventures like this in the next installments.  A must read for Aimee Carter’s fans.

About the cover: Gorgeous like all the covers in the series :)

Remember to enter Reading with ABC's Shower of Books Giveawayhere