Sunday, December 25, 2011

In My Mailbox - Christmas Style

It is fitting that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren in which bloggers talk about the cool new book related objects that we recieved in the last week... or several weeks if you're me and forget to do this meme pretty much all the time. So like I mentioned... how fitting is it that the meme where you talk about all the new book related things is on the one day a year where you get lots of fun presents?! My friends and family never actually know what books to get me because I have SO MANY... and they can't just go in my room and check to see if I have a certain one because I live at home in Minneapolis, but I also go to school in South Dakota... and I have bookshelves in both houses... So they gift me with many Barnes and Noble giftcards.

Other than the giftcards... I've been a shopping fiend the last couple of days due to some last minute christmas shopping... and now my TBR pile is bigger than EVER... it's daunting...

So what's new you ask?
1. Legacy by Molly Cochran
2. Crave by Melissa Darnell
3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
4. Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey
5.The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
6. Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I have a lot of reading to get done over break... yikes. Problem: I have NO freaken clue... which book I am going to read next... right now... I just kind of sit and stare at my TBR book shelf... and just whimper. To many books to read... not enough Delilahs to read them all. I feel like I'm not the only one that has this problem. ;)

Saturday, December 24, 2011

End of Year Book Survey 2011

I can't believe that it's already that end of the year... the last 4 months flew by... like WOOSH! This lovely little survey is hosted by Jamie at the Perpetual Page Turner. I love surveys... :) So here we go...

1. Best Book You Read in 2011?
This is a really difficult question... I read SO many of my favorite books this year... Hunger Games, Hush,Hush, Hex Hall (...hmmm... most of which apparently started with an H ... odd) BUT I would have to say that the BEST book is Delirium by Lauren Oliver. It was just an amazing read... the type of book that you can't stop talking about even weeks after you finished it. I just love this book.

Runners up:
1. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins: This book is by far one of my favorite books of all time. I just adore Sophie! Favorite heroine ever!
2. Hush, Hush by Becca FitzPatrick... One word... Patch.
3. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I love these books. They really are such a fantastic series.
2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
Haven by Kristi Cook. It's not that it was bad... it's that I went into it with impossible expectations. I loved the paranormal boarding school idea... and it just turned into every YA cliche that existed. I was really sad that it wasn't what I wanted, still entertaining... just not what I was hoping for.

3. Most Surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep. I didn't have really any expectations with this one. I hadn't heard anything about it... so when I saw it at BN and liked what I read... I decided to take a little risk and buy it. Glad I did, because now it's one of those titles that I don't shut up about. :)

4. Book You Recommeneded to people most in 2011?
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. I just love this book...  ANY time I went to the store with a friend, or they were "book shopping" in my book shelves... I basically force fed them this book. I can't get enough of it... so I vicariously live through those who have not read them yet and can experience them all over again.

5. Best sereies you discovered in 2011?
I feel like saying Hex Hall again is cheating... mainly because the whole series isn't out yet... so I think in order to avoid just saying Hex Hall, Touch of Frost or Delirium again... I'm going to do a series that is entirly already published. So I pick... Wonderous Strange by Lesley Livingston. I read the whole series during the January part of winter break last year... and loved it.

6. Favorite New Authors you Discovered in 2011?
... I probably shouldn't say Rachel Hawkins, right?! This is turning into the "survery in which Del tells us how much she likes Hex Hall." :) Too bad... I pick Rachel Hawkins. :) But I also pick Lauren Oliver and Becca Fitzpatrick. They are pretty much the greatest things ever!

7. Best Book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Stuff of Legend by Ian Gibson. Occasionally, I break my YA streak and decide to read an adult fiction or science fiction title. Stuff of Legend is a science icition/fantasy (more fantasy than science fiction) and it was hilarious! I liked that it had some fairy tale elements in it, and was just full of funny banter. Love love love!

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
The Vampire Stalker by Allison Van Diepen. I read this book in like 10 minutes. Ok so not really... but it felt like 10 minutes. It was the fastest read of my life... and I loved every minute of it.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
Passion by Lauren Kate. I LOVE the fallen series, I love love stories... Passion was a fallen book all about Daniel and Luce's past love stories... ummm... can you say perfection. I was DYING to read this book... like would have sacrificed small child...ok so not that far... but I would have done lots of things to get my hands on this book... and then I did and it was wonderful. :)

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?
Wildefire by Karsten Knight. It's puuuurdy!

11. Most Memorable Character in 2011?
Easy peasy. Patch from Hush, Hush. aka... my book boyfriend. In my head, we go on amusment park dates, and ice cream dates. He saves me from his scary fallen angel friends... it's a wonderful relationship. What?! I'm not crazy... it's true... He loves me!!!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?
Delirium. That's why I picked it for best. It's just so perfect. love love love.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I really really like this book. There are still times when I think about Sam. She just feels so real to me. Props to Lauren Oliver for creating a hauntingly real character. That's why this book sticks with me, everything about it is just SO believable.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
The Hunger Games. I have this horrible habit of not wanting to read books that my friends tell me to read because ... I actually have no idea why I do that but I do. I waited forever to read this book but on the bright side the whole series was out so I could read them in a row instead of waiting 3 years. :)

15. Favorite Passage/Quote from a book you read in 2011?
Pretty much any dialogue that Sophie has from Hex Hall but my favorite might have to be...
"Archer isn't hot anymore- he tried to kill me. And his girlfriend is Satan."

16. Book that you readin 2011 that you would most likely reread in 2012?
This is hard because there are really only 2 books that I ever reread... those being Ella Enchanted and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.... neither of which did I read in 2011.... but if I did reread books more often... I suppose I would read A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies. I read an e-copy of that book long before it was released and I got the hardcover copy as a gift... So i think that I might reread that one. We'll see.

17. Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss...) Be careful of spoilers!

Delirium... you know the scene if you've read it. It's basically the last scene... and it breaks your heart. That scene is the reason why I love that book so much. That scene makes the whole book... I drove over to nic's house to give her the book so she could read it just so we would talk about THAT scene... it's amazing. What you haven't read it?! Read it... then e-mail me about how epic that scene was.

I love surveys. :) I think it was painfully obvious which reads were my favorites...:) How about you? Send me a link in the comments to your survey, i'm excited to see what everyone else loved this year.


Shelf Candy

Merry Christmas Eve All! I'm all done shopping and just need to finsih wrapping up the presents for my family and then I'm all ready for tomorrow morning. So far, I've really enjoyed my time away from school and I'm loving the fact that I finally have time to read a little more!! Nic and I also have seen more of eachother, which of course is great!! Saturday is Shelf Candy day here on DeLibrarie and that aesthetically pleasing meme is hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews.

This week the cover that I'm in love with the most is:

Switched by Amanda Hocking!


Why do I lvoe this cover so much? I love the color red... and as you can see there is red all over this cover. I also love the black art around the title and the flowers. There really isn't anything that I don't like about this cover. I'm excited to read this one, not to judge a book by its cover... but I really hope the inside matches the outside. :) I'm sorry... I totally cover judge.



Friday, December 23, 2011

Review'd: Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Book Review: 
Title: Kiss of Frost
Author: Jennifer Estep
Published: November 29th, 2011 by Kensington
Rating: 4 Stars


Back of Book Summary: 
I'm Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Academy, and I have no idea how i'm going to survive the rest of the semester. One day, I'm getting schooled in swordplay by the guy who broke my heart- the drop dead gorgeous Logan, who slays me every time. Then, an invisible archer in the Library of Antiquities decides to use me for target practice. And now, I find out that someone at the academy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I'm afraid if I don't learn how to live by the sword- with Logan's help - I just might die by the sword...


DeLibrarie (Del) Review: 
I just adore this series. It's such a quick, light read and it's just a super fresh new idea ... or mix of old ideas I haven't quite decided which yet. I love YAs that take place in boarding schools and I love mythology books... so this is a perfect blend of the two. Kiss of Frost has the same conversational feel that Touch of Frost had and I really love that about these books... it makes them really very fun to read. The only issue that I had with this one was that it was almost too predictable... I was able to tell when the author was trying to throw us off and when she was trying to foreshadow... so I wasn't surprised in the slightest when we found out who the bad person was... so don't expect a crazy twist. If you go into this book with the expectations of it being an easy, entertaining read... then you won't be disappointed. 


Monday, December 19, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

I CAN FINALLY DO A TEASER TUESDAY!!! Why? Because I'm finally reading a book!!! This makes me a very happy reader. So I am very excited to announce that this week's Teaser Tuesday, which is hosted by Should Be Reading, is from Jennifer Estep's...

Kiss of Frost (A Mythos Academy Novel)

"The seconds stretched out and turned into a minute, then two. Still, he didn't say anything- he just kept looking at me with his blue, blue gaze. 'Kiss me or let me go,' I finally said in a miserable voice, hot tears stinging my eyes. 'I don't care anymore.'"

Isn't it juicy! :) If you haven't read the first book in this series (Touch of Frost) it is a really good series. I got lots of new books with my BN giftcard that I got from my grandma for christmas so I'm excited for the In My Mailbox post (which will be posted on CHRISTMAS) :) Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

Til Tomorrow...

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Time Will Come

Hello fellow bloggers! I'm FINALLY done with finals and HOME!! AND... I've had a fabulous start to my Christmas season

 I went and saw the Broadway tour of Les Mis today. :) Which was fantastic...
My friend Hannah and I in our Les Mis apparel. 
Chamber Singers had a kick ass Ugly sweater party earlier this week... 
Becca, Me, and Bailey (My best friends in Chamber Singers)
And I had a great last day in vermillion with all of my college buddies...
That's the Chamber Singers. :) It's a picture from September of this year, but those nice people are who I spent my last day in vermillion with. I'm in the front row in the blue jersey... and Jared my awesome boyfriend is two to the right and up one... staring down at the floor. :)
All the festivities have been great but...

It's been a while since I've even been able to pick up a book that isn't a text book of some sort, but I've had Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep sitting on my night stand eagerly waiting for me to have a chance to pick it up and read it. I am home, I am surrounded by all of my neglected books and I am ready to get some serious reading and reviewing done. 

Now down to some business... 


The Time Will Come is a meme hosted by Books for Company in which I tell you about a book that is currently gathering dust on my bookshelf. This week I'm talking about...


Hourglass by Myra McEntire


I have SOOO many books that I've purchased in the last 4 months and just haven't had time to open... this being one of those books. It's really sad actually because a lot of those books (this one included) I like... rushed to the bookstore to buy when they came out, and then they just ended up sitting on my TBR shelf... untouched... and sad. Toy Story gave me the impression that all inanimate objects actually have feelings... and I have been making all of my books feel very abandoned lately. :( This is one that I will def. try to get read before I got back to school in a month.  

Have a great Monday and sing lots of Christmas songs. :)

In My Mailbox

Two weeks ago I got two packages in my mailbox, both prizes I had won from giveaways. So I have a few thank you's to shout out here before I get started... Thank you to the Story Siren for hosting In My Mailbox this lovely Sunday, Thank you Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic for hosting the giveaway which got me 10 author designed bookmarks - they're awesome! And finally a big Thank you to Misty over at Book Rat for hosting the giveaway which got me La Femme Fatale by Marilyn Yu and Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries by Marilyn Yu. Everyone likes getting a little something in the mail but this was awesome.
While I would love to show off all of my bookmarks, I'm afraid I left the majority of them at school and now that I'm home, I only have one with me. Suffice it to say, they are all VERY unique and totally awesome. I love bookmarks... I can't wait to find a good book for each of them :)

 Again, I'm focusing on Oriana's Eyes right now but this one will get read in about five minutes once I'm done. It looks creepy :)
I've skimmed through this one because there is a video on one of the cards so I read the card in order to watch the video and it was a great companion video. This story has a lot in it which makes you think about yourself and your own life and it gives a whole new perspective on vampires; at least as far as I can tell. Technically I haven't read it yet but I think I get the gist of the main idea of it. Can't wait to dive into this one either!

These two books are incredibly unique and inspiring and creative and I'm so thankful I won them because I feel they're a wonderful addition to my personal library. It's really eye-opening to see the different forms of literature that are being produced out there by such creative writers/artists. I never would have imagined stories being published like this, but I love that someone else thought of it :)

Happy Sunday everyone!! And Happy Holidays!!


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday

Good morning. Today is Tuesday... if you didn't know.... and it is also my boyfriends birthday. Yay! He lives in a fraternity house... and his "brothas" came and woke him up at 12:00 and kidnapped him and took him to perkins.... naturally he felt that if he didn't get to sleep... I didn't :) so he picked me up and threw me in the car too. (He actually just wanted me to come...) Point of story: I'm SLLEEEEEEPPPPYYY, and have lots of stuff to do before tomorrow. blah. BUT my saving grace is reading/blogging... so this weeks TOP TEN TUESDAY hosted by the Broke and Bookish is:

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine: Easy. I've read this book easily 7 or more times. I love Char, he's basically the first book boy that stole my heart. This book really can do no wrong for me.

2. Holes by Louis Sachar: This is another one that I've read more than once. Also one of my favorites.
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: I don't know if this really counts as a children's book... but I read it as a child (once again more than once). My mom used to read this series to me when I was little to get me to go to bed.
4. The Witches by Roald Dahl: Along with Gail Carson Levine, I read EVERYTHING that Roald Dahl wrote. I think that Witches was my favorite of everything of his that I read.
5. A Week of Raccoons by Gloria Whelan: This is a tiny little book...  but it's the first book that I ever remember loving. I had it memorized because I made my mom read it to me so much. I still could probably recite parts of it.
6. The BFG by Roald Dahl: This one was also one of my favorite Roald Dahl books. I just love his descriptions of all the different giants.
7. The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine: I love the worlds that Levine creates, her fairytale characters are just so cool.
8. Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrik: This is one that I had to read in elementary school, and then the teacher read to us in a later grade. It's just a book that I've always remembered.
9. The Giver by Lois Lowry: Oh the book that started my love for Dystopic novels.
10. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot: Meg Cabot is another author who I have read most of the books in which she has published and The Princess Diaries was the first of hers that I got my hands on. It's technically a YA but I read it when I was a youngen so I counted it. :)

That is all I have for you today my friends!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Freaken Hot Fridays: Supernatural


It's Friday!! (Insert annoying audio clip of Rebecca Black attempting to sing) ;) Sorry if I got it stuck in your head. It's stuck in my head and I'm the misery loves company type. ;) Kidding... kind of. Fridays here on DeLibrarie is a fabulous excuse for Nic and I to talk about... whatever we feel like. The last FHF was about YA angel books... and how I love them dearly. This week... honestly has nothing to do with YA literature... but I've seen a lot of blogs that have little buttons or pictures on the sidebar... of supernatural. :) What I haven't really taken time to do yet on this blog... is freak out about how much I freaken love this series.

Let us go back to September 13th, 2005. I am a young 15 year old girl who is wrapped up in the world that is Gilmore Girls... I see a preview for a tv show that is premiering right after GG... and OMG that's Dean. Dean was my favorite of Rory's boyfriends... and I missed him. ( If you aren't familiar with Gilmore Girls... Dean is played by Jared Padelecki... who plays Sam in Supernatural. And for no other reason than to confuse the crap out of GG fans... they named Sam's brother... Dean. Who is played by Jensen Ackles) I watched the pilot cuddled up in my blanket with a pillow close to my face to cover my eyes if I got a little scared. After the episode ended... I was hooked. I haven't missed an episode yet. (I have DVR... so it's pretty much not possible to miss an episode)

Seriously, What is NOT to love about Supernatural?

You have Dean.
Yumm.
:)
And...
Sam...

You have some seriously bad ass Villains...
1. Yellow Eyes
2. Lillith
3. Lucipher
4. Ruby
5. Crowley
6. Dick

They have the greatest recurring characters:
1. BOBBY!!
2. CAS!
3. Ellen and Jo
4. Becky
5. Rufus
6. Lisa and Ben

I love that they use mythological creatures that actually have real lore...
1. Vampires
2. Demons
3. Angels
4. Djinns
5. Werewolves
6. Wendigo
7. Bloody Mary
8. Ghosts
9. Shifters

Seriously that list could go on and on and on......

and my favorite thing about Supernatural... (other than Dean ;))...

The Trickster Episodes!

I can't decide which is my favorite... maybe the one where Dean dies hundreds of times... "pig in a poke"... or the one where they hop around in different television shows... "I'm sam... and I have genital herpes." :) They are the funniest... and I love them. :)

Seriously though... if you haven't seen this show... you seriously need to watch it. Start at the beginning though... this isn't really a series that you can just hop into... the returning characters might get confusing. :)



Thursday, December 1, 2011

It's That Time Again!


If you are not familiar with the YA Sisterhood and their tournaments... then hey... good thing you're reading this because they are pretty awesome and this post is all about them. This past summer they hosted their first annual Tournament of Crushes, where the bloggerverse nominated a bunch of our favorite book boys that we are crushin' on, then various bloggers would advocate for their personal favorites and then every couple of days a new pair would face off. There were (friendly) twitter wars, alliances formed, and even some author prizes. Ultimately, Team Kilt got defeated by the united fans of Cassandra Clare's Jace. (I'm still bitter that Jace swept both  Crush Tournaments last summer.) 

So now you are all caught up on the first tournament... which leads me to the point of this post. The Crush Tournament was such a success that the ladies of YA Sisterhood wanted to do some other tournaments... we voted and the YA Tournament of Heroines was born. Check out the links I posted at the top and it will lead you to all the nominated heroines, who they are up against, and when. I have some ladies that I know I will be voting for, I have a couple days where I don't know much about either of the heroines but will enjoy reading their posts trying to persuade me to vote for their heroine... 

BUT...

The one thing that I KNOW for sure... is that I WILL be twittering it up on Dec. 9th because I am SOOO


Sophie is by FAR my favorite lady in the tourney. She's snarky, she's funny, she's strong, and she's a kick ass character. I love reading about her life. She is being hosted by Mindy of Magical Urban Fantasy Reads. Sophie is up against Luna for her first round... Mindy doesn't seem to worried about this one... but honestly I am... I love Luna and I know that most people have read the Harry Potter books. I know that if I hadn't read one of the books, I would vote for the heroine that I knew from the book I had read. So I am really hoping that Sophie can beat out the likable Harry Potter character and make it to the second round... because she's awesome. 

So click on over to the YA Sisterhood blog on December 9th... and vote for Sophie! Yay #teamsophie!

 
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