Hi All! I started this blog years ago as a way to keep in touch with my long distance best friend by talking about our favorite thing, books. :) We were both in college when we made our beautiful blog and now we are all grown up. Nichole is married and living off in the west coast and I'm in the twin cities where my boyfriend and I just moved into our beautiful new condo. Life happened there for a while and Nichole and I were a little too busy to keep our blogger lives going and I sort of fell off the bloggersphere for a while. Life has calmed down a little bit (or I learned to manage my time better), and DeLibrarie is up and going again. It's just me here now writing reviews and posting some goodies but I will leave Nichole's touch on the blog because whether she likes it or not- it's still half hers. :) I decided to leave our "old" about us information below and of course all of her old reviews up. Hope you enjoy!


Del

Update

... So it has been a while... 

Hi. (Sheepish grin)

I'm ashamed that I have been MIA on DeLibrarie lately. However, over the past couple of weeks I have been reading like crazy. So, I'll have a few reviews to put up in the next couple of days. YAY! While I've been reading constantly over the past week, of course I haven't even begun to make a dent in my ever-growing "To-Be Read" pile. Sigh... the life of a reader. I feel like over the past couple of months I've been playing catch up. Everyone has been obsessed with City of Bones and Divergent for years and I finally have gotten around to reading them. AMAZING, as I'm sure all of you already know because I'm super late to that train. 

Basically, All of my free time has been spent reading. I literally just finished Divergent and stopped myself from going to my bookshelf and picking up another book to start. Instead, I put The Little Mermaid in my DVD player and grabbed my computer to catch myself up in the bloggerverse. :) 

Be on the lookout for some reviews. 

Happy Reading. 

Time to Say Goodbye...Sort of

Well the time has finally come...
When I first joined DeLibrarie, Del had already gotten it up and running. She came to me and told me about how excited she was to start a book blog and when I expressed interest in it, she invited me to join her blog to see how I liked it. I always intended on breaking away and creating my own book blog (once I realized how much I loved it) but it was always just easier sharing the blog with Del. We're both SOO busy that it was nice to have someone there to pick up the slack when we needed it. But for the past several months I've been working on developing my own blog and I think it's finally time for me to leave DeLibrarie and officially move to Reading By Moonlight.
DeLibrarie and Reading By Moonlight will always be sister blogs and I'm sure we'll be doing a lot of posts, giveaways, challenges, tours, and all sorts of activities together as time goes on.
So keep an eye out for the changes that I'm sure Del will make here on DeLibrarie (now that I'm gone and half her page isn't taken up by my stuff). And feel free to come check out my new place over at Reading By Moonlight!
I've had SO much fun here at DeLibrarie and I'm glad that it's not necessarily over because otherwise I'd be WAY too sad over leaving right now.
So thanks for following and please continue to do so! DeLibrarie will continue to be as awesome as it has ever been under the careful watch of Del.
Happy Reading!



Review'd: Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries by Marilyn Yu

So, I wrote up this review a good year or two ago I think... and for some reason it never got posted. I don't know what I was waiting for but I came across it today and thought that, I don't know, maybe it should be posted? :P SOOO my huge apologies to the author and the blog whom I won it from. This was supposed to be posted a LONG time ago. But here it is now! I hope you all enjoy it. It was a fantastic read and I highly recommend it! Yay!

 

 

Book Review:

Title: Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries

Author: Marilyn Yu

Published: August 2009 by Art and Lenny

Stars: 5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:

 Relations that Suck: The Story of Eva and Dries is a fable about friendship and destiny. Eva is a creative vampire who likes people and Dries is a traveling spider; their story portrays denial and guilt.

 

DeLibrarie (Nic) Review:

I really enjoyed this book. At first I felt like I was just reading a picture book (a really good picture book mind you) but as I got more into it, I realized that the pictures are so much more than just pictures to go along with the story; they are unique pieces of art that create the story on their own by coming together. Each picture is so intriguing and different, with different models, backgrounds, and styles, that it made me eager to see what was on the next page.

 

The story itself was also incredibly well done in that it was short and sweet but moving and deep. It addresses subjects like guilt and loneliness and friendship and desire and life and several other things. The end is so heartbreaking yet meaningful and necessary that it makes you re-think life and what you (should) hold dear. It also makes me look at all of these teen vampire books coming out and how not many of them address some of these vital issues which Yu brings up and deals with beautifully; or at least gives us a view into what issues a vampire might have. If I were alive for that long, I would be having the same problems and I don't know what I would do if I were in that situation. The story is fairly simple but the connotations within are intrinsic to our own lives, even though the situation is so foreign to our own. I've read books that are longer than this yet have no meaning or are unbelievable. This book was believable and realistic and creative.

All in all, I thought that this book was surprisingly (and pleasantly) deeper than I was expecting and beautifully done. I truly enjoyed it and I'm so thankful I won it because it is a unique treasure. Now, it wasn't the longest or incredibly in-depth story I've ever read, and yet it works just as it is... It doesn't need a lot of detail. It would actually be a bit boring if this were in too much detail simply because a lot of time is spent in bed staring at the ceiling etc. But I still felt like there could have been a little more... I don't know what, but just something. Maybe more talk about why she didn't want to be a vampire anymore and why Dries does what he does in the end and just overall more explanations. I realize that Yu's style (from what I understand of it) is generally meant, in all her creations, to make the reader think about life and the story and their own selves etc... and I got that, it made me do that with myself, but I still got attached to the characters and wanted to know a bit more about their story and why the things that happened to them happened. But seriously, go check it out. Especially if you're into vampires. But if you're not, it's still a unique view on life and what it means to be alive so check it out! Give it a chance :) It's not your average type of story, but it's a good one. I totally recommend it.

 

 

 



Review'd: Chosen at Nightfall by C.C. Hunter

Book Review: 
Title: Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)
Author: C.C. Hunter
Published on April 23rd by St. Martins Press

Goodreads Summary: 

Kylie Galen's life hasn't been the same since her world was turned upside-down in Born at Midnight, Shadow Falls #1, and now an epic conclusion to her journey—not to mention a tough choice between two guys!—is brewing in Chosen at Nightfall:

When Kylie Galen left Shadow Falls, she thought it was the hardest decision of her life. Heartbroken and separated from everyone she loves, she has to embrace her abilities and what it means to be a chameleon. But as Kylie's journey comes to a close, she must return to the camp that started it all...and she must finally chose between the two boys who love her. The werewolf who broke her heart when he chose his pack over her, and the half-fae who ran from their intense attraction before they ever really had a chance. For Kylie, everything will finally be revealed and nothing will ever be the same.

DeLibrarie Review: 
Sigh. I love this series... I'm sad it's over... BUT guess what?!!? A spin-off series!! Yay! It's supposedly about Dela, which is cool, but I hope that Kylie and Lucas are still very present in this new series. Shadow Falls is just such a breathe of fresh air. It's a good idea, with great characters and it is never boring. I will definitely be picking up any C.C. Hunter book that I can find.

Teaser Tuesday

It has been a WHILE since I've posted a Teaser Tuesday post. I haven't had internet in my house this school year so I really only get to blog when I have my computer with me around town...which isn't incredibly often as I'm sure you have noticed.

Right now I am reading The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross. Funny/sad story: I received this in the mail a few days ago from Harlequin teen and it doesn't say anything on the ARC about it being a third book... SO... I started reading it. Today I'm about 100 pages into it and I go to update my goodreads info and that is when I see that it is a part of a series... and it's the end of it... sigh. I can't just stop after reading this much already... So i'll probably finish the third one and then go back and read the first two. Luckily it doesn't really seem like the last one ended on a cliff hanger... :) Check out the giveaway tab for a chance to win an ARC of this book! :)

Anyway... I have two Teasers for you today because I am currently reading two books. (gasp! I know I never am reading more than one at a time!)

The first one is from The Girl with the Iron Touch:

  

 " If this was a young one, she hoped its mama didn't come looking for it. It thrashed against its prison like a child in the middle of a tantrum, but Griffin's power held fast. He refused to allow Finley to support him, and wavered slightly as he stood on the dock, pale-faced."

" I gulped and nodded. Though I didn't understand Clarence's panic or his secrets, I knew he would tell no one what we'd seen. Yet someone needed to know."

That's all I got for you today folks. 

Review'd: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe

Book Review: 
Title: The Sweetest Dark
Author: Shana Abe
Published on April 2nd, by Bantam

Goodreads Summary: 
For fans of Lauren Kate and Libba Bray, The Sweetest Dark is filled with thrilling romance, exciting adventure, and ancient magic. Shana Abé brilliantly captures the drama of post-Victorian England, while unfolding a passionate love story that defies time.
 
“With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.” 
 
Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.
 
England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.
 
Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.
 
Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.

DeLibrarie Review: 
Holy monkeys! Now that's a long summary. I liked this book. It was interesting. It didn't really seem like very much happened in this book. It was your typical Book 1. A girl has a special gift meets someone who helps her understand who she really is. It was a unique story told in a cliche way. I did enjoy it though and I'm really interested to see where it goes from here. I'll definitely read the second one, which comes out in a few months.