Monthly Recap - February 2014

In February I read a total of 8 books! Here's what I read and a mini review of each.

Have you read any of these? What did you read in February? Let me know in the comments!

"Real" Book Challenge - February Update

In January I read 8 books and last month I was also able to read 8 books, bringing my total so far to 16 books for this challenge! Here's what I read in February:

1. Need by Carrie Jones



2. Captivate by Carrie Jones


3. Entice by Carrie Jones


4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson


5. Wonder by R.J. Palacio


6. The Giver by Lois Lowry


7. Blood Loss by Alex Barclay


8. Undercover by Beth Kephart

Book Haul #23

I haven't done a book haul in quite a while, so I thought I would post one of the books I've received recently (within the last 3 months or so).

Book Outlet:

Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck

Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck

Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck
Entice by Carrie Jones

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

The River by Mary Jane Beaufrand

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Undercover by Beth Kephart

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Echo by Alyson Noel

Mystic by Alyson Noel

Night by Elie Wiesel

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Half Price Books:

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier

Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray

Blood Loss by Alex Barclay

The Giver by Lois Lowry

For Review:

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Half Bad by Sally Green
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Let me know if you've read any of these and share your hauls with me below!

The River Review

Goodreads

TITLE: The River

AUTHOR: Mary Jane Beaufrand

PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

PUBLICATION DATE: 2/10/2010
PAGES: 224

MY RATING: 

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: Veronica Severance feels cut off from the world. Forced to move from the city to rural Oregon with her parents, she is haunted by loneliness and the chilling sounds of the Santiam, the river that runs through her backyard.

Through the fog of isolation, Ronnie finds herself becoming close with Karen, a young girl whom she babysits. But when she discovers Karen's body on the banks of the Santiam, Ronnie feels compelled to uncover the truth.

As she becomes increasingly obsessed with solving the mystery of Karen's death, Ronnie is lead deeper and deeper into the dark secret hidden within its midst.

The River is a darkly atmospheric story of murder, isolation, obsession, and deadly secrets that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I have to say that the beginning and the ending of this book were great. The description of Ronnie (the main character) finding the body was pretty graphic and definitely grossed me out. There was a lot of imagery happening. And the last part of the book was really intense and action packed. The in-between wasn't so great. Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible, I just feel like it could have been better. I feel like Ronnie made quite a few dumb choices that could have easily been avoided, especially since she seemed like a smart girl.

CHARACTERS: This book needed a lot more character development, but what I read about the characters I did like, I just wish we had some more. I really liked Tomas. He's that rugged on the outside, mushy on the inside type of person.

COVER: I'm not a huge fan of the cover. It just doesn't grab my attention.

Bookish Mad Libs #2 - Cinderella

I participate in a website called "Swap-Bot". Basically, you can sign up to swap things with other people - letters, stickers, handmade items, anything you can think of, you can swap. There are also groups on swap-bot that you can join with themes. These groups have officers in them who host swaps based on the theme of the group. 

One of the groups I am in, is called Carpe Librum and is all about books and bookish things. A swapper by the name of smadronia (one of the founder of Carpe Librum) came up with the idea to host a swap for a book themed mad-libs. I love the idea and I wanted to create a book-related mad libs meme. So if you want to play along, feel free to pick out your words and then make a post on your blog, or in the comments if you prefer, with what you came up with.

This week's theme is Cinderella.
Here is the list of words.

1. Adjective
2. Adjective
3. Adjective
4. Part of Body
5. Noun
6. Adjective
7. Noun
8. Noun
9. Noun
10. Noun
11. Plural Noun
12. Person in Room (Male)
13. Plural Noun
14. Part of Body
15. Adverb

Here is the Mad-lib. Replace each number with your word for that number:

There once was a/an _____1______ young girl named Cinderella who lived with her _____2_____ stepmother and two _____3_____ stepsisters. She waited on them hand and _____4_____, but they treated her like a/n ____5_____.

Cinderella heard about a ball the prince was throwing, but she didn't have a/an _____6_____ gown to wear. Then, out of the clear, blue _____7_____, her fairy _____8_____-mother appeared and waved her magic _____9_____. Cinderella's ragged clothes turned into a beautiful _____10_____, and her worn work shoes became a pair of glass _____11_____.

Cinderella went to the ball and danced with Prince _____12_____, who fell madly in love with her. But at the stroke of midnight she had to flee, losing one of her glass _____13_____. The prince traveled throughout the kingdom, trying the slipper on the _____14_____ of every young girl, but, of course, it fit only one - Cinderella! The two were soon married and lived _____15_____ ever after.

Here's what I came up with:

There once was a playful young girl named Cinderella who lived with her timid stepmother and two colorful stepsisters. She waited on them hand and ear, but they treated her like a flower.

Cinderella heard about a ball the prince was throwing, but she didn't have a sneaky gown to wear. Then, out of the clear, blue cloud, her fairy window-mother appeared and waved her magic typewriter. Cinderella's ragged clothes turned into a beautiful jump rope, and her worn work shoes became a pair of glass tomatoes.

Cinderella went to the ball and danced with Prince Will, who fell madly in love with her. But at the stroke of midnight she had to flee, losing one of her glass blankets. The prince traveled throughout the kingdom, trying the slipper on the leg of every young girl, but, of course, it fit only one -- Cinderella! The two were soon married and lived tenderly ever after.

Add your link to the list!