Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

I read this book on my five-hour plane ride to San Francisco. I'm terribly afraid of flying, but I actually forgot I was 32875298357 feet in the air while I was reading this. It was that enthralling.

Sophie Mercer is a pretty powerful witch. After one too many slip-ups, she's sent to a school for prodigium (witches, shape-shifters, fae, and the likes) called Hecate Hall. When a couple students are attacked, Sophie is told her vampire roommate is to blame. But Jenna is one of the only friends she's been able to make since coming to Hecate Hall, and she's not ready to give that up. So starts a story of intrigue, power, and mystery. Oh, and there are cute boys!

The summary of this book sounded interesting, but I was worried it wouldn't be original. I was very, very wrong. While the idea of witches and werewolves has been (over)used, Rachel Hawkins makes it her own. She spins a tale of mystery and romance lightly over the fantasy elements, sugarcoating them with a sprinkling of reality.

I can't begin to describe the things I loved about this book - the setting, the fantasy, the characters. It was just a damn good read, through and through. It even had a plot twist unexpected enough to surprise even me (I always pre-guess plot twists.) I honestly thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish and I'm very much looking forward to the sequel. Hex Hall was very enchanting.

Julie Kagawa Author Chat!

Julie Kagawa, author of the fantastic book The Iron King, will be joining us tonight at 8pm Eastern for a chat. Come hang out with us, ask burning questions, drool over Ash, etc, by heading here tonight.

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Even if you haven't read it yet (!?), just come in and say hi!

Authors - if you're interested in doing an author chat, please email me. Readers - let me know what authors you'd like to see!

Avatar Book

Oh. My. Eywa.

Like millions of other people, I completely fell in love with the movie Avatar. It was beautiful. I went and saw it three times in theaters, which says a lot if you know me. I've only seen a couple movies more than once in theaters, and never more than twice.

So when I found out James Cameron is writing a book based on Avatar, I pretty much came to an immediate conclusion that it would be the best thing ever.

Cameron says "There are things you can do in books that you can’t do with films." Amen to that.

He also said "the book will go into much greater detail about the worlds and "interior monologues" of the characters he created."

I'm going to be so, so happy when it comes out.

Author Chats

Tonight, we're chatting with author Jennifer Hubbard, The Secret Year, from 8-9pm Eastern here. Come and ask questions! I made cookies.

And on the 22nd of this month, we'll have Julie Kagawa (The Iron King) gracing us with her presence. If you offer a favor or two, maybe Grimalkin will even pop in to say hi!

Author chats are back in full swing, so make sure you check out the sidebar to see who's scheduled for the following months. If you're an interested author, shoot me an email! Or if you're an interested reader, make sure and let me know what authors you'd like to see.

Hope to see you there!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

I love reading classics. They're so widely read and referenced that I feel more knowledgable for just holding one in my hands. I love showing snooty people off, too, so it's always nice to be prepared for Pompous English Teachers in my future.

But I haven't read a lot of "childrens" classics. After reading When You Reach Me, whose main character was always reading a battered copy of A Wrinkle in Time, I thought I'd follow suit.

The first few chapters of Wrinkle were entertaining. I loved meeting the three "W's" - three quirky, interesting, mythical people who helped our main characters journey into another world (or two). They were what kept me reading the book when it got boring or monotonous. There was something about it that I liked, overall, whether it was the childlike innocence or the easy writing. But there were, of course, dislikes.

I was reading it alongside my friend Megan, and she pointed out that the characters oftentimes acted younger than they were. Except for Meg's brother, who acted about twenty years older than he actually was. It made for a confusing, albeit interesting, time understanding the characters. But I felt like I never actually got to. I never connected to them like I've connected to other characters. They were kind of...bland, at points.

I can understand why this is a beloved classic. If I had read it when I was younger, I probably would have loved it, too. There's something about reading books as a kid that's different from reading them as an adult, and I'm always looking for books that give me that back. I'm nostalgic. And I didn't get that with A Wrinkle in Time. There were elements that I absolutely fell in like with, but the reading went pretty slow.

Megan would kill me if I left this review without mentioning a particular town featured in Wrinkle. There was a town, whose name I've forgotten, that hosted hundreds of exactly similar people. They all left their house at the exact same time and the children jumped rope at the exact same time and the paperboy threw papers at the, yep, exact same time. Every. Single. Day. It was a town of similarity, where nobody was different from the other. I think this concept, especially for younger readers, is something everyone should be exposed to. That was something that I really took a note of remembering. Overall, I generally liked A Wrinkle in Time, but it didn't hold any magic for me.

Third Hunger Games Title and Cover Revealed

Mockingjay.

Here's what USA Today says about it:

"'Game' over: Since the September release of Catching Fire, the second in Suzanne Collins' best-selling Hunger Games trilogy for teens, Internet speculation has focused on the title of the third book. The most common guess: The Victors. Not even close. Today, Scholastic reveals the title and cover of the last book in the series set in a dictatorship where teens are forced to fight to the death on TV. It's Mockingjay, out Aug. 24. In the series, mockingjays are offspring of mockingbirds and jabberjays, a government-bred mutant designed to spy on rebels. Mockingjays become symbols of resistance. Collins is finishing her screenplay of The Hunger Games, the first book. Catching Fire entered USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list at No. 1."

FebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugust. 7 months. Any speculation, based on the title and cover, of what happens next?

Gone by Lisa McMann

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Wake and Fade by Lisa McMann. The series' plot is extremely unique, which automatically earns a thumbs-up from me. Janie has the ability to enter other people's dreams, and she manages to have a semi-normal (albeit eventful) teenage life. I'm not a fan of summarizing sequels (spoiler potential), but you can head to Goodreads or Amazon if you live under a very large rock (with internet access solely to my blog, obviously) and feel deprived. The writing style is freshly artistic and the boy toy is majorly drool-worthy.

So when I read Gone, I was surprised. Pleasantly. It's the third and final book in the series, but it was a lot darker and edgier than Wake or Fade. If you've read Fade, you can imagine why. But I like dark. I like edgy. And Gone was my favorite of all three. Readers often say that sequels aren't normally as good as prequels, but it apparently doesn't apply to Lisa McMann. Gone was excellent.

But it's bittersweet. Because it's the last book. Whenever I finish a favorite series, I basically feel bipolar. I'm happy, because there's a conclusion, but I'm depressed because I won't be able to visit these characters again. Sure, I could reread the series - and that's comforting - but I won't get any new material. I won't be surprised or wonder "what happens next?" So, yeah. Bittersweet.

But Gone delivers. It was complicated and emotional and sweet and deep. I got infinitely more attached to Janie and Cabel than I did in Wake or Fade, which was what made it so hard to accept that this is The End.

But it's definitely not The End for Lisa McMann. She already has four future book deals. "The deal, for world rights, including audio, is for two young adult novels to be published by Simon Pulse, and two middle-grade novels to be published by Aladdin."

So I guess she earned back the brownie points she lost for ending the Wake series. (Even though I admit she ended it perfectly.)

I did an interview with Lisa a couple years back, right around Wake's release, and when I asked what she was working on, she replied with: "Not sure what will come next, but I hope you haven't seen the last of me! :)"

It's two years later and we all know the answer to that one.

Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries: Return, #1)

Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries: Return, #1) is the continuation of the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith, years after their first publication. There's really no possible way to summarize this without ruining the first four books, but I will gladly review it for you, summary-free.

This book was so different from the original four - but I guess that's expected when the writer returns to characters after about ten years of non-use. This book, and a following sequel, were scheduled after the show aired, and they have a much more modern feel to them (there's a lot of overusage of cell phones, etc). I still loved the book for the characters, but Vampire Diaries is much more of a guilty pleasure read than something I would read for literative value. I love reading them, but I don't love them. I flew through the pages like a meth addict, but when it was over, I wasn't fully satisfied.

I'm much, much more caught up in the show. Usually, for me, a book is always better than the screen version, but it's definitely not true in this case. For (mostly) one reason: Damon. He's a much more full-fledged character than Stefan in both the book and the show, in my opinion, but in the show he has Ian Somerhalder's face and that makes him 500 times more lovable. Yeah, I'm a shallow person.

This book had dialogue that lacked substance and a corniness to it (such as the words "lovely love" being used) that wasn't what I was hoping for after an extra decade's worth of writing experience, but L.J. Smith completely masters her plot(s). I very much enjoyed reading it, but wished there was an added extra that made it enjoyable to reread.

Regardless, I'm seriously dying for the sequel to come out. And Thursdays are my absolute favorite nights, which shows what a hermit I am. But, hey, I might have a bit of a Damon addiction. Sue me.

February Prize Pack

The winner of the January Prize Pack was Krista, who I've contacted. Thanks to everyone for entering - I got 163 entries and over half of you earned extra entries by following (including Krista). Congrats!

FYI, I'm shipping some belated contest prizes out very, very soon. I was put behind because my computer crashed (and I lost the excel sheet of all the addresses & books that needed to be shipped.) So if you haven't gotten a prize that I owe you (and if I haven't already contacted you about it in the past week), please email me! Thanks.

For February, I'm giving away...

1 ARC of Gone by Lisa McMann (releases Feb 9th)
1 Paperback copy of The Declaration by Gemma Malley
1 ARC of Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott
1 Hardcover copy of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
1 Hardcover copy of Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

If you own 1 or 2 of these books, but want any of the others, enter anyway! If you win, I'll contact you and try and find a replacement prize for any that you already own.

This contest will end on February 28th. To enter, just fill out the form below. As always, you'll get an extra entry if you follow my blog (in the sidebar), but it's not necessary to enter. This contest is only open to those with a U.S. shipping address.