In My Mailbox

This is my first time participating in this meme. But, I got a lot of stuff in the mail and from the library this week, so I wanted to share.

I got a surprise package from Penguin Books on Tuesday with three ARC's in them. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to read them all, so I might pass a couple on to The Literati, a teen reading and writing group that I'm an advisor for. (Check out their blog too!)

The Evil Within
By: Nancy Holder
Release Date: June 2010

It looks like this book is the second in a series. I haven't read the first one, so maybe I should get on that. I'm not really into murder mystery/horror, so I might pass this one along.

Paisley Hanover Kisses and Tells
By: Cameron Tuttle
Release Date: July 2010

A book about high school drama. This could be interesting...

The Eternal Ones
By: Kirsten Miller
Release Date: August 2010

If I can get past the cover, I might just read this one. But, frankly, the cover is a huge turn-off for me. (I know, don't judge a book by it's cover. Eh, but I do)

 

From the Library

Magic Study
By: Maria V. Snyder


I liked Poison Study enough to pick up the sequel from the library. I'm hoping I have enough time to finish it before it comes due in 3 weeks. Reading when you have a clingy infant is really hard.

The Hourglass Door
By: Lisa Mangum

I've heard good things about this book. I know the author is local to me, and I've seen her at events, but I've never actually spoken to her.  This book finally became available at my library and I'm excited to read it.

The Princess and the Bear
By: Mette Ivie Harrison


I loved The Princess and the Hound, so I HAD to pick up the sequel. This is another one that had a long waiting list at the library. I'll definitely read it before it comes due.


That's it for my books this week. What do you have that's new?

This post is linked at The Story Siren

The Mark by Jen Nadol: Review

The Mark

By: Jen Nadol

Synopsis (From Goodreads):

Cassandra Renfield has always seen the mark—a glow around certain people reminiscent of candlelight. But the one time she mentioned it, it was dismissed as a trick of the light. Until the day she watches a man awash in the mark die. After searching her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person’s imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.

Armed with a vague understanding of the light, Cassie begins to explore her “gift,” seeking those marked for death and probing the line between decision and destiny. Though she’s careful to hide her secret—even from her new philosophy-obsessed boyfriend—with each impending death comes the temptation to test fate. But so many questions remain. How does the mark work? Why is she the only one who sees it? And finally, the most important of all: If you know today is someone’s last, should you tell them?

My Review: This was a morally complex book that I thought about for days after I read it. In my opinion, the main point of the book was to get the reader to ask themselves what they would do if they had this ability. Would you treat it as a gift or a curse? Cassie certainly feels the burden that this ability lays on her.  Initially, she allows other characters in the story to influence how she treats her ability. And, she learns pretty quickly that it's very easy for others to judge what she should be doing with her gift.

The character development was really good. I loved that everyone who knew about or also shared Cassie's ability to see imminent death had a different way of dealing with that knowledge. Some people handled it better than others, but either way, you could understand what would drive that character to behave that way.

The end of this book definitely opened up the possibility of a sequel. I kind of hope it's left where it is. There are so many possibilities that can be imagined from the end of this book that it would almost be disappointing to see them come to a conclusion.

Overall, a wonderful read by yet another 2010 Debut Author. This is a very talented group of writers, and I'm really excited to read more by Jen Nadol.

Book-A-Likes: Wake by Lisa McMann

My Rating:

4 Stars!

Profanity: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol: Mild; some underage drinking
Sexuality: Mild; Definitely alluded to, but never described
Violence: None

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken: Review

Brightly Woven

By: Alexandra Bracken

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry. 

My Review: I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book and I was so excited when I got a copy of this book in the mail from Egmont.  First of all, the cover is gorgeous, don't you think?

But, beyond the beautiful cover, this was a fantastic book! My favorite books are the ones that have deep characters and complex relationships. This book had plenty of both.  Sydelle was a wonderful heroine. She was compassionate, but always stood her ground with North when necessary.  It was really refreshing to read the different ways that she was able to get herself and others out of trouble.

North was fascinating.  In many fantasy books I've read, wizards are almost invincible and infinitely wise. That was not the case in this book. North's character flaws were glaring, but not so much that he was a despicable person.  Despite his shortcomings, it's obvious that he's a caring person and really tries to do the right thing.

The one complaint I had about this book is that there wasn't enough of Henry or her family from back home.  I would have liked to have seen a little more interaction and a pull from home keeping Sydelle conflicted.

Overall, this was a wonderful fantasy book by a very promising debut author.  I am really excited to read more of her work in the future.  This book was released today, March 23, and it's definitely worth buying/checking out.

Book-A-Likes:  Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones (Wizard with a temper); Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George (Weaving and sewing talented heroine)

Rating:

I gave this book a hearty 5 stars!

Profanity: None

Drugs and Alcohol: Mild; North doesn't have a lot of control when it comes to alcohol

Sexuality: None

Violence: Moderate; Some of the fighting descriptions were a little graphic

Acknowledgement: I was sent a copy of Brightly Woven to review by Egmont USA. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: Review

Leviathan

By: Scott Westerfeld

Description (From Goodreads):Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Review: I didn't even know that the genre of steampunk existed until about a month ago. I must have been living under a rock or something. But, I've noticed it has become an increasingly popular genre, and this book is a good indication of why.

The illustrations in this book were really neat and one of my favorite parts. There was a new illustration every 5 pages or so, and they really added a depth to the story without being overly "cartoonish." (A reason why I could never really get into Manga). Here is an example of this awesome art:
I really liked the character and story of Deryn. I'm also up for a good story about a girl pretending to be a boy and kicking some trash. Deryn certainly did so. She had a lot of spunk and spirit, but also a good dose of compassion, especially at the end of the book.

Aleksander's story went in a little different direction than I had originally thought. While Deryn's story was pretty predictable, I was never quite sure where Aleksander was going to end up.

Sometimes telling a book from two perspectives really doesn't work for me. However, in this case, Westerfeld handled it beautifully. I wasn't as impressed with "The Uglies" series as I wanted to be, so it was nice to have a book by Westerfeld that I really enjoyed. I think this series is going to do really well. This book got a lot of buzz at the end of last year, and I can definitely see why.

Book-A-Likes:
Alanna by Tamora Pierce (For the "girl pretending to be a boy" story)
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (For the machinery aspect, and the boy working with girl story)
If you like other books in the Steam Punk genre, you'll like this one.

Rating:
I gave this book 4 stars.


Profanity: Like all steampunk, the slang evolves into something different from our culture. So, nothing you'd recognize
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Sexuality: None
Violence: Moderate. This is WWI (or an alternate version), so there is a battle that is described.

Abigail is here!

My baby girl finally made her appearance on March 4. She was born at 6:59 pm and was 7 lbs. 4 oz; 19.5 inches long

So, as for the contest, we had two guesses for March 4.

Jen and Candace

Candace was closest to the weight and height, so I'll be getting in touch with her to get her prize.

But... Jen was also really close, so I've got some stuff I'd like to send her as well. Jen, since you didn't leave your email address, send me an email with your mailing info so I can get your package sent out.

Thanks to all who entered! Now that I've got 8 weeks of maternity leave, I plan on doing a lot of reading.

And, in closing, here is a picture of my sweet baby Abigail.

Baby Update

I know all of you are anxiously awaiting the announcement that the baby has arrived. Believe me, I'm just about as anxious as all of you.

I wanted to give all of you whose date guesses have passed another chance. If you would like another guess at when this baby is going to come, all you need to do is spread the word about the contest. There are several ways you can do this.

Twitter: If you use Twitter, go ahead and tweet about the contest linking the original entry and using my handle @eellsworth

Facebook: Post a status update or just link the contest entry page to your wall, either way.

Blog Link: If you have a blog, either put up a post about the contest, mention it in a sidebar or something.

Anything else you can think of! Once you've done that, make a comment in the ORIGINAL entry here, and tell me what you did and make a new guess.

Best of luck to you all!