Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Waiting On/ Wishlist Wednesday - Take Me On by Katie McGarry

                            Waiting On Wednesday: Take Me On - Katie McGarry

                                           



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and Wishlist Wednesday is hosted over at Pen to Paper. These are weekly memes that are a chance to share new books that you're most excited about getting you hands on. 





Why I'm Waiting...


Yes, I know, it's another Katie McGarry book - and you might be thinking "Hmmm…hasn't she already featured Katie McGarry as her Waiting On/Wishlist choice recently?" Why yes, yes I have. You know why? Because I love Katie McGarry books! And also, she is fabulous and has 3 (yeah you read that right) new books out in 2014!! 

I love Katie McGarry! Her Pushing the Limits series is the best, I love all of the characters - I also adore that you get to revisit favorite characters in each and they work as stand alones as well. This one is about one of Rachel's (Crash Into You) brothers, West. I'm excited to see more of him, and also I've heard there is more Abby in this one!! (Abby is also from Crash and by far my fave character!) Additionally, it's Katie McGarry - which guarantees it's bound to be excellent. 

This will Katie McGarry's second publication in 2014! Red At Night was out on April 1st and Breaking the Rules will be out in December. Annnnd, there's another one coming out in 2015!! --- Now let's all cross our fingers and hope for Abby's story next! :)


***



Please feel free to share links to your highly anticipated reads below. It's so exciting to read about everyone else's picks and find new books to add to my TBR list!

Jenn
Tale of Two Doxies






Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Waiting On Wednesday: Cure For The Common Break-Up by Beth Kendrick



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme is a chance to share upcoming books that you're most excited about.



I always love Beth Kendrick's Chick Lit books, they are the perfect summer read. I have this one on pre-order, so I'm excited for it to come out. I think this one sounds cute and I love the cover! 

Please feel free to share links to your highly anticipated reads below. It's so exciting to read about everyone else's picks and find new books to add to my TBR list!

Jenn
 Tale of Two Doxies







Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Memorable Characters

Top Ten Tuesdays is a great weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where you get to share fun book related topic top ten lists. It is also another great meme for finding great new books, authors and blogs! 

This week is 

Top Ten Characters Who Are Memorable

So without further ado, and in no particular order….


* Kat Bishop (from Heist Society by Ally Carter) - I loved Kat, she was an amazing heroine. She's smart, relatable, quiet, observant, loyal - I'd totally want her as a best friend. Also did I mention she's a teenager who mastermind's a heist?

* Roux (from Also Known As by Robin Benway) - Roux is so fun - she's quirky, sassy and definitely has spunk. I love how Roux is a bit all over the place with her thoughts and how excitable she is. I also find Roux endearing, she's loyal and strong - but she also has a softer, more vulnerable side. She is definitely charming and someone I would want to hang out with in real life. 

* Abby (from Crash Into You by Katie McGarry) - I loved Abby. I don't even know how to put Abby into words but I loved her. The funny thing is this book is not about Abby, she is a secondary character - and yet, I kept looking for her and I wanted more! I hope Abby gets her own book, she 100% deserves one she is just awesome. 



* George, King of Thieves (from the Alanna/Song of the Lioness books by Tamora Pierce) - George is amazing, he is loyal, smart, witty, charming and completely endearing. George was the King of Thieves who befriends young Alan of Trebound and is a good friend to Alanna throughout the books. I just loved him and always look forward to re-reading the books and seeing him again :)

* Heather Wells (from Size 12 is Not Fat, and the other Heather Wells Mysteries by Meg Cabot) - Hmmm, how to describe Heather? Well, she's fun, light-hearted, funny, a bit sassy and definitely loyal. I love Heather - I want her as a best friend - she never fails to cheer me up and make me laugh. 

Plus, I quotes like this…
“Wait. Why am I thinking about Krispy Kremes? We’re supposed to be exercising.” 

* Fred & George Weasley (from the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling) - Oh Fred and George how I love you two mischief makers. You can't help but love them - I wish I had gone to school with them (in more ways than one - oh Hogwarts!). Who wouldn't love to see their mischievous ways and pranks? These two are hilarious and by far some of my favorite characters from the books.

 
* Keladry (from Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce) - I love Kel, I thought she had great spirit and was always very true to herself. I like that she was loyal, passionate, and not afraid to be herself and fight for what she believed in.

* Xemerius (from the Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier) - Who doesn't love a demon, gargoyle that moves around and talks a lot? Xemerius was funny, I found him amusing and always looked forward to his scenes as he always added some lovely comic relief. I loved his comments and little commentaries, I also enjoyed his love of romance novels. 


* Finnick Odair (Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins) - Well if you haven't read the books, I'd hate to spoil him - so I'll try to keep this brief. Finnick was one of the previous Hunger Game champs - he's charming and there is a lot more to him than meets the eye. I admired Finnick and found him to be pretty amazing.

* Lula & Ranger (from the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich) - Yes I'm cheating and I have two here. Lula is awesome because she's hilarious - she also thinks she's pretty kick butt and she definitely tries. I wouldn't mess with Lula - she can track down bad guys while eating her bucket of fried chicken and she's not afraid to use a taser. Ranger is just - Ranger. Mysterious, intriguing, strong and someone I would never want to mess with. I love Ranger! (hence the amazing name for one of the doxies)

How about you: what characters did you choose to list and how?
 Please feel free to comment and link up so I can visit your Top Ten!


Jenn
 Tale of Two Doxies

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Review: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Also Known As - by Robin Benway

Genre/Topic:  YA, Contemporary, Spies, Espionage, Intrigue, Adventure, High School, Mystery


Reasons to read…

  • Fantastic Female Characters
    • Roux and Maggie are so fun and quirky - you just want to know them in real life and be friends with them! They are both smart, strong, sassy, and make mistakes - making them completely lovable and relatable. I love their banter and the great friendship between the two - it's always nice to see a good, healthy girl friendship in books.
  • Young Love
    • Maggie and Jesse are such a cute couple! Their romance was so sweet, I just loved reading about their first real romance, you really find yourself rooting for them.
  • Family Dynamic
    • Loved seeing the relationship between Maggie and her family. It was a really loving, respectful relationship and it was interesting to see how they worked together and worked through typical growing pains. I also adored Maggie's "surrogate" uncle.
  • Reminiscent of Nancy Drew (to me at least)
    • For me, the book brought me back to reading my Nancy Drew mystery's back in the day - they were fun, interesting and filled with great mysteries. Also Known As gave me that same feeling - a bit of mystery and intrigue and a great female lead with a fun supporting cast.
  • Charming, quick, and engaging adventure with a little bit of everything - love, mystery, friendship…It went so fast and was such a fun read!

           Rating:   4 out of 5 Doxies - Liked it a lot, definitely worth a read!!


What Should I Read Next?, Recommendations:

  • For more of Maggie, Roux, and Jesse…


  • For more Spies/Espionage and High School
  • For more Adventure, Mystery, and Amazing Female Leads

  • For more Alternate Identities, Mystery, Adventure, and High School






Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Waiting On Wednesday: The One by Kiera Cass


 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme is a chance to share upcoming books that you're most excited about.



Why I'm Waiting

Well, I have to admit - this is not what I might typically go for in a book. It's YA yes, and has romance - but it also has many of the elements that I don't love to see in a book: love triangles, drama, a bit of over-the-top angst…However, in this case it's completely a guilty pleasure! Plus, I'm loving the covers and I need to find out who she ends up with so I guess I'm waiting…


Please feel free to share links to your highly anticipated reads below. It's so exciting to read about everyone else's picks and find new books to add to my TBR list!

Jenn
 Tale of Two Doxies

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Reasons Why You Should Read (or Listen to) Heist Society by Ally Carter

Title:                           Heist Society
Author:                      Ally Carter
Release Date:          January 2010
Publisher:                 Disney Hyperion
Genre:                        YA, Contemporary

Pages:                       304 pages

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own--scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. 

Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. 

Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's (very crooked) history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way. (Amazon.com)


Reasons Why You Should Read (or Listen to) Heist Society by Ally Carter

1. Katarina Bishop - she is an amazing heroine and I LOVED her. She's fun, she's relatable, she just seems real and I'd totally be up for having her as a best friend. This girl is smart, loyal and strong - she is the mastermind behind a heist of a famous museum - and she's a teenager! She's the kind of character I like to read about, and I want more young girls to read about. 

2. This is a story that places an emphasis on friendship, family, and loyalty: I don't know about you, but I feel like a lot of the stereotyping of YA books has to do with how all YA books are about love triangles. I don't think this is true, but I do see a lot of romance books in the YA market - NOT that these are the only books and not that I have a problem with it. (I enjoy a good romance too). However, I love seeing books where the emphasis is on loyalty, family and friendship. I love to see that their are books where the teen isn't just striving to get out of the nest and their family life isn't awful. Most of all, I enjoy a book where the focus is friendship, where the focus isn't primarily on the main characters getting together but on building trust and working through things.

3. It's a book about a heist…a museum heist…masterminded and preformed by teenagers…working against a clock and with the overhanging threat of a mobster-type baddie waiting for them to screw it up. So, basically all things awesome and suspenseful and great!

4. It's FUN: I have read Heist Society before, more than once, and I know I will come back and read it again. It is just such a FUN read, it's interesting and funny and suspenseful and fun. I love the characters and the premise, it's just a really enjoyable read. It is just a feel good book. 

5.  The audio version - it's amazing! I really loved the narrator for the audiobook, she did great voices for each character. She had nice pacing, her tone was great, and her voice overall was very enjoyable. One thing I really enjoyed about her was the fact that each character she was reading a line for had a distinct voice so I could tell who was supposed to be talking at each part. Loved her Kat voice, and the twins, and especially her uncle!

6. It's been optioned to be made into a movie! - Which means hopefully it will be making it to the big screen, like so many other popular YA books recently. Personally I am a huge fan of heist movies and this one would be like Ocean's 11 except even more awesome (in my mind) as it would have a cast of young thieves and a female mastermind!

7. The Places - the story takes place in a variety of great locations: New York City, Paris, London. Who doesn't love a story with some international travel?

8. The Other Characters - I really loved all of the great characters in this book, especially the teens. The teen cast was strong with a nice mix: the mystery Hale, the grifting Gabrielle, the hilarious twins, and super-smart Simon, not to mention the mastermind Kat! Then there were characters like Uncle Eddie and Marcus, equally amazing and enjoyable.


Recommendations: 

Uncommon Criminals - Ally Carter
Gallagher Girls Series - Ally Carter
Also Known As - Robin Benway
Ruby Red Trilogy - Kirsten Gier
Secret Society Girl - Diana Peterfreund

Rating:

5 out of 5 Doxies - Loved it! A must read, reread, and own it book!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Waiting On Wednesday: Breaking the Rules by Katie McGarry


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme is a chance to share upcoming books that you're most excited about.


You're probably looking at the cover of Pushing the Limits and wondering what I'm thinking. Yes, Pushing the limits has already been released, but I'm waiting on Breaking the Rules which was just announced as a new book continuing the story of Noah and Echo.

***
In BREAKING THE RULES, Katie McGarry continues the story of Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchinson (PUSHING THE LIMITS) as the pair set out on a road trip so Echo can chase her dream of becoming an artist and for Noah to meet his remaining blood relatives, but as the realities of the world outside the walls of high school begin to press down on Echo and Noah the couple tries to discover if their love is strong enough to survive.

BREAKING THE RULES is a full length novel that starts a month or so into the trip Echo and Noah take after they graduated from high school. The time period of this book is between PUSHING THE LIMITS and DARE YOU TO. 

BREAKING THE RULES will be released through Harlequin Teen in paperback and e-book formats on December 30, 2014 in North America. It will also be available in the United Kingdom and Australia around the same time period.
What’s even more exciting? There will be a brief teaser of BREAKING THE RULES in the back of TAKE ME ON (release date: May 27, 2014)! 

(taken from -http://www.katielmcgarry.com/blogs.aspx, read the full post and find out more at the link)

***

Why I'm Waiting...


I love Katie McGarry books! Pushing the Limits was the first of her books I had read, and I loved Noah and Echo so I'm very excited to get another whole book about the two of them and see where there at. Plus, it's Katie McGarry - which pretty much means it's bound to be excellent. This will also be her third publication in 2014! It totally makes it a Katie McGarry reading year, and with the releases staggered (Red At Night on April 1st, Take Me On in May, and now Breaking the Rules in December) it means much more time to enjoy and not pine for new books. (Especially since I'm hoping the next PTL book will be an Abby book released in 2015!!)

***



Please feel free to share links to your highly anticipated reads below. It's so exciting to read about everyone else's picks and find new books to add to my TBR list!

Jenn
 Tale of Two Doxies
www.taleoftwodoxies.blogspot.com


Also be sure to check out my first giveaway before it ends this week. Here's the rafflecopter sign up below, for more information - click the link and go to the Giveaway page to sign up :

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday- Unique Reads

Top Ten Tuesdays is a great weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where you get to share fun book related topic top ten lists. It is also another great meme for finding great new books, authors and blogs! 

This week is 

Top Ten Unique Books You've Read

So without further ado, and in no particular order….


The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - What can I say: dystopian, fairy tale retellings and sic-fi all in one?! What? Awesome! And Cinderella as a Cyborg? Enough said.


 This is the first book I can remember that had a young, female thief who planned a heist with a team of other teenagers. I don't know, I just love this book and it just felt really unique and fresh and original - I still haven't come across any others that feel like this one did for me.


Ohhhh, Harry Potter. What can I say about this one - or more like, need I say more? These books (to me) really put YA on the map as books that were for EVERYONE and that could be enjoyed by everyone too. They are just perfect for me, I grew up with them and I love them. They are amazing - the end.


The premise for this one was completely new to me, I loved the touch of fairytales and folklore that's used in this series. I was just blown away by these and the two main characters and their roles - I don't want to spoil it so I won't say more, but these are great.


I've Got Your Number was such a fun, fresh and wonderful Chick Lit read. I loved it - what was unique? Well this is the first time I have come across footnotes in a fiction book that add to the story and have fun little comments. I just really loved that addition.


These two I am grouping together because they are similar in their uniqueness but still different. I loved both of these reads because they both had a unique way of telling the story. The stories are told completely through emails (though one I believe has a voicemail or two thrown in). Anyway - I loved the idea and the format - so fun!




I loved the twist on the classic Cinderella story, the kick-butt herione and her plight of obedience. This was such a fun retelling and really got me into the fairy tale retelling genre in the first place.



I loved the take on Time Travel and the whole mystery surrounding it in these books, for me this felt fresh, and new and different. It wasn't like any other books on time travel I've come across…and I of course had to show the covers because - well look! Aren't they gorgeous?


 This one came to mind because I don't think I've ever come across another series like it. This series is a spin off of Kate Brian's Private series and it follows the socio-path former rich girl socialite, who was put away for murder and escapes - bent on once again regaining her place in life. It was just - wow, I don't know how to describe it, but it was a first for me.


How about you what are your "unique" reads?
 Please feel free to comment and link up so I can visit your Top Ten!


Jenn
 Tale of Two Doxies

www.taleoftwodoxies.blogspot.com

Also be sure to check out my first giveaway before it ends this week. Here's the rafflecopter sign up below, for more information - click the link and go to the Giveaway page to sign up :


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Saturday, April 5, 2014

E-Book Giveaway: Choice of popular YA series book

My First Giveaway!!


I'm very excited to announce my very first giveaway! I have officially reached 50 followers on Bloglovin, so it's time to show some gratitude. I am giving away one of my favorite ebooks to one lucky participant. See below for the title choices to choose from…



    


    

The above listed are some of my favorite YA series, I tried to include a variety of YA sub-genre series to choose from. The winner can choose a book from any of the books above, the book must be currently in print and from one of these series.

They are all great reads that I would highly recommend. The top row is made up of YA Contemporary reads, the second Fairy-Tale retelling types, and the third includes some contemporary world mythology and time-travel types. Sign up using rafflecopter below!

<a id="rc-yg66xzkxd" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/yg66xzkxd/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>