New Award!

So I received like the coolest award ever from The Twisted Book Junkie over at Broken Day Dreams and A Literary Odyssey. She has a seriously awesome blog that you should definitely check out. And I just love the name of it :) Thanks again!

There are a couple of rules that go along with the Oh My Blog award which are:

1.) Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!! (Already done!)
2.) Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB Award:

• Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
• Write about your most embarrassing moment.
• Write a "Soundtrack of your childhood" post.
• Make your next blog a "vlog" (video blog). Basically, you're talking to the camera about whatever.
• Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make-up, etc.) and post it.

3.) Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers. Don't forget to tell them.

So all of these options kind of scare me, but I'll brave it out and tell you guys about one of my most embarrassing moments.

My first driving lesson:
The day I had my first driving lesson is a day I definitely won't forget. It was on Mother's Day and it was the parking lot of the nearby elementary school. I get into the car and I start laughing, I don't even know why. I was kind of freaked out that the car was moving. My mom was sitting next to acting extremely nervous. I went around the parking lot a couple of times, jerking here, almost going onto the grass once. My mom had her hand on the wheel half the time. And then I don't know what happened. My life flashed before my eyes (not really haha). Somehow as I was turning my foot slipped onto the gas hard instead of the brake. Out comes a huge thud that could literally be heard a mile away. I crash right into the sidewalk sideways. The tire deflates. I'm sitting there. In shock. My mom is traumatized. We frantically call my dad and after a long hour (hourish) we get the tire changed. But! The spare tire is flat too! My dad rushes to the house to get the air pump. As we try to pump the tire we realize the pump is out of charge! In the end, my older brother ends up bringing us another pump. So...when we drove it home there were weird noises. Turns out not only did a pop the tire, but something more serious. It took lots of repairing to do. The rest of my family was in historical laughter when they found out what happened, while I've been scared every since...

I'm going to pass this on to these amazing blogs:
Michelle's Bookshelf
YA Addict
Reading Nook
Reading Is Sexy
Une Parole
Chick Loves Lit 
I Have a Dream
Suenos En La Luna

I want to give a special shout out to Bere at Suenos En La Luna. She has an amazing blog that is definitely one of my favorites. Her posts are so thoughtful and inspiring. If you haven't checked it out, then you are definitely missing out :) And I almost forgot to mention that she's one of the sweetest bloggers out there :D

Oh and I also received the Versatile Blogger Award from Savannah over at Books With Bite.  Thank you so much Savannah. Her blog is also really cool and she has an awesome layout :) I already received this award so I won't be passing it on again.

Waiting on Wednesday (22)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we "can't-wait-to-read".

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Release date: March 1st 2011

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

Playing Hurt centers on two former athletes: Chelsea Keyes, a basketball star whose promising career has been catastrophically snipped short by a horrific accident on the court, and Clint Morgan, an ex-hockey player who gave up his much-loved sport following his own game-related tragedy.

Chelsea meets Clint (who's working as a resort fishing guide) soon after arriving with her family for a summer vacation in Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. Sparks fly, igniting the pages, even though Chelsea has a boyfriend back home in Missouri...and even though Clint has sworn never to put himself in the position to be hurt emotionally again.

Their unlikely romance has the potential to heal their heartache and force Chelsea and Clint to realize just how timidly they've been living - but are they really ready to give themselves completely to one another? How will the weeks spent in another man's arms play into Chelsea's feelings for her boyfriend when she returns home? Will Clint allow himself to fall for a woman who's bound to leave him at the end of her summer vacation? By playing hurt - entering into a romance with already-broken hearts - are they just setting themselves up for the kind of injury from with they could never recover? Will Chelsea and Clint pull away from each other before they have a chance to find out just how beautiful their story could be?

I first saw this on Michelle's Bookshelf yesterday and thought it sounded pretty darn awesome! I haven't read her other novel A Blue S Dark yet, but I heard it was wonderful. Oh and I love the cover! :)

Teaser Tuesday (16)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

-Grab your current read.
- Open to a random page.
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
 -BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
-Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

"Lola stood in front of the mirror, dripping water all over the mosaic-tiled floor, wondering how her life had gotten so complicated. True, she may have been just the tiniest bit responsible for keeping secrets from those who she loved, but was it really such a bad thing to want to make everyone around you happy?"

-pg.61, Laguna Cove by Alyson Noel

I'm really loving this one so far. It's exactly the type of book I needed after reading Forbidden. Look out for the review coming soon :)

Daily Dose Monday (18)

Daily Dose Monday is hosted by Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly and features inspiring/magical images that you would like to share with your readers :)

In My Mailbox (26)

In My Mailbox is a meme originally hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren (click for more information) that shares all the new books you've bought, borrowed, received, or traded for the week.

I had a very slow week, but it's OK :)

Library/for review:

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares — has been canceled. 

After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers. 

Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

I've only read Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles and loved it! I'm sure this will be just amazing. Can't wait :)

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Summary: (taken from Goodreads)

It's almost the end of Miranda's sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a typical teenager: conversations with friends, fights with mom, and fervent hopes for a driver's license. When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to disappear. Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small Pennsylvania town; and Miranda's voice is by turns petulant, angry, and finally resigned, as her family is forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options. Yet even as suspicious neighbors stockpile food in anticipation of a looming winter without heat or electricity, Miranda knows that that her future is still hers to decide even if life as she knew it is over.

I've heard mixed reviews about this one, but I decided to try it out. The summary definitely intrigues me.  

What's in your mailbox?

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Book review #55
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Rating: Five stars

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)
Sixteen-year-old Maya and seventeen-year-old Lochan have never had the chance to be 'normal' teenagers. Having pulled together for years to take care of their younger siblings while their wayward, drunken mother leaves them to fend alone, they have become much more than brother and sister. And now, they have fallen in love. But this is a love that can never be allowed, a love that will have devastating consequences ...How can something so wrong feel so right?

I don't think words can really describe this book or how I really feel about it. Forbidden evokes so many different emotions all at once. Reading the summary, I wasn't really sure if I could handle it. I thought I would be super uncomfortable the whole time. But I wasn't. Without a doubt Forbidden is probably one of the hardest books I've ever read, but it was definitely worth it.

Forbidden is centered around a struggling family consisting of children Tiff and Willa, teenagers Kit, and the elders Maya and Lochan. Their dad isn't in the picture and their mom makes it home on occasional, but is usually hungover. Maya and Lochan have taken over the role of the parents. They cook, transport the kids to school, read them bedtime stories etc. Together they become something much more than brother and sisters, but providers, best friends, and lovers? With each others love and support the two really keep the family together, but one can only be strong for so long...

All of the characters were just so precious, well aside for the nasty mom and Kit who had his rebellious moments. Maya and Lochan were such a great people with bright futures, but are held back by their responsibility. Maya was so sweet and heart-felt. And Lochan was so dependable, the rock of the family. He definitely had issues socially, but nothing that can't be overcome. I really felt Maya and Lochan's frustrations. How can something SO wrong, be oh so right? All I know for sure was that I wanted them to be happy. It's really hard to not root for them. Oh and Tiff and Willa were so innocent and cute. I couldn't imagine growing up like them.

You got to see both Maya and Lochan's point of view, which I was so grateful for. It was nice to see where each character was coming from. The writing was seriously amazing. I fell in love with it. The descriptions were so vivid and strong. There were times I had to reread parts to understand what was really going on. As I already mentioned, this is a very hard book to read. It will make you think really hard...really hard about the difference between right and wrong. I had to read this book over a few days, because of how much it was affecting me. It literally took over my day, I couldn't stop thinking about it. The book, the characters, just about everything will stay with you for a very long time if not forever. 

Forbidden is a very serious book, that really changed my outlook on things. I learned to not be so judgmental. I feel bad about how horrid my reaction was to this book before he picking it up. Forbidden is heart-breaking, painful, and definitely amazing. I have SO much respect for the author for tackling such a hard subject and doing is so wonderful. Forbidden is a book that was needed to be written. I sincerely recommend giving this one a try. But definitely not to younger readers, not only because of the inappropriate scenes, but you have to be mature enough to handle this one. Oh and as a warning, definitely have the tissues nearby. 

Book Blogger Hop (11) + Follow Friday

Hey! It's Friday and you know what  that means-it's time for the book blogger hop! I absolutely love this, I've found so many great blogs over the process. Hop on over to Crazy for Books and join in! Oh and if you're visiting make sure to let me know, so I can return the favor! I'm also joining in on Parajunkee's Follow Friday, so check that out as well :) 

To answer this week's question, "What book are you dying to get your hands on (past, present, or future)? 

I think mine and a lot of other bloggers answers are going to be very similar. Because who isn't just dying to read Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins?! The third and sadly last book in The Hunger Games trilogy. August 24th isn't too far away... I guess.

The Scorch Trials, the second book to The Maze Runner would be a close second. I can't wait :)

Waiting on Wednesday (21)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we "can't-wait-to-read".

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
Release date: February 11th 2011 
Summary: (taken from Amazon)

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace.

Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad.

Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history.

Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

Well this sounds pretty awesome! I just loved Lisa McMann's Wake series, so I'm sure this will be wonderful. I love the cover too, I think it goes along great with the plot. Oh and Goodreads has a slightly different summary, so feel free to check that out as well :)

Teaser Tuesday (15)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

-Grab your current read.
- Open to a random page.
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
 -BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
-Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


Teaser:


"My voice a quiver of disbelief, emanates from a being of I barely recognize; one that is crushed, hurt beyond repair. 'I always thought of you as the one person'-a steadying breath-' the one person who would never, ever hurt me.'"

-pg. 170, Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma


I'm feeling so many different things right now, I can barely explain. I'm in them middle of reading this one and I've had to reread several pages over again to comprehend what was going on. I can already tell that this book is going to be unforgettable without a doubt. Look out for the review coming this week :)