Nook (Simple Touch) Issues...

I've had my Nook for a little over a month and problems have already arisen. It started off with simple things popping up. Every now and then I would have to completely reset and restart it because it would show odd characters on the screen. This happened at least a couple of times a week. Then it escalated into issues with the touch screen itself. It would either not respond or wildly start clicking everything on that particular page. After a couple weeks of this the Nook started completely locking up. Unfortunately, this lead to more resetting and restarting on top of everything else. Last week I used it until the battery was almost gone. I plugged it in overnight and tried to unlock the next day. It would not respond to anything. I tried everything they had online and what the customer service reps said to do. It would still not unlock, it would only show the author pictures of the screen saver.

As a last resort, I drove an hour and half to the closest Barnes and Noble store to see if they could fix it. When I get to the customer service desk, I reach into my purse to get my Nook out. The customer service rep looked up at me and said,"Man, another one?" I thought that this was a bad sign and I was right. Apparently there had been many others in for similar issues just that morning alone. He worked with it and tried the same things that I had tried many times. After a few minutes he called B&N and they came to the agreement that I should be given a new Nook in exchange for the faulty one. After that everything went smoothly with the account transfers and I left with a new Nook.

I've researched the issues I've had and now wonder if I should have waited to purchase one. There appears to be a lot of consistency in the problems that Simple Touch Nook owners are having. I do understand that every item's first run is not perfect. However, these are things that should not be an issue. They are aspects of the Nook that B&N prided it for being able to do. I really like this Nook and its concept, but it may have needed some tweaking before being release. For now, I'm going to hold out a little while longer and see if this one gives me similar incidents. Hopefully it will be an improvement over the last Nook and B&N will assist in fixing the issues with them.

In My Mailbox: July 24, 2011

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a great way for bloggers to socialize and network their blogs and to share upcoming releases! To join in all the fun, simply:

1. Make your own IMM post! You can post about books you've bought, gotten from the library, received for review... books don't have to arrive via your mailbox.
2. You can post weekly, every other week, or one week out of the month, it’s up to you and it doesn't have to be on Sunday.
3. Once you have your IMM posted, go to The Story Siren on her Sunday post and add your link to the list.
4. Comment on other bloggers IMM posts.

Well, since it has been a couple of weeks between my IMM posts it's going to look like I hit the jackpot. LOL I've been slowly adding to my TBR as the house ordeal winds down. To top all of this off, I got a great surprise yesterday that I will elaborate on!

Here's my two week collections:

Things I've bought:

























A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready


So many that I've heard good things about! I did pretty good price wise on these as well. I've probably only spent $18 on all four books.

Things that were recommended and lent to me:















Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside by Holly Black
I'm interested to see how these books go for me. I have heard so many mixed reviews that it seems likely that I will either extremely love or hate it. There seems to not be a middle ground with these books.


















Entwined by Heather Dixon
Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Both of these are very intriguing to me! I'm glad to finally have my turn with them.

And now, my pride and joy! :)













The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

I am so excited about this one for a couple of reasons:
#1: It's the fourth book in a series that I have adored from the beginning. When I found out it also just so happened to be about my favorite character, Ash, my teeth began grinding in anticipation. You honestly cannot imagine the disbelief, and horrible-but-hilarious dancing, that ensued after getting approval for this.
#2 It is my first NetGalley book! I feel like this is a good milestone for me and the blog.
I usually have an order in which I read my books. When I saw this one in my inbox.....yeah, that went out the window. I started and finished it while at work...it really was that intense!

I can't wait to see everyone else's new acquisitions! Happy reading friends!

Follow Friday - July 22, 2011

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. It's a way to connect with fellow bloggers! First, blog about Follow Friday and weekly question, then leave your name on the Linky list, and visit as many blogs as you can on the list and tell them "Hi!" in their comments on their FF post. You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Q. Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

I wouldn't want to have a meal probably, it would definitely be wasted. There is no way in the world that I could sit with one of my favorite authors and be able to stuff my face. (I am a huge foodie, so that is saying a lot for me.) Nora Roberts has always been one of my favorite authors. I have one large and loaded bookshelf full of her books. I would love to just see where all the characters come from and how she can flip from the super romances right into the awesome paranormals she write. Another that will probably a favorite for this is, of course, J.K. Rowling. Not only is she the birthplace of a world I know I am meant to live in, but she also is quite an amazing person. I've heard her say she's still afraid of being broke and going hungry to this day. I don't know what she's actually like, but I get the most amazing feeling of humbleness when I see her. A third author is actually really hard to choose. There's so many after my top two that it's a very difficult decision. So for the sake of this meme, I'll go with Cassandra Clare. This woman actually cracks me up in her books, blog, and on Twitter. I literally laugh out loud with the quirks she puts in her books, but it's seeing her interact with us and other fans that wins me over. I love when there's an author that loves to be as involved with their fans as much as they are their writing. :)

Waiting On Wednesday: July 20, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme from Jill at Breaking the Spine. To join in, share the book or books that you are currently drooling over as you await their release and report back to Breaking the Spine with the link to your post. The gorgeous badge above is brought to us by Lindsay at The Violet Hour!

My "Waiting on..." pick this week is a book that will be a deciding factor for what I think about the entire series. In Hush, Hush I fell in love with the characters and story, but in Crescendo I felt a little like I'd been slapped. Crescendo had the "Second Book Syndrome" that I've been seeing more of lately. Meaning, the first book was great, but the second just came up short in so many ways. I understand that sometimes this happens, but I don't like seeing as much as I have of it. I do try to hold out and read the next book in the series, usually I loved the first book enough to hold on to hope. It will interesting to see how Fitzpatrick wraps up the series and if my faith shall once more be restored!

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hardcover, 400 pages

Expected publication: October 4th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

From Goodreads:

The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They've overcome the secrets riddled in Patch's dark past...bridged two irreconcilable worlds...faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust...and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they've worked for—and their love—forever.

Review: 5/5 for Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Hardcover, 359 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Hyperion Books CH
Source: eBook, purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon : B&N : Goodreads

From Goodreads:

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Sophie's journey continues as she comes into her own, but not as a witch and instead a demon. The book centers around her trials and tribulations during this phase of her life. I see the similarities between an actual teen learning to grow and mature like I did in Hex Hall. However, it was taken to another, and much higher, level this time around. Not only does Sophie go through this process, I guess I could call it "professional growth" in a way, but also some that tax her personal growth limits. In the first book she has typical issues of a teen. In this one, however, Hawkins adds in supernatural elements and individuals to really give Sophie a ride.

Sophie deals with some of the same issues with her powers as in the first book, but everything seems to just be..different with her. Her father tries to explain the many reasons why she shouldn't go through the Removal and wants her to understand herself better. Unfortunately, it takes Sophie going through some harrowing events to understand just this. She learns of other demons that ultimately become her friends and this does help her father's case to a point. However, it is events with Archer that basically slaps Sophie back to reality and out of the tunnel vision. All of these incidents fly back to back of each other and leads the reader deeper and deeper into the story and book. There is definitely no lack of action in this one! There are the great "run-for-your-life" and "ok-I-have-to-stop-and-think-about-that-twist" events galore, which makes me very happy. About that ending though... Ha. Yeah. It got me and did a really good job of it. *evil grin* I kept clicking on my Nook to go to the next page...and it wouldn't turn. I honestly thought it had locked up. Then I realized that it was actually the last page of the book! This is the true definition of a cliffhanger. It felt like I had just had the ground pulled out from under me. It was magnificent!

Sophie grows a lot during this short amount of time. I could almost literally see her mature after some of these things happen to her. She comes into her own and I can accept her now as the "leader of the pack" that she was born to be. Before now, I thought she was still very "young" mind-wise, but she becomes worldly for her age. Our dear Jenna shines more in this book and I am so tickled to see more of her. She is a great and lovable character and truly throws her own spin on things in both her and Sophie's life. And Archer, as hot as ever. I won't give too much away, but big decisions come into play with both him and Sophie and it can affect pretty much everything in their lives.