In My Mailbox - September 4, 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.

I got lucky with a few prices this week and also received my first book that I won in a giveaway. I'm well on my way to catching up where I want to be in both purchasing and reading.

My first giveaway book:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
-I am so excited about this one. I've heard so many good things about it. Thanks to The Violet Hour for this one!










Ebooks for the Nook caught on sale:

The Awakening and The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
-Can't wait to dig into these. The Summoning just had started getting good when it ended!










Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
Exiled by M. R. Merrick
-Excellent deals on these two this week!

Happy Blogoversary to A Night's Dream of Books!

Congrats to A Night's Dream of Books on the one year anniversary! Stop by and check out the blogoversary's giveaway!

Review: 3/5 for Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion by Lauren Kate

Hardcover, 420 pages

Published June 14th 2011 by Random House Children's Books
Source: eBook, purchased
Buy the book: Amazon : B&N : Goodreads

From Goodreads:

Luce would die for Daniel.
And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .
Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.
Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.
Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.
Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

Alright. After reading to this point in the series I had almost given up on it. This book definitely set the bar higher than the previous two. It takes the characters that I've followed thus far and speeds up their action to an acceptable pace.

As we join back with Luce she is hopping through time to try to figure out her and Daniel's past. She slowly figures out a few important key factors, but it is still hard because of Daniel's intent on secrecy. Luce has some company join her along the way, but it's slightly obvious from the start that it's not the best of help to have. I like the sides of Daniel I finally got to see this time. His story finally cracked open and I saw him in a little better light than before. Along with the help of their friends, Luce and Daniel's story truly grows in this book.

*Happy dance* The plot FINALLY picks up in this one! It was so sluggish in the first two books I was honestly concerned that it would continue on in this one. Luce's time travels came to my aid on this aspect. The hopping through time and seeing all the different lives and cultures she lived in really kept me interested. Daniel's struggles through these situations left real validity to their past and present relationships. I am very glad that is finally shown. I had hoped that some of the secrets he possessed about these relationships would illuminated this time. There is still a feeling that there's a lot more to be had at the end of the book though.

I did not realize until the ending of this book that it was actually a four book series. I thought this would be the end. That's why I was irritated when I finished the book. It had just picked up enough that I was truly interested and the series ends like that?? Nope, I was wrong. If I had known, I would have seriously waited until Rapture came out to even bother with these books.

Follow Friday/Book Blogger Hop - September 2, 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. If you could change the ending of any book (or series), which book would you choose? Why and to what?

I have had this thought many of times as I've finished books. The latest one would probably be Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. I can see why she did what she did, but there's still so many unanswered questions.

-Possible Spoiler-
What happens with Cole and Isabel? Did the cure work??? UGH. It just made me wonder so much! However, I was lucky enough to meet Maggie in Nashville at the beginning of August. I asked her about this and she had a simple answer for my problems. She said it just had to have ended that way and would we have seriously wanted the Harry Potter and family van ending? Ok, she got me there... LOL



Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy-for-Books. It is a great way to connect with other book lovers and bloggers! The Hop lasts from Friday till Monday, so there is plenty of time to participate. To join in, post the Hop and weekly question to your blog, add your name to the Linky list, and start HOPPING through it!

Q. What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season – A particular book release? Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation? (If your next season is other than fall/autumn, tell us about it and what you are most looking forward to in your part of the world!)


All of it! Fall is my favorite time of year. Halloween is quickly becoming one of the most awesome events at our house! Growing up, the best holiday was Christmas, but in the last couple of years I've learned why everyone else loves Halloween so much. I also live in the Appalachia area and love getting to see the rainbow of colors year round and the moderate temps we experience. :)

Review: 3/5 for Torment by Lauren Kate

Torment by Lauren Kate

Hardcover, 452 pages

Published September 28th 2010 by Random House Children's Books
Source: eBook, Purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon : B&N : Goodreads

From Goodreads:

Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.
At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.
What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

After debating back and forth when I finished Fallen, I finally decided to continue on to this book. Fallen lacked in a lot of areas for me, but friends recommended I should carry on with the series because they felt it picked up for them in Torment. I am certainly glad I listened to them. While there are some things I wish would just be taken care of, there were several things introduced that gave this book some pep.

Luce discovers she's headed to Shoreline from Daniel. Of course, there is secrecy involved with every action he takes. On the plus side, several new and interesting characters are introduced at the school. These characters end up playing a more crucial part in the story that what I thought they would. They are more true to Luce because of their backgrounds. She does grow quick a bit in this book, but is still held by the boundaries that Daniel sets. He does elaborate on the grand scheme of things, but just enough to irritate me. I continually hope that one of other characters will just bluntly state the situation, but their allegiance is unwavering.

The beginning of this book is as slow as Fallen was, but Luce instigates a series of events that finally gets the ball rolling. It is not a page-turner, but it does keep the plot going at a decent pace. Some events involving Luce seemed a little unbelievable or simply irrational. A lot of it seemed out of character for her. It was slightly predictable, but the book just simply stops at the end. I'm not sure if it qualifies as a cliffhanger for me, but I'm sure most it would probably feel that way.