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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Favorite Books of 2008

Everyone else is doing it, so here is my list of my favorite books of 2008. They aren't in any particular order, but #1-3 are the best of the best.

- Gone by Michael Grant - This is pure awesomeness! It has earned a place in my list of favorite books, which is very small compared to the hundreds (even thousands) of books I've read.

- Unwind by Neal Schusterman - This was sci-fi that was chilling, well written, and made me think at the same time.

- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - This also goes on my favorites list! Geeky, but in a cool way!

- The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson - Ditto what I said for Unwind, but it wasn't quite as horrific (as in good horror).

- Kaimira: The Sky Village by Monk Ashland and Nigel Ashland - This is Middle Grade, but I still loved it!

- Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs - I loved this book! It reminded me of the Percy Jackson series (<3)>

- Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper by Michael Reisman - Another Middle Grade book. This one had a really unique premise.

- Ever by Gail Carson Levine - This one is usually categorized as Middle Grade, and got some not-so-great reviews, but I loved it.

- Wake by Lisa McMann - It was hard to get used to the way the book was written, but once I was used to it I was hooked.

- The Devouring by Simon Holt - I read this on Sorry Night... and it freaked me out so much that I nearly fell over when a small noise startled me.

- The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - One of the few realistic fiction books on my list. That means it's very, very good!


And some that weren't published in 2008, but I read in 2008:

- The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray - This took me forever to finish (800 pages), but it was a great conclusion to the Gemma Doyle Trilogy! ... *cry*

- Specials and Extras by Scott Westerfeld - Yes! I finished the incredible Uglies series!

- Hero by Perry Moore - It's about superheroes!

- Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reeves - It has parallel worlds (!!!) and multiple versions of the main character... who have the power to travel between worlds! And it's a mixture of sf and fantasy. This one would only be better if the book was longer, and a series.

- Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles) by Philip Reeve - Incredible! Especially Mortal Engines.

- Larklight by Philip Reeve - This was set in an alternate 1800's where the British Empire extends into outer space. I loved it!

- Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier - This one was near perfect. Need I say more?

- The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci - One of my favorite graphic novels. Ever.

- The entire Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan - Middle Grade, but some of the best MG books out there!

- The Hollow People (Promises of Doctor Sigmundus) by Brian Keaney - It was short and ended on a cliffhanger, but it was good!


I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but this is all I can think of now.

There are some books I'm sure would be on here (The Hunger Games, Sleepless, Undone, The Otherworldlies, Skinned, Graceling, The Summoning, and others), but I haven't had a chance to read them yet.

*Paradox*
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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Books for Christmas!

I know I'm posting this a bit late, but I've just been too busy (...err... with Christmas gifts) to post this until now. I'm also planning on starting my own "In My Mailbox" feature next week. Soo... here are the books I either got on Christmas, or bought with Christmas money and gift cards:

EDIT: Grr... I've been trying to get this post straightened out for almost an hour! Is there an easy way to get all the pictures and titles in without the post getting all messed up?

Received On Christmas:


  • Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
  • Paraworld Zero by Matthew Peterson

  • First Light by Rebecca Stead

From Gift Cards and Christmas Money:

  • Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
  • City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

  • Revealers by Amanda Marrone



  • Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith

  • The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

  • Ruler of the Realm (Book 3 in Faerie Wars Quartet) by Herbie Brennan















  • Blue Noon (Midnighters #3) by Scott Westerfeld
  • The Hound of Rowan (The Tapestry #1) by Henry H. Neff


I can't wait to start reading all of these!

Happy Holidays/New Year/Etc. !!!


*Paradox*

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Official Contest List

...I was so tempted to continue the title with "Of Doom."

Soo... I'm thinking that too much of my blog space is being taken up by contest links, so from now on I'll post them all here and put a link to the list on the sidebar. But I probably won't put up all the contests I find, because that would take forever, but usually the best ones and the ones that will give me extra entries if I post about them. This list will be updated frequently. The contests won't be in any particuar order, but the ones that are giving away large amounts of books or are complicated to understand will be put first on the list.

THE LIST - Latest update at about 12:45 AM April 9th:

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Lenore of Presenting Lenore is hosting a contest for a prize pack of 11 or more books! They are:

- If I Stay by Gayle Forman

- The Reluctant Heiress by Eva Ibbotson

- Peace Love & Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

- Chasing the Bear by Robert Parker

- Prada & Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard

- Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes

- Plus by Veronica Chambers

- Three Cups of Tea Young Readers Edition by Greg Mortenson

- Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

The contest ends at 11:59 PM CST on the 5th. - http://presentinglenore.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-giveaway-penguin-prize-pack-11-ya.html

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The Story Siren is giving away a prize pack of 10 ARCs!!! They are:

- The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

- Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

- Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart

- Warrior Princess by Frewin Jones

- Sea Change by Aimee Friedman

- Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors

- Sloane Sisters by Anna Carey

- Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman

- A Map of the Known World by Lisa Anne Sandell

- Something Maybe by Elizabeth Scott

The contest ends at midnight EST on the 7th. - http://www.thestorysiren.com/2009/03/contest-ten-pack-arc.html

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For the Love of Books is giving away three books (either to one or three people). They are:

- Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

- Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison

- Speak (10th Anniversary Edition) by Laurie Halse Anderson

The contest ends at midnight on the 21st. - http://fortheloveofbooksblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/march-giveaway.html

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Book-luver Carol is giving away a bunch of books! There will be three winners. The first prize winner gets three books off of the list, the second prize winner gets two, and the third prize winner gets one. Here's the list (taken from contest post):

Privilege by Kate Brian

Rumors by Anna Godbersen (Paperback)

The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro (ARC)

You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay (ARC)

Ever by Gail Carson Levine (Hardback)

The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Catherine Hapka

Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic by Kathleen Duey (Paperback)

Rehab by Randi Reisfeld

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley (ARC)

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (ARC)

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison (ARC)

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Raven by Allison Van Driepen (ARC)

The Diamonds by Ted Michael (ARC)

The winners will be picked on the 1st of April. - http://bookluver-carol.blogspot.com/2009/03/im-so-happy-that-im-going-to-florida.html

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Carrie of Carrie's YA Bookshelf is giving away a prize pack of three YA supernatural books! The books are:

- You Are So Undead to Me by Stacy Jay

- Moonlight by Rachel Hawthorne

- An ARC of Haunted by Meg Cabot

The contest ends on the 31st. - http://carriesyabookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-contest.html

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*Paradox*

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Free Bookmarks... and Contest Links

I found more contest links to post, but I felt that I couldn't just post another list of links with nothing else... So I took some bookmarks I made and uploaded them to Blogger. Now you can print them out and use them (click on them to see them full size)! Just don't post them anywhere else, modify them, or say you made them. (If you tweak them just to print for yourself, I don't mind.) Grr... I can't get the second bookmark to upload... let me see if I can get it...

So...

A Book Review? Um... No. It's Another List of Contests:


*Paradox*

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Thursday, December 4, 2008

Yes... MORE Contest Links

I know, it's December and I should be putting more on the blog than just a bunch of contest links, but I have a lot of stuff I have to catch up on that I put off because of NaNoWriMo. And the holidays are coming! I'll try to get up the book covers I made soon. And I'm also going to (finally) see the Twilight movie. So look for more stuff soon. The first real review I'll post will most likely be for Unwind by Neal Schusterman, which is one of the best books I've read in months.

Okay, here's the list of contest links:


  • The Page Flipper is giving away a prize pack of five books! They are: Read my Lips by Teri Brown, Likely Story by David Van Etten, Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti, and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. The contest ends at midnight on the 31st. - http://thepageflipper.blogspot.com/2008/12/december-prize-pack.html

*Paradox*

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Friday, November 28, 2008

More Contest Links

Yes, once again I am using my blog to get extra entries for contests. But don't worry, once I'm not so busy frantically trying to reach 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo I will post something more interesting, like reviews.

*Paradox*

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Wake by Lisa McMann!!!

This is my official post about Wake by Lisa McMann. (Yes, a contest is involved.) It won't really be a review, because I read it too long ago to write a good one, so this will just be a post to tell you a little about the book, and some of my thoughts about it. I'll have a detailed rating system with my real reviews. (I'm really new to this so I got the picture to the left off of Google Images (I believe from the Barnes & Noble site.) Am I breaking any copyright laws? I saved it to my computer and uploaded it to my blog.)

Amazon Summary:

Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....


My Thoughts:

I was so excited when I found Wake at a local library because I'd heard so much about it and immediately began to read it, despite the fact I had about twenty other books from other libraries left to read that were due soon. I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at first because of the present tense style of writing and shifting between times, but once I was in I was hooked. I absolutely love paranormal books, and until that point I hadn't encountered much dreamwalking in teen books, but what I had read before was nothing like this. Janie couldn't helped getting sucked into other people's often nasty dreams, which was a really original idea that I wished I had thought of. It was a power that was more of a curse. Then came the part that really got me interested. Janie wasn't the only dreamwalker... and then there's Cabel, the boy she ends up sharing her secret with (who is also sort of mysterious.) Overall, the style the book was written in, the darkness of the story, and the frequent switching of scenes sort of gave me the feeling of being lost and confused, but curious, which I suspect is the author's intent. But so many questions went unanswered... Now I really want to read Fade (see countdown on sidebar)!!! (Sorry if you thought this was so disorganized, but I didn't intend for it to be a real review.)


Wake Book Trailer:




In case you were wondering, here is the contest (it ends in less than an hour, so I doubt posting this will do much good): http://lisamcmann.blogspot.com/2008/10/freaking-huge-contest-o-thanks.html

More Contests (You saw this coming, didn't you?):

*Paradox*

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Book Trailer for Bliss by Lauren Myracle

I want to read this book really badly, so I'm posting the trailer for a contest. It's pretty cool, right? It looks so good!

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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Paradox Says *Hi*

Hello, I'm Paradox, and I must be crazy for attempting to start a blog. Don't expect there to be much here until at the very soonest December (NaNoWriMo is eating my soul). But when I do finally start posting things, besides contest links, this will be a blog for book reviews, things that amuse me, interesting stuff I find on the internet, updates about my writing and possibly short stories, graphics and drawings of mine, and randomness. I'll try to stress the book reviews, though, because I am love reading. I'm pretty new to writing book reviews, so at first they probably won't be that good.

My favorite genres of books to read are science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, mythological, or anything with a touch of the metaphysical. Anything with parallel universes too. Most of this is YA. I do not like fluff cliquish high/middle school stories, so don't expect me to review them. I will read realistic fiction, but I prefer for it to be something special or unusual.

I like to write about the things I like to read, and that influences what I draw, because I usually draw my characters. Right now I am attempting to write two books (more about that in later posts). Besides reading, writing, and drawing, I like to find amusing sites on the internet, design websites, attempt to teach myself 3D animation and other digital art, and take pictures of things with my digital camera.

Oh, the picture on the left is not me, it's one of my characters that I drew.


I doubt anyone is actually reading this, but here are some links to contests that I am posting to get extra entries:


  • Reading Mania is having a huge contest to win any book she reviews from when the contest began to today. It ends at midnight, so I don't know if anyone will find this in time, but there'll be another contest soon. - http://elainareads.blogspot.com/2008/11/contest.html

My next post on this blog will probably be either contest links or about some fan book covers I made. And the layout is temporary. I'll customize it when I have time.

*Paradox*

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