There Are No Words...

Have you ever had a day where something so beyond anything you could have imagined happened, and it just seems incredible that the rest of the world doesn't know and is still functioning normally?

Today was one of those days. And not in a good way.

To me, on a personal level, it seems impossible that the blogosphere is still running smoothly and people are happily discussing books. There's a hole in the world that didn't used to be there.

A boy from my school died today.

I'm going to try to get some posts up this weekend, but I don't know if that'll happen or not. We'll see. I didn't even know him, not really - I saw him pretty frequently, but we never talked. But it still hurts more than it seems like it possibly could. It's the sort of thing that happens at other schools, never at your own. But it did happen.

If prayer is something you believe in, please keep his family and my school in your prayers.

Sorry for the somber mood and the blatantly off-topic post, but I can't just say nothing. Apologies in advance for any lack of posting, and thanks for understanding. <3

Waiting on Wednesday

First of all, I'd like to apologize for my silence over the last couple of days, but I was finishing my senior thesis project! It is now completely finished, and for the record, it went very well. :) So that's one less thing I have to worry about as we head into the holidays, which is always a nice feeling.

But you're here to see what book I am interested in for Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine), and this week that book is Wildefire by Karsten Knight. I love the cover - I can't quite decide what it is, but it's really cool-looking. And it sounds like a fun new paranormal sort of thing (without vampires, which is nice). I'm intrigued by the whole volcano-goddess idea.

Description from Goodreads:
Ashline Wilde never received an instruction manual on how to be a 16-year-old Polynesian volcano goddess. If she had, it might have contained helpful warnings such as:

• Dreaming about your (thankfully) mortal boyfriend may cause your bed to spontaneously combust
• Oven mitts should be worn at all times during heavy make-out sessions

Instead, Ash has to learn these life lessons the hard way as her dormant powers erupt at the most awkward times. In the wake of a hometown tragedy, Ash transfers to Blackwood Academy, a boarding school nestled in California’s redwoods, where a group of fellow gods-on-earth have mysteriously convened. As if sophomore year couldn’t get any worse, her storm goddess older sister, the wild and unpredictable Eve, resurfaces to haunt Ashline. With a war between the gods looming over Blackwood, Ash must master the fire smoldering within her before she clashes with her sister one final time, which leads us to life-lesson #3:

• When warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm. 

**********

I also really love the tagline at the end about "when warm and cold fronts collide, there's bound to be a storm." It sounds ominous and funny at the same time, and I can't wait to read it! Wildefire comes out July 2011, and I'll have to check, but I believe it counts for the Debut Author Challenge. If it does, I shall have to add it to my list!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave a link in the comments and I'll stop by to visit!

In My Mailbox (7)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a cool meme that lets book bloggers share what new books they got during the week.

As you may have noticed, I didn't even try to do an IMM with the books from NCTE/ALAN, but I have gotten a few other new books since then. The book links go to Goodreads.

For review: 

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes. Thanks to Goodreads First Reads for sending me this one! It sounds delightfully dark and mysterious, and the cover is gorgeous.

From the library:

Numbers by Rachel Ward. I picked up the sequel to this one at NCTE but hadn't read the first one, so I decided to fix that. I love the cover on this one, it looks really awesome, but I have no idea what it's about. (Yeah, I'm judging a book by its cover. We all do it.)

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. I have heard so many good things about this book and I'm excited to finally get the chance to read it!









That's all for me this week! What did you get in your mailbox?

Nerdfighters!

Just a quick post today, you guys, but it's to share something really awesome.

I'm not sure how I missed out on knowing about nerdfighteria until now, but I discovered John and Hank Green's videoblog a few days ago and have since spent lots and lots of time watching their videos and being amused. (Yes, John Green as in the author, and his brother Hank.)

I really don't know how I didn't know about this sooner. It is awesome. And I kind of love these videos.

Check out their website or their Youtube channel if you haven't already, and watch some vlogbrothers videos. You won't regret it.

DFTBA, guys (Don't Forget to Be Awesome. Yes, that is a nerdfighter thing.)

Blog Hop!

It's been a while since I participated in the Book Blogger Hop (hosted by Crazy for Books), but I suppose I just felt like it today.

This week's question is, "What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

Fortunately, I haven't come a whole lot of books lately that I really disliked. Obviously there have been some that I enjoyed more than others, but most of the books I've read recently have been pretty enjoyable, and I generally choose not to review ones that I can't come up with something good about unless I have specifically agreed to review them. The most recent one that I can think of was Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin. It just was not my cup of tea. I can see what other people would have enjoyed about it, but it didn't work for me. And I felt okay with putting that review up, because hey - not every blogger likes every book, and I wasn't trashing the book or anything; I said why it didn't work for me and why I think somebody else might like it, and it did kind of redeem itself a bit at the end.

And that is my rather long-winded answer to this week's blog hop question! See you later, blogosphere!

Review: Glimmerglass

Title: Glimmerglass
Author: Jenna Black
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 294
Series: Faeriewalker #1
Rating: 4 stars
From the back cover: 
Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she's had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl -- she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she'll never have a chance with... until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn't sure where she'll ever fit in or who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again.

---------------

Ahem. Shiny, glittery dots on the cover. Hee hee.

Okay, easily-distracted moment over. I loved the premise of Glimmerglass -- the idea that humans are very aware of faeries and vice versa and that they interact normally, but only in one city because that's the only place their worlds connect and they can't cross realms, is a really cool idea. And I love that being a Faeriewalker is something that can just happen and has a totally rational explanation; the novel avoids that contrived feeling that a lot of fantasy novels have. The whole concept of the fae/human politics is just awesome, too. Kudos to Jenna Black on an original fantasy piece that still very much plays into the traditional faerie mythology. Love love love.

And the story is well-executed too. Dana is an incredibly complex character, and her narrative is fun to read (except for the parts where she whines. I feel like almost all female protagonists in YA fantasy now are too whiny), and her emotions are real. As annoying as her obsession with Ethan can get, it's also very realistic and well-done. And Ethan - great character. His sister, Kimber, is also an absolutely wonderful character (j'adore Kimber, she's an excellent Best Friend character), and I really want to find out what's up with the Ethan-Kimber tension. Character development is excellent in Glimmerglass, even if I did get kind of bothered by Dana sometimes. My favorite characters were probably Finn and Keane - I hope we see lots more of them in Shadowspell.

The story is intriguing and fascinating. The fact that I didn't always like Dana very much made it hard to read in places, but on the whole I think Dana is a great character too - some of the stuff I disliked about her, I recognized as being pretty common to most teenage girls. But the worldbuilding is great, and we're not hit over the head with it -- it's just there, and it's lovely.

My recommendation here comes with a warning (can you guess? the narrator irked me sometimes), but I do recommend it. Glimmerglass is another wonderful addition to the growing collection of YA faerie novels with a really cool spin on the faerie world.

Links:
Jenna Black's website

Waiting on Wednesday: Ultraviolet

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm waiting on Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson. I found this one while browsing on Goodreads and... well, here, I'll show you and then I'll explain:

Description from Goodreads:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.

This is not her story.

Unless you count the part where I killed her.

***

It's so short and it says so much. I really want to know who this girl was and who this person is who apparently killed her. The teeny-tiny little description draws me in and I already want to know what happened. Ultraviolet comes out May 5, 2011, and I will be oh-so-ready to read it.

What are you waiting on this week? Leave a link in the comments and I'll stop by!