On Shelves Today...

Hey guys, just wanted to remind you about some awesome book news! There are some really exciting new books out today!

First and foremost, the book we have all been waiting for since City of Glass... The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare is out today. I can't wait to read this one! So excited. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Also released today is Halo by Alexandra Adornetto. I don't know too much about this one but it seems to be about angels as well and it looks really cool, so I'll definitely have to read it ASAP.

Then there's Vanished by Kate Brian, the twelfth (I think? Unless it's eleventh or thirteenth...I've honestly kind of lost count) book in the Private series. Even though I've lost count of how many books there are, I do enjoy the series, so I'll be reading this one when I get the chance too.

Unraveled by Gena Showalter is also in stores today. I haven't had the chance to read Intertwined yet, but it looks quite awesome so I'll have to do something about that soon.

Reading Speed (Like Speed Reading, But Backwards)

Like many other people, I went out and bought Mockingjay on Tuesday this week when it came out. (Actually, I had preordered it and my copy didn't arrive on time, so I went and bought a store copy and then returned the preorder when it arrived, but anyway.) I was all for staying up that night to finish it. Instead, I had to do lots of homework and get a little sleep and then go to school and take lots of quizzes and do work and suchlike...so I finished it after school on Wednesday. (My review is here.)

Four-hundred-page book. Just a few hours' total reading time. No big deal, right?

Then there was Extraordinary. Not a terrible book, not fantastic either (my review is here). I spent several days on this one, and it's a good thirty pages shorter than Mockingjay.

I'm not really surprised that it took me a lot less time to read Mockingjay than Extraordinary. The former had a lot more action, was a lot less predictable, and was one that I'd been a lot more excited for (because really, it's hard to get more excited about a book than I was for Mockingjay - except for the Harry Potter series). But I usually read pretty quickly, and over the summer there were a few days where I had nothing else to do but read, so I could get through a 360-page book in a day and then most of another one, so it was kind of weird to have Extraordinary take me that long. And now John Belushi is Dead is taking a while too.

Then, of course, there are textbooks. It has taken me an hour to struggle through a twenty-page chapter of a history textbook before. Nowhere close to my normal reading speed.

I think it's kind of interesting to note how much faster we read when we're excited for stuff, but some of it may also be the amount of action in the story. I tend to go through a book a lot faster when I'm desperate to find out what happens and spend longer on a story that's more about character development. Is it the same for you guys? What sorts of things affect your reading speed? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Extraordinary

Title: Extraordinary
Author: Nancy Werlin
Publisher: Dial Books
Pages: 400
Rating: 3 stars
From the book jacket:
What does it mean to be extraordinary?

Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school. Soon the two girls are as close as sisters...until Mallory's magnetic older brother, Ryland, appears. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe - but a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself.

Soon she'll discover the shocking, fantastical truth about Ryland and Mallory, and about an age-old debt they expect Phoebe to pay. Will she be strong enough to resist? Will she be special enough to save herself?

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I had pretty high expectations for Extraordinary, because I really enjoyed Impossible when I read it a couple of years ago and I think the cover for Extraordinary is beautiful (yes, I judged it by its cover. It happens). Unfortunately, I wasn't particularly impressed.

The premise is interesting enough, I guess, although I think the mystery would have been a lot better if not for the prologue and frequent inserts labeled "Conversation with the Faerie Queen" (that's not a spoiler - that's the first chapter heading in the book). The whole thing felt very predictable to me - I knew what was really going on the whole time, so I was just waiting for Phoebe to get it together and figure out what was going on.

My main problem with the book was the characters. I thought Phoebe was really annoying throughout most of the novel because she wouldn't stand up for herself. She had the potential to be an excellent, relatable character - her "psychological battle," as Ryland put it, about whether or not she was special, was actually quite well-done - except that she had absolutely no sense of self. She let herself be defined by what other people said. And Ryland, who was supposed to be the love interest, was an utterly detestable character. I hated him and the things he said to Phoebe. Again, because the plot was so predictable I understood why, but I still didn't like him. Mallory was okay, but like Phoebe, she didn't stand up for herself enough. The one character I really did like was Phoebe's Nantucket friend, Benjamin.

What saved Extraordinary in my eyes was the ending. In the last fifty pages or so, the plot took a turn that I had not fully expected, which was really nice; also, the characters finally started to seem real instead of a means to a plot-fulfilling end. If not for the last fifty pages, the book probably would not have merited 3 stars, but once I got to those final chapters, I discovered that I actually did not despise the book and actually did want to find out what happened.

On the whole, Extraordinary was not a favorite of mine and not one that I would glowingly recommend, but it did have its moments and the ending made it mostly worth reading. It's not one that I'd advise you to go out and buy now - but it might be worth checking out from the library sometime. (And I do recommend Nancy Werlin's other novel, Impossible.)

Links:
Nancy Werlin's website

Book Blogger Hop!

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted each weekend by Crazy for Books. I really meant to get this post up Friday, but it's technically Saturday now. We'll pretend it's Friday in terms of postingness. (Yes, that's a word in my universe.)

This week's question is: Do you use a rating system for your reviews? If so, what is it and why?

I do in fact use a rating system for my book reviews. I rate books out of 5 stars (and I have yet to rate anything below a 3, because I can usually find at least something that I liked about a book and if I really didn't like a book that I haven't agreed to review, I'll usually just not review it here). Honestly, I set up my rating system when I was getting started (I'm still very new to this blogging thing) because it seemed to be the convention, but it really works for me. I do use a lot of ".5"s on the end of stuff, though, because I'm frequently too indecisive to choose "4" or "5" for a good book.

In other news, I haven't had much time for reading lately because of homework and a science fiction story I'm working on with a friend of mine and more homework, but I'm hoping to finish Extraordinary this weekend so there should be a review of that up before long!

Review: Mockingjay

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 390
Series: Hunger Games #3
Rating: 5 stars. Or, you know, a gazillion or so.
**Warning!!! This review contains spoilers for books 1-2. (I promise no spoilers for this one, though!)**
From the jacket flap:
"My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead."

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay - no matter what the personal cost.

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So, it's been about twenty minutes since I finished reading Mockingjay (I was all for staying up last night to finish it, but unfortunately school stopped that). For all of that time, I have been literally lost for words.

I read the last page and then just stared at the book for a little while. It's over. This is all there will ever be of these characters who took me on this absolutely heart-wrenching journey. And what a story it was.

I'm really not sure what I can say without being mega-spoilery, so I'll just ramble for a while about how much I adore the characters and the story and everything about this book and the whole series. Katniss is seriously one of the strongest, most kick-butt heroines I have ever encountered. Her strength is more physical than a lot of heroines' anymore, but she's got this mental strength too, and Mockingjay tested her in so many ways. We got to see another side of Katniss, which was really awesome. And I think more than anything, it's Katniss's weaknesses that make her such a wonderful character. And then there's Gale and Peeta (both of whom are wonderful characters, regardless of what all the die-hard Team Gale/Team Peeta people say. Although I know whose team I'm on - and always have been - regarding Katniss), and Prim (who's finally a legit character!) and Finnick (who is wonderful) and Boggs and everyone else.

And the villains, too. President Snow, of course, is one seriously bad bad guy. Also I will say that the development of other antagonistic characters was excellent.

I'm rambling a bit. Sorry. I really just do not have the words for this book. And I REALLY don't want to spoil anything. The plot just starts going and never slows down. And like I said...it left me speechless.

So instead of rambling on until I become completely incoherent or inadvertently spoil something, I will leave you with these thoughts: The themes of this book really hit hard. Suzanne Collins can do magic with words. And I approve of the ending. And I'm very, very sad to leave these characters behind as their story ends. Mockingjay made me smile and it made me cry (yes, literally cry. I will admit to this). The Hunger Games trilogy is definitely one of my favorite series ever, and this conclusion is absolutely stunning.

Links:

Suzanne Collin's website

Official Hunger Games fansite, Mockingjay.net

Release Day!!!

Today is the release date for Mockingjay.

I have my copy. I also have more homework than I know what to do with. Aaack. My solution: do homework very rapidly, then read all night. I can sleep through class tomorrow...right?

Just wanted to remind you guys that Mockingjay is out today! Also wanted to tell you that I will be avoiding the blogosphere (and the internet) until I finish. I don't want any accidental spoilers...that might kill me.

Until next time, guys.

~Becky

Mockingjay. *Squee*

I cannot even tell you guys how excited I am that Mockingjay comes out TOMORROW.

Yes, tomorrow, as in, not that many hours from right now.

But see, the thing is...I preordered my copy. For Harry Potter books, that worked very well, because it meant I was at the bookstore at midnight purchasing my copy and I could stay up until I finished reading it, no problem. The issues with that this time are: (1) the bookstore through which I pre-ordered Mockingjay is not having a midnight release party; (2) it's a school-night and I have three quizzes tomorrow; (3) apparently when I preordered it, we did something weird so it's being mailed to me instead of held at the store for me. This means I have to wait on a potentially faulty postal service to get my copy! This makes me very sad. It had better arrive while I'm at school tomorrow or else I seriously might cry.

All that aside though...

We find out what happens to Katniss, Peeta, Gale and the rest IN LESS THAN A DAY.

Are you excited? Because I'm excited.

*fangirl squee*