Singing The Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman

Amazon | Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Joss is a rebel, and a student of time travel at the prestigious Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. This year, for the first time, the Centre has an alien student: Mavkel, from the planet Choria. And Mavkel has chosen Joss, of all people, as his roommate and study partner. Then Mavkel gets sick. Joss quickly realizes that his will to live is draining away. The only way she can help Mavkel is by breaking the Centre's strictest rules - and that means going back in time to change history.

This book was amazing - it was truly like nothing else I have ever read. I'm so used to reading the typical YA novel (which involves a pretty heroine falling for a hot vampire/werewolf/ghost/etc, and together they go off on an adventurous journey to save the world/uncover a conspiracy/overthrow a corrupt leader/etc) that this was such a nice refreshment.

I think what I loved most was that this book was not about romance or damsels in distress, it was about true friendship. The heroine, Joss, was so kick-ass. She played the harmonica with a blues band, she was a bit of a troublemaker, and she had plain ol' common sense. She also had no problem or prejudice with partnering with the alien Mavkel, whom she nicknamed Mav.

Mav, on the other hand, was something else. I thought he was a sweetheart - he really grew to care a lot about Joss, and it was cute seeing him try to understand humans. Still, I have to admit that he did get a bit annoying at times, but that was only because he kept trying to force his habits on Joss, who was unaccustomed to them. His race, the Chorians, are used to communicating telepathically, and each Chorian is paired with a partner whom they're linked with telepathically 24/7. The sad thing about Mav is that his pair died, so he didn't have a mental link with anyone else - something unheard of on his planet. When Mav was partnered with Joss, he kept trying to form a mental link with her without even telling her, so she kept getting headaches without knowing why. He meant well, but he could have tried actually talking to Joss. Nonetheless, you can see their friendship strengthen over the course of the book - especially when Joss decides to jump back in time in an effort to save Mav when his life is threatened.

Another awesome thing about this book was the lingo. The book took place further in the future, and so the slang was a bit different, which made it fun to try and figure out what everything meant (the most used word was 'screte,' which I figured was the equivalent to saying 'shit'). If you are a fan of the book Feed by MT Anderson, you'll probably love this book - different message, but the same atmosphere. Likewise, if you enjoy this, you'll love Feed. I'm really hoping that Ms. Goodman decides to write a sequel - she had written a short story that takes place after this book, but that just left more questions about the background turmoil between comps (people created from many donors with genes manipulated for superiority) and natural born humans. All I can say is: more please!

Recommended for fans of Feed by MT Anderson

Follow Friday | 02

Follow Friday, or Feature & Follow, is a meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The premise is for bloggers to get to know other bloggers, and keep in touch with each other. This weeks questions:

Happy Father's Day! Who is your favorite dad character in a book and why?

My favorite dad character would definitely have to be Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. He was such an amazing father! He did what he could to raise his children as a single father, and they really looked up to him - you can tell by Scout's narration that he influenced them tremendously.  

I also liked that he let his children make decisions for themselves. He trusted them enough to believe they were capable of forming their own opinions. Plus, he showed them the importance of reading, and actually had meaningful conversations with them as equals, rather than treating them as nothing more than children. I read many books featuring children or teens where the parents seem almost non-existent, so it's nice to read something where the parent is actually an integral part of their children's lives.

Other reasons to love him:

- He sees people as they are, and, despite the era he lives in, does not discriminate against others based on religion or race

- He loves to read, and thus is full of wisdom

- He's a total bad-ass! That scene where he shoots the rabid dog with the rifle, and you learned of his old nickname, "One-Shot Finch" was so cool!

Atticus Finch and his bad-ass self, as portrayed by the sexy Gregory Peck

Atticus Finch, looking very much like Clark Kent with a bit of a Flynn Rider smoulder

You know, funnily enough I haven't even seen the film yet. I really ought to get around to it - it may be one of the only Gregory Peck movies I haven't seen.

Cover Design | Pride & Prejudice

So I've been noticing a lot of different cover designs for Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, and I thought it would be cool to make a post on some of my favorites. Each of the covers pictured below stood out to me:

by Jenni Milton

A twist on this cover for To Kill A Mockingbird

by Ruben Toledo

by Kazuko Nomoto

                       by Sara Singh                           Headline Book Publishing

                Pocket Penguin Classics                       Max Literary Classics

Penguin Group

I think my favorite is the one by Sara Singh, though that last one by Penguin Group is a close second. All of these versions are available online for purchase, except for the first design by Jenni Milton, which was fanmade. So, do you have a favorite Pride & Prejudice cover? Is there a good one that I am missing here? Let me know in the comments.

Waiting On Wednesday | 05

'Waiting on Wednesday' is a weekly meme, hosted by Breaking the Spine, which features upcoming releases that I am anticipating the most! There are so many good books coming out this year, but here's what I can't wait to read at the moment:

Origin by Jessica Khoury

September 4, 2012

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

October 2, 2012

Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . .

The world is dead.

The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

ALINA

has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful.

QUINN

should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

BEA

wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Ten by Gretchen McNeil
September 18, 2012

   It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

   But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

   Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander

Amazon | Goodreads

   Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine—from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond...

   Edie’s just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed. But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her watch, all hell breaks loose. Now she’s haunted by the man’s dying words—Save Anna—and before she knows it, she’s on a mission to rescue some poor girl from the undead. Which involves crashing a vampire den, falling for a zombie, and fighting for her soul. Grey’s Anatomy was never like this...

My Thoughts:
Oh wow. Where do I begin? So much went on in this book at so quick a pace, I just breezed through it. It only took me a couple days because I had needed sleep. This book has vampires, shapeshifters, were-creatures, zombies, and  yes, that is a dragon on the cover. I guess the best thing about this novel was how well it was all thrown together. The author really has a vivid imagination, and the story that she told, featuring all sorts of characters, was written in a way that kept me on my toes, wanting more. Ms. Alexander was very good at keeping up the suspense!

The heroine, Edie Spence, was also very likeable. She was down-to-earth, had an awesome job as a nurse for paranormal beings, and really cared about other people, even if they weren't human. I will admit that having the main character fall for a zombie kind of weirded me out, but he was kind of endearing. I guess I'm just used to zombies from horror movies, rather than the Haitian ones they are based on. Still, the thought that sometimes his body parts came from other sources was a bit much.

I also admit that it was a bit daunting in the beginning, because the first few pages are filled with a lot of technical words and medical terminology I'd never heard of, so I was worried that the whole book was going to be like that, but luckily that was not the case. I was glad, because I thought that would have kept me from getting into it. Instead, this book really sucked me in, and it was rather hard to put down. I am very much looking forward to the sequel, Moonshifted, which will be coming out in November. Especially since the end of Nightshifted featured a teaser for the next book, and what I read of it ended on a suspenseful note. I really want to read more! I give it 4/5 stars, though really I'd say it's more of a 4.5 out of 5.

Top 10 Childhood Favorites

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a different topic for a top 10 list that bloggers can make, and this week's list is a rewind, which means you can choose from any previous list topic. I chose to do a list on my top 10 childhood favorites. I was an avid reader as a kid, way more than I am now, so I started reading chapter books around the second grade. I especially loved reading ghost stories and scary story collections, but the following books are the series that stood out to me the most (except Holes, which was a stand-alone novel) and were re-read many times:

The Mouse and the Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary

Goosebumps
by R.L. Stine

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald

My Teacher Is An Alien
by Bruce Coville

The Fudge Series
by Judy Blume

The Babysitters Club
by Ann M. Martin

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
Retold by Alvin Schwartz

Holes
by Louis Sachar

The Ramona Quimby Series
by Beverly Cleary

Wayside School
by Louis Sachar

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

Amazon | Goodreads

  All Ida Mae Jones wants to do is fly. Her daddy was a pilot, and even years after his death, her connection to him still feels strongest when she's in the air. But in 1940s Louisiana, being black and being a woman are two strikes against her, no matter how light-skinned she may be.

  When the U.S. enters the World War, the army forms a group called the WASP--Women Airforce Service Pilots--and Ida finally sees her chance to take action: do what she loves and help her brother who is stationed overseas. As if being a woman in a man's army is not hard enough, Ida must use her light skin to pass as a white girl to be accepted as a WASP.

  But Ida soon realizes that a new name and a new outfit can't hide who you really are inside. She can't escape the burden that comes from denying one's family and self. As she chases her dreams, Ida finds out that it's not what you do but who you are that really makes the difference after all.

What I Liked Best:

If there's one thing I can say about this novel right off the bat, it's that it was well-written. Ms. Smith has a way of expressing the emotions of her character Ida Mae in a way that makes you feel as though you were right there with her - whether it's in the descriptions of how Ida Mae feels during flight, or the internal struggle that she goes through when trying to figure out what kind of person she is.

This book dealt with a difficult topic - one that I have no way of truly understanding myself because I am not African-American: the main character had to struggle between choosing her family and choosing what she loved to do, which was flying for WASP. The only way to do that was to throw away who she was and who her family was, and pretend to be white so that she would have the chance to fly, despite already facing hardships just for being a female pilot during WWII. 

Ms. Smith painted such a vivid description of her character's inner struggles that I was able to form a connection with her - I may not understand what it's like to be in her particular situation, but I did understand the struggle she had with figuring out who she was as a person, which I think is something that almost everyone could identify with.

What I Liked Least:

I thought the beginning of the novel started off a bit slow. It made it difficult for me to get into it at first, because it took a while to grab my interest. I don't think it really picked-up for me until Ida Mae started her WASP training. Once I finally managed to reach that point of the story, it actually became hard to put down.

I also felt that the end of the novel left me wanting a bit more. Some loose ends were never tied up, but I feel that the author intended it that way, so that we as readers could be left to contemplate more about how we think things may have ended up. Either way, I do recommend this one - it really does give you a lot to think about. It also left me wanting to research more about the WASP program.