Pint-Sized 'Pinions: Great Realistic YA Edition

Pint-Sized 'Pinions are mini-reviews that I post often (usually weekly). The books reviewed have either been reviewed a lot or I don't have much to say for them, whether negative or positive, to justify an extended review.

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Today's minis cover a few young adult novels, in the realistic fiction genre, that I though were simply outstanding. I can't say much more for these other than "They're great! Get them now!"

Fat Cat by Robin Brande
Knopf Books for Young Readers (October 13, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0375844492
336 pages

You are what you eat. . . .

Cat smart, sassy, and funny—but thin, she’s not. Until her class science project. That’s when she winds up doing an experiment—on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living—and eating—like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer and no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits.

As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this newfound male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren’t too busy hating Matt McKinney to notice. . . .

Read more after the jump »

Review: The Umbrella Academy, Volume 1 - Apocalypse Suite

The Umbrella Academy, Volume 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá (Artist)
Graphic Novel
Dark Horse (July 2, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-1593079789
192 pages
Copy provided for review by the publisher

Synopsis from Amazon:

Gerard Way, of My Chemical Romance, makes his comics writing debut in this outrageous superhero epic that Grant Morrison called "An ultraviolet psychedelic sherbet bomb of wit and ideas. The superheroes of the 21st century are here at last..." In an inexplicable, worldwide event, forty-seven extraordinary children were spontaneously born by women who'd previously shown no signs of pregnancy.

Read more after the jump »

Currently Coveting (9)

In case you haven't seen this feature before, I'm switching from my usual Waiting on Wednesday post. Instead of just one upcoming title that I want I'll list several, along with some backlisted books that I have on my wishlist too. If you guys have read any of the previous releases, let me know what you thought about them.

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On Shelves Now

The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jeffries

Historical Romance

HELLIONS OF HALSTEAD HALL

They're the scandalous Sharpes, five hell-raising siblings tainted by a shocking family legacy. Now each faces a daunting ultimatum: marry by year's end -- or kiss their inheritance good-bye.

Read more after the jump »

Giveaway: RITA Nominees!

Romance Lovers,

It's almost time for the winners of this year's RITA awards to be announced by RWA (Romance Writers of America). Hachette is celebrating their roster of nominees by giving away sets of books! I haven't read all of these yet, but I definitely hope to eventually. Of the six up for grabs, I can recommend My Forbidden Desire by Carolyn Jewel (which I reviewed here last year). To Beguile a Beast is the third book in Elizabeth Hoyt's Legend of the Four Soldiers series. Hopefully I'll get to that one soon. Meanwhile, I'll urge you to read it's predecessor, To Seduce a Sinner, which I loved. So, without further ado, the nominated books...

Read more after the jump »

Review: 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter

32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
Women's Fiction/Chick Lit
Amistad (June 22, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0061957840
352 pages
Review copy provided by the publisher

Synopsis from Amazon:

32 Candles is the slightly twisted, utterly romantic, and deftly wry story of Davie Jones, who, if she doesn’t stand in her own way, just might get the man of her dreams.

Davie—an ugly duckling growing up in small-town Mississippi—is positive her life couldn’t be any worse. She has the meanest mother in the South, possibly the world, and on top of that, she’s pretty sure she’s ugly. Just when she’s resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life—Sixteen Candles. But in her case, life doesn’t imitate art.

Read more after the jump »

Now & Then: A re-read of All-American Girl by Meg Cabot

I'm starting a new feature - "Now & Then" reviews. In these I'll review a recent re-read of a book that I first read at least 5 years. They'll probably mostly be books that I read as a teenager, but won't be limited to YA novels. I'll compare my original impressions with my latest thoughts.

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The original hardcover

All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
Young Adult Chick Lit/General Fiction
HarperTeen; 1st edition (August 20, 2002)
ISBN-13: 978-0060294694
256 pages

Synopsis from Amazon:

TOP TEN REASONS
Samantha Madison
IS IN DEEP TROUBLE

10. Her big sister is the most popular girl in school

9. Her little sister is a certified genius

8. She's in love with her big sister's boyfriend

Read more after the jump »

Contest Alert!

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to let you know about a contest for a book that I really enjoyed. Kieran Scott's giving away a signed copy of her book She's So Dead to Us (see my review) at her blog. She's also giving the lucky winner signed copies of her other books, Geek Magnet, I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader and She's So Over Him. All you have to do is change your Twitter or Facebook profile photo to the cover of She's So Dead to Us. Whether you love her books (under Kieran Scott and Kate Brian) or have never read her stuff - it doesn't hurt to enter!

Good luck!

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In My Mailbox (32)

This peek inside my mailbox is all thanks to Kristi at The Story Siren, the host, and Alea of Pop Culture Junkie, the inspiration.

Lots of stuff in the mail = No photos of the actual copies. What can I say? It's the weekend, so I'm lazy.

Won:

1. Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn from Smexy Books

2. Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase from Anna's Book Blog - Yay! I've been wanting this one!

3. signed ARC of Blood Law by Jeannie Holmes + swag (2 shot glasses, candy, cards, pens, signed cover flat) from Jeannie's blog - My ARC has a different cover, but I prefer this new one.

4. signed Seduced by Shadows by Jessa Slade + swag (signed forged by shadows sampler, seduced by shadows and forged by shadows bookmarks, temporary tattoo) from Strange Candy Reviews

Read more after the jump »

Winners: Insatiable and Masked by Moonlight

I've got a couple of winners to announce!

First up are the two people (as chosen by Random.org) who've won a copy of Insatiable by Meg Cabot each. They are:

Read more after the jump »

Friday Feature: Parajunkee's Follow My Book Blog Friday

Who:  A bunch of fellow bloggers, most of them new to me.

What: A blog hop called "Follow My Book Blog Friday" hosted at Parajunkee's View.

When: Every Friday.

Where: All over the blogosphere!

Why: It's always fun discovering great new book blogs, plus, new people get exposed to your blog as well. Make sure to check out Parajunkee's post for more info, to sign up and for the list of other participating bloggers.

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Pint-Sized 'Pinions: (Un)Realistic YA Fiction Edition

Today's mini-reviews are about a group of young adult books that fall under the contemporary category but have plots that would almost never happen in real-life.

The Naughty List (The Naughty List, 1) by Suzanne Young
Razorbill (February 4, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-1595142788
272 pages

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?

My 'pinion: The protag, Tessa, is definitely the star here. Her fellow characters are fun and interesting, but Tessa (rightly) steals the show. Young did a great job of balancing Tessa's preppy, peppy, good-girl persona with her teenage vices and imperfections. She could have easily been an annoying or hypocritical character with all of her personality elements and choices, but I ended up loving her and sympathizing with her. The over-the-top sayings peppered throughout Tessa's vocabularly are cute and the antics of the Smitten Kittens are hilarious. I was pleased with the not-so-neat ending and I'm very much looking forward to what's to come for Tessa and her gang. On a side note: I didn't expect level of sexiness present here! There's no sex scenes, but plenty of references and before-and-after stuff.

Grade: A

Read more after the jump »

Currently Coveting (8)

In case you haven't seen this feature before, I'm switching from my usual Waiting on Wednesday post. Instead of just one upcoming title that I want I'll list several, along with some backlisted books that I have on my wishlist too. If you guys have read any of the previous releases, let me know what you thought about them.

On Shelves Now

Some Enchanted Evening by Christina Dodd

Historical Romance

Once upon a time, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, there were two happy and prosperous kingdoms. In one kingdom, a son was born and declared the crown prince. In the other kingdom, three daughters were raised in royal splendor.

This is the story of one lost princess, Princess Clarice, who flees with her younger sister to Scotland, where they survive by their wits and daring. But just when Clarice begins to believe she's safe at last, she attracts the attention of one of Scotland's most powerful and dangerous men.

Read more after the jump »

Blogoversary Giveaway #3: My first bookish convention!

Earlier this year I was planning on heading to Columbus for RT, trekking to New York for BEA and, since I was living in Maryland at the time, I intended to go to ALA too. Since then, I've moved to Michigan and  none of those plans have worked out. And thus, my dream of "The of Year of the Book Convention" died. Or so I thought.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a paid registration fee for RomCon from Jessica's lovely blog, Read React Review. What is RomCon, you say? In short, its a convention for romance readers that's sponsored by Borders and will be held in Denver, Colorado. A ton of great authors are going to be there and the lineup of events is amazing (find out more at their site). What's even better is that, unlike the other conventions that I wanted to go to, I've never been to the host city!

I have one issue, though. Since this is a recent development, I haven't had time to set aside any money for the trip! I'm determined to go however and doing everything that I can in my day-to-day life to facilitate this. That said, I could use your help and (lucky me!) I've found an inspiring way for soliciting it thanks to this contest at Demon Lover's Book Reviews & More! So here's the last of my themed blogoversary giveaways...

Read more after the jump »

Winner: Twice Bitten swag pack

The winner of a Chloe Neill's Twice Bitten swag pack (as chosen by Random.org) is:

Jeanette8042!

Jeanette - I've already emailed you. If you see this first, however, send your address along to jax[at]eclecticbooklover.com

Thank you to everyone else who stopped by! Don't forget to buy Twice Bitten! It's officially out on July 6th.

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I'm an Amazon Associate. Feel free to use my links to purchase items - the commission will go towards paying the shipping costs on giveaways.

Reading Weirdness

Something's wrong. I haven't been able to finish a book in 9 days and that's not for a lack of trying.

Of the eight books listed under the "On My Nightstand" section of my left sidebar, I'm currently in the midst of reading seven of them. That's right - 7 books! The oldest, Shades of Gray, I started May 21st and I most recently picked up The Wide-Awake Princess on June 18th.

I don't think this is a reflection on my enjoyment of the books. I'm enjoying them all so far and have no inclinations to set any of them aside. No, this has more to do with my state of mind. For some reason, I'll pick up a book, read a couple of chapters and find my mind wandering. This attention deficit issue isn't happening in any other areas of my life, just reading. I'm no stranger to reading multiple books at once, but usually when that happens I'm considering giving up on a novel or two. And never have I done this while reading so many books at once.

I don't know what my issue is. Maybe the books aren't good enough. Maybe I need some soul-shaking read to come along a jar me out of this thing. Maybe my inexplicable book-restlessness is a result of some deep-seated issue of mine. Who knows? I just want it to stop.

Anyone ever been in a similar spot? If so, how'd you go about changing the situation?

A couple of bookish things...

It's a lazy day around these parts - I really should be reading, but I've been cruising these here internets instead. Here's a couple of the random bookish stuff that I've found:

Rachel Vincent is going to be touring the Midwest this week to promote My Soul to Keep and Shift. None of the stops are too far from me so I'm pretty upset that I can't go, especially since two of the authors joining her - Susan Mallery and Gena Showalter - have written some of my favorites as well (i.e. Falling For Gracie and Seduce The Darkness)! In case you're more fortunate than I am and have some spare time to see them, here's the tour info:

Read more after the jump »

In My Mailbox (31)

This peek inside my mailbox is all thanks to Kristi at The Story Siren, the host, and Alea of Pop Culture Junkie, the inspiration.

Won:

a signed copy of A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler (from the author & Number One Novels) - This one's been on my wishlist for a while, so I'm extra excited!

The Girls from the Revolutionary Cantina by M. Padilla (from St. Martin's through Goodreads)

Read more after the jump »

Friday Feature: Some of my fave kick-ass heroines

I've already vented about some weak YA heroines, so now it's time to talk about the strong ones. These aren't all necessarily females who are physically capable. No, this list is about the women and girls who have a certain strength in character.

I'm broadening the range here to include females from several different genres and reading levels. And don't worry, I'll keep these as spoiler free as possible :)

Who: Ekaterina "Kate" Daniels, 26 years old.

What: A mercenary, agent of the Order of Merciful Aid and a powerful mage with plenty of secrets.

When: So far, the series has only been set in Atlanta, GA circa 2040. The world is fluctuating between a magical and technological state. 

Where: Kate can be found in Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds (in that order). She also briefly appears in the novella "Magic Mourns" which can be found in the anthology Must Love Hellhounds.

Why: Kate would be a great friend to have. Not only is she an amazing fighter and magically superior, but she's also very loyal and always willing to fight for what's right - even if it isn't her fight to begin with. Kate takes shit from no one. He secrets force her to be low-key when it comes to using her magic, making her an even stronger person since she can't use her powers as a crutch. Her honesty and good sense of humor make her unique and her yearnings for those human relationships that most take for granted makes her sweetly relateable.

Read more after the jump »