Testing for Images and Text Color March 24, 2021
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Moving April 11, 2010
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Well, after a lot of thought I’m making the move to a dedicated domain. Please go to the new site and subscribe so you’ll continue to get updates. I don’t want you to miss out on any posts or giveaways! The new address is:
http://www.karinsbooknook.com
Thanks,
PRISM by Faye and Aliza Kellerman – REVIEW April 8, 2010
Posted by karinlibrarian in young adult.Tags: 5 glasses, dystopian, dystopian society, health care, reviews, Stay Awake Award, young adult
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HarperTeen – July 1, 2009
Absolutely fantastic!
Kaida, Zeke, and Joy, acquaintances at best, are assigned to the same car on the way to Carlsbad Cavern for a class field trip. They are jolted awake after the car runs off the road and catches on fire. Amazingly, all three make it out alive before the car turns into a fiery ball of flames. Before they can wrap their minds around what happened, a dangerous, desert storm strikes, forcing the teens into a cave – altering their lives forever.
Kaida, Zeke, and Joy fall into a portal to another world, but it takes them a while to figure out what is going on. When they wake up in their own beds, it is difficult for them to believe the car crash was anything but a nightmare. But, when they realize all three of them had the exact same nightmare, it is impossible to deny something is very wrong.
They have arrived in a world with no health care. Medicine isn’t available, sickness isn’t discussed, and everyone is scared. Kaida, Zeke, and Joy learn more about the ins and outs of the illegal world of “spills” dealing than they ever thought was possible when they are forced to locate medicine for Joy. They risk jail time, their lives, and the lives of their families in order to find some semblance of normalcy in a completely un-normal world.
Will they ever find a way back home?
PRISM is amazing! If you are a fan of dystopian stories this is definitely one you’ll want to read.
Random Reading Activity Challenge April 1, 2010
Posted by karinlibrarian in young adult.Tags: giveaway, random reading activity challenge
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Did you participate in the Holiday Break Reading Challenge or the Spring Break Reading Challenge? If you didn’t, click on the links to find out a little about them. Well, I’ve decided to do something called the Random Reading Activity Challenge. It is just a way for me to give away books at random times by asking you guys to do fun blog/book related activities. Here is what I’ll do:
- RANDOMLY, I’ll post an activity challenge. You might want to look at some of the ones I did during the Holiday Break Reading Challenge and the Spring Break Reading Challenge for an idea of what to expect.
- You’ll have a SPECIFIC amount of time to complete the activity.
- You’ll post something on your blog with your completed activity challenge and come back to this site and link your blog post to MR. LINKY. (If, for some reason, there isn’t a Mr. Linky available then just leave the link to your post in the comment section. Mr. Linky seems to be down as I’m creating this post.)
- After the time period to complete the activity is up, I’ll RANDOMLY choose a winner from the people on Mr. Linky.
- I’ll post the winner and ask them to email me with their mailing address and prize choice. (Some challenges will be for SPECIFIC prizes, like this one.)
- YOU’LL WANT TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG BY EMAIL OR RSS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF THE RANDOM ACTIVITY CHALLENGES.
Be sure to go to the site and participate in the first challenge for a chance to win YOU by Charles Benoit.
FADE OUT by Rachel Caine – REVIEW April 1, 2010
Posted by karinlibrarian in reviews, young adult.Tags: friendship, jealousy, love, series, vampires, young adult
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Signet – November 3, 2009
IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to read this series in order to understand what is going on with the story and the characters. (Beware of previous book spoilers in the review for FADE OUT.)
GLASS HOUSES
DEAD GIRL’S DANCE
MIDNIGHT ALLEY
FEAST OF FOOLS
LORD OF MISRULE
CARPE CORPUS
FADE OUT
KISS OF DEATH (April 2010)
GHOST TOWN (November 2010)
Like all of Rachel Caine’s books, this one picks up right where the previous one left off. Life is ticking along after the downfall of Bishop and the humans are getting used to a tentative peace with the vampires. The vampires have received the medicine needed to combat the vampire disease that has been plaguing them. Not everyone is happy though.
Ada, Myrnin’s creation, seems to be targeting Claire – jealous of her relationship with Myrnin even though Claire is only his lab assistant.
Amelie is having a difficult time getting over the loss of Sam and is acting distant and strange.
Claire is fighting feelings of jealousy as Eve makes a new friend while rehearsing for her performance in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Claire is even more jealous when Eve’s new friend turns out to be someone Shane had a relationship with in the past.
No one is happy when they find out what Kim, Eve’s new friend, has been doing around town.
If you are a fan of the Morganville Vampire series then you definitely want to read FADE OUT. It provides the same entertaining banter between Claire, Shane, Eve, and Michael we are used to, while at the same time, building tensions between those same relationships. I can’t wait to read KISS OF DEATH and GHOST TOWN, the next two books in the series. See below for the covers and descriptions.
Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a big- time producer who wants to cut a demo and play some gigs-which means Michael will have to enter the human world. For this, he’s been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal as well as Michael’s all-too-human friends. And with that mix of personalities, this is going to be a road trip from hell…
The fragile peace between humans and vampires in Morganville is in trouble, and when Claire takes drastic action, she’s put under serious pressure to re-establish the barriers that keep the town residents inside, and wipe the memories of those who leave. But working with her half-crazy vampire boss Myrnin means that things don’t always turn out as planned … and as the people of Morganville begin acting strangely, Claire and her friends must solve the mystery and try to put things right. But one by one, her allies are turning on her … even the ones she trusts most.
March Wrap Up April 1, 2010
Posted by karinlibrarian in young adult.Tags: wrap-up
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As hard as I tried I couldn’t finish 10 books this month. At this rate there is no way I’m going to pass the number of books I read last year. Grrrr. Here is the breakdown:
HOURGLASS by Claudia Gray – 256 pages
STILL SUCKS TO BE ME by Kimberly Pauley – 304 pages
THE SECRET UNDER MY SKIN by Janet McNaugton – 368 pages
THE RISE OF RENEGADE X by Chelsea Campbell – 352 pages
MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND by Susie Day – 288 pages
YOU by Charles Benoit – 208 pages
Total Pages – 1,776
SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane – 9 hrs. 38 min.
THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan – 10 hrs. 1 min.
FADE OUT by Rachel Caine – 7 hrs. 55 min.
Total Time: 27 hrs. 4 min.
Favorites of the Month
YOU by Charles Benoit – REVIEW March 31, 2010
Posted by karinlibrarian in reviews, young adult.Tags: cliques, high school, loners, social classes, underachievers, young adult
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HarperTeen – August 24, 2010
Kyle is a hoodie – one of those kids that sits in the back of the class, tries not to be noticed, doesn’t do his homework (only because he doesn’t see the point), and dresses in the same “uniform” every day – black jeans, black shirt, black hoodie. You can find hoodies in every school even though they might be called something else – slackers, freaks, stoners. Whenever you see them walking down the hall or through the mall you don’t know exactly what to expect – you just know it won’t be good.
YOU by Charles Benoit provides a glimpse into the mind of Kyle. By writing in a second-person point-of-view, the reader actually walks around inside Kyle’s head. You are the character going through the story.
- You are the one listening to the teachers explain how important it is you turn in all your work the rest of the grading period even though you still won’t be able to pass the class.
- You are the one attending Midlands High School because your grades weren’t good enough to go to the private school with the people you already know.
- You are the one with a secret crush on a girl you’re afraid you have no chance with.
- You are the one who thinks the your cute, kindergarten sister is the best person you know.
- You are the one with a tragic end.
Kyle is a good guy. Is he misunderstood? No – he projects exactly what he wants to project. The people in his life don’t give him a reason to do anything different. EVERY educator needs to read this book! In the end, Kyle is left wondering, “Where did it all go wrong?” The problem is, by the time he starts to wonder, it is already too late.
Congratulations Courtney Rae March 30, 2010
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Courtney Rae is the winner of my 3rd Blogoversary Giveaway. She will receive a copy of City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. I will ship them directly to her from Amazon. Courtney – I’m placing the order today. Expect them soon!
Thanks to everyone who entered. I’ve enjoyed the past three years and look forward to the future.
MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND by Susie Day March 29, 2010
Posted by karinlibrarian in reviews, young adult.Tags: friendship, high school, Internet, love, relationships, young adult
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Scholastic Press – April 1, 2010
Heidi attends a very posh private school, but only because her mother teaches P.E. and her father is the caretaker/handyman. New to the school, she doesn’t have that many friends and definitely isn’t in the popular crowd. Her only lifelines are her 3 friends, Fili, Ludo, and Dai. Together they are the Leftover Squad.
Heidi has gone crazy over the summer since all of her friends left to experience typical “rich” kids activities. As weird as it sounds, she can’t wait for school to start. Things don’t go as she imagines though. It seems all of her friends end up with a significant other and she is the only one without someone to call “honey.” So, what does she do? She invents someone, of course.
As easy as 1,2,3 she creates an email address and ULife account and voila she has a boyfriend. It seems Heidi and Ed are very happy. They take part in friendly, flirtatious banter for all of her friends to see. She does such a good job, even her friends are messaging Ed to talk about their own problems. Soon, Ed takes on a life of his own.
In addition to maintaining her fake relationship with Ed, Heidi also trys to figure out why her friends are acting so strange. Fili, especially, seems distant and sad. Can Heidi solve the case? With the help of her favorite TV detective she might have a shot.
When Heidi receives an email from someone called “realboy” she is afraid she is going to be caught in her deception. “Realboy” professes his love for her, but leaves it to her to figure out who he is. He has no interest in revealing her secret to her friends. “Realboy” turns out to be the most important mystery of all. Can she figure out who he is and end her relationship with Ed without causing any suspicion?
MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND was a cute story, but nothing spectacular. Heidi has a few quirks that got on my nerves like, if she wants to say, “Oh My God!” she would say:
OHM.
EYE.
GOD.
There were a few times she did this and I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to say.
So, overall, MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND is okay. If you end up enjoying this book, you might want to try FAKE BOYFRIEND by Kate Brian. It also deals with an Internet-based fake relationship.
I received this book as part of AROUND THE WORLD TOURS.
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