Stacking the Shelves [06]

Stacking the Shelves [06]

   1:35 PM       Elisa

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Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosting by Tynga from Tynga's Review. It's about sharing all new books, physical or e-book form, you're adding to your shelf. They could be bought, borrowed or given to you.

My first Stacking the Shelves this year! Yay!
I just got four books in the beginning of this year, but they are quite lovely, love all of them!

Unhinged - A.G. Howard

Ink - Amanda Sun

The Complete Sherlock Holmes (B&N Leatherbound Classic) - Sir Conan Arthur Doyle

F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic Works

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Aaaah lovely books~ =D
I really want to read at least one classic work this year, after I watched BBC's Sherlock (and I absolutely love that series!), I think I would try to read Sherlock Holmes books. I surprise with Ink's book appearance, it's not usually this 'glossy' cover, instead they use like... Canson paper probably? Pretty, but worrying =p.

Well those are on my Stacking the Shelves this week. What's on yours?
Have a great weekend guys =)

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Top Ten Tuesday #13 : Top Ten 2014 Debuts I'm Excited For

Top Ten Tuesday #13 : Top Ten 2014 Debuts I'm Excited For

   4:12 PM       Elisa

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Top Ten Tuesday is a feature/weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It's the best and fun way to share lists of certain topics with other fellow bloggers. If you want to participate, please visit their blog for further information! =D

There are plenty debuts that will be released this year and they sound very interesting! Though I have many in my wishlist, this is ten debuts I'm really looking for this year =)

Top Ten Fifteen 2014 Debuts I'm Excited For

Eh, did I write 'fifteen'?
My bad, but I can't resist listing more than only ten =)

Hexed - Michelle Krys
Alienated - Melissa Landers
The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant - Joanna Weibe

Landry Park - Bethany Hagen
Nearly Gone - Elle Cosimano
Prisoner of Night and Fog - Anne Blankman

Stolen Songbird - Danielle L. Jensen
The Murder Complex - Lindsay Cummings
Summer on the Short Bus - Bethany Crandell

Camelot Burning - Kathryn Rose
The Art of Lainey - Paula Stokes
Illusive - Emily Lloyd Jones

... and those which haven't had covers yet :
The Beautiful Ashes - Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene Frost is actually not a new name in literature world but I read this is her YA (or NA?) debut novel so I include her name here. Because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE her series 'Night Huntress', I once had a wish she would write a YA series and I ABSOLUTELY WILL BUY IT NO MATTER WHAT. Aaaaaaand here it is! =D SO HAPPY! xDDDDD

The Revelation of Gabriel Adam - S.L. Duncan
Of Scars and Stardust - Andrea Hannah

I'm pretty sure some of you have read some of titles up there so I hope you'll kindly give me your opinion about books I list above if you have read some of them =)

Do you have the same debut title you're excited as I have up there?
Leave your TTT list so I can check them back. Thank you for visiting and have a nice day! =D

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REVIEW : Ten by Gretchen McNeil

REVIEW : Ten by Gretchen McNeil

   1:24 AM       Elisa

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Ten

Author      : Gretchen McNeil
Publisher   : Balzer + Bray
Source      : Bought
Pages        : 320 (Paperback)

Summary from Goodreads :

From Possess author Gretchen McNeil comes this teen horror novel inspired by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Perfect for fans of Christopher Pike’s Chain Letter and Lois Duncan’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, Ten will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page!

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there.

With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Book Trailer :

(whoa, I must say the trailer is quite creepy 0_0)

review

Firstly I need to confess that I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' (it's an amazing thriller novel and you should try to read it too! =D) and also since I'm one of those amazing 90's kids, I've watched a couple of that 90's horror and thriller teen movie (sadly I missed 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' but I was fan of 'Scream' series). So the summary above is very familiar to me and because I knew from where the idea was, I thought the storyline would be pretty predictable. Nevertheless, I was pretty excited to read this book. I also actually have never read any book from Gretchen McNeil and have never read any teen thriller and horror novels before (I dislike Goosebumps because I'm a coward and hate the horror-after-effect because I'm quite imaginative *facepalm*) so this was adding fuel on my excitement and wanted to know if this book and the author would work on me. And guess, it does work on me, definitely! =D

This book is even beyond my expectation; though I was excited, I didn't put too much expectation because, you know, it gets just so-so rating. I enjoyed this book quite much, could hardly put it down because I wanted to know what would happen next and was very curious who the hell the culprit is. I like McNeil's writing here. The story moves swiftly in a quick, fast pace without being too forced, I think there are no single unnecessary and wasted scene because, well, the whole things set in only three days, but I barely realized it. I also think McNeil created some nice twists and modifications in this teeny version of ATTWN so it would not exactly like the original one, like the appearance of mysterious DVD which reminded me of 'The Ring' (the japanese version btw, I don't watch the Western one because having watched 3 volumes in a row is already too overwhelming for me, ugh), changes the nursery rhyme and 'prediction' how each of them would die into a diary of a dead girl (it's bloody brutal, I've warned you), changes the reason why everybody should be dead, and of course with a cliche high school love story like a popular boy falls in love with just an average-but-smart girl (which is my favorite formula, actually =p). I know those are not so original but I think it's still enjoyable and add some interests into the story, especially if you haven't read 'And Then There Were None' or watched any 90's horror-thriller movies.

Saw the story inside Meg's head as the main character and the main voice, I also could feel the fear she feels (thanks to the great writing) and could not help but kept guessing the murderer along with her. Although she's a smart and a kind girl, I have to admit that there's nothing special about her, I even thought she's kind of pathetic. I think the other characters are actually more colorful and have certain traits although they mostly are not good person. Maybe because most people will die in the end, McNeil created some fellows that are actually jerks and would not be missed or make us feeling loss if they're gone. TJ as the love interest also... well, just the average nice and hot boy who has a crush on our Meg. Just... nothing special. Nevertheless they add their own stories in the bigger picture and since the start the focus of the story is not about character's development but more about their each role in this story. I was also surprised with the identity of the murderer at the near-end of the story, totally unexpected and never thought it would be 'you'! Wow!

I guess I'm a person who don't always take 'unoriginality' and 'familiarity' as a bad thing and just enjoy it as it is, so I give it solid 4 stars. It gave me a great high-tension and bone-chilling moments when I read it in the middle of the night.
I'm not ensuring you would absolutely enjoy and love 'Ten' since almost the whole thing in it is pretty familiar and also it has several flaws. But you should give it a try especially if you have an interest into horror-mystery-thriller reading but you don't know where to start and probably you'd enjoy or even love this book if you have never heard or read about Agatha Christie or never watched 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' or 'Scream'.
Happy reading! =D

"Vengeance is mine; I will repay.

For the time when their foot shall slide.

For the day of their disaster is near.

And their doom comes swiftly."

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Reading Challenge 2014

Reading Challenge 2014

   11:51 AM       Elisa

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This year I participate in three reading challenge :

Goodreads Reading Challenge

The annual challenge I participate every year. I challenge myself to read 60 books this year, a descent number so I won't feel burdening myself.


Dystopia Reading Challenge 2014

Actually I'm a bit reluctant to participate in reading challenge aside of Goodreads', I'm afraid I would feel reading as an obligation and I couldn't finish it in the end. But I think I would enjoy this one. I love read Dystopia series, and I also have plenty Dystopia books that still need to be read so I decided to participate in this challenge. I set myself to reach Level 2 : Rebel first by reading around 7-12 books, though there's always a possibility to read more than that. If you love Dystopia and interest to join in too, visit Blog of Erised for further information.

2014 Series Challenge

I have some series I need to start and finish this year, so I think this is a great challenge for me this year. I'm optimist I can earn Bronze Badge =). If you also want to participate visit Read. Sleep. Repeat. for further information.


So yeah! I hope I would enjoy and have fun reading good readings this year =)

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Wishlist Wednesday #29

Wishlist Wednesday #29

   9:25 PM       Elisa

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Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some tile, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.
This blog meme is hosted by Pen to Paper, if you want to join please visit here to find more about this meme.

Pawn
by Aimee Carter
Expected publication: November 26th 2013

Summary from Goodreads :

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked - surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed, and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

First : the cover, somehow intriguing.
Second : dystopia, baby. That's cool and I love this genre.
Third : the premise sounds really promising and quite original, I've never heard something similar before.
I've also never read anything from Aimee Carter before, I see her series "Goddess Test" everywhere but still yet need to read it someday. I know this has been published a while ago so probably some of have read it. You may provide me your opinion about this book. =)
What's your Wishlist Wednesday this week? =)

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Buying Monday #1

Buying Monday #1

   10:31 PM       Elisa

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Ufufufu~ akhirnya saya memutuskan untuk ikutan blog meme "Buying Monday" *maap Aul baru sekarangan aja ikutan hahaha*. Sebenernya sih konsepnya sama aja kayak STS yah, cuma karena STS kmrn itu rekapan dari 'dosa-dosa' beberapa bulan, jadi akhirnya saya putusin bikin post tersendiri untuk Buying Monday. Mostly adalah buku2 yang datang bulan lalu karena semuanya saya beli via online di BWB dan Book Depository, check this out yo :

Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales (B&N Fall River series)

The Exiled Queen - Cinda William Chima

Foretold - Carrie Ryan & Various Authors

The House of Hades - Rick Riordan

Allegiant - Veronica Roth

The Darkest Mind - Alexandra Bracken

The Iron Traitor - Julie Kagawa

The Hunger Games series - Suzanne Colins

Penampakan cover 'baru' versi UK seri Hunger Games which I really LOVE so much :D :

Okay, I just copy-paste them from previous post, obviously, tapi buku-buku ini yang datangnya bulan lalu. Saya mah selalu ngaco kalo purchase buku, lebih-lebih yang berbahasa Inggris xD. Abis baca satu beli baru sepuluh. LOL. Udah ngebet aja samber Allegiant cuma sekarang lagi sibuk baca 2 buku (Iron Knight dan The Two Towers)
So guys, mau ikutan meme ini? :)

1. Follow The Black in The Books melalui email atau bloglovin'
2. Buat post tentang buku-buku apa saja yang dibeli selama bulan itu, publish setiap hari Senin pertama di bulan berikutnya.
3. Masukan link post tersebut di linky yang disediakan.
4. Linky akan dibuka selama 8 hari.
5. Bila ada yang memasukan link tentang book haul bulan berikutnya (bukan bulan yang ditentukan), maka link itu akan dihapus dari linky.
6. Jangan lupa melihat-lihat book haul peserta lain! :D

What you've got last month? =)

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Stacking the Shelves [05]

Stacking the Shelves [05]

   11:00 PM       Elisa

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Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosting by Tynga from Tynga's Review. It's about sharing all new books, physical or e-book form, you're adding to your shelf. They could be bought, borrowed or given to you.

I didn't post any STS post for ages yet I still received and bought books each month. So it's quite a pile ;)

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland & Other Stories (B&N Leatherbound Classic) - Lewis Carroll

The Throne of Fire - Rick Riordan

The Serpent's Shadow - Rick Riordan

Crash - Lisa McMann

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - April Genevieve Tucholke

Girl of Nightmare - Kendare Blake

Deception - C. J. Redwine

The Eternity Cure - Julie Kagawa

The Demigod Diaries - Rick Riordan

Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins

Shutdown - Heather Anastasiu

Catching Jordan - Miranda Kenneally

Wizard of Oz series Vol 1-5 - L. Frank Baum 

Jane Austen Seven Novels (B&N Leatherbound Classic)

Hans Christian Andersen Classic Fairy Tales (B&N Leatherbound Classic)

Through the Zombie Glass - Gena Showalter

Scarlet - A. G. Howard

The Girl of Fire and Throne - Rae Carson

Incarnate - Jody Meadows

The Demon King - Cinda William Chima

Dearly Beloved - Lia Habel

Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore

Unravel Me - Tahereh Mafi

Origin - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Ten - Gretchen McNeil

Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales (B&N Fall River series)

The Exiled Queen - Cinda William Chima

Foretold - Carrie Ryan & Various Authors

The House of Hades - Rick Riordan

Allegiant - Veronica Roth

The Darkest Mind - Alexandra Bracken

The Iron Traitor - Julie Kagawa

The Hunger Games series - Suzanne Colins

I especially LOVE this cover version of Hunger Games! Very shiny, gorgeous, just wow =D

I've been really happy with what I have gotten, 39 AMAZE-BALL BOOKS!!! YAY!

So what you got this week?
Happy reading and have a nice day guys! ^^

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