Waiting on Wednesday: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Publish Date: February 4, 2014

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

To my surprise, Marissa managed to outdo Cinder with its follow-up Scarlet. I can't wait to see what she does with the third book in the series.

Favorite Books and Songs of 2013 Thus Far

Time for another mid-year check in point! Hard to believe 2013 is more than half over already.

Unusual for me, I haven't read a huge amount of books this year so far. I was studying for the bar exam the first few months of the year and then I was re-reading The Mortal Instruments series. Plus, my absolute favorites of the year haven't been released yet. But I have read a few...Here are my favorite books that I've read so far in 2013:

Top Ten Young Adult Books of 2013 Thus Far:

Manga Mondays #159: Black Bird vol. 1 by Kanoko Sakurakouji

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Black Bird vol. 1 by Kanoko Sakurakouji

Summary

He loves her blood, but does her love her?!

There is a world of myth and magic that intersects ours, and only a special few can see it. Misao Harada is one such person, and she wants nothing to do with magical realms. She just wants to have a normal high school life and maybe get a boyfriend. All that changes one day when Misao is attacked by a demon. Her childhood friend Kyo suddenly returns to save her and tend to her cuts--with his tongue! It turns out Misao is the bride of prophecy, whose blood gives power to the demon clan who claims her. But most demons want to keep her power for themselves--by eating her! Now Misao is just trying to stay alive...and decide if she likes it when Kyo licks her wounds. (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

Misao is like the elixir of life for demons. The more they devour her, the more power they gain. A taste is an energy boost. Eating her completely gives incredible power. Marrying her makes you the top dog demon.

Feature and Follow Friday #159

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 24, 2009
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Bought

Summary

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost? (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

City of Glass is a fitting end to the original The Mortal Instruments trilogy. I go back and forth on whether it's my favorite book of the three. It's hard to beat the first book. City of Glass ties everything up nicely. Perhaps too conveniently, but it's nice to have a satisfying ending.... Even if it's just the end of the beginning.

Waiting on Wednesday: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

Publish Date: April 29, 2014

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

I still haven't read Days of Blood and Starlight even though I bought it the day it came out. Horrible of me! So I'm actually not looking at the synopsis I'm posting below. Still, I'm excited about the idea of Dreams of Gods and Monsters.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith / J.K. Rowling

*Sorry I haven't been around commenting much the last week or two. I've been out of town. I just got home and will try to start catching up on my blog reading.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith / J.K. Rowling

Release Date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Source: Library

Summary

A brilliant debut mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide. After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

Here's a story of being lucky. Well, lucky and resourceful. I saw a headline on Hypable last Saturday afternoon that J.K. Rowling had released The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Immediately, I got on my library's website to see if they carried the book. They had four copies. Even better, there was only one hold. I put my number down and became hold #2. Fast forward a few days and there were over 250 holds on The Cuckoo's Calling. So just when everybody is clamoring after the book, I have a copy!

Manga Mondays #158: Godchild vol. 1 by Kaori Yuki

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Godchild vol. 1 by Kaori Yuki

Summary

Deep in the heart of 19th century London, a young nobleman named Cain walks the shadowy cobblestone streets of the aristocratic society into which he was born. Forced to become an earl upon the untimely death of his father, Cain assumes the role of head of the Hargreaves, a noble family with a dark past. With Riff, his faithful manservant, and Mary Weather, his 10-year-old half sister, Cain investigates the mysterious crimes that seem to follow him wherever he goes. (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

Yet another attempt to find a winning new manga series failed. Also yet another series that isn't bad per se, but definitely isn't my thing.

Feature and Follow Friday #158

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 25, 2008
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Bought

Summary

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father? (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

The Mortal Instruments stands up to re-reading. This was my second time of reading City of Ashes (my third for City of Bones) and I loved it just as much if not more than the first time. The funny thing about this book and the whole series is that you can fit it into a bunch of stereotypes but then Ms. Clare goes beyond the typical each time to make the book her own.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors

Publish Date: April 15, 2014

Publisher: Razorbill

Sounds like a great twist on a classic tale!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 27, 2007
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Bought

Summary

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

Can you believe I've never reviewed City of Bones for the blog? I sure couldn't. With the movie coming out next month, now's the perfect time!

I read City of Bones a few years ago ago. I liked it so much that I immediately went to the store and bought the rest. My husband devoured them. What did I do? Let them sit on the shelf. I always intended to read the other books, but just never got around to it. I finally decided to rectify this failing. First though, I wanted to re-read City of Bones. I'm so glad I did. I remembered the bare bones, but not the details that made the book so fun.

Manga Mondays #157: Swan vol. 13 by Kyoko Ariyoshi

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Swan vol. 13 by Kyoko Ariyoshi

Summary

Young Masumi Hijiri dreams of becoming a prima ballerina, but faces many challenges on her way to the top of the dance world.

After winning the silver medal in the World Ballet Competition, Masumi and her partner Leonhardt Von Christ are invited to train at the prestigious New York City Ballet. New to modern ballet, Masumi struggles to understand it, but the esteemed choreographer Balanchine is not impressed with her skills or knowledge. Then Masumi runs into an old classmate who has become jaded and wants to give up on ballet. Will this encounter help or hurt Masumi at this critical point in her career? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

Hijiri meets New York! It's so nice for a change of pace in this volume. Hijiri travels to America and discovers not only a new country but a new world of dance.

Feature and Follow Friday #157

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

---

How To Become a Featured Blog?

We pick our featured blogs randomly each week from the blogs who participated the week before.

Please be sure to feature your e-mail address clearly on your blog. Either on the main blog, on a Contact page, or on an About Me page. If I can't find your email easily, I will choose a different blog to feature.

Our Feature - Girl in the Woods

1. When did you start blogging?

We started blogging last end-of August

2. What is your favorite part of book blogging?

Meeting other bloggers, getting to know more about authors and helping authors to promote their books!

3. What type of books do you mainly blog about?

YA books

4. What is your favorite book(s)?

There are too many! But the ultimatum would be The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare!

5. What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

Getting chosen for this week's feature of course! And also meeting a blogger and getting to know her personally through twitter! Her name's Kayla from The Bookish Owl!

Q: Activity: PHOTOBOMB!!!! Photobomb a picture with your favorite book. Share it of course.

Is this my favorite book of all time? I'm not sure, but it's my favorite of the series. And I'm out of town at the moment so my choices were limited. (PS. Notice the necklace?)

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Now for the Follow Fun!

With GFC going the way of the dodo bird for many bloggers, there is no better time to start following blogs via RSS feed. If you use a reader, it would be great if you followed my RSS directly.

We have a new button, so update your blogs if you are used to doing this meme!

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
5. If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
6. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
7. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
8. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Next Week's Question:

Book Vacay: Where is the best destination reading spot for you? (Where do you like to go to read other then your home)

CAPTCHA:

I have an updated CAPTCHA post!

If you have CAPTCHA word verification enabled on your blog, please take it off. It makes it much more difficult for readers to comment. Please look at my CAPTCHA Eradication Post to learn how to get rid of it.


This is a Blog Hop!

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1. Alison Can Read {Host}	2. Parajunkee's View {Host}
3. Kelly Walker {feature}	4. Girl in the Woods {Feature}

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Linky Tools  |  Linky Blog 2013

This is a Blog Hop!

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1. Alison Can Read {Host}	2. Parajunkee's View {Host}
3. Kelly Walker {feature}	4. Girl in the Woods {Feature}

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What is a blog hop?
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Linky Tools  |  Linky Blog 2013

This is a Blog Hop!

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1. Alison Can Read {Host}	2. Parajunkee's View {Host}
3. Kelly Walker {feature}	4. Girl in the Woods {Feature}

You are next... Click here to enter
This list will close in 6 days, 14 hrs, 29 min (7/18/2013 9:36 AM North America - Central Standard Time)

What is a blog hop?
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Linky Tools  |  Linky Blog 2013

This is a Blog Hop!

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1. Alison Can Read {Host}	2. Parajunkee's View {Host}
3. Kelly Walker {feature}	4. Girl in the Woods {Feature}

You are next... Click here to enter
This list will close in 6 days, 14 hrs, 29 min (7/18/2013 9:36 AM North America - Central Standard Time)

What is a blog hop?
Get the code here...

Linky Tools  |  Linky Blog 2013

Winter White by Jen Calonita

Winter White by Jen Calonita

Release Date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Source: Library

Summary

Isabelle Scott and Mirabelle Monroe are still reeling from the revelation that they share more than just the roof over their heads. The media has pounced on their story, and while Izzie and Mira have each put on a happy public face, someone is leaking their true feelings to the press. It seems as if the world is watching their every move, but at least the girls have each other.

With cotillion season right around the corner, however, Izzie and Mira have barely had time to process their newfound sisterhood. Mira has dreamed of making her debut in a gorgeous white gown forever--now if only she had an escort... Izzie, meanwhile, is still struggling to find her place in Emerald Cove, which seems ever more impossible with EC mean girls, young and old, trying to keep her down. As cotillion preparations heat up, there are dance steps to learn, manners to perfect... and secret initiations to complete?

It's time for the gowns to go on and the gloves to come off. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

Jen Calonita continues to be one of my auto-reads. She's perfected the combination of mixing coming of age themes with family drama with the trappings of wealth with romance with gorgeous, designer clothes and more. Winter White is the second book in Jen's Belles series and continues the strong path set by the first book.

My Hypable Doctor Who Post!

Hey all,

The TV show Doctor Who is my newest obsession. A huge, all consuming obsession that has cut into my reading and blogging time the past few months. I wrote an essay trying to explain my love for the show and Hypable was awesome enough to publish it.

Check it out!

All The Proof You Need That ‘Doctor Who’ Has Something For Everyone

Waiting on Wednesday: Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Publish Date: September 24, 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Coming out on my birthday!

For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: BEA 2012

Summary

It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

It's always a little intimidating to read a book that everyone raves about. What if you're the only person who doesn't like it? Inevitably, you'll feel like something's wrong with you. Luckily, I had no such problem with For Darkness Shows The Stars. I agree with all the other cool kids - it's an awesome book.

Manga Mondays #156: Fairy Tail vol. 1 by Hiro Mashima

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Fairy Tail vol. 1 by Hiro Mashima

Summary

THE WICKED SIDE OF WIZARDRY

Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead, her ambitions land her in the clutches of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels. Natsu’s not your typical hero–he gets motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat. With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

I don't know what to think about the first volume of the Fairy Tail series. It was a bit of a mess. Like most first volumes, it was confusing but the problem was that there wasn't much to capture me.

Feature and Follow Friday #156

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Publisher

Summary

When Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, cheats on her with an online girlfriend, Mallory decides the best way to de-Jeremy her life is to de-modernize things too. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in1962, Mallory swears off technology and returns to a simpler time (when boyfriends couldn’t cheat with computer avatars). The List:
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous
But simple proves to be crazy-complicated, and the details of the past begin to change Mallory’s present. Add in a too-busy grandmother, a sassy sister, and the cute pep-club president–who just happens to be her ex’s cousin–and soon Mallory begins to wonder if going vintage is going too far. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

After writing the adorable Princess for Hire series, the touching, funny Sean Griswold's Head, and now Going Vintage, Lindsey Leavitt has established herself as a stellar writer of light contemporary YA fiction with uplifting messages.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder

Publish Date: April 10, 2014

Publisher: Razorbill

What a cover, don't you think?!

BEA Wrap Up: Books, Bloggers, and Authors!

Because I am lazy, I am just now posting my follow up to BEA. My second year at BEA was just as fun as the first. More fun actually, because I knew what I was doing and had friends from last year. It's really one of the coolest events of the year and I'm so lucky to be able to go.

Books I Got

I tried to be more discriminating this year and for the most part I was. My final book count was 61, about 20 less than last year.

Manga Mondays #155: Swan vol. 12 by Kyoko Ariyoshi

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Swan vol. 12 by Kyoko Ariyoshi

Summary

As the only exception to the Japan Ballet Association's scholarship program, underdog dancer Hijiri Masumi trains hard every day with other students who have all won the right to train under the best dance instructors. Because Masumi's technique leaves much to be desired, master instructor and genius dancer Alexei Sergeiev demands that she return to the basics to improve her technique. Masumi practices diligently, so that she will be chosen as one of three student performers in the Japan Ballet Company's special performance in Moscow. Eventually, some of the ballet students depart for various destinations around the world to further their dance careers. As Alexei leaves for Moscow, he reminds her once again to master the basics, because her journey has just begun. Hearing this heartening message, Masumi vows to work hard, and returns to the ballet studio to practice, only to find a handsome new foreign student has arrived. Will this newcomer support her in her quest to develop as a dancer, or will romantic entanglements become an obstacle? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

To Hijiri's great surprise, she does wonderfully at the Tokyo World Ballet Competition. She places second behind Lilliana, which is basically like placing first because Lilliana is so good that no one can compete with her. Hijiri gets offers to train and perform in both Moscow and New York. She faces a difficult choice but makes the right now. She chooses New York, because Moscow would be easy. Her sensei is there. She has friends there. There are so many people that she can lean on in Moscow. But Hijiri knows that she'll never truly succeed unless she learns to stand on her own. And New York will hopefully be the place for that.