Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is Ten Books I Recently Added To My To-Be-Read List. 1.) Four by: Veronica Roth
2.) Frostfire by: Amanda Hocking
3.) Uninvited by: Sophie Jordan
4.) Unleashed by: Sophie Jordan
5.) Fire and Flood by: Victoria Scott
6.) Salt and Stone by: Victoria Scott
7.) Shadow and Bone by: Leigh Bardugo
8.) Siege and Storm by: Leigh Bardugo
9.) Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
10.) Firespell by: Chloe Niell
11.) Hexbound by: Chloe Niell
12.) Charmfall by: Chloe Neill
Okay so my Top Ten turned into a Top Twelve but I couldn't leave out two books from a series. If you haven't figured it out yet, I have a big thing for series. I can't help but want to know what else happens in the characters lives. But anyway, What books do you have on your TTT list? Do we have any in common? Have you read any of these books and have opinions about them? Feel free to leave me some comments I enjoy reading them and will respond quickly.
Once again I wanted to say Thank You for everyone's support. Today Mountain Rhinestones reached 2000 views and I'm very thankful for everyone that visits my blog. I appreciate everyone of my blog followers and the time each of you took to visit my blog and read my posts. You guys are awesome. I hope you have enjoyed your time here at Mountain Rhinestones. Thank You!!
Question of the week: Have you ever been to BEA, if so what was your favorite experience there? Answer: No, I've never been to anything like that. I think I would love it though if ever presented with the opportunity to go. I love meeting people who are just as much into books and reading as I am.
I put these three all on here because it doesn't matter to me how you follow my blog, you can use your own preferences in making the decision. This is a Blog Hop!
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Title: What Once We Feared Author: Carrie Ryan Publisher:Random House Children's Book Release Date: May 14, 2013
Synopsis:
When the zombie apocalypse hits and the dead begin to rise, Jonah and his friends are on a class field trip downtown. Panicked they make a split second decision to seek shelter in the Overlook, an apartment complex built like a fortress on the edge of town. But as the begin to face the realities of what it will take to survive, the realize that while making the decision of where to run was easy, living out the consequences of that decision may be impossible. From Carrie Ryan, the New York bestselling author of the Forest of Hands and Teeth books, What Once We Feared is an original digital short story about facing a world that is forever changed and in which survival means more than merely escaping the undead.
Review:
Carrie Ryan has given us a small glimpse into the world when the zombie apocalypse first started, when the use of the word zombie to describe actual people seems almost absurd. What Once We Feared is a short story that goes along with the Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy, but Carrie Ryan has managed to pack so much information and detail into it. She made me want to know more about what is was like for the people of that time.
The story is told through Jonah's POV. Jonah, Nicky, Gregor, Felipe, and Beatrice are all friends that are on a school trip to Discovery Place when the zombie apocalypse hits their east coast town. Before they even know what's going on they're smack in the middle of all the mayhem, and they have to make a quick decision.
I really would love to see this short story be developed into a larger work of art, because Carrie Ryan , like always, has managed to grab my attention with her ability to tell a story with such clarity, detail, and amazing imagination. I want to know in a more detailed and lengthier book the different situations and obstacles Jonah and the rest of his friends had to overcome, and what triumphs they were able to accomplish.
I recommend this short story for anyone who likes zombies, post-apocalyptic worlds or situations, and the Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy. What Once We Feared will have you begging for more.
* Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it)
* Post it
* Add your (url) for the post, not your blog, in the Linky
* It's that simple
The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voicewhere every Friday you pick the book you're reading, a book off your shelves, or just a random book at the store, in other words any book that you want, and turn to page 56 and find a sentence or two that stands out to you. Put the sentence or sentences in a post and include the author and title, post it and then add your url into the Linky on Freda's Voice and there you go.
Cinderella Ninja Warrior
By: Maureen McGowan
"She twirled around her cellar room for a moment, and almost tripped over Max. He leaped up into her arms and rubbed his head against her cheek. " Don't worry, Max", she told him. ''You'll always be my best friend."
Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted byRose City Readerwhere you take the first few sentences from the first page of the book you are reading along with your initial thoughts on the sentence or sentences, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. And don't forget to link up.
Cinderella Ninja Warrior
by: Maureen McGowan
"Cinderella's shoulders quivered with fatigue as she tipped the twenty-seventh wooden bucket of fresh water into her stepmother's bath. The water, laced with sweet-smelling oils, sloshed up the tub's sides, threatening to spill over the edges and onto the pristine floor that she'd have to mop again if the hot water escaped."
My thoughts:
Well the title alone was enough to draw me in but with the synopsis there was something that I had never encountered before in any of my book readings. You get the chance to decide things for Cinderella as you read through the book. I think that's neat. With the opening paragraph I thought that Maureen McGowan definitely has a way with describing things, she painted the picture in my mind so clearly and vividly. With just that little bit I saw a girl struggling to lift the last bucket up to the tub, sweat dripping down her face and neck from the exertion of all the lifting, the heat from the bath, and the cleaning of the room a few moments earlier. The book cover, synopsis, and first paragraph were enough to have me pinning to finish the whole thing.
There are are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.
Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.
But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now its up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?
Review:
The Dark and Hollow Places starts off almost exactly where The Dead-Tossed waves stopped except in this installment the story is told from Annah's POV. Annah has spent the last three years waiting for Elias to come home from the Recruiters and the last decade blaming herself for leaving her twin sister Abigail (Gabry) in the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
Annah has built walls around herself and wears her physical and emotional scars like a shroud as a way to protect herself and is so used to depending on only herself to get by that she has a hard time at letting anyone get close to her. Although she is quite broken in some areas she is such a strong, fierce, and loyal character.
Catcher is just a guarded in The Dark and Hollow Places as what he was in The Dead-Tossed Waves but you get to see a couple different sides to him. Not only is he sweet, caring, loyal and fierce but he is also at times down right scary. He becomes more vulnerable in this installment than he was in the previous one.
Elias and Gabry are both in The Dark and Hollow places but you don't get to see them as much as what you were able to in the previous installment. Gabry seems to be in more control of her emotions and whining tendencies now that she has Elias, Annah and Catcher around her. She comes off a lot stronger and able to handle more things being tossed at her at once. Elias is seen a lot less than he was in The Dead-Tossed Waves but he plays a huge part in everything that happens.
Carrie Ryan has a unique ability to grab your attention and not let go, she'll have you not wanting to let go. The action starts from the very beginning and never slows, with obstacles being thrown at the Annah and the rest of the characters left and right.
It's an emotional roller coaster for Annah and the reader from the very first page. I found myself feeling angry, sad, and happy when she was. I was enthralled with the world that Carrie Ryan created. She was able to depict the scenes, characters, and emotions with such detail and clarity. And the character growth and development for both Annah and Catcher was phenomenal. They both went from not being able to let others love them and loving others to fiercely loving one another.
Carrie was able to make the zombies even more menacing and terrifying. For a gal that was unable to watch zombie films from the time she was a child up until she met her husband, you would never know it with the way she is able to describe the zombies. The passion she now has for them clearly resonates through her writing of the zombies (Unconsecrated, Mudo, Plague Rats).
If you're into zombies and/or post apocalyptic novels then I highly recommend that you go out and get a copy of each book in this trilogy. The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Dark and Hollow Places will take you on an exciting journey filled with love, loss, helplessness, and hope. This is definitely a series that I highly recommend and give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Top Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is Top Ten Books From My Childhood (or teen years) we'd love to revisit. Here's my list, but a good bit of the books on my lists are series. I've always loved a good series. My list is in no particular order.
1.) The Boxcar Children by: Gertrude Chandler Warner
2.) Goosebumps by: R. L. Stine
3.) Sweet Valley High by: Francine Pascal
4.) The Babysitters Club by: Ann M. Martin
5.) Nancy Drew by: Carolyn Keene
6.) The Hardy Boys by: Franklin W. Dixon
7.) The Berenstain Bears by: Stan and Jan Berenstain
8.) Wayside School Series by: Louis Sachar
9.) Fear Street Series by: R. L. Stine
10.) Charlotte's Web by: E.B. White
I have so many more books that I would love to add to my list but then it would be a mile long. Here are a few more books that I wish I could add.
* Dr. Seuss books
* The Borrowers by: Mary Norton
* Sarah, Plain and Tall by: Patricia MacLachlan
* Harriet The Spy by: Louise Fitzhugh
* Where The Red Fern Grows by: Wilson Rawls
Does anyone else have the same books as me? What are some of your favorite childhood books? Please feel free to comment, I enjoy reading them.
I just want to say a really quick Thank You to all the people who have visited my blog page, Mountain Rhinestones. Thank You for the time you took to read my page, and Thank You for helping me to reach 1,000 page views. I'd also like to say a quick Thank You to the people who follow my blog You guys are AWESOME! I really hope you have enjoyed your time here at Mountain Rhinestones and please come back anytime to check out my new posts. Once again THANK YOU!!!
Title: The Dead-Tossed Waves Author: Carrie Ryan Release Date: March 9, 2010 Publisher: Random House Children's Books Synopsis: Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She's content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry's mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother's past in order to save herself and the one she loves.
Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves, the second installment of The Forest of Hands and Teeth Series, doesn't start off where the first book left off. I was a little disappointed at first because I wanted to find out what happened with Mary, Harry, Jacob and Cass, but instead it begins several years down the road. The main character is Gabry (Gabrielle), Mary's daughter, and we get to see things through her POV. Gabry and her mother live in the lighthouse of the small post-Return town of Vista. Their only job is to maintain the lighthouse and to dispatch the Mudo that wash up onto the beach surrounding Vista on one side. Gabry has lived her whole life always following the rules, the very thought of disobeying them terrifying to her. Cira is Gabry's best friend, who lives in an orphanage with her older brother. She has always been the confident one out of the two friends, the one who always talked Gabry into doing the things she was too scared to do. The relationship she has with her brother is a special one where they have grown up in the orphanage with only having each other as family. I really wish that Carrie Ryan would have gone deeper into Cira's character. She seemed like from the glimpses you get to see that she would have been a very interesting character. Catcher is Cira's older brother and another one of Gabry's friends. He's always tried to look after Cira and Gabry and always caves, giving into whatever Cira wants. He is fiercely loyal to his younger sister and you can see the love he has for her. As the book goes on Catcher gets quite moody and tries to push Gabry away but with all that goes on I really don't blame him. Elias is a Souler and comes into Gabry's life at a time when she really needs someone, but she is not sure whether or not she can trust him. Elias acts weirdly around her at times and she can tell that he is hiding something big from her, and boy is it big. Carrie Ryan is just a descriptive in The Dead-Tossed Waves as she was in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. She has a unique ability to capture the scenes, characters, and emotions exceptionally well. I was able to clearly picture myself walking through everything as the story progressed and the plot deepened. The Mudo, zombies, Unconsecrated or whatever you want to call them, are just as impressive in this installment of Carrie Ryan's series The Forest of Hand and Teeth. She was able to capture their complete gory grossness in such vivid detail. I recommend The Dead-Tossed Waves to anyone who loves zombies, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, and sci-fi genres. I do feel this is a book that should not be read by anyone under the age of 9 just for the simple fact that the child might have issues with the blood and guts, and the zombie gore. I do suggest that parents read the book first and make your own judgement on letting your children read it. I was highly entertained through out the whole book and at times sitting on the edge of my seat, gripping my tablet so hard that my knuckles were turning white. I do feel that you should give this series a chance because you may find a new genre to love. (c) 2015 Andrea Hatfield All Rights Reserved
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR list. Here's my list with some new books and some slightly older books. 1.) Snow Like Ashes by: Sara Raasch
2.) The 5th Wave by: Rick Yancey
3.) Shiver by: Maggie Stiefvater
4.) Linger by: Maggie Stiefvater
5.) Forever by: Maggie Stiefvater
6.) Cinder by: Marissa Meyer
7.) Scarlet by: Marissa Meyer
8.) Cress by: Marissa Meyer
9.) Fairest: Levana's Story by: Marissa Meyer
10.) The Sin Eater's Daughter by: Melinda Salisbury
Does anyone else have the same books listed as me? Maybe you would like to recommend more books for me to add to my TBR list. Please feel free to leave comments, they are always welcome and I will try to reply by the next day.
I was nominated for this award once before but when Ericanominated me again I figured I could pass it on to even more bloggers. Thank You Erica!
The Rules:
1.) Nominate 15 other bloggers relatively new to blogging. 2.) Let the bloggers know that you've nominated them. 3.) Share 10 random facts about yourself. 4.) Thank the blogger who nominated you, it's common courtesy, and link back to their blog. 5.) Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post.
1.) I hate cleaning but I'm a total neat freak. My floors on most days are swept at least 3 times.
2.) My favorite food is chicken fajitas with pineapples. I crave it almost everyday.
3.) People think I'm quiet because I'm shy but it's really because I'm scared that if I talk too much I'll start to stutter.
4.) I still have my favorite stuffed animal from when I was a little kid, Little Foot (a.k.a. Foot Foot) from ''The Land Before Time'' movies.
5.) I dress up for Halloween as book characters and go Trick or Treating with my boys.
6.) My best friend, other than my husband, lives on the other side of the country from me but I talk to her at least 3 times a week if not everyday in some weeks.
7.) Moths and butterflies scare the crap out of me, I find them extremely gross.
8.) I hate shopping for anything other than books. I can shop all day if I'm looking for good books.
9.) My favorite color is not really a color at all, it's a pattern: camouflage.
10.) I have a weird and irrational fear of never having enough toilet paper. I freak out if I have less than 50 rolls in the house, which is weird and irrational because I've never had a time when I've been left without any.
