Category: Challenges (past)

Num8ers Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Num8ers
AUTHOR: Rachel Ward
PUB DATE: February 2010
PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Scholastic

Source: I received this book from Nikole at Scholastic Canada.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride the Eye Ferris wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

MY THOUGHTS
Thank you Nikole for sending me this book.

This is Rachel Ward’s debut novel and the first of a possible three book series. After reading Num8ers I have to say that I will be picking up her future books. Num8ers was originally published in the UK.

What would you do if you had a secret that was so terrifying and it forced you not to get close to anyone because you knew exactly when they were going to die?

This is exactly what Num8ers is about. Jem is a fifteen year old girl and she has the ability to look into someones eyes and know exactly when they will die. She is living with a foster mother because when she was a young girl she discovered one morning that her mother died from a drug overdose.

Jem attends a school that is basically for problem kids. There are days that she skips school because she just doesn’t want to deal with the problem of feeling and being like an outcast. Its on one of these days that she has skipped school that she runs into a fellow student in her class named Spider. Spider is the last person she wants to see. At first she pushes him away and wants nothing to do with him. Over a short period of time he quickly makes her change her mind. Spider is just like her an outcast. I think this is what bonds them.

After an incident at school both Spider and Jem are suspended from school and decide that they will spend the day together. Its when they go to London Eye Ferris Wheel that life for Jem and Spider are about to change and not for the better. Spider and Jem must run to save there lives before its too late.

I had to keep reading this and pretty much finished this in one sitting because I had to find out how Spider would end up dying and I have to say it wasn’t what I had expected.

As you can tell I did enjoy reading this book and after checking out Rachel Ward’s site I just discovered that book 2 in the Num8ers series called The Chaos is already out in the UK. I looked around and I don’t see a US/Canadian release date. Rachel is currently working on book 3 which just might be the last one in the series.

Here is the book trailer for you to check out:

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Last Dance Book 8 Carter House Girls Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Last Dance Book 8 Carter House Girls Series
AUTHOR: Melody Carlson
PUB DATE: May 2010
PUBLISHER: Zondervan
PAGES: 207

SOURCE: Tina from Bookshipper passed this book on to me.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the final book of bestselling author Melody Carlson’s Carter House Girls series, the Carter House girls are making prom plans and competing for boyfriends, as well as fighting for the limelight in a Mother’s Day fashion show. With graduation and last good-byes around the corner, will they resolve old differences or part ways as enemies?

With graduation looming, the Carter House girls are struggling with college visits, prom dress warfare, and boyfriend situations that are going from bad to worse. Mrs. Carter ups the stress level by planning a typical over-the-top Mother’s Day fashion show, and things get tense when the designer favors certain models. Through it all, surprises are in store for each girl as their time at Carter House comes to an end. As final good-byes approach, some friendships will deepen while others crumble. Will the girls resolve old differences or part ways as enemies?

MY THOUGHTS
Well this is the final book in the Carter House series. When Tina offered the book to me I was super excited to read it because it was the final book and I was curious to see how Melody would wrap it all up.

I was a little disappointed when I realized that there wasn’t going to be a tour of the book as there was with the previous seven books in the series.

Sadly its very rare that I don’t like a book as you probably can tell from my reviews. I am not sure if its because I only read books that I am interested in or what but I can honestly count on one hand the number of books I have not liked and I have to say that this way is now included in the list.

For some reason I felt as though the book was written for the sake of wrapping up the series. In the previous books I would have devoured them from cover to cover in a few hours to find out what was going to happen, not this one I found I was forcing myself to finish it.

Anyways about the book, the girls are all getting ready for the prom and a mother’s day fashion show. The girls are also anxiously awaiting college letters to find out where they are going.

As in previous books its never smooth sailing and it seems this time Casey is struggling with a heavy issue. What will she do? Will she go through with it or have a change of heart? For me I was interested in this because I was curious to see how it was going to play out and I was a little surprised.

Eliza is also in a bind as she is running for prom queen and it seems like someone is determined not to let that happen and they won’t stop at anything even if it means ruining her prom dress.

Will old rivals become friends?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: The Summer Of Skinny Dipping
AUTHOR: Amanda Howells
PUB DATE: June 2010
PAGES: 295
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

SOURCE: I received this copy from Sourcebooks Fire for review.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish. But I’m jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life. My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything.

MY THOUGHTS

When I first heard about this book I knew I wanted to read it for three reasons:
-this is Amanda Howells debut original YA novel (Did you know she was the ghost writer for the Sweet Valley High books? No neither did I until I heard about this book)
-Amanda lives near the ocean and she grew up on a small bay on the Atlantic Ocean (very similar to me where I grew up)
-The Summer of Skinny Dipping sounded like a fun read

I pretty much devoured this book in one sitting. For me this was the perfect book to start off the summer season. As I am reading this it brought back memories to when I was Mia’s age (16 years old) and a summer filled with romance and of course drama.

Mia is heading on family vacation from Georgia to the Hampton’s to visit with her aunt, uncle and cousins. She is excited to spend time with her cousins but quickly realizes that alot has changed since she last saw them. In my opinion they came off as spoiled rich brats. Mia tries to fit in but quickly realizes she doesn’t but she stays true to herself and makes it a point to never change herself.

To help Mia get through the summer she decides to sneak out at night and walk the beach because that is were she feels most comfortable. Its during these walks late at night that she meets Simon. The furthest thing from her mind is a summer romance because she is still getting over a broken heart from her ex cheating boyfriend.

It wasn’t long before Simon swept Mia of her feet and she began to trust again. This was the summer romance. We all know that some summer romances don’t last and that is exactly what happens here. Its a summer romance that has ended too soon. Its a summer that Mia will never forget.

My favorite part of the book is on page 95:

I’d always held back from boys. I didn’t fall for them the way my friends did. While Kristin and Lacey hooked up with different guys and had crushes that were returned or rejected or fizzled, I just waited. Sometimes I wondered if the boy I was waiting for even existed. Until Jake came to our school. Then I knew. Except I never thought he’d even look at me. He was far too cool and far too cute to notice a shy, ordinary girl in a sea of admirers. And yet here he was, my queen of hearts in his hand.

When I read that I instantly thought that Amanda spoke to me. Where was she when I need her some 25 years ago? That above quote was something I thought and felt alot about back then. So if you think you are shy and ordinary let me say you will stand out in a sea of admirers. It will happen trust me.

I want to send out a huge thank you to Carrie at Sourcebooks Fire for sending me this great debut novel to read. I really enjoyed it and I have to say it brought back alot of memories of my first summer romance when I was starting high school. He was my Simon in the book and will always have the little piece of my heart.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

School of Possibilites Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: School of Possibilities
AUTHOR: Seth Parkkola
PUB DATE: June 2010
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
PAGES: 368
GENRE: Juvenile Fiction/Middle Grade

ABOUT THE BOOK
Storm Steele is an impossible child.

Or so his parents believe thanks to the influence of his evil “step-monster.” Now Storm is being forced to attend the School of Possibilities for troubled youth. But Storm notices that something strange is going on at his new school. The students are not…normal.

Soon he’s being spied on, followed by classmates—and worst of all, forced to accept the headmaster’s perfectly behaved daughter as his girlfriend. He can feel himself becoming more obedient, more like his classmates. Storm tries to resist, but he doesn’t understand how or why the school is controlling him.

Can Storm escape—or will he be turned into a zombie of “good” behavior like everyone else around him?

MY THOUGHTS
I want to send out a huge thank you to Kay at Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for sending me an advance readers copy of the School of Possibilities.

I have to let you know that I did enjoy reading this book and really got into it near the end where I was having a hard time to put it down because I had to know what happened.

The book is told in the first person, Storm and he is your typical 12 year old boy. What gets him into trouble is the fact that he hopped on a train going no where really and gets caught. He has done this a few times.

His parents aren’t together anymore and his dad is with his new girlfriend Verity. She has a daughter, Mona. Verity works at the School of Possibilities and offers to get Storm into the school as his last chance to change his life around because in her words he is labelled as an impossible child.

As I was reading this I kept thinking that this is like the movie The Stepford Wives. How everything has to be perfect and everyone is like zombies and you basically sell your soul to the devil and obey every rule and be like everyone except yourself.

When Storm enters the school he is told that he must give up his favorite past time which is skate boarding and find a new hobby and get new friends because basically what he has now just is working for him as the headmaster says.

He quickly realizes that this isn’t an ordinary school. The adults are in charge and all the students are like zombies with no real thoughts of their own. They are told how to behave and if you don’t you have consequences and are disciplined with some rather odd methods such as they use the model of the hangman game for every wrong behavior you get a mark.

Of course it seems like the odds are stacked against Storm and it makes you feel as though they are setting him up to fail instead of helping him. He receives his first punishment and that is a girlfriend and she just happens to be the headmaster’s daughter, Bridgette.

As you are reading this you can’t help but want to root for Storm and see him succeed. The only question is can Storm escape before its too late?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Truth About Delilah Blue TLC Tour & Review

Posted on by Cindy



TITLE: The Truth About Delilah Blue
AUTHOR: Tish Cohen
PUD DATE: June 2010
PUBLISHER: Harper Perennial
PAGES: 409

ABOUT THE BOOK

Delilah Blue has always been a bit of an outsider, ever since she moved from Toronto to Los Angeles when she was eight. Twenty now, and desperate to become an artist like her long-lost mother but unable to pay for classes, she takes a job as an art model so she can learn from the professors as the students draw parts of her she’d much rather keep under wraps.

Her only real companion in life is her father, a dapper, single salesman. But as he’s entered his mid-fifties, he has begun to forget simple tasks and is often disoriented—telltale signs of early-onset Alzheimer’s. The disease presents itself just as Delilah’s long-estranged mother, who Delilah always believed selfishly abandoned the family, reenters the scene and reveals a secret about the past that will permanently change their lives.

MY THOUGHTS
I have to send out a huge thank you to Trish from TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour and to Harper Perennial for sending me the book.

I have to say that The Truth about Delilah Blue started out very slow for me and then at about chapter seven it started picking up for me to the point that I was having a hard time to put it down.

The reader knows Lila Mack as a 20 year old struggling artist in California. But what we soon realize is that she previously was Delilah Blue Lovett, a youngster living in Toronto with her mother, Elisabeth and visiting her father, Victor when it was his turn to have his daughter. On one of the planned visits when she is eight, Victor actually kidnaps Delilah because he doesn’t like the lifestyle his ex is leading. He tells her they are going to Disney World in Florida but in reality he is taking her to California. Once in California he dyes her hair, gives her a new name and a new place to live.

Lila has always been interested in the art world and always wondered about her mother who is also an artist. Lila has no money to afford going to college so in order to get her art education she decides she will pose nude for the art class at the college and listen to the professor and take away what she learns and when she goes home she will put what she learned to work.

Victor is a successful medical supplies salesman and things are going good but quickly his world is about to change. As is Delilah’s world is about to be rocked. She is not only having to deal with her father’s problems but also that of her mothers who happens to reenter Delilah’s world.

Elisabeth manages to track down Delilah. She has alot to tell Delilah not only about her new life but also a family secret that is going to rock Delilah’s world. How is she going to handle this news bomb?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tish Cohen is the author of Town House, a 2008 finalist for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book Award (Canada and Caribbean region), and in development as a feature film with Fox 2000. The film is being produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and will be directed by John Carney, the award-winning, critically acclaimed director of Once. Production is set to begin in New England in 2008. Town House was released to massive media interest in Canada, has been published in Italy, and will be released in Germany in April 2009.

Cohen has also written the preteen novel The Invisible Rules of Zoe Lama, a bestseller in Canada, which was published in 2007. The sequel, The One and Only Zoe Lama, will be published in summer 2008.The Zoe Lama series is in development as a live action TV series with 9Story Entertainment.

Cohen has contributed articles to some of Canada’s largest newspapers, including The Globe and Mail and The National Post. Having grown up in Los Angeles and Orange County in California, and Montreal, Cohen now calls Toronto home. Inside Out Girl is Cohen’s second novel for adults.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills

Posted on by Cindy

TITLE: The Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills
AUTHOR: Helen Ellis
PUB DATE: May 2010
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire
PAGES: 224

ABOUT THE BOOK
Mary Richards is a normal sixteen-year-old girl living in Manhattan. Well, almost normal. She goes to private school on the Upper East Side, having been saved from a life of squalor by an adoptive family. But she’s also slowly transforming into a cat.

Struggling to hide her physical metamorphosis, Mary discovers that she isn’t alone. A whole race of cat people prowls the streets of Manhattan at night, including Mary’s long-time crush, Nick.

Aside from heightened feline senses, hanging out with Nick is the best thing about discovering her inner kitty. But Mary’s transformation is special and could decide the outcome of a citywide turf war. She must decide whether to embrace her powerful feline side and become a pack leader or go back to being a normal teenage girl. Can she land on her feet or will curiosity be her downfall?

summary from Goodreads.com

MY THOUGHTS

I was really lucky to get to meet the lovely Helen Ellis in person when she stopped by the Sourcebooks booth at BEA. The Turning Book 1 What Curiosity Kills has been on my radar for a little while now and after meeting Helen I ended up tracking down her book in NYC and I ended up buying it.

This is Paul from Sourcebooks, myself and Helen.

It was a pleasure to talk to Helen at BEA. She spoke briefly about her book, which happens to be her first YA book and the first in a series of upcoming books. After listening to her speak I decided I would pick up the book. It was later that night when I checked my emails in the hotel and discovered a truly beautiful email from her. She is super sweet. If I could have found a bookstore open at 2:30 AM I would have rushed out to buy the book then and there. Hence it would have to wait.

On the Monday following my trip from NYC, I decided that once Michael was on the bus I would come home and curl up on the couch and start to read THE TURNING. All I have to say in my opinion is “Curiosity killed this cat!”. I absolutely loved the book and I am not just saying that because Helen will read this.

The Turning managed to suck me almost right away. So much so that I barely put the book down and was determined to read this all before Michael got off the bus at 3:50pm. I did manage to read this in one sitting and to finish it in plenty of time before Michael got off the bus.

Mary and Octavia are adopted sisters living with a loving family in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Mary is almost like your typical 16 year old although she is a little different while your normal typical 16 year old girls worry about how they look, boys and clothes, Mary is trying to figure out what is happening to her.

When she lets a cat into her bathroom, the cat brushes up against her causing Mary to start growing clumps of fur. She is freaked out and not sure what is happening.

When her crush, Nick suddenly starts talking to her, he begins to fill in the pieces of the puzzle and helps her to shape shift into a cat. Octavia witnesses this and is freaked out. Slowly she confides into Mary about why she is freaked out about cats. I know I was curious to find out why she was freaked out about cats.

Octavia is determined to help Mary out but will they be able to before its too late?

I am so excited and curious to read the next book although I can’t seem to find out when it will be happening. I am dying to know what will happen to Mary.

You can check outHelen Ellis’s Websiteto see what fun and exciting things she is up too.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Double Blog Dare Tour

Posted on by Cindy

Welcome and hello! I am truly honored to be part of the The Double Blog Dare Tour with Tundra Books. This is might be your first stop if your a reader of mine or not so hop on over to check out these other blogs who are part of the tour today:

Rachelle from Living Between Wednesdays
Open Book Toronto
Helen from Helen’s Book Blog

When I got these books in the mail I did a little research and discovered that Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventure and Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden by J Torres and J Bone were actually published in 2002 and Tundra Books was re-releasing these two.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She’s the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she’s also the niece of an international super-spy; it’s no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan’s Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more “normal” life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals – Wendy and Dot – somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison’s globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it’s magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

ABOUT THE BOOK
Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She’s the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she’s also the niece of an international super-spy; it’s no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan’s Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more “normal” life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals – Wendy and Dot – somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison’s globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it’s magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

PLEASE NOTE: Images and about the book were taken from the Tundra Books Website.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
J. TORRES is a Shuster Award-winning, Eisner Award-nominated writer whose credits include adaptations of Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E and CTV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation, the comic book series Teen Titans Go and Wonder Girl for DC Comics, as well as the graphic novels Lola: A Ghost Story and the YALSA-listed Days Like This for Oni Press. He has also written for children’s magazines, books, and television.

J. BONE is an Eisner Award-nominated illustrator of several critically acclaimed comic books and graphic novels, including Spiderman: Tangled Web, Batman / The Spirit, and Paul Dini’s Mutant, Texas.

I have to send out a huge thank you to Sylvia from Tundra Books for contacting me about this tour and sending me the books to review.

MY THOUGHTS
Being graphic novels they were both a quick read as both books were under 100 pages and we were able to read them both in a day.

After reading them Michael turned and said “mommy she is like Indiana Jones but instead of being a man she is a girl.”

I think seeing that Alison is 12 years old, Michael could relate to her (he is 7). There is some mystery and tons of adventures in both books. Although as much as he liked Alison he did say that it would be cool to have a dad who is a masked hero.

It was really nice to read these graphic novels because for once the boy isn’t the super hero and it gives the girl who read this the chance to know that they two can be super heroes and that girls are just as smart as boys.

Thanks again Sylvia for allowing us to be a part of the tour and for reviewing these great graphic novels. They will be enjoyed over and over again I am sure.

I always thought that Tundra Books was awesome but now I know they are truly awesome. Since they are re-releasing both Alison Dare graphic novels they are running this super sweet contest and you can check out more about it on their site Tundra Books Contest to see what it entails.

Check back later today when I will post something special with Alison Dare.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.