Top Ten Tuesday #15

Top Ten Tuesday


http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ 

Brokeandbookish provides a topic each week and bloggers list their top ten within that category.


Top Ten Books To Get You in The Halloween Spirit:
This'll be easy considering my 31 Days of Halloween Readathon lol

1. Ten: I'll be writing my review for this one soon.  It was my first murder mystery and while it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be it was definitely creepy.  A great way to start out the Halloween season. 

2. The Summoning: This wasn't my favorite book, but it was definitely interesting and really creepy.  I didn't like reading about the ghosts and zombies!

3.  The Body Finder:  This one made me paranoid, but the mystery part was pretty good.  I didn't figure out who the murder was until the end.

4. Alice in Zombieland: LOVED this!  It's not a retelling, but it's even better I think.  Even if you don't like zombies there's a hot romance!

5. Vampire Academy.  I'm in love with this series so far.  I'm on book #3 and can't wait to keep reading.  I wouldn't say this series is scary, but it's got vamps so it's halloweenish (it's a stretch, but I just want to make sure everyone knows about this series lol).

6. Sookie Stackhouse Series: I love this series and since it has every supernatural creature out there I think that makes it a great Halloween series.  If you haven't started this one what are you waiting for?

7. 666 Park Avenue: I started watching this show on abc so I figured I'd read the book.  Well, that was a bust because the two couldn't be more different.  But I really liked this book and want to continue the series.  It's not often you find an adult chick-lit book with magic in it.

8. Cursed: Jennifer Armentrout can write about a leaf and I'd read it.  I really liked this book and hope everyone gives it a try.  Nothing is hotter than Daemon, but the characters in this book are pretty great.
9. Something Strange and Deadly: This was my first zombie book.  I loved that it was in a different time period.  killing zombies with a parcel is so much cooler!

10. The Immortal Rules: I loved this book too.  Kind of has zombies, but it also has vampires.  I can't wait for the second book.

Stacking the Shelves/ Sunday Post

Stacking the Shelves



STSmall_thumb[2]
 The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  Both are a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and talk about what is coming up for the week on our blog. Link up each week.  I will be doing Weekly Recap, What books I got that week, and a sneak peek of what to expect for the next week on my blog.

FROM THE LIBRARY, B&N, & AUTHOR

      

Past Weeks:
      
      
Perks of Being A Wallflower
I saw the movie yesterday and loved it.  If you haven't seen it yet you should really go while it's out in theaters.  I can't wait to read the book.


Velveteen

This one has been on my to read list forever and now that it's finally out I'm not as excited to read it.  I think because the girl on the cover looks like Kristen Stewart.  Anyone else think so?

Winter White
I liked the first book so I'm hoping the second one is even better.  I don't want to reread the first one, but I kind of forget what happened at the end.


Vampire Academy Series
I. Am. Obsessed.  Such a good series.  I can't believe I didn't pick it up sooner.  The covers kind of turned me off because they look kind of stupid, but the stories are fantastic.  I'm in the middle of Shadow Kiss right now.

**I've already finished The Summoning and Body Finder

WEEKLY RECAP

            
I don't know what's going on with my health lately.  I've been not feeling well on and off so last week I only got one post in.  I'm really hoping it'll all just go away and I'll be 100% back to normal and can post regularly.  I've gotten a lot of good books though so at least I've been reading a lot.

 NEXT WEEK

Reviews to come:
*Ten
*The Body Finder
*The Summoning
*Vampire Academy

 Posts:
*Amish vs. Abnegation
*31 Days of Halloween update
*Top Ten/Teaser Tuesday
*WOW

What goodies did you get this week? 
 Leave a link and I'll stop by.

{Review} Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

5 Stars


Title: Alice in Zombieland
Author: Gena Showalter
Number of Pgs. 404
Publication date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA
How I got the copy: Library


From Goodreads:

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….


I've been using a new way of reviewing that I saw over at Making the Grade.  It breaks the book down and makes it easier to rate.  The way it works is each category gets a score out of ten points.  Then you add them all up + 50 (50% automatically for each book) and that's your score out of 100.

Plot 8/10: I thought since this would be like Alice in Wonderland, but with Zombies.  I didn't find many similarities although I did enjoy the chapter titles.  But eventhough it wasn't at all what I expected, it was extremely entertaining and hot!  We're introduced to the world of Zombie fighting along with Alice so it's fun to see her grow and discover how the zombies work.  There weren't a lot of twists or surprises in this story until the end, but I definitely didn't see it coming.

Characters 9/10: I love cole and his badass hotness.  On a scale of 1 to Daemon he was about a 10...because I have yet to find a YA guy hotter than Daemon.  But cole was pretty close.  Besides the whole tall and handsome throwing Alice up against the wall and making out with her, he had other attributes as well.  He really cared for Alice and was loyal to his friends and family.  Alice was such a strong character.  If I could pick any character to be it might just have to be her.  She's quick witted, brave, and loyal.  I love that she didn't take any of Cole's crap either.  Alice's friend was entertaining and I admired her confidence.  I think there's more to her "story" than she's admitting.  Alice's grandparents cracked me up with their misuse of teenager's slang.  

Setting 7/10: The setting wasn't anything special.  Although I loved the zombie aspect of this world because it was different than any other zombie book I'd read.  When fighting the zombies the characters don't just hit them with sticks they use their souls to attack kind of.  I appreciated the author being original.  But other than that it was almost a contemp novel in between the zombie scenes.  

Pacing 8/10: The beginning was kind of slow for me because it was setting it up for Alice's life to be turned upside down.  But once her world is turned upside things start picking up and it's pretty fast paced.

Style 9/10: I love sarcastic witty dialogue and this book had a lot of that.  If you're looking for something to make you laugh and tear up all in the same hour this is definitely a good choice.  I loved this author's writing and I can't wait for the second book.

Final Thoughts: This is a must read.  Once this is in paperback I'll probably buy it, it's that good.  If you're looking for a fun zombie book (that's not too scary) to get you into the Halloween mood this is a good book to start with.
Total: 91/100 
 
"You're smart, pretty, and you aren't a douche purse."
If id had food in my mouth I would have spewed it. Douche purse? She must mean douche bag. But okay, I could roll. I was getting used to her filthy, funny mouth.

 Cole cupped my cheeks and brought my gaze back to his. "Why wouldn't I dance."
Uh, maybe because at first glance he looked like he ate puppies and kittens for lunch? As for what he enjoyed having for dinner-that couldn't be discussed in polite public.

 He had me backed against the bedroom wall, his body supporting mine. My legs were wrapped around his waist. His hands were flattened beside my temples; mine were in his hair. He'd imprisoned me with his strength to kiss the breath right out of me.

 Quotes from: Mostly YA Book Obsessed



  
   

Mini Hiatus over

31 Days of Halloween
The past two weeks I have been so sick it has been terrible, but I'm finally feeling better.  First it was just a cold, so everyday after work I'd come home and lay down.  Then last Monday I got a stomach virus.  I was so sick that I didn't even pick up a book or my computer for days.  That's when you know something's wrong with me lol.  But I've been feeling a lot better now so I'm going to try to get back on track with posts this week.  Sorry for disappearing for a week!  

In other news... Here's my progress for my
 31 Days of Halloween Event/Readathon so far:


Books I have out from the library already (Crossed out means I read it):
1. Alice in Zombieland
2. Bad Girls Don't Die
3. Girl of Nightmares
4. Sweet Evil
5. Ten
6. The Body Finder
7. The Summoning (almost done)
8. The Unquiet
9. Vampire Academy
10.Velveteen
11. Xile
12. 666 Park Avenue

If somehow I finish all those:
1. Posess
2. The Ghost of Graylock
3. This is not a Test
4. The Devouring

Which one should I read next?

Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post #15

Stacking the Shelves


STSmall_thumb[2]
 The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  Both are a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and talk about what is coming up for the week on our blog. Link up each week.  I will be doing Weekly Recap, What books I got that week, and a sneak peek of what to expect for the next week on my blog.

FROM THE LIBRARY & Barnes & Nobles

My bookshelf is now 4/5 shelves full!
      
666 Park Avenue
This is my third book for the 31 Days of Halloween event/readathon that I'm doing.  I also wanted to read it because the CW show just started.  Has anyone read and watched the pilot?  Is it any good? 

Anna Karenina
I saw April (@booksandwine) say on twitter that she saw the trailer for the movie that's coming out with Kiera Nightly and that she wants to reread it.  I've been wanting to read this one for awhile so I got it and April and I might cohost a read along.  Stay tuned for more info on that.

Obsidian
I have this in ebook form, but the problem with that is that I hate ebooks and hardly ever feel like reading them.  This is one of my favorite books so when I saw my Barnes & Noble FINALLY was carrying J.L.A. books I had to get it.  It was only $10.  Dameon is worth a lot more in my opinion lol.

Alice in Zombieland
I'll admit, I devoured this in three days last week.  I'm so excited that it's a series.  My review will be up sometime this week.

WEEKLY RECAP

     
I also posted My Goals for my 31 Days of Halloween event/readathon.  I've read
2 1/2 of the books I've listed so far.  A pretty good start I think!  Last week I had a cold and it sucked.  Then yesterday my new eye dr. dilated my eyes.  I hadn't had that done since I was ten so I couldn't remember what it was like.  Um...do they use that to torture people because it was the worst experience EVER!  I felt like a freakin vampire.  The sun burned my eyes!  But they're back to normal now so I've been reading a lot to make up for those five hours yesterday that all I could do was listen to my ipod and stare at the wall.  Hopefully next week is better haha.

 NEXT WEEK

Reviews to come:
(This is always tentative)
*Alice in Zombieland
*Ten
*Sweet Evil
*666 Park Avenue

Posts:
*Giveaway for 31 Days of Halloween Event
*Scary movies vs. books
*66 Park Avenue (book vs. the show)
*Teaser/Top Ten Tues
*Waiting on Wed


What goodies did you get this week? 
 Leave a link and I'll stop by.

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