Far From Reality

This week is slightly diffrent, I have gotten nothing in my mailbox or kindle this week. but i should in the following weeks get actual physical books! I joined paperbackswap and have ammased a large wishlist (long lines! eep!) I got my starter 2 credits and i will have 4 more, becuase these are the books saying goodbye to me.

A whisper of wings
The rats of acomar
Uglies
Rathas Creature

It will be sad to see them go (and money in my wallet go bye-bye) but i will anxiously await when i get that email saying that a book I want is available!

Dark Faerie Tales is holding a Valentines Day book giveaway. there are TONS of books to be won and there will be 4 winners! so hop on over and enter!

Title - Cat the Vamp
Author - Christina Martine
Genre - Young Adult
Description
As a child, Catherine Taylor never understood why her parents were so secretive and distant. After the death of her grandmother, Cat’s parents take her to a mysterious castle called Blacklune. They explain to her that they, and she, are vampires, part of a hidden community co-existing with humans. Now that she’s of age, Cat will be initiated into the community and undergo a period of training in its methods and morals, along with several other vampire students her own age.
At Blacklune, Cat meets a young man who had appeared to her in dreams, Morgan. She and Morgan form an instant bond, but success with their vampire lessons doesn’t come so easily. Tempted by the lure of blood and the powers they now have, Cat and Morgan push the limits over and over, ignoring the concerns of their classmates and the scolding of their teacher, River. As they become ever more reckless, Cat and Morgan risk going too far. It’s only when serious harm comes to someone else that they realize they have to control themselves--and it may be too late.
Thoughts
Cat the Vamp was darker then your average YA vampire novel. Catherine and her friends (alex, kevin, morgan, etc..) are all vampires, going to Blacklune for training. They form a club called "Animal Kingdom" there they cut themselves and drink each others blood, drinking anothers blood is like a high, everything becomes sharper, more intense and this leads Cat and Morgan to do very reckless things. During Cat the Vamp (a short read by the way, about 224 pages) We see how one struggles with addiction (blood cravings) and love.
Cat The Vamp has a moderate amount of swearing and sexual content as well. Morgan and Cats relationship could get rather annoying after a while, Cat continuosly goes on about how she has Morgan so everything is alright, and it did not seem to be very real at points, it seemed almost too good to be true. This does not deter from the book however.
There will be a sequal to Cat the Vamp, when I dont know, but if you want to read a vampire novel that portrays vampires not as they are in myth (these vampires dont burst in sun, they can see thier reflections..) and deals with some aspects of teenage addictions then this is a good book for you.

Every Friday i will post up some ebooks that are free or super cheap.
Dont have an eReader? no problem just download the Kindle For Pc
iPhone Mac or Blackberry
For the ones that you want to use in your kindle but are not .bmobi format, just donwload Calibre and follow the instructions!

Here are this weeks picks
MetaGame Not entirely free put a penny is as close as you can get!
White Fang A classic! who dosn't love animal stories?
Mighty Hammer Down enter code WV84F to make it free (when you checkout with it in the coupon/discount part)
My Soul to Lose A YA book! there had to be one right?

The Mage In Black by Jay Wells - March 30th for paperback, april 1st for Kindle
Sabina Kane doesn't have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, the leader of the vampire race, just tried to kill her. When she arrives in New York to meet the mage side of her family, the reunion takes the fun out of dysfunctional.

On top of that, the Hekate Council wants to use her as a pawn in the brewing war against the vampires. Her mission will take her into the bowels of New York's Black Light district, entangles her in mage politics, and challenges her beliefs about the race she was raised to distrust. And Sabina thought vampires were bloodthirsty.

Thoughts
I AM kinda getting sick of vampires, but this one looks pretty good at least (i hope) its not a human falls in love with vampire cliche.

Right now im reading Cat the Vamp by Christina Martine

Rules:
1. pick a line or lines from a random page and post it! NO SPOILERS!

Lines
The guests filed silently in behind them like soft spirits and positioned themselves in a circle around River, Morgan, and Catherine. It was time for the ceremony to begin.

Title - Glass Houses
Series - The Morganville Vampires
Author - Rachel Caine
Pages - 256
Genre- Young Adult/Fantasy
Description
College should be an exciting time, but for brainy 16-year-old Claire Danvers that's too mild a word. Due to advanced placement, Claire can start college early, but her parents refuse to allow her to go to the distant Ivy League school of her dreams. She goes to Texas Prairie University where she is tormented by the popular girls—but that's the least of her worries. Morganville, home of the university, is also home to vampires and vampire hunters. Claire finds protection from the horrors of the town in the Glass House with three fellow outcasts, Goth girl Eve, rebellious Shane, and Michael, who disappears during the day.
Thoughts
From the first page i was hooked, it took me perhaps a day and a few hours to read this book. Claire is not one of those tough, 'i dont need to listen to you even though i might get hurt', overzelous or whiney heorines that are so prevelant in young adult novels nowadays.
You may be thinking, Its a vampire story, same thing as all the rest right? Well, not entirely. Glass Houses does retain some vampire cliches as other books (no sunlight for example) but its not your typical human girl falls in love with the vampire boy deal. In fact, these vampires are Bad and not in the cool way.
Morgaville is more or less run by the vampires, humans area second class citizen who need ot shut up and keep moving or bad things happen. Some escape, some dissapear Claire is not so lucky, she manages to anger a really nasty girl in college and thats where all her turmoil begins.
Claire eventually moves into the Glass house with Eve, Shane and Micheal, but soon gets herself into more trouble (thanks to Monica, the nasty girl) During the book Claire grows, she matures, gets braver and its always nice to see that from such a good charactor.
Cains writing is fluid, clean and even though there are some parts of swearing and innuendos, it is not horribly ladden with them. So check out Glass Houses if you are a fan of vampires. If you dont like, at leastt you can appreciate one aspect, these vampires dont sparkle

This was one of those -right time/right place- type of deals. I logged onto my World of Warcraft charactor (loveingly named Kallona, though with an extra L) and was in a major city when a guild ad came on the chat, it was for the guild " The Dark Daughters" i thought 'nah, has to be a coincidence' then i looked at the posters name. Zoeybird. WELL! i HAD to contact her, turns out she loves the series too and thats why she has the guild that name. Even the hierarchy in the guild is based on House of Night, i was a lowly human till i reached lvl 10 and became a fledgeling, then there is vampyre, fallen angel and high priestess (could be more inbetween).
Anyways, i had Zoey come and take a picture with another member, so here it is Zoeybird is on the left waving, Me, (Kallona) is in the middle and Trublood is on the right. (sorry, bad pic i know but you get the gist)

I find it funny, but also awesome that people have brought books and video games together in such a way. It makes it far easier to find someone who shares your interests (and hey, who thought us MMO geeks would like to read and not just kill things?)

In My Mailbox (changed to In My Kindle by me for me) is hosted by The Story Siren




This week i have
Ruby by Amanda Taber
Glass Houses by Rachel Caine
Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

I am getting bogged down with books! i also have the introduction to read for class!
Thank Calibre for Rubys conversion to .mobi for my kindle (from .pdf) and also my class lessons =)

Todays post is an interview with MetaGames author Sam Landstrom



1. In MetaGame there are alot of odd product names and player names, was it difficult coming up with names for players that fit thier personalities and names telling what the products use was?

Some names just came to me while for others, I had to backfill later. For example, D_Light was originally named Nick. Nick was an inadequate name right off the bat, but I used it as a placeholder because it was short. Once I had come up with a better name, I "search and replaced" in Word.

For products, I kept a separate Notepad file on my laptop where I'd jot down names that I thought were cool or funny as I came up with them.

2. Was there alot of research involved to write MetaGame?

I have a background in biotech and software so most of the techie ideas were things I've picked up and wondered about over the years. I did do a fair amount of research into brain biochemistry, in part, because I wanted to formulate how the technology-enabled telepathy in the book would work. Ironically, nothing of that research made it in. The book was long enough without going into such mechanics.

Also, a few ideas were influenced by other sci-fi I've read, specifically Dune and Diamond Age.

3. Did you ever think MetaGame would be as popular as it is today?

I'm not sure you could call it popular. From what I can tell from my royalty statements and my website traffic, MetaGame has found its way onto about 26+ thousand devices. I'm not sure how many of those people have actually read it though.

Anyway, that is better than I expected. When I first uploaded it onto Kindle Store, my goal was to get at least one download a day. Needless to say, my expectations were exceeded. (:

4. Would you say D_Light is a bit like you? or vice versa?

Sure, in some ways. His sense of humor and introspective nature is probably similar to my own. As you'd expect, it's easy to write main characters that you can get into the mind of.

The experience he recalls to Lily about in his childhood being frightened of infinity is straight out of my own 8-year old past.

On the flip side, D_Light does some ruthless things, particularly at the beginning of the book. One might say that he was simply a product of his environment, but I'd like to think that I couldn't commit cold blooded murder even if it was condoned by society and profitable.

5. What is your favorite snack?
Mochas. I suppose that doesn't qualify as a snack since it's not a solid food, but it does have its share of calories.

I like Kit Kats... and sometimes gummy bears (classic kind only).

6. Lastly, On your site it says that you are working on a fantasy novel, can you give any snippet of info on it?

Hmmm, how to describe it... Well there's the typical stuff you expect in a Tolkien-influenced fantasy novel like a dragon, a platoon of goblin-like creatures, demons, zombies, knights, castles, etc. But then there's also a high school drunken kegger party, rap music, juvenile prison, Jesus, The Devil, Freud, time travel, and teenage sex.

Yup, should have it all, at least everything that's fun. BTW, I'll have a better teaser later. (;

I would like to thank Sam for answering my questions. To get a copy of MetaGame pick it up at amazon.com (ebook only) and also check out his webpage for more info on MetaGame, Sam himself and other things!

The Sight and Fell by David Clement-Davies



I love Wolves and these covers (plus the books) are wonderful!

Also:
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev


So, What kind of covers do you like? Ones with animals or a Fantasy theme? or Other?

Title - MetaGame
Author - Sam Landstrom
Pages - roughly 400
Genre - Science Fiction
NOTE - Available as Ebook only
Description
Life is a game, literally. Winners earn immortality, while losers are condemned to aging and death. D_Light, a gifted player, knows this all too well and he-s willing to do anything to win-even kill. It is no wonder then that when given the chance to enter a MetaGame-an exclusive, high-stakes, anything goes contest-he-s quick to jump at the opportunity. The MetaGame starts out well enough for D_Light, the first quest being to hunt down a dangerous fugitive, but through his own ambition, the tables turn and D_Light finds himself the renegade. Now, D_Light pits himself against his world to find the truth behind -The Game- and must decide between winning it and saving what-s left of his humanity.
Thoughts
MetaGame is a long journey, but an interesting one! Landstroms world consists of the real, human world and that of The Game, a place to earn points and gain popularity for the purpose of hopefully becoming one of the immortals. D_Light is our main hero, a man older then his locked 20ish year old body, it is through his story we experience The Game, the real world and all inbetween.
Metagame was a bit strange, especially in the begining with its product(TM) stamped items, the first few chapters are ladden with them, gradually they thin out though. The charactor names are also a bit strange, besides D_Light you will come across A_Dude, Curious_Scourge, Sweet_Ting and others, though not all names have the underscore, Lyra, Djoser, Lily and BoBo are expamples.
Familars are a fun part of Metagame and essential to the players, they are animal-like robots that save your memories, play clips, are used to communicate between other players, administer drugs that help players, sniff out poisons, grock players (look up thier status/profiles) and other usefull skills.
MetaGame is marked as science fiction but could be Young Adult as well due to the human life aspect of it (questioning ones self and world.. etc) but be warned, there is a good amount of swearing and sexual content (far more then i would like) but if that does not bother you then i believe MetaGame will give you alot of enjoyment as a unique piece of work, with its original concept, smooth flow of events and writing.

In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. These stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and have been reprinted in many “Best of” anthologies. The Poison Eaters is Holly Black’s much-anticipated first collection of stories, and her ability to stare into the void—and to find humanity and humor there—will speak to young adult and adult readers alike.

Thoughts
Another Holly Black WoW! I just adore her haha. Can't Wait for a Kindle Release (Please?)

Rules
open a book to a random page and choose a sentance from it and share (for e-readers just use the page your on)
NO SPOILERS!!

The book today is MetaGame by Sam Landstrom

Sentance
Emerging through the hedge as if thier lives depended on it, D_Light, Lyra and Djoser nearly ended up in a heap as they skidded to a stop behind Lily.

Thoughts
though the name D_Light looks a bit off-putting you get used to it and all the oddball names in this book, it actually is really good and although there is a good number of sexual innuendos, swearing and other (IMO repugnant) things. It does not destroy the book and written well.

Author of Eleganta: A Novel of Fairykind, Denny Swartzlander was kind enough to answer some of my questions.

1. What was your favorite part of writing Eleganta?

The best part of writing Eleganta was simply listening to the fairies and goblins tell their story. Of course I had to translate it into English, and that was fun too. The fairies and goblins have a wonderful way of storytelling (when they're not arguing among themselves about what really happened). It was quite enjoyable to listen to them speak, and then to see the joy in their faces when they read my final version. They are just so happy to get their story out so the world may know of the amazing events that have happened to their kind.

2. Besides the fairies, what inspired you to write Eleganta?

I have always been a fan of fantastical and mysterious things. The world of creatures hiding in the shadow of humanity is vast and exciting. Many books, authors and film-makers are responsible for my love of fantasy. These range from Edgar Allan Poe, to C.S. Lewis, to Gregory Maguire, to Jim Henson, Tim Burton, and even David Bowie. Such books as The Phantom Tollbooth and the Sherlock Holmes stories have inspired me as well.

3. Are you currently working on the next Novel for Eleganta?

Yes. The fairies and goblins have started to tell me the next book. There is still so much to be told, and I can't wait to hear it myself so I can relay it to the world.

4. A fun question! What Characters personality do you think reflects your own the most?

Being a scientist as well as a writer, I have to say I relate very much to Aavix to the Chemist. His love of studying the workings of the natural world, as well as his somewhat odd personality, parallel my own strangeness. Although he can seem distracted and disconnected from the moment, he is still very much grounded in rational thought. He wants only to understand the intricacies of the world and all the creatures in it. This instills in him an ever growing respect and love for all of life, even for such bizarre creatures as fairies.

5. Is there anything else you would like to say about the book, future books or just to the readers in general?

I do hope Eleganta is not just a book, not just another fantasy read, but is an entire experience of its own. I hope readers will come to know and love the world of Fairykind, and will become forever connected with it as they learn how Fairykind became integrated into the world of humans. That is the true scope of the series; to show how such wonderful animals like fairies and goblins became known to humankind, and how many of our myths, legends, and stories originated.

Book 2 of the series, tentatively titled 'Violetta: A Fae in the House of the Fairies' is in production, though it will still be some time before it is finished. For now, I encourage readers to enjoy Eleganta, for it is a story that needs to be heard.



I would like to thank Denny for taking his time out to answer the questions,I appreciate it very much!
for my review on Eleganta Go Here and to check out Elegantas website where you can get info on Denny, view pictures, find out where to buy the book and read the first chapter of Eleganta please Go Here

Well, OK more like "on my wishlist but I am not done with the books i have yet"
so here are some books off my wishlist kindle for those who may have seen my slideshow, but dont know whats on it (cause blurry pics are fun!)








Warrior - Marie Brennan
Promise of the Wolves - Dorothy Hearst
Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls - Jane Lindscold

Feature Friday is where I will feature diffrent blogs, author sites and good book sites for cheap books or great information.

Today I Will Feature (with cool Youtube Video!) Shannon Delanys upcoming book 13 to LIfe: A Werewolf's Tale
Description (from her site)
Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.
The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.

Release Date - June 22, 2010 (PREORDER HERE!)

Check Out The Trailer:


And of course her site for more info and fun!

Title - Eleganta: A Novel of Fairykind
Author - Denny Swartzland
Genre - Young Adult / Fantasy

Description
Eleganta follows the journey of Ethywyne Eleganta, a fairy who is the only one to have seeded a youngling in fourteen years. A darkness however wants her youngling, Lirratywne (Lira for short). When the dark ones and trolls, led by the General Sunderin descend upon her peaceful home of Bila Eutay it is up to Ethywyne and her guardian Weiyna to take Lira to the Queens Castle saftely.

Review
Alright I will be completely honest, I only got this book on my kindle because it was one dollar. However, after reading Eleganta, I would have gladly paid more!
Eleganta may start off happy, but it quickly becomes a race for survival. The trolls are dead set on destroying the Fairy realms, led by the horrible Sunderin and the Dark Ones. Ethywyne starts off very pure, and well.. ends that way also but during her journey she grows, she gets stronger, braver, and I appreciate a heroine that is not a whiney brat and when the time comes, acts.
There are alot of neat places in Eleganta, I loved the descriptions, it was informative but it did not bore you with mundane details of every rock and tree. On Ethywynes journey she will travel to places such as the shineing, silvery, Sparkling Woods, the Pixie Glades and the muddy swamps that lie before the glades.
There are many who would help Ethywyne as well, besides Weiyna you will meet the actor Feolyn, the father of Aurellia Julay, the guardians of Aurellia Ayson and Rae and many more. Nymphs, Goblins, Fairy Eaters and grogs are a few of the mystical creatures presented to you as well.
Eleganta is said to be a young adults novel, and while true, anyone who enjoys fantasy will love this book. There is no sexual content, no swearing, the bloodshed is kept to a minimum (there are no decapitated heads or severed body parts!) The writing is fluid, clean and understandable. The emotions are conveyed beautifully and not overdone. This was truely a great read and I can only hope the next book in the Eleganta series comes out soon!

Eep! I have not been a good girl and updateing (blame World of Warcraft and the dentist!!) anyways, the line i choose today is from Eleganta: A Novel of Fairykind

Rules:
open a book at random (or current Kindle page) and pick a line (or lines if its a long sentance! no spoilers) and share it!

My lines
Many of the charging trolls carried great axes, which they quickly began using to thrash at the trees nearest the wall, in order to knock them into it to create makeshift ramps.

honestly, i only got this book on my kindle cause it was cheap (1.00) now i cant put it down!

Title - Deadtown
Author - Nancy Holzner
Genre - Young Adult / Urban Paranormal
Description
Victory Vaughn (Vicky for short) hunts demons, in what is known as Deadtown, a place where Bostons paranormal americans (PAs) live since a plague had spread and killed 2,000 humans, only to be risen into zombies 3 days afterwards. Vicky gets rid of a host of diffrent baddies, such as Harpys, Drudes and other demons. Vicky however, is not entirely human herself. she is Cerrdorion, a type of Welsh shapeshifter. This gives her an edge over the demons, she has more strength then a human and can shapeshift into any sentient being three times during the current moonphase. She is also Marked. What that means is she has been marked by a demon, The Destroyer (Difethwr) did this when she was 18, on her right arm. What this means is that when she experiences anger, she gets VERY angry and almost looses control of her right arm, if she does it would murder and destroy just like the demon who marked her does.
Thoughts
Deadtown is an original take on zombies, seeing them not as flesh-hungry monsters but as intelligent beings that can live peacefully (to an extent) with humans and otehr paranormal creatures, Tina, a teenage zombie shows us this as she becomes Vickys apprentence of sorts, learning how to slay demons. There are also other fun charactors such as Juliet, Vickys vampire roomate (and self-proclaimed Romeo and Juliets Juliet). Theres also Kane, Vickys kind-of werewolf vamprie attorny.
Deadtown is light, fun, but also has some dark and serious tones to it. If your looking for romance, this has a little bit, of course it is not without its innuendos and swearing, but that is a minimum and i am very glad that Holzner had not used a single f-bomb. The writing is fluid and clean, and when Vicky shapeshifts the writing changes, it is more primal and reflects how the shifted creature might think, its base instincts and thoughts shine through and dont seem human at all.
This was a very good book, and there is even going to be a sequal (i belive 3 books in all) which i am thrilled about! if you like paranormal creatures, kick-butt heroins, a little romance, and action. then Deadtown is for you!

This is a light-hearted post about the thing thats keeps me reading each and every day. No its not my shiney new Kindle or the spectacular authors (though both do count!) it is something far smaller, and much fuzzier...

This is Panda, my 2 year old Maltese/Poodle mix, she is my constant compainion, reading buddy, foot warmer, bedtime cuddle monster, keyboard typo maker, and the light in my life. I got her at a flea market, the tiniest ball of fluff came up to my hand when I put it on the cage of about 4 puppies, she licked and bit my fingers and looked at me with those brown eyes and i knew i had to have her. It was love at first sight. Every time i feel sad, she comes and rubs into me, gives me kisses and makes me giggle, she is the greatest constant in my life and i could not imagine a day without her wagging tail and smiling, bright face.
So I ask you, What keeps you reading? Is it a family member be it fur or skin? Is it the feel of books in your hands? The journey you take when you read? I would love to know! I hope you never stop your love fro books, knowledge and the simple pleasure of sharing it with others.

Title - White Cat (Curse Workers 1)
Author - Holly Black
Description
Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Thoughts: I love Holly Black and I can not wait to read this one!

Alright, I am not going to make this super long becuase you can check other more informative places on all the technical stuff that went into making this movie, but i will tell you is you NEED to see this in 3D! This movie is in a word, AWESOME! It has easily shot up to my favorite movie list. Don't think youll like how eveyrthing is in CG? well, you cant really tell, not easily, the ears twitch the movements when they breathe and everything is seamless, it flows wonderfully.
The storyline is great, Christians might scoff at how the Na'vi view their world (everythign is connected, earth, sky, creatures) It reminded me of how Native Americans think and that is very cool. The ending was a bit predictable but none-the-less moving. I cried, smiled, got angry, this movie was worth every penny that was spent on it. I can not say enought good things about it! there is no bad! I Don't buy DVDs, but this is one im rushing out to get when it comes out.
Go see it, cause you know its a great movie when everyone in the theatre claps!

Title - Battle Royale
Author - Houshun Takumi
Genre - Fiction/World Literature/Japan
Page Count - 624

Description

Under the guise of a "study trip," a group of students from Shiroiwa Junior High School are sleep-gassed on a bus. They awaken in the Okishima Island School on Okishima, an isolated, evacuated island southwest of Shodoshima. They learn that they have been placed in an event called The Program. Officially a military research project, The Program is a means of terrorizing the population, of creating such paranoia as to make organized insurgency impossible.
According to the rules, every year since 1947, fifty 3rd year junior high school (14-15 years old) classes are isolated, and each class is required to fight to the death until one student remains. Their movements are tracked by metal collars around their necks which contain tracking and listening devices; if any student should attempt to escape The Program, or enter declared "danger zones", a bomb will be detonated in the collar, killing the wearer. If no student dies in any 24 hour period, all collars will be detonated simultaneously. After being briefed about The Program, the students are issued survival packs which include a map, compass, flashlight, food and water, and a random weapon or other item, which may be anything from a gun to a paper fan.

Thoughts

Sounds interesting right? Well, it is! However, be ready to sit for the long haul, this book is big! It takes a lot to fill 624 pages, and keep you intrigued. Unfortunatly though, while there were alot of great parts to the book, sometimes the author goes off on tangents that are not nessasarily interesting, (like the protagonists fathers death.) or how it kept flashbacking to a memory of the protagonists.

If you have seen the movie "the condemned' then you know how The Program works, last one alive wins, and from the get go some take this very seriously (like the antagonist Kiriyama) and some just try to run. The book looks at many of the students points of view and it was nice that it wasnt all in the protagonists view. Some of the weapons were imaginative, and some useless like a paper fan (lets see, paper fan or pistol? id chose the one that goes BANG) others like the Sickle seems puny at first but youll find out that the charactor that gets it puts it to good use!.

Other then dragging on a bit, Battle Royale is gritty, controversial, and ok ill say it. FUN (what? death..fun? yes, yes indeed) if you are unsure whether youd like the book, then rent the movie. Although not as long or involved as the book (some scene are not movie appropriate) it is actually very good as well! and, for you manga lovers. theres a whole manga that follows the book! (though the art is kinda chinsey) I definatly recomend this book, which has become a cult classic in japan (and has quite a few followers in america as well!)

In my kindle is a spin-off of In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren
This is what i got this week





Metagame by Sam Landstrom
Once Bitten by Kalayna Price
Eleganta: A Novel of Faerie by Denny Swartzlander

Title - 13 Reasons Why
Author - Jay Asher
Genre - Young Adult
Pages - 304

Description When Clay Jenson plays the casette tapes he received in a mysterious package, he's surprised to hear the voice of dead classmate Hannah Baker. He's one of 13 people who receive Hannah's story, which details the circumstances that led to her suicide. Clay spends the rest of the day and long into the night listening to Hannah's voice and going to the locations she wants him to visit.

Thoughts
I was told by a few that this was a 'good cry read' and yes, it was. The book is filled with pain, a little humor, and a good message if you pay attention. The narrative was interesting, the way it italisized hannahs voice and had clays as regular, it made it easy to figure out who was talking. The book was relativly short, but a good book indeed. It makes us think of our actions because everything we say and do affects someone, somehow. I can't really go into much detail because i would be giving too much away (besides the description already gives away enough) but the book also teaches us that noone is without faults, I definatly recomend this book to any young adult (and even older adults!).