Review: Happy Birthday to Me, by Brian Rowe

*Received book from the author* From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day! High school is hard enough; imagine rapidly aging from seventeen to seventy in a matter of weeks, with no logical explanation, and with prom, graduation, and the state championship basketball game all on the horizon. That’s what happens to Cameron, a popular pretty boy who's never had to face a day looking anything but perfect. All Cameron wants to do is go back to normal, but no one, not even the best doctors, can diagnose his condition. When he finds love with a mysterious young woman, however, he realizes his only hope for survival might be with the one person who started his condition in the first place... I liked the concept of this book, because it felt fresh to me. It was quick read. There were parts that I thought were pretty cool, and parts that I didn't really care for. I *hated* Cameron's parents. Hello, selfish, narcissistic people! They (okay, most his dad) were totally concerned with images and didn't really get that their son had some serious issues going on. Daddy dearest was far more concerned about his image than his son, and I really hated him. (I think we're supposed to though, so it's all good) After awhile, I got a little tired of all the sex obsession, but then, he's a 17 year old kid whose girlfriend said she'd sleep with him if he grew a beard. I may not like it, but I get it. I laughed out loud at Cameron's ingenuity in the situation with his basketball coach. I won't go into detail, in case y'all are going to read, but it was funny. Okay, and the situation with his parents after that?! I about died. Literally about died. I still hate his dad though. A LOT. Well okay, Daddy-dearest *might* have redeemed himself a bit. And I did sort of start feeling sorry for Cameron after he wised up. And you know, Cameron redeemed himself from being a selfish, stuck up jock. I liked that. Overall, I thought it was okay. Not exactly my thing, but I think younger readers would definitely go for it. I think there's a market for this take on paranormal. It really is fresh, and I liked that. I'm giving this a 'hmmm' rating.

Special for Sundays, Favorite Author Edition: James Dashner

Today I'm featuring James Dashner, one of my very favorite authors. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Dashner on Friday, and have him sign all of his books that I own. (I took that picture...there's one of me with him, but I already posted it yesterday.) I fully admit that I own all of them. (and will be preordering The Death Cure as soon as that becomes available) James Dashner is seriously one of the nicest and most approachable people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. I knew when I started this Sunday feature that I'd be featuring him, and Friday made me decide to bump the post up. James writes young adult fantasy/science fiction (dystopia). He is the author of the incredibly popular Maze Runner trilogy (The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure), The 13th Reality series (The Journal of Curious Letters, The Hunt for Dark Infinity, The Blade of Shattered Hope, The Void of Mist and Thunder), and the Jimmy Fincher Saga (A Door in the Woods, A Gift of Ice, The Tower of Air, The Black Curtain). He has won numerous awards, including: 2011: YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Kentucky Bluegrass Award for grades 9-12 Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award YA Nominee 2009: RT Reviewers' Choice Award Best Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy Nominee I started my experience with Dashner's books in The 13th Reality. The world created is incredible. I can hardly keep one reality under control, let alone 13! Yet everything meshes perfectly and seamlessly. Tick and friends go from one reality to another, having all sorts of adventures and finding themselves in all sorts of peril. All for a good cause, of course, like saving the world. I've really enjoyed the series so far, and can't wait for the 4th book to come out. I don't know if that's the final book in the series, but I'll keep my ears open. As soon as The Death Cure comes out, I'll get started on The Maze Runner trilogy. From what I've heard, it's a series that is worth waiting to have all 3 books for because it's so fast paced. I've also been assured that I'll read them over and over, which I believe. The trilogy is the story of Thomas, who wakes up and finds himself in The Maze, a constantly shifting environment full of terrors. He and the others try to find their way out, dodging dangers of all sorts. (I may end up just reading the first two before The Death Cure comes out because I've heard so many good things about them.) Then the Jimmy Fincher Saga, which is for younger kids, follows Jimmy through his fantastic adventures, set off by something he shouldn't have seen. Of course, all sorts of adventures follow! I really love Dashner's writing style. It's easy to follow, it's not at all pretentious, and it's fun. His books are fast-paced and full of characters that you can really relate to (even when they're so much younger than you...amazing!). The plots are complex, but easy, if that makes sense. They're just really awesome reads. And I own all of them, and they're SIGNED. These books are made of win. In fact, they're so made of win that they make me incoherent.

Cool things coming...

Keep an eye open, people! I've been contacted by an author's publicist, who is wanting to do a pretty cool giveaway coming soon to this blog. I'm really excited about the book. I've started it and I'm really looking forward to giving it away. No worries...I'm going to keep you in suspense for awhile on it! But rest assured...full details are coming soon!

An epic day made up all of WIN

And when I say epic, what I really mean is BEYOND epic. We're talking more legendary. See, yesterday, I got to go down to a book signing event with 5 of my very most favorite authors on the planet. Brandon Mull, Jessica Day George, Shannon Hale, James Dashner, and Ally Condie. Authors are TOTALLY like my rock stars. AND I GOT TO MEET AND HANG OUT WITH 5 OF THEM!!!

 So here's how the day went down, in all it's fangirl glory (please excuse in advance the frequent squee moments that are coming): Ashley and I left Rexburg at about 12:30, and got to Logan at 3:30ish. We went right to my aunt's house, and spent a couple hours with her. She's a doll, and it was so fantastic to see her again. I just adore her! She took us to dinner at the Olive Garden, and we had fun. Got to see my cousin who is more like an uncle, and that was cool too. After that, we headed to the middle school for THE EVENT. (something this epic/legendary MUST be capitalized.) Walked into the building, and guess who was standing rightthere?! BRANDON MULL, that's who!! Only one of my very most favorite authors on the planet, and author of my third most favorite series EVER (Fablehaven...1 is Lord of the Rings and 2 is Harry Potter). I turned to Ashley and had a moment. SQUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Calmed down slightly and went inside the auditorium.

When the authors came onto the stage, I was pretty sure I was experiencing a minor heart attack. My pulse started racing. You'd think I was in the presence of The Man or something. ;) So they do a presentation for awhile and were hilarious. I LOVED the way they interacted with each other. They were so comfortable and friends and funny. I SO want to be part of that club. I already held them in extremely high regard, but this totally skyrocketed the respect I have for them. They were just amazing human beings.

 After they talked for awhile, they did a Q&A with the audience. They gave some really awesome insight into their writing process and some sweet advice for aspiring authors (like me!!). I internalized everything and wrote some stuff down when I got home. I'm more determined than ever to be published. After the Q&A, they went to their spots and signed books FOREVER. Seriously. We got in line for James Dashner at about 7ish, and finished the night with Brandon Mull at midnight. Craziness! But it was SO worth it. Remember how my respect for them skyrocketed after their presentation? Well, after interacting with them on an individual level, it went even higher. Holy cow. I thought they were amazing people before, but after I met them, WOW. Just seriously awesome human beings. LOVE. They said up front that they couldn't do posed photos, but that we could take pictures as they were signing AND there was no limit on the number of books they'd sign. Score! I own all of their books and I took ALL of them. Here's a rundown of each author (and photographic proof that we're all now BFFs! :P) and my experience with each of them.

 James Dashner:

Truly one of the funniest guys I've ever met in my entire life. Seriously awesome. We got up to the table and the first thing he said to me was, "Hey, I totally recognize you. You're so familiar to me. Facebook?" YES! I am Facebook friends with James Dashner (squee!!) and he TOTALLY RECOGNIZED ME FROM IT!! Please allow me a moment: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I'm like REAL LIFE friends with him!!!!! (dude, this TOTALLY counts as real life friends) Had a really awesome conversation with him about his books (he was so flattered that I brought ALL of them. Because I own ALL of them.) and writing and school and tons of things. He was seriously SO COOL. And funny. And nice. And approachable. Just wow. Then we went to get our copies of Matched signed by Ally Condie.

Hello, one of the nicest people on the entire planet. She was SO nice! She wrote some cool stuff in my book and then we talked about book bloggers for a minute, and she was so complimentary. I told her how much I enjoyed her book and she was so gracious. Seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met. I can't wait for the sequel to Matched (Crossed), which is coming out in November...will be preordering as soon as it's available!)

 Then we went and saw my old high school friend, Jessica Day George. You need to know something about Jessica: she is one of the funniest people on the entire planet. Seriously. Spend a little time with her and she'll have you cracking up so hard you can't breathe. Plus, she wore reversible sparkly shoes. Hello, that is made of awesome. When we got up to the table, she saw me and had me come around the other side of the table, where I got a big hug and posed for a picture pretending to sign books along with her. DREAM COME TRUE!!!

Remember how I want to be a published author more than almost anything in the entire world?! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Plus, Jessica wrote one of my very most favorite books of all time (Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow) and one of the top fairy tale retellings in existence. It was so good to see her again after all these years, and to find out that she's even cooler than she was in high school!! She wrote some really cool personalizations in my books and that rocked. (plus, she's the one who told me it was okay to bring ALL of my books from all of the authors and they'd love it. I'm eternally grateful!)

After Jessica, we braved Shannon Hale's line. I wish I'd have taken pictures of how long some of these lines were. We waited for Shannon for 2 hours!! It was worth it though.

(okay, I look a little crazed in this picture. It was getting late and I'd been in line for hours and had already had a 3 1/2 hour drive and that much more ahead of me, plus another long line. I was getting a little delirious at this point!) Okay, Shannon Hale is hysterically funny. I was dying laughing from the very beginning. She was just awesome. And SO approachable. And nice. And did I mention funny? She's also a Facebook friend, and now there's a picture there of her and me when you click on the 'show friendship' part (same with Jessica and James!). Please, I need another fangirl moment: SQUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I snuck one of my sister's Shannon Hale books down, and had her sign that. It was so cool. She wrote, "Hi Shelley, I snuck into your house and signed this, Shannon Hale." HELLO!! How cool is that?! Plus, in one of mine (River Secrets), she wrote that Razo (the main male character) would like me. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! PLUS: she is the author of Princess Academy, which just so happens to be a Newbery Honor book. HELLO!!! That is HUGE in the literary world, and I now have a SIGNED NEWBERY HONOR BOOK. I know. I'm in awe.

 After Shannon, we braved our last line: Brandon Mull. Remember my fangirl moment from earlier when I'd just walked past him in the hall? Multiply that by about a hundred katrillion bajillion and you now know how I was feeling at this point. I WAS STANDING FACE TO FACE WITH BRANDON MULL. Brandon Mull is in my top 5 of favorite authors EVER. (3 of the 5 are dead {J.R.R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, C.S. Lewis} and the other is J.K. Rowling, and since she's richer than the queen and maybe an alien, I won't ever get to meet her.) I got to actually TALK with him!!! AND: he totally jumped up for a photo. He said to come around the table and he stood (cuz he said I was all tall and stuff) and totally side-hugged me.

Brandon Mull, I just died in your arms tonight. Do I look like I was in heaven? Because I totally was. And then, he signed all of my books and we talked about book blogging and I told him how I'd featured him in one of my favorite author posts. He was totally flattered and thought it was so awesome. He encouraged me to keep it up and to keep writing. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! Ashley told him how much I plug his books (because I think the Fablehaven books should be required reading for all human beings) and he was so grateful and just thanked me over and over. Oh. My. Gosh. Then as we were finishing with Brandon, Jessica, Shannon, and Ally were waiting right there, so we got to talk to all of them some more. That was awesome. Then when we were walking towards the door, James Dashner flagged us down to say goodbye and thank us for coming. HELLO!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

 We met some really cool people in the lines and made some new friends. It was just awesome. The whole day was made of serious WIN and goes into my legendary days column. It was all worth the complete exhaustion that followed. We got done at midnight and had a 3 hour drive ahead. I was already drained and a little worried about staying awake for the drive. All was well though. We got home a little after 2:30 am, and I finally fell asleep about 4:30. Had to wind down, you know? THE EVENT was just that awesome. Woke up about 10:00; so exhausted. It was ALL worth it though.

Review: Always a Witch, Carolyn MacCullough

*Received via NetGalley. Book will be published August 1, 2011* From Goodreads: The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights. Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice. I started this series with Once a Witch, and rather enjoyed it. It wasn't your run-of-the-mill witch story and I liked that. Tamsin is the sole Talent-less witch in her family, and it kind of grates on her. Well, it would, wouldn't it? I rather relate, being the least talented of my piano-genius sisters. Anyway, Tamsin finds out later that she is NOT Talent-less, but is quite powerful. It leads to adventures, saving the day, and discovering true love. Woo! Then we come to Always a Witch. The title makes a huge amount of sense now that I've finished. I'm not going to give away the ending, have no fear. It's a great ending though, just you wait. Tamsin faces choices this time that will alter her life forever. She discovers who she really is, instead of who she thought she was. Her choices could change the course of history and the future, which is pretty daunting when you think about it. I like that we get to see her growth through the two books. I really came to like her as a character. She's strong, and yet vulnerable at the same time. The plot is great, carrying on where we left off the first time. It flows nicely and has lots of nice twists to keep one entertained. All in all, a great read. Really enjoyed it, and readers of YA Paranormal will like it too. It gets a 'drool worthy' rating from me.

Blog hopping today...

In the spirit of networking, I'm participating in this weekend's Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books. You can click on the image to go to the hop post. Really, the blog hop is just a big party for books. Honestly, is there a better kind of party? Yeah, I didn't think so. I bet I'd go to a book party before I'd go to a movie party. In fact, I'm going to a big book party this very weekend! My first book signing and some of my very most favorite authors will be there! I'm taking ALL of my books. Might only get a couple signed by each, but I'm taking them all just in case. Anyway, I digress. Those of you who've been around for awhile know that I have a tendency to do that. Welcome to all hoppers who've stopped in! Welcome to non-hoppers too! Pretty much, welcome to all! Each blog hop has a question to be answered. This week's question is:

"Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."

Hmmm. I just finished "I'll Walk Alone" by Mary Higgins Clark. Of all the characters, I think I'd probably want to talk about Kevin the most because he was just an all-around good guy. He's a major real estate developer and when the main character is having some seriously bad issues (I'd call getting arrested for the kidnapping of my own child pretty seriously bad), he is the only one who stands by her from the beginning and doesn't believe what he's being spoon-fed. I like that. I like that he's a stand-up kind of guy who sticks to his guns and doesn't let pressure sway him. Very good character in a pretty cool book. Follows the same pattern that all MHC books do, but then again, that's why I love them.

Special for Sunday, Favorite Authors Edition: Cassandra Clare

I wanted to feature Cassandra Clare today, because her latest book, City of Fallen Angels, just came out and it was fantastic. Here's her official bio: "Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts." Ms. Clare is the author of City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and The Clockwork Angel, with more sequels to those coming up. (If you're interested in purchasing the books, you can click on the book title and it'll take you to Amazon.) The thing I love the most about Cassandra Clare's books is that they're completely believable. Wait. She writes fantasy. How can that be believable? I don't know, but somehow, it is. Every time I go to a city, I find myself looking for signs of her Shadowhunters or Downworlders. (Not that I could recognize one if I saw one, being a mundane myself.) It's just so magical and flows so seamlessly. The best way to describe Cassandra Clare's world would be a fantasy that blends so well into real life that it's nearly indistinguishable from reality. I. LOVE. THAT. See, I WANT my life to be a big fantasy. Reality can take a hike sometimes. When I want a break from it all, I pick up a Clare book and know that I'll soon be lost in this fantastic world. I love the characters. I hate some of the characters. I totally go gaga over some of the characters. (I have a serious crush on Jace, Will, and Magnus Bane) They're real. They live, I swear they do. I sometimes have a hard time with some fantasy, because everything ties up so nicely (not in the really fantastic high fantasy) and without consequences. There are definitely consequences here, and hard ones. Some things don't seem fair, and in fact, they are not fair. Hey, it's just like life, only better! I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. I ADORE Cassandra Clare's books. They're some of my very favorites, and her writing makes me incoherent! Upcoming Cassandra Clare books: City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5, May 2012) City of Heavenly Fire (Mortal Instruments #6, September 2013) Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2, September 2011) Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices #3, November 2012)

Review: The Advice Girl, by L.A. Shaw

*Received book from the author, L.A. Shaw*

From Goodreads:

Kira and Sophia have been best friends since they were five years old. They share an apartment together, and tell each other everything. Everyone loves Sophia, and she is often called the advice girl by people who know her. Kira believes she knows her friend better than anyone. But in a mysterious accident, Sophia loses her life. Kira is mourning the devastating loss when she finds a note addressed to her from beyond the grave. Kira realizes she doesn't know her friend as well as she thought, as she starts to uncover the truth. She falls into a deep depression, confused and lost, until a visit from a strange man puts her in the middle of a war between two secret societies. Kira soon understands that she is in danger, and doesn't know who to trust. She has to fight for her own life now

When I read the synopsis of this book, I was intrigued. The characters sounded like people I could relate to, and that’s exactly what I found. They were real, down to earth, and believable. I found myself weeping along with Kira when Sophie died. It brought back memories of losses in my own life. I like it when I can make connections with a book, even sad ones.

And for the record, Markus creeped me out to no end. *shudders* Talk about the epitome of evil. That man needs to just go away!

The plot is very intriguing. I got shivers in the prologue! Ooh, creepy/scary/must read more! I love the idea of secret societies operating out there, so books with that tend to draw me in pretty quickly.

I’m not sure I buy the speed of the romance between two characters, but that’s just me. I guess I’m just a little more cynical. But at least it wasn’t a situation where one second she hates his guts and the next second they’re all over having a romp in the hall or something.

I really think this book has a huge amount of potential. There are some little things that a good editor will help with, like changing tenses and paragraph structure. With that said though, those little things didn’t detract from the story like they sometimes can. I think the story is strong enough to overcome. A little polishing and I think it’s good to go.

(I’m trained to see things like that, so it’s totally automatic for me. Others might not even notice because they’re not glaring errors or anything.)

Overall, I think it’s a pretty cool story, with a ton of potential. L.A. Shaw will go places, I tell you. (Plus, she’s a totally delightful human being, which makes me even more anxious to read more of her work.)

Young adult readers will really enjoy this.

I hovered between a ‘hmmm’ and a ‘drool worthy’ rating on this one. I decided to go with 'Hmmm' just because I think it could be even better with some edits, and it's not one that I'm ready to give up on.

Buy on Amazon HERE.

In Which Ems is Interviewed...

...for the very first time! I've been a guest blogger/reviewer several times, but this is my first interview and I was stoked. When I was contacted, my first reaction was, "is this even a legitimate thing? Is my identity about to be stolen?" But then I learned that yes, it's totally legit and a seriously awesome online publication. I've spent some time with The Gatekeepers Post now, and they do some really good work. It's a site worth checking out. Here's a link to my interview: http://www.gatekeeperspost.com/uncategorized/an-interview-with-book-blogger-ems/ Jeff Rivera said some really nice things about my blog! I'm so excited! In other news, I am a guest reviewer over at Bookshop Talk, with my review of The Betrayal of Maggie Blair up. Check out their site (and my review) here for some great book recommendations!

Whoa.

I was just updating my list of books read this year. I made a goal to read 300 books in 2011, and to do that, I'd have to read 25 books per month. So far, I've read 94 already, putting me almost a month ahead of schedule. What started out as a daunting task is now looking completely doable! Woohoo!!!