Sunday Confessions

This is a weekly meme started by http://2readornot2read-loves2read.blogspot.com/ as a way to get to share a bit about herself and also learning more about you. Sometimes its about books and book related topics and sometimes it's not. This is all in good fun and I would love it if you would participate. 

This week the question is..

How do you arrange your bookshelves?

Well, I mostly arrange my bookshelves by book height. Unless books are in a series then they will go together. Or I have books by the same author then they will go together. I also will seperate them by genre. I dont get crazy and alphabatize them though.

Post a comment telling me your answer=)

Friday Five

Friday Five is a meme from Eve's Fan Garden that I decided to add to my blog. I will feature the same topic that they do each week, but the original idea came from Cheryl Renee Herbsman's blog.

This week Eve's Fan Garden asks us...

What are five of your pet peeves related to books or reading?

I found this meme just recently and decided to add it to my blog!

1.) My first pet peeve about books or reading is when people bend the pages to hold their place. I ABSOLUTELY HATE THAT! my nephew does that and it drives me crazy I like to keep my books in perfect condition.

2.) The second pet peeve about reading is when the library stamp thing right over the back of the book so you cant see what book is next in the series or what the book is about. You would think they have more sense to not do that!

3.) My third pet peeve about books is if the book is in a series they do not order them properly on the book itself. They make it hard to understand.

4.) The fourth pet peeve about reading is how you can be in love with a book that no one knows about then it becomes a movie and everyone is suddenly in love with it and they had no idea it was even a book to begin with!

5.)The last pet peeve about reading and books is how books from the library get so dirty looking and the binding rips and they get all yucky. I also like to keep books in perfect condition.

 

Review: The Forest Of Hands And Teeth By Carrie Ryan

Summary From GoodReads

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

My Take

Well, at first I didn't really like this book, or I didn't understand it I'm not sure. But the last fifty pages or so I really got into it. This is a story about a girl named Mary living in a world surrounded by gates to keep out the dead who crave their skin. Mary is taught from a Young age to defend herself against the "unconsecrated" or the dead. Mary's world is not surrounded by love it is surrounded by commitment. But everything Mary has learned about the world around her and the unconsecrated are fighting her. She learns things about her world she never knew existed. She starts to wonder what lies beyond her village and the Forest Of Hands And Teeth. And this makes her different. At one point in the story she must choose between her village or her dreams. Love or what she knows. This story reminds me of a cross between Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer because at times this story is about survival and love. And then it remindes me of The Maze Runner by James Dashner because of the fact they are traped in a village surrounded by Forest. Overall this is not the best book I have read. I have started reading the sequel and so far it is alot better!

Rating

* * *

3 out of 5 stars

Follow Friday! And Blog Hop

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

           My answer to this week's Follow Friday question:

What is/was your favorite subject in school?

 

My favorite subject in school is History. I find it very interesting and I love comapring the world to how it is now, to how it was years ago!

 

 "What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011?  Why are you anticipating that book?"

 

Well! This year I am looking forward to James Dashners The Death Cure! It is part of the Maze Runner trilogy. I am looking forward to this book because the other two are so full of suspense and surprises. I cant wait for this one!

Booking It Through Thursday

 

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about books and reading. Brough to you by http://preternaturalprimer.blogspot.com/ This week's question is:

 

 

What’s the largest, thickest, heaviest book you ever read? Was it because you had to? For pleasure? For school?

 

The Largest Book I have ever read was Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell. It has 959 pages in it. I read it for just for fun.

 

Review: They Called Themselves The K.K.K by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

*So I know that my blog does not say that I am reading this book, I just found it at the library and found it different then anything I have seen in the teen section so I just had to read it.*



Summary

With those words, six restless young men raided the linens at a friend’s mansion in 1866. They pulled white sheets over their heads, hopped on horses, and cavorted through the streets of Pulaski, Tennessee. Soon, the six friends named their club the Ku Klux Klan and began patterning their initiations after fraternity rites, with passwords and mysterious handshakes. All too quickly, this club would grow into the self-proclaimed “Invisible Empire,” with secret dens spread across the South. On their brutal raids, the nightriders would claim to be ghosts of Confederate soldiers and would use psychological and physical terror against former slaves who dared to vote, own land, attend school, or worship as they pleased.
This is the story of how a secret terrorist group took root in America’s democracy. Filled with chilling and vivid personal accounts unearthed from oral histories, congressional documents, and other primary sources, this is a book to read and remember.

My Take

Well, i was at my library and I saw this book in the "new section" in the teen portion of the library.  I have never seen anything like this their so I just had to read it. I thought this book was very interesting, I learned alot of new things. The story talks about the Civil War, black history and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan. The book was very easy to read. It contained Pictures, a time line of the Civil War history, and actual interviews of people that lived during this era. i didnt think of this book as a boring history lesson. I was actually intrigued by the events that took place. The author added pictures and actual interviews which made you feel like you were actually living thorugh this time. I would suggest this book to anyone that is interested in an intresting peice of America History.

My Rating

* * * * *

five out of five stars!

This week i am waiting for..

Summary

 There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day and she's been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.

Except, Catcher has his own secrets—dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah's longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah—can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

This is the third book in the Carrie Ryan series The Forest Of Hands and Teeth. It is scheduled to come out March 22 2011

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is weekly meme hosted by Mizb at Should be Reading

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! 
• (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!  

This week my teaser is from the book...

My Teaser

The sickness that cut through my generation only made new children more important. And with so few of us of marrying age the past few seasons it is what I have been expecting. That someone like Harry would ask for me.

Summary

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

New Blog Design

As you can see my blog looks amazing now thanks to http://happily-forever-after.blogspot.com/ she is a Romance Book Blogger. Everybody go follow her! I can not be more happier with this new design!

What's Your Status?

Zakiya from Butterfly Feet Walking on Life has a fantastic meme. In this meme you post your status of the books your reading this week, books you finished this week, books you're going to read next, and books you plan on buying this week. You can also post what reviews and memes you participated in for the week. If your interested in participating in this meme, check of Zakiya's blog for all the info and the linky!

Books I have finished this week

Sarah's Key By Tatiana De Rosnay

I am Reading Now

The Forest Of Hands And Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Next Up

The Dead Tossed Waves By Carrie Ryan

This next portion of the post is an idea that I saw on the wonderful blog Small Review. She posts what reviews and memes she has posted and participated in that last week. Remember, however, that it is not mandatory for you to do this part of the post.

Reviews this week

Sarah's Key By Tatiana De Rosnay

Memes This Week

Sunday Confession

On My Wishlist

Follow Friday

Waiting On Wednesday

Teaser Tuesday

Challenges I Joined This Week

100 Books In A Year

Sunday Confessions

This is a weekly meme started by Marcie over at To Read or Not To Read as a way to get to share a bit about myself and also learning more about you. Sometimes it's about books and book related topics and sometimes it's not.

This weeks question: Do you need silence to read?

 

Well...I normally don't need complete silence to read but I cant read in an atmosphere with a bunch of loud things going on. But if the book is really good it doesn't matter because I can get completely lost and not know whats going on in the real world! but for the most part i don't need complete silence.

Review: Sarah's Key By Tatiana De Rosnay

Summary- Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
 
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

My Opinion- Well all I have to say is this book was the best book I have read in a very long time! It goes back and forth between the perspective of Sarah a Jewish girl being taking in the Vel' d' Hiv roundup of Paris in July of 1942, and her heart breaking story. Then it changes to the perspective of Julia Jarmond, a journalist who is about to write an article on the roundup, for its sixtieth commemoration. She starts to do research about this horrible day in Paris. Eventually she comes across an old family secret, that connects her to Sarah. This story is about a secret that connects two families and the pain and horrible truth they both go through. This devastating secret eventually causes Julia to question her life and marriage. This book at times made me want to cry it is a very emotional book. Out of all the books about World War Two and the holocaust that I have read, this is definitely the best one by far, because it goes from the past to the present. I felt i could really get into the book because all of the characters were very relatable. All of you definitely need to go out and read this book!

My Rating- * * * * *

On My Wish List

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too

Amazon Review

For Cassia, nothing is left to chance--not what she will eat, the job she will have, or the man she will marry. In Matched, the Society Officials have determined optimal outcomes for all aspects of daily life, thereby removing the "burden" of choice. When Cassia's best friend is identified as her ideal marriage Match it confirms her belief that Society knows best, until she plugs in her Match microchip and a different boy’s face flashes on the screen. This improbable mistake sets Cassia on a dangerous path to the unthinkable--rebelling against the predetermined life Society has in store for her. As author Ally Condie’s unique dystopian Society takes chilling measures to maintain the status quo, Matched reminds readers that freedom of choice is precious, and not without sacrifice.

Follow Friday!

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View. 


This week's question is: "Who do you cheer for?"

well i dont watch any sports so i mostly cheer for what team my boyfriend likes which is the Eagles!

Currently Happening on Breathing Books
my latest review-Wanting Mor

100 books in a year challenge!

 so I have read about this challenge from Book Chick City and found it perfect for me! i had planned to read 100 books or more anyway for my new years resolution anyway so i joined!

Waiting On Wednesday: Crossed by Ally Condie

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week i am waiting for the book crossed to come out by Ally Condie it is scheduled to come out November of 2011 im not bothering to put up a picture because the cover work is not final yet. Crossed is the sequel to Match which came out in 2010

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.--BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS. Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away. You don't want to ruin the book for others.
• Share the title & author, so others can add to their TBR list if they like your teasers.

My Teaser...

A young woman, her mother's age and a small child. The woman had jumped, and her child held close, from the highest railing.

From the Book Sarah's Key By Tatiana DeRosany



Breathing Books Twitter and Face Book Page!

So I have made an official facebook page for Breathing Books!
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/profile.php?id=100002011176362
become a follower!

And the twitter page! http://twitter.com/#!/BreathingBooks1
be sure to follow!

Sunday Confessions

Weekly Meme from To Read or Not To Read

 

The question this weak is..to spoil or not to spoil.

 

Well...in my book reviews I feel like I sometimes have spoilers, but I don't think it would be a good book review with out all of the events. I never add all the details in case my review is a spoiler so if you chose to read a book off my reviews their is still more to uncover!

Review: Wanting Mor By Rukhsana Khan

Summary-

Jameela lives with her mother and father in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that there is no school in their poor, war-torn village, and though Jameela lives with a birth defect that has left her with a cleft lip, she feels relatively secure, sustained by her unwavering faith and the strength of her beloved mother, Mor. But when Mor suddenly dies, Jameela’s father impulsively decides to seek a new life in Kabul. Jameela, a devout Muslim, is appalled as her father succumbs to drink and drugs and then suddenly remarries, a situation that turns Jameela into a virtual slave to her demanding stepmother. When the stepmother discovers that Jameela is trying to learn to read, she urges her father to abandon the child in Kabul’s busy marketplace. Throughout it all, it is the memory of Mor that anchors her and in the end gives Jameela the strength to face her father and stepmother when fate brings them into her life again.

( review from Amazon.com )

My Review- Wanting Mor is a story about one girl named Jameela's life living in a poor village in Afghanistan. In the beginning her mother has just died and her father is now in charge of her although he is not the best. he hardly acts like a father. I noticed that she often resorts to prayer throughout the book. When Jameela's father moves them to Kabul for better opportunities she is forced to leave everything behind, but the hardest for her is the grave of her mother. Kabul is nothing like she is used to. When they first arrive Jameela ends up working in a place where they think she is nothing but a stupid villager. When they get kicked out, her father marries a strange lady ultimately changing Jameela's life forever. She doesn't get along with her stepmother refusing to call her mother. she treats her like a maid. When Jameela's father abandons her in the market place, she has no were else to go put the orphanage. Their, Jameela starts school and she is engrossed in learning to read and wright.  When Jameela actually starts to adjust her stepmother starts bringing her stepbrother Masood by the orphanage to visit with Jameela's friend Soraya. Jameela goes unnoticed by her step family and father.  The end of the book is a complete shock and Jameela makes a huge decision about her life.

     The thing i like about this book is that is completely based on a true story. The author based it on a report she had read about children in crisis that was issued by Afghanistan department of orphanages.

     I also like that the author put a glossary for all the foreign words. in was a great help throughout the book.  Over all i really liked the book i loved how it was written and the fact that you could feel a connection to the main character Jameela.

Rating- A+

Author Of The Month: Ottilie Weber

January's Author Of The Month is Ottilie Weber

Her Blog- http://ottilieweber.blogspot.com/

Ottolie Weber is a new and upcoming author. Still a college student living in my home state of Jersey. who has a love of reading and writing. She has written End Of the Line (which i will definitely be reading.) and has a new book coming out in the Spring of 2011.

End Of the line came out March 2nd 2009

Summary-Asteroids came crushing down at Earth at unbelievable speeds, killing off most of the world as a group of six children ranging from six to seventeen stick together to survive lead by Lauren and Aaron. Even though the two didn’t know each other at school they stay together to find food, shelter, and cover from Dean Manson, a free man from prison who seeks revenge on Aaron. As the two try to stay alive, and hide from this powerful man, many things come their way, starvation, illness and even falling in love with each other as the two try their best to deny it. It is when Dean Manson finally figures out how to get back at Aaron is their emotions finally clear...

Her next book which is called Family Ties is scheduled to come Spring of 2011

I feel that she will definitely become the next great author. I'm looking forward to reading End Of The Line

Blog Hop ( number 2)

It's that time again!  Blogger Hop Friday! Hosted by Crazy-For-Books.  This weeks question is:

 "Why do you read the genre that you do?  What draws you to it?"

I read many different genres but i mostly read historical fiction. My favorite subject is history and it is nice to read a book that goes further then the textbook. I also read young adult novels because some of them are just so relatable!

 

Feel free to check out my blog and follow. ill return the favor!

Review: Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick

Summary-When Private Matt Duffy wakes up in an army hospital in Iraq, he's honored with a Purple Heart. But he doesn't feel like a hero.

There's a memory that haunts him: an image of a young Iraqi boy as a bullet hits his chest. Matt can't shake the feeling that he was somehow involved in his death. But because of a head injury he sustained just moments after the boy was shot, Matt can't quite put all the pieces together.

Eventually Matt is sent back into combat with his squad—Justin, Wolf, and Charlene—the soldiers who have become his family during his time in Iraq. He just wants to go back to being the soldier he once was. But he sees potential threats everywhere and lives in fear of not being able to pull the trigger when the time comes. In combat there is no black-and-white, and Matt soon discovers that the notion of who is guilty is very complicated indeed.

National Book Award Finalist Patricia McCormick has written a visceral and compelling portrait of life in a war zone, where loyalty is valued above all, and death is terrifyingly commonplace (review from goodreads.com)

My Review- Imagine waking up in the green zone army hospital. You cant remember why your here. In this book that is what happens to Private Matt Duffy. He is only 18 years old and has a girlfriend back home. Unlike him, her only worry is getting a good grade on a biology test. He is a soldier in the Iraq war. Matt only knows he has a T.B.I (traumatic brain injury) He was in the after math of an R.P.G (rocket propelled grenade) Matt's friend Justin tells him how he got hurt, but now awhile later Matt cant remember when he is asked by other guys in the hospital. He can barley answer everyday questions.  The only thing Matt can remember for sure is is squad members.  Matt keeps saying he sees things while he is in the hospital listening to the guns. He fears her killed an innocent Iraqi street kid, but because of his T.B.I he cant remember the details. He keeps remembering things but sometimes it is just better to forget. Matt confides in Meaghen Finnerty to tell what he remembers. When locals believe that the young Iraqi street kid Ali was killed intentionally, Matt doesn't admit to his flashbacks. He fears her was somehow part of his death. Eventually, Meaghen Finnerty clears him to go get back out with his unit Matt fears he isn't ready, and he isn't quit the same. At the end of the book Matt finds the answers he was looking for, and an event happens causing him to test his soldier skills. I really liked this book because although it was fiction, the author made sure she knew what life was like in this war. She met with families who had sons or brothers in it. this story is a fast read, and tells the story of what it is like for an American soldier in the Iraqi war.

My Rating

* * * *

My New Email

So i have made a new email just for this blog it is breathingbooks11@aol.com if you need to contact me or you want me to write a review for your book contact me here. thank you!

SNOW DAY BOOKS

In this debut novel, Peter is a simple man who lives by a simple truth--a person gains strength by leaning on his constants. To him, those constants are the factory where he works, the family he loves, and the God who sustains him. But when news of job cuts comes against the backdrop of an unexpected snowstorm, his life becomes filled with far more doubts than certainties.
With humor and a gift for storytelling, Billy Coffey brings you along as he spends his snow day encountering family, friends, and strangers of his small Virginia town. All have had their own battles with life's storms. Some have found redemption. Others are still seeking it. But each one offers a piece to the puzzle of why we must sometimes suffer loss, and each one will help Peter find a greater truth--our lives are made beautiful not by our big moments, but our little ones. (2010)
(summary from amazon.com )

In his third book, Eric Lee features nine stories with vivid characters that work to solve, cover up or committ a crime. In the short story, Murder in a Snow Covered Town, a beautiful ten-year-old girl has disappeared. Her grief-stricken parents, frustrated with the progress of the police, enlist the help of private eye Robert Douglas to find her. Has she been taken or did she merely run away? Will the police or will the detective find her first? And will she be found dead or alive? In another story, four guests arrive separately to a gated mansion. As they gather in the living room, some of the guests remember each other. They piece together that they all played a central role in the conviction of Carlos Rivera ten years earlier. They soon meet their host for the evening: recent prison escapee, Carlos Rivera.  (summary from amazon.com)

In 1888, a sudden, violent blizzard swept across the American plains, killing hundreds of people, many of them children on their way home from school. As Laskin (Partisans) writes in this gripping chronicle of meteorological chance and human folly and error, the School Children's Blizzard, as it came to be known, was "a clean, fine blade through the history of the prairie," a turning point in the minds of the most steadfast settlers: by the turn of the 20th century, 60% of pioneer families had left the plains. Laskin shows how portions of Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas, heavily promoted by railroads and speculators, represented "land, freedom, hope" for thousands of impoverished European immigrants—particularly Germans and Scandinavians—who instead found an unpredictable, sometimes brutal environment, a "land they loved but didn't really understand." Their stories of bitter struggle in the blizzard, which Laskin relates via survivors' accounts and a novelistic imagination, are consistently affecting. And Laskin's careful consideration of the inefficiencies of the army's inexpert weather service and his chronicle of the storm's aftermath in the papers (differences in death counts provoked a national "unseemly brawl") add to this rewarding read (review from amazon.com)

Teaser Tuesday (#2) life as we knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page 
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the Title & Author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser
Only mom wasn't surrounded by anything. She was laying, face down, in the water.

REVIEW: THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN (3rd book in last survivor series)

SUMMARY- It's been over a month since Miranda Evans has written in her diary, a month of relative calm for her and her family. It's springtime, and with warmer weather comes rain, and the melting of the winter's snow. The shad are running in a nearby river, and Miranda's brothers Matt and Jon leave home for a few days to see if they can catch some to supplement their food supply.

When they return, Matt brings with him a girl named Syl, who he introduces as his bride. But that's not the only shock Miranda and her family have to deal with. A few weeks later, Miranda's father, stepmother, and baby brother show up at her door. Accompanying them are three strangers, a man named Charlie Rutherford, and two teenagers, Alex and Julie Morales. These five people have crossed America together, becoming, in their own way, a family.

Miranda's complicated feelings about Alex, curiosity, resentment, longing, and passion turn into love. Alex's feelings are equally complex. His plans to escort Julie to a convent where she can be taken care of, so that he will be free to enter a monastery, are destined for failure. He wants desperately to live up to his moral code, but his desire for Miranda is too strong. He proposes to Miranda that they take Julie and go to a safe town.

But before Miranda and Alex can go off together, a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and in its aftermath, Miranda makes a decision that will change forever her life and Alex's, and the world that they live in will never be the same.

MY REVIEW- In this book this world we live in (3rd book in last survivor series) by Beth Susan Pfeffer. I definitely feel that the same  connection to the character Miranda as i did in the first book, Life As We Knew It. In this world we live in it was written in diary format telling Miranda's life as unexpected and unforgettable  things happen to her. Alex and his sister Julie Morales comes to stay with them, along with her dad stepmom Lisa and step brother Gabriel. i liked seeing how Alex and his sister Julie was getting along with Miranda's family. I felt like Alex had the same thoughts as he did in the second book the dead and the gone, that guys are more strong then girls are and sometimes they need to be hit. I didn't really like  the character Alex i  just couldn't relate to him. Everything Miranda has wanted since living in their house's sun room has happened. Seeing new faces, and meeting a boy. Eventually Alex and Miranda's feeling towards each other turn to love. But Alex's need to find a safe place for his sister Julie is pushing them apart. Nearr the end of this book a decision is made that nearly brings you to tears.

ALL TOGETHER- all together i would say this book is definitely a good read it brings out emotions in you and i love when i book can do that. i found this book really hard to put down. (exspecially in school when i shouldn't have been reading!) its a fast read and has some really deep feelings in it. I also like how it had some of Miranda's flashbacks from when her world wasn't so crazy. All together this book was really good.

THE SERIES AS A WHOLE- this whole series has really made me  appreciate the small things in life like toilet paper and books. i cant even imagine having to see dead people every were i walk and have people i have known all my life die from a terrible world catastrophe . I found this series different from anything i have read. it brings out emotions in you. and forces you to imagine things you never thought you could. i would recommend this book to anyone!

MY RATING- * * * * *

COVER CRAZY (#1)

Cover Crazy is hosted by The Book Worms, a weekly post of a cover that's caught your attention and why.

 

okay, now im not sure if anyone else has read this seies and noticed what i did or not. but i think in each book the moon is getting bigger. and its weird because thats not even the order that the books go in. When i first picked up these books i thought the moon was going to eventually crash into the earth and that wasnt the case at all when i started reading. maybe its just my eyes though. let me know if anyone thinks this too!

Review: the dead and the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.
     With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities. (from http://www.goodreads.com/ )

MY REVIEW- This is the second book in the last survivors series. The world disasters and hardships that occured in the first book Life As We Knew It are pretty similar  in the dead and the gone. But in this book it tells how a seventeen year old puerto Rican boy and his two sisters try to live,  and still try to believe in their god. The characters are Alex Morales a 17 year old boy and his two sisters Julie and Bri. His parents have disapeared in the tidal waves, however Julie and Bri hold on to the hope that they will come home at any minute. But Alex knows better. In this book they use alot of prayer to get them through this hard time. I have noticed that Alex will do anything to keep his sisters safe. He barters or trade things he finds on the dead bodies for food or things they need to live. However i didnt like his attitude on some things. Alex thinks that just because he is a man he doesnt need any help. he is often to hard on his siters, even though he loves them. i also noticed this book wasnt really in diary format as the first one was. It had the dates but it wasnt as personal as Life As We Knew It.

All Together- I liked the first book better. this one was good but i felt more connected to miranda in the first book. (probably because it was written in more of a diary format) but overall its not a bad book.

My Rating-  * * * *

Another Question..

alright im really sorry i have been asking alot of questions but i would really like to know how to make my blog look more like a website.. with the tabs up top so my blog will look more organized. anything feedback would be greatly appreciated thank you

FOLLOW FRIDAYYYY!

So its my first follow Friday! I would love to make new blogger friends! my name is Heather i like to read all types of books pretty much. I'm new to the blogger world but their is going to be lots more topics and reviews and thoughts coming, i love to get comments on your opinions and thoughts! Iv put together a list of books i have read in 2011 (only one because its only the seventh but I'm trying to read over 100!) you can see that here http://breathingbooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-i-have-read-in-2011-im-trying-to.html and my very first book review here http://breathingbooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/life-as-we-knew-it-by-susan-beth.html I'm looking forward to talking to you thanks! -Heather

American Girl Books, and a new series idea

So, as a historical fiction lover, i loved American girl books growing up! however i have heard they have retired the Samantha and Nellie collection, and the Kirsten doll. and are going to retire felicity and Elizabeth collection. =( I'm not sure which is going to be next, or if their will be a next. I loved the historical fiction dolls the most. My favorite doll was always Felicity and Kirsten.

     Also! i think it would be really cool if an author wrote a series about one family starting in the beginning of American history, and the different generations go through different stages as history such as women's rights, the depression, world war 1, world war 2, and other major events up until modern day. personally i would love a series like that. I would love to hear from you! tell me if you like the idea or if you have always wanted a series to come out that you think would be an interesting read!

What I Have Read In 2011 (Im Trying To Read 100+)

HOW I RATE MY BOOKS SO YOU KNOW IF IT IS WORTH READING

RED-A WARNING NOT TO READ THIS BOOK
BLUE-SOME PARTS WERE OKAY, ONLY ENOUGH TO FINISH THE BOOK
GREEN- IF IT WAS A GOOD READ, BUT NOT MIND BLOWING
PURPLE-A MUST READ

1.) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (first in the series)

I Have A Question!

well i really like the idea of teaser tuesday so i started adding it to my blog. The only thing it is says "be sure to add the title and author so readers can add it to their tbr list." Will someone tell me what a TBR list is please?

Also, if someone could tell me what "challenges" are, how you sign up and what you do that would be great thanks! =)

My First Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Right now im reading Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (read about it in my review)
It is the first book in its own series.

MY TEASER

It is a possibility only one of us is going to make it. We have fuel and we have water, but who knows how long our food will last. . . .



MY REVIEWS SUCK

Alright, so i have found alot of other book review blogs. THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER THEN MINE! i promise to get better. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer was my first review their should be lots more to come and i promise i will get better at them!

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

oppinion: Life as we knew it is a fiction novel told in diary format. the diary follows the life of miranda a teenage girl living in pennsylvania. her world is torn apart when a meteor hits the moon making it much larger and closer to earth shocking people and leaving them terrified. Could the world really be coming to an end? Life As We Knew it reminds me of a cross between The Diar Of Ann Frank because it is written in diary format and tell the story of an unimaginable world. And the movie, The Day After Tomorrow because it shows the world with horrible natural disasters. This book will make you appreciate the smallest things in life. I found Life As We Knew It an easy read and very hard to put down. Overall, i would definetly put this book at the top of your list!

My Rating-  * * * * *

Breathing Books

Okay, so i started this blog to review and suggest books to anyone that is intrested in teen fiction, non fiction memoires or anything that is intresting, new and a good read. However im not sure how to work my way around this blog. but im sure i will get the hang of it. I plan on writting almost everyday. if you would like me to write a review of a book just let me know! =)