Books Read:
6
- Anthem
- Beautiful Creatures
- Spirits of Glory
- Infinity
- Crank
- Tiger's Curse
Total Pages Read:
2,202
Money Saved (from Jun 30-Jul 27):
$212.21
TBR Books for August:
9
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
July Wrap-Up
July has been an interesting month for me. I changed my blog from Novel utopia to Avanti's Place and in the process I gained a few new followers on here and on my twitter page. Last month I started a journey to one million pages and this month I started a count of how much money I save by getting free kindle books. I've also started two new memes and joined one other. So here's my progress for this month.
Books Read:
6
Total Pages Read:
2,202
Money Saved (from Jun 30-Jul 27):
$212.21
TBR Books for August:
9
Books Read:
6
Total Pages Read:
2,202
Money Saved (from Jun 30-Jul 27):
$212.21
TBR Books for August:
9
Monday, July 30, 2012
Feeding the Hungry
So this post has nothing to do with books but it's something I wanted to get out there. I came across this site called Free Rice. It's pretty cool because it donates 10 grains of rice for every question you answer correctly. I joined, but the rice will be donated whether you register or not. It's pretty much a trivia site, they have questions on english, chemistry, math, humanities, geography, science, SAT test prep & even languages (French, Spanish, Italian & German). It's pretty nice that you can take 5 mins out of your day, brush up on a subject and help people in need.
How cool would it be if everybody in the book blogging world came together for 10 minutes on a specific day and answered as many questions as possible in that time frame?? Imagine how much rice we'd donate to people who really needed it.
You don't have to check it out if you don't want to but I personally think it's pretty cool. I know I'll be on there multiple times a week.
How cool would it be if everybody in the book blogging world came together for 10 minutes on a specific day and answered as many questions as possible in that time frame?? Imagine how much rice we'd donate to people who really needed it.
You don't have to check it out if you don't want to but I personally think it's pretty cool. I know I'll be on there multiple times a week.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Spotlight of the Week #3
Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 400 - hardcover
Age: YA
Author Bios:
Marissa Meyer lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and their three cats. She's a fan of most things geeky (Sailor Moon, Firefly, color-coordinating her bookshelf...) and will take any excuse to put on a costume.
Synopsis:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Stacking The Shelves #4
This feature is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.It's a weekly meme where we can show off the books we have gotten over the past week no matter how you got it or when you plan to read it. For more info go here.
Bought from Books A Million:
Free for Kindle:
The Wake-Up Call by Jonas Eriksson
The Milestone Tapes by Ashley Mackler-Paternostro
Twenty Weeks by Melisa M Hamling
Revenge of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale
Vs. Reality by Blake Northcott
Her Daughter's Eyes by Jessica Barksdale Inclan
I Am Alive by Cameron Jace
Michael by Aaron Patterson
To see how much I've saved in free kindle books this week, check out my Kindle Savings page!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Wordy Wednesday #3
This is a meme I'm doing where I literally open the dictionary to random pages and post words. I figure every reader has had a few times where we come across a word in a book that we have no idea what it means. So every week I'll be posting new words, until I complete the whole dictionary. If you do your own Wordy Wednesday post, please link back to mine since I created this.
Specious - adj - : seeming to be genuine, correct, or beautiful but not really so
Idyll - n -: a tropical African tree with a short swollen trunk and sour edible fruits resembling gourds
Dawdle - vb -: to spend time wastefully or idly
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Books A Million Membership
So today I went to Books A Million just to look around. Ended up walking out with 3 books and a membership. I figured I go there enough when I'm home and it's the only bookstore in the town where I go to school (this is my sr year of college, yay!) so why not get a membership. It seemed worth it. I get a discount off nearly everything & I can use it in their cafe. I'm sure I'll have saved enough over the next year to make the purchase worth it.
Have any of you ever had a membership with BAM? What did you like and not like about it? Would you buy one again?
Have any of you ever had a membership with BAM? What did you like and not like about it? Would you buy one again?
Friday, July 20, 2012
Stacking The Shelves #3
This feature is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.It's a weekly meme where we can show off the books we have gotten over the past week no matter how you got it or when you plan to read it. For more info go here.
Borrowed from a friend:
Bought for Kindle:
Matched by Ally Condie
Free for Kindle:
Seranfyll by Christina Daley
I Kill Rich People by Mike Bogin
Blood Money by Laura Rizio
To see how much I've saved in free kindle books this week, check out my Kindle Savings page!
Matched by Ally Condie
Free for Kindle:
Seranfyll by Christina Daley
I Kill Rich People by Mike Bogin
Blood Money by Laura Rizio
To see how much I've saved in free kindle books this week, check out my Kindle Savings page!
How much money saved??
For those of you who download free kindle books every week, have you ever wondered how much money you save? I always look at the print list price and say to myself "wow, if I read this book & like it then I just saved $12.00. If not, it's no money lost". I never thought to actually sit and add how much money I am saving with these free books until now. Having a page on here to count pages made me realize I can have a page to count dollars too!
So every Saturday when my Stacking The Shelves post goes up I will be updating a page showing the free books I got that week, how much the print list price is for the book and the total amount of money saved that week. I'll have three totals: weekly, monthly & yearly.
So check back tomorrow to see the money I've saved this week!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Wordy Wednesday #2
This is a meme I'm doing where I literally open the dictionary to random pages and post words. I figure every reader has had a few times where we come across a word in a book that we have no idea what it means. So every week I'll be posting new words, until I complete the whole dictionary. If you do your own Wordy Wednesday post, please link back to mine since I created this.
Notional - adj - : existing in the mind only: imaginary, unreal
Recidivism - n -: a tendency to relapse into a previous condition
Welter - n -: turmoil: a chaotic mass or jumble
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Spotlight of the Week #2
Title: Marked
Author: P.C. & kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Pages: 320 - hardcover
Age: YA
Author Bios:
KRISTIN CAST has won awards for her poetry and journalism. She lives in Oklahoma, where she attends college.
Synopsis:
Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed.
One minute, sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is a normal teenager dealing with everyday high school stress: her cute boyfriend Heath, the school’s star quarterback who suddenly seems more interested in partying than playing ball; her nosy frenemy Kayla, who’s way too concerned with how things are going with Heath; her uber-tough geometry test tomorrow. The next, she’s Marked as a fledgling vampyre, forcing her to leave her ordinary life behind and join the House of Night, a boarding school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change—and not all of those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint with Heath, who just doesn’t know how to take “no” for an answer. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: when she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampyre friends.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Multiple Books At Once
So for the past few weeks, I've tried my hand at reading 2 or 3 books at one time. Usually 1 book on my kindle and the other one or two as physical books. Here's how it turned out.
I would usually read the book on my kindle using text to speech while driving in my car. That way I'd have more time to sit & read the other book at home. The problem with that was that because I'm more focused on driving I'm really paying close attention to the book being read to me. I'd miss things or get lost so it turned out not to be very effective for me.
When it came to the physical books I would divide them up by hours or days. Sometimes I'd spend 2 hours reading one book then switch and read the next book for 2 hours. Or I would use the whole day to read one book and spend the next day reading the other book. I made nice progress in both books doing this and I figured finishing both books on days 3 & 4 is pretty much the same as reading one book all the way through in 2 days & then reading the next, so I may continue this. I may start doing this with three books, but no more than that so that I don't start to get characters mixed up. Of course I'll make sure the books are different types too to reduce that chance.
Who knows though, I may just go back to reading one book at a time. It is nice to get fully immersed into only one book before moving on to the next one.
How do you read? Do you read multiple books at once or do you just go one at a time? There's now right or wrong way, to each his own.
I would usually read the book on my kindle using text to speech while driving in my car. That way I'd have more time to sit & read the other book at home. The problem with that was that because I'm more focused on driving I'm really paying close attention to the book being read to me. I'd miss things or get lost so it turned out not to be very effective for me.
When it came to the physical books I would divide them up by hours or days. Sometimes I'd spend 2 hours reading one book then switch and read the next book for 2 hours. Or I would use the whole day to read one book and spend the next day reading the other book. I made nice progress in both books doing this and I figured finishing both books on days 3 & 4 is pretty much the same as reading one book all the way through in 2 days & then reading the next, so I may continue this. I may start doing this with three books, but no more than that so that I don't start to get characters mixed up. Of course I'll make sure the books are different types too to reduce that chance.
Who knows though, I may just go back to reading one book at a time. It is nice to get fully immersed into only one book before moving on to the next one.
How do you read? Do you read multiple books at once or do you just go one at a time? There's now right or wrong way, to each his own.
Stacking The Shelves #2
This feature is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.It's a weekly meme where we can show off the books we have gotten over the past week no matter how you got it or when you plan to read it. For more info go here.
Bought from Books-A-Million:
Bought from Garden Ridge:
Bought from an Amazon seller:
Free for Kindle:
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: Beautiful Creatures AKA Caster Chronicles
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Release Date: December 1, 2009
Pages: 563
Age: YA
Website Amazon Goodreads
Synopsis:
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
My Thoughts:
I loved this book! I have been wanting to read it for so long now and am glad I finally got the chance. I read it in about 4 days, which is good for me.
The love story in the book is unlike one I have come across yet. Majority of the books I read have love triangles where the main person can't make up their minds, but this was different. This story was of two people who wanted only each other. The twist is, they are literally two different types of people who can't really be together but try anyway no matter what people tell them. I loved their stories and their communication.
I also loved the plot. I generally tend to like books about magic & curses and stuff like that. So this story really drew me in. Two teens racing against the clock, or calendar rather, to try and undo or stop and family curse from happening. I found myself getting anxious as things were happening, hoping they wouldn't get caught or could figure out a clue in time. It was a great adventure! Needless to say, I'll be buying the rest of the series as soon as I can.
Recommend:
I definitely recommend this book to any & everyone! If you're bored or looking for a great read, pick this up.
Other Reviews:
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Choosing Books
So I finished Beautiful Creatures today & I should be done with Tiger's Curse by the end of the week. Now I'm sitting in bed wondering what books to read after those. I wrote out a list of all the books I wanted to read this month & in what order, but now I'm not feeling the list. I'm feeling like I want to read something different. I'll see how I feel & I'll pick out a new book to read tomorrow.
How do you choose which book to read next? Do you write lists or go with the flow?
Also, does have more options make it harder or easier to choose your next book?
It makes it harder for me because I want to read them all & I have to choose just 1 or 2 at the time.
Wordy Wednesdays #1
This is a new meme I'm doing where I literally open the dictionary to random pages and post words. I figure every reader has had a few times where we come across a word in a book that we have no idea what it means. So every week I'll be posting new words, until I complete the whole dictionary.
Passel - n - : a large number
Baobab - n -: a tropical African tree with a short swollen trunk and sour edible fruits resembling gourds
Tabor (also Tabour) - n -: a small drum used to accompany a pipe or fife played by the same person
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Spotlight of the Week #1
Title: Dust & Decay (Rot & Ruin Book 2)
Author: Jonathon Maberry
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: Aug 30, 2011
Pages: 528 Pages
Age: YA
Author Bio:
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, multiple Bram Stoker Award winner, and Marvel Comics writer. He’s the author of many novels, including Assassin’s Code, Dead of Night, Patient Zero, and Rot & Ruin. His nonfiction books cover topics ranging from martial arts to zombie pop-culture. Since 1978 he has sold more than 1,200 magazine feature articles, 3,000 columns, two plays, greeting cards, song lyrics, poetry, and textbooks. Jonathan continues to teach the celebrated Experimental Writing for Teens class, which he created. He founded the Writers Coffeehouse and co-founded The Liars Club, and he is a frequent speaker at schools and libraries, as well as a keynote speaker and guest of honor at major writers’ and genre conferences. Jonathan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Sara, and their son, Sam. Visit him at JonathanMaberry.com and on Twitter (@jonathanmaberry) and Facebook.
Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, multiple Bram Stoker Award winner, and Marvel Comics writer. He’s the author of many novels, including Assassin’s Code, Dead of Night, Patient Zero, and Rot & Ruin. His nonfiction books cover topics ranging from martial arts to zombie pop-culture. Since 1978 he has sold more than 1,200 magazine feature articles, 3,000 columns, two plays, greeting cards, song lyrics, poetry, and textbooks. Jonathan continues to teach the celebrated Experimental Writing for Teens class, which he created. He founded the Writers Coffeehouse and co-founded The Liars Club, and he is a frequent speaker at schools and libraries, as well as a keynote speaker and guest of honor at major writers’ and genre conferences. Jonathan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Sara, and their son, Sam. Visit him at JonathanMaberry.com and on Twitter (@jonathanmaberry) and Facebook.
Synopsis:
Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.
Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland –where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?
In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything…and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will make it out alive.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: Delirium Book 1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Pages: 401
Age: YA - Dystopian
Website Amazon Goodreads
Synopsis:
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn't understand that one love- the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holway has always looked forward to the day when she'll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable:
she falls in love.
My Thoughts:
I loved this book! I had heard so many great things about it that I have been wanting to read it for months now. I finally got some time and read it recently. The book is captivating! It's about a world where love is considered a disease instead of something wonderful! Can you imagine that??
The main character, Lena, in is pretty interesting. Watching her transformation is awesome. She goes from a girl counting down the days until her surgery to a girl who realizes & embraces another way to live. A life where love & freedom is something to be celebrated, not feared. This transformation happens because of a guy she meets named Alex, a guy from The Wilds. He comes along and gives Lena the best summer of her life & shows her a world beyond the fence she's used to. Reading this book makes you think about how precious love & freedom are. Two of the most important things in the world. I can't wait to read book 2, Pandemonium!
Recommend:
I'd recommend this book to anybody that likes dystopian books. It would actually even turn people onto the genre so I'd recommend it to anybody looking for a great read.
Other Reviews:
Book Addiction
The Busy Bibliophile
Amanda's Writings
Melanie's Musings
Stacking The Shelves #1
Tigers Curse by Colleen Houck ----- Purchased from Barnes & Noble
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl ----- Purchased used from Amazon
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare ----- Purchased on Amazon for Kindle
Downloaded free for Kindle
Aries Fire by Elaine Edelson
Envie by Latasha Rose
Pretty Bright by Mimi Renee
Redemption by R.K. Ryals
Jade by Jacqueline Gardner
Bad Karmah by Latasha Rose
The Proviso by Moriah Jovan
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Novel Utopia no more
Hey guys, I have made some changes to the blog. If you've been here before then you know this used to be Novel Utopia. I decided to change it up a bit, I changed the name to Avanti's Place and got a new look. I'll still be doing reviews but I've changed up my weekly features and updated my pages. I plan on really trying to take this blog to the next level. These next few months should be fun! So feel free to come over to Avanti's Place anytime you want!
Review: Anthem by Ayn Rand
Author: Ayn Rand
Series: standalone
Pages: 90
Genre: Adult Classic
Amazon Goodreads
Synopsis:
Rand examines a frightening future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by a committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out. Despite such a restrictive environment, the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in him-- a passion which he has been taught to call sinful. In a purely egalitarian world, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd-- to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice. Now he has been marked for death for committing the ultimate sin. In a world where the great "we" reign supreme, he has rediscovered the lost & holy word--"I".
My thoughts:
Anthem is a book I had read back in high school but didn't quite remember. Reading it again was fun. It's a book that makes you think about how our world is. The freedoms & luxuries that we have as humans. The fact that individual thoughts & love aren't considered sins. This is the case for the characters in this book. You see what it's like to live in a world where everything is decided for you & there's no such thing as family. Children are born and never know their parents & mothers never get a single look at their child. You're taught that your only purpose in life is to do the will of your brothers. Anthem is a very thought provoking book.
Recommend:
I personally think that every human on the planet needs to read this book at some point in their life. It would make us all appreciate our freedom more.
Other Reviews:
Booklover Book Reviews
Good Books & Good Wine
Book Chatter
Lovely Little Shelf
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