6 Month Blog Birthday Giveaway!

My blog's 6 month birthday is coming up November 25th and I'm holding a little giveaway for some swag shown above!
Included:
-SIGNED The Pledge poster
-Two The Pledge Stickers
-The Pledge Passport on cord
-The Pledge Book Mark

This giveaway is USA only.
You must be 13 years old or older.
You must leave your email in the comments.
You must leave links to extra entries. 
Winner must reply to email within 48 hours.

Giveaway ends November 26th.

Extra entries:
Tweet +1
Facebook post +1
Blog post +4
Share my blog's button +2
Comment on any Review post +2
Follow me on twitter +2

Comment with your email and any extra entries below!

Review: Uglies

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing  
Publication Date: February 8th 200
Pages: 425
Book Type: Paperback
Book Received by: Bought
Genre: Dystopian
Sub-Genres: Romance, Adventure, Young Adult, Friendships


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Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
 
This is an exciting, well written story with a very powerful hidden meaning that makes you think about popular culture as a whole. 

The story takes place in a future world were everyone gets a surgery to become pretty at the age of 16, leading them to a life of beauty and happiness. Tally can't wait until her birthday when she can finally join her best friends in New Pretty Town. When her new friend Shay shares that she is going to run away to a city were you don't have to turn pretty the government forces her to use her knowledge of where Shay is to find and locate the town so it can once and for all be destroyed. 

One of my favorite parts of this story is the growth of Tally and how she begins to learn the truth of the pretty way of life. I also love the description of the world outside of the Pretty and Ugly towns, such as the town that Tally sets out to find, the Smoke, and the old Rusty towns (The remains of how we live presently) and how the adventure the characters take is presented. 

 

In My Mailbox (17)

This week I got some pretty good things. I bought two books. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I read this a few years ago and loved it.  Lips Touch Three Times By Laini Taylor . I found this one at my library's for sale shelf for $0.25 and I really couldn't pass it up. I read and reviewed her most recent book and thought it was amazing so I had to get it.




From the Library I got Three books
-Chime by Franny Billingsly
-Frost by Marianna Baer (Halloween Read)
-Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

And the BEST part of my mailbox this week was this package of Swag I got from Kimberly Derting.  I am on the THE PLEDGE street team and I have a bunch of awesome stuff. I'll be giving away some at 100 followers or at my 6 month blogging birthday (November 25th) which ever comes first.

Halloween

As the witches, crime fighters, cartoon and book characters go running out into the streets for their fair share of sugar, the readers of the world will have a chance to test out some spook worthy books between candy seekers.

A great way to find some creep-tastic books to to check out this weeks Totally Booksessed Videos were you can find some very good ideas.

Kristi at The Story Siren also made a really good Halloween book post on the InterrobangYA Channel on Youtube 

My Halloween Read:

What are your Halloween reads?

My Blog has a New Name & URL

My lovely little blog has been running for about five months now and after some thought I decided to change the name because the old name (readspect) just wasn't right for me. After some more thought about words that start with R (to go with reads) I decided to go with Rescue (Superhero theme!). I now think I finally have a layout and name I love (you may have noticed I constantly changed the header or background to test how I felt about them) and I think I have something that will stick. So. What do you think? I would like your input.

New Name: Rescue Reads
New Address: www.rescuereads.blogspot.com
New look: Check it out!

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

The cover is even prettier in person!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone By Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication date: September 27th 2011
Pages: 420
Copy type: Hardcover
Revived by: Bought

Genre: Fantasy
Sub-genres: Romance, Action, Paranormal

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Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

This is a beautiful, unique tale of fantasy and self-discovery that really can't be compared to any other book out there.

Karou is a teenage girl from Prague who runs errands for a very peculiar bunch, part animal part humans who send her to get teeth from people all over the world, though the refuse to tell her why she is getting the teeth or what they do with them. But after she gets attacked by a winged angel on an errand and she gets kicked out of the creatures' shop all of the doorways to their shop are burned and she's left alone.

Karou is the kind of girl who can fight fer herself and doesn't need someone to rush in ad rescue her all the time. I love how she takes part in this fantasy other-world and the story is about her discovery of the world and where she comes from. 

I liked the beginning and middle of the book a lot more then the end (I'm avoiding spoilers) because there is a section that tells the story of a character other than Karou and I liked Karou a lot more than the other character.

Reincarnation. Yes, it's in this book. I love reincarnation, and how it is used in this book is completely unexpected and beautifully used.  

I recommend this book to all Young Adult and Fantasy fans. 

 

 

In My Mailbox (16)

 

I didn't get much this week, but I did buy one book. Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick. I was at a signing and I got it signed. I actually haven't read Crescendo yet and I don't have a copy so if you have a copy and you would be willing to do a trade I am looking for a copy.  

Not Pictured: I won a copy of Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares which I will either send out to someone, use in a trade or use as a giveaway prize.

What did you get?

It's Shatterday!

In less than a month SHATTER ME will be released on November 15th. Today on Facebook readers (myself included) are getting a chance to read the first half of the book on the books Facebook page in celebration of Tahereh's debut book! Each hour on the hour a new chapter is released. Click here to start reading.

Books for Trade

I have been collecting a small pile of books that I would like to trade with for a while,  and if you would like to trade with me let me know, the trade in exchange does not necessarily need to be on my wishlist below but it will be more likely to get a trade if it is. This same list will also be posted on my For Trade Tab above and will be edited constantly. Email me if you would like to trade. My email is to the right of the page.

What I have: 
Memory Boy by Will Weaver (Paperback)
Sacrifice by LInda Burns and Melinda Metz (ARC)
Dragon's Tooth by N.D. Wilson (ARC)
The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate (Paperback)


What I Want:
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
(Open to offers)

In My Mailbox (15)

This week I got some pretty good books. 

First I got and RAK of Wake from Paige at Comfort Books 

I also got an RAK of Glow from Muggle-Born.net

Than at a Half Price books Clearance sale I got three books, The first being a Great and Terrible Beauty, the second is a Girltopia, and the Third is Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus.

I also got my Lauren Oliver books signed at a signing on Monday.

What did you get this week? Have you read any of these? Link me you your IMMs below. 

Becca Fitzpatrick Signing

Doesn't She Have Beautiful Handwriting?

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to notice a Tweet from Becca Fitzpartick announcing that she would be in my state and today I got to go and get my books signed!

Becca was very nice and told an story about how she actually got some say in her covers and cover models unlike most authors. She talked about how she started writing and that some of the scenes in the book are actually things that happened to her in high school. (Not the angel thing though, that would be pretty cool.)

Becca and Me

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer By Michelle Hodkin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Date Published: September 27th 2011
Pages: 452
Copy Type: Hardcover
Copy Received by: Bought
Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Synopsis


Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.

Review


The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a very Unique and realistically written story about a girl who wakes up in the hospital to be told that she had been the only survivor in an accident that killed her best friends, and two others. To get away she and her family move to Florida and she tries to make a fresh start in at her new school.The problem is that the after the accident she has begun seeing things she couldn't have been seeing, and that's only the beginning of her unraveling. 


My favorite character in the entire book is Noah, who is one of Mara's only friends after moving. He's the one who keep Mara sane, and he seems to have a very noticeable personality in the story.


The character of Jamie seems much to brief in the story and there was no conclusion to what happened to him in the end. 


The way this story was written really does reflect how the main character, Mara is going crazy. It is carefully written so at some points the reader couldn't figure out the difference between what was real and was was false. 


The ending of the story was very hard to follow plot wise. There were many points that were hard to understand and difficult to figure out what was going on for several minutes and there was little explanation for some events. 


The wrap of the story was rushed and also confusing though did reflect on the stability of Mara's sanity.

Lauren Oliver Author Event Pictures

Monday October 10th I was very lucky to get a chance to meet Lauren Oliver at an author event and a near by Indie Book store. She was very nice and fun and she's cool to meet.
At the event she introduced her book Lisle and Po and explained the process of the creation of all of the wonderful pictures in the book. She also introduced her other two published books (Before I Fall and Delirium) and then gave us a short passage from Pandemonium (It was completely and totally awesome, I promise) and then finally she signed my copies of Before I fall and Delirium (Pics of my books will be posted in my IMM post on Sunday)

Here's some of the pictures taken at the event! 

Lauren Oliver Speaking to the Group

Lauren Oliver with Delirium

Me getting my Books signed!

In My Mailbox (14)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren


This week I got some really good looking books. The first thing I got is my first chapter sampler of Museum of Thieves, which looks good. I think it is already out, and has a sequal. I got this from the RandomBuzzers (Random House)







I also bought the daughter of Smoke and Bone, and this really cool mask that I saw that reminded me of the cover. Isn't it cool? I'm really excited for this book and I love, love, love the cover.








 I also bought a copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer because everyone seems to love this book and it sounds pretty good.











And last but not least I pre-ordered Lola and The Boy Next Door! I just finished this books. It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.




Are you excited for any of those books? Which ones did you get in your mailbox? What else did you get? Let me know in the comments.

You can now follow me on Twitter: 

http://twitter.com/#!/ErikaReadspect  

I'm on Twitter!

I just started twitter today, and I will be tweeting things about what I'm reading, book recommendations, keeping updates on my current reviews and letting you know what I've been getting in books.

My Twitter Page

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: September 29th 2011
Pages: 338
My Copy: Hardcover, Purchased
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Teaser

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Review

You really can't can't find anything as beautiful and free spirited as Stephanie Perkins' companion novels Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door.

Lola wants nothing more than to never have to see the Bell family ever again, but when they move next door again, she can't help but begin to feel her feelings for Cricket Bell all over again. And she wishes she could still hate him. But then she begins to doubt her feelings for her current boyfriends and things become even more difficult.

Gay Parents. I love it. Andy and Nathan, Lola's dads just seem so perfect and cute. You really don't see Gay parents is books and it's a very nice change, and the explanation for both of the parents is very well thought out and makes a lot of sense.

Anna and St. Clair make several appearances in this books as Lola's friends and advisory throughout the story. The book being in Lola's point of view gives an outsiders look on Anna and St. Clair, and seeing them from the outside is very different than it is from Anna's point of view in Anna and the French Kiss.

The one thing I wish would have been different in the book is that there would have been just more in the story. Cricket and Lola don't really do much other than talk in the book and I think it would have been a little bit better if they had done more together in the middle of the story.

In whole Stephanie Perkins books are some of my all time favorite and if you have not yet read Anna and the French Kiss it is a must read.

Review: The Power of Six

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

Pages: 406
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: August 23rd 2011
Copy Type: Hardcover
Copy Received by: Gift from Family



Teaser From Goodreads 

I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me . . . he's one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

Review 

This story begins with Number Four, Number Six, and Sam. All three are on the run from the government, and most of all the ones who are trying to hunt them down.  

I don't read much Science Fiction but this series is one of my favorites. The Power of six is a really hard book to review, because I really can't find much I can criticize. This books is in two points of view, Four's and Seven's, which puts the book together really well, but there were many cliff hangers at the ends of chapters and then changes in point of view, and I often found myself skipping ahead a little before having to stop myself. I did find myself wanting to yell at one character to another and getting angry and now I'm not sure who to like.

I was really frustrated at the end of the book when there was a very uncertain ending. But I cannot wait for the next book to be out.  

In My Mailbox (13)

In my mailbox is hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren

This week someone in my family got be a copy of Other by Karen Kincy. I saw this book on someone's IMM post a long time ago and I thought it looked really good. I'm really sorry I don't know who was talking about it. Other on Goodreads.

What did you get in your mailbox?