Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Date of Publication: August 23rd, 2011
Source: Bought
Pages: 421

Goodreads Summary:

When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood. 

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My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Bloodlines is a great start for a series that will hopefully become on of my favorites. Just like its preceding series Vampire Academy, this novel made it hard for me to put it down and to get it out of my head. Even once I was finished, I still thought about what happened in this world and I hope to return to these fantastic characters as soon as possible.

I know that a lot of people who loved Vampire Academy were scared about the change of the narrative perspective. And yes, I have to admit that Sydney is very different and after an extrovert Rose Hathaway you might need some time to get used to her. But I loved reading the story from her point of view. She has to deal with a life that isn't easy and more than once I felt sorry for her.

But the way she dealt with her situation and the people she encountered was very interesting to witness. If you give her (and this new series) a chance you might even see that she and Rose have quite a few things in common - especially when it comes to helping the people they care about. I'm looking forward to see how she will develop even more.

The other characters in Bloodlines make it easy for lovers of Vampire Academy to adapt to this new series. We have already met most of the important ones and it's fantastic too see them again. Yes, there were a few that didn't appear and I actually missed them, but since my favorite one made regular appearances and was as amazing as I remember him to be, I can't complain.

Sadly there was one thing I really missed and that was romance. Just like the first Vampire Academy novel, this story starts out quite slow, but I had really hoped that there would be a few more romantic moments. Yes, we get hints about the guy(s) Sydney might start to like in the future, but I expected there to be a little bit more.

All in all, Bloodlines mostly lived up to my expectations and I'm looking forward to see how this story will develop in the future. It definitely has the potential to become a fantastic series and if you loved Vampire Academy, I'm sure you will like this, too. For people who haven't read the Vampire Academy series, I definitely recommend to do so before reading Bloodlines.

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The second novel of the series

The Golden Lily

will be released on June 19th, 2011 by Razorbill.

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Have you read Bloodlines? What did you think about it?
Carina

Waiting on Wednesday #22: Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale

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

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Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Expected Publication: April 2nd, 2012
Pages: 384

Goodreads Summary:

When seventeen-year-old Rosie’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington’s Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty-per-cent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when she tells her mum’s best friend, ‘Aunt Sarah’ that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie was not her biological mother after all... Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, hitching along on her ex-boyfriend’s GAP year to follow her to Los Angeles. But all does not go to plan, and as Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply-buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonising decision of her own - one which will be the most heart-breaking and far-reaching of all... 

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I'm very sorry for my absence during the last week, but I spent most of my time in my bed or on my sofa (constantly watching old Sex and the City episodes) and hoping that I'll finally feel better. I'll try to catch up on my reviews today and hope that the breakfast I just ate will help me gain some weight again (I lost 3.5kg while I was gone). 

What are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Carina

P.s.: Also don't forget to enter my intl. giveaway.

Jon Hunstman: Dead Man Walking

Latest Newspaper Column:

"To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." In a sane world, this sort of pronouncement wouldn't be necessary. In a sane political party, it wouldn't be an item of controversy.

But we don't live in a sane world, and Jon Huntsman, who expressed those sentiments a couple of weeks ago via Twitter, doesn't belong to a sane political party. He's running for the GOP presidential nomination, a race in which being a member of the reality-based community is an actual handicap.

You know, if he had a chance of getting the nomination, Barack Obama might have something to worry about in Jon Huntsman. He's smart, articulate and fiscally conservative, and he's got some serious credentials, as well as good hair. Not as good as Romney's, but still very presidential hair.

He's also worked in the Obama administration as ambassador to China, which would certainly cut the legs out from under any attempt by the president to attack Huntsman's judgment and/or character. ("Well, Mr. President, if he's that much of a boob, why'd you hire him?")

Fortunately for the president, however, Huntsman is far too rational for the Teahadist fanatics who can be counted upon to swarm the early primaries. They don't want to hear anything about no fancy science stuff or any of that "bipartisanship." They'd rather chow down on the sort of red meat served up all fresh and bloody by demagogues like Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann.

In an interview with ABC's Jake Tapper, Huntsman stated that he didn't think that calling Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "traitorous" made Perry sound "serious" on the issues. In the same interview, Huntsman also criticized Bachmann and other wingnuts for their willingness to allow this country to default on its debts.

Huntsman was, on both counts, completely correct. He is, therefore, completely doomed.

I mean, really. Trust scientists? Why should we, as good Americans, give any credibility at all to people who actually make a career out of studying an issue, like the 98 percent of the scientists actually working in the field of climate science who believe in man-made climate change?

 Why believe in the clear empirical evidence, including striking photo after striking photo of glaciers and icecaps retreating?

In the words of the guy who got caught in bed with another woman by his wife: "Who you gonna believe, honey, me or your lyin' eyes?"

Trying to reverse or even slow down the clear damage being done to the environment would be hard. It might be expensive. It might even, horror of horrors, cut into the profits of the oil companies, reducing said profits from "totally inconceivable by the brain of man" to merely "mind-boggling."

Why go through all that when you can just wave a hand, say a few magic words ("Al Gore owns a big house!" or "It snowed last winter!"), and make all those uncomfortable facts disappear from the minds of your loyal followers so they'll pose no threat to your corporate donors?

Or, if you're a Texas-size con man like Rick Perry, you can just make stuff up, like his claim that a "substantial number of scientists" were found to have been "manipulating their data." The truth is, a half-dozen scientists were accused, based on eight emails hacked and stolen from their computers. There were five separate investigations. All found no evidence of wrongdoing or data manipulation.

You can look it up. But why would any Republican candidate bother to do that? The truth doesn't set you free in the GOP, unless what you want to be free from is any chance of surviving Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Mitt Romney certainly saw the writing on the wall. After saying back in June when he announced his candidacy that he favored reduction of "greenhouse gases that might be significant contributors" to climate change, Mitt saw Rick Perry take the lead and did one of those deft backflips for which he is so justly famed. He now says he's an agnostic on the matter:

"Do I think the world's getting hotter? Yeah, I don't know that, but I think that it is," he said. "I don't know if it's mostly caused by humans. What I'm not willing to do is spend trillions of dollars on something I don't know the answer to."

Jon Huntsman is a sane, reasonable moderate who believes in science. Which is why he's a dead man walking in the GOP. And that's why President Obama, for all his faults, is going to win a second term.

Local Idiot: Tax The Poor!

In a letter entitled Rhoades At It Again in The Pilot (where my weekly column appears), local idiot Jack Jakucyk once again raises that old discredited argument that it's not the rich, but the poor who aren't paying their fair share. In reference to this column, he starts off with the name-calling right wingers claim to despise, unless they're engaging in it:

Dusty, with his degree from the Karl Marx School of Economics, suggests that the rich not only don’t create jobs, they also don’t pay their “fair share” of taxes.

Then he goes on to parrot one of the more egregiously stupid arguments of the American Right:

At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom half (71 million returns) contributed only 3 percent of total tax revenues. And 51.8 million of the 142 million returns from your fellow Americans had no income tax liabilities due to deductions, tax credits, etc. This may seem counterintuitive, but I wonder if it’s a good thing for our society when half the population pays essentially no taxes. They have no dog in the fight. But Dusty Rhoades is on their side.

They don't pay taxes because they're poor, doofus. It's the old "lucky duckies" argument that was so roundly mocked when the WSJ first floated it. Take, for example, this article by Noble Prize laureate Paul Krugman which points out that:

The Journal considers a hypothetical ducky who earns only $12,000 a year ? some guys have all the luck! ? and therefore, according to the editorial, "pays a little less than 4% of income in taxes." Not surprisingly, that statement is a deliberate misrepresentation; the calculation refers only to income taxes. If you include payroll and sales taxes, a worker earning $12,000 probably pays well over 20 percent of income in taxes. But who's counting?

Or then there's Reuben Bolling, who brilliantly skewered the whole idea with his character "Lucky Ducky":

It's such a persistent fallacy of the Right that I thought it merited being addressed for a wider audience.

Just keep in mind, every time someone raises this claptrap about how "some people at the bottom don't pay any taxes, and that's not fair" that:

(a) it's a deliberate misrepresentation; and
(b) what they're really demanding is more taxes on the poor.

As Jonathan Chait wrote:
One of the things that has fascinated me about The Wall Street Journal editorial page is its occasional capacity to rise above the routine moral callousness of hack conservative punditry and attain a level of exquisite depravity normally reserved for villains in James Bond movies.

So I guess we we can say that Mr. Jakucyk studied at the Blofeld School of Economics.

Oh, and he conveniently fails to address the statistics showing that tax rates don't affect job creation. Wonder why that is? Maybe because he can't...Fox News hasn't  told him how. 

Review: Marked by P. C. & Kristin Cast

Marked by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Date of Publication: May 1st, 2007
Source: Bought
Pages: 306

Goodreads Summary:

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It's tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But 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 club, 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. 

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My Rating: 3.5 / 5

What I thought about it:
Marked takes a few YA clichés and combines them in a fast-paced and cute read. We get some of the usual and some new vampire aspects, a boarding school and some surprises, which results in a story that is easy to read and leaves room for the need to read more.

Ever since Twilight, vampires have been everywhere in literature, which was nice at first but could get tiring after a while. After having read many vampire stories it takes a lot to surprise me and to get me hooked on a story like that. While Marked has some of the typical YA boarding school clichés like the nice roommate, the pretty but mean blonde girl and the hot guy who – surprisingly – is the ex-boyfriend of said mean girl.

But overall the new approach of vampires could cancel out those clichés and made it more special. When you become a vampire, you aren’t bitten but marked with a crescent moon on your forehead. To change into a vampire, you have to visit a school (House of Night) and the scariest thing is: Your body might reject the change and you might die.

I have to admit that the story started out a little bit slow, so in the end this novel really looks more like an introduction into this series. Most of the secondary characters are lacking some depth and are reduced to a few character traits, but I hope that this will change in the future novels.

Actually I have a similar “problem” with the love interest. While Erik is an incredibly hot guy and at first he appears like someone very likeable, I’m still not quite sure what to think about him. His interest in Zoey came quite fast and I couldn’t really detect any development in their attraction. Therefore I’m curious to find out what will happen to them.

All in all, Marked was an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to see how the storyline will develop. A lot of questions still need to be answered and I’m sure it could get even more interesting. Zoey is a likeable main character and I’m sure that I will like the next story told from her point of view as well.

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Following books of the series:

2. Betrayed

3. Chosen

4. Untamed

5. Hunted

6. Tempted

7. Burned

8. Awakened

9. Destined 

(October 25th, 2011)

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Have you read Marked / the House of Night series? What did you think about it?

Carina

NRO Columnist Takes Issue With the President's Reading Choices, Makes Self Look Like Complete Idiot

National Review Online apparently needed to fill some column space and was running out of things to complain about in regard to Barack Obama. So they applied a scraper to the bottom of the barrel and came up with some dripping clump of ooze by the name of Tevi Troy, who's got his right wing panties in a bunch over--get this-- the books the President brought with him on vacation.

First, five of the six are novels, and the near-absence of nonfiction sends the wrong message for any president, because it sets him up for the charge that he is out of touch with reality.

And:

Beyond the issue of fiction vs. nonfiction, there is also the question of genre. The Bayou Trilogy [by Daniel Woodrell of Winter's Bone fame]  has received excellent reviews, but it is a mystery series. While there is nothing wrong with that per se, not every presidential reading selection is worth revealing to the public....Room is another well-received novel, but it is about a mother and child trapped in an 11-by-11-foot room. This claustrophobic adventure does not strike me as the right choice for someone trying to escape the perception that he is trapped in a White House bubble....

This year’s list suggests that Obama needs to consider the messages sent by his reading more carefully. According to Mickey Kaus, the Obama list is “heavy on the wrenching stories of immigrant experiences, something the President already knows quite a bit about.” For this reason, Kaus feels that the list reveals an intellectually incurious president. Either that, or it is “a bit of politicized PR BS designed to help the President out.” In that case, he notes, “it’s sending the wrong message.” Either way, the annual book list should be a relatively easy way to make the president appear to be on top of things and in control. This year’s list, alas, reveals a president who appears to be neither.

Words fail me.

Oh, wait, no they don't.

Are you KIDDING ME?  Is there literally nothing these people  will not bitch about? JFK read James Bond novels and helped launch Ian Fleming from a writer with  middling sales to an icon. St Ronnie Reagan read The Hunt for Red October and did the same for Tom Clancy. But Barack Obama reads Daniel Woodrell and this somehow shows he's not "on top of things or in control?"

Maybe somebody should remind this  "Tevi Troy" person that the founder of the print version of National Review, William F. Buckley, also wrote genre fiction, namely eleven spy novels. Pretty good ones, too, at least judging from the couple I've read. But then, this so-called "senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former senior White House aide" probably never actually read Buckley, a true conservative whose shoes the current Klown Kollege at the NRO is not worthy to shine. Buckley's  probably spinning like a dynamo in his grave with the way these morons have defiled the name of conservatism. It used to be a political philosophy;  now it's nothing more than a reflex, an immediate rush to yell "foul" about anything the Democratic President does, no matter how trivial. The people at the NRO specialize in this sort of smallness, silliness and pettiness, and they make the entire movement look even more  ridiculous than Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin combined could do, and brother, that is saying something.

Satire Just Can't Keep Up, Again

Me, August 21st: 

It looks like it’s going to be another election filled with nonstories about whether the candidate’s tie or his lunch or his choice of hobbies makes him think he’s better than you, along with celebrations of some random ignoramus like Joe-Not-Really-the-Plumber.

Wonkette, August 25th:

Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, is considering a run against U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in 2012, according to Republican Party sources.

Jon Stainbrook, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, said there is “high-level interest in the national Republican Party” in a potential Wurzelbacher candidacy.
“We are encouraging Joe to run,” Mr. Stainbrook said. “He hasn’t made any official decision yet.”

 Not only can you not fix stupid, as Ron White said, you can't stay ahead of it.


Of course, God would have to change His mind for Joe to run.

Chick Lit Time: Click, An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker

While I mostly read Young Adult fiction, I love to read a good Chick Lit novel from time to time. I started Chick Lit Time to feature those books on my blog.

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Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker
Publisher: CreateSpace / Self-Published
Date of Publication: March 29th, 2011
Source: Received from Author
Buy: Kindle / Paperback (US) / Paperback (Intl)
Pages: 284

Goodreads Summary:

Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical "B" celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will root for Renee to "click" with the right man. 

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My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Click: An Online Love Story was a very entertaining novel about trying to find "the one" and the necessary, but sometimes very annoying date experiences. It was funny, made me laugh a lot and I really loved the characters Lisa Becker created.

This novel is written completely different than anything I've ever read before: e-mails. Instead of being told the story from a certain point of view, we get to witness the e-mails Renee writes to her friends / dates and receives in return. While I was a little bit skeptical in the beginning about this, I completely fell in love with this kind of narration.

The wonderful thing about reading a novel that is a compilation of e-mails was for me that it totally reminds me of my best friends. Just like Renee constantly writes e-mails with Mark, Shelley and Ashley, I love to write e-mails with my friends just to keep updated and stay in contact. And those e-mails were written so well that you could always see what the characters are like - even just with a few words.

I have to admit that the complete story with all the good and not-so-good dates reminded me of Sex and the City, which - coming from me - is a huge compliment. If Carrie and her friends had ever decided to try online-dating, this is what it would be like.

All in all, Click: An Online Love Story is a lovely story that combines the importance of friendship with trying to find the right partner. Fans of Sex and the City, like me, will devour this novel and hope that this is not the last time that we've heard of Renee and her friends.

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Have you read Click: An Online Love Story? What did you think about it?
Carina

Edit:

I just heard that there actually will be a sequel and once Click's Facebook Page has 200 fans, teasers will be revealed.

Waiting on Wednesday #21: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

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

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Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Expected Publication: January 3rd, 2011
Pages: 400

Goodreads Summary:

Exiled from her comfortable home, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland – called the Death Shop – are slim. Violent energy storms can strike suddenly, and even the very air she breathes might kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild, dangerous – a savage. He’s also her only hope.
Because Aria alone holds the key to his redemption, Perry needs her, too. Their unlikely alliance will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky. 

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I have to admit that it's actually the cover that got me interested in this novel. But this summary sounds really intriguing and I'm very much looking forward to get my hands on a copy of this. :)

What are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Carina

P.s.: Also don't forget to enter my intl. giveaway.

Today's Awesome Advice

From Chuck Wendig, 25 Things Writers Should Know About Social Media, at his great blog Terrible Minds.



"People want to follow other people. People don’t want to follow brands."



"Talk to people, and try not to be a dick."



"Be an escort, not a whore."



Best advice I can give you is, check it out. Wendig speaks truth.

Review: I heart you, you haunt me by Lisa Schroeder

I heart you, you haunt me by Lisa Schroeder
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Date of Publication: January 8th, 2008
Source: Bought
Pages: 227

Goodreads Summary:
Girl meets boy.
Girl loses boy.
Girl gets boy back...
...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds. 

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My Rating: 5.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Ever since I’ve read Lisa Schroeder’s newest novel The Day Before, I knew that I needed to read more. And I heart you, you haunt me completely lived up to my expectations. It’s a wonderful, heart-felt novel that broke my heart at first, only to put it back together.

Stories that deal with the loss of a person you love are often hard to read and there were a lot of moments in I heart you, you haunt me that put tears in my eyes. Ava’s feelings were portrayed so perfectly that I sometimes thought it was me who had lost her boyfriend.

And this is what I love so much about novels that are written in verse. I’ve heard about many people who don’t like them because there over too soon or they just can’t connect with this kind of narration. But if you haven’t tried reading a verse novel yet, please don’t be afraid: To me there is no better way to convey emotions than with poetry. It’s so beautiful and never fails to touch me.

Overall, I heart you, you haunt me isn’t a novel that’s completely sad, even though it deals with such a tragic topic. It shows that it’s possible to deal with guilt and survive a severe loss without truly giving up the person who died. And most importantly it shows you that there will always be hope, which is a message that put a smile on my face.

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Lisa Schroeder is definitely becoming one of my favorite authors - I'll need to get her other novels as soon as possible. Have you read I heart you, you haunt me? What did you think about it?

Carina

Teaser Tuesday #20: Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

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My teaser:

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles - p. 117

"You okay?" he asks, concern in his voice. His free arm reaches around my waist and holds me in a firm, protective grip... like a hero. Our legs touch under water and it feels intimate even though it's not.

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Also don't forget to enter my intl. giveaway. :)
Carina

Quote of the Day: On the Use of the Term "Political Correctness"

Writer Steven Hart, on Facebook:  


  I'm old enough to remember that "PC" began as an ironic joke among leftie academics. The wingers took it up as a cudgel, and now the  term is useless except as a signal of low-to-zero IQ on the part of the user. When it crops up, like the phrase "I'm really a classical liberal" or  "I'm a student of history," it's a warning that a tandem-trailer load of bullshit is about to come up your driveway..


Amen, brother. I don't de-friend or ban  people for disagreeing with me. However, if you insist that people are disagreeing with you because of 'political correctness", you're on the short list to go in the Bozo Bin. It's condescending, dismissive and lazy. Any time someone starts a sentence with "I know it's not PC to say this," you can bet that what  follows will be some sort of ill-thought-out, racist, and/or bigoted garbage. Frankly, if the words "political correctness" or the letters "PC" crop up in your argument, I'm going to assume you're a non-sentient jagoff until proven otherwise.  

The Dumb Starts Earlier Every Time

Latest Newspaper Column:

I know that every time there’s an election, I’m going to see things in the national media that are so silly, so shallow, so utterly dimwitted, that they’re going to make me want to bang my head on my desk until the darkness claims me and the pain goes away.

But why, oh why, does it have to start so early?

Recently, Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared his candidacy for the presidency of the country he once openly talked about seceding from. Like an entire pack of Pavlov’s dogs, the right-wing media immediately went into full-out idiot mode and started drooling over Perry as the second coming of George Dubbya Bush.

Not only that, but they did it as if that was a good thing. 

For instance, columnist Kathleen Parker, writing in the supposedly liberal Washington Post, went all squealing fangirl on Perry, telling us with breathless adoration that Perry was a real Manly Man like Dubbya, claiming that they both “have that same je ne sais quoi that corresponds to the way a confident Southern male asks a girl to take a spin around the dance floor: ‘Wanna dance?”

She went on, like a bad romance novelist describing the handsome rogue who’ll soon be ripping the bodice of the feisty heroine: “There’s something slightly lazy in the mouth, half a smile, a knowing look … Weathered, creased and comfortable in jeans, they convey a regular guyness that everyday Americans relate to. Take it or leave it, it happens to be true.”

Oh, for God’s sake. The man’s a candidate for the highest office in the land, not the king of the freakin’ prom. I had hoped that the eight-year disaster that was the Dubbya Reign of Error had at long last put a stake though the heart of this “the president needs to be a regular guy” nonsense. I’d hoped we were done with selecting our chief executive on the basis of which one you’d rather have a beer with. 

Let me tell you, folks, I am a guy you would love to have a beer with. Ask anyone who’s ever had a beer with me. I am all kinds of fun in a beer-enabled environment. I can do the half-smile and the knowing look. I’m so comfortable in jeans you have to shake me from time to time to keep me from falling asleep. But even I’ll be the first to tell you: You do not want me to be president of the United States.

Here’s the thing: Anyone who wants to be the president of the United States is not a “regular guy” (or girl), and I don’t want them to be. It is a supreme act of arrogance for anyone, of any party, to stand in front of the cameras and tell the watching multitudes, “I am qualified to be the leader of the Free World.”

Anyone who pretends that it’s anything else, and tries to convince you that hey, they’re just like you, needs to be viewed with the same skepticism as a guy offering to sell you a Rolex watch on the street.

One of the biggest problems with this country right now is that we’ve made being smart something to be suspicious of. We’ve made, “Well, I guess you think you’re pretty smart, don't you,” a legitimate retort. We’ve become a society where the phrase, “Well, I might not know much, but I know one thing,” is never followed, as it should be, with “and it’s that I need to shut up.”

But I want the president to be the smartest person in the room, any room, and I don’t really care if he or she acts like it. I want an elitist president, just like I want an elitist brain surgeon, or an elitist fireman, or an elitist Special Forces guy coming to get me out the hands of kidnappers.

I want somebody doing the tough jobs who’s a lot better at them than I’m ever going to be, and if he’s a little cocky about it, well, as the great American poet Kid Rock once wrote, “It ain’t braggin’, [bad word] if you back it up.”

It looks like it’s going to be another election filled with nonstories about whether the candidate’s tie or his lunch or his choice of hobbies makes him think he’s better than you, along with celebrations of some random ignoramus like Joe-Not-Really-the-Plumber.

It’s going to be a long campaign, not to mention another painfully dumb one.

In My Mailbox #18

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives bloggers the chance to appreciate the books they got last week and to meet new people.

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The book I bought this week:

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

The e-books I won this week:

Blood Will Tell by Samantha Young

Blood Past by Samantha Young

huge thanks to Samantha Young and Rachel from fiktshun

The books I got for review this week:

Virtuosity* by Jessica Martinez

The Pledge* by Kimberly Derting

Past Perfect* by Leila Sales

Swear* by Nina Malkin

Graffiti Moon** by Cath Crowley

The Demon Lover** by Juliet Dark

* via Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab

** via NetGalley and Random House

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While The Pledge wasn't in this month's newsletter, the link to it was all over Twitter. But before you ask me for it, I have to admit that I didn't save it or anything and I honestly have no idea who tweeted it. Sorry!
I'm really looking forward to read all those novels - they sound quite fantastic. But my to-read pile is growing and growing, so I hope I'll have enough time to get to them soon.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?
Carina

P.s.: Check out my 400 followers giveaway to win an ARC of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

Chick Lit Time: Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella

While I mostly read Young Adult fiction, I love to read a good Chick Lit novel from time to time. I started Chick Lit Time to feature those books on my blog.

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There are books you like. Books you love. And then there are the books that will always stay with you, books you'll never forget. When I picked up my very first chick-lit novel eight years ago (just because I felt more grown-up than I actually was), I didn't expect it to be the start of a series that I'll always love.

This includes a few spoilers for the series.

Confessions of a Shopaholic was, and still is, a fantastic novel that combines light-heartedness and romance with a slight dose of embarrassment and never failed to make me smile. When you have a main character like Rebecca Bloomwood, the story never gets boring - her problems seem to be waiting for her wherever she is.

The first novel of the series, Confessions of a Shopaholic, is definitely my favorite. We get introduced to Rebecca's world and her problems: She has a job she doesn't really like, no boyfriend and a "very tiny" shopping addiction. And how do you forget that you don't have enough money to pay all the bills? Well, Rebecca does what she loves to do: She just buys a little something to make her smile.

In the second novel of the series, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Becky gets the chance to live in New York with her boyfriend Luke. While Luke was only introduced in the first novel (and it took quite a while for Becky to like him), we get to see more of him. 

But, just like for a reader, for Luke it's not very easy to deal with her shopping. New York is a paradise for our little shopaholic and doesn't take long until Rebecca has to deal with the consequences. But just like she did in the first novel, she realizes that she has to get herself out of this mess and does this her typical charme.

I know that, so far, this sounds like a very superficial series. And I have to admit that in certain moments this is true. It appears as if clothes, shoes, make-up - shopping - are the most important things in Rebecca Bloomwood's life. But once you take a closer looks at how she deals with the problems and how important it is to her that her friends and family are feeling good, it's easy to see that other things are still more important to her.

In Shopaholic Ties the Knot, the third novel of the series, Rebecca and Luke are now officially living in New York, she is working at Barney's (finally a job she likes) and to top all of this off, Luke is proposing to her. Now she can finally marry the man of her dreams.

But what happens when suddenly both, her own mother and Luke's mother are planning to seperate weddings? What would you prefer? A huge Plaza wedding with every single dream come true, thanks to the cold Elinor, or rather a small but beautiful wedding at home planned by her own mother, who alwys dreamed to do so?

After all, we are talking about Becky Bloomwood, so everything works out in the end. But of course not without a few embarrassing moments and a lot of fear that everything will go horribly wrong. This is one of the novels where you can really see Becky's character: Yes, she makes mistakes, but in this case it's rather because she doesn't want to hurt anyone. And she does everything she can do to clean up the mess. Of course again with the help of her best friend Suze who you can't help but fall in love with a little bit.

I have to admit that the fourth novel of the series, Shopaholic & Sister, is my least favorite. It's good as well and you get to see even more of Becky's love for her friends and family, but somehow I'm not a fan of the "lost sister found"-storyline.

The amusing thing about this novel is that her half-sister Jessica is Rebecca's complete opposite. She hates shopping, saves her money instead of spending it and doesn't even seem to want a connection with Becky (who is completely enamored with the thought of having a sister).

Again this novel stresses how important it is for Becky that people she cares about like her. Despite the differences between her and Jessica, she doesn't give up and continually tries to make her half-sister see that they could be friends. To do that she doesn't stop at literally life-threatening actions (just let me tell you that Jess likes to climb mountains, Becky... not so much).

At the end of the first novel Becky realizes that she is pregnant and the fifth novel of the series, Shopaholic & Baby, deals with her pregnancy. Just imagine all the clothes and furniture and toys she can buy for the unborn baby!

But the real problem starts to show itself when Becky is adamant that she should go to the obstetrician all the stars go to - Venetia Carter. Too bad that this very pretty doctor actually is Luke's ex-girlfriend and still seems to have a thing for him. The situation gets even worse when Luke starts to behave weirdly and Becky assumes that he has an affair with Venetia.

And again Becky doesn't give up. She's afraid that Luke would leave her for Venetia, but she continues to fight for their marriage - even though her attempts might be a little bit confusing for dear Luke. In the end, everything works out of course and their baby girl Minnie is born. 

But Minnie isn't the sweet, innocent daughter Becky had thought she would be. Just like her mother, Minnie loves to wreak havoc wherever she goes - especially in boutiques and shopping centers which annoys Becky but never fails to make a reader laugh.

While this makes sure you are amused while reading the novel, this story concentrates a lot on working out Becky and Luke's relationship, showing that they can stick together even during "bad times". In Mini Shopaholic we can witness again how important it is to Becky that the people she loves are happy.

All in all, the Shopaholic series is the one series that I can always re-read, no matter how often I have already read those novels. Becky's adventures always make me laugh and I hope that there'll be many more books in this series. Yes, at times it might seem like a little bit superficial, but to be honest: Sometimes you need something that doesn't make you think to much. And if you're able to see what's below the surface, you might fall in love with those books just like I did.

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Have you read the Shopaholic series? What did you think about it?
Carina

Book Blogger Hop #05

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jen at Crazy-For-Books.com.

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This week's question:

"What’s the LONGEST book you’ve ever read?"

Hm, as far as I can remember, the longest book I've ever read is the German version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with 1021 pages.

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What's the longest book you have ever read?
Carina

Also don't forget to enter my 400 followers giveaway.
You can win an ARC of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

Review: Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Date of Publication: August 15th, 2011
Source: Received from author
Pages: 280

Goodreads Summary:

I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him.

Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever. 

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My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Heavenly is a very surprising and beautifully written story about falling in love and the doubt that everything could actually work out and turn for the better. You get to see how Zoe has to struggle with her life and the things she has to deal with and it's lovely to see how Matthias changes her attitude and helps her to cope with her problems.

Actually, Heavenly is the first story about angels that put a focus onto faith and believing in God. While most other angel novels only refer to this topic every now and then, it's an important part in Zoe's story. Without having noticed it, her belief enables her to see Matthias who is her autistic sister's guardian. And even though I'm usually not into novels with religious undertones, it was just enough to explain her ability to see him and didn't overwhelm me with questions of faith.

For the biggest part of the novel, Heavenly seemed to me like a contemporary novel with a few paranormal elements added. It mostly concentrated on Zoe's struggle to finally feel welcome in her family, without trying to hurt her parents by telling them how she truly felt about her situation. But exactly this made the angel aspects very believable and turned this novel into a great introduction for a series.

Heavenly has a variety of characters that are both, likeable and unpleasant. Our main characters, Zoe and Matthias, belong to the former group. While it's very easy to understand Zoe and see how everything tends to overwhelm her from time to time, Matthias, too, is a very interesting character. Most of the time he is a very calm (sometimes even a little bit too calm), but a few moments let you see that there is a different side of him, which I'd love to see more of in the sequel.

I'm a little bit on the fence about the secondary characters, though. While it seems like her family situation improves towards the end, I had a hard time accepting the behaviour of her parents and her brother. Some reactions could be excused but overall I just felt sorry for Zoe. The same goes for her "friends" - some of them probably don't even deserve to be called humans.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading Heavenly and after that very surprising ending I'm sure I will continue reading this series. For everyone who likes angel stories, this could definitely be the next good book to read; and even for someone who usually prefers realistic fiction, this could be a could "entrance" into the paranormal world.

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The second novel of the series

Penitence

was released on April 29th, 2010 by Grove Creek Publishing.

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The third novel of the series

Absolution

was released on October 1st, 2010 by Grove Creek Publishing.

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Have you read Heavenly? What did you think about it?
Carina