Something Was And Still Is Missing - My Last Blog Post

SOMETHING WAS AND STILL IS MISSING

MY LAST BLOG POST

Something was missing. I didn’t even realize it was missing until I took a semi-break from blogging Thanksgiving week. That was the week I reconnected with my family, my friends, and myself. I loved that week and I promised myself that I would cut back on reading and blogging commitments so I could enjoy more weeks like that.

I kept that promise and I seriously cut back on my commitments. I haven’t let reading or blogging stress me out and I have been having fun again. But yet, something is still missing.

That something is just being a young girl who doesn’t run a very busy book blog. I haven’t seen that girl for nearly two years, when she was ten years old. I want to be that girl again! I want to try new things and make plans for the future I see myself in.

This is my last blog post on Reading Vacation. I am proud of what I’ve done, and now it’s time to move on. I am super excited about trying out some new things and having the time to just be a twelve-year-old girl. I hope you are happy for me too!

It feels like there are a million people for me to thank and it would be infinitely boring if I tried to make a list. Instead, I will thank the two people who have had the biggest impact on me; Kristi (The Story Siren) and HD (Reading Writing Breathing). Stick with me for a minute, and I will explain.

Kristi has been a fabulous friend to me from the very Very VERY beginning. She was the first blogger to send me an email, offer advice, promote this young girl who blogs, share books with me, and be my blogging friend. Kristi shared her wisdom and her heart when a mean book blogging boy bully threatened to turn my life upside down. She knows I love her and will never forget what she did. Kristi is the most awesome example of the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.

HD, whom I have only known for about five months, is like the boy version of me when it comes to books. Who else would put up with all my crazy book love tweets that overflow with ALL CAPS and OMGZZZZZ?  He was also brave enough to start Young Bloggers Unite with me when we first met.  There are only a handful of bloggers our age, and we are lucky enough to live in the same Texas town. I have like a zillion reasons to tell HD thank you, but the biggest one is for bringing a whole lot of happy into my life.

Happy Reading Y’all and thank you for visiting!

**I will still be on Twitter and I will keep Reading Vacation up so you can see my old posts. My ALA books will go to teachers or the library after I read them.**

ALA Midwinter 2012 FAVORITES

ALA MIDWINTER 2012

FAVORITES

ALA was even better than I expected and I had so much fun. It was an absolutely perfect weekend. I will share some of my FAVORITES with you.

FAVORITE PUBLISHERS

Meeting publishers face-to-face was great. My day-to-day contacts weren’t there, but that just meant I got to make lots of new contacts. Our unseasonably high temps in the 70’s may have led a few of these New York City dwellers to consider a move to Texas.

Here are pics of me with some of the most wonderful publishers. And before you mention it, yes, I am pretty small. The most heard phrase of the weekend was some variation of “Melina, you are so little.” My reply “I am!”

Egmont

Flux

Harper

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Little Brown

Macmillan

Penguin

Random House

Scholastic

Simon and Schuster

SOHO Press

FAVORITE AUTHORS

I ran into two of my most loved authors.

Sophie Jordan – whom I’ve met before

Mary Lindsey – we FINALLY met in person

FAVORITE BLOGGERS

Bloggers were everywhere. Seriously. I couldn’t take more than a few steps in any direction without seeing a blogger. It was so cool! In fact, I was so overwhelmed with being among so many friends that I didn’t even stop to take pics. I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I will just say that I loved seeing old friends and meeting others in person for the first time. No way I am listing favorites and leaving anyone off the list. They are all totally the best!

FAVORITE BOOKS

What about the BOOKS, you ask? WOW! The publishers had gorgeous displays of books that have already been released. All those beautiful finished copies looked so crisp. They were also very generous with arcs of yet-to-be-released titles. In most cases, a little patience and a positive attitude were all it took to get a copy of a book I was hoping to read. The publishers were also nice enough to share books that Travis will enjoy reading. In fact, he is already starting his second book!

These books stand out as the ones I was most excited to bring home. I’ve already started reading a few and I’m already sharing with other blogger friends.

Breaking Beautiful

BZRK

Faery Tales & Nightmares

Fever

From What I Remember

Hemlock

Masque of the Red Death

The Night She Disappeared

Of Poseidon

Timepiece

Unraveling

Until I Die

What She Left Behind

The Wood Queen

I can’t wait to read all these amazing books and tell you all about them. Happy reading y’all.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton - Character Word Association Nikki

EVERNEATH

By Brodi Ashton

Character Word Association Nikki

Oh My Gosh, I love EVERNEATH. See my super gushy review HERE!

It is a fabulous mythological retelling with surprising twists and a shocker of an ending. EVERNEATH is beautifully written with alternating time frames. SO COOL! The main character, Nikki, is strong and smart. I gave her some words and asked her what was the first thing that came to mind. Surprises all around!

Jack: Loved and Lost.

Mortality: Looming in her own life, and she can't escape her own.

Mythology Class: where you learn something new every day.

Everneath: Hell

Little Brother: Loves, but she'll never be what he needs

Homework: A slice of something normal that reminds her of her old life.

Isis: First person to breathe immortality into the man she loved.

Gas Station: A front for something sinister.

Dance: Before: In Jack's arms. After: Watching him with someone else.

Forfeit: I was one for a hundred years in the Everneath.

Six Months: Not enough time to say goodbye.

Boys: Besides my brother, there's only one that matters.

Mayor: My dad's title, and the reason regular relationships get complicated.

Kissing: It can be simple and beautiful, but it can also suck the life out of me.

Go get yourself a copy of EVERNEATH. It is such a gorgeous book and it releases today. TODAY! Go get it!

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows - Book Review

Title ~ Incarnate
Series ~ Newsoul #1
Author ~ Jodi Meadows
Release Date ~ January 31, 2012
Publisher ~ HarperTeen
Source ~ HarperTeen

NEWSOUL

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL

Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART

Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Incarnate has a wonderful uniqueness. While reincarnation is the central focus, there is a special attention paid to what the reincarnated are actually dealing with. There are a million souls that have been reincarnated for thousands of years. Whoa! What is really crazy is that they all remember their past lives. That is a different concept than I have read in other reincarnation stories. Imagine all those memories being carried around. The memories of lives and loves lost. Imagine knowing that you will live forever, but not as the person you are now. Everyone interconnected over time.  No secrets.

There is some weirdness to the reincarnation in that you can be a girl in one lifetime and then return as a guy. And this goes on over and over again. Freakity. Freakity. Freak.  However, the characters aren't phased by it and this adds to the awesome beauty of the story.  They are in synch with the journey they are on and trivial things like gender make no difference.  In a way, they are right.

Ana is a newsoul. This means that she is on her very first life and has not yet been reincarnated. What makes it intriguing is that she is the first newsoul in 5,000 years. Everyone is freaked out and they start thinking she must be evil or a sign of danger.  She is blamed for everything bad that happens.  Considering that everyone else has been around for thousands of years, Ana is a like a child. Her wealth of experiences so trivial compared to the others. Oh, but Ana has a fascination with the reincarnated and she looks at them with respect.  The way Jodi Meadows writes Ana's emotions is mesmerizing and fluid.

Ana’s mother, Li, is an awful and manipulative person. I couldn’t stand her. Li holds Ana like a hostage away from society while she is growing up. I mean, who treats their own child this way? It is no wonder that Ana has a bad attitude sometimes, especially toward Sam.

Who’s Sam? Oh, he is one of the very few who are not afraid of Ana. Sam has a bravery that allows him to go against the norms of his society and stand up for Ana. I really liked this guy and it got frustrating when Ana would lash out at him. My favorite times were when these two played music and enjoyed each other.  It was like they melded into one and became the music.  Aww, the music was just so gorgeous to picture!

Remember how I mentioned that Ana is blamed for everything bad?  Well, when the city comes under attack by sylph and dragons, you can imagine who gets the blame.  Yep, it's Ana.  Detailed descriptions of battles and creatures explode on the page.  Love the action.

Rumor has it that Jodi Meadows already has the next two books written.  Oh my goodness, I have got to have them!  My big question is this -  what happened to the soul that was lost when Ana was born?  I cannot wait to find out.

Melina goes to ALA Midwinter 2012

ALA MIDWINTER 2012

DALLAS

Now you know where I am hanging this weekend! I am really excited about all the books. There’s something even better than the books though. The people! I’ve already met most of the Dallas area bloggers, but there are so many from further away that I am getting to meet in person for the first time. I CANNOT WAIT!

If you are there too, look for me. Don’t be shy. Come over and say hi. I promise I won’t be TOO crazy when you say hi. Maybe a LITTLE crazy, but not too much.

 HD (Reading Writing Breathing) and I will be live tweeting under #HMALA. This is our shortened version of #HDandMelinaGushAtALA. We’ll have pics and updates of what’s going on. Expect an awful lot of our over-the-top book love. Prepare your eyes, we get a lot gushy.

Tangled by Erica O'Rourke - Book Review

Title ~ Tangled
Series ~ Torn Trilogy #2
Author ~ Erica O’Rourke
Release Date ~ January 31, 2012
Publisher ~ Kensington
Source ~ Kensington

Constance started to keen as the air around us began to thrash and twist, the caustic scent of ozone burning my nose. As I watched, her dark gold hair began to lift and kink into knots.

“I’m here. It’ll be okay.” It was the last thing I said before my best friend’s little sister went supernova in the second-floor girls’ bathroom, taking me with her.

A month ago, Mo Fitzgerald risked her life to stop an ancient prophecy and avenge her best friend's murder. Now, she only wants to keep her loved ones safe. But the magic—and the Chicago Mob—have other plans.

Mysterious, green-eyed Luc is back, asking for help—and a second chance. Colin, her strongest protector, is hiding a shocking secret. And inside Constance, the magic is about to go terribly wrong. Tangled in a web of love and betrayal, Mo must choose between the life she's dreamed of and the one she's destined for.

Tangled is filled with deception. Mo lives the life of a normal teen while also living a secret magical life. She creates a web of lies as she keeps her magical life a secret from those around her. Even Mo’s normal life isn’t really so normal after all. Her uncle is a mobster and her father is finally being released from prison after many years. Mo’s life hasn’t been easy and she is guarded with her heart. I really like that her family became a part of the story.

What’s this about magic? Well, the magic has become way too powerful and it is starting to emerge in small children. The magical community is relying on Mo to save them from the out of control magic like she did before. Umm, and she only has a few days to do it. Pressure much? It’s like a pressure cooker situation for Mo! I loved all the magic and how it became central to the plot.

The romance takes a turn for the love triangle as Mo has feelings for both Colin and Luc. Colin is the human and Luc has the gift of magic. Colin is the nice guy while Luc can be cocky. Colin is focused only on making Mo happy while Luc will do things to get on her nerves. I dunno’. The whole setup is a little too expected for me.

Overall, I had some mixed feelings. I loved the magic but I was disappointed in the romance. I loved how Mo was affected by her family situation and how she used magic, but I didn’t care for how she dealt with the guys. Yeah, it was so-so.