Cover Wars: UK vs US

I was surprised at how different the covers are for The Devouring by Simon Holt. They feel like completely different books - I think the book is possibly aimed at a male audience in the UK (fans of Darren Shan etc). I prefer the US one - I don't think I'd pick up the UK one, whereas the US one makes me want to read it.

UK

US

What do you think?

In my mailbox (10)

In my mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren

This week I bought:

Read My Lips by Teri Brown

From Amazon:

Popularity is as easy as a good secret.
Serena just wants to fly under the radar at her new school. But Serena is deaf, and she can read lips really well-even across the busy cafeteria. So when the popular girls discover her talent, there's no turning back.
From skater chick to cookie-cutter prep, Serena's identity has done a 180...almost. She still wants to date Miller, the school rebel, and she's not ready to trade her hoodies for pink tees just yet. But she is rising through the ranks in the school's most exclusive clique.
With each new secret she uncovers, Serena feels pressure to find out more. Reading lips has always been her greatest talent, but now Serena just feels like a gigantic snoop...

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

From Amazon: Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad - her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares - has been cancelled. After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb's free ...if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers. Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It's a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

Love Bites Boxset - containing:
Dirty Angels by Andrew Clover, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Beautiful Dead by Eden Maguire, Darke Academy by Gabriella Poole, Vamprie Diaries - The Awakening, The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike.

How did you all do?

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

From Amazon:
"Don't worry, Anna. I'll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won't say anything?"
"Don't worry." I laughed. "It's our secret, right?"

According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in ZanzibarBay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy ever day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie---she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

I loved this. It is beautifully written – the writing just flows and I found myself so absorbed I completely forgot I was reading. All the characters were three dimensional – including Matt who the author fleshed out enough for the reader to believe in the grief the characters felt. I really liked Anna and she had a great voice – very witty at times but you could feel her grief throughout the book. Frankie was suitably complex and I got a hint of how she used to be and understood why she acted the way she did – I can’t say I always liked her though.

The way everyone grieved felt authentic – the effect on Frankie, her parents and Anna – all of it felt very real. The ending also felt natural and believable, managing to end the story in a satisfying way.

Overall I really enjoyed this – so much I found myself savouring it and not wanting it to end. In fact, I think I could have read another 300 pages of her writing and not tired of it. Strongly recommended and I can't wait for her next book!

I want to read that....

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

From the authors website:
Zoey’s life in her Florida beach resort town is happy and organized. She’s the captain of her high school swim team, and she works for her dad at his popular water park. Then her dad has an affair with one of his employees, and her mother has a breakdown. But Zoey begins a committed relationship with a hot lifeguard, which makes her feel stable, even if things aren’t perfect at home. Everything is still under control.
Until she has a car accident that she can’t remember. She should have been with her boyfriend that night, but he doesn’t seem to know anything about the accident—and he doesn’t seem to care. The person who does care, and knows more than he’s telling, is Doug, Zoey’s darkly handsome arch-enemy who saved her from the wreckage. As Zoey begins to piece together what happened that night, she finds her sense of control over her life was only an illusion. And she inches closer to discovering the darkest secret of all: why Doug has fallen in love with her.
Published by MTV Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. July 2010

I really really love Going too Far so even if this is only half as good it will still be brilliant! Can't wait as it sounds amazing!

My first Blog Award!

Many, many thanks to Once upon a Bookcase for giving me the Honest Scrap Award!

This is the Honest Scrap award. It is for those bloggers who write from the heart. The rules are to pass it along to seven bloggers and then list 10 honest things about myself. Here are those deserving of this honor, bloggers who write from the heart and touch me because of it:

Wondrous Reads
Chicklish
Rhiannon Hart
The Story Siren
The Bookette
Lauren's Cramned Bookshelf
Undercover Book Lover

Ten honest things about me (but not necessarily that interesting....)

1. I was vegetarian for 20 years.
2. I am addicted to DVD’s and own far too many.
3. I love Horror films.
4. I have a ridiculously large TBR pile – last count was around the 1000 mark! I stopped counting after that!
5. I can’t stop buying books – which adds to the problem above!
6. I am terrified of snakes :(
7. I love photography.
8. I’m told I don’t have any patience – but I can’t possibly comment.
9. I love the sound of rain.
10. I’m a cat person...but have a dog called Gideon...unfortunately he's afraid of cats :(