The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

Jade Kelley's senior year in high school is turning out to be more exciting and dangerous than she ever imagined it could be. She and her family have just moved into a much bigger new house in a big town, she is the new girl at a more advanced, big school, and she just found out that a girl may have been murdered in her home. True, it could have been accident when Kayla fell down the stairs, but no one believes the popular, athletic girl really fell on her own. Everyone in school believes she was pushed by her boyriend, Donovan, the gorgeous guy that Jade is drawn to.

As if the fact that a girl died on at the bottom of her stairs wasn't enough, strange things begin happening in her home. Her brother, Colby, begins seeing a glowing girl in his room. Jade is too sensible to believe in ghosts though. Surely if ghosts existed, her mother would have come back to her after she died of cancer. However, Jade quickly becomes a believer when Kayla contacts her through Colby demanding that she find her killer. She isn't the kind of ghost to give up easily either. She was a mean, bully in life, and death has not improved her personality! Jade knows that her family is in danger if she doesn't do what Kayla wants.

I enjoyed reading The Dead and Buried, even though it was predictable at times. The story was fast paced and kept me interested throughout. I got this book through netgalley as an uncorrected proof. I hope to add the final copy to my library soon.

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Eve and Once by Anna Carey

I flew threw these two books back to back, so I thought that I would review them together. I am anxiously awaiting the publication of Rise, the final book in this trilogy.

The series is set in 2032, sixteen years after a deadly plague wiped out the majority of America's population. In the wake of the plague, The New America has been created under the head of a King. Eve is an orphan who has been raised in a school run by the government. Eve is the top student in her class, where she attends classes that include The Dangers of Men and Boys. After graduation, she will move across the lake to the brick building where the girls learn a trade before going to the City of Sand (the seat of the new government). However, the night before graduation, Eve learns a horrifying secret about what actually happens to the girls after graduation. The truth causes Eve to escape the school and set out on a journey through the wild, dangerous ruins of America. Along the way, she learns that almost everything she has been taught is a lie.

Monument 14 by Emily Laybourne

I normally love post apocalyptic/dystopian novels. I loved The Hunger Games, Ashes, This is Not a Test, and Divergent, as well as many other similar novels, but this book still has been wavering. There are parts of Monument 14 that I loved. It is very fast paced and action packed. So much happens in the first couple of chapters, that the reader flies through them without a second thought. However, there are also parts of the novel that I could have done without. While the book is almost too realistic and graphic in parts, it is overly unrealistic in other areas. I would like to say that this book is definitely for more mature young adult readers.
The story is told from Dean's point of view. On his way to school one morning, his bus is disabled by a sudden, violent hail storm. In the process, the bus turns over, killing the driver and some of the passengers. Luckily, the elementary bus driver thinks fast and crashes her bus into a superstore to save her passengers, before using the bus to rescue the high school students. In total, there are 15 survivors of the accident, but the 14 students are left to survive on their own when the bus driver leaves to retrieve help. Shortly after she leaves, the students are locked in when the riot gates seal the store. They soon learn that the hail storm is only part of the chaos that has erupted outside. A massive volcano erupted, which caused a mega-tsunami that wiped out the entire Eastern Coast of the United States. All of these events cause an earthquake, which releases a chemical agent from a military research facility in Dean's area. The chemical compound affects people differently based on their blood types. Type A breaks out in horrible blisters that eventually result in death, while type AB becomes extremely paranoid and terrified. The compound seems to have little effect on Type B, but the kids learn from a news report, that these people will have reproductive failure and sterility. The worst side effect results for those with Type O blood. These people become extremely violent and dangerous, and begin killing those around them. The kids learn that they have a mixture of the blood types. They seal off the store from the outside world and decide to wait for help. Of course, there are more issues to deal with than they ever thought possible.

I enjoyed this book, but I think it had some issues that the author should have worked out. I am looking forward to reading the sequel though, Sky on Fire, which is due out in June.

Holiday Break Reading Challenge - Day 20 - Book Trailer

Today is the final day of the Holiday Break Reading Challenge, and it is a more difficult and time-consuming challenge than most of the previous challenges.  Today we had to create a book trailer for our #1 book of 2012.  Below, you will find the trailer I created for Anna Dressed in Blood.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!!!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge - Day 19 - Guess the Cover

Today's challenge was to name the books that belong to the covers in the picture.  I was not able to get all of them, so if you know any of the ones I missed, feel free to comment below.  This challenge is over, so I don't mind listing my answers now!

Okay, so for some reason, blogger is not letting me upload the picture right now, so you can go here and check out the covers.

My answers:
The Giver
The Ask and the Answer
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Drama
The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I couldn't figure out the other covers! 

Holiday Break Reading Challenge - Day 18 - Create a Collage

Today's challenge is to create a collage of the books I've read in 2012. 


So, here it is, and believe me this was not easy!  I went through two different programs before I could get them all on there! 

 

And, I just realized it put duplicates on here for some reason, and left off other books!  Technology is NOT my friend today!!!

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Day 17 - Reading Goals

I was lazy yesterday, so I'm posting this a day late.  The challenge for today was to post our Reading Goals for the year.  I felt a lot of pressure to meet my goal of 60 books last year, but I surpassed that goal, so I am going to slightly increase my goal for this year.  I'm going to try to read 65 books by the end of the year.

I also intend to read more books on my ipad and clear out some of those books I've downloaded and never gotten around to.  I also hope to read more books from the high school library, so that I will be more knowledgeable and able to help kids pick out books.