Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Book 2 in The Lunar Chronicles

By Marissa Meyer

Genre: sci-fi, steampunk, fantasy, fairy tale retelling

My rating: 4 stars

Summary, taken from goodreads.com: "Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner."


If you haven't read Cinder, you should most def read that before reading this review.  Cinder was mind-blowingly awesome.  You can read my review of it here.

But anyway:

10 Fun Gifts for Readers and Writers

In honor of the approaching holidays and frenzied shopping for loved ones and making your own Christmas wish list, I'm reposting this, along with a few more goodies I've discovered.  Enjoy!



Need to get a random gift for a reader/writer in your life?  Or something fun to buy yourself?  Then this is the post for you!

First off, random fun stuff for readers:

1)  New Book Smell aerosol.

Here's an actual quote from their website: "Now you can finally enjoy reading e-books without giving up the smell you love so much. With Smell of Books™ you can have the best of both worlds, the convenience of an e-book and the smell of your favorite paper book."

Seriously?  So random.  Check out the website for it here.

2)  "Movies: Ruining the Book Since 1920" t-shirt.

Haha, so true.  Check out their website here.

Only $10.  :)






3) PosterText

Your favorite classical text is on these awesome posters, along with a graphic from a story.  Here's Alice in Wonderland.  Have no idea which of these posters I'd want for myself, because they are ALL AWESOME!  Check out the awesomeness!

4)  Banned Books Handbag

My hubby got this one for me.  I love it.  And I get so many comments and compliments on it.  Proceeds from this bag support the American Library Association.  Get your own bag here for only 12 dollars and support the ALA and your freedom to read.  :)

5) Trivial Pursuit: Book Lovers Edition

I've never been the greatest at Trivial Pursuit, but maybe now I"ll have a better chance.  Available at Amazon.

And now, random fun gifts for writers:

6) "Will Write for Chocolate" t-shirt

Based on the website willwriteforchocolate.com - a great website by the way!  Debbie Ridpath Ohi (AKA InkyGirl) created the website and posts hilarious comics about writers.

Get your t-shirt here.  

I'll do about anything for chocolate.  In fact, I think I'll go get some now.  BRB...

Ok, I'm back.  Onto the next thing...

7)  Chocolate Keyboard.

More chocolate?  Yes please!  Find out more about it here.

8) Write Now Wall clock

Simply because we all need a little reminder to stop procrastinating. ;)  Only $15 and available here.

9)  Next Novel Journal

The perfect little novel for brainstorming, plotting, etc.

Get yours here.

And finally....

10) "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel" t-shirt

Oooh, what a threat!  What a great shirt!

Get yours here.  Available in 5 color choices.  

So, which of these gifts would you most like to receive?  

Should Books Be Banned?

So, for those of you who didn't know, it's Banned Books Week.  The purpose of it is to bring awareness to the fact that students are not free to read certain books due to the fact that teachers, parents or community members request that those books be banned from school libraries and curriculums.

Now, I must admit...

I Read Banned Books.  

I even have this bag that says so.  You can get one for you too!

 I'm not a huge fan of banning books.  I used to teach middle school English before being a stay-at-home mom and I found it unfair that because a parent was not comfortable with their child reading a certain book that it meant that no student could read that book.  As a parent I totally understand not wanting your child to be exposed to things you don't approve of, but I don't feel it gives you the right to put those values on other people's children as well.

In fact, my first year teaching, The Giver was part of our curriculum.  I LOVED teaching that book and most of my students loved it too.  And then it was banned from our curriculum.  We could have it in our school library, and I would recommend it to my students but I could no longer teach it.

There are some great classics that have been banned from curriculums and some great reads that have been banned from libraries, such as the Harry Potter series (irreligious), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (irreligious), The Hunger Games (too violent), James and the Giant Peach (socially offensive), and Speak (too graphic).

So, what do you think of the idea of banning books from schools?

Fall Into Reading

It's been a while since I've read some good ol' YA books.  Granted, I haven't been the greatest at reading or blogging with the move and the new baby and all, but man, do I miss curling up with my Kindle or a good paperback and a frappachino and just reading. 

So anyway (now that I'm desperately craving a frap) let me get to the point of this post.  Katrina at Callapider Days is hosting the PERFECT book challenge to get me back into reading.  I love that you can set your own goals and reading list.  So anyway, since I'm still getting into the swing of things in a new house and with another kiddo, I'm only planning on reading 5 books.  If I can do more, awesome possum.  If not, I think I can handle a book or two each month.  'cuz that's how long the challenge lasts, during my favoritest of all seasons.  Yay for autumn!

So, just in case you're curious as to what I'll be reading (and hopefully reviewing) in the next few months, here they are:

Happy Autumn Everyone!  And happy reading!

Anyone else gonna participate in this challenge?  

And have any of you read any of these books?

Hunger Games Readers: Help needed!

I dunno about you, but I'm excited about The Hunger Games hitting the screens soon.  Here's a little taste of what you'll see:





Haha, that looks awesome!  And it got me thinking: what was it about The Hunger Games that makes it so awesome?  Suspenseful?  Different?

I mean, I remember the first time I read it, I flew through the pages because I just HAD to know what was going to happen to Katniss and Peeta and the adorable little Rue.  My heart pounded at times.  I was mad at my hubster for reminding me we needed to eat at some point because that meant I had to leave the arena and the characters I had grown to love and enter back into my own life.

So, back to my question, what makes it so awesome? I determined to figure it out by rereading the book.  You know, for research.  So I opened the book, focusing on the word choice, the imagery, the descriptions.  Beautiful.  Love it!  And then the last line of the first chapter did me in.  I went back to turning those pages, flying through the book, though I already knew how it would end.  I devoured that book again.

I debated reading it a third time.  But I think the same thing might happen.  Maybe I need to read it backwards.  Read the last chapter, then the second to last, etc.  Who knows.  Somewhere in that book is the secret to Suzanne Collin's success and I want it.

So, I'm asking you, please help me out.  What do you think is Collin's secret?  Characters? Plot? Word choice? Chapter endings? What did she do to make The Hunger Games such a success?

Read-a-thon...

Hi!  So, I just found this the day before the 24 hour read-a-thon.  How cool is that?  It's hosted by Dewey's Read-a-Thon.

So, uh, yeah, I know I won't be able to read as much during this 24 hours as I'd like.  I have an adorable baby (AKA My Little Monkey) that won't allow for that.  But it's an awesome opportunity to get some reading in.  Here's my to-read list for the read-a-thon.  I'll be updating my thoughts about each book as I'm reading.  When I've completed a book I'll give it a star rating (with 5 stars being the highest of course!)  And check back in a few days for reviews on these books.

So, without further ado, here's my YA reading list:

• North of Beautiful  4 1/2 stars

6:30 am.  Monkey woke me up a little earlier than usual, but I guess that means it's time to start reading....
9:20 am.  I feel bad for Terra. Her Dad is horrible and she's waaay too self-conscious about that birthmark on her cheek.  Hopefully Jacob can speak some sense into her life...
12:00 pm.  Monkey is demanding attention.  Will return to book when he goes down for a nap.
12:45 pm.  Monkey down for a nap.  Continuing reading.
1:05 pm.  Terra, just break up with Erik already!  Jacob is waay better for you.
1:10 pm.  Monkey awake.  I'll have to wait until his 3:00 nap to continue reading.
3:10 pm.  Monkey sleeping.  Reading full speed ahead.
3:40 pm.  Monkey awake.  Whew, that was a short nap.
4:42 pm.  Chapter 29 is BEAUTIFUL!  Just a few chapters to go, but my little monkey requires a snack...
5:27 pm.  FINISHED!

• Speedy Little Race Cars: A Zippity Zoom Colors Book  Monkey gives it 5 stars!

5:35 pm.  Had to get my little monkey in on the read-a-thon before his naptime.  He seemed to enjoy it, especially because he could touch the cars as I was reading and the pages are thick enough for him to turn.  When I asked him how many stars we should give it, he gave me a huge grin, so I'm guessing that's a 5 star rating...

• I Heart You, You Haunt Me

7:45 pm.  Monkey is sleeping.  Began reading.  This book is written in verse, so it shouldn't take long to read.  Nevertheless, I doubt I'll make it to City of Bones tonight.
8:25 pm.  Already half-way done with the book.  Interesting story so far, not so sure how I feel about it written in verse.  I'm tired of reading....gonna watch TV for a while.
10:42 pm.  Got sucked into the television world and now I think all the reading and my monkey have worn me out.  Off to bed I go--hopefully I'll finish this book tomorrow.  Check back Tuesday for my reviews of these YA books...

• City of Bones

Happy reading fellow read-a-thoners!

325 Books in 3 Months?!

I read this article yesterday. It was about a teen who read 325 novels over the summer. I am totally impressed. A 14 year old read about 315 more books than me! And that got me thinking about my reading habits lately.

I used to read ALL the time. Especially YA books. I guess I always viewed it as part of my job (since I taught middle school English for 3 years before becoming a full-time Mommy). But that article made me realize that I didn't just read those books to be able to recommend books to students. I actually enjoyed reading them for my own entertainment. Plus, since I'm writing YA novels, maybe I should be keeping current on the YA market, right? And so I've made it my new goal to read at least 2 YA books a month. And then write a review about them-recently read or previous loves. So, be on the lookout for my reviews! They'll be coming out every Tuesday. :)

So how many books did you read over the summer? And what are your reading habits like now? Have any reading goals you want to share?

Bookish Bulletin Board

Before becoming a full time mommy, writer, and apparently blogger, I was a middle school English teacher. For some reason I felt inspired to share this when I came across the pics....


So the kiddos loved the bulletin board I used year long, and I'll admit I love it too, though it does require maintenance. I made my bulletin board look like a book shelf and wrote "Building Our Brains One Book at a Time" as the title. I cut pieces of construction paper into varying sizes and when students finished reading a book, they grabbed a 'book spine'. They wrote the book title, author, their own name and a star rating (out of 5 stars) for their peers to see. I made a shelf for each class and at the end of each quarter, the class with the most books on their shelf got a prize. The kids got really into it, noticing which class was winning, and which classes were 'slacking'. Nothing like encouraging kiddos to read. :)


For more bookish inspiration, check out my Pinterest board Book Loving

What are some things you do to encourage kiddos to read?