Hope everyone has a amazing New Years and that all the wishes you have for 2011 will come true! =D So I was thinking about showing you some of the stuff from my New Years Resolutions, but before I start I was just wondering what your New Years Resolutions is? What are you going to do in 2011 that could change your life and make it more fun?

1. To read more books then I did in 2010.

2. Do more posts.

3. Start contests/giveaways.

4. Talk more to authors and publishing companies.

5. Make more videos then I did in 2010.

6. Make the blog more fun. =)

So that's just some of the things I want to do to improve this blog and my channel. I hope everyone liked this post and have a great day!

Fragment Friday is hosted by James at Book Chic. You read an excerpt from your favorite book or a book that you are currently reading and share it to your readers.

Today I read from Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King.

Sapphique

By: Catherine Fisher

Synopsis:

The only one who escaped . . . And the one who could destroy them all.

Incarceron, the living prison, has lost one of its inmates to the outside world: Finn’s escaped, only to find that Outside is not at all what he expected. Used to the technologically advanced, if violently harsh, conditions of the prison, Finn is now forced to obey the rules of Protocol, which require all people to live without technology. To Finn, Outside is just a prison of another kind, especially when Claudia, the daughter of the prison’s warden, declares Finn the lost heir to the throne. When another claimant emerges, both Finn’s and Claudia’s very lives hang on Finn convincing the Court of something that even he doesn’t fully believe.
Meanwhile, Finn’s oathbrother Keiro and his friend Attia are still trapped inside Incarceron. They are searching for a magical glove, which legend says Sapphique used to escape. To find it, they must battle the prison itself, because Incarceron wants the glove too.

Book Trailer:


Check out Catherines website: Here!
Check out the Incarceron series website: Here!

I decided to do a post about my top 5 favorite covers that were published in the US in 2010.

I hope you enjoy this post.

1.

This has to be my number #1 favorite cover of 2010. I really like how the girls eyes aren't looking at you, but somewhere else. I do like the swirls and butterflies that go across in different areas around the cover. Also the text of the title is amazing and the colors put together on this cover is beautiful. I think the girl they picked for Meghan is just what I thought she looked like. There isn't one bad thing about this cover to me and it made it that much better to read.

2.

I must like purple a lot because I think this cover is amazing! The flowers make the cover bright and wild. The way the hair flows and goes all the way to the back of the book is great and also the skin of the girl is covered in sparkles (who could not like that?). I also like the brightness of the girls eye and how they don't really need to show the other half of her face. Also the color of her lips is stunning. The text of the title is great and I love that one little slash of blood of the "T" that looks like a cross.

3.

 I enjoy this cover a lot. I really like how the older more colored picture of the girl on the right has cracks in the painting and it truly does look like a work of art.

I do also like the ribbon that goes all the way around the book and on the side has a wonderful key that means a lot in the book. The other picture of the girl on the left does make it seem likes its more of a picture then a painting and closer to our time then the one on the right. I do enjoy history and I just love how this book makes it seem like its two different stories when they separate the two girls, but with the ribbon it seems like in way that they are both connected.

4.

I did enjoy the first books cover called Fallen when the girl looked like she was crying,but on this cover the girl looks like she is about to exploded with anger. That she is completely done with the problems people put her through and she is ready to do what she wants to do even if what she does isn't always the right thing. The dress she is wearing is amazing and I really just like how her hair is all messed up. The background makes it seem very gloomy and it that's a even better thing when it comes to her rage. I do like the text a lot and how the "R" swoops down and under the "M". I also like the nice little sign that separates the title of the book and the authors name.

5.

I like this cover because its simple and a lot easier looking then the other covers, but in the same way it also makes a shows something huge that happens in the book and the only way the designer would know this is if he/she read the book. The color in the background is very bright, but also makes it pop when you look at it on a shelf and just want to pick it up and see whats inside. I also like the lighter, which plays a big part in the story. But my favorite part of the book is the text of the words that look like they are coming out of the lighter. The only problem with this cover is the text of the authors name! It's so small! But overall this book looks amazing.

Cryer's Cross

Lisa McMann

Young Adult

February 8, 2010

This author has made other books, which include the Wake Trilogy that I have read, but didn't like at all. But I am willing to give this author a second chance because this sounds amazing and hopefully her writing style as improved. I love books that are creepy and seem like there are twist and turns in the story, but no way out. The cover is amazing and hopefully its good or even better then I think.

From Barnes&Nobles:

The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.

When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.
Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

Hello everyone. I finished reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, which is the first book in this series. The second book called Sapphique, which just came out yesterday.

***

Plot: Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.

Review: At the beginning of this book it was a bit slow, but after a few chapters I was hooked to the story. The writing style wasn't that great at first, but after getting used to how the author writes it seemed good. I did enjoy most of characters, like Finn and Claudia. I also liked the mystery that every single character had and that really made the book more fun. I did like the journey Finn and a few other people had to go through to finally be where they always wanted to be. Finn was a very caring and smart person in this story. He really was the light in the dark Incarceron. Claudia was a completely different character then Finn and had a few secrets she didn't know about herself. She was also smart, but mostly clever, hard as a rock, and at times she acted like a ticking time boom ready to blow up. But I have to say my favorite character throughout the whole book was Incaceron the prison itself. To me I think Incarceron is the beast inside every creator. I just love how Incarceron is a living thing and can trap people inside itself, but never could really see from outside itself. Overall this book was amazing and I give it a 4.5/5.

***

Pub. Date: January 2010

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Format: Hardcover , 442pp
Chapters: 35
Age Range: Young Adult

Book Trailer:

*In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren* In My Mailbox gives bloggers a chance to show each other

what books they got for the week. It's a very exciting and fun thing to do. Here is what I got for the week:

Bought/Review/Won:

Summary: A hidden truth.

Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.
Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form. Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Summary: Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.

But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.
So much for normal.

Summary: Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?
Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

Summary: And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!
from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look. Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.
As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.
His life depends on it.

Summary: BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.
Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.

Summary: Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer, and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance. But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is tested by a torturous secret from his past.

Part irresistible romance and part darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers.


Summary: Psychic...or psychotic?
Anna knows her family is crazy. But when she goes to visit her aunt and uncle for the summer and learns that her uncle’s charred body has been found, her life reaches a new level of insanity. Her erratic aunt’s “psychic” abilities are exaggerated by her grief, and have become borderline violent. Alone in an unfamiliar town, Anna struggles to pick up the pieces and establish any sense of normalcy. She desperately wants to trust Zack, the cute boy next door, but even he might know more about the incident than he is letting on.
But when Anna starts feeling an inexplicable pull to the site of her uncle’s murder, she begins to believe that her family’s supernatural gifts are real after all. Torn between loyalty and suspicion, Anna is certain of only one thing: she must discover who killed her uncle or she could be next....

Summary: 1922

The story opens with the confession of Wilfred James to the murder of his wife, Arlette, following their move to Hemingford, Nebraska onto land willed to Arlette by her father.
Big Driver
Mystery writer, Tess, has been supplementing her writing income for years by doing speaking engagements with no problems. But following a last-minute invitation to a book club 60 miles away, she takes a shortcut home with dire consequences.
Fair Extension
Harry Streeter, who is suffering from cancer, decides to make a deal with the devil but, as always, there is a price to pay.

Summary: Nastasya has spent the last century living as a spoiled, drugged-out party girl. She feels nothing and cares for no one. But when she witnesses her best friend, a Dark Immortal, torture a human, she realizes something's got to change. She seeks refuge at a rehab for wayward immortals, where she meets the gorgeous, undeniably sexy Reyn, who seems inexplicably linked to her past.

Nastasya finally begins to deal with life, and even feels safe--until the night she learns that someone wants her dead.
Cate Tiernan, author of the popular Sweep series, returns with an engaging story of a timeless struggle and inescapable romance, the first book in a stunning new fantasy trilogy.