Date - Mini Challenge #2

Princess Bookie is holding another mini-challenge. This time I have to name a celebrity I would want to go on a date with. Hmm... It would have to be...

Chord Overstreet! Honestly, I don't know much about him. I never even heard about him, until two weeks during the season premiere of Glee. He was one of the new characters. His character is Sam Evans. Sam is a football player. He likes comic books (that's the only thing I remember from when he was introducing himself), and of course, he can sing! Heck, I think I know more about Sam than I do Chord.

But anyway, when I first saw him, I was like, "Oh. Who's that?" Why was I immediately intrigued by him? Well, he kind of looks like how I imagined...Peeta! Yes, Peeta from The Hunger Games. Seriously, throughout the whole episode, I got so excited whenever Chord was in a scene. I kept thinking, 'PEETA!!' haha So yeah, I admit my reason for wanting to go on date with Chord Overstreet is only because he makes me think of Peeta.

Now, what would we do on this date? Well... I don't know. Force him to read The Hunger Games? Maybe I'll tell him to bake me bread or a cake. Paint me a picture. Give me a dandelion. Something Peeta-like! Nah, I'm joking. Staring at him would be enough. Or he could sing me a song, since he seems to be good at that. ;)

Oh yes that's a fanart of Peeta. LOL

Forever Cover

The cover of Forever, the final book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, was revealed today, and you can pre-order an autographed copy at the Fountain Bookstore, Inc.

Also, Maggie Stiefvater is holding a contest on her blog. Prizes include signed copies of the Linger audiobook, hardcover of Linger, paperback of Shiver, bookmarks, bookplates, and more! Contest ends October 19. To find out more information about the contest, visit her blog.

Top 2011 Books - Mini Challenge #1

Princess Bookie is holding a mini-challenge. Basically I have to name my top 5 most anticipated books of 2011. This was a bit hard, but I finally decided on my top 5.

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

My #1 book has got to be The Piper's Son, the companion novel to Saving Francesca. Melina Marchetta is my favorite author, so anything by her is something I want and need to read. This book already came out this past March in Australia, and I've been patiently waiting for the US release. :3

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I have to say that I'm extremely intrigued with this book. All I know about it is what I've read from the summary and some comments I've seen that mention it's Hunger Games-ish. And you know I love The Hunger Games. I heard it's also going to be a series. Seriously cannot wait to read this one! >:)

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay, but this time it's in Adam's point of view. If I Stay was one of my favorite books last year, and I loved Mia and Adam. When I found out there was going to be a sequel, it made me very happy. Can't wait! Oh, and isn't the cover just pretty? :)

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

This is the sequel to The Body Finder. I loved The Body Finder; it's one of my favorite paranormal YA books. I thought Violet and Jay were great characters, and I loved their relationship. Really excited to read more about them in this sequel! :D

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

I loved Lisa McMann's WAKE trilogy. She has a total of three books she plans on releasing in the next two years, and Cryer's Cross is definitely the one I'm most interested in reading. Especially after Lisa said that if you loved Cabel from WAKE (which I did), then you'll love the guy in this book. ;)

In My Mailbox #26

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren, inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

Library:

Gregor & the Prophecy of Bane (Underland Chronicles, #2) by Suzanne Collins
Shade (Shade, #1) by Jeri Smith-Ready

Got books & postcard this week! Shade I've been wanting to read for awhile, so hopefully it's good. I also got the second book of The Underland Chronicles. I enjoyed the first book. :)

As for the postcards, some friends and I on GoodReads really liked Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. So since we can't go on road trips, we were inspired to send each other postcards! The bottom two postcards are from Arlene in California, the top left is from Nic in Australia, and the top right is from Olivia in Germany. Thank you, chicas! It was fun sending postcards again. Haven't done that in months. ^^

Btw! To those who are patiently waiting for Candlewick's release of The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, the release is March 8, 2011 and it's up for pre-order on Amazon! ;)

Mockingjay Giveaway @ The Hob

The Hob, a new blog dedicated to The Hunger Games trilogy, is giving away an official copy of Mockingjay stamped by Suzanne Collins! Contest ends next Thursday, September 30, at 8:00 PM EST. To find out how to enter, visit their blog here. :)

Waiting on Wednesday (15)

Title: Freefall
Author: Mindi Scott
Release Date: October 5, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Summary: How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend Isaac alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time where Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn’t wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend’s death, Seth is torn between turning his life around...or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth will soon realize he isn’t the only one who needs saving...

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

5 Books Meme

Found this meme through Lori at Pure Imagination. :)

5 Books I’ve Read Recently

1. Checkmate by Malorie Blackman
2. Unwind by Neal Shusterman ♥
3. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
4. Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins ♥

5 Books I’m Planning to Read (in the near future)

1. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
3. Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
4. Firelight by Sophie Jordan
5. Dark Flame by Alyson Noel

5 of My Favorite Books (Well, obviously all get ♥!)

1. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta ♥
2. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins ♥
3. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh ♥
4. Unwind by Neal Shusterman ♥
5. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta ♥

5 of My Least Favorite Books

1. Need by Carrie Jones
2. Shadowland by Alyson Noel
3. Captivate by Carrie Jones
4. Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
5. Candor by Pam Bachorz

5 Books That Made Me Cry (Yeah, I changed this category. XD)

1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins ♥
2. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta ♥
3. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman ♥
4. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma ♥
5. If I Stay by Gayle Forman ♥

♥ = I loved the book. Of course. ;D

In My Mailbox #25

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren, inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

Library:

Gregor the Overlander (Underland Chronicles, #1) by Suzanne Collins
Poison Study (Study, #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Bought:

The Broken Lake (The Pace, #2) by Shelena Shorts
I.N.V.U., Vol. 5 by Kim Kang Won
Nevermore (Nevermore, #1) by Kelly Creagh

Won / Gift:

The Body Finder (Body Finder, #1) by Kimberly Derting + swag
We Were There, Vol. 1 by Yuki Obata

I loved The Body Finder! Thanks to Kimberly Derting for the book & swag and Jeremy at Novel Thoughts for hosting the giveaway. And thanks to Arlene from GoodReads for the manga We Were There. :)

From the library, I decided to get Gregor the Overlander. I was in the mood for more Suzanne Collins. I also got Poison Study. I've heard so much good things about it, and I've been wanting to read it for months now.

The Broken Lake is the second book in 'The Pace' series. I enjoyed the first book, so hopefully the second one is just as good. Also bought volume 5 of I.N.V.U. It's a manwha I've been following for years, and this volume was finally released last year. As for Nevermore, I read the ARC a few months ago and loved it! So I needed to buy my own copy. I seriously cannot wait for the next book! :D

Animazement 2010

Back in May, I mentioned that I went to an anime convention called Animazement. I know I said that I would post about it, but I never did! So here is my post now. I can barely remember stuff though.... And I only had a cell phone camera, which sucked. I apologize for the crappy pics.

So, this was my third year in a row attending Animazement. It's a 3-day convention usually held during the last weekend of May in Raleigh, North Carolina. The first year I went is still my favorite year, but this year was way better than last year. I really did not enjoy myself last year, and I was so close to not going again. Good thing I changed my mind.

The Guests:

Kappei Yamaguchi (the Japanese voice actor of Ranma, Inuyasha, and L from Death Note) was there! He's the one wearing the green bandanna. He was so energetic and nice and funny! Just adorable. Which reminds me, two years ago at Otakon, the largest anime convention on the US east coast, my sister and I wanted to get Yamaguchi's autograph. But like I mentioned, Otakon is a huge convention, and Yamaguchi was in high-demand because at the time, Death Note was very popular. So even though we waited in line for 2 hours, we weren't able to see him. It sucked, but thankfully, Animazement is a way smaller convention! ;)

Kazuhiko Inoue, the Japanese voice actor of Kakashi in the anime Naruto, was another guest! He's the guy standing up. He had 2 panels during the con. I went to both because the I missed the first 30 minutes of his first panel, and I needed to get an autograph ticket from his second panel. He was funny and cool. Someone asked him if he ever met Kishimoto, and he said that he has met him a couple of times & he mentioned that Kishimoto hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. He also joked that Kishimoto is coldhearted. Inoue's favorite colors are white & blue. He can sing & dance. He said that another Naruto movie is being made and that there will continue to be more as long as the anime is still going on.

Inoue & Yamaguchi's autographs:

This made me happy. And I even got to shake their hands. I was so nervous I only managed a 'thank you' to both of them before I quickly left; it felt a bit surreal. haha Inoue signed my copy of Naruto vol. 47, which is my favorite volume because of Hinata's confession. Yamaguchi signed the Animazement booklet; I wish I had brought my copy of Ranma ½ vol. 36, but I didn't even think about it.

The Only Cosplay Pic I Took:

Like I said, I had a crappy cell phone camera. The only reason I took this picture was for my sister. Well, and also because it was a good cosplay. Anyway, my sister loves video games, and she likes God of War, so I went for it. :p

What I Bought:

Anime conventions are expensive. Paying admission fees, hotel fees, and FOOD (3 meals a day; I don't understand how my friends can go with just eating one meal) and donating to the gas fund definitely adds up. I really had to make sure I did not spend too much money on merchandise. So I bought a few manga/manwha (Happy, Happy Clover vol. 4, Naruto vol. 47, Soul to Seoul vol. 4 & 5), a Sasuke Uchiha charm because I thought it was adorable, and a plushie of Toro, Japan's mascot for the PS3. Toro was for my lil sis. :)

Regrets?
Yes, I do have one actually. I didn't see Noriko Hidaka! She's the Japanese voice actor of Akane from Ranma ½, Kikyo from InuYasha, and Near from Death Note. I also missed her two years ago at Otakon. The reason I missed her this year is because I was at Kazuhiko Inoue's autograph session. Maybe, hopefully, she'll be there again next year. (Oh yeah, I regret not writing this post earlier because I forgot so many details!)

Will I Go Next Year?
Honestly, if had to choose between going to an anime convention or a YA book convention right now, I would definitely pick the book convention. I will always like anime, but reading books is what I love now. ;D

In My Mailbox #24

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren, inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

Bought:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins

Library:
Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) by Richelle Mead
Unwind (Unwind, #1) by Neal Shusterman

Won:
Return to Paradise (Leaving Paradise, #2) by Simone Elkeles

So happy I finally own the first two books in The Hunger Games. Now I can reread all my favorite parts, and also, my copy of Mockingjay isn't lonely anymore. I love this trilogy! :D

I won Return to Paradise from the Flux publisher during a live Q&A chat with Simone Elkeles! They also included a bookmark. I was very surprised that I won because I totally messed up the first time I sent the email. hehe So yeah, I've read it already; it was good, but I think Leaving Paradise is still better. ;)

And after months of waiting, I finally got Spirit Bound from the library. I thought the fourth book was the best in the series so far, so hopefully this one is just as good or better. I also picked up Unwind. I have no idea what the book is about, but some friends on GoodReads loved it, so I'm very very curious. :)

Waiting on Wednesday (14)

It's a children's book, but hey, it's by Melina Marchetta. I'm sure I'll love it. Plus, Jonah Griggs (from Jellicoe Road) is going to make an appearance. I can't miss that! ;D

Title: The Gorgon in the Gully
Author: Melina Marchetta
Release Date: September 27, 2010
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Summary: Beyond the basketball courts and classrooms of St Raph's is a gully where everything disappears forever. Danny Griggs has heard stories about a creature that lives down there. So why does he volunteer to face the Gorgon when he's been petrified of everything all his life?

A gentle story about overcoming fear and looking at things from all angles, from best-selling author Melina Marchetta.

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine.