Thursday, 24 February 2011

The winner of Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan



Random.org has spoken and the winner is Winnie! Congratulations! 

If you still haven't entered my giveaway of Delirium by Lauren Oliver today is your last chance to enter :)

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Book review +giveaway: Delirium by Lauren Oliver


I can honestly say that I now know why everyone's been raving on about Lauren Oliver! Delirium is a wonderful begining to a new dystopian trilogy. If you're looking for some great dystopia to fill in the void after the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy then I strongly recommend you to check out Delirium(even if you didn't like THG you should definitely check out this novel). 


My summary:
This time I'll leave the summary to the book trailer:







My thoughts:
Delirium is the first book in a new dystopian trilogy by Lauren Oliver, the author behind Before I Fall(which I have yet to read but I do own a copy of it). I'm more often than not a bit skeptical to novels that receive much praise, my expectations is sky high and I'm often let down but I'm glad to say that Delirium did not let me down one bit!


Oliver has taken inspiration from the past years flu epidemics and created a world(or a state actually) where love is a disease which must be avoided at all costs. It's a scary scenario, can you imagine what it would be like if people couldn't feel love?


The main character, Lena, has been told all her life how horrible a disease love is, why should she doubt that information? I mean there's plenty of evidence in the human history that shows us the horrible things love can do to a person. In Delirium the story of Romeo and Juliet is being used in schools to serve as an example of the terrible disease that love is.

Lena's family has a bad reputation due to family scandals in the past and Lena longs for her procedure and counts the days until it's her turn. Lena want's so bad to be just like everyone else, she longs for a life where she no longer needs to fear getting amor deliria nervosa. Lena's best friend Hana is almost Lena's opposite when it comes to getting the cure. Before the cure everyone has to be evaluated and when the day has arrived Hana says the following to Lena:

You can't be really happy unless you're unhappy sometimes. You know that, right?

Hana scares Lena. It is strictly forbidden to utter negative opinions about the cure. If you do resist the goverment and the cure you might have to take the procedure before it is safe, you might be thrown into the crypts or worse..

I really liked the characters in this novel, they were belivable and cleverly written. My favorite character was Grace, Lena's six year old cousin, who due to a traumatic experience dosen't speak one word. Grace just somehow touched my heart. This story has it all; action, romance, tragedy, angst and more.

If you want to read Delirium then just leave a comment below and make sure to include your email address so  I can get in touch with you. Giveaway ends February 24th and it's international!

Many thanks to the people at Hodder & Stoughton Ltd for sending me a review copy.

The cover:
It is just so pretty. I took a little while for me to discover that there actually was a girl behind the title *blush*

My rating of this book:
5 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
Confessions of A Book Addict
The Hiding Spot
holes In My brain
Book Couture
The Eclectic Reader
Pure Imagination

Want to know more?
Add Delirium to your Goodreads wish list.
Visit Lauren Oliver's homepage 
Read Lauren's blog 
Follow Lauren on Twitter

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Published: February 3rd 2011
Pages(hardcover): 400
Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
ISBN: 0340980915, ISBN13: 9780340980910
Full disclosure: 
ARC received from the publisher. 

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Memento Nora - Waiting on Wednesday


Memento Nora by Angie SmibertRelease date: April 1st 2011. Published by Marshall Cavendish Children's Books.

Why am I pining for Memento Nora?
It's an interesting premise for a novel, a pill that could make one forget everything bad that has happened. What does it do to a person to forget all the bad things? Isn't both good and bad experiences what shapes a person? Is it good just to forget those things that are sad? I know I would love to read the authors take on these things. Since the main character spits out this pill I guess she, at least to a certain extent, agrees that one should keep all memories good or bad.

Book trailer:

Synopsis(borrowed from the Memento homepage):
Nora, the popular girl and happy consumer, witnesses a horrific bombing on a shopping trip with her mother. In Nora’s near-future world, terrorism is so commonplace that she can pop one little white pill to forget and go on like nothing ever happened. However, when Nora makes her first trip to a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic, she learns what her mother, a frequent forgetter, has been frequently forgetting. Nora secretly spits out the pill and holds on to her memories. The memory of the bombing as well as her mother’s secret and her budding awareness of the world outside her little clique make it increasingly difficult for Nora to cope. She turns to two new friends, each with their own reasons to remember, and together they share their experiences with their classmates through an underground comic. They soon learn, though, they can’t get away with remembering.


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill's blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.

Angelfire - Teaser Tuesday


This weeks teaser is brought to you from Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, Kindle location 347-49(ARC):
"It's time to end this game," he said, sending stabs of ice down my spine. He yanked me to his chest effortlessly and pressed his palm to my forehead.
Angelfire releases in the US today! Happy release day to Courtney and her debut novel :D I'm not that far into the novel yet but I've enjoyed the ride so far :D

MizB of Should Be Reading host this meme called Teaser Tuesday . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
    BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Sunday, 6 February 2011

In my mailbox - special edition


In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kirsti over at The Story Siren. If you want to find out what great books other book bloggers have gotten in their mailbox head on over there and find out.



On Thursday I gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl :) My water broke 6 AM and she was born 1HR and 40 min later. It went very fast so good thing we live close by the hospital, everything is fine with us but I expect there will be a little less time for blogging these first weeks.


That's all from me this week; did you get anything good this past week?

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

Through Her Eyes - Waiting on Wednsday


Through Her Eyes by Jennifer ArcherRelease date: April 5th 2011. Published by HarperTeen.

Why am I pining for Through Her Eyes?
I'm a very curious person and one of my fav hobbies besides reading is genaology that might be the reason why I love reading stories where the main character makes discoveries about people who lived long ago. This sounds like a wonderful and crepy story about a girl and a ghost!

Check out this wonderful book trailer:


Synopsis(borrowed from Goodreads):

Every ghost has a story to tell 
The last place Tansy Piper wants to be is stuck in Cedar Canyon, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of small-town kids. But when her mother decides to move to the desolate West Texas town, Tansy has no choice but to go along. Once there, Tansy is immediately drawn to the turret of their rickety old house, a place she soon learns has a disturbing history. But its the strange artifacts she finds in the cellar--a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal--that have the most chilling impact on her. 
Tansy soon finds that through the lens of her camera, she can become part of a surreal black-and-white world where her life is intertwined with that of mysterious, troubled Henry, who lived in the same house and died decades earlier. It seems their lives are linked by fate and the artifacts she found, but as Tansy begins spending more and more time in the past, her present world starts to fade away. Tansy must untangle herself from Henry's dangerous reality-- before she loses touch with her own life forever.
Want to know more about the author or the book?

What are you waiting for this week?

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill's blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.





Winner Escape In A Books monthly top commenter contest!



So I don't know how many of you who remember it but back in the beginning of January I decided to do a new regular thing on my blog to show my appreciation to my regular followers/commentators:
In the end of each month I will use random.org to draw a winner among my top 10 commenters of the month. The comments has to be real, meaning that a person who has left say 20 comments saying "nice" or "great review" will be disqualified. The winner will get to choose a book of their choice, price limit $15, from The Book Depository (or Amazon if TBD doesn't offer shipping to the winners country).
This first winner has now been chosen and the winner is Christina from Confessions of A Book Addict(do check out her fab blog if you haven't already!). Congratulations, Christina! I'm sending an email your way ASAP.