Tuesday, July 30, 2013

It's Giveaway Time Again!

Hey guys! I've got another book to give away!  The book I'm giving away this time is by Tom McNeal and it is called "Far Far Away."  I'll admit that I haven't gotten very far into this book yet, but so far it is really good.  The book is about a boy name Jeremy Johnson Johnson.  Jeremy claims to be able to hear voices.  People think he is crazy for that.  The thing is, he's not lying.  He really can hear voices.  Namely, the ghost of Jacob Grimm.  That's right.  One of the famous Grimm brothers. And that is where I will leave you.  For a taste of the book, click on the first link below.  (the scribd.com link)  For a review, click on the second link. (Goodreads.com).  And for even more great books, visit the third and final link! 

Now I bet you're probably getting annoyed that I'm not telling you how to win this book.  It's actually really simple.  Since one of the main characters in the book I'm giving away is one of the Grimm brothers, I want you to list your favorite Grimm fairytale in the comments below.  The drawing will be held on Saturday, August 17.  When it comes time to pick a winner, I'll count the number of comments, throw those numbers into a hat, and whoever was the commenter on the number I pull out wins!  Good luck and spread the word!

-Amber(:

Link 1: http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/139989972?access_key=key-2dcyvgejx30kk3dc5w3n&allow_share=true

Link 2: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16030663-far-far-away

Link 3: http://www.randombuzzers.com/

Sunday, June 30, 2013

It's Summer! That means summer reading!

Hey guys! Again, I haven't posted in a while, I keep forgetting to while I'm on the computer.  I really need to get better about that.

Anyway, I'm officially a sophomore, I finished my freshman year with straight A's all the way across the card.  Oh yes, even in Algebra! (99 baby!)  A lot of people ask me a lot of different questions concerning that and other things, so before I get to the books I'm going to suggest, I'm going to answer them for you.  Maybe you'll find my answers helpful!

Q: How do you get straight A's when the rest of us are struggling to even get a B?
A: Honestly, I don't know.  I don't really think of myself as a smart person.  All I have to do is listen or read the material and I'll be good to go.  I'm a quick learner and I apply myself.

Q: Why are you so dedicated to making sure you have such exceptional grades?
A: I have a lot of reasons.  For one, I hate to disappoint anyone, including myself.  I know what I am capable of, therefore I will strive and push myself to be the absolute best that I can be.  I also strive to keep good grades because I really wouldn't want to disappoint my parents.  I want them to have a daughter they can be proud to call their own, not one flunking out of her classes or just barely making it.  And my last reason is because I want to go somewhere with my life.  High school is the last chapter of your childhood life.  From there, you become an adult.  I want to be able to further my education and get into a good college and hopefully get a few scholarships in the meantime.  I want to be able to go somewhere with my life, so I push myself to achieve the very best that I can.

Q: Why do you try so hard?
A: I want to be the best that I can be.

Q: What do you want to do with your life that needs you to put so much work in?
A: I don't know what I want to do with my life yet.  I'm still trying to figure that out.  Right now, I have a few ideas, but nothing set in stone.  I know that I would love to become a published author and it is my goal to do that by the time that I finish high school.  I would also like to do something that involves teaching music.  My idea, though it sounds crazy, is to become a band director for deaf children.  I think that would be the coolest thing in the world.  Music should be enjoyed by everyone and I want to be the one putting it in other people's lives.

That's all of the questions for now. (Though if anyone ever has any more questions for me, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to answer them!)  Now to get to the reading.  I signed up for honors English II and the book that we are required to read is called "Alive."  I haven't read it all yet, but it's about a plane crash in the Andes mountains.  What kind of books are on your summer reading list for school?

I can tell you what can be on your non-school related reading list.  The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner.  You may have already read it, but they are amazing books.  It has a dystopian theme.  A sickness called The Flare is diseasing people.  The Flare messes with your head and makes you go crazy, taking its sweet time to kill you.  The Flare happened sometime after the Sun flares wiped out most of the earth, leaving only a few people behind.  Among these people are scientists who are trying to find a cure for this Flare by doing experiments.  This involves the Maze.  And that, my friends, is all I am going to tell you.  It is an amazing trilogy and the prequel was amazing too.  Just don't hope for completely happy endings, because that is something that doesn't happen too often in these books.  Happy reading and let me know what you thought of the Maze Runner trilogy!

Have a great summer!
Amber

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Mark Of Athena

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted anything in like a really long time, but I've been really busy keeping my grades up in school and so far that hard work is paying off.  Straight A's last semester guys!  I'm one happy freshman.  Anyway, now I'm in English so I will probably be reading a lot more books just because of who my teacher is.  I will also be writing so many essays my head will probably be spinning by the end of the semester but that is beside the point.

Anyway, I have recently read a new book called the Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan.  It is the third book in his Heroes of Olympus series and it was absolutly amazing.  For those of you who do not know  who Rick Riordan is, I'm about to tell you.  I'm pretty sure that you've heard of the movie "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief." Yeah, Rick Riordan is the author of the book that was based on. (And believe me the book is SOO much better.)

Now to get to the point, The Mark of Athena was by far the best in the series so far to me.  It connected all of the complicated plotlines rather well and left suspense at the end, making me wish October were here so I could read the next one.  I really won't go into too much detail on the book, but I do recommend that you look up that entire series, because it is really good. 

I will try to be on here more often I promise, but sometimes it is hard to be blogging and doing homework and dealing with band and all the other things that I do in a day.  I will try to update my blog at least weekly if I can.  Thanks for reading and have a fabulous rest of your week! :)

-Amber

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Trying Something New

Hey guys! 

First off I want to thank everyone who participated in my giveaway! Maybe I'll be able to hold some more often!  And congradulations to Catie who won the giveaway!

So I'm going to try to throw out a new book title (or the title of a series or trilogy) every week, because I think that would be fun.  Some of the books may be new, you've probably heard of some, and then there will be some that maybe you haven't heard of.  Either way, I think it'll encourage me to search out new books as well.  And if you have book suggestions, feel free to comment and tell me what they are. 

Today I'm going to throw out a popular title- The Hunger Games trilogy.  I won't lie, this is currently my favorite trio of books.  They have enough action, romance, and suspense to keep anyone reading in my opinion.  And with 28 days until the movie comes out on DVD, I'm extra excited.  So I will highly suggest that you read this trilogy, it's so good and worth the read, I promise.

Thanks everyone!
-Amber M.
arm28516@gmail.com

Friday, July 13, 2012

Book Sampler and Giveaway!

So this post has to do with my last one on The Book Of Blood And Shadow.  Actually, I'm giving away a copy of this book!  And just to be sure you're interested in this book and all of that, I'm posting the link to a chapter sampler, just for you!
So here's what you have to do to be entered into my giveaway:  first, bake me a cake and ice it with cream cheese frosting... oh wait that's my sister's to-do list.
Seriously, I want you to comment on this post with the word, "Squirrel" to be entered into the drawing.  That's all you have to do.  It's as simple as that.  Then on July 20th, I'll have my friend pick a random number (1 through whatever number of comments is there)  If you've got that random number, you've won the book, as simple as that! So happy commenting! :)

Link for the free chapter sampler:
http://scr.bi/M1sq2A

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Book Of Blood And Shadow

How could four hundred year old letters and a book have anything to do with the mysterious and brutal death of a modern day teenager?  The Book Of Blood And Shadow by Robin Wasserman will give you a pretty good idea.
Nora and her friend Chris signed up to help an old man translate an old Latin manuscripts and try to uncode a book that's hidden its secrets for four hundred years. Then Nora, in the Elizabeth letters she's been given, thinks she might have found an important clue- but she doesn't tell anyone.  Instead she takes the letter, wishing to keep it a secret for the four hundred year old woman who wrote them.  When she finally confesses to Chris, he promises to take them back for her.  She never saw him alive after that.
Arriving at his house for movies late, she expects Chris, Adrienne, and her boyfriend Max to have started without her.  But when she walks in she sees that her best friend has been brutally murdered, his girlfriend left with partial amnesia, and her boyfriend missing... and the police think he's the murderer.
Adrienne and Nora start out only trying to clear Max's name, but get caught up in a search for a four hundred year old machine.  The only problem is they're fighting time- and for their lives.
I recommend you read this book.  It was a great read and the ending was so unexpected.  The book itself kept me hooked the entire time and I begrudgingly put it down.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Here is my review (on GoodReads.com) of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini.  I really loved it and definitley recommend it to you if you like Christopher Paolini's works and if you like fantasy (especially something unique like this.)


<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7664041-inheritance" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Inheritance (Inheritance, #4)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320558164m/7664041.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7664041-inheritance">Inheritance</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8349.Christopher_Paolini">Christopher Paolini</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/232131220">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I absoultly loved it! Even though I cried at the end... but you'll have to read to find out why.  In this amazing conclusion to the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, Eragon and Saphira as well as the rest of the Varden finally confront Galbatorix... will they make it through and kill the evil king? And what of the other mysteries posed throughout the cycle? Will they finally be solved? read to find out, I promise you will love it if you were a fan of the earlier books.
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6897383-amber-myers">View all my reviews</a>