Daring You to Read - Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Daring You to Read is hosted every week by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews.

Here's how it works:

- You choose a book you’ve read, loved and would dare your readers to read!

- The book you choose must be an older release (at least 6 months ago), because let’s be honest, we’re all quite aware of the latest releases.

- Write your own blog post, using the button and linking back to Tynga’s Reviews, inviting your readers to read your chosen book.

- Come back on Tynga’s Reviews and put your link in the linking tool.

- Browse other bloggers Dare and let them know if you’ve read their featured book, or plan on reading it.

- Super easy and an awesome way to discover that special book who might have slipped off your radar!

This week I'm daring you to read Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev.

All her world’s a stage
Enter Stage Right
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie): Our heroine.
Nate: A dashing pirate who will do anything to protect Bertie.
Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom: Four tiny, mischievous fairies, and Bertie’s loyal sidekicks.
Ariel: A seductive air spirit. Disaster follows in his wake, but Bertie simply cannot resist him.
Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. The actors are bound to the Théâtre by The Book, an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of the actors, but they are her family. And she is about to lose them all because The Book has been threatened, and along with it the Théâtre. It’s the only home Bertie has ever known, and she has to find a way to save it. But first, there’s the small problem of two handsome men, both vying for her attention. The course of true love never did run smooth. . . .

Open Curtain

I loved this book. I had to read through the beginning a couple of times to understand what was going on... but that was only because I'd never read another book like it.

The faeries were great. They were troublemakers but had good intentions. Most of the time. Nate was my hero. Who doesn't love a dashing pirate? Bertie is your run of the mill teenage girl with bright blue hair who can write things in to being. And Ariel... Ariel is a gorgeous air elemental (who is followed by butterflies everywhere he goes) and competing for Bertie's heart with the handsome pirate mentioned earlier. Bertie? She's fighting to keep her place in the theater.

She's caused her fair share of trouble and is on the brink of being booted out by the stage manager. But for one condition: she has to play the part of stage manager herself and sell out a show. To do that she has to get all the players in the theater to work together and it's REALLY hard to do that. Will she be able to? Or will she have to leave for good?

This is a wonderfully original book that will captivate you and leave you dying for the next installment.

So go on and read it.

I dare you.

Book I Almost Bought From Walmart

The Hunger Pains: A Parody.

When Kantkiss Neverclean replaces her sister as a contestant on the Hunger Games—the second-highest-rated reality TV show in Peaceland, behind Extreme Home Makeover—she has no idea what to expect. Having lived her entire life in the telemarketing district’s worst neighborhood, the Crack, Kantkiss feels unprepared to fight to the death while simultaneously winking and looking adorable for the cameras. But when her survival rests on choosing between the dreamy hunk from home, Carol Handsomestein, or the doughy klutz, Pita Malarkey, Kantkiss discovers that the toughest conflicts may not be found on the battlefield but in her own heart . . . which is unfortunately on a battlefield.

Teaser Tuesday #35

Thank you to MizB of Should Be Reading for giving us Teaser Tuesday every week!
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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This weeks teaser comes from Blue by Lou Aronica.

"This is that place?" Chris glanced around him with a new sense of distress. The story they'd created about this island came vividly to mind now. It was about the event that turned this lightly populated spot into the hottest destination in Tamarisk one weekend a year - a festival that set itself against the natural splendor of hundreds of varieties of flowers in full bloom displaying the full spectrum of the Tamariskian rainbow. There would be no Rainbow Fair this year...

It's a little late today but there you go! It's a really good book. I'm glad I'm reading it. Happy Tuesday!

Covers Around the World - Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a very... heavy book. But it's definitely a good book to read.

English Language Edition

Italian Edition

English Language Edition (10th Anniversary)

Spanish Edition

Indonesian Edition

English Language Edition

Spanish Edition (translates to "When the trees speak")

So which one's your favorite?



Breaking Dawn Target Clip

Just incase you missed it...



And incase you need the subtitles because it's hard to hear:

Follow Friday #35

Big thanks to Parajunkee and Alison Can Read for hosting Follow Friday every week!

This weeks question:

Q: What would your prefer: reading your favorite book over and over again until you got sick of it OR reading 100s of mediocre books? And why?

A: Yay! An easy one. :-) I would prefer reading my favorite book over and over again until I got sick of it. I mean seriously, hundreds of mediocre books? Books that I didn't really enjoy? Why bother when one that I love is sitting on my shelf just waiting for me to pick it up again.

Can't wait to see what ya'll chose!

Daring You to Read - Snow by Tracy Lynn

Daring You to Read is hosted every week by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews.

Here's how it works:

- You choose a book you’ve read, loved and would dare your readers to read!

- The book you choose must be an older release (at least 6 months ago), because let’s be honest, we’re all quite aware of the latest releases.

- Write your own blog post, using the button and linking back to Tynga’s Reviews, inviting your readers to read your chosen book.

- Come back on Tynga’s Reviews and put your link in the linking tool.

- Browse other bloggers Dare and let them know if you’ve read their featured book, or plan on reading it.

- Super easy and an awesome way to discover that special book who might have slipped off your radar!

This week I'm daring you to read Snow by Tracy Lynn. Now, the link will take you to the newer publication of the novel. But the picture is from the 2003 edition. The one that I read. Which is why I can justify what I'm about to tell you.

I did not know that this was a re-telling of Snow White until I got to the very end of the book. Consider me dense. NOW of course, the cover SAYS that it's a re-telling. So... I'm not just completely stupid. ::cough::

The Duchess Jessica's childhood began with a tragedy: her mother's death. Her father, heartbroken at the loss of his beloved wife, could not bear to raise the child. Largely ignored, Jessica spent the first eleven years of her life running free on the family estate, cared for only by the servants.
Then her father decides to remarry, bringing an end to Jessica's independence. At first her new stepmother just seems overly strict. But as Jessica grows into a beautiful young woman, it becomes clear that her stepmother is also wildly -- and murderously -- jealous of her.
Jessica escapes to London. Going by the name Snow to hide from her family, she falls in love with an odd band of outcasts who accept her into their makeshift family. But when her stepmother appears in the city, repentant and seeking her forgiveness, Jessica will have to decide whom to trust...with her life.

Ok, so maybe the name should have tipped me off. But it didn't. Maybe I am slow. Either way, it was definitely a good book. Different enough (obviously) so that it didn't seem to follow the original story to the letter. It was an attempt at Steampunk, with the story being set in the Victorian Era. Back when I read it, I had no idea what Steampunk was. So I'm not sure how well it accomplished that particular facet of the story, but that's ok.

Jessica finds herself alone and lonely... but not for long. She's taken in by a strange group of "people" who call themselves The Lonely Ones. Her "wicked step-mother" Anne, turns out to be some psychotic mad scientist who's experimenting on people. And "Prince Charming" is one of her experiments.

Seriously, I loved the book. I think if you give it a chance, you will too! Go find it at your library!

I dare you!