Top Ten Tuesday: Sites I Visited That Are Not Book Related

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1. OceanUp.com

Yes, I like Gossip sites and this is one of my favorites. I prefer over Perez Hilton. However, It is geared toward the younger crowd, so everyone and awhile, I have to go check Perez =/

2. Facebook 

Probably, the only time I will link my FB on here... I think this is a given, I am pretty much always logged onto FB. It isn't something I NEED in my life, it just sort of becomes apart of it.. 

3. Twitter

Another Given.. It is a bloggers main marketing tool really.. and I even use my Blog Twitter more than my personal one.

4. Pinterest

ADDICTING! I think I have become way more creative and healthy since joining.

5. Ancestry.com

I love history and I am obsessed with knowing my ancestry. I think it is a) cool and b) pretty important.. if that one relative and that other relative didn't get together and have that other relative, and so on... uhm we wouldn't be here. So. when I can I do research, which is fun.. time consuming but fun. For Example I found out I am related to Kate Middleton and Prince William and Ellen Degeneres (we are Cousins through sharing the same Great Grandfather. My 16th Great Grandfather To be exact Sir Thomas Fairfax. Or I found out that my 27th Great Grandfather is King Charlemagne. I had relatives who were on the Mayflower, a Great Grandfather Burned at the stake in England for religious persecution. I have traced parts of my tree all the way back to 500 AD! 

6. TheBump.com

And this is where you say, But you are only 22?! I have many weird obsessions and one of them is babies and preparing for my future children. No joke, I have already researched which schools in LA are best. So to curb and fuel this obsession I go onto The Bump. No joke, I look up meaning of names, I love playing around with the Chinese Gender Chart, I even play with the due date calculator, because well I freaking can. So I am aware this one is a little weird.. but I like babies and all that goes with them.

7. Tumblr

I am not necessarily active on Tumblr, but I do have a Wedding Events Tumblr and a Baby Related Tumblr. That I check frequently and have scheduled photos for everyday.

8. Live With Kelly

Kelly Ripa is one of my IDOLS.. and I LOVE her show, even when it was Live With Regis and Kelly. So, I am on this site daily watching Fashion Finder, the web exclusives and all that fun stuff.

9. Duchess Kate Blog

Another Idol of mine is my 16th something Cousin Kate Middleton. I adore her, and her style and overall class and this site is THE best site to know what is going on with her. It is always the first to post about Kate and that is great, since in America we only get to info about her, if it is a huge event that is taking place. 

10. Yahoo

Not very exciting, but my e-mail is ALWAYS up and I am constantly checking it and I use it for Yahoo News as well. 

The Girl In The Clockwork Collar (Book #2, Steampunk Chronicles)

Summary:

"In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling - or dangerous. 
Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her "straynge band of mysfits" have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade-the dangerous device Jasper stole from him...for the life of the girl Jasper loves. 
One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens. And tightens."

Plot: The Girl In The Clockwork Collar picks up right where The Girl in the Steel Corset ends. It has the same flow and excitement and romantic interests are Book 1, while still being a different book. It also prepares you for the plot line of Book 3.

Characters: Finley, Griffin, Sam and Emily are generally the same; The Girl In The Clockwork Collar is more about Jasper and his backround. Which was nice, since he was a charming Character in Book 1, it was nice to get know him better.

Pros: A True Steampunk Mystery Novel. A great sequel and awesome love triangles.

Cons: I felt their needed to be a little more of New York or something in it. I just felt it was missing something. A little too much repetition of some lines through out the book.

Final Thoughts: I was jumping for glee when I received an E-Galley of this book. I finished reading The Girl In The Steel Corset not too long ago, and was in LOVE! So, I was very happy to begin reading The Girl in the Clockwork Collar and taken right back into their world. I highly recommend this book and this series to people who love either Historical Fiction, Steampunk, Mystery and Paranormal Books, because Kady Cross mixes them really really well!

The Girl In The Steel Corset Comes Out May 29th, 2012! 

(Thank You Very Much To Harlequin and Net Galley)

In My Mailbox (36)

Hosted By The Story Siren

Received

The Queen's Lady By Eve Edwards

(Thank You Random Buzzers)

City of Bones ( Book 1, Mortal Instruments)

Summary:

"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . 
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end."

Plot: Demon Hunters, Angels and Magic Galore! I think it is Blue Bloods, Mixed With Harry Potter and another book which has now escaped my mind... The book dives right into the world and keeps a roller-coaster of twists and turns.

Characters: The characters that stood out the most as being well written were Clary, Jace and Simon. But really I felt there was no real progression in their personalities and Sometimes I felt some actions didn't actually fit there personalities.

Pros: A well written series and creative world.

Cons: Dragged on towards the end and predictable at some points.

Final Thoughts: For a series that everyone is talking about, I wasn't blown away by it. However, I was happy by how well written the world Clare had created was. I will continue to read the series, but besides that I don't really have much to say about it.

Uncommon Criminals (Book 2, Heist Society)

Summary:

"Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners. 
There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.
Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.
Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules."

Plot: I was reminded of Ocean's Eleven while reading the plot of Uncommon Criminals. It was very con,within a con, within a con.  Great concept but I don't think it was perfectly executed.

Characters: I like Kat, I think she is witty and intelligent, but honestly she really showed her age in this book, which in some ways is yes okay since it is her age, but she didn't seem like the girl in book one. And Hale was a complete ass in my opinion. Overall, though there was no character progression.

Pros: Fun, Cute, Witty

Cons: At times confusing, and didn't really progress from Heist Society.. in some ways it went a few steps back.

Final Thoughts: I had HIGH expectations for Uncommon Criminals and although I did enjoy it a lot, I was not as impressed as I was with Heist Society. I was frustrated with Kat and Hale and their lack of relationship.. and some things were just confusing. I just overall didn't feel a flow to the book. I will definitely continue with the series, I was just not as impressed.

Want Want Want Wednesday (33)

Scarlet By A.C. Gaughen

"Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. 
Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in.
It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for."

The Obsidian Blade By Pete Hautman

"The first time his father disappeared, Tucker Feye had just turned thirteen. The Reverend Feye simply climbed on the roof to fix a shingle, let out a scream, and vanished - only to walk up the driveway an hour later, looking older and worn, with a strange girl named Lahlia in tow. In the months that followed, Tucker watched his father grow distant and his once loving mother slide into madness. But then both of his parents disappear. Now in the care of his wild Uncle Kosh, Tucker begins to suspect that the disks of shimmering air he keeps seeing - one right on top of the roof - hold the answer to restoring his family. And when he dares to step into one, he's launched on a time-twisting journey- from a small Midwestern town to a futuristic hospital run by digitally augmented healers, from the death of an ancient prophet to a forest at the end of time. Inevitably, Tucker's actions alter the past and future, changing his world forever."

The Magicians: A Novel By Lev Grossman

" Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless. 
Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.
Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real."

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I'd Like To See On A Reality TV Show

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

 Based on how funny they are in person and through Tweets.

1. Libba Bray

2. Maureen Johnson

3. Stephanie Perkins

4. John Green

5. David Levithan

6. Ally Carter

7. Meg Cabot

8. Maggie Stiefvater

9. Sarah Deesen

10. Jerramy Fine