Waiting on Wednesday

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare--April

City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver--February

Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

-Amanda

2011 Audio Book Challenge

This is my first official challenge and I am very excited to be participating! In the past year I've listened to a few audio books and I enjoyed them a lot more than I thought I would, so when I found this challenge I knew it was the one for me. Now I have an excuse to buy some audio books!This year the challenge is being hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner. It started on January 1st and will run all the way until December 31st. You can choose from the following levels of participation:

Curious: 3 Audio Books
Fascinated: 6 Audio Books
Addicted: 12 Audio Books
Obsessed: 20 Audio Books

I think I'm going to take it easy and shoot for Fascinated. I'll add the books here as I listen to them.

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. I Am the Messenger- Markus Zusak

3. 1984- George Orwell

4.

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6.

Click HERE if you would like to sign up!

-Amanda

Tangled

Title: Tangled

Director: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Writer: Dan Fogelman (Screenplay), Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (Fairy Tale)

Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi and Donna Murphy

Grade: B+

The long-haired Princess Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but when she falls in love with a bandit who was passing by she must venture into the outside world for the first time to find him.

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This movie was fantastic. It's one of those movies that is called a "children's movie," but you find yourself enjoying it much more than your younger family members. I feel like this movie is bringing some of the old disney back that we know and love. Not completely of course. There was a lot of comedy that we never saw back in the day, but kids are more demanding now with entertainment so they need more than just a heartfelt story.

It didn't match the book page for page but what book to movie does nowadays? It was fun and completely adorable. I am in no way territorial with the original Rapunzel. This was fine with me.

The animation was fantastic. When my friends and I left the theater we all wanted wigs made out of her hair. There were so many awwwwwwh moments, I can't even keep track. One of the best was when they show Rapunzel as a baby with her hair. She's just so darn cute!

The story was very smooth and the pace was great. There wasn't too much down time where it might get a little boring and there wasn't too much action where it might make it too hard to follow.

The characters were also wonderful. I think they made great choices when they decided for Mandy Moore to voice Rapunzel. The evil characters were perfectly evil and the nice characters weren't annoying. What more can you ask for?

I am in love with this movie. If I had the cash I would definitely see it again. It's one movie you don't want to miss out on. The songs were even great. Usually I find a problem with cartoon musicals but not this one. I almost contemplated putting them on my ipod.

Overall I would say that Tangled is a great movie for all ages. It's fun, and cute, and hilarious. It's the perfect movie to start a new generation of Disney lovers with!

-Amanda

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was created by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.

Paper Books::

Logic of Demons: The Quest for Nadine's Soul by H.A. Goodman

What would you do if the love of your life was murdered by a deranged killer? Would you become a vigilante and seek retribution? And would this revenge affect those you care for in the afterlife? LOGIC OF DEMONS The Quest for Nadine's Soul takes you on a journey inside the psyches of men and women forced to deal with the spiritual consequences of their decisions. Through the lives of a demon, two Angels, and a mysterious teenage girl, a plethora of politically and socially relevant issues ranging from the roots of genocide and sex trafficking to child conscription and religious fundamentalism are addressed in this fantasy thriller. Life as well as the afterlife converge in this novel to explain certain peculiarities of the human condition. Whether you are God fearing individual or an atheist, LOGIC OF DEMONS The Quest for Nadine's Soul addresses moral and theological issues of interest for people of all backgrounds.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Dash and Lily, 16, find themselves on their own in Manhattan at Christmas. Dash is alone by choice–he's told each of his divorced parents that he's spending the holiday with the other, leaving them both to take vacations out of town. Lily's parents are taking the honeymoon they couldn't afford when they got married. They think that Lily is in the capable hands of her older brother, but he's less interested in her than in his new boyfriend, and then he gets sick and spends most of the holiday in bed. He does, however, start in motion the activity that is central to the story. It involves a red Moleskine notebook with a list of literary clues that Lily leaves in the stacks at the Strand bookstore. Bookish and erudite Dash finds it and is intrigued enough to follow Lily's lead and leave some clues of his own. The dares in the book's title refer to innocent things such as going to various crowded places like Macy's and FAO Schwartz to pick up messages. As the dares go on, the teens reveal more and more about themselves in the pages of the notebook, until they finally meet under the worst possible circumstances.

Audio Books::

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1984 by George Orwell
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

E-Books::

This Girl is Different by JJ Johnson
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

-Amanda