My Top Five of 2009

It's the end of the year already! Here are my top picks for 2009; I enjoyed reading each and every one of these- I hope you'll do the same! I have no doubt that 2010 holds just as many thrilling, hilarious, grips-you-til-the-end reads. :)



Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale Review
and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson


Ophelia by Lisa Klein Review
and Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen Review


Paper Towns by John Green Review


What were your top picks?
Also, feel free to take a survey I created to get some feedback on the blog; it would be very much appreciated! Click here to take survey.
<3 Cate

Challenge Overload

Before I get into this post, I just wanted to remind you that I created a New Year's Survey, and I'd love to get your feedback! There are more details in my previous post. :) Click here to take survey

Okay, it's very possible that I may have gone a little overboard with my challenge participation this year. To be honest, I don't really even know exactly what I have to do for each and when to finish them by. So, this post serves two purposes: to help me be a little less scatterbrained and to give you the opportunity to join some challenges- I'm sure it's not too late for some of them!



First up, The Sarah Dessen Challenge, hosted at Em's Bookshelf. I'll admit, I did start this challenge way late; it began in May, but there was no final challenge date, so I decided to hop on board! I gave myself until the end of the school year (June 9th) to read and review all nine Sarah Dessen Books. So far, here's what I've got!

That Summer
Keeping the Moon
Someone Like You
Dreamland
This Lullaby= Finished!
The Truth About Forever= Read, but no review yet
Just Listen
Lock and Key= Read, but not review yet
Along for the Ride= Finished!




This Challenge is being hosted by Nicole over at WORD For Teens. The books for this challenge must involve water - be it about pirates, mermaids, or the coast of California, fiction or nonfiction. All need to be read (and in my case reviewed) by September 19th, 2010! Unfortunately, I'm VERY behind on this challenge! Here are my ten chosen books:

1.Bloody Jack, by L.A. Meyer.
2.Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie.
3.Piraticia by Tanith Lee
4.Mermaid Park by Beth Mayall
5.Pirates! by Celia Rees
6.Benjamin Manry and the Curse of the Blood Bones
7.The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
8.Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli
9.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
10.The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway



Ahh, the Alice Challenge. I don't believe that I have read or reviewed anything for this list whatsoever...yikes! I have until August 21st, 2010.

Tasks (Part I):

*Read and review Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
*Read and review Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
*Read and review Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin (publish date December 2009)

*Read and review one other book from the list of "retellings and sequels" or "literature with allusions and influences" from the list here . If you know of a book that will work that is not on the list, you may use it, but please have it approved as part of the challenge first.


Tasks (Part II)

*Watch and review Disney's animated version of Alice in Wonderland
*Watch and review one live action (already released) movie version of Alice in Wonderland.
*Watch and review Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (due for release in 2010)
*Watch and review one other movie listed under "Film" here



And last, but certainly not least, The 100+ Book Challenge, hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog. Thank goodness books can cross over for all challenges on this one! I don't have a definite list; I think I'm going to just take this year as it comes! I have until the end of December, next year!


What challenges are you participating in this year?
Have a wonderful day!
<3 Cate

New Year's Survey

Hello, everyone, and Happy Holidays! This will most likely be my last post until next week, and it's a little different than usual.

I've created a survey, just to get some feedback and help me make some New Year's Resolutions for the blog. I really hope you'll take the time to fill it out- all comments and suggestions are much appreciated. Click here to take survey

Also, if you look on the sidebar, there's a pretty little button, that (with some team effort) was made just for you! Feel free to take one! And special thanks to Sandy and Melanie for helping me figure out all of the technical stuff! :)

Thanks a million, and have a Merry Christmas!
<3 Cate

Wish List Wednesday

A Blue So Dark, by Holly Schindler

Terrified that her mother, a schizophrenic and an artist, is a mirror that reflects her own future, sixteen-year-old Aura struggles with her overwhelming desires to both chase artistic pursuits and keep madness at bay.

As her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet keeps drawing Aura toward the depths of her own imagination—the shadows of make-believe that she finds frighteningly similar to her mother’s hallucinations.

Convinced that creative equals crazy, Aura shuns her art, and her life unravels in the process.

Oooh. Pretty. The cover is so beautiful. I can't wait to read this one; the plot is so originial- I'm looking forward to May 2010!!!

<3 Cate

Call Me Sonya Grey by Sonya Grey Lloyd Review

Call Me Sonya Grey is a personal collection of poetic verse that is at once inspiring and challenging. Beginnng with the loss of her mother at age nine, Tupone Lloyd began collecting her thoughts in 40 poems in a diary from early childhood through her twenties. In Call Me, Tupone Lloyd describes the daily battles of self-image and self-expression she experienced growing up after the passing of one parent and the estrangement of another. With the death of her mother, Tupone Lloyd lost a part of everything she had known. Two states away, she finds herself with a different family, school, friends, home and a new name. The verses written during this time are one woman s exploration of her raw, emotional responses to dramatic life changes. This is Sonya's story. Call me Sonya Grey. -Goodreads

Call Me Sonya Grey was, to say the least, heartfelt and poignant. Emotionally, the reader is put through the wringer; I might consider picking this one up on an especially gloomy day.

I'm a big fan of poetry. In this case, not all of the poems were my cup of tea (not to say that I there weren't plenty I found fascinating- which I did!) There were times that I just didn't connect with what Llloyd was trying to get across, but I think that because her situation was one that I cannot truly relate to, it was harder for me to completely link myself to the writing. However, I did enjoy reading it almost as if a diary...it chronicled her journey of growing up.

If you're a poetry fanatic, I'd suggest you pick this one up. It's an interesting view on how the author has chosen to express her life through words... and well chosen ones at that.

Rating: 7.5/10

Wish List Wednesday

An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction.
Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid— and Caitlin herself. -Goodreads

I saw Hold Still at Books-a-Million last weekend, and I was seriously thinking about taking it home and setting it at the top of the TBR pile. From what I could tell, Nina LaCour has taken a truly solemn subject and made it into something a little more bearable. I'm very interested in reading!