The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer from Crazy for Books. And this is my first time doing this because of the question being asked. I figured this was a good way to get connected and see who is going this year!

Q: Are you attending the Book Blogger Convention (aka Bea Bloggers) and/or Book Expo America in New York City in June? If not, will you participate in the online event called Armchair BEA?
I'm in fact going to BEA, just not the BB Convention (too expensive, broke college student). This will be my first year attending and so happy to go! When all that drama hit earlier this month, I thought my head was going to explode from the PR guy of BEA and that lousy mass email. But all was resolved, so I'm forgiving them once for this.

Anyway... I'll be thrilled to attend for many reasons, one meeting face to face with other like-minded YA bloggers. I've got friends and family, but none that blog about it, so it will be awesome to meet some of you! Another reason: I <3 NYC! I've been going there since I was about eight years old. I'm now 25. So it'll be like visiting an old friend that I've shared many adventures with. I also know most of the city like the back of my hand, so I don't get lost easily. Another great reason: BOOKS! I've been a book'aholic since I was two. I still have all 50 Bernstein Bears books (i.e. - saving for my future kids lol). I've always loved to read, so I hope I don't go all gapping mouth dropping shocked by the overwhelming display of love for books. I've sort of done it the first time I went to the palisades to the B&N store haha same reaction to that scene from "Buffy" and the Sunnydale College library back in 1999.

So.... as you can tell I'm uber amped for this event in June. Now I turn the tables on you reader... Are you attending BEA in June? If not will you be joining in the online event called Armchair BEA? Leave your thoughts below! Happy Reading!
Only for a limited time, these eBooks are available with special content for the NOOK eReader. No word as whether Amazon is to get this deal, but HarperCollins has released it to Barnes & Nobles. Die for Me with Bonus Material is currently for $1.99 and Starcrossed with Bonus Material is a pre-order (released May 15th) for $0.99. Hurry on over and get a copy before the offer ends! Enjoy readers!
Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school's struggling radio station, where the other students don't find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams's mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home. - Goodreads
Title: Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe
Author: Shelley Coriell
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: May 1st 2012
Finished Reading: March 24th 2012
Format: eBook (ARC)
Pages: 320
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Sub-Genre(s): Romance
Source: NetGalley
Challenge: Debute Author Challenge
Rating: ❤❤❤❤ ½
Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

So far this book has the perfect blend of contemporary fiction and that edge of a CW show from the late '90s (i.e. - see the television show Popular for examples). Chloe is such a lively character living in southern Los Angeles. She has the perfect life: popular, living in a big house, PhD parents (i.e. - surgeon mother & college professor father), 5 older brothers off to med school or doctors, and A+ junior year student.

Anyway, the only problem is: after winter break things unravel. Her best friends alienate her, every student at school is whispering behind her back, and suddenly her favorite guidance consular has retired. Chloe's world has officially gone upside down!

I can say that I adore Chloe, can't relate to her too much since she is an extrovert and I'm kind of more introverted. Besides that, I do love this character. At first in the beginning she was a little too much, slightly irritating. But by the middle of the novel, she was changing and growing as a person. This Chloe I loved! Mostly because she was always talking and never really listening to people. She would talk over others, interrupt and just flat out forget that the conversation wasn't about her. By the end, Chloe learned to bite her tongue, let others just talk and get what they needed off their chest, and really not only hear what friends and family had to say, but listen as well. It's like I'm always saying, "You only hear what I'm saying, but you are not listening to what I'm saying."

A few key quirks that I enjoyed about Chloe include her hobby of buying vintage shoes (circa 1880-1980), her love of all things salsa bars, and the ability she has as being able to cheer people up with making them laugh. She is also the only person in her family, besides her Grandmother, who doesn't aspire to do anything medical. This is due to Chloe's rapid fear of blood and how the sight of it makes her faint.

It was very interesting to see the interactions she had with Clementine, Duncan, and her Grandmother.

Clementine is this nose pierced, black hair girl, who is the general manager of the radio program 88.8 The Edge (aka - portable five) at the high school. Her dream is to one day to own a radio station. With Chloe around, she tends to get snippy, dragon fire breathing, and apathetic towards her. Over time, Clementine eases up on Chloe and they start to bond.

Duncan is this 17 year old boy with dark hair and silvery eyes, who is always serious, fixes everything that breaks at the radio station, and is always wearing knitted scarves with a little crooked red heart at the end of each one. Much to Chloe surprises, Duncan is in her Economics class everyday, but Duncan isn't always there everyday. He works two jobs and because of this he doesn't get much sleep on school nights. As time goes on, Chloe starts becoming interested in Duncan and more. Their interactions together was engrossing. He was a silent kind of guy and rarely said more then two words to Chloe, while she would talk up a storm and Duncan would just listen. Ironically opposites do attract in this story.

Then there is her 82 year old grandmother, who nicknamed Chloe "Poppy", for her poppy colored hair. It's stuck with her since she was born. Her grandmother has an obsession with Brad Pitt, can't bare to live anywhere but her Tuna Can (aka-trailer home), and has Parkinson's. The latter causes Chloe's mother and grandmother, since winter break, to go all "World War III", as she put it.

The backdrop for the story was a great choice, not only for the age the main character is but just the vibe and scenery southern Los Angeles brings to a story. It fit well and flowed with how everything was with the story. I do like the descriptions given about Portable Five. The little portable trailer, the smells, sounds, even the atmosphere was fitting for the band of misfits that hung out at the radio station.

Overall I enjoyed the journey I took with Chloe. From her high points to the lower side of the tipping scale for her social life. It was an all out fun, witty, and delightful read. It's a perfect fit for teenage girls to read or anyone who likes a good contemporary novel with a female lead. Definitely worth a read once. © 2012
Now if you have tumblr, but don't really go search around for specific book related things, then you may have missed Penguin's tumblr page. I know I did! Luckily they have a section for bloggers. There the publishing company has listed on how to request a Galley for Review. Some of you might be new to the book blogging world and wonder how to get a hold of such a galley or where to start in needing to contact or what information they my required when deciding on how to give out Galleys. Well look no further, because I've got the answers below!

(PS - Make sure to click on the picture, this way it'll enlarge to full size!)
Looking for a read filled with love, danger, and adventure? Want to escape to brave new worlds without ever leaving your room? Read through the night this summer with sneak peeks of six breathtaking stories, including Destined by Aprilynne Pike, Insignia by S.J. Kincaid, Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin, Partials by Dan Wells, and Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris. - Goodreads

(Available April 24th 2012)

Looking for your book club’s next discussion-worthy read? Want a fun, thought-provoking book just for yourself? Preview six of summer’s teen book club picks with sneak peeks of Fall from Grace by Charles Benoit, The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson, Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard, Thumped by Megan McCafferty, Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, and A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young. Join the Epic Reads Book Club and get in on the conversation about these books and others with Epic Reads on Facebook. - Goodreads

(Available April 24th 2012)
Whether you are celebrating Passover or Easter, I'm wishing everyone a fun and safe enjoyable holiday weekend!

(FYI: That is in fact a Jewish Easter Bunny.)
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before... and surprising readers at every turn. - Goodreads
Title: Catching Fire
Series: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: September 1st 2009
Format: eBook
Pages: 219
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian
Sub-Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Other Titles in the Series: The Hunger Games & Mockingjay
Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository

Catching Fire begins with a soft start. It didn't really give that punch and run with it feeling like the Hunger Games had which is okay because sometimes to get to the interesting part of a story you have first to trek through the mud.

(I would reveal some of the big moments, but for those that haven't read the sequel, I can't say much from here on out. I don't like spoiling good moments from books, especially the important ones.)

It was interesting to see such a new dynamic placed out for Katniss with President Snow. That was the dark horse in the story. You could feel it everywhere, creeping around ever corner. His words had weight and it was keeping Katniss flat on her back in fear.

When Peeta and Katniss reached the capitol, the idea of seeing Mockingjays everywhere being incorporated into the fashion of the citizens really took hold of a bigger message. It was quietly foreshadowing the last few chapters of the book. This is important, so if you aren't read it yet, keep your eyes out for this throughout the novel.

Now for what happens in the 75th Hunger Games, I can say the arena in this book is quite interesting. The complex layout and ingenuity of it was genius on Collins part. I love the science aspect behind the construction the most. Definitely one of the cooler parts of the book and one I'm dying to see constructed for the movie! I can't say what it is and such and hoping they don't reveal anything in teasers or trailers for the movie later this year, but it's one to keep people on the edge of their seat.

It was fun to read more humor being laid out in the book. I actually laughed out loud for some of it, where as with the Hunger Games, not so much. I can tell Collins was trying to balance out and diffuse any tension for the readers. I won't lie, it was dark and grim at certain parts of the book. It made the first book look like a walk in the park. All I have is one word: destruction. It was everywhere and every district was dealing with it

Oh and I love how BOLD Peeta was in this novel. So good and eloquent too. He most certainly was sharp at pulling the rug out from everyone. Laying down some serious ground work for more & weaving a web of Katniss and Peeta's story of "love"… or so as they need to keep doing to prove to every district and the capitol.

I do have to say, the way Katniss keeps describing her kisses with Peeta, it felt like she was falling in love with him or at least falling into lust from her intense physical feeling of burning passion she would get. At one point she didn't want to stop and couldn't get enough, kind of like two teenagers in love with the hand all over themselves groping.

As for Gale and Katniss, it became increasingly clear of how confused Katniss was starting to feel for him and Peeta. She is still confused by the end of the book, so her decision will be finally made in Mockingjay. I'm very curious to see how that plays out.

Overall, I've enjoyed the book. It is something worth reading if 1) you may not have enjoyed the first book or 2) need a new series to pick up and read. I'd highly recommend the first two books to read. And I normally don't endorse such a things! © 2012