Choice of 1 book out of 3 Giveaway!

My friend immortalelf over at Tales of a Bookworm is having a giveaway!

Prizes: The winner will get to their choice of either:
a brand new copy, 1st edition of Firelight (by Sophie Jordan), OR
a brand new copy, 1st edition of Clockwork Angel (by Cassandra Clare) OR
a brand new copy of Immortal (by Gillian Shields).

It's open Internationally! So head on over~~

Book Blog Hop and Follow Friday (Dec 17)

Welcome from Book Blog Hop hosted by Crazy for Books and Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee!

Does anyone else really like to wrap presents? I find that there's a certain amount of satisfaction from it ^.^

What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?

How can you choose the plot supports the characters and the characters support the plot o_0 I suppose if I absolutely had to choose I would choose the characters because I often remember more about them than the actual plot.

Week in Review!

Third Sentence Thursday featuring third sentence that reflects how you feel this week!

The Winner of Funniest Third Sentence was announced!

Announcement of my first GIVEAWAY celebrating reaching 150 Followers! Still time to enter ^.^

Reviews:
Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
Emmy's Song by Christy Trujillo
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Solid by Shelley Workinger
Intrigues by Mercedes Lackey

If you're a new blogger I have a guide with some info which may be helpful for you ^.^


What did you study in college, or are currently studying?

I'm slightly amused by this question because I mentioned what I was going to study in my Third Sentence Thursday post. I studied psychology for undergrad, but I'm switching over to Computer Science for grad school. Programming is just more fun, and well a lot more practical in the job market ^.^

Be sure to come back Saturday and Sunday for a review of Harvest Moon and the interview with the Author: Krista D. Ball!

Third Sentence Thursday (#3)

Grab the Code

<a href="http://snifflykitty.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Third Sentence Thursday" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNF6L9g6kFcPnLrdwduf7eiEBTXfVTgO7j8AsNjFdP1BiosV_3_EOcuPUSJZ-yrQ_MM_eTyV3Gv1rpptbU-89HD5peK5CWnETvORgducIXEL8OASz8x5vpphCwIWZWUC8q6bq7ZavQlXA/s800/thirdsthursday1d2%20(Custom).png"/></a>

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme for glorifying the number 3 as in, sentence 3 of a book.

This week's theme is pick a third sentence that best describes your mood this week.

1) Find a third sentence that describes your mood.
2) Post a link to your sentence here or if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments!
3) Find out how other people are feeling this week.
4) Prepare for next week's theme: Third Sentence Review!

Edit: Clarification for next week's theme. Take the third sentence of the book you are reading and review it! (Serious review or silly is up to you)

"It was by choice, my choice." Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey

So, I am starting computer science courses soon as part of a path which hopefully leads to a Masters in CS. I'm apprehensive about it, but it is my choice after all so here we go.

BTW enter my 150 Follower Giveaway! I wish everyone a happy weekend ^.^

Review: Intrigues (Collegium #2) by Mercedes Lackey

Intrigues by Mercedes Lackey

Summary
Mags has gotten more used to the Collegium although he is still somewhat apart from the other Chosen. Suspicion falls upon him when he realizes he is foreign and the Farseers (future seeing people) have a vision that someone foreign is going to endanger the King.

Commentary
I liked that some of the mysteries in book one were solved, and the characters stayed true to form with some development. Besides Mags though, there doesn't seem to be that much of a deep exploration of his friends' histories.

This is still a likeable book because it stays with the signature Valdemar tone although it's nothing special. There's a bit in this book where Mags goes out on the streets, which is somewhat reminiscent of Take a Thief.

Possibly the biggest issue I have with this book is the reaction of his friends. They don't seem to be supportive when Mags most needs it. The only one who is supportive is his Companion, which defeats the purpose of Mags trying to make friends for almost the entirety of the book. I do still want to read the last book though just to know what happens.

Star Rating: 2.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Intrigues at Amazon

Edit: This is a Book Review Wednesday Post

My Favorite Book Couple

I would definitely have to say Phedre and Joscelin from Kushiel's Dart. They have to go through so much to be together, and Joscelin is really hot. I love both of the characters, and well Kushiel's Dart is also my favorite book so perhaps I'm biased.

Wee! Part of the Christmas Countdown hosted by Not Enough Books!

Ignore this: KSNAQKYP45YF

Teaser Tuesday (Dec 14)

"Taking several breaths to regain her nerve, she took the sacred bundle into her hands. The invisible, icy touch of magic twisted its way over her body." -Harvest Moon by Krista D. Ball

The review for Harvest Moon is coming on Saturday. There will also be an interview with Krista coming up on Sunday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your own teaser post or just the teaser if you don't have a blog.

150 Follower Giveaway! (closed!!)

Grab the Code

<a href="http://snifflykitty.blogspot.com"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDQC6mByhl3u0F7TeSYcFokTJiEhcbnuMzfnHQjPYUD3fzgQIsdAZiCjx4q152LTjOFUc2D2-q_S5EiAu1mT9f8kIfIA64j_eRgpvDDt_P0UjYvNxVRUixRy1RWhDpr0sDyhp3ixT6ns/s800/150%20giveaway.png" height="180" width="180" /></a>

As I am fairly close to 150 Followers (edit: yay! 150 reached!), it's time to do my first giveaway as a thank you to my followers! It's as international as Book Depository gets. Winner shall be randomly chosen.

Prizes:
-Book of winner's choice under $10 from Amazon (US) or Book Depository (Outside US wherever they deliver)

Edit: Reached 250 followers! 1 extra prize winner (same prize ^.^)!
-If I reach 350 followers there will be a third winner also book of choice under $10! and every 100 followers beyond that means another winner ^.^

Giveaway Dates: Dec 13, 2010 - Jan 13, 2011

To Enter:

Initial Entry:
-You MUST leave a comment on this post with your Email address.
-You must be a public GFC follower to qualify (if your follower name is different from what you're posting with please list your GFC name). This is a follower thank you giveaway after all. (google friend connect, it's in the sidebar)

Bonus Entries
+2 Follow my Twitter snifflykitty0
+1 Tweet about this giveaway using the tweet below and give the link (1/day up to 5 times)
Book of choice - 150 Follower Giveaway! Open internationally. http://bit.ly/erMj6O @snifflykitty0
+1 Link this giveaway in a giveaway linky or other giveaway announcement place, and provide the link here
+3 Do a blog post about this giveaway with a link back to this post and provide the link here.
+3 Grab the button, put it in the sidebar of your blog, and provide the link here.

Review: Solid (Solid #1) by Shelley Workinger

Solid by Shelley Workinger

Summary
Clio is attending a summer camp, but this is not your typical summer camp. This one is run by the military for kids who have been genetically modified as part of an illegal experiment. The existence of this camp is to find out more about these modifications as part of the military's 'open book' policy and make amends for their rogue doctor who conducted these experiments. As the camp progresses though, Clio finds things to be a bit fishy.

Commentary
The beginning of the book is great because there is a glimpse into the experiment. It sets the mood for the book very nicely. I also liked that there are abilities beyond athleticism and intelligence.

This is a pretty short book (less than 250 pages), which doesn't leave a lot of room for a story (maybe because I read so many epics >.>). The story itself was pretty good in terms of pacing, but I felt the romances, in particular, lacked depth. I also did not get very emotionally attached to the characters because there were actually quite a few which were central to the story besides Clio.

Also, it's good to see a beginning to a trilogy have an ending that isn't a cliffhanger. Solid ended in a good place, and has enough hint to make the reader want to continue reading the series.

Star Rating: 3.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Solid at Amazon

Edit: This is now a Book Lovers' Blog Hop Post

Review: Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century #1) by Cherie Priest

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Summary
In the aftermath of an incident, which has left poisonous gas (it happens to create zombies) pouring out into Seattle, Washington, Briar - the wife of the man who brought about this calamity - tries to raise her son, Zeke. Unable to take the taunts from his classmates, Zeke runs off into the walled up ruins of Seattle. Briar takes off after him, and the two journey separately through the new society inside the ruins

Commentary
I had hoped this would be better than it turned out to be since it was nominated for a Hugo and a Nebula. I couldn't really seem to get into it mostly because of the elaborateness of the ruins. There was a lot of moving through, up and down, and into this tunnel or that which, because I am spatially challenged, I was not able to follow very well at all.

Generally speaking, this is not really a zombie novel. There are zombies, but they don't drive the story. The zombies are pretty standard and mostly serve to move the characters around the city (and in doing so, introduce you to aspects of the society) rather than being the focus.

The story itself, and the culture which had sprung up inside the ruins was interesting. Priest does a good job of building up the suspense surrounding the doctor who caused all the trouble in the city.

This is worth a read for the less spatially challenged, but it's not a must read by any means.

Star Rating: 3.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

Check out prices for Boneshaker at Amazon

2nds Challenge

This challenge is for reading the second in a series books or the second time reading an author. It is hosted by Katy of A Few More Pages. The challenge runs from 1/1/11 to 12/31/11.

I'm taking part at the level of:
A full plate - Read 12 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.

Books I've read will be posted as I finish them ^.^