Midnight Bloom Reads: October 2010

2011 OLA Forest of Reading Nominees Announced!

10:00 AM

The Ontario Library Association's 2011 Forest of Reading nominees were announced earlier in the week and it's exciting to see who the nominees are this time around!

What's special about the Forest of Reading program is that not only are the awards geared especially to Ontario students, but all of the nominees are by CANADIAN authors! Those who participate through their schools or libraries simply have to read 5 of the 10 nominated novels in a program by the end of April 2011, and in May, an awards event takes place over two days in Toronto where the winners are announced and readers can even meet the authors!

The two programs I pay extra attention to though are the Red Maple and White Pine categories, seeing as these novels are YA. So, without further ado, here are the nominees (all links lead to Goodreads!):

In the Red Maple Award fiction category (there's also non-fiction category too), aimed towards grades 7-8, the nominees are:

The Agency: A Spy in the House - Y. S. Lee (Random House)
Ghost Ride - Marina Cohen (Dundurn)
Haunted - Barbara Haworth-Attard (HarperCollinsCanada)
My Name Is Henry Bibb - Afua Cooper (Kids Can Press)
Nieve - Terry Griggs (Biblioasis)
Not Suitable for Family Viewing - Vicki Grant (HarperCollinsCanada)
Only in the Movies - William Bell (Random House)
POP - Gordon Korman (Scholastic Canada, Ltd.)
The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong (Random House)
Wounded - Eric Walters (Penguin Group Canada)

In the White Pine Award category, aimed towards grades 9-12, the nominees are:

Borderline - Allan Stratton (HarperCollinsCanada)
Fear the Worst - Linwood Barclay (Random House)
Fishtailing - Wendy Phillips (Coteau Books)
Gravity Brings Me Down - Natale Ghent (Random House)
Hearts at Stake - Alyxandra Harvey (Penguin Group Canada)
The Monkeyface Chronicles - Richard Scarsbrook (Thistledown Press)
The Second Trial - Rosemarie Boll (Second Story Press)
Some Girls Are - Courtney Summers (HB Fenn)
Swim the Fly - Don Calame (Random House)
The Worst Thing She Ever Did - Alice Kuipers (HarperCollinsCanada)

There are some great books announced and I've already read a few so that will give me a bit of a head start! I'm going to be trying to read as many as the White Pine books as I can!

Another thing I want to note about this program is a lot of times, the nominees will be books I've never heard about, so I like how this program spreads my reading tastes, encouraging me to try new novels that I might have either never read nor heard about before.

To learn more about the Forest of Reading program or see more of the nominees in the other age group categories, you can visit the official website here.

Julie Kagawa

Waiting on Wednesday (17) - The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

12:00 PM

Ally Condie

Book Trailer! - Matched by Ally Condie

12:40 PM

Rachel Hawkins

Spotted! Cover of Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

9:00 AM

Rachel Hawkins revealed the cover of Demonglass, the second novel in the Hex Hall series, on her blog yesterday!

Release Date: March 1, 2011

Publisher: Hyperion

Summary (from Goodreads):

** This summary contains spoilers if you haven't read the first novel in the series, Hex Hall, yet!!*

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Acher to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

I am most definitely excited to find out what's going to happen next in Demonglass! Hex Hall could be light and funny at times, and then the next, serious and totally taking me by surprise, which just another reason why can't wait to see how Sophie will deal with her latest conflicts! Plus, Hex Hall is one of my fave novels by a debut author of 2010!

I like how they've kept the reflection theme for the cover once again, and they've even added some edginess to it with the flames and losing the school uniform in favour of some London-style clothes! And the model is totally wearing a jacket I would love to have... but the white dress is pretty as well!

Are you excited for Demonglass? Any thoughts on the cover?

Book Trailer

Book Trailer! - Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz

12:00 PM

Elizabeth Scott

Waiting on Wednesday (16) - Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

12:00 PM

Announcement

Argh! My Midterms Are Here!!

12:18 AM

3.5 Stars

Torment by Lauren Kate

9:00 AM

Title: Torment

Author: Lauren Kate

Release Date: September 28, 2010 (hardcover)

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Pages: 464

Source: ARC won from Bookurious

Overall: 3.5 Stars

Summary:

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for?

Hell on earth.

That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts-immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something-something dangerous.

What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

My Thoughts:

After the exciting ending in Fallen, I couldn’t wait to see what happens next in Torment! However, if the ending of Fallen was taking one step forward after a slow-buildup, the beginning of Torment was like taking two steps back as once again, Luce found herself alone in a new school setting.

Let me first start off by saying if you loved Fallen, you will love Torment as well, but if you fall under the category where you simply liked Fallen, then you'll be probably be feeling the same way again.

Where Fallen was more about the mystery of Daniel, Torment is all about Luce trying to learn more about her past lives (with a bit of help from her new roommate Shelby!) through using the Announcers (ie. Shadows) who always seem to be drawn to Luce. The danger is not over and Daniel sends Luce away to Shoreline, a special school where Nephilim also attend and which can hopefully hide Luce's presence while he and Cam eliminate any threats to her safety through their truce. This is also means that after finally coming together in Fallen, Luce and Daniel still can't quite be together yet in Torment.

I wasn’t exactly a huge fan of Daniel this time around. He was too protective at times, and it bordered on being overbearing. It really annoyed me that he wouldn’t just clue Luce in when she asked, which only left her to try to figure things out on her own, inevitably bringing her closer to danger in the process. So yes, while Luce does make some pretty silly mistakes trying to learn more, I couldn't really blame her for trying since I would hate to be left in the dark too.

It got really repetitive whenever Daniel came into the story too, and I was getting no warm, fuzzy tinglings in the romance department. I just couldn't believe the pair were supposed to be soulmates this time around and I dunno, it felt kind of forced. There was also a general pattern to when Daniel pops into the story. Embrace in each others' presence once more and then argue when Daniel would refuse to tell Luce what was really going on all the while saying he loved her. Please, it happened so many times, I was getting ready to skip these pages.... and the romance parts are usually my favourites!

Now, now, it seems like I'm only talking about the negative so let's find something positive to say, shall we? If you thought you made up your sides in Fallen, there’s a new team I’m sure that will be forming… Team Miles! Miles is a Nephilim student who makes Luce feel comfortable in her new surroundings right away, and he's so friendly and kind... plus cute too! Sure, Daniel may be Luce’s soulmate and all, but Miles is so totally sweet and easy-going, Team Daniel fans may find themselves wavering.

Once again, I felt the pacing was slow but don't get me wrong, there are a few exciting moments thrown in here and there that kept me interested for more. But just like with Fallen, it isn’t until near the end that events start getting more climatic before leaving off on a note that leaves you dearly wishing for the next novel, Passion, due out Summer 2011. I’ll be still sticking around for more, but just like with Torment, I’m not going to set my expectations really high so it lessens any disappointment.

YA Love Triangle Week

YA Love Triangle Week! Why not join the fun?

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Lauren DeStefano

Waiting on Wednesday (15) - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

12:00 PM

Rebecca Maizel

Spotted! Cover of Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel

7:09 PM

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Adult

October Release Picks

11:41 AM

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Aimee Friedman

Indigo Teen Read Awards (plus the After Party) - Part 2!

12:30 PM

Welcome to Part 2 of my Indigo Teen Read Awards experience!

After several months and over 330 000 votes by Canadian teens, these are the 2010 winners of the Teen Read Awards!

(I can't take credit for this pic. It's a screenshot from the Chapters/Indigo website here.)

Were you surprised by any of the winners? When Prophecy of the Sisters won for Best Villain, a few people gasped aloud and there was some murmuring from the crowd as they realized Lord Voldemort had not won. Everyone applauded soon but if there was one major upset of the night, many people probably thought this was the category. As for myself, I've never read Prophecy of the Sisters but I'm glad it won since HP has to share the wins sometimes, lol. There were also some really close calls like in the Best Writer and Best Hottie category that had me guessing who just might win!

Unfortunately, not all of the winning authors were able to attend, but they had made videos for their acceptance speeches which were still cool to watch! Seeing authors such as Cassandra Clare and Suzanne Collins thanking us for voting for them and reading their novels made us feel all giddy, but you know what was really special? J.K. Rowling had written a letter to express her thanks and gratitude to the Canadian branch of Dumbledore's Army. YES, THE J.K. ROWLING! Dan Levy joked that the letter he was holding was probably worth a lot of money, lol.

While some authors weren't able to make it to Toronto, many others were! Here's Kelley Armstrong accepting the Best Canadian Read award (right pic above). Some of the authors also ventured downstairs from the VIP Author Lounge to mingle with fans and take pictures too, including Melissa de la Cruz, Aimee Friedman and Kelley Armstrong!

All too soon it felt like, the TRA's were over and all the winners were announced. Time just absolutely flew by! After the awards had officially ended, my sister and I lingered for a little while longer as more and more people began leaving for home. We happened to be at the right place, and at the right time, when one of the organizers approached us and - I'm not joking- literally handed us each a book... for free! And the book I got also happened to be one I really wanted to read but never had a chance to get- The Maze Runner by James Dashner. It. Was. So. Cool!

Afterwords, we received our swag bags and headed to Indigo Yonge and Eglinton where they were throwing a little After Party for the awards! Some of the authors were there signing stock and also chatting with their readers! Among them, Alyson Noel!

There was also a raffle where some gift cards and a couple Kobo eReaders were given away once again. There were also some yummy-looking cupcakes for sale!

*happily sighs* The TRA's were an experience I'll never forget and I can't thank Chapters/Indigo enough for holding such an a successful event to celebrate YA novels, and giving readers an opportunity to meet some of their favourite authors! And a huge thank you also goes out to all the authors who made their way to Toronto to celebrate the event with us! It was such an honour.

I'll be too old to fit the age limit next year but I'm definitely going to have to ~~force~~ ask my sister to take me along to the next TRA's. To me, the TRA's were so much than a cool award event- they were a chance to really feel the excitement and joy that reading brings to all of us, and it's something that I don't think I'll be forgetting all too soon.

P.S. If you're curious to find out what was in my swag bag, the contents will be included in IMM post later. And if you'd guys like me to, I could also search up some of the acceptance speeches and Monster Factory videos showed that night...

Becca Fitzpatrick

Indigo Teen Read Awards - Part 1!

12:00 PM

I'm sure you all know by now just how excited I was to get the chance to go the first annual Teen Read Awards just over a week ago, so I finally had some time to write a post about the experience! In one word, it was AMAZING! I had a fun night with my sister and it was such a cool experience getting to celebrate some of our favourite books with other readers and authors!

My sis and I began to line up around 5:30 p.m, a half hour before the red carpet actually began, outside a club called Six Degrees... which also happened to be practically across the street from Indigo Yonge & Eglinton, where I attended the signings earlier.

We had a pretty good spot, probably among the first 30 or so attendees, but because we were all lined up along the sidewalk, we didn't actually get to see any of the authors arrive on the red carpet. We did hear a little shout when Richelle Mead arrived, but other than that, everyone was entertained by the magician and mime hanging around. There were was even some trivia questions for the Books-to-Film nominees and I ended up winning 4 Cineplex movie passes for answering a couple questions correctly!

And then before we knew it, 7:00 p.m. had arrived and we got to go inside. As we walked upstairs to the club, we were greeted by the hosts, Jessi Cruikshank and Dan Levy, plus Becca Fitzpatrick! (The picture may be slightly blurry because I took the pic quickly while I was walking by...) When we reached the top steps, were greeted again by the organizers, handed TRA bracelets and then our eyes kind of bugged out at the sight of the TRA swag bags to be given out later.

Soon enough, the place was packed with over 500 people! People were dancing, taking pics at the instant photo booth, checking out the free drinks and snacks (from Mac and Cheese to spring rolls), chatting away, and basically having a good time. There was just so much excitement in the atmosphere that it was hard to contain it! A girl walked away with a new laptop after winning the dance-off, a couple Kobo eReaders were given away to parents, and I even managed to catch a Hunger Games t-shirt after several were thrown out into the crowd!

The TRA's were finally kicked off with the appearance of surprise guest Emily Osment, who happened to be in town to promote her new album. You know how on Hannah Montana she can't sing? Well, in real life... she sure can. Her voice is sort of deeper in person, and she definitely had the crowd cheering her on! After she sang a few songs, the hosts of the night, MTV's Jessi Cruikshank and Dan Levy came on stage!

Soon, the winners were beginning to be announced but in between, there were also a couple more performances as well! Alyssa Reid and Alex Lacasse took to the stage to perform some of their singles, and once again, the crowd loved them! I still don't really know who they are except that they are both Canadian and that their singing skills were pretty good... though I still think Alex sounded like he couldn't make up his mind between singing like Jesse McCartney or being in a boy band, lol. As well, to introduce the novels nominated for the biggest award of the night, Best Read, Monster Factory made some videos to share their 'interpretation' of each novel.

And the night was still not over with more awards to be given out!

I didn't want to make one super-long post, so I'm going move on to Part 2 where I share more pics of the night and announce which novels won in their respective categories (in case you still don't know...).

In My Mailbox (12)

Happy Halloween!

2011 OLA Forest of Reading Nominees Announced!

Waiting on Wednesday (17) - The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Book Trailer! - Matched by Ally Condie

Spotted! Cover of Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Book Trailer! - Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz

Waiting on Wednesday (16) - Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Argh! My Midterms Are Here!!

Torment by Lauren Kate

YA Love Triangle Week! Why not join the fun?

Waiting on Wednesday (15) - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Spotted! Cover of Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel

Book Trailer! - The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

In My Mailbox (11)

October Release Picks

Waiting on Wednesday (14) - What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

In My Mailbox (10)

Indigo Teen Read Awards (plus the After Party) - Part 2!

Indigo Teen Read Awards - Part 1!

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