Bookish Junkie: June 2011

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Summer Listening

OK, so I admit I have not been the greatest audiobook fan in the past. Today I am going to try something new. Hello! Free audiobooks!

I am in! Two books a week this summer, one contemporary one classic. This is a great opportunity to find some listening material for those summer car rides. I now have 16 chances to change my mind on audio books. I have listed the titles below. They are available for free download one week only, but do not expire once downloaded! WOW! I am listening to Shiver now.

SYNC SUMMER 2011:

This summer is your chance to enjoy 16 different Young Adult titles and summer reading classics for FREE!

Watch for a new pair of audiobooks available each week,

today June 23rd through August 17th.

Each giveaway matches one current young adult title thematically with a classic or assigned summer reading title.

Beginning on June 23, the audiobooks are available for only 7 days.

Downloads are in MP3 format, hosted by Overdrive, and are Mac and Windows compatible.

The SYNC audiobook program is hosted by Audiobook Community, "an online social networking site where listeners, narrators, authors, and fans of audiobooks can connect, discuss, and discover all things audiobook."

To sign up, students must be at least 13 years old.

Your summer listening experience starts here!

SYNC Titles

Summer 2011

Available June 23 - June 29

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

Available June 30 - July 6
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Trial by Franz Kafka

Available July 7 - July 13
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

Available July 14 - July 20
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Beowulf by Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]

Available July 21 - July 27
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Available July 28 - August 3
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea by Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]

Available August 4 - August 10
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Available August 11 - August 17
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Here's what you need to know:

To Download:

• You need OverDrive® Media Console™ (free!)
Download: Mac Windows
• Files can be transferred to mobile devices after downloading to your computer.

Sync Audiobooks:

• Files are MP3 format.
• Files cannot download directly to your mobile device.

How to transfer to mobile device here.
• Files are for personal use only.
• Files are available for download for one week only but can be listened to at any time.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched

By: Ally Condie

Intended Age: YA

Hardcover: 366 pages

Published November 30th 2010 by Dutton Juvenile

ISBN 0525423648 (ISBN13: 9780525423645)

Series: Matched #1

Synopsis:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. -goodreads.com

I listened to this via audio book read by Kate Simses. I borrowed it electronically from the library. This is one of the YALSA Top Ten Nominees for 2011.

First, I have to say I am not a big fan of audio books. I feel forced into the characters voice and usually there is goofy music. Getting past my dislike of audio books was slow, but I listened along to it with my daughter, as she was home sick.

What if we lived in a “perfect” world? All the choices are made for us but “perfect”. Sickness is overcome and death is controlled even comforting, to live in relative painlessness. That is Cassia’s world until she starts seeing some of the costs that perfection has. She begins to wonder, to want. What will this cost her? Her family?

I really enjoyed this book. (Although, I would have rather read it) It reminded me of another of my favorite books “The Giver” by Lois Lowry if you haven’t read it you should!

The concept of the lists of 100’s really horrified me! Life with out diversity and the right to choose and share is too high a price for me. It was a great discussion starter with my daughter about what we see as perfection and gratitude for even the smallest of things including our book of 101 poems.

This book is the first in a trilogy. Crossed will come out in November 2011. This book definitely sets you up for the next book, yet the ending satisfied me.

I give this 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, dystopian Sci-Fi

Friday, June 17, 2011

Summer Reading

This summer I am going to try to read as many of the YALSA's Teens' Top Ten 2011 Nominees as I can.

You can find a list of the 25 nominees at their website.

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/teenstopten.cfm

You can read all twenty-five this summer and get ready to vote for the 2011 list, Aug. 22 through Sept. 16.

A few of the books on the list are in a series so you should pick up the previous books before tackling these:

Collins , Suzanne. Mockingjay

· Catching Fire 2010 YALSA top 10

· Hunger Games 2009 YALSA top 10

Fitzpatrick, Becca. Crescendo

· Hush Hush 2010 YALSA top 10

Westerfeld, Scott. Behemoth

· Leviathan

Patterson, James. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel. Book 7

· The Angel Experiment Book #1 2005 YALSA top 10

· Schools Out Forever Book #2 2007 YALSA top 10

· Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports Book #3 2008 YALSA top 10

· Final Warning Book # 4

· Max Book #5

· Fang Book #6

Grant, Michael. Lies.

· Gone

· Hunger

Clare, Cassandra. The Clockwork Angel.

· City of Bones 2008 YALSA top 10

· City of Ashes 2009 YALSA top 10

· City of Glass 2010 YALSA top 10

· City of Fallen Angels released April 5^th 2011

Of course there are a few books that are coming out this summer and have just recently come out I am looking forward to jumping into!

Again, some of these are in a series so check out the previous books.

Scorch Trials by James Dashner (released October 12 2010)

sequel to Maze Runner

I really enjoyed the Maze Runner! When I downloaded this to my Nook my daughter hijacked it and devoured the book. What better recommendation can you get than that! PS M. give me back my Nook!