2013 Update (1) : January

January is over. I can’t believe how fast it went by. I still write 2012 instead of 2013 half of the time. This year, I’ve decided to do monthly updates. This will also help me keep track of what I’ve done in the last month, the books I’ve read, the books I’ve reviewed, special posts, and my challenges…

I have to say that January wasn’t what I was expecting, and many things happened. This made it a little harder for me to read and review as much as I wanted. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch up in February.

Books I’ve Read

Indigo Awakening by Jordan Dane (Reviewed Here)

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans (Reviewed Here)

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff (Reviewed Here)

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi (Reviewed Here)

Just One Day by Gayle Forman (Reviewed Here) 

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

Prodigy by Marie Lu

Boundless by Cynthia Hand

Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Part of the 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

Tempest by Julie Cross (Reviewed Here)

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill (Reviewed Here)

Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Now, there are many books I’m hoping to read this month. I don’t know yet how many I’ll have time to read, but here is a list of a few I’ll definitely try to get to this month.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons

Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison

Unraveling by Elizabeth Noris

Altered by Jennifer Rush

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Beautiful Chaos by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia

Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Here it is for January! Any books I should check out in February? 

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Tempest by Julie Cross

Tempest #1

Release Date: January 17^th, 2012

Number of Pages: 352

Publisher: St.Martin’s Griffin

Source: Bought

GR – Amazon – BD - Chapters

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun. That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future. Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities. But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him. Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world. 

Tempest left me with mixed feeling, if I’m completely honest. Yes, did enjoy it. Yes, I’m really excited for the sequel, because I did get attached to the characters. The thing is, the idea of the time jump not leaving a trace in the past slightly annoyed me. It may sound strange, but to me, if you can jump in time and have no effect on it, than I wouldn’t call it time travel. That’s the one thing that made me really step out of this novel with annoyance.

Maybe it’s picky of me, since I found the characters really intriguing. Not only was Jackson really interesting to follow, but also the supporting characters were simply as interesting. I liked Adam and the way he was ready to do so much for Jackson. Their friendship was so fun to read about. Holly’s complexity as a character, the way 2007 Holly was different from 2009 holly, how easy it was to see how she could have grown from one into the other. Then there’s Courtney, Jackson’s twin sister. She may be dead, but she still leaves a shadow in everyone’s lives, and I have a feeling we will see more from her. Finally, I can’t forget about Jackson’s father, whose intentions can be a little unclear by moment. Yet, I still came to care for him.

When I think about Jackson’s power, I had a problem with the idea of his travel not influencing the present. I just don’t understand how that could possible. That took me out of the story, and made it really hard for me to love the novel. Still, Vortex will be in my reading pile when it comes out.

Overall, the novel was interesting and intriguing. Yet, certain details made it impossible for me to completely love it. Yet, I still enjoyed it very much, and I would still recommend it.

About the Author

(from NetGalley)

Julie lives in central Illinois with her husband and three children. She never considered writing professionally until May of 2009. Since then, she hasn’t gone a day without writing.

Her Website

Her Twitter

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Hi guys! This year, I'm planning on cleaning my TBR pile a little, so I thought I should try this challenge. There is 5 levels in this challenge:

Levels:
(how many books you're planning to read for this challenge in 2013)

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

I'll aim for the Sweet Kiss Level for the moment, and I'll see how it goes. Here are some of the titles I hope to read this year:

1. All These ThingsI've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
2. Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
3. Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
4. The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova
5. The Tempest by Julie Cross
6. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
7. Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen
8. Fire by Kristin Cashore
9. Eon by Alison Goodman
10. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

And many more....

This is the first ten I plan to read, and I'll try to update the list every month.

Any of you participating in this challenge?