Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland (ARC)
Publication Date: September 6, 2010
Versions: hardcover, kindle
Received from: We Love YA Tours!

Summary (from goodreads):
Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor's daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself-and others-in order to be set free. And love may be the key...

This book was at first a little bit confusing but when I clicked with the different characters and the scenes, the story came alive. Louisa has always been different-liking the games her brother plays and wishing she could play them more often. But her mother doesn't approve of her behaviors especially when they lead to her destroying a doll and creating a few other experiments. But when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall she is stunned-she shouldn't be at this place because she isn't crazy. And when they keep saying her name is Lucy Childs-she knows it isn't and they must have got the wrong girl. And when Louisa figures out why she had to go to Wildthorn in the first place, things start to make sense again.

This book jumps from the present to the past of Louisa's childhood where her mother is very un encouraging of her behavior. Her parents are very different and I enjoyed reading about them. Louisa is also a very strong character who knows what she wants and how she will get it.

Will I reread it?
I may have to. This was a very powerful book-one that you think about for a long time after you put it down. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great read that will also haunt you.

Mockingjay Countdown Event

As all of you know, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is coming out in about eight days-which is so amazing and exciting. And some of you may also know that I am hosting a huge Mockingjay Countdown Event here on my blog, Smitten With Books. This event is going to take place from 12 AM August 22nd and is going to end at Midnight on August 24th-which is of course the release date of Mockingjay.

Since August 22nd is right around the corner-I wanted to give you guys some more information.

1. Mini Challenges
There are going to be five mini challenges each day during this three day event. So there will be a total of fifteen challenges (all having to do with the Hunger Games trilogy) that you can end up participating in. You don't have to enter all of them if you don't want to and you don't even have to enter one if you don't want to-these are fun and will get you in the mood for the release of Mockingjay. But if you do enter the mini challeges, each one you participate in will earn you an extra four entries each day. So if you end up doing all the mini challenges for the day (five total) then you will get an extra 20 entries to win prizes. But each days worth of extra entries will only count toward that days prizes-and will not be carried onto the next day.

2. Following my blog, Smitten With Books
If you are a follower of my blog, Smitten With Books, you will also get an extra two entries each day. So on August 22nd you will get an extra two entries, on August 23rd you will get an extra two entries, and on August 24th you will get an extra two entries. Like the mini challenges extra entries-the follower entries will not be carried onto the next days.

3. Make a Blog post/Twitter/Blog Sidebar
You can also spread the word about this event either by a blog post, twitter, or posting on your blog sidebar. The last day you will be able to spread the word (and have the extra entries) is at Midnight on August 23rd (the second day of this event). And you may be wondering how many extra entries you will get since I mentioned them above.
Blog Post: 4 extra entries
Twitter: 2 extra entries
Blog Sidebar: 3 extra entries
You can do each one once only, and these extra entries will count toward each day of the events. So the total number of extra entries you could earn for each day is nine.

4. Prizes
You also may be wondering what you will be winning. Each day (August 22nd, August 23rd, and August 24th) will have a different set of prizes that you can win. And all your extra entries will be put toward winning that prize. Here is what you can win:

August 22nd (1st Day)
One person will win:

A paperback copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Inspired Gale backpack charm (made and bought from Cold Hands Warm Arts)

August 23rd (2nd Day)
One person will win:


A hardcover copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games inspired Peeta backpack charm (made and bought from Cold Hands Warm Arts)

August 24th (3rd Day)
One person will win:



A hardcover copy of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games inspired Katniss Charm Bracelet (made and bought from Cold Hands Warm Arts)

Here are some of the questions that you may have:

Q: Can International (not living in the United States) participate?
A: Yes, of course. But unfortunately since I don't have a lot of money to spend on shipping right now, you will not be able to win any of the prizes. I am so sorry in advance for this.

Q: Can I post on my blog or twitter about the Mockingjay Countdown right now even though it's a few days away?
A: Yes, you can. This will get more people excited and will spread the word-so that would be great.

Q: How will you know that we are a follower, participated in the mini challenges, or spread the word about this event?
A: Each day (there will be three in total for all the three days) I will post a form that you will have to fill out so I know everything you have done. On it I will ask which mini challenges you have participated in, if you are a follower, and if you spread the word in any way (blog post, twitter, or blog sidebar)

Q: What if I don't fill out the form for the day but I have participated in the challenges?
A: Your entries will not count

Q: How will you choose the winners for all the prizes?
A: I will use random.org

Q: When do the mini challenges close?
A: The five challenges I post each day will close at Midnight on that day. So you will not be able to participate past that time.

Q: How will we know how to participate in the challenges?
A: I will post them throughout the day with instructions on what to do

If you have any more questions, please email me here: smittenwithbooks (at) hotmail (dot) com and I will gladly answer them for you. I hope everyone is excited for this event and the release of Mockingjay.

Winner of the Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Mini Challenge

The winner of the Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon mini challenge is...

Darla

Congratulations, you have won an ARC of Firelight by Sophie Jordan. I have emailed you for your address. Thanks again everyone for entering my mini challenge and I hope everyone had a wonderful read-a-thon.

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Wrap up

So, I guess you could say that I slacked (a lot) in this read a thon. I actually only read on Friday and that was only one book. This weekend was just so busy for me and I had so much going on plus I was hanging out with my friends on Saturday and Sunday so I didn't have any time to read.

So overall, this is what I read:

1. Wake by Lisa McMann

It definitely wasn't the ten books I was trying to get to. But there's always more read a thons and I hope I read more the next one I do. How was the read a thon for you?

Jump by Ginger Rue

Jump by Ginger Rue (ARC)
Publication Date: September 14, 2010
Versions: hardcover
Received from: Around the World Tours

Summary (from goodreads):
High school junior Brinkley Harper is beautiful, wealthy, admired, and powerful-until the day she wakes up in the body of a classmate she wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with.


Goth girl Miranda is everything Brinkley isn't: she won't leave the house in anything but black, her family life is in tatters, she's practically invisible at school, and she's hiding a dark secret. As Brinkley experiences Miranda's life from the inside out, she's forced to consider the world from a very different point-of-view. But this won't be Brinkley's last "jump," and each time she lives a day in another classmates body, Brinkley not only begins to feel empathy for others, she also begins to glimpse the fears, vulnerabilities and disappointments behind her own perfect facade. By experiencing the world as somebody else, Brinkley may finally learn to understand herself.


A contemporary fantasy featuring a gutsy heroine and fast-paced action, Jump explored the transformation of a girl who never knew she needed one.

Lets face the truth, Brinkley is one of the meanest and most unlikable characters I have ever read about in a book. But that was the point-so the author displayed this character really well. Brinkley is popular, rich and everyone knows it. She would never hang out with the less than popular group and she doesn't care about showing her mean side. Everyone hates her or fears her but she doesn't care. That is until she wakes up in another girls body. She can't stand Miranda, the goth girl at school, and she can't stand being in her body either. But soon she realizes that Miranda's home life is anything but normal and that not everyone is what they seem on the outside.

I guess you could say that Brinkley learns and grows a lot up until the end of the book, but I didn't feel any sympathy for her and didn't really care about her. The book was pretty funny though and I loved reading about what Brinkley had to do when she was in Miranda's body-like finding her locker and figuring out the combination for the lock.

Will I reread it?
Probably not, but I did enjoy the book. I'm kind of sick of the whole mean girl character because it's so overdone but Brinkley takes it to a whole new level. I would recommend this book to fans of the movie: Freaky Friday.

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Update 1 (Friday)

The Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon is hosted by Monica at the Bibliophilic Book Blog. You still have time to sign up so go here if you want to join in on all the fun.

I only got through one book yesterday, and it wasn't even on my list that I was going to read.

1. Wake by Lisa McMann

The reason I only read one book was that I babysat for about nine hours yesterday and I didn't have any time to read while I was with the kids. So I hope to make up for that today, and read a lot.

And if you are apart of this read-a-thon make sure you join my mini challenge to win an ARC of Firelight by Sophie Jordan. Go here to enter.

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Mini Challenge

I hope everyone is having a wonderful read a thon. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, Monica from The Bibliophilic Book Blog is hosting this read a thon which starts at 9 AM Friday August 13th and ends at 9 AM Monday August 16th. And I am hosting a mini challenge for this read a thon.

Here is what you have to do:

Pick one book from the read a thon that you have read so far. And then choose three characters from the book (they can be major characters or characters that are rarely in the book-it's up to you). And then you have to find one actor or actress for each character that would be perfect if the book is going to be made into a movie. Overall you will have three actors or actresses picked out to represent your three chosen characters from the book.

And then in a post on your own blog or in a comment below this post, name the title and author of your book and then the names of the three characters you picked and which actress or actors you would pick to play them in the movie version of the book.

There are a few rules though:
1. If your book is already made into a movie-you can't just write down those actors or actresses-I won't count it then.
2. You have to live in the United States (sorry to the international bloggers, but I don't have a lot of money to ship international)
3. You have to be signed up for this read-a-thon (and if you haven't but want to, make sure you do so here). Make sure you don't lie because I will check if you linked your blog to the mr linkey on Monica's blog

Here is an example of what I want you to do, just in case my instructions weren't clear enough (you cannot use this example as your own-I will not count it if you do)

I chose the book Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty


1. Jessica Darling would be played by Evan Rachel Wood
2. Marcus Flutie would be played by Shane Kippel (Spinner from Degrassi)
3. Hope would be played by JoJo

And if you make your own blog post, you can also add pictures. And then leave a link in the comments. If you are also a follower of my blog, Smitten With Books, you get an extra two entries-so please write +2 follower if you are a follower of my blog. But you don't have to be a follower to enter this challenge.

You may be wondering what you will be winning. Well here it is:

An ARC of Firelight by Sophie Jordan. So start leaving comments. This challenge will run from 8 AM Friday August 13th until 8 AM Monday August 16th. So the giveaway will be closed at 8 AM on the 16th. Good luck to all of you and have a wonderful read a thon.