Book Review: Vampire Academy

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I shall review a book titled "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead.

Release Date: August 16^th 2007

Publisher: Razorbill

Source: Public Library

Series: Book 1

The description of the book:

St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school—it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St. Vladimir's—the very place where they're most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy's ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world's fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

To be honest with you I had mixed feelings towards this book. I had high expectations since everyone had read it and loved it. And it's about vampires. So I was ready to get some action and fun while reading the first installment in the vampire academy series.

First off, the dialogues throughout the whole book were very weak. It was just too unrealistic to me. Therefore, I didn’t feel any connection between me and the characters. I didn’t care about them. And we all know if you don’t care for, at least, the main character, then there is a problem. The characters were not memorable at all. Of course, I am not talking about Rose, Lissa and Dimitri, but I am talking about the other minor characters. They didn’t stand out at all. Also, I was bored for most of the time. There wasn’t enough interesting "things" going on in the book to keep me awake.

The relationship between Rose and Dimitri was the cutest thing. Towards the end of the book, it was the only thing I was paying attention to. Also, Lissa and Rose friendship was so inspiring and moving.

So I know the series consists of 6 books. Will I be continuing reading the series?

The answer is: Yes

Because I read on goodreads.com that the series gets better. So I'll read it because 

of that comment.

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DARK DAYS of Supernatural - Summer Tour 2011

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Harper teen released this amazing video on YouTube. It gives an overview of who will be touring in the Dark Days of Supernatural, 2011 summer.

Check it out:

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Book Review: Tweets from Tahrir

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Today I shall review a book titled "Tweets from Tahrir" by Nadia Idle and Alex Nunns

Release Date: April 21^st 2011

 Publisher: OR Books

Source: ARC  

The description of the book:
Egypt’s revolution as it unfolded, in the words of the people who made it.  

The Twitter accounts of the activists who brought heady days of revolution to Egypt in January and February this year paint an exhilarating picture of an uprising in real-time. Thousands of young people documented on cell phones every stage of their revolution, as it happened. This book brings together a selection of key tweets in a compelling, fast-paced narrative, allowing the story of the uprising to be told directly by the people in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. 
Many of the activists were “citizen journalists”, using Twitter to report what was happening. Others used the social network to organize, communicating the next steps necessary for the revolution to move forward. Nearly everyone online gave instant reactions to the extraordinary events occurring before their eyes.  

History has never before been written in this fashion. The tweet limit of 140 characters evidently concentrated the feelings of those using Twitter. Raw emotion bursts from their messages, whether frantic alarm at attacks from pro-government thugs or delirious happiness at the fall of the dictator. To read these tweets is to embark a rollercoaster ride, from the surprise and excitement of the first demonstration, to the horror of the violence that claimed hundreds of lives, to the final ecstasy of victory. 

My review:

On January 25, the people of Egypt decided to protest to demand their rights. The planned protest turned into a revolution. It was suppose to take place only in Cairo but, surprisingly, the revolution swept the nation. Social media had its role in the Egyptian revolution. People of Egypt used it as a way to communicate and report what was going on in Egypt. Twitter was the most used tool to get the news across. Social activist, bloggers,etc would tweet what was happening in Egypt in 140 characters or less. "Tweets from Tahrir" focused on people tweeting from Tahrir square.

The book takes you onto an epic journey to one of the most amazing revolutions of all times. The book starts with Egyptians following the Tunisian's revolution and ended by tweets that reflected the success of the Egyptian revolution.

The book is composed of introductions at the beginning of each chapter to inform you what the chapter is going to be about. Then it follows with tweets from well-known tweeps. Reading what is happening in Egypt from different people added to the richness and the information that this book contained. It made me feel like I am back to the glorious days of the revolution. At the beginning of the book, there is a map of Tahrir Square and its surrounding areas to help identify the locations that are mentioned in the tweets.

If you follow me on twitter, you would know that I've been following this revolution via twitter. Therefore, I was super excited when I knew that the virtual data will be in a hard copy form to keep it forever. At the beginning, I found it a hard read. I started crying from the first chapter. Well, in total I cried 3 times reading this book. But as much as there were tears, there were smiles too.

Basically, when you are reading this book, you will feel as if you were in Tahrir Square. The tweeps, in the Tweets from Tahrir, did a great job in describing so much in only 140 characters.

And did I mention that there are pictures too in the book. It’s a way to help you create an image of what  it was like in Tahrir Square.

Overall, this was a magnificent book. It delivered real scenes from Tahrir Square. I hope you get to enjoy it as much as I did.

One final thought: shouldn’t there be a sequel for this book. Or maybe there could be a book called "Tweets from Libya" soon. Who knows?

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In My MailBox (26)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

In each In My Mailbox post, I will be posting the books I will be reading and reviewing.

For Review:

Tweets from Tahrir by Nadia Idle and Alex Nunns

(I requested this book and OR Books were kind enough to send it to me.

Did you notice Egypt's flag in the background?)

From the Library:

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

(Have been hearing great things on this book. Cant wait to start it.)

Between Shade of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

(Its considered to be the best debut book in 2011. I must read then.)

Now tell me, what did you get in your mailbox?

Happy reading and tata for now

Wealthy Fiction Characters

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Do you know who the richest fiction characters are?

Well, you've came to the right place to know about the wealthiest fiction characters throughout time.

In first place comes Scrooge McDuck with a fortune, in gold coins, of $44.1 billion. I wish I could dive into his gold coins pool. Scrooge McDuck had been my favourite Disney character because his fortune started with a lucky coin and he continued on working hard to increase his wealth. He might be mean but he has a big heart.

In second place is, the one and only, Carlisle Cullen from the Twilight franchises with $36.2 billion. Of course, how could he be poor when he is living with Alice Cullen who can predict the future.

Artemis Fowl II, the prepubescent scion of an Irish crime family from Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl novels, was pegged at $13.5 billion.

In fourth place, the character Richie Rich totaled $9.7 billion. 

For the complete list, click here

Now tell me, is there any character should have made the list.

These rankings were according to Forbes. The source was 24 Hour newspaper. 

Tata for Now :) 

Book Review: Socialnomics

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Today I shall review a book titled "SocialNomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business" by Erik Qualman. I read the revised and updated version.

The description of the book:

A fascinating, research-based look at the impact of social media on businesses and consumers around the world, and what's in store for the future 

Social Media. 

You've heard the term, even if you don't use the tools. But just how big has social media become? Social media has officially surpassed pornography as the top activity on the Internet. People would rather give up their e-mail than their social network. It is so powerful that it is causing a macro shift in the way we live and conduct business.

Brands can now be strengthened or destroyed by the use of social media. Online networking sites are being used as giant, free focus groups. Advertising is less effective at influencing consumers than the opinions of their peers. If you aren't using social media in your business strategy, you are already behind your competition.

My review:

Twitter, facebook, blogging, where is this all taking us? How could we take an advantage of this new inexpensive opportunity to expand business, market, awareness (you know name it).

Social media had become a huge part of my life and many others. Therefore it is a great marketing opportunity for all businesses (because of reach and exposure). But since it is a new medium, businesses are wondering how to use this medium. This book helps all businesses to put their first footsteps on social media successfully. It is a guideline on how to create a social media campaign. The book offers some social media campaigns of well-known companies and the results of it.   For companies that believe social media is a fad, the author does a great job convincing these companies of the importance of advertising on social media.

One of the topics in this book that caught my attention was how he predicts the future of publishing companies and books. According to Erik Qualman, there will be "advertising via hyperlink placements within e-books."  How exciting? That will draw more people into reading e-books. Now, I don’t know if the hyperlinks are already taking place since I don’t read e-books.  

Towards the end of the book, Erik Qualman, creates a list of people who are must-be-followed on twitter. Most of them are tech-savvy, authors and basically are successful in the social media world. Personally, I prefer recommendations in books to continue my education and learning on social media and this whole new world.

We all use it but not learn it.

I recommend this book for the following people:

·         Marketers

·         Tweeps

·         Bloggers

·         Fan page operators on Facebook

·         Teachers

·         Business owners

·         And YOU!

I seriously did enjoy this book. It was written in a very simple language for everyone to understand and it made social media so much interesting because it is in real life. And for someone who eats and breath social media, this book was so informative and opened the doors on new, fresh trends and information that I never knew of from before.

Make sure to follow Erik Qualman @equalman

Check out this video:

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Plum Rewards Program

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Today I shall introduce to you a new rewarding program in Canada.

I was browsing books at Coles (a bookstore) today, when I found a purple banners. 

The first thing that caught my attention was "Join for Free". I asked one of the staff for more info. She was kind enough to tell me what this purple banner is all about.

It is a new rewarding program called "Plum Rewards" offered at the following stores across Canada:

·         Chapters

·         !ndigo

·         COLES

·         Chapter.indigo.ca   

This is how the rewarding system works:

Every time your purchase a book, magazine, basically anything from the above listed stores, you get points. With these points, you can then redeem it for in-store savings.

You earn 10 plum points for every dollar spent at the above listed stores.

You can earn bonus points on certain books. Like right now, you can gain more points if you purchase "The Gathering" by Kelly Armstrong and "City of Angels" by Cassandra Clare.  

This table illustrates the points required and its reward value:

Points Required	Reward Value
2,500	$5
4,500 pts	$10
8,500 pts	$20
20,000 pts	$50
35,000 pts	$100

The process to be part of this program is so easy. The cashier at COLES just asked for my name and email and she gave me a card. Then they send you an email, asking you to update your profile which in return, you earn 400 points. Epic, right?

I am so excited for this new program and I can't wait to collect points. I can't wait to get 35,000 points.

So tell me are you going to join this new rewarding program?

Source: chapters.indigo.ca

In My MailBox (25)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

In each In My Mailbox post, I will be posting the books I will be reading and reviewing.

Purchased:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpartick

(I read and reviewed it from before but I had to have my own copy)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

(I read so many great reviews about this book so I decided to read it for the debut author challenge)

Borrowed:

The Education of Hailey Kendrick by Eileen Cook

(It looks so good)

So thats all for this week, what did you get in your MailBox?

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Book Review: You Are Not Here

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Today I shall review a book titled "You are not here" by Samantha Schutz.

The description of the book:

Annaleah and Brian shared something special - Annaleah is sure of it. When they were together, they didn't need anyone else. It didn't matter that their relationship was secret. All that mattered was what they had with each other.
And then, out of nowhere, Brian dies. And while everyone else has their role in the grieving process, Annaleah finds herself living outside of it, unacknowledged and lonely. How can you recover from a loss that no one will let you have?

My review:

Just look at this cover. How beautiful? They are called tuplis, if not, feel free to correct me in the comment section. Anyways I loved the cover and that was only reason why I picked it up. I haven’t heard much about this book before reading it so I was guessing the story line all the time. But let me tell you, it was really good. It was written in a simple, sophisticated way. It wasn’t like a paragraph after paragraph but instead it was a sentence after the other.

The main character, Annaleah, is coping with the death of her boyfriend. She drifts away from her life and die with Brain, her boyfriend. For most of the time, I felt sad after Annaleah's loss. Brain was everything to her. She didn’t know who to talk to since their relationship wasn’t really official and so no one would believe her.

Annaleah's character is very relatable to many of people. People who falls in love for the first time and they fall hard. But there is always hope.

The author shows that Annaleah grieving after Brain's death has something to do with Annaleah past which I found pretty smart because it is good to create for a character future as well as history too.

"You are not here" is a quick, great read. 

This book was Samantha Schutz's debut for 2010 and I will be looking forward to her upcoming books.

Tata for now