A Lot Can Happen In A Month [Nov 2012]

So it's official! Me and Sarah have been book blogging for one whole month now! To celebrate this, I've created a new monthly post (you can call it a meme, I guess) to recap everything we've done so far. In the future, this post will come at the last day of every month, restating what happened over the course of that month.

And if you're a regular at our blog, take a look of what posts you missed but would be interested in! If you're new to our blog, feel free to stalk around and click on these colorful links.

Now, let's start this recap!

Book Reviews:

1. Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

This book takes the word "romance" differently than most YA stories. In Something Strange and Deadly, Eleanor Fitt doesn't fall in love with Daniel right away. Daniel doesn't fall in love with Eleanor at first sight either. In fact, he was pretty annoyed when he met her, as he made assumptions about her being some rich snob. But as the Dead became more consistent, they had no choice but to see each other again. They had to work together, along with Jie and Joseph (fantastic characters, by the way) to stop the zombies.

2. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Unraveling is a refreshing sci-fi book to read. It's hard to find this type of genre in the YA world, so you could literally see me jumping up and down when I read quantum physics there. Thankfully, Elizabeth Norris has written this in a way so non-quantum physics people would understand this too. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK NOW! It's so wonderful and amazing; not to mention, very unique. (Quote taken from Unraveling book review on Umbrella Dreams. Click here to read the full review)

3. The Forsaken by Lisa M Stasse

When I first read the summary, I expected something like Uglies by Scott Westerfield.  A girl who ends up in the wild, looking to find her true self. But as I read the beginning, I discover it's a lot like Divergent by Veronica Roth. There's a test..involving a serum...taken when you were in the 16 year old range..supported by the government. But that's where the similarities with Divergent ends. After that, Alenna gets into The Wheel and I find similarities with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The Blue Sector, where Alenna's tribe is, is set into a forest-like place, which I imagine is like The Hunger Games's setting. There is also fighting and death, likewise in The Hunger Games. But then, more of the story passes, and I find out that The Forsaken is getting more unique...until the last few pages of it. There is an explanation of what happened to the start of The Wheel and why it's there. And I won't spoil it, but then it became Divergent by Veronica Roth and I found myself cringing at how the reason of the Wheel is similar to Divergent. (Quote taken from The Forsaken book review on Umbrella Dreams. Click here to read the full review)

4. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

The perspective is in 2 points of views: Emma and Galen. Emma is in first person while Galen is in third and I feel like that really wasn't necessary. That part bothered me quite a bit, but its not enough to make me write a RANT about it. The plot however was actually a pretty good one though I feel like the storytelling of it could have been better. The idea of mermaids and the origin of gifts was a fantastic idea to write a book about but to be honest, the author could have wrote it better. And if any new author writes the same story, no matter how good the storytelling is, it would be considered cliche. I'm a bit disappointed in the perspective and storytelling but the main idea of the story was pretty good. (Quote taken from the Of Poseidon book review on Umbrella Dreams. Click here to read the full review.

5. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

This is a pretty good book. It's entertaining and you will probably like it. The only thing was:  this book wasn't really my style and it kind of deceives you in the summary. There wasn't enough action. I also thought it dragged a little bit. But overall, it is still a decent book. If you're ever bored and looking for entertainment you might want to read it. (Quote taken from the Graceling book review on Umbrella Dreams. Click here to read the full review)

6. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is a great character with a funny sense of humor. The plot is excellent. The end doesn't end in a cliffhanger. This is a perfect book for people who love their adventure and action book. This is a mind-blowingly epic book, and I definitely recommend it. (Quote taken from The Lighning Thief book review on Umbrella Dreams. Click here to read the full review)

As usual, the blue titles are Sarah's reviews and the pinks are mine. Feel free to roam around those book reviews and plot what to read next!

Memes:

Memes are a big part of Umbrella Dreams. We want to thank Jill (Breaking Spine) for her awesome WoW memes and Kristi (The Story Siren) for her IMM posts.

Here are a collection of meme posts for you to enjoy:

11/13/12 -- In My Mailbox (1)

11/14/12 -- Waiting on Wednesday (1)

11/19/12 -- In My Mailbox (2)

11/22/12 -- Batch (1)

11/24/12 -- Random (1)

11/26/12 -- In My Mailbox (3)

11/28/12 -- Waiting on Wednesday(2)

To find out more about BATCH and RANDOM, please click on the individual links. For now, here's a short explanation:

BATCH is created by Sarah. The goal of BATCH is to let blog readers know about these four things: 

1. Book covers that we like
2. Beautiful book covers but horrible story
3. Not-so-beautiful book cover but beautiful story
4. Anything random that has to do with book covers

If you're a Being A Thursday Cover Hoard, then BATCH is for you.

If covers aren't your thing, check out RANDOM, Rhetorically Asked Not Discussed On Memes. That is a meme created to answer questions about the publishing industry/publishing company/YA books and etc.

For this month, BATCH is featuring Starcrossed. Click here to learn more about this book.

Also for this month, RANDOM is featuring the question: How much do authors make? Click here to learn more about this inquiry.

Rants:

Rants are usually written by Nicole. This month, she has written two rants for book bloggers to read. Check out below to get to those posts.

Rant #1: Love Triangles

Rant #2: Dystopian Cliches

I hope you enjoyed those rants.(:

Hall of Fame:

Hallf of Fame is a collection of amazing books Sarah and Nicole have read.

This month, one book has made it to the Hall of Fame! Congratulations to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

For a link to Sarah's 5 star review, click here.

Monthly Feature:

For this month, Nicole and Sarah want to feature this post. Nicole won't explain much of it on here, so click the button to find out the surprise!

Upcoming Book Reviews:

And now, lastly, Nicole want to share what books will soon be reviewed soon. To keep things fun, the review dates are still a mystery. However, if you catch a book you like, stay tuned for the review! It should be up shortly!

A Final Word...

Thank you so much for reading this post. Sarah and Nicole both can't believe it's been a month of book blogging already. So far, they are really enjoying this. Hopefully in the future, their blog will expand to be something even greater.

P.S

We have one very special Holiday post. They are very short and contain a thank you and a Happy Holiday. Here it is: Happy Thanksgiving!