About SamiK

I'm a Library Director for a small(ish) Texas town with a desire to share my love of books and the library with my community.

Currently, I am working towards my MLS (Master of Library Science) from Texas Woman's University (my alma mater!).

When I'm not treading through a pile a school work and work work, I make precious memories with both my handsome men at home. Whether we are playing with the sand between our toes, making a campfire, or just taking in a movie at home, every moment is unique.



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July 31, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: July 31, 2012

Well it's the last day of July and the perfect day for a Top Ten Tuesday!


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list is created for others to enjoy and join.

This week the meme was "Top Ten Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With For 24 Hours." I didn't quite reach ten but I chose characters that I would love to experience one day of the most. This was more difficult than I thought, mostly because if I switched with the character, I would have to face the difficulties as much as the pleasure. Let's dive in!

1. Cassia from Matched by Ally Condie - Okay so maybe I'm a bit obsessed with this trilogy like a Twilight fan is hardcore Team whatever. Now, I'm not sure which 24 hours I would love to experience because there are so many moments that I just yearn to know. But, this is a dystopian novel, so there are plenty of times I want to miss.

2. Nina from XVI by Julia Karr - Well...maybe I'm just a dystopian freak! I absolutely love them, especially this trilogy! Nina faces a tremendous amount of problems, both physical and emotional. Yet, I can't help to want to trade places to experience her world, our possible future.

3. Zoey from House of Night by PC&Kristen Cast - Okay, so if I'm going to be a kickass vampyre, why not switch places with Nix's own protege?! And the tattoos??? Enough said.

4. Cassie from The Possession of Cassie Quinn by Kathryn Knutson - so I don't want to give any spoilers since my review has not been posted yet, but I loved this book and this character. I don't want to switch the last few hours of the book that is for sure! but I would love to experience the woods :)

5. Lily from Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn - Who doesn't want to spend Christmas break running around Manhattan doing dares left by a stranger in your notebook? Best Christmas ever!

6. Bella from Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer - Before you start griping or giving me those looks, let me explain. I want to experience Meyer's world not the Summit created one (not that its too shabby) but I want to see Edward and Jacob as she dreamed them. See Edward sparkle? I would not pass that up! (don't picture the movie)

7. Wanderer from The Host by Stephenie Meyer - Maybe I should say Mel because technically it is her body that Wanderer (or Wanda) the Soul is placed inside. It's Wanda I would want to exchange with. To have her memories of the Worlds she has travelled and to see Earth as a visitor not as a human. I just totally loved this book.
I honestly could keep going but these are the characters that I would want to change places with. There are so many characters that I do love more and admire but I would not want to switch with. Hope you enjoyed :)


July 17, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday



Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list is created for others to enjoy and join.

This week I am suggesting TEN BOOKS FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE ___ BOOK.  I quickly decided on Hunger Games, even though I'm sure it will be popular this week.

Without further ado, here are ten books to check out if you liked Hunger Games. (You'll notice a few books are practically always on my list :) what can I say?!)
*click on image for Goodreads synopsis*

These two are some of my favorite series. You can find more about them in my other posts.

I haven't read this one but it sounds a lot like Hunger Games. Not sure if I want to read this one or not, but it could possibly be a good book to read after HG.
Another of my favorites :)
So this has been on my watch list for awhile and I'm super curious to find out what it is about. Unfortunately other reads are at the top. One day I will get there.
A book about survival? Yes, I think this is a perfect read for the HG fan! One of my favorite classics and a reason why I love Maze Runner so much.
Supposedly this is a good book and I'm interested to read this....one day.
Does this need an explanation?
Another to-be-read but really wanting to start this series, but goodness there are so many THICK books!
Okay, so it's a short story, but if you haven't read this yet, then you should be right now! Such a look at the psyche that leaves you in awe! Great, great, great story!

Well that is my list for this week guys. What would you recommend?


July 10, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday




Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list is created for others to enjoy and join.

This week was a Freebie, which meant the possibilities were endless --which also meant I started more than 5 Top Ten lists and not sure which to use. All were great ideas, but I decided to save them for another Freebie. So this week I'm sharing about myself by providing my Top Ten Favorite Books/Series.

I have to admit, it was much harder to choose my favorite books, but this list is always changing to include new and old favorites. Below are the books that have captured my heart. Enoy :)
In no particular order:
(all summaries are from goodreads except lighthouse nights)


1. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.                                                                                                     
On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.
Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers



2. 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 with complete certainty that 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
.
  


3. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse enclosed by stone walls.
Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them, open. Every night they are closed tight. And that every 30 days a new boy is delivered in the lift.
Thomas was expected. Only the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.
Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets that are buried within his mind.




4.Every girl gets one.
An XVI tattoo on the wrist--sixteen.

Some girls can't wait to be sixteen, to be legal. Nina is not one of them. Even though she has no choice in the matter, she knows that so long as her life continues as normal, everything will be okay.
Then, with one brutal strike, Nina's normal is shattered; and she discovers that nothing that she believed about her life is true. But there's one boy who can help--and he just may hold the key to her past.
But with the line between attraction and danger as thin as a whisper, one thing is for sure...
For Nina, turning sixteen promises to be anything but sweet



5.Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.




6. jules and trevor take advantage of potential suicide victims by encouraging them and profiting off their deaths. when jules falls in love with their seventh target, she’s forced to make a series of life-or-death decisions and a single, impossible change.
lighthouse nights is a frightening fairytale about haunting regret, maniacal hatred, the longing to create, and ultimate redemption. this fast-paced story is as touching as it is twisted, and highlights a disturbing new trend among american teens.
  

7. Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is timelier than ever. 1984 presents a startling and haunting vision of the world, so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time.
  
8. Susanna desperately wants to join the circle of girls who meet every week at the parsonage. What she doesn't realize is that the girls are about to set off a torrent of false accusations leading to the imprisonment and execution of countless innocent people. Susanna faces a painful choice. Should she keep quiet and let the witch-hunt panic continue, or should she "break charity" with the group--and risk having her own family members named as witches?


9. “I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”
So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.



10. "Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.

Most of these are from the last few years. The only classic on my list is 1984 -- I guess we can see where my love for dystopians started. Hopefully you discovered a few of your favorites above.


Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.
Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was."
When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.
Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.
This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.




July 4, 2012
Super excited to share this one with you guys! Why? Because it is my first review request! :) Now that these are coming in, I'm going to have to spend more time reading. Which is totally possible now that we got rid of cable and rely on DVDs that I checkout from work. *Side note- Did you know you can check out movies from your local library? If you didn't, you do now! Why spend extra money on movie rentals when you can get them for free at the library?! And it's new releases too! okay, back to the review*

Mr. Craske emailed me at the end of May (yes, yes I know it took a long time to get to it) and I finished it Monday night. Now that I have Kindle for WP7 and the Freda app on my phone, I will definitely be reading more ebooks. Anywho, to the review!

THE LANTERN MENACE BY DARREN CRASKE



Summary: A princess (Castria) and a stable-boy (Finch) steal a magical lamp from Rufus Lightfoot, a spell-crafter. Little did they know the lamp held the soul of D'Monica Grace, a powerful witch that once brought great chaos to the land. When the Limbo Lamp is taken from the two teenagers, the three set out on a quest to destroy the with before she can resurrect herself and destroy the Wold. Along the way, Finch learns more about who he is than he ever could have imagined.

Goodreads Summary: (only because it gives more detail than mine) Princess Castria is a hurricane in a tiara that pushes her royal powers (and her best friend Finch Balfour’s nerves) to their absolute limits with her pranks. But when she steals a dusty old lantern belonging to a one-eyed wizard, not only has she put the kingdom of Fanthia at risk, there’s a distinct possibility that the Wold itself might be in danger…

Castria has no idea that the lantern contains the incarcerated soul of D’Monica Grace: the witch single-handedly responsible for the darkest period in the Wold’s history – and now it has fallen into Fanthia’s most hated enemies’ hands, with plans to reconstitute the ultimate evil into flesh, blood and bone once more.

Along with Fanthia’s resident spell-crafter, Rufus Lightfoot, the troublesome princess (with Finch swept up in her wake) must set forth on a race against time to retrieve the lantern before D’Monica’s soul is reborn and the Wold is plunged into despair. It’s going to be an impossible journey with danger and betrayal at every turn, and many factions conspiring against Finch and Castria, determined to see them fail…

My thoughts: I'm not big on fantasy novels, usually because there are so many irregular names and places. But I was surprised with the ease of Craske's writing. There were a few times, mostly in the first few chapters, that I wanted to give up on the novel; however, I am glad I continued on. The novel quickly caught up to the adventure that was at hand. I doubt I will fall in love with the fantasy genre as I have with others, but The Lantern Menace was a welcoming novel to the genre and a pleasurable break from my normal reads.

My only problem with the novel, besides a few blatant typos but that is not Craske's fault, was that some phrases he used seemed out of place with the time and location. Although I understood them, I don't think there were appropriate for the setting and characters. BUT there were only a few, so I could easily look past them to enjoy the novel.

Rating: 3/5
July 3, 2012

Top Ten Tuesdays

Well, I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon! I have secretly been stalking Top Ten Tuesday for a few weeks now and I'm excited to finally step into the sunlight. I love the topic for this week, and I'm excited to create my first Top Ten Tuesday list.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

This week we are recommending books by a particular author. Quickly I chose Stephenie Meyer, mostly because you either like her or you don't. 

If you liked the Twilight Saga, then try:


The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - To be honest I have not read this one. I'm really stuck between reading it and not because it's been awhile since I've visited Meyer's vampire world. I'm afraid that it won't live up to the other books. And I don't want to visualize her as they cast her in Eclipse the movie. However, I also loved the others in the series and want more. This being a novella, would be a quick trip to world of the Cullens, Quijotes, and Bella.



 House of Night series - I've only read Marked and Lenobia's Vow, but I'm already in love with the House of Night! It is more adult than Twilight, but still YA.



Peeps - Another one I have not read, but if it is anything like the rest of his novels, it will be worth the read. Besides, Scott Westerfield + Vampires = *swoon*



Blue Bloods - more vampires! but not just every other vampire, these are high society vampires! I started the series, but wasn't madly in love with it. But if you love vampire books this is definitely a must read.


Shiver - okay, for all you Team Jacob gals, here is a wolf book for you. This has been on my to-be-read for awhile but I haven't gotten around to it. One day, one day soon.
 The Twilight Saga is so popular that Meyer's The Host has been lost in the shadow. Although written for adults it is appealing to teens as well.
If you liked The Host, then try:



Matched (find my review here) - is the first in Condie's trilogy that concluded this November. I quickly fell in love with this dystopian as it offered a highly believable glimpse of the future. Very Ray Bradbury like!



XVI (review) - another of my new favorites! If you like Matched and The Host, then you'll probably like this too!



The Maze Runner (review) - most of the novels I read have a female main character or at least split the spotlight with one. This is one book that blew my mind! It is similar to The Host in that it deals with a group trying to survive and overcome. Dashner did a brilliant job here!



The Hunger Games - is it sad that I have not read this yet? I want to read it, but I don't want to feel like a sell-out reading it merely because it is popular and became a movie (like many Twilight fans - no offence). I still haven't seen the movie, either. From what I've read about it, if you like sci-fi/dystopian novels, you'll love this!



I Am Number Four - basically all they really have in common is that they are sci-fi/alien based, although The Host features Souls that are like aliens taking over Earth. It is another popular YA novel that is a good read.

Well, that is my completed list! Whew, that took forever it seems like! Hopefully, you found a new read.
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IT WAS AMAZING!!!! You should be at the book store right now buying it! :)
I really liked it. You should def check it out and give it a shot
It was ok. At least read the synopsis on the back.
Eh....It was alright. It's borrow from a friend material.
Leave it on the shelf!!

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Samantha has read 6 books toward her goal of 24 books.
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