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Kate Hegarty's New Book Trailer: The Saskatoon Balloon

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Getting into Pottermore or How I Nearly Had a Panic Attack

So, unless you've been living under a rock, you must have heard of Pottermore. Maybe you think it'll be cool, and you're willing to wait til October to try it, or, if you're like me, you were up all night last night, refreshing the site like crazy and chatting with as many Potterheads as you could, trying to see if you could help each other solve the clue.

I'm one of those people that, when they want something, they need it NOW. I had been up from 11pm the night before, waiting til it was 5am when maybe the clue'd be up. 5 came, and no clue. 6 came, and still no clue. That was when people starting thinking, "Well, if the first clue was up at 9am BST, and the second at 10, then this one will probably by up at 11." It was 6: something here in Arg -4-hour difference with London-, so we had to wait til it was 7. By then I was more than awake, I don't know what I was. A bundle of nerves, that's what I was. I was literally shaking, you guys (I HAD to get in, I couldn't stay up any other day!).

And then, FINALLY, it was 7 am Arg - 11am BST, and the clue was up. 

I didn't even have time to think the answer, when someone told it to me. So I tried it. I was taken to this page:

Click to enlarge.
And I thought, "Where is the bloody Quill?!?!?" I tell you, I spent the most horrible 10 minutes of my life trying to see if the Quill was hidden somewhere. Until I screencapped my screen, and showed it to my friends. Someone told me I had to deactivate my Adblock, and I'd see the Quill. So I did, and it worked! 

Levitating the Quill was another problem, it took me several tries. But after having spent hours up waiting, getting an almost-heart-attack because I couldn't see the damn Quill, and then finding it and registering (I forgot my password right after creating the account, I was so nervous), it was worth to see this:


My username is CharmFirebolt58, a nice one! It was a whirwind of emotions, but I made it out alive. I got to bed at 8 this morning, and I'm happy as a clam (if that's the right expression!). Now I have to wait a few weeks for that other email telling me I can access the site!

Tell me if you got in early too! I want to know everyone's usernames, so I can friend you (or w/e it is we'll be able to do once we're on there) later!
xo,
Ella
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Happy birthday J. K. Rowling!


(I love tumblr. These posts I've reblogged can better express my feelings right now.)
Twenty years ago today, Harry Potter was lying on the floor of an old lighthouse, counting down the minutes to his eleventh birthday, when the magic began. Today, millions of his fans worldwide are eagerly counting down the minutes to midnight, when the magic will begin again. For all of us.
We potterheads will always remember when we crashed Pottermore before it even started.

(In the meantime, we keep waiting for something to happen at pottermore.com...)
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How To Get Published: A Flowchart by Kate Hart


I saw this in Kate Hart's blog, and thought it was hilarious, as well as funny and useful!
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FEVER's cover is out!

And I'm not really in love with it.

I do like the face that they've kept the theme from the first cover. But that one was so much more haunting, don't you agree?

The girl in FEVER's cover looks kinda drunk to me. I don't really like it aesthetically. 

What do you think?
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The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1), by James Dashner

The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1), by James Dashner on Goodreads

Release Date: October 6th, 2009
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Categories: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Other books in the series: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner, #2), The Death Cure (The Maze Runner, #3)
Read in July 2011

Summary from Goodreads:
Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.
Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, anddoes Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?
In The Maze Runner, Dashner has crafted a creative and engaging novel that's both mysterious and thought provoking.
My Opinion:

I'd read a lot about this book, some really good reviews, and it had always been on top of my TBR list. So when I saw it in my local bookstore, I knew I had to buy it. Not that many American books find their way to Latin America, so I was really happy to find this one. 

Cover of my/Latin American edition.
And it did not disappoint! What an awesome first-book-in-a-series! It left me aching for more!

I missed the buzz over this book when it was first published, so I'm not going to make this a long review, as I imagine you may have read a lot of reviews already, but I am going to say this: I saw The Scorch Trials in my bookstore, and I'm getting it when I have money (lol).

I can't remember ever reading a book about a Maze, this one was something fresh. Every chapter ended leaving you more confused and with more questions than before, and I can definitely see why some people compare it to Lost. It has that mysterious air that the TV show had, and that I loved. I can definitely see myself becoming a fan of this trilogy. 

Another thing that suprised me in a wonderful way, was the fact that James wrote a book where teenage (this is a crucial fact) boys are capable of working and living in a very well crafted community. Yes, they got help from the "Makers" (? - I read the book in Spanish, so I don't know the term in English), the people who put them there, but in the end it was up to them to get things done. Eventually, the girl who arrived at the Glade also participates, but the boys are the ones who've built up everything before she got there. 
Why do I like this? Because it shows teenagers can do more than care for trivial matters! Leaving aside the fact that this is a Sci-Fi, these boys worked hard not to let anguish and pain bring them down. So, kudos to Dashner, Thomas and the Gladers!

This book is full of fast-paced action, suspense, mystery and some laughs thrown in there too. I highly recommend this is you still haven't read it!
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Stay, by Deb Caletti

Stay, by Deb Caletti on Goodreads

Release Date: April 5th, 2011.
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Categories: Romance, Drama, Contemporary, Relationships
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read in June 2011

Summary from Goodreads:
Clara's relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it's almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is—and what he's willing to do to make her stay.
Now Clara has left the city—and Christian—behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won't let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough...
My Opinion: 
For my first Caletti book, it was awe-some. It had drama, it had love, it had strange relationships... everything you can ask for in a Contemp!

The way Deb created Clara -at first a shy girl, who becomes someone new with Christian around- was incredibly belieable. I could really see her, hurt and broken, trying to find herself again in that little place on the beach, where she and her father go to escape from the city. Every one of her decisions made sense, once you got to "know" her, which helped me understand her throughout the whole book, and made me want to grab her off the pages and keep her safe myself! She was a really grounded person, and I loved watching her grow.

The rest of the characters was brilliant as well. Her father, and his secrets; her best friend and her personality, Christian and his... he was really well written too, crazy as hell, but a great character, plot-wise.

I loved this book so much, I can't wait to read some other Caletti book! 

If you're looking for an intense Contemporary book, then run to the book store and get this one!
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I had a strange dream...

...where (I have no idea where I was) but J. K. Rowling was giving me a book (it was her in person, I saw her), bound like my copy of Deathly Hallows from Bloomsbury, but when I opened it, it had all the 10.000-ish exclusive words she's about to release in Pottermore. And it was brilliant.

And then I woke up. No joke. I did dream it. 

I'm suffering from Post-Potter-Traumatic-Disorder. Help!
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Shatter Me cover revealed!

Yesterday, Hollywood Crush revealed Tahereh Mafi's (I still don't know how to pronounce her name!) debut book's cover! And it is quite stunning! Take a look:

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel. (from Goodreads)
Isn't that an awesome cover! And the summary, so cool. A mix of dystopia and paranormal. Something fresh and interesting, can't wait!
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PANDEMONIUM'S COVER IS OUT!

And WOAH! Isn't it a beautiful cover?
I'm in awe. Love that they've kept the theme of the Special Edition's cover :)

These covers have something that make me want to keep staring at them, they possibly are among the best-looking covers I've ever seen, and I'm not just saying it because I love the books. 

Move on over to Deliriously Falling and share your thoughts, everyone!
xo,
Ella
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Potter Walk in Buenos Aires, July 3rd, 2011

Chp Argentina, a Harry Potter fans/reading club, had a Walk to Plaza de Mayo today, and I missed it. I didn't know, otherwise I would've gone!

Chp Arg's members walked down Buenos Aires's streets dressed in Hogwarts robes, from the four houses, carrying their magic wands. (Photos taken from Yess di Giovanni. Click to enlarge.)

A Death Eater and Yess, a Gryffindor.
Witches and wizards in Plaza de Mayo, Bs. As.
I love that sign. It reads "JK: We are the magic you created"

Yess and Voldemort. His characterisation is wicked cool. Look at his fingernails!

Bill? and Yess. And a Death Eater behind them!
These pics make me sad because I wasn't able to go. But I WILL go next time! In the mean time, I'll keep on crying because I missed this one...
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I just realised I haven't shown you guys my new tattoo...

...so here it is:
My right forearm lookin' all cool :P
Excuse the scabbiness of my arm. Here is was only a few days old.

Taken yesterday. My arm is now cured! Click to enlarge.

Story behind it: I'm a Harry Potter fan, always have been, always will be. So of course my first tattoo had to be HP-releated. I love Hermione, she's my favourite female character, so when thinking about what I was going to get, I started googling and this pic came up, and I just fell in love with it:

Love this tat. It must have really hurt!
So, I knew I had to get Hermione's wand tattooed. And then I had the idea to put my brothers in there too; since we all love HP, and I love all three of them (HP's world and my two little brothers) it made perfect sense to me.

I am in love with my forearm. We've been dating for the past two months, and I think I'm ready to make a serious commitment with it, you guys.

This is my first (of many) tattoos. I already know what I'm getting next, and have started saving for it. But I have to wait to get it done, to let the shock of this one wear off of my parents' minds! I'm aiming for a sleeved arm... maybe I'll get there with the years.

xo,
Recently-Tattooed-Ella
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July is NetGalley Month! Are you in?

Emily at Red House Books has come up with a great idea for a feature. July is going to be NetGalley Month, for those of us who love NG.

The deal is to read as many NetGalley books as we can. I'm setting myself a goal of five NG books. If I read more, then great! The more, the better.

This month I'll be reading:
  1. The Near Witch, by Victoria Schwab
  2. Starcrossed, by Josephine Angelini
  3. The Goddess Test, by Amy Carter
  4. Populazzi, by Elise Allen
  5. and Outside In, by Maria V. Snyder.
If you want to participate, you can sign up here. At the end of the month, there'll be a giveaway, where two winners will receive a $15 gift card to The Book Depository.

I hereby declare July to be NetGalley Month in TCM.

xo,
Ella
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Across the Universe's New Paperback Cover!



WOOO! Love that new cover! I loved the hardcover one too, but this one is stunning! I'm definitely buying this when it comes out! I was waiting on the PB release, and now it looks like I'm gonna have a super cool cover!

What do you think? Do you like this better than the original one?
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WoW #20: Article 5 and Incarnate


Expected publication date: January 1st, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Summary from Goodreads:
NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.
What an interesting summary! And that cover is gor-geous! Can't wait! 


Expected publication date: February 12th, 2012

Publisher: Tor Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police — instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior — instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested don’t usually come back.

17-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. That life in the United States used to be different.

In the three years since the war ended, Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the Federal Bureau of Reformation. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And what’s worse, one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.
YAY! I love me dystopian novels! This one's got a really catching summary too! And a beautiful cover. Looking forward to this one :)
And you, what are you waiting for this week?
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Margie Stohl has sold rights to a new YA Sci-Fi series!


Yesterday, Beautiful Creatures' co-author made an announcement on her blog:
My amazing agent, Sarah Burnes of the Gernert Agency, has sold my first solo project, ICONS, a new YA Sci-Fi series, to Little, Brown, which will be edited by my beloved Beautiful Creatures Novels editor, Julie Scheina.Yay!
Margaret has also shared some info on her new project, through PW:
Stohl Launches SF Series at LBYR
Margaret Stohl, co-author of the bestselling YA series Beautiful Creatures, sold North American rights to two books in a new series called Icons to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Julie Scheina acquired the novels from agent Sarah Burnes at the Gernert Company, and book one is slated for spring 2013. The YA science fiction series, which is set 16 years after an alien invasion, follows a group of teenagers who become swept up in a resistance movement looking to unseat the extraterrestrials who've taken control of the planet.
You can read Margie's full post here, and "Like" Icons' new Facebook page here.
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If I Stay (If I Stay, #1), by Gayle Forman




If I Stay (If I Stay, #1), by Gayle Forman on Goodreads

Release Date: (Paperback) April 6th, 2010.
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Speak
Overall: 3 Monkeys
Categories: Romance, Drama, Contemporary
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year, 2011 Debut Author Challenge*
Read in June 2011

Summary from Goodreads:
In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces - to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

My Opinion:
I was really hoping to super-love this book, as everyone kept saying how much they'd cried with it and how much they loved it (I love to cry when reading a good book). But, sadly for me, this book didn't quite reach me as it did others. 

I found the storyline (almost-dead girl's spirit -?- walking down the hospital's halls, trying to figure out if living is worth it or if she should just let go) to be already used. Maybe it was because I'd recently watched a 2007 film (Awake) with Hayden Christensen, where his character is almost in the same place as Mia is. Only, Mia's story is much more dramatic, as opposed to Clay's (Hayden Christensen) where he does want to live but finds that people are trying to prevent that from happening. 

Anyway, it wasn't the story that gripped me, but the flashbacks that appear throughout the book, that tore at my heart. 

Cover of my edition.
When Mia tells us about her family (Isn't it nice to read about a whole family for a change? Well, until the accident, of course.), about how she and Adam became boyfriend and girlfriend, and about her best friend Kim and her many eccentricities, that was when I loved the book. 
Because those insights were completely functional to the plot, to make us feel things for the characters. And boy, did I feel them. 

In the end, I think Mia made a good choice. But I didn't like the way the book ended, it was way too open for an ending. I would have liked to see something else. 

We'll see how I like Where She Went, book 2! Apparently, it's told from Adam's POV. Oh, how I love a boy's POV in a book... *sigh*

*This book was released a couple of months ago in Argentina, making it a Debut in my country. 
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First PANDEMONIUM Summary is Revealed!

Bonnie just shared with us the new PANDEMONIUM (apparently now Mar 2012) summary on Deliriously Falling!
Lauren Oliver captivated readers with DELIRIUM, the first book in a thrilling dystopian trilogy in which Lena Haloway dared to fall in love with Alex and escape the cure, the government-mandated procedure that renders a person immune to the disease of love. Lena and Alex staked their lives on leaving their oppressive society, but only Lena broke free...
Go here to read the whole thing and discuss!
So excited!!!
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Cover (Un)Love: Devoted (Elixir, #2), by Hilary Duff, Elise Allen

Man, that is one ugly cover (no offence to the designer).

Nothing like Elixir's -which I loved-, and it just looks like something we see all the time, the girl-with-no-eyes. 

I'm disappointed, you guys. I loved the first book, and I'm really excited about this one, but that cover... I just hope they change it for the paperback release. 

What do you think? Have you read Elixir?
Read my review of Elixir here.



I don't even know if the word unlove exists, I'm pretty sure I just made it up, but you get my point.
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Resister Report: Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins: Labeled DANGEROUS

We have received word that resister Stephanie Perkins is spreading propaganda against the cure. She is calling it ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS and trying to tell teenagers that falling in love is a good thing, treating the warning signs of the deliria as a necessary building block to true love. The tale stirs up too many emotions and will have law-abiding citizens second-guessing the cure. This blatant attack on our regime will not be tolerated.
Read the full Report here. Destroy after reading it. 

---------------------------------------------

Deliriously Falling has succesfully infiltrated the Amor Deliria Nervosa Division! We now have access to Top Secret Reports that will help us in our quest to destroy the tyranny of the Government now ruling us.
Are you a Resister?
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Pottermore Online - JK Rowling's New Website

Instead of creating some random website, write more Harry Potter books!!!!



http://www.pottermore.com

Harry Potter fans are rejoicing over J.K. Rowling's announcement of Pottermore, an online world in which she promises to provide new details about the lives and adventures of the boy wizard and his friends.

But Pottermore's news was nearly eclipsed by a bigger revelation: The Potter series will soon be available in e-book form.

Fans have wondered why the books have never been in digital form; now they know she was saving them for the Pottermore debut in October.

"Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participate in and rediscover the stories," Rowling said Thursday from London in a YouTube video.

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JKR announces POTTERMORE!



I've been counting down the days and hours until this moment, and now we finally know what it is!

Pottermore is an exciting new website from J.K. Rowling that can be enjoyed alongside the Harry Potter books. You can explore the stories like never before and discover exclusive new writing from the author. It is FREE to join and use, and is designed to be safe for people of all ages. [from Pottermore]
We'll be able to re-read the series and get new and exclusive data from the author. From what I gather, it'll be a sort of interactive site, where we'll read and share thoughts, and build the story as we want it.

"Follow the owl," Jo says, so I'm thinking HP-related sites will have owls scattered around them come October, and they'll lead us to new experiences from Pottermore.

We've waited for this announcement, but now we'll have to wait until October, too. Wow, it can't come fast enough.
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The question of the moment: What IS Pottermore?


HP diehard fans -like myself- have been wondering this for days now. What exactly IS Pottermore? I'll let youtuber ratsrox explain what the rumours are so far:



In the video, the countdown is 6 days, etc., etc. Right now, that countdown is set to 4 days, 20 hours, etc., etc.

If you go to the pottermore.com page and click on the owl, like is explained on the video, you'll be taken to a YT page like this one above. There in the dooblie-doo, it says, "The owls are gathering... find out why soon."

So, we can only guess and (impatiently) wait, until JKR announces something that is sure to change us fans's lives, and I'm not exagerating.

You can follow Pottermore on Facebook and visit its website.

Are you a HP diehard fan like me? Tell me!
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Emma Watson Left Brown College. Admits, "I was in denial".



For "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson, who had already earned more in childhood than most people make in a lifetime, college was an opportunity to be like everyone else.

Prior to entering Brown University in Providence, R.I., in the fall of 2009, Watson told Teen Vogue: "I'm doing this because I want to be normal. I really want anonymity. I want to do it properly, like everyone else. As long as I don't walk in and see, like, 'Harry Potter' posters everywhere, I'll be fine."

There were no posters or autograph-hounding fans. Nor was there any truth to earlier reports that Watson was being heckled with "Harry Potter" phrases like "Three points for Gryffindor!" when she answered a question correctly in class.

But after 18 months, Watson made the decision to leave Brown because she realized that she is not like everyone else.

"I was in denial," the 21-year-old actress told the U.K.'s Sunday Times Style Magazine recently about her decision to drop out. "I wanted to pretend I wasn't as famous as I was. I was trying to seek out normality, but I kind of have to accept who I am, the position I'm in and what happened."


Poor Emma, she is better off doing online classes. At least then she doesn't have to worry about being famous.
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JK Rowling Spends $1.6M To Demolish Home, Expand Her Personal Garden



When “Harry Potter” scribe JK Rowling wanted a bit more green room, the neighboring home to her Edinburgh mansion seemed like the best place to start.

The 45-year-old was recently granted permission to tear down the $1.6M home to expand her personal garden and build a “a ‘garden room’ folly with a thirty-foot conical center tower and a chimney.” While the project sits in a conservation zone, the governing council did not object to the plans owning to the fact that it ‘goes some way to restoring an original garden plot’.

Rowling purchased her 17-century home, dubbed the “White House”, for somewhere around $3M two years ago. The plot it sits on is drenched in ancient mysticism, having been owned by the Knights Templar long before the foundation was laid in 1615. Before selling, the original owner spent a sizable amount of cash renovating the home – as well as reportedly shipping some 37 tonnes of fully grown specimen trees and shrubs from a nursery in Bergerac, France.


She is too rich, give some of that money to people who really need it lady! Also write more Harry Potter books, don't be stubborn, you only live once.
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Happy birthday Sarah Dessen!

I'm taking some time off studying and reading to wish a very happy birthday to author Sarah Dessen!

Sarah is considered Contemporary YA royalty, and it shames me to say that I've only read one of her many books, Someone Like You, but I'd certainly like to read more.

So, happy birthday Sarah! Have a great day!
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New changes coming to Deliriously Falling!



Many of you may know that at the end of last year I started the official Lauren Oliver fansite.And while we had a great beginning, I know we'll have an even better time this year! 

Today we welcome our three newest members, Cary, Marisa and Bonnie! 

All five of us (Cary, Marisa, Reg, Bonnie and me) are working hard to bring new and cool things to the site. So, go over there, say hi to the girls and keep checking back! You won't regret it!

xo,
Ella
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The Goldsmith's Secret, by Elia Barceló

The Goldsmith's Secret, by Elia Barceló on Goodreads

Release Date: March 31st, 2011, UK
Age Group: Adult
Publisher: MacLehose Press
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Categories: Romance, Time-Travel, Historic Fiction, Contemporary
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read in May 2011

Summary from Goodreads:
One snowy night in New York City, a successful, solitary goldsmith reflects on his life, and his unrealiable memories intertwine and collide. Journeying to the village in Spain where he grew up, he hopes with some trepidation that he will encounter Celia, "the Black Widow", a beautiful and mysterious friend of his mother with whom he had a short and passionate affair when he was a teenager. But instead he meets a young woman who opens doors into an unimagined world, and takes him back in time.
The Goldsmith's Secret is a remarkable story of a love trapped between two parallel times, set in Spain in the 1950's, 1970's and in the last year of the twentieth century.
In beautifully economical prose, and with a structure as intricate and refined as a bevelled jewel, The Goldsmith's Secret is alight with intense nostalgia, memories and desires.
Elia Barceló has come to be recognized across Europe as a truly original voice, and her books as poetic works of great subtlety.
My Opinion:

To be such a short novel, it had a very long story that traveled through time; a unique romance.

Written somewhat poetically, Barceló tells us the story of Celia and a man whose name we don't know, if I remember correctly.

Celia, the widow, is in love with a man she loved in her youth, and who left without saying goodbye. And he, a teenage boy captivated by that woman's strength. In their short affaire, she tells him something like, "I knew you'd be back." He doesn't understand a thing, and thinks she's confused, speaking to the man she once lost.

Now a grown man, he makes a trip from New York to the town where he grew up, and where he hasn't been in years. He expects to find a modernised town, as towns tend to get after some decades, right? But when he gets there at night, he can only see a few lights on here and there, and this brings back a memory from his childhood.

The hotel where he's staying is just like the one from his memory, from the time when he looked through tge window to spy on the visitors who stayed there when he was a boy. And like that, litttle by little, he realises that -almost magically- he's back to the Villasanta of his early years. And he remembers, too, that Celia is a teenage girl in this time. 

And so begins the search for the love of that young Celia, while he's a fourty-some-year-old man.

The Goldsmith's Secret is a beautiful tale of a love that couldn't be. He gets his second chance, but will he succeed? 

There's not much more to say about this book. I loved Elia's writing; I could see that old Spanish town very clearly while reading. I'm also a hopeless romantic, and this book was perfect for me. I'm really glad to have read it. 

Thanks to Nicci Praca for sending me a review copy.
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Armchair BEA: Networking

Welcome to Day Three of Armchair BEA. Today is all about Networking, which is basically a Blogger's bread and butter (correct me if I'm using the wrong expression, please!).
Without it, we wouldn't be able to talk to other bloggers and/or authors, therefore, never being able to build those relationships I cherish so much right now. 
Because without book blogging, with whom would I share my craziness over books? Who would hold long talks with me about whether Katniss did the right thing by staying with Peeta (she absolutely did the right thing!)? Where else would I find people so inmerse in books and their world? 

To me, finding and making a new book blogger friend is always something beautiful. So when I discovered that Alex, from A Girl, Books and Other Things, is Mexican, I started jumping up and down in my seat. I love finding new Latin bloggers!

Enjoy my interview with Alex, it's quite fun!

Alex with her two dogs. Aren't they adorable?
Let's start this interview with you telling me a bit about yourself. Where do you live?
Hi!! I live in Mexico City, and I honestly can't imagine living anywhere else, even though it can be crazy living here since it's such a huge city.

I've noticed your favourite genres are Romance and YA, like me! Let's imagine I'm not an avid reader, and I have no idea what to pick up next. What would you recommend me, in both genres?
In the YA front, definitely get you started on some Meg Cabot, she writes in such a way that it's like a friend is telling you a story, probably recommend the Airhead series, or The Mediator, depending on how you feel about Paranormal. An in the Romance front, for historical Lisa Kleypas, definitely, either Dreaming of You, or maybe her Hathaway series - and she also writes lovely contemporaries.

What do you do in your spare time?
Lately, all I have is spare time, as I'm looking for a job. A regular day for me involves cooking and baking, tiding up the house, playing with my dog and watching TV. Other than that, I work on my blog and watch anime and write my own stories - which I post for fun on Fictionpress. I also like to write old-fashioned ink and paper letters, though few people answer in the same way. Oh, and I also knit scarves like crazy.

When and how did you start your blog?
I started the blog because I could see how my friends got annoyed whenever I started to gush about a book, so one day I just started. It was April of 2008 and I was just finishing up my college degree so I had more free time than I had while at school and decided to give it a go. It was a very different blog back then - even had a different name - but it helped me learn a lot of stuff.

If you could meet one of your favourite authors, who would you choose?
Probably Meg Cabot, I have friends who have met her and swear she's funny and nice, and I always love her blog posts. Or Melina Marchetta, I love her books.

I've also seen you review films. I'm studying Film! Can you tell me which film has gripped your attention this year?
Wow, that's so cool, that you're studying film, I mean. Now, let me think... Definitely Easy A has been my favorite so far, Morning Glory and the King's speech.I can see myself watching those movies over and over, which is my standard of cool.

I've signed up for the 100 Books in a Year challenge, and I'm already behind. You've read over eighty books in these past months! WOW! How do you make the time to sit and read? I barely have time anymore!
If I'm to be completely honest... I don't sleep much - even though I spend most of the day alone and I have time to read, I read almost exclusively at night. I've struggled with anxieties from a young age and sometimes I can't shut my brain off and sleep, so I read and it helps me calm down, so reading is a necessity for me, helps me stay sane.

And finally, convince those who are reading this to follow your blog in a short paragraph.
I'm honest in my reviews, and I try my best to be consistent and not let myself be carried off in the hype. Plus, I have quite defined tastes, so I think I'm pretty reliable.

Thanks, Ella. This was fun!

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I was interviewed by Stella from Ex Libris. Click here to read the interview and find out more about myself!
xo, 
Ella
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Armchair BEA: Best of 2011

Welcome to Day Two of Armchair BEA, the bloggy event meant for those of us who couldn't make it to the actual BEA.

Today's topic is: Best of 2011.

Well, this isn't very hard. There's one book that came out early this year, which I love and can't wait to re-read:

DELIRIUM, by Lauren Oliver.
This book tore at my heart and left me hopeless, until I found out there was hope for them.
I love, love, love this book, and I'm waiting for it to come out in Argentina, so I can have my own printed copy, since I read it on NetGalley. 









And there were other books that I really liked this year (considering I haven't read very many books):

Red Glove, by Holly Black.
A great way to continue this series;
I love Cassel!

Wither, by Lauren DeStefano.
Such a brilliant start to a new series!
It must be terrible knowing when you're going to die,
I can't imagine Rhine's world.

Both have 5-monkey-reviews :)
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Armchair BEA 2011 Kick-Off

Today starts this new bloggy event: Armchair BEA, meant for those of us who are unable to go to the actual BEA. Being in Argentina makes it kinda hard for me to attend, so when I heard about Armchair, I immediately signed up!

The organisers are giving us a prompt every day, and today it is: Who are you, and how do you Armchair?

*stands up* Hi, I'm Ella, a 19-year-old Film student, and I have a problem. 

I'm a bibliophile. It's something I can't control, every time I'm close to a book store, I'm somewhat "forced" to go inside and buy a book. That leads to me having less and less money to buy anything else, and to my having books piled up at home, without having the time to read them all. 

But I'm trying to change. I am. Now that I'm in uni, I have to save money, and buy photocopies for class, food, rent, etc., etc. 

It's hard, specially because I pass a book store every day on my way to uni.

So, that's who I am. Oh, and I'll be forever grateful to the people who invented NetGalley, because I can read free ARCs of wonderful books whenever I want to!

That was a little about me, hope you enjoyed it!
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Nightshade (Witches' War, #1), by Andrea Cremer

Nightshade (Witches' War, #1), by Andrea Cremer on Goodreads

Release Date: October 19th, 2010
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Philomel
Overall: 4 Monkeys
Interest: Series
Categories: Paranormal, Werewolves, Magic, Romance
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read in May 2011

Summary from Goodreads:
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: after graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers.

But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?
 
My Opinion:
When this book came out last year, everyone was talking about it. Everyone. But since it's about werewolves, I wasn't very intrigued, despite the 5-star-reviews. Now that I've read it, I can honestly say that I really liked it. Not loved, but liked. 

Cremer does a very good job with her characters, but the beginning of the book was a little confusing to me. I don't know if it was because I listened to the audiobook and maybe missed something, but at first I didn't know if the humans knew about the nature of the pack, and were afraid because of that, or if they were ignorant of it, and were scared of them because of how the pack acted. It took me a long while to get that they didn't, in fact, know their classmates were wolves. (Maybe this happened only to me, or maybe to someone else too, I don't know.)

And there were other things that felt a bit forced, clichéd too. Like the incident in Haldis Cavern that led to... that thing you know if you read the book. It was way too obvious to me. I would have liked -maybe, loved- this book more if that hadn't happened.

What I did love -and the reason I'm giving this 4 stars- was the characterisation of the different characters. There were like ten wolves in Calla's pack, and all of them had a different and unique personality, which was brilliantly written. So, congrats Andrea for that!
Bryn and Ansel were terribly sweet! And the loyalty of the pack towards their alphas was great too. They may had had differences with them, but the pack certainly had no doubts when it came to protecting them.

I loved how Cremer wove the wolves' history with magic! And I cannot wait to learn more about Shay's place in all of this!

Shay was great. Romantic, strong, a bit shy... he was a brilliant character. Calla... she'll have to do more to get my attention. She felt like every other YA heroine to me. She was great in her own way, yeah, but I still wanted to see a bit more of her dark side. 

Overall, a really nice book! I'll have to read Wolfsbane soon!
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Dear Mr. Potter

What a wonderful thing Tumblr is. I just came across this link. It's a Sneak Peek for an upcoming book, a compilation of letters to Harry Potter from the fans. 

I've been reading it for a little while, and just had to share it.

One of the letters I read said something like, "I try to explain to people why I feel the way I feel about Harry, but only those who are like me, who love Harry's world like I do, will be able to understand me fully." And that is exactly how I feel. My friends and family don't understand why I love a "Children's" book so much, and I've tried to explain to them how I feel, but I've come to realise, I'll never be able to make them see what I see. Harry means so much to me, and I love to feel that connection to other die hard fans. 

We are the Harry Potter Generation. We are family. We are history. 

xo,
Ella
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Happy Birthday Scott Westerfeld!

Thanks to you, I like Sci-Fi, which I thought I hated before reading Uglies. So THANK YOU!!!
And happy bday!

Everyone, go wish him a happy birthday here and here!
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