Ready for an awesome Giveaway? I am!

Details: It's hosted by Lc's Adventures in Libraryland. (Lea LaBore). And it's INTERNATIONAL!! So whta are you waiting for? Here's the link!:
http://lcsadventuresinlibraryland.blogspot.com/2011/11/lcs-1000-follower-giveaway.html

It0s filled with AWESOME books. Now go participate!

Gratitude for books

Maybe you've heard about a giveaway hosted by Beth Revis. Thanksgiving is coming, so we have to create a post in which you tell everyone about the one book YOU are most grateful for. So here's mine:

After thinking all day about the books I read this year and chose the one that helped the most. So I chose The Duff by Kody Keplinger.

I always thought I was the weak part of the chain with my friends. I felt ugly and fat. After reading the duff, I realized that everybody feels that way. It made my self-esteem grow. Now I feel that I can use pretty dresses like everyone else and use a bikini when I got to the beach. I don't let bullies get me anymore and my life has changed for the best. I know now, that I'm as pretty as the other girls and no one will make me feel bad about myself again. 
So thank you Kody, for writting the book and helping me see what I couldn't. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

One year Blogoversary! + GIVEAWAY :) by Gripped into books!

Here's the link: http://grippedintobooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-year-blogoversary-giveaway.html
It's easy and opened internationally! Good luck!!

Concealed

So. I just won a contest and the amazing Sang Kromah is sending me a copy of her book Concealed. It sounds pretty awesome and I can't wait to read it. I promise that as soon as I finish it, I'll make a review. But for now, here's the cover and the description:

When sixteen year-old Bijou Fitzroy and her nomadic grandmother leave New York City to live in a home in the sleepy town of Sykesville, Maryland, Bijou thinks she will finally be able to live a normal life and be like everyone else. This move will be permanent, and Bijou cannot be anymore thrilled. After years of being shut away by her grandmother, Bijou will finally able to interact with peers, make friends, go to school, and live like a normal teenager.

Moving around and being homeschooled definitely made it difficult to make friends, but there are other reasons for Bijou’s solitude. With eyes that constantly change from gray to green to a honey-coated shade of brown and an ability to feel exactly what other people are feeling, the concept of obtaining closeness is more of a fable than a reality. Although her eyes are beautiful, their constant shift in color instills a sense of fear within other people and causes them to look away. Bijou’s premonitions, blackouts, and semi-prophetic dreams of a faceless boy don’t help her social musings either. Regardless, she decides to attend the local high school.

Bijou is immediately introduced to Sebastian Sinjin, a quirky and unusually beautiful boy who doesn’t seem to belong in a high school in nowhere Maryland. Sebastian is also special. Instead of looking away from Bijou, he makes direct eye contact with her. And when he shakes Bijou’s hand something dark and familiar to awaken within her as an electric shock surges through her body. Bijou soon finds herself deeply attracted to Sebastian, who remains aloof and often acts like Bijou doesn’t exist.

Despite the pains of having her first real crush, Bijou makes friends quickly and excels in all of her classes…well, all except for Mythology with Mr. Jennings. Mr. Jennings’ class starts off great with endless discussions of djinn and how they conceal themselves from the human eye, but things soon take a turn for the worse when the stories of the mythical creatures begin to take shape in Bijou’s life.

 Go buy it guys!! OR TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONTEST JUST TWEET #Concealed Army. Lots of times. 
XOXO-
Pao

9/11 forever in my mind.

Today is 9/11. Ten years ago, a worldwide tragedy occurred. Thousands of people today are still crying the dead of their loved ones. Some people may think it's inappropriate to write about this. It's okay, everyone has different opinions. Nut the things is, I have to tell you what I remember from that day or I'll go crazy. So here it is:
The whole episode is blurry in my mind. I remember fragments. My mom braiding my hair for school while watching the news, a daily tradition. Dropping my sister and me off at school across the street. Then, picking us up an hour later with tears in her eyes. I remember that because she never cries. We got home and she hugged us while she continued watching the news. I was too little, so I couldn't understand what was going on. After the second tower fell, she took us to the supermarket. "But mommy I want to go to school" I told her. She just shook her head and bought our favorite cereals, milk and food we could store. The kind of things you have to send when a country suffers from an earthquake or something like that. Only years later she told me that she feared that World War III was starting. When we got home she received a phone call from our aunt. Our uncle Richard had been working in one of the offices next to the second tower. She didn’t know if he was okay, or where was he. Not all of the phones were working because the whole world was calling NYC and everyone wanted to know if their loved ones were alive. Fortunately, my uncle was fine. Not perfect, but alive. The next time we saw him, he told us what’d happened. He was walking down the street because he saw the first plane fly right next to his office and crash against the first tower. He was heading towards there to see if he could help when he saw the other airplane fly above his head and crash against the second tower. He stayed there watching the scene, trying to make sense of what just had happened. Everything was happening too fast. The first tower fell. Everything was filled with the blare of the sirens coming from the fire trucks, the roaring sound the tower caused while it fell, people screaming. He couldn’t see a thing because of all the dust. He miraculously found a car and rolled under it, covered his mouth and his nose and waited. “How can I save someone if I can’t even save myself?” he thought, over and over again. A while later, paramedics found him and helped him. He was okay.
Selfish, or not, I’m thankful that God gave him another chance. Not everyone had one. My prayers are with the people who lost their loved ones. For the ones we remember today. Earlier this day, I was watching a video of the event on Youtube while tears ran down my face. I saw a comment that left me furious and sad at the same time. “I’ve been laughing about this for the last 10 years.” Of course I replied to it. I’m not going to repeat the things I said, but I’m sure that I told him that there were innocent people there. That no one deserved to die. His reply? “Americans deserved that and more.” I replied. And I’ll pray for humanity too, because the world doesn’t deserve to have people like that. People like that were the ones who caused the deaths of thousands of people. Brave and innocent people.
We will never forget you NYC! Our prayers are for you!

9/11 forever in my mind.

The Iron Knight ARC by Julie Kagawa

So. Bloggers. There's an Iron Knight contest. Participate and you can win an ARC of this book. You just have to imagine a perfect day with Ash or Puck. This is my entry for the contest.
In The Iron Queen ash asks Meghan (SPOILERS) if after the war ends they can just disappear for a while. He tells her that he'll show her Nevernever like she's never seen it before. Somehow, that line is stuck in my brain. Ash can be so romantic sometimes. (I SAID SOMETIMES. DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT ASH!)
I want to go to Nevernever with Ash. I want him to throw ice daggers to whoever tries to attack us. I want him to find me the sweetest fruit in the world. If we find Puck, I want to hear them banter, even if it's just a bit. That's just half of the day. (Who needs to sleep anyway?) We would go to the movies, so I can show him how the humans entertain themselves. (I know there's iron in the mortal realm, but that's what Mab's magic and the necklace work). I want to go to an amusement park and hear him scream like a little girl when we ride the highest roller coaster (don't throw does daggers at me Ash, save them for Nevernever). At the end, he would get me back home with unbelievable memories. And if a certain cat appears... well tha'd be awesome. I would not ask for a kiss goodnight because I Love his relationship with Meghan too much.
That's my perfect day. Not too much to ask right? (See you soon Ash!)