Graduation Giveaway- FINAL WEEK WINNERS

Now that the time for entries has finished, out of a random drawing of winners. The five entrants who will be receiving books are:

• • Perchance to Dream - Under the Covers
    
  • Beautiful Dead: Jonas - SRMcEvoy
  • Poetry Speaks Who I Am - Melanie
  • Explorer X-Alpha - Harmony B.
    
  • The Star Shack - bookaholic
    
  • Birthmarked - Kate

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all of you who entered and followed this giveaway throughout the past weeks. All books will be placed together and shipped out within a week or two.

-The YAthenaeum Team

Doodle Days 6.10.10

When was the last time one of these happened?

Way too long ago. I actually have this one sketchbook filled with random book sketches, but I haven't gotten around to scanning any of them recently. I did however scan this one, and actually colored it! So it's not really a doodle anymore... Oh well, let's just go along with it.

Another doodle day featuring Patch & Nora from Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush. Now that I think about it, that one sketchbook has a lot of drawings of these two... I think it has to do with the anticipation of Crescendo...yeah, that's probably it. You can check out the Prologue and First Chapter here by the way.

I'll be sure to scan another book next time :) we do need change every now and then.

-Lorena

The Gardener- REVIEW

Lorena's Review of The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

This has been stashed away for some time, but I think I was finally able to get my point across.

Synopsis

Mason has never known his father, but longs to. All he has of him is a DVD of a man whose face is never seen, reading a children’s book. One day, on a whim, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens at the nursing home where his mother works. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason learns she is part of a horrible experiment intended to render teenagers into autotrophs—genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms who don’t need food or water to survive. And before he knows it, Mason is on the run with the girl, and wanted, dead or alive, by the mysterious mastermind of this gruesome plan, who is simply called the Gardener.

Will Mason be forced to destroy the thing he’s longed for most?

Review

Someone asked me about this book a few days ago, and when I tried to tell them what I thought about it, I was completely stumped (no pun intended). I had such conflicting feelings, that it took me a good half hour to properly voice my thoughts.

S.A. Bodeen's The Gardener is an enjoyable read, no doubt about it. It follows Mason and the mysterious girl he rescues (who I wont name) as they discover the dark secrets hidden by TroDyn, a huge science complex that owns and supports most businesses in Mason's hometown. Through their adventure, it describes one of many possible futures (or presents if you will) that is both intriguing, and frightening at the same time. It made me question myself about how I live my consumerist life, and how that will affect my family in the years to come. So many controversial topics brought up, like world hunger and human engineering, so much build up and so much suspense. I'm not gonna lie, this book kept me on my toes. I wanted to know who was behind this, how were they going to solve everything. So many questions that just kept me turning the pages, and just like that, it ends. Not in a "To be Continued" matter, but more of a Deus ex machina conclusion. I finished this book more frustrated than was really necessary, and I just asked myself. Why? Why end it so abrupt?

Now, Mason and the mysterious girl are two very likable characters, and are easy to relate to, but once again are left short. Mason is constantly referred to by his friends as a "hero", they constantly tell him he doesn't have to solve the worlds problems. But I kept wondering why? What is it that makes him have this personality, this need to be the hero. He just steps into the picture ready to save the world, ready to save this girl without so much as a second thought. I wish I understood what need he had to do these things. To suddenly go against everything he's ever know for a girl he's known little over five minutes. Some would call it love, and I've seen it work in certain situations. But in the case of Mason, well, I just had a hard time believing it.

To be honest, even after all the frustration I went through after reading The Gardner, I'd still recommend it to readers. The concepts and topics brought up are very interesting, and I'm happy with how Bodeen chose to address them. My warning comes at the end, to be prepared for the ambiguously open ending, that leaves you with more questions than there are answers for. My only hope is that you won't end up as frustrated as I did.

Graduation Giveaway- FINAL WEEK

This contest has ended

Happy Graduation! It's been a long 4 years for us, so we'd like to end it with a bang!

This is our last week of school, and our last days as seniors! So naturally, this is the last week of the giveaway. This week we have 6 books to giveaway! We'd like to thank everyone who's followed the giveaway for the 6 weeks, and congratulate everyone who's won!

Here are the this week's books:

We will be giving away copies of:

• Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev
• Beautiful Dead: Jonas by Eden Maguire
• Poetry Speaks Who I Am by Elise Paschen and Dominique Raccah
• Explorer X-Alpha by LM Preston
• The Star Shack by Lila Castle
• Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Want to win a copy? Here are 6 ways you can enter.

• +1 (You have to do this one) Leave a comment with your e-mail, and list the order in which you want the books (1:Really Want! - 6:Kind of Want)
• +1 Link to this contest on your blog. (You get another entry for everyplace you link)
• +1 Link to this contest on your Facebook/Myspace
• +1 Twitter this contest
• +1 Like us on Facebook : YAthenaeum
• +1 Subscribe to us on YouTube : YAthenaeum
• Please provide evidence that you did the above (links will do).

Winners for this week will be drawn on Sunday June .
Books will be awarded as such:

• 1st drawn: First book on their list
  
• 2nd drawn: First available book on their list
• And so on...

Good luck!
-The YAthenaeum Team

Marr Awards Giveaway- WINNER

Oh my! We got so caught up with the Graduation Giveaway, that we forgot to announce the winner of the Marr Awards Giveaway!

Congratulations, Genesis!
You get to pick any Melissa Marr book to be awarded to you!
Please e-mail us with your choice and mailing address!

Thank you to everyone who entered! The voting stage has just begun, so please stop by and vote for Lorena (ryuumisstres) if you have a minute!

-The YAthenaeum Team

Graduation Giveaway- Week 5 WINNERS

Now that the time for entries has finished, out of a random drawing of winners. The five entrants who will be receiving books are:

• • Alison- The Enemy
    
  • Sarah- Beautiful Dead: Jonas
    
  • Tyler- The Demon's Covenant
    
  • Alyssa- Never Blame the Umpire
  • Brodie- The Owl Keeper
    

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all of you who entered. Check back tomorrow for the last books in the giveaway!

-The YAthenaeum Team

Night for Newborns Midnight Release Party

Come to our

Night for Newborns MIDNIGHT RELEASE PARTY

for Stephenie Meyer’s brand new book,

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella

Friday, June 4, 9:30pm

Books & Books Coral Gables

LIVE MUSIC from Courtesy of Paco

Bree Tanner got just 10 pages in Eclipse, but now she’s getting her due: Her own book in the Twilight family, and her own daylight-kickin’ party at Books & Books. Live music, Twilight trivia contests, costume contests, prizes and oh so much more!

It’s a Books & Books Midnight Release Party, where time flies with all the fun. And then – before you can say, “What the Cullen?!” – we’ll be counting down the final seconds before the midnight release of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. 10, 9, 8, 7 …

At the stroke of midnight, you get your pre-paid copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Pay for your copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner at any Books & Books bookshop in South Florida and get a voucher to pick it up at midnight at the Midnight Release Party. And then you can be first among your friends to read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. You won’t be able to put down this riveting story of Bree Tanner, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. It’s all the stuff that happened in Seattle that you were dying to know about.

This will be Night for Newborns, full of new fun. Play the Twilight Quiz Show. Enter our Bree To Be You and Me Contest. And our What the Cullen?! Test.

Dress the part for the night’s fun: Come as your favorite character. And while all you Bellas, Edwards and Jacobs are welcome, we’ll be giving prizes for the best of the lesser-knowns with our Supporting Character Costume Contest. (Bree much? Jane, anybody?)

So, start dressing as the New Moon rises that night. All the fun of our Night for Newborns Party will Eclipse your anxiety over the book’s impending release. And then starting at midnight, you can begin reading The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, turning the pages until the Breaking Dawn and reading on until Twilight…

And we’ll see you there!

-The YAthenaeum Team