Monday, April 30, 2012

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

15 comments:

Welcome to my stop of the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop! Let's all take a moment to acknowledge the fantabulous blogs I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Eve's Fan Garden for taking the time to put together this hop. Aren't they great?

When I think of "Spring Fling", I think of romance and all of that icky, blargy stuff.  (Yes, I am one of those people.) However, there are a few books with some romantic elements that doesn't ruin my tooth enamel or my oversensitive gag reflex. I know you'll be excited about these choices.



Giveaway Requirements:
  • Be thirteen (13) years old, have parental consent, or lie about it. (Please don't do that.) 
  • Live somewhere that can get books from Amazon or the Book Depository. 
  • Following is not required, but it is appreciated. Your options can be found on the right sidebar, though I don't have the pretty buttons yet. (I wouldn't recommend Linky because I don't understand it.) 
  • Sharing the giveaway is not required either, but spreading the word about my stop or the hop in general will be greatly appreciated.

Random Acts of Kindness - April Wrap-Up

2 comments:
Book Soulmates
RAK is a monthly meme hosted by Book Soulmates. You can find out more and join in on the fun HERE.

My April RAK - Sent





My April RAK - Received

I'm hesitant to say that I did not receive anything because someone TRIED to send me something. It was two ebooks that I very much wanted to read attached to the email, but out of piracy concerns, I turned it down. The very kind lady who was going to give it was completely unaware of what she was doing. I'm still very grateful for the thought that was behind it.


As for the RAKs that did happen, it was both Adam and Kat's birthdays this month. I've been following their blogs for a while, so I figured they needed something special from me. 

So, umm... Can I see your RAK this month? ;-)

April at Bibliophilia, Please

No comments:
I figure instead of only posting the giveaway winners for this month, I'll just do a wrap-up in general for you. First of all, there were four contests that ended in April. I had quite a bit of trouble getting winners for two giveaways this last month, so I did away with the extra entries on most contests hosted by me. (There will be exceptions, of course, but hopefully not often.) The winners are as follows:

Z is for Zombie

5 comments:



I'm still new to this genre, but I bet if you head over to The Aussie Zombie, I bet that she has a fairly extensive post on the subject. (She's also a participant in the Blogging A to Z Challenge.)

There are only two books that came to mind when I tried to recall anything in the genre.


Alright, alright, I know A Touch Mortal isn't really a zombie novel. You guys should know by now that I'm just a Leah Clifford fan-girl, and I can't resist the urge to talk about her books. Anyways, it's more fun to say the main characters are zombies and angels, versus them being Siders and angels. Don't you agree?


You shouldn't disagree with me - I can haz zombie kittehs on you!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

In My Mailbox (7)

11 comments:
In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives readers the chance to spotlight the books they received over the past week, whether they are for review, won, gifted, or borrowed.

Hi guys! Sorry that I missed last week, but I'm back - mostly (I'm still mucking through unread email). Anywho, here is my haul for the past two weeks. Please excuse the picture quality, but I didn't feel like readjusting all of the settings from my camera.

For Review


ARC/Finished Copy Sent by Author/Publisher

The Secret of Scarlet Stone by T. L. Clarke (Courtesy of the author)


Ebook Sent by Author/Publisher

Worldsoul by Liz Williams (Courtesy of Prime Books)

Thank You

2 comments:
Okay, so today I was trying to play catch-up with All The Things computer-related.


I stopped by over here to get a link to another blog, and I noticed something strange...


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Y is for Young Adult (YA)

10 comments:



This is such a fun genre because it's not really a genre if you think about it. Hell, it's not even an audience because there are people who are OBVIOUSLY NOT (sorry!) young adults who read these novels. I mean, I am, but I know some of you are old. Okay, fine. I'm older than "young adult", too. The point is - the authors of these books are a lot more creative and take a lot more chances than some other genres. Plus, the plots move a lot faster, for the most part, and you're not required to participate in the Thought Olympics to understand what's going on in the book.

What I'm going to show you is some of the variety in the young adult genre, plus some new releases. I'm going to warn you now that my "variety" is not going to include contemporary because I don't really read those, and I don't know what's good. Also, these are collages of the pictures that I already had on my computer. :-P

Friday, April 27, 2012

X is for X-traneous

2 comments:



Irrelevant? Yep, that has me written all over it.


The post is late. I've had a shitty week. I'm drunk right now. But I dansssssssssssssssssss!

Author Interview & Giveaway: Monica Leonelle

2 comments:
As a part of Monica Leonelle's Socialpunk blog tour, I have a quick interview with the author for your enjoyment.


Ima would give anything to escape The Dome and learn what’s beyond its barriers, but the Chicago government has kept all its citizens on lockdown ever since the Scorched Years left most of the world a desert wasteland. When a mysterious group of hooded figures enters the city unexpectedly, Ima uncovers a plot to destroy The Dome and is given the choice between escaping to a new, dangerous city or staying behind and fighting a battle she can never win.



What inspired you to write Socialpunk?

I was inspired by the city of Chicago, by social media issues in our current world, and by the cyberpunk genre. The book is a bit like the Terminator series and I reference that a couple times just for fun. James Cameron is basically my favorite director ever, and he really inspires me with his world-building and storytelling skills.

What kind of research did you do while preparing your story?

I spent a lot of time researching predictions for the future. The series/book is heavily based on my background in digital marketing. That said, I live in Chicago and worked in digital marketing, so a lot of the book came straight from my imagination.

Which books, if any, have most affected/inspired your writing and life in general?

The Chronicles of Narnia influenced me quite a bit as a kid. They inspired my first series, the Seven Halos series. Silver Smoke is available now.

Why do you think there has been a sudden surge in dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels?

Probably The Hunger Games trilogy! People must be tired of vampires.

It is always interesting to hear why independent authors have chosen the route that they have. What made you decide to go “indie”?

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Bookboy Review: Cloak of Shadows by David Dalglish

1 comment:


Publisher: Createspace
Release Date: April 19, 2010

Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. Marshalling the guilds under his control, he declares war against an allegiance of powerful nobles. His son, Aaron, has been groomed since birth to be his heir. Sent to kill the daughter of a priest, Aaron instead risks his own life to protect her from the wrath of his guild. In doing so, he glimpses a world beyond the iron control of his father. (Goodreads summary)

Welcome to the dark world of a young man by the name of Aaron. From a child he is raised and taught to cling only to hatred and obedience. He strives to please his father that would have him become the perfect killer, one that feels no regret and holds no emotions.

Growing up in the slums of Veldaren, Aaron is the son of the notorious Thern Felhorn, leader of the Spiders Guild. Together with Thern, the guild wages a never ending war between the other guilds and the all-powerful Trifect, three ruling families. Striving to completely take over and control the city, Thern seeks to creature the ultimate killing machine or, as he prefers to think of it, his perfect heir. To do so, he hides everything good from his son. Forced to learn lessons from the harshest of master, Aaron endures all number of torments until he meets the young lady Delysia. Delysia is the priestess of Ashhur and, to Aaron, she represents everything in the world once denied to him. Ordered to kill her, Aaron comes face to face with the hardest decision of his young life: kill the girl that could change everything, or kill the dream of his father.

I found A Dance of Cloaks to be a true look into the dark nature of fantasy. Assassins walk the streets in daylight and evil does not hide its face as so many often believe it does. David Dalglish provides clear details in the emotionally thin lines that separate the killer from the protector and the good from the evil. His novel continues to explore the deeper nature of relationships has he shows what can occur when you starve someone of all forms of love. In short, this novel is a highly detailed and fascinating read for any that is searching for a darker look at life.

Read the dark fantasy, Cloak of Shadows, by David Dalglish to find out what becomes of Haern/Aaron as he struggles to determine what his life truly means.

Buy your copy here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords 
Don't forget to add A Dance of Cloaks to your TBR list on Goodreads!

Bookboy is my much and ever-suffering assistant. After months of my constant nagging, he finally wrote a review for you guys. Show him some love, and he might just stick around.

W is for Werewolves

8 comments:

There aren't very many werewolf books that I have read and enjoyed. At least, nothing that I can think of right off the top of my head. Here are the books with werewolves as major characters that I have enjoyed:



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop

19 comments:

Welcome to my stop on the Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop hosted by Kathy @ I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Velvet @ vvb32 reads. We're very lucky folks to have them putting all of this together for us. I hope that you follow their blogs. :-)

Let's get down to the fairy tales. I want to share a few of my favorite hero/ines with, which was no small feat to put together. I have read hundreds of fairy tales from many, many cultures, but three automatically popped into my head when I thought of my favorites.

Waiting on Wednesday (14)

2 comments:
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Title: Worldsoul
Author: Liz Williams
Publisher: Prime Books
Release Date: June 6, 2012

What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?


Worldsoul, a great city that forms a nexus point between Earth and the many dimensions known as the Liminality, is a place where old stories gather, where forgotten legends come to fade and die—or to flourish and rise again. Until recently, Worldsoul has been governed by the Skein, but they have gone missing and no one knows why. The city is also being attacked with lethal flower-bombs from unknown enemy.

Mercy Fane and her fellow Librarians are doing their best to maintain the Library, but... things... keep breaking out of ancient texts and legends and escaping into the city. Mercy must pursue one such dangerous creature. She turns to Shadow, an alchemist, for aid, but Shadow—inadvertently possessed by an ifrit—has a perilous quest of her own to undertake.


Science Fiction + Librarians = I'm TOTALLY In!


Available for Pre-order! AmazonBarnes & Noble
Be sure to add it to your TBR list on Goodreads!

V is for Vampire

7 comments:


Let's just do the funny today, since I'm still fairly behind on All The Things. Here is some of my favorite Vampire nonsense:

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays (6)

No comments:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! 

Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!





He stood suddenly, panic evident on his face.
"Do they know where we are?"


-- Shadow on the Wall by Pavarti K. Tyler
Page 68 (eARC)
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Fighting Monkey Press
Purchase Here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

U is for Urban Fantasy

8 comments:



Pay no attention to how late this is - just read these books. This is one of my favorite genres, and these are some of my favorite books. You know that I wouldn't steer you wrong, kitten. ;-)





 

Oh, don't try clicking on the covers. I didn't bother with trying to make the pictures into links. I am struggling with a case of the dumb today. :-/

Review: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

4 comments:

Author: Bethany Griffin
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins)
Release Date: April 24, 2012

Masque of the Red Death is Bethany Griffin's Gothic horror novel based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story, The Masque of the Red Death. It is classified as Young Adult.

Araby Worth's world has crumbled around her - literally. Not only has she and her family lost her twin brother, Finn, to the Weeping Sickness contagion three years previous to the events in the novel, but the disease is still running rampant in the city. Corpse collectors walk the streets every morning for the infected dead, and those who can afford it wear their masks constantly. Prince Prospero rules over the city with an iron fist, with whispers of revolution blowing through the streets. People are disappearing, churches are burning, and some even say that the world is ending.

I found Griffin's Masque of the Red Death to be a grotesquely beautiful reimagining of Poe's original work. It lost none of the aristocratic fallacy or nail-biting suspense that oozed from Poe's terrifying horror story. If nothing else, Griffin expanded upon it, giving depth to the faceless dancers at the original, damned masque.

As its own body of work, Masque of the Red Death picked up some entirely new themes. The main one that stood out to me was the twin theme. One entity represented light and the other darkness, one embodied joy and the other melancholy, and so on. With the opposing twins, there can only be one, and a choice must be made (or made for you). This most certainly applied to Miss Araby Worth on many levels. 

There were some romantic elements and a bit of a love triangle in the story, but it was all so overshadowed by the decaying city that it was not obnoxious or overwhelming. The romance was never unbelievable (if that is possible in a dystopian, apocalyptic novel), and Griffin does not use it as a crutch. Both boys have many strengths, and Araby herself is such a bewitching character that it makes it plausible for both boys to fall in love with her. However, should Araby choose not to stick with Elliot, he is welcome in my home at any time.

Masque of the Red Death will suck you in, hold you, and dump you breathlessly back into reality, leaving you yelling, "Wait! What the Hell is this?!" at it like a mad woman once you finish. Or maybe that's just me. But I don't think so.

Buy your copy here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Be sure to add it to your TBR list on Goodreads!

To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received this book for free from the publisher and Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. It has in no way affected the outcome.

Monday, April 23, 2012

World Book Night 2012

1 comment:

About World Book Night

What is World Book Night?

World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. To be held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012. It will see tens of thousands of people go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks.

World Book Night, through social media and traditional publicity, will also promote the value of reading, of printed books, and of bookstores and libraries to everyone year-round.

Successfully launched in the U.K. in 2011, World Book Night will also be celebrated in the U.S. in 2012, with news of more countries to come in future years. Please join our mailing list for regular World Book Night U.S. news. And thank you to our U.K. friends for such a wonderful idea!

Additionally, April 23 is UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen due to the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death.

T is for Tolkien

2 comments:

Dear John,

I know that this letter is not going to find you in time, but I have to write it anyway. For my own sake, and in your memory. You see, John, I owe you so very, very much in my life. I know that we have never met, but you have always been such a large part of my life.

You wrote The Hobbit fifty years before I was born, but it was so instrumental in me being such a voracious reader. I would have never been so inspired to learn to read on my own if it wasn't for your engaging characters or hypnotic writing. My mother read the first few chapters to me - up until Bilbo and the dwarves were captured by the trolls - and told me that I had to learn how to read myself. That counts as child abuse, no?

When I got older and over my fascination with rereading my favorite books, I moved on to The Lord of the Rings. I think it cemented my place in Nerddom and my disgustly obnoxious love of epic fantasy. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.

I guess what I'm trying to say is "thank you". Thank you for writing such great books. Thank you for sharing private stories you wrote for your family with the world. Thank you being a part of the Inklings. (I do not thank you for me being inspired to research and read work by Amanda McKittrick Ros.) Just - thank you. You're part of what makes me, me.

Respectfully,

Kayla

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specialising in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

S is for Science Fiction

4 comments:



I could really go on about this genre (and I had planned to), but familial obligations keep me from doing overly much. Instead, I will just give you some of my many, many favorites that came to mind.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Cat Who Walked Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein
Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein
I am Legend by Richard Matheson
Acorna by Anne McCaffrey
Keeper of the Universe by Louise Lawrence
The Road to Mars by Eric Idle
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
The Fall of Angels by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.


As with yesterday, I will return/reply/whatever when things settle down over here. Meanwhile, be sure to go enter my giveaway as a part of the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop 

Friday, April 20, 2012

R is for Romance

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I will be honest, I usually steer clear of novels with a strong romantic theme. Sure, I've read some great romances, but it takes a lot for me to not gag. My one splurge into the genre that I will openly admit to specifically seeking out are the cute, little Regency romances written by Marion Chesney. You know where the plot is going as soon as you open the book, but they are just too damn adorable not to read. They are my annual partaking of literary cotton candy.

In YA, I do happen across romantic elements in the books I'm wanting to review. If its mainly romance (and contemporary), I probably won't touch it. If it has sci-fi/fantasy with a lot of romance, I'll eye it skeptically from across the room. If I have been assured that the story itself is strong, and it just happens to have some smooching, I'll bite. I try my best to roll my eyes and move along during those parts.

Love triangles are fairly popular in romance novels, but don't get me started on those. I could probably do a week's worth of posts on THAT alone. Maybe I will in the future. As for now, let's just say its usually an even bigger turn-off than having just a one-on-one romance.

PNR usually gives me the heebie-jeebies, but I can stomach vampires. Sometimes. Shifters are another story, and it is something I consider individually. Unless the shifter is in animal form during the encounter. I don't care if it's animal-animal or animal-human. Animal-animal is the Discovery channel, and animal-human is called bestiality. I don't do either.

...

Sorry, I just drifted off thinking about how much I detest Bill Compton,

What?

Well, that's your post for today. I had to go out of town for a funeral, so I'm going to be slow with the replies and return visits. I mean, look how late this post is. Anywho, please be patient with me. You will hear back from me on this post and the others. Meanwhile, be sure to go enter my giveaway as a part of the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Showers of Books Giveaway Hop (INT)

30 comments:

Welcome to my stop of the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop! Let's all take a moment to acknowledge the fantabulous Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Erika at One a Day YA for taking the time to put together this hop. Aren't they great?

Anywho, you care about the PRIZE, don't you? Well, you get to choose one of five books for this one. The books either have something weather-related in the title, looks like rain on the cover, or I would like to rain my fangirl all over the author (I think we all know which one that is). So here's what you can pick:



Try clicking on the covers to find out more about the book. It may take you to Goodreads, and it may break your computer. You can never tell with me and my html attempts. Sorry.

Giveaway Requirements: 
  • Be thirteen (13) years old, have parental consent, or lie about it. (Please don't do that.)
  • Live somewhere that can get books from Amazon or the Book Depository.
  • Following is not required, but it is appreciated. Your options can be found on the right sidebar, though I don't have the pretty buttons yet. (I wouldn't recommend Linky because I don't understand it.)
  • Sharing the giveaway is not required either, but spreading the word about my stop or the hop in general will be greatly appreciated.