Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope this makes you hungry;)

Eat a big ol' Thanksgiving feast!

Get ready to unpack the Christmas decorations!  But for now...

Be thankful you're not a turkey!

And now, Turkey (in your belly) time!  Eat, eat, eat, eat!

Discussion: Greek Geek prt. 1

There are a few things you need to know about me.  But, for this post, there’s really only one thing you need to know (about me). 

I’m a Greek Geek.  This pretty much means I love all things Greek Mythology.  I am literally obsessed with Greek Mythology.  Just ask my family!  So, in honor of the fact that I love Greek Mythology, and because I’ve been wanting to write a non-review/meme but still bookishly related blog post, I’m writing this wonderful little collection of posts about Greek Mythology.

Today’s topic is how they vary.  Seriously, one way someone knows Greek Mythology is totally different from how another might.  Think about the story of Medusa, plus the add on story of Perseus and Medusa.  For those that don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, the former myth deals with how Medusa became an ugly monster while the latter deals with how she is killed.

Anyway, the way I know the myths go like this:

Medusa was a priestess of Athena.  As Athena is a virgin goddess, all of her priestesses had to vow to be a virgin.  However, Medusa is tempted by Poseidon, and not only looses her virginity but does so in Athena’s temple.

So yeah, Athena’s MAD.  So, naturally she curses Medusa!  Medusa’s then banished to a tiny island, where she lives in solitude because all mortals she meets turn to stone.

The next part happens in some other island of Greece.  A king has no male heirs, only a daughter, Danae.  A Oracle prophesizes that any children of Danae would kill the king.  So, he locks Danae in a tower.  Zeus, king of the Gods, takes the form of golden rain and drips in with Danae.  The next thing you know, Perseus is born.  The king finds out, but believing there was a god involved locks Danae and Perseus in a boatish-box instead of outright killing them.  Zeus helps them and they land on another island where they live with a kind fisherman.  Perseus grows up, all is well, and then the bad stuff happens.

The king of the island wants to marry Danae, but she doesn’t want to marry him, and Perseus keeps him from forcefully marrying her.  So the king sends Perseus to get Medusa’s head, a task many heroes have tried and failed to complete.

Zeus sends Athena and Hermes to help Perseus and they give him a shield, sword, and flying sandals and tell him to go to the Greae sisters so he can learn where Medusa lives.  So he does, and he steals there eyeball (ew, right?) because they only have one eyeball and one tooth that they share.

I know this is a pegacorn, as it has a horn (rhyme time). Sorry

They tell him where Medusa lives in return for their eye; he goes there, uses the shield as a mirror and chops of her head.  Out of her bloody body comes the Pegasus.  Then Perseus heads home to save his mother.  On the way he sees Andromeda, a princess chained to a rock to be sacrificed to the sea monster Ceres because her mother bragged she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs.  Perseus uses Medusa’s head to turn Ceres to stone and takes Andromeda home with him.

Back at the island, he goes into the kings court and says something along the lines of “I have Medusa’s head” and everyone looks as he pulls it out.  I bet you know what happened then!  Then he makes the fisherman that he and his mother lived with the king of the island and his mother marries him, and Perseus and Andromeda head back to where she lived.

On the way there they stop so Perseus can participate in some gaming event, and Perseus accidentally looses grip on his discuss and it hits one of the onlookers – who happens to be his grandfather.  And thus the prophecy is fulfilled.

So that’s the way I know it.  Another way follows the story all the way up until when perseus is sent to find Medusa’s head.  Instead of meeting Athena and Hermes, he only meets Hermes, who gives him the shoes and tells him where Medusa is but tells him to first visit the stygian nymphs for weapons.

So he goes to the Greae sisters because no one knows where the nymphs are.  He goes through the whole eyeball thing and they tell him where the nymphs live.  He goes and gets the sword, shield, and sometimes even Hades helm of invisibility.  The reast happens normally. 

Sometimes Andromeda is left out of the story.  Sometimes Perseus’ grandfather is at the kingdom where Perseus’ mother is and he sees Medusa’s head.  Sometimes Medusa’s sisters Euryale and Stheno are at the island where Medusa lives and he almost dies to them. 

This one time at the library I picked up a short book called “Medusa”.  In it was pretty much a little kids story of how Medusa became a monster.  I think the authors and publishers and editors were all on some drug when they wrote and published that book, because there weren’t even the fundamentals of the true story in it.  It said that Medusa was beautiful, and she caught the attention of Poseidon.  That’s when bad things began to happen.  The book next said the goddess of beauty Athena (that would be Aphrodite!)  was jealous because she liked Poseidon (Poseidon and Athena were rivals) so she turned Medusa ugly.

So as you can see, there are many variations, and although most at least share the same bones, sometimes you’ll get one like that.

Sorry for the lack of visual aids, it would be kind of gross.

Follow Friday (11)

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee

Question: Letter to Santa: Tell Santa what books you want for Christmas!

Prepare for the longest list in History!!!

1.  The Maze Runner by James Dashner

2. Tangled Tides byKaren Hooper

3. Snow In Summer by Jane Yolen

4. Icefall by Mathew Kirby

5. Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman

6.  Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough

7.  The Glass Swallow by Julia Golding

8.  The Fire by James Patterson

9.  Ingo by Helen Dunmare

10. Winterling by Sarah Prineas

11. Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlisson

And yeah, I can think of more, but that's it for now:)

Judging a Book By It's Cover (6)

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?


































I must say, I am controversial about this cover.  For one thing, is that a dragon rocket?  Looking at a picture of the cover, I don't like it.  BUT...when holding the cover in my hands I must say it's quite pretty.  It's shiny, and golden, and the dragon rocket even looks good!

I give this cover a 4/5 and the book a 5/5, so over all, if you judge this book by it's cover (at least from my view), your going to get even more than you bargained for:)

Waiting On Wednesday (11) AND In My Mailbox (11)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week I am waiting for:

Whit and Wisty Allgood have sacrificed everything to lead the resistance against the merciless totalitarian regime that governs their world. Its supreme leader, The One Who Is The One, has banned everything they hold dear: books, music, art, and imagination. But the growing strength of the siblings' magic hasn't been enough to stop the One's evil rampage, and now he's executed the only family they had left.

Wisty knows that the time has finally come for her to face The One. But her fight and her fire only channel more power to this already invincible being. How can she and Whit possibly prepare for their imminent showdown with the ruthless villain that devastated their world-before he can truly become all-powerful?

In this stunning climax of the epic Witch & Wizard series, the stakes have never been higher-and the consequences will change everything.

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren.

In My Mailbox I have:

At seventeen, Cordelia is an ordinary teen with an extraordinary and frightening secret. A secret that induces vivid dreams which she not only experiences true love, but crippling fear while barely escaping with her life each night.

After a life altering event, Cordelia has an unexpected encounter with Evan, the mysterious boy from her dreams, who reveals who and what she is, a descendant of the Greek gods. At that moment everything she knows of her world is a lie, and she must leave the present and go into the past to assume the role she was put on this earth for, safeguarding her ancient empire amidst evil forces that toil hastily to destroy it.

In a race against time, Cordelia must decide if she is truly a part of this dangerous world, or risk defying the gods, and ultimately lose the boy who has put a claim on her heart.

Betrayal is the debut novel by Mayandree Michel. She is currently hard at work on the second installment of the Descendants series. Learn more about Mayandree at www.mayandreemichel.blogspot.com

It's Monday. What are you reading? (9)

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Today I'm Reading:

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

I'm almost done with it, and so far it's pretty darn awesome:)

What are you reading?

Cover Reveal: Just for Fins

When Lily Sanderson decided to remain Crown Princess Waterlily of the mermaid kingdom Thalassinia, she knew she couldn't just coast along in the current. But since she's spent the last couple years on land-with gorgeous human Quince by her side-Lily's not sure she has the fins to lead a kingdom. Even her maddeningly pretentious cousin, Dosinia, seems to know more about ruling than she does.

But Lily has to dive in deep to keep her promise to Tellin, her mer-bond in name only, whose kingdom is suffering in the changing ocean climate. From sea animals dying to oil spills and threats to humans, Lily knows this is a seven seas-sized problem. They'll need to make some serious waves to make the mer community aware and joined together to make things right. Even if that mean facing one of the iciest queens in the mer-kingdoms

I'll admit, I'm not the biggest fan of these covers (the books, however, are another story).  The colors are just so...I don't know, off.  BUT, they are still good, pretty covers, and the books totally make up for where the covers lack!  Goodreads link!

Waiting On Wednesday (10)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week I am waiting for:

The third book in the Paranormalcy trilogy.

The final chapter of Evie's adventures. Old friends, new ones, all wrapped up in impossible decisions. And some ball gowns. Because what's a life of normal and paranormal drama without a ball gown or two?

 

Why am I waiting for this?  Because the first two ROCKED!  I can't wait to see how Evie's story ends:)

Another Guest Post

Hi!  I guest posted over at Once Upon a series, an awesome blog run by Chrissie.

Make sure to go check it out!

Slayers by C.J. Hill

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

I really liked this book!  I was so excited when I won it, as it was written by one of my favorite authors, whose name shall not be mentioned (coughJanetteRallisoncough).  And it did NOT live down to the challenge!

Let's talk about characters!  I didn't really like Tori when she starts to notice that there's something weird about her dragon camp.  But all in all, I grew to like her, as she was a great, well rounded character, who wasn't too "Mary-Sue" in a bad or perfect way.  Once again, I didn't like Jesse at first, but once again, he grew on me.  And once again, I didn't like Dirk at first, but this time he didn't grow on me.  I didn't like him, then I learned his "little" secret, and I didn't like him even more.  Then, I started to feel bad for him, as his situation was pretty bad.  Lilly and Alyssa were mean, but even though, I kind of liked what Lilly's character added to the story.  Bess was fun, and Rosa was sweet.  Shang was cool cause he put up with Lilly.  Kody was okay, but he wasn't really all that memorable.  I also thought Mr. B (Bartholomew) was a good mentor, though a bit loony.  All the other characters were pretty good.  Ryker was sort of a name that floated around and in the end you got to meet him as sort of a "this is what happens next book"!

The plot was awesome, and even though it differed greatly from the authors previous works, and that was probably why the author went with a pen name.  Although it was really different, you could still see how it was written by the author under the pseudonym.  The plot was smart, and it left me wanting more.  I liked how the dragons were bad.  It seems like all dragon books have good or neutral dragons.  Personally I like those books, but SLAYERS was kind of refreshing! 

I am a big lover of fantasy, so this was a really great read.  It was also a romance and action book, so that was nice.  The romance was kind of cliche, but it was also sweet, and the guy I was rooting for ended up with the girl!

I can't wait for part two in this series!  SLAYERS actually only took place in four days, so I'm sure the next books will take place during the rest of the month that the characters are at dragon camp.  I'm assuming the next book will be about Ryker Davis, by the way SLAYERS ends.

I give this book a 5/5 and would recommend it to lovers of fantasy, action, adventure, romance, and a certain author name Janette Rallison!

Market: YA
Language: MILD (the h-word and stuff like "so and so said a string of curses")
Sensuality: Mild, just some kissing
Violence:  Moderate

In My Mailbox (10)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren.

In My Mailbox I have:

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

I got this from the awesome Candace at Candace's Book Blog.  And yes, I already finished it.  What?  It was amazing!   Look for a review soon!  (I still have to review TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE...WHOOPS).

I Guest Posted on Alison Can Read!

Its true!  For her "Totally Twilight" month, which pretty much means "Totally Awesome" month!  Please go check it out!

Cover Reveal: Endlessly by Kiersen White

Um, wow, two of these in one day?  Anyway, isn't this cover GORGEOUS???????

Cover Reveal & Blurb: Farewell to Charms by Lindsey Leavitt

With her rare magical powers and a gift for getting herself out of trouble, Desi Bascomb has become the darling of the Façade Agency. She’s the youngest girl ever to advance to level three as a full-time royal sub. 

Now all eyes are on Desi, but she just wants a moment alone to talk to her crush Reed, who she’s discovered is actually a sub for princes! Except spending time with him might be Desi’s worst idea yet—Façade is spying on their every move, and her best friend Kylie has a crush on Reed, too. 

But Desi also has deeper problems than lying to her BFF—Façade is hiding something big. Behind the glitz and glam of the agency is a dark secret: the misuse of magic. Desi knows it’s up to her to fix Façade’s suspicious practices, but if she gets caught, her magic and memories will be erased. Is she willing to sacrifice her time with Reed and job as a princess sub to do what’s right? 

Desi’s last stand is her most triumphant, hilarious and unexpected adventure yet. Don’t underestimate this damsel in distress in the charming finale of the Princess for Hire series. 

Yup, definitely a perdy cover.  Though I don't love the locket...anyway, go here to read the actual authors post.

Also, go here to read a review f FORTUNE's FOLLY that I wrote a LONG time ago!!!!  The blog it is published on rocks, go there to see why!

Waiting On Wednesday (9)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week I am waiting for:

Delaney Collins doesn't believe in fairy tales. And why should she? Her mom is dead, her best friend is across the country, and she's stuck in California with "Dr. Hank," her famous life-coach father—a man she barely knows. Happily ever after? Yeah, right.

Then Dr. Hank tells her an outrageous secret: he's a fairy godmother—an f.g.—and he can prove it. And by the way? The f.g. gene is hereditary. Meaning there's a good chance that New Jersey tough girl Delaney is someone's fairy godmother.

But what happens when a fairy godmother needs a wish of her own?

Why do I want it?  Because how AWESOME does it sound!  Very, right?  Plus, just look at the cover.  There, you done?  You want it now, right?

Book Of The Month: November

Book Of The Month is a monthly feature here, at Lost In A Book!  It is where you can show the book that you are most looking forward to coming out during the current month, or your favorite book that has been previously published during the month.

The book of the month is....

With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale life turns grim. Things get even worse when her father marries a woman who brings poisons and magical mirrors into Summer's world. Stepmama puts up a pretty face, but Summer suspects she's up to no good - and is afraid she's powerless to stop her.

This Snow White tale filled with magic and intrigue during the early twentieth century in Appalachia will be hard to forget.

I saw this book ages ago, thought it looked good, forgot about it, and then about two weeks ago saw it again.  I am a BIG fan of fairy tale retellings, and this one looks good!  Plus, I've heard good things about Jane Yolen, and the cover is beautiful!

I almost chose DON'T EXPECT MAGIC just because it looks so good, but instead went with this.