Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday (18): Twice Upon A Time

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

This week I am waiting for:
Twice Upon a TimePirates and mermaids face off in this fractured-fairy tale sequel to "Half Upon a Time"!

Little mermaids and normal-sized pirates always create the biggest of problems. After the surprise revelations of HALF UPON A TIME, Jack, May and Phillip could use the help of a fairy godmother or two on their search for May's true identity. Only, there might be a snag: The entire Fairy Homelands have been put to sleep by an evil curse, and waking them could be hard. That's only if by hard, you mean escaping from the Land of Never, braving a merman-infested ocean to find a Sea Witch, then fighting alongside the pirate Bluebeard against an army of land-invading sharks with legs, all while trying to outwit one of the Wicked Queen's Eyes who seems to know your every move. So, yeah, a bit hard.

But what fun would an easy fairy tale be?

I recently read the first in the series, Half Upon A Time, and can't wait to see how the story keeps going, as it was one of the best Middle Grade novels I've read, and one of the best fairy tale stories I've read in a long time.

What are you waiting for this week?  Leave links!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday (17): Saphire Blue

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

This week I am waiting for:
  Gwen's life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean. At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.

Why I'm waiting:
Seeing as I read - and loved - the first book in the series, a long time ago (mainly because the book is published in Germany and then translated to English) I CANNOT wait:)

What are you waiting for?  Leave links! 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Follow Friday (22)

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

Gain New Blog Followers

Q:I like unique names for characters and am looking forward to coming up with some when I start writing. What's the most unique character name you've come across?

Okay, so there are a LOT.  First off, Harry Poter:  Remus, Andromeda, Draco, Wormtail, Hermione, etc.  Then there's the Hunger Games:  Katniss, Gale (for a boy it's weird), Peeta, Prim, Glitter, etc.  Plus Percy Jackson: Castor, Pollux, Perseus, Annabeth (NOT A REAL NAME), etc. 

Then there are less known book.  One of my favorite books (by Jessica Day George, go figure) has a girl named Jonquil.  I've recently started reading a series called Young Wizards by Diane Duane (yeah, yeah, it was published thirty years ago...I'm slow, alright!) and the names are weird, like Juanita, Dairine, and this isn't including the alien names!  Plus the book I'm reading right now has a man name Everlasting.  That's right, Everlasting.  And there are many, many more tat I could think of immediently, I've just already written an extremely long post, so...

Leave links so I can check out your posts!!!!!!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday (16): Vessel

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.
This week I am waiting for:
VesselIn a desert land where serpents made of unbreakable glass fly through the sky and wolves made of only sand hunt within storms, Liyana is destined to be a vessel, to sacrifice herself so that her clan's goddess can inhabit her body... but her goddess never comes.
Why am I waiting for it?  I've only read on of Sarah Beth Durst books (DRINK SLAY LOVE) but it was amazing, and this book sounds amazing...and who doesn't love that cover?

What are you waiting for?  Leave links!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

I've Been Tagged + In My Mailbox (15): Kindle Edition (3) + Happy Valentines day!



Yeah, this is a mix of three different posts.  Why?  because I don't want to layer it up and have three posts in one day and I kind of have to do one of these and I try to always do another and I wanted to do the third, so....



Guess what!  I got tagged!
(it happened a little something like this XD)
Tagged by Claire from Claire Reads.

The Rules:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people that you have tagged.

3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.

4. Let them know you've tagged them!

The Questions:
1 .What is your favorite movie, based on a book ?
Maybe Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows? There are so many good movies turned books (and of course, so many horrible ones!).2. What is your least favorite genre? Why?
Non-fiction. I actually have nothing against it, especially when it is a history book, it's just most our memoirs or fitness or self-help books.3. Scenario: Apocalyptic event (*panic* LOL).... you can choose 1 book to be sealed away and saved.... which one is it? Why?
WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME CHOOSE!!!!!!!! Maybe one of the Harry Potters? But no, I have so many other books to...I can't choose between my babies *sob*.4. What book, releasing this year, are you most anxious to get your hands on?
THE MARK OF ATHENA by Rick Riordan. It doesn't even have a cover yet and I can hardly wait! As a back-up, THE PRINCESS OF THE SILVER WOODS by Jessica Day George5. What is the biggest surprise you've had as far as books go? Was there one that exceeded your expectations? One that totally bombed?
I'm going to have to say the TWILIGHT books were pretty surprising. I saw the movie first (shudder) so I wasn't expecting much...and it turned out I loved them.6. If you could re-write history and pick a book/series to write yourself (instead of the actual author), which masterpiece would you call yours?
Harry Potter or the Leviathan series (Scott Westerfeld). However, I would never be able to do them justice...7. Hardcover or paperback? Which do you prefer?
Hardcover, because it is more durable and easier to read. I'll read either, of course.8. If you could interview any author, alive or dead, who would you choose?
Hmmmm...I'm stuck between J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, and Jessica Day George (all alive)...9. Do you participate in a book club that meets in reality? or do you prefer online ones?
I tried a meet-in-person book club, but we never actually met... But I've never participated in an online one either.10. Charles Dickens or Jane Austen? Explain.
I (though ashamed to admit it) have never read a Jane Austen novel:(11. If you wrote a book about your life... what would the title be?
Well, it would depend on the book. I'm working on two books (that will probably never even be FINISHED), one called The Stone Maiden and the other called The Fairy Dance.
(sorry about the weird different colors it won't let me change it:( )

I TAG:
Natasha/Nadia@Primrose Musings
J.B. Kannt@J.A.Y.A!
&&&

My Questions:
1. What was a book you were really excited to read but fell short?
2. What book do you think would make an awesome movie (that hasn't already been made)?
3. What's the best book you've read recently?
5. What was the most recent book you judged by it's cover?
6. What is your favorite genre?
7. Your least favorite genre?
8. If you could choose one book to read that is yet to be released, what would it be?
9. Have you ever seen a movie that you liked more than the book? If so, which movie?
10. If you could switch places with any character in any book, who would it be and why?
11. What book in a series are you most anticipating coming out this year?
They kind of all stank...sorry!
In My Mailbox (Kindle Edition) is a weekly meme hosted at The Story Siren.



In My Mailbox I have:
Fairy Lies (Fairy Wings, #2)In this delightful sequel to Fairy Wings (originally titled Wings) the fairy princess Tamisin has been kidnapped from her home in the human world by Oberon, king of the fairies, who thinks he’s her father. When Tamisin’s boyfriend Jak finds out, he sets off to rescue her. In this funny and heartwarming romp through a land of fairies, goblins, sphinxes, unicorns, and many more, Tamisin and Jak try to regain their romance even as they find their way back to the human world.
E. D. Baker is a master of the madcap world of magical creatures and she demonstrates once more that a clever girl who shows a dose of kindness, humor, and common sense can overcome almost any fearsome foe, no matter how magical!




In His Eyes Anthology (Stories from a Cute Guy)Avalable  NOW, just in time for Valentines Day, The Indelibles bring you a one-of-a-kind young adult anthology! Sixteen original short stories, all from the point of view of our favorite male characters - some are old flames from our novels and some were dreamed up especially for this anthology.

Let these imminently crushable, swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes.

The contributors to IN HIS EYES include award winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors.













How to Date an Alien (My Alien Romance, #1)High school senior Alex Bianchi's estranged father gets her an internship at Circe Operations Center to pad her college applications. But Circe isn't your typical military base. It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawn to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink of intergalactic war?
(actually reieved on Sunday after winning it from Aimee, I've just been LAZY.  And busy.  I mean really busy, not just excuse busy!)















And finally:









And now onto:

Sunday, February 12, 2012

In His Eyes: An Indelibles Anthology + Links to a free copy!

The Indelibles


In His Eyes Anthology (Stories from a Cute Guy)Just in time for Valentine's Day, The Indelibles bring you a one-of-a-kind young adult anthology! Sixteen original short stories, all from the point of view of a male character.  Some are old friends from the amazing books previously written by the authors, and others were made up especially for this anthology!

Let these imminently crushable, swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes. 

The contributors to In His Eyes include award winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors. 

In His Eyes is FREE at Smashwords, and $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes&Noble - hopefully to go free at those two sites as well on the release date on February 14th for Valentines Day. You can also add In His Eyes to your TBR list on Goodreads.
For more information about The Indelibles, check out their super-amazing blog, their facebook page, or follow them on Twitter.
Stories included in the Anthology:
Surprise, Surprise by Stacey Wallace Benefiel, author of Glimpse: Half the women in Melody's family can see the future, which makes it nearly impossible for Raleigh to surprise her. What's a guy to do for Valentine's Day when his girlfriend is always one step ahead of him? 

First Kiss or First Kill? by C.K. Bryant, author of 
Bound: Love isn't always rainbows and kittens, sometimes it can be downright deadly. (A deleted chapter from Bound.) 

Shattered by Ali Cross, author of 
Become: James and Desi use each other in an effort to cling to the darkness in each of them, but in the end they discover that love changes you. (A chapter of Become from James’ POV.) 

Before by Jessie Harrell, author of 
Destined: When a younger Eros is exiled to a land that doesn't believe in the Greek gods, he finds the first love of his immortal life. Read Eros' first person account of his romance, and heartbreak, in the time before he met Psyche. 

The Qualm Before the Storm by Karen Amanda Hooper, author of
Tangled Tides. Yara Jones doesn’t want to be a mermaid. Treygan doesn’t want to be the monster who turns her. You can’t always get what you want. (A short prequel to Tangled Tides.) 

Unspeakable by S.R. Johannes, author of 
Untraceable: When Mo sees a strange girl in the woods, he follows her. He soon realizes they are both in a dangerous position and might not get out alive. 

In the Beginning by Katie Klein, author of 
Cross My Heart: Seth is falling hard for Genesis Green, but the guardian angel is determined not to interfere, until an accident changes the course of their lives forever. (A short prequel to The Guardian.) 

A Chance Encounter by Cheri Lasota, author of 
Artemis Rising: Finnian's eyes hide a terrible secret. But a girl on the train home, the girl in tears with a secret of her own...She sees right through him. A scene from the upcoming novel, Echoes in the Glass. 

Family Bonds by Heather McCorkle, author of 
The Secret of Spruce Knoll: A Halloween party filled with teens who can channel energy and use it to kill, what could go wrong? For Spruce Knoll fans who are dying to read more about Fane. 

Getting Closer by Lisa Nowak, author of 
Running Wide Open: Megan is smart, hot, and an upperclassman—in other words, way out of Cody’s league. So why did she choose him? (An excerpt of Getting Sideways.) 

The Almost Assassin by Laura Pauling, author of 
A Spy Like Me, releasing Spring 2012: Malcolm tries his hand at the family business but his conscience and a beautiful "spy" may be his downfall. 

Mind Games by Susan Kaye Quinn, author of 
Open Minds: Raf wants to take Kira—the only girl in school who doesn’t read minds—to the mindware Games, but his friends have other plans. (A short prequel to Open Minds.) 

By The Firelight by Elle Strauss, author of 
Clockwise: When Nate McKenzie asks an unpopular girl to dance on a dare, he's in for the time of his life. 

A Very Alien Valentine’s Day by Magan Vernon, author of 
How To Date An Alien: After surviving confinement and an intergalactic war for his human half, Alex, now he has to live through the biggest challenge of them all: Valentine's Day. 

Aligned by RaShelle Workman, author of 
Exiled: A half-Eternal boy and an Eternal girl must free millions of tortured souls from a creature whose been feasting on their pain and suffering.

Don't let the offer of a free book go to waste, especially when it's filled with such amazing stories from well known authors!  Make your Valentine's day even better by getting this book!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Follow Friday (21)

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

Gain New Blog Followers

Q: What would your prefer: reading your favorite book over and over again until you got sick of it OR reading 100s of mediocre books? And why?

Read my favorite book over and over again until I got sick of it.  Why?  Because mediocre books are, well, mediocre.  Also, as long as it would take me to get sick of my favorite book, it would take even longer to read 100's of mediocre books (and never a good/great one!).  And it wouldn't take me long to start liking my favorite book again:)

How about you?  Leave links!!!!!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)

Humans  and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.


I have been DESPERATELY wanting this book since I read the description, so imagine my joy when I saw it sitting harmlessly on the "new" shelf at my local library.  I of course grabbed it, and the  proceeded to read it - all 300+ pages - in a few hours.  Seriously, this book should be the definition of UNPUTDOWNABLE.

The plot was seriously amazing.  Think Cinderella, and then add humanoid aliens and androids and cyborgs.  Got that?  Now think a total veer off from the old fairy tale, made oh-so-much-better.  With a nice step-sister, and a step-mother you felt bad for even as you hated, a bunch of AMAZING twists that you never saw coming (well, I may or may not have a tendency to read the end first, so yeah I saw it coming...but if I hadn't cheated I wouldn't have).  However, no matter how far it got from the original story, there were still definite points that you could reckognize from the original fairy-tale.

And then there were the characters.  I'll admit I was a little worried about Prince Kai - I read a review somewhere where the reviewer said he wasn't a good character.  Well, I must say, I don't agree.  I found him very likable.  He was a good ruler, even when faced with the fact that Cinder was - well, I'm not going to tell you because that would spoil it!  And on the topic of Cinder, I really liked her.  She was a strong character.  At times I wanted to yell at her ("Tell him you're a cyborg!!!!!!!!!") but I have to say that I can see why she didn't.  My least favorite character had to be the Queen of Luna - and not because she was evil.  She just didn't have as much character growth or backstory.  Of course, we may see more of that in the next few books.

The setting of this book was also stupendous.  It took place in "New Beijing", a monarchy taking place years and years in the future, one hundred and twenty six years after World War Four!!!  It almost felt like it took place a long time ago, if it hadn't been for all of the androids.  And then someone would say something that would be so out of place (more fit for this century), and yet fit perfectly.  I also liked how there was some explanation behind the government, but not so much that you grew bored.

There are three more books in this series, each coming out one year after the next.  I know, painful!  The stories will also have a fairy tale base (first Red-Riding Hood, then Snow White, then Rapunzel, I think) but with Cinder still as the main character.  There was already some indication of the Snow White tale in CINDER.

The book ended in a major cliff-hanger.  The worst thing is, as previously mentioned, I have to wait until 2013 to read the next book in the series.  It will be worth the wait, I'm sure, but I don't know if I can stand it!

This was one of those book that deserves a MUCH higher rating, but since there is no higher, I give it a 5/5 and DEMAND you read it.  Now!!!!!

Market:  YA
Language: Mild, only one use of the d-word.
Violence: Moderate.
Sensuality:  Mild/Moderate.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Follow Friday (20)

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

Question of the Week:  Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kick a*s heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?

My favorite books?  They would have to be Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) Percy Jackson (Rick Riordan) and Princess of Glass (Jessica Day George).  Yes, they do all have awesome heroines, Hermione, Annabeth, Princess Poppy (don't let the name fool you!) are all really strong, fun characters. 

My favorite parts have to be the fantasy genre - I'm a fantasy lover!  All my favorite books are fantasies:)

What about you?  Leave links!

The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander

The Arkadians

To escape the wrath of the king and his wicked soothsayers, an honest young man joins with a poet-turned-donkey and a young girl with mystical powers on a series of epic adventures.




















As a fan of Greek mythology, I went in this with high expectations, and it certainly didn't let me down!  With strong characters and an amazing plot, this is an extremely wonderful story.  I didn't want to stop reading this book, and hung onto every word.

Taking place in ancient Greece, this novel will change your mind about Greek Myths.  It is simply nothing like any other Greek mythology book I have ever read.  Each character has there own story, from the main characters to the ones that join them on the way.  I kept looking at the cover (the trail of people wraps all the way around the book) to place each character with the people on the cover!

One of my favorite things about this book had to be how most of the stories were based off of famous Greek myths.  There was the story of Narcissus, Odysseus, the Trojan War, The Minotaur, and others that I can't even think of right now!  I'll admit when I first started reading it I was a little worried that it was nothing like any of the Greek myths I know, but that was all changed as I delved deeper into the plot.

The plot kept surprising you, and you couldn't help but love all the characters.  I give this book a 5/5 and recommend that you read it, now!

Market: YA
Language:  You know what they called a donkey back then?  That's the only curse word in the book, though it is used repeatedly.
Violence:  Mild
Sensuality: Mild