Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Teaser Tuesday


This is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:

* 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

So this weeks teaser comes from Mercy by Rebecca Lim

"I wake now, sitting upright in the back of a bus packed with screaming, gossiping girls in matching school uniforms. As I look down at the grey and dark red weave of the skirt I am inexplicably wearing, I wonder what disaster I am headed for as I try to figure out who the hell I am supposed to be today."


Well, what do you think? I just started this one. This is the last two lines of chapter 1. Guess I'll see.

Let me know what you think and your teaser (or a link) in the comments.

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Thanks to netgalley for this book

My summary:

Kate has just lost her parents in a tragic car accident. Her and her older sister, Georgia, move to Paris to live with their grandparents. While Georgia is dealing with her loss by hitting the clubbing scene, Kate withdraws into herself reading all day at local cafes. It’s there that she first sees Vincent. He is hauntingly familiar and absolutely gorgeous. Vincent continues to appear out of nowhere and a relationship begins to blossom. But when Kate discovers that Vincent isn’t human but a revenant that is compelled to save others even to his death, it may just be too much for her. Can she live in his world of death and fear or will she walk away? What is the rest of Vincent’s story? Who is “the man” that he is always concerned about? Will their relationship end before it even has a chance to start?

My thoughts:
4 stars – A great read

Amy does a beautiful job of bringing Paris to life as Kate and then Kate and Vincent move around the city. I’ve never been there, but I can picture it from her descriptions. I love the world that she creates for Kate and Vincent. Revenants are created when someone dies saving another and then are compelled to continue saving others. It has just enough magic to seem plausible without being over the top fantasy. I really enjoy those types of stories. Full on fantasy gets tedious.

I love, love Vincent, Vince, V. He is charming and yummy but also strong and very male. I’m not sure I understand his immediate love for Kate because he loves her from the moment he sets eyes on her. It could be explained by the compulsions of revenants but he seemed drawn to her before any of that. I puzzled over that throughout the book and never decided on a cause. I loved getting to know him and the whole crew of revenants.

Kate, frankly, puzzled me. It has been seven months since her parent’s death and she is still very emotional and afraid to open her heart to anyone. I get that. But she makes some crazy decisions and thinks some strange things throughout the book. I didn’t quite understand her.

The plot was exciting and I rode the roller coaster near the end having to take stress breaks. I love books where I want to keep reading but I’m afraid to keep reading for fear of something happening to my beloved characters. That’s how I felt near the end. Finally, though, my stress break was only a few minutes and I quickly finished it. I am so glad that I did. I loved the ending. So beautiful.

If you like the paranormal romance genre, you should definitely read this one. It’s a great read!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen



My Summary:
Mclean is in her last year of high school but maybe not her last high school. Since her parent’s divorce there she has moved around a lot. With every move comes a new high school, new friends, and a new Mclean. Not wanting to be herself anymore, Mclean assumes a new identity with every move. She changes her name, her dress, her interests, her friend choices, and her prolife on Ume.com. Then she gets to Lakeview and things are different. Her real self is peeking out and Dave, her handsome neighbor, seems to have something to do with that. She’s putting down some roots, if not dishes for the kitchen. When her Dad decides it’s time to move again, will Mclean be ready to pull up the roots and go with him? Or will she acquiesce to her mother and return “home” to her? What about her friends in Lakeview?

My thoughts:
4 stars – A great book

What happened to goodbye is a sweet new book by Sarah Dessen that explores the consequences to a teenager when her parents go through a sudden and public divorce. Mclean isn’t interesting in staying around with her mom and dealing with the new husband and twin babies. Her mother has changed from the very close friend she once was to the very sophisticated wife of a public figure. If her mom can quit being who she was, then so can Mclean at least that what she believes. To that end, Mclean changes what people call her, what cliques she fits into, her interests and friend choices as she follows her Dad around saving restaurants. With each restaurant success or failure comes a new town. Never laying down roots means never getting hurt when it’s time to move again. Her Dad is playing a similar game as he tries to get over the hurt his ex-wife caused for him as he never gets serious with his new girlfriends until they are about to leave again. This strategy works well until Mclean and her Dad land in Lakeview.

Mclean meets Dave, super smart cute guy next door. Dave has over-protective parents who want him safely back in the private school he was attending. But the college level classes and nerd friends wasn’t what Dave wanted for his senior year. As he branches out a little, though, his parents get even more upset and his small acts of rebellion lead to his grounding extreme.

The other friends that Mclean meets are all a little odd but she seems to like them that way. Deb is the super organized friendless type. Heather is the “I’m so cool” party type. Riley is the “I can only fall for the wrong guy” type. Ellis is Dave’s good friend and the right choice for Riley, though she can’t see it. Then there is the whole crew at Luna Blus, the current restaurant under repair by Mclean’s Dad.

The story is Mclean’s process of dealing with the life choices of her parents and herself. It’s a great family relationship story. I would have loved to see more development of the relationship between Dave and Mclean. Dave does have a big impact on Mclean but we don’t really see it so much as she feels it. Of course, it’s up to Sarah’s normal quality and I really enjoyed the book. I just wish there had been more scenes with Mclean and Dave.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

It's about time... Giveaway


I have a button! AND I have a Facebook page!

You can grab the code for my button on the right sidebar. Farther down you can like my FB page.

Celebration is required! Follow my blog to enter but earn extra entries by adding my button to your blog or liking my FB page.

What do you get? How about Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion (Fallen, #3)

Passion (Fallen #3)

"Every single lifetime, I'll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever."

Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.

Sweeping across centuries, PASSION the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series hits stores Tuesday 14th June 2011
(From Goodreads.com)

Just fill out the form below!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Winner!!!!!



The winner for Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key is
Tiffany Drew

Who said, "
I'm going to go with Peeta from The Hunger Games. Even after he is brainwashed, he still has the ability to keep himself in check with love. I have a serious Peeta crush."

An email has been sent to the lucky winner. They have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be choose.

Most popular choice for favorite book character?

Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games.





Last Day of Armchair BEA


It has been a crazy week trying to keep up with work and ArmchairBEA. I have never posted so many times in one week before. Today we are talking about blogging. Well I am still pretty new at blogging so I don't have a lot to contribute.

I would like to share one experience that seems important to me and it just happened today. As a new blogger, I haven't thought through a lot of things like email access on my blog. I had a giveaway running with entries in the comments. Blogger was being difficult and I had a follower who couldn't comment and therefore couldn't enter my giveaway. The bigger problem was that she couldn't find my email on my blog to contact me. Luckily for me, she was persistent and found a way to send me a note on Goodreads.com. But I realized that I need to make those things easier. So now I have a nice "contact me" link right at the top. It's the little details that I think I will continue to refine as I go along.

One other thing that I think is really important to blogging and that's twitter. I talk to more followers on twitter than I do on my blog. If you're going to blog, I think it's important to be on twitter. I find the best books that way too. Just today, I was trying to figure out what to spend a gift card for Barns and Noble on and a blogger friend recommended an older book that I had missed. Looks like quite the find.

Those are my two big tips to blogging - don't forget the little stuff and twitter.

Happy blogging and as always enjoy the read!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Umm... talk to people

I've never been really good at talking to people. Shy is an understatement but I'm working on it. The good news is that blogging has helped. When you blog, you talk to people on twitter or in comments. So as we make connections this week with ArmchairBEA, the way to nurture those connections is to talk to those people whenever you can.

I have had the good fortune to meet a few bloggers in chats or on twitter and we talk from time to time. I'm new at this. My blog is only 5 months old, so I don't know if they are relationships yet but I'm getting there.

The very best part of talking to people on my blog and tweeter is the opportunity to talk to authors. When I tell people that I talked to an author of some book they love, they get all excited. Me too! I love to ask them questions about their books, what's coming next, and whether they drink coffee or Mt Dew when they write. (Julie Kagawa is the Mt Dew drinker) And if you don't know who Jule Kagawa is, then run don't walk to Goodreads and check out the Iron Fey series - Iron King, Iron Daughter, Iron Queen and soon to include Iron Knight! And that is why I bog - I love sharing my passion for books. So I will get over being shy and talk to people and it is easier when I can talk about something I love. Enjoy the read!




Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini Review and Giveaway

The Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Page Turners.


Welcome blog hoppers!

I have a great review and giveaway for you.

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini come out May 31, 2011 and you really need to get it.




Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Thanks to netgalley for the early look at Starcrossed.
My summary:
Helen is almost seventeen and lives with her Dad. Her mom went missing in action years ago. Helen is tall, blond, pretty and different. There’s the running, very fast running; then there’s the strength, too strong for a teenage girl; and the strange nightmares of desert journey’s where her feet get cut and bloody. She doesn’t know what all of this is about but she doesn’t want everyone on the small island of Nantucket to notice. Then the hallucinations start at school where there are three women crying bloody tears, but of course that’s only when the new Delos family is around, especially Lucas. Maybe she is going mad but Lucas knows more than she does and he sees the hallucinations too. Can she team with Lucas to figure it out or will they end up killing each other? The fates will have something to say about it for sure.
My thoughts:
5 stars – must read
There are two kinds of books I really like. The first is a book that I can’t put down. I read it so fast because it is just that good. The second is a book that I have to put down periodically to emotionally recover before I continue. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini is the second kind. I became so invested in these characters so quickly that it felt like reading a second or third book about them. I was attached. When they struggled, I had to put the book down and recover before I could keep reading but I had to continue.
The relationship between Helen and Lucas is dynamic and extreme. It’s impossible to write about one without talking about the other and that is really what the story demonstrates. So I won’t try to talk about them separately. Helen and Lucas have strong emotions between them. They are different and the same. They are both beautiful and powerful. One is skilled while one is learning but it’s not always clear which is which because they change roles from time to time. It is impossible to be together and impossible to be apart and that is how I felt reading the book. I love these characters.
The story has some threads I’ve seen in other books, a powerful character unaware of that power and a stranger explaining things to them. It has elements of Greek Mythology in it and uses the Trojan War specifically. But this book weaves those threads together to create a unique story with twists and turns that had me messaging other bloggers to get help breathing through it! Then there was the debate about whether Starcrossed or Half-Blood (by Jennifer L. Armentrout) is the best book so far this year on twitter. It’s not a fair to ask since neither book is available yet. Starcrossed comes out May 31st but Half-Blood won’t be out until September. I’ve read both and while I was arguing for Half-Blood on twitter, by the time I finished Starcrossed, the books were tied in my mind.
So run right over to goodreads and put Starcrossed on your TBR list because if you like paranormal YA, then this is a must read. Even if you don’t like paranormal YA, you should read it.
Now for the giveaway! This is for a finished copy of Starcrossed. You must follow StuckInBooks to enter. Fill out the form below.




Then hop along to the next blog!





Meet some rocking bloggers...


I'm so excited to be interviewing fellow bloggers today! As part of Armchair BEA, I have TWO bloggers to share with you today.



Meet Lissa from Readers Unite...

~How long have you blogged?

I’ve been blogging since last June – almost a year now! The name was originally Book By Book Summer because I thought I only was going to blog for the summer. I ended up loving it so much that I changed the name to READERS UNITE, because the previous name didn’t apply…and it was a mouthful. ;)

~What’s your genre?

I read and review YA books. Typically. I love adult romances and paranormal/urban fantasy, but yeah, my heart remains in the YA world. I’ll read anything. Literately anything.

~M&M’s or skittles?

That is the hardest question. I love chocolate but just plain sugar…what a toughie. I’d have to say skittles.

~ You spend your day doing what? (Besides reading)

I’m in school so a lot of my time focuses around class and the homework that comes with it. In my free time, though, I write (have been since I was 6) and play the piano (since I was 4!) I swim and play volleyball as well. I’m a pretty busy person.

~Random fact about you?

I’m a procrastinator, I bite my nails, and I have a fat cat named Oreo (let’s see if you can guess why!)

~Music while you read? What kind?

Yes! Music! And it depends on the genre – if I’m reading a romance, it’s country music. If I’m reading an angry contemporary or a kick-butt adventure/paranormal, it’s rock n’ roll FTW!

~Currently reading?

Quite a few, actually. TEN THINGS WE DID (and probably shouldn’t have) by Sarah Mlynowski, HELLO, DARKNESS by Sandra Brown and I’ll be starting LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI by Melina Marchetta tonight!

~Best book you've read this year so far?

I’d hate to bring her up again, but I’d have to say THE PIPER’S SON by Melina Marchetta. It hit me hard – she’s the best author! You can read my review here!

~If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Oh, Australia. Or Ireland. Either one. For some reason, those are the two most fascinating places in the entire world to me.

~Describe your personality as a food?

Could I describe myself as peanut butter? I’m kind of bitter and chewy – I’m not the most happy person and it takes some “chewing” to get used to me – but I taste good on most stuff and I make everything work – with the right people, I work really well. I’m the person who keeps everything together wherever I go. It’s a crazy hard job, but in the end, it’s worth it!

Check out Lissa's totally awesome blog here!

Check out Lissa's interview of me here!


And now meet Bluestocking...


~How long have you blogged?

I have been blogging since May 11, 2007. That reminds me that I just had a blogaversary that I forgot to celebrate.

~What’s your genre?

I don't have a specific genre that I read. There's a mix of everything on my blog. The only genre that I will not read are bodice rippers.

~M&M’s or skittles?

M & M's. I'm all about chocolate.

~You spend your day doing what? (Besides reading)

I'm an attorney- defense. So I spend my day subpoenaing medical records, deposing people, occasionally going to trial, and occasionally driving my clients crazy. I definitely drive plaintiff's counsel crazy.

~Random fact about you?

I was the only person in my graduating class in high school.

~Music while you read? What kind?

Nope.

~Currently reading?

In Transit by Kathleen Gerard. But during lunch, I'm going to Barnes and Noble to buy The Warlock: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and will promptly read that.

~Best book you've read this year?

It's a toss up between Kat, Incorrigible and The Midnight Gate. Oh actually I think I read Wither sometime this year too. Those three.

~If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be?

London.

~Describe your personality as a food?

Spicy.


Check out Bluestockings fab blog here!

Bluestocking interviewed me for her blog - you can learn more about me here. :D