Sorry I've been MIA!!!

Ok, so I've been away from the blog for a little bit.  I'm so sorry!  I'm a teacher and of course, school started back, so that's taken up a lot of my time.  And I started back with my grad school classes. Oh!  And there was this little book called "Mockingjay" that I had to read! : )  I hope that everyone else is enjoying it as much as I did!  I'll post a review later today or tomorrow!

I just wanted to give you a heads up on a fabulous contest that I found!  It is over at Sarah's Random Musings and she is giving away 5 books---yes, 5!!!!  You can find the link here.  Good luck!  And I'll be adding later with 2 reviews and a sneak peek at my trip this weekend to the Decatur Book Festival!

Another Contest!

I love these contests!  I keep hoping that someday I'll win one!

To celebrate her one year blogoversary, Choco over at "In Which a Girl Reads" is sponsoring an amazing contest!

She has 25 books to choose from!  The first winner will get to choose 3 books, the 2nd winner will choose 2 and the 3rd winner will choose 1.  And the books are amazing!!!

Check out her contest here......and wish her a happy blogoversary while you're there!

Friday Fun!

So, this Friday really isn't fun for me because school started back for teachers yesterday. ::sobs inconsolably::  So I thought that today I would remind myself of some fun things that I have planned in the near future.

I am very, very excited about attending the Decatur Book Festival with my sister!  I'm going to have to buy about a gazillion books before I go and I'm going to have to cart them around in a rolling book bag with me, but I get to listen to all sorts of cool YA paranormal authors and get my books autographed!  Hooray!!!  ::does a happy dance::

I am sooooooo excited that I get to meet CASSANDRA CLARE!!!!!  I just can't wait!  The thought of this should get me through the next couple of weeks somehow!

Here's the link to check out the festival.  Hope to see some of you there!

http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/2010/index.php

Waiting on Wednesday

                                                                                  


Waiting on Wednesday is a fabulous event sponsored by Jill at Breaking the Spine Here, I will highlight a book that will be coming out that I'm really looking forward to reading.

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the Darkest Powers trilogy from Kelley Armstrong.  So when I found out that she was going to write a second  YA trilogy that takes place in the same world, I might have squealed like a fangirl at a Justin Bieber concert.  And she is apparently going to bring in the characters from the DP trilogy in the last book.  How could I not be excited about more Chloe and Derek???

So the book that I am waiting on this week is The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong.  It will release in April 2011.

"Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students—for every grade from kindergarten to twelve.

Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret—and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark."
(from Goodreads)

And if you haven't read the Darkest Powers trilogy, run to your nearest bookstore or library as fast as you possibly can!

Teaser Tuesday and philosophical rambling.....

So, before I post my teaser from the book I'm reading, I have to wax philosophical for a moment.

I received my textbook today for the class that I start next week on Children's literature. I wondered just how a $114 textbook would look! (I must admit that I wept inside as I paid for it on Amazon, thinking of all the "real" books I could buy with that much money!)

So I opened it immediately and being the bibliophile that I am, I had to crack it open and start looking. Of course, I turned to the section on fantasy books for children. The beginning of the chapter had a quote that I just loved:

"We call our individual fantasies dreams, but when we dream as a society, or
as a human race, it becomes the sum total of all our hopes. Fantasy touches
our deepest feelings and in so doing, it speaks to the best and most hopeful
parts of ourselves. it can help us learn the most fundamental skill of all--
how to be human.
(Lloyd Alexander as quoted in Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature
by Barbara Z. Kiefer)

Ok, so now on to the real business of the day.....a teaser!

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. You open up the book you're currently reading to a random page. Choose 2 sentences and share them. They should not contain spoilers!

"Even in my state of acute anxiety, I was astonished at the number of vampire books and vampire posters that Nefley Irving had managed to accumulate. (No Bloodstone Chronicles, though; as I said before, I'm not exactly Stephenie Meyer.)

from p. 263 of The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Cathy Jinks.

Leave a teaser from your current read in the comments!

Beautiful Moon Contest

The folks over at Page Turners blog are doing a fabulous giveaway! The winner will get not one, but TWO ARCs!! One is Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (insert squeal here!) and the other is Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin. I've not heard of the second book, but the summary sounds great. Plus I love the name Ivy! : )

Head over to Page Turners to check it out. You can also click on their button under the "Blogs That I Follow" in the sidebar!

The "Meet Us at the Crossroads" blog tour

From October 17-31, 16 YA authors will be at 16 different blogs. Follow the blogs and check out the authors' websites. All the details can be found by clicking on the button!

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Wow! My mind is still reeling from reading this book. It's a little hard to wrap my head around everything that took place. In fact, it's amazing that Ms. Werlin was able to cram so much.....stuff......into a book this size!

I have to admit, that I was skeptical about this book and not certain that I would even want to finish it. The main character gets raped near the beginning of the book. It's not a graphic description or anything, but it made me uncomfortable. I still think it's a point of contention for me but I can also see why the author would have made that choice now that I'm at the end. So be forewarned! If you are easily upset by even mild descriptions of rape, you need to avoid this book.

I have been trying to read a bit here and there for the last few days, but tonight I was finally able to just sit down and focus on reading. And it's a good thing! The book really picked up steam and it's now 2 a.m. because I simply could not put it down!

This book is like a good mystery with a supernatural twist. And a dash of romance. There are clues to be followed and the way the author weaves together an old folk song with modern technology tools is just amazing. I don't want to give too much away, but I really enjoyed trying to figure out how to solve the puzzle with the characters. I loved Lucy, the female protagonist. She is very strong and confident, but always knows when to rely on others. And I absolutely fell in love with Zach Greenfield. He really is like a modern-day knight in shining armor.

My final thoughts? If you love mysteries and you love ancient folklore with a healthy dose of the supernatural, you will love this book.

In fact, it might be impossible for you to not love it. : )

My grade: A-
(the minus for me is because of the rape in the plot)

Contest News

Here's another contest that I ran across and it's a GREAT one!

Looksie Lovitz over at Books and Wits. She is giving away an ARC of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer and an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl!!!

To enter, you need to be a follower of her blog and leave your email address in the comments. You can get extra entries by posting the contest on your own blog or in a group or on twitter!

Don't wait!

Good news Sunday

Well, Sunday seems like a good day to share some good news! Cassandra Clare shared some really big news last week! In addition to writing The Infernal Devices, she is going to write 3 more books in The Mortal Instruments series!! She had always planned to write a 4th book, called City of Fallen Angels that was going to focus more on Simon. Well, apparently that book has morphed into 3 books (squeals!) and they will include ALL the characters.

According to her website, this is what her publishing schedule looks like now:


August 31, 2010: The Clockwork Angel
April 5, 2011: City of Fallen Angels
September 2011: The Clockwork Prince
May 2012: City of Lost Souls
December 2012: The Clockwork Princess
September 2013: City of Heavenly Fire

Since I love reading her stuff, this is very good news indeed! You can read all about the new books and lots of other stuff on her website at

HAPPY READING!

Saturday Picture Show

I can remember my mom always talking about going to the movie, or picture show, on Saturday when she was little. She would always tell us how a quarter could get her into the movie and get popcorn and a drink!

So in honor of my mom, I thought I would start hosting "Saturday Picture Show". I'd like to showcase trailers for some of my favorite books. I might occasionally put up some movie trailers for books that have become movies too. We'll have to see how this evolves!

Well, this week, I'm going to put up 2 movie trailers. One is for my favorite read for the summer. Teachers head back to school this Thursday, so my summer will be officially over. : (

Now, my favorite read this summer is a book that I just reviewed this week, Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough. In case you aren't guessing it, I really, really like this book! But, since I just reviewed it, I'll give you a bonus trailer as well, ok?

Go get your popcorn and you don't even need a quarter!



In celebration of the third installment of The Hunger Games trilogy finally releasing on August 24th, I bring you the trailer for the first book in that series. If you haven't read this book, run, don't walk, to your nearest library or book shop to get it! Go now! There's no time to waste!

FRIDAY THE 13TH!

Since it's Friday the 13th, I thought I would highlight a couple of books on my to-be-read list that include the number 13!

13 to Life by Shannon Delaney

Here's the trailer:


Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.

The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early. (from Shannon Delaney's website)

This book came out in June and I'm dying to read it! Unfortunately, I've been reading graduate school textbooks all summer, but this one is on my list of books to read as soon as I get some free time!

The second book featuring the number thirteen is:

The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels

The trailer



No one knew of its existence until it was removed from the attic upstairs.

In a beautiful house that overlooks the sea, an antique clock has the power to change the course of their lives.

The power the clock resonates will not only force Destiny and ex-boyfriend David on a journey into the depths of one man's mind long dead, but into the mind of a man filled with hatred and bent on revenge.

With the only clues to the nature of the clock having disappeared into the sea, Destiny and David must retrace the steps the man had taken into the darkness, before they fall prey to the trap he had set in motion over half a century ago.

Hatred never dies. (from Emma Michaels' website)

This book, appropriately, releases today!

Hope you enjoyed this tribute to thirteen and that you have a great Friday the thirteenth!!

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

First of all......DEAR GOD, WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL???

All I can say is "holy cliffhanger, Batman!" I hope she's not going to leave the whole thing where it ended.  I mean, the story sort of wrapped up, but she hinted at some pretty important stuff to come in the future!!

This book was incredible.  I'm so lucky that I actually got to sit down and read for an uninterrupted period of time, otherwise, I think I would have been going crazy! With no kids today, I was able to just throw myself into this witch world that the author created.  And it was amazing!  I loved the little hints and clues that she dropped along the way without giving away too much.  I felt like I had an idea of what was going on but I still never really saw how it would end until I was reading the end. 

This is a very difficult book to review without giving spoilers.  How do I want to say this?  I love the way I was taken by surprise with Tamsin and her life.  Again, the author dropped a clue, but I wasn't sure exactly where it led. I just had a vague idea.

I found that I really liked the characters in this book, with the exception of the evil one, of course!  I like Gabriel from the moment he appears.  Even though I feel a little resentful of Tamsin's family at times, I don't really find a lot to dislike them. I think that I was feeling exactly the way Tamsin felt toward them.  And as the plotline unfolded, I started to understand things about them much better.  It was also very amusing to read about the family gatherings where the witches use their Talents to entertain the kids!

I don't really want to say much more for fear of giving too much away.  I am really happy that I picked this book up.  If you like witch stories and mysteries, you will love this book.

My grade:  A

Waiting on Wednesday

                                                                                  


Waiting on Wednesday is a fabulous event sponsored by Jill at Breaking the Spine Here, I will highlight a book that will be coming out that I'm really looking forward to reading.



Fallen Angel by Heather Terrell       

"The first book in a dark, edgy new angel series tells the dramatic love story between two fallen angels and a battle between good and evil that may divide them.

Hush, Hush meets Evermore in Heather Terrell’s electrifying teen debut. With gorgeous, immortal, and otherworldly heartthrobs and the added appeal of a rich backstory involving fallen celestial beings, Fallen Angel has all the ingredients of a captivating, original paranormal romance.

When Ellie Faneuil first sees Michael Chase, she feels an instant connection. They soon learn that they share more than a powerful attraction: They have powers that are otherworldly. Together they go in search of what they are...and find themselves center stage in an ancient conflict. But will they choose the same side?

Heather Terrell spins a gripping tale of soul mates, supernatural powers, and the battle between good and evil."
(from Harper Collins)

I am really excited about this book because in the description on GoodReads, it seems that they actually may be forced to choose sides or one another. I think that sort of conflict makes for a really good read. I love paranormal books, of course, but when love comes together against all odds, it's even better!

What books are you waiting on?

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. You open up the book you're currently reading to a random page. Choose 2 sentences and share them. They should not contain spoilers!

So here is mine, from "Once a Witch" by Carolyn MacCullough:

p. 148

- "Nooooooooo!" Rowena screams, pounding the seat next to her in fury.
I think I've never heard anything so sweet.

You can play along as well! Just open up your current read and post 2 sentences in the comments. Make sure you give the title and author as well!

Ironside by Holly Black

So, I finished this book tonight....while sitting with my daughter at a Justin Bieber concert! I"m so glad that I read this. I plan on going back to pick up Tithe as soon as I get through the rather huge pile of books at the bottom of my bed. In fact, I may read Tithe and then go through Valiant and Ironside again, so that I can read them in proper order.

SPOILER ALERT!!!! (not real spoilers, but spoiler-ish)



I really liked the twists and turns in this book. And the whole part with the duel and the way Kaye figured out the quest! WOW! Those were so clever and I do love clever. I also like the way Holly ended the book. There was closure but there is room for more books if she chooses to write them. And it wasn't a rainbows and unicorns sort of ending, but it was satisfying. And real.

I recommend these books to people who are not afraid of gritty and realistic mixed in with their supernatural. These are not your garden variety fairy books. You won't find Tinker Bell here! Of course, I would also suggest that you read them in order, unlike myself!!


If I were grading this book, it would be a B+.

Contests!

There are so many great contests out there for books!  I just wanted to highlight a few:



Angela at the Reading Angel is hosting 2 contests. One is the 500 Followers Giveaway and the other is the Lazy Hazy Days of Summer Giveaway. Check out her blog to enter both of those.

She is hosting Lazy Hazy Days of Summer with Lori at Pure Imagination


and with Candace at Candace's Book blog


Check out all of their blogs!