Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I am super excited to eat food and head out later for Black Friday!

I am so thankfull for all my amazing followers on Twitter, The Bookshelves, and Goodreads: awesomesauce blogging friends who are so fun to be a around, and the blog reader! Thank you so much! :)) And the year is almost over, I'm busy reading all the 2012 ones before the year ends!

 

 

Hope you guys have a fun and happy Thanksgiving! :D

 

 



Waiting on Wednesday (#12) - The Madman's Daughter

Waiting on Wednesday is Hosted by Jill @ Breaking The Spine

London, 1894. Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true.

Juliet is accompanied by the doctor’s handsome young assistant and an enigmatic castaway, who both attract Juliet for very different reasons. They travel to the island only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: he has created animals that have been vivisected to resemble, speak, and behave as humans. Worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape the island, even though her horror is mixed with her own scientific curiosity. As the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.

 Why I'm Waiting For It: 0_0 When I first saw this book on Goodreads I was so wanting to read it! It's so interesting, has an eye-catching cover, and its historical fiction in London? How amazing is this? I would be so happy if someone sent this to me!

 

 The Madman's Daughter will be released on January 29, 2013 by Balzer + Bray

Now what are is your Waiting on Wednesday?

Teaser Tuesday (#6) - Belles by Jen Calonita

 

 Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

 

Belles by Jen Calonita

Published: April 10th 2012

Publisher: Poppy

Add to Goodreads!

Goodreads Synopsis:  Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

From Goodreads

My Teaser:
Izzie stopped cold. Savannah, Mira, Lea, and Lauren were standing in front of their table, forming a blockade. Mira's brow was furrowed anxiously and Savannah looked angrier than Izzie had ever seen her.
"You," she hissed at Izzie. "Go. Now."
And without another word or a glance at Brayden, she did exactly as she was told.
~ Page 284

Disappointed: The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Date Released: September 18th 2012

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pages: 408 pages

Format: Hardcover

Source: Teenreads

Rating: Liked a little

Series: Raven Cycle (#1)

Goodreads Synopsis:  “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

From Goodreads

My Review:



Tagline: "The Raven Boys was a book I just really was hoping for more but ended up getting something disappointed but I do have high hopes for book two"

With all the hype for The Raven Boys and winning an ARC of Teenreads I was really hoping for something amazing and completely epic, but all I got was a huge book of disappointment. The Raven Boys was a mix of paranormal, suspense, and magic which was really intriguing at first but other elements were missing.

Blue Sargent, is a clairyovant, meaning she can see dead people and talk to them. The day she heads out to a church, she talks to a boy named Gansey and after that they are all thrown in a world of intrigue and suspense. I really liked Blue a lot, she was smart, cool, and like able and I was hoping for some more longer chapters with her because she was fun to read! She was someone who always didn't flirt with any boy next to her, especially the Raven Boys. But there are also other "psychics" that were related to Blue which were I admit fun to read and they lightened up the story a bit.  

The Raven Boys (Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah) concept, to be honest sounded really cool, but reading it it could have been more developed and layered upon. It was really hard to know which Raven Boy was doing what and that for me means one confused reader. Really, I hate it when you read it all over but you still have no clue which one is doing what! 0_0

But the ending was something that made me want to turn the pages fast enough. There was a lot going on towards the end, which I'm not spoiling but reading the Raven Boys I got a lot of gernes put into one book. You got paranormal hints, touches of suspense and mystery, and romance, but no insta-love at all for sure. I definitly liked Maggie's poetic writing and this book was perfect to showcase that. I'm not a ultra big fan of her but I did like the book and would want more for her!





“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

The Raven Boys

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble



Discussion: When Blogging Becomes To Much

I finally decided to start doing discussion posts because it seemed like an easy way to discuss blogging topics and other fun and quirky stuff all under one roof :) I'll usually post it up every month 2-3 times a least along with your guy's questions too.

This week's discussion topic is:

"When Blogging Becomes To Much"

 

First off, let me say that the blogging world is hard to get into but not impossible to be in.

 

Myth: I'll never get that much followers, books, or any of that fun ARC's, swag, etc!

Truth: It will take a while to get the books, followers, swag but blogging isn't all about that. It's something you do because you love it and you work up for those.

 

I remember when I first started blogging, it was completely intimidating, scary, and exciting all at the same time. I mean, who could compete with a 1000+ follower blog with a newbie like me? That's what I thought but spending loads of hours, asking help from lovely bloggers, and wanting to just share what I like: to read. But they are those day now, that blogging is just way to much to think about and I just really wanted to close it, and that's where today's discussion topic is.

 

Blogging takes loads of time off your "real life" really. Spending a few minutes turned into hours and went on and on. It hard to be all on Goodreads, Twitter, Blogger, etc all on the same time. But as your blog grows you learn all the tricks of scheduling post, making a to-do list, sending emails ASAP all along as you grow.  I know it takes time and it will be worth it in the end when you look at it, just watch and see. Take your blog one step at a time and for sure you can succeed in the blogging sphere.

The blogging world is something anyone can easily get into, really. If you think about that review your polishing up and publishing it all with totally be worth it, but remember it doesn't mean that your going to take up your whole day blogging. Blogging shouldn't be your whole day making you stressed out and end up not doing anything fun. Take a break is something I learned from blogging and posting up a hiatus is something your followers understand. Your have a life and make the most out of it with blogging.

Rememeber, When Blogging Becomes To Much Take a Break and read, write, and do something fun and out of the ordinary :) Now, its your time to ask any questions you have below on the form.



 



Book Blitz - Miss Fortune Cookie Tour!

 

I am so excited to be part of the Book Blitz for Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman hosted by The Bookish Burnette Blog Tours! Hope you enjoy my stop for the tour :)

Miss Fortune Cookie
by Lauren Bjorkman

Published: Nov 13th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co.

Goodreads Synopsis:  Meet Erin. Smart student, great daughter, better friend. Secretly the mastermind behind the popular advice blog Miss Fortune Cookie. Totally unaware that her carefully constructed life is about to get crazy.

It all begins when her ex-best friend sends a letter to her blog—and then acts on her advice. Erin’s efforts to undo the mess will plunge her into adventure, minor felonies, and possibly her very first romance.

What’s a likely fortune for someone no longer completely in control of her fate? Hopefully nothing like: You will become a crispy noodle in the salad of life.

From Goodreads

Also, I have a special surprise! I'm here to give you an excerpt of chapter one to tease you more about this book and hopefully you pick up the book :))

You will have much luck and little hardship.

Or the other way around.

CHAPTER 1

My friends and I were riding home from school on Muni, clinging to an assortment of slippery handholds, when Linny almost blew my secret identity. Intentionally.

“Listen to this one,” she said, reading off her iPhone, a faint but smirky glint in her eyes. “‘Dear Miss Fortune Cookie. My cousin thinks I’m chasing her boyfriend. Her boyfriend and I never flirt, but sometimes we text. What can I do to make her believe me? Just Friends.’”

In fact, I—Erin Kavanagh, alias Miss Fortune Cookie—had posted this very letter on my anonymous advice blog, and Linny happened to be the only person in San Francisco to know that, the only person in the whole world, except for some random administrator at WordPress. She takes every opportunity to harass me about keeping my blog a secret. “What advice would you give, Erin?” she asked, winking this time.

I kept my face as neutral as possible. Luckily Darren and Mei were only paying attention each other. As usual.

Personally speaking, I think nano-deceptions are a good thing. I regularly use them to protect my friends from unpleasant truths. Should I tell Linny that her favorite knit hat makes her head look like a furry meatball? Or nudge Mei whenever Darren winces at her hyena laugh? Should I have cautioned Darren that taking AP physics would wreck his grade-point average? Absolutely not. Sincere lies keep everyone happy.

I blew the hair out of my eyes. “The cousin will never stop suspecting the two of them,” I said to Linny, “so Just Friends has to stop the texting. She could get her own boyfriend. Or move to somewhere far away like Moldavia.”

Muni, a sort of bus powered by electric wires overhead, jerked to a halt. A seat opened up, and Linny took it. “Exactly!” She had the happiest smile ever, so big it barely fit on her face. Metaphorically speaking. “Mei, don’t you think Erin is a natural at giving advice?”

“Hmm?” Mei said. She was somewhat entwined with Darren and therefore distracted.

“Nothing.” I jabbed Linny in the ribs to get her to stop talking. Gently of course. The three of us—Mei, Linny, and me—made an enviable friendship trio. I was the lesser third, maybe because Mei and Linny were gorgeously Chinese-American, while I was just Boring-American. A Person of Irish.

Mei knew nothing about my connection to Miss Fortune Cookie. We used to be best friends, and by best friends I mean we spent every afternoon and weekend together until eighth grade, when things fell apart between us. The truth is, Mei dumped me. Then Linny brought us together again during freshman year, inviting us both to eat lunch with her, forming a little group. A few months later, I mustered the courage to bring up the dumping incident with Mei, except she didn’t want to talk about it. So we became friends again without dealing with the past. Pretty much.

Except I didn’t trust her like I used to.

And she didn’t share as many intimate details about herself with me.

Linny beckoned me closer to whisper in my ear. “I have a question for Miss Fortune Cookie. A very personal one. But you can’t tell Mei.”

“Why not?”

She lowered her voice more. “You just can’t, ’kay?”

I nodded. Linny usually let both of us in on every detail about her life, although lately she’d been secretive about her new boyfriend. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be boring. I turned my back toward Mei and said in my quietest voice, “Go ahead. I’m listening. What is it?”

Linny shook her head. “Not now.”

Just then, the Muni driver made the sharp turn into Chinatown, and three things happened almost simultaneously: a bicyclist veered into the road, the driver slammed on the brakes, and I fell into another passenger. We came to a halt fifty feet from the stop, and the bicyclist escaped unscathed. I could tell by the vigorous way he flipped off the driver. Then I caught sight of Mrs. Liu, bundled against the fog, among the passengers waiting to board.

“Your mom!” I whispered to Mei. “She’s getting on!”

Mei’s eyes widened. “What the what?”

Now that's my stop for the book blitz and be sure to come by the other stops and leave a comment and I'm for sure picking this book up soon :)

 

Waiting On Wednesday (#11) - Etiquette & Espionage

Waiting on Wednesday is Hosted by Jill @ Breaking The Spine

 

 

 

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

 
First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

 

Wow! This one sounds so cool and so interesting I need my hands on it! Plus a quirky vintage cover, steampunk elements, and a finishing school? Count me in! And it also comes around my birthday! (:

 

Etiquette and Espionage will be released on Feburary 5, 2013 by Little, Brown Books

 



New To Shelves (#9) - The Belles Touching The Surface Ripper

 

New To Shelves is a way to share all the great book I got this whole week and to add to my TBR Pile! It also includes a roundup of what's going to happen next week on the blog. It's a new name but similar meme.

I'll be linking up to The Sunday Post:

 

This week(s) were amazing! Maybe because it's the last months of the year? I don't know but I was so excited to start reading all these book from my library's book sale and publishers! Thanks so much especially to Simon Pulse for sending me a book! :))

 

Bought At Library Book Sale:

-Ripper by Stefan  Petrucha

-Belles by Jen Calonita (It was a $1 and brand new!!)

 

Thrift Shop:

-Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz

-The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz

 

Teenreads:

-Enclave by Ann Agiure

 

From Roxanne St. Claire:

-Don't You Wish (SIGNED!!! Ahh! Thanks so much!)

 

Hyperion:

-Time Bewteen Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (Complete surprise!)

 

Simon Pulse:

-Touching The Surface by Kimberly Sabatini



 

Thanks to local library, thrift shop, Teenreads, Roxanne St. Claire, Hyperion, and Simon Pulse!

 

What's New To Your Shelves This Week?

 



 What Was At The Blog This Week:

Author Interview with Katie McGarry
250+ Follower Giveaway Bash!

Also be sure to sign up for 2013 SARC hosted by Britta and IceyBooks!

Author Interview: Katie McGarry - Pushing The Limits



I was so excited for interview Katie McGarry, author of Pushing The Limits! She was so nice and I am really excited to share this interview with you guys!

The Interview:

 

1.) The Bookshelves: What Inspired you to write Pushing The Limits? Any of your personal experiences there?

 

Katie: I was actually writing another book when I stumbled across the voice of Echo. When my character broke out into “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” then later wished she would spontaneously combust, I knew I had found someone new…someone whose wit made me laugh, but whose hurt made me ache.

 

I write love stories so I free wrote for awhile in order to find the perfect guy for Echo—that one person who could help her with her pain. This person was Noah.

When I was in second grade, I was bitten by a dog. I repressed the memory until I was in college. I used my memory loss when writing Echo.

 

2.) TB: What character resembles you the most and why? Who would you cast for Echo and Noah?

 

Katie: I put a piece of myself, no matter how small, into each of my characters. Echo has my sarcasm, Beth encompasses my fears, Isaiah and Lila share my loyalty, and Noah has my passion to love.

I’ve never been able to pick anyone to play Noah and Echo, but I enjoy hearing who my readers think should play them.

3.) TB: What's the best part of writing and the worst?

Katie: The best part of writing is when the words flow easily. The worst is definitely writer’s block.

4.) TB: Any info for an aspiring writer?

Katie: Write. Read. Find a great critique group. Never give up.

I began writing because I have characters alive in my mind and stories they demand for me to tell. I love the rush of my fingers tapping against the keys as I delve into a scene that’s been begging to be released on the page. Try to never lose that joy. 

5.) TB: What is your favorite book and why?

Katie: I absolutely love The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. It was the very first book I ever stayed up all night to read. I connected completely with her characters and how they looked upon their friends as their family.

6.) TB: The world is ending! You can only grab 5 things what would they be? And why?

 

Katie: I’d grab my kids and my husband. They mean everything to me.

 

7.) TB: Any future books you can tell us coming in the near future?

 

Katie:   I’m currently working on revisions for DARE YOU TO, a companion novel to Pushing the Limits. This is scheduled to be released in 2013. DARE YOU TO follows the story of Beth, a secondary charater from Pushing the Limits.

 

Thanks so much Katie for the interview! Be sure to pick up Pushing The Limits as soon as possible.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:  No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

From Goodreads