Alright freaks and geeks!
We have a new place to gather as well, I will be sharing reviews, updates, giveaways and so much more on Confessions of a Bibliophile over on Facebook!
You can find us here at this awesome page, that is still under construction!
Confessions of a Bibliophile - Facebook
Enjoy it! Like it! Share it with your friends!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
What's On My Kindle? Series Overload Part One
Welcome to the seventh installment of What's On My Kindle?
What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Sunday. Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle. Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.
All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).
What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Sunday. Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle. Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.
All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).
I have book OCD! I have to have each and every book in a series, and I have to read them in order. This is how I've always been. I blame it on my Aunt when she ultimately sent me BOOK FOUR in the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/43943-outlander">Outlander Series</a> when I was sixteen and I got hooked on it, and I think I'm only missing one or two books of the series (and those I have in print).
One of my big things to do on my Kindle is I have all my series in a specific category, by their series. Some I have listed by Author because I've only got one book in the series, type of thing or I have multiple books that are in a couple of different series (but not the same series).
Some are free, some are ones that I'd paid for, and indulged in occasionally when I have the extra money for.
The series I have on my Kindle right now are:
1. The Mortal Instruments which was featured in the first edition of What's On Your E-Reader? which can be found here.
2. The Infernal Devices - which is another series by Cassandra Clare and set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments and just as good. The books in this series are: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess
3. Delirium - which is a three book series by Lauren Oliver. These books are: Delirium, Pandemonium, Requiem.
4. The Devil's Roses- a five book series by Tara Brown that I'd picked up for free on Amazon. The books in this series are: Cursed, Bane, Hyde, Witch and Death.
5. The Hunger Games - one of my favorite dystopian series of all time by Suzanne Collins. The books are Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. I am desperately looking forward to Catching Fire coming out in theaters in November.
These are just a small amount of series that I have on my Kindle, there will more than likely be a volume two of this particular topic coming soon!
For now, what are some of your favorite series? Do you have to have all the books before you can properly enjoy a series?
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Character Guest Post: Adele Rose - 100th Post
I was going to type an introduction for this guest post, but I think I will let it speak for itself. It is an honor to have this short story written by Adele Rose from The Dwellers Saga by David Estes as my 100th Post here at Confessions of a Bibliophile!
“Ms. Rose…”
“I can’t.”
The Shattered Stones of Fate- A Dwellers Short Story
A character guest post by Adele Rose from The Dwellers Saga by David Estes
Hours before The Moon Dwellers
Sometimes time ticks by at a pace so dismal you can almost see the stones of fate gathering moss before your very eyes. And other times…well, life seems to roar past with the speed of an inter-Realm through-train, whipping your hair around your face and forcing your eyes shut against the airborne debris.
Today starts with the former, but you can never guess which way it’ll end.
Class is heavy and tight on my skull, full of “important” dates and wars and a history that only half sounds real. Did humans really live on the earth’s surface once? It’s hard to believe, and yet everyone says it’s true. And if they did, why did they seem to be constantly in the midst of disagreement and strife?
My grandmother—may she rest in peace—used to say that being outside was like laughter and a warm blanket and the hug of a friend; but of course, those were the same things her mother had told her. No one really knows anymore—all we have are stories from the generations before us. Do I believe them?
Does it matter if I don’t?
I massage a knot in my forehead, the beginning of a sharp headache. Something pokes me from behind. I ignore it.
Poke poke.
“Gannon, you do that again and I’ll break your arm,” I hiss.
“Ms. Rose…something to share?” Mrs. Hill asks, stopping in mid-lecture, her hands on her hips.
“No,” I mumble, writing Gannon on my blank notebook page. When the teacher resumes her monologue about some kind of civil war, I slash through Gannon’s name with a single stroke of my pencil.
Poke poke.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I whirl around, my pencil snapping under the strain of my fingers, which are already curling into fists. My chair falls over with a slam. “Do that I again…” I say, pushing the unfinished threat out into the air.
Gannon’s face is even whiter than usual, his big blue eyes as wide as false moons. “I—I—”
“Yeah, everyone’s sorry,” I say, feeling bad seeing Gannon look so scared. After all, he’s one of the few people who are ever nice to me anymore. But my breathing is heavy, my blood running hot and angry through my veins. An overreaction. Something my father has always warned me against.
I try to swallow it down but all I get is a lump in my throat.
“Ms. Rose…”
Suddenly I’m aware of the many eyes on me, staring, some with open mouths of shock and others with smirks of amusement. I cringe and turn to face Mrs. Hill, who’s placed her lesson plan on the table in front of her. Never a good sign.
I know I should apologize but the lump gets in the way. So I just stare at her, feeling my face redden.
“I’ll not have students threatened in my classroom,” the teacher says. I’m already grabbing my pack and pushing for the door when she says, “Detention. Now.”
The grey-stone halls are empty and hollow, like the feeling I’ve had in my chest ever since the other kids started talking about my father a week ago. I asked Father about it, but he swears everything’s okay, that it’s no big deal, that the rumors and gossip are exaggerations. But his words don’t match his eyes like they usually do. He’s protecting me from the truth: a dangerous world has become infinitely more dangerous.
As I stride down the hall toward the detention room—my fourth such journey in the last week—the playground shouts hit me like bursts of gunfire:
“Your father’s a dead man!”
“Better start looking for a new dad!”
“Complainer!”
I touch a hand to my gut, half-expecting to feel moist holes in it, but all I get is the brittle texture of my school-tunic. Dead man! New dad! Complainer!
Are things really that bad? If they weren’t, would I have broken those three kids’ noses? Would I have two black eyes and fire roaring through my skin?
When I reach the detention room, I glance through the window and see the regulars: Drummer, the heavily pierced kid who can’t seem to stop tapping his fingers on his desk; Gina, the girl with the spiked purple hair and unexplained scars up and down her arms; Chuck, the dude who smells funny and is addicted to pulling bad pranks. Freaks. Am I one of them?
I stride past the room and push through the school doors. Mother will be furious when she finds out I ditched school again, but she’ll just have to deal.
There are a couple of punks on the corner, smoking something that doesn’t smell like normal cigarettes. “Try it,” one of them says as I pass, holding out a joint.
An insane urge to kick him rolls through me, balanced only by a desire to take him up on his offer. I ignore him and run past, wishing my feet had wings—that I could fly: out of subchapter 14 of the Moon Realm. Out of the underground world of caves and rock and disappointment. Excitement shivers down my spine at the thought, making me feel nauseous because of the conflicting emotions, like I’m spinning and spinning.
Turning a corner, I take the next block in stride. It’s only when I reach my neighborhood that I slow to a jog, hoping Mother will be out.
She isn’t.
Worse, she’s standing in front of our house, looking right at me, like she has delinquent-radar or something. I stop, consider turning and running in the other direction, think better of it, and cautiously approach her.
“I know what you’re going to—” I start to say.
“Come inside, I’ll make you something to eat,” Mother says, cutting me off.
She turns and makes her way back to our small stone cube of a house, holding the door for me. I follow her inside, wondering whether this is one of those mom-pretends-to-be-your-friend-as-punishment teaching moments. I hope not—I’d prefer a harsh punishment dealt by a swift hand any day.
“I shouldn’t have left school,” I say, dumping my pack and my words in a heap on the floor. My only hope is to control the conversation.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Mother says. She doesn’t sound angry. Why?
She starts chopping something with a dull knife. Potatoes. I gawk at her, unable to feel my feet, like I’m floating. Who is this woman?
Before I can consider the possibilities, Father pushes through the back door. “Hi, Adele,” he says, as casually as if school and work are meant to be over.
“Why aren’t you at the mines?” I ask, more sharply than I intended.
“Why aren’t you at school?” he counters, but a smile plays on his lips. His eyes disagree with his mouth, remaining downcast and tired, like he’s just woken up.
“The school called,” Mother says, stirring a pot. “Adele was supposed to go to detention but she left.”
God. Word travels fast. Mrs. Hill must have expected it. “I hate school,” I say. I hate people, I don’t say.
“I know,” Father says, to my surprise. If Mother is a clone, Father is a robot. Where are my real parents?
I stare at him. He stares at me, his smile gone. Mother nonchalantly stirs a pot.
The unanswered question springs back into my head. “Father…why aren’t you in the mines?” I ask again.
He sighs, scratches his head, looks more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen him. “Oh God,” I breathe.
“They let me go,” he blurts out, turning to head back outside.
“They what?” I say, following him onto the back patio, a familiar place where we’ve trained every morning for the past ten years. Now a place so foreign and frightening I barely recognize it. “You lost your job?”
He nods. “I guess I stood up for one too many people,” he says.
“Fix it,” I say, a knot forming in my stomach. People don’t just lose their jobs in the Moon Realm. There are always repercussions, especially when it’s related to a complaint.
“I can’t.”
“You can,” I protest.
“It’s unfixable,” he says, and before I can contradict him, he throws a punch at my head.
I duck, grabbing his arm and swinging a low kick at his legs, which he easily hops over. He lets me try again, this time with a hooking fist, but at the last minute he ducks and my momentum of my wayward punch spins me around. He grabs me from behind, trying to lock my arms, but I manage to twist out of it before his hands can get a good grip.
I whirl around, my chest heaving, my blood flowing, my adrenaline higher than the dim and rocky cavern ceiling that arcs above us. I charge my father, aiming dual jabs at his chest.
He grabs my arms, pulls me into him. I’m squirming and clawing and bucking…and then I hear it.
A strange sound, low and guttural. A groan. I stop moving, listen to the slightly disturbing noise.
“Adele,” Father says, hugging me, crushing my face into his chest. “It’s going to be okay.” That’s when I realize: the strange sound is me. Grunting and groaning and protesting the truth.
“Nothing’s okay,” I manage to wheeze out, breathless. A hot tear spills down my cheek and I wipe it away angrily. “Nothing.”
Father’s eyes are sad, and this time they match his lips, which couldn’t form a smile if we were suddenly rich and living in the Sun Realm. “Be strong, Adele,” he says. “For your mother, for your sister, for me, for yourself.”
“No,” I say, even though I know I will. It’s the only way I can be. It’s the way he’s built me.
“No matter what,” he reminds gently.
I push away and go to bed early, eating my pathetically unfulfilling supper alone in the room I share with my sister and parents, wishing I was oblivious the world that’s about to end.
And times races on and on and on, shattering stone and bones and lives, twisting fate into a blind whirlwind of grief and splintered moments.
I awake to the sound of our front door slamming open.
~~~
The Moon Dwellers by David Estes, is out now on Kindle, Nook, and everywhere ebooks are sold, or in print on Amazon.com! And don’t miss the thrilling sequels, The Star Dwellers and The Sun Dwellers, or the action-packed sister series, The Country Saga (Fire Country, Ice Country, Water & Storm Country) also available! And now, a sneak peek at the prologue from the book, which picks up where David’s short story ended!
Prologue
Adele
7 months ago
Hands grope, men shout, boots slap the rock floor.
Clay dishes and pots are smashed to bits as the Enforcers sweep recklessly through our house. There are more bodies in the tiny stone box that I call home than ever before. The walls seem to be closing in.
My mother’s face is stricken with anger, her lips twisted, her eyebrows dark. I’ve never seen her fight like this. I’ve never seen her fight at all.
It takes three bulging Enforcers to subdue her kicking legs, her thrashing arms. For just a moment I am scared of her and not the men. I hate myself for it.
I realize my sister is by my side, watching, like me. I can’t let her see this—can’t let this be her last memory of the ones who raised us. I usher her back into the small room that we share with my parents, and close the door, shutting her inside alone.
When I turn back to the room, my mother is already gone, taken. Undigested beans from our measly supper rise in my throat.
My father is next.
The Enforcers jeer at him, taunt him, spit on him. As he backs his shoulders against the cold, stark, stone wall, five men corner him. Smart. They don’t underestimate him.
He makes eye contact with me; his emerald-green eyes are hard with concentration. Despite the inherent tension in the room, his face is relaxed, calm, the exact opposite of his eyes. Run, he mouths.
My feet are frozen to the floor. My knees lock, stiffen, disobey me and my father. I am ashamed. After all that my father has done for me, when it counts the most, I fail him.
One of the men lifts an arm and a gun. I hold my breath when I hear the shot, a dull thwap! that doesn’t sound like a normal gun. The man moves backwards slightly from the force, but his legs are planted firmly and he maintains his balance.
My father slumps to the floor. I feel my lips trembling, and my hand moves unbidden to my mouth. My frozen feet melt and I try to run to him, but a big body bars my way. I don’t think—just react. I kick him hard, like my father taught me. My heel catches the Enforcer under his chin and his head snaps back. Like most people, he underestimates me.
The next Enforcer doesn’t.
The Taser rips into my neck and tentacles of electricity slam my jaw shut. My teeth nearly snap off my tongue, which is flailing around in my mouth. They don’t take it easy on me just because I’m a kid, or a girl—not after what I did to the first guy. Still stunned by the Taser, I barely feel the thump of their hard boots as they kick me repeatedly in the ribs. My eyes are wet, and through my blurred vision I see the arcing nightstick.
Strangely, it feels like destiny, like it was always going to happen.
I hear my sister’s screams just before I black out.
The Moon Dwellers by David Estes, is out now on Kindle, Nook, and everywhere ebooks are sold, or in print on Amazon.com! And don’t miss the thrilling sequels, The Star Dwellers and The Sun Dwellers, or the action-packed sister series, The Country Saga (Fire Country, Ice Country, Water & Storm Country) also available!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
What's On My Kindle?: Indie Authors
Welcome to the sixth installment of What's On My Kindle?
What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Sunday. Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle. Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.
All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).
I love, love, love, and did I mention LOVE finding Indie authors, self published, or gone through a smaller publishing company. I've met one of these authors (and knew her before she was published!). Others are just names on Facebook or Goodreads, but I adore them all, and will be getting to their books within the next couple of weeks (because I've promised reviews!).
First up is T.R. Stoddard who I knew back when I first started at McDonald's and she was in high school. Now, she is a published author.
The books that I have for her are:
1. Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Don't Ask, Don't Tell is an anti-gay policy sweeping the Bible Belt portion of the nation. Freshman journalism student Rachael Ainsley goes undercover as a high school senior named Cassie Rae for a tell-all expos, hoping to drastically alter the Gay Rights Movement. She instantly befriends the gayest boy in school. Imagine his surprise when he finds out who she really is. Can she stick to her deadline, or will she be discovered before she has a chance to change the lives of the students attending Mooreville High?
2. Finding Sanity - Waking up in solitary confinement is never fun for anyone, and Randall is no exception. He is subjected to relive crucial moments from his past until he finds himself out on his own, free. Deciphering what is real vs. fantasy is half the fun. He finds new love, but as always an old flame complicates things. His reality and fantasy worlds collide putting him in a very compromising position. Can he make it out with his relationships intact?
3. Delightfully Departed - Ten wasted years, a woman with blood on her hands, and the consequences of actions converge in this short story of undeserved love and opportunities missed.
4. Dark Hearts (her newest publication) - In the Dark Hearts chat room, a predator lurks amid damaged souls looking for someone to relate with. Fifteen year old Kara is certain that she's found Mr. Right and vows to meet him after one month of online chatting. Can you really know someone connected only by an internet connection? Or is love universal?
After losing the love of his life to suicide, a man becomes a twisted vigilante against suicidal young girls. A fixed game of chance delivers his justice. Can true love break his cycle of death, or will a twist of fate let his crimes catch up with him?
Up next, there is Griffin Hayes, who writes creepily wonderful horror, mystery, thriller and suspense novels. I first met Griffin through Goodreads when I'd signed up to read one of his stories in exchange for an honest review, when I'd started blogging near religiously. His stories are fantastic and if you love a good book that gets in your head - Griffin Hayes definitely has something for you.
His books on my Kindle are:
1. Primal Shift (A Post-Apocalyptic Serial Thriller) - A mysterious geomagnetic event sweeps the globe, leaving a powerful amnesia in its wake.
The human race is robbed of the most basic skills learned in childhood: reading, writing and the ability to speak. Civilization crumbles, plunging the world into an age of unparalleled barbarism.
2. Fatherland - Paranormal investigator Harry Thomson has never seen a ghost or a ghoul or anything he hasn't been able to explain away in down-to-earth prosaic terms.
But all that is about to change when he and his partner agree to meet with a boy who might just be the reincarnation of history's most infamous mass murderer. Young Donald looks like a sweet, innocent little boy. But sometimes looks can be deceiving and before the night is through, two will die and the fate of the world will hang in the balance.
3. Malice - Welcome to Millingham, MA, pop. 5000... 4997... 4993...
The sheriff has convinced himself and others that the recent rash of deaths in the town are just suicides. Lysander Shore knows different. He knows the townsfolk are being hunted. He knows they face an evil as old as the town itself. He knows it's something that can't be killed, can't be reasoned with.
And he knows that the evil knows about him, too. It's waited centuries for Lysander to come home. Now it wants to make him pay.
4. Hive - Nearly two hundred years after the planet was ravaged by millions of undead Zees, the human race is still struggling to rebuild. The Zees may be long gone, but so too are centuries of scientific advancement.
A group calling themselves The Keepers of Knowledge have set out to retrieve and protect what little technology survived the fall. When four of their Prospectors go missing, the Keepers turn to a no-nonsense mercenary named Azina and her eclectic crew of hardened veterans to find them.
The search leads the group to a crumbling underground city. But what looks like just another ruin from a bygone era isn’t nearly as deserted as it appears. Soon, a simple rescue mission becomes a slippery descent into hell as Azina and her men unwittingly awaken a savage, bloodthirsty world. Who will stand and fight, and who will be lucky enough to stay dead?
5. Hive II - After her capture by the Hive Leader, Azina discovers that he isn't just another mindless Zee. He's got plans for her. Big ones. The kind Azina wants nothing to do with. But escaping the Hive Leader and dealing with her own infection aren't Azina's only problems.
Back in Sotercity, Prior Skuld has thrown Bron, Ret and Oleg behind bars and plans on executing them the following day. Skuld wants to cover his tracks. Turns out those discs Oleg salvaged from the decaying complex contained a frighteningly powerful piece of old world technology. One capable of ending the human race once and for all and it may have just fallen into the wrong hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who are some of your favorite Indie Authors? Have you met them in person? Gotten any nifty 'swag' from them?
What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Sunday. Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle. Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.
All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).
I love, love, love, and did I mention LOVE finding Indie authors, self published, or gone through a smaller publishing company. I've met one of these authors (and knew her before she was published!). Others are just names on Facebook or Goodreads, but I adore them all, and will be getting to their books within the next couple of weeks (because I've promised reviews!).
First up is T.R. Stoddard who I knew back when I first started at McDonald's and she was in high school. Now, she is a published author.
The books that I have for her are:
1. Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Don't Ask, Don't Tell is an anti-gay policy sweeping the Bible Belt portion of the nation. Freshman journalism student Rachael Ainsley goes undercover as a high school senior named Cassie Rae for a tell-all expos, hoping to drastically alter the Gay Rights Movement. She instantly befriends the gayest boy in school. Imagine his surprise when he finds out who she really is. Can she stick to her deadline, or will she be discovered before she has a chance to change the lives of the students attending Mooreville High?
2. Finding Sanity - Waking up in solitary confinement is never fun for anyone, and Randall is no exception. He is subjected to relive crucial moments from his past until he finds himself out on his own, free. Deciphering what is real vs. fantasy is half the fun. He finds new love, but as always an old flame complicates things. His reality and fantasy worlds collide putting him in a very compromising position. Can he make it out with his relationships intact?
3. Delightfully Departed - Ten wasted years, a woman with blood on her hands, and the consequences of actions converge in this short story of undeserved love and opportunities missed.
4. Dark Hearts (her newest publication) - In the Dark Hearts chat room, a predator lurks amid damaged souls looking for someone to relate with. Fifteen year old Kara is certain that she's found Mr. Right and vows to meet him after one month of online chatting. Can you really know someone connected only by an internet connection? Or is love universal?
After losing the love of his life to suicide, a man becomes a twisted vigilante against suicidal young girls. A fixed game of chance delivers his justice. Can true love break his cycle of death, or will a twist of fate let his crimes catch up with him?
Up next, there is Griffin Hayes, who writes creepily wonderful horror, mystery, thriller and suspense novels. I first met Griffin through Goodreads when I'd signed up to read one of his stories in exchange for an honest review, when I'd started blogging near religiously. His stories are fantastic and if you love a good book that gets in your head - Griffin Hayes definitely has something for you.
His books on my Kindle are:
1. Primal Shift (A Post-Apocalyptic Serial Thriller) - A mysterious geomagnetic event sweeps the globe, leaving a powerful amnesia in its wake.
The human race is robbed of the most basic skills learned in childhood: reading, writing and the ability to speak. Civilization crumbles, plunging the world into an age of unparalleled barbarism.
2. Fatherland - Paranormal investigator Harry Thomson has never seen a ghost or a ghoul or anything he hasn't been able to explain away in down-to-earth prosaic terms.
But all that is about to change when he and his partner agree to meet with a boy who might just be the reincarnation of history's most infamous mass murderer. Young Donald looks like a sweet, innocent little boy. But sometimes looks can be deceiving and before the night is through, two will die and the fate of the world will hang in the balance.
3. Malice - Welcome to Millingham, MA, pop. 5000... 4997... 4993...
The sheriff has convinced himself and others that the recent rash of deaths in the town are just suicides. Lysander Shore knows different. He knows the townsfolk are being hunted. He knows they face an evil as old as the town itself. He knows it's something that can't be killed, can't be reasoned with.
And he knows that the evil knows about him, too. It's waited centuries for Lysander to come home. Now it wants to make him pay.
4. Hive - Nearly two hundred years after the planet was ravaged by millions of undead Zees, the human race is still struggling to rebuild. The Zees may be long gone, but so too are centuries of scientific advancement.
A group calling themselves The Keepers of Knowledge have set out to retrieve and protect what little technology survived the fall. When four of their Prospectors go missing, the Keepers turn to a no-nonsense mercenary named Azina and her eclectic crew of hardened veterans to find them.
The search leads the group to a crumbling underground city. But what looks like just another ruin from a bygone era isn’t nearly as deserted as it appears. Soon, a simple rescue mission becomes a slippery descent into hell as Azina and her men unwittingly awaken a savage, bloodthirsty world. Who will stand and fight, and who will be lucky enough to stay dead?
5. Hive II - After her capture by the Hive Leader, Azina discovers that he isn't just another mindless Zee. He's got plans for her. Big ones. The kind Azina wants nothing to do with. But escaping the Hive Leader and dealing with her own infection aren't Azina's only problems.
Back in Sotercity, Prior Skuld has thrown Bron, Ret and Oleg behind bars and plans on executing them the following day. Skuld wants to cover his tracks. Turns out those discs Oleg salvaged from the decaying complex contained a frighteningly powerful piece of old world technology. One capable of ending the human race once and for all and it may have just fallen into the wrong hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who are some of your favorite Indie Authors? Have you met them in person? Gotten any nifty 'swag' from them?
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Muse Hunt Stop: Riddle me this, Riddle me that...
Alright ladies and gentlemen, it is that time!
You need a riddle...I'm giving you one!
Can you figure out the riddle? *grins impishly*
You need a riddle...I'm giving you one!
Can you figure out the riddle? *grins impishly*
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Review: The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Title: The Earth, My Butt and Other Big
Round Things
Author: Carolyn Mackler
Format: E-book (Kindle Edition)
Read: July 15-17
Rating: 5/5
Recommend: OMG Yes!
Summary: Virginia Shreves is fifteen.
She is larger-than-average, and has the plus-size inferiority complex
to go with. Her best friend has moved to Walla Walla, Washington (as
far from NYC as you can get) and she's just gotten to second base
with Froggy Welsh the Fourth (yeah, that's his real name). There are
moments of light-heartedness, and moments of seriousness that will
take your breath away.
Review: This book has appeared
numerous times on the American Library Association's
banned/challenged book list for a variety of reasons, most of which
are 'unsuitable to age group,' however that is a load of crap.
Find me one teenage girl who is the
'fat girl' and tell me she doesn't have self-esteem issues. I know,
I was that teenage girl. I was the 'fat girl,' 'the nerd,' and
pretty much anything else you could call me. No, my life was not as
tragic as Virginia's is, but I still dealt with my fair share of
weight bashing from my peers, I had the places that I could 'hide'
when I didn't want to be seen, that sort of thing. It took me ages
to finally accept myself, accept who I was, and learn what -I- had to
do to change things.
After Virginia's brother, Byron, falls
from grace and comes home from Columbia for a semester. Things are
tense and at the most a failed attempt to be 'picture perfect' in the
Shreves household. A trip to Seattle and other life changing events
continue to open up Virginia's eyes until she is completely (or as
close to completely) at ease with herself. There is a happy ending,
and purple hair, and an eyebrown piercing, and even a forbidden
public display of affection (that goes against the Fat Girl Code of
Conduct!).
All in all, this is a very well written
story of every overweight teenage girl who strives to 'fit in' in
high school and fill a role that was originally carved out by their
older siblings in a picture-perfect family.
I recommend this to anyone who has ever
had self-esteem issues for weight, or whatever other reason, and
ultimately needed to learn to be true to themselves no matter what
others may think of them.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Quickie Update
Good evening lovelies!
It has been an active day for me, at least in adding thing to my review pile! Seriously!
I've got seven books that I will be reviewing from some awesome Indie authors!
These authors and books are, with pending review dates (as RL can tend to be a royal pain in the butt!):
T.R. Stoddard
It has been an active day for me, at least in adding thing to my review pile! Seriously!
I've got seven books that I will be reviewing from some awesome Indie authors!
These authors and books are, with pending review dates (as RL can tend to be a royal pain in the butt!):
T.R. Stoddard
- Finding Sanity - Review coming 7/19
- Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Review coming 7/22
- Delightfully Departed - Review coming 7/25
- Dark Hearts - Review coming 7/31
- Ripple - Review pending 8/5
- One Night With You - Review pending 8/10
- Rial - Review pending 8/12
- In a Wolf's Eyes - Review pending 8/17
- Catch a Wolf - Review pending 8/20
Definitely looking forward to delving into these awesome books by these fantastic Indie authors!
I highly recommend checking them out. They are fantastic people!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
What's on My Kindle? - The Mortal Instruments
Welcome to the fifth installment of What's On My Kindle?
What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Sunday. Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle. Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.
All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).
What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Sunday. Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle. Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.
All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).
I am crazy for YA Series, and this one ranks amongst my top ten YA series. The Mortal Instrument Series by Cassandra Clare will be the next book to movie series, that will be turning up in theaters soon.
This series at the moment has five books in it, and the sixth book is currently in the works and slated for publication in 2014. I've not read books two through five yet, but they are definitely on my TBR list at the moment and I'm delighting in getting back to the series. Here are the titles and a bit of a blurb on them, blurbs taken from Goodreads.
1. City of Bones: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
I will probably begin reading this one toward the end of the year, I'll re-read it before I read further into the series because it's been a little over a year since I last read this book.
2. City of Ashes: Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.
This one, I am definitely looking forward to, to see how Cassandra Clare progresses her series and I know several people who are greatly invested in this series and highly recommend this series.
3. City of Glass: To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.
Again, I've met people who love this book and who hate it. I love hearing from other people before I read books, but ultimately I do not let their opinion impair my own opinion of the books that I read because I don't need anything coloring my reviews.
4. City of Fallen Angels: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.
The end of the Motal War - always a good thing right?! I mean really, and the best part is - Clary can finally call Jase her boyfriend. YAY for love! Love is awesome! Isn't it? But there is always, always a price.
5. City of Lost Souls: What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?
Love has its price. Finally together, and yet torn apart, when they meet again Jase is now a servant of evil. However, can he be freed without the ruining of Clary's brother Sebastian? Even still, is there anyway that Clary can trust Jace again? Again, mixed reviews on this book, so ultimately when I get to it, we will see how things progress and if I'll enjoy it as much as some of my friends have.
6. City of Heavenly Fire: Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!
2014! That is the publication date of this sixth and final installment of this series. Already people are anxiously awaiting the conclusion, to see if the Nephilim will be able to destroy and rid the Shadowhunter world of the greatest evil they have ever faced, Sebastian. Nailbiter to be certain.
This series is definitely on my TBR list and one of those that I'm giving into the hype to dip my toes into the waters of yet another fandom!
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