Pages

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Mailbox Monday & What Are You Reading

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted by Marcia at the Printed page but now it is a traveling meme. This month it is hosted by Serena at Savvy, Verse and Wit.



Just one book this week and it was actually a book for last week that I forgot to put on my list:




Tempest - Julie Cross (Library Thing Early Reviewer)
















It's Monday What are you reading this week? Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.

Books I finished in the last week:

Lisey's Story - Stephen King

Books I am reading this week:

The Future of Us - Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespeare (work in progress)

Books to Finish This week:

The Future of Us - Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Iron Knight - A Review

The Iron Knight - Julie Kagawa (Netgalley)

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing.

Unless he can earn a soul.



To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side.

To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale.

And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

My Thoughts:

Oh I don't even know where to begin. When I read this book I had no idea it was the last in the series. How I missed that little tidbit, I'll never know. So I read with no sadness and thought of several ways any future books could go and several stories I would love to hear. Imagine my surprise when I finished it and realized it was the last one.

My heart broke a little. I really think it did. I can't even begin to say how much I loved this series! From that darn cat Grim, to Meghan so strong and full of will. Let's not forget the boys. Ash, man I love this character. Watching him learn to love and grow throughout the series was a joy. Then of course there is Puck. No way we can forget him. This character reminds me of the bratty little brother that you both love and want to throttle at the same time. I kept thinking through out the book how much he reminded me of Peter Pan.

Those are just the main characters. Then there's all the smaller parts I found enjoyable. I loved the Wolf! He's just awesome and the banter between him and Grim was funny. The city of the forgotten I found to be very haunting and sad. The River of Dreams was cool if a bit freaky lol.

I loved this book. I can honestly say it was my favorite of the series. Each book got a little better than the last one. I am so glad I read this series and won't hesitate to pick up the next book Julie writes.

~EDIT~ I had to come back and add a note. I read the acknowledgement and discovered this hidden gem behind that. How to survive the Nevernever. I LOL'd! It was brilliant tidbit to add to the end of the book.

Author's Website: Julie Kagawa

Monday, October 24, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...



  • 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!
Here's my teaser this week:

It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

Even under the brightest sun, the frigid autumn sea is all the colors of the night: dark blue and black and brown.

The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater pg. 1

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Mailbox Monday & What Are You Reading

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted by Marcia at the Printed page but now it is a traveling meme. This month it is hosted by Serena at Savvy, Verse and Wit.



Just one book this week:






















It's Monday What are you reading this week? Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.

Books I finished in the last week:

Nada it was a slow week

Books I am reading this week:

Lisey's Story - Stephen King
Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespears (work in progress)

Books to Finish This week:

Lisey's Story - Stephen King





Wednesday, October 19, 2011

In The Forests of the Night Winner

And the winner is.....Vivien! Congrats and email has been sent out to you.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...



  • 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!
Here's my teaser this week:

To the public eye, the spouses of well-known writers are all but invisible, and no one knew it better than Lisey Landon. Here husband had won the Pulitzer and he National Book Award, but Lisey had given only one interview in her life.

Lisey's Story - Stephen King pg.1

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Mailbox Monday & What Are You Reading

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted by Marcia at the Printed page but now it is a traveling meme. This month it is hosted by Serena at Savvy, Verse and Wit.

It's been a few weeks since I've participate in this meme. I have received a couple books recently:





















































It's Monday What are you reading this week? Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.

Books I finished in the last week:

Bargains and Betrayals - Shannon Delany
The World As We Know It - Joseph Monniger
Forever - Maggie Stiefvater
Mile 81 - Stephen King

Books I am reading this week:

Lisey's Story - Stephen King
Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespears (work in progress)

Books to Finish This week:

Lisey's Story - Stephen King


Musing Mondays

This is a Meme hosted over at Should Be Reading:

This week’s musing asks…

Do you judge a book by its cover?

I'd like to say I don't but that would be a lie. It's sad but I do. I cover that is unattractive or just doesn't call to me will most likely be passed over by me as well. Rarely do I pick up a book whose cover doesn't call out to me in some way whether it be the title or the picture. Something on that cover has to call to me in order for me to wander its way. Once in a blue moon I'll pick up a book whose cover is less than in my eyes and I'll enjoy it but it's a rare occasion.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The World As We Know It Blog Tour October 13, 2011

The World As We Know It - Joseph Monninger (Blog Tour)

Synopsis:

A lifetime of friendship begins the day brothers Ed and Allard save Sarah from drowning in an icy river near their rural New Hampshire home. Though their paths diverge through the years, the connection between the three endures until a heartbreaking tragedy in the remote mountains of Wyoming forces Sarah and Allard to confront the unthinkable. In their grief, they find themselves on separate journeys that test the enduring bonds of their relationship and time’s unremitting power to heal. Poignant and transformative, The World as We Know It is subtle and heartrending—a love story of friendship, nature, and the surprising twists that can alter our destinies forever.

My Thoughts:

This is the kind of book you read on a cold winter night. A night where you can settle in with a blanket, cup of cocoa and just immerse yourself in a good book.

Joseph creates such a vivid world. So vivid you can practically feel the ice, see the vast land, smell the crisp winter air. The characters are no different.

The characters are so well written that you love with them, feel their pain and heartaches. You watch them grow from young and watch them become the adults they are. You pull for them, cheer them on and cry when losses come. In the end you find yourself invested in his characters and their lives.

I guarantee if you give this book a chance, you'll enjoy it!

Author's Publishing Website: Joseph Monninger

Monday, October 10, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...



  • 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!
Here's my teaser this week:

The screws through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle. Her knuckles ached from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another.

Cinder - Marissa Meyer pg. 1 (from ARC subject to change)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Kersten Hamilton Interview and Giveaway!

In anticipation of Kersten's new book, In The Forest Of The Night, The Goblin Wars book 2, Kersten graciously has agreed to an interview and pre-order giveaway!

Those that know me, know I love this series and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it. Now on to the good stuff!

As a child, what made you decide to write books?

I had a very strange childhood. We never actually reached the poverty level—and my dad was too proud to accept welfare of any kind. Which meant that we often had no electricity. So we had no television, but I needed stories like I needed food or water. I have known since I was six that I had to be a writer.

One advantage that I had was that while I was small, my dad told stories- great novel length adventures, invented on the spot. He’d spin them out of nothingness for days or weeks on end. I will always remember listening to freshly minted space sagas under the desert stars.

But before I was a teenager, my dad developed a brain tumor. I had to spin my own stories after that.

What was the inspirations behind this series?

I was remembering a goblin that crept out of the dark and slipped her paw into my hand. It happened when I was just ten. The creature’s name was Lina, and she crept out of a book by George MacDonald. This is how it happened:

Curdie, the hero of the story, could feel the real hand of any creature inside its flesh glove. Lina was a dog–like creature with green eyes lit by amber fire, and a huge mouth with icicle–like teeth. But when she put her paw in Curdie’s hand: “a shudder, as of terrified delight, ran through him…instead of the paw of a dog, such as it seemed to his eyes, he clasped in his great mining fist the soft, neat little hand of a child! The green eyes stared at him with their yellow light, and the mouth was turned up toward him with its constant half grin; but here was the child’s hand!”

When I read those lines I felt it. I felt the child’s hand, and I knew I wanted to pull a child out of a goblin one day.


With all the folklore in the books, what kind of research did you have to do to prepare?

The story needed two detailed physical locations. I traveled to the National Zoo in Washington DC and several arboretums to get good ideas for the plants, trees and strange creatures of Mag Mell. The neighborhood Teagan lives in came from one of my trips to Chicago.

It also needed an emotional landscape: ancient Celtic roots and sensibilities.

The Celts built no walls between the natural world and the supernatural, the secular and the sacred. The Green Man peeks out of carvings in Celtic churches right alongside the saints and Apostles.

Their concept of family, clan and even heroism was very different from that presented in most Western stories – whether they be movies or books—today.

That is the worldview I immerse myself in while I am writing. It makes the books different from many that are published today. For instance, the Celts believed that we are meant to journey in companionship and in community. Everyone needs at least one ‘anam cara’—soul friend—to stand beside them. Your ‘anam cara’ can be family, or not family--and more than one is better.

In The Goblin Wars books, Teagan’s family and friends her—‘anam cara’-- function as an eccentric and very dedicated tribe.

Thank you for having me on your blog, Zia!

Okay the giveaway specifics:

+1 Leave a comment with your name and email

+1 Tell me what about the interview you found interesting

Contest will run until October 18, 2011 at 11:59 pm. I will announce and email the winner within a couple of days. Once the book is released, Kersten will order and have it sent directly to your house.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...



  • 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!
Here's my teaser this week:

Years ago, on a cold New Hampshire day, my brother and I tried to skate to Canada. It was still early December and our first full snow had not yet fallen, and the rivers and lakes around us became pale green mirrors reflecting sunlight back to the sky.

The World Around Us - Joseph Monninger pg. 1