Top Ten Characters Who Remind Me of Myself or Someone I Know

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish



Top Ten Characters Who Remind me of Myself or Someone I Know

10

Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola totally reminds me of a girl I know who loves bizarre fashion! She made me an awesome ducktape wallet!

9

Bran from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

Bran reminds me so much of my little brother! He loves to climb and acts just like Bran!

8

Katniss from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I have a friend who is almost a male version of Katniss. He loves to hunt and is really protective of his siblings. But he doesn't live in District 12, thankfully.

7

Effie from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

My mom is obsessed with clothes and mackup almost as much as Effie. Though I like to think she wouldn't be so capitol loving.

6

Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

I know a really annoying librarian who acts exactly like her. >.<

5

Sam from The Shiver Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater

I know a aspiring author who is also a singer who is just like him!

4

Emma from Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Monica from Cover Annalysis talks exactly like her whenever we chat!

3

Will from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Will and I have the exact same sense of humor, though I am Team Jem.

2

Jeoffrey  from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

He totally reminds me of a really spoiled brat who used to go to my school. You know who you are!

1

Peeta from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Everyone tells me I'm just like him. I guess we share the same self afacing humor. And Jennifer Lawrence is pretty attractive, so I'm not complaing, lol!

Wicked Wildfire Readathon Challenge: Match the Quote!

Hey guys! For today's morning challenge, it's Match the quote! Directions:

1. Below there are are five quotes and five covers!
2. Match the covers with the quotes, each quote you match correctly is one entry to win a book from The Book Depository!
3. Fill out the form with the correct titles!
4. The form will be active for 24 hours!

Quote One:

“You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real.”

Quote Two:

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” 

Quote Three:

“I'm sure I'll feel much more grateful when I find a guy who thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn-on.”

Quote Four:

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” 

Quote Five:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”


COVERS:

 

FORM HERE

Wicked Wildfire Readathon

Hi guys! Here's what I hope to accomplish during this readathon:

1. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
2. Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
3. All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
4. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR List

5

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

I got a egalley of this off netgalley, and it looks like a really unique dystopian! 

4

4What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

The whole soul dsytopian thing that seen a rise in the last six months is really, interesting! And that cover is the cat's meow!

3

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Ever since I saw this book I has been pining for it! I really liked the high fantasy dystopian thing like in Shadow and Bone so this one should be interesting.

3

Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

I am so flippin' tired of the vampire romances, so I can't wait to read a book that makes fun of them!

2

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

I love the idea of this! Sounds like an escape from Alcatraze sorta novel!

1

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

I love historical fantasy and zombies rule!

As I'm rushing to leave for a trip which I'll be on when this post goes up, I only have five this week! Sorry!

 

Vacation... or perhaps it's probation?

Hey guys! Just a quick note to let you know that I'm currently in Colorado where I'll be for the next two weeks. Today I'm in Denver, but I'll be up in the mountains with no WIFI access, so I'll have post scheduled, but I won't be able to answer emails 'n such. Happy reading everyone!

Book Haul (5)

Book Haul is a weekly feature here that showcases all the awesome books I got this week!

Bought:

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McrBride

This was the only book at the Fierce Reads event I did not already own, so I purchased a copy at the store. Lish seemed really nice and I can't wait to dive into it!

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

I had already read an ARC of this but the finished copies were so pretty I just had to buy one at the Fierce Reads event.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

 Same story as above - what can I say? I'm a sucker for a good cover!

Monument 15 by Emmy Laybourne

I read a ARC of this but was no longer in possession of it so I bought a copy at the signing. Emmy was so nice!

 A Song of Ice and Fire (first four books) by George R.R. Martin

I finally gave in. The pressure was too much, as I was watching the series but hadn't read the first four books, so I finally downloaded the first four on my kindle.

That's all I got this week! What did you get? Let me know in the comments!

Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop: Win a Box of Books!

Welcome to my stop Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not a Writer

Here's What's Up for Grabs:

1 Mystery Box of Books

Most will be YA, a few middle grades, and perhaps a adult novel or two.

Enter after the page break!

Patrick Jennings Signing Recap

   A few weeks ago local author and my writing mentor Patrick Jennings had a signing at our local ice cream parlor, Elevated Ice Cream (if you're wondering why it's at a ice cream parlor, our town has a really crappy bookstore that never does events). He was there promoting his newest middle grade release, Invasion of the Dognappers and his first ever picture book, Bat and Rat. The signing was great!

  It pretty much went in the reverse order of a typical book signing. First Patrick signed books, then did a reading/talk. For every book purchased you got one free ice cream and I took full advantage of that. For a bit people mingled around the store and me and my best friend went to the candy section to stock up! After the line had settled town Patrick did a reading, there were a lot of little kids, and it was fun to see their expressions when they heard Bat and Rat.

   Unfortunately I had to rush right after the Bat and Rat reading to go see Snow White and the Huntsman (which by the way, was very good), but the signing was great. And look, I was able to snag a picture while I was there too!

 

Waiting on Wednesday

Velveteen by Daniel Marks 

Release Dates ~ 10/9/12
Publisher ~ Random House Children's Books
Add it on Goodreads

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that's not the problem.
The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it's not a fiery inferno, it's certainly no heaven. It's gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn't leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what's really on her mind.
Bonesaw.
Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she's figured out just how to do it. She'll haunt him for the rest of his days.

It'll be brutal . . . and awesome.
But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen's obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she's willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.
Velveteen can't help herself when it comes to breaking rules . . . or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

    This book looks awesome. Daniel happened to be at the Fierce Reads signing and was so much fun to talk to, his opinion on 50 Shades of Grey was spot-on and hilarious! Plus I love books about the afterlife, and revenge books rock my world. So yeah, I pretty much need this book. NOW. Also he's a male YA author and we don't have a lot of those!

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend as Good Beach Reads

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

Top Five Books I'd Recommend as Good Beach Reads

5

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

This book is so light and fun! A really great romance!

4

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

This is a really enjoyable and lighthearted book. And the subject is just perfect for the beach!

3

Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings

Guinea pigs that think they're dogs? Pure summer fun.

2

Barb and Dingbat's Crybaby Hotline by Patrick Jennings

This book is entire phone conversations, and it's hilarious! You'll be crying like a baby for more!

1

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Though you might not think of a dystopian as being a beach read, this one is rather light and fluffy and very funny!

Sorry, guys! Couldn't think of any others! I guess I just like the dark and serious reads, lol.

Fierce Reads Tour Signing Recap

So last yesterday I made the two hour drive to Seattle to go to the Fierce Reads Tour signing! Here's the recap along with photos, but note: it is pretty fierce. 

    The bookstore hosting was the lovely Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, and I was super excited. I arrived at the bookstore around 3:00 where I browsed the YA section while I waited for the bloggers I was having dinner with to show up at 4:30. 

Here are all the awesome bloggers and myself:

(From left to right)

Kristina from Kristina's World of Books

 Me! 

Sarah from Sarah's Random Musings

And Anna from Peace, Love, Teen Fiction was also there, but sadly, no photo with her! 

     The bloggers and I all grabbed dinner at The Third Place Books commons (very good tofu teriyaki) and chatted books. Then we all meandered over to the "den" where the event was happening. And thus, started the agonizing waiting period for the authors to arrive. 

    At 6:30, the authors arrived! Here is a photo of all of them:

From left to right: Lish McBride (Hold Me Closer, Necromancer), Marissa Meyer (Cinder), Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone), Jennifer Bosworth (Struck), Anna Banks (Of Poseidon), and Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14)

 Here are some photos of them doing their presentations/talks:

Surprisingly, though Emmy Laybourne's novel was pretty dark, she was super funny!

Anna Banks was also great! We got to learn about her idea for a Sasquatch YA romance (I need this)! 

 Jennifer Bosworth had the funniest story about what inspired her to write Struck! Who knew a Discovery Channel documentary could inspire her awesome debut!

 Leigh Bardugo shared a really great story about how no one wanted to publish high fantasy, then we all got to laugh about it because of obvious Game of Thrones reasons.

Marissa Meyer had probably the most inspiring story about how she entered a writing contest (and lost) about a futuristic Puss in Boots that opened a can of worms for fairy tale dystopians that would inspire her to write Cinder! 

Lish McBride had this great speech that I totally agreed with about the bogus that is publishers not wanting to publish boy books! C'mon pubs, some guys read! *waves hand madly*

  The talk was a blast, but the most fun happened after the talk was over. I started by getting my books signed, and I was happy to find out that almost all of the authors recognized me! After the signing line had cooled down, the authors all came out to talk with those of us who stayed around. I had a great time talking with them (everything from talking about Anthony Hopkins with Jennifer, the chilly Northwest weather with Anna, blogging with Emmy, and lots of other stuff) was a blast! and look, photo with them:

They look FIERCE! 

   While I was there I also got to meet Elizabeth Mason, senior publicist at Macmillan who was so nice, a publicist whose name is not coming to mind but talked to me about a author/blogger meet and greet she was planning with Gregg Olson. I also chatted with Daniel Marks, author of Velveteen (September 2012), and Kristin Halbrook, author of No Body But Us (2013). 

   I also came home with a crap load of swag, which because it was all so awesome, I'm going to hoard instead of giveaway (I'm mean, I know). And I got all nine of my books signed!

  This was a great event, excellent job done by Third Place Books, and I had a awesome time meeting everyone. Cannot wait for the 2nd installment of Fierce Reads this fall!

Armchair BEA: Ask the Experts

Armchair BEA is a yearly event that allows bloggers to participate in BEA from their home. 

Today's Topic:

Ask the Experts!

Today's topic is Ask The Experts. I'm going to share my personal tips and trick for blogging.

• Be yourself. I know this is a little corny, but there are so many different styles of blog you can have! Write how you would talk to a friend. You don't need to sound professional, you just need to sound like you.
• Interact. Get out there. It doesn't matter if it's on twitter, facebook, another blog, or anywhere else on the interweb, but get out there and let your voice be heard.  Pretty soon, you'll get noticed and more people will come follow your blog!
• Giveaways. Though some people will tell you "They just follow for the giveaways then never come back". This sometimes is the case, but generally I see the people who follow for giveaways come back. So hosting giveaways is a great way to gain a following! But make sure you don't give people too many hoops to jump through, because that just makes them annoyed.
• Don't be needy. During your first few review copy requests to publishers, it's important to make a good impression. Make them see you as a nice, professional, person. But besides having terrible grammar and such, there is no way to make yourself seem less professional then asking for a million books at once. My rule is not to ask the same publisher for more then a couple of books in the same week. It makes you look grabby and demanding, and might be the difference between you getting that awesome ARC you want.
• Have fun! Though everyone has a few bad days doing anything, if you're feeling stressed and not having fun, take a good look at your blog and decide if you want to continue, or find ways to cut back the pressure. Don't feel like you need to post everyday. I'd rather see a couple in-depth posts a week then a bunch of rushed memes. Remember, a happy blogger is a good blogger!

Debut Author Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Debut Author Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, and myself. 

Here's What's Up For Grabs:

1 ARC of So Close to You by Rachel Carter

Enter after the page break!

Armchair BEA: Beyond the Blog

Armchair BEA is a yearly event that allows bloggers to participate in BEA from their home.

Today's Topic:

Beyond the Blog

Today I share with you what kind of bookish things I've done beyond the blog!

     Okay, I'm just going to get this off my chest. I lose interest in whatever I'm working on very, very fast. I can't stick to one story, because by the next day, I'll want to trash it and write something new. Which is why blogging is perfect for me: the posts average almost a page long so I don't end up having to stick with the same topic a lot. One day, when I get older, I hope to sit down and actually write a full novel. But til then, I'm going to stick with blogging!

  Next topic: Would I like to write somewhere else besides my blog? I think if I could end up getting a few reviews published in my local paper would be great. Though my local paper is not that in-depth, so I'm not going to hold my breathe. 

  Making money with the blog: I currently link up to The Book Depository book page in every review and am a BD affiliate, though I haven't made too money with that. I'd like to start doing blogads, but as I'm 12, there are a few legal issues I have to be worried about (I think) if I want to do that. 

  What about you? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks! 

Armchair BEA: Networking... In Real Life?!

Armchair BEA is a yearly event that allows bloggers to participate in BEA from their own home.

Today's Subject:

Networking...In Real Life?!

Today's subject is where you recap bookish thing you've done in your community. 

  Today I'm going to share with you an awesome bookish experience that I got to participate in with my writing group. In September of last year. Our writing mentor, Patrick Jennings (author of 17 books for children) decided to host the first annual "Trilexathon", a 24 hour bookish marathon that consisted of writing, reading, and playing word games. 

Patrick Jennings, our mentor and writer of 17 children's books. 

   Participants arrived at 9:00 pm, September 2nd. Participants arrived with their weapons of mas destruction: books, writing notebooks, laptops, word games, and their wits to defeat their fellow writers. For this was not only a bookish trilexathon, but a competition of who could log the most minutes. *cough* I forgot who won. *cough, cough* Not me. *cough, cough.*

   I used the blog as a way to share the group's updates. I originally hoped to do a live steam of it, but moving my computer around the house just didn't work. In the end, I just post updates every so often with the minutes. 

  Though I did end up falling asleep for a couple hours, I had a pretty good run, reading four books, writing three reviews, and playing loads of word games!

  This was a great bookish event and I can't wait for this year's competition! 

Armchair BEA: Giveaways Everywhere

Armchair BEA is an yearly event that allows bloggers to participate in BEA from home. 

Today's Topic:

Giveaways Everywhere! And My Top Eight Favorite Releases of 2012 So Far!

8

Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

Grahame-Smith returns to the "mutant" book playing field with a vengeance! The wise men as thieves and murderers? Heck yeah!

7

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Though some may call this a "fluffier" dystopian, it was a fun, romantic read.

6

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

I'm not a huge werewolf fan, but this book was made of awesome!

5

Fever by Lauren Destefano

This is one of the bleakest dystopian worlds around, and hands-down one of the best! Destefano is a gem!

4

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Bosworth created a protagonist that will be in my mind forever. Mia Price a "lighting addict" had a great voice. Hard to believe this was Jennifer Bosworth's debut!

3

A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford

Dark, thrilling, and sometimes hilarious, this is one of my favorite paranormal series!

2

Destined by Aprilynne Pike

A great finish to this series, Destined felt exactly how a final book should feel.

1

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth returns with a vengeance. This book has it all!

Giveaway:

Enter to Win One Book Worth $10 or less from The Book Depository

Enter after the page brake!