Book Haul (12)

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

   So this week I only got one book, but I did also get an awesome bookish T-shirt (what of, you'll have to see). So on to this week's haul!

What I Got:

My hamster, Tris, inspects the goods. 

For Review:

Hidden by Sophie Jordan

I actually got an ARC of this last week, but this week Harper decided to send me a finish copy too! So all I can say is thank you, Harper! I will be giving away the ARC tomorrow, so make sure to check that out that tomorrow!

Gifted:

Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones T-Shirt

My mom gave this to me as an early Birthday present and I love it! Tyrion is hilarious in both The Game of Thrones books and TV show! Peter Dinklage is an awesome actor! 

What did you get this week? Let me know or leave me a link in the comments! 

September TBR Pile

After having a reading slump for the majority of August (I only finished 5 books), I hope to read a lot more books in September! Here are the books I hope to read:

Switched by Amanda Hocking

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Glass Heart by Amy Garvey

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

The Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors

Venom by Fiona Paul

Tiger's Curse by Coleen Houck

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

The Serpent's Ring by H.B. Bolton

Hidden by Sophie Jordan

Vanish by Sophie Jordan - Not Pictured

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Dearly Departed by Lia Habel 

The End of Infinity by Matt Myklusch  

Waiting on Wednesday: The Torn Wing by Kiki Hamilton

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

This week's pick is:

The Torn Wing by Kiki Hamilton
Release Date ~ 10/2/12
Publisher ~ Self-Published
Add it on Goodreads

A bloody escape, a deadly threat, a shocking revelation...
Tiki’s greatest fear suddenly becomes all too real: the fey have returned to London seeking revenge. As war escalates in the Otherworld, Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold, is attacked. In order to protect her family and those she loves, Tiki needs to know the meaning of an fáinne sí, the birthmark that winds around her wrist. But will she be brave enough to face the truth?

The first book in this series was so different then the regular paranormal book. I love the fact it takes place in Victorian London and mixes in faeries and the world of the fey. It combines the royal courts with the courts of the fey, and I loved it. Kiki has an awesome style of writing too!

Top Ten Bookish Confessions

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

10. I am relativity fond of Twilight. Don't hate me for it. Remember there was a time when we all thought it was the best crap ever.

9.  From the ages of 8-10 I thought Nickolas Sparks was a good author. Don't ask me why.

8. I don't think Harry Potter is the most amazing thing on earth. It's amazing, but The Hunger Games is way better. 

7. Even though Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a terribly recycled plot over and over, I don't like them, but I still read them. 

6. I cannot stand my books getting out of shape. If you even make a teeny, tiny crease or bend, I will kill you for it.

5. I ran another book blog for about 30 minutes three years ago, until I realized I had no time to keep it updated. It was called "The Bookshelf of Benji", and was totally horribly written.

4. I used to only like to read nonfiction.

3. I only read Matched by Ally Condie because the cover was awesome looking. The book was good too though. 

2. I had a $75 dollar library fine.

1. I told my friends Twilight had a bunch of sex in it just so they would read it, so I could discuss it with them. 

Girls' Nightmare Out Tour Recap

The Girls' Nightmare Out tour is hosted by Tor to promote the authors of their paranormal YA books.

The Girls' Nightmare Out Tour Featuring YA Authors Kendare Blake, Lisa Desrochers, Marta Acosta, and Amanda Hocking!
 Thursday, 8/23 7:00 pm. Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park.

    This event was one of the best book signings I've ever been to! I was so excited for it! The day started it with a local publicist (and awesome person named Tina) and I leaving Port Townsend at 1:30. It's a two hour drive to Third Place books (the host bookstore) for the event. We were having a pre-event dinner with the authors and local bloggers at 5:00 and we still didn't arrive at the bookstore til at least 5:30, which just shows how terrible Seattle traffic is *groan* 

   Once we finally did get to the bookstore I got to have dinner with Kendare Blake, Marta Acosta, and Amanda Hocking! All of which were amazing people to talk to! Kristina from Kristina's World of Books who I had met before was also there and it was also great to catch up with her and tell her congrats in person for her pregnancy!

Then the event started and that was awesome, here are some pictures from that:

Here are some things I learned about the different authors:

1. Marta Acosta also writes vampire satire! Which I find flippin' awesome.

2. Lisa Desrochers didn't tell anyone she was writing her book until it was completely finished. 

3. Amanda Hocking writes 8-12 hours a day, which is SO incredible! Her secret? Lots and lots of red bull. 

4. Kendare Blake has scared herself twice while writing her books and she says she loves it when that happens! 

5. Lisa Desrochers has two other jobs besides writing, and says she writes whenever has time between the two others, mostly at night. She says sleep is overrated. 

After the talk was over we got to mingle with the authors and chat with them some more. Here is a group photo we snagged with all the authors and bloggers that were there:

From left to right:

Kendare Blake (above), me (below), Lisa Desrochers (above), Anna from Peace, Love, Teen Fiction (below), Amanda Hocking (above), Kristina from Kristina's Word of Books (below), Marta Acosta (above), and Rachel from Beauty and the Bookshelf (below) .

   This event was so amazing! I loved every minute of it and the authors were all great! And the bottom line is: READ THEIR BOOKS or SUFFER MY WRATH! 

Book Haul (11)

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

Well, let me just tell you this week was an AMAZING week for me and my books. It started with an awesome package from Harper on Monday and then got even better from there, including a bunch of book for the Girl's Nightmare Out event Thursday night, and a few others! Now onto this week's Book Haul... the one where I say "I haven't read" a million times!

 My hamster, Tris, inspects this week's goods. 

For Review:

Hidden by Sophie Jordan

I haven't read any of the Firelight books *hides*, but I have the first one and am trying to find the second, so once I do I will read them all (perhaps all at once? :P)

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver is purely amazing. I haven't read her other middle grade book, Lisel and Po, but I have a copy. Both that and this one looks so cute!

Glass Heart by Amy Garvey

I haven't read the first book in this series, Cold Kiss but I did read the first few chapters and liked it. I have a copy and will have to read it so I can read Glass Heart!

Ungifted by Gordan Korman 

I have a love/hate relationship with Gordan Korman's books. I really like the ones he wrote as part of The 39 Clues series, but a few of his others were really, umm... not so good. I do tend to like books with guy main characters, so I'll give this one a go!

The Serpent's Ring by H.B. Bolton

I'm on a blog tour for this and I can't wait for that! Candace from Candace's Book Blog sold me on it when she said it was like the Percy Jackson books but also very different too!

Bought:

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

I got to have dinner with Marta and the other authors before the Girl's Nightmare Out event (mentioned above) and she was so awesome my feet couldn't carry me fast enough to the YA section to buy it! Now I have a beautiful and signed copy to treasure :)

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

This is a book I can't believe I haven't read - she's a local author and the third book in the series comes out next month - I better start reading! 

The Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors

Another local author, I'm really excited to read her new retelling of The Ugly Duckling (with CHOCOLATE)  and she's coming to my local indie next month so I can't wait for that!

Gifted:

I got an awesome bunch of pre-birthday gift books, so naturally all the ones I asked for were the ones I needed for The Girls Nightmare Out event!

Wake by Amanda Hocking

Amanda was one of the authors at that signing, and I'm super excited for this book! The cover looks so fun!

Ascend by Amanda Hocking

I actually already had a copy but I traded that so all is well! Currently reading Switched, the first book in the series, and am enjoying it a ton!

Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers

I just finished reading the first book in this series (Personal Demons) and really liked it! Lisa was so amazing at the event (which I've mentioned the name of several times, so it feels redundant to do so again)

Last Rite by Lisa Desrochers

The final book in the Personal Demons series...

So guys, I just had an amazing book week! What did you guys get? Let me know or leave me a link to your post in the comments! Tris and I are anxious to know...

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Release Date ~ 9/14/2010
Format ~ Paperback
Publisher ~ Tor Teen
Source ~ Bought

Purchase It!

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance---even her closest friends---and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same . . . until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him.

What she doesn’t know is that Luc is on a mission. He’s been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie’s soul. It should be easy---all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And sure enough, it’s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.
But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.

   This is one of those books for that has been on my radar for so long but I just never bothered to pick them up until one day I just didn't have a choice. The reason I finally picked it up was the fact that Lisa Desrochers would be at a groups signing I'm going to (and because I procrastinated too much in reading this that event is actually today) and I wanted to read her book beforehand so i gave it a go, and I have to say... I really enjoyed it!

   I thought the plot of Personal Demons was very unique! I loved the idea of two agents, one from hell, the other heaven, trying to compete for the soul of Frannie, a 17 year old for their kingdom. I mean, I know most angel books always have demons (and vice-versa), but this was a plot that was so different then the normal fare, I loved the idea!

  Though the first 100 or so pages of this book aren't too memorable (not to say they were bad, just not enthralling) it really started to pick up after that. The one thing I really liked about this book? No throwaway scenes! Every scene advanced the plot and Descrochers did not waste any pages. There was always a fast tempo and a sense of urgency, which I tend to like in these kinds of books!

   Though in almost every love triangle I pick the side of the good guy, there was something about Luc (who was totally the bad boy of the novel) that made me like him. I loved watching him transform into a better person because of Frannie.

 Frannie was a character I had mixed emotions on. At first she seemed more a 2d character who only existed in order for Luc to shine, but she started to grow on me and by the end of the book I was cheering like hell for her. She really became quite badass!

  The book is narrated by both Frannie and Luc, which was a style of writing I really enjoyed. They narrator changed every three pages or so, so we were able to see the reaction of one character in what happened while the other was narrating. Which in my mind was perfect for this book!

   Fast paced and enjoyable, Lisa Desrochers'  Personal Demons is as hot as hell. Pun intended.

Cover Comments:

I love the use of color on this cover! All the shades of gold are awesome! It's also cool how the angel wings on Gabe are transparent. And Luc looks exactly how I would picture him! 

Waiting on Wednesday: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

This week's pick is:

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Release Date ~ 2/5/2013
Publisher ~ Feiwel and Friends
Add it On Goodreads

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

I am freaking excited for this book! Cinder was by far the best fairy-tale re-tellings I've ever read and also one of my favorite dystopians! I thought Cinder was an amazing main character to read about and Marissa crafted a debut novel that is very hard to match! And c'mon... look at the cover... how can you not just want to hug it close to you for a million years (Okay, now I'm sounding like a perv). If I have to wait to February 2013 to read this, blood will spill. *Hint, hint, Feiwel and Friends* 

Top Ten Books I've Read In the Lifespan of My Blog

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

Top Ten Books I've Read in the Lifespan of My Blog

10

Anna Trilogy by Kendare Blake

The best horror novels ever written. End of story.

9

A Touch Trilogy by Leah Clifford

Two of the best paranormal books out there! I love the wit Leah has!

8

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cyborg Cinderella? How could it not be amazing?

7

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

I am in love with Mia in all kinds of unhealthy ways. She is just such a great character!

6

Fateful by Claudia Gray

I love the Titanic and I love paranormal. This is the perfect combo!

5

Slide by Jill Hathaway

An awesome murder mystery with a touch of paranormal!

4

Envy by Gregg Olsen

Scroll up to what I said about Slide then add the fact it takes place 30 minutes from where I live and ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

3

Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

Let's just say it's a more exciting version of the Three Wise Men story...

2

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

This book is all kinds of awesomeness. 

1

Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth

VERONICA ROTH IS A GODDESS, BOW DOWN TO HER!!

Gregg Olsen Blogger Event Recap

Hey guys! So a few weeks ago I went to a awesome event for bloggers hosted by Gregg Olsen, author of Envy. When I got the invite from Gregg's author escort, Gail I was so excited. The event was located in the setting of the book, Port Gamble, WA, a mere half hour drive from my house. 

When I first got there not everyone was there so I got the chance to chat at The Port Gamble General Store with Sarah from Sarah's Random Musings, who I had met before, and Candace from Candace's Book Blog, who I had talked with a fair amount online but never in person. It was awesome to meet her, as she was one of the first bloggers I started reading when I joined the book blogging community!

After that we got to explore a genuine haunted house (not open to the public)

The house was really neat, and we even got to eat lunch there while Gregg gave a presentation! (Lunch was a yummy portobello mushroom burger which I highly advise eating) 

After word we got to go on a tour that included some very awesome sights from the book!

Group photo in the Port Gamble Cemetery, final resting place of many people mentioned in the book!

 Katelyn's house. Apparently the upper room (with the window) is where she was murdered!

This is where Beth lives in the book, it's also where the foriegn exchange student stays during Betrayal!

The Ryan family house. We actually got to go inside and look around! It's also the oldest continuously lived in house in Washington!

We did another group photo at the house, everyone has their books!

Gregg gave us a goodie bag filled with awesome stuff, and afterwords we got it all signed!

This was an awesome event that I really enjoyed! Thank you so much to Gregg and Gail for putting this on for us! 

Envy

Envy by Gregg Olsen
Release Date ~ 8/23/11
Format ~ Paperback
Publisher ~ Splinter
Source ~ Author
Purchase a SIGNED Copy!

Murder is such a dirty word…

New York Times bestselling adult true crime author Gregg Olsen makes his YA debut with Empty Coffin, a gripping new fiction series for teens based on ripped-from-the-headlines stories…with a paranormal touch.

Crime lives--and dies--in the deceptively picture-perfect town of Port Gamble (aka “Empty Coffin”), Washington. Evil lurks and strange things happen--and 15-year-olds Hayley and Taylor Ryan secretly use their wits and their telepathic “twin-sense” to uncover the truth about the town's victims and culprits.


Envy, the series debut, involves the mysterious death of the twins' old friend, Katelyn. Was it murder? Suicide? An accident? Hayley and Taylor are determined to find out--and as they investigate, the twins stumble upon a dark truth that is far more disturbing than they ever could have imagined.
Based on the shocking true crime about cyber-bullying, Envy will take you to the edge--and push you right over.

    Envy is one of those books that is more then just a book. It grows a mouth and then goes over and sits down right next to you and tells you a story that will change you, enthrall you, and make you never forget it.

   The story starts with such a horrible event the book's doing an evil chuckle and saying "How the hell are you going to put me down now, eh punk?". Within the first twenty pages everyone in the story has had their lives changed by the death of 15 year old Katelyn. The police instantly label the death as a suicide, and it's very clear she was having a pretty rough time, so there's obviously motive. But the two heroines of the story, twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan think there's a bit more to this story then that, and after 100 pages, that's obviously the case.

   One of the things I liked a lot about this story was how there were so many different narrators.  The main protagonists, Haley and Taylor did get the majority of the chapters, but almost every character, even the really minor ones got to give us a look inside their head!

   Hayley and Taylor were both awesome main characters! They were crafted wonderfully so they both just bounced of the page. They both had very different tones which was very refreshing.

  The setting of Port Gamble (just half an hour away from where I live) was the perfect place for this book. As anyone who's been there knows, it's a quaint, charming, small town. Perfect for this book. It feels as though it becomes it's own character.

  Exciting, suspenseful, Gregg Olsen's YA debut defies all expectations.

Cover Comments:

Such a creepy cover! I love the green background (green with envy, eh?) and the dirty bathtub is just freaky! 

24 Hour Trilexiton Update Two

For more information on the 24 Hour Trilexithon see the post here.

We'll I'm 8 or so hours into my writing group's 24 hour trilexiton (consists of reading, writing, and wordplay). I spent hardly any time reading but I did a lot of wordplay and writing!
Reading: 15 mins
Writing: 2 hr, 45 mins.
Wordplay: 4 hrs.
Break: 1 hr.

24 Trilexithon Update #1

For my starter post for the Trilexithon see here.

Here's what I've done so far in my sleepless 24 hour Trilexiton

Time Spent Reading: None

Writing 2 hr, 45 mins

Wordplay: 45 mins

Break: 30 mins

24 Hour Trilexithon!

Today my writing group is doing it's second annual "Trilexiton". The trilexition is where we do a 24 hour marathon that consists of writing, reading, and wordplay. Because of the two big read-a-thons this week I hope to get a lot of reading done. The event started at 10:00 am pacific (1 pm EST) (I planned to post this post then but WIFI problems got in the way) and ends at the same time tomorrow. I will be post updates every 4 hours. Wish me luck!

Book Haul (10)

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

For Review: 

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

I'm sooo stoked for this one. Daniel is a local author, and this one looks like the most perfect book ever for Halloween!

Lorien Legacies Series by Pittacus Lore

This is a series I've been meaning to read for a while - I enjoyed the movie and I was really excited when I got a surprise package from Harper containing all of them!

Bought:

Ascend by Amanda Hocking

I'm going to a signing Amanda is going to be at and I haven't read any of her books but had the first two in this series, so I had to buy the last one to complete my set! Going to have a mini-Amanda Hocking read-a-thon me thinks :)

Gifted: 

All of these are from the ever-awesome Suzanne from my local indie, Liberty Bay Books (link in the sidebar)

The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington 

I flipped out when Suzanne showed me - it looks like a YA version of American Horror Story!

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

The cover for this hasn't been released yet, but I'm really interested in the Holocaust so this will be a good read - once I work up the nerve to be really depressed lol!

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

I have been shying away from this one 'cause I don't like angel books but it looked too good to pass up!

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