Haunted Week!

Haunted week is coming your way! I'll be happy to participate, and thanks to the blogger pre-planned posts, I can go to my grandfather's funeral and not worry about having to post anything....because it'll do it for me *giggles* yeah, this whole, "you can post weeks in advance thing", is new to me.

This spooktacular celebration is hosted by Cheyenne at This Girl Reads
This are the Weeks meme's that will show up. I'll add links to those posts as they come up!

First up

October 24th - Ghosts of Books Half-Read
This post will feature five books that I began, but never finished.

October 25th - Bats in the Belfry!
This post will feature 5 things that drive me crazy in novels

 

October 26th - Skeletons in my closet.
This post will feature five books I've owned for a long time, but never read



 

October 27th - Back From the Grave
This post will feature 5 books I read and loved as a kid.
(This will be a challenge, as I didn't really read until I was into my teens.)



 

October 28th - It Came From the Web
This post will feature and link to five book blogs I've found and loved!

October 29th - Tricked or Treated
This post will feature five books that surprised me,
for better or for worse!



October 30th - Written in Stone
This post will feature the last line of five books.
(no spoilers!)

October 31st - Beware of Book Review
To finish off the week, I'll review a scary book of my choice!
(TBD)

 

BEA12 arc's log

ARC's received from BEA12!

These are the few i've reviewed so far:

Angelfall by Susan Ee - fantasy - Review 8/22/12

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner - Science Fiction - Review 9/14/12

False Memory by Dan Krokos - Science Fiction -Review 9/15/12

Infinity Ring by James Dashner - Science Fiction - Review 9/15/12

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John - Current Day Fiction - Review 9/15/12

Entice by Jessica Shirvington - Fantasy - Review 9/15/12

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry - Romance/contemp - Review 9/15/12

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - Fantasy Review 9/15/12

Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck - Fantasy Review 9/15/12

A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies - Fantasy - Review 9/15/12

Review BLITZ

Guys! I'm doing a blitz to catch up on reviews! Here are the links to the reviews i've put up so far today!


Angelfall by Susan Ee - fantasy - Review

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner - Science Fiction -  Review

False Memory by Dan Krokos - Science Fiction -Review

Infinity Ring by James Dashner - Science Fiction - Review

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John - Current Day Fiction - Review

Entice by Jessica Shirvington - Fantasy - Review

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry - Romance/contemp - Review

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - Fantasy Review

Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck - Fantasy Review

A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies - Fantasy - Review


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BARC Post #1

(B.reakdown of A.ngelic and R.eligious C.reatures)

Hey all!

You know how I told you to stay tuned for my breakdown of angelic/religious creatures in Young Adult fiction? Here are some of the books I'm going to include.

These are the books that I've read that I'm going to include. If you feel you have more that I should read and include in the breakdown, let me know! I'd love to add to my angelic-to-reads. Also, i do have one that I'm not sure quite qualifies...but I've put it down because I thought it would fit prettty well.

READ:

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
Bloodlines by Lindsay Anne Kendal
Embrace by Jessica Shirvington
Feathermore by Lucy Swing
Halflings by Heather Burch
Halo Chronicles by Carey Corp
Hush,Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Mephisto Covenant by
On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Wandering Stars by Marlon Pierre-Antoine

TO READ:

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto


Comment! I adore comments and don't get them too often!

I'm Back

Well.... on  Thursday the 26th at 3:30 sharp my grandfather passed on. by 3:34 I was over at their house to grieve with my mother and grandmother.

I kissed his forhead swept his hair back and sat down with my mom.... while we all cried and hugged, I'll miss him, but I felt like he was finally where he belonged.....

He never did like SoCal weather.... and that was the odd thing.

When I ran over to their house, it was overcast and humid..... (mind you, I live on the edge of a desert...we only get a couple inches of rain a year, if that).......my dad came in later and told me and my sister to come look at the sunrise...

we walked outside and it starting RAINING.


the sun shown through gaps in the clouds..it was amazing..

for some strange reason I turned around in the opposite direction... and there was a rainbow.
*yes, I starting quietly crying at this point*

and while we watched it became a double rainbow.... and then thunder clapped.

I couldn't help but notice that the rainbow was in the West sky... *west often represents good for some reason I've long forgotten*

In the Bible God creates the rainbow as a promise to Noah and the earth that he'll never flood the earth again....

but this time it felt like a different promise....

That one day I'll see him again.

That being said, I've lost two pets and a family member in the past three months. It's been rough. But I'll be okay. I'm slowly returning to blogging. *I still have a bunch of health issues bothering me*  I probably won't be back to full speed for awhile, but I'll keep in contact, I promise!

Grandfather

Hi guys!

I was away for a week, in NYC!! *squeals* I know right? I had an amazing time despite the health issues that prevented me from a total experience... I'll recap what all I did later. (attended Book Expo America!)

What's more important to me than books?

Only two things top that... My relationship with God (yeah, yeah, I'm not going to go preaching to you, this is just a statement...) and my family.

You may remember a while back ago that I was in Fresno for a doctors appointment, and I found a SIGNED copy of The Fault in Our Stars in the bookstore (awesome, right?) I'd heard a TON about how amazing it was, and that I really needed to read it. I was naturally JAZZED that I found one..signed. Just as I opened the book and started reading....my mother got a call. It was my dad, saying that a friend (my grandfather's doctor) had called him and told him that he was running tests, but to be prepared..

My grandfather had cancer.... Needless to say, I put the book down and just sat with my mom the three hours drive home.

My grandfather did have cancer (He's had it before, but went through chemo) and this time he'd decided to let it take him, that he was done fighting, he felt like he'd lived his life of 81 years (which I was sad, but fully understood..)

Unfortunately he's also has Alzheimer's (since about...2003) but I should say, he's been mentally unaffected....he knew who the president was, what team was playing on the weekends (further, he made his own brackets!)

  It just affected him physically, he had to stop driving, he couldn't walk without a walker etc... BUT he was still mentally there, and for that we were all thankful!

Anyway.....Papa (my grandfather) was always close to me, he used to buy me treats, yell at me for running in front of the TV, drive me to church, told me war stories, used to take me out for breakfast, and all other kinds of crazy stories from his life...he even told me where he wanted to be buried... While I wasn't his first granddaughter I always felt special.... out of all his grandchildren he chose to follow my family across the country..just to be with us... he even use to laugh and call me (recently) his genius/famous granddaughter (he thought the whole website concept was pretty cool.. even if he didn't understand it totally) He wished me good luck for New York, and told me to conquer the world at Book Expo America..

Before the BEA, I was plagued with nightmares, every night, the same dream. I'd go off to New York...and he'd die without me saying goodbye. One day I had a tearful confession moment with my dad, I told him about my nightmares and told him that in the dream, they didn't tell me till I got home that he'd died... (his parents did a similar thing with his grandparents and didn't tell him until after his college year was over...)

  I went to NY, had a mostly fabulous time and we came back.... the next day we rushed to my grandparents house (um...well, ran, it's about 20 feet away in my backyard..)

He said hello, (called me Debbie) asked how NY went... and he fell asleep. the next day...we came again. and he asked how NY went...

The next day we came...... he asked if I was still with that man, if I still wanted to marry him (he thought I was my aunt Debbie..the only time she married was in 1977...)

  The next day my mom went....he asked where his brother was...he was going to be late! they were going to wait until night fall and go steal the farmer's watermelons (for the record, they'd eat the innards, and lay them back together in the field...) The year of this event would have been 1938 or so..

and yesterday he thought I was the doctor...and he wondered who that cute little girl was (my sister, who really isn't little...*14yrs old*) and last night he fell out of bed twice, saying he needed to go shut the girls up because they were clearly fighting with each other... (referring to the 80's when my aunts used to fight each other all the time..)

and today the most heartbreaking news of all...the actual nurse came and we told her about these moments, were he starts moving his arms...kind of like climbing an invisible ladder...and she says what they commonly see in cancer patients who mentally aren't there.. is that they see past on loved ones and/or angels..and that they want to grab on to them...

after he ate a little breakfast this morning he went back to sleep and he hasn't woken up since... He's still alive, but I can't help but remember a discussion I had with him before I left NY.. he said he'd had a private meeting with Jesus and asked him what was taking so long.

I can't help but wonder if he actually did have a stern talking with him. I can't help but think he actually did pass on while I was in NY...it just wasn't physically..

Carnival - Booth X

she crouched low, ready to take on her target, she hurdled over the desk, ran down the hall and approached the mahogany door. she kicked it open! but instead of finding her target....she found..
A LIBRARY FULL OF SPY BOOKS.

*dons narrator voice* Welcome to BOOTH X of the CARNIVAL! *gestures wildly with hands*, this booth is dedicated the ninjas, spies, and other shady characters of our YA world. From the serious, - I-can-kill-you-in-six-different-ways-with-my-bare-hands spies, to the ones just in it for the spoils of war!...

Let me introduce you to our featured spies....



Agent #1: Gobi Zaksauskas;
*smashes through stage window*
Lithuanian exchange student with more than a few secrets, she can definitely kill you in (more) than six ways with her bare hands. Her story is narrated by Perry Stormaire, he catalogues her transformation from quiet drab Lithuanian to sexy, unstoppable revenge seeker in the book Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick.



Agent #2: Otto Malpense;
*lasers open ceiling and repels down*
Thirteen, English native, has a plot to destroy the most powerful man in the country...one that actually works. That's how he ended up hand picked for H.I.V.E. a school for super villains. He is destined to be the best....but soon, he'll be the villain of the villains..


Agent #3: Cammie Morgan;
*Smashes through door*
fifteen, knows over a dozen languages, and is enrolled in the most prestigious secret spy school..and all girls school...so when Cammie starts falling for a boy in the city, can she keep her identities secret? As well as find out what happened to her father who died in the field? Her journey is recorded in I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

Agent #4: Natalie
*Rips off janitor disguise and jumps on stage*
Natalie - Dr. Aphrodite, the girl with all the love advice (and the paper column to prove it) goes undercover and reinvents herself as Nat...it's just her and a week spying on what guys really think, do and want for an entire week. Her motivation? An investigative journalism award...and her dreamy roommate. Chaos and hilarity ensues... She was miss popular in her school, but in Boyland, she's a nobody. Read her zany adventures in Babe in Boyland...


*mumbles about repair expenses* Now your all familiar I'll have you know that I haven't read Babe in Boyland or I'd Tell You I  Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You...yet *stares at amazon buttons*. I fully intend to...but here is your fabulous opportunity to win one of these fabulous books! *stares at audience and points*  You only have to do two things....give me your email...
and give me a code!

Go to the 24th page of the book you are reading and look at the first full sentence.....and make a code out of it! It can be simple, funny, serious....whatever floats your goat! (yes, I know it's supposed to be 'boat' but you don't live with me...around here, trust me...it's goat.)

and in case your sentence is really boring like...'She walked into the room.' Feel free to use the names of objects in the room you are in... like BANANA. or....Ficus. When a ficus walks into the room its a whole lot more interesting!

Comment! What other great YA spy books have you read?

Retro Geeks by Karen Mueller Bryson

Read the review Here

Comment!

Defy by Raine Thomas

Read the review Here

Comment here!

Don't forget the giveaway! Here

The Vicious Deep Review and Giveaway!

Read my review Here

And what's up for grabs? I'm springing for a finished/complete copy of the Vicious Deep (I think I'm too attatched to my ARC *tear*) and a PIN (Like a cool one you can stick on a backpack) and these huge-ish stickers. while there is only one book, there will be multiple winners for the stickers :)

USA only. Sorry guys, way too expensive to ship so far!

Bloggers of the Deep

Zoraido Cordova, author of The Vicious Deep (Which I'm sure you've heard of if you've been on twitter around all the bloggers!) has a group of bloggers...dubbed Bloggers of the Deep. We've all been given copies of the book, and swag to give away! So keep watch!  I'll be doing a giveaway soon!

Daemon Invasion!

You may have heard about the Daemon Invasion on twitter, it'll be a blast full of chances to win amazing prizes from Jennifer Armentrout, including an ARC or two of Opal, the next installment of Daemon's adventures....


I'm on team Daemon's Dudettes. Cool name, huh? We have 8 spots left on our team. Tweet @ohpaperpages to join! Then we'll get started on the tasks we have to complete!

If you haven't read Obsidian yet, I strongly urge you to read it. Even non-sci-fi fans have loved it.

Embrace by Cherie Colyer

Comment here!

C.H.A.O.S. by Jon S. Lewis

Review Here

Comment here!

The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards

Comment Here!

Someone Else's Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts

Comment Here!

The Ethics of Blogging

You wouldn't think something as simply complex as blogging would evoke moral complications, would you?
I wish it wouldnt' sometimes. But the other side of the coin says yes, yes I do. Our morals and ethics is what makes us different and interesting. Even people within the same belief system have different ideas about the same thing...I think it's because ultimately no one can be 100% right. We are all wrong somewhere...

But the way this applies to blogging for me is, when a tour group asks you not to post bad reviews. I've just been asked that and the question is, is it not a lie to keep the truth from your viewers?

Not saying anything at all is like admitting that the truth isn't prevalent to what you are doing. Why would a place ask me to lie about something that is so opinionated anyway?

The thing that almost angers me more, is the fact of the number of bloggers just going along with it. Why? Why do you do this? Are you afraid of being called out? Are you afraid of discrimination? Are you afraid to take a stand?

I'm foremost appalled at the idea that I would bend my morals for a BLOG for crying out loud. I will post my reviews however I like them! Another question is, do the authors know about such policies? Do they know that the group is demanding only shining reviews? I sure hope they are blissfully ignorant. Otherwise, shame to the instigator as well...I know you want your book to get good reviews, but to be honest, bad review generate as much curiosity as good ones!

I'm finishing up the last tour I have with said group and formally resigning afterwards.

What is your view? What would you sacrifice, or what wouldn't you, for you blog/book? 

Feathermore by Lucy Swing

http://www.rachelsbookreviews.com/e-h#!__e-h/feathermore

Comment here!

IMM (#1)

In my Mailbox:    

February 26, 2012

Books from authors:

Someone Else's Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts
The Worker Prince by Bryan Thomas Schmidt
iDracula by Bekka Black

ARC's (Advance Reading Copies):

                                      The Savage Grace by Bree Despain

                                        Bought:
                                   The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
                                    Legend by Marie Lu
                                  Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Did you get anything interesting this week?

Believing in Horses by Valerie Ormond

http://www.rachelsbookreviews.com/current-day-fiction#!__current-day-fiction/believing-in-horses

Comment Here!

Questions from The Teen Librarian Toolbox

1. What book do you think just never got the book love it deserved?

....That's a hard question, I've read a lot of books that didn't get what they deserved. I'll name the primary two that are in my mind,

The Door Within series by Wayne Thomas Batson  and
Legon series by Nicholas Taylor

I urge you to check out both of them, they are amazing books. Both series are complete too! No anxious waiting for the next installment!


2. What 1 genre do you just really have a hard time getting into?

I really don't read a lot outside of YA, so I'll just focus on sub-categories. I have an atrocious time getting into contemporary fiction, I don't relate to the characters at all.

3. Who is your book boyfriend/girlfriend? (You know you have one!)

AHHH..WHY?! Why do you have to ask that?! haha um.....wow, what a hard question... Jason Masters from Starlighter by Bryan Davis. Hard to answer but if I had to pick one, Jason would be it.

4. Has a book ever given you nightmares? Which one?

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner about 1/3 of the way in there is an amazing scene where they are locked in a building and a plane starts to fly towards the building. I stopped reading after that scene and never went back. had nightmares about 9/11 for a couple nights. I was only six when 9/11 happened but I remember watching every minute. Anything with planes and plane crashes bother me. I just can't stand to read it. 
    
5. What book left you crying the most tears?

It's a tie between Way of the Dragon by Chris Bradford and The Fire by James Patterson

6. What book ending just left you angry because you wanted it to end differently or because you wanted something different for a character in the book?

I was a little disappointed by Mockingjay the final installation in the Hunger Games trilogy. I was saddened by Finnick's death (he was my favorite character! I mean, come on! He'd just had a son!) and I just felt that it was a little empty.

7. What 1 book do you wish you had written and why?

um...I don't think I wish to write any known series... I want to write my own but I don't think I could do a series any more justice than its already been given!

8. What childhood favorite (not teen) do you still like to revisit and read again?

Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, (technically) Harry Potter..and of course, I've always wanted to revisit the book that started my love of writing! That book isn't Harry Potter (like a lot of people guess!) but is The Shadowed Unicorn by Sheila Kelly Welch.

9. I like this one so I'm going to steal it: What is your favorite book quote?

Oh...so many..but I'd have to say this one:
"We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." Sirius Black in Order of the Phoenix.

10. What book made you sad that it ended because you just weren't ready to leave that world yet?

um....Bandits by L.M. Preston and Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Although, that's kind of a lie. Both series have planned sequels...

11. Which book character do you wish you were like and why?
The only character I can recall relating to at least a little bit, was Kelsey from Tiger's Curse. So, I guess if I could be her for a little while I wouldn't put up a fuss. ;D

Hope you enjoyed this questionnaire from The Teen Librarian Toolbox 

Bree Despain Interview

http://www.rachelsbookreviews.com/#!__interview/bree-despain

What do you think about the interview and the series?

Luminosity Cover Reveal

Hey guys!
I was asked to participate in a cover reveal and said yes. Here it is!

LUMINOSITY (Luminosity, #1) by Stephanie Thomas (September 11, 2012)

Blurb:

"My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was
immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At
the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings.
And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t
been the same since.

The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the
Dreamcatchers, but I’m finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from
everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us
all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me.

But the enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling
in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I
think I’ve already helped them win."

Paperback Available for Pre-Order from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Luminosity-Stephanie-Thomas/dp/1620611279/ref=lh_ni_t

Add to your Goodreads TBR:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13425149-luminosity

So, what do you think?

Hot off the Press!