Thursday, May 23, 2013

{25 Things} Kit Grindstaff

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Today on 25 Things You Might Not Know About Me, I am so happy to  have Kit Grindstaff, author of The Flame in the Mist (Delacorte, 2013)

Take a minute to get to know this Middle Grade writing, funny song singing Britt!

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_Kit's Book Cover

Set in an imagined past, this dark fantasy-adventure is for fans of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass. Features  Jemma, a fiery-headed heroine held captive in Agromond Castle, yet destined to save mist-shrouded Anglavia.

Fiery-headed Jemma Agromond is not who she thinks she is, and when the secrets and lies behind her life at mist-shrouded Agromond Castle begin to unravel, she finds herself in a chilling race for her life. Ghosts and misfits, a stone and crystals, a mysterious book, an ancient prophecy—all these reveal the truth about Jemma's past and a destiny far greater and more dangerous than she could have imagined in her wildest fantasies. With her telepathic golden rats, Noodle and Pie, and her trusted friend, Digby, Jemma navigates increasingly dark forces, as helpers both seen and unseen, gather. But in the end, it is her own powers that she must bring to light, for only she has the key to defeating the evil ones and fulfilling the prophecy that will bring back the sun and restore peace in Anglavia.

 

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

{Waiting on Wednesday} 63

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

See something you like here?
Click the book cover to add it to your Good Reads TBR List!

WaitingonWednesday

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Control
Author: Lydia Kang
Release Date: December 26, 2013
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.
A spiraling, intense, romantic story set in 2150—in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms—this is about the human genetic “mistakes” that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.
“Control blew me away.”—James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner trilogy

 

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Not A Drop To Drink
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water.
Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.
Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.
But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….
With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own.

 

What are you waiting on? Will these be on your TBR Piles?

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

{Teaser Tuesday} 30

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Teaser Tuesday is Hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Here's how it works:

1. Grab Your Current Read
2. Pick 2 Teaser Sentences from it (be sure to avoid spoilers!)
3. Post it to your blog with title & author so other
TT participants can add it to their TBR list!
4. Then, when you visit other TT, leave a link to your TT in their comments.

Grow your TBR list and make new friends!

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Earthbound
Author: Aprilynne Pike
Publisher: Razobill
Release Date: July 30, 2013

The darkness that feels like it’s looming, waiting to devour me.
“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Elizabeth says gently, but with a firmness that tells me she’s telling the truth” p.71

 

 

 

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Monday, May 20, 2013

{Book Review} The Program

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The Program
The Program #1
Author: Suzanne Young
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 416
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: 5 Birds

In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.
Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.
Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

When I think “Dystopian”, I think The Hunger Games. I think Divergent. I do not think THE PROGRAM. Why am I starting here? Well, I’ve notice an over abundance of Dystopian novels as of late, and it’s easy to get burnt out on a genre. I would HATE for you to skip over this book thinking “If I have to read one more dystopian novel I will volunteer as tribute…” THE PROGRAM, I’ve noticed, is being solely labeled as Dystopian in a lot of places – but I’m here to tell you – it’s more.

THE PROGRAM is, in my opinion, more of a Contemporary novel with dystopian tendencies. There is no collapsed world with the all controlling government. Instead you have a totally normal, every day world. Today’s world with cars, cell phones, MTV and all that and oh there’s that little thing called The Program that was created to stop the epidemic of teen suicide. The government isn’t even totally controlling that, in a lot of cases it’s the parents desperate for help, who turn in their own kids. 

Now that I have that out of the way, let’s get down to what I thought of the book. Simply put I loved it. Sure, it had it moments for me, a few downfalls I’ll touch on a few in a bit, but my overall thoughts were “Thank goodness, something new. Something different.”

Let’s start with the setting, which I mentioned earlier – it’s today. Literally this book could take place in 2013 and I fully believe it’s what makes the concept of The Program so horrifying. It’s not so far out in left field that it couldn’t happen in some way. Imagine if you were a teen – remember how hard and horrible it was? Ok, not imagine if you can’t show any negative feelings. You can’t cry, show excessive anger, complain or be defiant in anyway. Acting like that means you are sick, infected and will likely commit suicide. If you do show negative emotions, you will be flagged and taken off to The Program to be “cured”.

The concept of The Program is solid, interesting and a bit scary. It’s a solid foundation for the book to be built on. A few of the things that I didn’t really love was a bit of the character building. While Sloane and James are well rounded, likable and relatable. There’s a few characters who’s presence I wondered if they actually needed to be there, and in most cases they were dismissed rather quickly, never to be mentioned again. Though I do have a few theories about this – since The Program messes with your memory, are they really gone, or does Sloane just not remember them?

Young doesn’t dance around the concept of sex in this book. It’s there, it’s done, there’s no taboo about it. It’s a bit refreshing, that it’s not treated like the sick kid no one wants to sit next too. It’s happening in real life, it happens in the book.

All in all, I loved this book. I’m gripped tight by the world Young created and desperate for more. I’m only upset that I missed book club this week for family reasons, because I would have loved to sit around and talk about it with them. I do want to thank a blogger friend of mine, Jen from Fictitious Delicious, who was asked if our book club would like to read THE PROGRAM for our next book by Penguin. Thanks to her for sharing and for Penguin for the fantastic opportunity.

Find Suzanne Young
TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | WEBSITE

5birdnew

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{Blog Tour + Giveaway} He’s Gone

 

Hes_Gone_Tour_Banner

 

“What do you think happened to your husband, Mrs. Keller?”

The Sunday morning starts like any other, aside from the slight hangover. Dani Keller wakes up on her Seattle houseboat, a headache building behind her eyes from the wine she drank at a party the night before. But on this particular Sunday morning, she’s surprised to see that her husband, Ian, is not home. As the hours pass, Dani fills her day with small things. But still, Ian does not return. Irritation shifts to worry, worry slides almost imperceptibly into panic. And then, like a relentless blackness, the terrible realization hits Dani: He’s gone.

As the police work methodically through all the logical explanations—he’s hurt, he’s run off, he’s been killed—Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

You can purchase He’s Gone at the following Retailers:


THIS OR THAT

*Day or Night: Day, especially morning. But, PLEASE – not too early.

*Coffee or Tea: Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.

*Pen or Pencil: Pen. Black or blue fine point Sharpie.

*Hotdogs or Hamburgers: Hot dogs. Just off the barbeque, and with sauerkraut, thank you. A handful of Frito’s would go lovely with that.

*Ereader or Hardback: Hardback. I’m a romantic when it comes to books.

*Vampires or Werewolves: Werewolves. I’ll take warm and furry over icy cold any day.

*Cinema or DVD: DVD. Although movie theater popcorn is a reason to go, right there.

*Curled up with a good book OR A Night on the Town: Curled up with a book.

*Country or Top 40: Alternative. Something new and interesting.

*Dragonball Z OR The Last Airbender: Batman.


GIVEAWAY

3 Winners will receive a Copy of  He’s Gone by Deb Caletti.
1 Winner will receive a Poster and Bookmark of a Surprise Art by James Vallesteros.
10 Winners will receive One bookmark of a Surprise Art by James Vallesteros.

SHIPPING IN THE US ONLY | MUST BE 13+ TO ENTER | NO PO BOXES

a Rafflecopter giveaway


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deb Caletti (1)Deb Caletti is an award-winning author and a National Book Award finalist whose books are published and translated worldwide. Her first novel was The Queen of Everything (Simon & Schuster, 2002),of which a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly proclaimed: “This marks Caletti as a writer to watch.” Although written for adults, its coming-of-age themes gained it acclaim as a Y/A book. It made the cover of the esteemed review journal The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books (the first trade book to do so in the journal’s history), and then was chosen for PSLA’s Top Forty of 2003 and the International Reading Association’s Young Adult Choices for 2004. It is currently in its thirteenth printing.
Deb’s second book, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Kirkus called it, “tender and poetic,” and the book earned other distinguished recognition, including the PNBA Best Book Award, the Washington State Book Award, and School Library Journal’s Best Book award. It was a finalist for the California Young Reader Medal and the PEN USA Literary Award, and was also a 2005 IRA Notable Book, an SSLI Book Awards Honor Book, and made the New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teen Age, Chicago Library’s Best Books of 2004, and the Texas TAYSHA’s list. Her third book, Wild Roses, won acclaim with starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly, which deemed it, “rich,” and School Library Journal, which said the book was “multifaceted and emotionally devastating,” with “profound observations and vivid language.” It was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age and a RT Book Club Magazine’s finalist for Best Y/A Book of 2005. The Nature of Jade was a summer 2007 Booksense pick, a Books A Million Book Club selection, and was a finalist for RT Magazine’s Best Y/A Book of the Year.
Her fifth book, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, was released April 2008, followed by The Secret Life of Prince Charming in 2009, The Six Rules of Maybe in 2010, Stay in 2011, and The Story of Us in 2012. In addition, several anthologies include work by Deb, including “First Kiss, Then Tell,” a Bloomsbury anthology benefiting NPR Youth Radio, and two collections of non-fiction critical essays developed by Borders Books: “The World of the Golden Compass” and “Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.” In 2013, Deb’s first book for adults, He’s Gone, will be released from Random House.
Deb grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and earned her journalism degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. When Deb is not writing books or reading them, she is a painter and a lyricist, and speaks widely to audiences on writing and life as an author. Deb lives with her family in Seattle.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

WEBSITE

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Friday, May 17, 2013

{Book Review} The Elite

The Elite Cover

The Elite
The Selection #2
Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 336
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: ARC
Rating: 4 Birds

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller, The Selection.

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Last year, I read this book, THE SELECTION by Kiera Cass and absolutely loved it! It was an instant favorite so yeah, I was pretty much dying to get my hands on THE ELITE! I managed to get an ARC of THE ELITE and of course, I immediately dove into it!

Again, Kiera Cass was able to keep me completely captivated from beginning to end! While it didn’t quite live up to THE SELECTION (but really how could it?), fans of THE SELECTION will be pleased with its sequel.

The field of girls has been narrowed down drastically but that doesn’t mean that things have gotten any easier for the girls in the elite. If anything, the claws have came out even further!

After America finally realized her feelings for Prince Maxon at the end of THE SELECTION things were complicated by the sudden reappearance of Aspen. Immediately, America is even more confused about her feelings. She knows she cares for Maxon but is she really Queen material? No one other than Maxon really seems to think so.

The one thing that really irritated me in this book and caused me not to love it like I did THE SELECTION was the fact that I felt both Maxon and America took a step back as far as character development goes. Maxon, who I believed was really making progress in growing and learning about the problems in his country, suddenly, takes two steps back. A couple of bombs are dropped and even though they are later explained I was still a little disappointed in how things were handled. Worse, America completely overreacts and further complicates things. Both Maxon and America both made me want to pull my hair out!

However, the elements that made me fall in love with THE SELECTION were still present. Cass continues to create a story that readers can’t help but love and a love story that just might rival that of Cinderella and Prince Charming…as long as Maxon and America can quit being so stubborn!

FIND KEIRA CASS

WEBISTE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

4birdsnew

ashley

{Spotlight} Skankenstein

Skankenstein Cover

Skankenstein
Author: David Fumarola/Katie Reiter
Price: FREE! On Amazon from May 17 - 22

Sometimes the ugliest monsters come in the prettiest packages...

Victoria Frank is the picture of teen perfection – she’s talented, witty, and ruthless – but being queen of tiny Geneva, NY isn’t enough. Tired of merely designing the perfect outfit, she sets out to design the perfect person. But by the time she realizes beauty is only skin deep, she’s already unleashed her monster on the world. Now it’s a race against
time to stop the vile creature from destroying her life, and she has to do it in the most evil place of all – high school.

After ditching her horrifying creation in L.A., all Victoria wants is the perfect senior year, but it becomes impossible when the dreaded beast shows up in her own backyard. Armed with a new body, a new attitude and a new name, M turns the school hierarchy on its head. But when M suffers the embarrassment of a lifetime and sets her sights on revenge, our queen bee finds herself pitted in a cat fight to the death where kid sisters, boyfriends and tiaras are all fair game. It’s a twist on Frankenstein unlike any before, with an ending so explosive it’ll leave your bowels quaking.

GET IT FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!

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EXCERPT
(“Salted Wounds”)

“Ok,” I said, folding my arms and sitting back in the booth. “I get it; you’re a bad ass bitch. Now what the hell do you want?”

She set down her burger, ketchup and onions spilling out where she had taken a bite. The greasy graveyard on her plate made me want to vomit. I had spent a good portion of my life avoiding crap like that. Not only was I trying to stay skinny, but that stuff goes straight to your complexion.

“What’s the rush, Victoria? Believe me; we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on.”

“Yeah,” I snorted, “right.”

“And your tone! What would your mother say if she could hear you?”

“You don’t know crap about my mother!”

“Well, I know she raised a shallow, manipulative mess.”

I couldn’t keep my anger inside any longer. Still, I didn’t want to cause a big scene, even if we were in a trashy diner. I reached out and grabbed her plate, sliding it toward me. I grabbed the salt and twisted off the top. Then I flipped open the burger and dumped the contents of the entire jar onto the beef patty. I smiled and slid the plate back to her.

The wretch shook her head. “Now what was the point of that?”

“It made me feel better.” My smile turned into a grin.

She sighed and pushed the plate toward the edge of the table, where the waitress could collect it. “This conversation’s starting to bore me,” she said, “so I’ll cut to the chase.”

“Well?” I asked impatiently.

“I need your help.”

I scoffed. “You need a lot more help than I can give you.”

“You mean more than you already gave me,” she said, her eyes squinted in contempt.

“Exactly,” I said coldly. “If you need some help getting out of town, I’d be happy to oblige.”

She laughed. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere, Victoria. In fact, I think I’m going to settle in here.”

“Why?” I asked in disbelief.

“I’m sick of being alone,” she said, seemingly honest. “I just want friends. I want to be normal.”

“You’re never going to be normal, you freak.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true. That’s where you come in.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as the waitress grabbed the plate. She made a face at us when she saw the salt covered food, but she didn’t say anything about it.

“Are you ready for the check?”

“Yes,” I said quickly, shooing her away with my hand.

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