Adding to the Stacks #2

I'm feeling like I might be smushed beneath all the great books I've gotten lately. These are from last week.  Very close to finishing Follow Me and A Little Bit Scandalous already. Go me!

e-galleys via NetGalley:

  

 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers!) 

Dead Ends by Erin Jade Lange (thanks to Bloomsbury!)

Follow Me by David Platt (thanks to Tyndale House!)

Over the Rainbow by Brian Rowe (thanks to Brian Rowe!)

Print copies from publishers:

The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown (thanks Atria!)

Siege by Simon Kernick (thanks Atria!)

Shine, Shine, Shine by 

Margot by Jillian Cantor

Won:

 

The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman #1/3) by Ben H. Winters (thanks to Quirk Books!)

Countdown City (The Last Policeman #2/3) by Ben H. Winters (thanks to Quirk Books!)

e-galley from publisher for review:

A Little Bit Scandalous by Robyn DeHart (thanks to Entangled!)

Hope your haul was epic too!

Adding to the Stacks #2

I'm feeling like I might be smushed beneath all the great books I've gotten lately. These are from last week.  Very close to finishing Follow Me and A Little Bit Scandalous already. Go me!

e-galleys via NetGalley:

  

 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers!) 

Dead Ends by Erin Jade Lange (thanks to Bloomsbury!)

Follow Me by David Platt (thanks to Tyndale House!)

Over the Rainbow by Brian Rowe (thanks to Brian Rowe!)

Print copies from publishers:

The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown (thanks Atria!)

Siege by Simon Kernick (thanks Atria!)

Shine, Shine, Shine by 

Margot by Jillian Cantor

Won:

 

The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman #1/3) by Ben H. Winters (thanks to Quirk Books!)

Countdown City (The Last Policeman #2/3) by Ben H. Winters (thanks to Quirk Books!)

e-galley from publisher for review:

A Little Bit Scandalous by Robyn DeHart (thanks to Entangled!)

Hope your haul was epic too!

ALASKA stop on the 2013 Reading Road Trip + Giveaway

Welcome to the Alaska stop on the 2013 Reading Road Trip. Hosted by Britta at I Like These Books and Hafsah at IceyBooks, the Reading Road Trip is a fun way to learn about the different states and the books about and authors from each.

So why is the Florida girl hosting Alaska? Because if there was one state in the whole country that I'd love to visit, it is Alaska. The cold. I would love the cold!

A few facts:

• The Capital is Juneau
• Was purchased from Russia for approximately two cents per acre!
• Became a state in 1959
• 663,300 square miles
• Has a population of 731,449
• The current governor is Sean Parnell

In searching for facts about Alaska, I found that there are a lot of hockey players AND porn stars from that state. The hockey players I get....the porn stars because it is really cold? Just sayin'. 

Giveaway! Winner's choice of a book set in or by an author from Alaska. Open internationally to anyplace that the Book Depository ships to. One entry for stopping by. There are extra entries for those of you who follow me on Twitter and/or Bloglovin' or am my friend on Goodreads.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ALASKA stop on the 2013 Reading Road Trip + Giveaway

Welcome to the Alaska stop on the 2013 Reading Road Trip. Hosted by Britta at I Like These Books and Hafsah at IceyBooks, the Reading Road Trip is a fun way to learn about the different states and the books about and authors from each.

So why is the Florida girl hosting Alaska? Because if there was one state in the whole country that I'd love to visit, it is Alaska. The cold. I would love the cold!

A few facts:

• The Capital is Juneau
• Was purchased from Russia for approximately two cents per acre!
• Became a state in 1959
• 663,300 square miles
• Has a population of 731,449
• The current governor is Sean Parnell

In searching for facts about Alaska, I found that there are a lot of hockey players AND porn stars from that state. The hockey players I get....the porn stars because it is really cold? Just sayin'. 

Giveaway! Winner's choice of a book set in or by an author from Alaska. Open internationally to anyplace that the Book Depository ships to. One entry for stopping by. There are extra entries for those of you who follow me on Twitter and/or Bloglovin' or am my friend on Goodreads.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Last Dance by Kiki Hamilton {Blog Tour + Giveaway}

Title: The Last Dance
Author: Kiki Hamilton (website)(Twitter)
Pages: 268 pages
Source: author for blog tour (click here for the entire tour)
Publication Date: February 14, 2013
Publisher: Fair Wind Books
Rating: My heart zings~

    

I received a wonderful personalized and autographed copy of The Last Dance for this blog tour as well as a few bookmarks. The author's little trademark sentiment "I hope your heart zings" sums up this book for me. It is such a sweet little book.

At 256 pages, it is a fast read but it is loaded with heart. Kellen is the school's star quarterback. An injury leaves him relearning how to walk and talk. He has near perfect grades so to keep up he is assigned a tutor, Ivy Ly. Ivy is an accomplished musician on her way to an Ivy League school. Her parents are grooming her for medical school but her secret wish is to study music. Mira is Ivy's best friend and she is obsessed with Kellen.

Although I knew pretty much where this was going from the very beginning, I enjoyed the story very much. Ivy and Kellan are both quite likeable and Mira is a complete hoot. I loved that Kellan is a smart jock and not a dumb one. He does very well in school and in sports and is still loved after his accident when he thinks that he's not worth anything.

Hamilton speaks to a very real issue in sports - especially hockey and football - a condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE. It is a disease resulting from trauma to the brain. As a mother of two sons, I was especially interested in this condition. It is wonderful that the author has given a voice to this disease through a sweet story. It makes you think.

The secondary cast of characters were also well done. Kellan's ex-girlfriend, Laurel, is a character that I love to hate. She is a mean girl cheerleader but isn't just a cardboard cutout character. CJ, Brandon and the others are also well written and a good part of the book. 

The romance was nice and not overdone. Very believable in both progress and troubles.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other fan's of YA contemporary. Mixing seriousness with hope and love...it made my heart zing.



About the Author:

Kiki Hamilton is the author of THE FAERIE RING fantasy series and the YA contemporary novel, THE LAST DANCE. She believes in magic and the idea of hidden worlds co-existing with our own. Kiki lives near Seattle, though she dreams of living in London one day. Visit her website.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Last Dance by Kiki Hamilton {Blog Tour + Giveaway}

Title: The Last Dance
Author: Kiki Hamilton (website)(Twitter)
Pages: 268 pages
Source: author for blog tour (click here for the entire tour)
Publication Date: February 14, 2013
Publisher: Fair Wind Books
Rating: My heart zings~

    

I received a wonderful personalized and autographed copy of The Last Dance for this blog tour as well as a few bookmarks. The author's little trademark sentiment "I hope your heart zings" sums up this book for me. It is such a sweet little book.

At 256 pages, it is a fast read but it is loaded with heart. Kellen is the school's star quarterback. An injury leaves him relearning how to walk and talk. He has near perfect grades so to keep up he is assigned a tutor, Ivy Ly. Ivy is an accomplished musician on her way to an Ivy League school. Her parents are grooming her for medical school but her secret wish is to study music. Mira is Ivy's best friend and she is obsessed with Kellen.

Although I knew pretty much where this was going from the very beginning, I enjoyed the story very much. Ivy and Kellan are both quite likeable and Mira is a complete hoot. I loved that Kellan is a smart jock and not a dumb one. He does very well in school and in sports and is still loved after his accident when he thinks that he's not worth anything.

Hamilton speaks to a very real issue in sports - especially hockey and football - a condition known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE. It is a disease resulting from trauma to the brain. As a mother of two sons, I was especially interested in this condition. It is wonderful that the author has given a voice to this disease through a sweet story. It makes you think.

The secondary cast of characters were also well done. Kellan's ex-girlfriend, Laurel, is a character that I love to hate. She is a mean girl cheerleader but isn't just a cardboard cutout character. CJ, Brandon and the others are also well written and a good part of the book. 

The romance was nice and not overdone. Very believable in both progress and troubles.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other fan's of YA contemporary. Mixing seriousness with hope and love...it made my heart zing.



About the Author:

Kiki Hamilton is the author of THE FAERIE RING fantasy series and the YA contemporary novel, THE LAST DANCE. She believes in magic and the idea of hidden worlds co-existing with our own. Kiki lives near Seattle, though she dreams of living in London one day. Visit her website.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Envy (7)

Every week several of my favorite bloggers post vlogs or whatever of all the great book hauls they've received for the week. Since I'm a tiny little fish in the huge book blogging pond, my mailbox isn't stuffed with all the great ARCs that they get. Dana's ARC Envy is my way of highlighting an ARC that I *wish* had been sent to me too. 

Title: 3:59
Author: Gretchen McNeil (website)(Twitter)
Publisher: Harper Teen (website)(Twitter)
Expected Publication Date: September 24, 2013

Judging a book by its cover:  Oooh, creepy. Me likey.

Know anything about the author?  Have another of her books, Ten, on my wishlist too.

Why do I want it?  One word...doppelgangers.

Summary from Publisher:

Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend, Nick, has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse. Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror—Jo.

Josie and Jo are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that briefly overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's fabulous life, Josie jumps at the chance to cross through the portal and switch places for a day. But Jo's world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.

Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there's a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it's too late?

From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had—and how they just might kill you.

What ARC are you envying this week?

ARC Envy (7)

Every week several of my favorite bloggers post vlogs or whatever of all the great book hauls they've received for the week. Since I'm a tiny little fish in the huge book blogging pond, my mailbox isn't stuffed with all the great ARCs that they get. Dana's ARC Envy is my way of highlighting an ARC that I *wish* had been sent to me too. 

Title: 3:59
Author: Gretchen McNeil (website)(Twitter)
Publisher: Harper Teen (website)(Twitter)
Expected Publication Date: September 24, 2013

Judging a book by its cover:  Oooh, creepy. Me likey.

Know anything about the author?  Have another of her books, Ten, on my wishlist too.

Why do I want it?  One word...doppelgangers.

Summary from Publisher:

Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend, Nick, has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse. Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror—Jo.

Josie and Jo are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that briefly overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's fabulous life, Josie jumps at the chance to cross through the portal and switch places for a day. But Jo's world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.

Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there's a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it's too late?

From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had—and how they just might kill you.

What ARC are you envying this week?

Little Visits at Bedtime by Dr. Mary Manz Simon

Title: Little Visits at Bedtime
Author: Dr. Mary Manz Simon
Pages: 224
Publication Date: July 20, 2012
Publisher: Concordia Publishing House (website)(Twitter)
Source: Publisher for honest review
Rating: very cute!

One of my boys' favorite things to do is unwind at night by reading stories. When I saw Little Visits at Bedtime I immediately requested it to read and review. Adding it to my new Kindle just made it even more fun for the boys. They get to "turn the pages" by hitting the screen so they are super involved in the stories.

Recommend for kids ages 3 to 7. The book contains 105 short devotional and a prayer. We don't use the prayer included because we do "prayer requests" instead but one of the tips in the book is extend the prayer to include items of importance to your particular child. 

Each day takes about 10 minutes to read the devotional and answer the included question and that is for both boys. There is always more discussion that can last as long as I'll let it. My boys can gab. 

I love that they are not dated so that if we miss a day or want to do more than one story, we can pick up where we left off. The stories are cute and are very relevant. There is a good mix of stories that I would consider more girlish and more boyish. I have changed around a bit of the story to keep it more interesting for my kids and that works well. 

So many teachable moments are in Little Visits at Bedtime. They learn about kindness and sharing and God's love for them, friendship and animals. Lots of things that they are already interested in.

I would highly recommend this to parents of little ones. If you are looking for another great, short devotional book, Little Visits at Bedtime is a great choice.

Little Visits at Bedtime by Dr. Mary Manz Simon

Title: Little Visits at Bedtime
Author: Dr. Mary Manz Simon
Pages: 224
Publication Date: July 20, 2012
Publisher: Concordia Publishing House (website)(Twitter)
Source: Publisher for honest review
Rating: very cute!

One of my boys' favorite things to do is unwind at night by reading stories. When I saw Little Visits at Bedtime I immediately requested it to read and review. Adding it to my new Kindle just made it even more fun for the boys. They get to "turn the pages" by hitting the screen so they are super involved in the stories.

Recommend for kids ages 3 to 7. The book contains 105 short devotional and a prayer. We don't use the prayer included because we do "prayer requests" instead but one of the tips in the book is extend the prayer to include items of importance to your particular child. 

Each day takes about 10 minutes to read the devotional and answer the included question and that is for both boys. There is always more discussion that can last as long as I'll let it. My boys can gab. 

I love that they are not dated so that if we miss a day or want to do more than one story, we can pick up where we left off. The stories are cute and are very relevant. There is a good mix of stories that I would consider more girlish and more boyish. I have changed around a bit of the story to keep it more interesting for my kids and that works well. 

So many teachable moments are in Little Visits at Bedtime. They learn about kindness and sharing and God's love for them, friendship and animals. Lots of things that they are already interested in.

I would highly recommend this to parents of little ones. If you are looking for another great, short devotional book, Little Visits at Bedtime is a great choice.

Solstice High Guest Post from author Ardash Vartparonian

If you missed my review of Ardash's book, check that out here. But today I'm turning over the blog to him. I asked him...what was your inspiration for the story? Here's his answer. Enjoy!

If I’m being honest the whole inspiration for my novel was based off of a daydream. I remember I was in History class, and we were discussing something like the USSR post-Stalin, when I looked out the window by my desk and saw a pigeon on the window-sill. My mind used to wander a lot back then, and it still does many times, but my imagination would take me to all sorts of places. I remember looking at the pigeon, at how content it was and how amazing it would be to fly, and thinking: what if suddenly, in the middle of this class-room filled with teenagers trying to take down notes on the USSR or pretend to be awake or hope to suck up to the teacher by answering some tough question, what if someone suddenly had wings bursting out of their backs?

I was a big romantic, and in my head I had this vivid, sweeping image of a boy sort of blossoming wings in the middle of the class and the half-second of awe and wonder it would inspire… Before it all turned to absolute chaos and mayhem. Beautiful one second and terrible the next. There was a fine line between beauty and horror. I’m quite sure the whole novel started off based on that one image, and then more and more layers were built up off of that.

The more I thought about this image, the more I thought about what it would mean to a teenager, or how I would feel if that happened to me. I know writing about kids with super-powers had been done to death, but I felt in a way that by channelling my own feelings at the time I’d be a step closer to writing about how my teenage characters would feel and react when things happened to them just because we were the same age. I don’t mean that my age gave me an advantage, but what I am saying is that my age gave me a different perspective from people who are older trying to recreate what it’s like for someone who is in their late teens. 

That’s how it started, and then it became a sort of avalanche of questions and answers in my head. What if there were more people with different abilities? What would the abilities be? What would you do? And, maybe most importantly, what would you feel? If nothing else, in my novel I try and convey the sense of uncertainty, dizziness and that fine line that separates joy and terror. The whirlwind of emotions one experiences as a teenager goes hand-in-hand, I believe, with this sort of novel; you might not be developing super-human abilities that make you question what you are or what’s going to happen next or how you fit in within regular society but you will be asking yourself those same questions solely because of being a teenager. It’s such a turbulent time in one’s life, more so for some than for others I’ll admit, but
there’s always that hint of panic at the uncertainty of the future, discovering other sides to your own self that you never knew and scared of the fact that you realize you’re growing up. Developing super-powers and being a teenager aren’t really that different when it comes to one’s frame of mind; it leads to the same questions being asked, and being forced to take a good look at yourself.

I had plenty of inspiration coming my way from my own experiences at school; many of my friends who’ve read my novel have recognized certain circumstances or events that took place in real life. The school itself is physically based on my old high school, as were certain characters. I had this place and these people I knew in real life and I thought, okay, let’s build on this. So I exaggerated here and there and invented quite a bit to make it an original piece of fiction, but the founding blocks (removing the super-human powers) are kind of firmly based on real people, places and situations.

Solstice High Guest Post from author Ardash Vartparonian

If you missed my review of Ardash's book, check that out here. But today I'm turning over the blog to him. I asked him...what was your inspiration for the story? Here's his answer. Enjoy!

If I’m being honest the whole inspiration for my novel was based off of a daydream. I remember I was in History class, and we were discussing something like the USSR post-Stalin, when I looked out the window by my desk and saw a pigeon on the window-sill. My mind used to wander a lot back then, and it still does many times, but my imagination would take me to all sorts of places. I remember looking at the pigeon, at how content it was and how amazing it would be to fly, and thinking: what if suddenly, in the middle of this class-room filled with teenagers trying to take down notes on the USSR or pretend to be awake or hope to suck up to the teacher by answering some tough question, what if someone suddenly had wings bursting out of their backs?

I was a big romantic, and in my head I had this vivid, sweeping image of a boy sort of blossoming wings in the middle of the class and the half-second of awe and wonder it would inspire… Before it all turned to absolute chaos and mayhem. Beautiful one second and terrible the next. There was a fine line between beauty and horror. I’m quite sure the whole novel started off based on that one image, and then more and more layers were built up off of that.

The more I thought about this image, the more I thought about what it would mean to a teenager, or how I would feel if that happened to me. I know writing about kids with super-powers had been done to death, but I felt in a way that by channelling my own feelings at the time I’d be a step closer to writing about how my teenage characters would feel and react when things happened to them just because we were the same age. I don’t mean that my age gave me an advantage, but what I am saying is that my age gave me a different perspective from people who are older trying to recreate what it’s like for someone who is in their late teens. 

That’s how it started, and then it became a sort of avalanche of questions and answers in my head. What if there were more people with different abilities? What would the abilities be? What would you do? And, maybe most importantly, what would you feel? If nothing else, in my novel I try and convey the sense of uncertainty, dizziness and that fine line that separates joy and terror. The whirlwind of emotions one experiences as a teenager goes hand-in-hand, I believe, with this sort of novel; you might not be developing super-human abilities that make you question what you are or what’s going to happen next or how you fit in within regular society but you will be asking yourself those same questions solely because of being a teenager. It’s such a turbulent time in one’s life, more so for some than for others I’ll admit, but
there’s always that hint of panic at the uncertainty of the future, discovering other sides to your own self that you never knew and scared of the fact that you realize you’re growing up. Developing super-powers and being a teenager aren’t really that different when it comes to one’s frame of mind; it leads to the same questions being asked, and being forced to take a good look at yourself.

I had plenty of inspiration coming my way from my own experiences at school; many of my friends who’ve read my novel have recognized certain circumstances or events that took place in real life. The school itself is physically based on my old high school, as were certain characters. I had this place and these people I knew in real life and I thought, okay, let’s build on this. So I exaggerated here and there and invented quite a bit to make it an original piece of fiction, but the founding blocks (removing the super-human powers) are kind of firmly based on real people, places and situations.

Solstice High by Ardash Vartparonian {Blog Tour}

Title: Solstice High

Author: Ardash Vartparonian

Pages: 353

Source: Author for blog tour

Find it: Amazon (paperback) B&N (paperback)

Rating: Entertaining and fun

On their first day of Senior year, friends Matt, Rochelle, Daphne and Jonas are involved in an accident that leaves them with superhuman powers. Secrets are hiding in the halls of Solstice High as they uncover that their principal is not what he seems.

This was a fun and entertaining book. Ardash began writing this when he was a teenager which is pretty darn impressive. The story is told through each of the teenagers by alternating chapters. Usually this annoys me but each voice was pretty easy to recognize. I loved all the cultural references, both past and present. It will date the book pretty quickly but it was a fun way to explain different things.

The characters were well developed although a bit cliche. There's Matt, the gay guy who is as much of a diva as Mean Girl Rochelle. Rochelle is queen bee at the school because she is feared. She has no reason to be mean, she just is. Daphne is the typical emo, dark, angry girl. And Jonas is the good looking jock that is in love with Rochelle. 

Each has things going on in their lives that they are trying to break free from or to work through. The addition of these unwanted "powers" are hard for each of them to handle. There was a good process of them learning to control their powers and I thought that it was a great part of the overall story.

There was a lot of action and a bit of mystery. A quick read that was entertaining. The ending felt a bit rushed since there was so much build up but it was satisfying.

I'd recommend this to sci fi fans. Think X-Men in a high school. Definite fun.

Come back tomorrow...Ardash takes over my blog to answer a question for me!

About the author:

Ardash Vartparonian was born in London but raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 18 he began his debut novel, Solstice High, and continued writing throughout his last year of school and first year of university, where he moved back to the UK to study English Literature at Edinburgh University. Now a fourth year student, Ardash enjoys going out with his friends, watching horror movies and reading fantasy books while trying to keep up with his university work.