Feature & Follow Friday

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

(Taken straight from the hosts)

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers.
• If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday! 

Question of the week:

Who is your to-die-for book crush? What do you think they look like? Add an image to make us all happy.

Ahh... how many times I fall in love in books. I'm supposed to pick one? I don't know if I can do that. I'll go with two.  :)

First, since I just finished it, I'll go with Gansey from The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater.  Oddly enough, within that book (and if you've read it you might understand), I was really drawn to Ronan as well. I am *still* thinking about Blue and her boys. ;) 

Second, I'll go with Dash from Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan. I wanted a Dash in my life when I read this, I wanted my husband to be Dash. Needless to say, that didn't work out for me. 

I'm going to skip on adding a picture; nothing correlates to the wonderfulness in my head.  lol

Have a wonderful weekend!

Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle
Publication Date: September 2012
Website: The Raven Boys
Read: November 2012
Rating: 5 stars



Initial reaction to reading the last page:
"Whoa." Seriously. I was upset... but not in a bad way. That was it? It's over? No more Blue, no more Gansey, no more Adam, Ronan, or Noah? For nearly an entire year?

I love when an author makes me feel that way. Like my best friends have left me (which happened to me earlier this year, but at least I still get to talk to her daily... granted, I could re-read The Raven Boys, but it won't be quite the same...).

Here's the scoop from Goodreads:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

~

This does not, and I repeat does not, do this story justice. In the sense that it tells you nothing yet it tells you just enough to pick it up. Well, the author alone did it for me (I bought it before I even read the jacket flap or the Goodreads or Amazon summary), but the synopsis clenched it. 

~

"Today, Blue thought, is the day I stop listening to the future and start living it instead."

~ 

Why did I love this?  So many reasons, really. 

I was sucked into this world, from the very first page. I wanted to be sitting on the stone wall with Blue and Neeve, trying to keep my own hands warm, watching the future dead walk the corpse road.

The characters felt real to me, I felt like I knew them. Moreover, I wanted to know them, to hang out with them. They were human - flawed and imperfect in all their glory. I want to continue knowing them. I felt deeply when things happened to them, good and bad. I was excited for Gansey, shaken for Adam, impressed with Ronan, sad for Noah. I want to say so much more about The Boys, but I am trying really hard to not have spoilers here. :)

I could envision nearly everything, every action, every setting, and it felt as if I was there with them, experiencing the search, the excitement. I could smell the gasoline emanating from The Pig, feel the shudder when it would die. I felt the fear, the intensity, during certain exchanges. There were laugh-out-loud lines (seriously, my dog thought I was nuts sitting in a room, alone, with the tv off, reading, and laughing... so much so she came over to see what was up... she even licked the book... maybe she wanted a taste of the laughter as well) and there were profound lines.

~

"There was nothing particularly intimate about the way they sat, but something about the scene made Gansey feel strange, like he'd heard an unpleasant statement and later forgotten everything about the words but the way they had made him feel."

~

"You know how you sometimes don't remember everything right? Ronan says that memories are like dreams. You never remember how you got to the front of the classroom with no clothes on."

~

I was sad when it ended. The adventure was over (for now), and reality bites.

 

Wishlist Wednesday ~ Between the Lines

Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop hosted by Pen to Paper where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

How do you join in?

1. Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
2. Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist.
3. Add your blog to the comments at the bottom of this post.
4. Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post with a note saying that Pen to Paper is the host of the meme.
5. Visit other blogs and enjoy.
6. (Note from Pen to Paper): Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too. Help spread the word! 

This week's choice...

What happens when happily ever after... isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

 

~Synopsis from Goodreads~

I have been a Jodi Picoult fan for many years and own probably 2/3 of her books. I haven't gotten this one yet, nor read it. I think I needed a break from her for a bit (some of her topics... okay, most of them... are a bit on the heavy side as of late) but I love the idea that she wrote a book with her daughter and really want to read this one. :)

What about you all? What's on your wishlist?

Smiles,
B

Waiting on Wednesday Requiem (Delirium #3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that highlights upcoming releases we're excited about.

Title: Requiem

Author: Lauren Oliver

Series: Delirium

Expected Publication Date: March 5, 2013

Website: Lauren Oliver's Books

STOP: If you want to read the series and you haven't read the first two, this synopsis may (okay, will) spoil some for you.  :)

Synopsis
Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven-pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancee of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena's and Hana's points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

~Synopsis from Goodreads

 Why I'm Waiting

Alex.  That's how Pandemonium (Delirium #2) ends. If you read my review of Pandemonium on Goodreads, you'll see how that left me hanging and dying to know what happens next. I've thought it quite often since I read it back in May - that's six months of wondering, four months left to wonder.

What book(s) are you looking forward to? Leave a link to your own post or leave a comment below... or both. :)

Smiles,

B

Teaser Tuesday: The Curiosities

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!  All you have to do:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from that page.
4. Be careful... do not include spoilers!!!  Make sure that what you are sharing doesn't give too much away;  you don't want to ruin the book for others.
5. Share the title and author, too, so other Teaser Tuesday participants can add it to their TBR list if they like what you shared.
   

 
"When I opened my mouth, it felt like a tiny version of a black hole, where light disappeared and nothing could come out. She shook me, and my head rocked back and forth."
~Brenna Yovanoff, pg 152~


What would your Teaser Tuesday be? Share a link below or just leave it in the comment box if you don't have a blog. :)

Smiles,
B

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books For 2013

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is all about anticipation, the books we are (im)patiently waiting for the release of in 2013.

1. Requiem by Lauren Oliver

I really really want to know what happens next. I hate that I read Delirium and Pandemonium (the first two in the series) when Pandemonium came out. I'm happy I discovered them, just hate the waiting for the conclusion.  :)

2. Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two novels by Brenna Yovanoff - The Replacement and The Space Between - and I am pretty excited and looking forward to this one.

3. The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

I like Maureen Johnson's writing and I'm excited for this next installment.

4. The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

I just *love* this cover. I want to read it based on that alone. Oh. And it sounds pretty good.

5. The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

I read How to Save a Life and really enjoyed how she developed the story and the characters. I'm interested in reading more by her, and this one sounds promising.

6. Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Sadly, no cover art yet.

Despite having yet to read Beautiful Redemption, I am loving the Caster Chronicles series by her and Margaret Stohl. Because of this I am looking forward to reading this one.

7. Icons by Margaret Stohl

See above. :)

8. Splintered by A.G. Howard

I ran across this one on Goodreads and it caught my attention. Interested to see if it keeps it.

9. Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan

I have yet to read anything by David Levithan that I haven't enjoyed. :)

10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

It's Neil Gaiman. I figure I can't go wrong. Hopefully he proves me right.

What books are you looking forward to? I'd love to hear from you. Leave a link to your own Top Ten post or simply just tell me some in the comments below!

Smiles,

B

Memorable Monday 11.26

Memorable Monday is a meme hosted by Escape in a Good Book.  I'm excited to join in on this one because I love quotes, which was the driving force behind the creation of Memorable Mondays.  I thank the ladies at Escape in a Good Book.

So... how do you participate?  It's simple ~

1) Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog.

2) Come back here and leave the link to your post in the comment box below.  If you don't have a blog, I'd still love to hear, well, read, your quote.  Leave it in the comment box instead of a link to a non-existent blog.  :)

3) Visit other participants if you have time.  It's always nice to have visitors.  There's no overstaying your welcome this way, and they don't have to offer the obligatory drinks.  Or clean.

4) If you tweet your posts, feel free to use the hashtag #MemorableMonday.

Mostly my quotes will be from a book I've read, but they may occasionally come from cyberspace or from a friend.

"Fate," Blue replies, glowering at her mother, "is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast."

~The Raven Boys, page 33~



What about you, any quotes strike you recently?  Share a link to your own post or just write the quote in the comment box below! :)

Smiles,

B

My Favorite Find 11.24

My Favorite 'Find' is meme hosted by the wonderful MizB at Should Be Reading. A spinoff of her Friday Finds, it showcases that one drool-worthy book that stood out from the Friday Finds. In short, that book that you wanted to pick up read right now!  This event may, or may not, be posted every week - maybe there isn't a drool worthy find that week.  :)

For me, however, this week's find of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was probably close to drool-worthy. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to forego my current read and pick it up (which, let's be honest, wouldn't happen), it's not possible, as it's not even out yet. Hopefully I'm just as excited about it as I am now when it comes out in June of 2013.  :)

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac - as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, as dangerous as a knife int he dark, from storytelling genius Neil Gaiman.

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond the world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.

His only defense is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.

Any drool worthy, drop life and read finds out there today?

Smiles,

B

Friday Finds 11.23

Friday Finds is a weekly post by MizB at Should Be Reading that showcases the books you 'found' and added to your To Be Read list.  It can be books your have purchased, but mostly it's about the books you have discovered and added to your TBR list - whether it be from browsing Goodreads, Amazon, Book Blogs, your local library... it doesn't matter.  Just share the books you've recently added to your list.

My recent finds include the following:

    

If you have a Kindle and haven't  heard of the website Pixel of Ink you should definitely check it out. If you sign up for their newsletter they will send you an email containing their finds of free and bargain Kindle books.  Two of these, Nine Steps to Sara and Believe I heard of from one of their emails. They both sounded intriguing to me, and they were free, so I grabbed them up and will read them eventually.  As I was looking at books that are being released in 2013, I ran across Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and got pretty excited... I hadn't realized he was releasing a new book next year.

What about you? What books have you found recently that have made their way to your TBR list? If you do your own Friday Finds post, leave the link below, or just leave some titles of what you've found if you don't have a blog.

Smiles,
B

TBR Thursday 11.22

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!  I hope everyone has a great, family-filled, food-filled, day... with minimal turkey comas. I am just hoping this year not to fill my house with smoke. It's a small goal, but one I feel I should make anyway.

TBR Thursday is a (mostly) weekly meme hosted by Kelsy at Up in the Bibliosphere in which you select a book that has been gathering dust on your bookshelf and add it to your lineup for next week.  I'll be honest, for me it may mean moving it up on my TBR list, which may or not be within the next month, or the book I already plan on reading next.  :)  This week's  TBR Thursday winner is:

~ Goodreads * Amazon ~

Oct. 11th, 1943 - A British spy plan crashes in Nazi-occupied France.

Its pilot and passenger are best friends.

One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

They'll get the truth out of her. But it won't be what they expect.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. One each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Code Name Verity is the story of an unforgettable friendship forged in the face of ultimate evil.

(Taken from Goodreads)

Why did this one make the cut? Not only has Malissa (yes, that same bookish best friend of mine) been harping at me to read it, I was at the Indiana Library Federation annual conference and got to listen to Nancy Pearl (yes, the Nancy Pearl) speak, and she said Code Name Verity was her favorite teen book of the year. Mind you, I bought this book back the first weekend of October, but it is definitely moving up - possibly as soon as I finish The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (which I am nearly halfway through right now, even if my husband is feeling neglected because of it). I am, however, a bit scared. I've read one review (Malissa really wants me to read this book, so she sent me a link to Maggie Stiefvater's review of it on Goodreads (since I am quickly becoming a huge fan of hers and am trying not be like a stalker fangirl). Needless to say, that sort of put me over the edge and I am 99% sure it will be the next book in my hands.  

What about you?  What book may jump the line and land in your hands next?  Leave a link to your own TBR Thursday post or your answer itself in the comments below.  Thanks!  :)

Smiles,

B

Sharing the Love

Beth Revis is not only a great author but a very generous person as well. She is able and willing to host a giveaway of nearly 50... yes, fifty, books. And not just 50 books, but fifty signed books. For real. How amazing is that? Pretty freaking awesome.

One of the ways to get entries is to post about why you love YA. And if you look at my Goodreads you'll see I read a lot more YA than others. Sometimes I wonder why, but mostly not. I don't pick the books based on what age they are geared toward, I just tend to fall in love with the ones in YA. They feel more real to me (despite the sometimes not-real aspect of the stories). The characters are accessible, real, raw, and I find myself loving their innocence and coming of age (ech... I hate that phrase but couldn't come up with another at the moment). It doesn't matter if the authors are teens themselves, as most are not, but they bring such a realness to the characters they may as well be.

Most of my favorite authors are Young Adult authors:

Maggie Stiefvater
Brenna Yovanoff
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Lauren Oliver
John Green
Maureen Johnson

Just to name a few. :)

Anyway, you should definitely check out Beth's blog about the contest, and while you're at it, you can learn more about her.

Smiles,
B

Wishlist Wednesday 11.21

Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop hosted by Pen to Paper where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

How do you join in?

1. Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
2. Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist.
3. Add your blog to the comments at the bottom of this post.
4. Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post with a note saying that Pen to Paper is the host of the meme.
5. Visit other blogs and enjoy.
6. (Note from Pen to Paper): Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too. Help spread the word! 

This week's choice is...

I chose this one because it has been on my wishlist to own since I read it in March 2011. It is definitely a book I want to reread. As you'll see in yesterday's Top Ten Tuesday, I would not have picked up this book had it not been for Malissa (the friend who recommended I read it) given it's historical nature. But I did and I am forever grateful to her as I loved it. I found myself missing the characters once I finished.

What book is on your wishlist that you want to buy with the pennies you can scrape together? Add it to the comments or create your own "Wishlist Wednesday" post and add the link below.

Smiles, 

B

Ten Books/Authors I'm Thankful For

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

There are so many things in life to be thankful for - family, friends, laughter, sunshine, air. And coffee. We can't forget coffee... and chocolate. That being said, this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic (click on the link above to see the list of topics) is books/authors you're thankful for - and I have to think hard because I tend to be thankful for all. But here we go.

1. Maggie Stiefvater
   
   She continues to get me in trouble. My husband is quite upset that I have more interest in her books when I'm reading them than him. He just doesn't understand. She gets me... even if she doesn't know me.  

   
   
2. Brenna Yovanoff
   
   I'm thankful for the cover artist(s) of her books, since that was what attracted me to her first book. I saw that cover and bought it - didn't read the jacket flap, didn't look it up, just bought it. And I never regretted it. It's eerie, dark, and refreshingly different at the same time. And her follow up novel did not disappoint either. Anxiously awaiting her next! :)

   
   
3. Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
   
   I read this as an adult and found myself wishing I had a book like this when I was a teenager. I wish more books were written like this; about 'real' things (even harsh realities) in an open and honest and sincere way, without being preachy.

   
   
4. JK Rowling
   
   Rowling created a world that I wanted to live in, not just visit. Which is saying a lot given that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named inhabited that same world. I cried when the series ended; I felt like my best friends had gone and left me and things would never be the same. I thought about the story, the lives of these characters, for months afterward.

   
   
5. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
   
   Not typically one for historical fiction, I devoured this book. It was recommended to me by my best friend (knowing I tend not to gravitate toward the historical) and I will be forever grateful to her for it. 

   
   
6. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
   
   I wanted a Dash. I wanted my husband to be Dash after reading this. That didn't work out for me, but it also didn't lessen my love of the book. 

   
   
7. Judy Blume
   
   She exists. She writes. That is all.

   
   
8. Kevin Henkes
   
   Such a wonderful children's author, he addresses issues kids have without them even knowing they're being addressed (such as starting school or getting too old for a blankie to be carried around all the time).

   
   
9. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
   
   "You know, some things don'e matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the over-all scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart - now, that matters... The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." -August, pg 147
   Do I need another reason for loving this book? Beautifully written, thought provoking, and lovely.

   
   
10. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
    
    This one makes the list not for me, but for my husband, who was never much of a reader. I read this book and wanted to share parts of it with him. For the first time in nearly 12 years, I told him he *had* to read a book. And not just any book - this book. Since then, he has become a reader. Possibly not an avid reader (okay, not at all), but a reader nonetheless. So I am forever grateful for this book and its impact on my husband.

    
    
11. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
    
    Okay, okay. I know it says ten, but since I did one on my husband's behalf I'm not counting that toward my ten. Sounds good, anyway. :) I'm adding this one because I loved it so much as a kid and as an adult. I read it in fifth grade, in high school, and in college. I even made a play out of it as an assignment. I realize this sort of contradicts my earlier statement about not loving historical fiction, and that two books on here fall into that category, but such is life.  I am excited for my kids to get old enough to share this with them.

I'm hoping this holiday weekend will give me some extra time to read and find more books and authors I'm thankful for. I don't see that happening as it tends to be a busier time more so than relaxing down-time, but we shall see.

What about you? What books/authors are you thankful for? Share a link to your own Top Ten post or just share some of yours in the comments below.

Happy Thanksgiving,

B

Writer of Wrongs Holiday Giveaway

Gilly B at Writer of Wrongs is having a Holiday Giveaway. Seriously, an impressive set of books she is willing (and is going) to give away to one lucky winner.

Here's what you can enter to win:



I realize that sharing the news lessens my chances of winning (even if I do get 'entries' for blogging about it), but Gilly B here deserves some kudos for her awesomeness.

:)