tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16988854796645561752024-02-19T03:06:57.476-06:00The Eclectic BookshelfWhere I blog about books and occasionally my knitting projects.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.comBlogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-71398471058283940222012-01-06T02:30:00.000-06:002012-01-06T02:30:41.651-06:00Announcement! The Great Move!You may have noticed the lack of posting here on The Eclectic Bookshelf for the past few months. I have come to the harsh (for me anyway) that Blogger no longer works for my book blogging needs anymore. I took a couple months sabbatical from book blogging and on January 1 I acquired 2 book blogs from a friend of mine who had to give up book blogging for personal reasons.<br />
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I am in the process of merging these two blogs into 1 blog because I just don't have the time to maintain 2 book blogs with all the life changes that are coming up in the next couple of months. The blog that I will be keeping is called <a href="http://thebookjunkiesbookshelf.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Book Junkie's Bookshelf</a> and will hold reviews for books in the following genre's:<br />
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<ul><li>YA</li>
<li>Mystery/Thrillers/Suspense</li>
<li>Romance - Historical, Contemporary, Suspense, Paranormal</li>
<li>Erotica</li>
<li>Urban Fantasy</li>
<li>Fantasy</li>
<li>Dystopia</li>
</ul>If you wish to follow me to <a href="http://thebookjunkiesbookshelf.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Book Junkie's Bookshelf</a> I have many methods for following the blog available. There is Feedburner available, follow by email, a Facebook page (which is updated whenever I post), my new twitter handle (@<a href="http://twitter.com/paracryptkeeper" target="_blank">paracryptkeeper</a>) and lastly a "regular old" follow option. I'm hoping to "see" some of you there.<br />
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I will continue to post the link ups for the challenges that I am hosting here at The Eclectic Bookshelf until the end of the year. Then I will re-evaluate which challenges I will keep and which ones I won't be keeping.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-75991538121661746722011-12-31T01:40:00.000-06:002011-12-31T01:40:18.117-06:00January Review Link Up ~ YA Reading Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMH0G_Gf-cYMfW-f_6Qiz3w66fzzpQuSaEbxj8fHWuSEqFPjhqJvr24s6gycRGCcoDjP_nh4uY2GLSMYW_llyVIrkX2zwJOCQMpjvWzA_Gv8vCreART9UoXldJ2YUwt3ceKT2BSd-GDbk/s1600/2012YAChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_uid_roh5lh="10" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMH0G_Gf-cYMfW-f_6Qiz3w66fzzpQuSaEbxj8fHWuSEqFPjhqJvr24s6gycRGCcoDjP_nh4uY2GLSMYW_llyVIrkX2zwJOCQMpjvWzA_Gv8vCreART9UoXldJ2YUwt3ceKT2BSd-GDbk/s320/2012YAChallenge.jpg" t$="true" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-31415993292481409672011-12-31T01:29:00.000-06:002011-12-31T01:29:44.870-06:00January Review Link Up ~ Romantic Suspense Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qzQyCrOLoeyyszOtv0x9i9I84i0JO3PKA1pxLIltGuscbEMl9JXOb8mLl8ppdmPRk9ZcZ_jeoKQTPYJHbk1VgDIY7nNpxsLCDxxEHmCdgBEAha_dzqHGmj0S4k8psT1YKMY1zM_8Afk/s1600/RomSus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_uid_roh5lh="4" height="215" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qzQyCrOLoeyyszOtv0x9i9I84i0JO3PKA1pxLIltGuscbEMl9JXOb8mLl8ppdmPRk9ZcZ_jeoKQTPYJHbk1VgDIY7nNpxsLCDxxEHmCdgBEAha_dzqHGmj0S4k8psT1YKMY1zM_8Afk/s320/RomSus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-88704176642236187822011-12-31T01:27:00.000-06:002011-12-31T01:27:51.343-06:00January Review Link Up ~ Romance Reading Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp4g2zXYVf9p3rjcslx2uPJtJv1XQjEBuFC5Bc51be9nliirRnkAwgpxH5GgXSL71ZG0UffrylSiH6A_Nql-pIarD2WmclfmQyKgL3UOa2WUE0430dexF9nucLMDbau_DvAIStntW1hI/s1600/Rom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_uid_roh5lh="2" height="215" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp4g2zXYVf9p3rjcslx2uPJtJv1XQjEBuFC5Bc51be9nliirRnkAwgpxH5GgXSL71ZG0UffrylSiH6A_Nql-pIarD2WmclfmQyKgL3UOa2WUE0430dexF9nucLMDbau_DvAIStntW1hI/s320/Rom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="With Good Behavior" height="320" id="coverImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419zBpxleAL.jpg" width="211" /></div><strong>Title:</strong> With Good Behavior<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Jennifer Lane<br />
<strong>Series:</strong> The Conduct Series #1<br />
<strong>Source:</strong> E-Book from publisher in exchange for an honest review <br />
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<strong>Rating:</strong> 5/5<br />
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<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
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<span id="freeText15125845750062444696">In a world gripped by organized crime, family dysfunction, and dim hopes of redemption, can true love persevere? For Sophie Taylor, a beautiful psychologist who lost everything when she violated an ethical boundary, and Grant Madsen, a handsome naval officer who sacrificed everything to protect a loved one, finding that love may carry an unbearable cost. <br />
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Starting their lives over in Chicago, both are fighting influences from their family and running as fast as they can to escape the past. When their paths cross outside the parole officer's door, the attraction is instantaneous. But a hidden connection may not only shatter their fledgling love, but prove deadly to them both.</span><br />
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<strong>Review:</strong><br />
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I was really happy when I was approached about being part of a blog tour for this series. I was even more happy when I got start reading this book and I was IMMEDIATELY sucked in to the story. Pretty much from the time that our main characters Sophie and Grant meet right outside their parole officers door I was completely engrossed in the story. Naturally, I NEEDED to learn more about these two.<br />
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It had to be tough being Grant growing up. Coming from a mafia family and all. Grant has spent pretty much is WHOLE life trying to stay as far away from that lifestyle as humanly possible. The kicker though...they keep showing up and threatening harm to those who are most important to Grant in order to get him to bend to their will.<br />
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Then we have the lovely Sophie. She happened to end up getting involved with the WRONG person and end up with a "cracker jacks" box lawyer. She's doing everything she can to prove to everyone, including herself, that she's NOT a felon at all.<br />
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<span id="freeText16664889272335167813">I really like how this story shows that bad things happen to good people and that not every person who is sent to jail is all bad or a thug.<br />
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I felt the relationship between Sophie and Grant was entirely way too sweet. They fall so hard for each other, so quickly and neither of them can really say that they KNEW each other. I really felt that their lack of communication hurt their relationship a little bit.</span><br />
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Overall, I was really happy with this book and I REALLY want to read the second book in this series REALLY bad! Keep reading! There's a giveaway below!<br />
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<strong>Giveaway Rules:</strong><br />
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There are actually 2 giveaways going on. One is for an e-book copy of either With Good Behavior or Bad Behavior (Winner's Choice). The other giveaway is the Grand Prize<span style="color: #45818e;">*</span> for the WHOLE tour. Which is a $25 gift card to Barnes and noble OR a print copy of either With Good Behavior or Bad Behavior.<br />
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1. Giveaway for E-Book is open until 11:59 pm CST December 12.<br />
2. All you have to do enter for the E-book is leave a meaningful comment on this post with an email address.<br />
3. Only 1 winner.<br />
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<em><span style="color: #45818e;">*To enter the Grand Prize each participant needs to comment on every blog post on the tour. They can enter on the last stop.</span></em><br />
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<a href="http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=113614&type=basic">Click here</a> to view The Conduct Series Tour Schedule...Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-29603865492778004822011-11-24T02:33:00.000-06:002011-11-24T02:33:51.909-06:00Blog Tour Guest Post ~ The Iron Knight by Julie KagawaI'd like to take the time to say Thank You to Julie for stopping by my blog today. I really enjoy The Iron Fey series and I'm sad to see it end but I'm looking forward to reading more of your books in the future!<br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/photo/author/2995873.Julie_Kagawa" rel="nofollow" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Julie Kagawa"><img alt="Julie Kagawa" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1257816454p5/2995873.jpg" /></a><strong>About the Author:</strong><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, when she was nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish and the odd eel.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks is at an all- time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyperactive Papillon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.juliekagawa.com/">Author Webpage</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Now onto our guest post!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">1. <em>Where did you get your inspiration for the physical environment of the Nevernever?</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">For me, the home of the fey should be beautiful, haunting, and just a little bit creepy, much like the faeries themselves. So I took an environment and made it so that something was just a little off about it. I wanted readers to experience the same unease as Meghan when traveling through the land of the fey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">2. <em>Before writing this series did you always know how it would end or did it develop as you wrote each one?</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I knew how Meghan’s story would ultimately end, yes. But within each book, I knew there were certain things that had to happen, and I wrote toward those events. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">3. <em>If you had no other choice, which character would you want to step into the life of within your Iron Fey series?</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It would have to be Grimalkin. Super smart, super snarky, and can turn invisible whenever he wants. Who wouldn't love to be a cat? ;-)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">4. <em>What is your writing space like?</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I have an office, with a desk in front of a window so I can see out. Unfortunately, the window faces the rising sun, so the blinds are usually drawn because the sun blinds me, lol. My desk has my laptop on it, several books stacked and scattered about at random, and a constant supply of empty soda cans everywhere. Caffeine, I can’t live without it. </span>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-63578495588710152482011-11-24T02:23:00.000-06:002011-11-24T02:23:26.010-06:00Blog Tour Review ~ The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Iron Knight (Iron Fey, #4)" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1321070569l/9659607.jpg" /></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> The Iron Knight<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Julie Kagawa<br />
<strong>Series:</strong> The Iron Fey #4<br />
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<strong>Rating:</strong> 4/5<br />
<br />
<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
<br />
<span id="freeText5123619396155712473"><em>Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing. <br />
<br />
Unless he can earn a soul.</em> <br />
<br />
To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought. <br />
<br />
Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl— smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive. <br />
<br />
With the (unwelcome) company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end— a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan’s side. <br />
<br />
To survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. At least, no one has ever passed to tell the tale. <br />
<br />
And then Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.</span><br />
<br />
<span><strong>Review:</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span>I LOVE The Iron Fey series! I go all fangirl when I hear news about this series. I especially love Ash, the brooding former Winter Court prince. TEAM ASH! All that being said, I was really happy when I was approached about being part of a blog tour for this book. The conclusion of one of my favorite series. Now that I've gotten my fangirl moment out of the way now on to the review!</span><br />
<br />
<span>As much as I REALLY wanted to give this book a 5/5 for me the beginning of the book was a little bit slow for my liking. But once the journey truly begins and Ash, Puck, Grim and the Big Bad Wolf find the seer things really started to pick up and this book had my complete attention. See Ash made a promise to Meghan that he would not stop until he found a way for him to be with her. Meghan is now the Queen of the Iron Fey and Iron is BAD for guys like Ash and Puck. Just to add some "relief" for Ash Puck joins the journey and ok course in addition to making a great team their fighting is always entertaining. One of my favorite passages:</span><br />
<br />
<div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’m going to kill you one day,” I told him as we hurried after Grimalkin, back into the swampy marshland. It was not an idle threat. <br />
Puck just laughed. “Yeah. You and everyone else, prince. Join the club.” </span></blockquote></div><br />
<span>Personally, I think that Puck turns the humor up a notch or six in this book. As much as they fight and shouldn't get along I've always thought that Puck's humor "cancelled out" Ash's dark broodiness. All of this while still being sad that he lost Meghan to Ash.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span>Did you know that there is actually an End of the World?! The seer is going to take this motley crew there and that will be were Ash will take the trials and hopefully earn his mortal soul, which will allow him to live HEA (Happily Ever After) in the Iron Realm with Meghan. A small wrinkle occurs though, Ash has history with the seer and now he has more choices and decisions to make. After a wild ride down the River of Dreams and a trek through a long lost and forgotten are of fae, our hero Ash arrives at the testing grounds. Ash must pass three horribly rigorous and gruesome test in order to achieve his mortal soul. The more the tests progress the more you learn about Ash's past and all the horrible mistakes and deeds he's committed. But Ash remains steadfast, all in the name of love. Overall, I thought this was a great ending to a phenomenal series. If you haven't checkout this series please do! </span>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-53104067979435612202011-11-19T01:03:00.000-06:002011-11-19T01:03:20.911-06:00Everneath by Brodi Ashton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Everneath (Everneath, #1)" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308926197l/9413044.jpg" /></div><br />
<br />
<span id="freeText2176437947446360235">Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. <br />
<br />
She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. <br />
<br />
Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. <br />
<br />
As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...</span><br />
<br />
<span><strong>Review:</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span>Oh my goodness! I got to read this ARC as part of a tour site and for me I was very sad that I had to send it on to the next person on the list. I enjoyed this book so very much! I will definitely be buying a finished copy when they become available. FOR SURE!</span><br />
<br />
<span>There are so many things questions in this book that it made it a fun read for me. Is Nikki able to cheat fate? During the Feed who was the boys face that helped her make the decision to go back to the surface after the Feed? Are there proper goodbyes? Are there any goodbyes at all? For the most part these questions are answered, well partially answered, your just going to have to get a copy of Everneath to find out the answers.</span><br />
<br />
<span>I was really intrigued by Nikki. She was a mish mash of patience, intelligence, and caring with a healthy dose of dramatic and impulsive. Nikki ends up in the Everneath by circumstances, ones I'm not going to give away. Basically, Nikki doesn't want to hurt anymore and Cole comes along and offers her a "chance of a lifetime" kind of deal. For me Nikki was really easy to connect with. We've all hurt at some point or another and wished for a way to just make it stop hurting. I thought the secondary characters were done excellently, even our two love interests. Which seems to be a reoccurring theme these days in YA but I still liked it a lot.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Overall, I really think this book is the beginning of something really beautiful for this debut author. If this book isn't already on your wish list, ADD IT IMMEDIATELY!</span>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-60408676776543204452011-10-29T03:09:00.000-05:002011-10-29T03:09:09.723-05:00Mini Book Review ~ Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ladies in Waiting" height="400" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1313025286l/12275484.jpg" width="266" /></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> Ladies in Waiting<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Laura L. Sullivan<br />
<strong>Release Date:</strong> May 8, 2012<br />
<strong>Format:</strong> Hardcover, 336 pages<br />
<strong>Source:</strong> ARC from <a href="http://princessbookiearctours.blogspot.com/">ATWT</a><br />
<br />
<strong>Rating:</strong> 2/5<br />
<br />
<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
<br />
<span id="freeText1901417643374136669">Eliza dreams of being a playwright for the king’s theater, where she will be admired for her witty turns of phrase rather than her father’s wealth. </span><br />
<br />
Beth is beautiful as the day but poor as a church mouse, so she must marry well, despite her love for her childhood sweetheart. <br />
<br />
Zabby comes to England to further her scientific studies—and ends up saving the life of King Charles II. Soon her friendship with him becomes a dangerous, impossible obsession. Though she knows she should stay away from the young, handsome king, Charles has a new bride, Queen Catherine, and a queen needs ladies in waiting. <br />
<br />
And so Zabby, Beth, and Eliza, three Elizabeths from very different walks of life, find themselves at the center of the most scandal-filled court that England has ever seen.<br />
<br />
<strong>Review:</strong><br />
<br />
I really like history and I thought that I would give this book a try. I unfortunately found out that this book just wasn't the book for me. I like to feel some sort of connection with the characters in the book and I just didn't connect with the characters in Ladies in Waiting. I did like that they all got to present their own stories and points of view but there were times I literally thought "I don't care." Harsh? Maybe, but it is what it is. For me I thought that the story progressed pretty slowly. This isn't a big "action all over the place" kinda book, this is a book that is about three ladies in waiting and there life inside a most scandalous English court.<br />
<br />
It maybe just me, that's happened before, where I seriously dislike a book that it seems so many really enjoyed. But again, just because I didn't care for the book, doesn't mean that you might not really like it.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-10480494187780563742011-10-29T02:36:00.001-05:002011-10-29T03:12:23.819-05:00Book Review ~ Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Catching Jordan" height="400" id="coverImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kR3CGLWeL.jpg" width="266" /></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> Catching Jordan<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Miranda Kenneally<br />
<strong>Release Date:</strong> December 1, 2011<br />
<strong>Format:</strong> Paperback, 288 pages<br />
<strong>Source:</strong> ARC from <a href="http://princessbookiearctours.blogspot.com/">ATWT</a><br />
<br />
<strong>Rating:</strong> 3/5<br />
<br />
<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
<br />
<span id="freeText16360238237685042138"></span><br />
What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.<br />
<br />
<strong>Review:</strong><br />
<br />
I got the opportunity to be a part of an ARC tour for this book and naturally jumped at the chance. I LOVE football and I LOVE reading about women who break the "gender barrier" in sports. Just this morning I read two articles about 2 different female football players (you can read the articles <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Virginia-girls-football-player-stars-after-tryin?urn=highschool-wp7456">here</a> and <a href="http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/phenom/201110/six-mile-prep-football-player-monique-howard-may-be-detroits-comeback-story-year">here</a>) breaking the "gender barrier." That being said, this review has been tough to write because it seems that "everyone" loves this book and it was barely above "not for me" on my rating scale.<br />
<br />
Our main character Jordan is a QB and has high hopes of going to Alabama for college. That is until Ty transfers into her school and joins the football team and is ALSO a QB from TEXAS. I thought that all the football talk was authentic and real. I also really liked how Jordan wasn't "just" a girl on the football team...she was "one of the guys" and a leader. But there were things about this book that I had issue with.<br />
<br />
<ul><li> I completely understand Jordan's desire to go to Alabama for college, but I really thought that she was written as a little bit OCD in her preparation for the scouts.</li>
<li>Every story needs some conflict...it adds substance to the story right? Well for me anyway there wasn't enough conflict for my liking.</li>
<li>There were more than a few places where I could guess what was going to happen next, making the plot a bit predictable.</li>
<li>Then there was the Insta-Love...I'm not a fan of Insta-Love since it happens so much these days in YA.</li>
<li>Ty, not a fan. I thought that he was a control freak and was trying to control Jordan.</li>
</ul>Overall, Catching Jordan has it's good moments and it has it's not-so-good moments. Don't let my mostly negative review color your vision of this book. Just because I didn't care for doesn't mean that you won't like it.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-91635802188087678832011-10-27T10:03:00.000-05:002011-10-27T10:03:11.233-05:00Blog Tour Review/Giveaway ~ The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Kingdom of Childhood" height="320" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1306524817l/10755636.jpg" width="203" /></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> The Kingdom of Childhood<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Rebecca Coleman<br />
<strong>Release Date:</strong> October 4, 2011<br />
<br />
<strong>Rating:</strong> 4/5<br />
<br />
<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
<br />
<em>The Kingdom of Childhood</em> is the story of a boy and a woman; sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother's extramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zachthe elements of a young man she loved as a child, but what Zach does not realize is that their relationship is, for Judy, only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets. <br />
<br />
Rebecca Coleman's manuscript for<em>The Kingdom of Childhood</em> was a semifinalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition. An emotionally tense, increasingly chilling work of fiction set in the controversial Waldorf school community, it is equal parts enchanting and unsettling and is sure to be a much discussed and much-debated novel.<br />
<br />
<strong>Review:</strong><br />
<br />
WOWZERS! This stunning debut shows the destructive power sexual obsession can have on one's life!<br />
<br />
Judy MacFarland is a kindergarten teacher at a failing private school in Maryland. Now that her husband Russ has begun his doctoral dissertation he seems to have all but forgotten that he even has a family. Their son, Scott, is one of the "cool kids" at the school who would rather spend time with his friends than his family and their daughter Maggie is away at college. If you add all those things PLUS the recent death of her best friend you get a VERY lonely woman on a downward spiral.<br />
<br />
Now this is where things start to get interesting....Sixteen year old Zach Patterson is new to the school and is a friend of Scott's. Plus he has some family issues going on at home. When Judy is approached by Zach's mom to supervise him while he is working on a project for the school auction, Judy jumps at the chance. This is where the sexual tension between Zach and Judy starts to increase as the two of them spend more and more time together.<br />
<br />
<span id="freeText11990793879622020778"> While the subject matter may be disturbing to some, I believe that Coleman's writing is captivating as she gives us the readers a glimpse inside the minds of her flawed and, in my opinion, emotionally barren characters. The more we learn about the true depth of Judy's emotional disturbance, the more we are drawn into the story and you really can't help but feel for Judy.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
GIVEAWAY!<br />
<br />
In an effort to clear some space on my bookcase before my niece/nephew shows up in March, I am giving away my copy of this book. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post with a valid email address AND please leave a comment on the guest post as well. The giveaway ends 11/5/2011. US and Canada addresses only please.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-89206333561843525382011-10-27T07:37:00.000-05:002011-10-27T07:37:32.394-05:00Blog Tour ~ The Kingdom of Childhood Scavenger Hunt and Guest Post<span lang="EN"><strong>Before The Kingdom of Childhood</strong><br />
<br />
by Rebecca Coleman, author of <strong>THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD</strong><br />
<br />
It's difficult to pinpoint the moment when the story that would become The Kingdom of Childhood first kindled itself in my mind. Perhaps it began at the candlelight carol singing I attended at a Waldorf school when I was 14-- the first time I had ever seen such a place-- when the sensory beauty of the environment and my great fear of all the fire surrounding me came together in a story about both. Or it might have been on the playground of another Waldorf school 11 years later, as I watched my young son play joyfully with his classmates and realized that his teacher-- this embodiment of quiet peace and thoughtful nurturing-- had it in for him, because her perceptions of my wonderful son were so much at odds with mine. I lost a little of my idealism then, and even as I continued to love the Waldorf way, I never quite forgave that teacher's ill judgment of my son. <br />
<br />
But these impressions remained rootless until the morning when, as I folded laundry in front of the TV news, I saw an item about a teacher arrested for an affair with a young male student and decided that was a story I wanted to tell. Raise the stakes, goes the sage advice about writing fiction-- always make the stakes for your characters as high as they can be. And so it didn't take long for the notion to strike me that a Waldorf teacher would be the best-- or worst-- to cast in that role, because there is no other philosophy that places such a high value on the purity, even the sacredness, of childhood. The crime Judy commits in The Kingdom of Childhood is not only taboo; in her community, it's nothing short of anathema. <br />
<br />
What intrigued me in equal measure, though, was what it would be like to be the teenage boy playing opposite such a teacher. I knew what I didn't want him to be-- mature for his age, superficial in his thinking, experienced with girls or squabbling with his parents. All of those things would make his motivations too simple, and the joy of writing teenagers is that they are some of the most complex people in the world: so much bravado and pride, so much desire to be perceived as mature, and yet so thoroughly naive. On the news, we hear the names of the teachers involved in these scandals; we learn about their families, their awards, their reputations. Yet the boys remain a mystery, always. We tend to assume their motives are obvious: driven by their hormones, they are unfettered, willing victims. But when are human beings ever so simple?<br />
<br />
Somewhere inside all of that complexity I found the story I wanted to tell: one about the collision of naivete and wisdom, comfort and fear. Life is lived in the contrasts, after all-- but the stakes are never higher than when the line between those contrasts draws paper-thin.</span><br />
I should have affirmed that it was. I knew the full litany of what he did not want to do, and this was where it began. If there had remained any possibility that life could throw a cup of cold water in my face and reverse the course of things, it would have been that moment, that question.Instead, I climbed into the back of the car.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>*Head over to </em></strong><a href="http://thepenmuse.net/"><strong><em>The Pen & Muse</em></strong></a><strong><em> on October 28th for the next installment from THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD*</em></strong>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-17819017541546633722011-10-20T00:36:00.002-05:002011-10-20T00:36:00.776-05:00Blog Tour/Giveaway ~ A Lawman's Christmas by Linda Lael Miller<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A Lawman's Christmas: A McKettricks of Texas Novel" height="320" id="coverImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vWXc2g4vL.jpg" width="235" /></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> A Lawman's Christmas<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Linda Lael Miller<br />
<strong>Series:</strong> A McKettricks of Texas Novel<br />
<strong>Genre:</strong> Historical Romance<br />
<strong>Format:</strong> Hardcover, 384 pages<br />
<strong>Release Date:</strong> September 20, 2011<br />
<br />
<strong>Rating: 5/5</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
<br />
The sudden death of the town marshal leaves Blue River, Texas, without a lawman…and twenty-five-year-old Dara Rose Nolan without a husband. As winter approaches and her meager seamstress income dwindles, she has three options. Yet she won't give up her two young daughters, refuses to join the fallen women of the Bitter Gulch Saloon and can't fathom condemning herself to another loveless marriage. Unfortunately she must decide—soon—because there's a new marshal in town, and she's living under his roof. <br />
<br />
With the heart of a cowboy, Clay McKettrick plans to start a ranch and finally settle down. He isn't interested in uprooting Dara Rose and her children, but he <em>is</em> interested in giving her protection, friendship—and passion. And when they say "I do" to a marriage of convenience, the temporary lawman's Christmas wish is to make Dara Rose his permanent wife….<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Review:</strong><br />
<br />
I LOVE Linda Lael Miller. She's one of my all time favorite romance authors. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour for A Lawman's Christmas. Here's a random confession: I did a "happy dance" when I opened up the envelope that this book came in and saw that it was in there. Good times here at The Eclectic Bookshelf.<br />
<br />
The book takes place in 1914. Right as things in Europe are REALLY starting to heat up and it's looking like there is going to be a war. Which means that Armies are going to be in desperate need of beef to feed their soldiers. Our hero Clay plans on being ready. What he doesn't plan on is Dara.<br />
<br />
See when Clay accepts the position of marshall of the town of Blue River, Texas he has a plan. One that involves a ranch, a wife and a house full of children. But there is a slight wrinkle in his plan....Dara Rose Nolan, the widow of Clay's predessor.<br />
<br />
Dara and her two small children are living in the cottage that has been promised to the new marshal as part of his pay package. If they have to leave their home they will have no where else to turn to. Dara is determined to not end up homeless and Clay is taken aback by Dara's determination and situation. Clay decides that he can stay at the jailhouse until Dara can come up with a more suitable situation. But circumstances happen which lead to a marriage of convience for Clay and Dara. But how long will it remain "convenient" considering both Clay and Dara are more than a little bit attracted to one another?<br />
<br />
Overall, I thought that this was a very good Christmas story. I was hooked from the very beginning and I really liked Dara. It had to be beyond difficult to be a woman in that time in history and I could not help but cheer for Dara.<br />
<br />
<strong>Giveaway!</strong><br />
<br />
I am giving away 1 copy of A Lawman's Christmas (in an effort to clear some space on my overflowing bookcase) to 1 lucky commentor. All you have to do is leave a comment with an email address and answer this question: <span style="color: lime;"><strong><em>Do you like to read romance's where the hero is an alpha male cowboy and why? </em></strong></span><span style="color: black;">Contest ends on October 27.</span>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-72201529940645053772011-10-17T23:59:00.000-05:002011-10-17T23:59:00.942-05:00Teaser Tuesday October 18, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://shouldbereading.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/teasertuesdays2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="122" src="http://shouldbereading.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/teasertuesdays2.jpg?w=135&h=83&h=83" title="TeaserTuesdays2" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB of <a href="http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/">Should Be Reading</a>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Anyone can play along in this bookish meme. Here are the "rules":<br />
<br />
<blockquote><ul><li><span style="color: #3366ff;">Grab your current read</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3366ff;">Open to a random page</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3366ff;">Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page</span></li>
<li><span style="color: red;"><strong>BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!</strong> (<em>make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!</em>)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #3366ff;">Share the <strong>title & author</strong>, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!</span></li>
</ul></blockquote><br />
Here are my Teaser's for this week:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K2Lf6y3IL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Iron Queen (Iron Fey, #3)" border="0" height="320" id="coverImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K2Lf6y3IL.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">"My name is Ashallyn'darkmyr Tallyn, third sone of the Unseelie Court." Though his voice was soft, it never wavered, and I felt breathless at hearing is full name. pg. 128</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><img alt="The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, #1)" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277070467l/7624272.jpg" /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">"But they all had powerful hands, rough with calluses and stained with engine grease. Even little Harley, who couldn't have been more than eight, looked like he could go six rounds with Chuck Norris without breaking a sweat." pg. 76</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-20545051744240049422011-10-17T04:16:00.000-05:002011-10-17T04:16:12.762-05:00Review ~ The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Scorpio Races" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1305377249l/10626594.jpg" /></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> The Scorpio Races<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Maggie Stiefvater<br />
<strong>Series:</strong> N/A<br />
<strong>Genre:</strong> Young Adult/Paranormal<br />
<strong>Format:</strong> ARC from <a href="http://princessbookiearctours.blogspot.com/">ATW Tours</a><br />
<strong>Release Date:</strong> October 18, 2011<br />
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<strong>Rating: DNF</strong><br />
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<strong>Synopsis:</strong><br />
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<span id="freeText9111040227029226094">It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. <br />
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At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. <br />
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Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.</span><br />
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<strong>Review:</strong><br />
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I've been VERY excited about this book since I heard that it was coming out. I really enjoyed Shiver and I'm really excited to read the last two books in that series as well. As much as I really wanted to get into this ARC I was not able to. In this case it wasn't the story that I had a problem with, the chunk of it that I read I REALLY liked a LOT, it was the layout of the ARC itself that I had a problem with. I'm hoping that this is changed in the finished copy, because I AM going to go out and by a finished copy. I WANT to know what happens.<br />
<br />
What I noticed first and foremost about Scorpio Races was that it was COMPLETELY different from Maggie's "Wolves of Mercy Falls" series. The chunk of this book that I did read I thought was unique, different and a breath of fresh air to the Young Adult genre. I'm all about different and unique these days.<br />
<br />
I also noticed, in the ARC anyway, that the story is told from different points of view. Normally, this isn't an issue for me. In this case it was a big issue for me. I felt that the constant changing of POV's was a distraction and ultimately turned me off to the ARC. I hope that this issue has been dealt with in the finished copies.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-91608568484072621542011-10-16T06:38:00.000-05:002011-10-16T06:38:01.823-05:00Packers/Steelers Football Sunday<div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" closure_uid_5uoqti="3" height="640" src="http://www.muscleandfitness.com/sites/muscleandfitness.com/files/photo_gallery_picture_images/6.jpg" title="" width="427" /></div><br />
It's Sunday and that means it's GAME DAY! I'm a football fan and I have an AFC and an NFC team. My NFC team is Green Bay, my home state team and my AFC team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Happy Game Day everyone!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mUgdwvmiSGQ" width="420"></iframe>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-48616211337142415162011-10-16T04:26:00.002-05:002011-10-16T04:56:21.649-05:00In My Mailbox October 16, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4-XX1WitgQs/TlBus2lvnsI/AAAAAAAAMsg/9uAg7ej7-5I/s1600/mailbox1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_uid_jqrywq="3" height="295" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4-XX1WitgQs/TlBus2lvnsI/AAAAAAAAMsg/9uAg7ej7-5I/s320/mailbox1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center"><strong>~For Review~</strong></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center"><img alt="Helpless" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1318289975l/12305211.jpg" /></div><div align="center"><span id="freeText9724011641360480754">Nine years after he left Shilo, New Hampshire, former Navy Seal Tom Hawkins has returned to raise his teenage daughter, Jill, following the murder of his ex-wife, Kelly. Despite Tom’s efforts to stay close to Jill by coaching her high school soccer team, Kelly’s bitterness fractured their relationship. But life in Shilo is gradually shaping up into something approaching normal. Normal doesn’t last long. Shilo’s police sergeant makes it clear that Tom is his chief suspect in Kelly’s death. Then an anonymous blog post alleges that Coach Hawkins is sleeping with one of his players. Internet rumors escalate, and incriminating evidence surfaces on Tom’s own computer and cell phone. To prove his innocence, Tom must unravel a tangle of lies about his past. For deep amid the secrets he’s been keeping—from a troubled tour of duty to the reason for his ex-wife’s death—is the truth that someone will gladly kill to protect.</span></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center"><img alt="The Iron Knight (Iron Fey, #4)" id="coverImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51R8oESRUYL.jpg" /></div><div align="center"><br />
My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn. <br />
<div class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;">I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. </div><div class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;">My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…<br />
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<strong>~Bought~</strong></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1292350615l/6752378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4)" border="0" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1292350615l/6752378.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="freeText9434763297110221522">The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. <br />
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But nothing comes without a price. <br />
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Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side—along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. Not to mention that he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls—neither of whom knows about the other one. <br />
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When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace. <br />
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Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.</span></div><br />
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<div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><img alt="The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1)" id="coverImage" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277091656l/7736182.jpg" /></div><div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><span id="freeText8135928461886895677">Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? <br />
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Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out. <br />
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Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.</span></div><div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><em><span style="color: red;">I bought this book on a whim the other day at work and I have found it to be extremely captivating. If you haven't checked out this new series by Rick Riordan do so NOW!</span></em></div><div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><br />
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<div align="center" class="readable stacked" style="right: 0px;"><span id="freeText14536324295704229105">Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, <em>strange</em> and <em>impossible </em>have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What - or who - will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin? </span></div> <br />
For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself - forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask. <br />
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Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-58854348404408852382011-10-14T13:41:00.000-05:002011-10-14T13:41:13.524-05:00Top 100 YA BooksI found this on <a href="http://thebookvixen.com/">The Book Vixen's</a> blog and I thought that I would share with you what I've read and what I have yet to read on this list.<br />
<br />
<strong>READ</strong> - Books that I've read<br />
<em>TBR</em> - Books that are in my TBR pile<br />
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<ol><li><strong>Alex Finn – Beastly </strong></li>
<li><em>Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones </em></li>
<li>Ally Carter – Callagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li><em>Ally Condie – Matched </em><strong> </strong></li>
<li>Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) </li>
<li>Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills </li>
<li>Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) </li>
<li>Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) </li>
<li>Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li><strong>Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush, </strong><em>Crescendo, </em>Silence </li>
<li>Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) </li>
<li>Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret </li>
<li><em>Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4) </em></li>
<li>Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)<em> </em></li>
<li>Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li><em>Christopher Paolini - Inheritance (1</em>, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li><em>Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1</em>, 2) </li>
<li>Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Ellen Hopkins – Impulse </li>
<li>Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) </li>
<li>Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply </li>
<li>Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere </li>
<li>Gail Carson Levine – Fairest </li>
<li>Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li><strong>J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1,</strong> <em>2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7</em><strong>)</strong> </li>
<li><em>James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2) </em></li>
<li>James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) </li>
<li>Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why </li>
<li>Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) </li>
<li>John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas </li>
<li>John Green – An Abundance of Katherines </li>
<li>John Green – Looking for Alaska </li>
<li>John Green – Paper Towns </li>
<li>Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li><strong>Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Beautiful Creatures </strong>, <em>Beautiful Darkness</em> </li>
<li>Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li><em>Kristin Cashore – Graceling, </em>Fire<em> </em></li>
<li><em>Lauren Kate – Fallen, </em><em>Torment, Passion </em></li>
<li>Lemony Snicket - Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) </li>
<li>Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) </li>
<li>M.T. Anderson – Feed </li>
<li><strong>Maggie Stiefvater – Shiver, </strong><em>Linger, </em>Forever </li>
<li>Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) </li>
<li><em>Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)</em> </li>
<li><em>Markus Zusak - The Book Thief </em></li>
<li>Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger<em> </em></li>
<li>Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time </li>
<li>Mary Ting – Crossroads </li>
<li>Maureen Johnson – 13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Last Little Blue Envelope </li>
<li>Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2) </li>
<li>Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) </li>
<li>Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) </li>
<li>Meg Rosoff – How I live now </li>
<li>Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) </li>
<li>Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road </li>
<li>Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)<em> </em></li>
<li>Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) </li>
<li>Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)<em> </em></li>
<li>Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion </li>
<li>Neal Shusterman – Unwind </li>
<li>Neil Gaiman – Coraline </li>
<li>Neil Gaiman – Stardust </li>
<li>Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book </li>
<li>P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ) </li>
<li>Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)<em> </em></li>
<li>Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist </li>
<li><em>Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1,</em> 2, 3, 4, 5, 6<em>)</em> </li>
<li><em>Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1</em>, 2, 3, 4, 5) </li>
<li>Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks </li>
<li>S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip </li>
<li>Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride </li>
<li>Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key </li>
<li>Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever </li>
<li>Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) </li>
<li>Scott Westerfeld - Leviathan (1, 2) </li>
<li>Scott Westerfeld - Uglies (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days </li>
<li>Shannon Hale – Princess Academy </li>
<li>Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian </li>
<li><strong>Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction</strong>, <em>Chain Reaction</em> </li>
<li><em>Stephanie Meyer – The Host </em></li>
<li><strong>Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)</strong> </li>
<li>Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees </li>
<li>Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li><strong>Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)</strong> </li>
<li>Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) </li>
<li>Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4) </li>
<li>Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3) </li>
<li>Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped </li>
</ol><br />
So I've READ 14 of books that are on this list and I have 31 in my TBR pile. How about you? What are your numbers?Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-47164111091292937972011-10-08T12:30:00.000-05:002011-10-08T12:30:04.909-05:002012 Romance Reading Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp4g2zXYVf9p3rjcslx2uPJtJv1XQjEBuFC5Bc51be9nliirRnkAwgpxH5GgXSL71ZG0UffrylSiH6A_Nql-pIarD2WmclfmQyKgL3UOa2WUE0430dexF9nucLMDbau_DvAIStntW1hI/s1600/Rom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp4g2zXYVf9p3rjcslx2uPJtJv1XQjEBuFC5Bc51be9nliirRnkAwgpxH5GgXSL71ZG0UffrylSiH6A_Nql-pIarD2WmclfmQyKgL3UOa2WUE0430dexF9nucLMDbau_DvAIStntW1hI/s320/Rom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This reading challenge is for any genre of Romance with the exception of YA and Erotica. Have fun with this one peeps!<br />
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<strong>Rules:</strong><br />
<ul><li>Anyone can join </li>
<li>You don't need a blog to participate. For non-bloggers, please leave a comment with a link (if you review somewhere else) to the review or leave a list of the books you read on the monthly link up post. </li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Audio, ebooks, and bound books are ok.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No re-reads</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Create a sign up post and post the link in the linky below.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Challenge goes from January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Challenge Crossovers are ok.</div></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Levels:</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 1 - Read 4 Romance novels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 2 - Read 10 Romance novels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 3 - Read 14 Romance novels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 4 - Read 15+ Romance novels</div><br />
<br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src=http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=90641&' + new Date().getTime() + '"><\/script>');
</script>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1698885479664556175.post-89460326520522042132011-10-08T12:22:00.000-05:002011-10-08T12:22:19.559-05:002012 Romantic Suspense Reading Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qzQyCrOLoeyyszOtv0x9i9I84i0JO3PKA1pxLIltGuscbEMl9JXOb8mLl8ppdmPRk9ZcZ_jeoKQTPYJHbk1VgDIY7nNpxsLCDxxEHmCdgBEAha_dzqHGmj0S4k8psT1YKMY1zM_8Afk/s1600/RomSus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qzQyCrOLoeyyszOtv0x9i9I84i0JO3PKA1pxLIltGuscbEMl9JXOb8mLl8ppdmPRk9ZcZ_jeoKQTPYJHbk1VgDIY7nNpxsLCDxxEHmCdgBEAha_dzqHGmj0S4k8psT1YKMY1zM_8Afk/s320/RomSus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><strong>Rules:</strong><br />
<ul><li>Anyone can join </li>
<li>You don't need a blog to participate. For non-bloggers, please leave a comment with a link (if you review somewhere else) to the review or leave a list of the books you read on the monthly link up post. </li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Audio, ebooks, and bound books are ok.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No re-reads</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Create a sign up post and post the link in the linky below.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Challenge goes from January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Challenge Crossovers are ok.</div></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Levels:</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 1 - Read 4 Romantic Suspense novels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 2 - Read 10 Romantic Suspense novels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 3 - Read 14 Romantic Suspense novels</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Level 4 - Read 15+ Romantic Suspense novels</div><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src=http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=90639&' + new Date().getTime() + '"><\/script>');
</script>Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13381119182891073053noreply@blogger.com5