Anniversary Trivia #5

Cover slow reveal #3.  Is it starting to make sense?

"I had a lot of fun reading this one. The characters were all fun, especially because they all have a special super power. The world they live in is also very entertaining because heroes and villains are constantly battling each other, and it's just the way it is in the world, very casual and nonchalant. A fun read about a different kind of topic. " -- Shanyn (chick loves lit) 

"...is a novel of wicked humor that gives its own unique spin of heroes vs. villains through an unexpected crass narrative. This ain’t your average Marvel Comics kids. " --Yan (books by their covers)  (taken from Goodreads)

Author Trivia!!!!

Q:  What would your patronus be?

A:  As much as I'd like it to be something exotic and cool, it would probably be a cat.  I love my cats!  Working at home, I spend a lot of time with them.  They're both really vocal and communicative and kind of clingy.  One of them stalks me.

This is one book that I have yet to review.  My review for this book will be posted late Friday night.  On my Goodreads page I gave it four stars.

You must answer at least 3 questions correctly  So if you answer three question correctly you are ENTERED to win the book. Remember to post your answers on the corresponding days.  If you are correct, I will enter you to win a specially marked-up book by the special guest author (who will also send the book to you!).  You must correctly guess three trivia question on the day it posted.  So if you join the contest on Wednesday - you must answer the question on Wednesday and you can go back and answer the previous days' questions.  The deadline to answer questions is Thursday.  Please e-mail me if you have any questions!

This is for US/CA readers only.  

Anniversary Trivia #4

Day 2 of the slow cover reveal.

Any one guessing what the book is?

Here's another clue!

"A witty tale that older teens will appreciate."--Publisher's Weekly

"Evil never sounded so good". -- Karen Keyte (Amazon Review)

More trivia from the author!

Q:  How many books have you read this year?

A:  61.  I was aiming for 100, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Hey 61 books in a year is still decent!  Our special guest author deserves a hand!

Remember to post your answers on the corresponding days.  If you are correct, I will enter you to win a specially marked-up book by the special guest author (who will also send the book to you!).  You must correctly guess three trivia question on the day it posted.  So if you join the contest on Wednesday - you must answer the question on Wednesday and you can go back and answer the previous days' questions.  The deadline to answer questions is Thursday.  Please e-mail me if you have any questions!

Anniversary Trivia #3

This is a piece of the cover.  I will reveal a bit more as the week progresses.

More Author Trivia

Q:  Did you always want to write novels?

A:  Pretty much.  I remember a brief period before I could read when I thought I wanted to be an acrobat, but I also remember making my mom join my books clubs I made.  The only catch was I couldn't actually read yet, so I had to ask her how to spell every word in the books I was writing, which is really kind of a spoiler.

Q:  What books inspired you to write (redacted)?

A:  Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  I LOVE those books, and one of the things I love most about them (besides the characters, of course) is the fantasy elements combined with our everyday world.

Are you starting to figure it out?  Leave a comment!  

You must answer at least 3 questions correctly  So if you answer three question correctly you are ENTERED to win the book. Remember to post your answers on the corresponding days.  If you are correct, I will enter you to win a specially marked-up book by the special guest author (who will also send the book to you!).  You must correctly guess three trivia question on the day it posted.  So if you join the contest on Wednesday - you must answer the question on Wednesday and you can go back and answer the previous days' questions.  The deadline to answer questions is Thursday.  Please e-mail me if you have any questions!

This is for US/CA readers only.  

Anniversary Trivia #2

This is a clue from the author:

Q:  You live in the northwest, where there are volcanoes.  Which one's your favorite?

A:  Mt. Rainier!  It towers over the whole Seattle area and I've grown up seeing it in the distance.  It's dormant right now, but I like to think it would have to come out of retirement and take up volcanoing again if, like, aliens came and it had to defend the planet.

A perfect balance of snark, sincerity, and your typical adolescent male stupidity; (redacted) will charm you into falling for his screwed-up ways. I took a kind of perverse pleasure in liking an irreverent character so much: it's not every author who can make readers like an obnoxious, mouthy, and crass protagonist! -- Steph Su

Seven Days til 4th Year Anniversary

So as I promised, I would be posting some trivia questions as to what the big blog post on December 3, would be.

This book was released on May 11, 2010.  The author was at BEA that year and she signed my book. (Goodreads)

"OMG. I can't tell you just how much I enjoyed this book. Seriously there are no words. This is a book that I grabbed an ARC of during ALA mid-winter and was holding it up shouting at passerbys to buy when it was released. " --Irisheyz77

Just so you know how this works:

Everyday I will be posting a trivia question that you can guess the answer to.  As we get closer to December 3, the Trivia questions will become clearer.  On December 3, there will be a giveaway of the book in question with special additions from the author!!!! So make sure you check back EVERY DAY!!!  The person with the most correct answers will win the book!  I will also be posting hints as to where you can find the answer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish all my American Readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you have a great day tomorrow.  Read much, eat lots and have a great day!

Please come back on Saturday for day one of my Anniversary Week goodies!

Book Breakups - 3

This meme is hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination.  

Book Breakup #1

The Forest of Hands and Teeth series

First of all, this book has gone through so many different covers that trying to keep up with has been a bit daunting.  My review for this book here.  The first book annoyed me.  Well moreso the protaganist, Mary annoyed me.  She seemed like a wet noodle and Ijust couldn't get behind her.  Plus the ending was probably one of the most bizarro endings I've ever read.

 Book Breakup #2 

Hush Hush Series

I read a galley of this book that had a completely different ending than what was finally published.  Originally I liked the story but as the books started coming out, I just lost interest in them.  I have Crescendo and I'll probably eventually read it, but it's not something that is topmost on my list.  There were some issues with the first book, but I was able to look past those.  

What book breakups do you have?  Is there a popular series that you have broken up with?  Let me know in the comments!

The Best Book of 2012 will be...

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THAT BOOK!  UP ABOVE!

Honestly, the picture does not convey the awesomeness that is the cover.  But it's what's between the pages that is magical at best.  Marissa Meyer has written a wondrous book that will be the favorite of many lists and will be flying off the shelves when it comes out in January.  (I know it seem like a long time, but seriously it's not!)


I guess you could call this a fractured fairytale, but with a very modern and dystopian twist.  Everything about this book, the plot, the tone, the theme just worked.  It was magical!  I will be thinking of this book and counting down the days for the sequel (btw, it's a quartet!), so don't mind me if I squee over this.  I will be posting my review closer to pub date, but just so you know it's definitely five parasols!

Book Review: Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi

Reading Level:      Young Adult 

Hardcover:           342Pages 

Publisher:             HarperTeen, Nov. 15, 2011

Parasols:             5

Debut author, Tahereh Mafi delivers a knockout of a book.  I was lucky to get a copy of this at this past year's BEA and devoured it as soon as I could.  

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in 264 days, because when she does it's lethal.  And due to her lethal touch, Juliette has been imprisoned by The Reestablishment.  But now The Reestablishment wants to use her as a secret weapon.

As Dystopians grow and we get different versions of a world that is bleak and terrifying, Tahereh also gives us a simple love story.  Before Juliette accidentally killed a boy by touching him, she was infatuated with a boy named Adam.  Adam is introduced to us in a way that you don't think he would be the love interest of a girl who could potentially kill him.

One think I also really liked about this book was the big bad, Warner.  A young ferocious military guy who wants to use Juliette as a weapon and possibly something else.  The power struggle between Adam and Warner is palpable.  But when Juliette slips up and manages to touch Warner without killing him, Warner will do anything to have her.

My only problem with this story was the very very end.  I won't spoil it but it kinda surprised me.

Shatter Me is out today in bookstores and you can purchase it at your favorite store!

Wow, Just WOW!

The Hunger Games!!!! Trailer, just for you!

My 4th Year Anniversary

I swore up and down I would not forget my blogging anniversary.  Now as I don't get as many people visiting my blog as I'd like and this is something that I will be working on in the near future to remedy.  But I wanted to  let you know that I will be having a spectacular day on December 3. I am putting it out there now because I want people to be excited about what is coming.  I'm so excited for this and I think it's going to blow anything I've ever down out of the stratosphere!

So I'll be leaving hints as to what will be going down on the week leading up to December 3.  Please MARK the date!!!!! (clue #1)

Book Breakups - 2

This meme is hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination.  

Book Breakup # 1

Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series 

This series is one that I devoured all the way up to book 13.  But by then, I couldn't take the same storyline, the same plot and the same way that the author doesn't make her main character decide who is going to be her significant other.  Will Stephanie Plum ever have a HEA?  Although some of these characters that Evanovich has written are just down-right hysterical (Grandma Mazur, Lula and the various creeps that Stephanie hunts), it wasn't enough to keep me going on. 

What book break ups do you have?  Is there a popular series that you have broken up with?  Let me know in the comments!

A word on money and why ads are a good thing!

Some advertisers have asked about buying on my blog to reach you
marvelous readers. So I've signed up for Blogads, which allows
advertisers to order advertising here with just three clicks. You can
support this site by clicking over to my blog advertising form and
forwarding it to friends and colleagues who want to reach readers like
you.  Or if you're interested in making money blogging you should talk to 

the folks at Blogads.

After reading April's post, I totally understand what she meant about monetizing.  I spend a lot of money on books, traveling to book conferences and meeting authors at various signings.  Blogging is a fun way to interact with people who share my love of books and in order for me to give you the best blog ever, I need to start having ads on my blog.  We put in a lot of time reading, thinking and discussing books.  Yes, we go through our pains of reader's block and we may not post as often after a while.  Because like a job, we do need a break.  Most of my ads are discreet and blend in well with my blog.  To me they've become second nature.  

I want my blog to be the best it can be.

Interactive, Serialized Story!!!

Guardian Teen Books has partnered with Random House for a new interactive, serialised story called Root - a fast-paced thriller set in the shadowy world of computer hacking and espionage. Every weekday for six weeks a new chapter will be released on guardian.co.uk/teen-books. The content will be directly influenced by readers’ contributions, such as their ideas for characters' personalities and skills.

The heroine Molly Root is a 15 year old computer genius whose friend Danny is killed after being caught stealing priceless data from a ruthless global corporation. Now she's in over her head. So far Molly Root's mission to get to the bottom of her best friend's murder has taken her on a perilous trail across London. Her key lead is a dodgy police detective - and her attempts to expose his shady contacts are testing her ingenuity to the limits.

As well as incorporating suggestions from readers, the story will also be brought to life via several social media platforms. For example, Guardian Teen Books' Twitter and Facebook accounts will be providing behind the scenes updates of how Molly is progressing, along with clips on Audioboo featuring the voicemails that Molly has discovered. This will be accompanied by onsite quizzes and photo puzzles on Flickr.

What a brilliant idea! I hope to get into this soon!  It sounds fascinating!

Book Review: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star, Heather Lynn Rigaud

Reading Level:      18 +

Hardcover:           432 Pages 

Publisher:           Sourcebooks, Incorporated

Parasols:                  If I could give a negative, I would

I'm not exactly finished with this book, but I feel that a review of this book right now will be okay.  It's really bad.  I feel as if Jane Austen has been betrayed by this author by using her characters in a way that no one should ever use them.  Jane Austen had a precise nuance in her writing that few, if any, could even hope to copy.  Austen was a character in her own books with her omni-present voice.


Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star reads like a bad trashy 1970's Harlequin novel.  Let me explain:


Our prologue opens up with a behind the scenes documentary on the very popular rock band, Slurry.  Whose members consist of Fitzwilliam Darcy (lead guitarist), Richard Fitzwilliam (Drummer), Charles Bingley (lead singer and bass player).  We find out that before Charles became lead singer, George Wickham was the singer, but a falling out with Darcy ended with his being ousted from the band.  We learn all of the major characters backstory (from the band).


Chapter one opens with Caroline Bingley (band manager) bring the guys from Slurry to a small bar to listen to a group that could potentially be their opening act on tour.  Slurry is known for being difficult on the road and has never finished a tour.  The band they go to see?  Long Borne Suffering.  I kid you not.  Of course, as soon as Charles lays eyes on angelic Jane Bennet it all ends for him.  However, haughty Darcy doesn't think the other sister is worth his attention and doesn't want any fucking around on tour. (His words, not mine.)


So on and on we go with the story.  Charles loves Jane; Jane loves Charles--Darcy starts staring at Elizabeth who is still peeved that he considers the girls whores who would sleep around with the band because they are famous.  However, Charlotte Lucas (drummer) and Richard Fitzwilliam start a very dark and tortured romance.  See it turns out that Richard is a drunk and a sex addict who need a new flavor (band junkie) every night when he's not having sex with Char.


Elizabeth and Darcy spar, parry and fight, yet their feelings for each other are undeniably strong.  Um, I think I'm describing this book better than it is written.  Charles and Jane consummate their love.  Char and Richard drive each other crazy with denying each other what the other wants. Darcy and Elizabeth finally have sex only for her to leave him because he's pushing her into a relationship which in return pushes her into George Wickham's arms.  Ah, but Darcy tells Elizabeth what happened with George and why he kicked him out of the band.  He. Was. Screwing. With. Darcy's. 14. yo. sister. Georgiana! the pedophile!  So now Elizabeth hates George, loves Darcy, but but.  Elizabeth is arrested at the airport for smuggling cocaine in her luggage! Not our precious Elizabeth?  Ah, but she was shooting a video and George Wickham was the director! He. Set. Her. Up!?!?


Poor Elizabeth in jail, Darcy fuming, George is smiling and then we find out that George's PA is really a DEA agent!  Elizabeth is innocent!  But we cannot tell Darcy, he will kill Wickham!  Lizzy must play along with the Feds to get George (who by the way is a drug dealer as well as a video director).  Well as we can deduce from what I've explained (because this is where I am in the book); Jane and Charles are together, Char and Richard are together and Elizabeth and Darcy are together.  And they all have hot, nasty sex.


The end!


Yep, it's that bad.  This is bad fan fiction that has been published and really, really shouldn't have been.  Perhaps the author felt that she had something there, but really, her friends should've been a bit more kinder and told her to keep in the trunk.

Book Breakups - 1

This meme was started by Lori at Pure Imagination who also designed my blog!  I fell in love with this meme and asked her if I could start one as well, and she was so kind that she said yes and said I could use her image as well!


I thought maybe I'd do two books a week.

Book Breakup #1

The House of Night Series, PC & Kristin Cast
I struggled through the first book, it really picked up with books 2-4, but by book 5, I wanted to tear my eyeballs out.  The writing was subpar, the tone and themes were completely ridiculous and I just couldn't take Zooey anymore.  I reviewed book 5 Hunted back in March of 2009.  It was probably the first review that I really just let it all out and ranted about how bad it was.  It was quite freeing to write that as well, and I think it proved that I am not afraid to take a popular series and say what is wrong it.

Book Breakup #2 

 

Chime, Franny Billingsley                                                                                   I probably got about 150 pages into this book and it bored me.  I know that there is some controversy regarding this book and Lauren Myracle's Shine because of the whole National Book Award fiasco, but honestly, I just didn't see what they saw in this story.  Everyone was wackadoodle and I honestly couldn't see where it was going.  I was told I was getting a witch story, but that's not what really happened.  It was more about a young teenager going slightly crazy and taking me with her.  No thanks!

So what do you think of my book breakups?  Was I crazy to break up with them? Should I revisit them again?

Fan Fiction, Published...

So I'm reading Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star.  It's not the most brilliant piece of literature in fact, I wouldn't even call it mediocre.  But there is something about this story that brings me back to my days of writing Jane Austen fan fiction (in 1997 through 2000).  We all fell in love with A&E/WGBH's Pride & Prejudice starring Colin Firth as Darcy (who I thought was horribly miscast prior to seeing it) and a very unknown American actress Jennifer Ehle (She was born in North Carolina and grew up in England).

Now I'm not going to say that my stories were very good, in fact, when I reread them now I cringe.  But I would never, ever try to get one published.  I wrote it for fun and it was posted on a webpage for Austen addicts.  There were plenty of writers who were so much better than I was (Cheryl K., Genette, Annie, Lise, Spring, Ann2,).  I had fun and it was fun getting comments to correspond with the chapter that was posted.  Oh, nothing was edited or beta'd and usually I would throw something in that was totally unbelievable.  Like when I beheaded Elizabeth and Darcy's daughter, Kimberley.  In.a.horrifying.car.crash!

But as I read Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star.  I wonder what prompted this author to publish this?  Did she ever show up on Pemberley.com or Austen.com.  Did she write it on there first?  The copy I'm reading is a horrible e-copy that is filled with errors, but like a bad train wreck, I cannot stop reading it.  It's cheesy, it's horribly edited and everyone is horny!  I remember at one point during the fan fiction days, people were writing about Darcy slamming down brandy after brandy.  Really?  Who can slam those down? Or people would paint Darcy as Shy.  Darcy. Is. Not. Shy!  He is haughty, perhaps a bit conceited, but shy is not his problem.

People want to see their favorite characters have sex.  Darcy and Elizabeth must have some crazy sex!  Jane and Charles must have some crazy sex! and Caroline must be all alone in her corner wearing some version of orange!  Really?   Do we really need to be jaded when it comes to Austen's writings?  Is Darcy a virgin? He's  28 years old when we meet him.  We know that Lydia gets some action (the slut!).  How much does Austen imply and how much do we ingest and runaway with our fantasies?  Andrew Davies (wrote the screenplay) made Darcy a sexual being whereas Austen didn't really.  We get his wit and wisdom when he verbally spars with Elizabeth at Netherfield during Jane's illness (HUGE plot device).  When Darcy first enters the story, he insults Elizabeth, not realizing that she has overheard and can laugh at it.  Elizabeth is never described as a great beauty, but she has a sturdy body and sprite mind.  And the author never, ever calls our heroine Lizzy.  That is only saved for her family.  She is always Elizabeth or Miss Elizabeth with Caroline calling her Miss Eliza.

You're probably saying, "what is this chick rambling about"?  I just had that same thought too.  I've read P&P so many times that at times I feel like I could recite parts of it.  As much as I love the characters and I'll read bastardizations of the story, I still feel like I should defend the original.  Should fan fiction stories be published? Either self-published or traditional publishing?  Is this something that you will read even if it's a train wreck, but there is something there just keeps making you come back?