Thursday, June 30, 2011

Win Insight and Embody by Jamie Magee!!!

 
As a part of the wonderful, amazing, and oh so talented Jamie Magee's blog tour, she has agreed to give one lucky winner an ebook copy of both Insight (Insight #1) and Embody (Insight #2) 

I've read both of these books and very much enjoyed them.  You can see my review for Insight here and my review for Embody here

Jamie wanted to let you all know that you can contact her on her facebook page, twitter and at her blog.

Contest ends on the last day of the tour Wednesday July 6th at midnight!
I will announce the winner on Thursday July 7th!
Good Luck



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Waiting On Wednesday (6/29/2011) And Then Things Fall Apart

And Then Things Fall Apart
Author: Arlaina Tibensky
Expected Release Date: July 26, 2011
Summary from Goodreads

Keek is not having a good summer. She and her boyfriend have just had their Worst Fight Ever (on the subject of her virginity, nonetheless), she’s been betrayed by a best friend, her parents are splitting up, and her mother is on the other side of the country tending to Keek’s newborn cousin, who may or may not make it home from the hospital. Oh, and Keek’s holed up at her grandmother’s technology-barren house with an abysmal case of the chicken pox. In Keek’s words, “Sofa king annoying.”

With her world collapsing around her, Keek’s only solace comes from rereading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and typing on an old electric typewriter. Keek—whose snappy narrative voice is darkly humorous and hysterically blunt—must ultimately decide for herself which relationships to salvage, which to set free, and what it means to fall in love.


 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we (bloggers) are anxiously awaiting. So what book are you excited about right now?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Winner of Raven's Kiss by Toni LoTempio

The lucky winner of Toni's book, Raven's Kiss is............................


Krysta Banco

Congratulations Krysta!!!! 

Teaser Tuesday (6/28/2011) The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)

The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)
Author: Aimee Carter
Teaser from page 54

James slammed the book shut, and I jumped. "Maybe so." said James, but it doesn't change the fact that you agreed to marry a complete stranger."




Miz B hosts Teaser Tuesday every week, check her out for the official rules.  I never seem to be able to stick to the rule about only 2 sentences. (today I did stick to the rule)
I love reading teasers so let me know where I can view yours in the comments.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Neurotic Thoughts on Embody

Embody
Author: Jamie Magee
Expected Release: July 2011
Publisher: Lulu.com
Target Age: Young Adult - Adult
Source: Received from author as a part of the Book Lovin Bitches ebook tour
Summary from Goodreads

Not many Scorpio’s are known for their patience, and Willow Haywood is no different. Her only desire is to love Landen Chambers and redeem the lost souls of Esterious, but the path to that desire is long, dark and dangerous...
Before Willow’s life had a chance to balance the sudden revelations and grief she had to endure to get to Chara a disturbing discovery is made. A photo, one that shows Willow blissfully embracing the flawless image of Drake Blakeshire; giving her not only proof that she had lived before, but that she had loved him.
Running away from the memory of Drake’s hypnotizing touch, and the prophecy set before her seemed like the logical thing to do. That is, until a dark dream reignites her passion to save the hopeless dimension of Esterious. Willow struggles to find patience – to learn everything she needs to know before she faces Drake again, but her eagerness is dangerous and one step in the wrong direction takes everything and everyone away from her – the only way to survive this trial is for Willow to remember who she is and what she really wants out of this life. The question is….can she do that?


                                                   I Loved This Book!

Wow! This was such a great book. I found myself having to read Insight (book 1) a little slower than I normally read. The writing and descriptions were so beautifully detailed that I didn't want to miss anything. However, I felt like there was a lot more dialogue when reading Embody, and I was able to read it a bit faster. This did not in anyway take away from the story, in fact I definitely enjoyed Embody even more. I loved reading the next step in Willow and Landen's journey. I love, love, love Willow and Landen as a couple. The love, loyalty and trust that they have in each other is so amazing and is what the entire dimension of Chara is based on. What a wonderful world that would be! The introduction of new characters Evee and Stella had me entranced and that part of the story ended up being my favorite. I still love the idea of soul mates, it is just so romantic to me to know that there is just that one perfect person for everyone. I really hope that there will be more books in this series because I really want more of this wonderful world. 
Join Jamie on tour!
6/20  review @ Sara Is Reading What?   
6/21  review @ Workaday Reads    
6/24  review @ Reader Girls  
6/26  review @ Midnight Book Girl   
6/27  review @ My Neurotic Book Affair   
6/28  giveaway @ Workaday Reads
6/29  review @ Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian 
6/30  giveaway @ My Neurotic Book Affair
6/30  review @ A Chick Who Reads 
6/30  giveaway @ Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian
6/30  giveaway @ Lisa's World of Books
7/1    excerpt @ Reader Girls
7/1    review @ It's All About Books
7/1    review @ Just Another Book Addict  
7/1    interview @ Midnight Book Girl
7/2    excerpt @ A Chick Who Reads
7/2    interview @ Just Another Book Addict
7/2    review @ Lisa's World of Books
7/3    excerpt @ It's All About Books
7/5    review @ The Phantom Paragrapher 
7/6    excerpt @ The Phantom Paragrapher 
 
 Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of the Book Lovin' Bitches Ebook Tours and a copy was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Book Lovin' Bitches Ebook Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review nor was there an obligation to write a positive one. All opinions expressed here are entirely mine and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, the book's publisher and publicist or the readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
 

Saturday, June 25, 2011

On My Wishlist (11) Elsewhere and Sleight

Elsewhere
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Summary from Goodreads

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.
Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?
This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.


WHY I WANT IT? 
The whole idea of aging backwards, dying and returning to a brand new life is very intriguing to me.


Sleight
Author: Jennifer Sommersby
Summary from Goodreads


Her mom is dead.
Ghosts follow her around.
Her best friend is an elephant.
And she’s about to meet the biggest game changer of all: a boy. With a secret.

When circus-dwelling Gemma Flannery learns she will be attending public school for the first time in her seventeen years, little does she know that fitting in with her 12th-grade classmates will be the least of her concerns. A pro at hiding her knack for seeing the dead (“shades”), Gemma is grieving the recent suicide of her mentally ill mother, a process eased by the introduction of her first real love interest, the charming and painfully handsome Henry Dmitri, who is harboring his own collection of dangerous secrets. Together, they will be presented with a frightening challenge: to assume their roles as heirs to a 3000-year-old magical text, the AVRAKEDAVRA, a book the über-rich, sleight-of-being master Lucian Dmitri would do anything to get his hands on. As each terrifying layer in her new reality melts away, Gemma unearths truths that her quiet, nomadic life with the Cinzio Traveling Players is not at all what she’d always cherished. Gemma and Henry must rely on each other to stop Lucian’s diabolical plotting that will bring the world to its tired, scab-riddled knees, and are sent on the flight of their young lives, to save themselves, their families, and the world from the darkest kind of destruction.

Let the chase begin.


WHY I WANT IT?
The circus, elephant friends, and boys with secrets? Why wouldn't I want to read this book?

 On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post(found at Book Chick City). If you want to know more click here.

So what's on your wishlist?

Friday, June 24, 2011

Neurotic Thoughts on Insight

Insight
Author: Jamie Magee
Released: July 20, 2010
Published by: Lulu.com
Pages: 314
ISBN: 0557522935
Target Age:  Young Adult and Adult
Source: Received by the author for an honest reveiw
Summary from Goodreads

Before that fateful summer night, Willow had balanced the insight of emotion, and the vivid images. That night, the figure in her nightmare marked her wrist with a star, giving her father no choice but to tell Willow a family secret that would abruptly change life, as she knew it, forever. Before Willow had time to absorb the shock of her father's secret, her soul mate that had shared every stunning dream with her, found her, and darkness captured her closest friends. In order to save them, she must weave through broken myths and the undeniable power of the Zodiac. In the end, Willow discovers that at the moment of our birth we are all given a divine gift.

                                             I really liked this book!

There is so much I want to say about this book. Like how beautifully it is written. How the descriptions are so extraordinary that you can see what is described perfectly.  How you want the characters to be your family because they are so amazing.  If I knew you had read this book I would love to discuss with you the depth of the love that Willow and Landen share.  Or how amazing and loyal Willow is when it comes to her friends.  Or how I don't think Drake is as evil as you first think he is, because really aren't there usually shades of gray to the darkness. However, I don't know if  you've read this book and I would hate to give anything away because most of the fun of this story is discovering what's going on each step of the way.  If you enjoy reading fantasy, adventure, and love stories that make your heart melt, then read Insight and get back to me so we can talk about how awesome it would be to live in Chara.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Author Natasha Larry Talks Superheroes

The Amygdala Pulse

Writing about superheroes…well, I should say super humans as my jolly cast of characters has yet to fill their future super hero roles, is tricky, especially for a comic book nerd. I mean- I didn’t just want to rip off any one idea completely, even though it probably would have been a lot easier. Everything has been done, so how do you stay even a little original writing in a genre that floods the market on a daily basis?

Well, for me, I just did a little research. I didn’t want to call them mutants, because that’s clearly an X-men rip off. I didn’t want it to be unrealistic, so it was hard not to call them mutants.

Luckily, Google is a powerful force and it allowed me to do a little research on the human brain. I read a little about evolution, including Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species while writing Darwin’s Children. Then, one day, when my explanation for super powers was in its infancy, I came across an article about human evolution. In this article, it stated that evolution uses old parts of the human brain to create new functions, and thus, leads to evolution.

Frickin’ jackpot!

For some reason, I knew I wanted evolution to center around the amygdala in the human brain; I just had no idea why. Funny enough, the amygdala is a part of the archaic, limbic system, and thus, it makes sense that this part of the brain would have to evolve for human evolution to be possible. I mean, think about it. The amygdala is responsible for the fight or flight response-which is essential to survival, if you evolve that area…just maybe you get people with super powers.

So, let’s say you have someone like Haylee that can burn evil on eye contact. A few conditions have to exist for that to come to fruition. One, the amygdala must be larger and more advanced, and two, the person must experience an event related to the ability,  at the time of the first amygdala pulse. Thus, I had to make Haylee experience absolute evil because it was directly related to what she could do.  This was also why Haylee’s Dey-Vah Guardian didn’t help her as a child. It was because she knew what she would become one day and could not, by nature’s laws, interfere.

I say all of that to say that I didn’t write anything in the first novel of Darwin’s Children for no reason. Most everything that happens to these people is very important in the rest of the series. For example, the fact that Jaycie is slightly immature is important in my explanation as to why she is so powerful, but of course, you’ll have to keep up with the series for Haylee Mitchell’s explanation on that.


Thank you Natasha for stopping by the blog today. I know I will definitely be keeping up with Jaycie and Haylee. I can't wait for the next book! 


Join Natasha on Tour

5/12  excerpt @ Just Another Book Addict
6/7    review @ Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian
6/8    guest post @ Ramblings of a (Future) Librarian
6/8    review @ Star Shadow
6/10  review @ Avery's Book (and Other Fun Stuff) Nook
6/11  review @ Just Another Book Addict
6/11  interview @ Avery's Book (and Other Fun Stuff) Nook
6/13  review @ Sara Is Reading What?
6/14  excerpt @ Sara Is Reading What?
6/16  review @ ComaCalm's Corner
6/17  interview @ ComaCalm's Corner
6/20  review @ My Neurotic Book Affair
6/23  guest post @ My Neurotic Book Affair
6/23 giveaway @ Star Shadow
6/27  review @ It's All About Books
6/29  guest post @ It's All About Books