Friday, November 30, 2012

Winner of Debris Dreams

Congrats to Erin F. winner of an eBook of Debris Dreams. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
* I'll email Erin and she'll have a week to contact me, if I don't hear back a new winner will be chosen.


Thursday, November 29, 2012

Crossed - My Favorite Quotes/Lines

“But I’m not.  I’m only afraid of dying wrong.”

“We can either try to change everything or just make the most of whatever time we have.”

But there are other things I’m not strong enough to go without, and I intend to fight for them.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Sentence Sneak Peek - Crossed

Crossed by Ally Condie

The first sentence from each chapter of Crossed, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)


I’m standing in a river.”

The dirt is part of me.”

It’s been a month and a half since we left that boy in the water.”

Xander, here, in front of me.”

Vick and I lift one of the bodies and carry it toward a grave.”

Once I’m sure the others sleep, their breathing heavy in the room, I roll over onto my side and slip the Archivist’s paper from my pocket.”

Everyone’s watching you,” Vick tells me.”

The Society’s first order of business, as we all sit in the well-chilled air and shiver, is to promise us coats.”

Evening falls hard while we wait for the moon.”

When we land I want to be the first off the air ship, to see if Ky is there.”

There should be patrols in the canyon.”

As we walk, I look for something to mark Ky’s passage through this place.”

The sides of the canyon are black and orange.”

I wait for the dawn, folded inside my coat.”

We don’t stop moving until we’ve put distance between us and whoever’s in the township.”

In my dream he stands in front of the sun, so he looks dark when I know that he is light.

We climb out of the Carving.”

You don’t look right,” Indie says.”

I wake to the sound of something big in the sky.”

My breathing sounds wrong.”

Say the words,” Eli tells me.”

We’re almost to the top; we can almost look out over the plain.”

Our poem,” she whispers.”

Watching Ky wake is better than a sunrise.”

My mother could dance and sing and she went out to watch the sunset every night.”

Ky leaves one flashlight on so that we can see each other while we talk.”

I never named anything I’ve written before
no reason to
since
it would all have the same title anyway
—for you—
but I would call this one
one night
that night
when we let the world be only you
and only me
we stood on it while it spun
green and blue and red
the music ended
but we
were still
singing

“When the sun comes into the Carving, we are already on the move again.”

Do what you want,” the man calls out when I reach the edge of the graveyard.

On the wall across from the angels, there is a very different painting.”

When Hunter comes to meet us he has a canteen of water and a pile of ropes slung over his shoulder.”

The crevice is barely wide enough for Hunter to climb into.”

Hunter reaches for another tube and snaps that one in his hand too.”

Indie carries her pack even more carefully than before and I wonder if something happened to her wasp nest during our crawl into the Cavern.”

As I turn the pages of the farmers’ histories my own history flashes back to me.”

Ky puts a map down on the table and reaches for a little black charcoal pencil.”

As the rain comes down I let myself imagine a story for us.”

It’s hard to concentrate on the words before me when I wonder what is being said outside the cave in the night.”

I see Cassia first, and then Hunter behind her, and I know I’ve lost.”

Hunter pushes open the door behind us and walks in.”

Carrying the boat is like carrying a body; it’s heavy and bulky and awkward.”

The walk out is slow-going and miserable; we all slip and fall and get up again, over and over.”

Everyone else sleeps.”

I am the first to wake.”

The sun beating down on the boat makes it hot to touch.”

Ky,” I say.”

Eli blinks.”

The rain turns lighter, turns to snow.”

When I pull her to me she feels eager, warm and reaching, but then she flinches slightly and draws back.”

Do not go gentle,” I tell him, one last time, for now.”

I run.”

After coming across so many dead in the Carving, so many still, silent tubes in the cave, the scene of life in the camp before me makes my heart pound with joy.”

Please state your full name.”

It’s early spring now, and the ice at the edge of the lake in Central has begun to melt.”

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Matched - My Favorite Quotes/Lines

My favorite quotes/lines from Matched:


"It strikes me that this symbolizes what is wrong here.  No one can ever really come in, and when it's time to let them, we don't know how." (pg. 190)

"Is falling in love with someone's story the same thing as falling in love with the person himself?" (pg. 196)

"Do not go gentle." (pg. 363)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Sentence Sneak Peek - Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

The first sentence from each chapter of Matched, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)


Now that I’ve found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?

The whispers rise soft around me like birds beating their wings under the dome of City Hall.”

I’ve always wondered what my dreams look like on paper, in numbers.”

What?

There’s an opening over here,” Xander says, stopping at a game table in the middle of the room.”

There was a new boy at the pool today,” I told my parents that long-ago night, after the incident while Xander and I were swimming.”

Today is Sunday.”

None of the showings are new,” our friend Sera complains.”

Two days later, I stand with a group of other students in front of the main building of the Arboretum.”

The pattern in my neighborhood has shifted this evening; something is wrong.”

Breakfast sounds from the kitchen carry down the hall to my room.”

At work that evening, we have an interesting sort for a change.”

Cassia Reyes,” I say, holding out my scancard.”

At work the next day, we all notice immediately when the Officials enter the room.”

As I walk to the air-train stop the next morning, things feel crisp, less weighted.”

I’m getting good at C.”

The climb is almost too easy.”

Another car sits on our street, this time in front of Em’s house.”

The air train into the City the next morning is almost silent.”

I walk home from the air-train stop with Em after school and sorting.”

I have a hard time concentrating at sorting the next day.”

A few days later, I sit in Language and Literacy, staring at the instructor as she talks about the importance of composing succinct messages when communicating via port.”

The next morning I wake to a shrieking so high and keening that I bolt straight out of bed, tearing the sleep tags from my skin.”

Ky gives me three gifts for my birthday.”

Our time together feels like a storm, like wild wind and rain, like something too big to handle but too powerful to escape.”

We hurry back down from the Hill.”

Warning.”

At home that night, I take out the green tablet again.”

There is screaming in the Borough again and this time it is human.”

When the darkness finally lifts, it is a flat, hot, steelcolored morning, a morning without dimension or depth.”

Xander sits on the steps of my house.”

My hands are in the soil; my body is tired, but I will not let this work take away my thoughts.”

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Top 5 Sundays - Books That Started Your Book Addiction!

This feature was thought up by the awesome Larissa's Bookish Life
Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.
2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.
3 - Feel free to use the Features image
4 - After you've finished your post, add your link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.
5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)    

Top 5 Sundays - Books That Started Your Book Addiction!


The Baby-Sitters Club was one of the first series where I became addicted and needed the next book ASAP.  The first book signing that I ever went to was for Ann M. Martin, the author of this series.  

The Animorphs series is what I was addicted to in middle school and well until the very last book came out in I think 2001.  I even have all the VHS tapes from the TV show when it was on.  It just pretty much had a little bit of everything and is definitely an interesting series.



I was addicted to the Harry Potter books ever since my mom brought the first one home for me.  I even went to a couple of the midnight release parties (now those were a lot of fun).  This is one of the first times where I really got pulled into the whole world of the series.


The whole Simon Canderous series is the first urban fantasy series that I read.  I love all the characters and the mix of the real world with the paranormal.  The series is fun and also makes you care about all the characters.


This is the series that I discovered right before I began this blog.  Mind Games is such a different series then what I'd read before.  It's also the first book that I reviewed for Bibliognome.  It's  one of the first book that had a really interesting love triangle and the first cliffhanger (the end of the second book) which actually had me cursing and almost throwing the book.  I was addicted to this series until the very end and I also really enjoy the short stories that the author writes too.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Favorite Friday Finds

I had a lot of fun shopping on Thanksgiving day.  These are my two favorite finds:

A combo DVD/Blu-ray player for under $40 = pretty darn awesome.  :)

I love the Monster High dolls, they're just so cool compared to the other kinds of dolls.  I wanted the one that's part gargoyle but ended up saving this one because it was the last one left and also pretty cool looking.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Story Time


* Please add a line to the story and determine where it goes.

Rules

1.) Only write 1 to 2 sentences
2.) Keep it clean
3.) Have fun and spread the word so the story grows


Here's the story that has formed so far:

Awesome  people who have authored the story by adding lines so far:Sullivan McPig, Julie@My5monkeys, Susan Jane Bigelow, barmybex, Tiny Reverse Vampire, Man of la Book


Once upon a time in a time not that long ago there was a disturbance.


The cause of the disturbance was something that was well...truly disturbing.  In fact it was so disturbing that at first it was quite unclear what this disturbance was, because anyone who saw it was too disturbed to talk about it.


There  came a noisy unruly girl who demanded that all must obey her. She was the girl of the mayor and weird things did happen around her. Pigeons tap danced when she blinked her eyes and cockroaches would mimic her words when she spoke.  Lights would go off and babies would cry when she passed.


This  girl stood in the center of town, pigeons dancing, roaches waiting, lights flickering and babies crying all around.  She struck her umbrella on the cobblestones.  A hush fell over the town as purple sparks shot out of the tip of the umbrella and even the pigeons stopped their dancing and seemed to hold their breath.


As  the astounded masses watched a massive hole slowly appeared in the middle of the street. As the dust settled it was revealed...a giant staircase leading down to complete darkness and then a faint music started to radiate from its depths.


There was such a ruckus in the town and trying to make sure that all the citizens were fine. The music coming out of the hole had a mesmerizing sound that attracted all the citizens.  It was almost like children's music.


The girl grinned mischievously and whistled along with the music while she slowly descended down the hole.


The further down she went the louder the music echoed. A strange shift filled the air and a cold wind howled past causing her hair to flutter round her face, but it didn't distract her. As she confidently walked on some of the pigeons and cockroaches followed her, cautiously and trembling with fear and a sense of foreboding.


"Wait," a high, piping voice said, "there are dangers below!" One of the pigeons had spoken. This was not a terrific surprise to the girl, who did not pause in her descent." Stay above ground if you don't have the courage to follow me," she stated calmly." But I must go on. The faith of the town depends on this."


As  she kept traveling downward the tone of the music seemed to change and become more insistent.  Then in the distance a faint shimmering light appeared.


It glowed a dull purple at first, but then changed to a harsh, angry blue that pulsated like a frantic heartbeat that got more aggressive the closer the girl got to it.


The light was actually calling to her, and only her. She was different from everyone else in the town. It was her duty.


She  edged closer with her arm out in front of her. The blue light grew in intensity until she had to close her eyes against the glare, a warmth surrounded her arm from the light and she pulled in a satisfied breath and grinned.


As more of the light enveloped her, she felt the heat spread and her body began to hum with a sense of power.


Then in her mind she began to hear a whispering chant almost as if the power knew who she was and what she had to do.


The words and the music started to sync together and then she began to speak the chant, as she spoke the discordant words the light solidified into a wooden door which slowly began to open.


The light around the door frame was still so bright it cast shadows into the room, making it impossible to see what was in there.


She slowly peeked into the room and felt so cold that there must be something not of this world in there. She slowly found the bed and sat down on it.


Then out of nowhere a dapper looking man appeared.  He looked like a perfect gentleman, he even had a strange purple tophat on.  Though when you looked in his eyes there was no warmth to be found and his presence seemed to suck the warmth from the room.


The man seemed to be staring straight at her but there was no recognition in his eyes, just blackness. Then he opened his mouth to speak and she felt shivers shoot up and down her spine.


His voice seemed to freeze the very air and stop all sound when he said, "I know what you're here for."


Thinking this was her job and her job alone, she wondered if he was friend or foe.


She steadied herself because she knew that if she showed any fear that he might pounce and his true form would be revealed.  Her bag of tricks was pretty full though and she had the spark of an idea.


She remembered his particular fondness for word puzzles and taking a deep breath began reciting an odd sounding riddle.


In the middle of the chant he began chanting along with her, their voices rose and the atmosphere in the room grew even more tense.


The girl could have sworn she felt the very walls vibrating and the floor shaking, but she knew she couldn't stop now. If this was some sort of test she was determined to succeed.


When she finished the chant he stopped at the same time, then with a deep rumbling the floor fell away beneath them.


The pair tumbled down into the darkness, but for some reason neither one of them was scared.


They seem to fall forever, almost floating in the air. The girl held the man's hand, or was he holding hers?


The man was still chanting, while the pigeons were flying in circles around them. That is when the girl notices something that sent cold chills to her spine: the cockroaches mimicked him!


She thought everything was under control but those darn cockroaches really fouled things up.

The farther they fell the more weightless she felt and the air seemed to thicken and become colder.

The chanting continued, she glanced down and saw that they were falling quickly toward a rather large clearing that was surrounded by snow and something shadowy she couldn't quite make out.

Bracing herself for a rough landing the girl blew out a deep breath and got ready for impact. At least the snow would offer some sort of comfort, or so she thought.

The closer they got the more the view changed.  The snowflakes now seemed to be separating, darkening, and slowly but surely rising to meet them.

The girl closed her eyes in the hope she was imagining it, but when she opened them again the shadowy snow was still coming towards them and now it looked like a dark outstretched hand just waiting to snatch them both out of the air.