Monday, April 30, 2012

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Forgetting Curve

The Forgetting Curve by Angie Smibert

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

* ARC provided by the publisher
* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

* Book will be released May 1, 2012


"It all started with a door."

"It was only some freaking car bombs," my roomie, Chase Loudon, complained."

"My eyelids were like lead, and the world wouldn't come into focus."

"Do not wear fishnet stockings and a boiled wool skirt to a dank garage."

"The glossy bit of code was as smooth as glass, with no place to grab onto, no hidden doors for me to rattle open."

"We were in a cab."

"As soon as we pulled up to the gate, I fished my mobile out of my pack."

"Winter?"

"Somebody did need to do some explaining, but I didn't know who that somebody was."

"Pink and lime green."

"Mom dragged me around to a few high-end shops at the Hub."

"You're as bad as Micah," Winter said as we walked through the security checkpoint into the parking garage."

"Huxley's was deader than usual—and I really couldn't afford to keep recycling my paycheck through the shop's antiquated till."

"Over dinner that night, which Mom ordered in from some Thai place, she and Dad talked work."

"The clock blinked seven AM at me, and for a brief sleepy moment, I wondered why on Earth I'd set the alarm."

"Aunt Spring met me in the lobby of Nomura's Research and Development Division."

"For the next few days, I was stuck in a loop of crushing boredom."

"The MemeCast lasted only a few minutes."

"Finally."

"New amendment to the Book of Velvet: when a cute rich guy asks you to hang out, be worried if he shows up with an antenna made out of a potato chip can."

"A freight train clattered by behind us as we stood at the entrance to the scrapyard."

"I didn't want to go."

"Aiden walked me to my door."

"I had so much to tell Winter."

"I woke up as the sun was setting, the heat still heavy on my brain."

"I was on information overload, and the universe was no freaking help."

"The boys were skating at the old Twinkie factory on Salem Avenue."

"Another day, another zero dollars in cubicleland."

"I avoided the whole garage rehearsal scene as the boys worked out the music."

"Dad and I didn't say much at breakfast today."

"Sometimes the universe slaps you across the face, and all of the pieces click into place—and the picture wasn't what you'd thought it was."

"I told Jao to take my aunt and uncle back home, and then I took a cab to see Mr. Yamada."

"We'd gotten pretty ballsy about handing out the Meme-Fest flyers."

"Nora, Maia, and Abby were already heading toward the street exit, but I could hear their convo as I half jogged up from behind, breaking my own rule about running."

"As I stepped on the Skywalk, I heard a rumble in the dis-tance like thunder."

"Jao paced the foyer."

"When I woke up this morning, my head felt clear."

"Do not volunteer for something until you're sure it doesn't include manual labor."

"I slipped in the back way, through the semi-secret panel in the fence."

"We retreated to Winter's workshop."

"Big night."

"The front door announced that we had visitors."

"The Wannabes started playing "Anything Girl," one of my songs."

"A concert, young lady?"

"We have to go get her," Winter pleaded."

"Mom chopped chicken for the yakitori while Dad and Grandfather watched the news."

"The doorbell rang, and I pulled myself out of my depressed coach-potato stupor long enough to answer it."

"In my dreams, I saw Velvet being dragged away by the black vans."

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Top 5 Sundays - Favorite Paranormal Themes in Books!

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 - Fell free to use the Feature's image
4 - After you've finished your post, add you 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 =)  


Favorite Paranormal Themes in Books!


Magic
Magic and the paranormal is always interesting especially in books especially when it mixes with other themes like magic and ghosts as seen in Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.

Ghosts
I love ghost stories that are funny or unexpected.  A ghost can always add something interesting or scary to a book.

Paranormal Detectives/Secret Agencies
I like mystery in a series and when you mix that with the paranormal it leads to some awesome series.  One of my favorite series that does this is the Simon Canderous series by Anton Strout.

Weird Powers
I'm a huge fan of superheroes so I love when unexpected or weird powers come into play in a book or series.  Some weird powers or transformations that I've loved lately are Kitty from the Alien series by Gini Koch (this character continues to change and gain some quite interesting abilities.)

       Main characters who are flawed but awesome
It's no fun reading about characters with perfect lives it's the characters with flaws that I find myself really rooting for.  One of the best series I've read that features such a character is Justine from The Disillusionists Trilogy by Carolyn Crane.  She's full of fear but uses it in quite an intriguing way.

Saturday, April 28, 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


Title: An Extraordinary Girl


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.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Gripping Game

* Received from the author for review

To start with the rating 5 out of 5 tiara wearing bats for this one.  Normally I am one of those readers that likes the first in the series the best but book 3 of the VV inn series has proven that that is not always the case.  So far with each new book in this series I get a new favorite.  They keep getting better and better.

In this installment of the series the duel story lines keep you gussing at what will come next. First back at the inn while the vampies are away the weres will be weres.  Romeo and his pack are back including Spike (I love Spike).  Spike is easily in my top five favorite characters list.  The hunt for big game and in some people's cases love is on.  Some shiny trouble means a fight for survival and more.

While away from home not all goes smooth for the seethe either.  Paul's control is tested again in more ways then one.  While Rafe and Dria walk into the vampires nest itself.  I like the scenes on the island but I do wonder more about the people and happenings there then we get to see this time.  My favorite parts of the books are when you get to see that Dria although the oldest is not the only member of the group that gets scary.  Characters continue to grow and be added.  This series once again had me wanting the next as soon as I finished.


A Tiny Reverse Vampire Review

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Sentence Sneak Peek - Big Game

Big Game by C.J. Ellisson

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

* ARC provided by the author
* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)



"The soft hum of the jet fades into the background noise of the small cabin."

"The line drops."

"A soft beep from the plane’s intercom system jars me from a light slumber."

"The dull thud of my footsteps echo back off the smooth walls of the dimly lit, narrow tunnel."

"I hang up the phone with Asa, grinning at his description of the subtle matchmaking by the pack Alphas."

"The scents of mud, dead grasses, and woods fill my lupine nose. "

"Muted gray light seeps past my eyelids."

"The sun feels high, not quite at full strength due to the time of year, but it’s certainly kill-worthy for me."

"The dark sky spans before the windshield, making the private jet feel like an insignificant bug in the huge expanse."

"The late afternoon sun glints through the thin trees, catching my eye while I sprint across the property in wolf form."

"The overpowering odor of blood in the banquet room has diminished thanks to the strong coroner’s gel under my nose."

"Jerry settles onto the couch in Vivian and Rafe’s small office."

"It’s well past two a.m. and my latest call to Jon has gone to voicemail, just like the one to Asa did a half hour ago."

"The mid-size conference room in the basement, the one that magically transformed into a forest under Vivian’s illusion in January, doesn’t seem large enough to hold all the high-tempered Weres."

“What’s a guy to do hours before dawn and his friends are all in bed?"

"The eerie calm of the tunnels surrounds me as I descend the escape ladder in Bunny and Paul’s bedroom closet."

"It’s hours past dawn when Rafe and I enter our suite."

"My eyes spring open in the darkened living room."

“Should we let him live?”

"It’s mid-morning, close to ten a.m. The wolves are awake, clustered once again down in the basement around the small conference table."

"I bolt up from restorative sleep, the concern I had when lying down to rest still front and center in my mind."

"Around noon, the fully-healed Pat, Eric, and myself slipped through the underground tunnels to one of the empty family cabins."

"I end the call with Jon, turning off the speaker function when I hang up."

"I don’t trust Cy and want to know why he tried to push into my head, but, I’ve shoved my fears and worries aside to listen to Jon."

"My wounds heal slower now that the demented pair has drained half my blood."

"I raced out of the basement meeting with Cy and Asa, unable to talk with the two bloodsuckers a minute longer."

"Over the course of the last few hours, I’ve seen the other two male vampires who originally were a part of my abduction, plus Coraline, and Lucas."

"I’m worried about Jon."

"It’s been hours since I was dragged into this room and left in a heap on the floor."

"Candy returned thirty minutes after the sun rose."

"I huddle in a corner, crying softly."

"Over an hour ago, Pat raced down to the basement with Jon’s bloody form draped over his shoulders."

"The stink of death hangs over Rome like thick smoke on a day with no wind."

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Unique Underworld

Underworld by Meg Cabot

* ARC read via Around The World Tours
* Book will be released May 8, 2012
* Definitely recommend that you read the first book to understand this one better.


4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

This sequel is better then the first book.  I liked it a lot more because the main character Pierce knows everything, well mostly everything, instead of taking forever to learn what's going on.

Pierce is now in the underworld which is pretty much a dreary place.  Her and John still have a rather complicated relationship going on but at least now she knows how she feels about him.  There are of course plenty of problems and some lies by omition by a certain death deity.  She doesn't want to be trapped in the underworld but starts to see what exactly goes on and how she has an effect on the place.  It looks like she may just be able to leave her life behind and then she sees a tragic future event that she feels has to be stopped.

I liked getting to see more of the underworld and of course meeting some of its denizens.  John's servants are particularly great characters because they show you a different side of that place and also of John's character. Some of John's background is finally revealed and it's quite the story. Finding out more about John makes her question him a bit more at first but towards the end they again seem to be going forward together.


Overall this is a pretty interesting twist and the whole Persephone myth especially when they are together in the underworld.  The biggest problem in this version of the underworld is the furies.  They seem to be like the ultimate evil in this world.  It kind of makes you wonder how they have all this power and John can't stop them, they're kind of like a really evil security system.

The ending of this one was great because it leaves you really wanting to know what happens next.  I don't want to spoil anything but I loved the twist involving the real meaning of the pomegranate.  There are surprises aplenty at the end and some questions of what exactly everyone's fate will be.  I know I'm looking forward to the next book.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Sentence Sneak Peek - Underworld

Underworld by Meg Cabot

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

* ARC read via Around The World Tours
* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)
* Book will be released May 8, 2012


"Pierce keeps having the most terrible nightmares."

"My pulse still pounding from the dream, I opened my eyes."

"I . . . I don't understand," I said, looking down at the small white creature that nestled in his hands."

"I didn't hate him."

"I don't know how long I sat there, dumbly watching Alex struggle inside the box."

"The dog was on me before I'd gone two steps."

"Was that really necessary?"

"When John flung us back to earth, it wasn't to the mid-dle of a breezeway at Isla Huesos High School, the last place I'd been before I'd found myself in the realm of the dead, and so where I'd been expecting to next cross paths with the living."

"Dead?"

"It was while I was warming my hands over the teakettle, waiting for the water to boil — trust Mr. Smith not to have a microwave or electric teakettle or modern conveniences of any kind — that I looked out the small kitchen window and saw it:
     
Hope appeared from nowhere — just fluttered down from the sky — and landed in the small dirt yard behind the cemetery sex-ton's office."

"I turned and raced towards the steps."

"I spun around to stare at John in astonishment."

"I insinuated myself between my boyfriend and uncle before things could get any uglier."

"My mother's voice was coming from across the hall."

"When I opened my eyes again, I was standing next to John in a dark, quiet alley."

"My hairband fell to the sidewalk."

"Kayla, her hand resting on the crook of Frank's elbow, led us down the crowded street."

"Don't worry, " John said."

"Shocked, John released his hold on Alex."

"Oh, my God," Kayla said as she collapsed into one of the over-stuffed chairs in the hotel lobby into which she had pulled — and John had pushed — me."

"The police officer didn't have her gun drawn."

"I turned my disbelieving eyes to look up at John.
"

"When I opened my eyes again, we were in a different court-yard . . . the one where I'd found Henry hiding, what seemed like a lifetime ago."

"I opened my eyes."

"He can't be dead."

"Letting out a soft cry, I fell to my knees at his side."

"It was impossible."

Monday, April 23, 2012

Ashalyn's Review of Wings of the Wicked

Wings of the Wicked (Angelfire Book 2) by Courtney Allison Moulton

* Review by Ashalyn 


4 out of 5 monkeys


A non-stop emotional roller coaster ride is the best way to describe Wings of the Wicked.  It picks up with Will and Ellie struggling with staying professional and not romantic despite their desire for each other.   Leading into her and her angst feelings about him (what would a book be with no Teenage-Angst with an immortal).  It doesn’t get any better while Ellie stresses over Will obnoxiously but at least it isn’t so overwhelming it makes me sick.  Despite the whining it still had some major great parts that allowed me to overlook all of it.    

We see more of Cadan who I must say I am really, really loving in this book.  He comes in at the perfect places and always unexpected. You never could truly pinpoint a pattern or know how he is going to react.  Is he good or bad, you are on your toes the entire time trying to decide.  

Also I really enjoyed the back-story parts of this book it made me feel closer to the characters.  Ellie throughout this book grew a lot and really is coming into her powers and starting to remember her past lives.  It also gives you more Nathaniel and Lauren (they are just too sweet).  

By the end I will admit to having to wipe away a couple tears due to a few unexpected surprises.  Although the ending isn’t a huge cliffhanger it is definitely enough to have me craving more.  



Review by Ashalyn

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Top 5 Sundays - Reasons I'll Quit an Author!

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 - Fell free to use the Feature's image
4 - After you've finished your post, add you 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 - Reasons I'll Quit an Author!

(I don't remember ever purposefully quitting an author most times I just drift away if I get bored, these are some reasons though that have brought me close to quitting)

5 - If the book and characters start to bore me then most definitely I'll drop a series.

4 - Having a cliffhanger at the end of every single book for seemingly no reason.

3 - The never ending love triangle = make a freaking decision already.

2 - If the book doesn't seem to have a crescendo type moment but is just even throughout the entire book.

1 - It drives me crazy when the love interests in a novel suddenly can't be together because they find out they're brother and sister and then later find out that they are not related (there has to be a better way to choose to keep love interests apart.)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

World Book Night - My Plans


I'm very happy to be a World Book Night Giver, I get to giveaway copies of The Hunger Games.


The big box that I picked up from Barnes & Noble.  It also came with bookmarks and a pin.


Here's a view of the awesome looking special edition copies of The Hunger Games, aren't they beautiful :)


The sign I made to promote the World Book Night event I'm planning at the library where I work.  I decided to spread the free books out even more by having people bring in whatever other books they wanted to giveaway too.  It looks like it should be a lot of fun.  I'm also bringing in some extra swag to giveaway that I had (including some signed postcards and bookmarks.  I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that a lot of people show up and participate.