Fall Giveaway - We have a Winner :)

Over 290 Entries

Put them all in the SpongeBob lunchbox

Shake it all up and the winner is

Tee-rific Thursday - Unshelved Edition

Unshelved is a great comic about a library and they have a store that sells some truly great shirts.  :)

This one is my favorite shirt,

A truly awesome shirt that showcases both reading and Star Trek.

Wish List Wednesday - Nightshade

Books that I really want to read and have added to my Wish List or my I would really like this book to be in my to be read pile list.  :)

Can't wait for this book especially after getting the mystery box with the puzzle book in it the other day.  It won't be released until October 19th so I will try to wait patiently.

Horrendous Human, Marvelous Monster

*some spoilers included, nothing big though

This book was checked out from the library, which I'm glad I did instead of buying it.  This book definitely begrudgingly gets a 3 out of 5 gnomes because one character of the two main characters is much more likable then the other.  This book went from a 2 up to a 3 just because of the character Frankie Stein.

Melody and Frankie alternate chapters.  Melody is human, had a nose job and recently moved from Beverly Hills to Oregon.  Frankie is a monster, Frankenstein's granddaughter and has mint green skin.

I really wish that the book only had Frankie or the other monster's point of view the whole time.  Melody makes it extremely hard to care about her.  She feels sorry for herself a lot and has zero confidence.  Melody's nickname used to be Smellody but then her plastic surgeon dad fixed her nose.  The supposed reason for fixing her nose is well, ludicrous.  I'm pretty sure that having asthma would not prevent you from singing but that is the reason she says she wants her nose fixed.  Also have to wonder how getting a nose job would help you at all if you had asthma.  She supposedly doesn't like being pretty because she's not sure people like her for her or just her new nose.

Another astonishingly weird choice is Melody's decision to become best friends with Bekka.  Bekka has Melody sign a contract saying that she won't go after her boyfriend Brett and will beat up anyone that does.  After hearing about and seeing the contract Melody actually signs it which really made me question her mental faculties.  Bekka is followed around by Haylee who writes down everything Bekka does to turn it into a cell phone novel.

I like all the current entertainment examples that are a part of the book but it will end up dating it pretty fast.  The word the monsters use for themselves is great, RAD or Regular Attribute Dodger.  Even though the monsters hide who they are they all still seem to have more confidence then Melody.

There is a love interest or two.  The whole Jackson/DJ Melody Frankie love square or triangle is well kind of icky.  The whole thing can't end well unless polygamy is somehow the solution.

Melody is either fawning over or thinking about boys practically the whole time.  Frankie does think about boys but the clear difference is that it's not all that she thinks about.  I like that Frankie is actually proud of who she is and the fact that she's mint green.  Frankie's adventures and friends are fun to read about.  I like that she uses stage makeup to hide and that she sparks or shocks people accidentally.  Frankie feels that RADS should not have to hide who they are but everybody else is used to hiding.

The ending is pretty good but does leave one with a lot of questions.

Overall I wish the book was more like the web site and that it was just about the monsters because you could take Melody out of the story and really not loose anything important.  This is one instance where having two main characters alternate chapters doesn’t work.

Sentence Sneak Peek - Monster High

Monster High by Lisi Harrison

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

*There is no chapter 13 it is called Lost Chapter (Whose Unlucky Number Shall Go Unmentioned)

 From the prologue, "Frankie Stein's thick lashes fluttered open."

"The fourteen-hour drive from Beverly Hills, California, to Salem, Oregon, had been total Gitmo."

"The sun was finally up."

"We're here!"

"Frankie jumped to her bare feet and began dancing to the Lady Gaga beats lingering inside her head."

"Despite the early hour, Melody and Candace took to Radcliffe Way with the boundless energy of two girls who had been cooped up in an SUV for fourteen hours."

"Viveka knocked on the door to Frankie's Fab."

"The lunchtime bell bwoopbwooped like a European busy signal."

"Frankie ran-walked down the empty hall, her wool-covered thighs chafing."

"On Friday, Bekka greeted Melody with a celebratory high five."

"The rain continued into Saturday."

"Are you sure you don't want to camp with us?"

"Frankie slept like a chick with its head cut off--her brain and her body were on totally different programs."

"Can anyone tell me what an autotroph is?"

"It was a tomato-soup -and-macaroni kind of night."

"...and kissed...and kissed...and kissed."

"Frankie, dear pass the asparagus to our guests, please," Viveka asked, with a hint of Madonna's fake English accent."

"Haylee followed Bekka down the "Till Death Do You Part" aisle of the Costume Castle like a dutiful maid of honor."

"Plan A was ready for activation."

"Okay, one more picture!"

"Standing outside the double gym doors, Frankie, Lala, Blue, Clawdeen, and Cleo locked hands like the Pussycat Dolls about to take their final curtain call."

"Melody and Jackson had been enjoying a post-dance cooldown in an unpopulated corner of the gym when the incident occurred."

"It smelled like life had stopped and all that remained were cold sterile instruments."

"Melody's finger hovered over the doorbell."

"Frankie had taken the stand."

"Pacing across her porch, Melody thought of those windup dogs she'd seen on display on tables in the mall."

"A pebble bounced off the frosted-glass window."

Nifty Nightshade - More about the cool package received today from Shay

The Poetical Works of Dryden
Published 1910

The letters spell out, Alistair is General to the Beasts

Eiras Wraiths Spilled the Blood of the Conatus High Command

Nightshade - Look what I got in the mail today :) :)

Got a nice surprise in the mail today from Shay a character from the book Nightshade.

Merchandise Monday - Guardians of Ga'hoole Edition

Here's some very cool stuff out now that's based on the movie which is based on the books The Guardians of Ga'hoole.

Some very cute owls perfect for anyone who like owls.

Truly an awesome calendar.

I am so going to buy this game when it's a little cheaper.

Winnings of the Week

Won this awesome Manifest prize pack from Fire and Ice
Can't wait to read this book and the rest of the pack is great. :)

 

A very nice bag, coin purse, notebook and pen

button from Fire and Ice (this picture taken from Fire and Ice because my pics of it kept turning out blurry)

Tantalizing Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

I checked this book out from the library and it was well worth it.  I give this book a solid 4 out of 5 gnomes, for how very intense the story is and how the writing just pulls you in and you start to feel like hey this could happen or that you're watching a zombie movie as you read it.

This is a very intriguing read because in this village the unconsecrated aka zombies are a part of everyday life just kept out by reinforced fences.  If the unconsecrated do breach the village there is a warning siren and then ladders to platforms where people can wait out the attack.  

You see everything through the eyes of Mary who doesn't seem to fit in to the village way of life.  Her mother tells her stories of what life was like before the "Return."  Mary fervently believes in her mother's stories and wants more then anything to see the ocean.

In the village if you are a woman of marrying age you have only 3 options: live with your parents, marry or join the Sisterhood.  Mary though does not really seem to have a choice and she soon finds out that the Sisterhood and the Guardians who protect the village are full of secrets.

A kind of icky part is that her love interests are brothers, Travis and Harry.  She's in love with Travis but Harry speaks for her instead which means that he intends to marry her.  So she loves Travis but he's essentially betrothed to her best friend Cass.  Cass then falls in love with Harry when Travis is ill.  Overall quite a mess in the love department and happy endings seem very hard to come by in this world.

There are some scenes throughout the book that really make you pause.  There's a scene involving an infant and an open window that I know I won't forget anytime soon.

This book is about both real and mental journeys and learning what you believe in.  It's about whether you should follow your dreams and choose love or just settle for the norm.

The ending is not exactly happy but I can't wait to see what happens next in this bleak yet enthralling world.

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

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

The blanks are left in two of the sentences to prevent spoilers.

"My mother used to tell me about the ocean."

"You will stay with us now," the Sisters tell me, "until your brother arrives."

"The first thing the Sisters do when Jed walks me back to the Cathedral is strip off my clothes and half-drown me in the sacred well."

"It is late afternoon by the time I climb down from the tower and walk back to the Cathedral."

"The next day I am called to the tend the patient, who has been silent all night."

'I have been telling Travis about the ocean."

"Sister Tabitha is correct: with my new studies there is no time to visit Travis during the day."

"Three days pass and I am desperate."

"I drum my fingers against the desk under the window in my room."

"Spring in the village means rain, baptisms and marriages."

"For the past two days since we spoke on the hill I have waited for Travis to come for me."

"The room is tiny, the ceiling low."

"I fight to keep my face passive, swallowing my gasp of shock."

"When the siren wails the next morning I am in bed."

"The pain does not come."

"The path just on the other side of the gate is wide enough for the four of us to stand in a row--me and Harry, Travis and Cass--our shoulders sometimes touching as we watch the fog lift and understand fully the chaos that's taking place in our village."

"I wake to chaos."

"I stay true to my promise: I don't tell the others about ____."

"What?"

"__________ Harry and Travis come back down the path to where Cass and I sit in silence, watching Jacob nap with Argos, his bony shoulders rising and falling hypnot-ically."

"We spend most of the day backtracking, not making any real headway on the new path we've chosen."

"There are no people."

"It appears as though the founders of this village truly under-stood the nature of the threat that existed outside the fences."

"I have taken to spending most of my time up on the porch on the third floor, a place where Travis can't reach me be-cause of his leg."

"They're starting to break through," Travis says to me when I come inside."

"I push Travis up the rest of the stairs and look down to see the Unconsecrated swarming."

"Mary."

"Not wasting a moment, Travis dashes back into the attic."

"It's dark when I wake up."

"It's difficult to find solitude in the platforms in the trees and so I walk along the rope bridges until I am as far away from Travis and the rest as possible."

"Fire!"

"My mouth opens to scream but no sound comes out."

"As the days pass by we do nothing but walk, trying to put distance between us and the fire devouring its way toward us."

"Mary, we can still go back," Jed says, rain flying from his fingers as he waves his hands."

"A hand grasps at my waist and I'm about to swing when I realize that it's Jed."

"I wake to the sound of wind rushing through the trees."

Tee-rific Thursday - Department of Extraordinary Affairs Edition

Some shirts to show your love for the Simon Canderous series.

This is the picture that's on all the shirts,

Some of the options, there's 16 shirts in all.

Wish List Wednesday - Books I ordered and wish were here already edition

Books that I recently ordered via Book Depository.

.

Dead Waters by Anton Strout (release date February 22, 2011) the fourth book in the Simon Canderous series. I've loved this series so far.  It's full of great characters, humor and of course the Department of Extraordinary Affairs which are all great to read about.  Too bad February is so far away.

Alien Tango by Gini Koch (release date December 7, 2010) is the second book in the Alien series and after all the action that happened in the first book I can't wait to see what happens next.

Double Cross by Carolyn Crane (released September 28, 2010) the second book in this series.  After reading the first book with all the great characters and story there are still a lot of questions to answer.  Looking forward to it especially after reading the sneak peek of the first chapter from Carolyn Crane's, newsletter.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (released yesterday) is a book that I knew I wanted to read as soon as I saw the cover and even more so after I read the description of the book.  Changelings have always intrigued me so I can't wait to see where the story goes.

NOW CLOSED Welcoming the Fall Giveaway! September 22-29

Welcome to the Fall Giveaway hosted by Good Choice Reading.  Bibliognome is just one of the over 50 blogs you can visit and win prizes from.  Are you excited yet?  Well, I know I am.  :)

Here at Bibliognome for the giveaway I'll offer the winner a choice of any book they want from The Book Depository as long as it is under $20 and they have to live in a country that the Book Depository ships to.

Giveaway is open to US and International
Rules to enter:
1.) Just leave a comment with your name and e-mail address.
2.) You don't have to follow the blog to win, but feel free to follow if you like what you see and leave any comments on reviews or posts that you find interesting.  :)
3.) Giveaway will end on September 29th at 11:59 PM. (Central Time)

*I'll pick the name of the winner out of a hat or whatever jar is convenient.

There will be no extra entries because I'm horrible at math so 1 entry per person. :)

Winner will be posted on September 30th and then will have 48 hours to contact me with their address so they can receive their prize.



Welcome to Bibliognome, I hope you enjoy the Fall Giveaway.  Make sure to check out all the other blogs and the awesome prizes being given away.

Getting ready for the Fall Giveaway - officially starts at midnight :)

:)

 

58 blogs

I'm sure there are going to be a lot of awesome prizes and of course fun blogs to discover.

So be here or be square starting at midnight tonight.  :)

Merchandise Monday - Department of Extraordinary Affairs Edition

For those who have read and love the Simon Canderous Series or have yet to read it but really should :),
 

 

                                                           Book #1                        Book #2                        

                                                     Book #3                     Book #4 out 2/22/11

Some cool merchandise to show your support for the DEA(Department of Extraordinary Affairs) at,

The Lovecraft Cafe Merch Counter

Hats, mugs, magnets, so go decorate yourself or your office.

Super Sunday - Look What I Found :)

Went to Target today and found one of the signed copies of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare so of course I took it home with me.  :) :)