An email has been sent. Thank you all for entering and thank you to Macmillan for providing the winner copy.
Oct 31, 2011
Oct 30, 2011
In My Mailbox
IMM is a meme brought to us from The Story Siren. Basically, it's a good way to add books on to your TBR pile, get a head's up on what is coming soon, and to totally brag. Let's get real... ;)
Review:
Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne
Diabolical by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Oct 28, 2011
Texas Bluebonnet Award - 2012 - 2013 Master List
November Is Adopt an Indie Month - Giveaway Day #4
Hey! Thanks for coming back for Day #4, the final day! All week I have been featuring some great Indie reads. All for you, all free. Please take the time to go to the Goodreads page of each author and visit their site. Most have book trailers up that will give you a good idea of their work.
If you missed Day #1, go HERE
If you missed Day #2, go HERE
If you missed Day #3, go HERE
Alright, here is what is available today!
Giveaway #14
Ebook of Solstice by PJ Hoover
Piper’s world is dying. Global warming kills every living thing on Earth, and each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy humanity. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives with her mother who suffocates her more than the chaotic climate. When her mother is called away to meet the father Piper has been running from her entire life, Piper seizes an opportunity for freedom.
But when Piper discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed, she realizes her world is not the only one in crisis. While Gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper's life spirals into turmoil, and she struggles to find answers to secrets kept from her since birth. And though she’s drawn to her classmate Shayne, he may be more than he claims. Piper has to choose whom she can trust and how she can save the people she loves even if it means the end of everything she’s ever known.
Add to Goodreads
You can visit Hoover at her website
Read my review of Solstice HERE
Oct 27, 2011
The Fox Inheritance - Audio Book Winner
Congratulations goes to....
An email has been sent to you. Thank you everyone for entering!
- ×1Audio Book of The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson
+159entries so far
OVERcontest is over!
An email has been sent to you. Thank you everyone for entering!
Oct 26, 2011
November Is Adopt an Indie Month - Giveaway Day #3
Welcome back for day #3 of my Adopt an Indie Month Giveaway!
If you missed Day #1, go HERE
If you missed Day #2, go HERE
This week I will offer chances to win some terrific Indie books. They range in age range and genre, but most are young adult. Please visit the Goodreads page and the author site to learn more about these titles. Feel free to comment below if you recognize one of these great books.
Find out more information about Adopt An Indie Month HERE and read one soon next! I am featured on this page, stop by and wave.
Giveaway #10
One ebook and one paperback of Tomorrow's Guardian by Richard Denning
Experiencing episodes of déjà -vu, eleven year old Tom believes he is going mad. Then, he meets the adventurer Septimus Mason, who shows him that he is a "Walker" - someone who can transport himself to other times. Septimus explains that these abilities can be removed leaving him, once more, an ordinary schoolboy. Given the hurt these talents have caused, the choice would seem easy enough, but it is not so simple. In dreams, Tom has experienced life as other "Walkers" in times of mortal danger: Edward Dyson killed at the Battle of Isandlwana, 1879; Mary Brown who perished in the Great Fire of London, 1666; and finally Charlie Hawker, a sailor who was drowned on a U-boat in 1943.Agreeing to rescue them, Tom has three dangerous adventures before returning to the present day. Tom's finds he has drawn the attention of individuals who seek to bend history to their will. Soon Tom's family are obliterated from existence and Tom must make a choice between saving them and saving his entire world.
Add to Goodreads
You can visit Denning at his site
Waiting on Wednesday - Diabolical by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Diabolical (Tantalize #4) by Cynthia Leitich Smith
January 24th, 2012 from Candlewick Press
When “slipped” angel Zachary and his werewolf pal Kieren are summoned under suspicious circumstances to a mysterious New England boarding school, they quickly find themselves in a hellish lock-down with an intriguing assortment of secretive, hand-picked “students.” Plagued by demon dogs, hallucinatory wall décor, a sadistic instructor, and a legendary fire-breathing monster, will they somehow manage to escape? Or will the devil have his due? Best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith unites heroes from the previous three novels in the Tantalize Series — including Zachary’s girl, Miranda, and Kieren’s love, Quincie — along with a fascinating cast of all-new characters for a suspenseful, action-packed clash between the forces of heaven and hell.
We are very lucky to have Cynthia right here in our own backyard in Austin. She is a great supporter for other writers in this community and I'm happy to know her. I knew this one was coming out next year and then kablam - it landed on my doorstep yesterday! Love it when that happens.... If I remember correctly, this book is not from Quincie's perspective. It is from Kieren's, Zachary's, and Miranda's. I can't wait to dive in! Eternal is my favorite of the series and I'm glad Zachary has a leading role.
Add to Goodreads
You can find Cynthia at her website
November Is Adopt an Indie Month - Giveaway Day #2
Welcome back for Day #2 of the Adopt an Indie Month Giveaway!
The great thing about reading is that there is a book out there for everyone! Humor, horror, or hot romance - books have it all. There are a ton of great titles out there that are not represented by the big publishing houses. Some people might feel that these books are of lower quality, but I hope you are not one of those people. Writers pour their heart and soul into their work and all they want is for someone to give their book a chance. A writer with the hundred thousand dollar contract feels the same way...
This week I will offer chances to win some terrific Indie books. They range in age range and genre, but most are young adult. Please visit the Goodreads page and the author site to learn more about these titles. Feel free to comment below if you recognize one of these great books.
Find out more information about Adopt An Indie Month HERE and read one
Giveaway #6
Ebook of P*TAG (PoetryTagTime) by Sylvia Vardel and Janet Wong
In this second PoetryTagTime anthology, P*TAG, 31 poets speak to the complicated lives of today's teens, with quirky, reflective, and soulful poems about love and longing, war and worry, tattoos, piercings, watching people, being watched, broken lives, luck, burping up kittens, and more. The list of contributors is a "who's who" of the best poets for young people, including YA poets and verse novelists Naomi Shihab Nye, Margarita Engle, Allan Wolf, Betsy Franco, Paul Janeczko, and Helen Frost, Newbery Honor winner Joyce Sidman, current Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis, and poetry legend Lee Bennett Hopkins.
Add to Goodreads
Visit Vardell at her site and Wong at her site
Oct 25, 2011
November Is Adopt an Indie Month - Giveaway Day #1
The great thing about reading is that there is a book out there for everyone! Humor, horror, or hot romance - books have it all. There are a ton of great titles out there that are not represented by the big publishing houses. Some people might feel that these books are of lower quality, but I hope you are not one of those people. Writers pour their heart and soul into their work and all they want is for someone to give their book a chance. A writer with the hundred thousand dollar contract feels the same way...
This week I will offer chances to win some terrific Indie books. They range in age range and genre, but most are young adult. Please visit the Goodreads page and the author site to learn more about these titles. Feel free to comment below if you recognize one of these great books.
Find out more information about Adopt An Indie Month HERE and read one
Giveaway #1
Ebook of Tooopolis: Gemini by Jeremy Rodden
Gemini is a teenage human boy who is thrust into Toonopolis through his father's scientific research program. He loses part of himself in the process and immediately begins a quest to regain his lost memories with the help of his Tooniverse guide named Jimbob the Talking Eggplant.
After an altercation with a mysterious Shadowy Figure, Gemini's mission is changed, and he begins a new quest to defeat Shadowy Figure and protect Toonopolis from his nefarious destruction. Along the way, he meets new friends, discovers just how diverse and strange Toonopolis is, and learns lessons about compassion, forgiveness, redemption, and being true to oneself.
Add to Goodreads
Visit Rodden at his website
Giveaway #2
Ebook of Sundial by C.F. Fruzzetti and M.I. Pearsall
Teenager Whitney Forbes thought her biggest problem was surviving high school and determining if there was more to handsome Reid Wallace than just his looks and popularity. She was wrong; her problems were about to get a lot more complicated. Whitney always knew she was special. But when she discovers she is more “special” than she ever imagined, surviving another school day takes on a whole new meaning. Caught in the middle of a CIA plot and her undeniable magnetic attraction to Reid, she will need to decide who she can trust and what it means to become the Sundial...before she risks her heart and an alarming plan goes into motion. Will she have what it takes to not only survive but also prevail?
Add to Goodreads
For more info about Sudial and to watch the book trailer, go HERE
Giveaway #3
Ebook of Dawn's End by Bonnie Ferrante
Dawn’s End, a place of simplicity and goodness, is being overcome by a gruesome darkness. Possessing bits of information, Nicole and the dark man know only that they must complete their quest before Nightfall becomes permanent. How far can she trust this not-quite-human? Can they save a world, possibly two, when Nicole isn’t sure she can save herself?
Add to Goodreads
Visit Ferrante at her website
Giveaway #4
Ebook of Dawn's End: Poisoned by Bonnie Ferrante
Sixteen-year-old Anastacia was told her father died in Africa when she was three. But there are no photographs of him, and she doesn't have a birth certificate. When Anastacia travels to Lucerne, Switzerland to attend a wedding and stumbles upon a different reality--in fact, a whole new world--what she learns tears apart her ideas of family and self. Why did her mother, Nicole, tell her a history of lies?
A new evil is spoiling Dawn's End, Anastacia's idyllic birthplace. Who can she trust? How much can be forgiven? Should she follow in her parents' footsteps knowing the personal risks? Her secret legacy may offer the only chance to set things right, deal with her anger, and discover who she really is.
Add to Goodreads
Visit Ferrante at her website
Giveaway #5
Ebook of Happy Birthday To Me Again by Brian Rowe
Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day… again. And this time... he's going backward!
When Cameron proposes to his beloved witch of a girlfriend Liesel, he thinks life can’t get any better. But when he reluctantly breaks off the engagement just days before the wedding, Liesel angrily unleashes another curse on the unlucky guy, this time making him age backward, from eighteen, all the way to zero.
Making matters worse, Liesel mysteriously disappears, leaving Cameron with no options, except watching himself rapidly shrink into a helpless child. Will Liesel be able to save his life again? Or will Cameron ultimately fall prey to his girlfriend's wicked spell?
Add to Goodreads
Visit Rowe at his blog
Fill out the doo-hickey to be officially entered. First winner pulled will win the first ebook, the second will win #2, and so on...
Oct 24, 2011
Lost In Time: Interview with Melissa de la Cruz (+Giveaway)
If you are like me, I loose interest in a series if it goes on for more than 4 books. BUT, there is one series that I have stuck with through the years, the Blue Bloods novels. I'm not a huge paranormal fan, but there is something about these books that I love. The voices are real, the drama and romance is exciting, and the books are a breeze to get through. Pure entertainment!
I have been a fan of Melissa de la Cruz for a long time and last year when she was at the Austin Teen Book Festival, I was a lucky duck to be the moderator at her panel. When I saw she was coming to Dallas, I made my way up and drug a few friends with me. Stacey at Girls in the Stacks and I did a fun interview with Mel in which we quiz her about her books and she dishes on Wolf Pact, the new BB spin-off series - yay!
So, take a listen:
I have to say, I was pretty impressed with Melissa's memory! I thought Stacey and I could trick on a few, but she knew her stuff. Thank you, Mel!
Add to Goodreads
My friend Victoria, Mel, Me, and Stacey
Check out the book trailer for Lost In Time:
To celebrate the release of Lost In Time, Hyperion is giving away a copy to one lucky winner! #saythankyou
Oct 23, 2011
In My Mailbox
IMM is a meme brought to us from The Story Siren. Basically, it's a good way to add books on to your TBR pile, get a head's up on what is coming soon, and to totally brag. Let's get real... ;)
For review:
Life Is But a Dream by James
After the Snow by Crockett
When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen
Begged, borrowed, or stole:
A Million Suns by Beth Revis (thx, Cari!)
Won:
The Night Circus by Erin
Purchased:
Lost In Time by Melissa de la Cruz (for signing)
Thank you: Feiwel and Friends, Cari Soto, and TBR Pile!
Currently Reading:
A Million Suns by Beth Revis - I couldn't wait and just had to pick it up the day it came!
Coming Soon:
Interview with Melissa de la Cruz and giveaway
Texas Book Festival recap
Happening Now!
Win and audio book of The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson - Ends 10/26
Win Stick by Andrew Smith - Ends 10/30
Wanna trade books?
Oct 22, 2011
Review - Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Ashfall by Mike Mullin
October 11th, 2011 from Tanglewood Press
Synopsis:
Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.
Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.
Review:
Holy nightmare of a concept! Alex is a 15-year-old boy and home alone when a volcano erupts in Yellowstone and basically causes hell on Earth. Um, no thank you! I would lock myself inside my house and just hope to be rescued at some point. Alex has a little more survivor skills than I, so he treks out to find his parents and sister who are a few hundred miles away. Easy trip by car, but with all of the ash he has to ski his way to them. His journey is nothing short of terrible and frightening until he meets Darla and her mother. They both take Alex in after he has a run in with a guy named Target. FYI, nothing good comes from a man with a name like that. Alex loves his new safe haven even though he knows he has to continue on his journey to find his family. Not so lucky for him, he is on his way in no time after the ish hits the fan at Darla's house.
This book is all about adventure! Running, chasing, hiding, starving, near misses...this book literally has it all. Alex's journey is full of everything you don't want to find on a trip. Dangerous men, liars, weapons, hungry children - all very scary and downright heartbreaking at times. Alex grows up through his journey. He has no other choice. He could give up and accept the fact that he will probably never make it to his parents, but he is motivated to truck on and decide his fate for himself. Love that!
I really like Darla, but I don't like her name. It sounds so homely and plain. That name paints a picture of a girl who doesn't have the same spirit and drive as Ashfall's Darla has. She is such a great character and at times the heroin of the story. She is wicked smart, resourceful, and is Alex's guardian angel. She has her fair share of ups and downs in the story and we see her evolve as well. I think the next book in the series could be from her perspective. Just a thought, Mike. *wink*
At times, the story stalled in a few places and felt a bit windy (that is old people slang for talkative). Personally, I could have used a little less detail and scenes back to Alex's childhood. Just a personal preference. Regardless, there are plenty of hazards and surprises to keep the story moving along and not a lot of downtime from the action. The story also incorporates geographical and agricultural elements, and before you know it, you're learning something.
There are some pretty frightening and violent scenes in this book one involving rape. Also, there is talk about sex and pregnancy. I have to applaud Alex and Darla for not being so naive and being mature and open about sex and the consequences that may arise. For these reasons, I would recommend for 14+.
Add to Goodreads
Look for Ashen Winter in 2012
You can find Mullin at his website and on Twitter
Oct 21, 2011
Austin Teen Book Festival - Winners
Congratulations goes to....
Lucia has won a signed ARC of The Fox Inheritance. Bree, Brooke, and Melissa won some awesome signed swag! Emails have been sent to the winners. Thank you all for entering!
- ×1SIGNED ARC of The Fox Inheritance
- ×3SIGNED SWAG
+157entries so farOVERcontest is over!AND THE WINNERS ARE...
Entry #70Lucia HuaEntry #134BreeEntry #53Brooke DeSpainEntry #11melissa portilloresults powered by Random.orgcontest powered by Rafflecopter.
157Kayla27"Like" Literary-Lonestars on Facebook9 days ago 156Kayla27Name & Email9 days ago 155Amber"Like" Literary-Lonestars on Facebook10 days ago 154AmberTweet About the Giveaway10 days ago 153AmberName & Email10 days ago 152Chloe Sumner"Like" Literary-Lonestars on Facebook10 days ago 151ChloeTweet About the Giveaway10 days ago 150ChloeName & Email10 days ago 149Andrea V"Like" Literary-Lonestars on Facebook10 days ago 148Andrea VTweet About the Giveaway10 days agoLOAD MORE ENTRIES
Lucia has won a signed ARC of The Fox Inheritance. Bree, Brooke, and Melissa won some awesome signed swag! Emails have been sent to the winners. Thank you all for entering!
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