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Showing posts from January, 2016

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by  Freda's Voice . These are the rules: 1. Grab a book, any book. 2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader. 3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 4. Post it. 5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by  Rose City Reader .  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. This week I'm spotlighting my next read, Winter  ( The Lunar Chronicles  #4) by Marissa Meyer .  This is one of my favorite series and I'll be sad to finish it, but it's going to be so exciting to be back with some of my favorite characters! Beginnings: Winter's toes had become ice cubes.  They were as cold as space.  As c

Starting Sparks: January Edition

Starting Sparks is a monthly writing link up hosted by Emily @ Ink, Inc. and Ashley G. @ [insert title here] .  Each month they give us a prompt and then we respond however we like with a short story, a scene, a poem - whatever.  The point is to get those creative juices flowing!  I love the sound of this month's prompt which is as follows. The song I'm using for the basis of my short story is called "Brazil" by Declan McKenna.  I don't know if I'd call it my favorite, but it's definitely addicting and the lyrics are quite interesting. "Six Cars and a Grizzly Bear" "I've got a mission and my mission is real." That's the only thing he said to me.  It's more accurate to say that that's the only thing he's had the chance to say.  I flat out ran from him before he could get anything else out of his mouth.  I don't want to think about what could have happened to me if I'd stayed there a second

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Paige - Review

❋  ❋  ❋ Amy Gumm's life is turned upside down when a tornado picks up her family's trailer and deposits her in Oz. Yes, that Oz - the one with the yellow brick road, the munchkins, the witches, and the flying monkeys. Except this Oz isn't like the Oz she remembers from the books and movies, this one looks like it's been drained. Here the Good Witches can't be trusted, the Wicked Witches might be the good guys, winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion, and the yellow brick road is crumbling. Dorothy is what happened to this Oz. Somehow she found her way back, seized control, and the power went to her head - now no one is safe. Amy is quickly recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked and is trained to fight. She might be the only one who can put an end to Dorothy's reign of terror once and for all. For the most part, I liked Danielle Paige's dystopian take on Oz. The best part of the story is easily the premise and the setting. Oz i

The Awesome by Eva Darrows - Review

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋ Maggie Cunningham is quite a bit different than the average seventeen year old. She's tough, smart, and sassy, but more to the point she's followed her mother, Janice, into the family business of monster hunting. Unfortunately, she isn't eligible to take on bigger, more dangerous targets until she earns her journeyman's license. She can't get her journeyman's license until she loses her virginity - something about virgin blood turning vampires into psycho killing machines and all of that. Maggie quickly realizes that finding herself a boy and fitting in with her peers is more daunting than she expected. Most girls don't carry stakes in their waistbands, stuff their bras with with holy water balloons, exorcise ghosts, or expertly shoot a crossbow. In Maggie's opinion, that makes them lame and her not. She's awesome - The Awesome. But first, she just needs to get a date. The Awesome by Eva Darrows is colorful and over-the-top, but

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Were Totally Deceiving

Happy Tuesday everyone!  This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish , is a freebie.  I have free rein to select any topic I would like, so I'm going to select a past topic that I've missed.  I'm selecting Books That Were Totally Deceiving, which was originally done on April 10, 2012 .  I'm going to break this down by deceiving in a bad way and a good way. Deceiving In A Bad Way: The Sinister Urge  by Frances Newton - The description of this book completely neglects a huge portion of the story.  It sounds as if it's about romantic feelings between two members of a broken up band.  It's actually about the incestuous relationship between siblings who were in a band. Mrs. Hudson's Diaries: A View from the Landing at 221B  by Barry and Bob Cryer  - With my love of all things Sherlock Holmes, I felt deceived by what could have been an awesome addition to the canon - mostly it just falls flat wi

Music Monday: The Special Consensus

Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday! Let's share some songs we've been enjoying lately!  If you would like to play and I really hope you do, please see the rules and link up below. Rules:  Every Monday share one or two of songs you've been enjoying lately.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s). If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up at the bottom of this post by sharing your post's url.  Finally, have fun sharing and discovering new to you music! "Old New Straitsville Moonshine Run" by The Special Consensus (2012)  - The Special Consensus is great bluegrass band that was founded in 1975.  The only original member is Greg Cahill on banjo, the other current band personnel have joined mor

Sunday Funday: Book Haul

Happy Sunday everyone!  It was almost a month ago that I posted a book haul update, so I thought I would catch you up on the most recent additions to my collection since then.  These wouldn't be possible without gift cards, memberships, and the library! A couple of weeks ago I stopped by Barnes and Noble armed with a gift card or two, coupons, and a membership.  I think I walked out of that store with the best deal - I left with three new hardbacks that I had been interested in which were each inexplicably 60% off for members!  The really interesting thing - I also saw copies of these on the regular shelves that weren't on sale. A Passage to Shambhala ( The Explorers Guild  #1) by Kevin Costner and Jon Baird, Illustrated by Rick Ross  - Released October 20, 2015 Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits  by David Wong - Released October 6, 2015 The Traitor Baru Cormorant  by Seth Dickinson  - Released September 15, 2015 Using gift cards that I had won in the p

The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by  Freda's Voice . These are the rules: 1. Grab a book, any book. 2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader. 3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 4. Post it. 5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post. I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by  Rose City Reader .  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader. This week I'm spotlighting my current read, Illuminae ( The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff .  I'm super excited to finally be getting to this one after hearing so many great things about it.  I don't know why I didn't start it sooner!  Since the design itself is quite important, I'm going to do somet

Vicious (Vicious #1) by V.E. Schwab - Review

❋  ❋  ❋  ❋   ❋ Victor and Eli, once college room mates who recognized a certain ambition in each other, shared similar topics for their senior thesis projects: adrenaline, near-death experiences, and the superhuman abilities that are seemingly connected to the two. In short, they're interested in the science behind ExtraOrdinary humans (EOs), aka superheros. As they begin to realize that a person could gain EO abilities under the right conditions, their project begins to move from purely academic to experimental and as a result they face horrible consequences. Ten years later, Victor has escaped from a federal penitentiary and he plans to find his old friend, now enemy, Eli, and make him suffer. On his side Victor has Mitch, a huge hacker, and Sydney, a young girl with a stunning ability. They realize Eli is much closer than they expected and he has a disturbing mission. Eli has been locating and killing EOs, except for the mysterious woman with an unbreakable will at his side

Harry Potter Spells Tag

I saw this tag over at  Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense and knew that I needed to take part.  I have a hard time saying no when it comes to Harry Potter.  I tag anyone who is interested! 1. Accio: an upcoming release you wish you could get your hands on right now.  The Raven King ( The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater     2. Alohomora: a favorite series starter. Daughter of Smoke and Bone  ( Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor   3. Cheering Charm: a book that gave you warm fuzzies. Beastly Bones ( Jackaby #2) by William Ritter   4. Aguamenti: a book that made you ugly cry. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak   5. Expecto Patronum: a bookish hero or heroine you want around to protect you in real life. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series - She save Harry and Ron most of the time, so I'd definitely want her on my side.     6. Lumos: a book you intentionally spoiled for yourself. Geek Girl  ( G