"His breath tickled the back of my neck and his hands lingered just above my hair, his fingers almost touching my scalp."*
~ p. 40
*This quote was extracted from the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab E-ARC and is subject to change before publication
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Teaser Tuesday #27
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...
Monday, May 30, 2011
New Releases May 30th– June 5th
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Feature: Fashion & Literature
In my new feature "Fashionable Literature" I want to show you funny and fashionable items that can be bought or made to decorate yourselves or your homes with.
How about a bookish hairstyle? Today I would like to present you the Bobby Pin Set Paper Flower Rose made by Maude. You can buy the lovely bookish bobby pins in Maude's Etsy Shop here ! I NEED to have my own, love them!
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What Maude says:" Delicate but durable these small rosettes look totally cute grouped together in swept back hair or alone pinning back stray bangs.
Your clips will come neatly packaged in a pillow box ready to give as a gift or of course keep as a special gift to yourself :)"
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Friday, May 27, 2011
MPTs Guest Post: From Europe to the world: Cologne, Germany
A few weeks ago Sabrina @ www.abouthappybooks.com started the new feature From Europe to the world which is a guest post series offering a little trip through Europe. You'll get to know some very cool European bloggers, their blogs, cities and books.
I really like Sabrina's blog and feel honoured that she asked me to be part of her guest post series! You can read more about me, my books and where I live here!
Book Blogger Hop #4
Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is an awesome way to for book bloggers to interact and find each other. This week's question is:
What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked? Which have you disliked?
I movie that I liked even more than the book it's based on is I AM NUMBER FOUR. Alex Pettyfer is a gorgeous alien! Another movie I really liked is DEAR JOHN, but I absolutely disliked its end! How could they change the wonderful melancholic book ending to a happy end in the film.
Monday, May 23, 2011
New Releases May 23rd– May 29th
Let's have a look at the wonderful books being released this week!
May 23rd
May 24th
I already read AWAKEN and really liked it! I am going to read BLOOD MAGIC and BETWEEN HERE AND FOREVER soon.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Book Review: Clarity (Clarity #1) by Kim Harrington
Title: Clarity (Clarity #1)
Author: Kim Harrington
Publisher: Scholastic
Publishing Date: March 2011
Length: 256 pages
Genre: YA, romance, mystery
Source: Won ARC
When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?
This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.
Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.
And a curse.
When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?
On 256 pages the story around Clarity, her family and the murder mystery in Eastport is put in a nutshell. We meet many characters, like detectives, victims and suspects. Kim Harrington develops a large network of relationships and knows how to distinguish between unnecessary and relevant information. Each action, word and detail comes into play during the search for traces, which results in a very complex and realistic illustration of a murder mystery.
Clare is a female protagonist with a young and really entertaining voice. Justin and Gabriel are two male protagonists that are contradictory, I was so excited for their relationships with Clare being defined.
What bothered me was the role of detective Toscano in this murder case, sometimes his figure appeared stereotypical and easily replaceable.
When the various talents featured in CLARITY sounded a bit unfounded in the beginning, they fascinated me more and more with each page turned. The murder case is solved with official and scientific methods, but also with the help of these talents in a kind of spiritual way.
The setting feels like a welcome holiday from the average small town or urban city literary landscapes. We find ourselves in the tourist town Eastport and I could completely feel that holiday and beach spirit. Atmosphere is a significant aspect when it comes to construction of plot, characters and setting.
Harrington's writing style is confident and really good. Although I was sceptical towards the low page count, this story lacks of nothing.
Thanks to Clare's special ability there's much potential for more actions and cases left. It feels like some details from our protagonists' past haven't been revealed yet and can lead to future conflicts.
1) of its atmospheric setting2) of a fantastic case construction
3) of strong family ties
4) of its delicious male characters
4) of its delicious male characters
5) of many details and for the chance to participate in the search for a cruel murderer
4,5/5 ****/*CLARITY- A bright spot in the YA mystery branch that convinces with construction, characters and writing quality!
CLARITY is an engaging and well-thought-out murder mystery written by aspiring new author Kim Harrington. I am curious what PERCEPTION, the sequel, is about!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Coveresque feat. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (US vs. French vs. German)
Tell me, which cover do you like best? US on the left, we've got the French cover in the middle and the German one on the right side. The US and German covers present Kerstin Gier's book in a playful way whereas the French RUBY RED cover suggests a rather dark and mysterious read.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Blog Tour- Review and Features: Random Magic by Sasha Soren
Title: Random Magic
Author: Sasha Soren
Publisher: Beach Books
Publishing Date: 2009
Length: 420 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Sent by author
When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Struths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time.
Summary by Goodreads
Alice is lost and we are invited to follow Henry and Winnie to find her. On their way they see many new places, come across a lot of new people and paranormal creatures. I didn't like the main characters that much, because they were just weird and didn't make much sense to me. The secondary characters cast is huge, I really liked how varied it were, from wolfs and queens to witches and Muses.
The writing is way too slow paced and detailed. Dialogues are often lacking in content and only included for „further entertainment“. RANDOM MAGIC is also represented by a horrible layout, font and formattig are just not reading friendly.
I have to admit that after a forth of the novel I started skimming RANDOM MAGIC, beacuse the story lost itself in details, many details! Of course I read the pages and paragraphs I noticed were necessary to follow Henry and Winnie's route.
What I really liked about RM was its premise. The idea of a kind of Alice in Wonderland remake and modern take on it. I was so curious how Soren was going to include the single stations of Alice's journey and Lewis Caroll's unique characters.
Another positive aspect about RANDOM MAGIC can be seen in forty pages of bonus material in form of deleted scenes etc., fans will love them!
1,5/5 */* An absolute presentation of the random ideas being born in an author's imagination!
A wide and colorful imagination and an originally interesting story concept cannot save Soren's RANDOM MAGIC from becoming a long-winded and incoherent odyssey.
~ Feature: Pirate Queen #5 Grace O'Malley~
Grace O'Malley, or Gráinne Nà Mháille in Gaelic (Gaeilge), was a 16th century Irish chieftain and pirate. Born in County Mayo, Ireland, Grace was the daughter of sea captain Owen O'Malley (Eoghan Dubhdara Ó Máil), but she was meant to stay ashore and marry a chieftain, while her half-brother made seafaring his profession. Wee Grace, however, persisted. Finally, in a fit of temper after the elder O’Malley refused to take her along on a trading expedition to Spain because she was a girl, young Grace reportedly dressed in boy’s clothing and chopped off all her hair. Her stubborn will impressed Owen O’Malley, and her freshly bald head just made him laugh, earning the miniature spitfire the nickname, Gráinne Mhaol, or Bald Grace.
Her exploits over a long and interesting life could, in fact, fill a book - so here are some quick highlights:
* Another story that’s become part of the legend of Grace O’Malley is the way she earned the nickname, ‘The Dark Lady of Doona.’Seeing a floundering ship, Grace planned to salvage the stores, but instead discovered a lone survivor called Hugh de Lacy. Grace nursed him back to health and in the process the two fell madly in love. Then Hugh was killed during a deer hunt by the MacMahons of Ballycroy. Grace sailed to the MacMahon family seat of Doona, claimed the family castle for her own and burned their boats - she also tracked down those responsible for Hugh’s death and killed them all.
* Grace was a de facto leader in the various Irish clan rebellions against the expansion of British rule. Ruling English monarch Elizabeth I was necessarily Grace’s enemy, sending a British military administrator who reportedly had Grace’s eldest son killed, turned a second son against Grace, and had her youngest son imprisoned. Despite the then quite natural enmity these two powerful woman shared, Grace’s life story apparently fascinated the English monarch - ultimately the English queen accepted the request of the pirate queen to a private audience in 1593, agreeing on an informal truce. The truce was brief, but the meeting was notable for its rarity and the meeting of two of the late 16th century’s most unusual women. Both Elizabeth I and Grace O’Malley also reportedly died in the same year, 1603. Grace reportedly died at her own Rockfleet Castle and local legend had it that her bones were interred in an unmarked crypt in the chapel of an abbey on Clare Island, near Belclare Castle, where she was born - although her final resting place has never been found.
Pirate captain and stalwart rebel Grace O’Malley is a famous figure in Irish popular culture, and hundreds of stories have been written about her, places named after her, songs sung about her. Ironically, she was nearly written out of history by Irish historians, who deemed her behavior beyond the pale for a woman in any age, let alone the medieval ages.
As writer and lecturer Anne Chambers notes, ‘The Annals of the Four Masters, that source of Irish history compiled a few years after her death and in a place where memories of her activities were still verdant, do not even mention her name. The English State Papers, on the other hand, contain references to her as late as 1627 - some twenty-four years after her death.'So, how then did later centuries uncover the story of Grace O’Malley? Because of the many complaints and anecdotes about her, carried home in military missives - by her enemies. Among the creative works of art inspired by the story of pirate queen Grace O’Malley is a one-woman play, written by and performed by actor Molly Lyons, called A Most Notorious Woman.
~ Tour Stops May 19th ~
May 19
vvb32
http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @vvb32reads
http://twitter.com/vvb32reads
Feature: Music: Takes on pirate tunes
Feature: Pirate Queens: #6 of 10: Awilda
and
The Life (and Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object
http://tinyurl.com/3ndsqp4
Twitter: @haleymathiot
http://tinyurl.com/3gx23ek
Feature: Under the Black Flag
and
Liana’s Paper Doll Blog
http://www.joechip.net/liana/
Twitter: @lianaleslie
http://twitter.com/lianaleslie
Design doll: Queens of the Sea: #7 of 10
vvb32
http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @vvb32reads
http://twitter.com/vvb32reads
Feature: Music: Takes on pirate tunes
Feature: Pirate Queens: #6 of 10: Awilda
and
The Life (and Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object
http://tinyurl.com/3ndsqp4
Twitter: @haleymathiot
http://tinyurl.com/3gx23ek
Feature: Under the Black Flag
and
Liana’s Paper Doll Blog
http://www.joechip.net/liana/
Twitter: @lianaleslie
http://twitter.com/lianaleslie
Design doll: Queens of the Sea: #7 of 10
~ A Picture of the Seven Seas ~
~ Treasure Hunt ~
Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed reading! Here's anotherinteresting tour feature: The Treaure Hunt
* Thanks to Sasha Soren for providing a review copy of RANDOM MAGIC, sending such a cool package and organising and writing such a nice blog tour inclusive feature texts!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Teaser Tuesday #26
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...
~ p. 134
"How's Riley doing?"
Beck shook his head. "Lost. Ya can see it in her eyes. She's tryin' to be tough, but it's killin' her."
~ p. 134
Monday, May 16, 2011
New Releases May 16th– May 22nd
Sunday, May 15, 2011
In My Mailbox #27
The idea of In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren and is to bring books to the attention of our blog readers and to encourage interaction with other blogs.
What’s a girl to do when meeting The One means she’s cursed to die a horrible death? Life hasn’t been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Conner, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she’s irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.
But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can’t stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma’s been having the oddest dreams. Visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.
Summary by Goodreads
E-ARCs
Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
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* Thanks to netgalley and Harlequin for allowing me access to SPELLBOUND!
______________________________________________________
Won
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Mason Matson by Morgan Matson
For Review
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
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* Thanks to Loni @ A Casual Reader , I already read and really liked this one:)
* A huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for sending me a copy of BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver!
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Friday, May 13, 2011
Book Review: Die For Me (Revenants #1) by Amy Plum
Title: Die For Me (Revenants #1)
Author: Amy Plum
Publisher: Atom
Publishing Date: May 5th 2011
Length: 352 pages
Genre: YA, fantasy, paranormal romance
Source: ARC from publisher
My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.
Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.
Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.
While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?
Summary by Goodreads
DIE FOR ME centres around a new concept of paranormal being, the revenants, whose existence is caused by nobility on the one hand and by hatred and anger on the other hand.
We get to meet protagonists Kate and Vicent and their families.Our heroine is very likely, with a modest and caring character, our male protagonist can be described as a very gentle, understanding and sexy Frenchman.
The relationship is really sweet , I am already eager to read more about them and how they are interacting together, always very cautious although there is not really a need to.
I sense a love triangle emerging, which could hold some difficulties since the potential charmeur is also a good friend of Vincent.
Set in Paris, DIE FOR ME takes us on a trip through the atmospheric and lovely capital of France. Amy Plum worked out a fantastic map of locations and settings by wandering the streets and sharing her favourite spots with her readers.
Plum's writing is solid and entertaining. She doesn't bore her readers with dragging dialogues, but keeps them sweet and short. She involves some popular culture references which make DIE FOR ME also a youthful read.
At some points DIE FOR ME was a bit slow paced, there are some moments with very few progress for the plot. But I see that DIE FOR ME as it is the first novel in a series is mostly to explain its concept of revenants and introduce its lovely characters. At the moment I cannot see where this story is heading, but that's exactly what makes it an exciting read.
1) we are all escapists at heart
2) we are already looking for our own reading spot in a cute Parisian cafe
3) we love French food
4) of many atmospheric and cute settings
4) of many atmospheric and cute settings
5) of an engaging concept of new paranormal being
4/5 **** DIE FOR ME- A new paranormal concept mixed with the perfect setting and likeable characters resulsts in a sweet new YA novel with heart!
This novel by debut author Amy Plum is like a box of petit fours filled with sweet romance and Parisian esprit, layered with dark enemies and finished with a tasty fantasy frosting. Hungry? Go get DIE FOR ME and give this new taste a try.
* Watch the DIE FOR ME book trailer here.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Feature: Fashion & Literature
In my new feature "Fashionable Literature" I want to show you funny and fashionable items that can be bought or made to decorate yourselves or homes with.
Let's start with some very nice necklaces with literary ladies like Jane Austen and Charlotte or Emily Bronte.
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"But life is a battle: may we all be enabled to fight it well!"
~ Charlotte Bronte (The Letters of Charlotte Bronte)
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"I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."
~ Emily Bronte
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"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
~ Jane Austen (Northanger Abbey)
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You can buy these beautiful bookish necklaces in Nadine Whitney's Etsy Shop here ! How do you like them? Whose picture would you most like to have for your portrait necklace?
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Teaser Tuesday #25
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...
~ p. 48
"Why?" asked Roger. "Do you snore?" He smiled as he asked this, but I could see that he was blushing a little. "And it's just for tonight."
~ p. 48
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Book Review: Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin
Title: Low Red Moon
Author: Ivy Devlin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publishing Date: February 2011
Length: 256 pages
Genre: YA, fantasy, paranormal romance
Source: Finished copy from Publisher
The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can't, and there's nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she's ever experienced. When Ben reveals he's a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she's not the only one who can't remember the night her parents died.
Summary by Goodreads
We witness an immediate attraction between Avery and Ben, the male protagonist. I am a fan of magical first sight attractions but the relationship between Avery and Ben comes out very unreasonable and annoying. The make out scenes, although without further reason behind, are good but at some points a turn-off.
Secondary characters are also weakly constructed elements that only help to delay the already very short story a bit. During the whole read I didn't get to like one single character enough to care for his end. That might be because Devlin doesn't offer a profound background to their story or only involves them in hollow dialogues and meaningless actions.
Devlin’s writing style is average, defined by a low vocabulary diversity and a series of the same or similar phrase structures.
The murder case does have some potential, but Devlin only developed an obvious and boring conclusion. From the beginning I knew how LOW RED MOON was going to end. Facts and details that are hyped throughout the entire novel turn out to be rational explanations in the end, nothing paranormal. So I was confused about the involvement of paranormal creatures where it does not even fit or would be necessary to realise the plot.
I have got no idea what the low red moon is supposed to mean and why each time the word “moon” is mentioned in the text, it's highlighted in red ink.
What I appreciate is that Bloomsbury created a costly graphic design, working with the colors black, red and white and the picture of a forest.The story is set in a wooded landscape, so the layout definitely fits the story of LOW RED MOON.
1) of a very costly graphic page design
2) of its love of nature
3) we like to solve murder mysteries
4) it has good makeout scenes
5) grandmas are great
2/5 ** LOW RED MOON- A novel with costly appearance and unfortunately without substance!
An average writing cannot save Devlin's hollow characters and dialogues. In this case I would suggest less trying to incorporate paranormal elements and a higher focus on the establishment of a serious murder case. Unfortunately not a 2011 UK debut I would recommend, but in the end you should try it yourselves to find out if you like it.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Book Blogger Hop #3
Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is an awesome way to for book bloggers to interact and find each other. This week's question is:
Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real life?
That would be Loni @ A Casual Reader. I would love to meet all the people behind the fantastic blogs I read everyday!!!
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