Book covers and trailers and swag - oh my!

I feel like I'm on a merry-go-round - but I don't want to get off!

Ever since I finished the 2nd revision of my novel last week and sent it off to my 4 (amazingly talented, wonderful, gifted, couldn't-do-it-without-them) beta readers, my mind has been going a million miles a minute.  There's so much to do and so much to think about.  I've got a break from reading, editing and rewriting, but now it's time to think book covers, trailers, publicity, etc. 

I've been searching for pictures to use as the book cover and have found a few good candidates.  Ideally, I would take the picture myself, but without models, it makes it a wee bit difficult.  I've also found some pretty good pictures for the trailer, have started checking out music for it, and discovered that I have Movie Maker on my computer and won't have to pay someone thousands of dollars for a minute-long trailer.  Since my budget for this book is next to nothing, that's a good thing!

I've come up with a huge list of ideas for publicity, and have had the help of my very own 'publicist', Jaime-Kristal, who is as full of ideas and enthusiasm as I am, as well as lots of help and info from self-published author Helen Laibach.  I've even started making a list of people who are interested in reviewing the book once it's done, and there's a blog tour in the works.  And to think, the book isn't even 100% complete yet!  It's all very exciting to me - I'm finally living my dream.

I'd like some input from all the lovely people in the blogosphere who review books, participate in giveaways and contests, etc.  What do you look for in a good book trailer?  What makes them really stand out, and what kinds of things do you think should be avoided?  Do you have a favorite book trailer?  Also, when you're participating in a giveaway, what kind of swag really draws your attention?  I have a few simple ideas like bookmarks, and one great, unique idea that I'm pretty excited about (and that will remain a secret for now), but I want to know what you guys think.  If you won something in a giveaway other than a book, what kinds of things would you like to receive that are related to that book?  

I would greatly appreciate any input and suggestions, and feel free to leave links to your favorite book trailers if you'd like.  Also, in case you missed the banner at the top of this blog, if you're interested in receiving a copy of my book when it's ready to go (most likely in PDF) in exchange for an honest review, please let me know.  Also, if you're interested in joining the blog tour, hosting an interview, guest post, giveaway, or anything else, let me know that, too.  You can read a synopsis of my novel, Blue Sky Days, here.

WWW Wednesdays: Week 8

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.  All you have to do is answer these 3 questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Simple right?  I love to read and love to know what other people are reading!

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What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading Born at Midnight by CC Hunter.  I'll be perfectly honest - I'm not really enjoying it.  I'm more than halfway through (it's 400 pages) and I'm still waiting for something - anything - to happen.  I'll never understand super-long books where nothing really happens.  Make them half as long and don't put in so much useless stuff.  

I'm also about to start A Soul Less Broken by Helen Laibach.  Helen contacted me last week and asked if I'd like to review her book, and we've been corresponding ever since.  She decided to go the self-publish route, and when she found out I was planning to do the same, she's been an invaluable source of information - and inspiration!  I'll be writing more about Helen and her novel soon, so stay tuned!

What did you recently finish reading?

Before Born at Midnight, I read Across the Universe by Beth Revis.  Really enjoyed that book, it was so different and had a great concept.  Check out my review of Across the Universe.

 

 

What do you think you'll read next?

Next, I'm going to read Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen.  I've been saying that for weeks, but it's due in a few days, so I really have to read it now.  I've heard lots of good things about it, so I'm looking forward to it. 

What are you reading this week?  Have you read any of the books on my list?  Have any suggestions?  I'd love to hear from you!

Book Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Published: January 11th, 2011
Publisher: Penguin Group
398 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Young adult science fiction/dystopian
Acquired this book: at the library
Warning: may include spoilers
{GoodReads || Amazon} 

Synopsis, taken from dust jacket of book: Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed.  She has left her boyfriend, friends - and planet - behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship.  Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future.  But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, cryochamber 42 is mysterious unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.  Someone tried to murder her.  Now, Amy is caught inside a tiny world where nothing makes sense.  Godspeed's 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader.  And Elder, Eldest's rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.  Amy desperately wants to trust Elder.  But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship's cold metal walls?  All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

This book was really good - completely different from anything I've ever read. The concept was so interesting - between the cryogenically frozen people and the spaceship headed from earth to a new planet in hopes of inhabiting it, I thought it was very creative and clever. 

The whole thing was also fairly disturbing. I'm still pretty new to anything that falls under the umbrella of dystopian, so I'm still trying to become desensitized to it in a way. The descriptions were really good - the freezing process had my lungs constricting in a claustrophobic way, Eldest's behavior and the way he lied made me angry, Amy's fear and anxiety, desperation and sorrow were all so real, as were Elder's anger and annoyance at being kept in the dark by Eldest, who didn't think Elder would make a good leader.

I loved how Ms Revis worked in so many different concepts and themes. Eldest ruled through fear and manipulation, having changed earth's history for his benefit to make it seem as if eradicating differences was the best way to live in harmony (for example, history had been changed to show that Hitler had the right idea, and that was who Eldest emulated in his role as leader). All the inhabitants of the ship were monoethnic - there was one race, because according to Eldest, differences were a reason for discord among people. Because everyone on the ship looks the same (dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin), Amy really stands out with her red hair, green eyes and pale skin, and is labeled a freak. Eldest doesn't want her encouraging free thought among the people, who are all tightly controlled, and who are, as a consequence, mindless. He also doesn't want Elder to start thinking for himself any more than he already does, because he believes the only way to lead the ship is his way, and he wants Elder to follow in his footsteps.

I thought this was a terrific debut by Beth Revis, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I just hope she doesn't make us wait too long!

Library Loot June 25th - July 2nd

Library Loot is a weekly theme hosted by  Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. 

Since I'm currently scraping by as a freelance writer, I unfortunately can't afford to buy books right now *insert sad face here* which I hate, but luckily I have an awesome library in my city, so until I can have my own personal library filled with wall-to-wall books, the public library's the next best thing.

I'm still way behind on my library books, and was slowly catching up until yesterday when 3 new holds came in - books I've been waiting for for several weeks - ack!  I never seem to get below 10 library books.

Here are this week's books:

 A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, Born at Midnight by CC Hunter, and What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen, plus the movie Marie Antoinette

I'm looking forward to reading all three of these.  A Discovery of Witches is huge though and since it can't be renewed, I honestly don't know if I'll get around to it this time.  We'll see!  Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors, and this is her newest book, so I'm really excited about that one.

What are you reading this week?  What have you read lately that you really enjoyed?  Do you have any suggestions for my library loot picks next week?  I read just about any genre, and I'm always looking for suggestions!

Book Review: The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

Published: April 26th, 2011
Publisher: Penguin (Plume)
293 pages (paperback)
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Acquired this book: at the library
Warning: may include spoilers

Synopsis, taken from dust jacket of book: In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world; she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.
Nearly a decade later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune.  So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea.  Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contests reveal startling connections to her own life. 

I've read a few books lately that have received 5 stars in my reviews - Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen, Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston, and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.  As good as they were - and they really were terrific, the last two were the best faerie stories I've read so far, hands down - The Violets of March is in a category all its own.  This was the first book in a really long time that I couldn't put down - literally.  I had other things to do that didn't get done, and I stayed up way later than usual because I had to finish this book.  I knew it would drive me crazy if I didn't.  

I saw reviews for The Violets of March all over the blogosphere and I loved the title and cover, so had to reserve it from the library.  Then I was even more excited to read it when I followed Sarah on Twitter and she followed me back. Then, one day I tweeted that I had hit the 67,000 word mark with my novel and I was almost done, and she tweeted me a congrats and told me we were writing twins because she was about to hit the 67,000 word mark on her 3rd novel.  I was so excited - encouragement from an actual, successful author - something that I hope to be someday.  So, I decided that out of my 11 library books, I would read hers next and I was so glad I did.  Now I need to buy the book and have it on my shelf because I know I'll want to read it again.

My thoughts on The Violets of March:
I love Sarah's writing style - it's so simple and straightforward, and yet there are parts that are so beautiful, I read them three of four times before moving on.  I realize now that I should have written those parts down, but when I buy my own copy and re-read it, I'll mark those spots with my little coloured sticky notes.  As a lover of words, that's one of my favorite parts of reading a really great book - when you read something that just stands out and makes you smile.

The mystery in this book was amazing and kept me so engaged and interested and curious - I couldn't wait to find out what would happen.  There were so many twists and turns that no matter how hard I tried to piece it together, I just couldn't figure it out until near the very end, just before all was revealed to Emily.  It was a story within a story - Emily's story, recovering from her divorce, trying to learn to move on with her life - and the story within the red velvet diary, the mystery that she knows has significance and will have an impact on her life.

Along the way, between real life and the life within the pages of the diary, Emily learns so much about herself, her history, life, love, loss and family.  She discovers how tightly people guard their secrets, and that things aren't always what they seem.  I enjoyed watching her grow and learn to move on, and I liked how she got to relive the past a bit with a former love, but ultimately discovered that you can't live in the past, and she was able to allow herself to explore a new love interest and learn from the mistakes of Esther, the woman in the diary.

One other thing I loved, and then I promise I'll stop gushing - Bainbridge Island was the perfect setting for this book.  The way it was described, the meaning and history of it for Emily, made it seem like its own character in the book.  I could feel the pull it had on Emily and its other inhabitants, and see it all so clearly in my mind.

Find Sarah Jio online: Official website, Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads 

*I belong to Amazon Affiliates - anything that you buy from my blog through Amazon gets me a small commission, and as a struggling freelance writer, I can use every cent I can get!  If you're considering buying this book or any other book I review, if you go to Amazon through the links on my blog to buy, I'll be eternally grateful!*

Follow Friday Week 4 & Book Blogger Hop Week 5

Follow Friday Fun Week 4 - this weekly meme is hosted by Parajunkee.  Check out her blog for details/rules, and to join! 

This week's question: In light of the Summer Solstice, also known as Midsummer...let's talk about fairies. What is your favorite fairy tale or story that revolves around the fae?

 

My favorite fairytale is probably Beauty and the Beast.  I'm only familiar with the Disney version, but I love it.  Most little girls associate themselves with a Disney princess, and to me, I was Belle - brown eyes, loved to read, French (well, half anyway), and a few other little things.  As for stories that revolve around the fae - I've been reading a lot of them lately (I love faerie stories, but it's also been research of sorts - my next novel is going to be about faeries, so I've been seeing what's out there), and my favorites so far have been Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston, and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (links lead to my reviews).  They are the exact type of faerie story I've been looking for - I loved them.

*****

Book Blogger Hop Week 5 - This is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books.  Be sure to stop by her blog to check it out! 

This week's question: When did you realize reading was your passion and a truly important part of your life?

Man, that is a good question.  Reading has sort of always been a big part of my life.  My parents and grandparents loved to read, and my dad always bought me Berenstein Bears books, which were probably what really got me into reading.  As much as I've always loved to read, it's probably been in the last year or so that I realized it was essential - like not just something I want to do, but something I need to do.  I had gotten away from reading for awhile, for various reasons - one of them being that I was writing so much - but then I realized I was going crazy and needed to read to keep my sanity.  Honestly.  As a writer, I live inside my own head so much that I was going nuts (even more nuts than usual). There's no better escape than a book, so now no matter how busy I am, I make time to read.

*****

I hope everyone's having a great Friday!  I was out of town most of the day, so my post is a bit late.  I'll be back tomorrow or Sunday with my latest Library Loot.  I'm also in the process of writing reviews for Violets of March by Sarah Jio, and Across the Universe by Beth Revis, so if you're interested, be sure to check back for those in the next few days!  If you participate in Book Blogger Hop or Follow Friday Fun - or even if you don't - be sure to leave a comment (I love comments!) and I'll visit you in return!

Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (first in The Iron Fey series)

Published: February 1st, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
363 pages (paperback)
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Acquired this book: at the library
Warning: may include spoilers

Synopsis, taken from dust jacket of the book: Meghan Chase has a secret destiny - one she could never have imagined...Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six.  She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.  When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.  But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war.  Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.
My thoughts on The Iron King:

Last month, when I reviewed Lesley Livingston's Wondrous Strange, I said that it was finally the type of faerie book I'd been looking for that I hadn't been able to find.  I can honestly say the same thing about The Iron King.  With an original plot, great, solid characters, action, romance, suspense and humor, it is definitely high on my list of new favorite faerie books - actually, new favorite books, period.

Besides the things I just mentioned, the plot has great twists and turns that kept me wondering throughout, and has me itching to read the next book in the series, The Iron Daughter.  I thought the whole concept of the story was not only brilliant, but well executed.  So many stories have a great concept but fizzle on the execution - it's obvious that Ms Kagawa put a lot of thought into the plot, which made for a unique story. 

If you're familiar with faerie lore, you'll recognize some familiar characters in the faerie royalty - Oberon, Titania and Mab - but the way they're written, they're completely fresh and different.  I couldn't decide on a favorite character because I liked them all, but especially the main four characters, Meghan, Robbie, Ash and Grimalkin. 

Meghan feels invisible and forgotten, her only real friend is Robbie, and she feels held back in her life, not only because she feels like she doesn't really matter, but also because her family is so poor.  She makes the best of it, trying not to care too much about what others think, but it still affects her.  Throughout the story, she shows that she's strong and capable and doesn't need anyone's approval.  As for Robbie and Grimalkin (who's a faerie cat, by the way), they're both hilarious characters.  I love how Grimalkin is devious, but despite that he comes to care for Meghan.  Ash is dark, mysterious, dangerous and haunted, which of course makes him the perfect love interest, and he's definitely one of the reasons I can't wait to read the next book!

*I belong to Amazon Affiliates - anything that you buy from my blog through Amazon gets me a small commission, and as a struggling freelance writer, I can use every cent I can get!  If you're considering buying this book or any other book I review, if you go to Amazon through the links on my blog to buy, I'll be eternally grateful!*

WWW Wednesdays: Week 7

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.  All you have to do is answer these 3 questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Simple right?  I love to read and love to know what other people are reading!

\

What are you currently reading?

I'm about halfway through Across the Universe by Beth Revis.  It's really good - completely different from anything I've ever read and I'm really curious to find out what's going to happen.

What did you recently finish reading?

Recently, I've read Tithe - A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black (you can read my review here), The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, and The Violets of March by Sarah Jio (both of which I'm in the process of writing reviews for, and both of which received 5 stars from me). 

What do you think you'll read next?

Well, I still have about 10 library books, so I need to pick from those.  More and more books keep coming in on reserve - some that I've had reserved for weeks or even months - so I feel like I never make a dent in my pile before I'm adding more to it!

What are you reading this week?  Have you read any of the books on my list?  Have any suggestions?  I'd love to hear from you!

Top Ten Tuesday - Reasons I love being a book blogger

This week is The Broke and the Bookish's 1 year blogoversary.  Congrats guys!  Each week, they post a topic and you give your top ten.  Fun right?  It's a great way to meet new bloggers and discover some new books to add to your TBR list.  Be sure to drop by their site to check it out!

This week, to celebrate their blogoversary, TB&TB want to celebrate the reasons why we, as book bloggers, love to do what we do.  I'm still fairly new to the book blogging world myself, but I love it, so this was surprisingly easy! 

Top Ten Reasons I Love Being A Book Blogger/A Bookish Person

***My first 7 reasons are reasons that I love being a book blogger, and my last 3 are reasons I love being a bookish person***

 

Why I love being a book blogger:

1.  Getting to talk books with other people who love to read as much as I do.  I don't have many friends who like to read, so it's exciting for me to talk books with other people and share the love!
2.  Discovering new books and authors.  I'm constantly writing down authors' names and titles of books to look up after reading book reviews, seeing giveaways, author interviews, etc.  It's an awesome way to discover new books.
3.  Giveaways!  I just won my first blog giveaway - I'm not 100% sure which book I'm getting yet because there were 4 winners and 4 books to choose from, but I'll post more about that when I know!  I hardly ever win anything, so I was super excited!  I just hope the mail strike's over soon...
4.  The possibility - however remote it might be - that an author might read your book review and see first-hand how much you (hopefully) loved their book, what you thought, what parts you loved, what characters you loved, etc.  I know that as a writer, I dream of that someday - having my books published and then reading the reviews of people who enjoyed it.  I hope the novelty of that never wears off for other authors, because it's the book bloggers who do reviews that help them sell books, and who also, I would imagine, help them write future books because they can have a better idea of what works and what doesn't.
5.  Networking.  As a writer, it's exciting for me to see that there are literally hundreds of book bloggers out there.  I know that when I finally publish my book, there will be people willing to read it, review it, help me out with blog tours, do interviews, etc.
6.  Research.  By browsing other people's book blogs, I can see what's popular, what people like and don't like, and that, again, helps me as a writer.  As a book blogger, it helps me because I'm still fairly new, and I get ideas on review styles from other people.
7.  Knowing that I'll be writing reviews makes me think about books on a different level.  Before, I read books solely for pleasure and didn't really analyze them too much or delve too deep into things like themes, character's motivations, hidden meanings, etc.  Now though, I really take time to process things, notice things I might have overlooked before, etc, and I find that's also helped in my own writing because I'm more aware.
Why I love being a bookish person:
8.  I'm never bored.  I have absolutely no tolerance for boredom.  Whenever I see or hear people saying they're bored, I want to clobber them over the head.  And 99% of the people who say that are people who don't read, which explains a lot.  I'm never bored because I can pick up a book and get lost in another world.  Which brings me to my next reason...
9.  Getting lost in another world.  Immersing myself in a fantasy world, or someone else's life, living vicariously through people's romances and adventures.  What could be better?
10.  I can go anywhere I want, at any time, from the comfort of my favorite chair.  I can't afford to do the traveling I want right now, but I can travel on any given day with a book - Ireland, Paris, the States, England, you name it.

Why do you love  being a book blogger?  If you're not a book blogger, have you ever considered it?  Thanks for stopping by - leave me a comment and I'll be sure to visit you in return!

Book Review: Tithe - A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black

Tithe by Holly Black

Published: October 1st, 2002
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
310 pages (paperback)
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Acquired this book: at the library
Warning: may include spoilers

Synopsis, taken from dust jacket of book: Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad.  Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces the sixteen-year-old back to her childhood home.  There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.

To be perfectly honest, when I first started this book, I didn't think I was going to like it.  I don't know why exactly, or at what point I really got into it, but I ended up really enjoying it.  I love any book having to do with faeries, and this was completely different from anything I've read - it was not only the dark side of faeries, but a bit of the dark side of teens, too.  I guess that was part of what I didn't like at first - Kaye was rebellious in a way that I never was as a teenager, and did things I didn't do - drink, smoke, shoplift, drop out of school.  And although I couldn't relate to her on those levels, she was still a great character, very real and believable.

I enjoyed the darker side of faerie in a way I didn't think I would.  I like the magic of faerie - the harmless trickery, the glittery wings, the sex appeal of a bad-boy faerie - but Tithe was much more about the sick and twisted things that faeries do to each other, and to mortals.  The not-so-innocent tricks they play, the dangerous, disturbing side of things, and there were certainly parts that were disturbing.

Cornelius (Corny) was a character you don't see too often in books.  The guy friend who's kind of dark and twisted, looking for an escape from his boring life and the people in town who think he's strange.  He finds that escape in Kaye and her journey, and although they make an odd team, they compliment each other - they're both outsiders, both seen in a certain way, and both looking for something more.

Then there's Roiben, the Seelie knight who's been traded to the Unseelie Queen to do her bidding, and who Kaye stumbles upon one night and finds herself almost instantly attracted to.  Because Roiben's bound to the Unseelie Queen, he has to do whatever she says, no matter how much he hates it, which makes him one of those characters that you're unsure of from the beginning but that you can't wait to learn more about.  Dark, mysterious, tortured.  He and Kaye are drawn to each other, even though they both try to fight it, and the tension between them makes for an interesting line of the bigger story.

I'm anxious to find out what happens in the next book, Valiant.

*I belong to Amazon Affiliates - anything that you buy from my blog through Amazon gets me a small commission, and as a struggling freelance writer, I can use every cent I can get!  If you're considering buying this book or any other book I review, if you go to Amazon through the links on my blog to buy, I'll be eternally grateful!*

Library Loot June 18th - 25th

Library Loot is a weekly theme hosted by  Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. 

Since I'm currently scraping by as a freelance writer, I unfortunately can't afford to buy books right now *insert sad face here* which I hate, but luckily I have an awesome library in my city, so until I can have my own personal library filled with wall-to-wall books, the public library's the next best thing.

  

This week, I went to the library twice - Tuesday and Saturday.  Tuesday's trip was to accompany my 99-year-old Grama, who hasn't been able to get out of her nursing home for a year or two because of certain health issues, but who was encouraged to go on this trip since she loves to read.  Each month, the library sends bags of large print books to people who want them in the nursing home, and my Grama gets 5-8 books.  She was so excited to be out, to browse the stacks, and to meet the librarians, especially the one who chooses her books every month.  She was able to choose 5 books she wanted and the librarian chose another 3 for her.

The books I got this week were ones that had come in on reserve, otherwise, like last week, I wouldn't have picked any because I'm so far behind with my library books.  I currently have 11 books, and will probably only get through half because I'm so slow and it's going to be a busy week.

My old library picks that I've mentioned in other posts are:

Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen, From Notting Hill With Love - Actually by Ali McNamara, Phantom Evil by Heather Graham, The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton, The Violets of March by Sarah Jio (which I'm currently reading), The Best Laid Plans by Lynn Schnurnberger, Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams and When It Happens by Susane Colasanti.

 

My new books this week are:

Immortal by Gillian Shields

I can't remember where or when I first heard about this book, but it sounds terrific, so I'm anxious to read it.

 

 

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

After re-discovering Sarah Dessen's books last month, I decided I'd slowly go back and read all the books I've missed over the last few years.  This just happened to be my first pick, no special reason, just chose it at random.

 

 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I saw this one reviewed on a on of blogs and was curious so put my name down for it.  The library just finally got it in, and I was first on the list, so I picked it up yesterday.

 

 

What are you reading this week?  What have you read lately that you really enjoyed?  Do you have any suggestions for my library loot picks next week?  I read just about any genre, and I'm always looking for suggestions!

Follow Friday Week 3 & Book Blogger Hop June 17-20

Follow Friday Fun Week 3 - this weekly meme is hosted by Parajunkee.  Check out her blog for details/rules, and to join!  Also, she's hosting a fantastic giveaway this week, so be sure to check that out!

This week's question: Genre Wars!  What's your favorite genre and which book in that genre made it your favorite?

 

This used to be an easy question for me because I pretty much only used to read romances.  In the past few years, I've branched out a lot and have such eclectic tastes that I'll read pretty much anything - paranormal/supernatural, fantasy, science fiction, young adult, chick lit - but I am still a sucker for romance.  I remember years ago when I decided to start reading something other than young adult books, one of the first books I read was Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts.  My Grama had borrowed it from the library and after reading the dust jacket, I thought it sounded great, so I read it and fell in love.  I realized afterward that it was the last in a trilogy, so I went back to the beginning and read the first two - and the 3rd book again - and have read them several times over the years.  That started my love affair not only with romance novels, but also with Nora Roberts - her writing is incredible, and she's one of my biggest inspirations.  As I told my cousin Bertha yesterday, I want to be Nora Roberts when I grow up! lol 

*****

Book Blogger Hop Week 4 - This is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books.  Be sure to stop by her blog to check it out! 

This week's question: How many books are currently in your to-be-read (TBR) pile?

My actual physical pile?  Eleven - all library books that I've obsessive-compulsively collected over the last few weeks even though I'm a slow reader and won't be able to get through them all.  As for my TBR list, probably over a thousand, and growing every day.  When Facebook used to have the Virtual Bookshelf feature, I had about 900 books in my TBR list, and it's grown massively since then, so I really can't even imagine how many there would be if I made a new list and counted!  Maybe I should do that on GoodReads?

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Have a great Friday, everyone!  I'll be back tomorrow or Sunday with my latest Library Loot.  If you participate in Book Blogger Hop or Follow Friday Fun - or even if you don't - be sure to leave a comment (I love comments!) and I'll visit you in return!

Book Review: Night of the Vampires by Heather Graham

Published: November 23rd, 2010
Publisher: HQN Books
346 pages (paperback)
Genre: Historic romance/paranormal
Acquired this book: at the library
Warning: may include spoilers

Synopsis, taken from dust jacket of book: As a soldier, Cole Granger fights to restore peace to a world divided by war and evil.  His extraordinary talents are enlisted to prevent the president's horrific premonition from becoming reality.  Nothing - and no one - will stop him from fulfilling his duty.  Especially the mysterious young woman who claims to be his comrade's sister.  Enemy or ally, he can't yet determine.  But one thing he knows for certain is that he must keep her close.  Very close.
Megan Fox's quest to uncover a family secret leads her to the centre of vampire riots in West Virginia.  To find the answers she needs - and clear herself of suspicion - she must join forces with Cole.  They work undercover to bring justice, but they can't disguise the potent attraction and need that draw them together.  Yet trust doesn't come easily for Cole...and when Megan unearths the grim, dark truth, can she trust him to believe her?
I've mentioned several times before that Heather Graham used to be one of my favorite authors.  When I discovered her books 2 or 3 years ago, I devoured them - read almost all of them, and loved them.  In the last year or so, her books have not been as good as they used to be.  I don't know what happened - usually authors get better with time, not the other way around, but because I loved her earlier books so much, I keep giving her new books a try. 

Night of the Vampires wasn't quite as good as her earliest books - and not as good as Blood Red or Kiss of Darkness, two of her other vampire novels - but it gives me hope that she might make a comeback yet.

In this book, Heather put an interesting spin on the Civil War - many of the deaths being from vampires as well as the actual fighting - and an interesting spin on vampires themselves - vampirism being an infection.  But the characters were similar to characters from her other novels - the leading male, in this case Cole, was unsure whether to trust the leading lady, in this case Megan, but developed feelings for her despite his best efforts, and Megan developed feelings for Cole despite the way he treated her.  Like many of Heather's female characters in other novels, Megan is rash, doesn't want to be told what to do, thinks she knows best and does things behind Cole's back, consequences be damned. 

When the characters weren't talking about the war, it was hard for me to remember that the book was a historic romance - the characters didn't talk or act like I would have expected them to in a book set in the 1800s.  Anyone who's ever read any historical fiction will likely know that there's a certain quality to the language - the characters talk in an old-fashioned manner, they do and don't do or say certain things, they act in a certain way, but there wasn't much of that in this book.  It made me think that she chose Civil War America as a setting because she had the idea for vampires taking advantage of the hard times, death and destruction, but decided not to develop it any further.

That being said...if you've never read a Heather Graham book before, I wouldn't suggest starting with this one.  Start with her older ones, there are plenty to choose from (some of my personal favorites are Ghost Walk, Dead on the Dance Floor, Haunted, The Dead Room, Blood Red and Kiss of Darkness).  Otherwise, I would recommend this book if you enjoy a historical setting, or anything with a vampire twist.

*I belong to Amazon Affiliates - anything that you buy from my blog through Amazon gets me a small commission, and as a struggling freelance writer, I can use every cent I can get!  If you're considering buying this book or any other book I review, if you go to Amazon through the links on my blog to buy, I'll be eternally grateful!*

WWW Wednesdays: Week 6

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.  All you have to do is answer these 3 questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Simple right?  I love to read and love to know what other people are reading!

What are you currently reading?

I'm about to start reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.  I've had this on my list for ages and even had it from the library a month or two ago but didn't have time to read it so had to return it.  I got it again 2 weeks ago and it's due Saturday and can't be renewed, so I've gotta get a move on!

What did you recently finish reading?

Last night, I finished reading Tithe - A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black.  It was a different and interesting spin on faerie - very dark and slightly disturbing but I actually really enjoyed it.  I'll be starting my review on it later today, so stay tuned!

What do you think you'll read next?

Well, I have 7 library books and another couple on hold to pick up Saturday when I go, so I'll have to see what's due the soonest.  My choices are: Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams, When it Happens by Susane Colasanti, From Notting Hill With Love - Actually by Ali McNamara, Phanton Evil by Heather Graham, The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton, The Violets of March by Sarah Jio, Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen, and whatever's waiting for me at the library, I can't remember what it is.  Decisions, decisions!

So, what are you reading this week?  Have you read any of the books on my list?  Have any suggestions?  I'd love to hear from you!