New Books!!

New Books over here!!

To highlight in the future:

ANTics looks like a lot of fun, and for a short time, it's FREE on Smashwords.


The Lost Kingdom by Kris Ellsworth will be available soon. I'm looking forward to reading it!!!  :-D


For review... no, I'm not accepting any books for review, but somehow I can't stay away from 'em, either. I accepted The Forgiven Duke & Immigration & Adaptation.



I WON Mud, Blood and Motocross by Mick Wade from the Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile, which arrived in the mail this week.

I've been staying away from NetGalley 'cause I just get sucked in, you know? But I had to download The Forgiven Duke, which reminded me that I so want to read The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, so logically, I bought The Girl in the Steel Corset to read first.


There's always MORE, you know?  'Cause I have winners every week, too, and I've stopped posting about 'em 'cause I get all worked up over writing awesome posts, when really, I can't keep up with myself. Ha!  (That's a good thing.)  I bought a copy of Grave Mercy this week for Ems, the winner of My Favorite Reads Giveaway. Congrats!!

Marla in the Phillipines won The Lure of Shapinsay + some awesome swag. I forwarded her info to Krista Holle, which was so fun, she's so enthusiastic & generous.

I've been mailing out some swag - it felt like a lot to me, but I'm sure compared to BEA returnees, it was more like what they stuffed in a side-pocket.  Lol. I can't wait to see how everyone's trip went!!

As for the signed copy of Under the Never Sky, that went to Arriane Cruz, which is so fun, 'cause I won Protector from her back in April. And Janhvi in India won the signed hardback of Shatter Me.

CONGRATULATIONS, ALL!!


Now I'm going to make myself a banana split because I can!!  Lol.

Yay!! More Books!!!

I have a lot of New Deliveries this week... I cleaned up my In-Box and responded to tons of things (plus entered a few giveaways!)  I'm just so glad that last week is OVER!! And the computer crash thing is behind me. I hunted down lost pictures and books and links and... I sorta feel put back together again, only more organized. An unusual sensation in my busy world (being organized. Don't worry. It'll pass.)

I meant to join a hop this weekend to share my goodies. And believe me, I'm excited to go book-blog-visiting. It's just... I linky up on a fun hop (say, for example, on Friday) and then empty everything out of the fridgerater and scrub it down top to bottom.*

You know when you get in those moods?  I don't often feel like cleaning the fridge, so when it comes, I roll with it.

Books!!  I was going to share some new books!!

These are all NOOK treasures and I've carried them with me everywhere I've gone all week #

I picked this intriguing Everblossom off of Smashwords for $.99. An author had offered it to me for review, but I don't know when I can get to it. After checking into it, however, I knew I wanted it on my Nook...


Everblossom: A Short Story & Poem Anthology
by Larissa Hinton

An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary. Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts. It changes. Prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed, you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective.

I'm excited to Highlight The Dream Slayer on July 2nd. I have a fun author interview, but I might get a chance to read Jill Cooper's book, too. Looks interesting!!


The Dream Slayer
By Jill Cooper

When your dreams come true, sometimes you get more than you bargained for...
Natalie Johnson has always dreamed she’s someone else; calm, beautiful, in control. 
Real life is much different.
Somehow as the lines between reality and nightmare blur, Natalie must discover hidden strength to pull her friends and family back from the brink of madness

Merciful Flush is one of those notorious emails that included the file for my reviewing pleasure. I do love books and I'm intrigued by this one, but I'm not sure what the marketing scheme is to randomly send out copies of books just in case someone downloads 'em, reads 'em & gets back to you. If any authors are reading this... please treat your book like a treasure and make me work a little to get it, even for free!!  If I read this, it'll be the first such delivery I will have read!!  (If you're interested, I'll pass your email on to this generous author!!  Lol. Just lemme know!)

Merciful Flush
by Lance Manion

Merciful Flush is a short story collection culled from 5 years of blogging. It aspires to be the literary equivalent of a video montage, very short stories presented in a manner to elicit a response. While each individually may be taken as funny or crude, poignant or stupid, the hope is that together they inspire the reader to a unique idea of their own.

Soul Sisters is EXCITING!!  I know Janiera!!  She follows Colorimetry & regularly comments and has won something, so we've emailed. Plus she runs Book Tours from time to time. We don't always agree in our reviewing, but I like her meticulous style. I can't wait to read her book!!!  I'll be Highlighting her book on June 18th.


Soul Sisters
by Janiera Eldridge

Soul Sisters is an urban fantasy novel about African-American twin sisters Ani and Dana who have a rather unique secret: one sister is human while the other is a vampire.
However, when the vampire’s leader Donovan finds out about a public display he calls for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in for the fight of their lives to protect each other 

I picked up this classic on a whim.  Book Journey was reading through it for the month of May, and although I didn't participate in the Readalong, I don't think I've ever read this, which is unpardonable. And easily remedied.


The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A ten-year-old orphan comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors where she discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden. 

Burnett's classic story of a disagreeable and self-centered little girl and her equally disagreeable invalid cousin is as real and wise and enthralling now as it was when it was first written over 75 years ago...

I picked up these two amazing books for less than $4 each!!!  I think they're still on sale, too, at Amazon or Barnes & Noble (for us Nook folks.)  They'be been sitting on my Wishlist forever! You might even remember that I picked Glow up at the library a month ago... didn't get to it. Libraries like their books back eventually.

Did you see those books that came up for sale a couple weeks back? Jennifer Barnes' wolf series & Soulless were less than $2 - and I'm totally KICKING MYSELF that I didn't get them. I'm not letting another great book go buy if I have some change in the bowl on the kitchen counter.

Glow
by Amy Kathleen Ryan

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?


Half-Blood
by Jennifer L Armentrout

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. 

Intriguing Book Blast!!  This book is FREE for Kindle 'til June 4th. 

Frequent Traveller
by Pandora Poikilos

From the blue oceans of Antigua to the bustling streets of Vietnam, the racing adrenaline at the Green Hell, the devastating natural disaster in Japan and the stunning architecture in Germany, Cathy Dixon finds herself in a whirlwind of fine dining, plush clothes and sheer extravagance. But is perfection a mask for untold disaster? What is Cathy's secret and how will her world change when the world knows? 


For Review from BookSneeze: 

Angel Eyes
by Shannon Dittemore


Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than either Brielle or Jake has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices begin.


From Tribute Books & Pavarti Tyler:


  
Two Moons of Sera
by Pavarti K Tyler

In a world where water and earth teem with life, Serafay is an anomaly. The result of genetic experiments on her mother's water-borne line Serafay will have to face the very people responsible to discover who she really is. But is she the only one?

-----------------------------------------------

* Some of those splatters in the fridge... I didn't even know the bottoms of drawers were so dirty. Seriously. It looks like little elves had a food fight in there!  

Ah. That's not far off, is it? Maybe that's why there's a foot-worn spot, too, from little people literally climbing into the fridge to reach the yogurt hidden on the top shelf.** I've learned to hide things around the kitchen. Survival instinct!!

Wait a minute.  You're telling me you DON'T HIDE THINGS AROUND THE KITCHEN?!  You're kidding, right?  What if you buy some chocolate covered almonds but don't want to eat them all at once? Then what?!  What I do*** is hide things really, REALLY well. Then I forget where I put them until I have a crazy-weird craving and go hunting for lost goodies. Then, BAM! I find my stash and have a wee bit of chocolate. Perfect!  You should try it. It's like Easter in June. Only different. But including chocolate. And therefore very pleasant. I think I'll make a cup of tea to balance out the sugar high I'm on!!  Lol.

The key to this is changing your hiding place all the time. Never use the same place twice. Try it. It's hard!  And no... your kitchen's not too small. Asking Mom not to find your "stashes" counts. If you're dieting... uh... hide grapes. Only don't forget where you hid 'em.^^

 **Hey... it's the only way I'm getting one, unless I eat 'em all the minute I get back from the grocery store... and I'm too full of chocolate "compensation for working so hard" at that time!!

***as a mom with a houseful of foragers^ 

^what do you call 'em? "Hunters & Gatherers"?  That works.

 ^^EW!

# Including adding more gas to that darn guzzling gas tank with the obnoxious ##  attendants that work too fast.

## nice


PS... I did not imagine fancy footnotes by myself. Well, wait. Lemme rephrase. If this post DRIVES YOU NUTS, that's my fault. Although I'm not very sorry. I have mentioned that I follow Robin McKinley's blog rather closely, have I not? The one entitled "Days in the Life *with footnotes". Love it.

Finding my Sunday Again

Welcome everyone!!

Sunday Salon is a FB gathering, where book blogger share the week's fun, or whatever. This week, I'm thinking about what I'm missing more than what I did!!

For the Fourth Week in a Row, I'm wandering around lost-ish wondering how to fix my craving! On one hand, I like Sunday's being sorta open & empty, hangin' with family. It's perfect. But there's this HUGE HOLE in my week. Typically I like to go window shopping and DROOL over everyone's new book arrivals!!

I did not realize how fun it was to visit everyone. And by "everyone" I mean book bloggers who are scooping up books I wish I had. Jajajajaja


Quite honestly, the last four weeks have clarified a few things for me. These Memes... they're a lot of fun. They make it easy to visit like-minded book bloggers. I enjoy all kinds of books and book bloggers... but I feel starved of getting an eye-full of delicious YA fantasy books. 

So... I've learned which Memes I cannot live without. (Didn't even know they existed eight months ago!)

Only, which one?! Stacking the Shelves? Sunday Post? Showcase Sunday?  Argh... While I think about it...

Here's my new arrivals:

   Won!!  Rose Daughter from Books Beside my Bed:

  Won!!!  Fade Out - signed book plus signed swag from Miss Vain - I serious screamed when I opened this:

  To Share:  Signed bookmarks & postcards for my review & giveaway of Becoming a Butterfly tomorrow. Mia wrote a sweet note, too. As for her book?  Come back for my review TOMORROW!!  :-D  The Blog Tour starts today, I do believe, at The Reading Nook.

  Purchased: Starcrossed for $.99 on my Nook.  I'm not kidding. There are some really great deals this week. When I find these Amazon sales, I check B&N for my Nook.  I don't know how I only got one.


Here's what I WANTED to buy!!!

I've already read (and love) Jennifer's werewolf books, but they're only $1.59!  How does one say "no"?!?!  Geez... I'm talking myself into buying them.

As for the Meme... I'm going with Stacking the Shelves. She posted on Saturday, which suits me GREAT. I have some alternative ideas for Sunday, which involve reading and napping. :-D  And some blog visiting, of course. But Mondays, I'll have you know, always arrive with a BANG! and I can never seem to catch up 'til Thursday, when it's time to prep for the weekend and another pending Monday. That's just blogging, never mind work!!  (No really, I'd rather never mind work!)

Thanks to everyone hosting Memes!!  They're work, but so much fun to join in with!!

As for this past week... I've posted the giveaways in the left sidebar and the discussions -n- reviews on the right. What Do You Like In a Review? Survey will be posted for another 10 days, or so, and then we can chat about the results!!

Mailbox Monday, What are you Reading?

Ok... my memes are getting all sloshed around and I don't know how to participate in all of 'em or keep them separated by day or hour or subject or something... or not.

I think Martha's Bookshelf is hosting Mailbox Monday in May... which is MARVELOUS!  (Gotta love M!)

And this past week was quite Merry for getting More books!!!

Yay!!!  Sweet Evil arrived!!  THANK YOU Kelly Vitollo!!!  (And the Mmmlovely SM Johnston who hosted the giveaway way back when!! Which research reminds me I also rec'd Sweet Evil Swag!!!  Oh yea!!)  (I've got it here somewhere...)

You know that super-awesome Fairytale giveaway hop last week?  I might have gone a little crazy entering giveaways... and I'm so happy to have one TWO!!  Ha!!!

Rose Daughter
by Robin McKinley
my favorite!!!

Won from Books Beside My Bed:

This is Karen's lovely giveaway decor, ogle with me!


And from Rachel Van Dyken:
The Ugly Duckling Debutante
Yum!!!

For Review:
I'm hyper-excited about this book... 'cause it's from Edelweiss, which is Above the Treeline... (which does NOT make any sense!) which looks so simple and easy to request books from, but I always get denied and I've never figured out why... and then all of a sudden, this beaut arrived in my in-box. A YES!

A YES for me with mysterious billows of white and purple and a sleeping beauty and... okidoki!!

The weird thing is... New Arrivals have very little to do with what I'm reading.

Weird.

Hence... the all-important Monday organizational...


It's Monday! What are you Reading?
hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey

Honestly, this meme is like an anchor telling where I'm at and where I'm headed. I know that sounds co-dependent. What of it?!  (And anchors aren't directional, their more like weights. What's wrong with my metaphors today?!)

Last week I finished Immortal Rules & Shatter Me - I know... how awesome is that?!  Plus a short story by Erin Hoffman that I actually reviewed already.

I started Under the Never Sky and Eve... and then on my Nook I began The Lure of Shapinsay. 'Cause it's not dystopian, if you must know.  And yes, I'm aware that I'm still in the middle of Changeless. And The Iron Daughter... except I have a feeling that I won't be able to put The Iron Daughter down, so I had to wait 'til after the book signing Friday to begin it or else I'd've never started Under the Never Sky and Eve, which I wanted to read.

And why is Changeless lingering so long, you ask?!  Humph.  I don't know!!!  It's that I can't review Soulless and that really bothers me!!!  What?!  Haven't you ever had a book whose review eluded you?!

Alright... CONFESSION TIME!!!  Which book has been the hardest for you to review this year so far?!

Go ahead, share!!  I might not repost your answer!!

Memorable Monday is hosted by Escape in a Book and we share memorable quotes we've found while reading.

And here's a quote from Shatter Me just in case you haven't read it, yet.

"For a moment we're just staring at each other, breathing hard until I'm blushing, until he closes his eyes and takes one ragged, steadying breath and I place my hand on his chest. I dare to trace the outline of the bird soaring across his skin... 'You're my bird,' I tell him. 'You're my bird and you're going to help me fly away.'"

Ah, the significance of the bird, the bird they never see flying anymore. *sigh*

Starting the week on Sunday!!!

Welcome Sunday Saloners!!

There's some confusion as to what's goin' down this weekend with the New Arrival Mailbox theme. I saw that Kimba @ the Caffeineted Book Reviewer's is startin' up a Sunday Post. Leeswamme's Blog just posts her New Arrivals every week, as if linkin' up to other bloggers isn't necessary. *gasp* Tynga's Reviews has started Stacking the Shelves. Dazzling Reads has her Dazzling Book Haul!!!  Books, Biscuits & Tea has Showcase Sunday. Xpresso Reads has Xpresso Weekly - fun!  Who else is doing something new?!

I'm not boycotting anyone, I'm just changin' up my Sunday. I'm happy to visit everyone, regardless of where or with who you link up with.  'Cause I'm not makin' anyone jump thru hoops for my spontaneous support. To catch all the hullaballoo and my response, see my Plagiarism post HERE.

Cindy @ Cindy's Love of Books is hosting the Mailbox Monday tour in April. Or maybe it's Reviews by Martha's Bookshop for May. Haven't participated in the past, so I have no idea where to link up a day early.

Thing is, Mailbox Monday hops around being hosted somewhere new every month. Which I think is kinda cool!!







So... new to me this week?

Hey, I won a book!!!  WOOHOO!!!

From Arianne Cruz... Thank You!!!

From the Library:

    

All week I was participating in Tiffany's readathon at Book Cover Justice:

I did not read all that I planned on... but it was a WEIRD WEEK.  The kids' school went on Strike on Wednesday. As soon as the teachers were wearing their "We Love our Students" shirts waving signs, negotiations were settled and school started again on Thursday. (Can I get a "huh?"!)

But by then, some funky bug was going thru our house and kid after kid got this 102 F temperature with a horrible cough that kept 'em out of school for 3+ days. Trinity got it first. She shared with Cam-Shaft. I got a call from school to come get Bear. And Dash managed to get away with a slight cold? But he had No School Friday, so he helped me watch all the sickies. We passed out liquids and medicines and took temperatures and watched a heck of a lot of Sponge Bob.

So... I felt quite victorious finishing The Iron King, which I reviewed Friday. I'm just now finishing Interrupted and attempting to read In Great Waters to review by tomorrow. At night on my Nook I started a little bit of Immortal Rules. :-)

I might as well add that NEXT UP is The Iron Daughter, Pandemonium, Echoes of Betrayal, The Clockwork Angel... not to mention finishing Changeless.  Or not... I'm on the verge of WRITING again.


It's Monday, What are you Reading is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. This week's gonna be busy with my Anniversary on Tuesday - 14 years of being married to Mr Wonderful Cool, Man!!!!

I have lots of posts planned, but we'll see!!

'Cause my throat hurts like crazy this morning!!  (No!!!!!!!)


In case you missed it...


World Book Night was a BLAST last Monday.

Tuesday I participated in a Book Blast of Pretty Crooked with one of those long giveaway thingame's with lots of clicking for a $50 GC.

So, Thursday I posted about CLICKING!!  :-D

Wednesday started the Fairtale Giveaway hop. Since I didn't have a review from an author, I made one up from funny correspondence w/ Anna Banks, author of... Of Poseidon. You can still enter to win a copy of her book!!

Feature & Follow Friday was about "breaking up" with a book, which was a fun discussion. Ha! I really enjoy Parajunkee's View & Alison Can Read.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ At Home with Books and I posted a couple pix my Cool, Man took at the shop 'cause I LOOOOVE the look of wet automotive paint.  If I get to writing this week, my book really dives into COLOR, 'cause I'm fascinated by it.


Finally, I had the most interesting Guest Post this past week by Joanne C Hillhouse, author of Oh, Gad!  I almost felt rebuked for asking why she wrote her book, but really, she took the question seriously and turned it into a deeply provoking post. I can't help staring at the cover to her book, too. Wow.

Phew!!  That's a LOTTA links!!  :-D  I dare ya to click 'em all!!!  Lol

Have an awesome Sunday, All!!!!!

Bustin' Loose In My Mailbox!!!!

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren


I haven't gotten new books for weeks and weeks (it feels like). I've been trying to catch up on some reading, but I tell ya, I was gonna bust out of that constricting plan at any moment, and I went a little crazy this week.  I got more books than I read, so it's a good thing I'm participating in a Read-a-thon or two!!!  The Dewey Read-a-thon is giving me a BOOST which will continue as I participate with Tiffany at Book Cover Justice all week.

The following delicious reads were accumulated on my Nook or Kindle-on-computer:
(click on the cover to add to see Goodreads!)

    

I posted an author interview & link to free download of Thoughtless this week.  In case you need to add this pretty cover and story to your own collection!!!!


From NetGalley for review:

  

From the library:

  

Oh... and I can't forget 20 copies of Ender's Game ready to pass out to the "Success" class of reluctant readers at the local midschool!!!!  I'm so happy to be able to participate in World Book Night!!!  What's awesome is, there were over 20 boxes of books still waiting to get picked up from my nearest Barnes & Noble... so my Northwest neck-o-the-woods is getting lots of books for this wonderful event!!!  I can't wait to follow up on all the success stories!!  I'll be linking up to Sheila's list over at Book Journey with other Givers by Tuesday morning. I hope I can get a picture of the mid-schoolers with their books!!!  Woop!!

I like to review what I did this past week... sorta helps me keep my brain straight. (And I need all the help I can get!!!!)

 * Review & Giveaway - The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality by Gahan Hanmer with Tribute Tours

 * No Strings Attached Giveaway of Graceling by Kristen Cashore

 * Top Ten Tuesday Blogging Tips

 * Author Interview with Jacqueline Gardner, FREE download of Thoughtless & giveaway for Jade

 * Wow - Review & Author Email - Of Poseidon by Anna Banks.... she's so funny!!

 *  Packaging Books - ideas for fun

 * Showers of Books Giveaway - 5 $5 Gift Cards!!

 * Read-a-thon plans!!  with Tiffany at Book Cover Justice

 * Snapshot - a girls' view of a carshow

 * Faery Party ideas!!! (for The Iron Knight).  Mini-challenge with Book Journey

Ah... now see?!  Now I know why I had so much trouble adding more reviews and author interviews this week!!!  Lol. I was wondering if I was falling behind, but I'm not even counting the Winning post on Wed or the Feature & Friday fun... or the Small Blogs, Big Dreams Giveaway!!  (I think that one ended last night?)  So I probably need to cut back a little to fit all the wonderful author interviews I got ready to go up.  So many things to post, so little time. Hilarious.

Thanks for stopping by, Sunday Saloners and everyone!!

Happy Earth Day!!