Oh My, Books!

Today, I received a book called When Will There Be Good News? from Bella Foxx at Bella is reading . . .

Thank you so much, Bella! :)

I still have a couple of books to read and review:
Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee
Havah: The Story of Eve by Tosca Lee

Thyme in a Flask by Glen Quarry

Don't forget to enter this giveaway!

SEA BLUE PEOPLE WIN MYSTERY BOOKS CONTEST: WEEK 1
Contest ends Friday at Midnight PST
INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES WELCOME

Awesome Book Giveaways #1

300 FOLLOWER MEGA GIVEAWAY!!!! (AND CLUE #1)

• This contest is international!
• You MUST be a follower to enter with google reader or feed burner.
• Contest ends at midnight MST, May 4th 2010.

100+ FOLLOWERS CONTEST EXTRAVAGANZA!

You MUST have a US or Canada mailing address
You MUST be a follower to win
Remember to total up your entries in the COMMENT SECTION!!
Contest ends March 31, 2010 11:59PM

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First Giveaway

There are two books to give away:

Gone by Lisa McMann & Hunger by Michael Grant

1. You must be a follower to be eligible.
   (To follow look for the avatar pics on my sidebar and click follow)
2. Winners will be picked random.org and first winner will win Gone by Lisa McMann, Second winner will win Hunger by Michael Grant.
3. The Contest will run until 8th April 2010 7:00pm AEST
4. Winners will be notified by mail and posted on this website.
5. International Giveaway
   

Massive Book Giveaway! Win, win win!

Open internationally and entries close midnight April 30th, AEST

I Was A Teenage Book Geek's 300 Follower Contest

There'll be one winner, who will get to choose three books from the two lists below. Mixing and matching is most definitely allowed.

UK Editions:

Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings (pb, reviewed by me here)

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (pb, sequel to Incarceron)

My So-Called Afterlife by Tamsyn Murray (pb, currently reading this one so review coming soon!)

US Editions:

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (hb, reviewed by me here)

The Compound by S. A. Bodeen (pb, reviewed by me here)

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder (pb, firmly on my own wishlist and due for publication before the contest ends. Yay!)

• Contest is open internationally.
• There will be one winner, chosen at random.
• Entrants must be aged 13 or over.
• Contest closes at midnight GMT on the 6th April 2010.
• Winner will be chosen, announced and contacted by email on the 10th or 11th April 2010. If no response is received after 48 hours an alternative winner will be chosen.

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Friday in the Fort with Kimberly Pauley and an EPIC GIVEAWAY

Follow THIS BLOG and comment for a chance at the following:

1. One winner will receive a paperback copy of SUCKS TO BE ME, along with a signed bookplate and other goodies from Kimberly.

2. One winner will receive my personal ARC of STILL SUCKS TO BE ME, along with a signed bookplate and other goodies from Kimberly.

3. One winner will receive a copy of the hilarious THE VAMPIRE IS JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.

4. And finally, one winner will score the promotional copy of the first episode of the CW's THE VAMPIRE DIARIES on DVD.

EPIC.

Follow THIS BLOG and comment to win! Tweet it for an extra entry, but make sure to LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!!!

This contest will end at midnight on Sunday, MARCH 28th!

Mega International and Fantastic YA Box Contest!

There are (3) boxes, each box contains (4) ARCs, there will be (1) winner who gets to pick one box.

Box 1:

• Pegasus by Robin McKinley (ARC)
  
• Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (ARC)
• Sea by Heidi R. Kling (ARC)
• The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway (ARC)

Box 2:

• My Invisible Boyfriend by Susie Day (ARC)
• Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (ARC)
• Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala (ARC)
• Winter Longing by Tricia Mills (ARC)

Box 3:

• Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles (ARC)
• Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs (ARC)
• Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti (ARC)
• Everlasting by Angie Frazer (ARC)

Official Info:

• open to everyone on planet EARTH! sorry pluto-nians!
• April 26 is the deadline
• must be 13 years of age

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500 Follower Series Giveaway

Books Available to Win

Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan
The Lightning Thief - The Sea of Monsters - The Titan's Curse - The Battle of the Labyrinth

Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward
Dark Lover - Lover Eternal - Lover Awakened - Lover Revealed - Lover Unbound - Lover Enshrined

Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine
Glass Houses - The Dead Girls' Dance - Midnight Alley - Feast of Fools - Lord of Misrule - Carpe Corpus - Fade Out

Dark-Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Fantasy Lover - Night Pleasures - Night Embrace - Dance with the Devil - Kiss of the Night - Night Play - Seize the Night - Sins of the Night - Unleash the Night - Dark Side of the Moon - Devil May Cry - Upon the Midnight Clear

Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost
Halfway to the Grave - One Foot in the Grave - At Grave's End - Destined for an Early Grave

Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews
Magic Bites - Magic Burns - Magic Strikes

Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs
Moon Called - Blood Bound - Iron Kissed - Bone Crossed - Silver Bourne

Midnight Breed by Lara Adrian
Kiss of Midnight - Kiss of Crimson - Midnight Awakening - Midnight Rising - Veil of Midnight - Ashes of Midnight - Shades of Midnight

Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
Bitten - Stolen - Dime Store Magic - Industrial Magic - Haunted - Broken - No Humans Involved - Personal Demon - Living With the Dead

Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger
Soulless - Changeless

This Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!

Entry Deadline is 11:59 EST on April 20th

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Blogoversary Giveaway!

PRIZE PACK 1 (worldwide):

PRIZE PACK 2 (USA only):

PRIZE PACK 3 (UK only):
After the winner of prize pack 2 has chosen their books, you can pick 2 books out of the remaining 4 books. You also get a copy of the UK version of The Demon’s Lexicon, a signed copy of Ballads of Suburbia and tons of bookmarks similar to the ones in prize pack 2!

Contest closes 20th April!

Book Review : Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

Product Details:

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (May 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416991824
• ISBN-13: 978-1416991823

Summary:

Torn between two destinies...

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all the sense of normalcy: She's a werewolf. As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love. Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart. she will make a choice that will change her forever...

Review:

When I first saw the cover and the title of this book, I knew that I had to read it. It was about a girl, Claire, whose life was about to change when she reached her sixteenth birthday. She found out that she was actually a werewolf. At first, she resented the idea of being a werewolf. She even tried to shave her fur. But eventually, she accepted her identity and fate and found out the benefits of being a werewolf.

The romance that blossomed between Claire and Matthew started at the beginning of the novel. It felt true and nice, but not overboard. I think that's what teenagers like to read about. I liked Matthew's character; he was such a good guy. I mean, really good guy. He's handsome, nice, kind, supportive and is good in sports. He opposed his dad's idea that all werewolves were evil.

This novel was mainly about Claire's huge transformation: from a normal girl to a werewolf and her attitude concerning the fact. Christine included a bad werewolf who hunted humans to add the suspense element in the story. Actually, I already figured out who the bad wolf is in the first half of the story. But it didn't make the story seemed dull. The story got more and more exciting towards the end of the novel.

Claire de Lune altered our previous concept of werewolves. In this novel, werewolves are all females, and humans are well-aware of their presence. In a nutshell, it is fast-paced, exciting and fun to read. I really enjoyed it. As a debut novel, Claire de Lune is quite promising. I hope to read more books by Christine in the future!

Rating : 8.5/10

I'd like to thank Christine Johnson and the representative of Simon Schuster for sending me a signed ARC for this review. Thank you!

.: Get you own copy of Claire de Lune on Amazon :.

About The Author:

Christine Johnson grew up in, moved away from, and finally came home to, Indianapolis, Indiana. She lives there with her husband and two children in a creaky old house with a creaky old dog. Claire de Lune is her first novel.

Visit Christine Johnson's Website

Follow Christine Johnson on Twitter

How to Make Your Own Luminamen

You have to download the instructions now before you close the page.

It's your only chance.

DOWNLOAD HERE ==> Download How to Make Your Own Luminamen.doc

I'm not sure if you know this, but she wove Fair O'Nelli's luminamen from threads she pulled from the Aurora Borealis (just like she does for all wee hoomin when they're born). It's their soul star, or what it would look like if they could see it for real.

If you ever played "Connect the Dots," you can do this. It's surprisingly easy, if you go step by step.

Included in the download:

• A template for drawing on
• A table that shows you where the letters of your name go on the template.

What you'll need:

• A ruler
• A pencil (unless you don't think you'll make mistakes.)
• A pen
• A flat surface to draw on

You might want colored pencils to color it in to put on your wall when you're done. Math teachers love this as an assignment to give to their students. Tell a teacher about this!

Book Review : Bad Apple by Laura Ruby

Product Details:

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061243302
• ISBN-13: 978-0061243301

Synopsis:

"If I really wanted to open up, I'd confess that I really am the liar everyone believes I am."

High-school junior Tola Riley has green hair, a nose ring, an attitude problem, and a fondness for fairy tales, which are a great escape from real life. Everyone thinks she's crazy; everyone says so. Everyone except Mr. Mymer, her art teacher. He gets her paintings and lets her hang out in the art room during lonely lunch periods.

But then rumors start flying and Tola is suddenly the center of a scandal. The whole town is judging her—even her family. When Mr. Mymer is suspended for what everyone thinks is an affair, she has no choice but to break her silence. Fairy tales won't help her this time . . . so how can she tell the truth? And, more importantly, will anyone believe her?

Synopsis:

A bad apple is often used to describe a troublesome person, coming from the quotation "one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel". It seems, to everyone, that Tola Riley is a bad apple. She has green hair, a great love for fairy tales and art, and is involved in a scandal with her art teacher, Mr. Mymer. Her whole world is turning upside down. Vicious rumors are spreading like wildfire through the school, and an anonymously-created website called thetruthabouttolariley.com is telling lies about her. As anyone could have predicted, no one believes what Tola claimed to be: that Mr. Mymer is innocent and she is not involved in an affair with him.

Tola is weird, but special in a different way - she is quirky and funny. I like the romance that is budding between Seven and her, and I wish that Laura had written more about this. Aside from her grandfather, her best friend June is the only one who is supporting her and keeping her sane throughout the whole "affair" thing. The bad girl in this story - Chelsea Patrick has an inclination towards hurting her ex-friend. She is crazily wicked, but that makes her character more realistic because there really are people like her.

I love the humour this book has offered. It made me laugh and kept me interested. In my opinion, Laura has done a good job on portraying every character in the story, mainly the artistic Tola, her supportive grandfather, and her always-depressed sister. She also included comments by Tola's classmates, school administrators, and family members at the end of each chapter to let us know about their different point of views on her unpleasant situation. However, the ending was a tad bit disappointing. I had wanted something more climatic, something more impressive.

In a nutshell, Bad Apple was a bizarre, humourous and enjoyable read. It is a story about truth, family, friendship and love. If you like reading about fairy tales with good endings, do pick this book up! :)

Rating: 8/10

Many thanks to Laura Ruby for sending me a signed copy of Bad Apple for this review! And thank you so much for your patience!

A little about Laura:
Laura Ruby writes fiction for adults, teens and children. Titles include the Edgar-nominated children's mystery LILY'S GHOSTS (2003), the ALA Quick Pick for teens GOOD GIRLS (2006), and a collection of interconnected short stories about blended families for adults, I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS (2007). She makes her home in Chicago.


Get your own copy of Bad Apple:

Amazon :: Barnes & Noble :: Books-A-Million :: Borders :: Harper Teen :: IndieBound

Visit Laura's Website:
www.lauraruby.com

Other books by Laura Ruby:
Play Me :: Good Girls