Books in the Spotlight (6)

Two dads, five siblings, and goggles!

Grim Doyle has always known his life was not exactly "normal", and things get even more curious when he discovers a set of stones that sweep him and his family to the fantasy, steampunk world of Verne - a place they had escaped from years ago. Now that they've returned, Grim and his siblings hide from the evil Lord Victor and his minions. And while learning about Jinns, Mystics, and the power of absinth they try to discover who is trying to kill them with the deadly Scourge.
Scourge is the first novel in the Grim Doyle Adventure series by author, David H. Burton. He can be found online at http://davidhburton.com/

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The link to purchase:

Amazon Kindle release is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Scourge-Grim-Doyle-Adventure-ebook/dp/B004AHKCVQ

Print version should be released in 2 weeks time.

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Personalized version of Scourge:
I am offering a personalized ebook version of Scourge at my site. With it comes an autographed dedication page as well as a fun feature where I alter the name of one of the minor characters in the story with the name of the purchaser.
The link to purchase is here: http://davidhburton.com/?page_id=4113
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 http://davidhburton.com/

A Weekend Away...

Hi all,

I'm back online!  Thank god! 

Quick note: I was one of the many caught up in the National Bank disaster where so many people never got paid, and I'm still waiting for my pay to go in. So those of you waiting for your prizes to be posted, it was going to be done this weekend. I'm sorry, but they may be a little later than expected.

As some of you know, my family and I went away this weekend to a 4WD Park in NSW.  Our first camping trip away with the little one.  It was fun!  And a tad stressful. 

It's amazing how much I rely on all four walls to keep Cruzito safe.  Although lately, he's shown that shutting a door doesn't work anymore to keep him out of things, since he can now reach them.

So anyway,  we are almost to the park when I look at my phone and it comes up 'No Service'.  What?!!  Here I was thinking that, yep I'm going away but lucky I have my phone so I won't miss out on emails and what's going on with Twitter.  WRONG!  Yep, I was devastated.  So this is part of the reason I have been MIA.  All was not lost because I managed to pack in a book :)

I really do miss going four wheel driving.  With the car we have now, it looks like a 4wd but that's it.  It's not built for doing the really fun stuff.  So we all jumped into my brothers car and got to play in some mud.

Two things I didn't realise before going on this trip (and really, being Aussie I should have clicked onto it) 1. There are going to be Goannas, 2.  Leeches and ticks.  We only come across one goanna on the way in there so that was alright.  I seen a few leeches attached to fellow camp goers on the first day.  Today however, was a bit different. 

We were heading to the waterfall and because it was a bit slippery we decided turn around.  I'd just got in the back of the car and shut the door.  I was in there maybe five seconds before saying. "For some god awful reason, and call me paranoid, I can almost feel something crawling on me."  I look down completely expecting nothing to be there and OMG there's a bloody leech!  Well I was out of that car in a flying leap, dropped my camera in the mud and proceeded to flick the slippery little sucker off.  I got back in as soon as I calmed down and checked a dozen times that I didn't have pick up any more hitch hikers and then that was that.

You may think I completely overeacted (And I quite possibly did lol) but after the campfire talk and joking about leeches and jumping ants (which apparently there are) I never expected to be dealing with one so soon.  Let me point this out,  they don't hurt but the thought of having something like that on me really freaked me out.

Well, that's all from me.  There will be no IMM this week (See above for why) and I am tossing up whether Sticky Beak will be posted tomorrow.  As you all know there are only 2 more days left of NaNoWriMo and I'm hoping to at least get close to the 50,000 so I'll be putting a bit of time in with that.  But don't worry I will post a little something up tomorrow for you all!

I'll leave you with a few pics I took from this weekend.  Enjoy.

When we came into the Levuka camping Grounds this is the sign we came across.  Absolutely classic!!

Some of the 4WD tracks we played around in.

Cruzito was so tired and the kids were giving him flowers to play with.  Here he is deep in thought lol.  Absolutely love this pic.

Playing in the Test Track.

MBOB: Stieg Larson's The Millennium Trilogy

The Eiffel Tower's Daughter by Bethany Huang

Title: The Eiffel Tower's Daughter

Author:  Bethany Huang

Genre: Children/Teen

Publisher:  Authorhouse

Publication Date: 5th October 2010

ISBN: 9781452076249
Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Pages: 120 pages

Book Received from: Author

First Lines: 
My Father named me Swanilde because swans are beautiful and graceful, and I was like one when I was young

Synopsis:
The Eiffel Tower's Daughter is a story about love, compassion, family, and life. A girl who has to face it all with no one to help her. She runs away from home the day after her divorced Mother unknowingly marries a spy. Swanilde has to deal with rivalry and vengeance on her way to warn her father and ask for help. Swanilde thinks she's on a quest for truth, but her family reveals all of the secrets and lies they have been hiding from her for years. As Swanilde's world crumbles under her, she realizes how precious life is and how short it is. She tries to deal with all of the obstacles in her way to find who she really is-until disaster strikes and she's running again.

My Thoughts

I am really amazed that such a young writer has written this.  And admitedly, although I'm not one to pick up books that don't have any paranormal aspect, I decided to read this.

The story is about a young girl Swanilde who runs away from her mother and step-father.  She goes to her father for help, meeting her brother who she hadn't seen for a long time.  For Swanilde though, things aren't quite so easy.  Her step father has imprisoned her mother in a ploy to lure her and the rest of her family back.  Secrets long buried surface and Swanilde must deal with this new knowledge the best she can.

I liked how there were various POV's throughout the book.  It gave the story a very realistic feel and let's the reader know how each character perceives what is going on.  I also loved that the story takes place in France, Egypt and Greece giving the reader a feel for each culture.

The age group I think this would fit best would be between 9 - 14.  I really think that for her age she's done brilliantly pulling this novel together and, given time and some polishing of her writing skills I think Bethany will give the top Authors a fair run for their money.

Waiting on Wednesday (38)

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!


My pick for this week is Luminous by Dawn Metcalf.  This one is not out until 7th July 2011 so there's a bit of a wait.

Synopsis
When sixteen-year-old Consuela discovers she can remove her skin, revealing a lustrous mother-of-pearl skeleton, she slips into a parallel world known as the Flow, a place inhabited by archetypal teens with extraordinary abilities. Crafting skins out of anything – air, water, feathers, fire – she is compelled to save ordinary people from dying before their time. Yet now someone is murdering them, one by one, and Consuela finds herself the focus of an intricate plot to end the Flow forever when all she really wants is to get back home, alive.

Sticky Beak (35)

Sticky Beak is all about sharing. Sometimes we can't all get around to every single blog and website available so that's where Sticky Beak comes in. By word of mouth (well you get what I mean) we are more likely to get to those blogs that we wouldn't have normally seen without someone pointing them out to us.

The links could be to your own post, a favourite blog post you would love to share, an authors blog/website, book/writing contests, reviews you really enjoyed, tour info or anything you would love to share with others. Just use the comments below to add your link!


Heres Mine:

Cool Stuff To Check Out:
La Femme Readers: Tantalizing Future YA Releases.  Some awesome looking books
Flashlight Worthy Books: Laugh-Out-Loud Funny Books Written By Women
Immortal Longings: Awesome Journals to check out.
Austin Design Works: Professional affordable web design
Sharpie Website:  My new addiction lol.

Only a short one this week.  I've finally hit a breakthrough with my NaNoWriMo.  I've written six small pages so far (doublesided) and hope to get a bit more out tonight.

Enjoy

In My Mailbox (38)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture.

Bought:

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Haunted by Barbara Haworth-Attard

That's all for me this week.  What did you get?

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: Speak

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher:  The Penguin Grop

Publication Date:  29th March 2009   

ISBN: 9780142414736

Stand alone or series:  Stand Alone

Pages: 240

Book Received from: Bought

First Lines: It is my first morning of high school.  I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.

Note: Original posted on Book Lovers Inc

Synopsis:
After Melinda goes through a traumatic and violent incident at a summer party, she calls the cops and becomes a social outcast. Her freshman year is a disaster. As time passes, she stops talking--except through her paintings in art class. Her healing process has just begun when her perpetrator attacks again. Only this time, she doesn't keep silent.


My Thoughts
It was through various blog posts for Banned Book Week that Speak came to my attention. I'd never even heard of it until then. The controversy over subject matter in this was the main issue and in some school libraries it was actually banned. This was the clincher for me. I had to have this book. I needed to know what all the fuss is about and I jumped online and ordered it.

I don't know where to start. I've just finished reading Speak and I'm (excuse the pun) speechless. This has been brilliantly written. It's been a little while since I've felt those little butterflies in my stomach after putting a book down. This will be one book that I won't soon forget.

The book begins with Melinda, the main character preparing for her first day of highschool and is quite anxious at how the day will pan out. She has every right to be. Right from the get go she is shunned and cast out by her peers and once friends. The story sucked me in from the very few line! The reader is kept in the dark and only fed little bits here and there about why she is outcast until around halfway through the book.

The author has done a fantastic job at painting the picture. Her slow downward spiral and shutting herself off is a totally understandable reaction and it hit home how easily something like this could destroy a persons life.

Her silence plays a massive part in the story, the cause and effect it has on Melinda which begins emotionally and piece by piece becomes visible until she can no longer hold it all in.

Speak is one of those books that had my stomach in little knots of anxiety, hanging off every word of Melinda's, and feeling what she felt.

Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton Book Trailer

Books In The Spotlight (5)

Night Star by Alyson Noel (Book 5 in the Immortals series)

Best friends make the worst enemies—they know all your secrets, your weaknesses, and just how to hurt you most...
After fighting for centuries to be together, Ever and Damen's future hinges on one final showdown that will leave readers gasping for breath. Don't miss this explosive new installment of the number one bestselling series that's enchanted millions across the world!

Alyson Noel's Website

Immortals Series Website

Immortals Series Facebook Fan Page

Waiting on Wednesday (37)

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

This week I've come across a few good titles coming out for next year.  Entangled by Cat Clarke is one of these.  To be released in January 2011

Synopsis
The same questions whirl round and round in my head:
What does he want from me?
How could I have let this happen?
AM I GOING TO DIE?
17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with a table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got here.
As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see?
Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here?
A story of dark secrets, intense friendship and electrifying attraction.


The second book I've come across is called Starstruck by Cyn Balog, which will be released 12 July 2011.

Synopsis
When Gwendolyn “Dough” Reilly’s boyfriend and best friend Wish moves away in seventh grade, the only consolation she can find is in her family bakery’s donuts. Now, it’s sophomore year, and Wish is coming back. But in only three years, they’ve both changed—drastically. She’s seriously overweight, and suddenly Wish is the most popular guy in school, and girls everywhere want him. Dough has doubts that appearances don’t matter and that Wish can love her as she is, so she launches into a plan designed to keep them together. That is, until she discovers that Wish’s gorgeous looks and charm might not be all they appear to be.


What are your picks for this week??

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride Book Trailer

In My Mailbox 37, Sticky Beak 34 and More!

In My Mailbox 37

For Review:

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

(Thanks to The Penguin Group in Australia)

Bought:

The Fledgling Handbook by P.C Cast

What did you get?

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Sticky Beak 34

Sticky Beak is all about sharing. Sometimes we can't all get around to every single blog and website available so that's where Sticky Beak comes in. By word of mouth (well you get what I mean) we are more likely to get to those blogs that we wouldn't have normally seen without someone pointing them out to us.

The links could be to your own post, a favourite blog post you would love to share, an authors blog/website, book/writing contests, reviews you really enjoyed, tour info or anything you would love to share with others. Just use the comments below to add your link!
Here's Mine:

New Authors I've Come Across:
Katrina Germein's Blog: Australian Children's Author.

New Bloggers I've Come Across:
Page 2 Page:  A very NEW book Blog to check out.  Help welcome Michy!!
Bloggy Designz: Free Blog Designs.  Very cool
The Eclectic Reader: Australian Book Blogger!  I can't believe I haven't come across this one sooner!

Other Cool Stuff:
You Tube: Book Trailer for Elixir by Hilary Duff
Sophistikatied Reviews: Recently Released 2011 Book Covers!
You Tube: Book/.Film Trailer for Fortune Cookie by Bryce Courtenay
You Tube: Graeme Base - The Legend of the Golden Snail.
The Office of Letters and Light: 30 Covers 30 Days

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NaNoWriMo Update

How is everyone's stories going?  I have been struggling for the past... I dunno week I think.. with my story.  I had a vague direction of where I wanted it to go but trying to get that on paper was hard.  I've also struggled with meeting the word count daily which I didn't have a problem doing last year.  It doesn't help that my little one is at that age where he doesn't go to bed when he's supposed to, and plays up (I'm certain this is deliberately LOL LOL) when he knows I'm trying to concentrate.  Ahh... Kids you gotta love them lol.

We went away on the weekend and while I had hoped to get alot more writing in, sadly, it's not as much as I thought I would do.  We had a good time though, and I got seriously burnt at Sea World yesterday, but apart from that, fantastic weekend.

So it comes to tonight where I've had enough of this misdirection and painting my characters into corners.  Which has happened twice now.  I was in a bad mood one day and almost killed off one super hot main character because of it.  Poor bugger, the characters suffer sometimes :)  But one thing that has helped me was writing down what has happened so far in the story as bullet points.  Simple right?  Well, I obviously hadn't thought of it until now.  Thank god for that!  I was ready to throw the towel in.

I now have a new direction (YAY) and a better idea of who I shall kill off (Muahahahahaha), nah just kidding, more like a better idea of what my characters will be doing!

Just a note, I'm at a little over 8000 words (I haven't updated Nanowrimo word count yet, or added in what I have written today) so fingers crossed I can make up those 17000 words or so plus daily goals before the end of next week.  I'm NOT going to leave things until last minute this time.

I'M NOT A QUITTER!! (I'm probably not much of a writer either LOL)

For those of you that are confused, that's my affirmation of the day :D

Hope everyone else is going well.  Best of luck, and thanks to Susan for the borrowed writers muse, He has proven useful lol.

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Possible New Feature called Spellbound Notice Board/Bulletin Board.

I've been thinking for a while about doing a Feature on Friday.  I have Sticky Beak on Monday, Waiting on Wednesday, and In My Mailbox on Sunday and reviews and other bookish stuff popping up on the other days. 

What I'd like to plan is to hand the reigns over to Authors, Publishers, Bloggers and others who would love to promote books, book events, signings, contests, upcoming releases from authors of every genre etc.  and post it on Fridays.  I want readers of my blog to have some variety and I'd love to hear your feedback on what you think.  I'm aiming for at least one post from Authors and Publishers, and one from Bloggers and others for the day, so one in the morning and one late at night scheduled in!!

What do you think.  Please please PLEASE throw your comments and opinions here.  If there is any way you can help improve on this idea i WANT your 2 cents worth!!

Okay so that is all from me for now.

I'm off to write!  Have a great night all

Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

Title:  Tweet Heart

Author:  Elizabeth Rudnick

Genre:  Young Adult 

Publisher:  Hyperion Teen  

Publication Date:  22 June 2010

ISBN: 9781423135289

Stand alone or series:  Stand Alone 

Pages: 264

Book Received from:  Bought

First Lines:  Lots0Love is now following ClaireRBear. 

Synopsis:
Claire is a #hopelessromantic. Lottie is determined to set up her BFF with Mr. Perfect. Will wants his #secretcrush to finally notice him. Bennett is a man with a plan.
Claire can’t believe it when her dream guy starts following her on Twitter. She never thought he noticed her, and suddenly he seems to understand her better than almost anyone.
But the Twitterverse can be a confusing place, especially when friends act differently online than they do in person. Things get even more complicated when Claire realizes she’s falling for someone else, the last person she ever would have expected….
Told in an innovative format combining tweets, emails, and blogs, Tweet Heart is a contemporary romantic comedy that will set your heart atwitter
 
My Thoughts

I'm not one to pick up Young Adult stories unless they have some sort of paranormal aspect to them, but Tweet Heart stood out to me and I was up for reading something a little different. I was curious to see how a novel written comprised of purely emails, blogs and tweets would pan out and after reading mixed reviews I bit the bullet and bought the book.

Weekend Away

Hey everyone.

Just letting you all know there will be no post today (Except this one)  We (The other half and little munckin) will be heading down the Coast for the weekend and I can't guarantee I'll have internet access where we are staying.  I'm hoping so though, I'm taking the laptop because a whole weekend WITHOUT internet.  That's just not gonna happen for me lol  already having withdrawals and we haven't left yet lol.

I'll have access to my emails through my iphone so if you plan on sending an email I will most likely answer it.

Then Sunday, off to Seaworld.  YAY!!

I'm also hoping my little Writing Muse for NaNoWriMo comes out of his hidey hole and start playing nicely.  I am stuck at like 7000 words when it should be around 20000. 

Hope you all have a good weekend!!

Books in the Spotlight (4)

As I Die Lying by Scott Nicholson

A metafictional thriller
It's the worst novel ever written. And it's all the fault of that evil, soul-hopping spirit that took over Richard Coldiron's head. Or maybe the other four people up there.


Richard Coldiron’s first and last novel follows his metafictional journey through a troubled childhood, where he meets his invisible friend, his other invisible friend...and then some who aren’t so friendly.
There’s Mister Milktoast, the protective punster; Little Hitler, who leers from the shadows; Loverboy, the lusty bastard; and Bookworm, who is thoughtful, introspective, and determined to solve the riddle of Richard’s disintegration into either madness or genius, and of course only makes things worse.
They reside in the various rooms of his skull, a place known as the Bone House, and take turns rearranging the furniture. As Richard works on his autobiography, his minor characters struggle with their various redemptive arcs.
Richard keeps his cool despite the voices in his head, but he’s about to get a new tenant: the Insider, a malevolent soul-hopping spirit that may or may not be born from Richard’s nightmares and demands a co-writing credit and a little bit of foot-kissing dark worship.
Now Richard doesn’t know which voice to trust. The book’s been rejected 117 times. The people he loves keep turning up dead. And here comes the woman of his dreams.
READ THE FIRST CHAPTER

Scott Nicholson's website

Waiting on Wednesday (36) Awakened by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!


Awakened by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast is one book at the top of my list for ones I can't wait to read.  This is Book 8 in the House of Night series and it won't be out until the 4th January 2011.  I must say though,  I'm loving this cover!!
 

Synopsis (From House of Night website)
Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…
And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?
In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?

Take Five

What is Take Five, you may ask?  Well, there are a few of you out there that are doing NaNoWriMo and I know what it's like to hit a flat spot, a section where you get completely stuck!  What better way to take a breather than to take off five minutes to read about writing?  See that way your technically still in the zone of writing.

Check it out.  Some really cool stuff there :)

Enjoy and Happy writing everyone!

Sticky Beak (33)

Sticky Beak is all about sharing. Sometimes we can't all get around to every single blog and website available so that's where Sticky Beak comes in. By word of mouth (well you get what I mean) we are more likely to get to those blogs that we wouldn't have normally seen without someone pointing them out to us.


The links could be to your own post, a favourite blog post you would love to share, an authors blog/website, book/writing contests, reviews you really enjoyed, tour info or anything you would love to share with others. Just use the comments below to add your link!

Here's Mine:
 
Giveaways:
Dark Readers: International giveaway. Angel Goodies Giveaway ends 17 November
Red House Books: Big Box o Books.  U.S ends 3rd December
 
For Writers:
The Inc. Blog: Cate Kennedy's Top 10 Tips for Writers
Random Magic Tour - The coven: Take Five.  Take five minutes from your writing and check out the awesome writing tips etc.  Very Helpful!
 
 
Other Cool Stuff to Check Out:
Lauren Kate:  Upcoming tour dates have been posted up.
The Signed Page: Signed copies of Fallen and Torment are available here.  How cool is that.
Booktopia Blog: Winners of The 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards!!
 
So what are your links you would love to share?

In My Mailbox (36)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture.

Bought:

 Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

 That's all I have bought for the last two weeks!  What did you get in your mailbox for this week?

Halloween Spook Fest Winners

Hey everyone.

I've got good news.  We have 2 winners thanks to Random.org.

The first person drawn to win Past Midnight was

Kulsuma!

The second person drawn was

Misha1989!

I'll send you an email as soon as this is posted and just get back to me with your details and I'll pop these in the mail for you both.

Thank you to everyone for entering!

Halloween Giveaway Deadline and Updates

Thanks to everyone who has commented on the guest posts and entered into the giveaway.  I hope you all enjoyed the great stuff. 

I'll be drawing the 2 winners and announcing them tomorrow on here so stay tuned.

(Meeka_21)

NaNoWriMo is always full on!  I know that last November was a race against time to get those words on to paper/word and I made it in the nick of time.  I even managed to do a half decent job on my story Hallows Edge which I was pretty surprised with.  Mind you, there's ALOT of editing and fixing up needed to be done.

This year I thought my luck with writing would keep going but, alas, not only am I stuck, I'm not liking my story very much.  I have written about 4000 words of Hallows Edge 2 and I'm not sure if I want to keep going.  Right now I'm behind on my goal by about 4000 words and while I know I have still got plenty of time to make it to 50,000 words I'm seriously considering scrapping the idea of writing Hallows Edge 2.

So to scrap or not to scrap... that is the question.  Should I start from scratch while the word count is low, or should I keep going and hope more than anything, the story will come together? 

How is your story going for NaNoWriMo going?  Are you finding it easy, or are you as stuck as I am and want to start again?

Hmm.. Maybe I need to have a good think.

So it's been a little while since I've popped anything up on my site regarding Once Upon a Time.  Assembling everything and making it look super cool is going to be tricky but I'll manage.

Just a note for those of you that may have missed my post.  Without Title was the winner of the Cover and Title Contest.  All the entries were fantastic and that's while I left it up to you guys to take your pick.

I'll be working on getting everything together this weekend so hopefully everything will run smoothly.

Hope everyone has a great night!

The Evil Within by Nancy Holder

Title:  The Evil Within 

Author:  Nancy Holder 

Genre:  Young Adult 

Publisher:  Penguin (Imprint: Razorbill)  

Publication Date:  19 July 2010

ISBN: 9781595142917

Stand alone or series: Series

Pages: 320

Book Received from:  Penguin Aust (Publisher) 

First Lines:  I had escaped.  I was alive. (note: this is not the actual first lines.) 

Synopsis:
In this sequel to New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder’s Possessions, Lindsay finds out that she, too, is possessed, and must return to creepy Marlwood Academy in order to rid herself of the spirit. Lindsay’s afraid of what the spirit is telling her to do—kill Mandy! But the secrets of Marlwood go much deeper than Lindsay thought. Sometimes the girls who seem like enemies are actually on your side. And the voices you trust the most—the voices that come from within—are the ones that want you dead.


My Thoughts

I'd read Possessions a little while ago and was eager to pick up The Evil Within and find out what was going to happen next.

The one thing that really stood out for me are the lists of possessions that show up every now and then throughout the writing.  I'm a bit of an addict when it comes to writing up lists especially to do lists. 

Lindsay, the main character has to put up with alot while attending Marlwood Academy.  She has past issues that have deeply affected her and while attending the boarding school they somehow crop up again.  It doesn't help when she thinks she's losing it.

My only issue was the very ending when everything was being wrapped up.  It fell short for me and I had too many questions yet to answer. Note: - I've just found out there is a third book The Screaming Season that will be out next year so now I understand why there are questions still unanswered.

The Evil Within is a gripping story that I flew through without putting down.  I was that absorbed.  Ghosts, possessions, love, friendship and lack of it, and Lindsay a girl trying to make sense of it all.

Waiting on Wednesday (35)

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

I can't wait to read Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres.  There is a bit of a wait though as it won't be out until March next year.

Synopsis

Retra doesn’t want to go to Ixion, the island of ever-night, ever-youth and never-sleep. Retra is a Seal – sealed minds, sealed community. She doesn’t crave parties and pleasure, experience and freedom.

But her brother Joel left for Ixion two years ago, and Retra is determined to find him. Braving the intense pain of her obedience strip to escape the only home she’s ever known, Retra stows away on the barge that will take her to her brother.
When she can’t find Joel, Retra finds herself drawn deeper into the intoxicating world of Ixion. Come to me, whispers a voice in her head. Who are the Ripers, the mysterious guardians of Ixion? What are the Night Creatures Retra can see in the shadows? And what happens to those who grow too old for Ixion?
Retra will find that Ixion has its pleasures, but its secrets are deadly. Will friendship, and the creation of an eternal bond with a Riper, be enough to save her from the darkness?
Listen well, baby bats. Burn bright, but do not stray from the paths. Remember, when you live in a place of darkness you also live with creatures of the dark.

Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Title:  Siren

Author:  Tricia Rayburn

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher:  Penguin  

Publication Date:  2nd August 2010

ISBN: 9780143204497

Stand alone or series: Series

Pages:  360

Book Received from: Publisher

First Lines:  My sister Justine always believed the best way to deal with your fear of the dark is to pretend it's really light. 

Synopsis:
Vanessa Sands returns to Winter Harbor to find out why her sister Justine leaped to her death. When Vanessa learns that Justine's boyfriend Caleb is missing too, she and Caleb's older brother Simon join forces to find him. As Vanessa and Simon spend time together, their relationship grows from childhood friendship to something more.
Winter Harbour is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes home to a string of fatal, water-related accidents. The phenomenon hits close to home with Vanessa. The deaths bring to the surface the root of her fears, and a secret she's kept for years. As the bodycount mounts, will she and Simon survive the dramatic climax?

My Thoughts

I'm always the last person on the bandwagon when it comes to books everyone's talking about and loved.  I'm not sure why that is.  I guess maybe because I don't want the hype to ruin the book if I decide to read it.  It's like with movies, you see all these great scenes on a preview (or told about it by someone who completely loved it)and you go to watch it and they've used all the good scenes from it in the preview and the movie is quite boring.  Because you were so hyped up you go in with these high expectations that it's the bees knees and leave disappointed.  Well I guess I'm trying to say this is why I hadn't read Siren until now.  Silly me!

Siren has got that eerie, mysterious feel all throughout reading.  It kept me guessing the whole way through and I had trouble putting it down to get stuff done.  In the end I gave up everything else and kept reading.   

Vanessa is a really likable character.  Her fear of various things and lack of confidence really helped in creating a down to earth character I could relate to.  I also really liked Justine but as the synopsis reads, she doesn't stick around for long.

Overall, a good quick read for those who are into the paranormal suspenseful stuff.  I can't wait for Undercurrent second book in the series to come out next year.

Sticky Beak (32)

Sticky Beak is all about sharing. Sometimes we can't all get around to every single blog and website available so that's where Sticky Beak comes in. By word of mouth (well you get what I mean) we are more likely to get to those blogs that we wouldn't have normally seen without someone pointing them out to us.
The links could be to your own post, a favourite blog post you would love to share, an authors blog/website, book/writing contests, reviews you really enjoyed, tour info or anything you would love to share with others. Just use the comments below to add your link!
Here's Mine

Blogs I've Come Across:
Dreaming in the Rain:  Pretty cool blog to check out
Rain: Book Review Blog

For Writers:
Spacejock Software: yWriter5 Free novel writing softwareto help you wirte a book.

Other Cool Stuff To Check Out:
Jason Pollock: American Book Releases - 100 Best first lines from Novels
Darkest Powers: Chapter 1 & 2 of Disenchanted (Kelley Armstrong)
Read in a Sitting: List of Young Adult Novels in verse.
Science Fiction & Fantasy: Glimpse of Darkness - Chapter 5 - Stacia Kane
La Femme Readers: Tantalizing Future YA Releases

That's all from me.  What have you come across that you would like to share?
 

NaNoWriMo DAY 1!!!