NaNoWriMo!

Okay folks, I know I said I would be reading a lot again...but...I just signed up for NaNoWriMo!



Yay! If you're not sure what that is....here is a link. But I can tell you it is a challenge to write 50,000 words on a novel in the month of November. No quality concerns attatched...just WRITE! Come join me! It will be a blast!

Happy Halloween!

I just wanted to say Happy Halloween to you all!

I love this holiday! It makes me feel like a kid again to dress up and be something else for a day. And now that I have a little girl, it is so fun to see her get into the fun as well! I hope you all have safe and spooky haunts!

Review GIVE UP THE GHOST by Megan Crewe

GIVE UP THE GHOST
by Megan Crewe
Published September 15th 2009 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Hardcover 244 pages

Placement in the Pile: Reaching New Heights

Summary:
Cass McKenna much prefers the company of ghosts over "breathers." Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody... and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad--and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it's time to give the living another chance...

Review:
This was a perfect book to read for Halloween. Cass starts to see ghosts after her sister's death when she was 14. Cass becomes a social outcast even more than she already was, and has learned to stay away from the living. The tale is intense, and sometimes dark as Cass talks about her sister's death, and the death of the ghosts she can talk to.

Tim comes into play and his relationship with Cass is hard, but may just be what both of them need.

I really enjoyed the characters in this story. Cass's experiences were actually very realistic -- even considering the talking to ghosts. The reason for her social outcast was not just the ghosts, and that other heartache and betrayal is very real...as it is something I am sure many dealt with in middle school and/or high school.

Her ability seems to be somewhat "6th Sense" and "Ghost Whisperer"-ish but she has no clue what is beyond, and no one is telling her that she is supposed to help the ghosts. She does know that sometimes they disapear and go to the "beyond" where most people go after death.

The only disclaimer that bothered me about the book, teenager sexual behavior and drug and alcohol use. I will give a hoorah for Cass never participating even though being offered, and the showing of some of the negative consequences for such behaviors. But it occasionally caught me off guard when a sexual term was brought up as every day teenage experience. It isn't a lot, and wasn't a deal breaker for me by any means for this book -- I have read much worse. But I wanted you to know.

This is getting longer than I expected! Overall it's a great read, brings up some good issues and was especially fun for this time of year!

Materials Resource Disclaimer: I got this book from the library. I am not compensated for my reviews.

Review Materials Disclosures

I just wanted to explain why I now have a compensation and source of materials disclaimer at the bottom of every review now.

The FTC in trying to crack down on bloggers who are paid to give good reviews to products. Inadvertently this affects book bloggers who receive materials from publishers and authors for review. Starting December 1st it will be required to discolse if a book was a free material.

For more info check out this link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33177160/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

My theory is that ARCs as being marked "Not For Sale" are not a compensation for reviewing the material, as they technically have no value. And since I give away all of my ARCs that is also one more thing in my favor. However, I have to put a disclaimer now on the source of my materials and stating that I don't get paid to give a book a good review.

BUT my opinion doesn't matter much. I will disclose when and where books were sent to me by publishers.

Review THE SEASON by Sarah MacLean

THE SEASON
by Sarah MacLean
Published March 1st 2009 by Orchard Books
Hardcover 352 Pages -- for now....

Placement in the Pile: Top Picks

Summary:
Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued -- in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own. Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.

When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year's season begins!

Review:
This book has been out for a while, but I wanted to share why I enjoyed it and also make a bit of an announcement! Sarah MacLean announced on her Facebook page that the paperback of THE SEASON is coming to Scholastic Book Clubs in the spring and bookstores next June! Yay! Paperback releases often boost book sales. So if you haven't already, put this book on your "to buy" list! It is a good one. The cover is the same, but the back snippets are going to be different!

Also I thought it followed the theme of our Jane Austen post from yesterday.

The season is written very well. It takes place in Regency England, but the language of the book is very accessible to modern readers (in fact some readers complain about this some, they say it is too modern -- but I disagree. I think it was a smart move and made for a really enjoyable read.)

The story is truly fun and romantic, the characters are fun. A few characters, once introduced into the book, their part in the plot were a bit predictable, but it works for the genre.

Is there anything better than first love? First kisses? And Regency England? If you love all these things, you'll love THE SEASON!

Source of Materials Disclosure: I purchased this book. I am not compensated for any reviews I give.

Review for PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES by Seth Grahame-Smith

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
by Seth Grahame-Smith

published
April 4th 2009 by Quirk Books
Paperback, 317 pages

Placement in the Pile:
Bottom of the Barrel

Summary:

The Classic Regency Romance-Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—& the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty & arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—& even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism & thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read. (goodreads)

Review:

Halloween is just around the corner, so here is a book full of gruesome horror - if that's your thing. It's not mine...

I just didn't like this book much at all. There were moments that I laughed at, but overall, it was just too gory and gruesome for me. My friends know what a weak stomach for horror I have, so maybe those of you who like that stuff will enjoy this better than I did! ;-) The writing was witty, and like I said, it did have really funny moments. But it just couldn't override the gross, gross stuff that kept getting described at length and in detail. Blech. It could be an interesting discussion though - especially about the plotlines he changed completely (hello Charlotte and Mr. Collins!). I felt like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy lost much of their appeal with how bloodthirsty they were. At times it was truly funny, but other times it was just disgusting (like what happens with Wickham).

If you enjoy gore, and gruesome zombie fests, this is the book for you.

Goal

One of my goals with the blog is to get more conversation going from the readers, whether you follow or just stop by.

SO....

Today I want to ask what is your favorite book that you have read in the last month!

Mine is Graceling. My co-author Guenivere reviewed it HERE if you want to check out that review again. I thought it was a thrilling fantasy with amazing characters. There were only two things that bothered me about the book. I look forward to reading her companion novel FIRE, because Kristin Cashore is extremely talented! My favorite line (well really paragraph) from the book was,

"Katsa didn't think a person should thank her for not causing pain. Causing joy was worthy of thanks, and causing pain worthy of disgust. Causing neither was neither, it was nothing, and nothing didn't warrant thanks." GRACELING pg. 134

How incredible that is! The way Cashore has with words is beautiful.

I look forward to your comments!!!

Winner!

Sorry it has been so long! But the winner of our ARC giveaway of DEMON PRINCESS: REIGN OR SHINE...

is...

Randi!

Please e-mail me at aubreyavalon@gmail.com with your mailing address and I will get that in the mail as soon as possible!

Thank you to all who have been reading the blog and entered! There'll be more reviews coming shortly! Promise!