Friday Hops, 6/28/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week participants answer a question and then visit other blogs participating. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers the chance to meet new bloggers, get to know one another better, and get new followers. This week's question is:

So would you read a book just because of the hype? 

Audiobook: The Diviners by Libba Bray

Read by January LaVoy

Synopsis: Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

Atlas Shrugged in 3 Minutes

How many of you have read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged? Well, I haven't.

I didn't have a great experience with this book. I tried to read it back in high school. My comprehension skills were not great back then so when I opened up the first page, I was immediately faced with a challenge: I did not comprehend what the first page was talking about. I tried to read the next ten pages and I found myself struggling. I even went back a couple of times to re-read it but it did not help. I felt completely dumb and frustrated. The massive size of the book did not help either. So, I gave up.

My Own Mr. Darcy Cover Reveal

After being dragged to the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice by her mother, sixteen-year-old Elizabeth’s life changes when Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy appears on the screen. Lizzie falls hard and makes a promise to herself that she will settle for nothing less than her own Mr. Darcy. This ill-advised pledge threatens to ruin any chance of finding true love. During the six intervening years, she has refused to give any interested suitors a chance. They weren’t Mr. Darcy enough.

Coerced by her roommate, Elizabeth agrees to give the next interested guy ten dates before she dumps him. That guy is Chad, a kind and thoughtful science teacher and swim coach. While she’s dating Chad, her dream comes true in the form of a wealthy bookstore owner named Matt Dawson, who looks and acts like her Mr. Darcy. Of course she has to follow her dream. But as Elizabeth simultaneously dates a regular guy and the dazzling Mr. Dawson, she’s forced to re-evaluate what it was she loved about Mr. Darcy in the first place.

Teaser Tuesdays #47

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My teaser:

Book-to-Movie: World War Z

Just came home after watching World War Z. I was hesitant at first to watch this film because it obviously did not look like it stayed true to the book. But, I do love zombie films and I do enjoy watching Brad Pitt that I gave in.

This movie was action packed. It started off with a small family scene that immediately escalated to intensifying scenes. Brad's character was trying to escape the madness of the zombies while trying to protect his family. He was soon needed for his expertise of locating things and was sent to find the main source of the zombie disease as well as a cure.

Audiobook: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Read by Sean Runnette

 Synopsis: Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.
When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Austen in August Invitation

Misty over at The Book Rat is hosting Austen in August from August 18th-31st. This will be my first time participating in one of Misty's summer Austen events and I'm excited to be a part of it.

I've only read Pride & Prejudice and I've enjoyed the movie adaptation with Keira Knightly. I would like to get more acquainted with Jane Austen's works, so I hope to get at least two Jane Austen books read this summer.

Friday Hops, 6/21/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week participants answer a question and then visit other blogs participating. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers the chance to meet new bloggers, get to know one another better, and get new followers. This week's question is:

When you are writing your reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you are completely done with the book?  

Teaser Tuesdays #46

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My teaser:

Blog Tour Review: Blood Purple by Ashley Nemer

Blood Purple by Ashley Nemer

In a world we think we know, live other races entirely hidden from the mortal perspective. Creatures of legend, of fable and myth, their very history and nature have allowed them to walk side by side with humans since time immemorial. They are warriors, they are hunters, and they are Algula. Vampire. And in their own midst, a battle is brewing for supremacy, for dominance, that can and will affect all around them. Old hatred never dies and vengeance is a fiery sword that cuts a bloody swath.

Friday Hops, 6/14/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week participants answer a question and then visit other blogs participating. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers the chance to meet new bloggers, get to know one another better, and get new followers. This week's question is:

What is your favorite genre? (genre that you read the most) - Recommend a book!  

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen by Sally Smith O'Rourke

Tour Schedule

Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen

Was Mr. Darcy real? Is time travel really possible? For pragmatic Manhattan artist Eliza Knight the answer to both questions is absolutely, Yes! And Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley Farms, Virginia is the reason why!

His tale of love and romance in Regency England leaves Eliza in no doubt that Fitz Darcy is the embodiment of Jane Austen’s legendary hero. And she’s falling in love with him. But can the man who loved the inimitable Jane Austen ever love average, ordinary Eliza Knight?

Eliza’s doubts grow, perhaps out of proportion, when things start to happen in the quiet hamlet of Chawton, England; events that could change everything. Will the beloved author become the wedge that divides Fitz and Eliza or the tie that binds them?

Teaser Tuesdays #45

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teasers from Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen by Sally Smith O'Rourke:

Friday Hops, 6/7/13

This hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Every week participants answer a question and then visit other blogs participating. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers the chance to meet new bloggers, get to know one another better, and get new followers. This week's question is:

What is your favorite trilogy (series)?   

Teaser Tuesdays #44

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I have finished reading two fabulous novellas in the Yesterday Series for a blog tour. You can check out my review if you are interested.

1 Year Blogiversary + Giveaway!

 

Can you believe it??!! I can't!!!!

I am amazed that it has already been one year since I started blogging!! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was asking Wendy, over at Wall-to-Wall Books, how to blog. Look at me now!

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Moonlit by Jadie Jones

Tour Schedule

   

Moonlit
 

Eighteen-year-old Tanzy Hightower knows horses, has grown up with them on Wildwood Farm. She also knows not to venture beyond the trees that line the pasture. Things happen out there that can’t be explained. Or undone. Worse, no one but she and the horses can see what lurks in the shadows of the woods. When a moonlit ride turns into a terrifying chase, Tanzy is left to question everything, from the freak accident that killed her father to the very blood in her veins. Broken and confused, she turns to Lucas, a scarred, beautiful stranger, and to Vanessa, a charming new friend who has everything Tanzy doesn’t. But why do they seem to know more about her than she knows herself?

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Yesterday Series by Amanda Tru

Tour Schedule

 

 

Yesterday

Her yesterday was five years ago. What will her tomorrow bring? When HANNAH KRAEGER saves a family injured in a car accident, she has no idea she has changed events in the past. Waking the next morning, Hannah discovers her yesterday was really five years ago. Each trip Hannah takes through time changes the timeline and her own life. With help from DR. SETH MCALLISTER, Hannah must unravel the mystery of why she time travels and who she actually is before the strange ability costs her future, the man she loves, and even her life. YESTERDAY is a thrilling Christian Romantic Suspense filled with unexpected twists, mystery, and romance.  

Amazon

 

Audiobook: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

 

Read by Ari Fliakos

  

Synopsis: The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

RAK Sign-Ups for June 2013

 

COMPLETE RULES RE-CAP:
Please read carefully & follow all rules!  Thank you!

• Please sign-up each month that you can participate (and by participate, we mean give as well as receive).
• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button (code is in the right sidebar).
• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog, etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.
• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger directly for their information.
• Once you receive a R.A.K, send us an our new email to [rakbybooksoulmates @ gmail . com] so that we can update the Google Doc. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU SEND EMAILS TO THIS ADDRESS!
• E-book participation is limited to files being gifted directly to a person from the e-book store. Amazon's Kindle Store is set up to allow this, as well as the Kobo store and we believe Barnes & Noble with Nook as well.
• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K by making a "RAK Wrap-Up" post.  This post should include who you SENT gifts to as well who you RECEIVED gifts from :)

2013: May's Wrap-Up & June's Plans

What a month!!! So much going on and I could still amaze myself that I could get any reading done. So here's what I read:

 

• Becoming Americana by Lara Rios 5 stars
• Fields of Elysium by A.B. Whelan 3 stars
• The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell 4 stars (audiobook)

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Escaping Darkness by Theresa McClinton

Escaping Darkness

She may have spent years in an asylum, but that didn’t make her crazy–just fearless. Dropped in Moscow with her friends on an impossible mission against underworld forces, Tara is left to her feelings of overwhelming inadequacy. Her boyfriend is a healer, her best friend is “the Guardian,” and everyone else is a powerhouse of awesome strengths. The only thing she has been able to contribute are her memories, which has left her with nightmares of her time spent at the mercy of the evil Sarian–who everyone has gone to fight. Alone with her emotions, Tara finds herself falling into a city of depravity and corruption. And amidst all this evil is a young man with an agenda of his own, who leads her down a road that will either prove she is a hero at heart, or drag her into a world she’s always feared. He wants revenge, she wants redemption. And in an underground rings of missing girls and bloody sacrifices, only the fearless can survive…

My thoughts: This novella took the plot from the first book, The Stone Guardian, to a darker route. There were serious issues that were described: torture, human trafficking, drugs, and depression. It was well written that I found myself hooked to the story from page one.