To Be Read List for July 2013

Alright so I have a new vid for you all.  This one is for my To Be Read List for July.  Are you ready to see all the books I'm going to be reading? Alright...you don't have to beg.  Here you go. 

Romance and Time Travel What More Can You Ask For?

Review:  A Tumble Through Time by Callie Hutton

In a Glance: A delightful romance, with a time travel twist

Title: A Tumble Through Time

Author: Callie Hutton

Publisher: CreateSpace

Format: Complimentary pdf

Pages: 336 pages

ISBN #: 9781489587947

A Tumble Through Time is a wonderful frolic in the Wild West. When everything is going wrong for Anna, she suddenly finds herself in Kansas, 1870. A slow burning love for the town Marshal, Wes, develops and before you know it, it's love, but for how long?

Let's talk Kids Books and What I'm Reading and Reviewing this Week!

Alright, I know this isn't my usual Take a Break Vid, but it's still a vid.  Watch to see what awesome Children's books are my favorite this month and What I'm reading and reviewing this upcoming week.  

A huge thanks to Scholastic for sending me all these great children's books.  

So what did you think? Did you like all the kids books? What are you reading/reviewing this week? You know I love knowing what everyone is reading!! 

HAPPY READING!!

Sumer Lovin Read-a-thon

So I just found out about this Read-A-Thon and thought it would be a great way to whittle down my to be read list a little bit so I am going to join in the fun.  Below is my list of books I'm going to be reading.

To sign up for this Read-a-thon, click here!

MY TO READ LIST!

So these are the books I am going to try my hardest to read.  Not sure how many I will finish but I'm going to try.

1. Time After Time by  Tamara Ireland Stone

2. Wide Awake by Shelly Crane  

3. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard 

4. Doon by Carey Corp and Lori Langdon 

Alright so that is my list and I hope I can get through as many of these as I can!  


 

Tag: The Book Sacrifice

Alright, so this isn't something I normally do here on the blog, but I'm actually really excited about this post.  Instead of doing a live show for this Chit Chat edition I'm doing a vid instead!  Hope you all don't mind and if you do, well... hmm get over it! lol 

Tonight, well seeing as it is 2:40 AM I guess it would be morning, I recorded a little vid for you all.  I hope you enjoy!

The vid is all about books that I don't like and would sacrifice during some kind of emergency.  There is four scenarios and they are so funny.  I got this Tag vid idea from a few book vlogging people that I subscribe to on Youtube and I hope you all will head over and check out their channels as well.  The first one is the one that created this tag and her name is Ariel Bissett.  Her vids are great and she came up with some amazing scenarios for this Tag! Next would have to be Chapter Stackss, which is the channel that I first saw this Tag vid and her vids are fantastic!  Oh and I must talk about two of my other fav Book Vloggers, one is Chapter Chicks and the other is The Readables.

A Workshop For Bloggers? I'm There!

It's not every day that as a blogger you get a chance to go to a workshop about blogging, that is why I jumped at the chance to get signed up for this one.

I'm very excited to learn new things about blogging such as the workshop about the laws when blogging.  As a blogger that is something that is really important.  So I will definatly be listening to that one.  Another topic I'm looking forward to is Networking, you never can get enough information on this topic.  The blogging comunity is a huge one and I look forward to growing friendships and meeting new bloggers at the workshops as well.  If you are looking for some of these things, you should take a look at The Blog Workshop as well.  

New arrivals, New Tensions, All Leading to Deadly Consequences.

Review: Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

IN A GLANCE: New arrivals, new tensions, all leading to deadly consequences.

Title: Feast of Fools

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Allison and Busby

Format: Much loved paperback

Pages: 367 pages

ISBN #: 978-0-7490-7969-6

Once again, Morganville is more deadly than bathing in a sea full of sharks when you've got a papercut! At the end of 'Midnight Alley', Amelie's crazy vampire father arrived (there's something about crazy dad's in this series!) and started to make himself comfy at the Glass House, and that is exactly where 'Feast of Fools' kicks off, with Bishop (and his two cronies) demanding breakfast. The book then follows the lead up to the grand feast Amelie is throwing to mark the arrival of 'Elder Bishop', but it's a feast where danger faces all who attend. In a relatively normal week in Morganville, the feast draws ever nearer, both Shane and Claire, and Michael and Eve, face relationship problems as a result of the chaos Bishop has brought to town. Finish with a collection of 'mini' cliff hangers throughout the final chapters as well as a fantastic final conundrum and you have your classic Morganville, except someone knocked the drama up a notch!

It's Finally Here!!!! Fireworks by Lindsey Gray

I'm super excited about this book!  Fireworks by Lindsey Gray is being released today!!!! 

Below you will find a excerpt from Fireworks by Lindsey Gray, a giveaway, and all the book information.  Oh and don't forget to let me know what you think about this cover and this book!!   Lindsey will be back on the blog for her tour for this fantastic book in July! 

Sophie McKibbin finds herself back in Sam Crawford’s life after ten years. Unfortunately, Sam is dating Lola, Sophie’s high school nemesis. Lola dumps Sam the day before he was supposed to introduce his mystery girlfriend to his family over the Fourth of July holiday. With the looming fear of disappointing his mother once again and his long held feelings for Sophie, he asks her to take Lola’s place. With family feuds, an old flame, and feelings that have been locked away for a decade, there is bound to be some fireworks. “Fireworks” is a novella, approximately 22,000 words.

Jeff Gunhus Shares his Top 10 and a Giveaway

So today, as you can see, I have an amazing blog tour with you with a top 10 list from author Jeff Gunhus.  This top 10 list is all about writing! So I hope you enjoy. 

Top 10 Tricks For Aspiring Writers

1.     Write what you know in a setting you don’t.

2.     Write every day.

3.     Outline, outline, outline.

4.     Make your characters sound different when they speak.

5.     If you’re bored writing a section, delete it and start over.

6.     Writer’s block is a myth. Get to work.

7.     Get a draft out fast. Don’t stop, don’t look back, just write.

8.     Know the first draft is fertilizer, the manure pile out of which good things can grow.

9.     Write alone and only share when you’re done. You’re creating art and it’s totally subjective. Negativity kills creativity!

10. Reward yourself! You’re a writer…go have a drink and celebrate.

Are You Tired of Drama? Not When It Comes To Morganville

Review: Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

 

In a Glance: Same old Morganville, just a new kind of crazy; does nobody get tired of drama in this town?

Title: Midnight Alley
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: Allison and Busby

Format: Paperback (used and abused)

Pages: 365 pages

ISBN #: 978-0-7490-7922-2

As always, the residents of Morganville never cease to entertain, they never get a quiet moment to themselves either, but that's life in Morganville for you! In the third book of the series things go from bad to worse for our little family of social misfits. Despite turning vampire, Michael is more of a misfit than ever, Shane is, well Shane, and Eve gets even more trouble from her crazy brother and the fact she's now a 'fang banger'. Whilst quiet little Claire isn't really all that quiet now, she's grown into somewhat of a Morganville native, despite only living there for a few months. She's thrown head first into a world of vampire secrets and danger, becoming the first human to be entrusted with something that could bring chaos to Morganville. Throw in some crazy parties, violence, near death experiences and an unexpected visitor and you have your average foray into the crazy world of Morganville.

Take a Break, Watch a Vid!!! Zombie Edition

It's time for a little break.  I am dying to share these vids with you and I hope you enjoy them! 

Desolation by Travis Simmons

Another Add To Ali's Bookshelf

It is time for another add to my bookshelf! I have a great new book and I am dying to read it.  

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby. The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty. Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back. But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late. Combining the chill of THE SHINING, the thrill ride of SPEED, the humor of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and the angst of THE BREAKFAST CLUB, Kirsty McKay's UNDEAD is a bloody mad mash-up, a school-trip splatter-fest, a funny, gory, frighteningly good debut!

Want a Little Tease???

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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 teaser. 

SSP Anthology Extravaganza: How about a little Vampires?

So today I have a lot of posts that will be going live.  First off I have this great tour to share with you.  I picked Vampires Don't Sparkle for this one seeing as I have been reviewing the stories in it for Short Story Saturday posts for a few weeks now.  Below you will find all the book information and the editor info, plus a great giveaway! 

How about a little Desolation??

So today I have another amazing post and book to share with you from author Travis Simmons.  This one is all about the Zombie and an amazing GIVEAWAY!!

For me, what makes a great book is the author’s ability to weave a fantastic story with real characters in a believable world. To do this I think the author really needs to be in the head of the character, or to let the character fully into their head. When you do that, I am able to get into the characters head right along with you.

            Honestly, I think that is what most people really like about a book, is the ability of the author to round out the entire story so that we can immerse ourselves in it. One of the ways an author does this is through research.

A crazy father, angry vampires, life changing decisions with a bit of romance thrown in too?

Review: The Dead Girls Dance by Rachel Caine

In a Glance: A crazy father, angry vampires, life changing decisions with a bit of romance thrown in too? All in a normal week when you live in Morganville!

Title: The Dead Girls Dance

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Allison and Busby

Format: My own tatty paperback

Pages: 368 (or 380 including Eve’s diary)

ISBN #: 978-0-7490-7986-4

Book two in the Morganville series doesn't disappoint in the slightest. It picks up exactly where the last book ends, with the arrival of Shane's psychopathic, vampire hating Dad and destruction he brings with him. It follows our 'dysfunctional' family of Eve, Michael, Shane, and of course little Claire through a pretty rough few days in Morganville. Shane's father wreaks havoc and destruction, Michael makes a big decision and Claire entrenches herself ever deeper into the murky world of the vampires, with what could be disastrous consequences.

Let's Chat with author James Robinson Jr.

So today, we have the blog tour for Book of Samuel by author James Robinson Jr.  I got to ask him some great questions about his book and would love to share those with you today.  There is also a great giveaway below.  Enjoy!!! 

Who did you write this book for? Who is the audience?

Book of Samuel is a love story—a love story for the General Adult audience which is made up of both men and women. But it’s not a romance. I’m hoping that writing it from a male perspective and keeping it out of the straight romance genre will attract more men who shy away from reading Romance.  

If you could have a conversation with any author living or dead, who would it be and what would you ask? 

Any number of romance authors such as Danielle Steele. I would as her how she manages to write so many books in the same genre. What is her secret for her ability to be so prolific? Does she love writing that much? Does it come that easily to her? Good editors?

Author Interview: Author Andrew Leiter

So today I have something amazing to share with you.  This author is Andrew Leiter, who through his amazing mind has wrote a serialized novel.  That's right, a novel that comes out in several weekly editions.  Today he has agreed to answer some questions for us.  Enjoy!!! You will also find out more information about the author and the book. 

Can you tell us something interesting about your writing process?

When I get an idea for a story, I usually start with the characters first.  I develop the main character first starting with his/her personality.  Once I know who the main character is I begin developing his friends, acquaintances, and  enemies.  Once I have a main villain in mind, I figure out what the goal of the villain is.  Once I have the goal of the villain, I found how that contrasts from the goal of the hero.  Once I know the goal of the hero, I figure out ways the villain will through a monkey wrench into his/her plans.  With all these things in place I usually come up with a rough outline of the beginning, middle, and end.  When I start writing, I let the personalities and passions of the characters dictate the actions and reactions of the characters to certain dilemmas leading the characters to the goal I want them to achieve.

Blog Tour: Incarnate by Lawrence Weill with a Great Character Post

So today, we have a great tour to share with you.  Incarnate by author Lawrence Weill, who is going to share a great character post with us.  So let's get to it!

What a roller coaster my life has been!

Hi.  My name is Frank Joyner.  You will remember me as Lara Joyner's husband in Lawrence Weill's novel Incarnate.  I have to tell you, Lara is the most maddening, intriguing, frustrating, and amazing woman I have ever met.  When we first met back in college, I knew immediately she was unlike all the other girls.  She carried herself differently, somehow.  She didn't giggle and she was always seeing what others missed.  I found her hypnotizing.