Leap into Books Giveaway Hop

 I am so excited to be apart of another hop hosted by BookHounds. This year is a Leap Year so we get an extra day. So what will you do with this extra day? Will it be just a regular work day? Do you have a tradition you do every leap year? Do you know anyone with a leap year birthday? Let me know your plans. While I was trying to come up with what to give away this time I was thinking about some of the great books I have leaped  into just because they came from a TV series that I love.   I think sometimes books based on series are not given as much press as deserved. So for my giveaway I will let the winner pick one TV series from the list and I will send you a book from that series. 

Enter Below for a chance to win a random book from one of the series listed. You pick the series. I pick the book. US Only. Books will be sent straight from Amazon.

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Continue on the hop.....

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Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop

 

I am very excited to be apart of this blog hop. I have been thinking all week about what to offer for the giveaway. And I have decided to give a choice from some of the great books I read in 2015. So What books have you been dreaming about reading lately?

Perfect Flaw  

e 

el deafo 

 Dying to met you

Northanger Abbey 

Founding Brothers 

Sisters 

Roller Girl  

Scott Pilgram Vol 1 

Giveaway: The Winner may choose one book from the list above. All books will come straight to you via Amazon unless you choose Perfect Flaw it will come straight from me signed. 

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 Giveaway is open to US addresses only at this time.

Thanks to Bookhounds for hosting. 

Don't Forget to Continue on to the other great hop stops. :)

Being Medusa: And Other Things That Suck (Volume 1) By A. Lynn Powers

From Being Medusa:
Things that suck about being Me(dusa):
1. I have to wear these stupid glasses all the time.
2. My sisters hate me.
3. The only person who talks to me regularly is the school disciplinarian.
4. My classmate Thea has made it her mission in life to destroy me.
5. Every day, another bad rumor about me spreads around school.
6. I got hit by a car, and now the guy who hit me won’t leave me alone.
7. Oh, yeah, most importantly... I have snakes growing out of my head!
Nothing in my life is ever normal.

Author:
A. Lynn Powers writes young adult fiction of all genres. She is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, but she currently resides in the suburbs of Tokyo, Japan. She enjoys making useless lists, collecting cute socks, and entertaining preschool children. She can often be found sitting in a restaurant while drinking her weight in tea and soda, tripping over her own feet, unsuccessfully navigating the subway systems of Tokyo, or butchering the Japanese language.  

My Thoughts:  To be honest I totally picked this book to read because I love the cover but I was also intrigued about a modern retelling of a Medusa story. There are tons of retellings of Snow White, Cinderella, even Little Red Riding Hood but Medusa not so often.  Powers has a great voice and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First off I love books with lists, I love making lists and reading lists so the fact that every chapter started with a list was awesome. This book was funny, witty, smart and Powers has created characters that I loved. While this book was funny it also made some very good points. It touched on some very relevant issues like physical appearance, discrimination, tolerance and  more.  And she handled them beautifully. Medusa is a person that I can totally root for. Wonderful story. Highly recommend. I am looking forward to Volume 2.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
 
Links:
Amazon  
Goodreads 
Twitter 
Facebooks 

I recieved this ebook through the lending library at Juniper Grove Book Solutions for my honest review. 
http://junipergrovebooksolutions.com/review-library/ 

2015 Reading Challenge

Last year I stumbled upon the PopSugar reading Challenge and set out to conquer it. Well I read a lot but missed a few on this list. I have already downloaded the 2016 reading challenge list and can not wait to get started on that. If you are curious what I did get read, here is the list from the 2015 Challenge.

A book with more than 500 Pages – e2 –Matt Beaumont

A Classic Romance – Northanger Abbey – Jane Austin

A book that became a movie – A Magic bed-knob - Mary Norton

A book published this year – My old Kentucky Road Trip – Cameron Ludwick & Blair Thomas Hess

A book with a number in the title – 43 Old Cemetery road: Dying to meet you- Kate Kline

A book written by someone under 30 – Scott Pilgrim’s precious little life – Brian Lee O’Malley

A book with non-human Characters – The Show must go on – Kate Kline

A funny book- Family Guy Big Book o’ crap – Matt Fleckenstein

A book by a female author – 43 Old Cemetery Road: Till death do us bark  - Kate Kline

A mystery or Thriller – Letters from Camp – Kate Kline

A book with a one-word title – Daybreak- Brian Ralph

A Book of Short Stories – Haunting Holidays Twelve Months of KY Ghost Stories – Roberta Simpson Brown  

A book set in a different country – The Abominable Snowman: A Short Story from Dragons at Crumbling Castle  by Terry Pratchett 

A non-fiction book -  A Star Wars Craft Book – Bonnie Burton

A popular author’s first book – Carrie – Stephen King

A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet – Hollywood Dead ahead – Kate Kline

A book a friend recommended – Through the woods – Emily Carroll

A Pulitzer Prize winning book – Founding Fathers 

A book based on a true story – Lies in the Dust: A Tale of Remorse from the Salem Witch Trials – Jakob Crane

A book at the bottom of your to-read list – Sisters - Raina Telgemeier

A book your mom loves-

A books that scares you –  Horrorstor – Grady Hendrix

A book more than 100 years old – The Pit and The Pendulum – Edger Allen poe

A book based entirely on its cover –  In Real Life – Cory Doctorow/Jen Wang

A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit –  Smile-
Raina Telgemeier

A book that came out the year you were born –  Oh Say can you say – Dr Suess

A book with bad reviews –  The Cage – Martin Vaughn-James

A trilogy –

A book from your childhood –  Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter

A book with a love triangle –

A book set in the future – The moon Moth – Jack Vance

A book set in high school –  Swallow me Whole – Nate Powell

A book with a color in the title –Blue Spirit (A Tipsy Fairy Tale Book 1)-
E. Chris Garrison

A book that made you cry –  El Deafo – Cece Bell

A book with magic – Pixu – Mark of Evil – Gabriel Ba

A Graphic Novel –  Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home

A book by an author you’ve never read before – Rollergirl  - Victoria Jamieson

A book you own but have never read – A phantom of the post office – Kate Kline

A book that takes place in your hometown – Lawrenceburg – William Bryant

A book that originally written in a different language –

A book set during Christmas –How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr Seuss

A book written by an author with your same initials –

A play –

A banned book – and Tango Makes three – Justin Richardson

A book based on or turned into a TV show – Darkly Dreaming Dexter – Jeff Lindsey

A book you started but never finished –Buffy Season 8: No future for you

Holly and Ivy By Selah Janel and Giveaway

 

Synopsis: After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong opinions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keeping a promise to an old friend?

• Print Length: 34 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press, LLC (November 30, 2012)
• Publication Date: November 30, 2012

About the author: Selah Janel has been blessed with a giant imagination since she was little when she wondered if fairies lived in the nearby state park and worried that vampires hid in the old barns outside of town. Her appreciation for a good story was enhanced by a love of reading, the many talented storytellers that surrounded her, and a healthy curiosity for everything. A talent for warping everything she learned didn't hurt, either.

Everything she does feeds the idea machine and she often finds a story in the strangest of places. She gravitates to writing fantasy and horror but will give any genre a chance if the idea is good enough. Her work has appeared in the winter 2012 issue of The MacGuffin, issue three and five of The Realm Beyond, and the back to school issue of Stories for Children Magazine. She has also contributed to multiple anthologies including The Big Bad: an Anthology of Evil, the upcoming Thunder on the Battlefield, and the upcoming Bedtime Stories for Girls.

She has multiple e-books with Mocha Memoirs Press, including Holly and Ivy and The Other Man. Olde School, the first book in The Kingdom City Chronicles is out with Seventh Star Press.


My Thoughts: Janel has a way of making the story flow. I love her transitions and details that she adds to a story. I do not read a lot of short stories because I often feel they are too short and can not give me the in-depth connection and details that I need to be drawn into a story but Janel manages to captive me even in a short story. Janel has created a wonderful read in general and an amazing holiday read too. I think that the holidays can be a wonderful and terrible time for many but Janel points out that it takes strength to not let the world stop you from believing in the magic. Holly and Ivy are two amazing characters and Ivy shows up when Holly needed her most. Ivy reminds her of the simplistic magic of the trees and childhood and the Donnie of Wahlberg. Sometimes you have to go back to the beginning to find the magic. Janel has created a story that is bright, clever, magical and revealing. It made me remember that the best magic is the magic we make for ourselves.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 

Links:
Selah Janel's Website
Selah Janel's Amazon Page
Holly and Ivy on Amazon 
Holly and Ivy - Barnes and Noble
http://mochamemoirspress.com/


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Reviews

I read quite a bit. I do it in every spare moment I have. I do not stick to one genre though I do have my favorites. I am always willing to give anything a try. I think of it as the author spent time and effort on this book. I used to think people wrote because they have a tale to tell but now I am not so naive. The internet, Facebook, Goodread and other social sites have made it a world where people ten years ago would not be stars or published authors. Look at Justin Beiber, if there had been no YouTube he would have been a high school dropout living in his mom's basement.

I love the internet for the simple fact it leads me to authors I may have never discovered. And I am "friends" with many of them on Facebook. Some I like personally and some I don't and I can say the same about the books.

Praise is a wonderful thing, it sustains us, bolsters us and keeps us going. Criticism is harder even when you ask for it. It is hard when someone does not like or finds fault in what you are doing. People who read and give feedback before publication are there to get the story where it should be. Once it is published reviews are there to give people a glimpse of what they saw in the book. Not to win brownie points with an Author.

I write reviews on GoodReads, Amazon and here on occasion and I found myself pulling punches when it came to the reviews because I was "friends" with these writers and they may read it and since I put my name on mine they would know it was me. Then I thought about it and what good does that do. So I stopped and started being more honest. I seldom give one star except maybe Possessing the Secret of Joy.  But I do give 5s and I mean them. I have a real friend who happens to be an author and with great sincerity he said he hoped people write honest reviews good or bad he will know what people really think.

I was reading a review on Amazon today which got me thinking about all this. The amazon reviewer RedFury wrote "Now, before all you 5-star reviewers skewer me for daring to not agree with you about the awesomeness of your friend's book, let me finish. I think this author's style of writing is perfect for beach reads. It's not too complicated, not too deep, not too emotional. However, I have to be honest when giving a review. I thought it was okay, and that's a 3-star book." 

It was not a bad review there was one 1 star review trashing this book which is the one that really makes me want to read it. But they are right all the 5 star reviews read the same.

I am Facebook friends with the author this review was about. And I went and looked at the reviews because she was heartbroken about the one star review.  I started to say they can not be all fives but looking at her reviews that is what she is used to. She friended me awhile back. At the time I thought she must go through authors in her genre friend list and friend people because how else could she have found me. But I accepted thinking I am always looking for new books to read. She almost instantly got unfriended because several times a day she would send me suggestions on GoodReads and they were always her book or she would invite me to a special online release party of her book. Or simplely because her status update would be all about how great she and her book are. Then I thought she is her own cheerleader that is ok I guess.

I just keep thinking how can we really know if the review is genuine or just them trying to win something, score brownie points or bolster their friends ratings. So I think it is time for me to get my hands on the book from this review and see what I think. 

5 Months late

So I know I have neglected my blog but Andrew (my Husband) and I were talking tonight as we were spring cleaning and sorting books. Our bookshelves have exploded. We were sorting through them and he was organizing them as usual. He has a religion section, Hunter S. Thompson Section, his TBR shelves and my TBR bookcase and so on and so forth. I was looking at the stacks he had made and I saw a encyclopedia of cults. I said I used to have a big collection of Cult books, Witchcraft, Wiccan, and true crime books. He asked me what happened to them and I told him the said fate of my books at the hands of a very conservative, very religious woman. I had loaned my books to a friend and when her mother discovered them in my friend's room she burned them. I was young 17 at the time so I did not even think to tell anyone she is an adult what did I know? Now looking back I never dreamed I would know someone that would burn a book. And do it never thinking it needed to be explained past they were evil books. The whole thing now makes my skin crawl. 


With that in mind I decided to get back to my blog. I started to post during banned book week but I am going to post about anything I read. I have read 10 books so far in 2011. I will and catch up on each one of them with a review. Also I may just post randomness. Since I am out of work and the kids are in school all day. 


Book reviews to come. All three of Molly Harper's Jane books, First two books of the Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine. Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros. Cross your Heart by Michele Bardsley, Crown of Vengeance by Stephen Zimmer. (Who has said if I ever get a fair amount of readers he will let me give something away) and Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don-t Float.


Also rereading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone with my 6 year old. Might post about that one. It has been fun rereading it. I never reread but I have enjoyed it.