Month: November 2015

NEW RELEASE: The Worlds Traveler

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Life on the run from madman Martin Reimer gets in the way of everything.

For fourteen-year-old Phillip, it has meant having to stay hidden, unable to use his gift of moving through maps to search for his missing father. But the arrival of a stranger named Delroy brings unexpected opportunity, for Delroy is a man with the ability to travel worlds hidden within our own and he was sent by Phillip’s father. Now Phillip will do everything he can to find his dad, even if it means tricking Delroy into helping him or a quest through those hidden worlds.

Even if leaving home means Martin can now find him…

Follow in the adventures of Phillip Stone and Natalie Bristol from the award-winning book The Magician’s Doll!

worlds traveler

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ITUNES – AMAZON – KOBO – BARNES AND NOBLE – INDIEBOUND

M.L. Roble is the author of The Magician’s Doll, The Worlds Traveler, and Encounter Way: A Novella of Supernatural Suspense. Roble is a lover of great stories, whether they come through from novels, movies, T.V. or plays, or through someone who just has a knack for telling a good story!

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Bookish Babble: Y15.W12

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Relatable bookish issues edition:IMG_0960

She speaks the truth!

Oh my yes! and this is why I see a physio every three weeks (among other things).

Who hasn’t been there!!

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It’s not JUST A BOOK, it’s a gateway to another world, to another life, to another husband…wait…what…who said that 😛 LOL. My husband does not understand that reading a good book is my salvation.

And this is why my husband hates books!6862546d1ce06d3ac48d56d699cfa90c

Shhhhhhhhh…I’m trying to read!

Until Next Time 🙂 Enjoy Your Shelves 🙂

At Peace: Friday Fictioneers 100 Word Story Challenge

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She felt at peace as she stood on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean.

The Sorceress had foretold the outcome of this day 90 years ago when she was a mere 15.

She’d had a good life with her human family, a full and happy life.

She felt a tightness in her chest as she stumbled forwards and fell.

Her heart spluttered and seized as she spiralled down through the air.

All the pain disappeared the moment she hit the water and her consciousness faded.

Verna the mermaid had gone home, to her final resting place at sea.

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Friday Fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image.

This week’s PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

For more information, CLICK HERE to see Rochelle’s website

Or CLICK HERE to view the other Friday Fictioneers stories for this week.

Bob’s Burgers: Medium Rare

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26778329Bob’s Burgers: Medium Rare

by Loren Bouchard, Adam Beechen, Ben Dickerson, Jeff Drake, Brian Hall,Rachel Hastings, Justin Hook, John McNamee , Mike Olsen, Mark Von Der Heide, Anneliese Waddington, Chad Brewster, Frank Forte, Anthony Aguinaldo (Illustrations), Marcelo Benavides (Illustrations), Tom Connor(Illustrations), Mario D’Anna (Illustrations), Mike Guerena (Illustrations), Joe Healy (Illustrations), Adam Philipps (Illustrations), Hector Reynoso(Illustrations), Tom Riggin (Illustrations), Emiko Sawanobori (Illustrations),Steven Theis (Illustrations), Robin Brigstocke (Illustrations), Bernard Derriman (Illustrations) 
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I was given a ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review, THANK YOU.

Publication: November 17th 2015 by Dynamic Forces

* * * *    ****    Synopsis    ****    * * * *

While Bob and Linda Belcher have their hands full running the family business, their kids Tina, Gene, and Louise have adventures that you won’t believe!

The producers, writers, and animators of the hit animated show Bob’s Burgers proudly present all-original comic book stories, including hilarious installments of “Louise’s Unsolved Mysteries & Curious Curiosities,” “Tina’s Erotic Friend Fiction,” and “Gene’s Rhymey Rhymes That Could One Day Be Songs.”

Whether it’s Tina’s daydreams of cloning back-up dancers or jungle misadventures, Louise’s explorations of underground tunnels and time-stopping Wonder Wharf rides, Gene’s lyrics that reimagine boring Aunt Gayle visits as epic journeys to fantasy worlds, the Belcher family hijinx are guaranteed to make you laugh! Goodreads

* * * *    ****    My Thoughts    ****    * * * *

This was a really fun and quick read. A perfect pick me up on a dull day.

The highlights for me were the multiple Tina clones set loose on Jimmy Jr. Louise’s secret tunnels and time stopping amusement rides. Gene’s musical rendition of Narnia.

The lowlights, there were none. Even the variant cover art is a crack up and the pin ups are definitely worthy of pinning up.

Fans of the show will love this collection as it captures the spirit of the show. Even if you’re not familiar with the show, I guarantee it’ll brighten your day.

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Anything That Isn’t This by Chris Priestly

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25951432Anything That Isn’t This by Chris Priestley

Published October 1st 2015 by Hot Key Books and distributed by The Five Mile Press in Aus.

Thank You to Hot Key, Five Mile and Mr Priestley for my review copy.

A KAFKA-ESQUE NIGHTMARE OF A STORY… ABOUT LOVE

Seventeen-year-old Frank Palp lives in a grim little apartment, in a grim little building, in an exceedingly grim (and rather large) city. Cobbled streets and near-destroyed bridges lead one through Old Town and Old New Town, and war-damaged houses stand alongside post-war characterless, concrete hutches. Most people walk hunched over, a habit from avoiding snipers, but others are proud to stand tall and make the world take notice . . . This is a city full of contradictions, and Frank is no exception.

He mostly hates his life, he definitely hates the ludicrous city he is forced to live in and he absolutely with complete certainty hates the idiots he’s surrounded by . . . and yet he is in love. A love so pure and sparkling and colourful, Frank feels sure it is ‘meant to be’. His love is a reward for all the terrible grey that he is surrounded by – which would be great, if the girl in question knew he existed. And then one day, the perfect sign lands in his lap. A message, in a bottle. A wish, for ‘anything that isn’t this’. The girl who wrote this is surely his soulmate – and now he just needs to find her.

A striking, compelling thriller combined with a tender, moving love story from the award-winning and critically-acclaimed author of UNCLE MONTAGUE’S TALES OF TERROR.

* * * *    ****    My Thoughts    ****    * * * *

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The first quarter of the book I was thinking; hmmmm I’m not feeling this. At page 110 it finally looked like things might be starting to become more engaging and interesting. If I had been reading this as a book I borrowed from the library, I would have given up five, maybe seven chapters in. But as I was given this book to review I pushed through. I’m glad I did, obviously, hello my three star rating. But damn. The whole book is 468 pages. The last 50% is what I really liked. I think if the first 50% was condensed, say cut down by a hundred pages, it would make it spectacular, maybe even a five-star standout.

The Good: We see Frank, the POV character, grow from a self-absorbed teenager to a caring young man. In the end we get some hope and love come shining through the story (for frank and his girl at least).

The Bad: The book is rather depressing and It is really SLOW to take off. Nobody other than Frank and his love interest get to go anywhere. His sister’s life will be better thanks to Franks actions, but she’s still stuck in shit town, along with all the other oppressed people.

The book is listed as for 12 and up. Frank starts the story as a 17-year-old leaving school, fighting with his inner demons, not wanting to turn into his father, not wanting his soul to be taken away by the nine to five drawl, not wanting to become an adult. A 12-year-old would not get any of this. Give this to kids in their final year at high school, that’s who will click with it. Give it to the adults that can still remember how it felt to be those lost teenagers. I think this book could create a huge following, if put in front of the right audience.

About the Author:

Chris Priestly lives in Cambridge with his wife and son where he writes, draws, paints, dreams and doodles (not necessarily in that order). Chris worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for twenty years, working mainly for magazines & newspapers (these include The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Economist and the Wall Street Journal) before becoming a writer.

Chris has been a published author since 2000. He has written several books for children & young-adults, both fiction and non-fiction, and has been nominated for many awards including the Edgar Awards, the UKLA Children’s Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. In recent years he has predominantly been writing horror.

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Blog

Amazon US | Amazon AU | Book Depository | BookTopia

Bookish Babble Y15.W10

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Bookish Gifts Edition:

Christmas gift ideas anyone, there is only 40 days to go! Oh man that’s depressing! Where the flibbity jibbit has this year gone.

IMG_1791I purchased the above bookmark, cause I can, for myself, of off Behind the Pages. Gina has a lovey gift worthy range of hand painted water colour Harry Potter, Throne of Glass, Shatter Me and Illuminae bookmarks, as well as some special edition Christmas ones!!!

Image of DOUBLE TROUBLE - Jam Jar Candles

Everything on Nook and Burrow’s site, I want it all. All the handmade wooden bookmarks and all the bookishly awesome scented soy candles. Gimme, gimme, gimme. They also have a whole bunch of Christmas themed bookish goodies.

Bookish Baubles, I doubt that they’d be super difficult to make. I found this image at Book Nerd Reviews. I’m going to go op-shopping and hopefully finding some well-loved copies of classics to use. I’ve got a rough idea in my head on how I’m going to accomplish this just from looking at the photo. If they work out I’ll do a DIY post for my creations.

From Craftaphile.

From Creative ‘try’ als.

These are two cute and crafty bookish gifts (or decorations for yourself at home) that would require a trip to the second hand store and a lot of spare time – but aren’t they nifty. I’m wondering how long it would take me to make a few of the rolled paper ones out of news paper, then pant them with a water / PVA green paint tinged mix.

And last but not least: BOOKS!! All book nerds love them some books for Christmas.

I’ve already purchased some bookish Christmas gifts from Nook and Burrow, the Book Depository and Big W – I’m trying to be super organised this year :-).

Until next time 🙂 enjoy your shelves 🙂

Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer

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Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (Twilight #5) by Stephenie Meyer

Published October 6th 2015 by Little, Brown

Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Twilight! This special double-feature book includes the classic novel, Twilight, and a bold and surprising reimagining, Life and Death, by Stephenie Meyer.

Readers will relish experiencing the deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful love story of Bella and Edward through fresh eyes.

Twilight has enraptured millions of readers since its first publication in 2005 and has become a modern classic, redefining genres within young adult literature and inspiring a phenomenon that has had readers yearning for more. The novel was a #1 New York Times bestseller, a #1USA Today bestseller, a Time magazine Best Young Adult Book of All Time, an NPR Best-Ever Teen Novel, and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. The Twilight Saga, which also includes New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella, and The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, has sold nearly 155 million copies worldwide.

   * * *   * * *   * * *    My Thoughts    * * *   * * *   * * *

Meyer’s is getting a lot of flak for this book and lot of people are upset that there is nothing new :-|. The gender rolls are reversed Bella is now Beau and Edward is now Eydyth. Meyer puts in an explanation at the start as to why she went down this path, trying to prove that Bella was never a damsel in distress, that she was a human in distress in an paranormal world.

It was pretty much a carbon copy of twilight, other than a twist with the ballet studio show down. I really enjoyed the alternative ending for Beau, even though it was EXTREMELY RUSHED, but I wouldn’t have wanted it to go down that way for Bella.
I would say that while I preferred the original, that’s only because when I first read it, those ten years ago, I liked imagining I was Bella :-).

So yes most of the main elements are the same: human meats ‘good’ vampire, human figures out ‘good’ vampire is a vampire, human and ‘good’ vampire fall in love, a ‘bad’ vampire tires to kill human and all the ‘good’ vampires go into overdrive to protect human, ordinary human outwits ‘good’ vampires and heads off to their doom.

Bella goes on to have more human adventures and catastrophes before becoming a ‘good’ vampire.
Beau comes out of this book as a ‘good’ vampire and has to face Sam’s wolf-pack.

I really don’t know how to rate this one, because any rating I give will be because of my the Twilight Saga as a whole. Twilight got me into reading, and why yes now that i’m more well read I can see that it’s not the most well written or imaginative story out there, but I could never hate it. it’s forever a part of me and I will irrationally love it till the end of time 😛

So in conclusion: if you weren’t so keen on Twilight, don’t read this you’ll hate it. If you were a twi-hard just take it as re-reading of twilight again and you’ll be all good.

* * *   * * *   * * *    LINKS      * * *   * * *   * * *

Amazon AU | Booktopia | Book Depository

Meyer’s Website

EXCERPT from New Release by Mary Geneva: Nicknames

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MaryGeneva-Nicknames-BlogTourBannerMaryGeneva-NicknamesCover

 

Title: Nicknames: Tales from the Shallow End of the Manhattan Dating Pool

Author: Mary Geneva with Lisa Canfield

Release Date: April 8, 2015 

Genres: Memoir, Comedy, Self-Help

Publisher: Mill City Press

   * * *   * * *   * * *   Summary   * * *   * * *   * * *

There are a million bad dates in the city that never sleeps.

Mary Geneva has been on 999,999 of them.

When she moved to Manhattan in her mid-20s, Mary imagined being single in New York City would be like something out of a Hollywood movie. And it was—a horror movie.

Nicknames is a look at some of the most hopeless, horrendous, and frequently hilarious dates you can imagine. Mary shares her true-life adventures looking for Mr. Right in the treacherous New York dating scene. You’ll meet men so bizarre, their names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Part memoir, part self-help book, Nicknames will have you laughing out loud…and possibly abstaining from dating forever.

   * * *   * * *   * * *   Excerpt   * * *   * * *   * * *

I ran after him, only to be greeted with a temper tantrum that seemed more appropriate for someone in his terrible twos. My mind was racing. Was he bipolar? Did he have multiple personality disorder? Is this how it all started with Ted Bundy?

He screamed like a man possessed, right there on the street, ranting and raving about how he had taken me out to dinner three times and I had never even offered to pay. This, of course, was wrong, meaning he was completely delusional. More importantly, he was terrifying. He was a full foot taller than me and was screaming as if he was about to cut my throat right there in front of all of Chelsea.

I started to plan the quickest possible escape from what felt like certain doom. He kept yelling, moving on to the fact that I was “expensive” and “high maintenance.” Then, mercifully, he left me on the corner, but only after his unforgettable parting words: “This is why you are beautiful, almost thirty, and ALONE!”

I guess I couldn’t have expected him to put me in a cab to make sure I got home safely given how “high maintenance” I am. I couldn’t fathom what had just happened. Then I remembered he was from Jersey. What was my rule about dating guys from the “outer limits”? I made that rule for a reason: because they’re WEIRD!

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Barnes & Noble

Author Biography

Mary Geneva is a sales professional by day and a serial dater by night. Married at age 21 and divorced at 26, she and her cat Diva were left to learn how to balance their checkbook.

In Nicknames, Mary tiptoes back into the dating pool, accumulating many late night, drunken scraps of paper and text messages, outlining unbelievable—yet totally true—events. Knowing she couldn’t make this stuff up, she stored the memories away, and is finally able to share them with you.

Undaunted, Mary lives, works, and plays in NYC. When not dating, Mary can be found planning her next scuba diving adventure and hanging out with her pets, rescued pup Valentino and kitty Diva.

Mary also charges full speed ahead pounding the pavement, racing marathons and raising money to bring awareness of suicide prevention and outreach programs.

But nothing brings a smile to Mary’s face like her famous garlic roasted mashed potatoes, perfectly whipped mountains of starch, hoping to one day find the meat to her potatoes.

To unwind, Mary is on a mission to create the perfect martini!

Mary’s Social Links

Website | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

Jump on and Follow the rest of the TOUR!

November 9 – Hello Precious Bliss (review)
November 11 – Read by Carolina (excerpt)
November 12 – Ali – The Dragon Slayer (review & excerpt)
November 13 – Newbery and Beyond (review)
November 15 – One Book at a Time (review)MaryGeneva-TweetBadDate