Cute quotes to remember edition:
Book Obsessed
Bookish Babble Y15.W3
I actually do this on my weekend to do list 🙂 Makes me feel like I at least accomplish something.
I LOOOOOVE this one!!! I cherish every bookish life I’ve had.
Until next time 🙂 Enjoy your shelves :-).
I’M BACK (Holiday book haul)
So after 38 days away I’m back home. I’ve still got some more time off of work and am planing to do some work on the house, do up some sort of post/s about our Aussie Outback and Cape York 4WD family trip, as well as write reviews for the books I read while I was away.
I took a fair few books with me; 5 paper backs and my entire eBook collection – I managed to read 9. I hadn’t intended to buy any books while I was away, but I should have known better!! I’ve said it over and over in the last twelve months “I’m not buying any more books until I read the ones I have” HA! Yeah right I haven’t figured out how to manage that yet, they are always calling out for me to buy them. Damn needy things they are always crying out to be in my arms and once I’ve picked them up off of the shelf I’m a goner, I have to take them home.
ANYWAY so this is what I picked when I was trying not to:
Oops!! Two second hands and the rest brand new. But hey, I refrained from buying any eBooks 😛 and my eBook collection WAY out weights my paper backs. Yeah, that totally makes it ok.
The Cattle King and Meet Banjo Paterson were purchased from The Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach – There is a story behind the Cattle King purchase but I’ll leave it for the review which I’ll post up soon.
The second hand Agatha Christie was picked up out of a book bin with a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor service at Adels Grove in Lawn Hill National Park. Reilly’s Ice Station was picked up at a book swap at the Lion’s Den Hotel, Rossville.
The Song of Achilles was purchased in Coffs Harbour, while I was looking for a present for my mum – Oops!
Crystal Kingdom, Percy Jackson and Pieces of Sky were picked up yesterday in Hamilton for National Bookshop Day – and yes I’m counting them in my holiday book haul as I’m still technically on holidays.
I’ll leave you now with funny cartoon while I try and write reviews on books I read at the start of July – oh dear.
** Cover Reveal ** FROST by E. Latimer
Frost by E. Latimer
Expected: August 25, 2015 by Patchwork Press
Book Description:
Megan Walker’s touch has turned to ice. She can’t stop the frost, and the consequences of her first kiss are horrifying.
When her new powers attract attention, Megan finds herself caught up in an ancient war between Norse giants. One side fuelled by a mad queen’s obsession and an ancient prophecy about Ranorak, the other by an age-old grudge. Both sides believe Megan to be something she’s not. Both sides will stop at nothing to have her.
Fire or frost. It’s an impossible decision, but she’ll have to act soon, because the storm is coming.
Pre-Order Links:
About E. Latimer:
Erin Latimer is a young adult fantasy writer who currently resides in Vancouver, BC. She writes books, makes silly vlogs about writing with the YA Word nerds, and reads excessively.
She has had an article featured in Chicken Soup For the Soul, and another in the Dear Teen Me online anthology. But mostly she writes about murderous queens and the magical teens who fight them.
You can find her online at elatimer.com/
This Cover Reveal was organized by Patchwork Press.
Top Ten Topics We’ve Ever Done
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Top Ten Tuesday has been going on for 5 years, so to celebrate today is My Ten Favorite Top Ten Topics We’ve Ever Done.
I only partook in my fist Top Ten Tuesday on the 18th May, so for this week I looked back over all the Top Ten’s the Broke and the Bookish have done, picking my >>>
Top Ten I Wished I’d Been Apart Of.
(1) Top Ten Books I Wish I Could Read Again For The First Time (October 2011)
(2) Top Ten Reasons Why We Love Book Blogging (June 2011)
(3) Top Ten Characters and Literary Figures that I’d Name My Children After (February 2011)
(4) Top Ten Favorite Words (September 2010)
(5) Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes (September 2010)
(6) Top Ten All-Time Favorite Books (July 2010)
(7) Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations (July 2013)
(8) Top Ten Series I’d Like to Start, but Haven’t Yet (March 2013)
(9) Top Ten Books I HAD to Buy but Still Have Not Read (March 2013)
(10) Top Ten Authors I would DIE to Meet (July 2011)
I read these and my brain automatically started making the lists. I’m going to get around to doing posts based on at least the first two.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Published April 14th 2011 by Dutton Adult
“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.
Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.
When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.
By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.
What would he say . . . ?
I am seriously fan girl-ing right now, I just went and followed all Rowell’s social medias so I could stalk her, umm I mean see what book she has coming out next.
I was in love with this book by the first few pages. I think this is the fastest I’ve ever devoured a book. I got the book that morning and read it all that day. That’s a new record for me. (i’m writing this review two days later). I came up for air, once, to put up a Goodreads update – Page 48: Loving this book and thinking “why have I not read any Rainbow Rowell until now”.
I finished the book late-ish Friday night – Page 322: Love Love Loved this book. I’m jumping up and down and smiling, LOVED IT – review to come 🙂. I only open it it intending to have a look and reading it later when I was on holidays. Just the first few pages had me hooked and I didn’t go to bed until I’d finished it. I loved Rowell’s writing, her humour, snappy dialogue and devour-able prose.
The Main Characters: Lincoln O’Neill, Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder; I love them all and they are now my imaginary best friends 😛 what I wouldn’t give to have a working friendship like Beth and Jennifer’s. The characters are all 28 (my age) and it’s nice to see other people not having there s**t together. It’s a funny, heart-warming story that feels real. My favorite books usually involve magic, mythological or paranormal creatures, but Rowell’s left me feeling happier than any book has in a long time. I was smiling like I’d just won the lotto when I finished the last page.
The story swaps between Lincoln “page shots” of Beth and Jennifer’s emails and Lincoln in the 3rd person. The story is set back in 1999/2000, the whole point being that people didn’t have iPhones etc. back then so we see the two female leads converse using inter office email. Then there is the poor smuck Lincoln that has to monitor those inter office emails. At this time 1999/2000 I was in high school and they did monitor your computer use, I know this because I got in trouble off the librarian once for some “inappropriate” story I was writing.
The girls are immediately like-able. But for me Lincoln became the star of the show. He was lonely and stuck in a rut. He hated his dead end job that made him feel like a perverse nut job. Now I can see why some people mightn’t like this, they might write Lincoln off as a creepy loser. But I love how we get to watch him grow, watch him try to be a better person and succeed. He gets out of his rut, he gets his s**t together and he gets the girl, the right girl! Go Lincoln Go!
I love Lincoln, yeah so what if he fell for Beth while reading her emails –Ah hello, he gave Jennifer his MacDonald’s while he changed her flat tyre in a storm, super hero! – Beth did some Lincoln stalking as well, so meh, all’s fair in love and war. I did some house drive by stalking when I was younger LOL and he married me, my husband the silly man.
So Five Stars. I’m going to leave it at that because if I try to tell you anymore about the story I’ll give it all away.
Rainbow Rowell writes books.
Sometimes she writes about adults (Attachments and Landline).
Sometimes she writes about teenagers (Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On.).
But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they’re screwing up. And people who fall in love.
When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things.
She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.
Website – http://www.rainbowrowell.com
Twitter – https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rainbow.rowell.author
Instagram – https://instagram.com/rainbowrowellbooks/
Tumblr – http://rainbowrowell.tumblr.com/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4208569.Rainbow_Rowell
Stake-Out (Paranormal Detectives Book One) by Lily Luchesi
Detective Danny Mancini is on a case, following a murder suspect. When he catches him, he finds out that the perp isn’t even human: he’s a 200 year old rogue vampire!
The department doesn’t believe him, and puts him on early retirement, despite his many years of service to the Chicago Police Department, which sends him into a downward spiral.
Two years later, Danny gets an invitation from the beautiful, young and very attractive Detective Angelica Cross to join a secret branch of the FBI to help her track down Vincent, the wayward vamp.
But renegade werewolves, meddling immortal witches and Danny’s strange visions of a life lived a century ago with Angelica make things more difficult than it should be.
From the beginning it is easy to care about Danny – A detective doing his job and doing it well, who witnesses’ something unbelievable. And of course no one believes him; he is pushed out of the CPD, labelled as crazy and unfit for work. Danny is barely surviving, living on bottle after bottle of booze when along comes Angelica Cross and the PID (The secret paranormal investigation department of the FBI). A Vamplet, Angelica is the daughter of a human male and a vampire female. Angelica is sexy, strong and determined to catch the bad guys. Though the whole book Danny struggles, he’s had so much thrown at him and never really recovers. I hope that in the next or third book his life can come together for him. At the very end of the epilogue, I felt like there was hope of that, as he’d realised his mistakes.
Even though it was easy to guess Angelica Cross’s big secret early on, I loved that Danny didn’t. There are all sorts’ twists and turns along the way, some expected, some not. The story was fast paced, action packed, entertaining and emotional. I was swept up in Danny and Angelica’s world.
In this the first book, we meet two villains, but only one of them dealt with, leaving what could be an epic show down between Angelica and the powerful and malicious witch Fiona Gullifoyle.
I am really looking forward to the next installment. Bring It On.
My favourite parts:
The flash backs to Danny’s previous life, I loved the whole epilogue (even read it twice).
The vampiric history lesson Angelica gives Danny – Fascinating.
All the little snippets of song lyrics that accompany each chapter break – It is a really lovely, quirky touch. The emotion in the song lyrics matched the chapters perfectly each time.
Lily Luchesi is a young author/poet born in Chicago, Illinois, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things “dark”. At two she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle by the time she was twelve, and, as her family has always been what they now call “Gothic”, she doesn’t believe she shall ever change. She is also a hopeless romantic and avid music-lover, and will always associate vampires with love, blood and rock and roll. Her interest in poetry came around the same time as when she was given a book of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete work. She then realized that she had been writing her own poetry since she could hold a pen, and just had not known the correct terms. She finished her first manuscript at the age of fourteen, and now, at twenty-one, has two contributing credits in anthologies and the debut novel, Stake-Out.
Twitter – www.twitter.com/LilyLuchesi
Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/LilyLuchesi
Facebook Profile – www.facebook.com/lilyluchesibooks
Instagram – www.instagram.com/lilyluchesi
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7369101.Lily_Luchesi
Prev post with Lily discussing the writing off Stake-Out http://wp.me/p431Gp-my
Paradise City by CJ Duggan
Paradise City (Paradise #1) by CJ Duggan
Pub Date 28th April 2015 (Hachette Australia)
I received an eBook ARC from Net Galley in return for an honest review – So Thank You CJ Duggan and Hachette Australia.
From the author of the bestselling Summer series, comes the first book in a seriously sexy New Adult series you won’t want to miss. For fans of Abbi Glines, Sarah Dessen and Colleen Hoover.
There’s bound to be trouble in Paradise . . .
When her parents decide a change will be good for her, seventeen-year-old Lexie Atkinson never expected they’d send her all the way to Paradise City. Coming from a predictable life of home-schooling on a rural Australian property, she just knows that Paradise will be amazing. But when she’s thrust into a public school without a friendly face in sight, and forced to share a room with her insipid, hateful cousin Amanda, Lexie’s not so sure.
Hanging out with the self-proclaimed beach bums of the city, sneaking out, late-night parties and parking with boys are all things Lexie’s never experienced, but all that’s about to change. It’s new, terrifying . . . and exciting.
And when Lexie meets Luke Ballantine, the swoon-worthy, bad-boy leader of the group, the chemistry between them is electric. Trouble with a capital T, Luke is impulsive, charming and answers to no one, and he’s sexier than any guy Lexie has ever known. Lexie begins to wonder if Luke is going to be good for her . . . or very, very bad?
Raise your left hand if you ever made an ass of yourself in high school. Now raise your right hand if you ever tortured yourself over a boy (or girl). Now give yourself a high five because you survived, maybe not unscathed, but you survived.
Oh how this book took me back. Duggan perfectly captures the – he likes me, he likes me not – torture teenage girls put themselves thought. Perfectly captures the hormone induced hysteria that growing up causes.
I loved how real Lexie felt. I wanted to be her friend, I wanted her to flourish and succeed. At some points it was if I was reading my own but better written teenage diary. I wanted to jump into the pages; slap Amanda, kick Ballantine up the bum and hug Lexie while offering her a big bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.
I love bad boys with soft and cuddly centers, love seeing their masks slip, love seeing them let their guards down. Every teenage girls dream is a bad boy that’ll be good just for her. A naughty, cheeky, hot mess. A bad boy who’s really not a bad guy – Boom! it’s Ballantine.
A likable, relatable sheltered country girl. A grade A student who’s been cooped up and restricted – and now, damn the consequences, she’s going to find out what it’s like to live – Boom! it’s Lexie.
There are twist and turns and lessons to be learned. Family tensions, school detentions and late night rendezvous. A boy named Luke Ballantine and girl named Lexie Atkinson – Boom! an exciting, endearing and entertaining story.
Duggan’s writing is beautiful; fresh, humorous, full of heartache and yet full of hope – A damn nice surprise in what can be a rather unbelievable, excessive and skanky genre.
I am internally chucking a full blown teenage tantrum that I have to wait until September to find out what happens next in the world of Lexie. Five Stars.
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/CJDuggan
Website – http://www.cjdugganbooks.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CJ_Duggan
Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking
Ice Kissed (Kanin Chronicles #2) by Amanda Hocking
Publish Date: May 5th 2015
A big thank you to Net Galley, Amanda Hocking and her publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read and review Ice Kissed.
In the majestic halls of a crystal palace lies a secret that could destroy an entire kingdom…
Bryn Aven refuses to give up on her dream of serving the kingdom she loves. It’s a dream that brings her to a whole new realm…the glittering palace of the Skojare.
The Skojare people need protection from the same brutal enemy that’s been threatening the Kanin, and Bryn is there to help. Being half Skojare herself, it’s also a chance for her to learn more about her lost heritage. Her boss Ridley Dresden is overseeing the mission, but as their undeniable attraction heats up, their relationship is about to reach a whole new level—one neither of them is prepared for.
As they delve deeper into the Skojare world, they begin to unravel a long-hidden secret. The dark truth about her own beloved Kanin kingdom is about to come to light, and it’ll change her place in it forever…and threaten everyone she loves.
I liked the synopsis of this book and requested to read and review it without realising it was the second book in a trilogy. OOPS!! But I read it anyway. I kinda wish I’d read the first book Frostfire first. I really enjoyed Ice Kissed anyway. I grew to love the characters, but I assume I would have already loved them if I’d read Frostfire first. And more than likely the big moment at the end would have meant more. I didn’t understand the depth of the ending of Ice Kissed until reading the synopsis of the first book while doing up this review post and I had an “Oh Snap!” moment.
A lot of the books I’ve been reading lately have been third person. It was so refreshing to step into a first person story via Bryn. I find first person to be so much more emotional and personal, I know it doesn’t work with every story – but it works wonders with this one.
The story starts with Bryn recapping a failed mission with Ridley and beating herself up over the failure. From the beginning scene of Bryn riding on horseback through the snow along high city walls, I was thinking “yeah I love medieval times, bring on some epic king Arthur settings and battles”. Then the words drove and SUV popped up and I was like “um, what, where the hell am I!”
Magic: After reading further on I was able to figure it all out: this is a story of trolls. I saw them in my head as human, oops. It is set in current times. The human world still exists, just as it is and the Trolls use a lot of our modern technology, hence the Range Rover they were driving in. I’m sure in the first book the whole world would have been built and I’d have already known this. We don’t see this Troll world thanks to magical Troll enchantments. Amanda Hocking really has beautifully blended our modern world with that of a Troll world secretly going on under our noses.
Romance: Bryn and Ridley have a forbidden romance thing going on. Ah it’s always sweeter when it’s forbidden. It’s always more exciting – well that’s my opinion.
At the 34% there is a sex scene which I wasn’t expecting, it’s not over the top or porno feeling. Stress less people. But it did make me realise I had no idea how old the characters were supposed to be. Also my brain went “Troll Sex, Um, well Trolls are humanoid, yes, yes, I’m imagining this correctly”. And really they are very human these trolls, they just live in secret from humans and have magical abilities. I’d been imagining Bryn as about 17-ish, but she may have been older, I really don’t know. She started working at twelve and after that I found it hard to figure out her time line.
Action: After the 34% mark the books takes off at light speed with Bryn leaving Ridley and her home with the Kanin to help the Skojare. At this point I delved into a fast flowing world of danger and mystery and Bryn fighting for what she feels is right. And I loved it. And I’m devastated that I have to wait until August to read the next book and see how things turn out. And I’m not going to tell you anymore about it or I’ll give away all the twisty turny awesomeness.
I really enjoyed being in Bryn’s head, I found her really engaging and her life captivated me. FIVE STARS.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3486415.Amanda_Hocking
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amanda_hocking
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amandahockingfans
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/aehocking/
Wattpad: www.wattpad.com/AmandaHocking
Website: www.worldofamandahocking.com
Nobility by Kayla Bain-Vrba
Nobility by Kayla Bain-Vrba
Published March 18th 2015 by Less Than Three Press LLC
I received a copy to read and review through Net Galley, so thank you to the Author and Publisher for allowing me this opportunity.
Determined to escape an arranged marriage, and with very few options available, Danna brings a curse down on herself and settles into life in an enchanted tower. The very last thing she needs or wants is to be rescued, no matter how beautiful or compelling her unexpected rescuer is.
Nobelle is desperate to avoid the hangman’s noose, and as last ditch efforts go her life could be worse than rescuing a bratty princess. But an easy way to stay alive turns into a complicated tangle of lies as she and Danna grow closer and Nobelle has no easy way to admit that she’s no knight in shining armor…
I so wanted to love this, but it all moved way too fast and I didn’t get a chance.
The story is a cute, quick, insta love story. Nobelle is the arse kicking outlaw and Danna is the pretty princess with more to her than meets the eye. There are little snippets of humor the whole way though keeping the story light, fresh and entertaining. There was definitely a really strong background for what could have been spun into a longer and more thrilling tale.
I really loved the sound of this story, its synopsis and the cover. I think if the author had had the extra pages to build the characters and the world more, I would have loved it. I wish it had been a longer story so that we could have watched the Women fall in love – I know it’s only a short story but it just felt too rushed for my taste.
Twitter – https://twitter.com/KaylaBainVrba
Tumblr – http://kaylabainvrba.tumblr.com/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5357735.Kayla_Bain_Vrba
Live Journal – http://kaylabainvrba.livejournal.com/
RIOT’S REDEMPTION 