In My Mailbox (24)

Don’t Forget my 500 Follower Giveaway!!!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren and is a post for bloggers to share what books they've received to review, bought, won, borrowed or were gifted.

Click the cover image to go to the Goodreds Page.

I talk about a few more things on the vlog

That’s it for me this week!
What did you get in your mailbox?

Review: Mercury by Hope Larson

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!

Description

August 31, 5:15 PM, French Hill, Nova Scotia: A girl named Tara is running. She runs through her nice neighborhood and up a road to the burned ruins of what was once a beautiful house—her family's house.

 

August 31, 1859, French Hill, Nova Scotia: A girl named Josey is picking blackberries with her friend Connie. As the girls gossip, a handsome stranger knocks on the door of Josey's house. His name is Asa, and with his coming, Josey's life—and later in time, Tara's as well—is about to change forever.

 

Because there is treasure in the woods that belong to Josey's family. Gold—an untold fortune. Asa has a secret way of finding it, and his partnership with Josey's father could make them all rich. But there is darkness in the woods, and in Asa. And in the present day, Tara, Josey's descendent, is about to discover the truth about what really happened in the family's past.

 

Eisner award winner Hope Larson weaves together history, romance, and a touch of her trademark magical realism in this remarkable graphic novel of how the past haunts a teenage girl's present. (Goodreads)

 

Book Details

Title: Mercury

Author: Hope Larson

Genre: Graphic Novel

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Release Date: April 6, 2010

ISBN-10: 1416935886

ISBN-13: 978-1416935889

Author’s Website

Source: Self purchase 

Review

When I was recently at the bookstore I was drawn to the cover. Then I read the back and was intrigued. After opening the cover and realizing this was a graphic novel, I was totally sold!

Let me start out by talking about the amazing artwork that told the story. From start to finish these black and whites are wonderfully detailed. I loved Larson’s ability to capture the character's emotions in her work.

Mercury  is the story of two teenage girls from the same family that just happen to live 150 years apart. Josey lives in the year 1859 with her parents on their farm. When a stranger shows up at Josey’s door to help her dad work their land she starts to fall for him. As I read I just wanted things to work out for Josey (especially after all the foreshadowing her not so normal mother has done).  Josey Is so sweet and good, but not in that annoying way, you want things to work out for her.

Tara lives in the present day world with her aunt and uncle while she is waiting on her mom to get a permanent job, since their old farm house recently burned. Tara’s aunt gives Tara all her mom's old jewelry to cheer her up about starting school. In the jewelry is one magical piece that will change things for Tara. I really liked Tara’s character! She did the best with what she was given and I loved her sense of adventure.

I enjoyed going back and forth between Josey and Tara’s lives. It kept the book fresh and fast. I loved the ending! I will be looking into more from Hope Larson.

For anyone who has ever wanted to start reading graphic novels but just didn’t know where to start…Mercury would be great intro to graphic novels if you like YA.

Happy Reading,

Awesome! Reread worthy.

Recommended For

12 and up: There is a kiss, and it got a little scary in places.    

Waiting on Wednesday (30)

Have you entered my 500 Follower Giveaway?!?!

"Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at “Breaking the Spine”, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My Pick This Week!

Description

OPPRESSION tells the story of a young woman who discovers that she belongs to a secret society of individuals with extraordinarily long life spans and unusual abilities. Fearful of prophecies about their only daughter, her parents kept her hidden from the world – and the society – for as long as they could. But when their own untimely deaths leave her to fend for herself, the truth of her origins and the fateful prophecy find her at last. Joining the ranks of such widely popular works as the Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games, and the Mortal Instruments series, Mrs. Therrien's paranormal romance/adventure promises to be the next fan-favorite in its genre.

Above blurb is temporary (Goodreads)

Book Details

Title: Oppression

Author: Jessica Therrien

Publisher: ZOVA Books

Release Date: February 28, 2012 

ISBN-10: 0984035044

ISBN-13: 978-0984035045

Author’s Website

Why I’m Waiting?

First, I love the cover! I know it’s another face cover but it is beautiful and luminous looking. Second, this sounds epic right?!?! I want to know why they live so long…and what are all these prophecies about? Yeah, I’m already hooked and I don’t even have the book yet!

What are you waiting for?

 

Review: Magic Gifts (Kate Daniels #5.4) by Ilona Andrews

Description

Available as FREE download from Ilona Andrews Website for 2 weeks from Christmas Day, this novella takes place at the same time as Andrea’s book, right after MAGIC SLAYS, and the two stories intersect.

A dinner date after a hard day at work sounds heavenly. Of course, when that date is between the Beast Lord and Kate Daniels, things don’t go as planned. Before you know it, undead are running amok, heads are being chopped off, lawyers are deployed and used with extereme prejudice, and drunk vikings are calling people out.

Read at your own risk.

MAGIC GIFTS will appear as a bonus in the back of GUNMETAL MAGIC, Andrea’s book. (Goodreads)

Book Details

Title: Magic Gifts

Author: Ilona Andrews

Release Date: December 24, 2011

Author,s Website

Source: Author’s blog post

Review

First, before I even start go ahead and scroll back up…awesome Urban Fantasy cover right?!?!

I don’t know about anyone else but I get in these moods sometime were I just want to read characters that I know and love. It’s like going to my mom's house and eating her cooking…it just makes me happy! I guess that’s a big reason I reread books I love, to revisit the characters I have grown to care so much about. So when I saw on the  Ilona Andrews blog there was a new Kate Daniels novella with a shiny red bow on it just waiting to be unwrapped, it made my Christmas a lot brighter:)

If you have not read this series don’t start here! The Kate Daniels series is awesome and well worth the first five reads.

Kate and Curran find themselves trying to save a child from a deadly necklace when all they wanted was a nice evening out. Magic Gifts is such a fun installment to the Kate Daniels world. I loved all the Norse Mythology that was woven through, and all the crazy drunk Vikings. Who accepted anyone as long as they liked acting like a Viking too…or what they considered a Viking. If you have read Magic Gifts, did you think to yourself, "Oh I know people that would go live with the Vikings?”

My absolute favorite part of Magic Gifts was all the banter between Kate and Curran. I don’t know if it was just me, but I was laughing out loud, they where hilarious. I ate up their back and forth antics (like all the Christmas candy I’ve been eating) like there is no tomorrow.

I am even more excited for Gunmetal Magic which is Andreas book, and is set to release August 2012.

Happy Reading,

       

Loved it! I want to know about everything this author writes.

Recommended For

Older Teen and up: For language, and violence.

Other Books in this Series

 

Click cover image to go to Goodreads page.

Back from the land of the Christmas Tree

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, whether you return to work today, or have an extra week off. I have admittedly been away from the internet the last few day to spend all the time I could with my huge family. Now to get back in the swing of things:

First

I wanted to tell you about some wonderful free bookish gifts out there that you may not know about from some of my favorite author’s:

• From the awesome minds that are Ilona Andrews: Is a Kat Daniels novella titled Magic Gifts. Make sure to download it soon! You only have two weeks then it’s not free.
• From the great Nalini Singh: There is a new short up on her blog. It is set in the Psy-Changeling world, and it is all Judd and Brenna! 

Second

I wonted to let you know I am going to make a few small changes to the Spine over the week. Honestly they are things that should have been there all along:

• I am going to separate my reviews and have two pages. One for YA and on for adult, so that they are easier to find.
• I’m going to have a what I’m reading space on my sidebar.
• I am going to put the Spine on Facebook…I know I can’t believe I’m not there yet either. Epic fail on my part!
• I am also going to do Google+ this week! 

 

Ok, so those are my little changes. I hope you like them! I will see you tomorrow with a review

Happy Reading,

 

Follow Friday (31)

Don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAYS!!!

Welcome to Follow Me Friday Hosted By Parajunkee.com and Alisoncanread.com

This Weeks Question:

If you had to spend eternity inside the pages of a book which book would you choose and why?

I have two and they are completely different! First off Harry Potter:

 

Yes! I do know this will be on most other blogs today, but I do truly love this series. I have to tell you though the real reason I picked HP today is because my BFF recently moved four hours away!!! I honestly can’t tell you how many times we have griped to each other about needing a port key Why do they not exist in the real world?

My next pick will be no surprise to Spine readers:

 

I love this series and would definitely like to jump into its pages. The Kate Daniels series is an awesome Urban Fantasy that is made up of a forever growing world of on again off again magic, shifters, and power struggles. Life would never be boring that’s for sure!

What book would you live in?

Happy Hopping,

 

Cover Reveal: Chosen One's by Tiffany Truitt

I am super excited to be part of the cover reveal for a new  YA Dystopian series by Tiffany Truitt!

Click cover to go to the Goodreads page.

Description

What if you were mankind’s last chance at survival?

 

Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.

 

Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger.

 

But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?

 

Set to release from Entangled Publishing April 2012.

 

OK, so I love dystopian and I’m really wanting to read this!!! What about you? What do you think of the cover and the description?!? Let me know in the comments.

 

Happy Reading,

Waiting On Wednesday (29)

Check out my Giveaways going on!

"Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at “Breaking the Spine”, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My Pick This Week!

Click cover to go to Goodreads page.

Description

In The Calling, the sizzling second book in the Darkness Rising trilogy,New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pumps up the romance, danger, and suspense that left readers of The Gatheringclamoring for more.

Maya Delaney’s paw-print birthmark is the sign of what she truly is—a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly anyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it’s only a matter of time before she’s able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

Now, Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they’re kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home. Plentiful action and romance in this second installment in the Darkness Rising series will keep readers enthralled to the very last page! (Goodreads)

Book Details

Title: The Calling

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: YA, Paranormal

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release Date:April 10, 2012

ISBN-10: 0061797057

ISBN-13: 978-0061797057

 

Why I’m Waiting?

 

Yes, this has been a WOW for me before! The Calling will probably be a WOW again…um I really want it!!! I got hooked into this series before this series even existed believe it or not. There is a trilogy (Darkest Powers) that leads into the Darkness Rising trilogy that “The Calling” is a part of. Both series can be read separate and so far all the books in this world that Kelley Armstrong are writing are awesome. I can’t wait to get my hands on The Calling!

 

Kelly Armstrong also recently released a book of three companion stories that are in the Darkest Powers world titled Darkest Powers Bonus Pack. I got a copy as soon as I heard of it and can’t wait to get a chance to read it! 

 

What are you waiting on?

We Have A Winner!!!

Winner of the Elemental Mysteries series is:

 

Congratulations Ron! Go check out Ron’s blog Stories of my life. It’s awesome!

Thanks to all who entered.

I still have giveaways going on.

Thanks everyone,

Review: The Christmas Gifts by Damien Kelly

Description

The season of giving is a season of darkness; a season of extended nights and twilight days. And the gifts of the season aren’t always the kind you’d hope to receive.

The Christmas Gifts: a collection of twelve tales of the uncanny, where unusual gifts - be they rare, unexpected, inappropriate or even unwanted - come wrapped in a piece of that seasonal darkness.

When loving your friend means denying your hunger. When the luster of gold doesn't stop it being a chain. When giving is another word for sacrifice. This is the Christmas Macabre. Little children walk with monsters—Saints with Devils. Everyone wears red.

Give the gift of the macabre this holiday. Suggested for mature readers. (Goodreads)

Book Details

Title: The Christmas Gifts

Author: Damien Kelly

Publisher: lulu.com

Release Date: September 20, 2011 

ISBN-10: 1447830628

ISBN-13: 978-1447830627

Author’s Website

Source: Author

Review

Generally Christmas stories are sweet and all about spreading a little holiday cheer. The Christmas Gifts is twelve short stories that go a bit of a different route. 

This is my first experience reading any Christmas horror stories. When I agreed to review The Christmas Gifts I had no idea I would like it so much, but the description and cover is right on, so I had nothing to worry about. I love a good short story and these are little horror gems that where very satisfying to devour.

I loved these dark tales each one different from the next. There where twist and turns, paranormal, and humor that was nicely unexpected. One of my favorite stories was actually a non-paranormal about a woman getting her last vengeful present from her late husband.

Damien Kelly is an author I will be putting on my “watch for next project list!” I loved his sense of dark comedy and the steady voice he placed throughout The Christmas Gifts.

Happy Reading,

Awesome! Reread worthy.

Recommended For

Adults: For language, violence      

* There are freebies to check out on Damien’s website!