Wednesday 31 July 2013

Summer Giveaway Hop!



Welcome to the Summer Giveaway Hop hosted by BookHounds and I Am A Reader Not A Writer. Summer is meant for reading so the winner of this hop gets to choose any book from the Book Depository up to the value of $15! The giveaway is open to anyone who lives in a country that BD will ship to, check out the list here. Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter and the giveaway runs from now through to midnight on August 7th 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unfortunately there's a problem with linky codes on my blog just now so check out all of the other blogs taking part over on BookHounds for more chances to win! Thanks for entering and good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday #36 - Skulk

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -


Skulk - Rosie West @ Twitter
ISBN - 9781908844699
Publisher - Strange Chemistry
Expected release date - October 2013
Find - Book Depository/Goodreads

'To some, Meg Banks’ life might look perfect – she lives in a huge house in West London, goes to a prestigious school and has famous parents. Only Meg knows the truth: her tyrannical mother rules the house and her shallow friends can talk about nothing but boys and drinking. Meg’s only escape is her secret life as a graffiti artist.
While out tagging one night, Meg witnesses the dying moments of a fox… a fox that shapeshifts into a man. As he dies, he gives Meg a beautiful and mysterious gemstone. Soon Meg realises that she’s also inherited his power to shift and finds an incredible new freedom in fox form.
She is plunged into the shadowy underworld of London, the territory of the five warring groups of shapeshifters – the Skulk, the Rabble, the Conspiracy, the Horde, and the Cluster. Someone is after her gemstone, someone who can twist nature to his will. Meg must discover the secret of the stone and unite the shapeshifters before her dream of freedom turns into a nightmare.'
- from Strange Chemistry

Gahhh! This just sounds so amazing and is quite possibly one of my most anticipated books of the year! I love foxes, and especially foxes in mythology - Kitsune anybody? - so can't wait to see how Rosie Best describes her shapeshifting foxes! I would like it to be October now, either that or the book fairy to wave a magic wand...

What are you waiting for this week? 

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #17 - Favorite Beginnings/Endings

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In Books

So this is an interesting one!  I sat for hours trying to remember books with beginnings and/or endings that I had loved and came up with the following list, in no particular order.


"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink." - I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'" - Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." - Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

"All was well." - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling

"Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love." - The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater

"A Last Note from Your Narrator: I am haunted by humans" - The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

"It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful." - Matilda, Roald Dahl

"When Mr Bilbo Baggins announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventyfirst birthday  with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton." - Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." - Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

What's on your list?


Monday 29 July 2013

Bout of Books 8.0 Sign-Up!


Yes, it's that time again!!! Having failed spectacularly at the last read-a-thon I participated in I'm trying again! I have no excuses this time, I'm at home, I don't have the twins, I have no hospital appointments or any other commitments for the whole week.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 8.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

If you want to join in the fun/insanity/madness sign up here on the Bout of Books sign-up page!


Saturday 27 July 2013

Book Haul #35


Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews and Letterbox Love is a UK edition hosted by Narratively Speaking. Here we can share what new books we've picked up this past week. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

Still a few days to go before the big cut-off point comes, or Operation TBR, so this week is maybe a teeny weeny bit crazy??? I went a bit nuts on Netgalley but got approved for two books that I've been desperate to read including Angel City, the sequel to The Watchers, which I read last year and loved! It was also library day so a huge pile of books which I didn't mean to reserve all at the same time all came in - at the same time... Last but not least I was in London for an amazing book launch on Thursday so had hours of fun wandering round bookstores!

Bought

Bitter Seeds - Ian Tregillis

The Coldest War - Ian Tregillis

Necessary Evil - Ian Tregillis

Rising Darkness - Thea Harrison

The Weight of Souls - Bryony Pearce

Control - Kim Curran
Kindle Freebies

The First - Jason Mott

The Sparrow - Jason Mott

Sora's Quest - T L Shreffler
Netgalley

Angel City - Jon Steele

The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon

Library Haul

Girl, Missing - Sophie McKenzie

Geek Girl - Holly Smale

Wool - Hugh Howey

The Disappeared - C J Harper

Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner

The Alchemist of Souls - Anne Lyle

The Assassin's Curse - Cassandra Rose Clarke

We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

The Red Knight - Miles Cameron

Half Lives - Sara Grant

The Dovekeepers - Alice Hoffman

Heart of the Dragon - Gena Showalter

Hubble Bubble - Jane Lovering

Blood Ties - Sophie McKenzie

What did you get this week?

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Waiting On Wednesday #35

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -



Once We Were (Hybrid Chronicles #2) - Kat Zhang @ Twitter
ISBN UK - 978-0007490363
          US - 9780062114907
Publisher UK - HarperCollins Childrens
               US - HarperCollins
Expected Release Date UK - April 24th 2014
                                    US - September 17th 2013
Find - Book Depository/Goodreads

Do not read any further if you haven't read What's Left Of Me!

'"I'm lucky just to be alive"

Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.

Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.

Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.'
- Goodreads


I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on this but just look at that gap between the US and UK releases!!! I'm either going to have to pay for the US hardcover or wait seven months for my library to get the UK version :(

What are you waiting for this week?

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #16


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT Pick Up A Book

Another tough one for me, I spent ages thinking about this one and I'm not sure there's many things that would completely stop me from reading a book. I might start something thinking I don't think I'll like this because it's about 'xxx' but I don't force myself to finish it!

Anyway, here's my list.

If You Loved 'xxxxx' You'll Love 'xxxxx' or For Fans of 'xxxxx'

This drives me nuts, I don't want to read a book because someone thinks it's the same as something I've already read or not even liked!


Child Abuse

Why would you even want to read about child abuse unless you were involved in helping children in a real-life situation? Just too upsetting...



Sports

I get enough sport shoved at me every day, why would I want to read about it?

Religion

Everybody has the right to believe in whatever religion they choose to follow, I don't necessarily want to read about it though.

Love Triangles

Such an old plot device, surely we can find something else to throw a spanner in the works?

Politics

See Sports... My father rings me and will talk about politics for hours, I definitely don't want to read about it!

New Adult

I'm not against it as such but the phrase just irritates me! I also find it hard to believe that people don't have sex before they go to college...

Celebrity Authors

Oooh, I'm a celebrity. That means I must write a book. Just no...

Where are all the stand-alone novels?

I would love to read more than just a handful of books that don't comprise of 99 books in the series. I would like to be able to pick up a book, read it, finish it and say 'What a great book, I loved the ending!' I am completely guilty though of reading books that seem to be in a series, I wish I wasn't. There are also plenty of series out there that should have ended sooner but have been stretched to four, five, six or more books.


Cancer

Last year I read The Fault In Our Stars and loved it, it made me cry but I loved it. Then my wonderful mama died and I can't even stand to see the word in a book.



What's on your list?




Monday 22 July 2013

Reading RoundUp #29

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I haven't done one of these for a few weeks but to be honest I don't really think I've read much over the last couple of weeks. It's been so hot here in the UK that I find myself nodding off every time I try to read and if I haven't been at home then I've been at my sister's house, in the paddling pool with the 3 year olds - not the ideal place to read! My book journal is completely behind so I'm bound to miss something out...

Finished

Viral Nation - Shaunta Grimes

Dare You To - Katie McGarry

Crossing the Line - Katie McGarry

Darkness Divine - P C Cast

A Tale Dark & Grimm - Adam Gidwitz

New Girl - Paige Harbison

The Glimpse - Claire Merle

Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

The Weight of Souls - Bryony Pearce

Reading now



The Fairest of Them All - Carolyn Turgeon

Poison Princess - Kresley Cole

Royal Street - Suzanne Johnson
Up next



Shiloh - Helena Sorensen

The Returned - Jason Mott

 
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