Beach Reads In August Giveaway!

Welcome to the Beach Reads In August Giveaway hosted by Stuck In Books! Up for grabs is a book that you've been saving to read on the beach, whether it's an epic fantasy tome, a contemporary YA or a Summer romance this is your chance to win the beach read of your choice! One person win the beach read of their choice from the Book Depository up to the value of $15 (US). Open internationally, please check here that BD ships to your country before entering to avoid disappointment! The giveaway is open from now until midnight on August 15th.

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Check out the list below for all the other blogs taking part, thanks for entering and good luck!

Waiting On Wednesday #85 - Gleam

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 -

Gleam - Tom Fletcher

ISBN - 9781848662520

Publisher - Jo Fletcher Books

Expected release date - September 4th 2014

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

In this Gormenghastian world the Factory is the law – but that does not
mean justice.The Gargantuan factory of Gleam has seen a millennia of decreasing population. Now the central district is fully inhabited and operational; the outskirts have been left for the wilderness to reclaim. This decaying, lawless zone is the Discard; the home of Wild Alan. He’s convinced that the Gleam authorities were behind the disaster that killed his parents and his ambition is to prove it. But he’ll uncover more secrets than he bargained for. - Goodreads

As soon as I read 'this Gormenghastian world' this book went straight onto my wishlist! I love the Gormenghast books and how weird they are so if this is half as good as I'm expecting I shall probably love it. I've also read The Leaping, The Thing on the Shore and The Ravenglass Eye by the same author, a perfectly creepy horror trilogy with some great writing so I've been looking forward to seeing what came next.

Top Ten Tuesday #61 - Authors I Own Most Books From!

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

Top Ten Authors I Own The Most Books From

This was difficult! It seems that I have rather a lot of authors whose books I own in large quantities as I have a habit of buying entire back catalogues once I've decided I like an author. It has also made me realize just how many books by my favorite authors I'm missing, I'm resisting the urge to go crazy and buy them all!

This is my top ten, I could have easily made it a top twenty...

Terry Pratchett 45

Charles de Lint 43

Stephen King 42

Diana Wynne Jones 31

Rachel Caine 25

Freda Warrington 20

Neil Gaiman 18

Juliet Marillier 17

George R R Martin 12

Kate Forsyth 11

Bonus Authors

Jo Walton 11

Phil Rickman aka Will Kingdom aka Thom Madley 18

Charlaine Harris 16

Ursula K Le Guin 14

Catherynne M Valente 14

ARC August

Yep, it's that time of year when you realize you have a rather extortionate amount of unread ARC's and Octavia at Read Sleep Repeat pops up at just the right time with ARC August. I'm not going to say how many unread ARC's/review copies I have but it's safe to say the pile is in double figures. I'm hoping to get fifteen ARC's read in August but will be happy with at least ten. They will include

• Smiler's Fair - Rebecca Levene (just about to start this one!)
• Gates of Thread & Stone - Lori M Lee
• Jackaby - William Ritter
• The Dark World - Cara Lynn Schultz
• Glimpse - Kendra Leighton

I also need to write reviews for

• The Geography of You & Me - Jennifer E Smith
• Landline - Rainbow Rowell
• A Place For Us Pt 1 - Harriet Evans

I'll update this post as I go and, hopefully, add links to reviews!

Book Haul #84 - The Holiday Edition

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

Gah! I don't even know where to start! Most of what I got up to in July will be in my monthly wrap-up post so this is just the books I've somehow managed to acquire since my last haul post 4 weeks ago! Considering I've been to LFCC/YALC and quite a few author events I'm proud of myself for not spinning out of control and buying all the books...

Bought

The Illusionists | Through The Woods | The Kiss of Deception

Witches Abroad | Lords & Ladies | Maskerade

The Book of Life | The Dead of Winter | The Six-Gun Tarot

Library 

The Amber Fury | Black Heart Blue | Hounded

Review

Andromeda's Choice | Acoloytes of Cthulhu | Blood Red | Landline

The Good Girl | Otherbound | Gates of Thread & Stone | The Bargaining

The Lazarus Prophecy | Frozen | A Song For Ella Grey

Blog Tour

Ascension of the Whyte | The Violet Fox

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Fire In The Woods by Jennifer M Eaton

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

Fire in the Woods by Jennifer M. Eaton

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

When a plane crashes in the woods near Jess’s home, the boy of her dreams falls out of the sky—literally. But David’s not here to find a girlfriend. He’s from another planet, and if Jess can’t help him get back to his ship, he’ll be stuck on Earth with nothing to look forward to but the pointy end of a dissection scalpel.

But her father runs their house like an army barracks, and with an alien on the loose, Major Dad isn’t too keen on the idea of Jess going anywhere. Ever. So how the heck is she supposed to help the sweetest, strangest, and cutest guy she’s ever met?

Hiding him in her room probably isn’t the best idea. Especially since her Dad is in charge of the squadron searching for David. That doesn’t mean she won’t do it. It just means she can't get caught.

Helping David get home while protecting her heart—that’s gonna be the hard part. After all, she can't really fall for a guy who’s not exactly from here.

As they race through the woods with Major Dad and most of the U.S. military one breath behind them, Jess and David grow closer than either of them anticipated. But all is not what it seems. David has a genocide-sized secret, and one betrayal later, they are both in handcuffs as alien warships are positioning themselves around the globe. Time is ticking down to Armageddon, and Jess must think fast if she's to save the boy she cares about without sacrificing Earth—and everyone on it.

Title: Fire in the Woods
Publication date: September 2014
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Jennifer M. Eaton

Corporate Team Leader by day, and Ranting Writer by night. Jennifer M. Eaton calls the East Coast of the USA home, where she lives with her husband, three energetic boys, and a pepped up poodle.

Jennifer hosts an informational blog “A Reference of Writing Rants for Writers (or Learn from My Mistakes)” aimed at helping all writers be the best they can be.

Beyond writing and motivating others, she also enjoys teaching her dog to jump through hoops—literally.

Jennifer’s perfect day includes long hikes in the woods, bicycling, swimming, snorkeling, and snuggling up by the fire with a great book; but her greatest joy is using her over-active imagination constructively… creating new worlds for everyone to enjoy.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

(Winners will receive their book on release day)

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Waiting On Wednesday #84 - The Slow Regard of Silent Things

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 -

UK                                                             US

The Slow Regard of Silent Things (Kingkiller Chronicle #2.5) - Patrick Rothfuss

ISBN - UK 9781473209329
US 9780756410438

Publisher - UK Gollancz
US Daw Hardcover

Expected release date - 28th October 2014

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is set at The University, where the brightest minds work to unravel the mysteries of enlightened sciences, such as artificing and alchemy. Auri, a former student (and a secondary but influential character from Rothfuss’s earlier novels) now lives alone beneath the sprawling campus in a maze of ancient and abandoned passageways. There in The Underthing, she feels her powers and learns to see the truths that science - and her former classmates - have overlooked... - Goodreads

Nothing to say except I will begrudgingly accept this novella to tide me over until the publication of Doors of Stone... 

Review & Giveaway: Strange & Ever After by Susan Dennard

Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3)
by Susan Dennard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 22nd 2014

Synopsis:

In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.

He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.

Warning: If you have not read Something Strange & Deadly, A Darkness Strange & Lovely and A Dawn Most Wicked then proceed with caution as there may be spoilers below!

From Philadelphia to Paris, Marseilles to Egypt, the Something Strange & Deadly series has been a whirlwind of magic, mayhem and the walking dead. Add in the perfect amount of romance and you have a rollercoaster ride that keeps you turning the page until the very last word! I originally read the first two books - and the novella, as they came out but I wanted to reread them altogether so when reading the final book in the trilogy everything was fresh in my mind. And oh what a wonderful thing that was! Reading them back to back totally immersed me in Ms Dennard's beautiful writing and made me feel like I was there, with Eleanor, Daniel, Oliver, Allison, Joseph and Jie. Even Marcus/Elijah... and that's saying something!

After facing the Dead in Philadelphia and Paris the Spirit Hunters are heading to Marseilles, with Allison Wilcox in tow after she arrives with news for Eleanor and refuses to leave. From then on it's a never-ending, fast paced journey to finally stop Marcus once and forever. There are tender moments between Daniel & Eleanor and also Eleanor & Oliver as she finally begins to see who he is. I was hooked and didn't stop reading until I turned the last page, there were mummies, Pharaohs, the Pyramids of Giza and all manner of creepy reanimated creatures and it was good to finally discover what the Black Pullet actually was. Not everything in Eleanor's life is good though, there are some gut-wrenching moments in this book where you know what's coming and you're powerless to do anything about it. More than one character makes a huge personal sacrifice which just about broke my heart and I'm not ashamed to say I finished reading with tears in my eyes.

From the very beginning Eleanor Fitt has been one of my favorite characters, I have alternately either wanted to slap her or hug her. She's stubborn, strong-minded, rebellious and vulnerable all at the same time and will stick in my mind for a long time. This series has been one of my favorites, one that I will more than likely reread and recommend! If you like your steampunk, zombie romance novels with a slightly darker outlook then the Something Strange & Deadly books are perfect, I absolutely love Ms Dennard's writing and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Truthwitch!

Follow the FFBC Strange And Ever After Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

I am a writer, reader, lover of animals, and eater of cookies. I used to be a marine biologist, but now I write novels. And not novels about fish either, but novels about kick-butt heroines and swoon-worthy rogues (I reallylike swoon-worthy rogues).

I live in the Midwest with my husband and two dogs (Asimov and Princess Leia), and you can learn more about my crazy thoughts and crippling cookie-addiction on my blog or twitter.

My debut, SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY is now available from HarperTeen along with the prequel, A DAWN MOST WICKED, and the sequel A DARKNESS STRANGE & LOVELY.

Look for STRANGE & EVER AFTER in summer 2014 and TRUTHWITCH in fall 2015!

Note: I am on Goodreads to READ. So, if you want to discuss books and the joys of literature, add me as a friend!

Win (1) hardback copy of Strange and Ever After (US Only)

Win (1) E-book of Strange and Ever After (INT)

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