Sunday, February 27, 2011

Everything is Fine Giveaway

This month I am giving away of Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis. Here is the description:

Stuck at home caring for her severely depressed mother and abandoned by her father, Mazzy has only the day-to-day dramas of her neighborhood to keep her busy. But between flirting with the boy next door and worrying about the fact that she's flat-chested, Mazzy has to face the fact that her mom is emotionally paralyzed by a family tragedy. As readers delve into the story, they'll eventually discover what it was that tore Mazzy's family apart, and they'll see what it takes to put it back together.

The rules are below::
  • 1 (one) winner will receive a copy of Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis

  • Please allow about 3 weeks to receive your prize.

  • I will e-mail the winner and also post the winner on the blog. If the winner does not reply within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

  • U.S Only

  • Ends March 24th

Enter HERE

Contest Winner

The winner of the copy of Going Nowhere Faster is....

Laina from Laina Has Too Much Spare Time

Congrats Laina! I am e-mailing you right now. If you don't respond within 48 hours I will choose a new winner.

A post will follow this one announcing the new contest. Once again, it won't be very big but I am doing all that I can.

Thank you everyone for participating! I got a decent number of entries, and I hope the number goes up with this next contest.

-Amanda

Sunday, February 20, 2011

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was created by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.

Under the Dome by Stephen King

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day, a small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and rain down flaming wreckage. A gardener’s hand is severed as the dome descends. Cars explode on impact. Families are separated and panic mounts. No one can fathom what the barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away. Now a few intrepid citizens, led by an Iraq vet turned short-order cook, face down a ruthless politician dead set on seizing the reins of power under the dome. But their main adversary is the dome itself. Because time isn’t just running short. It’s running out.

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, yet her greatest dream is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires. After months of anticipation, Marie learns that the royal family is willing to come and see their likenesses. When they finally arrive, the king’s sister is so impressed that she requests Marie’s presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. It is a request Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

The Lens and the Looker by Lory S. Kaufman

It’s the 24th century and humans, with the help of artificial intelligences (A.I.s) have finally created the perfect post-dystopian society. To make equally perfect citizens for this world, the elders have created History Camps, full sized recreations of cities from Earth’s distant pasts. Here teens live the way their ancestors did, doing the same dirty jobs and experiencing the same degradations. History Camps teach youths not to repeat the mistakes that almost caused the planet to die. But not everything goes to plan.

Life on Hold by Karen McQuestion

Gina and Rae Maddox are more like best friends than mother and daughter. Of course, free-spirited Gina’s rambling ways leave her daughter with little opportunity to make any other friends, as they constantly crisscross the country in search of “a fresh start.” But when Gina brings them home to her native Wisconsin, she promises Rae that this time, they’ll stay put...at least until Rae finishes high school. And when Rae begins to make friends at Whitman High, she dares to hope her mother is telling the truth. But then Rae is paired with another new girl, Allison Daly, whose bad attitude and unsettled family life put her at odds with Rae — yet draws her to Gina. When ugly rumors begin to fly about Allison’s past, Rae must choose between distancing herself from the troubled girl or using her own experience as an outcast to help her. The path she takes will not only change Allison’s life, it will affect Rae’s relationship with her mother and her understanding of her place in the world.

Favorite by Karen McQuestion

Angie Favorite was just eleven years old when her mother disappeared, leaving Angie and her brother Jason to be raised by their grandmother while their rock-star father hit the road with his band. Since that day, Angie has gone through the motions of everyday life. She thinks she has everyone fooled — until the summer morning when she’s abducted from a mall parking lot. She narrowly escapes and her attacker, Scott Bittner, is arrested, but the weirdness has just begun. When Angie receives a letter from Scott’s mother, entreating her to meet so that she can apologize for her son’s actions, the girl reluctantly agrees. But it is soon obvious that Scott’s attack wasn’t random at all and that there is more to the strange Mrs. Bittner than meets the eye. In fact, she may hold the key to Angie’s mother’s disappearance.

-Amanda

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now. Click the links to enter them. I will hold my own contest on the last Contest Saturday of each month. That means my next contest will be on February 26th.

Win a copy of Haven HERE Ends 2/27

Win a copy of Pink HERE Ends 2/16

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday

Clarity by Kim Harrington

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.
And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Evercrossed (Kissed by an Angel Series #4) by Elizabeth Chandler

It’s been a year since Ivy’s boyfriend, Tristan, died. They’ve both moved on—Tristan to the other side of the afterlife, and Ivy to sweet, dependable Will. Now Ivy’s heading to Cape Cod, hoping to leave the horror of last summer behind. She wants nothing more than to lie on the beach, sip lemonade, and hang out with her friends.

But then a car crash ends Ivy’s life.

As she floats to the beyond, looking down on the life she’s left behind, Tristan breathes life back into her with a passionate kiss. She wakes up in the hospital, surrounded by Will and her family, but all she can think about is the love that she lost.

But memories aren’t all that’s come back from the past. And this time, Ivy’s not sure love will be enough to save her.

-Amanda

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Contest Saturday

Here are some contests that are currently going on right now. Click the links to enter them. I will hold my own contest on the last Contest Saturday of each month. That means my next contest will be on February 26th.

I have am giving away a copy of Going Nowhere Faster HERE Ends 2/25

Win a copy of The Secret Year HERE Ends 2/7

Win a $65 gift card to spend at any CSN Store HERE Ends 2/7

Win an ARC of Trapped HERE Ends 2/8

Win 2 books to remind you of summer HERE Ends 2/16

Win the first 3 books in the Iron Fey Series HERE Ends 2/11

Win any book under $15 HERE Ends 3/2

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys--March 22nd
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously and at great risk documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.

Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer--February 15th

Brooke: I don't like Kathryn Pease. I could pretend everything's fine between us. I could be nice to her face, then trash her behind her back. But I think it's better to be honest. I don't like Kathryn, and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Kathryn: I saw a commercial where singers used their voices to shatter glass, but the whole thing is pretty much a myth. The human voice isn't that strong.

Human hatred is. Anybody who doubts that should feel the hate waves coming off of Brooke Dempsey. But I don't shatter; I'm not made of glass. Anyway, the parts that break aren't on the outside.

Brooke and Kathryn used to be best friends . . . until the night when Brooke ruthlessly turned on Kathryn in front of everyone. Suddenly Kathryn was an outcast and Brooke was Queen B. Now, as they prepare to face off one last time, each girl must come to terms with the fact that the person she hates most might just be the best friend she ever had.

-Amanda

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Keening by A. LaFaye

Title: The Keening
Author: A. LaFaye
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: B-

Born into a family with artistry in their fingers, Lyza laments that her only talent is carving letters into wood. That is until her life is turned upside down when her mother succumbs to the influenza pandemic of 1918, which is devastating their small coastal town in Maine. With her mother gone, Lyza must protect her eccentric father, who runs the risk of being committed, especially now that he claims he’s waiting for the return of his dead wife. Can Lyza save her father and find her own path in the process?
---------------------------------------------------

If there is any one book that I had to say had more than it first appears to, it's this one. I was expecting a simple story and mostly wanted to read it for the tragedy that it entailed. I know it's horrible, but I like to read books with human emotions at its highest points.

The book started out a little slow but after reading for a while I really started to get into. I believe this was mostly because of the characters. They just seemed so..true. I usually don't like to read books that talk about god a lot, but this one was different. It wasn't done in a shove it in your face way, it was just straight up belief. The setting was also really nice. The landscape was described beautifully. It almost felt like I was there.

One of the best parts of the book was the part that surprised me. Lyza and her father both have the ideas to talk to ghosts, or spirits, and help send them beyond. This part was really cool. I was just as surprised and freaked out as Lyza when she figured it out. This was fun because it added a new dimension to the book. It wasn't just Lyza trying to help her father, now she can fully understand his distanceness. She can believe, not only for herself, but for him, that her father is not insane.

Overall I would say that The Keening was better than I thought it would be. It was more than just a simple book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to see some passion within a teen.

-Amanda