The Baby by Lisa Drakeford | Review

Publisher: The Chicken House

Publish Date: October 26th 2016 (1st published: July 1st 2015 UK)

Page Amount: 256 Pages

Price: $17.99 Hardback

ISBN: 0545940273 (ISBN13: 9780545940276)

Order THE BABY Here!

Learn More About Lisa Drakeford Here!

Learn more about the book on Goodreads here!



When Olivia opens the bathroom door, the last thing she expects to see is her best friend Nicola giving birth on the floor – and to say Nicola is surprised is an understatement. She’s not ready to be a mum, and she needs Olivia’s help. But Olivia has her own problems – specifically her bullying boyfriend, Jonty, and keeping an eye on younger sister Alice. And then there’s Nicola’s friend Ben, who’s struggling with secrets of his own …

I'll be honest, when I looked at the summary for this book, it didn't seem like it fit my taste of books. I thought that the summary was a little bit "weird" and that this book would take me places I didn't necessarily want to go. I wasn't sure that THE BABY was a good fit for me, and I strayed away from this book, until it appeared on a fellow book blogger's blog.

My Favorite TV Shows! | Top Ten Tuesday

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is TOP TEN TV SHOWS or a variation on that theme, because of Fall TV shows. For this week, I thought I would share some of my favorite TV shows with you. I blog an awful lot about books and I figured that this would give you a better opportunity to get to know me!

Here we go!

FISH WIELDER by J R R R Hardison | Release Blitz + Giveaway!

When I first read about FISH WIELDER, the very first thing that I thought of was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. FISH WIELDER is full of funny characters, a silly story and sometimes outright strange mission. While FISH WIELDER may be an epic fantasy, it's completely different than anything on the market. A talking fish and a depressed brute take on the seemingly hopeless mission of retrieving the lost pudding -- not to eat, but to save their planet!

With that, I'm very happy to share a little bit about the author, the book, and give you a chance to try the book for yourselves! Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Jim has worked as a writer, screen writer, animator and director in entertainment and commercials since graduating from Columbia College of Chicago in 1988. He is the author of The Helm, which YALSA praised as one of 2010’s best graphic novels for young readers, and has directed animated commercial and entertainment projects, including spots for M&M's, AT&T, and Kellogg's. He co-founded Character LLC in 2000 and has given story advice to many of the world's largest brands, such as Target, Verizon, Samsung, McDonalds and Walmart, and has even appeared on NBC's "The Apprentice" as an expert adviser on brand characters. Jim lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, two kids and two dogs. Fish Wielder is his first novel.

About FISH WIELDER:

Fish Wielder is kind of like Lord of the Rings, set in Narnia, if it was written by the guys who made Monty Python and the Holy Grail while they were listening to the music of They Might Be Giants.

In ancient times, the Dark Lord Mauron cooked the most powerful magic chocolate dessert ever made, the Pudding of Power. One thousand and two years later, the evil leader of the Bad Religion, the Heartless One, is trying to recover the lost pudding in order to enslave the peoples of Grome. Only the depressed barbarian warrior Thoral Might Fist and his best friend, Brad the talking Koi fish, have a chance to save the world of Grome from destruction, but that's going to take a ridiculous amount of magic and mayhem. Thus begins the esepically silly epic fantasy of epic proportions, Fish Wielder—book one of the Fish Wielder Trilogy.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE!  Amazon | Barnes & Noble  

EXCERPT:

GIVEAWAY! 

1 winner will receive a $10 (USD) Amazon Gift Card and a copy of FISH WIELDER
*Gift card is open internationally, but FISH WIELDER can only be mailed to a US mailing address*

Rafflecopter Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Turn the Pages is not responsible for sending the giveaway prize nor is I Turn the Pages responsible if the prize is lost in the mail, by entering the giveaway, you acknowledge this!

Thank you so much to Hannah from Irish Banana for allowing me to be a part of this release blitz and to J R R R Hardison for letting me share an excerpt from his book AND have a giveaway for all of my lovely readers!

Ten Books That Have Been On My TBR From Before I Started Blogging That I STILL Haven't Read Yet | Top Ten Tuesday

For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, it's all about books that we meant to read in our pre-blogging era. Granted, that was two years ago (I would have been 15) and I still haven't really purged the books I don't want to read anymore from my shelves . However, the books on THIS list are books that I have FULL INTENTIONS of reading -- I just haven't gotten to them yet.

Maybe you could help me by suggesting a few to read from this list, or linking me to your own TBR so I can get some more ideas :)

Without further adieu, here are some of the books I mean to read in the near future. :)

UNKNOWN by Wendy Higgins | Release Day Blitz + GIVEAWAY

Today, I am very excited to partner with Irish Banana Blog Tours and Wendy Higgins to bring you some amazing news on Wendy Higgins' new book, UNKNOWN, which releases today! 

I know this is a New Adult series, and it's not suitable for the younger readers in my blog, but I figured it would be a nice deal to share! I know a lot of my readers read New Adult as well, so I want to share this amazing new series with you from a NYT Bestselling Author!

There is an amazing sale going on, but it's only for a short time! You can purchase UNKNOWN for only $2.99 (USD)! If you ask me, that is definitely an AMAZING DEAL. A whole book, for less than the price of a coffee at Starbucks.

Since you know you definitely want to buy the book, I'll include a summary of the book and the links to purchase below!

About UNKNOWN:

Amber Tate believes the worst thing she’ll suffer in life is dealing with the unrequited love she feels for her brother’s best friend, Rylen Fite. She also believes war is something unfortunate that happens places far, far away from her rural Nevada town. She’s wrong on both counts.

When an unknown organization meticulously bombs major cities in the United States and across the globe, a trickle-down effect spreads to remaining towns at an alarming speed—everything from food and water sources to technology and communications are compromised. Without leadership, the nation is split between paralysis and panic, but Amber isn’t one to hide or watch helplessly. She’s determined to put her nursing skills to use, despite the danger, even if it means working alongside the man she can never have.

In this first installment of NY Times bestselling author, Wendy Higgins’s debut New Adult series, a frighteningly realistic apocalyptic America is brought to life, entwined with searing romantic tension that will leave you eager for more.

ORDER UNKNOWN HERE! For only $2.99 USD!
Kindle: https://goo.gl/KEKn2D
iTunes: https://goo.gl/R9nav8
Kobo: https://goo.gl/XiYj6g

ABOUT WENDY
Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NY Times bestselling author of the SWEET EVIL series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology THE GREAT HUNT, and her independently published Irish Fantasy SEE ME.

After earning a Creative Writing degree from George Mason University and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until achieving her dream job as a full-time writer.

Wend lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her husband, daughter, son, and little doggie Rue.

*********

And now for the really fun part, the GIVEAWAY!!!

This giveaway is open internationally, which means all (and I mean all) of you lovely readers can enter to win a prize pack!

The GRAND PRIZE is the picture below. 

If you are the GRAND PRIZE winner, you will receive: a Signed Paperback Copy of Unknown, an Unknown Poster, Bookplates, and Bookmarks!

But WAIT! There are going to be two more winners for this giveaway, with each of the "runner-ups" receiving a digital copy of UNKNOWN from either Barnes and Noble or Amazon), with signed bookmarks and bookplates!

This giveaway runs blitz-wide, so I'm not responsible for anything lost in the mail/anything bad happening if you win. (I won't see your information either, so don't worry!)

BUT: You should definitely enter because this is an amazing opportunity for ALL of you guys!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Again, thank you so much to Irish Banana Blog Tours and Wendy Higgins for allowing me to promote a great book and a great sale! 

AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White | Mood Board Monday

You may recall that on Friday, I posted my written review of AND I DARKEN on the blog, and I also recorded a video review that I posted on my YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago.

Well, I thought that now would be a perfect time to create a mood board for this book as well!

AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White | Written & Video Review

Before you read this review, I want to let you know that I also recorded a video review! So, if video reviews are more "your style", you can click here to watch it (and subscribe to my channel, if you would like!)

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publish Date: June 28th 2016

Page Amount: 475 Pages

Price: $18.99 Hardback

ISBN: 0553522310 (ISBN13: 9780553522310)

Order AND I DARKEN Here!

Learn More About Kiersten White Here!

Learn more about the book on Goodreads here!

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

Victoria Aveyard’s RED QUEEN meets Sarah J Maas’ THRONE OF GLASS in this historical fiction by MIND GAMES author Kiersten White.

Lada Dragwyla and her younger brother Radu have lived peacefully in Wallachia --- their father’s kingdom --- for as long as they can remember. But just because the pair have been living peacefully doesn’t mean they have been happy. Lada is forced to follow in her mother’s footsteps, knowing all well that the only value she holds is in marriage to create an alliance, even if that’s not what she wants. Radu, on the other hand, has been forced into the spotlight as the “Son of the Dragon”, as he has been taking classes to learn how to become a true warrior. Lada would kill for that opportunity --- literally.

But when Lada learns of chaos coming to their humble home which threatens her father’s rule, it tears their life apart. Under the pressure of an Ottoman authority, Lada’s father surrenders his children to the Ottoman Courts, causing the pair to adjust to a completely different lifestyle, with different people, rules, and expectations. But the “Daughter of the Dragon” has her own bite, and she doesn’t play by the rules --- even if it means the lives of herself and her brother could be taken away in an instant.

Being the history buff that I am, I fell in love with the way that Kiersten White brings the Ottoman Empire into a fictional story. White is able to flawlessly weave the fabrics of reality and fiction together, bringing in historically accurate information into a story while putting her own spin on the time period. I almost forgot that this story was a fictional encounter, and didn’t actually occur in history!

While adjusting to the new lifestyle in the Ottoman Courts, Lada goes through not only a change in her lifestyle, but several transformations of her personality, values, and morals. Lada, being more of a female Vlad the Impaler in the beginning of the book, not only questions her life back in Wallachia, but how she has treated others, what she values and what she wants her future to be. Radu, Lada’s brother, also goes through a period of transformation, questioning his family, his home, and above all, his religious beliefs.

As a teen myself, I enjoyed seeing these characters question what they have been taught and the situations they have grown up in. I think that this questioning helped to change and strengthen their frame of mind, and it was not all that different to what young adults and teenagers do during our transition from our adolescence to our adult lives. Seeing uncertainty, doubt, and fear on the page made these characters human, and ultimately, helped me connect with them a lot more as a teen reader going through the same questioning of everything that I know.

AND I DARKEN follows Lada, Radu, and a slew of other characters during very important times in their lives. The book opens during Lada and Radu’s time in Wallachia, their homeland, and progresses through their time in the Ottoman Courts. Within both of these settings, characters are introduced to new and tricky scenarios, and forced to make decisions that will change the course of their lives. It does take the characters quite some time to make decisions and see the consequences of their actions, so the plot progression can be slow at spots in the book. However, once the characters begin to realize the consequences of their choices, the plot thickens, and several high-intensity scenes occur right after another.

I would recommend AND I DARKEN to anyone that likes to read Young Adult literature. Because the book takes place within the Ottoman Empire, AND I DARKEN does include references to historical events and figures.AND I DARKEN already had me sold on the “gender-swapped Vlad the Impaler” piece, but the story is much more than these historical tidbits. Sure, AND I DARKEN showcases the successes and perils of the Ottoman Empire, but also explores the concepts of free will, hope, family and religion in ways that all readers understand. Kiersten White crafts a thought-provoking, captivating, and enthralling tale of two young siblings trying to find their place in the world and discover who they truly are.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Emma's ARC ADOPTION AGENCY in exchange for a review. This in no way affects my review of the book. All reviews are honest and my own.

Dear Zoella: A Note About Your Book Club | Discussion Post

Dear Zoella,

My name is Sheridan. I am seventeen years old, and I have been watching your channel for years. 

I don't remember how I stumbled upon your channel, but the only thing I remember is my cousin introducing me to your "How to Deal With Anxiety/Panic Attacks" video.

I can't put into words how much that helped me, how much that changed my life. I don't think I formally recognized that my "school-age shyness" was something completely different. I didn't know that I likely had an anxiety or panic disorder until I watched that video. Though I'm still not at a point mentally where I can convince myself to go to therapy for anxiety (hence why I am hesitant to say that I have anxiety), your videos have helped a lot. I see a great girl doing amazing things and not letting her own anxiety stop her. If you can do it, why can't I?

As hard as that was to put into words, I think you can understand the impact that you & your videos have had on my life. You are such a positive role model for me and I look up to you. I have a ton of respect for you.

Please keep this in mind as you read the following: I'm only seventeen and I still haven't mastered how to put the pen to the page, if you know what I mean. While some of this may seem very cross, that's not the intention at all.

What you might not know about me is that I am an author. Yes, a published author, at seventeen. I wrote a children's book about anti-bullying (Hank and Lui: King of the Mountain) and I couldn't be prouder of my accomplishments. I'm also an avid reader. Reading was and still remains one of the only ways that I can escape the negativity and cruelty of the world, and sometimes, even my own self-doubt and paralyzing anxiety.

When you announced your book club, I was so excited. I had already read a few of the books on the list at the time that it was announced, and I was excited to see how it progressed.

Recently, you held a twitter chat for your book club. This was really exciting because, not only do we get to talk to you, but we get to talk to you about books (which, to me, is the greatest thing that money can buy!)

But in all honesty, I was hurt when I saw that you responded to one of your questions like this.

[image description: A twitter user asked "What advice would you give to someone who doesn't particularly like to read?" Zoella replies: "Start with something a little easier, maybe a YA or something smaller to spark your love of books]

I know that it probably didn't cross your mind when you were answering the question, and I know that you didn't mean any harm by what you said, but I still am hurt. 

I know that you might not have realized that what you were typing can hurt, but that's what I'm here to inform you about. 

I was hurt that you called YA, one of my favorite genres, an easier genre to read. 

While you might not realize it, calling a certain genre of books "easier" to read, is an insult to both the readers and the authors. It implies that the books themselves are not complicated, that it's an "easy breezy read", that a YA book is a fast read because it doesn't make you think too hard about it. 

As an author, I know the term "easier genre" can be extremely insulting, even if you didn't mean it to be. It implies that YA books are easier to write, and calling a book an "easier" read can also be an insult to the intelligence, hard work and creativity of an author. 

While your channel has been almost like a second home to me, books have been there for me when no one else was. I grew up reading Harry Potter (and I still think that it is so cool that you were an extra in one of the movies!). I grew up reading every single day. I grew up finding versions of myself in other characters. I grew up in a hateful world, but I had books to escape it. 

Books have helped me in ways that I cannot quantify. Books have literally saved me, when I thought that saving myself wasn't possible. It is authors and characters and story-lines and villains and heroes and words on pages that did that for me. As a fellow author, I know you understand that, and I know that your book has done that for someone else. (I personally, haven't been able to find the book in my bookstores, and so I haven't been able to read the series). 

To hear something like that which belittles the YA community stings where it hurts. It doesn't make me feel good, to be frank. It feels like, by saying that YA is an "easier" genre to read, you're also saying that my own experience and journey with YA is not as important; that it doesn't mean as much and that I took the easy way out when it comes to reading. I didn't. 

I know you likely didn't mean any harm in your tweet. After all, I know it is just a tweet, and a lot of context, body language and emotion can be lost when our conversations are mainly through screens. I'm not writing this letter in anger, and I'm not writing this to try and make you feel bad. I'm only writing this to help you realize that your words have influence. Your words have power and sometimes, they can make people feel emotions that you didn't intend. 

I hope you realize that. 

Zoe, I love your videos, I love your optimism, and I am absolutely sure that I will love your books! I know that you have great things ahead of you and I cannot be more excited for what is to come. I just wanted to let you know about this. Hopefully, you'll listen to a little young subscriber like me. <3

Love, 

Sheridan

xoxo

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett | Moodboard Monday

Do you not know what "Moodboard Monday" is? Check out this post that explains it! 

THE ANATOMICAL SHAPE OF A HEART

Who was your favorite character in the book? 

My favorite character from this book was Jack! There was just something about him that pulled me in.

Did you pick any specific characters or scenes to be represented in your Moodboard?

I tried to include a variety of pictures that focus on Bex, a picture or two that focus on Jack, and a picture or two that focus on both of them. I wanted to incorporate more of Bex and her passions because the story does focus on her quite a lot (plus she is a very interesting person), so I wanted to give her the spotlight she deserves.

Did your Mood Board take a specific color scheme? If you actively chose one, why did you chose that specific color? 

I think that all of the pictures of Bex tend to have a beige coloring to them, a yellowish tone. The other ones, because most of them are during the night time, tend to be darker and have a little bit more contrast. I think this is interesting because to me, I think you could tie the plot of the book into these pictures as well: the life Bex lives in the daytime is completely different than what she does at night, or what she does with Jack.

Was there a picture that you just couldn't find to incorporate into your mood board? If you can answer it with little to no spoilers, tell us how it related to the book!

I really wanted to find a girl standing in front of a medical facility, with a lab coat & some equipment (even if it was just a clipboard in her hand), but I understand that the Internet doesn't have every single picture that I want, and I'm okay with that. I found some really cool alternate shots, and I'm still really happy with how my Moodboard turned out!

If you read the book, what was your rating for it? Link us to your review if you have one! :)

If you want to read my review of the book, you can click here! I actually read this book as part of the Sunday Street Team all the way back in November of 2015 (which was oh-so-long ago!).

Synopsis of the Book:
Artist Beatrix Adams knows exactly how she's spending the summer before her senior year. Determined to follow in Da Vinci's footsteps, she's ready to tackle the one thing that will give her an advantage in a museum-sponsored scholarship contest: drawing actual cadavers. But when she tries to sneak her way into the hospital's Willed Body program and misses the last metro train home, she meets a boy who turns her summer plans upside down.

Did you participate in MoodBoard Monday this week? Link me to your post in the comments! Did you read this book? What did you enjoy about it/rate it?

The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy + GIVEAWAY | Blog Tour

I am super excited to be a part of the blog tour for The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy!

The Telling is about a girl named Lana, who finds her life turned upside-down after mysterious murders begin to occur in her small hometown. Everything she knew has disappeared, and Lana is now forced to cope with the fact that her life after is anything but ordinary.

You can read the official synopsis below!

ABOUT THE BOOK

A chilling new novel about a girl who must delve into her past if she wants to live long enough to have a future when a series of murders that are eerily similar to the dark stories her brother used to tell start happening in her hometown.

Lana used to know what was real. That was before, when her life was small and quiet. Her golden stepbrother, Ben was alive. She could only dream about bonfiring with the populars. Their wooded island home was idyllic, she could tell truth from lies, and Ben’s childhood stories were firmly in her imagination.

Then came after.

After has Lana boldly kissing her crush, jumping into the water from too high up, living with nerve and mischief. But after also has horrors, deaths that only make sense in fairy tales, and terrors from a past Lana thought long forgotten. Love, blood, and murder.

Pre-Order The Telling from AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE !

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Alexandra Sirowy is the author of The Creeping and The Telling. She was born and raised in Northern California, where she attended a women’s college as an undergraduate and received her MA at the University of San Francisco. She is a voracious reader, the oldest of three children, an avid traveler, a record-holding high school long jumper, a gourmet cook, a feminist, and forever grateful to her parents for reading to her as a child. Alexandra lives in Northern California with her husband.

Photo Credit: Vivian Sachs


Doesn't this book sound absolutely amazing?! I'm slowly branching my way into reading more YA thrillers, and I knew that The Telling would be a great book to read. I especially love The Telling, because even after reading the synopsis, I'm still not sure what to expect! Everything is a mystery, and I love going into intense books with little to no information about what is occurring in that universe (also known as "going in blind").

I know you want to start reading this book right away! Well, today is your lucky day! I partnered with Irish Banana's Blog Tours to bring you an exclusive excerpt of The Telling, so that you can fall in love with this book right away, or at least see if it is for you!

The blog tour actually has a different excerpts for each tour stop, but in total, the excerpt is about 5 chapters of the book! Start with the first tour stop, then make your way to the last one to read this AMAZING extended excerpt!

Here is my share of the excerpt!


If you loved the excerpt, you're in luck! I'm giving away (1) hardcover copy of The Telling right now on behalf of the publisher & author!

This giveaway is US only! I'm sorry to all of my international readers!

 *Please note that by entering this giveaway, you acknowledge that Sheridan & I Turn the Pages is in no way responsible for damage/loss of the giveaway prize while in transit to you!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let me know what you think of The Telling & the excerpt by commenting down below! Does this sound like the book for you? Do you read YA thrillers/mysteries? What did you think of the excerpt? I would love to know all of your responses!

Thank you so much to Irish Banana Blog Tours and Alexandra Sirowy for allowing me to share this excerpt with my readers! I cannot wait until this book is in my hands!

Why I Don't Like "Special" Editions | Discussion Post

Imagine, you walk into Barnes and Noble on a search for a book that you have been anticipating for ages. Today is finally the day when it publishes, and you hope to be one of the lucky people who manage to snag the book from the fresh restocking of the bookstore shelves.

The store opens, and immediately, you rush to the shelves. You know exactly where you would find it, and within seconds, it is right in front of you. You happily pick up the copy and bring it to the register, but you notice a little sticker on the front cover.

Barnes and Noble, special edition. it reads. Extra story inside. 

You had read something in the publisher's Twitter feed earlier in the day, mentioning that this book would have additional content depending on the store that you bought it from. But, wait. How could Barnes and Noble have a special edition? Didn't the publisher just tweet that Target was the one with the special edition?

As you scramble to pull out your phone and figure out the details, another tweet comes in. This time, it's about a Barnes and Noble special edition, with different content and extras than the Target special edition.

You want all of the extra content, but you don't have enough money to pay for both editions of the book, nor do you really need two copies of the same book on your shelves. What do you do?

Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings or Reviews on Goodreads | Top Ten Tuesday

This week's Top Ten Tuesday post was about finding books that have less than 2000 ratings on Goodreads that we enjoyed reading this year. As someone who has struggled to find the time to read (that is, until now) I noticed that a lot of the books that I have listed here have also appeared in other blog posts and Top Ten Tuesdays that I made.

I guess that is what you get when you read some really great books.

In all honesty, these books are all amazing. The fact that they have been mentioned on the blog several times and included in several posts should show their value! I've also included links to my reviews of all of these books too, in case you want to know some of my more "in-depth" thoughts about them. Just click on the title of the book to be taken to my review!

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Moodboard Monday

If you read my post on Friday, you would know that I recently finished reading the book Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. I thought this book would be a great book to post a mood board for, so I made my own!

Do you not know what "Moodboard Monday" is? Check out this post that explains it! 

Who was your favorite character in the book? 

My favorite character was, without a doubt, Rachel! 

Did you pick any specific characters or scenes to be represented in your Moodboard?

I didn't really pick any specific "scenes", but I kind of wanted to capture the essence of the characters. Greg is the boy in all of the shots, I have two of him with a camera because his passion is creating films. The middle picture is supposed to represent the book that he is writing. For Rachel, I wanted to capture her "style" by picking an outfit that I think she would wear. 

Did your Mood Board take a specific color scheme? If you actively chose one, why did you chose that specific color? 

I didn't actively choose a color scheme, but it seems like all of my pictures have a yellow tint. Maybe that's fitting, because it seems like you are looking through a film cell. Yellow to me also represents happiness, and even though there are a lot of sad things happening in this book, there are also a lot of great happy memories that Greg reflects on. 

Was there a picture that you just couldn't find to incorporate into your mood board? If you can answer it with little to no spoilers, tell us how it related to the book!

Oh goodness, I really wanted to find a picture that looked like Rachel while she was in the hospital. I just couldn't find a picture that captured the mood I wanted. I can't say too much about that mood without spoiling the book though, so I guess you have to read it! 

If you read the book, what was your rating for it? Link us to your review if you have one! :)

If you want to read my review of the book, you can click here! I actually really enjoyed reading this book. If you haven't read the book, I'll include the summary below.

"Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight."

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews | Review

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Publish Date: March 1 2012

Page Amount: 295 pages

Price: $17.95 Hardback

ISBN: 1419701762 (ISBN13: 9781419701764)

Order Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Here!

Learn More About Jesse Andrews Here!

Learn more about the book on Goodreads here!

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

How to Make a Mood Board | Mood Board Monday Instructions

If you haven't already, you should read my introduction to Mood Board Monday. Otherwise, you might be kind of lost as to why I'm providing this tiny tutorial.

If you read this post first, hello! This is going to be a fairly short post, because all I'm doing is introducing you to the website that I use to make my mood boards & a tiny bit of my process.

Of course, before you put a mood board together, you have to find images to use. You can pick as many images as you want, but I suggest anywhere between 4-8 for a mood board that is still easy to make. (Some "Mood Board Makers" have limits on how many pictures you can upload, hence the suggestion).

After you find your images and save them somewhere you can access them, you'll want to go to the website https://www.befunky.com/features/collage-maker/. Of course, if you want to find your own website for making these, you can always Google "photo collage maker" or "mood board maker" and then shift through the results until something suits you.

This should be the first screen that you see. Click on "Get Started" to enter into the collage maker!

Select your language, and then the following screen should be what you see. 

My photo maker is automatically set for 6 pictures (as you can see by the default pictures to the left) but you can easily change the amount of pictures/layout of the collage that you want to include by clicking the layouts button (the button with the four squares). You can even mess around with other settings such as spacing, corner rounding, and background color too!

Below, I've included a list of all of the sidebar buttons and the menus that they can take you to.

From Top to Bottom:

Image Manager (the default screen)

Settings

Layouts

Patterns

Graphics

Text

Greeting Cards (just ignore this one!)

Each one of these tabs offer different features and styles for your Mood Board. It is incredibly easy to use and extremely straight forward so I'll let you do the exploring on your own. :)

You can play around with all of these tabs and add new pictures/etc. to your mood board until you are completely satisfied with how it looks. It only took me about 30 minutes to make my first mood board, and that includes the time I spent searching for pictures!

The reason I love this photo collage maker is because it isn't only easy to use, but because they have premade graphics and text that you can layer on top of your photo collage. On top of that, it doesn't cost a penny. 

When you are done, just click the save button to download it to your computer, or the share button to post it across all of your social media accounts. For Mood Board Monday, I recommend downloading it to your computer and then uploading it to your blog post.

That is it! 

Now, go out and make your Mood Boards for the great new feature!

For Mood Board Veterans: Are there any other sites you recommend or tips you have for us? Let us know in the comments! :)

For Mood Board Newbies: Was this tutorial helpful? Is there anything else that you need to know? Most importantly, are you excited for the new feature?

Introducing Mood Board Monday | Weekly Blog Feature

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of book bloggers create "mini pinterest boards" based on the books that they read. Most of the time, I've seen these photo collages as an extra to their reviews, without any real emphasis on the photo collage, or mood board, itself.

Some of my favorites come from the blog What Sarah Read. She, like many others, makes amazing photo collages and I am blown away by the creativity in her posts. I thought I would enclose an example of one of her mood boards to show you all exactly what a moodboard is and how you go about creating one. 

A moodboard is basically a photo collage, a mishmosh of different photos with different subjects and "feels" to them that come together to create an overall piece. They are really quite simple to make and it's really fun too!

What does this have to do with the new weekly blog feature? It turns out, just about everything. 

Introducing.......Mood Board Monday!

Here's how the feature would work. 

The blogger (you) would pick a book that you have read or are anticipating to feature on your blog. Then, you would essentially create a mood board for that book (if you don't know how to do that yet, it's okay. I have a post explaining how to make a moodboard and what I use). After creating your moodboard, there are a few questions that you would answer about the book and the moodboard that you made. 

These questions are not a definitive list, I'll be adding and changing questions based on your suggestions, but if you think of a question that you want to answer, go ahead and add that in. You don't have to answer any of these questions if you don't want to, but I just thought that they would be a nice companion with the moodboard.

•  Who was your favorite character in the book? 
• Did you pick any specific characters or scenes to be represented in your Moodboard? 
• Did your Mood Board take a specific color scheme? If you actively chose one, why did you chose that specific color? 
• Was there a picture that you just couldn't find to incorporate into your mood board? If you can answer it with little to no spoilers, tell us how it related to the book!
• If you read the book, what was your rating for it? Link us to your review if you have one! :)

After answering these questions, I also request that you include a summary of the book, just in case your readers are interested in learning more. A link to Goodreads would be helpful as well!

And, that's it! If you are interested in participating in this new feature, let me know in the comments and link me to your mood board! I'm working on putting together a page for Mood Board Monday on my blog in the future, so that we can see all of the amazing posts that you have put together! I'll update this post when that page is live. 

Top Books I've Read So Far This Year

So, for those of you that have been following the blog, you know that I haven't really had a chance to read this year (at least, read as much as I would like to). I've been bogged down by the ending of my senior year, my International Baccalaureate exams in May, and just trying to readjust after all of the stress and chaos (and, don't get me wrong, a very amazing school year) has ended.

With that being said, I don't think I have enough 2016 releases to fill this Top Ten Tuesday to my liking. The topic this week was supposed to be "The Top Ten Favorite 2016 Releases So Far This Year", but I haven't read enough 2016 releases.

Instead, I'm going to morph the topic a little bit. I'm going to talk about the Top Books I've Read So Far This Year, even though I know that might be a topic in the future. I'm just going to do it now, and if this topic comes along in the future, I'll pick a topic that I haven't done before. See? I have this figure out :)

Without further adieu, here are the summaries (and links to reviews if I have published them on the blog) of the Top Books I've Read So Far This Year!

RoseBlood by A.G. Howard | Waiting on Wednesday

Publisher: Amulet Books

Publish Date: January 10th 2017 

Page Amount: 464 pages

Price: $18.95 Hardback
ISBN: 1419719092 (ISBN13: 9781419719097)

PreOrder RoseBlood Here!

Learn More About A.G. Howard Here!

Learn more about the book on Goodreads here!

In this modern day spinoff of Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.

A. G. Howard brings the romantic storytelling that Splintered fans adore to France—and an entirely new world filled with lavish romance and intrigue—in a retelling inspired by a story that has captivated generations. Fans of both the Phantom of the Opera musical and novel, as well as YA retellings such as Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, will devour RoseBlood.

Is there anything special about this book that you are looking forward to?

Of course!

I absolutely love re-tellings. Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles Series (which features several retellings of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel to name a few) is one of my favorite series. I love how authors are able to take well-known stories and put their own twist on them. Even if two authors wrote two re-tellings of the same story, both books would end up drastically different. I'm excited for this book because I really want to see A.G. Howard's interpretation of The Phantom of the Opera and see how The Phantom of the Opera plays into the story.

Another reason why I am super excited for this book is that RoseBlood is a spin-off/modern retelling of The Phantom of the Opera! I used to think that authors only wrote re-tellings of fairytales, Imagine my surprise and delight when I stumbled across RoseBlood! 

I used to watch The Phantom of the Opera all of the time when I was younger. One of my friends had a gigantic celebrity crush on Gerard Butler, so I would watch it with her almost every time I was over at her house. Not to mention, we were (and still are) giant musical theater lovers, so this movie quickly became one of our favorites. I think that we eventually could recite the entire production by heart. (Okay, maybe I wasn't at that level, but my friend definitely was!).

I honestly was shocked when I discovered RoseBlood, but I guarantee that this was in a good way! Reading the synopsis brought back a flood of childhood memories for me, and made my need for this book so much stronger!

I also love the synopsis, as always. It's a rarity to find a re-telling that isn't inspired by a fairy-tale, let alone a book that features a seventeen-year old musical prodigy. I have a strong love for music and I'm excited that I finally found a character that feels the same way about music.

 I also know that RoseBlood has been compared to Marissa Meyer's works, so I'm very excited to read this book, since I loved Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles!

How did you hear of this book? From a Goodreads Search, Blogger Buddies, Twitter, etc.?

I actually found this book through Twitter. I can't remember which user sent out a tweet about it, but it linked to the synopsis. I was immediately hooked on this book and I determined that I need to have this book in my life. 

Have you read any of the author's works before?

Nope! I know that A.G. Howard has other books, but I haven't read them yet! I'm so excited that I discovered her though. I will definitely have to get my hands on her other books. 

What do you think about the cover? What about the title?

If there was a perfect example of insta-love, this would be it. The cover is not only beautiful and mysterious in it's own right, but it also ties in The Phantom of the Opera beautifully. I love the blue in the cover and how it contrasts with the red of the roses. Also, I think it's extremely clever to feature roses and their thorns.

Of course, the cover and the title go beautifully together. I just love that your eye is drawn to the roses in the cover and the title has "Rose" in it! I absolutely adore the title! 

When is the release date for this book? Do you think you can wait that long to read it?
This book comes out in January of 2017, according to Goodreads! That release date is so far away! I would love to read this book earlier if I had the opportunity! 

What do you think of this week's pick? What are you waiting on? Let me know in the comments below!

Zenith: The Androma Saga #1 by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings | Review

Publisher: Mirabel Inc.

Publish Date: June 21 2016 (Part One)

Page Amount: Not Completed

Price: $1.99 eBook (Part One)

ISBN: 1311167609 (ISBN13: 9781311167606)

Order Zenith Here!

Learn More About Sasha Alsberg Here!
Learn more About Lindsay Cummings Here!

Learn more about the book on Goodreads here!

"There is darkness sweeping across the stars.

Most know her as the Bloody Baroness, the captain of a fearsome glass starship called The Marauder. Androma and her crew strike terror in the hearts of those who cross them amongst the many corners of the Mirabel Galaxy.

When a routine mission goes rogue, the all-female crew is captured by a bounty hunter from Andi’s past and forced into a job that could, quite literally, start a war that will devour worlds.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the galaxy, the ruthless ruler Nor waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time. The final pieces are about to fall into place, liberating a plan that will tear Mirabel in two.

As the Marauder hurtles toward the unknown, there is one lesson that proves to be true: No one can be trusted in a galaxy that runs on lies and illusion.

From internet sensation Sasha Alsberg and multi-genre author Lindsay Cummings comes a new serialized space opera, full of action, intrigue, and steamy star-crossed romance.

Perfect for fans of Hugh Howie, Sarah J Maas, and Beth Revis." 

Zenith is a stellar space tale full of action, suspense, and romance that will leave you thirsty for more!

Sasha & Lindsay, you guys did an amazing job with this first part of Zenith.

I just want to give a little bit of background on my interest in this book, just because it's origins are meaningful and important to me, and I think we all have a little something to learn from them. If you don't know this already, I'm a teen blogger. I've been blogging for almost two years now, and even before I was doing that, I was watching Youtube videos about books, following authors on Twitter and engaging in friendly, book-related chats with pretty much anyone on the internet.

I discovered Sasha's channel right around the time when I was getting started with blogging. It had been a few months since I made my first post on my blog, and I didn't really know what I was doing or how to schedule a blog post so that my readers didn't see seven posts in one day. (Yes, that really did happen!). Needless to say, I fell in love with her channel. Seeing a then high-school student around my own age talk about the books that she loves spoke volumes to me. It was something I had never seen before. I was inspired. I was there for the majority of Sasha's senior year - I saw everything from amazing book talks to exciting news about where she is headed to college. In fact, without her channel, I wouldn't be a part of the Emerson College Class of 2021. I wouldn't have found it to begin with.

I found Lindsay on Twitter, like I did most authors at the time. Though I didn't own any of her books then (I remedied that situation) I loved seeing her interactions with other people. She just seems like she is an extremely nice person who loves what she does, and we all need more happiness in our lives like what Lindsey promotes. Though my only real "interaction" with Lindsay has been liking her Instagram posts here and there, I still feel like we value a lot of the same things. I want to be an author too, and I'm battling my own physical limitations every day. Though it doesn't affect my writing as much as it does my mentality and physical state, it's still something I have to work through, and seeing Lindsay work through that has given me the strength I need to work through that too.

As you can tell, I have a lot of emotional investment in this book. When I first heard that Sasha and Lindsay were writing a book together, I was so excited! I could instantly tell that this book would be a hit.

After reading the first part of Zenith: The Androma Saga, I have to say that most of my doubts were lifted. I actually ended up enjoying this read a lot more than I thought I would. I was mainly worried due to the fact that this book had two authors. I was worried that the writing styles of Sasha and Lindsay might not mix very well, that there would be a very clear distinction between Sasha's writing and Lindsay's writing, not because of experience, but because of their individuality and voice. I had worried that the "switch" between writing styles would be too much to handle and that it would distract me from the plot of the book as a whole.

But, to be honest, I can't tell you who wrote which parts of the book. I don't even know if they switched off writing in this part, because the flow was that amazing.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading this book. Sure, I had read the synopsis on Goodreads and seen a few tweets here or there about Zenith, but other than that, there was a very minimal interaction. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but when I read the first page I was instantly blown away. Who knew you could fit so much ACTION into nine chapters of a book? I don't want to say too much for the sake of spoilers, but the pacing of this action-fueled plot was absolutely perfect. Nothing seemed to drag, there was just enough introduction to all of the characters, and then, the action begins.

The one thing I didn't like about this information-loading is that, in the first few chapters, there seemed to be too much world-building. It seemed like conflicts and names of these places were being dropped on me one after the other, and I didn't really get a chance to comprehend or understand it before another piece of world-building was added into the equation. I definitely felt that I could understand the characters based on what I learned about them and their interaction with others, but I still don't feel like I can understand the world as much as I want to. The world-building development seemed way too fast for me, but hopefully in the next installments of Zenith, I can catch up!

Speaking of characters, I love the all-female crew of The Marauder! It was very refreshing to see that each of the crew members had very distinct and different personalities. I loved how none of the crew members adhered to a certain literary trope, but had their own unique "quirks" in their personality. I can't say much about the other characters yet, because I don't know too much about them at this point, but I'm definitely interested to see where this adventure will take them.

Zenith: The Androma Saga is the young adult book you have been waiting for. I read Part One in less than 30 minutes and I couldn't put it down! This has to be one of the best science fiction novels of 2016. I have never heard of a young adult book with a story as unique as this one. This dynamic group of spunky female space pirates is sure to hold a special place in your heart, and on your bookshelf. I cannot wait to see what is in store for Andi and her crew!

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

GIVEAWAY!

Want to read Zenith? Now is your chance! Familiarize yourself with my giveaway policies page (located at the top of the blog) and then enter the giveaway! 

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Top Ten Tuesday | Top Debut Books of 2016 That I Want to Read!

Because this topic is very similar to what I write for my Waiting On Wednesday posts, this week's post is going to be a list of the books that I am looking forward to from debut authors. I will include the summaries of the books below, but because I really want each book to have the spotlight that it deserves, I'll be delving into why I am excited for each book in future posts.
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Devil and the Bluebird by Jennifer Mason-Black

Blue Riley has wrestled with her own demons ever since the loss of her mother to cancer. But when she encounters a beautiful devil at her town crossroads, it’s her runaway sister’s soul she fights to save. The devil steals Blue’s voice—inherited from her musically gifted mother—in exchange for a single shot at finding Cass.

Armed with her mother’s guitar, a knapsack of cherished mementos, and a pair of magical boots, Blue journeys west in search of her sister. When the devil changes the terms of their deal, Blue must reevaluate her understanding of good and evil and open herself to finding family in unexpected places.

In Devil and the Bluebird, Jennifer Mason-Black delivers a captivating depiction of loss and hope.



The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West - and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing - down to number four. 

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.

A geeky, contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You will be published by St. Martin's Press May 17, 2016.

I Am Drums by Mike Grosso

Sam knows she wants to be a drummer. But she doesn’t know

how to afford a drum kit, or why budget cuts end her school’s 

music program, or why her parents argue so much, or even how to explain her dream to other people.

But drums sound all the time in Sam’s head, and she’d do just about anything to play them out loud—even lie to her family if she has to. Will the cost of chasing her dream be too high?

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia

I’m your protagonist—Reshma Kapoor—and if you have the free time to read this book, then you’re probably nothing like me.

Reshma is a college counselor’s dream. She’s the top-ranked senior at her ultra-competitive Silicon Valley high school, with a spotless academic record and a long roster of extracurriculars. But there are plenty of perfect students in the country, and if Reshma wants to get into Stanford, and into med school after that, she needs the hook to beat them all.

What's a habitual over-achiever to do? Land herself a literary agent, of course. Which is exactly what Reshma does after agent Linda Montrose spots an article she wrote for Huffington Post. Linda wants to represent Reshma, and, with her new agent's help scoring a book deal, Reshma knows she’ll finally have the key to Stanford.

But she’s convinced no one would want to read a novel about a study machine like her. To make herself a more relatable protagonist, she must start doing all the regular American girl stuff she normally ignores. For starters, she has to make a friend, then get a boyfriend. And she's already planned the perfect ending: after struggling for three hundred pages with her own perfectionism, Reshma will learn that meaningful relationships can be more important than success—a character arc librarians and critics alike will enjoy.

Of course, even with a mastermind like Reshma in charge, things can’t always go as planned. And when the valedictorian spot begins to slip from her grasp, she’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for that satisfying ending. (Note: It’s pretty far.)

Teach Me to Forget by Erica M Chapman

Ellery's bought the gun, made arrangements for her funeral, and even picked the day. A Wednesday. Everything has fallen into place.

Now all she has to do is die.

When her plans go awry and the gun she was going to kill herself with breaks, she does the one thing she has control over--return it and get a new one. After tormenting the crusty customer service associate by trying to return the gun with the wrong receipt, Ellery gets caught by the security guard who also happens to be someone she knows--the annoyingly perfect Colter Sawyer from her English class.

Colter quickly uncovers her secret and is determined to change her mind. After confessing his guilt over his brother's suicide, he promises not to tell her secret. Ellery tries to fight her attraction to him as the shadows of her past cling tight around her, but when she's faced with another tragedy, she must decide whether her love for one boy is more important than a lifetime of pain.

What debut book are you most excited for? Has it come out already? Did you read it? (Link me to your review!) Is your most anticipated debut read not on this list? Tell me what it is!

What is your TOP TEN?