"To find out what a story's really about,' the Librarian said,

'you don't ask the writer. You ask the reader."


- SNOW & ROSE by Emily Winfield Martin


Saturday, January 31, 2015

Stacking the Shelves #82: January 2015 Book Haul Part 2


Hello bookish friends!

Raise your hand if you got snow this week!!!
As predicted we got some snow, about 18 1/2 inches, which is kinda a big deal for us, we don't normally get more than 3 inches at a time, so people tend to panic about this, lol!
School was out for 2 days and we were able to enjoy some movies and books... it feels good to have not much to do and no where to be :)

Here are some books that I managed to get this week, no amount of snow can keep the books away!!!


(Please note, that the majority of my haul is Young Adult. Otherwise, books that aren't will be noted with either (A) for Adult, (NA) for New Adult, (MG) for Middle Grade, and (C) for Childrens books.)

*ARCs I received for review...
From Bloomsbury:
- APPLE AND RAIN by Sarah Crossan

From Macmillan:
HOW TO SAY I LOVE YOU OUT LOUD by Karole Cozzo (Swoon Reads)
- MOONE BOY: The Blunder Years by Chris O'Dowd and Nick V. Murphy (MG)
- LOST (Shipwreck Island #2) by S.A. Bodeen (MG)
- THE BOOK OF DARES FOR LOST FRIENDS by Jane Kelley (MG)
- SCHOOL FOR SIDEKICKS by Kelly McCullough (MG)
- TRACTOR MAC: New Friend by Billy Steers (C)
- GOOD NIGHT, FIREFLY by Gabriel Alborozo (C)
- YOU'RE A CRAB! A Moody Day Book by Jenny Whitehead (C)
- MY DOG IS THE BEST by Laurie Ann Thompson, Illustrated by Paul Schmid (C)
- BEE DANCE by Rick Chrustowski (C)
- BOATS FOR PAPA by Jessixa Bagley (C)
- WILD FEELINGS by David Milgrim (C)
- THE FUN BOOK OF SCARY STUFF by Emily Jenkins, Illustrated by Hyewon Yum (C)
CRYBABY by Karen Beaumont, Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin (C)


*What I received from my #OTSPSecretSister, Daphne of Gone Pecan... thank you!!! xo
- THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER (ARC) by Leslye Walton
- The most beautiful necklace/charms - a BEE and my initial :)
- A pad of 12x12 Scrapbooking papers
- Coloring pencils
- Hershey Kisses!!!

*What I received in booktrades...
THE DREAM THIEVES (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
- BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater


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A few pics from this past week :)

The Macmillan Picture Books we received this week :)
Blizzard of 2015! lol
My January Wrap-Up


* * * 

Thank you SO much for stopping by today!!!

Don't forget to leave a comment with your link so I can visit you too, please!!!
xoxo

Friday, January 30, 2015

Book/Movie Trailer Friday #6: MOSQUITOLAND (YA), JURASSIC WORLD (NR) and SMICK (C)


I have a new addiction: BOOK/MOVIE TRAILERS!!!

I'm an "old lady" who doesn't do much late Friday nights except read, 
catch up on some Big Bang Theory episodes or watch a few chick-flicks... 
and maybe bake a cookie or two... 
until I discovered that there are a lot of trailers out there, not only for movies, but more and more for books! And well, it's a new hobby of mine that I want to share with all of you!
Enjoy :) 



by David Arnold
Expected release date: March 3rd, 2015
Published by: Viking Children's (Penguin)
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, eBook


SUMMARY

"I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange." 

After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the "wastelands" of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland. 

So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.
 
Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, "Mosquitoland" is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.


BOOK TRAILER for MOSQUITOLAND


Book and music, written and produced, by David Arnold

MY THOUGHTS


I have so many thoughts about this book's summary and trailer, but cannot articulate all into words.
It just sounds like an amazing book! One that will surely make an impact and leave an impression on me.

Plus... roadtrip!



*     *     *     *     *


JURASSIC WORLD

Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Written by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow
Produced by Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley
Executive Producer(s): Steven Spielberg and Thomas Tull
Based on characters/books by Michael Crichton



U.S. Release date: June 12th, 2015
Genre: Action/Adventure 
Rating: Currently unrated
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard

SUMMARY


Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar, off Costa Rica's Pacific coast, now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond.

This new park is owned by the Masrani Global Corporation.

Owen, a member of the park's on-site staff, conducts behavioral research on the Velociraptors.

At the corporation's request, the park's geneticists create the Indominus Rex, a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, to boost visitor attendance... but it soon runs wild on the island.


MOVIE TRAILER for JURASSIC WORLD



MY THOUGHTS

OMG! I really never thought we'd ever get this movie!

Didn't they learn anything about the Velociraptors?!
Now they've gone and mixed it up with a T-Rex?!

Plust... PRATT!!!



*     *     *     *     *


SMICK

by Doreen Cronin
Illustrated by Juana Medina
Expected release date: February 5th, 2015
Published by Viking Juvenile (Penguin)
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Format: Hardcover, eBook


SUMMARY

Smick is a BIG dog. Sit, Smick.

Chick is a little chick. Stay, Smick!


So what happens when they see a stick? 


Written by New York Times bestselling author Doreen Cronin and ingeniously illustrated by newcomer Juana Medina, Smick is a story of unlikely friendship, a sense of adventure, and a lot of wonderful wordplay.



BOOK TRAILER for SMICK




MY THOUGHTS

First of all, aren't these the cutest little characters you have ever seen?!


AND, the narrator's voice is just the sweetest!
I want this as an audiobook too :)


*     *     *     *     *



What trailers are you watching right now???

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Cover Reveal Part 1: NOWHERE BUT HERE (Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry (YA)

West Side Story meets Sons of Anarchy?? 

Yes, please!

Katie McGarry's newest novel, NOWHERE BUT HERE, has a cover and I am SO thrilled to get to help reveal it to you today!!!

The first novel in her upcoming The Thunder Road Series, NOWHERE BUT HERE is a young adult contemporary romance that will keep you turning the pages long into the night. We have no doubt that when you get done, you're going to wish you were on a motorcycle and had your own cut of leather across your back! 

Follow along today as pieces of the cover are revealed, and then stop by the HarlequinTeen Page to see the full cover at 7pm EST! 

And that's not all, of course
We have a few Behind-The-Scenes pictures from the photoshoot itself for you to enjoy as well! Check out the Behind-The-Scenes pictures and then scroll down for our puzzle piece!



*     *     *



NOWHERE BUT HERE
Thunder Road #1
by Katie McGarry
Expected release date: May 26th, 2015
Published by Harlequin Teen
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, eBook

SUMMARY

An unforgettable new series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart and ending up in a place you never imagined possible. 

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father — the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent — but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. 
But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both. 

Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. 
They're the good guys. They protect people. They're… family. 
And while Emily — the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member — is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. 
So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. 

What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down. No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.


PREORDER NOW

Amazon / Kobo / BAM / Barnes and Noble / iBooks / IndieBound


*     *     *


Behind-The-Scenes pictures





*     *     *



And here's the first piece to the cover for you!

R1_11amEST

Don't miss all of the puzzle piece reveals throughout the day!

 11am EST
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7pm EST
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*     *     *



ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Katie McGarry


Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. 

Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. 

Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Pinterest / Tumbler / Instagram


http://www.inkslingerpr.com/

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Waiting On Wednesday #117: BECOMING JINN by Lori Goldstein (YA)


"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

This is where we get to 'spotlight' books that we are anxiously waiting to be released!!!
The ones that we are dying to get our hands on and read into the wee hours of the night!!!
And, quite possibly, to make our shelves look pretty too :) 


What I'm currently waiting for... 


by Lori Goldstein
Expected release date: April 21st, 2015
Published by: Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan)
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy
Format: Hardcover, eBook


SUMMARY

Forget everything you thought you knew about genies!
Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit. 

To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny. 

Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn... and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.


Why I'm waiting on BECOMING JINN...

First... GENIES!!!

Second... this author has managed to combine two out of my favorite three genres: 
contemporary and fantasy!!!

(You all should know by now what my other favorite genre is! Right??? lol)

And lastly... is there a love-triangle??? 
I love me a good triangle when it isn't squared wrong ;) 


SO, what are you waiting for???

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Release Day (Guest Post and Giveaway): LOVE, LUCY by April Lindner (YA)


http://www.rockstarbooktours.com

by April Lindner
Release date: January 27th, 2015
Published by: Poppy (Little, Brown)
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Format read: ARC from the publisher.

SUMMARY

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food... and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. 

After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.

In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.






GUEST POST from April Lindner

Some Rules of the Road

Like Lucy Sommersworth, the heroine of Love, Lucy, my parents gave me the gift of a lifetime: a backpacking trip to Europe. I was a bit older than Lucy — 22, and just out of college — but when I arrived in Milan, Italy with a Eurail pass, a copy of Let’s Go: Europe, and a seventy-pound backpack I could barely lift, I was a wee bit terrified. Like Lucy, I spoke only a little bit of Italian, just barely enough to get by, and I wasn’t particularly good at reading maps or train schedules. Unlike Lucy, I was travelling solo.

Luckily, my journey began with training wheels. I’d just taken a college Italian class, and my professor had offered a safe crash pad for the first few days of my trip — in her family home in the Alps. Less luckily, when I reached Malpensa airport, nobody was there to pick me up. Giddy with excitement and jet lag, I wandered around the airport, eavesdropping on Italians as they hugged each other hello and goodbye, and had noisy arguments. I’d never felt more alone in my life. Where would I sleep that night if my ride didn’t show up?


Luckily, my professor’s brother arrived at last to whisk me away to the family home in Domodossola. The extended family welcomed and fed me, gave me tours of their city with its charming medieval center, helped me practice my Italian, and, when the time was right, brought me to the train station where my solo travels began for real. It was time to take off the training wheels.

If I’d felt alone back in the airport, I was even more so on that train to Verona, a city where I didn’t know a soul. In those pre-internet days, I could disappear into thin air and nobody would even notice I was gone. The thought was chilling, but oddly exciting.

By nightfall, I’d made it to Verona. I’d figured out the public transportation, found a youth hostel, and booked myself a bed. Best of all, I had introduced myself to a handful of other backpackers. We hung out together in the hostel’s common area, sharing bread and cheese, exchanging stories, discussing the rules of the road — those bits of practical wisdom our travels were teaching us. Here are a few.


Time passes differently on the road.  Spend a few very intense hours seeing the sites with strangers and by the end of the day, those strangers have become a part of your story. Years later you’ll see their faces in your photo album and still remember stray details of the adventures you shared together, even if you can’t quite recall their names.

Spontaneity is key.  There are few things as magical as showing up at a train station with no idea where you’re headed next, picking a random train, and hopping on.


Janis Joplin said it best: Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.  When you’re carrying all your possessions on your back in a city where you don’t know a soul, you’re absolutely free. You can go anywhere, do anything. That freedom has its lonely moments — but it can be the doorway to all kinds of adventures.


Embrace misadventure.  As carefully as you plan there will be crazy mistakes: wrong turns, slept-through train stops, multilingual misunderstandings, and all kinds of other blunders — and these will make the best stories. My misadventures are some of my favorite memories. The time I missed curfew and had to climb into my hostel through a second-story window. The morning when, hanging out my recently washed clothes to dry, I dropped my wet underthings out the window, onto a stranger’s head. The night when, with no room to stay in, I slept on Venice’s train station steps with about a hundred other backpackers, the stars above us and the Grand Canal stretched out before us.  
Would I trade that last memory for a safe, comfy night in an actual bed? Not on your life.


 GIVEAWAY

- 1 copy of LOVE, LUCY to be ordered from Amazon or The Book Depository (Int’l)
- 3 JANE posters (signed) – US only
- Ends February 6 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific

(Bumbles and Fairy-Tales will not be held responsible for any lost, damaged, unclaimed, etc. prizes.)


ABOUT THE AUTHOR - April Lindner


April Lindner is the author of three novels: Catherine, a modernization of Wuthering Heights; Jane, an update of Jane Eyre; and Love, Lucy, releasing January 27, 2015. 
She also has published two poetry collections, Skin and This Bed Our Bodies Shaped
She plays acoustic guitar badly, sees more rock concerts than shed care to admit, travels whenever she can, cooks Italian food, and lavishes attention on her pets — two Labrador retriever mixes and two excitable guinea pigs. 
A professor of English at Saint Josephs University, April lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.
GOODREADS / BLOG / TWITTER / FACEBOOK / TUMBLR / GOOGLE + 

Release Day (Excerpt and Giveaway): A COLD LEGACY (The Madman's Daughter #3) by Megan Shepherd (YA)


http://www.rockstarbooktours.com

The Madman's Daughter #3
by Megan Shepherd
Release date: January 27th, 2015
Published by: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Genre: Young Adult 
Format: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook


SUMMARY

After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet — along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward — has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation — and her own intended role in it — forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own.

With inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman’s Daughter trilogy is about the things we’ll sacrifice to save those we love — even our own humanity.




A Cold Legacy (The Madman's Daughter #3) EXCERPT
(pg. 21 - 24)

Montgomery stopped the horses outside a tavern. He came to the carriage door, opening it just a crack to keep the rain from drenching us. “I’m going to ask directions. We can’t be far now.”

We watched him saunter over the muddy street as though he didn’t even feel the bite of freezing rain. A face appeared in the tavern window. The door opened and he spoke to a woman in a wool dress for a few moments, then stomped back through the mud. “This village is called Quick,” he told us. “The manor’s only five miles from here.”

“Did you hear that?” Lucy murmured to Edward, still stroking his hair. “We’re almost there. Just hold on. Everything will be all right once we arrive.”

Montgomery’s eyes shifted to me. Neither of us wanted to remind Lucy that the prospect of Edward’s fever breaking—and the Beast’s reappearance—was almost more frightening than the fever itself. Delirious, he was less of a threat.

“Let’s go then,” I whispered to Montgomery. “And quickly.”

He closed the door and in another moment we were moving again, passing through the rest of Quick. Then all too soon the village was nothing but fading lights. The storm grew and the road became rougher, and all the while Edward’s eyes rolled back and forth beneath shuttered lids.

Thunder struck close by, and Lucy shrieked. Montgomery whipped the horses harder, pulling us along the uneven road impossibly fast, trying to outrun the storm. I twisted in the seat to look out the back window at the pelting rain. A stone fence ran alongside us.

“We must be getting close,” I said.

“Not soon enough,” Lucy breathed. “We’re going to crash if he keeps driving like this!”

The road widened, straightening, letting us travel even faster. Lightning struck close by, blinding me. The horses bolted. Lucy screamed and covered her eyes, but I couldn’t tear mine away. The lightning had struck an enormous oak tree, twisted from centuries of wind. The oak took flame, blazing despite the rain. A smoking gash ran down the trunk—the lightning’s death mark. I watched until the rain put out most of the flames, but it still smoldered, billowing hot ash into the night.

The horses pawed the earth, and I grabbed the window to steady myself. At this wild speed, just hitting a single rock at the wrong angle would send the carriage shattering to the ground. It was madness to go so fast. Couldn’t Montgomery calm the horses?

Just when I feared the carriage would careen out of control, it stopped short, throwing me against the opposite wall. I tangled in Lucy’s limbs as the chains around Edward’s body clinked. Balthazar grunted, jerking awake at last. We scrambled in the bottom of the carriage until the door flew open.

Montgomery stood in the pelting rain. I feared he’d say we’d broken another strut or the horses had gone lame or we’d have to spend the night in the harsh storm.

But then I saw the lights behind him, and the night took shape into a turreted stone manor with bright lamps blazing and gargoyles on the roof vomiting rain into a stone courtyard.

Montgomery’s eyes met mine beneath the low brim of his hat.

“We’ve arrived,” he said.


JOIN the Madman's Daughter TWITTER CHAT today at 8pm EST!!!



GIVEAWAY

- 1 winner will receive a signed copy of A COLD LEGACY and swag! 
- US Only.
- Ends on February 6th at Midnight EST!

(Bumbles and Fairy-Tales will not be held responsible for any lost, damaged, unclaimed, etc. prizes.)


ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Megan Shepherd


Hello! 

I’ve been many things, like a professional exchange student, park ranger in Montana, and LOST enthusiast, but what I am now is a writer.

I think it’s fair to say I was born into it. I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, raised behind the counter of my parents’ independent bookstore, Highland Books in Brevard. Ah, so many free books. But I never thought being a writer could be a real career. After college I thought I’d end up as a foreign service officer somewhere dashing and exotic, like Canada. I studied French, Spanish, German, and Russian and still speak a few of those. Then I joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Senegal, where I learned a few more languages I’ll never speak again and lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water. You can probably imagine how that experience went, but if you’re curious, here are the dirty details

It wasn't until a chance acquaintance read something I wrote and said, "have you ever considered being a writer?" that something clicked and I realized it was possible. My husband encouraged me, and I quickly fell head-over-heels in love with writing and children's literature in particular. I started out writing articles, which have appeared in Faces, Appleseeds, and Calliope magazines, and stories for younger children. I soon realized I wasn’t sweet enough to write fiction for that age and found myself writing young adult literature instead, which doesn’t require nearly as many tender moments and includes a lot more cursing.

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found horseback riding, day dreaming at coffee shops, or hiking in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. I love to hear from readers, so please drop me a line!



http://www.rockstarbooktours.com/

 
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