Book Haul #46 and UPDATE... it's time for a blog break :(

Hello my book friends!
As many of you know, I have been "sick" and homebound for over a month now. And during this time, I have not been able to read or spend much time on the internet since it makes me dizzy and more tired.
I have not been able to post much or keep up with my reading and blogging schedule, and I sincerely apologize for this. And I am SO very sorry for the tours, updates, etc. that I have missed during this time too.

It's finally time for me to admit that I need to take a permanent blogging break.

I don't know how long it will be for. Maybe a few more weeks... but it could be months :(

I miss you all so very much! The book community is one of the most caring and understandable communities I have ever been a part of! And I truly appreciate all of you that have reached out to me with concern!

I am really missing my books and reading time! My family has never seen me not reading or carrying around a book, they know I must be feeling really crummy not to, and it hurts them just as much. I have the best husband, kiddos, parents, sister and brother-in-law ever! I don't know how I would manage without them all!...

I am so sad to have also been missing out on a few local signings and events, mainly Jen Calonita's 'The Grass is Always Greener' signing this past week - she is such a fab author, you should all check out her Belles Series pronto!
And I'm also sad to finally have to say that I will probably not be up to going to BEA this year. It is such a privilege to be allowed to attend. And I am going to miss seeing so many wonderful faces this year.

Also, a quick shout out to Mike at The Subtle Chronicler! He is a great book blogger and reviewer and deserves much more attention than he has received. I asked him to review a few books for me and he was so sweet to say yes! Here is his review of The Namesake by Steven Parlato... please stop by and leave a comment! Thank you! and thank you Mike for your help!!!

Last but not least... I have received an amazing stack of books this month from so many wonderful 

publishers, giveaways, swaps, etc! (I'm participating in Stacking the Shelves.)

For Review:

- Screwed by Laurie Plissner (YA) from Media Press/F+W Media

- Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller (YA) from Spencer Hill Press 

- The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E.B. Hudspeth (YA) from Quirk Books

From Giveaways:

- The Elite by Kiera Cass (YA) a win from Mundie Moms

- Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike (YA) a win from Mundie Moms 

- While He Was Away by Karen Schreck (YA) a win from Once Upon a Prolgue 

 - Golden (ARC) by Jessi Kirby (YA) a win from Riffle Books 

From Swaps:

- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen from SuSuScribes 

- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde from SuSuScribes

- The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin from SuSuScribes

- The Boyfriend App (ARC) by Katie Sise (YA) from Mod Podge Books

- Imposter (Slide #2) (ARC) by Jill Hathaway (YA) from Mod Podge Books

- The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers (ARC) by Lynn Weingarten (YA) from Mod Podge Books

 - Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger (YA) a trade 

I purchased:

- In Honor by Jessi Kirby (YA)

- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (YA)

- Sunday Morning Quilts (signed) by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison

A HUGE THANK YOU to all!!! 

I hope to see you all very soon! 

If you would like to keep in touch, the best way is to email, follow via twitter or my personal Facebook!

Much love to all!!! xoxo

Blog Tour: Deeper We Fall by Chelsea M. Cameron (Excerpt)

DEEPER WE FALL

Fall and Rise #1

by Chelsea M. Cameron

Release date: January 24th, 2013

Published by: DRC Publishing

Genre: New Adult - Contemporary 

SUMMARY

Two years after her best friend was involved in a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury, Lottie Anders is ready to start her freshman year of college. Ready to move on. Ready to start forgetting the night that ripped her life apart.

Her plans come to a screeching halt when not one, but both brothers responsible for the accident end up back in her life again.

Zack is cruel, selfish and constantly rubbing what happened to her friend in Lottie's face. 

Zan is different. He listens to her awkward ramblings. He loves "To Kill a Mockingbird" as much as she does, and his dark eyes are irresistible. His words are few and far between, but when he does speak, she can't help but listen. 

The trouble is, Zan was the driver in the accident, and now Lottie's discovered he lied to her about what happened that night. Now she must decide if trusting him again will lead to real forgiveness, or deeper heartache.

Purchase from: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

EXCERPT

“Charlotte.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not sure which of the thousand things you’ve done wrong you’re sorry for now and I doubt you know either, in this state.”

The elevator opened on his floor and I got his arm over my shoulder again as we struggled our way to his door.

“Where’s your card?” I said.

He opened his eyes for only a second. “What?”

I shoved him against the door and started the lovely task of searching his pockets. Of course he couldn’t be the kind of person who wore their card on a lanyard. I didn’t either, but I always kept my card in my back left pocket.

He watched me while I searched, finding it in his back pocket. I tried really hard not to think about where my hands were going, and that only a little bit of fabric separated my hand from his skin and other things.

I moved him to lean against the wall and slid the key card into the door before opening it as slowly as I could. There was enough light from the hallway to see that his roommate’s bed was empty and I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned the light on.

One side of the room was a disaster. Clothes and cans and random crap everywhere. The other side was orderly and sparse. I figured that was the Zan side. I got him in and sort of shoved so he fell onto the bed, banging his head on the wall.

“Ow,” he moaned.

“Shut up,” I hissed. My brother and Simon were on the other side of that wall, and they were the absolute last people I wanted to find out about this little adventure.

“‘We are the mirror as well as the face in it,” he muttered, opening and closing his eyes. “‘We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity.’” I swung his feet up on the bed and started yanking his shoes off. “‘We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.’”

How the hell he was with it enough to quote poetry but barely able to walk, was beyond me.

“Charlotte?”

“What?” I finally jimmied his shoes off and chucked them on the floor. I guessed it didn’t matter if he slept in his clothes, because I sure as hell wasn’t undressing him.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” He tried to sit up, but I shoved him back down. “Just shut up and stay here. I’m going to get you some water.”

He nodded and stayed put. I peered out into the hallway and dashed as fast as I could to the bathroom and back with a glass I’d found on his desk. I didn’t really care if it was dirty or not. He wouldn’t know the difference.

Zan was on his side when I came back.

“Here,” I said, shoving the water at him. He took it, but his hand was wobbly, so I held it for him as he sipped.

There, I’d done something good for my karma. That was it, I was done.

“Charlotte?”

“WHAT?!” I snapped before I realized how loud my voice was. Shit. I clapped my hand over my mouth, as if I’d screamed a curse word in church.

“I’m Boo Radley.”

“You’re what?” He sort of slurred it, so I wasn’t absolutely sure that was what he said. What did Boo Radley have to do with anything?

“I’m Boo Radley.” His eyes closed and he went limp on the bed.

BOOK 2: FASTER WE BURN

by Chelsea M. Cameron

Release date: April 20th, 2013

SUMMARY

Katie Hallman is done with douchebags. Done with guys who treat her like crap and leave her broken. But then Stryker Grant is there anyway. With his numerous piercings and bleached hair, he’s the polar opposite of all of her past relationships, which makes him the perfect candidate.

At first, Katie just sees him as a physical escape from her previous rocky relationship, and Stryker doesn’t seem to mind just being a distraction from Katie’s problems. But soon he’s getting under her skin, peeling back layers she’d rather keep covered. She tries to make it clear that she doesn’t want a relationship, but keeps breaking her own rules.

Then a tragedy sends Katie into the only arms who are there to catch her, and she’ll realize that she needs him more than she ever thought possible. But is she ready to let herself trust another guy with her already-battered heart? Or will she push him away to protect herself from getting hurt again?

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Chelsea M. Cameron

Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is. 

Website, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter

A book tour for: 

http://www.xpressobooktours.com/

Waiting On Wednesday #56: TUMBLE & FALL by Alexandra Coutts

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

This is were 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 all pretty too :)

What I'm waiting on... 

Tumble & Fall

by Alexandra Coutts

Expected release date: September 17th, 2013

Published by: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (BYR) 

Genre: Young Adult 

SUMMARY

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings. 

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. 

The question isn’t how to save the world — the question is, what to do with the time that's left? 

Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family — all with the ultimate stakes at hand. 

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

Why I'm waiting on TUMBLE & FALL... 

This books just sounds way too realistic to me -
I usually stay away from stories that can possibly come true.
Yes, I'm one who tries to live in a small bubble, denial.

BUT, everything about this book just screams read-me-now!
And the cover! One of my faves of this year :)


So, what are you waiting on this week???

Beehive Book Haul and News #45: 2 Week Update Edition

So, it's been over 2 weeks since I've posted anything worthwhile... I'm still "sick in bed" and it totally sucks.

And what's worse, I haven't been able to read {sobs!} I get headaches and then feel dizzy when I try to read a few pages, kinda not worth the pain right now :(  

This means, unfortunately, I'm not going to have many reviews posted for a while. 

This also means, that I may be looking for someone to help out with all the review books that I have received (mostly middle grade few YA). It's a thought that I have had for a few months now, and now due to circumstances, this idea sounds mighty good. Would be nice to partner up with someone, even if it is just for a temporary amount of time.

I hope you guys have all had a great week in books :)

This is what I have received in the last 2 1/2 weeks... 

I'm participating in Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and Showcase Sunday :)

What I received for review...
- Wish (Faerieground #1) by Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser (MG)
- Nobody's Secret by Michaela MacColl (YA)

What I won...
- Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) (signed) by Marissa Meyer (YA) from Tt of Never Ending Stories Book Blog :)
- If You Find Me (won) by Emily Murdoch (YA)
- Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (MG) from Walden Pond Press Media

From Heather of Fire and Ice:
- Shut Out (ARC) by Kody Keplinger (YA)
- The Dead Girls Detective Agency (ARC) by Suzy Cox (YA)
- Ask the Passengers (ARC) by A.S. King (YA)

What I purchased...
- Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (Adult)

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy reading :) xoxo

Waiting On Wednesday #55: JUST ONE YEAR by Gayle Forman

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

This is were 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 all pretty too :)

What I'm waiting on... 

Just One Year

(Just One Day #2)

by Gayle Forman

Expected release date: October 2013

Published by: Dutton Juvenile

Genre: Young Adult

SUMMARY

Can you fall in love in just one day? 

Can you become a new person? 

How about in just one year? 

In JUST ONE DAY and its companion novel JUST ONE YEAR, sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey and easygoing actor Willem De Ruiter are about to find out against a guidebook-worthy array of foreign backdrops.

Equal parts romance, coming-of-age-tale, mystery and travel romp (with settings that span from England’s Stratford upon Avon to Paris to Amsterdam to India’s Bollywood) JUST ONE DAY and JUST ONE YEAR show how in looking for someone else, you just might wind up finding yourself.

Why I'm waiting on JUST ONE YEAR...

WILLEM'S POINT-OF-VIEW!!! 

We get to find out what happened to him!!! 

And what he did in the year after meeting Allyson...

The ending to Just One Day was a killer!!!

Can't wait!!!

What are you waiting for right now???  

Waiting On Wednesday #54: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING by Kari Luna

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

This is were 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 all pretty too :)

What I'm waiting on... 

The Theory of Everything

by Kari Luna

Expected release date: July 11th, 2013

Published by: Penguin

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary

SUMMARY

Sophie Sophia is obsessed with music from the late eighties. She also has an eccentric physicist father who sometimes vanishes for days and sees things other people don’t see. But when he disappears for good and Sophie’s mom moves them from Brooklyn, New York, to Havencrest, Illinois, for a fresh start, things take a turn for the weird. Sophie starts seeing things, like marching band pandas, just like her dad. 

Guided by Walt, her shaman panda, and her new (human) friend named Finny, Sophie is determined to find her father and figure out her visions, once and for all. So she travels back to where it began—New York City and NYU’s physics department. As she discovers more about her dad’s research on M-theory and her father himself, Sophie opens her eyes to the world’s infinite possibilities—and her heart to love.

Perfect for fans of Going Bovine, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and The Probability of Miracles.

Why I'm waiting on 'The Theory of Everything'... 

Everything about this book sounds so interesting...
The cover is perfection! I love when covers match their summaries and help tell the story!

And it's being compared to The Perks of Being a Wallflower AND The Probability of Miracles.
Must be good :)


What are you waiting on this week???

Book Tour: IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME by Laura Nowlin (Guest Post)

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin

Release date: April 1st, 2013

Published by: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary

SUMMARY

If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.

Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable — 

they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. 

But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. 

But she's always wondered what if...

The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy.

GUEST POST - Top Ten Things I Wish I Could Change about my High School Years

1.     I wish smart phones had existed, and that I'd had one.

This seems frivolous, I know, but when I was in high school only the rich kids had cell phones at all, and wi-fi was a rare and wondrous thing. I can only imagine how cool it must be to get into hilarious hijinks with your friends, and be able to post pics of your shananigins in real time. If we did something cool, we had to tell people about it later, and we probably didn't have photographic proof, because pictures were these paper things you had to pay to have made.

2.     I wish I had broken up with my boyfriend.

Now, my high school sweetheart was not a bad guy by any means, but looking back I see how I only dated him for my entire high school career because I liked the idea of only having one boyfriend ever. If I had really been following my heart, I would have admitted to myself that he wasn't the one and only guy for me, and I could have possibly had a wider range of romantic experience.

3.     I wish I had broken more rules.

I was a good kid. A really, really good kid. Sometimes as an adult I wish I had some of the when-I-was-a-crazy-teen stories that other people have.

4.     I wish I had learned to drive.

In If He had Been with Me, Autumn manages to graduate high school without learning to drive. I managed to graduate from college and get married without a driver's license. I let a small anxiety grow into a massive mental block, and I wonder what the ego-boost of conquering my fear would have done for teenage me.

5. I wish I had admitted to others that I needed help.

As an adult I have been diagnosed with clinical depression, but as a teenager I hid my depressive episodes from my loved ones. I can only imagine how different those years would have been if I would have admitted my to struggle  and gotten the help I needed.

6.     I wish I had worked harder in Spanish class, and gone to Spain on the class trip.

I ended up minoring in Spanish, but I never did get the experience of full immersion, and now my skills are so rusty that I'll probably never be fluent.

7.     I wish our exchange student had lived with us all four years

Swantje lived with my family for ten months. She challenged and inspired me, and ultimately changed me forever. To this day I keep a picture of her by my writing desk.

8.     I wish I had cared less about what other people thought.

I think everyone feels this way about their high school years. At the time, I claimed that I didn’t care what others thought, but when I compare that to how much I really don’t care now...

9.     I wish I’d been less critical of my body

When I look at pictures of my teenage self, I just want to grab that girl by the shoulders and scream, “Your stomach IS  flat! It is! It really is! And you are not appcreiating how high your breast are! Your stomach is flat and your breats are perky! Go put on a string bikini and feel fabulous! Right Now!”

10.  I wish I had written more.

To be fair, I think this is something I will always say about any time in my life. I guess it's nice to know that some things will never change.

____________________________________________

A big thank you to Laura for stopping by my blog today and guesting :) 

And a thank you goes to Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to be a part of the IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME blog tour! 

____________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Laura Nowlin

Laura Nowlin holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Missouri State University. Her short stories have appeared in The Moon City Review and STEM. In addition to being ambitious writer Laura is also an avid reader who believes that books allow her to live many lives in one lifetime. When she isn’t at home agonizing over her own novels Laura works at the public library where the patrons give her plenty of inspiration for her writing. She lives in St. Louis with her musician husband, neurotic dog, and psychotic cat.

Website/Blog, Goodreads, Twitter

Book Blitz: HELL'S HOLLOW by Summer Stone (Excerpt and Giveaway)

HELL'S HOLLOW

by Summer Stone

Release date: March 14th, 2013

Published by: Self-published

Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal

SUMMARY

When Seraphina was younger, she healed her best friend's injured hand. Terrified by the inexplicable cure, the girl shunned her. From that day on, Seraphina found herself without friends, a freak and an oddity. And so she obeyed her mother’s rule to refrain from using her innate ability, heeded her mother's warning that its use could land her in the local mental health facility alongside her aunt and grandmother.

But when sixteen-year-old Seraphina finds a mysterious, wounded boy hiding in the hollow in the woods behind her house, she can't hold out against the overpowering urge to help him. She is drawn to him each night, and as they come to know one another, their irresistible attraction blooms.

She longs to uncover his secrets — where he comes from and why he's hiding and how he came to be so wounded — and to share her own, though she knows it's forbidden. And while her healing touch seems to be helping him, it's hurting her. When the symptoms of psychosis — experienced by the women in her bloodline who used their powers — begin to plague Seraphina, she is faced with the unbearable choice of saving her sanity or the boy she’s come to love.

_________________________________________

EXCERPT

As I tried to hug Gran, she jumped to the ground and twirled around. “Did anybody follow you in here?” She closed the door and pushed her chair up behind it. “They’ll be coming for me,” she whispered, sounding scared and certain.

“Mother,” my mom cooed. “No one is coming for you. Come sit down and tell me why MK is passed out like this in the middle of the day.” I didn’t know how she stayed calm with Gran acting so crazy. The room felt hot and too small. Besides the two beds and Gran’s chair, there was only room for the dresser with the TV and radio on top and a decaying brown recliner.

“This,” Gran explained, “is what happens when you follow along. Pills go in, MK goes down. They’re trying to control us. Are you sure there wasn’t anyone behind you? They’ll be after me again. It’s that Johnny Rocket fella. He’s a bruiser. Did you see him in the hall?” She peeked behind the curtain. “I don’t know if I can take him down on my own. Why do you leave me with him when you know he wants to axe me?”

“Mother, try to focus. What about your pills?” Mom asked her.

Gran pointed at MK with a look that said something along the lines of she took them and I had nothing to do with it.

“Oh, Mother!” Mom stood up and turned to me. “I’m going to talk to the nurses. Looks like MK has been getting both of their doses again.” She glared at Gran. “Keep an eye on her, Seraphina.”

“An eye? An eye?” Gran called out, backing up against the wall as if I was about to peg her with an eyeball. “You keep your eyes to yourself, young lady. I’ve got two of my own and I don’t need any more thank you very much. I once knew a man in San Francisco who could take his eyeball out at will. Made a horrible sucking noise when he smushed it back in, like the sound of the bathtub emptying. Dangerous places bathtubs. I don’t fancy them myself. Fancy is as fancy does, so don’t go getting up on your high horse. Your horse, your horse, of course, of course.”

“It’s okay, Gran,” I promised, trying to unknot my stomach muscles and calm her at the same time. “My eyes are staying in my head.”

“Damn straight they are,” she mumbled, squinting her own at me like she didn’t trust me. “Straight as an arrow on a hot tin roof.” She pushed the chair under the doorknob.

I sat on her bed. “Can I ask you something?” It seemed hopeless given how out of it she was, but I had to at least try, besides maybe it would bring her around.

“Depends. Who told you to ask?”

“Just me. I was wondering about your sensitivity.”

“We don’t talk about that,” Gran parroted. “No siree, your mom says we don’t talk about that. Bad things could happen. We could bring down the apocalypse like the horsemen in colors of finery of the finest fine. Just like pine. Do you smell peppermint? Is it Christmastime?”

“No, Gran. There’s no peppermint. Listen, Mom’s out with the nurses,” I said. “She won’t talk about it with me, the sensitivity stuff. Come on, Gran, please?” Hope was trickling away. Some days she seemed so with it, so almost normal, and then some days were like this, where she couldn’t string together a complete thought.

“All right, quick then, what do you need to know?” She sat down practically on top of me, her head swiveling toward the door and back to the window.

“Is there a way to … you know, keep it from making you… I mean, is there some way to control it, to protect myself? Like, is it possible to… give in to it and still stay sane?” I couldn’t believe I’d actually thought it, much less said it out loud.

“Lordy be, if I’d figured that out I wouldn’t be in this joint. But there’s gotta be a way. They’re keeping it from us so we all end up in here with the crazies. It’s mind control. That’s why I won’t let them cut my hair. It’s a terrible waste. My locks protect me from those radio waves Johnny Rocket keeps sending. He thinks he can make me do whatever he damn well pleases. But I’m on to him. Don’t you end up in this trap, you hear me? It’s beastly. Of mice and men. Scattered on the shores like so much garbage. You figure out how to block those radio signals, then come back and spring us. All right?”

I could almost feel the wildness of her thoughts, like a storm wind, reckless and raging. 

_________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Summer Stone

Summer Stone loves immersing herself in the worlds that live inside her mind. When she's in the real world, she likes kicking back on the beach, exploring new places, reading (of course) and eating rich, gooey chocolate. She loves spending time with her husband and kids, which she does as much as she can. Summer writes young adult and women's fiction, both supernatural and contemporary, realistic and looks forward to sharing her novels with you!

Website/Blog, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter

_________________________________________

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Book Blitz for:

http://www.xpressobooktours.com/