I'm changing up the format a little bit! I am going to be pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Sunday Cover Scramble [69]
I'm changing up the format a little bit! I am going to be pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Sidekick Showcase [78] - True Blue
Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday, is a weekly bookish meme, hosted here by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on my page. Just do the following:
• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week's topic
• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their's throughout the week as well
May is Mom Month!
I have a few topic ideas for June (Thanks Robyn!):
The month of June is LGBT Pride Month so we can celebrate those characters that we love. Also we have Father's day so we can celebrate dads or characters we think would make good fathers. There are a lot of summer trips taken in June as well so we can pay tribute to those characters we would hate to travel with or just characters that remind us of summer trips for one reason or another.
My choice is Sally JacksonThe Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordin
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| Sally Jackson picture created by Jaclyn Canada |
This mother for sure is in a competition for best literature moms. She is a mortal mom to Greek demi-god Percy Jackson. She married Gabe Ugliano who not only smells horrible, but is also just a foul guy in general. He takes advantage of her and is THAT MAN, you know the one that expects their wifie to cook and clean and run errands so when they are not done according to his schedule, he gets mouthy and handsy. He's the type of guy that I hate. Plus, he can't stand her kid. The reason though that she married him is FOR Percy which he finds out in the story.
She also really loves the color blue. Because of an argument that she got into with Gabe about food not able to be blue, she does everything she can to create blue foods for her and Percy to eat. This is one of those weird little quirks characters can have that I find adorable.
The real kicker, she died for her son. Read the story! She loves her boy more than anything.
Quotes:
“I hoped I wasn't blushing. It was bad enough I had to depend on my mom to drive me to my battles.”
“[My mom's] funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.”
“She whirled when the monster was almost on top of her. I thought the thing in her hands was an umbrella until she cranked the pump and the shotgun blast blew the giant twenty feet backwards, right into Nico's sword.
"Nice one," Paul said.
"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" I demanded.
My mom blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago. Percy, we'll be fine. Go!”
"The moral?" Hermes asked. "Goodness, you act like it's a fable. It's a true story. Does truth have a moral?"
"Um ..."
"How about this: stealing is not always bad?"
"I don't think my mom would like that moral."
Rats are delicious, suggested George.
What does that have to do with the story? Martha demanded.
Nothing, George said. But I'm hungry.
"I've got it," Hermes said. "Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How's that?”
“Ever come home and found your room messed up? Like some helpful person (hi, Mom) has tried to “clean” it, and suddenly you can’t find anything? And even if nothing is missing, you get that creepy feeling like somebody’s been looking through your private stuff and dusting everything with lemon furniture polish?”
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Sunday Cover Scramble [68]
I'm changing up the format a little bit! I am going to be pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Clean Sweep ARC Mini-Challenge and Giveaway - 6 Degrees of Separation
Welcome to my Clean Sweep ARC Challenge Giveaway! Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Angie from Angela’s Anxious Life are hosting the reading challenge. If you would like to enter my challenge, you must be entered in the Clean Sweep ARC Challenge, which runs for the entire month of May! Join in on the fun and clean sweep your ARC stack. You can sign up here.
My Challenge is a game of 6 Degrees of Separation
We will link actors/actresses from movies based on books (comic book movies count!).
Even if you can't enter the giveaway, it should be a fun time!
Here's how this game works:
- I will post a sample for you to see
- After the sample, I will put two names - the first commenter should link those two names by listing a movie the first can be found in with another actor/actress and a movie they can be found in, until within 6 steps the two names are linked. It can take less than 6 steps!
- After the commenter links the names, they include two more names in their comment
- The next commenter links those
- After they've linked those, they include two more names
- And so on!
Here is a sample:
I'm linking James Franco to Oprah Winfrey
In the comments it would look like this:
James Franco to Oprah Winfrey
James Franco + Rachel Weitz = Oz the Great and Powerful
Rachel Weitz + Garrett Hedlund = Eragon
Garrett Hedlund + Kristen Stewart = On the Road
Kristen Stewart + Dakota Fanning = Twilight
Dakota Fanning + Oprah Winfrey = Charlotte's Web
To start off the first commenter, I'm choosing:
Jennifer Lawrence to Gwyneth Paltrow
I know of at least 3 ways that these two can be linked
so Good Luck!
so Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sidekick Showcase [77] - A bit overprotective
Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday, is a weekly bookish meme, hosted here by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on my page. Just do the following:
• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week's topic
• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their's throughout the week as well
For May let's honor thy Mother. We'll choose some awesome moms and also those characters that are mom-like or mentor-like that are females for Mother's Day May :D
My choice is Jocelyn FrayThe Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Claire
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| Jocelyn Fray picture created by Jaclyn Canada |
Jocelyn isn't seen much early in the series, just talked about often by Clary. She whisked her daughter away to New York to keep her safe. There she raised her as a single parent with help from her friend Luke Garroway. Clary harbors a lot of resentment about secrets that Jocelyn kept from her, but as the reader I knew she wanted to protect her because she loved her daughter very much. Thankfully, she realizes that she made a mistake by withholding so much about her past from Clary, and opens up a lot more.
She is kind, loves her daughter more than anything, stubborn, brave, and revered by others.
She is kind, loves her daughter more than anything, stubborn, brave, and revered by others.
Quotes:
“If you really love something, you never try to keep it the way it is forever. You have to let it be free to change.”
“I don't think she doesn't believe she can die. I think, just like you always did, she believes there are things worth dying for.”
“But Jocelyn...was not the kind of woman who wept, not the kind of woman who broke, or Valentine would have broken her long since.”
Thursday, May 22, 2014
ARC Review: Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Format: Hardcover
Source: Gifted. Thank you Jessica @ AGreatRead!
Goodreads SummaryAn unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
Wherefore art thou, Coyote?
One of my all-time favorites series. For me, the Mercy Thompson series is one that hasn't gotten boring even with the large number of books.
The Good
One thing this series has going for it is memorable characters. Ones I love, and those that I love to hate. Mercy is one of those tough leading-ladies that hasn't changed even with all the things she has been through, good and bad. She has shown growth, which is always necessary in a character, but she has remained Mercy through and through. She is a character that is not as intimidating as those that surround her, but with a quiet sleeper strength that cannot be underestimated. She always puts other's needs before her own so I can't help but root for this 'underdog' to come through. I say underdog lightly because she has a fierce inner-strength even while being vulnerable and weaker than her foes. Really, she manages to beat her adversaries with wit and her ability to make good friends.
The ex-wife coming to the scene won't be loved by all, but I found that I enjoyed it. As the readers of this series will know, not all of the pack has accepted Mercy as a part of it. As a matter of fact, there are those that resent her and would love nothing more than to push her out. With Christy there, those that dislike Mercy had a 'side' to rally on. Since most of them knew Christy, there were some like Mary-Jo and Aurielle that were good friends with her. They have never liked Mercy so this was an interesting dynamic. My favorite part of Christy being there though is that the book never once slows down. If it's not the bigger problems that Mercy has to deal with, it's Christy trying to make a move on Adam and turning some in the pack against her. Mercy doesn't get a break through the entirety of Night Broken.
I loved how Honey came closer to Mercy in this one. Honey has always done what her Alpha wanted so she's helped Mercy and stood beside her before, but I don't think she ever respected Mercy. It feels like she grew to respect and even admire her in this one.
The big bad was fantastic. Juan Flores is nothing like Mercy has faced before. I love that Briggs is still able to pull out the crazy messes for Mercy to face because sometimes it feels like she has seen it all before. The way it is written, it is always believable that Mercy could find herself up against these complex foes because she is constantly surrounded by so many people that she cares about. She would never back down from helping someone out.
The Bad
It's so short. It feels like the whole thing is over before you know it.That was the ending? Everything is resolved by the end so there's no huge cliff-hanger (although there is a statement that makes it questionable what's coming), but there is so much build-up through the whole thing, and it felt like it was over in 2.5 seconds. I was so amazed at how quickly everything happened at the end that I took off a whole star for what was otherwise a 5-star read.
The Romance
*SIGH* Adam and Mercy. This is one of my favorite pairings. I think one reason that Christy being there didn't bother me is because nothing is going to separate these two unless it's death or some magic that makes them go crazy. Christy is not nearly strong enough for all that. They are amazingly communicative with each other, deeply in love, and support each other to the ends of the Earth. Really, it's a great relationship. I love that them being together hasn't made the story boring at all, but actually more fun for me to read.Conclusion
I couldn't put it down. Night Broken has action from start to finish, wonderful characters, a great baddie, and a romance that's extraordinary. Absolutely recommended.
ARC Excerpts
Adam snorted as he pulled on a faded green t-shirt that said “I Heart Coyotes.” Yet another sign that folding my clean clothes wasn’t too big a price to pay to make him happy. He didn’t have any “I Heart Christy ” shirts–or I would have burned them already.“No, really," I said. "Now that we know that Flores is really this nasty, fiery, superpowerful nothing-can-kill-me demon from hell, maybe we should consider just giving Christy to him?
Love means leaving yourself vulnerable, knowing that there is someone to catch you when you fall.
Death isn't a tragedy to God, only to those left behind.
“I know that, too,” he said, his voice tender. “You should know that you can’t hide things from me.”
“Good,” I said, my voice fierce. “Good. Then you know, you know I love you.”
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Harry Potter Moment of the Week [24] - Favorite Hogwarts Ghost
This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! She is picking a topic within HP for us to focus on each week and then if anyone wants to take part feel free! All she asks is to link back to her blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come here.
Favorite Hogwarts Ghost
My choice has to be Moaning Myrtle. While she is admittedly annoying with all the easily hurt feelings and wailing, it's really hard not to feel sorry for her. She died as a young girl in the bathroom at Hogwarts where she can still be found haunting her stall. She had no friends and was often teased. First of all, I hate teasing and everyone deserves a friend, no matter if they wear *gasp* glasses. Glasses are seen so much nowadays that it's not as big of a faux paus.
Myrtle was instrumental in helping Harry and is one of the few ghosts that ever did so. Not only did she help Harry with finding the Chamber of Secrets, Harry was also able to riddle out the clue of the Golden Egg with Myrtle's hints.
Quotes:
Myrtle: "Come to throw something else at me?"
Harry: "Why would I throw something at you?"
Myrtle: "Don't ask me, here I am minding my own business and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."
"Oh, hello Harry, long time - no - see, hmm, I was circling a blocked drain the other day and I swear I saw some polyjuice potion. Not being a bad boy again, are you Harry? ...I'd put it in the water if I were you."
"Harry, if you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet."
What's your favorite Hogwarts Ghost??
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