Dazzling Reads: YA Autumn Giveaway!

AMAZING GIVEAWAY I JUST ENTERED!

Dazzling Reads: YA Autumn Giveaway!: Because this Autumn is full of beyond-awesome releases and because Autumn is my favorite season of the year, I announce my amazing giveaway!...

Unraveling Isobel

You are looking to read a light paranormal psycho-thriller....read-on read-on.....and on that thought I present before you all my views of Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook.

Here is the summary of the book:

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother. But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.


A great cover, a great and fitting synopsis that gripped me from the beginning, ghosts, haunted houses, peculiar murders and the best of all hunky step brother...ohhh tingling with excitement. The protagonist Isobel is like every other teenager today. She is also not without her problems, her dad has Schizophrenia, her mom married some guy she just met off the Internet, and she is forced to leave her only home and high school during her senior year. If you are thinking that is horrible...well rather on for what is worst. When she moves in with her step family (step-dad and that hunky step-brother) in a haunted house and starts seeing ghosts of a haunted looking girl she fears she has inherited Schizophrenia from her father. But what is worst.....she seems to have fallen for her hot and hunky step-brother Nathaniel aka Nate, who seems to want to do nothing about it at all. Can the situation get any worse?

All these ghostly sightings has Isobel thinking that there must be something wrong with her step-dad Richard (whom she calls Dick) Wickham's family or himself because well he is a creeper but also due to all the strange deaths that surround the family and that haunted house were they live. Isobel is determined to figure it all out, because she knows something is going on in this house. It doesn't all add up. Isobel's new step-dad is catching on and starts telling her and her mother that she needs help. So Isobel does all she can to solve this mystery as fast as she can before it is too late.

Aptly named 'Unraveling Isobel' - the book does that in a great way by peeling away layer over layer about her character at each step without it all being a hassle. Isobel is a typical teenager and like every other teenager she goes through a phase where she questions herself, typically when she starts seeing those ghosts and tries to deny but she knows in her subconscious mind that denying wont do any good and that those really are ghosts. She is an amazing artists, and she is a fighter.

Her mother on the other hand is an idiot. She goes off and marries a guy she met on the internet after only three months, she moves to some place she doesn't know when she perfectly knows that Isobel is absolutely not willing to move where she is from. There should be some compromise, and it should be something that should be discussed. Then she starts believing her new husband whom she only met three months before over her own daughter who she knows much better than that Dick. Such hypocrisy. Then comes that new husband....what to say about him - he is a Dick, and he is creeper. Also he seems like he can manipulate people to his will (Isobel's mom to be exact) and is a attention seeker. He doesn't care for any other human being but himself and this house (haunted house).

Last but not the least is that hot and hunky step-brother Nate. He is sweet, caring and the perfect boyfriend material. He seems to be the perfect fit for Isobel. Although at first it seems like he hates her and Isobel also tries to deny her feeling for him but gradually they open up to one another and things start to head up between them but they are not blood related so its good enough(conditions and situations apply). Nate is also a good listener and later becomes Isobel's only confident in that haunted house.

As far as the writing is considered - that is very well done, the plot literally flows through the pages and not a break in any of it all. It starts out slow and gradually gains momentum and will make you want to read through till the end in one go. There is humor, reality, paranormality, seriousness, a murder mystery that needs to be solved, a burgeoning romance and an every day teenage high school life expertly woven through these pages.
I am so getting a copy of it when it releases in January next year.

"Thrilling, creepy, sexy and a light read that will make you want to finish it all in one sitting"

Genre :      Young Adult, Paranormal


My Copy:      Courtesy of Simon and Schuester Galley Grab and Shelf Awareness 


Publisher: Simon Pulse


Rate:              5/5 (It was Awesome)

Christmas/New Year: With A Great Load of Gifts Giveaway

So, Christmas is around the corner and not just that....new year is in sight as well. So why not celebrate it with an awesome ebook giveaway.

Yup, these are the possible prizes.

Now the rules are pretty simple. Just fill the form below and do as it says. 

The Giveaway ends 31st December, 2011 and the results shall be announced 1st January, 2012. So enter....enter folks and you may be the lucky winner who gets all of them.......wait did I just say that?

Yup I did there will be 3 winners.

1st - will get all these books

2nd - will get 4 of these series

3rd - will get 2 of these series

So a win-win for you all.

And something else too. If by the end of the year, aka 31st December, 2011 you all get me past the 200 follower stage then you shall be getting something cool and something extra to go along with it all.

So what are you all waiting for..........enter and be surprised........You may be in the lucky three........

Zoe and Zeus #1: The Dig

Mythologies about all the prominent civilization and about their Gods is based on truth but do they tell the truth or not....hmm..... I present before you all my views The Dig by Audrey Hart.

Here is the summary of the book:

Zoe Calder has always been an outsider. Stashed away in boarding schools since her parents died, Zoe buries herself in the study of ancient worlds. Her greatest thrill is spending her summers with her archeologist aunt and uncle on digs around the world. And one day, while investigating a newly unearthed temple in Crete, Zoe discovers a luminous artifact that transports her to ancient Greece. As Zoe quickly learns, the Olympian Gods are real, living people—humans with mysterious powers… Powers that Zoe quickly realizes she has come to possess, as well. However, when the people of ancient Greece mistake Zoe for an Olympian, the Gods must restore the balance of the ancient world… No matter what. Zoe is forced to play a confusing and dangerous game as Hera rallies the gods against her—all except for Zeus, the beautiful, winged young god who risks everything to save her. Out of time and out of her element, teenager Zoe Calder finds herself in ancient Greece, battling against the power of the Olympians and the vengeance of a scorned goddess—all for the strange and mysterious boy she has come to love.

As I mentioned above every mythology is based on a truth (keyword 'truth') but then if you find out that your favourite Gods and Goddesses of case in point Greek Mythology are not personified as old bearded gods but teenagers with a few differences to their orientation......hmmm....difficult decision to make because most importantly it destroys your beliefs....but most importantly you would also like to know this change as well. But lets face the truth Greek Mythology is not new and definitely tampering with said mythology is also not new. We have seen Disney's version of the mythology (Hercules), we have seen Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians, we have also marveled at the remake of Clash of the Titans and the recently released Immortals. So without much further ado lets get to the main things shall we.

The Dig centers around teenager Zoe Calder whose favorite time of the year is going on the architectural haunts with her Uncle and Aunt. Zoe is not your typical teenager. She is introverted and she is definitely realistic. She prefers books to attending dances or social gatherings and is much more interested in said architectural haunts. But on a particular dig in Crete she goes beyond the red taped area and viola, Curiosity killed the cat and now you have yourself a time traveler. Zoe unfortunately washed up in the past....ancient Greece, the time of the Greek Gods to be exact. After a surprising encounter with a nymph and saving her, Zoe that she is not on some movie set or parade but actually in ancient Greece and she has the power of bending the Earth to her will.

So Zoe sets out to meet the Oracle who lived at the base of the Mt. Olympus, home of the Gods and get some answers. Everything changes when Zoe reaches Mt. Olympus. Which is definitely not the paradise as the myths depict and while there Zoe see the truth and has to alter every belief she had about the Greek Gods and gets entangled in their already tangled life. There relationships break, new ones form and Zoe must do a little soul-searching too.... but when the time comes will she want to return to the present? Well now that you readers will have to see.

Our protagonist Zoe is very introverted but she has a level of bravery that makes her the perfect candidate for the heroine. She is also very diplomatic and she is well...an outcast....a loner, who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. She is what you would call an old head on young shoulders. But then she meets the teenager Zeus and sort of forms a healthy relationship with him. Zeus, well he is not the bearded dude we see in every text but is healthy and young....and hot. Through the whole book the best parts were when Zoe and Zeus were together, whether it was on her journey to Mt. Olympus or at the mountain or afterwards.

But Zeus is a very conflicted character. He has developed what you call a dual characteristics, i.e., he behaves in a different way when outside of Olympus and he is different when he is on Olympus. Although that can be expected because they have eternal youth and have been living together as a tight knit group for many millenia. He has a certain bit of superficiality to him that Zoe vigorously avoids. Although Zoe and Zeus make a perfect couple but they bit and piece of his character and his choices that don't really add up.

But on the whole The Dig is an interesting read, light and funny. And that little twist up the toga - the oriental changes to the Greek Gods was well received (although it was very well strange), the little innuendos about Gossip Girls, Sex and The City, Rihanna's Umbrella and Kim Kardashian added to the flavor. It was also well paced and an easy read and the scenes had a graphic quality about them, like you could actually picture it in your heads....

Oh the ending is making me want to know what is going to happen next.

"An Interesting twist up our togas" 

Genre :      Young Adult, Mythology


My Copy:      Courtesy of author


Publisher: Backlit Fiction


Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

CEDAR FORT BOOK TOUR STOP: Marian's Christmas Wish by Carla Kelly

Hey guys....so very excited to host my first tour for a regency romance genre. A book that I instantly fell in love with. I would definitely suggest you all read Marian's Christmas Wish by Carla Kelly because its lovable and so surreal. Go for it you all!

SUMMARY

Miss Marian Wynswich is a rather unconventional young lady. She plays chess, reads Greek, and is as educated as any young man. And she s certain falling in love is a ridiculous endeavor and vows never to do such a thing. But everything changes when she receives a Christmas visit from someone unexpected--- a young and handsome English lord.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)

Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.

The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)

Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."

Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.

Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.

Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.

Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.

Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.

And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin.

• Author Blog http://carlakellyauthor.blogspot.com/
• Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000100522344
• Book Poster page: http://marianschristmaswish.com
• Publisher Blog http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/
• Publisher Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cedarfortbooks
• Publisher Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/cedarfortbooks
• Publisher GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4202252-cedar-fort

Exclusive Interview With Carla Kelly

Q. Tell us something about yourself.
I’m 64 years old, with five children, one husband. I live in Wellington, Utah, a small town in Carbon County, Utah. My husband retired there in 2009 after teaching theatre in a state university in North Dakota. We like the wide-open spaces. I’d rather live back in eastern Wyoming, where Borrowed Light is set, but you can’t have everything. I am a Navy brat, daughter of a naval officer who took us willingly to interesting places in the U.S. and the world. I have a degree in history from BYU, and an MA in the same from University of Louisiana-Monroe. I’ve been variously a PR person at a major hospital, and a hospice; park ranger in the National Park Service; contract researcher for State Historical Society of North Dakota; report and columnist at a daily newspaper; teacher of journalism and history on the college level. All the time I did the above, I was writing novels, too. I keep busy.

Q: It is often said that if you can write a short story you can write anything. How true do you think this is and what have you written that either proves or disproves this POV? 

There’s a lot of truth to this, I believe. In many ways, a short story is a novel in miniature, with all the elements of a novel except length. Therefore, every word must be telling and informative. I started out in short stories, and still write them. Short stories require writerly discipline. Once mastered, it’s a valuable skill.

Q: How to you research for a book before you begin the writing process?
Research is almost the most enjoyable part of writing for me. My background and major interest is history. I’ve been a contract researcher for the North Dakota State Historical Society, and works for a number of years as a ranger-historian in the National Park Service. What I have found is that core research pays off in many books, not just one. I’ve written some 26 novels, and two or three historical works (the footnote stuff). The Regency romances center around a 20-year period in the early 19th century. I like to research by reading about the era, and reading in the era. For example, reading the Naval Chronicles can be dry bones, indeed, but it helps me learn how men at war thought. Valuable.

Q: What is the best part of writing for you?
I enjoy the whole, trying process. There’s a certain rhythm that develops, and that comes from consistent writing.

Q: Did you always have in mind to be a writer or it just happened?
I think it just happened. I’ve always been a reader and an observer. A background in history (2 degrees) tends to provide a global outlook, which serves a writer well. I started writing and selling short stories first, and did well (two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America). That kind of modest success builds confidence. I write novels because I can, not because it’s particularly easy. Two Rita Awards for Best Regency of the Year from Romance Writers of America typecast me, to a huge extent.

Q: How would you describe your book in a sentence? 

With great difficulty! It’s a story of family love, and the willingness to include others in that love, whether they think they need it or not.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your book?
The charming, eccentric Wynswiches of Devon are facing their last Christmas together before the family estate is sold to pay off debts accumulated by the late head of the family. The only way to stave off ruin is for one of the two daughters to marry well, and soon. The older daughter is pining for Sam, the poor-as-a-church-mouse vicar. The younger daughter, Marian, has decided that she’s too sensible to ever get married. Enter Gilbert Collinwood, Lord Ingraham, a marquis with diplomacy on his mind. He’d like to change her mind about marriage. Before the novel ends, two of the characters are on the road to maturity. The third will change his life to fit his love.

Q: What were your inspirations behind “Marian’s Christmas Wish”?
I start each book with the idea: “What if this (or that) were to happen? What would it mean?” I wrote several Christmas short stories for Signet, and wanted to try my hand at a Christmas novel. Ever the observer, I saw my three daughters as Ariadne and Marian: wise one moment, childlike another, on the brink of womanhood.

Q: When you sit down and write do you know how the story will end or do you just let the pen take you? ie Do you develop character profiles and outlines for your novels before writing them or do you let your idea's develop as you write? 

I outline extensively. First I write what I think will happen, from beginning to end. I describe my characters. I over-outline each chapter, which means I always have material to keep me going to the next chapter and so on. Does the idea change? Of course.

Q: What is your guiltiest pleasure that few know about?
I like popping those little plastic pillowy things that surround delicate objects. I also love cowboy songs; “The Santa Fe Trail” and “Leaving Cheyenne” are two favorites. I always sing “Leaving Cheyenne when I, well, leave Cheyenne. (My Wyoming roots are pretty deep.)

Q: In your opinion, what are the best and worst aspects of writing for a living? 

The pay is uncertain, and not as much as you might think. The market changes. A person can get stuck in one genre. I discovered, to my chagrin, that I’ve been typecast as a Regency romance writer. Thankfully, that is beginning to change. The best aspect is that I am successfully doing something that so many people seem to think they want to do. It’s hard and it’s solitary work, which suits me.

Q: How similar to its principle protagonist and the main cast are you? 

I’m really not much like Marian. However, a fellow writer once told me that she likes my heroines because they’re like me: humorous, practical and usually self-reliant. She was right.

Now some simple questions and more fun^^

-Your favourite books and author?
My escape reading is really good crime fiction: Michael Connelly, Peter Robinson, Robert Crais and Philip Kerr. I have three favorite novels: War and Peace, A Town Like Alice, and The Lawrenceville Stories.

-Your favourite band/singer?
Michael Martin Murphey and Ian Tyson, cowboy singers

-Twitter or Facebook?
Neither. What a royal waste of time for a writer. I have a facebook page I look at occasionally. I have a blog that I usually write in: carlakellyauthor.blogspot.com

-Favourite place in the world?
It varies. I love southwest England. I love even more that area around Choteau and Augusta, Montana, where the Front Range of the Rockies holds forth in all its majesty. I’m fond of Chama Valley in New Mexico, and am working on a novel set there in 1725.

-Last movie you watched at the cinema? 

Oh, gee. It may have been Contagion. Scared the willies out of me.

-The last book you’ve read?
I’m currently reading Erik Larson’s In the Garden of the Beasts, about the rise of Hitler to the Chancellorship of Germany and America’s general cluelessness. Fiction-wise, I’m reading Maud Hart Lovelace’s lovely Emily of New Moon.

-Have you ever googled yourself?
Of course. I go on for many pages.

-If you wouldn’t be a writer, what you would be?
I’ve done what I wanted to do: university adjunct professor in history, NPS ranger, researcher, newspaper columnist and feature writer, medical writer, editor.

-And last one....print or ebooks? 

Both. The book is a marvelous piece of technology that has held up for centuries and will continue to. Ebook is growing because it is convenient. When I do research, I still want the book, that I can mark in, etc.

Q: The cover of the book is really awesome. Did you have any inputs in it? 

Not too much. The first Marian had brown hair, and that had to be changed, because her hair is black. I think her eyebrows stayed brown, but that mere nitpickery. I have a lot of confidence in the art department at Cedar Fort.

Q: If this book is picked to be turned into a movie (I’m hoping they would) and if you are consulted for casting choices, then who would you cast as Marian, Lady Wynswich, Ariadne, Percy, Alistair, Reverend Beddoe, Lord Ingraham, Lady Ingraham and Sir William? 

I have no idea. Never thought about it. Other readers have told me that they can already cast Borrowed Light. Ahem, wouldn’t I like to write Hugh Jackman and Rupert Sewell into a book!

Lastly;

Q: What advice would you like to give budding authors or those who want to start writing? 

Well, don’t quit your day job. Don’t waste too much time in critique groups and writer websites. That takes time away from writing. Put your happy a** in that chair and leave it there until you’ve written what you want to for the day. Also, don’t use the word “very.” It’s a stupid word.

You should probably be aware that Marian’s Christmas Wish was first published in 1989 by Signet, a division of Penguin/Putnam. When I left Signet and started writing for Harlequin, I took my book rights with me. Cedar Fort is going to be publishing some of these as ebooks alone, and also softbacks on some. Signet is also going to be republishing some other of those earlier Regencies as ebooks. And I’ve just contracted with a company to publish my first, now-hard-to-find book as ebook. The ebook business is leading to crazy times in the book world.

REVIEW

The plot has an episodic feel to it and the best part as I had already stated are the interactions between Gil and Marian. They recognize an affinity between them immediately, quickly become comfortable allies, and progress to love. Marian, a good heart, though gets into much trouble with her loose tongue and sharp mind. Gil on the other hand is rather secretive himself yet very kind and has a particularly attachment to Marian, despite the 12 year age gap. And although this episodic saga has too many threads and wires weaving through it but at the end it all meets at a comfortable convergence, a perfectly sweet ending to an amazing read.

<<READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE>>

                              

                              TOUR SCHEDULE

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
			November
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
The Character Connection/	The Plot Thickens/	Fire and Ice Photos/	LDS Women’s Book Review/	Moonlight, Lace, and Mayhem/ Hardcover Feedback/	Sweeping Me/	Blooming With Books/
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
My Book Addiction and More!/	Reviews by Molly/ Bookworm 2 Bookworm/	Keepin’ Up With LDS Bookstores	A Casual Reader’s Blog/	Practical Frugality/	LeGrande Codex/ My Reading Room/	Bab’s Book Bistro/ The Book Garden/ A Book A Day/

                  

The Butterfly Clues

An innovative idea, a great story line and an amazing book cover. I present my views of The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison.

Here is the summary of the book:

Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place--possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home. But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"--a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind. As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined--a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.


They don't make it like this anymore. The Butterfly Clues is not your average young adult contemporary story but its new, its fresh and its different. You don't get the perfect characters, somewhere something is flawed, in a major way. Which not only adds a many layers to the character but also brings it close to reality.

We have a solid plot, a not so perfect heroine and a pretty much convoluted murder mystery. The protagonist Penelope 'Lo' Marine is a unique character. Afflicted with OCD and other problems that hindered her personally somewhat, but really added to her layers threefold to her character. She had to perform rituals that are usual with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, like having to say names threefold or tapping her feet in a numerical order or repeat things over and over. Most of all she is not a goody two shoes - she lies, she steals....a lot but most of all what she represents is a flawed and a troubled character, which makes reading about her pretty refreshing. But then she dresses as a stripper, to uncover the mystery behind her brother Oren and this girl Sapphire's mysterious deaths (because she wants to right some wrongs of her life)....this part of the story is pretty difficult to explain without you all reading it and I don't want to spoil it for you all.

Anyways Lo is a lonely character, she steals because they provide her with some emotional connection to all that she lacks. On top of it all she doesn't have a good home environment, her mother is always sick and her father is never home. So it is somewhat understandable that Lo always looks to explore new places and try and steer clear of the place that somewhat suffocates her. 

Flynt on the other other hand was her opposite, a very laid back guy, who seems to be the epitome of maturity with only Lo. The pair were a great match because of their character and the chemistry and romance they shared. Also Ms. Ellison did not put in the overly dramatic angst but instead had a very nice and organic, yet still angst-y romance and not some tacky love story.

The story is pretty straight forward and paces very nicely. The writing is emotional and realistic and very strong and pretty serious. Ms. Ellison starts it all with an intriguing beginning, a powerful context and ends it pretty well with a satisfying conclusion which sneaks up over you and takes you in. While the context was pretty heavy, the book was an easy read and every other simple hints and clues that were rather very simple were incorporated and penned in such a way that they provided a level of mystery to the tale. Every page full of twists and turns, the author weaves a spellbinding tale of Penelope "Lo" Marin and the multiple mysteries surrounding her melancholy existence.

"Simple yet different but haunting"

Genre :      Young Adult


My Copy:      Courtesy of publisher and netgalley   


Publisher: Egmont USA


Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

Important announcement - My new tour website

Hey guys! I have an important announcement to make. I have just started a new virtual book tour website called "Tourz de Codex", this is basically like any other virtual book tour hosting website like any other but with a few twists.


Go here - http://tourzdecodex.blogspot.com


Want to sign up and be a tourz host, go here - http://tourzdecodex.blogspot.com/p/tour-hosts.html

So, author, blogger, check it out and if you think it is good enough to be of use then please sign-up there and help me promote any book that comes in.


FOR ONLY IMAGINATION IS THE KEY.

Follow Friday #8

"Follow Friday" is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog. Don’t forget to comment and leave your link so I can return your follows.

Q: Letter to Santa: Tell Santa what books you want for Christmas!


ANS: My letter would look like this:-



Dear Santa,


Christmas is a time of joy and well I have never really asked anything from you but this year I want something and would really appreciate if you would grant this wish. I wish to have some books that I really love this year. Here is my list:-


Books I have read but don't own-

• Legacy by Cayla Kluver
• Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon
• The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
• The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Books I haven't read and would like to own-

• Twilight: The graphic novel Vol 2.
• Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
• Everneath by Brodi Ashton
• Legend by Marie, Lu
• The Fearie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
• A Million Suns by Beth Revis
• Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Matched by Allie Condie
• Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
• The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
• A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davis
• Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
• Ashfall by Mike Mullin
• Remembrance by Michelle Madow
• Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters
• Masque of the red Death by Bethany Griffin
• Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs
• Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Exiled by  RaShelle Workman

Yours Lovingly,

Aparajita

HOPE THE LIST IS NOT TOO LONG FOR YOU!

Kane Chronicles #1: The Red Pyramid

After dabbling in the finer arts of Greek and Roman Mythologies, we now delve into the land of the Egyptians. Presenting Kane Chronicles #1 The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan.

Here is the summary of the book:

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

While I love all things Greek meaning Greek mythology but have absolutely no idea about the Roman Mythology (even if both are the same) but I do know a little bit about the Egyptians. Since the latter is supposed to be much more larger than the Greek and the Roman empires. 

So on with the story, Carter and Sadie Kane's mother died when they were young, and since then they have had to live apart - Sadie with her mother's parents in London, and Carter with his father, traveling the world looking for Egyptian artifacts. And as the arrangements were they can only see each other once a year. That year at their scheduled meeting hour their father Dr. Julius Kane takes both Sadie and Carter to the British Museum but something goes and both of them realize there may be much more to their father, and the Kane family than they knew and now they are on a "time sensitive mission" (remember Logan Lerman(Percy) uses the same phrase when they enter the Lotus Casino in LA) to stop Apocalypse happening.

All this done, I'd like to point out one thing here or like a point of differentiation between the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "Kane Chronicles" - whereas the former deals with a single point of view through out the whole series, i.e., Percy's, the latter alternates between Carter and Sadie's point of view. Also whereas Percy's story is more like a written diary with the funny chapter titles and the snippy comments at every point, the Kane Chronicles are more like an audio diary of the events but I have read the book so I don't know how the audiobook is going to be like.

Moving the layout of the story as to how it is presented is very much similar to the Percy Jackson series but thankfully not that similar, so it was a very refreshing read. But the one best quality of this book can be definitely attributed to the whole relationship or should I say the evolving understanding between Carter and Sadie. We know both live apart and as it is ruled are only allowed to meet one a year, so the whole journey is a treat as little by little after every incident in their path they start to understand one another in a whole new level. Although there is a little of jealousy there Carter is always on the move with his dad, never staying at a place more than a few days or even a few hours while Sadie gets to stay and get the normal life as a British school kid. 

Carter is a rather subdued personality, he is very shy and he just wants to impress his father, while Sadie is rather outspoken and brash, she very much knows how to lash out at somebody. So they learn to work together and it doesn't take much for them to learn the real value of family. And also the fact that Carter has a darker skin than Sadie, with a black father and white mother; which Mr. Riodan handles pretty well while not making a huge deal about it.

On the spiritual level i'd say the story revolves around the theme of "History repeats itself" or "As above, so below". At the heart of the story is an old legend at play. Well i'm not really going to elaborate or it will ruin the story for those who haven't read it yet. Also for those thinking this is another Percy Jackson does the Egyptian way....well....be prepared to be wrong......big time. At the end I'd say that after such an interesting read I am definitely on board for the next books in the series and after Greek, Roman and Egyptian lets see which mythology Mr. Riordan tackles next.

"Brilliant and Enticing - Be prepared for a journey that will take you to the heart of land of the Nile" 

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy


Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children


Rate:              5/5 (It was Awesome)

The Heroes of Olympus #2: The Son of Neptune

We now delve deeper into the roman territory with Percy in The Heroes of Olympus #2 The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan.

Here is the summary of the book:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa tol him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring and bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth. 

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem - when the Voice took over he mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for and evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams. 

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery - although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely - enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart. Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.

So as I said above with this book we delve deeper into the roman camp and also see it through with our beloved Percy Jackson but the thing is he doesn't remember what happened to him or even who he really, aside from the fact that somehow he can control water and realizes enough that he is the son of the sea god. Somehow he makes it to the camp....well Camp Jupiter to be exact of the Romans and they are rather an unfriendly bunch. 

Even if Percy like Jason in the previous book that lost his memory but he can still kick butt and being the son of Poseidon/Neptune also doesn't hurt if you get awesome abilities over water. It is Percy leadership quality or should I say blatant honesty that makes the Romans suck it up and show that the Greeks had already perfected the art of war even before the great Roman Empire was even born (although the romans are much more disciplined and I am loathe to say modern). So even without the memory Percy fast makes his into the Roman camp and makes some new friends Hazel and Frank. Hazel who gets a second chance at life and Frank is a klutz. Then as luck would have they are sent on a quest.....well the next great prophecy might actually be upon them already.

Now with such a long summary I really don't feel like explaining the story, so i'm leaving it to you guys but lets discuss the finer aspects of the book now shall we? 

So like its predecessor The Son of Neptune also focuses on three point of views - Percy, Hazel and Leo to be exact. Since the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series mainly focused on Percy's POV so it was a bit refreshing to hear about Percy from Hazel and Frank's point of view. Another point of order is that the Percy Jackson & the Olympians is wholly based on the Greek Myths and The Lost Hero, a little of both the Greek and the Roman Myths but this one is solely based upon Roman myths, which is well rather disorienting because I am truly not well versed in the roman aspect of it all other than the fact that all the planets of our solar system our named after the Roman appearances of the Olympians. So, it takes a bit longer to get into the book rather that necessary.

Next lets look at our characters here. Aside from the fact that Percy literally doesn't remember anything about his life or what had happened to him during the seven months he went missing but he still remembers how to fight and with Riptide with him, he knows nothing can stop him. Frank he is well a mystery, whereas at first when we see he seems week but as he starts to uncover the truth about himself, he again an edge over his circumstances. Hazel is another mysterious character, she was supposed to be dead long ago but there you go, she gets a second chance at life. She is also rather strong, powerful and full of secrets of her own. The Gods of the Roman territory are also different rather civilized and sterner than their Greek counterparts. To sum it up every character is hidden behind millions of layers which peels off as we proceed further. 

And there you go Mr. Riodan just had to finish it of with a giant cliffhanger and The Mark of Athena doesn't even release until next year.

"Percy Jackson is back"

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy


Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children


Rate:              4/5 (Really Liked It)

The Heroes of Olympus #1: The Lost Hero

Basically an extension for the much acclaimed Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Presenting before you all my views of The Heroes of Olympus #1 The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan.

Here is the summary of the book:

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out. Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

Where there are Greek Gods, you bet you'll find their Roman counterparts as well. The Greek gods came first before the Roman ones, so while the greek bunch might be considered ancient, the roman ones are a bit more disciplinary and a bit more on the modern side. Technically as the history books say the romans took to the Greek gods are polished or improved them a little bit.

Anyways our story begins with a different set of trio - Jason, Leo and Piper. These three are best friends but there is a bit of a problem, Jason doesn't really remember who he really is or where he comes from but only the fact that he just woke up on the bus for the school trip to the grand canyon. Things go crazy when a storm spirit attacked them at the Grand Canyon and they have nothing to do except well fight for their lives. Jason realizes he could fly and had an amazing coin which could turn to a sword. Things go much more weirder when a bunch of people appeared, Annabeth and Butch asked for a guy named Percy Jackson. Of course, they couldn't understand what was that about. Jason, Leo, Piper then whisked to Camp Half Blood, well of course they go there - they are demigods.

But Camp Half-blood has got a predicament of its own - Percy Jackson is missing. Yup the beloved hero and son of Poseidon has gone MIA, no trace at all. The only positive factor he is not dead - yet. So Jason, Leo and Piper get themselves well acquainted with the camp while trying to fit-in. But trouble is not far behind. For some reason the Olympians have gone mum, literally. They are no longer answering the prayers or the summons. Our current trio is having troubles of their own. Jason is getting little glimpses of his past, Piper has her own problems (dad gone missing) and Leo is seeing ghosts. And that is not the only problem here - trouble is brewing - something far older than the gods or the titans themselves is stirring.

So this book marks the beginning of the new series and since it is an extension for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, so we cannot talk about this book without talking about the series now can we! So what made that series so likable? Well firstly it was a whole new concept and the bonus point was - the gradual growth and change of our protagonist. It takes Percy a lot of time to fill the position of a hero, the journey and the whole transition period between this interim was what made the series so interesting to read and we could easily connect and those hilarious chapter titles - "Grover unexpectedly looses his pants"..."We get advice from a Poodle" and "I sit on the hot seat" or the snippy comments also didn't hurt. But in The Lost Hero - Jason, Leo and Piper....well are heroes. No transition necessary. Jason tries to be Percy, Piper feels like an outcast and Leo is insecure and sometimes even jealous. The three try to fill the roles of the original trio but fail. Its like they are just put there and we readers must deal with it. They are not given the space to evolve like Percy, Annabeth and Grover had. 

While the above mentioned points give it a bad name and but it had a definite quality - you couldn't put it down for a second even if you want to. The best part of the book can be pointed at the whole idea of Greek and Roman camps, which indicates more character-to-character conflicts than ever before. The part which will doubtlessly hold readers on tenterhooks is the news of what has happened to Percy.

That reminds me - stay connected as I go through the next book The Son of Neptune, which if the title is understood deals with our beloved character Percy, and what's been happening to him during the time he was missing in action.

"Greeks and Romans -- two sides of the same coin"

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy


Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children


Rate:              3/5 (Liked It)

Rage: After the Impact

Not really into games but just love reading graphic novels of the post-apocalyptic kind. Presenting Rage: After The Impact - Andrea Mutti, Arvid Nelson, Pierluigi Baldassini, Michael Atiyeh.

Here is the summary of the book:

In the tradition of Dark Horse''s acclaimed Mass Effect comics comes this essential introduction to Rage, the hotly anticipated game from id Software! Earth has been devastated by an asteroid, with a tiny fraction of the population surviving under the rule of a military dictatorship. But when a scientist studying those mutated by the disaster discovers that the story the new leaders are telling isn''t true, she has no choice but to fight back.

So this graphic novel is in fact an introduction for id's post-apocalyptic game RAGE. The story follows Dr. Elizabeth Cadence as she finds out that after millions of years after the meteor Apophis (if i'm not wrong but wasn't Apophis the giant serpent from the Egyptian Myths?) crashed with Earth destroying millions and millions of life on Earth. Dr. Cadence wakes up alone in her cryo-ark - no husband - no son. What had happened to them while she slept?

But something is amiss, the world which Cadence wakes up to has a bad case of dystopia and of a post apocalyptic scenario. The military or "the Authority" as we see here is clearly controlling the events. A Colonel Jesse Casey has been forcing the good doctor since he found her to work on controlling monsters who've mutated from a substance called feltrite brought by the asteroid that almost destroyed the Earth. Can Cadence realize what is going around here and find a way to escape.....that remains to be seen.

The Authors have done an amazing job on this graphic novel and as I have mentioned I am not a great fan of games (as in once in a while is fine by me) but post-apocalyptic scenarios have their own flavors and so every block through these pages show....there is a clear sense of the feel of haunted all through it particularly the dark shadows which accentuates it.

"Rage: After the Impact is a definite hit in my books"

Genre :      Graphic Novel, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopia


Publisher: Dark Horse Comics


Courtesy of : Publisher and netgalley


Rate:              4/5 (Really liked it)

Follow Friday #7

"Follow Friday" is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog. Don’t forget to comment and leave your link so I can return your follows.

Q: Today’s Question is something new, an activity. We want to see what you look like! Take a pic with you and your current read! Too shy? Boo! Just post a fun pic you want to share.


ANS: Here it is 

Lol I look weird here ;)