Winter Challenge Plans!

Here are my plans for the next two weeks (wish me luck, I will add more if I can...):

Want to join the challenge? Sign up HERE!!!!

Cover2CoverBlog's Winter Challenge!

Happy Holiday's Readers!

Now is the time where I start panicking, it is almost the new year and I still have SO MANY BOOKS to read!

I have some time off in the next two weeks, so I decided to share the love and create a way for all of us wonderful readers to get together and finish our reading goals (or add more to them) before 2014 arrives.

So what is in it for you? How about some books?! Even better, how about some money to buy books????

Have I got your attention?  $15 to Amazon for your choice of goodies. When 2014 hits I will use random.org to choose a winner from those who linked up.

WANNA JOIN?! It's so easy, write a post (on your blog, facebook, twitter ...wherever) and link-up telling me what you want to read in the next 2 weeks! and keep me updated with how you do... #ReadALLtheBooks

Blog Tour: Review -- Tale Spins by Michael Mullin

 

 Tour Schedule

 

Tale Spins A trilogy of alternative fairytales and retellings. Discover the real Snow White story through the eyes of Creepy, the unknown 8th dwarf! Meet a teen princess who hires "The Frog Prince" witch to get revenge on a Mean Girl at school! And learn how the giant, boy thief and magic beans tale truly went down!

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Tale Spins are a few retellings or alternate fairy tales,  dwarves, princesses, witches, it is just what you expect of fairy tales; only these are so much more fun. They are written as poetry, rhyming and very witty. They kind of make you want to talk in verse after reading them. At first I thought they were for a middle grade audience but it turns out they are geared for young adult, and I am not quite sure how sold I am on that. Yes, they are entertaining and have some moments of raunchiness that only teens and adults would understand, but the fashion in which they are conveyed -- the rhyme, verse thing is very childish. I loved it, but it was a more child friendly way to write the tales.

The tales are all very short at about 10-20 pages each and quick, fun reads; I would recommend them for the YA audience more than the MG one, but they are a little confusing in the sense of how they are put together. I think many will enjoy these creative retellings. The 8th Dwarf story was my very favorite, so interesting how things could have happened.

  Other  Praise for Tale Spins Not usually enamoured of either re-tellings or poetry I was totally taken aback by just how much I relished this trilogy of alternative fairytales and re-tellings aimed at the Young Adult market. ~Tracy (Goodreads) TaleSpins was like walking into a vintage store and finding a true treasure. This book takes the fairytales we all grew up on and gives them an interesting and modernized version that I enjoyed. ~Rose (Goodreads)




About the Author
Michael Mullin is a native New Englander living in Pasadena. He is the author of TaleSpins, a trilogy of alternative fairy tales and retellings for YA readers. TaleSpins stories (in the 1-book collection) are "8: The Previously Untold Story of the Previously Unknown 8th Dwarf"; "The Plight and Plot of Princess Penny"; and "Jack'd". Michael is also the co-author of the successful "Larry Gets Lost" children's book series. His screenplay "Zooing Time" was recognized by the WGA's Written By magazine. Before all this writing, he taught preschool and college, two positions he found disconcertingly similar.

Website * Facebook * Twitter

  Tour Giveaways Giveaway #1 - Open to US only

  a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Giveaway #2 $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 1/21/14  a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone! And welcome to another stop on the Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop. Here are Cover2CoverBlog, I am giving away 2 prize packs!! Yay gifts!
Hosted by Iamareader.com

In the Young Adult Prize Pack...

ARC of Gated, an ARC of Two Boys Kissing and some book swag

  
In the Middle Grade Prize Pack...
Paperback of Eliza's Forever Trees, an ARC of The Misadventures of the Magician's Dog, and some book swag

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Early Reader Review: Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol 2

Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, Vol. 2 by David Petersen
Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors
Available: December 31, 2013

 

Format: Ebook
Source: Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors
  
Goodreads Synopsis:

Inside the June Alley Inn, located in the western mouse city of Barkstone, mice gather to tell tales, each trying to outdo the other. A competition, of sorts, begins. The rules: Every story must contain one truth, one lie, and have never been told in that tavern before. With the winner getting his bar tab cleared, fantastic stories are spun throughout the evening! Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard collects the second volume of Legends of the Guard, a new Mouse Guard anthology series featuring the work of artists and storytellers handpicked by series creator David Petersen.

My rating:

Review: 
A few months ago I stumbled upon Mouse Guard: The Black Axe or Mouse Guard #3; I really liked it. The drawing was so detailed and I could not wait to learn more about the series. Recently, I saw that another graphic novel was available on Netgalley and did a little dance as I clicked the button to get it. This time it is Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Volume 2; now granted I have not read Volume 1…so I am a little sad about that, but I was excited to see where this one picked up.

I am so happy that I did; in this volume, June the innkeeper offers to waive debt for the winner of the best story told while at her inn. The intermissions between the stories of the mice are all in the art of the normal artist, but each story told has creative adaptations done by various other artists. The creativity in this book is amazing; the tales are fun and some have morals, and some are just cute or romantic. The artists took their styles and adapted them into these tales and it came out beautifully.

My favorite story was Back and Forth art and story by Jackson Sze; this story was about mapping the river towns and two mice learning to be together as they did it. It was a longer tale, but the ending made it for me. My favorite art was The Thief, The Star-Gazer, The Hunter, and The Tailor art and story by Cory Godbey. It was an adorable story about a family and finding traits for themselves but the pastel like colors and textures of the drawings were wonderful to look at. Rich, bright colors really made this even better. I really liked this story too, and overall I think it was my very favorite. Other artists conveyed their tales without words and just art, and one even write theirs as a song. It was a very memorable graphic novel.

I would suggest anyone grab this installment.

View all my reviews

Blog Tour: Review -- Christmas in Dogtown by Suzanne Johnson

Christmas in Dogtown

Suzanne Johnson

Genre: Sweet Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Story Vault

Date of Publication: December 2012

ASIN: B009RBKTSG

Number of pages: 30

Word Count: approx. 11,000

Amazon   Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

A woman who spent years escaping her rural past learns that Dogtown, Louisiana, hides more family secrets than just the recipe for boudin blanc…..

Resa Madere’s on the verge of losing it all. The boyfriend’s gone. The job’s history. Her beloved house is on the brink of foreclosure. She’ll do anything to save it—even spend a long Christmas holiday working in St. James Parish, Louisiana, helping her uncle run the family meat business. But the community of Dogtown, which has been home for seven generations of the Madere and Caillou families, has deep roots and deeper secrets. For Resa, going home is one thing.

Getting out might not be so easy.

Resa has been trying to avoid home, it is a small town that she fears will sucker her back in and there is nothing she can do to avoid it. When she has to return to help her uncle she is both relieved that she can get away from her ex but petrified that the town will take over. Now back at home her family forces her to be partnered up with her childhood friend, and for the life of her she cannot figure out why they keep insisting.

I found this to be a light and easy read. It is a novella, so only about 30 pages in length, and the story is catchy and entertaining. However I did want more development. Resa was an interesting lead character I did enjoy reading about her but I wanted more back story and then at the end of the novella more explanation on the part of the family (you have to read it to find out why). Overall I think the characters were easy to follow and the plot was a relatible one in terms of being scared to return home, seeming like you have failed yourself for going back, but family and good friends are important and they can often trump that feeling.

Wonderful quick read, highly recommended. It is clean also, so no worries about that.

“You are stupid,” Resa told her reflection in the tiny, scratched mirror of the White Castle’s rose-pink bathroom. “Stupid, ridiculous, and absurd.”

         She’d been wrestling with her curly black hair for a half hour, and the brown eyes that stared back at her from beneath freshly plucked brows and carefully applied eyeliner looked more jittery than sexy. “And idiotic.”

         First, it had been almost a week since Chan had asked her to the Saturday night community dance, popping the question almost shyly as they hacked at the bodies of gigantic dead fish. They’d both been covered in blood and smelled like they’d been rolling in bait, which should have tipped her off that anything in Dogtown reeking of romance, well, reeked.

         Second, her potential date had left immediately after asking her out so he could catch an alligator that had eaten somebody’s poodle in one of those backwater houses near the swamp. He burned rubber out of the Madere’s driveway after making sure he had enough duct tape to wrap around the gator’s jaws. Adequate duct tape was not an attribute she’d ever sought in a man.

About the Author:

Suzanne Johnson writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance (under the name

Susannah Sandlin) from Auburn, Alabama, on top of a career in educational publishing that has thus far spanned five states and six universities—including both Alabama and Auburn, which makes her bilingual. She grew up in Winfield, Alabama, halfway between the Bear Bryant Museum and Elvis' birthplace, but was also a longtime resident of New Orleans, so she has a highly refined sense of the absurd and an ingrained love of SEC football, cheap Mardi Gras trinkets, and fried gator on a stick. She’s the author of the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series and, as Susannah Sandlin, the Penton Legacy paranormal romance series.

Find the Author

Website 

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Recent Reads: The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett

The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
 Publisher: Clarion Books (first published November 15th 1971)/  Random House Audio
Available: NOW!!! New Edition November 2013
 

Format: Audiobook

Source: Random House Audio

Goodreads Synopsis:

 In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet . . . That’s the old story everyone knows and loves. But now the Carpet is home to many different tribes and peoples, and there’s a new story in the making. The story of Fray, sweeping a trail of destruction across the Carpet. The story of power-hungry mouls—and of two brothers who set out on an adventure to end all adventures when their village is flattened.

It’s a story that will come to a terrible end—if someone doesn't do something about it. If everyone doesn’t do something about it . . .

First published in 1971, this hilarious and wise novel marked the debut of the phenomenal Sir Terry Pratchett. Years later, Sir Terry revised the work, and this special collectable edition includes the updated text, his original color and black-and-white illustrations, and an exclusive story—a forerunner to The Carpet People created by the seventeen-year-old nascent writer who would become one of the world's most beloved storytellers.

Review:  

My Rating:

This was a strange book. I have heard many things about Terry Pratchett but I think because of all his works it has always seemed a bit daunting to start reading his stuff... this book just happened to sit in the Middle Grade genre and so I figured...hey why not give this one a chance...?

And I did and I am very glad that I did, however it was a very strange book. The Carpet people is now in its newest edition, but what that also means is that there were changes. Luckily Mr. Pratchett lets you know this with the introduction on the audiobook. The listener learns that it is not only a new edition but the first publishing was a long time ago, and the book was written a long time ago by Terry's teenage self, and his adult self has now tweaked the plot after many years being a successful writer.

My first thought upon hearing this was: well what are the differences? I may need to track down an earlier edition now because this edition was great!

So the plot is about a group of people, the Carpet people; the Carpet is where they live in between the hairs (like your living room carpet...or maybe if you think of this in the terms of Whos -- the Horton Hears kind...) but the Carpet is their Earth so to speak. We meet a few different tribes and learn how they come together to defeat a bigger enemy and the terrifying Fray, which is moving through their lands causing destruction and chaos. 

The characters are fun and light most of the time, their battles and accomplishments highlighted; and it was imaginative and an epic fantasy world or swords, beasts, and threats abound.

The audiobook was 5 discs long, so much shorter than most that I listen to, and it seemed to start and keep running, I did not want to stop listening, but I also don't want to tell you too much for fear of spoiling it for anyone new to the tale.

The last few tracks of the audiobook include some of the original weekly stories of the Carpet People and are fun shorts that show how that world was created a long time ago.

I think adults and children would be thoroughly entertained by this book, whether it is in the car or reading a paper copy -- that one even has pictures! The CDs also come with a PDF (which I have not viewed yet, and I cannot wait to compare my mental images of the characters and tribe with how Mr. Pratchett illustrated them).

Want to listen to some? Do it here!

Building the Book Pile #71 -- Books this week and a recap of the last 2

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

Giveaways Going on NOW!         

   

  
  

Click pic to be taken to the giveaway!

Others may be linked on the right sidebar :) check them out!

  
What's Happening?!

  Hello Lovely Readers! 

 

Coming up on the Blog...

Early Reader Review: Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol 2
Blog Tour Review: Christmas in Dogtown  
Blog Tour Review: Tale Spins
Giveaway! Mid-Winters Eve Hop

What I got this month so far...

EBooks

      
Covers Link to Goodreads

The Last Christmas by Gerry Duggan -- from netgalley and publisher for review
 The Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher -- from netgalley and publisher for review
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol 2 by David Peterson -- from netgalley and publisher for review
Alliance (The Paladin Prophecy #2) by Mark Frost -- from netgalley and publisher for review
Salt by Danielle Ellison -- from publisher for review
Tale Spins by Michael Mullin -- for blog tour

Have you missed anything?

Early Reader Review: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin (Graphic Novel)

Blog Tour: Excerpt --The Master's Book by Philip Coleman

Recent Reads: Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill (YA)

Blitz & Giveaway!: Backwards Compatible by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark (YA)

Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway -- The Godsland Series by Brian Rathbone (YA)

Immagica Illustrated Map Reveal!

December Kindle Giveaway

Recent Reads: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (YA)

Recent Reads: Harley Quinn #0 - (Comics)

Recent Reads: Randi Rhodes Ninja Detective and the Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit by Octavia Spencer (MG)

Early Reader Review: Will O' the Wisp by Tom Hammock (Graphic Novel)

  Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up post! Happy Reading!

Early Reader Review: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin the Graphic Novel

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin 
(The Dresden Files Graphic Novels)

Publisher: Dynamite Publishing

Expected Publication: December 3, 2013

 

Format: Ebook

Source: Netgalley and Dynamite Publishing

Goodreads Synopsis:

Harry Dresden, a Chicago private investigator and wizard, heads to a small, isolated Missouri town terrorized by Nevernever monsters. The singularly unfortunate Talbot family has suffered a curse that has decimated their number for generations, and only our hero can save them... that is, if he can survive hostile lawmen, the dark secrets of townsfolk, an ancient guardian spirit, and two deadly carnivores! Can Dresden cleanse the Talbot bloodline of its curse without a blood sacrifice of his own?

My Rating:

The Dresden Files is one of those series that I have heard ravings about, but I have yet to read them. This particular story made me want to run to the bookstore and get them right now. In this graphic novel Harry Dresden the wizard and magical detective is trying to solve the mystery of why the Talbots keep dying and it leads him to discover there is a nasty curse. He sets off to the small town to solve the crimes and save the remaining Talbot bloodline.

The full page images in the novel are absolutely beautifully drawn, full of detail and depth. The actual comic and dialogue pages do leave some to be desired. The characters are distinguishable from one another but were not anywhere near the amazing full pages and cover art.

The storyline fits really well for the graphic novel adaptation and if I see more of these on Netgalley I would happily pick them up to read, but I would rather pick up the actual books for a more in depth story with character building. I know that this particular family may only come up on this case and this case alone, but I would like to care that they do or don’t die… if that makes sense.