Showing posts with label july. Show all posts
Showing posts with label july. Show all posts

Let's Discuss! Do you read book after book in a series or take a break between them?

There's a lot of aspects concerning series to be discussed, however, today I ask you about whether you read book after book in a series or read something else and then continue it some time later.



Personally, while before blogging I always read a series at the same time, as long as I intended to read the whole of course, now sometimes it happens that I break it off. Since now, although I don't have a strict reading schedule, I do get ARCs and some books are more imperative to be read than others (e.g. when I finished reading Daughter of Smoke & Bone I loved it and there was a pretty major cliffhanger as well, but just then City of Heavenly Fire came out and I must read it) therefore it's not always possible for me to finish the given series all at once. However, it also depends on how much I liked the book and whether there was/how big the cliffhager was at the end of it. If I can't read the whole series at once despite how much I would love to, I usually try to fit the next volume in as soon as possible and then the same with the next and the next and the next.

That's how I can do it, however, I do prefer to read book after book in a series. It allows me to get into the story and the world much thoroughly and to get to know the characters a lot more.

Though there is another aspect. If you start to read a series when it first comes out, you can't help but to wait for the next book and after that repeat it with the third one and the fourth and so on. In that case, it's impossible to read the whole series at once, albeit it's also true that you can always re-read the previous installments to refresh your memory. Then again, accoring to a survey, most book bloggers re-read less because they have new books to review. I don't so it either even if something is as complicated as The Mortal Instruments. Thus some readers choose to wait until the whole series and only then start reading it, but I'm too eager if I find something excited to do that so I just hope I remember enough.

Let's Discuss!


So what's your method? The whole at one time or take a break? And do you wait for the whole series to come out or pick the first book up as soon as it comes out like me?

Top Ten Tuesday (8) - Top Ten Characters I Would Want With Me On A Deserted Island

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. It features a different topic every week, when you can share your Top Ten Books in the certain aspect.

Book Blitz: Tortured Souls by Kimberly Wheaton



Tortured Souls (Orion Circle #1)
Release Date: July 2014

Summary from Goodreads:
Sometimes Rest in Peace isn't an option.

Kacie Ramsey sees ghosts—and it's ruining her life. Her mother left, her father blames her, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't keep the ghosts away. Now a new power has emerged. Nightly visions of grisly murders and a relentless predator draw her to the brink of insanity.

When the phantom appears at a party, Kacie's longtime crush, Logan, saves her. He invites her to join the Orion Circle, a group of supernatural hunters with chapters in schools all over the country. Through the Circle, Kacie learns to embrace her spiritual powers, and for the first time in her life she feels in control rather than a victim.

But the Foxblood Demon will not give up so easily. A demented serial killer in life who trapped the souls of the thirteen children he murdered, imprisoning them within the walls of his mansion. Now in death, he plots his return while drawing power from the pure souls of the children. He recognizes something in Kacie he's never seen before—a medium powerful enough to provide a vessel for his tainted soul.

Kacie can't ignore the tortured souls of the children crying out to her every night. With Logan at her side, she will fight the Foxblood Demon. But can they banish this powerful phantom, or will Kacie lose not only her body, but her eternal soul to the monster.



Available from:

Praise
“Tortured Souls was a wonderful YA read. It was light and enjoyable all the way through. From the romance, to the thrills, this book was fantastic. YA lovers, this is definitely a book you'll want to check out.” ~ Farrah at Imagine a World

“Tortured souls by Kimber Wheaton........ omg!! Great book!!!! This is one you don't want to miss out on.~ Paranormal Romance & Authors That Rock

“The plot is wonderfully spooky with just the right amount of suspense and mystery to keep the pages turning.” ~ James Luby– Amazon Reviewer

Sunday Post #16 - Holiday

The Sunday Post
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme


Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Suspense (22) - Winterspell by Claire Legrand


18475593Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Expected day of publication: September 30th, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, Kindle Edition, eBook
Pages: 464

Pre-order via: Amazon  I  Barnes&Noble + Nook I  Indigo  I  The Book Depository  I  iTunes  I  IndieBound

Synopsis:

The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all.

Inspired by The NutcrackerWinterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.

Let's Discuss! Do you read prequels?



This topic is something that irks my mind for a while now. I often see readers gushing about their favorite series' prequels and count how many of them they read each month. And they sound great! Honestly, I would love to read the Selection series' prequel, the Prince and the upcoming one, The Queen. And then there is The Maze Runner's The Kill Order. The only problem I don't read prequels. Or at least on very, very, very, very, very rare occassions. You can now ask why if I'm so interested and the answer is that honestly, I don't even know. Not because I have a kind of weird discrimination towards them though. One reason is because they mainly feature other characters than the major MCs. Once again, I'm not sure why that bothers me. Sometimes I'm not interested in their stories, however, that can happen with any book. Sometimes, I just don't like the given character (ahem, Warner), but that doesn't occur very often. In other cases...I really don't know. And that's all I can hold against them. Apart from these, I only have vague speculations and feeble exuses, like, I begrudge the time for them. After all, I did read a prequel once, but it consisted of six pages for God's sake, I'm not even fully positive if that to be counted as one, thus it would be logical. But yet, do I? 

All in all, I was hoping unraveling the issue, an answer would come to me, but I'm still not sure why I refrain from reading prequels. So while I carry on thinking, it's your turn: do you read prequels? Why? Why not?

Writing Wednesday (8) - Writing Prompts



Disclaimer: I'm not an author nor am I an editor or any kind of expert. I only can share my aspiring adventures with you, but I do hope, it'll help many other aspiring writers and we can go along the road together. :)


Writing is not (only) talent, but also practise. A lot of practise actually. Like about 20% talent, 80% practise. Fortunately though, it's very easy to practise writing, or at least you have a rather wide variety of availabilities in the matter - every time you blog, write an essay, a letter, a fan-fiction or, say, a novel you improve your writing style and voice.

However, writers are usually not only writers, but rather busy worker men and women who possess little time whilst writing any of the ones above take muh time to complete. It's nothing we couldn't resollve though. One of the most excellent ways of practising writing is writing prompts. Not only do they help you better your writing, but they also help when you are out of ideas and later you can even build the written scenes in your strory. What's more, they are so much more fun than essays, aren't they?

So what's a writing promp exactly?


A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. The prompt could be a single word, a short phrase, a complete paragraph or even a picture, with the idea being to give you something to focus upon as you write. You can stick very closely to the original prompt or you can wander off at a tangent.

It's up to you whether you just come up with rough, disjointed notes or you end up with something more polished and complete, a scene or even a complete story. The point is to simply start writing without being held back by any inhibitions or doubts.

Examples of writing prompts: 


  1. He turned on the lights. Something was off.
  2. The car skidded to a screeching halt.
  3. What if....
  4. Frozen.
  5. This is what I'm going to do. Period.
  6. It's usually not permitted here.
  7. Water was everywhere.
  8. Bright colors.
  9. Over and over again.
  10. Ugly.

Resources for more writing prompts:


YA Book Releases Next Week (July 21st - 27th)

Homeroom Diaries
PublisherLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date7/21/2014
Pages272
Age range12 - 17 Year

Synopsis:

In James Patterson's first highly illustrated "diary fiction" story for teens, the mega-bestselling author's most endearing and original teen heroine ever proves that everyone can use a helping hand once in a while.

Margaret "Cuckoo" Clarke recently had a brief stay in a mental institution following an emotional breakdown, but she's turning over a new leaf with her "Operation Happiness". She's determined to beat down the bad vibes of the Haters, the Terror Teachers, and all of the trials and tribulations of high school by writing and drawing in her diary. And when life gets really tough, she works through her own moments of uncertainty through imaginary conversations with her favorite literary characters.

Cuckoo's also got a nearly impossible mission: she, along with her misfit band of self-deprecating friends (who call themselves "the Freakshow") decide to bridge the gap between warring cliques and "bring the Nations together". Not everyone is so willing to join hands and get along, but Cuckoo never stops smiling... until one of her closest friends, pushed to desperation by a Hater prank, decides that enough is enough.

Book Tour: Night of The Fallen (Dark Tides #2) by Diana Bocco





Night of the Fallen
Dark Tides #2
By: Diana Bocco




Isabelle’s mission seemed so clear: kill the king of the vampires to give humanity a fighting chance. Except she didn’t count on falling in love with him. And she didn't realize he held secrets that could actually end up saving the human race.

As the kingdom falls and Isabelle’s heart is torn between two worlds, everything changes. There’s something more dangerous out there, a plague that might destroy both humans and vampires alike. The only way to survive it might be to find a truce between species.

Peace will require the ultimate sacrifice.

And change the future of the world forever.

Sunday Post #15 - A Little Eveything

The Sunday Post
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme


Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Cover Reveal: The Social Media Experiment by Cole Gibson

Title: The Social Media Experiment
Author: Cole Gibson
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release date: September 2nd, 2014

Blurb:

On the surface, seventeen-year-old Reagan Fray appears to have everything. She's popular, Ivy League–bound, and her parents are rich enough to buy her whatever she wants. Behind the scenes, Reagan is a girl with an anxiety disorder struggling to hold the fraying threads of her life together. It takes work to stay on top, and when that fails, Reagan's learned from her politician mother that a little social espionage never hurts. That is, until the day Reagan finds all of her texts and private messages printed out and taped to every locker in her high school.
Finding herself ostracized from her friends and on the receiving end of the bullying she used to dish out, Reagan won't settle into her new role as social pariah without a fight. Determined to get back in with her friends and reclaim her social status before her mother finds out and sends her to boarding school, Reagan has no choice but to team up with outcast Nolan Letner.
But the closer Reagan gets to Nolan, the more she realizes all of her actions have consequences, and her future might be the biggest casualty of all.

 

Writing Wednesday (7) - Show Don't Tell



Disclaimer: I'm not an author nor am I an editor or any kind of expert. I only can share my aspiring adventures with you, but I do hope, it'll help many other aspiring writers and we can go along the road together. :)


After reading Ashley's review, I'm still in a bit of a shock. The book she reviewed was about literally narrated through the story without a jitty of 'show', making it so monotone as a desert during summer. She even quoted from it and what was written there, I could hardly believe. Head over, read it for yourself, I will wait here, and then we can discuss.

Ready? Pretty wow, isn't it? Not in the positive way though. The reason why I'm so all-over it is that it's the all-time number one principle of writing and not because some self-proclaimed important person once came up with it to make authors' lives even harder, but because without it writing simple cannot work. It will be incredibly dull and as you can see, most likely DNF. Another reason for my fuming, just a marginal thought, is that it's so hard to get published nowadays, authors constantly talk about not getting disheartened if we get rejected one time, two times, ten times...And books like this, are published and not by any publicity, but by an imprint of one of the great six. (Highest quality, hmmm?)

YA Book Releases Next Week (July 14th - 20th)

Breathe, Annie, BreathePublisherSourcebooks, Incorporated
Publication date: 7/15/2014
Pages320
Sales rank97 316
Age range13 - 17 Years


Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

"Breathe, Annie, Breathe is an emotional, heartfelt, and beautiful story about finding yourself after loss and learning to love. It gave me so many feels. Her best book yet." — Jennifer Armentrout, New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You

  


 That's all for now unfortunately. I couldn't find anything else that wan't massmarket edition, or reprint anywhere. :(

(P.S. But I used Blockquote. Yaaay, I'm so excited. It looks awesome isn't it? Okay, I am aware it's not like I was the first person on Earth to use it. :D)

Let's Discuss! Movie Tie-in Book Covers

I know that there have been quite a few articles on this topic and I'm also aware that I was the one who said that it's uneccessary and redundant to post about the same matter on every blog. However, my opinion is different therefore I thought I would share it with you, Dear Readers. Without further ado, I will just start.