I am Blogging @ Book Lovers Inc., again
My New Book Lovers Inc Signature: Yes, I am an Intern. Disappearing for months will cause you to have to start over from the bottom. Lesson learned. LOL!!!
Just wanted to let you know that aside from picking Book Obsessed back up I I have also rejoined the Book Lovers Inc team. I will be doing occasional discussion posts and will appear regularly as a book reviewer.
Book Obsessed Girl on Book Lovers Inc.:
(10/13/10) I made my re-debut yesterday with a post titled The Accidental YA Reader which is about exactly what it sounds like: how I accidentally read my first YA book(s) in 22 years. There is also a Giveaway with this post – leave a comment over at BLI on my post either helping me choose my next YA book to read or just share your thoughts and you’ll be entered to win a book of your choice from Book Depository (up to $10) – OPEN TO ANYWHERE BOOK DEPO SHIPS.
(10/14/10) Today I reviewed one of my new Favorite books, The Light of Asteria by Elizabeth Isaacs – an absolutely beautiful fantasy romance novel. And to answer the question those of you who have read the book have on the tip of your tongue – NO The Light of Asteria is not the book(s) I wrote about yesterday. In fact I didn’t know it was considered YA until today when I saw it mentioned on another blog – causing me to jump over to the author’s website to confirm and sure enough there is was right in the header “YA Fantasy Author”! Unbelievable! Truth is I still don’t see it as YA but that’s how it’s being classified so what’s a BookObsessedGrl to do??? Anyway…go check out my review & then add The Light of Asteria to your TBR list. Believe me you will thank me later. It’s a keeper. Available in both trade paperback & e-book: links to each are included in my review.
I will be posting reviews very soon – I have 6 months worth to catch up on so you’ll have lots of reviews to read.
24-Hour Read-a-Thon: October 9, 2010
I also, hope to do a close-out post or two tomorrow from the read-thon – just to give everyone closure & am explanation for why there were only 3 posts during the whole event.
That’s it for now!
Open Roads & Good Reads,
Heather
Read-a-Thon Update #3 & Mini-Challenges
Quick Update & Mini-Challenges!
I have read 170 pages so far today – and done all the Mommy things too. 🙂 Page count would be higher without the Mommy things, but…the Mommy things are fun too. 😀
You can't see the reader in my hand but this is me intently reading.
Shake your Pom-Poms Mini Challenge:
I think I am too late in posting this one, but I took so much time writing it I am going to share it anyway!
Reading Cheer/Poem:
To Read to Read
A Joy Indeed
To Read that First Line
And Travel thru Time
To Read to Read
A Joy Indeed
To Laugh
To Cry
To Finally know why
To Read to Read
A Joy Indeed
To Read that Last Line
To Close the Book with a Sigh
A Dreamy Look in Your Eye
And Wander to the TBR Shelf
To Read to Read
Another!
Two-Part Pet Challenge:
Part 1: Picture of my pet. I have 3 cats, but don’t have access to pictures of all of them right now. On the previous update there is a picture of Kashmir with Interview with the Vampire. Below is Mooska, we usually call him Mooshie. He’s a talker and her really does love hanging around my books. We have tons of pictures of him & my books!
Mooshka Begging me to let him read Moon Called by Patrica Briggs. He Luvs Smexy, Butt Kicking Werewolves!
Part Two:
My favorite book with animals is “Good-bye Pink Pig” . He doesn’t really have a name -so Pink Pig is what I have to work with to make the sentence.
Pink Pig paraded past Patricia proudly.
Be back soon….more reading to do before dinner. Maybe next post I’ll show you my snake pile? Hummm….
24 Hour Read-a-Thon Update #2 & Mini-Challenges
Well let’s see, what have I done in the past few hours?
I’ve read another 62 pages of An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire. I know that’s not much but, I’ve had some interruptions like:
#1- Phone calls from other children’s parents asking when the SAT testing is over & if I am going to pick up the kids. Answer to that is ‘I don’t know’ and’ Yes, I’ll pick them up, when they call’.
#2- Husband who’s not thrilled with the 24hr Read-a-Thon, because I was such a mess afterwards last year. I told him I was taking it easy this year & him seemed somewhat appeased.
- Kashmir fell asleep reading Interview with the Vampire.
#3- Kashmir, our female cat has an injured paw and that is a distraction all its own. She’s my girl – follows me around like a little shadow. Now she’s limping (much like me) & refuses to stay in one place, everytime I get up she jumps off her pillow to follow me. Then whines because it hurts. 😦
#4 – I entered the {Indie}Pendent Books Challenge to show pictures of and/or tell them about the Indie or Small Press books we’ve read or are reading for the read-a-thon. I posted twice with 2 different pictures, if you want to see my smiling face go click on the link above & scroll through the comments. 😀
Here's Mooshka with the stack of books I pulled out for the Read-a-Thon.
#5 – Above is my entry for the “Show Me the Books” mini-challenges on the My Reading Room blog. Mooshie luvs books, his favorite place to relax is wherever I have a stack of books, so naturally he had to jump into the picture. I used this pic instead of the pic without him because seriously doesn’t adding a cat to any picture make it better? I think it does. 🙂
That’s all the news fit to print right now. Off to pick-up the teenage academics and provide full taxi services. (Maybe I’ll read at red lights? Just don’t tell my Hubby – he’ll freak – cuz I’m driving his new car.)
Talk to you soon. ~BookObsessedGrl
Welcome Back & The 24 Hour Read-a-Thon Begins!
- 24-Hour Read-a-Thon: October 9, 2010
Hello? Hello? Is anybody here? Hello…uh, it’s me…do you remember me? I know it’s been awhile…okay, okay… I know it’s been more than “awhile”…but I am like the Cheshire Cat of the blog-o-sphere…slowly fading away with a wicked smile on my face, leaving you to wonder where I will pop up next…and when? I promise to explain my long disappearance and sudden reappearance this coming week. I assure you that BookObsessedGrl is back & I will be blogging like crazy…Starting Right Now!
I hope you’ll forgive my disappearing act & join me today for Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon! 😀 It’s gonna be fun!
I figured there was no better way to celebrate my return from outer-space than by participating in the Read-a-Thon & inviting you all to follow along.
I signed up last week, but then forgot it was today until someone mentioned it yesterday, so I am doing this on the fly. I have no plans other than read, do mini-challenges and have fun! I didn’t pick out books in advance, so I am going to start by reading some of the E-books I have on my TBR list, all of the books I will be reading today I purchased myself. I won’t be reading any ‘review copies’. When I got up this morning I also grabbed a bunch of “real” books off my TBR shelf so I can hop from e-book to paperback to hardcover & back. One thing I learned from last year’s read-a-thon is that what I think I will feel like reading yesterday, is not necessarily what I’ll feel like reading today. With that in mind I am going to choose books & short stories over the next 24 hours based upon my mood at the time. 😀
Because I had to take my daughter to do her SAT this morning and knew I’d be late getting back I started reading at 6 AM and my first book is:
An Artificial Night (October Daye Book #3) by Seanan McGuire
My first official update is that I am on page 88 of An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire! Read 25 pages while waiting for my daughter to get ready. I had started this book a couple of weeks ago, but set it aside to finish another book, that is the reason for the page count discrepancy.
Here’s a sample of a few of the other books I may read today:
Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan
Angel of Death by J. Robert King
Blameless (The Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Becoming Latina in 10 Easy Steps by Lara Rios
Ghost Interrupted by Sonia Singh
Unbound (Anthology) Short Stories by Multiple Authors
Confessions of a Nervous Shiksa by Tracy McArdle
Notice they are not all Urban Fantasy? I am broadening my reading horizons again. Let’s see how it goes….Keep checking back for updates & mini-challenges over the next 24-hours.
Thanks for stopping by!
Now back to reading…see ya soon!
~BookObsessedGrl
P.S. I am soo glad to be back! Oh, and please ignore most of the things on my sidebar…they are out dated, however the book shown there are all highly recommended! My reviews of Deadtown by Nancy Holzner is available here. I reviewed both Prime Evil by Heather Long and Blood Vice by Keith Melton over at Book Lovers Inc, but for some reason I can’t find them right now. I loved both books & am eagerly awaiting Book #2 in each series. If necessary I will re-post those reviews soon. As for Connect the Dots by Denise Robbins, I LOVED that book! I haven’t done a full review yet, but trust me when I tell you it is an awesome book! The review will be up soon. 😀
Okay now seriously, I’m going to read for the next 15 minutes – because the first mini-challenge is at 10AM – good thing I read some early! LOL 😀
Book Lovers Inc
The new book blog, Book Lovers Inc opens its doors tomorrow and I just can’t wait!!!
Here’s some of the information about their opening day, that I snagged from their “Coming Soon” post:
Winners, Cats, Photo-Art, Music & Awards!
Sorry that I have been M.I.A. since the New Year began – it has been one thing after another going wrong. Mostly the going wrongs were computer issues, some of it was due to being sick and unable to concentrate while sick! I have barely been able to get online for the past two weeks. In the past few days I finally wiped my entire hard drive and upgraded to a new operating system. The computer seems to be much happier with it’s new Win7 OS verses its previous Windows Vista – so I am happier too. Now that you know where I have been, grab a cup of coffee, tea or soda – whatever you prefer and settle in for one longggg post! I’ll wait while you get settled…just shout when your ready…
Lady Kashmir and her consort Mooshka fell asleep while waiting for you to get ready.
humm, hummmm, da, da, da, le, le, la…ta, da, le, he, ha…… (Don’t mind me I am just singing a little ditty to myself while I wait for you to get settled in.)
Okay, Okay! I’ll stop! You can uncover your ears now. Sorry…I know I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. (I have not idea how the cats slept through my singing.)
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Oh, your ready? Great! Well, then lets get started!
Like I said this is going to be one long post. I need to catch-up on a bunch of things and rather than do several different posts I am going to do them all at once here! 🙂 Okay, well that’s not entirely true – I changed my mind…I was going to include all the 2010 Challenges I have joined in this post but I think that deserves its own post, so I’ll do that seperate.
First, let mean update on the events that were scheduled for last week. Between computer issues, me and half my household being sick and author’s having sick families or being sick themselves things didn’t come together as originally planned.
Here’s the new plan:
Carrie Lofty, author of Scoundrel’s Kiss – which hit bookstore shelves on 01/05/10 stopped by yesterday. She wrote a guest blog about the five things that surprised her while writing Scoundrel’s Kiss and is generously giving away a signed copy of the book! To read Carrie’s guest blog click here.
My interview with Keith Melton, author of the Vampire/Mafia novel, Blood Vice will be up later today and he will be giving away an e-book copy of Blood Vice to one lucky commenter. It is a Big Day on the blog, something for everybody!
Last but not least, my Hub’s reviews of the three Eric Nylund books in the Halo Series will be posted as a surprise! As soon as he gives them to me they will be posted. In his defense he was sick also and he does have a full-time job that is insane during the months of December and January, so we won’t be too hard on him for not turning them in on time. 😉
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And now it’s time to let the cat out of the bag…
Hamlet is has been waiting to for me to announce the winners.
Hamlet a.ka. Hammie, has been waiting in that bag since Midnight on January 2 to find out who won their very own e-copy of Heather Long’s novel, Prime Evil and the Zombilicious, New Year’s Eve Zombie Style Prize Pack from author, Nancy Holzner which includes a copy of her debut novel, Deadtown! I think it is way past time to let this cat out of the bag…
The winners are…
Melissa (@MelLHay) – Winner of Prime Evil by Heather Long
INCiDeNt (@INCiDeNT_Zinc) – Winner of The Deadtown Prize Pack
Congratulations to both of you!
Please either leave an email address in the comments section or contact take me on Twitter – @BookObsessedGrl to give me your information so I can get these prizes out to you!
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But wait that’s not all…
(remember, you were warned this would be a long post)
Now it’s awards time!
I am woefully behind in acknowledging the awards I have won over the past few months and passing those awards along to other bloggers. I am about to remedy that situation…right…NOW…
* I am going to try not to have duplicates but may not be able to avoid them in some instances. *
This award was given to me by two bloggers, Larissa of Larissa’s Life and Sagi of Sagi’s Randomness!
Here are the rules for passing along this award:
- Accept this award, add the badge above and post about it on your blog with the name (link) of the person who granted it to you.
- Name 5 Blogs you think are Kick-Ass and write why. Don’t forget to let them know that you have Awarded them.
Why? Because her blog is just straight up fun! She does Saturday Delights – which are fantastic receipies, she knows how and where to find pictures of hotties and her Vlogs are awesome. She’s adorable, funny and has great taste in books. What’s not Kick-Ass about JoJo’s Blog would be a better question…huh, can’t think of anything that isn’t Kick-Ass there!
Why? Because her reviews are wicked cool, thoughtful and honest. Her non-review posts often make you think and although I don’t always remember to comment on them, are usually discussion worthy. I love most of the same books she does and I LOVE her header!
#3 Smexy Books
Why? Because when you read her blog you can feel the passion she has for reading, for the characters she loves and the ones she hates. She tells it like it is and is always fair and balanced. When she loves a book you can’t help but want to go out an get it as soon as possible, because her excitment is contagious (though I am still not sure I could get into were-snakes – just sayin’). Her posts are thoughtful, funny, a joy to read and of course totally SMEXY. Plus she loves The Killers and I think of her now everytime I hear ANY of their songs. 😉
Why? Because she is true to herself. When she decided to announce that she would primarily be focusing on the kind of books she loves instead of accepting any books sent to her I was inspired by her strength and conviction. She has the absolute best Challenges – hands down best on the internet! Her reviews cover all of the important information, with her opinions in an honest and clear way. I just enjoy her blog. Plus she had me as a guest blogger…hehe
#5 Daily Dose
Why? Because it is Heather Long! Do I really need to say more than that? She is absolutely awesome and so is her blog! Her posts are fun and thoughtful. The header is my absolute favorite and I plan to get some t-shirts from her Cafe-Press store with that header on the front! She’s a great author and a sweet person – just read her blog and you will see how her personailty and abilities shines through. Plus she has great taste in books, we don’t always agree but she always makes me take a second look at why I feel the way I do about a certain book. 🙂
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9. A book that changed my outlook on life is: I Will Not Die an Unlived Life by Dawna Markova
10. I am only 4 foot, 10 inches tall and by a law inacted in the US about 10 years ago I am “technically” consider a midget (any full grown adult under 5 feet tall – was the new wording they added). 😉 I am called “Midge” by some friends as a nod to my small stature.
Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.
Link back to the person that tagged you.
1. Larissa – Larissa’s Life
2. Jodie – JoJosBookCorner
3. Susi – The Geeky Bookworm
6. E – The Book Pushers
Rules for Award:
3. Copy & paste the quiz-Answer with ONE word only.
Thanks to Sagi at Sagi’s Randomness for this terrfic award!
Quiz:
Your cell phone? I don’t have a cell phone. 😦 I do have an iPod Touch though which is almost as good!
Your hair? Blonde by nature, Red(ish) by Clariol. 🙂 Mostly straight.
Your mother? Lives in North Carolina w/my Dad, Sister & her family
Your father? Lives – as stated above and is a Starbucks Manager
Your favorite food? Thai Food
Your dream last night? I don’t remember.
Your favorite drink? Tea, but lately I am addicted to Mountain Dew Throwback – But I hate reg Mountain Dew
Your dream/goal? To be successful in all I do and get my degree.
What room are you in? Patio
Your hobby? Reading
Your fear? Not really living.
Where do you want to be in 6 years? On the coast of somewhere beautiful.
Where were you last night? Home
Something that you aren’t? Static
Muffins? Love them – its like a cupcake for breakfast.
Wish list item? A Mac!
Where did you grow up? Miami
Last thing you did? Talked to Sagi on the phone & watched MonsterQuest on History Channel
What are you wearing? Comfies
Your TV? Flat Screen
Your Pets? 3 Cats
Friends? I collect them. 😉
Your life? Busy
Your mood? Stressed and wondering why I decided to do this long post?!
Missing someone? Sometimes – yup…that’s my answer
Vehicle? Don’t have one of my own.
Something you’re not wearing? A jacket – finally! LOL
Your favorite store? Restoration Hardware, because they have weird, interesting stuff
Your favorite color? Purple
When was the last time you laughed? this morning
Last time you cried? This morning at a news report.
Your best friend? Shel
One place that you go to over and over? Naples, FL
Facebook? Yes
Favorite place to eat? A pizza place physically on Ft. Lauderdale beach. Awesome! – mostly because of environment.
I pass this award to the following bloggers:
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Fantasy Made Real:
Robin, over at Intense Whisper made this amazing, whimsical picture of me. She is a very talented artist. She also did pictures of a whole bunch of bloggers and you must go see them! Some of the images she did of Jodie (JoJosBookCorner) are just incredible! (The link will lead you to the first set of pictures of Jodie, then you have to click through the Real Fantasy series to see all of them.)
Last but not least, MUSIC!
I got an iPod Touch for Christmas from my Hubs and by giving me this gift he gave me back my music. Its not the highest capacity one (but seriously how many people actually have enough music to fill the largest one?), plus it is bigger than my 5 year old one – which amazingly still works, even if it is a bit wonky sometimes. The point is…I finally got to download some new music by some singers/bands I love and I wanted to share a couple that I have been listening to a lot lately. These are songs that have struck a cord with me, they were my companions while I was sick and could barely even read. Each of these songs tell a story just like the books we read, only they are poetry set to music and they are stories I feel blessed to get to hear.
The Music in My Head: A Mixtape
All I Have by Mat Kearny
Fire and Rain by Mat Kearny
New York to California by Mat Kearny
You Found me by The Fray
I love this song, but HAD to include this particular video for it, instead of the regular one, because I can’t wait for LOST to return! Wonderful video for any LOST fan!
Never Say Never by The Fray
Lifeboats by Snow Patrol
No mixtape or playlist made by me would be complete without some Snow Patrol & this is my current favorite by them.
Sunshine (Hidden Track) by All American Rejects
The Wind Blows by All American Rejects
A Dustland Fairytale by The Killers
The one below is for Mandi (SMEXY) and also for Nicole Peeler for mentioning this song in her book Tempest Rising – making me *squeee* like a the little fangirl I really am. It is not a new song, or even new to me, but I love this version and listen to it all the time. There’s just something about it…
Romeo and Juliet by The Killers
Class dismissed! Thanks for hanging in there with me for this marathon post. I promise to keep these to a minimum!!!
Cheers,
BookObsessedGrl
Guest Blog: Author, Carrie Lofty
In the sequel to WHAT A SCOUNDREL WANTS, Meg of Keyworth’s troubled sister Ada travels to the Kingdom of Castile.When it comes to temptation…Turning his back on his old life as a rogue, Gavriel de Marqueda has joined a monastic order in Spain and taken a vow of chastity. Before he becomes a monk, he must pass one final test: help a woman who has lost her way. But when he lays eyes on Ada of Keyworth, he is tempted beyond measure by her sultry beauty and dangerous curves…
Rules are meant to be broken…
Far from her home in England, Ada has been battling inner demons for more than a year. When she discovers that her only friend has abandoned her, she has no choice but to grudgingly accept Gavriel’s help. But Ada is not fooled. Though Gavriel wears the robes of a monk, Ada sees that he is a virile man who looks at her with a hunger that matches her own–one that begs to be satisfied again and again….
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Today, I have author, Carrie Lofty here telling us five things that surprised her while writing, Scoundrel’s Kiss. She has also generously offered to give one lucky person a copy of Scoundrel’s Kiss – if the winner is in the US or Canada it will be a signed copy, if the winner is anywhere else it will come from Book Depo.
And now….Here’s Carrie!
Five Surprising Things
I could talk about the surprising historical facts I learned while writing SCOUNDREL’S KISS, or about how it feels to write under deadline for the first time in my professional career. But instead, I’d like to talk—without resorting to spoilers!—about elements of the plot that took me by surprise.
My method of drafting a novel begins with characters and setting. Once I have those things under control, knowing them inside out, I begin writing. Call me a prepared pantser! What I love about this method is that I don’t feel completely freaked out by blank pages, but I also get to look forward to elements of the story that will take me by surprise. Here are the five that tickled me the most.
1. Every tragedy needs comedy.
This might not come as a surprise to some authors—for example, Shakespeare! But I learned early on that I needed comedic voices to balance the drama of Ada and Gavriel’s rocky courtship. That’s where Fernan Garza (a reluctant monk) and Blanca de Yepes (a young runaway) came in. They were able to leaven the story when the mood became too bleak.
2. Even clowns cry.
Those same comedic figures revealed surprising facets of their personality. I thought they were just hanging around for laughs, but it turns out they had important, rather dramatic backstories. Rather than argue with the inner workings of my brain, I let them run!
3. No one’s perfect.
I also thought that Gavriel had his head sorted out, but oh, I was terribly wrong. Putting him in charge of curing Ada of her opium addiction was, well, perhaps not the best idea…
4. Surprise villains!
I knew that Gavriel’s father was responsible for shaping my troubled hero—and not in an after school special sort of way. Gavriel was hardened and warped by his father, and I fully expected that absent villain to make a return appearance. What I didn’t expect was a second villain to make trouble for my young lovers.
5. Have a little tenderness.
Early on, I imagined Gavriel and Ada would suffer through a contentious courtship, one full of conflict and seduction as they each tried to get their way. What I hadn’t banked on were moments of genuine tenderness. She relents a little, just when her stubborn pride threatens to cut him off completely. And he reveals glimpses of his past that help ease her shame and despair.
Who knew? Certainly not me! And here I thought I was in charge of this crazy ride…
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To read an excerpt of Scoundrel’s Kiss and view the book trailer, click here. To purchase a copy of Scoundrel’s Kiss now click here.
Contest:
To enter the contest all you have to do is leave a comment in here about something that surprised you recently.
Contest ends Friday, January 22, 2oo9.
