Sunday Post #44 and Stacking the Shelves December 6th, 2015

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.
Last week on the blog:

• Promo Post and Giveaway:  The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden and Shadow in the Sea by Sheila A. Nielson
• Cover Characteristic:  Beds
•  Review:  Hellraisers by Alexander Gordon Smith
• Waiting on Wednesday:  Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Audiobook Review:  Armada by Ernest Cline
• Debut Author Bash and Giveaway:  Holly Bodger - Author of 5 to 1

 The week back from Thanksgiving break has been pretty busy!  I didn't even get a chance to go comment on other people's Stacking the Shelves and Sunday Posts last week.  Aah!!  But with no The Walking Dead on tonight, and no dinner at my mom's I should be able to get it done tonight instead of having to wait until tomorrow.  I also found a book trading group on Facebook and traded 4 books right away!  Books that I've had on Twitter for awhile and gotten no bite on.  So I should have lots to share next week.  Also, I got to meet a new author this week, Holly Messinger. She wrote the book I reviewed just recently, The Curse of Jacob Tracy.  On Friday she came to the high school where I am a librarian and talked to the students.  I of course had to have my picture taken with her.

This week on the blog:

• Promo (Possible Review) Nexis by AL Davroe
• Debut Author Bash and Giveaway:  Lance Rubin - Author of Denton Little's Death Date
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Cover Characteristic:  Sharks
• Possible starting a new challenge for 2016:  Starting a new series
• Reviews:  Need by Joelle Charbonneau, Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Possible Reviews:  Audiobook - Yes, My Accent is Real by Kunal Nayyar.

I'm reading Nexis right now, and loving it, and hoping to be done and able to add a review to my promo post tomorrow.  Not sure if I'll make it or not.  I'm also very excited to get to host Lance Rubin on Tuesday for the Debut Author Bash, I loved his debut novel, Denton Little's Death Date, it was my staff rec at the bookstore where I worked for the last 2 months.  I mentioned before that I think I'm going to try to host my own year long challenge this year about starting those series that I keep seeing everyone else loving, and yet I haven't gotten to them yet.  My month long challenge I do in September hasn't done super-great, but I still keep plugging away each year with it. So I'm going to try this year long one as well.

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  I had a smaller book haul this week.  And part of the books I got I can't show because they are for my TBBT Secret Santa recipient!  I also was very good this week about not requesting any free ebooks.  
Physical books:

I also got two calendars and some Star Trek post-it notes, it is our employee appreciation days at the bookstore, so that means I always buy more stuff!  It's good at this time of the year because I can get lots of Christmas gifts, like for the Secret Santa stuff!

Now I found out that I won a giveaway from Jessica at A Great Read as well this past week.  Part of the prize arrived this week.  I poster from the book Winter by Marissa Meyer, that is signed.  You can kind of see it in lower left had corner of the picture below.

Jessica also threw in a copy of a YA coloring book.

Now, I could swear I got some e-galleys this week, but I didn't write it down anywhere, so can't share it.

So, that's my last week and what I added to my shelves.  What did you add to your shelves?  How was your last week?  Again I ask, would you be interested in joining my new series challenge?  I'm thinking of calling it "It's New to Me".

Debut Author Bash and Giveaway: Holly Bodger

I am very excited to get to host author Holly Bodger on my blog today.  I was so excited to see that she would be one of the authors we would get to choose, and then to find out I got to host her on my blog was even more exciting.

Author Bio:

A long-time resident of Ottawa, Canada, I have been working in publishing since I graduated with an English degree from the University of Ottawa.

I am represented by Lauren MacLeod of The Strothman Agency, LLC. My debut novel, 5 TO 1, was released on May 12, 2015 from Knopf Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House).

I am also the author of TEN which was a finalist for the 2013 RWA Golden Heart (YA Category). 

Author links:

• Website 
• Twitter 
• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• Goodreads 
• Tumblr 

Book Info:

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa doesn’t want to be a wife, and Contestant Five, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. Sudasa’s family wants nothing more than for their daughter to do the right thing and pick a husband who will keep her comfortable—and caged. Five’s family wants him to escape by failing the tests. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Five thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view—Sudasa’s in verse and Contestant Five’s in prose—allowing readers to experience both characters’ pain and their brave struggle for hope. 

Purchase Links:

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

 

Author's Top Ten Favorite Books:

It’s always hard to list my favorite books, especially when I’m only allowed ten so I’ve decided to focus on those that have inspired me as a writer.  

	Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt I’ve read this book, listened to the audiobook (narrated by the late Frank McCourt himself) and seen the movie and I could do so over and over again. It’s a wonderful story that mixes despair and humor in the perfect way. It’s also an excellent example of how to write a memoir.
	The Book Thief by Markus Zusak I like happy-sad books and this is another fabulous example of one. It’s a tiny ray of sunshine in the middle of a horrific setting. The POV is original and well-done (and yes, I watched the movie and loved it too!)
	Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding It may not come as a surprise to hear that I’ve read this, listened to it and watched the movie like ten or twenty times (I do tend to overdose on things I love!) This story is one of my go-to feel-goods. It’s hilarious and romantic and a fine example of how to write in diary format.
	Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Like the other books on this list, I have read this many times and have seen many of the movies (the one with Helena Bonham Carter is my favorite). This is an amazing book with so many levels to it that I still continue to discover more every time I read it. It is a fantastic example of how to write a complex and sympathetic antagonist.
	Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter As per my earlier comment about overdosing on things I love, I’m refusing to pick just one of the books in this series because I love them all. I also love the audiobooks and promise to love the movies if they ever make them. These books feature smart, kickass heroines with awesome friendships and familial relationships. The pace is absolutely perfect and the setting is very well done.
	The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer This is obviously a recurring theme here, but I have read this and listened to it many times and I always love it just as much as the previous time. This novel is a great example of using multiple POVs to tell a story and handles the letter format very well. It’s also both sad and funny and a little bit romantic.
	Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling And now for the part where I sound a really obsessive. I have read all of these books. I have listened to all of the audiobooks. I have seen all of the movies many many times. I have been to the Harry Potter theme parks in Florida (also many times). I own my own wand, sorting hat, golden snitch, rats, troll (fake of course)… I adore not just these books but this entire world. When I talk about how to create a fabulous setting, these are the books I use as examples. They are unmatched in that area.
	Identical by Ellen Hopkins I adore everything written by Ellen Hopkins, but this one had a twist that blew me away. I actually re-read it immediately afterwards (and then listened to the audiobook) because I was truly awestruck.
	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen This has always been one of my favorite books of all time. I have read it, listened to it and watched the movies (and let me just say that Colin Firth is the only Darcy I will acknowledge). It’s a wonderful story of love and family strife, and is a great example of how to write quiet, yet powerful romantic conflict.
	Wonder by RJ Palacio This is an absolutely lovely story that made me smile and cry and smilecry. It is told in multiple POVs (I see a theme running here) all of which are done very well. It also features a diverse character without making diversity an issue.

Giveaway: (CORRECTION, INT)
 I couldn't let you leave without a chance to win a copy of this book.  I thought this would be US only as I will be mailing from my home a copy of 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger, and with Christmas I just can't afford to ship internationally myself right now.  However, I found out that the author is going to make available a copy internationally, so there will be two copies up for grabs!  I'll be running the giveaway until the end of the month, and you can do a couple of the entries daily.  Just fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter!
 
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the button below to go see the schedule and all the authors and blogs that will be participating!

Promo Interview and Giveaway: Shadow in the Sea by Sheila A. Nielson

Book and Author Details:

Shadow in the Sea by Sheila A. Nielson
Publication date: July 15th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:
When sixteen-year-old Sadelyn Hanson washes up on the shores of Windwaithe Island, her beauty and the strange marks on her wrist make superstitious locals suspect she is a mermaid. Feigning amnesia, Sade hides a far worse secret: she was sailing to her own murder trial when she was thrown overboard by the real killer, the cunning and cruel Captain Westwood.

Sade’s quiet effort to rebuild her life on the island is threatened when she meets an actual young merman. Unable to speak his language, Sade still longs for the warm companionship he offers, despite the locals’ dire legends about merfolk and their dark magic. But her confused feelings for the impossible boy become the least of her problems when Captain Westwood’s ship docks at Windwaithe. With nowhere to escape, Sade must trust in the one person who doesn’t fear the merfolk. A woman who had dealings with them herself—years ago.

Goodreads

Purchase:
Amazon (Paperback and Kindle)
Barnes and Noble (Paperback and Nook)
eBook Mall (ePub version)

AUTHOR BIO:

Sheila never did figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up. She graduated from college with a BFA in illustration, has worked as a children's librarian for over eighteen years, and would eventually like to be a full-time author. Why pick one career when you can have many? Sheila lives with her two pets, a goffin cockatoo and a tiny toy poodle. She was born and raised in California but has come to also love her adopted home in Utah where she currently resides.

Author links:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Author Interview:

1. What does your writing process look like? Do you know the whole story when you start? Or do you just start writing and go with it (seat of the pants writing)? If you plan it out, how do you do that? Outline, note cards, post­it notes, etc.?

Such good questions.

When I was younger, I used to write by the seat of my pants. This led to a lot of books that never got finished. I’d get half way and not know what to do next. All the work I’d done would be wasted.  I now have a policy that I’m not allowed to start writing a book until I have the whole thing outlined chapter by chapter ahead of time. This stopped the unfinished book problem.  As I’m working on an outline—sometimes ideas will come to me while I’m working at the library. You know those little scraps of paper that are available for patrons to write down the call number of books?  If I get an idea I scribble it down on one of those so I won’t forget. Some days I come home with my pockets stuffed full with paper scraps.

2. How do you come up with your ideas for your stories?

This is always such a difficult question to answer. Book ideas pretty much come from anywhere or anything. A line of music in a song, a hauntingly realistic dream, a photograph in a catalog, a stranger-than-fiction news article—these are just a few of the things that have inspired my stories in the past.

3. How long have you been writing?

The first book I ever wrote was in sixth grade.  It was a really badly written story about a girl who went on an adventure with a bunch of talking animals. The story ended with a climactic battle between Darth Vader and a unicorn.  The unicorn won.  There was no place to go but up from there, so I’ve been writing ever since.

4. What tips do you have for aspiring writers?

Write a lot of books. The first book you write will rarely be the one that gets you published—but you will never get published if you don’t write that first book. Write because you love it, not because you want to be published.  Publishers buy books where the author’s love of writing shows through.

5. How important are names in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds, or the meaning? Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend?

I find myself choosing a lot of character names that look really cool on the page. I admit there are some names in my books that I don’t actually know how to pronounce.  I find a lot of my names on baby name websites. I’m a children’s librarian. We give out a lot of nametags to kids. Sometimes I’ll see a really cool name and write it down for later. On rare occasions I’ll take the front half of an amazing name and put it together with the back half of another.  I especially like to do this with the names of places.

Some fun questions

Favorites:

Mythological creature (other than mermaids)

I wish there were more books about centaurs. I’ve got a centaur story that I’ve begun work on—so maybe, someday . . .

Books/authors/genres

I lean toward reading fantasy more than any other genre, but I love all of them. It depends on the mood I’m in. Favorite authors include: Johnathan Stroud, Scott Westerfeld, Wendlin Van Draanen,  and Patrica C. Wrede

Movies/TV Shows

Favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Favorite TV show is Person of Interest.

Music

I’m all over the board. I like whatever music catches my fancy—I don’t limit myself to one genre.  I also think Christmas music should be played all year long. Yes, I’m one of those people.

Food/writing snack

Anything with lots of melted cheese on it.

Social Media Site
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheilaanielson/ 
Other sites listed in author bio above

Thank you Sheila for answering my questions about writing, glad to feature you on my blog today!

Giveaway:
Tour-wide giveaway (US/CAN)

• 1 grand prize package which includes: 1 twin sized mermaid bedspread, 1 pair of light-up earrings, 1 signed paperback copy of Shadow in the Sea, 1 signed hardback copy of Forbidden Sea
  

• 1 runner up prize package which includes: 1 mermaid in a cup figurine, 1 pair of light-up earrings, 1 signed paperback copy of Shadow in the Sea, 1 signed hardback copy of Forbidden Sea
  

• 3 combo prizes which includes: 1 pair of light-up earrings, 1 signed paperback copy of Shadow in the Sea, 1 signed hardback copy of Forbidden Sea

• 2 prize packages which include: 1 pair of light-up earrings, 1 signed paperback copy of Shadow in the Sea

• 8 signed paperback copies of Shadow in the Sea

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click HERE to check out the other stops in the tour. 

Audiobook Review: Armada by Ernest Cline

Once again I have been blown away by this author.  And I'm actually a little mad at myself for trading away the ARC I had of this title. Even though I've listened to both this and the author's first book Ready Player One as audio books from the library, I'd still like to own a copy of them now.  I'm not a big video game player, but I know enough about it, and the people who play them, that I was able to enjoy that part of the story.  And once again the author threw in some 80s references, which is the era I grew up in, and I love everything 80s.  There were references to movies, music, and video games of the time.  But it didn't take place in that time, it was more of a today's time period.  It's once again a science fiction story, but it reminds me of the Scream movie franchise in a way.  It's a science fiction story that kind of pokes fun at science fiction stories of the past, while still giving them the credit they are due.

Our main character is Zack Lightman, who is a high school senior who loves video games.  His father died when he was a baby, in a sanitation plant accident.  So while he's never really known him, he's looked up to him his whole life, and almost emulated him with the video games he's played.  He is one of the top 10 in the world in his favorite video game.  He doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, even though his mother is pushing him to figure it out.  They have money he can use to go to college from his father's accident settlement.  But really, he just wants to continue working at his part time job at a video game store.  When we start the story Zack is sitting in class and when he looks out the window he sees what looks like one of the alien spaceships from his favorite game.  No one else seems to have seen it, so he doesn't say anything.  The next day when he gets to school, another spaceship from his video game, this time it belongs to the good guys, the Earth Defense Alliance, and it lands on the school lawn.  Two men in black get out, along with Ray, his friend who owns the video game store where he works part time.  They are looking for Zack.  It seems that there really are aliens, and they need him to help them fight before the aliens destroy the world.  Turns out that the video games are actually training programs and that the government has been using them to find out who would be good at helping with this problem for the day it comes.  Unfortunately the day they come to get Zack, well that is really the last chance for the EDA to get the best pilots and fight the aliens, as they are sending an armada to destroy the Earth. 

Zack is taken to a secret base where he and many, many other game players learn about how long the aliens have been around, and what is coming, and what they will be expected to do if they choose to enlist.  Zack becomes friends with a girl named Lex.  The first battle doesn't go that well when the aliens attack the site of the base and when one of the ships tries to come down to where they are all hidden beneath the ground fighting using their drones, well let's just say Zack disobeys orders and causes more problems.  After this Zack gets sent to the base on the moon.  Here he meets someone he never expected to meet, the person who is the number 1 in all the world in the video game Zack plays.  He makes new friends with others from the top 10 players who are also going to the moon base.  Once there he will find that his father's crazy theories he'd read about in his father's journals may be more true than imagined, and that everything may not be as it seems.  It seems the aliens attack and then give us enough time to catch up technologically before they attack again.  When the enemy ships fight, most often it is  like the stormtroopers in Star Wars, they miss most of their shots, just like what happens in video games as well. 

I won't tell you anymore.  You have to read and enjoy it for yourself.  Let's just say I loved all the cameos of scientists like Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Finding out how the movies out there tie in to the aliens, and how long NASA and the government have known about the aliens was also a lot of fun.  Zack was great, realistic, sarcastic, and so much fun.  You have another cast of great supporting characters, just like in the first book by the author.  If you like science fiction whatsoever, you need to read this.  Ernest Cline is quickly becoming one of my auto-read authors.  Both audio books were also read by Wil Wheaton, and I really do enjoy listening to the way he brings the story and the characters to life.  Also, while it totally ends in a satisfactory way, I would love a sequel with more about the aliens and what happens at the end.

Waiting on Wednesday - Under Their Skin by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  This week my choice is a new book, which I guess is going to be a new series by a favorite author of mine, Margaret Peterson Haddix.  I loved her Among the Hidden series, as well as her Found series.  But here is the blurb from Goodreads about this new series:

From New York Times bestselling author Margaret Peterson Haddix comes the first book in a brand-new thrilling series about twins who are on a quest to discover the secrets being kept by their new family.

Nick and Eryn's mom is getting remarried, and the twelve-year-old twins are skeptical when she tells them their lives won't change much. Well, yes, they will have to move. And they will have a new stepfather, stepbrother, and stepsister. But Mom tells them not to worry. They won't ever have to meet their stepsiblings.

This news puzzles Nick and Eryn, so the twins set out on a mission to find out who these kids are - and why they're being kept hidden.

I think it sounds like an interesting new series!  What do you think? Have you read this author before?  And what book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Review: Hellraisers (The Devil's Engine #1) by Alexander Smith Gordon

First, thanks to Edelweiss and Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read this e-galley.  This is my first book by this author.  I know his other series, Escape from the Furnace, is really popular, and I may have to go back and give them a try now.  We'll see.  When I first started this one though, the beginning had me almost ready to quit. I didn't really like the characters at first, they didn't seem very nice, and there was too much action going on without any knowledge of what Pan was doing or why she was doing it.  But I stuck with it, and soon it slowed down enough to give me the information I needed,  and I began enjoying it more as I read. 

There are two main characters and the story is told from each of their viewpoints alternately.  The first character is Marlowe.  He is a 16 year old kid who has been kicked out of school after school.  His mom is an alcoholic and his home life is horrible.  When we first meet him in the story, he has just done something to his Principal's car, getting him kicked out of what was really the last school that would probably ever take him after all his problems.  And so he leaves Staten Island and runs off to Manhattan.  When he gets to Manhattan he goes into a liquor store and tries to buy some beer.  The clerk doesn't believe he's old enough, which he isn't, and keeps giving him a hard time.  The longer Marlowe tries, more stuff starts happening outside the store.  Sirens, and yelling, and something happens that even crashes into the store, killing the clerk.  All the stuff that is going on outside is something to do with our other main character, Pan.  Pan is some kind of solder we find out at first.  She seems to be fighting demons.  And she keeps talking about getting a contract taken care of.  Plus, she seems to have superhuman strength and the ability to heal when she gets hurt.  Marlowe runs out of the store, after grabbing the clerk's gun, since he's not sure what is going on.  When he runs into a parking garage to try to hide from the cops, it turns out that is where all the ruckus is going down. 

After this experience the people that Pan works with decide that they can use Marlowe. And while it takes a bit to convince him, eventually he decides he needs to join.  He finds a world where people go and make deals with the devil in something they call an engine.  They have people who are able to find ways out of the contract so that the agents/soldiers, like Pan, don't have to go to hell.  But there is a certain amount of time they must do it within, or they will have to fulfill their end of the contract, losing their soul.  This secret group doesn't just make deals with the devil for things they want, like money, riches, etc.  They ask for skills that will help them battle the devil and the demons that are trying to take over the world.  Not only that, there is another group, with another engine, and this other group wants to unite the two engines so that the demons can come out into the world. 

Pan and Marlowe will have run-ins with these other people, two of them are the reason that Marlowe ends up joining.  A set of twins, working for the other side.  And while Marlowe works to fight them, to keep them from getting what they want and destroying the world, they keep trying to tell him that everything might not be quite as it has been explained by Pan's side. 

There is definitely a bit of a cliffhanger, and I definitely need to read on and know what will happen next.  There is more to learn about the engine, and this book was just full of action, with a little section where we get to know some of the background info on the engine and the groups who have worked with it.  I'm ready to learn more in the next book, and I'm sure there will be lots more action!

Cover Characteristic: Beds

The Cover Characteristic meme is hosted at  Sugar and Snark.   Here are the guidelines:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit).
You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

And just about like it goes every other week, I've found way more than 5.  So I've narrowed it down to the top 10.

And my all time favorite book cover with a bed on it:

So, what do you think of my choices?  Can you think of a cover with a bed on it that you like?