Sunday Post #42 and Stacking the Shelves November 22nd, 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 3 weeks highlights:  Since I didn't do one of these for the last 3 weeks, I'm going to just do some highlight links here:

• Giveaways:  Children of Lightning by Annie K. Wong, Emerge by Melissa A. Craven
•  Author Interviews:  Convergence by Trudi L. Hayes, Diamonds are Forever by Michelle Madow
• Reviews:  Persuasion by Martina Boone, Miss Mayhem (audiobook) by Rachel Hawkins, Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins, Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young, This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp, Unforgiven by Lauren Kate, The Conspiracy of Us (audiobook) by Maggie Hall, Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward, End of Days by Susan Ee
• Cover Characteristic:  Dragons, Butterflies, Books
• Waiting on Wednesday:  The Calling by Rachelle Dekker, Relic by Gretchen McNeil

So I got more than 2 reviews a week, of course audiobooks are going on only when I'm in my car right now, so they count a little differently.  As I mentioned on the only other Sunday Post I've done this month, I started off doing a new NaNoWriMo.  However, about a week or so ago, when my writing partner kind of cancelled on me again, I realized I just wasn't feeling the story this year as much as I had last year.  I actually think maybe I want to just go back and work on the story from last year, get it all polished up. And then finish a story I started in NaNo several years ago.  After that, I'm not sure how much more writing I really want to do.  I'm kind of feeling like the name of one of my favorite blogs:  I Am a Reader, Not a Writer.  Writing really takes away from my reading time, and as I don't feel like I'm that good at it, why keep at it?  I know, I know, they say the more you write the better you will get, but I don't know that I care enough about writing to dedicate that kind of time to it, and take it away from reading, which I do care about, a lot.  Since the beginning of the month, my Kansas City Royals won the World Series!  It was so exciting and awesome!  Here is a picture of the rally they had in our city for them.  They said like 600,000 or more people showed up, and you can see it in this picture.

All the blue at the bottom of the picture and the roads around are people!  We love our Royals!  Writing was also taking me away from blogging, and I'm glad to get back to do more of that, and start commenting on other blogs again.

This week on the blog:

• Promo and Author Interview:  Molly Lee by Andrew Joyce
• Cover Characteristic:  Fish
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Book Blitz:  Awaken by Christy Sloat
• Possible Reviews:  The Curse of Jacob Tracy by Holly Messinger, Armada by Ernest Cline

Not sure what else I might get done reading this week.  And don't know if I'll actually get Armada done being listened to.  Maybe I'll TRY to make sure I actually go use my Planet Fitness membership to walk and get some listening done that way.  Not sure if I'm going to finish Jackaby.  While I like the story itself, it is really wordy, I find myself taking forever to get through just a page at a time, and it is not really very easy to read.  And at the moment, I may not be in the mood for a book like that.  I'm considering just taking the copy I won and donating it to my school library, where I'll be able to check it out when I am in the mood and have time to read it.  Of course the sequel to that one is an ARC, so I would have to maybe try to do a book for trade on Twitter or Goodreads for that.  I'm probably only give Jackaby one more chance.  If it doesn't get better, then I'm moving on to something else.  It's also Thanksgiving this week, so I will spend lots of time with family, including my sister who lives in NYC who will be flying home for the holiday.  I unfortunately got scheduled to work on Black Friday, an 8 hour shift at the bookstore where I work part time.  But, my one bright spot about that is that I don't have to close.  

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  Now this is a lot in this list, but it is a 3 week haul remember.

Physical books:

The Beth Revis books are all ones I've read, but they are from a contest I won, and I got them all autographed, as well as a little sneak peek with 5 fun facts about her upcoming book A World Without You.  So excited for a new Beth Revis book!  There are a couple other wins, Ghost House, The Hanging Tree, and Monsterland.  There are a couple books for trade from Twitter:  The Dead House, Soundless, and Until the Beginning.  I got the ARC of Raging Sea by writing to the publisher and requesting it.  The ARC of The Haters is one I got at the bookstore where I work.  It is by the same person who wrote Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  

E-galleys:

All of them are from Edelweiss.

Review e-copy from author:

 

I got an email asking to review these, and they sounded good, so I said I would give them a try.

Free e-books:

 So these are all from either Barnes and Noble or Amazon.  Don't know which might still be free, but you can always go check!

E-books won:

E-books bought:

 I had a little bit leftover on the Amazon gift cards I won a while back. I spent most of it on a case for my new iPhone 6s, and the rest I used for this novella while I'm waiting on the sequel to Red Queen, since I haven't been able to get my hands on an ARC of it.  :-(

Wow, that is a lot of books!  I might need to slow down a bit!  Or else I'm prepared for a nuclear war, and I just need a place to go live, like a missile silo that is all set up to live there until the radioactive air is clean enough to come out and live in.  Who's with me?

Review: End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days #3) by Susan Ee (Series Ender Challenge #4)

This is a series that I really have loved, and the ending was to me, the perfect way to end the trilogy.  I was first introduced to the series when I attended my first BEA back in 2012 and I got a copy of the first book, Angelfall.  I won a copy of the 2nd book about 2 years ago, but silly me, I didn't get around to reading World After until this past year.  I've started keeping a book up in my bedroom to read in case I don't want to mess with bringing my Nook upstairs, or whatever book I'm reading at the time.  Plus paperbacks are good to read when I'm taking a bubble bath.  As with the other books in this series, I feel like once I picked this up, I was sucked right back into the story.  For the most part it kind of updated me on everything that had happened before, but without any info dumps or other going back in flashbacks, etc.  Now, if you haven't read the first two, you should go click on the link above of the one you are ready to read and read that review. Because I can't promise there won't be any spoilers for those books in my review of this final book.

This book picks up basically right where we left off in the 2nd book.  Penryn is with Raffe.  He has recovered his angel wings, and needs to find someone to reattach them and take off the demon wings he has because of Beliel.  Beliel has been captured and he tries to tell Penryn that Raffe isn't quite the good guy she seems to think he is.  And so Beliel shows Penryn a memory having her touch him, where he pulls her into the underworld.  She sees him without eyes, and sees him being tortured by the demons who are there.  But when she steps back, a hellion comes out of the memory with her.

Her sister Paige is kind of the leader of the locust creatures that Uriel had created to start a plague among the humans and begin the apocalypse.  But there is one of them out there, they call him white streak, who wants to take control. And so there will be a fight for Paige to gain control, and be able to try to use them to help the humans.  Penryn must convince the humans in the Resistance to give her sister, and her crazy mother, a chance to help.

Penryn and Raffe decide to go into Beliel's memory and pull out the other Watchers, the ones who will follow Raffe in his campaign against Uriel.  Through this Penryn finds out just what made Beliel as bitter as he is.  Bringing the angels back isn't as helpful though, as they'd hoped.  It turns out that the competition chosen to decide between Raffe and Uriel is a hunt, of humans.  So while Raffe wants Penryn to go and hide until it is over, she will refuse.  She will do what she can to try to save the other humans, convince them this is their last chance to stand against the angels that have destroyed their lives, and maybe, just maybe, win their freedom back.

But all of this will be a problem for the romance or feelings developing between Raffe and Penryn. The ones that he refuses to give in to, following the rules that landed all his Watchers in the underworld before with their love for "daughters of men."  Because if he succeeds and wins over Uriel, then he will be going back to Heaven, and there will be no more contact most likely between the two.  So not only is Penryn fighting for her life, she is doing it all while knowing that in the end she may lose this angel that she loves.

I love the characters, and I love the chemistry between Raffe and Penryn.  I love the Dee and Dum twins.  Really all the ways that things happen are so good, there is no lack of death or sacrifice on the part of both sides, and the end, the end I loved!  I'm so happy that it ended that way.  Another great angel story, with post-apocalyptic bits and also romance, and science fiction with the creatures that have been created.  Also a quick read, and I highly recommend it to everyone!

Promo Interview and Giveaway: Emerge by Melissa A. Craven

Book Details:

Emerge by Melissa A. Craven
(The Awakening #1)
Publication date: April 1st 2015
Genres: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Allie Carmichael has always believed life is simple.

You’re born. You live. You die.
She has no cause to believe that equation works differently for her, but there has to be a reason the world treats her like a pariah.

When an unexpected move to Kelleys Island brings Aidan McBrien crashing into her life, Allie is thrown by his reaction. He doesn’t shrink from her touch. He doesn’t stutter or make a quick exit. He smiles and welcomes her into his circle of friends, who aren’t exactly comfortable with Allie, but they seem to get her in a way most people don’t.

Finally, Allie has a real shot at normal and rides that high right up to her sixteenth birthday when she wakes in agony—an experience Aidan insists they have all faced. She struggles in ignorance, uncertain of what is real and what isn’t. When she emerges, Allie is different. She has always been different, but even among her extraordinary friends, she and Aidan are special.

As Allie struggles to maintain her tenuous grasp on the power that threatens to overwhelm her, she worries she will lose herself in this strange new world. A dangerous world where she will have to fight tooth and nail to defend the power and freedom that is her birthright.

…only Allie hates to fight.


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25521894-emerge

Purchase:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Emerge-Awakening-Melissa-A-Craven-ebook/dp/B00VID65W0
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/emerge-melissa-a-craven/1122271326?ean=9781514700440

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, post-it notes, etc.?
Although I do some general planning with outlines and notes (and voice memos of me talking to myself while I’m driving), I am most definitely a pantser. I never really know what’s going to happen until I’m in the moment and actually feeling it. So I bounce from one part of the book to another. Right now I’m elbow deep in my current Emerge project and I have a hodge-podge of chapters and scenes that probably only make sense to me. Eventually it all comes together, but I always begin with a solid, but extremely general plan. I don’t like to commit to anything until I really get in there and see how it goes because it never goes according to plan. My characters are too stubborn for that!
 
2.  How do you come up with your ideas for your stories?
Constant daydreaming. Something will capture my interest and spark an idea that will not go away until I figure out what to do with it. Sometimes that means staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night. If I’m not certain what direction I want to go with said idea, I’ll talk it out with one of my friends--the ones who will still talk to me about my book without rolling their eyes or changing the subject. Only then will I even attempt putting it on paper. But my story is never far from my thoughts.
When it comes to things like my characters gifts, traits and histories, I will always begin with a basis in mythology and history. I like to start with a nugget of truth to keep the story grounded in reality and then see where that takes me. 

3.  How long have you been writing?
I started to get into writing when I was in college, so about seven years now. I never thought of myself as a writer, but after several professors commented on my academic style, it seemed less intimidating. When I first contemplated writing a book, I wasn’t sure if it was something I would ever finish, but my success as a student gave me the confidence to try it and I fell in love with it!

4.  What tips do you have for aspiring writers?
Make sure you love what you’re writing. You need something driving you to keep you motivated to finish. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Looking back now, I should have sought the advice of other writers and readers long before I finally did. I belong to a group called YA Authors Rendezvous now and I wish I had that same support system back when I first started writing. Writing a book is like building a house. It takes a team of skilled individuals to create a set of construction documents and see it though from the foundation to placing the very last window. No one person can do it all. It's the same with a book. It takes more than just one author with a good idea to tell a great story, and editing is the most vital part of that process. Educate yourself on what the editing process actually entails because it's so much more than fixing typos and using correct grammar.
And don't listen to all the noise. This is a weird time in the world of publishing and everyone has an opinion about how and when authors should promote their books. Some of it is great advice, but take it all with a grain of salt. Keep your head down and write a good book because nothing else matters if your product isn't the best it can be. Write a good book and all that other stuff will fall into place. 

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?
Choosing names is so difficult for me. I don’t really have a process other than scouring all the baby name sites until I find something that suits the character. It has to fit the person I see in my mind, so I guess it’s more of a feeling for me. Often, I will use a placeholder until I find just the right name. For a long time, Aidan had a different name but I can’t even remember it now.
Oh! And I gave Allie my middle name, Ann, and my sister's, Marie, so she became the four-named, Alexis Ann Marie Carmichael.
 
Some fun questions:
Favorites:
Books/authors/genres
I love YA, but I'm also a big epic fantasy fan/dork, and have been long before Game of Thrones made it even more awesome. The Demon cycle by Peter V. Brett is one of my favorites because it’s everything I love about the genre, without the huge time commitment of a dozen 800+ page books (at least not yet!) Brett's work is very original and I love that.
But I'm a YA fangirl at heart. I've been so busy writing, I'm way behind in my TBR pile. But I’m always looking for books that feature a genuinely strong female lead with a strong male counterpart standing beside her. Those are hard to come by.
And of course, Harry Potter will always have a place of honor on my bookshelf. I love the level of complexity and depth to Rowling's work. (And the strength of Hermione is legendary.)

Movies/TV Shows
Supernatural! Huge Dean fan! (And Crowley ... and Castiel!)  And I’m looking forward to the Shadow Hunters premiere in January. There was so much I loved about The Mortal Instruments, but was hugely disappointed in the movie. I'm thrilled to see another YA book series on television! (Oh! The 100 is on my top list of favorite shows too, can't wait for next season!)
 
Music
Music is part of my daily writing process. I must have the right music to fit my mood and what I’m writing. But I get distracted so easily, I can’t have anything that I can sing along with if I expect to get anything accomplished. I’m a big fan of both Classical and Classical Crossover music. I adore Beethoven, and I am definitely a Bach girl, but I have a special love for violinists like David Garrett, Vanessa Mae and Lindsey Stirling ... and groups like 2Cellos and Eklipse. Aidan plays the violin for a reason—I’m obsessed! String-fangirl, right here!
 
Food/writing snack
Popcorn! I usually have a bag of Fit popcorn at my desk (that I share with the dog) and I cannot get through the day without Dunkin Donuts iced coffee!
 
Social Media Site
Twitter
Facebook
Website: http://www.melissaacraven.com
Pinterest
GoodReads
Amazon
Blog (every 25th of the month):  http://yaarendezvous.com
YA Books Central 

Author Bio:

Melissa A. Craven (the “A” stands for Ann–in case you were wondering) was born near Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to Cleveland, Ohio at the age of seventeen. She still thinks of Cleveland as home, so it was only natural for Emerge to take place there.
Today, she is back in Atlanta–for some reason she can’t seem to stay away from the ungodly heat that makes her long for things like “lake effect snow” and wind that will knock you flat.
Melissa decided a long time ago that the “life checklist” everyone else was clutching so tightly in their fists, just wasn’t for her. She does everything backwards because she is weird like that, but then, she is an artist and artists are notoriously “unique” and “quirky.”
She is an avid student of art and design, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of West Georgia in 2009. She worked as an interior designer for several years, but she’s always thought she might like to be a writer when she grows up.
In her spare time, if she has any, she enjoys shopping for derelict furniture she refinishes to exercise the interior design part of her brain.    

Giveaways:
Yeah, you read that right, I have TWO giveaways for you here!  One is the tour-wide one, which is listed first, below that is the one that I am able to offer you here at my stop.

Tour-wide Giveaway:

• Signed copies of Emerge books 1 + 2, bookmarks, mug, keychain and a $10 Amazon gift card (ends November 26th)

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Site-only Giveaway:

• Emerge: The Awakening signed copy + a mug (expires November 30th)

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Review: Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward

Thanks to Egmont USA and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  As I go to write this review, I see that it may not actually be released until next February, even though I originally had it down as coming out in August.  But anyway, I have to say that I really enjoyed this book.  While it really was mostly about the relationships  between the people in the story, it still had enough of the science fiction story tied in to keep it from being just about the people. And that is exactly how I like stories like this.  It didn't get quite as much into the science of what was going on with the disaster, and while I also enjoy that with my science teaching background, I also think for some people it can drag a story down.  So I think the author did a great job with balancing all parts of the story. 

The main character is Lea.  When the story starts she is in a cemetery with her best friend finishing up some headstone rubbings for a school assignment.  They see blood just pooled up, as if it is coming up through a crack somewhere in the earth.  But not that much. Just one location really.  Soon after they each get home, the blood starts to cover the earth, and not just in Lea's town, but all over the world. At first it is just a think layer covering all the ground, but soon it gets deeper, and after that there seems to be something else that shows up in it, hair, human hair as determined by scientists.  Following that, there are bones.  And while the scientists don't seem to know what is going on exactly, at first they feel it isn't anything that will cause harm to humans.  But even that changes when they suggest wearing respirators. 

Lea has a crush on someone who isn't in her circle of friends, a girl named Aracely.  While Lea is out and not worried about her sexuality, Aracely hasn't let people know yet.  So far their relationship seems to be going really well though.  But the blood and other things happening will, of course, put a bit of a hitch into it.  First there is school being cancelled so that they don't get to see each other every day.  And because Lea's parents know she is gay, they won't allow her to go over to Aracely's place without an adult there, or if she comes over, the door must stay open on Lea's bedroom.  She also starts having problems with her best friend, again due to things that seem to happen because of the disaster going on.  Lea's dad works at the local dam for the small town they live in, and so far, they are keeping it running enough to keep the power going for their town.  But there comes a time when her father is unable to come back from the dam every day, he's working longer hours.  And her mother seems to get a little extreme, boarding up all the windows and doors.  Lea doesn't know whether it is to keep the dangerous people out, or keep them in. 

Honestly, as I said, this was a very good story.  I feel that the relationships were all very realistically done.  I loved the relationship between Lea and Aracely, with each of their statuses being the way they were, it made a lot of sense how they each dealt with the things as they happened.  Although there was one part later on in the story, when Lea is goofing around with one of her long time friends, a girl, and Aracely happens to see them with Lea kind of having her arms around the girl, and Aracely misunderstands what is going on.  I feel like that was a little unrealistic, knowing how Lea was, and how she and Aracely really knew each other. But it fit in well to add some drama for the next part, so I guess it worked in that way.  I think this is a great book to add to the growing list of teen LGBTQ books that are available.  And I will recommend it as such.  Also a great science fiction, apocalyptic type of story.  And an ending that kind of ties things up, but is realistic with who doesn't make it, and how those that do make it are able to make it.

Waiting on Wednesday: Relic by Gretchen McNeil

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 I've picked a standalone novel by one of my favorite authors, Gretchen McNeil.  It sounds like a really great horror story, and I can't wait to read it!  This is a genre that this author does such a great job on.  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

From Gretchen McNeil, the author of Ten and Possess, comes this teen horror novel perfect for young fans of Stephen King, and Lois Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer.

For Annie Kramer, the summer before college is bittersweet—both a last hurrah of freedom and the last days she'll spend with her boyfriend, Jack, before they head off to different colleges. So she and her friends plan one final adventure: a houseboating trip on Shasta Lake, complete with booze, romance . . . and an off-limits exploration of the notorious Bull Valley Mine.

The legends of mysterious lights and missing persons on Shasta Lake have been a staple of sleepovers and campouts since Annie was a kid. Full of decrepit bridges that lead to nowhere, railroad tunnels that disappear into the mountains, and terrifying stories of unexplained deaths and bodies that were never recovered, Bull Valley Mine is notorious and frightening—perfect for an epic conclusion to their high school lives.

The trip is fun and light—at first. But when a deranged stranger stumbles upon their campsite, spouting terrifying warnings and pleas for help, it's clear that everyone is in danger. And when their exploration of the mine goes horribly wrong, Annie and her friends quickly discover that the menace of Bull Valley Mine doesn't stay at Shasta Lake—it follows them home.

As one by one her friends fall victim to this mysterious and violent force, Annie must do whatever it takes to discover the ancient secrets of the mine and save her friends . . . if she's not already too late.

Doesn't this sound so good!  Can't wait to read it!  So, what book are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Cover Characteristic: Books

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!

Okay this week all I can say is WHOA!  I had so many books that had pictures of books on the cover.  So I tried my best to narrow it down to 10.  Although some of them have multiple books on one number.  I grouped together series and also I have one grouping of picture books.  So here we go!

10.  Picture books:

  9.

8.  Libraries or Bookstores

 7.

6.

5.

4.

3.  Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde - you'd think all would have books on the cover, but only 4 of the 5 I've read do.

  2.

1.  And my favorite of all is a book by my author friend, Michelle Sodaro.  I'll explain why after you see it.

So you're probably thinking, where is the book?  And this is kind of plain compared to the others. But what I like about it, is that as I read, I found out that this is the cover of the book that is the main part of the story, so I love that about it!

I'll bet you could give me a ton more ideas for covers with books. And there are so many that I will see at the bookstore where I work that I haven't read, or don't know that I'll ever read, so they didn't get included.