Saturday, 29 May 2010

Do you have any criteria for adding and/or accepting friends on Goodreads?



I have a few myself. The person who wants to befriend me has to have something in common with me to be accepted. If it's a reader or a reader and a fellow book blogger who shares my taste in books I always accept the request. If it's a author who thinks I might enjoy their book based on the books in my Goodreads shelves or an author I've read before I'm accepting the request. That being said there I sometimes have to turn down a request or two. When a person wants to be my friend on Goodreads and they have 5000-6000 friends I'm suspecting that that person is just there to collect friends(unless it's a very popular author). If the person shares many of my books I consider him/her but if we have nothing in common i reject the friend request. The same thing goes for adding friends, I'm only requesting to be added if we have something in common.

I'm sorry but I'm not on Goodreads to get the longest friend list, I'm there to discover new books from people who likes much of the same novels that I do. Of course it is not necessary to have identical tastes(that's not what I'm saying, that would be dreadfully boring), variation is good and that way we might pick up a book we never ever would have read it it weren't for the recommendation from one of our Goodreads friends.

Do you have any criteria for accepting friends or adding them on Goodreads or do you just approve all requests? Or are you just being nice and accepting every one who asks? Feel free to share your opinion

Only two shorts week till my exam now, so hopefully you'll see more of me from then on :)

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

No and me(+cover vs. cover) - Waiting on Wednesday

Swedish cover:


Norwegian cover:



UK cover:


US cover:


This week's "Waiting On" Wednesday pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is :

No and Me by Delphine de Vigan . Release date in the US August 3nd 1st 2010(UK March 3rd, paperback August 2nd). Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.


I have to say what a difference in the choice of covers! Looks like the publisher in the UK and US are targeting two way different readers.

Actually todays WoW post is almost cheating, No and Me was released in the UK back in March but for the US readers this is an upcoming novel. I've done a bit of research now and I've just discovered that this book was released in my own country, Norway, last year and in Sweden in 2008. I guess I have to hit the stores then.


Book trailer:

I thought the novel sounded so good that I reckon no harm can be done in spotlighting it even if it has been released in the UK, I first discovered No and Me over at Jenny's book blog Wondrous Reads back in March and thought it sounded like an excellent story. The main character of this novel must be a very compassionate and empathic person, and I would very much like to get to know her.

This book was originally first published back in 2007 in France and this is author Delphine de Vigan first novel that has been translated into English.

Check out Jenny's review, before you go here's a little sneak peak for you:

It's heartbreaking and hopeful, and leaves you with the knowledge that there are still exceptional people in the world.

Description from the Goodreads:
"All my life I've felt on the outside wherever I am, out of the picture, the conversation, at one remove, as though I was the only one able to hear the sounds or words that others can''t and deaf to the words that they seem to hear. As if I'm outside the frame, on the other side of a huge, invisible window.

But yesterday when I was there with her, I'm certain that you could have drawn a circle around us, a circle I wasn't excluded from, which enclosed us, and for a few minutes, protected us from the world."

At thirteen-years-old, with an unusually high IQ and a knack for observing things about other people, Lou Bertignac is not only the youngest in her class at school; she is also the most unusual. Painfully shy, she has few friends, save for Lucas, whose company helps her get through each day. At home, Lou''s life is also difficult: Her mother hasn't left the house in years and her father spends his days crying in the bathroom. Lou's world is dark and sad... That is, until she meets No.

No is a teenage girl that Lou befriends for the purpose of her school project on homelessness. Despite the different worlds that these two girls come from, a friendship is soon forged between them. Unable to bear the thought of No not having a home or a family to keep her safe, Lou persuades her reluctant parents into letting her new friend stay with the Bertignac family. No's addition to the household forces Lou and her parents to face the sadness that has been enveloping them for so long - but not without some disruptions along the way.

You can pre-order No and Me from(I'm not an affiliate):
Amazon

Or buy it from(I'm not an affiliate):
The Book Depository


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill's blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.













Tuesday, 18 May 2010

XXXL Teaser from Anna Karenina



I just loved this passage so much that I had to share it!

In the morning the sun rose brilliant and quickly wore away the thin layer of ice that covered the water, and all the warm air was quivering with the steam that rose up from the quickened earth. The old grass looked greener, and the young grass thrust up its tiny blades; the buds of the guelder-rose and of the currant and the sticky birch-buds were swollen with sap, and an exploring bee was humming about the golden blossoms that studded the willow. Larks trilled unseen above the velvety green fields and the ice-covered stubble-land; peewits wailed over the low lands and marshes flooded by the pools; cranes and wild geese flew high across the sky uttering their spring calls. The cattle, bald in patches where the new hair had not grown yet, lowed in the pastures; the bow-legged lambs frisked round their bleating mothers. Nimble children ran about the drying paths, covered with the prints of bare feet. There was a merry chatter of peasant women over their linen at the pond, and the ring of axes in the yard, where the peasants were repairing ploughs and harrows. The real spring had come.

This weeks teasers is from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, page 153.


MizB of Should Be Reading host this meme called Teaser Tuesday . Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
    BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Sunday, 16 May 2010

Book trailer discovery of the week #1

Today's trailer is for a young adult dystopian novel written by Joëlle Anthony, titled Restoring Harmony. The novel sounds great and I have to add that I've fallen head over heels in love with the music from the book trailer. Enough blabbering, here's the trailer:


If you would like to to know more about Restoring Harmony and author Joëlle you can visit these links for further exploration:



Saturday, 15 May 2010

Escape In A Book's 1 year blogoversary(+a little giveaway)



How time flies! I cannot believe that Escape In A Book has been around the book blogosfere a whole year already. It started out as a place where I could write about the books that I read and share my thoughts with others. I don't really have all that many friends who reads, at least not the same genres as me, although I have a wonderful younger sister who shares my taste in books. The past year I have met so many wonderful people from all over the world that shares my passion for reading. Sadly I've been neglecting my wonderful book blogging friends for a little while now and that makes me feel guilt, like I'm letting my friends down but I'll make up for it once my exams are over and done with. I want to thank each and everyone of my regular followers, readers and commenter's, you have all been a great help to make this blog what it is today.

Here are some of the key things I've learned this past year:

  • I have worked on my writing skills and I believe that my English vocabulary is greatly improved, but I still have much to learn!
  • I took a chance and asked an author for an interview, it's actually not dangerous!
  • I've learned more HTML than I ever thought possible for me, thanks to blogs like The Neverending Shelf and Parajunkee Design.
Now it's time for a short recap of the year that has passed:

My first post(and my first review) ever was posted on May 15th 2009 and was a review of The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. I love that book and if you haven't read it yet I would recommend that you do.

The first comment I ever received was on a post titled 2009 Young Adult Challenge and the commenter was the one and only J. Kaye, who sadly has stopped book blogging(but you can still follow her in her writing progress over at her new blog 365 Days of Novel Writing). That was also the first challenge I ever entered, it were also the only challenge I've finished. I think I have learned a lesson about challenges through this first year of blogging, at this stage challenges aren't for me and I'm going to stop entering them.


I hosted my very first contest to celebrate the YA Carnival, a little over a month after I first started blogging. All of my contests have been(and will continue to be) international thanks to the fact that I discovered The Book Depository(I think Alaine or Teddyree is to be credited for that). The store has free shipping to over 90 countries, that was the commercial of today(just too bad that I don't get paid) ;) The reason for my pimping TBD is of course due to the fact that I would like more international contests in the book blogosfere since I live in Norway myself.

Not long ago I did my very first author interview with the wonderful A.S. Peterson, he is the author of one of my favorite books, The Fiddler's Gun. I personally thought it was a good interview. I spent a lot of time pondering and researching before conducting the interview. I wanted to ask relevant questions, questions that that the author hadn't have to answer before.
Well I had done a few things ready for this post in advance and one was the most commented post.. now sadly a large part of my comments are all gone due to my change of commenting platform. My most commented post was originally a Waiting on Wednesday post with 33 comments, my choice of book was The Thief Taker's Apprentice by Stephen Deas. Of the posts that still have the comments intact it was a Booking Through Thursday post with 32 comments. The posts topic were 15 books you have read that will always stick with you. Other than that I've had posts withs hundreds of comments but that has been contests so they don't count in the same way.

The lovely Teddyree from The Eclectic Reader honored me with my very first award, for me it felt like receiving an Oscar.

This first year I've chanced layout a couple of times and I've had three different commenting platforms. Which sadly resulted in several hundred comments lost the last time I changed platform(luckily I'm still able to read them in my dashbord over at Disqus).

Last word of advice to new bloggers:
Remember blogging is not a popularity contest, just be yourself, the readers will come to you in time. I felt a bit like it was a contest in the beginning but I have learned that the readers you want are those who follow you because of what you read and write(not because you throw the biggest contests).

After I'd been blogging for about 10 months I started to get a few review requests from publishers and authors outside of Norway. That is great fun and I feel grateful that people feel that my opinion might help to promote their books. That being said I would like to say to new bloggers that receiving books for review is an obligation, so I would advise you to only accept the books that you really want read. If the publisher just sent you a book without asking, it is of course a different matter, but if you were asked and you accepted a request it is expected that you follow through with a review(or some kind of post at least).

For those of you who went through all the trouble and read this entire post, here's your chance to a special treat. Open for all, there might be more than one winner ;) Ends June 15th:






Thursday, 13 May 2010

Book review: This is me from now on by Barbara Dee


A sort of synopsis of This is me from now on
Evie and her two best friends, Nisha and Lily, are happy with their lives and friendship until the day Evie gets a new neighbor, Francesca. Francesca is different, she is not like the other girls Evie knows, she both dresses and acts differently. When Evie is forced to work with Francesca on a school project it's a life changing experience.

The girls suddenly has this brilliant idea, they're doing a project on the side, matchmaking for their teacher. It is so obvious who the lady is in love with, the woman just needs a few pushes in the right direction. Everyone needs a bit of happiness and needs to feel loved, right? What harm can they possibly do?

Nisha and Lily doesn't like that Evie spends so much time with the new girl and the three of them have a fall out. On top of every thing that's going on in Evie's life her big crush asks her out on a date.

My thoughts:
This is me from now on is a sweet and funny story and I bet tween girls would love it. The book reminded me of the time when I was the same age as the main character, Evie. I loved reading the book and remembering things from the time when I was younger, it was great fun.

I think most girls can relate to some of the issues Barbara Dee writes about, such as dealing with jealousy when you feel like your best friend is drifting away and bonds with another girl. You get scared, hurt and insecure which in some cases will result in anger(even when you're not really angry).

Evie is a sensible girl, perhaps a bit to sensible? When she meets Francesca it's like she got a vitamin shot. It changes Evie view on what she wants and she learns to be more true to herself as a person. Sometimes we need to take some chances and get our butt out of our comfort zone. The readers get a good feeling of the times of change that's a head of young people in their tweens and teens. We change, whether we like it or not things seldom stay the same as when we were kids.

Francesca lives with her aunt and the family quarrels about where she's best of staying. Her parents have almost abandoned her, the just visit when they feel like it. It just broke my heart, no wonder she is so obsessed with making everyone she likes happy.

The one thing I would have liked to be explored a bit further in the novel was Francesca and her life. Perhaps there is room for a sequel?

This is me from now on is recommended for tween girls or adult girls like me who likes to remember those days ;) It is a light read that I bet young girls would devour on a warm summer day.

The cover:
Gives me all the right associations, summer, friends and fun.

My rating of this book:
4 stars out of 5.

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
If you have reviewed this book then give a shout in the comment section below and I'll add your link.

Carrie's YA Bookshelf:
This book is brilliant!! I am a brand new Barbara Dee devotee. I will be searching out her other two titles this weekend and squeezing them into my busy reading schedule.
Barbara Dee on This is me from now on:



Want to know more?
Visit Barbara Dee's homepage
Follow Barbara on Twitter
Read the first chapter for free

Pages(paperback): 240
Publisher: Aladdin MIX/Simon & Schuster
ISBN 13: 9781416994145
Full disclosure: Received from the author for honest review.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository(I'm not an affiliate).

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Almost to die for - Waiting on Wednesday

This week's "Waiting On" Wednesday pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is :



Almost to Die for(A Vampire Princess of St. Paul #1) by Tate Hallaway. Release date August 3rd, 2010 by NAL Trade.


Description from the publisher:
Twilight meets The Princess Diaries in the new series from the author of Honeymoon of the Dead

On her sixteenth birthday, Anastasija Parker learns that her so-called deadbeat dad is actually a vampire king. And he wants Ana to assume her rightful position at his side, in spite of the fact that she has witch's blood running through her veins-from her mother's side.

Too bad witches and vampires are mortal enemies. And now Ana's parents are at each other's throats over her future. It's up to Ana to make a choice, but deciding your eternal destiny is a pretty big deal for a girl who just wants to get through high school.

Why do I want to read this book?
I love to read about vampires and a vampire story with witches and royals?! I'm there! I'm really hoping that Anastasija isn't a whiny character such as Bella. I understand that it might give good sales when a novel is compared to Twilight but I really hope Almost to die for is a novel that can hold it's own.

I haven't read any of Tate Hallaway's other paranormal novels but I think I need to check them out one day.

You can pre-order the book from(no I'm not an affiliate):
Want to know more?

Visit Tate Hallaway's homepage
Visit Tate's blog
Follow Tate on Twitter


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill's blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.




Monday, 10 May 2010

The Gardener - Teaser Tuesday


Slowly, she turned to face the lights of TroDyn. "From there. We have to get away from there." And she started to rock back and forth, repeating, "We need to go, we need got go..."

This weeks teasers is from The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen, page 50.

MizB of Should Be Reading host this meme called Teaser Tuesday . Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Ladies and gentlemen - we have three winners!



The winner of my 300 followers contest is Taylor from The Library Lurker, you've won The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting, and Mandy from MandyCanRead, you've won Rising Shadow by Jacquelyn Wheeler.

Also I had a little contest going on to celebrate the international book day and Natasha from Mindful Musings(loving your new layout by the way!!) won a copy of Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken.

Congratulations you guys! An email is on it's way. I hope you all enjoy your new books!

Tonight I will try to write some posts so that I have some scheduled in the weeks to come. My exam is up in 30 days and I have lots of preparations to do(a few assignments that we have to deliver). Just wanted to let you know why I might be a bit MiA these days. I'm way behind on updating on your lovely blogs but I'll be visiting once my exam finishes.


Monday, 3 May 2010

This is me from now on - Teaser Tuesday

The whole time she was talking, her back was to me. And suddenly I did a terrible thing.

This weeks teaser was brought to you from This is me from now on by Barbara Dee. Page 107.


MizB of Should Be Reading
host this meme called Teaser Tuesday . Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
    BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Saturday, 1 May 2010

Book review: She Thief(UK. Two Thieves) by Daniel Finn


What's She Thief about?
In this novel we get to know two young thieves, Baz and Demi, they're living in a bad neighborhood in a South American city. Both of the children are orphans and they have been raised by a women named Fay. Fay has teached them how to be the best pickpockets in the city in order to survive. Everything Baz and Demi steal goes to Fay, in return she gives them shelter, food and money for clothing. The three of them have been together for what feels like forever, they're almost like family. But just almost, if anyone breaks Fay's rules they're gone!

My thoughts:
When I opened this book I didn't really know what to expect, and really that for me is a good thing. I tend to have so high expectations when it comes to books everyone seems to fall in love with. I often end up disappointed. She Thief started out a bit slow for me, I felt there were so many long sentences and the English slang/dialect being used kind of annoyed me. After 30 pages everything that bothered me was forgotten and I was sucked into the world of the two friendly thieves, Baz and Demi, their friends and a whole bunch of other more dangerous criminals.

Daniel Finn managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, almost throughout the entire book. I was never sure where he was taking his characters. never felt sure if all the people I came to love would have a happy ending, would end up dead in a ditch somewhere or locked up in the Castle forever(or worse working in the Mountain). I cried and cried when I read the last few pages last night and today the characters have been in the back of my mind all day.


I loved the dialog between Demi and Baz, they're friendly banter is guaranteed to make you smile. She Thief for me was a story about never letting go of your friends and family, sometimes bad things happen but you don't just close your eyes and move on with your own life like nothing ever happened. Even in the worst thinkable places there can be good people, you cannot live your life without trusting a single soul. That's no way to lead your life.

Daniel Finn writes about a corrupted system that sadly still exists in many countries. It really is a horrible thing to reflect about, how many people have been wronged by this kind of way to governing? We also get to see a way of life that's the only option for survival for many, many young children living in poor countries, stealing. The most heart wrenching for me was reading about the children and the families working on the Mountain(a recycling compound/dumpster), getting sick by all the filth and garbage they live and breathe every single day. Sadly this is also the way of life for many poor people in real life.

The story is a bit like a modern Oliver Twist, I haven't read the book myself but I know how the story goes.

She Thief is a great young adult thriller. I really loved reading it and it made me even more grateful for everything I got.

The cover:
I just noticed that some has made complaints about the cover since the two main characters is described as having dark skin. I can understand the complaints but for me it's highly unlikely that the girl on the cover is supposed to be 13-14 year old Baz. In the book she is described as a girl looking just like a boy, very unlikely that she wears any makeup. For me the girl on the cover is Fay, their leader, she's described as a girl with fair skin and red hair in her late twenties/early thirties.

My rating of this book:
4.5 stars out of 5

Worth mentioning:
Daniel Finn is the name children's author Will Gatti uses when he writes books for young adults.

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
If you have reviewed this book then give a shout in the comment section below and I'll add your link.

Want to know more?
Visit Daniel Finn's homepage
The book on Goodreads

Pages(hardcover): 304
Publisher:Feiwel and Friends(Macmillan)
ISBN 13: 9780312563301
Full disclosure: Received from the publisher for honest review.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository(and their likes).

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