Friday, 7 December 2012
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
I am not the only person celebrating a birthday today. These books were published exactly one year ago. Back then I decided I wanted to read both, yet until today I haven't had the chance to take a look at them.
Winging It (The Dragon Diaries #2)by Deborah Cooke
The new Dragon Diary novel from the author of Flying Blind.
Zoë Sorensson yearns to come into her powers as the only female dragon shifter. But being part of two worlds is more complicated than she expected. It's bad enough that she's the target of the Mages's plan to eliminate all shifters-but she also has to hide her true nature from her human best friend, Megan. But when Megan gets a last-minute invite to the popular kids' Halloween party-hosted by an apprentice Mage-Zoë must save the day and her best friend without revealing her fire- breathing secrets...
Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
It's also Rubeus Hagrid's birthday today! The friendly wizard is now 84 years of age.
So, have you read these books? If yes, did you enjoy them?
I hope you have a nice day,
~ Sylke
Book review: Variant by Robison Wells
Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life. He was wrong. Now he's trapped in a school that's surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive. Where breaking the rules equals death. But when Benson stumbles upon the school's real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape--his only real hope for survival--may be impossible. (From Goodreads)
Variant by Robison Wells really surprised me in a good way. I was a bit let down after reading Beautiful Creatures before this one and other experiences this year. I felt a lot of the supernatural books in YA were starting to get to predictable. Variant is a dystopia but still my expectations were decreased. This is not predictable, it is never boring and has characters I believe in.
Maybe one of the reasons this really worked for me is that the story acts within certain limitations. The students are trapped inside a school ground and they know very little about what happens on the other side of those video cameras. This gives the author more room to develop the plot and build the tension and mood in the story. I also have to say that I personally found it a bit refreshing and relieving not to have to put my mind to another society or universe just this once. Because it is kind of demanding to do so in every book you read and first of all is it demanding for the writer to develop such a universe and society and not everyone can do this as well as others.
What Robison Wells really can do well is to create a very unpleasant mood with a couple of surprising twists and turns. I both enjoyed and disliked not knowing how bad this could go and not knowing what would happen to any of the characters and who to trust . It's still well within the boundaries of what I can endure. Benson is a character I think most people can identify and/or sympathize with. He's the one who asks questions about what is happening to them and he's the one who takes matters in to action when the rest of them either doesn't want to or are to afraid. He could be a little more careful in my opinion but I understand his actions and his flaws make him very human. I think most of us wants to be that brave person that just don't accept injustice. I can also understand the students that are too afraid or too comfortable with the situation. What they all have in commom is that no one is missing them. They came from fostercare where they were unhappy and probably thought they were really lucky to get in to this private academy.
Variant is a very thrilling and unpredictable read. I was not only surprised but even a bit shocked during my read. Languagewise it is not the greatest exsperience of all times but it works and the book has something even more important, a good story. I have very high excpectations for the next book, Feedback, that is already out in english. Have any of you read it by the way? I have to warn you that this ends with a real cliffhanger so it could be nice to have the sequel close at hand. I think I am going to wait for the norwegian book to come out in 2013 since I read this in norwegian, but the english version might just end up in my cart the next time I'm in buying books online.
My source:
A gift from the norwegian publisher Cappelen Damm for a book blog tour
My rating:
Silje
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Lisa Beth Darling Character Interview and Amazon Gift Card Contest LIVE !
Visit Bitten By Books here to enter for a chance at a $10 Amazon Gift Card.
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Bitten by Books » Author Kimberly Llewellyn Guest Blog and $40.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest LIVE Here!
Book Excerpt
Chapter One – “Call me Fishmael”
Where have all the good men gone?
Serina James brushed off the meddlesome thought as she flipped the sign to Closed at the front of her new swimwear shop, Suits You Boutique. She still had way too much work to do to be pining away over the lack of eligible males in the town of Melody Point. Socialites from nearby Newport, Rhode Island to the Hamptons had hit the boutique hard lately with rush orders for custom swimwear women just had to have yesterday. Yes, the summer season was in full swing.
At least, that was the case during the day. But by night, the regular summer crowds filling up the usual trendy night spots in the small tourist town had been, well, lacking in the “available men” department.
But she needed to focus on the task at hand; work on her recent design creation, a two-piece, black bathing suit prototype that she now wore. She wended her way around racks of colorful swimsuits and entered the back private sewing area where her best friend Becca Chase stood patiently waiting.
“All ready for the final fitting?” Becca asked.
“Yes. We are officially closed. Thanks for staying after hours to help.” Serina was just about to stand up on the dressing platform in front of the three-paneled mirror when something caught her eye across the room. “Hold on,” she told Becca and marched over to an ivory string bikini on a hanger.
“What are you doing? You already finished that,” Becca complained.
“Oh, really? This crooked stitch screamed at me from across the room.” Serina fingered the hem on the bikini top. Yep, there it was. “I’ll have to re-sew the entire thing.”
Becca came up beside her to inspect the goods. “You’re kidding me, right? It’s not really crooked, it’s just…wait, let me get this straight. You saw this so-called imperfect single stitch from across the room?”
“Yeah? So?”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“How do you see things…” Becca shook her head and laughed. “Never mind. Now, can we get back to working on your prototype?”
“Sure. I’ll fix that stitching tomorrow.” Serina lowered the imperfect bikini top onto her workbench and made her way back toward the dressing platform. She climbed on top and inspected the black prototype in the mirror’s reflection. She pointed to a section of hem on the board-short waistline and indicated where to put a finishing pin.
Becca got to work, which allowed Serina’s thoughts to skip right back to the uneven male-to-female ratio in the area. Gosh, she’d been distracted by it all day. How many more times would the thought pop into her head? What had gotten into her?
“Becca, do you think Melody Point has a man-shortage?” she blurted.
Becca peeked up from under her mane of curly brown locks, her eyes wide. “A man-shortage? I don’t know, why?”
“Pickin’s are slim lately. Men seem scarce. They’re either in some obscure relationship, or away on business on short notice, or vacationing elsewhere.” Realizing how silly she sounded, Serina waved off the idea. “Nah, forget I mentioned it.”
“No, I won’t forget it. I’m glad you’re coming around and thinking about getting out there again. It’s about time.”
Serina scoffed. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not coming around. I just, well, noticed the lack of fish in the sea, is all. Besides, I’m way too busy keeping this business afloat to get back ‘out there’ again.”
She barely finished her sentence when a pinprick stabbed her side.
“Yeouch!” Serina arched her back in time to keep away from her friend before she jabbed her again. “You did that on purpose!”
“Only because I didn’t like what you said. You can’t use your work as an excuse forever. Now stay still and don’t make me stick you again,” Becca barked as she added another pin to the swimsuit…
About the Author
Known as, “the Wedding Writer,” Kimberly Llewellyn is the best-selling author of Almost a Brideand Siren Call. Her humorous women’s fiction and romantic comedies have been published by Kensington and Penguin/Berkley. Learn more about the author and her books athttp://www.kimberlyllewellyn.com.
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