Tuesday Things

Click the box to join in!

How it Works

* Follow all 4 Hosts & Guest Host - Spots 1-5 leave us a comment w/ your blog url & we will follow u back ( only leave a comment that you follow if you actually follow )
* Snag our button to add to your FMBT post then post on your blog
* Add your blog to the list- using the link from your blog post( NOT YOUR BLOG HOP or GIVEAWAYS PLEASE ) These entries will be deleted.
* Follow as many blogs as you would like, Make sure you leave them a comment so they know you stopped by . Then Follow Back everyone that follows you & comments.

Tuesday Teasers

• 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"The Council of Ten always elected weak old men as doges. They tolerated no opposition to their power, and they wanted nothing more from a doge than the ability to make public appearances without drooling. Doges were not even allowed to open their own mail." pg. 87 from, The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark.

Book Buying Ban in September

So here is the deal, in September I will read ONLY my books that I currently own. I will not purchase any new books, borrow, or request. I have a huge TBR pile that I will try to whittle away in the month of September! I haven't counted because to be quite honest I am scared of how many I have so I will count as I go!

Click the piggy to visit the sign up page and set your own rules for September! :)

From Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon Conclusion

Well folks, I tried. I really did. Every single night of the RaT I tried to stay up late so I could read but I didn't finish a single book. Here's the thing about my schedule, I don't know if I've explained myself any on here. I work from home. I don't work much but my hours are quite inconvenient at times. I work online from 7pm-10pm most nights, which isn't bad BUT I have to get up on weekdays to get my son on the bus at 5 am! So I'm pretty tired. Lately I've been working during the day for extra cash so naps were out. So that is my excuse, lame as it is, for not being such a success for this awesome RaT! I did have a great time on Twitter chatting and reading other people's progress! Maybe I'll work something out for next time!

It's Monday What are you Reading and Weekly Plans

After the incredible fail that was August, I think I will stop trying to "plan" my weekly reads. It never works. So what I will probably do from now on is pick a (ONE) book that I have that I will read. This week, I have a couple (edited: few) books that I have signed on to read and review, so these will be the two (three) that I will try to get done this week. They all look good!


So those are my two (three) main selections for this week. I'm not going to plan on anything else. I will most likely read other books but these are going to be my "main" focus.

Edited to add:

I just got this book in and it's due for a blog tour on Sept 4! It also looks really really good! :)

Friday 56

The Friday 56

Rules:

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
• Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"The ladies who profit by your kind services, Mr. Hartright, must settle, and decide , and so on, for themselves. My niece is fond of your charming art. She knows just enough about it to be conscious of her own sad defects." pg 56 of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

From Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon Night 2

Well children, let me tell you a story about a girl with high hopes of plowing through Heresy in one night! It's not a bad book. It's really good so far! I had a brilliant idea last night after work. You see I work at home, and I stop working about 10pm. So I had the idea to take a bubble bath and read. Yup...I had it all planned out. Going to use my new bubble bath and read and soak. So relaxing, right? Well it was...I nearly fell asleep. I actually caught myself and barely managed to keep the book from taking a bath with me!

So, needless to say Heresy is still unfinished. SO that is what I'm reading tonight.

I may switch it up and read a bit from Heresy and a bit from one of the others on my list.

Anyway last nights stats where: about 45 minutes of reading time and about 75 pages of Heresy by S. J. Parris

From Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon Challenge

Reading Through Life is hosting a mini-challenge for tonight! They asked the question: "Write a post describing your ideal comfort food meal to break your hypothetical 15 hour fast one of the nights of this week’s read-a-thon."


So here is my choice! If I had to gorge myself without fear of calories or money I'd pick SUSHI!
I'd eat this whole tray and probably order another one! This and a glass or two of Plum Wine or Saki and I'm set! :)

Review: The King's Mistress

Book Blurb:
Alice Perrers scholar Campion debuts with a dynamic fictionalization of the life of Alice Salisbury, who, at 14, leaves family and best friend Geoffrey Chaucer behind to marry Janyn Perrers, a prominent merchant who has the patronage of Isabella, the Queen Mother. Alice accustoms herself to the royal lifestyle, grows close to her husband, and bears a daughter. Her happiness is destroyed when royal fortunes shift, Janyn disappears, and Alice is summoned to court by Queen Philippa. To secure her daughter's safety, Alice complies and is quickly drawn into the machinations and extravagance of Edward III's mid-14th-century court, where she captures the king's interest. Campion stays true to the facts of Alice's life as the mistress of Edward III, the mother of his son John, and a successful businesswoman. This is a detailed rendering of Edward III's court, one that provides an empathetic but realistic portrait of a colorful and, if Campion is to be believed, misunderstood woman.



My Review:
The King's Mistress tells the story of Alice Perrers, Mistress to King Edward III. I can honestly say that I had never heard of Alice before reading this book, but apprently her love affair with the King was something of a scandal! When the King took a Mistress from a lower merchant class , his fellow nobles felt insulted and betrayed. They felt it was a slight to the Queen for him to do this. Alice in history, has been portrayed as a conniving harlot bent on gaining wealth and fame from her position (ahem) with the King.

Now whether or not she was or wasn't the gold-digging whore that historians believe she was is not the point of Emma Campion's book. She shows Alice as a woman thrown in marriage at a young age and widowed also at a young age. In her time, women couldn't be independent of men. They had to be attached in some way either to their father or a husband. Alice was thrust into court pretty much unprepared for what she was to expect. Her choices were limited and when the King showed interest in her she used this to her advantage. In Campion's book, she is not an evil woman but one trying to protect herself and her future.

This was a great book and a wonderful story. I really felt for Alice and had a lot of sympathy for her situation. Emma Campion has taken a thread of history and woven it into a beautiful story! I'd definitely suggest you pick up this book!

From Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon Night 1

What am I reading tonight? Well, I started on Heresy by S.J. Parris just a few minutes ago. I had lots of company today so I wasn't able to start any earlier. I plan on staying up a wee bit later than usual and reading into the night. I have to get up early so I won't be up too too late but I'll say til about midnight (cst.)

What are you reading? Have you signed up yet? Click on the button to join in the fun!

House of Leaves

Have you ever read a book that just completely messed your mind up for a bit? This book cracked my skull open and proceeded to scoop out my pink wrinkly bits and fling them across the room! Sounds painful, doesn't it? Well I loved it! It's a challenging read. The pages take on a life of their own as the story progresses. The format starts to mimic the action and events taking place in the story. I loved every single bit of this book!

A lot of people have said that they hate the footnotes and the footnote's footnotes, but I thought they added something to it. Each footnote was an interesting little find and was (to me) crucial to getting into the heads of the characters. I liked that format very much!

This is a story in a story in a story, so at times you get a bit confuddled about who is doing what to whom and where. I know I had to go back and read a few times, but then I found something I had previously missed. There are puzzles and little treasures to find in the midst of the many many pages in this book. It's definitely not a book that you read and just shelf it. You have to think and re-read and work out what is happening.

I know there are many more awesome reviews of this book, but this is mine and I'm telling you what I liked. House of Leaves is a wonderful, creepy, horrifically interesting book! I definitely suggest investing in a copy of it! Especially if your tastes run more towards the horror genre!

OMG! Zombies! AMC's The Walking Dead!

*WARNING: Video Below MAY BE CONSIDERED GRAPHIC**

I love love love zombies so when I found out that this is coming on AMC Halloween night, I geeked out with happiness! Here's the 4 minute trailer for the show! Needless to say I am very much looking forward to this! It looks so friggen awesome!

**Warning: It has guns, violence, zombies, and general horror-ish stuff!***

From Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon-Reading List

Here's my selected reading list. I may switch it up as the Read-a-Thon goes on but for now this is it!

1. Black Rain-Graham Brown
2. Black Sun-Graham Brown
3. Northanger Abbey-Jane Austen (finish)
4. My Name is Will-Jess Winfield
5. Heresy-S.J.Parris
6. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Jamie Ford

There you have it! My list for this event! What about you? Have you signed up? What are you planning on reading?

Follow Me Back Tuesday

1. Follow the 5 hosts, #1 – 5, ( leave us a comment & we will follow you back- only leave a comment if you follow please ).
2. Create a blog post about FMBT (you may copy this post if you wish).
3. Follow as many blogs as you would like ( Leave a comment so they can follow you back).
4. When you receive a comment from a new follower return the favor & follow them back.

Tuesday Teasers

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My book this tuesday is The King's Mistress by Emma Campion

"Over the next few days I searched the crowds for William, remembering his anger, dreading his next actions. For such emotion seldom gave way to peaceful resignation. For three days I fretted."
pg. 232

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Time for The Monday Minute

*Favorite 80s flick?


I know it's like LATE 80's but I was only born in 1980 so yeah..lol


*One genre of music needs to be banned. Which genre?

I'm gonna have to say Country music. Lately it's sounded just like pop except with a "twang" so why call it Country? I'm not a fan of the genre but the older music sounded distinct. Nowadays, I can't tell Taylor Swift from Miley..

*All time favorite candy?

Godiva's White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle (sooo good)


*How 'flawed' is your driving record?

I don't drive often so I think I've only gotten one ticket.


*What was high school mascot?

Corner High School Yellow Jackets! Buzz!

What color socks are you wearing?

I'm not wearing any socks! mwhahahah! I'm wearing my ballet flats! :)

It's Monday What are you Reading and Weekly Plans

So I think I finally have this schedule thingy worked out! Yay! Now I can start to plan my week better! So here you go! My plans for this week:



Those are the ones I know I can finish in a week! They each look good! The King's Mistress is one that I will finish up, I'm about halfway through it now.

I have a few others that I would like to read but I won't pressure myself! I will however list them :) Cuz I love lists!

1. Knight of Passion (already started)
   
2. Black Sun
3. The Woman in White
   
4. Drood (already started)
   

Quick Review: The Replacement

This book comes out next month and I would definitely suggest fans of dark fiction put it on their shopping list! I recommend it highly! I loved the creepy aspect of this story! It's not a light hearted frothy read and it is certainly no fairy tale. It's very much a good book though! There are certainly many elements to this story about living dead people, stolen babies, and outcasts. I would say there were also the threads of life, hope, and love woven in as well as the dark creepy stuff. You feel for the main character, Mackie and want him to find some kind of happiness. You want to know what is in his past and why he is the way he is. I found myself reading fast and wanting more! I'm a big fan of this book!

From Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon

Well kiddos, I have found another read-a-thon to join up! It's gonna be so very awesome! I'm going to plan this one better since I have a bit more time to stock up on snackage and plan out my book list. Here are the deets:

The Dusk Till Dawn Read-A-Thon will run from August 25th though August 29th between the hours of 8 PM till 8 AM - in whatever time zone your in!

I plan on staying up a bit later than usual and utilizing the time my son is in school to nap and read (when I'm not working or cleaning of course!) I will get my list up probably around Monday or Tuesday!

Good luck! Oh and click on the button up top if you want to join in the fun! :)

Quick Review: Numbers

This was an excellent book! I seem to be picking winners this month as this was a non-stop awesome fest! Numbers is a brutally good book from start to finish. The idea that one can see the date that people will die has been done before but I will say that this one stands out. Rachel Ward's book is gritty and dirty (not in a bad way) and pretty all at the same time. Jem is a well written character that I felt so much love for. I mean I seriously had many instances of wanting to give her huggles! Her life sucks and when she finally finds some happiness, all hell breaks loose! I gobbled this book up and loved every single word of it!

Review: Fortunate Harbor

I didn't realize that this was a book in a series, but I was more than able to slide right into the characters lives on Happiness Key. The ladies of Fortunate Harbor are vividly written and definitely seem real. Every one of their lives are laid out for the reader and relate-able. Their stories are all something you can sympathize with and understand. I loved how this book read like a tv show. That was super awesome!

At first, I was intimidated by the size of this book. It's about 500 something pages long, but once you get into it you don't notice. This is definitely a book that you get into really quickly! I hate it when books take a while to get started, but Fortunate Harbor grabs ya from the beginning! I loved this book and will certainly pick up the first one Happiness Key, and eagerly await the next book.

Crescendo Review

Well first let me start off by declaring my love for this cover. Isn't it really really bootiful. Yes? No?

Anyhoodle, I have to say that I was a fan of hush, hush. I liked the characters and the world that Becca Fitzpatrick created. The "fallen angel" theme was intriguing and like a breath of super fresh air, in a market saturated with vampires and werewolves (not that I hate.) Hush, Hush was a great change of pace and a very good book! (Hint hint..pick it up yo!)

Crescendo was, and is, eagerly awaited. I know I had the release date marked in my calendar (10/10 fyi) and was myself trying to be patient. When I got my review copy I was super thrilled! I seriously scared my son by shrieking in girlish delight! I was at the time reading something else so I had to fight the urge to put that aside and plow right through Crescendo! The wait was definitely worth it!

Ms. Fitzpatrick has brought us a very solid and enjoyable follow up! I would definitely give this a enthusiastic thumbs up! Sequels usually have a bit of trouble holding a candle to the first but this one is just as awesome! More Nora and Patch angst, more mysteriously mysterious thingys going on and more DRAMA! Very nice pace and excellente character growth and development! I was a very happy girl as I devoured this one!

I won't go into any spoilers but I will say that this is one of those rare sequels that are just as good as their predecessors! Definitely a must have!

A++ Ms. Fitzpatrick! I can't wait for the next one!

Sweet Jesus! ARCs Galore Contest!

Seriously you guys, Carol's Prints is hosting a giveaway that is just so zOMG that you won't believe it til you see it! There are TONS of ARCs in this giveaway!

Like:

1. SIGNED Hard Cover of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES & SIGNED ARC of BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
2. ARC of PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White
3. ARC of IMMORTAL BELOVED by Cate Tiernan
4. ARC of DARK WATER by Laura McNeal
5. ARC of THE HOUSE OF DEAD MAIDS by Clare B. Dunkle

And a few more! I swear my jaw dropped when I saw what she's offering! Really check it out and if you enter please tell em that (Melissa @ Must Read Faster) sent yay!

Carol's Prints ARC Giveaway

Monday Reading Plans

Plan to Read:
The Woman in White
The King's Mistress
Princess of Glass

Read Last Week:

1. The Replacement
2. Numbers
3. Crescendo

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Update 3

Well yesterday I got to about half of The Replacement when I started to feel sick to my stomach. So I took it easy. Today I haven't really read much so far. I've gotten almost all of my Sunday stuff done so once it's all done I'm gonna sink in and read the rest of the book, then try and move on.

So my stats for yesterday are:

Read: about 2 1/2 hours, 162 pages

Sunday Confessions

(click the angel picture to visit)

To Read or Not To Read posed an interesting question.
Who was your first supernatural/paranormal crush?

Mine would have to be ***drum roll please******

My first supernatural/paranormal crush was...Eric Draven from the movie The Crow! I was about 13 or 14 when this came out and I loved it! That was my movie for so long! I still love it! I was saddened to hear that he died during the filming. I think that makes the movie's story even more tragic.

Who was your first supernatural/paranormal crush?

Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon Update 2

Well yesterday was kinda suckish, but today I plan on getting more reading time in! I did finish one awesome book! I LOVED Numbers by Rachel Ward! So look for the review coming soon!

Here are my plans for today!

• The Replacement
• The Tree

I want to finish these two by the end of the night! The Replacement is starting off pretty well so I don't think I'll have a problem getting into it! I don't have to work much today but I will probably have to take a break for that!

Book Total so far: 1 book, 235 pages, approx. 4 hours total read.

Now off to the reading! I'll check in every few hours if I can!

It's Monday What are you Reading and Weekly Plans

So, like my previous post said I didn't get much reading done last week. I did however finish House of Leaves! So I'm really kinda proud of myself. That book was wicked hard to follow at times but sooo good! I liked it a lot!

Today my son goes off to start the 1st grade so that leaves me home alone for a HUGE chunk of hours! I'm so mixed up emotionally right now. I'm happy for him but sad I won't see my little buddy all day! I am happy to finally have some free time to read a LOT now! Woot! So here is my list for this week! Crossing my fingers I get some good reading done!

1. Princess of Glass
2. The Replacement
3. Crescendo
4. Numbers

That would be an awesome chunk of books to read in one week! I'm gonna try!

What about you?

Read-a-Thon!

Monica over at the Bibliophilic Book Blog will be hosting a Read-a-Thon from 9am Friday August 13th and go until 9am Monday the 16th of August! (Click the button to sign up!)

You all know how much of a slut I am for Read-a-Thons! I LOVE them! So I'm all in on this one! i have a ton of books that I need to read! I'm gonna try and read about 8 hours a day every day of the "thon."


UPDATE!!!

The Read-a-Thon starts tomorrow and I will have to work some but I will still try and get my reading in! I'm not going to post a list yet but I will update as I go along! I'm going to aim for 3 books read but I won't cap myself on that! I'm going to use this post as my starting line!

1st Book: Numbers-Rachel Ward (page 325)
Started this book a bit later than I wanted. My husband stayed home sick so I had to play nurse, then the power went out because of a storm! Fun times man! So I read when I could and finally finished at about 8:30pm! So I would say I got about (estimated) 4 hours of reading done.

ZZZzzzz...

This is totally me right now! My new job is awesome-sauce but I have to get used to my new schedule. I'm working from 7pm-10pm, which isn't a lot BUT I have to get up at 5am (ish) to get Mr. Boy ready for school and out to the bus. So since school starts next Monday, we've been "practicing" getting up early. So yeah, I'm zonked and a half. I should be fine once he actually gets in school because I can take a nap during the day but til then I think I'm going to be running on auto-pilot.
Basically, this post is to warn you guys that I may be M.I.A for a few days while I adjust.

Review: Infinite Days

I went into this book with very few expectations. I've read some good reviews and some not so good reviews. I have to say that the cover is simply gorgeous! I'm not exactly sure how it matches the actual story but it is very pretty. With that said, I'll make this short and sweet. I liked it. It wasn't the best I've ever read but it is good. I enjoyed the story and definitely liked the characters. I had a few nagging little things that kept this from being a GREAT story. For one, I thought that the romance between Lenah and Justin moved rather quickly. I mean there she is grieving over Rhode and then boom! She's in love again! Also, I wished there was more about the other vampires in her coven. I thought that would have made the story so much more interesting, but that's just my opinion.

All in all, I do like this book. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

It's Monday What are you Reading and Weekly Plans

This week I figured that I would take it easy. I started my new job last night and since school is about to start (next week) I will be zonked with trying to get Little Man ready! So I'll take it slow on the reading front.

Here are my plans:

• continue-House of Leaves
• The Wolf Of Tebron-C.S.Lakin
• Crescendo

Reviewed:

• Infinite Days

What are you reading this week?