Monday, July 31, 2017

Making the Most of Penguin's First to Read Program

Photo pulled from Penguin First to Read

It should be no secret that I'm a big fan of Penguin's First to Read program. I have been entering to win the right to read and review advanced electronic copies of books through FtR for a little over two years now, and I finally feel like I've really figured out exactly how points are accrued (or at least pretty close to it) with the help of Caroline Andrus - Author, Blogger, Designer, and I'm here to tell you all of my secrets. 

Now before I start dishing the dirt, here's a brief run down of how the program works. Periodically new books are listed and you can either guarantee a copy or enter to win a copy to read and review. Review copies are limited, and they are typically split 50/50 between guaranteed copies and non-guaranteed copies, although not always. You guarantee copies by spending points that you can accrue through various actions on the site which I will go into much greater detail on later. You have one week from when the books are first listed to enter before winners are chosen (and guaranteed copies become available). 

If you are selected to receive a copy of a book (either because you guaranteed it or won it in the lottery) you have 42 days to download your copy of the book. Now you can't just download the book to any program you wish. You have to have an app that supports Adobe Digital Editions. There are free apps you can download for your Kindle Fire, Android phone, or pretty much any iDevice you own. I personally prefer the Bluefire Reader app on my iPhone and iPad mini, although reading on my phone can be annoying at times because you can't change the font size on these files like you can with books on the Kindle app, and sometimes the font is tiny. Once you have downloaded your free copy, you have an additional 42 days to read it before your loan expires. So you could take up to 84 days to download and read a book, as long as you pay attention to when your downloads are going to expire. This information is helpful if, like me, you have self-control issues and want to guarantee all the books. As long as you space out your downloads a little bit, you can buy yourself some extra reading time, even if there are multiple books in one batch that you really want to read. 

So now that we've got that out of the way, just how do you get points on FtR? 

The easiest, but slowest, way to get points is just by logging into the site every day. You get 5 points every day that you log on. It takes a while for the points to add up doing that though, and it's not something that I do, because you don't really need to. If you did, I wouldn't have over 100K points saved up right now. So how did I get so many points? 

For the longest time I assumed that I was getting most of my points because people were clicking on the links that I shared on Twitter and Facebook. I'd decided that because I noticed that I'd have 1-2 thousand more points after entering for all the books, and I knew that at least Joood - Hooligan from Platypire Reviews was heading to the site from my links because I always noticed that there were new books on offer before she did. That's where Caroline came in. We started comparing points accrued after we each entered for the books we wanted, and realized that we had gotten close to the same number of points, and it was basically instantaneous. It took us a couple rounds of offers, but we think we finally figured it out. 

You get 100 points each for sharing a link to Facebook and Twitter (and it doesn't seem to be limited to one share per book, although it may be limited to one share per book per day). These points seem to be reduced when you guarantee a copy of a book and share the links at that time (at least I think that's why I never have the exact number of extra points that I should after entering). It is also possible that you get fewer points for sharing from the main giveaway page rather than each book's individual page (we actually don't know for sure on that, and since I have so many points already, it didn't seem worth exploring further for me). So you can get a lot of points simply by sharing links to every book offered at least once. This will help pad the points you get when you first sign up so you can guarantee books you really want to read. I would recommend initially sharing every book even if you don't enter for a chance to win it. 

You also get 400 points for downloading a book you've been selected to read (this may only apply if you guaranteed your copy. I have been getting 400 points for every book I download, but I haven't won the right to read a book I didn't guarantee in several months). But this means you don't need to worry about running out of points by guaranteeing books because you're going to recoup most of the points you spend just by downloading the book. Lately most guarantees have been costing either 500 or 600 points, although I have seen some guarantees cost 1,000 points (not recently though).

You'll get another 400 points for posting a review for a book you were selected to read (again, this may only apply if you guaranteed your copy).

That means a book that cost you 600 points to guarantee can earn you 1,000 points (400 for downloading, 400 for reviewing, and 200 for sharing the links to Twitter and Facebook). With that in mind, there's no reason not to guarantee a book that intrigues you if you get there early enough to do so.

And how do you get there early enough to guarantee your copies?

First of all, don't wait for the email blast. If you do, you're going to miss the guaranteed copies every single time. When there are new books on offer, they're up at 12:01 am Eastern time, and the email blast goes out at like 11 am Eastern time. The site lists when the next offer will begin about a week in advance though, so if you make it a habit to log in once every week, you can make note of when new books will be available (that's what I do). I can tell you that lately books always go on offer on a Tuesday, but it wasn't that long ago that new books were always offered on Thursdays, so the day of the week that books are offered is always subject to change. And books will be offered at least once every month, but most months see two groups of books on offer with one week between offers. Paying attention to the patterns makes it easier to get there before all the guaranteed copies are gone.

I think that is basically everything I have figured out about the First to Read program at this point. So now that you know all my secrets, go sign up and join the fun. - Katie 

Sunday, July 30, 2017

#MadLibMonday - Magnolia Secrets by Beth Hale

When I was growing up, I loved Mad Libs. The excitement of sort of writing your own story really appealed to me. So I thought it would be fun to mesh that love with my love of books by turning blurbs into mad libs and letting you guys write your own book blurbs. 

For anyone that doesn't know how Mad Libs work, I will ask you for certain parts of speech or other specific things (i.e.: date, age, color, etc.) which you will write down. After you have completed your list, scroll down below the cover image to find the redacted blurb. Then read through it substituting your words where applicable. Try not to laugh. (Laughing is actually strongly encouraged, because this is supposed to be funny.)

Some brief definitions of the parts of speech.
Noun: Person, place, or thing.
Verb: Describes or indicates action.
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb expressing manner, place, time, or degree (gently, here, now, very).
Adjective: Names an attribute of a noun (pretty, blue, large)
Pronoun: A word that can function as a noun (I, we, they)
Preposition: a word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun (on, after, for)

And with that, here we go.

1: Adjective
2: Noun
3: Verb ending in s
4: Noun
5: Adjective
6: Plural noun
7: Verb
8: Plural noun
9: Verb
10: Adjective


Genre: Mystery
Published: August 4, 2015
Pages: 167

Walker and Lainey share one (   1: Adjective   ) night together, and he awakens to find her gone. Shrugging it off as just a glorious one-night stand, he accepts a new (   2: Noun   ) in a new town, New Hope, Mississippi. That’s where he (   3: Verb ending in s   ) Lainey again. She just happens to be married to the Chief of Police—and Walker’s new boss. 

Lainey is terrified that Walker will divulge their (   4: Noun   ). If he does, Lainey is a dead woman. But despite the danger, she can't forget the one (   5: Adjective   ) night she spent in Walker's arms. 

Walker demands (   6: Plural noun   ) from Lainey: What secret is she hiding? Why is she so afraid? And when people begin dying, he wants to get to the bottom of it. Why is the police chief trying to brush off the deaths? Why doesn’t he want Walker to (   7: Verb   ) the cases? What kind of secrets is he hiding? 

Drawn together, unable to deny their passion, they risk their (   8: Plural noun   ). Lainey is trapped. Walker is determined to save her and (   9: Verb   ) the truth. Can they expose the secrets before a ruthless man destroys any hope for a (   10: Adjective   ) future?

Now that your fun is through, here is the real blurb for Magnolia Secrets by Beth Hale. 

Walker and Lainey share one explosive night together, and he awakens to find her gone. Shrugging it off as just a glorious one-night stand, he accepts a new job in a new town, New Hope, Mississippi. That’s where he finds Lainey again. She just happens to be married to the Chief of Police—and Walker’s new boss. 

Lainey is terrified that Walker will divulge their secret. If he does, Lainey is a dead woman. But despite the danger, she can't forget the one passionate night she spent in Walker's arms. 

Walker demands answers from Lainey: What secret is she hiding? Why is she so afraid? And when people begin dying, he wants to get to the bottom of it. Why is the police chief trying to brush off the deaths? Why doesn’t he want Walker to work the cases? What kind of secrets is he hiding? 

Drawn together, unable to deny their passion, they risk their lives. Lainey is trapped. Walker is determined to save her and uncover the truth. Can they expose the secrets before a ruthless man destroys any hope for a brighter future?

If you enjoyed this mad lib, please comment below with your list (if you dare) so the rest of us can get a chuckle out of it as well. - Katie 

#MadLibMonday - A Deadly Sin by Tracie Podger

When I was growing up, I loved Mad Libs. The excitement of sort of writing your own story really appealed to me. So I thought it would be fun to mesh that love with my love of books by turning blurbs into mad libs and letting you guys write your own book blurbs. 

For anyone that doesn't know how Mad Libs work, I will ask you for certain parts of speech or other specific things (i.e.: date, age, color, etc.) which you will write down. After you have completed your list, scroll down below the cover image to find the redacted blurb. Then read through it substituting your words where applicable. Try not to laugh. (Laughing is actually strongly encouraged, because this is supposed to be funny.)

Some brief definitions of the parts of speech.
Noun: Person, place, or thing.
Verb: Describes or indicates action.
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb expressing manner, place, time, or degree (gently, here, now, very).
Adjective: Names an attribute of a noun (pretty, blue, large)
Pronoun: A word that can function as a noun (I, we, they)
Preposition: a word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun (on, after, for)

And with that, here we go.

1: Number
2: Noun
3: Verb ending in s
4: Noun
5: Plural noun
6: Verb
7: Adjective
8: Verb
9: Noun
10: Noun


Genre: Thriller
Published: November 18, 2016
Pages: 310

There are (   1: Number   ) deadly sins, so they say.

Pride, Envy, Wrath, Glutton, Lust, (   2: Noun   ), and Greed.

We are guilty of them all. But what (   3: Verb ending in s   ) when someone decides to become judge, (   4: Noun   ), and executioner of those that commit these (   5: Plural noun   )?

Detective Mich Curtis is thrown back into a world he thought he’d managed to (   6: Verb   ) out of.

It started as a (   7: Adjective   ) murder case to solve – it became a fight to (   8: Verb   ).

Seven sins, seven murders – who will be the last (   9: Noun   ) standing?

The executioner or the only person fucked up enough to get inside his (   10: Noun   )?

Now that your fun is through, here is the real blurb for A Deadly Sin by Tracie Podger.

There are seven deadly sins, so they say.

Pride, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, and Greed.

We are guilty of them all. But what happens when someone decides to become judge, jury, and executioner of those that commit these sins?

Detective Mich Curtis is thrown back into a world he thought he’d managed to struggle out of.

It started as a simple murder case to solve – it became a fight to survive.

Seven sins, seven murders – who will be the last man standing?

The executioner or the only person fucked up enough to get inside his mind?

If you enjoyed this mad lib, please leave a comment below with your list (if you dare) so the rest of us can get a chuckle out of it as well. - Katie 

#MadLibMonday - Falling Stars by Sadie Grubor

When I was growing up, I loved Mad Libs. The excitement of sort of writing your own story really appealed to me. So I thought it would be fun to mesh that love with my love of books by turning blurbs into mad libs and letting you guys write your own book blurbs. 

For anyone that doesn't know how Mad Libs work, I will ask you for certain parts of speech or other specific things (i.e.: date, age, color, etc.) which you will write down. After you have completed your list, scroll down below the cover image to find the redacted blurb. Then read through it substituting your words where applicable. Try not to laugh. (Laughing is actually strongly encouraged, because this is supposed to be funny.)

Some brief definitions of the parts of speech.
Noun: Person, place, or thing.
Verb: Describes or indicates action.
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb expressing manner, place, time, or degree (gently, here, now, very).
Adjective: Names an attribute of a noun (pretty, blue, large)
Pronoun: A word that can function as a noun (I, we, they)
Preposition: a word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun (on, after, for)

And with that, here we go.

1: Adjective
2: Noun
3: Verb, past tense
4: Adjective
5: Plural noun
6: Verb
7: Noun
8: Noun
9: Verb ending in s
10: Noun


Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: August 14, 2012
Pages: 410

"The (   1: Adjective   ) pools of dark chocolate drew me in and made my (   2: Noun   ) crackle. She was beautiful, breathtakingly so. before this moment, I don't think I truly (   3: Verb, past tense   ) just how beautiful she is. A new ache formed in my chest."

Christopher Mason, front man of the band The Forgotten. He's hot, he's famous and everything a (   4: Adjective   ) rock star can be. But despite his fame and bad boy look, inside he battles (   5: Plural noun   ). Demons so powerful they may (   6: Verb   ) him. All hope seems lost. Slowly, his star is falling.

Mia Ryder, lead vocalist of the band Hushed Mentality, enters his (   7: Noun   ). Energetic, fun, and laidback, Mia is just about everything Christopher isn't. And he definitely doesn't want her on his (   8: Noun   ).

But one night (   9: Verb ending in s   ) everything. For the first time in his life, Christopher Mason becomes sure of one thing, and it's the one (   10: Noun   ) he's tried so hard to push away.

Now that your fun is through, here is the real blurb for Falling Stars by Sadie Grubor. 

"The haunting pools of dark chocolate drew me in and made my skin crackle. She was beautiful, breathtakingly so. before this moment, I don't think I truly realized just how beautiful she is. A new ache formed in my chest."

Christopher Mason, front man of the band The Forgotten. He's hot, he's famous and everything a famous rock star can be. But despite his fame and bad boy look, inside he battles demons. Demons so powerful they may destroy him. All hope seems lost. Slowly, his star is falling.

Mia Ryder, lead vocalist of the band Hushed Mentality, enters his life. Energetic, fun, and laidback, Mia is just about everything Christopher isn't. And he definitely doesn't want her on his tour.

But one night changes everything. For the first time in his life, Christopher Mason becomes sure of one thing, and it's the one thing he's tried so hard to push away.

If you enjoyed this mad lib, please comment below with your list (if you dare) so that the rest of us can get a chuckle out of it as well. - Katie 

*Deja Revu* 31 July 2017

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Déjà Revu is a weekly review round-up that is open to all book review blogs.
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Meme
Response
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Contemporary
Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic
Fantasy
Romance
Science Fiction
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Romance
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Contemporary
Non-Fiction
Romance
Women's Fiction
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Romance

Saturday, July 29, 2017

#SneakPeekSunday - Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Title: Seraphina
Author: Rachel Hartman
Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: July 10, 2012 (
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Pages: 530
Goodreads

Synopsis

In her New York Times bestselling and Morris Award-winning debut, Rachel Hartman introduces mathematical dragons in an alternative-medieval world to fantasy and science-fiction readers of all ages. Eragon-author Christopher Paolini calls them, "Some of the most interesting dragons I've read in fantasy."

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

Sneak Peek Review

I received a copy of this sneak peek from Random House Books for Young Readers through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

When I grabbed this sneak peek, I was confusing it with a different book (Serafina and the Black Cloak) that I've had my eye on for a while now. Granted, that wouldn't have stopped me from getting it because sneak peeks on Netgalley are somewhat limited I'm finding, but it's not the book I thought I was peeking into. And I realize the covers for the two books are very different, but books get new covers all the time, so I thought that's what happened here. But in spite of my mix-up, I was rather pleased with this sneak peek. 

I was only treated to a very small portion of this book, so there are a lot of things that I do not understand about this world yet, or Seraphina herself. Really, the only way for me to have a full understanding of the world from a sneak peek would be for there to be a huge info dump right at the beginning, and that would have been rather boring, so I'm glad it didn't happen, even if I am frustrated by not really knowing anything about the world I just dipped my toes into. 

From what I could gather, in this world dragons can shapeshift to take on human form, but they are required to wear bells so as to be easily identifiable to humans, although there seem to be some exceptions to that rule. And because dragons were dangerous creatures in the past, tensions between the two races are quite high. I felt that there were some comparisons to be made to current relations between different groups amongst society in our world, although with only the sneak peek, there are no easy conclusions to be reached on that score. 

I'm also left with some suspicions about Seraphina's origin, and there is a mystery about a certain saint that is mentioned that I'm interested to uncover as well. 

I am definitely interested in reading more from this book and have added it to my wish list because I'm not allowed to buy any more books this pay period, but I will definitely be buying it at some point in the future so I can continue this story. - Katie 

Buy the Book


About the Author

Rachel Hartman is the author of the acclaimed YA fantasy novel SERAPHINA, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2013 Morris Award, and its sequel SHADOW SCALE. Coming in 2018 is TESS OF THE ROAD, a third novel set in the same fantasy world, following the adventures of one of Seraphina's younger half-sisters. Rachel lives with her family in Vancouver, Canada. In her free time she sings with a madrigal choir (the QuasiModals), walks her whippet in the rain, and is learning to fence. You can visit her blog at http://rachelhartmanbooks.com or follow her on Twitter at @_rachelhartman

*Review* Feed by M.T. Anderson


Genre: YA Dystopian
Published: February 23, 2004
Pages: 308

Synopsis

Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains.

For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world — and a smart, savage satire that has captivated readers with its view of an imagined future that veers unnervingly close to the here and now.

Review

I got this audiobook from the Audiobook Sync summer reading for teenagers program for completely free with no strings attached.

I listened to this audiobook at 1.5 speed, and I think that contributed to my enjoyment of the story. At that speed, everything seemed super fast paced, but I feel like that helped to put me in a frame of mind similar to that of the characters who are constantly being bombarded by information and ads through the feeds implanted in their brains. Additionally, even if it's not the authors intent, I feel like people who live their lives with that type of bombardment would probably talk pretty fast, especially teenagers. So if you opt to go with the audiobook on this, listen to it fast. It'll take a minute to figure out the lingo and stuff, but it's worth it. Also, be warned that the audio includes ads that the characters are exposed to, that sound just like ads you might hear on the radio. It's part of the experience.

The story itself was a rather bleak commentary on society in the possible future. It's not hard to believe that at some point the well-off will line up to get chips implanted in their babies heads which will allow them to instantly access the entire internet with just a thought. Just look at how long some people will wait in line just to get the new iPhone right now, which allows them to access the entire internet with just a few clicks. And the idea that shiny new things might be used to distract the populace from horrible stuff that is happening is not really that far-fetched either. So even though this is very much science fiction, it seems pretty realistic.

Overall I give Feed 5 out of 5 stars. - Katie


Buy the Book


About the Author

Matthew Tobin Anderson (M. T. Anderson), (1968- ) is an author, primarily of picture books for children and novels for young adults. Anderson lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

His picture books include Handel Who Knew What He LikedStrange Mr. SatieThe Serpent Came to Gloucester; and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. He has written such young adult books as ThirstyBurger WussFeedThe Game of Sunken Places, and Octavian Nothing. For middle grader readers, his novels include Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales and its sequel, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen.
-Wikipedia

*Stacking the Shelves* 29 July 2017


(Titles link to Amazon via Amazon Affiliate links)

Stacking The Shelves is a feature/weekly meme created by Tynga’s Reviews in which you share the books you are adding to your shelves, both physical and virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Now, I already have a monthly post I do featuring the books I get in the mail (and it's a lot because I have a serious Goodreads First Reads giveaway addiction), and I'm going to try to start posting my monthly Read-A-Thon posts again too (even if none of the Platypires will be joining me), which will cover the books I receive through Netgalley. But I also go to my thrift store at least once a week, and often leave with a bag full of books. It's such a common occurrence that I'm known as The Book Lady to the frequent volunteers (and I suspect that they've started scheduling their $1 bag of books sales for Thursdays simply because that is the day I usually visit.) So my Stacking the Shelves posts are going to focus on my thrift store hauls, because this is my blog and I do what I want. 

On that note, here are the books I picked up this week.

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross - Historical fiction with a Mulan-esque heroine (in that she pretends to be a man to take the place of a male relative.) 
Ghost Canoe by Will Hobbs - My son asked for this book. He's a bit sensitive and somewhat easily scared, so he decided he should read scary books so that he won't be scared so easily. 
Dial-A-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson - This was another request by my son. 
Spongebob Squarepants Super Happy Edition by David Lewman - We really like SpongeBob in our house. This seems to be mostly a joke book. 
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding - My copy of this book has a super cool looking cover, better than the one on Amazon. 
Awakening by Robin Wasserman - I think I've bought a book or two from this series before...granted it might be this one, but if that's the case, this copy will just go back to the thrift store. 
The Great American Citizenship Quiz by Solomon M. Skolnick - I did well in American History and American Government in school. That being said, I'm not positive I would be able to pass the citizenship quiz myself, so this could be an interesting refresher for things I should already know. 
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman - I didn't realize this book was set during WWII until just now. I just saw that it had been made into a movie (and I like to do book/movie comparisons on the blog) so I bought it. I'm even more excited about it now. 
My Name Starts with A by Larry Hayes - My daughter asked for this book, and I have a hard time saying no to buying books for the kids. 
The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty - I buy basically everything Liane Moriarty writes. I haven't ever finished a book by her, but I'm part way through What Alice Forgot and I like her style in that at least. 
True Ghost Stories by Hans Holzer - I'm a fan of ghost stories myself, so I bought this one for me. 
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe - I think I've heard good things about this book from reader friends, but I might be thinking of a different book with a title that is somewhat similar. I don't know. In any case, this was only a quarter. 

So that's all the books I picked up this week. It's a smaller haul than the past few weeks, and it cost me a whopping $3 because I didn't catch a bag of books sale, but that's still a bargain for this many books, so I'm really not complaining. 

What books did you add to your shelves this week? - Katie 

*If you're stopping by from the Stacking the Shelves link-up, please be sure to leave a comment below with a link to your post so I can check out your haul. 

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

*Review* Life After Lila by Ginna Moran


Genre: YA Contemporary
Published: July 25th, 2017
Pages: 315

Synopsis

After a fatal car accident leaves seventeen-year-old Coco Caraway covered in scars and kills her best friend, Lila Olivier, Coco struggles with depression and anxiety. She spends her days hiding behind a mask of makeup and layers of clothing, treating each day like another one toward her last. Because life without her best friend is a life she doesn’t want to live.

The arrival of Xander Romano, a new boy at school more scarred than she is, forces Coco out of her isolation when she stands up to school bullies harassing him. Her action sparks a friendship with Xander that Coco had no idea she wanted—or needed. He reminds her of Lila, and through him, she reflects on her life before and after the accident, trying to make sense of living a future without her best friend.

Despite the happy moments Coco finds with Xander, her strained relationships with her shallow mother, overworked father, and meddling, overprotective twin brother weigh heavy on her, and Coco can’t seem to hang on. Giving up on life seems a lot easier. As Coco’s world spins out of control and her home life nearly breaks her, she must decide what’s important in life and if she’s willing to live for it.

Review

I was hired to proofread this book. The only aspects of the story that I influenced were the spelling and grammar. If you feel that my connection to the book makes my review untrustworthy, so be it, but this is my honest review.

Coco is a character that I related to on a deeply personal level. See, I got in a car accident at the end of my freshman year of high school that left me with a large, disfiguring scar. Unlike Coco however, my scar is easily concealable, although I've never felt the need to conceal it. Also unlike Coco, the friend that was with me only suffered superficial injuries while I spent twelve days on an intensive care burn unit. I feel lucky that I was the one seriously injured since I was driving, so I can absolutely understand the survivor's guilt that Coco feels. I even understand Coco's reaction to riding in a car. And if my mother had been like Coco's mother, I might have even considered doing exactly what Coco was doing.

I really liked the way this story was set up, referencing dates based on how far away from the big event they were. It added a bit of a timeless quality to the story, at least as timeless as a story can be while referencing current technology. But the story isn't solidly stuck to a specific couple of years (although maybe it is considering how quickly technology is changing at the moment).

This story made me quite nervous about the ending. I had a most desired outcome for Coco's story, but it kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much until the end, and I really wasn't sure if things would turn out "right." And I really feel like Coco's mom was a wild card with a big influence on the path the story would take. I also really did not like her. She needed to just butt out of Coco's life.

Overall I give Life After Lila 5 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Ginna Moran is a writer living in Austin, Texas but originally from Southern California. She started writing poetry as a teenager in a spiral notebook that she still has tucked away on her desk today. Her love of writing grew after she graduated high school and she completed her first unpublished manuscript at age eighteen.

When she realized her love of writing was her life's passion, she studied literature at Mira Costa College in Northern San Diego. Besides writing novels, she was senior editor, content manager, and image coordinator for Crescent House Publishing Inc. for four years.

Aside from Ginna's professional life, she enjoys binge watching television shows, playing pretend with her daughter, and cuddling with her dogs. Some of her favorite things include chocolate, anything that glitters, cheesy jokes, and organizing her bookshelf.

Ginna Moran loves to hear from readers so visit her online at www.GinnaMoran.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

Ginna Moran is currently hard at work on her next novel.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

#MadLibMonday - Hades by Elda Lore

When I was growing up, I loved Mad Libs. The excitement of sort of writing your own story really appealed to me. So I thought it would be fun to mesh that love with my love of books by turning blurbs into mad libs and letting you guys write your own book blurbs. 

For anyone that doesn't know how Mad Libs work, I will ask you for certain parts of speech or other specific things (i.e.: date, age, color, etc.) which you will write down. After you have completed your list, scroll down below the cover image to find the redacted blurb. Then read through it substituting your words where applicable. Try not to laugh. (Laughing is actually strongly encouraged, because this is supposed to be funny.)

Some brief definitions of the parts of speech.
Noun: Person, place, or thing.
Verb: Describes or indicates action.
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb expressing manner, place, time, or degree (gently, here, now, very).
Adjective: Names an attribute of a noun (pretty, blue, large)
Pronoun: A word that can function as a noun (I, we, they)
Preposition: a word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun (on, after, for)

And with that, here we go.

1: Adjective
2: Noun
3: Verb ending in s
4: Noun
5: Plural noun
6: Verb
7: Noun
8: Verb ending in s
9: Plural noun
10: Noun


Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: October 13, 2016
Pages: 264

“Welcome to Hell.”

Persephone Fields is just an (   1: Adjective   ) girl: beloved daughter and loyal (   2: Noun   ). One night decides her Fate, when the prince of The Underworld (   3: Verb ending in s   ) her savior and her kidnapper. 

Hades has lived centuries in darkness and (   4: Noun   ). When he decides to save the blonde goddess, he doesn’t consider the (   5: Plural noun   ) of his decision to bring her into his realm.

Two worlds divided (   6: Verb   ) to find friendship in a history of family discord beyond their control. When attraction blurs the line, questions result in choices of love or (   7: Noun   ).

A modern twist of the classic myth: Hades and Persephone, this version (   8: Verb ending in s   ) the sensual tension of opposites divided by contemporary humanity and mythical (   9: Plural noun   ). Also reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, this is a love story ripe with (   10: Noun   ).

Now that your fun is through, here is the real blurb for Hades by Elda Lore. 

“Welcome to Hell.”

Persephone Fields is just an average girl: beloved daughter and loyal friend. One night decides her Fate, when the prince of The Underworld becomes her savior and her kidnapper. 

Hades has lived centuries in darkness and sin. When he decides to save the blonde goddess, he doesn’t consider the ramifications of his decision to bring her into his realm.

Two worlds divided struggle to find friendship in a history of family discord beyond their control. When attraction blurs the line, questions result in choices of love or loyalty.

A modern twist of the classic myth: Hades and Persephone, this version incorporates the sensual tension of opposites divided by contemporary humanity and mythical underworlds. Also reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, this is a love story ripe with desire.

If you enjoyed this mad lib, comment with your list (if you dare) so the rest of us can get a chuckle out of it as well. - Katie 

#MadLibMonday - Army of the Winter Court by Ali Winters

When I was growing up, I loved Mad Libs. The excitement of sort of writing your own story really appealed to me. So I thought it would be fun to mesh that love with my love of books by turning blurbs into mad libs and letting you guys write your own book blurbs. 

For anyone that doesn't know how Mad Libs work, I will ask you for certain parts of speech or other specific things (i.e.: date, age, color, etc.) which you will write down. After you have completed your list, scroll down below the cover image to find the redacted blurb. Then read through it substituting your words where applicable. Try not to laugh. (Laughing is actually strongly encouraged, because this is supposed to be funny.)

Some brief definitions of the parts of speech.
Noun: Person, place, or thing.
Verb: Describes or indicates action.
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb expressing manner, place, time, or degree (gently, here, now, very).
Adjective: Names an attribute of a noun (pretty, blue, large)
Pronoun: A word that can function as a noun (I, we, they)
Preposition: a word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun (on, after, for)

And with that, here we go.

1: Noun
2: Adjective
3: Verb ending in s
4: Noun
5: Verb
6: Plural noun
7: Verb
8: Noun
9: Adjective
10: Noun


Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: June 15, 2016
Pages: 207

The heart and blood of (   1: Noun   ) will give rise to the final army. 

Evvie Hewett is human. Or at least she thought she was. An encounter with a (   2: Adjective   ) stranger turns her world upside down in an impossible way and everything she thought she knew about herself has changed. Her history (   3: Verb ending in s   ) the key, not only to her (   4: Noun   ) but to the future of the darkest kingdom in existence. 

(   5: Verb   ) into the middle of a rivalry between two (   6: Plural noun   ) for the Unseelie throne, she must (   7: Verb   ) who to trust, and who not to. However, knowing who to trust has never been more difficult when one brother wants her (   8: Noun   ), the other, her blood. 

She holds the key to the creation of the (   9: Adjective   ) army. Threatened at every turn, she must find the truth before she loses her heart and her life. Can she see past the lies and deception to stay alive, or will she fall (   10: Noun   ) to an ancient feud?

Now that your fun is through, here is the real blurb for Army of the Winter Court by Ali Winters.

The heart and blood of life will give rise to the final army. 

Evvie Hewett is human. Or at least she thought she was. An encounter with a handsome stranger turns her world upside down in an impossible way and everything she thought she knew about herself has changed. Her history holds the key, not only to her future but to the future of the darkest kingdom in existence. 

Thrust into the middle of a rivalry between two brothers for the Unseelie throne, she must decide who to trust, and who not to. However, knowing who to trust has never been more difficult when one brother wants her heart, the other, her blood. 

She holds the key to the creation of the ultimate army. Threatened at every turn, she must find the truth before she loses her heart and her life. Can she see past the lies and deception to stay alive, or will she fall victim to an ancient feud?

If you enjoyed this mad lib, comment with your list (if you dare) so we can all get a chuckle out of it. - Katie 

#MadLibMonday - Happily Evan After by Michelle Irwin

When I was growing up, I loved Mad Libs. The excitement of sort of writing your own story really appealed to me. So I thought it would be fun to mesh that love with my love of books by turning blurbs into mad libs and letting you guys write your own book blurbs. 

For anyone that doesn't know how Mad Libs work, I will ask you for certain parts of speech or other specific things (i.e.: date, age, color, etc.) which you will write down. After you have completed your list, scroll down below the cover image to find the redacted blurb. Then read through it substituting your words where applicable. Try not to laugh. (Laughing is actually strongly encouraged, because this is supposed to be funny.)

Some brief definitions of the parts of speech.
Noun: Person, place, or thing.
Verb: Describes or indicates action.
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb expressing manner, place, time, or degree (gently, here, now, very).
Adjective: Names an attribute of a noun (pretty, blue, large)
Pronoun: A word that can function as a noun (I, we, they)
Preposition: a word that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun (on, after, for)

And with that, here we go.

1: Noun
2: Adjective
3: Verb
4: Noun
5: Noun
6: Verb ending in s
7: Noun
8: Adjective
9: Verb
10: Plural noun


Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: November 22, 2014
Pages: 260

Evan is a reluctant (   1: Noun   ).

Facing an (   2: Adjective   ) term of servitude to repay his debt to the world, it is his responsibility to (   3: Verb   ) couples together. Despite initial hesitancy, he has learned to handle every (   4: Noun   ) with care and he now basks in the afterglow of new-found love and relishes in the energy it provides him. But his end (   5: Noun   ) is still the promise of paradise in return for his penance.

It's all going according to plan until he (   6: Verb ending in s   ) an assignment that is inconceivable to him. He has to find a (   7: Noun   ) for Becca, within whom lives the reincarnated soul of his one (   8: Adjective   ) love. Bound by his duty to find her a match, he must resist her charm and suppress his own desires. It is his job and he cannot (   9: Verb   ), even if his own paradise now seems lost.

For a cupid, falling in love is against the (   10: Plural noun   ).

Isn't it?

Now that your fun is through, here is the real blurb for Happily Evan After by Michelle Irwin.

Evan is a reluctant cupid.

Facing an unknown term of servitude to repay his debt to the world, it is his responsibility to guide couples together. Despite initial hesitancy, he has learned to handle every case with care and he now basks in the afterglow of new-found love and relishes in the energy it provides him. But his end goal is still the promise of paradise in return for his penance.

It's all going according to plan until he receives an assignment that is inconceivable to him. He has to find a mate for Becca, within whom lives the reincarnated soul of his one true love. Bound by his duty to find her a match, he must resist her charm and suppress his own desires. It is his job and he cannot fail, even if his own paradise now seems lost.

For a cupid, falling in love is against the rules.

Isn't it?

If you enjoyed this mad lib, comment below with your list (if you dare) so we can all get a chuckle out of it. - Katie