Saturday, January 30, 2010

In My Mailbox


I received two things this week. They both came from Around the World Tours.

The Naughty List by Suzanne Young (I've already read it and completely loved it. My review will be up next week.)

Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis

That's it for me. What did you get this week?

♥amber

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday


Lifted by Wendy Toliver

Release Date: June 8th, 2010

Poppy Browne is none too thrilled to be the new girl in Pleasant Acres, Texas--especially after her mother enrolls her in a private Baptist school. But to her delight, Poppy is pulled into the cool clique on her first day at Calvary High, and her new friends, Mary Jane and Whitney, are as genuinely nice as they are gorgeous and rich. The catch? Her new pals have a nasty shoplifting habit, and before long Poppy is also a theft enthusiast. But when the girls' addictions get out of hand and friendships are threatened, it's up to Poppy to set things right ....

Monday, January 25, 2010

Review - You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay

You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay


Released: January 2009
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal - Zombie
Pages: 272
Source: Won in a giveaway from Book Chic


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Q: HOW MANY ZOMBIES DOES IT TAKE TO RUIN A SOCIAL LIFE?
A: NOT MANY.
Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a whole bunch of semi-dead people with killer issues. All Megan really wants is to go to homecoming, but when you're trailed by a bunch of slobbering corpses whenever you leave the house, it's kinda hard to score a date. Let's just say Megan's love life could use some major resuscitation.


Megan's convinced her life can't get any worse - until someone in school starts using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into scary, hardcore flesh-eating Zombies. Now it's up to Megan to stop the Zombie apocalypse. Her life - and more importantly, the homecoming dance - depends on it.

---

I've never been a huge zombie fan. The whole undead-moaning-slobbering thing has never been my cup of tea. Like many reads over the past year, I'm reaching outside my comfort zone and giving zombies more of a try. I thought this book would be a little darker and a little more serious, but it turned out to be an actual fun, witty, and light hearted one that I enjoyed.

Megan has a great young teenage voice. She just wants to live a normal life, but it's kind of hard when the undead keep showing up on your doorstep. The beginning of the book had me laughing and completely loving everything about it. You can tell Stacey Jay took some time in creating this whole world of Settlers. The system of their world was explained very well and you learned more as Megan went through more of the training process. I also enjoyed the author's writing style. Everything played out nicely where I could picture it all in my head. I could really see this being a TV show.

The relationship between Megan and Ethan fit perfectly.  (And yes, I did develop a character crush on Ethan. I can't help these things. Boys in books always seem to be better.) These two bounced off one another nicely, and I'm hoping that maybe in the next book we get to read more on their past together.

By the time I got to the middle, I wouldn't quite say I became bored, but I wasn't as into it as I had been. It just kind of slowed down for me. I also figured out who the villain was around this time. That's my main reason for rating this 3.5 instead of a 4 because I really wanted to be surprised, but wasn't. The whole time I kept thinking why isn't Megan seeing who the villain is! Now the reasons behind why the villain did what they did was good, but like I said, I really wanted to be more surprised.  Overall it was still a good read and I'm looking forward to the next book.

♥amber

Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered! I am officially loving Google Docs and highly suggest any blogger use the form for their own giveaways.  The three copies of The Lonely Hearts Club go to.....





Photobucket



Sylvia from California


Jennifer from Maryland


Erica from Wisconsin 



Congrats girls! I'm sending you an email as we speak (and/or type - which ever way you want to look at it).

Didn't win? Don't forget to check our newest giveaway - My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincet.


Win a Copy of My Soul To Save!


When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.

So when teen pop star Eden croaks on stage and Kaylee doesn’t wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can’t cry for someone who has no soul.

The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad’s ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend’s loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls for a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can’t possibly understand.

Kaylee can’t let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk….

Soul Screamers: The last thing you hear before you die.

You can learn more about Kaylee by downloading the free Soul Screamers prequel My Soul To Lose here!

Check out the book trailer here and the official website here.


We have 3copies to giveaway! All you have to do is fill out the form below.

Note: I do ask for your personal mailing address so I do not have to track down winners. Because of this, you must be 13 years or older to enter. Also please leave your FULL name and your FULL mailing address. I had problems with the last giveaway with people only giving out half their information. Those that do not leave their full name and address will not be entered in the giveaway.

The giveaway will end February 8th at 11:59 pm central time and is only open to those with a US mailing address.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  This is what I've gotten in the mail over the past two weeks.




My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent - From Big Honcho Media

The Life O'Reilly by Brian Cohen - For review from author

Unconventional by J.J. Hebert - Won in a giveaway from the author plus a $20 dollar gift card for Barnes & Noble

Undead Much by Stacey Jay - Around the World Tours



I also won a Beautiful Creatures swag pack featuring the character Link from Caster Girls. The swag pack included some dog tags, bracelets, BC sticker, Link's playlist (it has some great songs btw), a picture of Link's bootay, and a pair of drumsticks and wallet which are both signed by Kami and Margaret.

That's it for me! What did you get this week?

♥amber

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Rock This! Thursday with Shut Up! I'm Reading


Today we have a fellow blogger Jessica who runs Shut Up! I'm Reading to discuss music and books with us.  Make sure you swing by Jessica's blog and check it out!


What is your favorite music book type read?

I don't think I've ever read a book centered around music, sadly. I plan to. The closest I've come so far is Lament by Maggie Stiefvater. She's one of my favorite authors.

You've been given two tickets to a concert you've been dying to attend. The only catch is you have to take an author with you. Who's it going to be?

Cool! Sounds like fun! I'd probably go with Bree Despain. I read and completely LOVED The Dark Divine, and she'd probably be someone who would track down a Death Cab For Cutie or Postal Service concert with me.

You're walking down the street, what song is following you?

There's quite a few, but I guess I'd have to say "Who Said We're Whack?" by The Lonely Island. What? I love them. They're the only rap I can actually tolerate.

What's one of your all time favorite books and what song do you think goes with it?

The Hunger Games Trilogy, or course! And I think that "Re-Education (Through Labor)" by Rise Against fits both books very well.

We're always up for new music, tell us five songs we should be listening to.

Well, I think you should just come and borrow all of my Cds, because you should hear almost all of them. But if I had to pick 5 I'd say:

"Give Up The Gun" by Vampire Weekend
"New Dark Ages" by Bad Religion
"Float" by Flogging Molly
"Lexington (Joey Pea-Pot With A Monkey Face)" by Chiodos
"Hate Everyone" by Say Anything

All are very different, and very, very awesome in their own special way.

One song you think would make an awesome novel?

"Long Road To Ruin" by Foo Fighters. "Running through hell, Heaven can wait." To a paranormal junkie like me this song instantly makes me think of demons and angels.

Who's your favorite band and why?

Rise Against. Why? Because they're amazing. Their lyrics are real, rebellious, and they just...speak to me. And of course their instrumentals are awesome! I've been lucky enough to see them in concert twice (!!!!) and that just confirmed why they are my favorite band.


If you could meet one musician - living or dead - who would it be?

Unsurprisingly, I'd have to pick Tim McIlrath, the lead singer/rhythm guitarist/main-lyricist of Rise Against (among other bands that have broken up). If I couldn't pick someone from Rise Against, then I'd probably pick John Lennon. He seemed like such a cool dude!

Lastly, tell us why music is important to you.

Music can be the only thing that makes me happy-or any emotion-sometimes. (Wow, that sounded kinda "emo"....) A lot of times, it has been the base for my political beliefs, as well as some life choices. It speaks to me in a way that nothing else-no human, book, or anything else-can. That's the only way I can really explain it.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber
Release Date: July 2010

At fifteen, Iris is a hobo of sorts – no home, no family, no plan. After her mother’s early death, Iris’s father focuses on big plans for his new shoe stores and his latest girlfriend, and has no time for his daughter. Unbeknownst to her, he hires Iris out as housekeeper and companion for a country doctor’s elderly mother. Suddenly Iris is alone, stuck in gritty rural Missouri, too far from her only friend Leroy and too close to a tenant farmer Cecil Deets, who menaces the neighbors, and Iris suspects, his own daughter.

Iris is buoyed by the warmth and understanding the doctor and his mother show her, but just as she starts to break out of her shell tragedy strikes. Iris must find the guts and cunning to take aim at the devil incarnate and discover if she is really as helpless- or hopeless – as she once believed.

---

I saw this posted on the 10ers site with the cover and was all sorts of curious of what it would be about. The synopsis sounds like my kind of read! And I also live in rural Missouri and haven't read a YA book (that I remember anyways) based in my area so that's really neat.

♥amber

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Review - Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook

Release Date: January 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 272
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Around the World Tours


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.


But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn't dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.


Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

---

Three years is a long time to find a way to bring down your ex-bfff. At times I was raising my eyebrows wondering if Helen was really just on a revenge hunt or if she might have a few screws loose.

I was a little weary on how this was all going to be pulled off. Helen is supposed to have changed so much in the past three years that no one will recognize her and she even enrolls in school by a completely different name. My first thought was: Can she really look so different that no one in this school would remember her? It was kind of a stretch, but then I remembered people I went to school with who look completely different so yea, I can buy into that. But even at the end of the story, I still think Lauren would have caught on after at least a week considering the author did put some good backstory friendship between them into the read.

I couldn't help but cheer Helen on through the story because Lauren really wasn't someone I liked. She's definitely 'one of those girls' - you know the type if you went to high school. But I did like how Helen still kind of kept who she was even while she was playing out her alter ego Claire. The writing flows so easy with all these quirky and comical moments that it does make for a quick read. The only thing was after I was done reading the book, I felt a little disappointed. I thought some of the revenge tactics were a bit mild and I guess I just assumed this book would have more of an umph to it. All in all though, it was still a good read and one I would recommend.

♥amber

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday


Ace's Up by Lauren Barnholdt


Release Date: August 2010

Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped.

When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore.

Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold?

---
How awesome is it that Lauren Barnholdt is not having one but TWO books coming out this year?! (It feels weird saying this year too, btw.) I saw this on Amy's blog the other day and let out a squeal! I knew it was coming out, but I guess I somehow missed that the cover had been released. Anywhoo, Lauren is just flat out awesome in her writing so I'm pumped for this one as well!

♥amber

Monday, January 11, 2010

Win a Copy of The Lonley Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg - CLOSED


Summary:

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating, so she vows: No more. She’s had one too many bad dates, and has been hurt by one too many bad boys. It’s a personal choice…and soon everybody wants to know about it. It seems that Penny’s not the only girl who’s tired of the way girls change themselves (most of the time for the worse) in order to get their guys…or the way their guys don’t really care about them. Girls are soon thronging to The Lonely Hearts Club (named after Sgt. Pepper’s band), and Penny finds herself near legendary for her non-dating ways – which is too bad, since the leader of The Lonely Hearts Club has found a certain boy she can’t help but like…

--If you'd like to find out more about this book and the author, check out the Elizabeth's site.

We're giving away 3 copies of The Lonely Hearts Club!

If you would like to enter, please fill out this forum below. On the forum, I am asking for your address so I don't have to hunt down the winners. Because of this you must be 13 years or older to enter. (Please also put your full name in the entry for mailing purposes.) Your information will remain private and will not be shared with anyone besides the host of this giveaway.


 The giveaway will run until 11:59 pm on January 24th and it is only open to those with a US mailing address.   Giveaway is now closed!







A Year at JYTBB

I thought it'd be fun to do some highlights of what all has happened over the past year here at JYTBB. It also allowed me to see how much things have changed, what I need to work on, and to quit slacking on my reading!



♥JANUARY

We still had weekly slogans like Manic Monday, Teaser Tuesday, Writers Wednesday, Rock This! Thursday, and Fantasy Friday during this month.  The first author we ever interviewed was Cassandra Clare. Cassandra was also our very first Author of the Month.


We reviewed a total of 6 books. My personal favorite was Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway.

♥FEBRUARY


During this month is where real life kicked in and we barely had any posts. This is about the time the daily slogans also got canned. Our Author of the Month and second author interview was Amanda Marrone.
We also were contacted by a couple authors via myspace to review their books.

A grand total of 2 books were reviewed. My personal favorite was Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers.

♥MARCH

This was the month we started to get the hang of things, started meeting other bloggers, and got this blog really rolling! We had a lot of our blogger firsts, too. Our Author of the Month pick was Elizabeth Scott who let us interview her. We also held our very first contest with Scott's then new release of Something, Maybe.

We made our first rating system with bookworms. One of our readers named Emily did a guest review of That Summer by Sarah Dessen. We received our very first award from Christina over at Insert Book Title!  Signed up for the 100+ Reading Challenge (we failed at this!). We did our first double review of the book Need by Carrie Jones. Cheryl received her first signed book, Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols which was super exciting! We also decided that doing double reviews were boring so after we both read Going Too Far, Cheryl and Amber Discuss was born!  I also thanked Stephenie Meyer for getting my older sister back into reading.

We reviewed a grand total of 14 books! Favorites were Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols and Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkles. Also in my review of Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, I showed off my very first tattoo. It also gets tons of hits still because most people are looking for the tattoo in the book, but instead get mine - oops!

♥APRIL


Our Author of the Month pick was Jennifer Echols who also did an interview with us. I rocked the drop and readergirlz is doing this again in 2010. We did our first meme of I'd Verb His Noun. (I plan on bringing this meme back in action.)

We reviewed 7 books in the month. My favorite read would have to be Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott.

♥MAY

We interviewed authors Roger L. Trott and Deborah Davis. We were contacted by our first publisher - exciting! Also started to kick off the plans for the next month's big giveaway.

We reviewed 6 books for the month. Some of my favorites were Getting In Tune by Roger L. Scott and Glass Houses: Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine.

♥JUNE

Our Author of the Month was Sarah Dessen. To celebrate the release of her newest book, Along for the Ride, we had our very first huge giveaway: Sarah Dessen Extravangazna! Because of this, June had the most hits on the blog for the ENTIRE year! Besides that I also did my first concert post for Rock This! Thursday.

We reviewed 6 books for the month. I fell in love with the book If I Stay bye Gayle Forman.

♥JULY

Our Author of the Month was Stephanie Kuehnert who was nice enough to do an interview and do the first official Rock This! Thursday interview. Author Michelle Zink also stopped by to Rock This! at the end of the month. We also had what I thought was the coolest giveaway at the time. A free bookcase offered up by CSN Furniture. Sadly, the winner NEVER received their bookcase even after I emailed CSN about seven different times and got no response. #CSNFAIL!

We reviewed 5 books and by far my favorite was City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. (And I will say this to the death - Garrett Hedlund needs to play Jace!)

♥AUGUST

We interviewed author R.A. Riekki. Author Jack Regan did a guest post. I did a book blog photo shoot with my niece. And JYTBB was nominated for the BBAW Awards!

We reviewed 5 books for the month. My favorite book besides completely devouring the rest of the Moral Insturment series was Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.

♥SEPTEMBER

I did my first ever interview over at Monniblog. Rock This! Thursday had its first interview with a fellow blogger, Handle Like Hendrix.

My book reading just went down hill with a whoppin' 4 reviews for the month. The favorite read was Hate List by Jennifer Brown.

♥OCTOBER

To celebrate Halloween, we held a Trick or Treat Giveaway that went all month long! I was featured in Bloggers Get Blogged at author Hayley Anne Perkin's site. We had our first international giveaway thanks to Nancy Holder.

5 books were reviewed for the month. My favorite read was Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

♥NOVEMBER


NaNoWriMo kicked started which pretty much left me MIA. I got the nerve to post some snippets from my very raw and horrible rough draft, but enjoyed everyone's feedback! Also the blog hit 300 followers!! WHOOT WHOOT!!

Read 3 books for the month. My favorite was Demon Princess: Reign or Shine by Michelle Rowen.

♥DECEMBER


This was my month of slowly getting back into the swing of things. I started making sure Rock This! Thursday was a regular feature and have interviewed some great bloggers. I listed my Top 10 reads of 2009.

I reviewed 5 books and my top favorite was Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers.


It's been a great and fun year and I'm ready to really get back into the blog with more reviews and fun features!

♥amber

It's My Blog's Birthday!


Wow, I cannot believe it's been a year since Cheryl IMed me saying something on the lines of, "I'm starting a book blog and you're doing it with me."

It's been a great and exciting time here at JYTBB. As writers ourselves, we had no idea how easily it would be to talk to authors! There are tons of authors who we've interviewed that have inspired us so much. Though Cheryl has taken a hiatus from the blog, I'm hoping she'll be coming back sometime this year.

Now I want to say THANK YOU to the lovely readers who have stopped by, read reviews, followed us, and left comments. I had no idea how awesome a community of readers could be, but you guys ROCK! In one year we've gathered 367 followers! That is insane!!

While I don't want to leave anyone out, there are a few bloggers that I've met along the way that I'd like to give a special shout out to for being so awesome and always leaving lovely comments.  I also encourage you all to swing by their sites.

Sab over at YA Bliss
Christina over at Insert Book Title Here
Thao from Serenehours
Jenny at Wondrous Reads
Juju who runs Tales of Whimsy...


I would also like to thank all the amazing talented authors who have taken time to answer emails, and even letting little ole' me interview them. Thank you for letting me escape into the world you've created! Also thank you to all the publishers that have sent books to review.

My plan was to have a week's worth of giveaways to celebrate, but sadly I'm poor so I'm hoping next month I can throw something together. I'm always up for suggestions on what'd you like to see given away so feel free to leave a comment. And if you've never left a comment before, don't be shy! We could be best book friends and not even know it.

So here's for another wonderful year of blogging with some great reads!  Cheers!

♥amber

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Layout Giveaway

Are you wanting to spruce up your blog? Here's your chance to win a whole free layout!




What you can win:

  • A custom blog theme/template for selfhosted Wordpress or Blogger (no Wordpress.com, sorry, it’s not possible).
  • With up to 15 credits in istockphoto images for the design (if you want more images, you’ll have to purchase them).
  • And up to 3 revisions of the blog sketch! 
  • You will also get a 125 x 125 px banner for it!

Important Guidelines

  • The design will include fonts that are free for commercial use (but you can choose to buy yourself a professional one, there’s some really cheap ones).
  • The theme/template will include a credit link in the footer.
  • The prize does not include plugin customization, or anything like that outside the theme itself. Uploading content to the blog is your responsability.
  • If you have images you want included in the design, you must own them, or have a license for them. Using images right out of Google or other places won’t be possible.

How to enter?

(you have to complete all of the following -except the 4 that is optional-)
  1. Subscribe to the Blog via RSS or email! 
  2. Post about this contest on your blog using the banner below, and LINKING to this post with the guidelines.
  3. Come back here and leave me comment with a link to your post, and tell me what is/was your New Year’s resolution for 2010!!
  4. If you use Twitter, retweet about this Contest in Twitter to get twice the chances (and remember to leave me your twitter username in the comment)!!
  5. Only 1 comment per person, so make sure you put all the info in your comment. I will delete the extra comments and asign you all numbers for the shuffle once it closes 

Deadline to enter:

January 20th, 2010 (specially extended because of the holidays). At midnight of the 20th, at GMT+1 (norwegian midnight) I will close the comments on this post.


Sounds good, right?  Click Here to Enter!!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi over at The Story Siren.


From Around The World Tours:


Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn't dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.


For Review:


The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

I, Penny Lane Bloom, do solemnly swear to never date another boy for as long as I shall live. All right, maybe I’ll reconsider it in ten years or so when I’m no longer living in Parkview, Illinois, or attending McKinley High School, but for now I’m done with guys. They’re all lying, cheating scum of the earth.Yes, every last one of them. Pure evil. Sure, there are some that seem nice, but the second they get what they want, they’ll dump you and move onto their next target.So I’m done. No more dating. The end.
Love is all you need…or is it?

That's it for me! What did you get?

♥amber

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Rock This! Thursday with Wendy Toliver

Every Thursday we feature books that are about or centered around one thing we love the most: music! Once in a while we'll even throw in a concert story, music you should hear, or have an author stop by to hang out with us. If you are an author or blogger that would like to praticipate in Rock This! Thursday, shoot us an email! justyourtypicalbookblog(at)hotmail(dot)com

This week we have author Wendy Toliver with us. Wendy is the author of Miss Match, The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, and her latest novel, Lifted, which will be released in June.


You're walking down the street, what song is following you?

"Windy" by the Association, but of course! LOL

Let's say that Sasha from Miss Match and Roxy from The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren just so happened to run into one while waiting in line at a concert. What band/singer are they seeing?

Great question! The Black Eyed Peas.

Who is your favorite band/singer? Why do you love them so much?

It's so hard to narrow down! I guess the ones I'd pick are because they make me feel so alive. I think I'm going to go with Prince (his song "Kiss" is my good luck song before I audition for a part and try as I might, I can't help but dance and sing along)





What is your favorite book that is about or centered around music?

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuenhert.



Tell us a song that you think would make for an interesting book.

"Fly on the Wall" by Miley Cyrus.

When writing, do you make playlists for your novels? If so, care to share some songs from one of them? 

I don't make official playlists, but I do have songs/music I like to listen to while I'm writing a particular book. For The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, I listened to Justin Timberlake and The Ataris. For Miss Match, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani. For Lifted, Lady Gaga, Evanescense, and, of course, "Got Caught Stealin'" by Jane's Addiction.

We're always up for new music. Tell us five songs we should be listening to.

Heartless - Kris Allen version
Little Bit - Lykke Li
The Fear - Lilly Allen
Anything by Kaskade or Danielle Vaughn.


If you could meet one musician - dead or alive - who would it be? 

Elvis

You've been given a golden ticket that can transport you to any concert from any year. Where do you end up at?

Woodstock, for sure.

Lastly, tell us one thing you love about music.

I love how music can make you have to sing and dance, cry or laugh, or feel the need to kiss someone special. I love when it transports me to another place far away from my everyday life, whether it's the stage of a rock concert or a nook in a little cottage in the woods.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

Indigo Blue by Danielle Joseph


Release Date: July 2010

Indigo Blues is a young adult novel told in two points of view, in which a songwriter's hit tune tells the world about his break-up with his girlfriend, but the two have no concept how much their lives are going to change.

----

I shamefully still haven't gotten around to reading Danielle Joseph's debut novel, Shrinking Violet, but I've heard great things about this author. The synopsis does remind me a little of Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway, but I love it when authors have two different point of views in a novel.  This read seems right up my alley.

♥amber

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A Season of Eden by JM Warwick

A Season of Eden by JM Warwick (aka Jennifer Laurens)


Release Date: October 2008
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 244
Source: Around the World Tours


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible. I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. "I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?" The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden." My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. "Let me stay," I said. "Please." "You're going to get me in trouble," he said.

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I know there are a few novels floating around out there that deal with a teacher/student relationship, but this is the first one I've read before. I really enjoyed this book, but there is just one thing that bugged me about it. Eden was a great character, but it seemed like the moment she saw Mr. Christian she was suddenly this 'too mature for her boyfriend and everyone else' type of person. This was just all by taking one look at her choir teacher, way before they even got to know one another. Later on, I did see that Eden was in fact a very mature person, but I just wish there was a little bit more background on her and boyfriend, Matt. Maybe I would have understood why she was with him better.

Now moving on to all the parts I really enjoyed. As wrong as the whole student/teacher relationship is, this book made me want these two get together. I'm so glad the author made James (Mr. Christian) a twenty-two year old, I think any older probably would have made me kind of feel awkward while reading it. The whole forbidden love and attraction between these two really showed. I was so surprised how easily I got caught up in with everything that went on between the two. I recommend this one to everyone!

♥amber

Sunday, January 3, 2010

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren.

I forgot to post this in last week's, but for Christmas I only got one book. (Which I was pretty cool with that because I buy tons of books any ways.)


Shadowlands: The Immortals Series by Alyson Noel

Ever and Damen have traveled through countless past lives—and fought off the world’s darkest enemies—so they could be together forever.  But just when their long-awaited destiny is finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon Damen…one that could destroy everything.  Now a single touch of their hands or a soft brush of their lips could mean sudden death—plunging Damen into the Shadowland.   Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses herself in magick—and gets help from an unexpected source…a surfer named Jude.

Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar.  Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past.  She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true.  But as Damen pulls away to save them, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before…





From Around the World Tours

A Season of Eden by J.M. Warwick


He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible. I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. "I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?" The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden." My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. "Let me stay," I said. "Please." "You're going to get me in trouble," he said.




That's it for me! What did you get this week?

♥amber

Friday, January 1, 2010

Review - WTF by Peter Lerangis

WTF by Peter Lerangis


Released: November 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 272
Source: My bookshelf aka I bought the thing


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

One Plan, Two Parties, Six Players:


Jimmy: the driver
Cam: the connect
Bryon: the know-it-all
Waits: the supplier
Reina: the conscience
MC: the crasher


On one Friday night these six will test their limits to the extreme. Some are drive by lust, others by greed. One just wants to have fun, and another desires to be free. If everything goes as planned, they all get what they want. But within twenty-four hours, bones will break, bodies will touch, hearts will race, guns will be drawn, and everything will go oh so very wrong...

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When I first heard about this book, I instantly thought of one of my favorite movies, Go. In a way, it did remind me of that, but it definitely held its own unique plot line. There's no doubt that this book could easily play out into a movie. It's very fast paced and makes for a quick read. One situation entangles six different lives and in the matter of hours all hell pretty much breaks loose. There wasn't a moment where I wasn't cracking up even under some serve moments when someone could, ya know, be dead.

You don't get to know the characters that well, it's mainly just based on their actions. Normally this would annoy me in a book, but for this type of read, I think it worked well. I probably would have been bored with all this back story on these six teenagers. Each of them served their purpose into bringing something to the story and held their own voices pretty well. They were all hilarious to read about.  There was one character who seemed to have some more depth than other and that was Waits. He also just so happened to be my favorite character too. I would have loved to seen him a bit more in the story, but enjoyed what I got. (And hint to the author, if you ever want to write a book on just Waits and his crazy life, I would buy it in a second!) 

The ending to WTF seriously had me going wtf?! Which just cracked me up even more because the author got the reaction he was probably looking for out of me. I recommend this book to anyone who is up to reading about some quirky characters and one insane night. 

♥amber