Movie News!

I was pretty excited about this news. I have a picture for you below. Let me know if you remember this or not. I hope you do.

Familiar, right? Of course, because it's from the movie Underworld! Underworld is one of my favorite vampire movies because, not only does it have a kick-ass female heroine and a hot mate for her ... but it also has my old-school vampires that are not able to walk in the sun. You know, the way they're supposed to be. ;)

In any case, word has it that Kate Beckinsale has signed for Underworld 4! This movie is going to be a sequel, following the romance between Selene and Michael. No director yet, but we have a script writer, a producer, and a time frame for the beginning of production - March!

Anyone as excited as I am?!

Follow Friday!

To join Parajunkee's new feature and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list.
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers.
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can.
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers.
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post! 

2010 Green Books Campaign

 

1 Day - 200 Blogs - 200 Reviews

 

Since I wasn't into book blogging last year, I didn't get the chance to participate in this event. Well this year I do, and I'm extremely excited about it!

The Green Books Campaign is a one-day event in which bloggers simultaneously post reviews of books published on recycled or FSC-certified paper on the designated date of November 10, 2010. Last year, they had over 100 bloggers and it exposed over 15,000 people to the cause. The campaign had such a positive outcome, they're doing it again this year - with over 200 blogs! This is a great way to promote green books and raise awareness to an eco-friendly solution to publishing.

I've signed up and have found out that there are still openings! So if you're a blogger and would like to participate in a great promotion for green books, please head over to Eco-Libris and check out the books still available. Participation is simple: you pick a book, read the book, then post your book review on 11-10-2010. Easy peasy, right?

Trailers on Thursday

New Releases


The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff


Zombies vs Unicorns, by Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier

Older Releases


The House of Dead Maids, by Clare B. Dunkle

Book-Related Movie Releases


[based on] Harry Potter and The Dealthy Hollows, by JK Rowling

I'm especially excited about Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows. It's one thing that my husband and I nerd out together over.

Review: Masquerade, by Melissa de la Cruz

Masquerade (Blue Bloods, #2)
by Melissa de la Cruz
Hardcover, 320 pages
Hyperion
Published May 1, 2007
ISBN: 0786838930
ISBN13: 9780786838936

My Rating:

Schuyler Van Alen is starting to get more comfortable with her newfound vampire powers, but she still has many unanswered questions. A trip to Italy in search of her grandfather only serves to make things more confusing. What secrets are the leaders of The Committee hiding? Meanwhile, back in New York, preparations are feverishly underway for the famous Four Hundred Ball. In true Blue Blood fashion, the ball is totally fab, complete with masks, and hidden behind this masquerade is a revelation that will change the course of a young vampire's destiny.

The thrilling sequel in Melissa de la Cruz's vampire mythology has all the glamour, attitude, and vampire lore that made the first book a hit.

Masquerade picks up where Blue Bloods leaves off. Actually, within the first few pages of the sequel, we're pretty much told what happened in the last book. I guess that's for the benefit of people that either didn't read the first book in the series or completely forgot about what happened?

This book is a good follow-up with a lot more explanations and deeper explorations into our characters and their histories, as well as keeping with the history of the vampires. Bliss' story also gets more deep and complicated. We start learning about her past and who her true mother is - which is a plot twist in its own. There's more on Jack and Mimi, their history and their upcoming bonding. I'm really trying to like Mimi, but she makes it impossible. Jack's infatuation with Schuyler is still there, and it seems to be getting stronger - especially when Schuyler returns with her conduit Oliver and her grandfather just in time for the masquerade ball. Oliver is enduring, as always. The mystery man at the ball adds a little intrigue as well. Schuyler's character is more fleshed out this round, and she's definitely an intriguing heroine for our story.

I have to say that the amount of pup culture references are definitely cut down drastically in this one - but Bliss and Schuyler modeling just seemed out of place. I think that was De La Cruz's way of still showing off her knowledge of that stuff. The writing didn't seem to flow as smoothly in this one, but it didn't make me like the story any less. The ending definitely leaves you hanging for the next book, but it keeps you sated enough until you get around to the third book.

To read my review on Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods #1), click here.
To learn more about author Melissa de la Cruz, click here.
To buy from Book Depository, click here.


Review of the Series: Blue Bloods  |  Masquerade  |   Revelations  |  The Van Alen Legacy

RIP

It is with a heavy heart that I am posting to tell you guys that Jennifer Rardin, author of the Urban Fantasy series Jaz Parks, has passed away. Orbit Books reports that she passed away unexpectedly on Monday, September 20th. She was 45 years old.

It's always sad when someone dies, but it's heartbreaking to hear about someone so talented dying at such a young age.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time.

You can read her obituary and sign your condolences here.

Waiting on Wednesday

Vesper: A Deviants Novel
by Jeff Sampson
Hardcover, 304 pages
Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins

To Be Released:
January 25, 2011

Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely—something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

· 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 author and title, too, so that the other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Dracula In Love, by Karen Essex

"Exactly? At this moment in time, I am Count Vladimir Drakulya. Some twenty years ago, I reclaimed a Carinthian estate and title in Styria that was rightfully mine through an ancestor. He was given them hundreds of years ago by the King of Hungary and inducted into the Sacred Order of the Dragon for his role in assassinating a certain Turkish sultan. Of course, the ancestor is myself, but you are the only person alive with that knowledge."

As outrageous as his claim was, he spoke with the sort of certainty that made me believe him.

New This Week! (Sept. 19-25)

These are some of the YA new releases that are coming out this week!
Remember to click on the book cover for more information!


September 21, 2010


Crave, by Melinda Metz & Laura Burns (Simon & Schuster)
Dead Beautiful, by Yvonne Woon (Hyperion)
The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff (Razorbill)


Twelfth Grade Kills, by Heather Brewer (Dutton)
Wildwing, by Emily Whitman (Greenwillow)
Zombies vs. Unicorns, by Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier (Margaret K. McElderry)

Monday, Monday!

After my week to myself, my house, and my personal business ... I am BACK! I still have a lot to do, but I'm caught up enough to where everything's not so overwhelming - which helps a lot!

What's New?

As some of you may have seen, I have decided to throw a contest for my birthday. It just seemed with everything so slow around here, I owed you guys a little something for being faithful to me. So, enter my contest! Be sure to include your top ten books on your wish list. On October 18th, I'll choose 2-5 winners - the grand prize winner receiving 2-7 books from their wish list. So, be sure to fill out the form and celebrate my upcoming 27th birthday with me!

Books I've Read...

Back to the Homeplace, by William Smith - It wasn't YA, but it was a review request from the author. Honestly, it was awesome. You'll see the review this weekend.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer - This is part of my epic re-read that will be going on throughout the year. I also read some of it to my mom - who's never read the books, but has watched the movie so much my disc now has skips!

Books I'm Reading...

Mozan and The Return of Magic, by Stephan Davied - I won it, so I'm reading it for a review. It looks pretty interesting, though the big names are confusing!

Dracula in Love, by Karen Essex - I cannot WAIT to get to this book. Dracula = Love.

Blog Plans?

It's going to be back to your regularly scheduled posts this week, along with a lot more reviews. I'll also be busy with scheduling a lot of posts for these upcoming weeks, as I'll be out of town a lot painting my godfather's house for him.

FELLOW BLOGGERS! If you'd like to guest post on here (anything relative, or a promo post for your blog), please e-mail me and let me know! I'd love to start having more guest bloggers on here to spice things up a little!

My 27th Birthday Celebration!!

In a little over a month, I will be turning 27. Crazy, right? Maybe I shouldn't be looking forward to getting that much closer to the big 3-0, but I have to admit ... even though it means I'm getting older, birthdays always excite me! The most exciting part for me is having a birthday party to see all of my friends. I always LOVE seeing people come together for a celebration, no matter what the occasion may be. Since my birthday is coming up and this is my first year with my blog as well ... I figured I could have another celebration on here too! I treasure my followers as much as my friends, so it's like a little party all on its own. And what's a party without some gifts and favors??

So, here's the deal! I am going to be giving some of my followers gifts to celebrate my 27th birthday! Since I'm a girl that likes to mess around with numbers, I'll be deciding with three main sets of numbers: 10 (my birth month), 25 (the actual date of my birth), and 27 (my age this year).

What are the numbers about and what can you win, you ask? Let me tell you!

- As part of the entry form, entrants will list their top 10 books on their wish list.
- When the contest ends, I will randomly pick a number between 2 and 5. Whatever number is picked is how many winners there will be! This way, there will be at least TWO winners.
- There will be one (1) grand prize winner. After the grand prize winner is chosen, I will randomly pick a number between 2 and 7. The number picked is how many books the winner will receive. To add a sort of element of surprise, I will be choosing which books the winner will receive off of their wish list.
- The other winner(s) chosen will receive gifts selected by me. Prizes will range from $10-$25 in monetary value. These gifts may not necessarily be books, either. It's up to my choosing ... whatever I decide that I want to buy for you. Be sure to give me some good, specific ideas in the "Gifts Other Than Books" section on the entry form!

Now for the nitty, gritty details:
1. In order to be entered into the contest, you MUST fill out ALL of the required fields completely.
2. You also MUST be a follower of this blog in order to enter. I do check!
3. All numbers will be chosen randomly via random.org
4. This contest is INTERNATIONAL!
5. Book prizes will be shipped from Book Depository.
6. This contest ends at 11:59pm on Saturday, October 16th 24th - which is a little over a week before my birthday, so hopefully we'll be getting gifts around the same time! =)
* OPTIONAL: You can post this contest on your blog (post, sidebar link), Twitter, or other places for extra entries. It's not mandatory, but it does increase your chances of winning!

Good luck, guys!!

CONTEST IS CLOSED!
Thank you all so much for entering!
Winners will be selected and notified soon.