Friday, October 29, 2010

Haunted Halloween YA Contest: 2 days left...

A Life Bound by Books & Confessions of a Bookaholic
are hosting an awesome HAUNTED HALLOWEEN YA Contest!!!


The Prizes:

2 winners will each receive a prize pack with 12 books and swag!!!

That's a lot of books, people.
 The contest ends October 31st, so check it out.


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Ghost Town is out today!

Today is the release day for Rachel Caine's GHOST TOWN!!!
It's the ninth book in her Morganville Vampires series.


In honor of the release, Rachel is giving away an iPad!
It's the 16GB Wi-Fi edition, valued at $499!!!

Crazy, right?

To enter the contest, go to Bitten by Books and take part in the Release Party:

Misguided Angel is out today!

Today is the release day for Melissa de la Cruz's MISGUIDED ANGEL!!!


And to celebrate the release, Melissa will be chatting LIVE at Bitten By Books.  

The chat starts at 12 pm and runs all day and into the evening.

You also have the chance to win FIVE signed copies of MISGUIDED ANGEL!

Halloween Memories

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays--right up there with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But there's one thing that Halloween offers that no other holiday does: an excuse to eat unholy amounts of CANDY.


I have such fond memories of Halloween: returning home after a successful night of Trick-or-Treating; spilling my pillowcase of candy onto the kitchen table; sorting the good stuff from the bad; ranking them; and then engaging with my brother in tense trade negotiations, in which we sought to offload our bad stock and gain a few new goodies.

Our parents would be on standby, greedily eyeing our treasure-troves, ready to intervene should a dispute arise (and collect for their services, of course).  And when the trading was complete, both parties satisfied with the outcome, we'd race off to hide our candy in super secret hidey-holes.  Mine was in a shoebox at the back of my closet.  My brother's was under his bed (shhh...don't tell him I told you!).

Oh Halloween! You are so much BETTER than Easter!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays--right up there with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But there's one thing that Halloween offers that no other holiday can: an excuse to eat unholy amounts of CANDY.

Sure, you get candy on Easter--chocolate eggs and marshmallow peeps--but you don't get much of them, and what's available is squirreled away in cheap plastic eggs, deliberately hidden from you as part of a ploy to thwart your seasonal candy consumption (if your parents, like mine, thought an Easter egg hunt entailed burying the eggs).   

As a child, I spent hours methodically hunting for these capsules of candy, unearthing mounds of dirt and shrubbery in my quest for the sacred Cadbury Creme Egg. 

How were my efforts rewarded, you ask. 

Well, with the exception of a few meager treats (not nearly enough to satisfy my youthful cravings), I was left feeling disillusioned and depressed.  Where were the fonts of Easter sweets, flowing plentiful with candy-colored eggs and jelly beans and chocolate delights?  I felt betrayed.      

Never again.

Now I don't mean to malign Easter; I'm sure there are many people who genuinely enjoy this holiday.  Sadly, I am not one of them.  My experiences have forever stained this once beloved Sunday.
 
Halloween, on the other hand, has always proven pleasant and enjoyable.  Without all the work of hunting and digging, Halloween offers children (and adults) a chance to gorge themselves on something that, on any other day of the year, would be considered unwise in such large proportions (fools!). 

It's the one day of the year when we are permitted to indulge ourselves--in both candy and costumes (and peep into strangers' homes when they open the door). 

Imagine being showered with handfuls of sweets upon uttering the simple phrase: "Trick or Treat!"  That's fun and easy! 

And the candy you acquire is so plentiful that it cannot possibly be consumed by one person in one night (unless you enjoy tummy aches, sugar rushes and childhood obesity).  Spread it out over several days, and enjoy the unique sensation of feeling utterly sick of chocolate after ingesting your 32nd piece of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  There's nothing quite so wonderful as overglutting yourself on candy.  No feeling on earth that compares to the feeling of revulsion when you've simply had TOO MUCH. 

Truly, Halloween is a modern miracle. 

Even those not-so-great candies can yield massive amounts of FUN.  You know, those pieces that you don't really want.  I call them The Undesirables, and they make great bargaining chips in the post-ToT trading.

I have such fond memories of Halloween: returning home after a successful night of Trick-or-Treating; spilling my pillowcase of candy onto the kitchen table; sorting the good stuff from the bad; ranking them; and then engaging with my brother in tense trade negotiations, in which we sought to offload our bad stock and gain a few new goodies. 

Our parents would be on standby, greedily eyeing our treasure-troves, ready to intervene should a dispute arise (and collect for their services, of course).  And when the trading was complete, both parties satisfied with the outcome, we'd race off to hide our candy in super secret hidey-holes.  Mine was in a shoebox at the back of my closet.  My brother's was under his bed (shhh...don't tell him I told you!).

If adults were allowed to beg for candy along with kids, then I would totally be out there this Halloween, costume, pillowcase, and all. 

Sadly, it is frowned upon.

I'll have to settle for handing out the candy instead, surreptitiousy sneaking pieces from the bowl and mourning my lost childhood.

Oh, Halloween, how I love thee!            

Saturday, October 23, 2010

YA Bookie Monster GIVEAWAY!!!

YA Bookie Monster is giving away up to 8 books when she reaches 170 followers!!!

The prize pack includes:

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
FALLEN by Lauren Kate
HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick
THE HOLLOW by Jessica Verday
SWOON by Nina Malkin
INFINITE DAYS by Rebecca Maizel
THE IRON KING by Julie Kagawa
DRACULA, MY LOVE by Syrie James

The contest ends November 10th.


Reading or Breathing Book Giveaway!!!

Reading or Breathing is giving away a copy of Alexandra Bracken's BRIGHTLY WOVEN!!!


Monday, October 18, 2010

Lisa Desrochers' October Debut Contest!!!

Yay!  Lisa Desrochers is giving away copies of her own book PERSONAL DEMONS and Andrea Cremer's NIGHTSHADE!  The contest ends at noon on October 29.  Here's the link: 




Wednesday, October 6, 2010

STEAMPUNKY BOOTS

THIS IS SO STEAMPUNK.

I LOVE IT.

Bwah-hah-ha!  Soon, my daaarlings, you shall be mine.  Forever!

I WANT THEM.

AND I SHALL HAVE THEM.

Soon...very soon.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Early thoughts on THE DEMON'S COVENANT

I'm neck-deep in The Demon's Covenant and enjoying every minute of it.  You know how some books come across as sloppily written, flabby and unfocused, and others seem exceptionally tight and clean?  Well, TDC is as taut as a bowstring.  The prose is so lovely and expressive at points that I can't help being jealous of Sarah Rees Brennan's control.  Her description of the Goblin Market and Liannan in Chapters 9 and 10 is so alluring as to draw you in, much like the way Mae is drawn to the fairy lights and magic of the market.  It's like a dark fairytale, one so twisted and enchanting that you can't help but wish it were real.

It's obvious that Brennan doesn't just sit down at her computer, bang out a bunch of words, and call it a story.  Thought and deliberation went into this scene, as they do in all of her scenes.  Her characters are so well drawn as to be almost lifelike, in the sense that you can't predict what they'll say or do.  Their reactions are always surprising and genuine, like real people.

And they way she plays with words, it's almost magical itself.  The idea of Nick losing his words, or Liannan literally going down in flames, are just delightful to read.  

There's something almost circular or self-contained about each scene, as if they were constructed with as much thought and care as the whole story.  Each one feels important, reveals something new or furthers something only briefly hinted at before.  Not one line of the novel feels out of place or unnecessary, and yet it feels full and rounded as good writing should. 

Another reviewer described the plot as a series of layers, cleverly peeled away one at a time to reveal the mystery lurking at its core.  But it's so much more than just a well-written mystery with well-developed characters.  There is real depth at the heart of this story, real questions about what it means to be human, to be a family, to love.   

I'm only about halfway through the book, but I want to savor every clever sentence and characterization.  Already I see the set-up building for the final book in the series, The Demon's Surrender, and I can't wait to see how a certain pair of characters develop romantically (and no, I'm not talking about Mae and Nick).

Of course I read the last pages of TDC first and so already know how it ends, but my enjoyment remains undiminished.  Simply reading Brennan's prose is a pleasure, and I can easily say that this is one of the best-written books I've read this year, if not one of the best stories.   

I just thought I'd share my early thoughts with you, my dear Imaginary Reader.  Until we meet again...