15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 6: Describe how you shop for books

I read about this challenge yesterday on various book blogs that I stalk read and I decided to join in. The challenge  was created by April @ Good Books, Good Wine and I think it's a very good and interesting idea. So here I am :) If you want to do this too, go to her Day 1 page to learn how :D

Want to see past topics? Click on the links below to see them:

       Day 1
       Day 2 
       Day 3
       Day 4 
       Day 5

Day 6: Describe how you shop for books

Book shopping. I love those days. It's like a trip to Santa's workshop and I get to pick the toys I want :D

First of all, in the town I live in there are only two, maybe three (if the third one hasn't closed yet) bookshops that sell books in English. Some sell books in other languages too, but those shelves are small. The selection for paranormal/urban fantasy in my favorite bookshop is quite small for my tastes though *pout*. Anyway...

When I get to my favorite part of the bookshop, I sort of... disconnect. It's weird, but it feels as if my mind shuts down and there's just peace and quiet around me, just me and the books. There's actually a cute photo that reminds me of how I feel when I go shopping for books. Click here to see it (I'd post it here but I'm not sure about the copyrights, so I'd rather be safe than sorry :P)

Then I start looking for my favorite authors, to see if they have new books by them. I'm adventurous enough to buy paranormal books by authors I've never tried before, but I can't say the same thing about mysteries. I'd love to find good mysteries by myself, but I'm a bit scared. The only time I did that I got extremely lucky and I loved the book. Of course, it was about Shakespeare, and I don't think you can go wrong with that (in case you're wondering, the book is called Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell).

Because there aren't that many books in English, I don't exactly make a plan or a list with books I want to buy. I once talked with one of the employees from one of the bookshops and they told me that I could order a book and they'd get it, but I'd have to pay for shipping. Which sucks if you ask me. I get the why, but it still sucks :P

So like I said, I don't make a list. I do have books that I'm always looking out for, but I'm not getting my hopes up. If I don't find anything I like or new by searching for my favorite authors, I check the covers. And if there's a particular cover that catches my eye, I'll pick the book up and inspect it. If I like it, I'll read the last page and if I like that, then I'll buy it.

OH! One thing though. Even if I don't buy anything (which happens rarely) I still don't leave empty-handed. My favorite bookshop has a selection of FREE bookmarks. Not many, but they are free. Just waiting for someone to pick them up. So I do. I got tons of bookmarks like that, to be honest. Shiny, cute ones. *le sigh*

One cool thing is that most bookshops have these.. I think you can call them costumer cards. You buy one book and you can sign up for the card, usually free of charge. And you have sales and points and gifts and things like that, which is completely cool and awesome. And if that doesn't work, then I have 10% off of any purchase because I'm a student. It's not much, I know, but it's not nothing either.

I would be more organized if I read in Italian. They have tons of books in Italian, naturally, so I'd be able to spend more time searching (and probably finding) what I want, but I'm weary of that. I find that there are a lot of things that get lost in translation, not because of bad translation or anything, but a certain...something.

Anyway, that's how I shop for books. What about you?

Cover Reveal: Behind Closed Doors by Ashelyn Drake

I have a new cover to share with you!! It's so pretty.

Behind Closed Doors (Campus Crush #2)

by Ashelyn Drake

Release Date: 08/06/13

Summary from Goodreads:

Julia Monroe is through wishing she had an older guy like her best friend Noelle does. It’s time for her to act on her desires. So when she sees sexy, twenty-three-year-old Darren McEntire eating dinner alone at the pub, she decides to make her move. The attraction between them is undeniable, and even through Julia isn’t looking for a one-night stand, she winds up back at Darren’s place the same night she meets him. Only being with him makes her realize what she’s been missing dating other guys. All she wants is Darren.

But Julia allows Darren to think she’s his age and a grad student at the nearby college. She knows she has to confess the truth, but she’s afraid to shatter what they have. Not knowing what to do, she starts the semester only to discover that her new teaching assistant is none other than Darren. With the lies out in the open and campus policy against them, Julia and Darren know the relationship should be over before it even begins. But the chemistry between them is too strong to deny.

Can they find a way to be together or are they doomed to only see each other behind closed doors?

About the Author

New Adult and Young Adult romance author represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management Group. Look for her upcoming N.A. title, Romancing the R.A. (S.B. Addison Books, 2013).
Where to find Ashelyn Drake:

   

Cover Reveal Hosted by:

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 5: Recommend a tearjerker

I read about this challenge yesterday on various book blogs that I stalk read and I decided to join in. The challenge  was created by April @ Good Books, Good Wine and I think it's a very good and interesting idea. So here I am :) If you want to do this too, go to her Day 1 page to learn how :D

Want to see past topics? Click on the links below to see them:

       Day 1
       Day 2 
       Day 3
       Day 4 

Day 5: Recommend a tearjerker

There are a lot of books that over the years have made me cry. Which is a bit weird, because I don't cry at movies. At all. I see actors crying in movies and I'm the only idiot in the cinema that is about to howl with laughter. I'm not joking! It's sad and weird and it makes me look like a lunatic! Back to the topic though!

So like I was saying, books have the power to make me cry. There is one that to this day wins the prize for "Most tears I've spilled". And that is Sherrilyn Kenyon's Acheron.

In case you haven't read this book (do eeeet!!) this book is divided in two major parts: Acheron's past and his present. I've reread the second part of this book so many times I've lost count. The first part, when we get to understand him and to know what really happened to him when he was growing up? ONE time. Just once. I can't to more than that. I know I'll eventually have to reread it, especially since Styxx is only weeks away (anyone else excited?? I can't wait!), but I'm trying to tell myself it's fine if I skip it. It's not, I know.

Some of the scenes in that part of the book I remember perfectly (apple scene anyone?), some I choose not to think about. Others I've blocked.






There isn't any other book out there that has managed to make me as sad as this book, or to crush me emotionally as much as Acheron did. But there are others that made me tear up a little bit. Here are just a few of them:

1. Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Seriously, this one is a sad story. And if you read the rest of the series and get to understand what happened and how and why? Yep, be sure to have some tissues ready, people!
2. Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong - I've read only two stories in this book: Elena and Clay's and Eve and Kristof's. With Clay and Elena there were some waterworks, but because I read this after I've read a few books in the series, I knew that eventually everything works out. But with Eve and Kristof? Man, I felt crushed. Oh, I know everything will be okay with them too, but it's not the same, and those of you who've read the series know why. Both stories are sad though.
3. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - Come on, seriously?? I couldn't sleep after reading the ending of this book. I did a marathon and read the rest of the books in two days, just to make sure everything was going to be okay. 

What about you? Any tearjerkers you want to recommend me?

Book Review: Partials by Dan Wells

Author: Dan Wells
Series: Partials Sequence #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: February 28th 2012
My Rating: 3 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulse pounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

I have to be honest and say that I have been delaying this review for about two months now. The reason I kept putting it off is that I know a lot of people loved this book and I honestly feel like a freak.

Let me start with what I liked, because there were things that I enjoyed.

First, I liked the concept of this book. The idea of a war where human-like beings are used as soldiers is a new theme for me. Yes, I've read about cyborgs, but not to this extent. And though the idea of an unknown disease freaks me out, I liked that this was used in the book. And I love medicine, so I did enjoy the parts where Kira tried to discover how to cure the disease.

Second, there was no insta-love. I did a happy dance. I'm okay when two characters fall in love, but not immediately. Of course, now I'm sort of hoping Kira and Samm get together. I like Samm.

I also liked the scenes where the characters were either fighting for their lives or trying to escape the bad guys and such. There are quite a few action scenes and I think they were done very well. I could actually feel the tension in those particular scenes.

The things that weren't quite what I expected aren't that huge, but they did keep me from fully enjoying the book.

One is the difference that I perceived between the characters' ages and their actual "voices". I understand that the world is in chaos, the people are trying to find a cure for a terrible disease, but I didn't feel as if Kira and her friends were sixteen and seventeen year old teenagers. It felt as if I was reading about people in their twenties. I would've wanted to see them think their age or at least talk like they were teenagers.

Then there's the pacing. It was a little too slow for my taste. I wonder if the next book in the series is faster.

Lastly, I wanted to get to know the characters. I know this is a series and probably we'll get to see more of each character and to understand them better, but so far, other than Kira I felt as if all other characters weren't as developed.

I will read the next book in the series, to see what happens with Kira and Samm, though. Especially since the ending was surprising. I wasn't expecting this book to end the way it did and that is enough to make me want to keep reading.

 

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 4: What's the last book you flung across the room?

I read about this challenge yesterday on various book blogs that I stalk read and I decided to join in. The challenge  was created by April @ Good Books, Good Wine and I think it's a very good and interesting idea. So here I am :) If you want to do this too, go to her Day 1 page to learn how :D

Day 4 : What's the last book you flung across the room?

Well... I haven't done that so far. I can't stand the idea of hurting or damaging my books, even if it's a book that I don't like. Oh, I might curse them, I might even want to smack them, but any physical reaction I might have from what I'm reading doesn't involve me harming my book.

The only book that almost made me violent enough to want to throw it was Salem's Lot by Stephen King. The pace was too slow, I didn't feel there was enough character building and I felt like nothing was happening. Halfway through the book I gave up and decided the book wasn't for me. But that was the only book that almost got me to the point of throwing it across the room. I resisted the temptation though.

What about you? Did you ever flung a book across the room?


Want to see past topics? Click on the links below to see them:

       Day 1
       Day 2 
       Day 3 

Book Trailer Reveal: Frigid by J. Lynn

Book Blurb: (from Goodreads)

For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn’t anything new. They’d been best friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie. Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts the ‘man’ in man-whore. He’s never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn’t want to risk their friendship by declaring her love.

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she’s perfect and she’s everything. But the feelings he has for her, he’s always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have.

But when they’re stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor’easter, there’s nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

Get Frigid now: Amazon   B&N:

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen..
She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.




People! Are you ready for the trailer?? No, really, are you? Okay, okay, I'll stop torturing you. Here it is:





Nice, huh? There's also a very cool contest on Jennifer's blog, so check it out here. There's lots of goodies to win :D