So last week I decided that out of all the reading challenges out there the Shelf Love one was the only one that I was going to officially sign up for. Lots of reasons behind that, the most important one being that I need to read the books I already have before buying new books.
Like I said in my sign-up post, I'm not going to include e-books in this challenge. No real reason behind it, just that I wanted to spend more time this year reading paperbacks rather than e-books. (There's another resolution for 2015!)
I currently have 28 books on my list. My Godreads shelf says only 27, however. The reason for that is simple. The 28th book is a book of Italian fairy tales, that unfortunately I couldn't find on Goodreads :( Here's the Amazon link to it, if you want to see what it looks like.
So yeah. 28 books. I feel like I'll add more books as I read the ones that are already on the list. There are about 10 more books, I think, that will end up on the list later on. I want to get at the end of this year with no unread books on my shelves. That would be nice, wouldn't it?
Anyway, I can't wait to get started with reading the books on that list. I'll most definitely start with Marc Levy's books, because as you probably already know, I'm pretty obsessed with his books. Actually, I'm pretty sure I'll start today, because I have a cold and I'm feeling pretty crappy because of it. I feel like a mutant, to be honest with you *pouts*
Are you participating in this challenge and if you are, what books are you most excited to read from your list?
Monday, January 5, 2015
Friday, January 2, 2015
Shelf Love 2015 Reading Challenge
Over the years I've bought a lot of books that are, unfortunately, sitting on my shelf looking pretty and collecting dust. When I heard about this challenge I decided to finally show those books the love they deserve and also to spend less money (for now at least) on new books.
This amazing challenge is hosted by the Rose, Julie and Lynn from ChapterBreak and Terri from Second Run Reviews. The rules are simple: read the books you already own and either abstain from buying new books or set up a monthly budget.
There are 6 levels that you can choose from:
- 1-10 books: shake hands with your shelves
- 11-20 books: pat your shelves on the back
- 21-30 books: give your shelves a warm friendly hug
- 31-40 books: regular date night with your shelves
- 41-50 books: my shelves are now my bff
- 51+ books: my shelves and I are going steady
I'm choosing to read between 21 and 30 books from my shelf. I feel like this is the most realistic goal for me (we all know how bad I am at meeting them *sighs*). This, by the way, does not include digital books.
If you want to join in on the fun, click on the photo or the links in the post and sign up.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year, Blogosphere!
Hey everyone! Happy 1st January! I hope your holidays were amazing and filled with joy and happiness and family and I wish you a great 2015!
How are you today? I'm feeling kinda refreshed today. I did sleep in, to be fair, so I'm very relaxed and full of energy.
As you can see, I changed the color scheme of my blog again. What can I say, I was getting tired of the old one. I think I'll stick to this one for some time. I'm also working on some posts for the blog, which I hope to finish soon and post. If you don't know this, I'm close to graduating and hopefully after that happens I'll have lots of free time to catch up with my reading. (Let's be honest, that will probably be about a week or so of being completely lazy, after that internship hunting starts *hides in a dark corner*).
Speaking of reading, what are you guys reading? I'm reading Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell and so far I'm enjoying it a lot. I bought the book about 8 months ago at a local charity shop and I decided to read it last week. That's actually one of my resolutions for this year: read the books I already own and are collecting dust on my shelf before I buy more books (good luck with that, Ruby!).
Anyway, that's it for today. I hope you had a great time last night and I wish you all an amazing 2015!
How are you today? I'm feeling kinda refreshed today. I did sleep in, to be fair, so I'm very relaxed and full of energy.
As you can see, I changed the color scheme of my blog again. What can I say, I was getting tired of the old one. I think I'll stick to this one for some time. I'm also working on some posts for the blog, which I hope to finish soon and post. If you don't know this, I'm close to graduating and hopefully after that happens I'll have lots of free time to catch up with my reading. (Let's be honest, that will probably be about a week or so of being completely lazy, after that internship hunting starts *hides in a dark corner*).
Speaking of reading, what are you guys reading? I'm reading Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell and so far I'm enjoying it a lot. I bought the book about 8 months ago at a local charity shop and I decided to read it last week. That's actually one of my resolutions for this year: read the books I already own and are collecting dust on my shelf before I buy more books (good luck with that, Ruby!).
Anyway, that's it for today. I hope you had a great time last night and I wish you all an amazing 2015!
Monday, December 1, 2014
Release Blitz: The Mackenzie Duncan Box Set by Adrianne James
Title: The Mackenzie Duncan Box Set
Author: Adrianne James
Genre: New Adult, Paranormal Romance
Mackenzie Duncan's whole life is ripped from her by the teeth of a strange wolf with yellow-green eyes. Learning quickly that she now lived by the moon cycles was hard enough, but finding her heart torn between two hot Werewolves amidst the blood and violence her new life brought was almost too much to handle. When her new pack's secrets came to light, Mackenzie's conscious wouldn't let her stay quiet. Follow along the amazing journey as Mackenzie fights for what her heart wants and what her kind needs.
INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE CONTENT: Never before seen scene from Geoff's POV, roll call, play list, and Mackenzie's family tree!
→Purchase←
____________________________________________________________
→Excerpt←
Geoff stood in the doorway, watching them. Mackenzie was still angry with him, but that didn’t stop her insides from turning in circles or her skin from flushing with heat in his presence.
“Hey, you hungry?” Liam grunted out between bites, not noticing the obvious tension in the room.
“Nah. But can I talk to Mackenzie for a bit?” Liam looked between Mackenzie and Geoff for a moment, before standing and nodding his head.
“Yeah, sure. Hey, Mackenzie, maybe we can talk some more later?”
She smiled at him and nodded before he walked out with his plate in hand. Her gaze returned to Geoff. Mackenzie crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, waiting. If he wanted to talk, then he needed to talk. She had nothing to say.
“So, Liam came around like I said he would, huh?” Geoff’s grin was too damn cute. Mackenzie hated that it was so damn cute. She couldn’t understand why he had that affect on her. Most of the time, she welcomed it, but dammit, she was supposed to be mad at him.
“Uh huh.”
“You want to talk about what happened earlier?”
“You want to apologize?”
“Me? I don’t think I was the one who did anything wrong. I have told you before, if there is ever going to be you and me, and I really do want there to be, we have to take things slow. I know that your humanity is so recent that a few weeks time seems like forever when your hormones are in overdrive, but really, it’s nothing.”
“Oh, right. I’m the one to blame. I am twenty years old! I’m not a virgin, so why the hell should I have to go back to celibacy because Margret told you to take things slow? Is she in charge of your body? No one sure as hell told me that rule. And it’s not as if I tried to jump your bones right there! I kissed you. I didn’t even use tongue. All you had to do was not push me away. A peck, that’s all it would have been. But keeping up your golden boy routine is so much more important than embarrassing me in front of everyone.”
“Do you really think it would have been just a peck?” Geoff took a giant step forward, coming face to face with her. So close, she could feel the heat radiating off his skin and smell his grassy scent. Every nerve ending was on high alert as his words washed over her. “If you think I could stop with just a peck, you are mistaken.”
“Is that right? All you have ever managed to do was ogle me or hold my hand. Prove me wrong.” Mackenzie spoke with such confidence. She knew she was pushing him, but if it got his lips on hers, she was all for it.
“Mackenzie,” he growled out. His eyes were fierce and the caramel brown color caught the light in such a way that had her transfixed. If she had been able to look anywhere else, she would have seen him wet his lips ever so slightly.
She couldn’t even form words in response, only a growl escaped her. Before she knew what was happening, Geoff had his hands in her hair, gripping tightly as he pulled their bodies together and smashed his lips against hers.
With a racing heart and flaming skin, Mackenzie pressed herself closer to him. Her hands began to explore the contours of his back and found their way under his shirt. She needed to feel his skin on hers. Geoff walked them backwards, never removing his grip on her or his lips from hers, insistent on tasting every inch of her mouth. When the counter dug into her back, she pulled away slightly, just long enough to take a breath and hop up, allowing Geoff the room to stand between her legs and press himself more firmly against her .
Instead of waiting for Geoff to initiate the kiss again, she pulled him in fiercely. The moment his tongue touched the tip of her lip, she opened wide to him. Their tongues tangled together as his hands explored every inch of her body he could reach. Moaning into his mouth, Mackenzie rocked her hips forward, encouraging him. He thrust back into her with every movement. She had never felt as alive as she did in that moment.
Geoff let his lips wander away from hers, kissing along her jaw, nipping the skin over to her ear, suckling her earlobe, and then trailing kisses along her neck. Mackenzie pulled her hands from his back to his chest, running her nails along his skin the whole way. His skin erupted in goose bumps under her touch.
Mackenzie gripped the bottom of his shirt and ripped it from his body, letting the tattered cloth remains drop to the floor. She retreated so she could take in his beauty and was met with a steely glare. Geoff took a deep breath and two steps back, leaving her sitting on the counter breathing heavily in a lust-filled stupor.
“I told you I wouldn’t be able to stop at just a simple kiss. You didn’t believe me. Mackenzie, this cannot happen yet. There are reasons we must wait that I cannot tell you. I’m sorry. You know I want to. God, you know I do. But this cannot happen again. We have to prove to everyone that we are more than just lust-filled Weres.”
____________________________________________________________
→About the Books←
The Mythology department at prestigious Harvard University is tiny—and Mackenzie Duncan has just been selected as one of the lucky few. Her love for myths and legends is strong, but she never thought any of it could be real.
After being attacked by a large wolf while walking home alone, Mackenzie realizes something is not right. She heals quickly, is suddenly super strong, and is experiencing mood swings that can't possibly be normal. The myths she's studying aren't myths at all. Werewolves are real and she's one of them. Fear of what she is, and who she might hurt sends Mackenzie running from the life she’s worked hard to build–and straight into the arms of a handsome Were named Geoff and into the home of his pack. Living with her new pack takes the edge off her confusion and self-loathing, but the arrival of new pack members changes the dynamic, and tests Geoff and Mackenzie’s growing relationship.
The hardest part of being a werewolf is having no control and no memory of her time as a blood thirsty beast. When a moon cycle passes and she actually remembers bits and pieces of the night, she starts to ask questions, and the more questions she asks, the more she realizes she doesn't like the answers. Can she set aside her own sense of morals to belong to a pack that is like a family or will she leave everything behind yet again in search of a life she can be proud of?
Mackenzie Duncan found out that pack life wasn’t for her. Now she is running for the second time in the six months since she was bitten and turned into a Werewolf. But this time, she isn’t alone. This time, she has Geoff and Liam with her, two very hot Werewolves vying for her heart.
But her companions aren't her focus. The only thing she can focus on is getting far from her old pack and their murderous ways. Only, she doesn’t just want to run. She wants to warn every pack she can that their lives are in danger too. No one should be turned against their will like she was and no other pack should have to surrender to the ideas of a centuries old, power hungry woman.
Not only does Mackenzie have to deal with her crazy ex-pack leader sending people out to kill her, she has to keep both men at arm’s length (and that proves to be much more difficult than she thought), but she finds out more about her own life and heritage than she ever thought imaginable.
And suddenly, everything makes sense....
Ever since Mackenzie Duncan watched her skin knit together after being ripped apart by a blood thirsty Werewolf, her life has been anything but normal. After being part of a pack with more secrets than the FBI, Mackenzie left and tried not to look back. Her old pack leader Margaret, a Royal wolf hungry to regain the throne and rule over all the world’s Werewolves, made that impossible. Figuring out who to trust was full of heart break, but moving forward left her with a clear path ahead.
After Mackenzie found out that she, too, is part of the Royal blood line and that she had inadvertently endangered every pack she came into contact with, she feels that it is her duty to help stop Margaret at all costs before any more blood is shed or another life is lost.
Despite traveling the world with Liam, the man she loves, her life is in danger at every turn in her hunt for other Werewolves willing to stand against Margaret. Who better to fight then the blood line that shunned the role of power centuries ago?
Bloody battles surround her at every turn and when Mackenzie thinks all is lost, she has to find a way to embrace her past and accept her future.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Reading Blogs & Eating Popcorn #7
Reading Blogs & Eating Popcorn is a weekly feature here at Ruby's Books, in which I share some of the posts written by other fellow book bloggers over the last week, posts that I loved so much I have to share.
Hey guys! *waves* I hope everyone who celebrates it had a great Thanksgiving and that you ate lots of tasty noms and that you had a chance to spend quality time with you family.
This week I've lurked on tons of blogs and read tons of interesting posts. Here are some of them:
- Tricia @ Cristina's Book Reviews writes about Cheating in fiction
- Jessi @ Novel Heartbeat wonders if (and why) do you continue to read a series if you hate the first book. Honestly, I have no idea why you would continue if the first and second books in the series weren't enjoyable for you *scratches head*
- Rachel @ Parajunkee shares the most hilarious and sarcastic Thankful post I've ever read.
- Nikki @ Fiction Freak wonders how we'd feel now about those books we read before we became bloggers and tells us her feelings about some of those books after re-reading them.
- Traci @ Mad Hatter Reads has some gift ideas for book lovers and I have to say I adore her choices. Especially the map *swoon*
- Charnell @ Reviews From A Bookworm talks about paperbacks vs hardbacks, which is her favorite and why. I completely agree with her.
- Jeann @ Happy Indulgence talks about what makes love triangles tolerable in books.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Book Highlight - My Ex From Hell by Tellulah Darling
Author: Tellulah Darling
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #1
Genre: Young Adult, mythological
Sixteen-year-old Sophie Bloom wishes she’d been taught the following:
a) Bad boy’s presence (TrOuBlE) + teen girl’s brain (DraMa) = TrAuMa (Highly unstable and very volatile.)
b) The Genus Greekulum Godissimus is notable for three traits: 1) awesome abilities, 2) grudges, and 3) hook-ups, break-ups, and in-fighting that puts cable to shame.
Prior to the Halloween dance, Sophie figures her worst problems involve adolescent theatrics, bitchy teen yoga girls, and being on probation at her boarding school for mouthy behaviour. Then she meets bad boy Kai and gets the kiss that rocks her world.
Literally.
This breath stealing lip lock reawakens Sophie’s true identity: Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She’s key to saving humanity in the war between the Underworld and Olympus, target numero uno of Hades and Zeus, and totally screwed.
Plus there’s also the little issue that Sophie’s last memory as Persephone was just before someone tried to murder her.
Big picture: master her powers, get her memories back, defeat Persephone’s would be assassin, and save the world. Also, sneak into the Underworld to retrieve stolen property, battle the minions of Hades and Zeus, outwit psycho nymphs, slay a dragon, rescue a classmate, keep from getting her butt expelled from the one place designed to keep her safe …
… and stop kissing Kai, Prince of the Underworld.
My Ex From Hell is a YA romantic comedy, Greek mythology smackdown. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book one of this teen fantasy romance series. Compared to Kai and Sophie, Romeo and Juliet had it easy.
My Ex From Hell will be on sale for 99 cents from November 28th to December 12th!
To: ????
From: bloomingoddess@gmail.com
Subject: Seriously?
Dear Your Royal Imperialness Demeter, Goddess of Grain and Fertility, Preserver of Marriage, and Bringer of Seasons,
Or can I just call you Mom?
Bet you never thought you’d be hearing from me. Sorry for not having written sooner, but until about twelve hours ago, I didn’t know you existed. Nothing personal.
See, yesterday, I was plain old Sophie Bloom. My life sucked in your typical 16-year-old ways. I was stuck here at Hope Park Progressive School on probation again (“mouthy behavior”), dealing with cliquish poseurs, rampant hormones, blah blah blah.
Then I met a guy. I know that’s the worst cliché ever. But sadly, it’s true. And of course, me being me, he couldn’t be just any bad boy. No. He had to be Kai, son of Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Anyway, he was really hot and there was this bone-melting kiss and … whatever. The point is, before he showed up, I thought I was human. Afterward, well, let’s just say everything changed. Who knew when I was cramming Greek mythology for my English final, I was studying the family tree?
They say when you die, your whole life supposedly flashes before your eyes. When Kai and I kissed, here’s what flashed before mine—Mount Olympus, Zeus, the Underworld, Hades, and you. But that wasn’t my life. Or was it?
Here’s the Wiki version. (Do you have Wi-Fi on Mt. Olympus?) Turns out I’m Persephone. Me, Goddess of Spring and Embodiment of Earth’s Fertility? Ew! Which makes me your kid, Hades’ target, and totally screwed. In the myth version, I’m the innocent maiden, you’re the grieving mother, and we’re reunited with great joy. Guess that’s why they call it a myth.
I know I sound like a nut bar. And maybe I’ll wake up in a padded room restrained for my own safety. But in that moment with Kai, it felt real. Like I knew who I was. Or used to be. Those were my memories flashing before my eyes—not some fantasy or hallucination. Part of me remembered those moments. But where do I go from here? And is there an online tutorial I can take?
I don’t exactly have your email. But if you’re a goddess, maybe you’ll know I’m writing. That I really need my mom right now. And if not—well, I guess I’ll save this for my obituary. Which I’ll probably need pretty soon because of the gods-wanting-me-dead thing.
Take care.
Sophie
a.k.a. Persephone
a.k.a. Goddess of Spring
a.k.a. Your Daughter
Tellulah Darling
noun
1. YA romantic comedy author because her first kiss sucked and she's compensating.
2. Alter ego of former screenwriter.
3. Sassy minx.
Geeks out over: cool tech.
Squees for: great storytelling.
Delights in: fabulous conversation.
Writes about: where love meets comedy. Awkwardness ensues.
Sassy girls. Swoony boys. What could go wrong?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
