Giveaway: Zom-B (winner announced)

When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke-- but even if it isn't, he figures, it's ok to lose a few Irish.

B doesn't fully buy into Dad's racism, but figures it's easier to go along with it than to risk the fights and abuse that will surely follow sticking up for Muslims, blacks, or immigrants. And when dodging his fists doesn't work, B doesn't hesitate to take the piss out of kids at school with a few slaps or cruel remarks.

That is, until zombies attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers.


Rules:
1. You must be 13 or older.
2. You must follow my blog.
3. You must have a US address I can ship it to.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you're the winner, please email me your US mailing address. If I don't receive an email by Sunday November 4 11:59pm, I'll choose a new winner.

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Book Review: The Goose Girl

"She was born Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, 
and she did not open her eyes for three days."

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her.

Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was added to my list of books I need to read this year because it's simply been on my shelf far too long. Why it's sat there for so long, I have no idea. Because it was amazing. Beautifully written. Just... breath-taking. It's a rare novel that I love so much that I don't want to put it down, and I want to read it slowly so as to savor every word. The Goose Girl was one of those books.

"The Goose Girl" is a fairy tale written by the brothers Grimm. If you want, you can read it here. It tells the story of a young woman, a princess, who is to move to another kingdom and wed the prince. She has the ability to speak to her faithful, loving horse, Falada. Falada was to take the princess to this new kingdom, along with her chambermaid. But the chambermaid was jealous, and during the journey, forced the princess to switch places. Upon arriving at the neighboring kingdom, it was the chambermaid who was introduced as the prince's betrothed. The true princess was given a job... to work with the king's geese. She became the goose girl, working alongside the goose boy. There is much more to the story, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

Shannon Hale's version follows the Grimm version closely, but adds so much. It reads like a fairy tale. (As it should.) And while it is not fast-paced or filled with action scenes, it is simply amazing. Ani is a strong protagonist, and the friends she meets along the way are invaluable. I enjoyed the relationships Ani had with the other characters.

The goose boy, Conrad, was one of my favorites. As was Enna. So it's said with no surprise that I'm especially excited for book two in the Bayern series, Enna Burning. I'm curious to see how the kingdom of Bayern will have changed from The Goose Girl to Enna Burning, and I'm hoping old characters will show up. The Goose Girl has officially been added to my list of favorite books ever!

And because I love the cover so much, here is the Spanish edition. I want it!

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Book Review: The DUFF

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

I was really excited to read The Duff by Kody Keplinger. It's one of those books that I read a line or two of the premise and that's all I needed before I put it on my "to read" list. But it sat on my shelf for a while. I put it on my list of books that needed to be read in 2012.

Bianca is your typical cynical teenager. She lives at home with her dad while her mom tours. She's pretty much M.I.A. for much of Bianca's teen years. B has two best friends who are skinny and gorgeous, and B accompanies them to parties, much to her chagrin. Wesley, a boy from her school known for hooking up with a different girl every week, begins harassing her. More or less. He calls her "the duff". Designated. Ugly. Fat. Friend. Wesley continues to call her Duffy and get under her skin at every moment.

I'm sad to report that I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped. And I think if I'd read the synopsis, I wouldn't have been so disappointed. I wasn't expecting the "friends with benefits" thing to happen. And I pretty much despised Wesley throughout the entire book. He kept calling her Duffy, not realizing it hurt her, and that ticked me off. You call a girl fat and ugly as a nickname, why wouldn't she be insulted. B's cynical attitude was fun at first. She reminded me a lot of myself, actually, until it started to feel forced. When life starts going good, the cynicism needs to be taken down a notch, and I felt she was more bratty than anything by the end.

The book held my attention, and I didn't want to put it down. I laughed. I cried. And I did enjoy it. But as I stated above, I had some definite issues with it. I'm excited to read more by Kody Keplinger soon!

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Book Review: Kiss of Death (and winner announced)

Too many years of killer vamps have triggered the curse of the Blood Kissed. They’ve awakened the bloodline that can alter their world, because her blood has the power to control them all—even make them destroy each other.

Jocelyn thought her troubles with vampires were over when she drove a stake through her boyfriend Max’s heart two years ago. Even though she’s engaged to Chad, she’s never really forgotten him. Now Max is back, and Chad is taking her into the heart of the vamp community—and they’re the ones trying to keep her alive. The ones who love her and each seek to claim her for their own. Because once the elders know who she is, they’re all going to want her…or want her dead.



I was so excited when Seleste deLaney announced that there was going to be a full length novel in her Blood Kissed series. I really enjoyed "Of Course I Try" and "The Ghost of Vampire Present" so I was thrilled that we'd get more.

Jocelyn thinks that Max is dead. Because she killed him. He was a vampire after all. And she's engaged to Chad. The thing is... he's a vampire as well. So when Max comes back and she finds out what Chad is, she finds herself mixed up with two bloodsuckers who band together to protect her. She's one of the blood kissed, and she's extra tasty to the vamps. And not only is she stuck with both of them, she's attracted to them both.

At the beginning I was Team Max, and by the end... I'm still Team Max. But seeing Max and Chad interact together and with Jocelyn and other vampires was fun. The world Seleste created was interesting. Her vampires aren't quite the same as those we see all over. To find a unique vampire book these days is rare. I highly recommend checking out all of Seleste deLaney's work. You won't be disappointed. But please be aware, that her books are not for teens. They are very adult. ; )

You may recall, I did a giveaway in September for an ebook copy. The winner is...

Donna S

Congrats and enjoy!

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GHOST KNIGHT

GHOST KNIGHT
By Cornelia Funk
352 pp. Orion Books. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up)

ISBN
9781444008494

Rating: ? Stars


  As I am a child magic books normally appeal to me the most, so of course I thought this was a brilliant book. I get excited by a book not because of the social emotions you feel but because I like to feel like I am on an adventure.
  It wasn't just the magic that caught my eye though. Cornelia Funk doesn't just copy some boring old writer, but she really thinks of her own ideas and entertains you with a new story every time. This was a brilliant book and I recommend it to everyone.
  This book is about a boy called Jon Hartgill, who is sent to a boarding school in Salisbury. On his second night sleeping there he is woken up by the sound of trotting hooves and out of his window see's three hideous ghosts on horses. For a few nights he is haunted by them until he makes friends with a girl called Ella who tells him about a ghost called William Longspee who helps them fight off the ghosts. They think that the ghosts are gone forever, but are they really?
  The moral of this book is quite a small and hidden moral but it is still a moral. It is to never trust a person (in the book it is a ghost) that claim's your hero or friend is a murderer and definitely don't let yourself nearly get killed because you think your hero or friend is a murderer.

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THE PEARL

THE PEARL
By John Steinbeck
96 pp. Penguin Books. $10.00. (Ages 18 and up)

ISBN
9780140177374

Rating: ? Stars


  I found this book when rummaging through the old books of my grandfather's house. Even though it was quite a good book and I managed to understand the main point of the story, it was still quite hard for me to understand it because I am only nine and it was a book written for adults.
  Readers of all ages should read this book but younger readers should have an adult at hand to explain it. When you read the book you should not just flip through the pages for the story but you should really think about what your reading and most of all what it means to you.
  As usual I am going to tell you the story of this book which is… Once upon a time there lived a poor man, his wife and their little baby. One day a scorpion crawled down their wall and stung the baby. Because they were poor they could not pay for treatment for their baby so the mother prayed that they should find a giant pearl that they could use to pay for the baby's treatment. They did find this pearl but it did not necessarily do them any good for riches come with jealousy, war and death. It has quite a sad ending but I will leave that for you to find out.
  This book probably has about one hundred morals in it, as it does have a good story but almost every page has at least one moral in it. Even though this book does have loads of morals they are all joined up to create one big moral, and this is the moral I shall tell you. Riches stand for death, sadness, jealousy and war. Riches do not stand for happiness.

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Giveaway: Kiss of Death

Too many years of killer vamps have triggered the curse of the Blood Kissed. They’ve awakened the bloodline that can alter their world, because her blood has the power to control them all—even make them destroy each other.

Jocelyn thought her troubles with vampires were over when she drove a stake through her boyfriend Max’s heart two years ago. Even though she’s engaged to Chad, she’s never really forgotten him. Now Max is back, and Chad is taking her into the heart of the vamp community—and they’re the ones trying to keep her alive. The ones who love her and each seek to claim her for their own. Because once the elders know who she is, they’re all going to want her…or want her dead.

The amazing Seleste deLaney recently published Kiss of Death, the first novel in her Blood Kissed series. There are two short stories that come before this one (Of Course I Try and The Ghost of Vampire Present), but you won't need to have read them before this.

I am giving away one ebook copy. It can either be through Amazon for your Kindle, through Barnes and Noble your Nook, or your choice of format (not paperback) through Mundania Press' website. You can read an excerpt at Mundania Press.

This is the first time I've used Rafflecopter, so we're crossing our fingers this works out the way it's supposed to. You must be 18 or older to enter this giveaway. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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