Read Now Sleep Later

Drink Slay Love - Review

2012-06-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Publication date: 13 September 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

ISBN 10/13: 1442423730 | 9781442423732

Category: Young Adult Fiction
Keywords: Young adult, fantasy, horror, family, friendship, vampires, unicorns
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Source: Purchased

Goodreads | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository.com | IndieBound

From Goodreads.com:

Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Alethea's review:

Vampires, high school, cute boy, prom... yawn. We've been there and done that, right? I still would have bought this book just because the cover looks fun, and the premise is frankly zany. I mean, c'mon--a unicorn stabbing a vampire? Pssh! Silliest thing I've heard all week. I'm a huge fan of silly.

But Sarah Beth Durst manages to take all the classic vampire myths, smush them together with all the corny teen clichés made popular by a certain vampire series, and turn it all on its ear--into a novel so entertaining and funny that I stayed up two nights in a row to read it. It was worth the sleep-deprivation.

Pearl starts out as a confident young vampire (born, not made, and definitely not sparkly!) but quickly loses her cool when she gets stabbed by a unicorn (yes, a freaking unicorn!) and lives, or rather continues to inhabit the immortal coil instead of poofing into a pile of dust. She evolves from a swaggering monster of a teenage girl into a conscientious, friendly, and rather clever protagonist. She picks up a few friends along the way, and basks in the sunlight just long enough to really enjoy herself, before her social-climbing family puts the kibosh on her happiness with their deadly party planning business.

Poor Pearl. I really felt her angst when she realized that her actions had consequences of the type that would get her new friends killed, and that she'd be very, very sad if that happened--an alien feeling for a creature like her. I enjoyed and believed the way that Pearl's character changed over the course of the book.

I also really liked her friends. Evan is just quirky and dorky enough to balance out his knight-in-shining-armor qualities. The rest of the cast: the standard nerds, the popular girls, the jocks, and even some of Pearl's family members manage to break free of their stereotypical molds and play interesting parts in this big ensemble piece. They even manage to poke fun at Twilight (yes, there, I said it!) in a spirited and festive fashion that doesn't alienate people like me who still like the books [insert self-deprecating snort here].

The only thing I didn't enjoy was the lag about 2/3 into the book. By then any savvy reader has already predicted what needs to happen to bring the story to a satisfying denouement, but the build-up keeps going for another 100 pages. The end comes up too abruptly then. Better pacing would have earned this book the fifth of five stars.

Still, it was an amusing book and made for a great book club dinner. Check out these snapshots from our Young Adult Book Council meeting:

Jane made blood bags out of some strawberry-flavored Capri Sun

Pearl likes her blood ice-cream-flavored; I just like my ice cream with cake
(and some blood-red strawberry sauce made by Alyson)

We had a lot of red food. Even our coleslaw looked a bit bloody.

There were no frogs in the story, but these tasty dark chocolate frogs
were a nice way to end the evening (in a sugar coma)

And mmm... yeah. Steak, medium-rare, just the way I like it.
I think Pearl would have approved.

Even our drinks were red and pink. This was probably one of our most pleasant (and delicious) meetings ever.

Find the author online at sarahbethdurst.com and follow her on Twitter @sarahbethdurst. Alethea read this for YABC's May 2012 meeting.

Events in June

2012-06-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Time for another event update. Lots of stuff happening this June. We'll be at the Shadow and Bone launch for sure as well as the Marissa Meyer signing. ALA is also later this month and hopefully we'll have some recaps of that for everyone. If we're missing an event in the LA area, let us know and we'll be glad to add it

Shadow and Bone Launch Party
with Leigh Bardugo

Skylight Books - Los Angeles, CA
June 4, 7:30 pm
event page

Fierce Reads Tour
Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop - La Verne, CA
Tuesday, June 5, 7:00 pm

with Anna Banks, Of Poseidon; Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone; Jennifer Bosworth, Struck; Emmy Laybourne, Monument 14; Marissa Meyer, Cinder; and Jessica Brody, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father

event page

Michael Scott signs The Enchantress
Vromans - Pasadena, CA
Wednesday, June 6, 7:00 pm (event time has been changed to 7pm)

event page

Marissa Meyer signs Cinder
Once Upon A Time - Montrose, CA
Thursday, June 7, 7:00 pmevent page

We're also having a book blogger meetup after this event. See our post about it here and let us know if you can make it.

J.R. Angelella (and others)
Vromans - Pasadena, CA
Saturday, June 9, 4:00 pm

with Megan Mayhew Bergman, Stephen Dau, and J.R. Angelella
event page

Richelle Mead
Monday, June 18th, 7:00 pm

Barnes & Noble
1201 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Ahhhhhhh! I love Richelle Mead. I think Kimberly and I will be stalking the store for this signing.

Francesca Lia Block signs Pink Smog
Vromans - Pasadena, CA
Saturday, June 23, 3:00 pm

event page

FUG Girls sign Messy
Vromans - Pasadena, CA
Sunday, June 24, 12:00 pm
event page
&
Barnes & Noble, The Grove - Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday June 20, 7:00 pm
event page

Scary School
with Derek The Ghost
Barnes & Noble, The Grove - Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, June 30, 2:00 pm

event page

This isn't in our area but we want to give a heads up to any FL or GA readers out there that Daemon Invasion is coming. No doubt you've seen the Obsidian craze in the blogosphere. We've joined up to help promote Obsidian and Daemon Invasion. Jennifer will be on tour with the cover models to the series in FL and GA this month. I am totally jealous that I love nowhere near there and won't be able to go. But if you happen to live near one of these locations, you should definitely go. There will be swag and possibly Onyx ARCs as well as hot models! What more do you need. Tour stops below.

June 8th
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, GA
3:00pm

June 10th
Barnes and Noble
St Johns Town Center
Jacksonville, FL
1:00pm

June 13th
Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
Orlando, FL
3:00pm

June 14th
Barnes and Noble
The Palladium at City Place
West Palm Beach, FL
4:00pm

My Favorite Reads Giveaway Hop (INTL)

2012-05-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Rachelle's Writing Spot

Hi everybody! Thanks for stopping by.

Today you can win one of my absolute favorite books of all time:

It's an awesome, kick-ass fantasy romance with magic, spies, and... chocolate?

Just trust me on this. It's really good.

If you're on Goodreads you can log in and read my "Poison Story" here, about how I got hooked on Maria V. Snyder's writing. And if you win but you already have Poison Study, I will substitute any one of Maria V. Snyder's books instead. The winner can also choose an anthology with her writing in it :)

Rules:

Open internationally, wherever bookdepository.com ships. To enter you must be over 13 years old or have the permission of a parent/guardian since you may be sharing personal info such as your email address. The winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

Don't forget to enter to win more books on other blogs in the hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A read-a-long of Ice and Fire

2012-05-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

I am all. over. this.

I've been stuck on Feast for Crows for a long while now thanks to the audiobook producers' mistakes. Yes, I blame them!

But this read-a-long sounds fun and just the thing to get me out of my FFC funk.

Here's what Pam says on bookalicious.org:

We will begin reading the first book A Game of Thrones in July. For bloggers there will be a weekly topic as we read and a linky posted so that we can all keep up with each others progress. I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a heartwarming community building event this summer. Those who are not book bloggers are welcome to join! You may ignore the weekly topics or post your thoughts in the comments!

Well, there you go! Sign up here.

I'm hoping to finally revive our Podcast series on ASOIAF.

And also make lots of nifty related icons. <3

Good Night: Marissa Meyer + Book Blogger Meetup

2012-05-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

We did a Good Morning with Read Now Sleep Later last time; this time it's a good night!

When: Thursday, June 7, 7:00 pm

Who: Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder

Where: Once Upon a Time Bookstore

2207 Honolulu Avenue, Montrose CA 91020

What: We'll attend the signing at 7 and then congregate next door at

Rocky Cola Cafe for munchies. They are open til 10 pm and have great diner food!

RSVP: You don't have to RSVP but we highly recommend that you reserve your copy before May 31 if you are going to buy one*. I'm calling on them tomorrow to make sure they hold me a copy! Call 818-248-9668 to reserve.

*If you already have a copy of Cinder, you will need to at least make a purchase to get a signing line ticket. Once Upon a Time is a local indie bookstore, and in order to stay in business as well as continue to provide you chances to meet your favorite big-name authors from around the country, they need to sell some books!

Contest: The bookstore is also having a contest--bring your best Cinder shoe and you could win a gift card!

Ok, RSVP: I DO kinda want to know if anyone's coming, so leave a comment below :D or email frootjoos at gmail dot com

Please help spread the word on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, and just to whoever you know who loves YA! You don't have to have a blog (though if you do have one, it would be great if you posted about it in advance! -- and if you do so please tell me so I can add your link here).

The shortlink to share is:

http://bit.ly/cindermeet

Thanks for reading, and see you there!

Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop (US/CAN)

2012-05-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop

Hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer, and Page Turners Blog

When it gets hot, hot, hot, the only thing I regret about having pool access is that books and water don't mix. This is especially true with eReaders, haha! It's cool though--after a dip and getting my hair wet, I love to chill out poolside with a good book (slathered in sunscreen, of course!)

The winner of our Splash into Summer giveaway hop can pick up one of the Summer Lovin' Tour books!

You can't have my iPad or my Vera Bradley bag, sorry!
Click here to read Thuy's recap of the Summer Lovin' Tour.

The winner gets to choose one of these books:

*Moonglass* by Jessi Kirby	*In Honor* by Jessi Kirby
*Amy & Roger's Epic Detour* by Morgan Matson	*Second Chance Summer* by Morgan Matson
The prize will be purchased from one of our favorite indie bookshops, Once Upon a Time in Montrose :) Depending on what's available at the time, the winner's book might even be autographed!	*The Summer I Turned Pretty* by Jenny Han
It's Not Summer without You by Jenny Han	We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Also! The winner gets this cool swag I picked up at the signing.

Make sure you look up Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian!

Rules:

Open to US/CAN. To enter you must be over 13 years old or have the permission of a parent/guardian since you may be sharing personal info such as your email address. The winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter. The book may or may not be autographed depending on what I can get a hold of!

All of the entries are optional but you have to do at least one to enter :D

Good luck! Visit more of the participating blogs for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DaemonInvasion.com

2012-05-23T14:09:00.001-07:00

I am so excited to unveil the fansite for Jennifer L. Armentrout's series, daemoninvasion.com!

I'm still working on graphics and features, but anyone can go ahead and register to use the site.

#daemoninvasion street team members, you can contact me to apply for Author privileges (let me know what else you have done online and what you would like to contribute to the site). You don't have to be on my exact team to be a member--just be a fan of the series!

There's not a *giant* lot to do on the site yet--after all, I just made it last night! But you can find more info about the books and add links to your reviews of books from the series.

If you have ideas to help promote the books or for community features I can add to the fan site, please leave a comment below (yes, it can count towards your contest entry!)

You can enter to win a paperback or eBook copy of Obsidian by helping me spread the word about the fan site (use the Rafflecopter widget below). Thanks in advance for your help, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Review

2012-05-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Publication date: 2 January 2012 by Poppy/Little Brown

ISBN 10/13: 0316122386 | 9780316122382

Category: Young Adult Fiction
Keywords: Young adult, contemporary, romance, travel, family, love
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Source: Library

Thuy's review:

I had high hopes for this book when I started it. The pretty cover and clever title gave me the impression that it was going to be an impossibly romantic and sweet read that would make me want to hop a plane to London immediately. I am really happy to say that The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight met all of my expectations and more.

The story begins in a place where most of us have been before. Hadley, rushing to catch a flight to London for her father’s wedding, misses it by four minutes. By chance, Hadley meets Oliver, who is also waiting for the next flight. Amid quiet conversations, jokes, a duck movie, pretzels and a bit of whiskey, Hadley and Oliver get to know each as they cross the Atlantic.

I am not usually a fan of characters falling madly in love right away so I was a little worried that the relationship in Statistical Probability would seem superficial or inauthentic. I think this could have easily gone into cheesy and cliché territory, but it didn’t. Oliver and Hadley’s relationship never seemed forced. Even though they only know each other for a short period of time, they spend that time really getting to know each other. They talk about their families and the issues with them and about their feelings as well. The things that they share are things you wouldn’t normally share with someone you just met, but their connection is real enough that I could imagine them sharing these things with each other. The romance aspect is always there but it’s not overpowering. Smith lets the characters take the lead on where the relationship will go.

And speaking of characters, I really liked both Hadley and Oliver. Hadley was someone I could immediately relate to. She is a normal teenager with her own quirks and imperfections. She’s impetuous and sweet and shy at times. She has a lot of anger and sadness about what happened with her father. Despite her anger, she also really misses her father and she is trying her best to accept his new life. Their relationship is complicated and I was really invested in the outcome of it. There were some really touching moments between father and daughter that had me a smidge teary eyed (just a smidge).

Oliver is exactly the type of boy that I always wish would sit next to me on a plane. He’s funny, cute and has a British accent. He’s the perfect companion to spend a long flight next to. I loved that he tried to distract Hadley from her fear of flying.

This is the first book I’ve read by Smith and I really enjoyed her writing style. It’s easy to follow and she manages to pack a lot into a fairly short book. Her writing is full of little details that add up to a very rich and three dimensional story. I really felt like I was in the airport with Hadley and Oliver, navigating the crowded terminal, and later taking the long flight with them. I loved listening in on Hadley and Oliver talking about everything and nothing at all and learning each other in process.

Statistical Probability was a really fun, refreshing read. It made me smile and sigh and break out my travel guides. In a world of cynicism, it’s a story of love, hope and second chances that makes me believe that maybe a happy ending is possible. It also makes me hope for a cute British seat mate on my next plane flight, though that’s probably a long shot. But one can hope, right? :)

Find the author at www.jenniferesmith.com and follow @JenESmith on Twitter

In My Mailbox (11)

2012-05-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren (inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie) where you can show off the books that you got last week.

Yikes, it's been a while.

Here's what I've gotten since my last IMM.

Borrowed:

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Been lusting after this one! Thanks to Jane from Young Adult Book Council, I can cuddle up to it tonight.

Downloaded:

My Audible credit this month went to another Katherine Kellgren audiobook--Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen. I love it so far!

Bought on Kindle:

Thuy signed us up to be a street team for Jennifer L. Armentrout's #DaemonInvasion, so I downloaded Obsidian while waiting for my local bookstore to stock it. I've already read it! Definitely a book that makes your skin tingle. I may have to go jump in a cold pool just thinking about it... *fans self*

It was pretty funny also, especially from a book blogger standpoint. Other book bloggers who have read it will get what I mean, haha!

Bought:

Chloe, Instead by Micah Player

We put on a super cute event yesterday where James Burks, Ann Stampler, Candace Ryan, Frans Vischer, Max Kornell, Laura Lacámara, and Micah Player read and signed their books. (If you want to grab any signed copies, I'd check out Once Upon a Time Bookstore if I were you! They will ship books, if you need them to.) I couldn't resist getting this for my nieces! It's about a girl named Molly who wishes for a little sister, but gets a little more than she bargained for. Very colorful and sweet!

I also special-ordered this:

Cool cover, huh?

Oh, and I got these a little while back and then forgot to post them. See?

It was ages ago, it seems... You can read about the Summer Lovin' Tour with Jessi Kirby, Jenny Han, and Morgan Matson on Thuy's event recap post.

Ok, I think I'm mostly caught up now :)

What's in your mailbox?

Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop (INTL)

2012-05-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop

Featuring Lighthearted/Contemporary Young Adult Romance

& Sweet, Clean Adult Romance

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Portrait of a Book

We are giving away a copy of Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik!

From Goodreads:

In this modern take on "Pride and Prejudice," Elise Benton, who has just moved to California, is a junior at an exclusive prep school where, in spite of her initial bad impression, she finds herself attracted to the moody and handsome son of Hollywood's most famous celebrity couple.

Thanks to Ambur from Burning Impossibly Bright for this recommendation!

Rules:

1. First entry is free!

2. There are 4 optional entries too. If you comment, comment on any post that is NOT the giveaway post! (Please DO NOT leave your email address or any personal info in your comment, or it will be deleted!) Comments on the giveaway are also appreciated, but will not count toward your entries.

3. Contest is open internationally. If you are under 13 please get your parent or guardian's permission before entering since you will be sharing personal info with me via the Rafflecopter widget.

4. The winner will be chosen randomly using the Rafflecopter widget, so don't forget to come back and click on it!

books!

Remember to also visit the other blogs on this hop for more chances to win books! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Along a Long Road - Review

2012-05-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Along A Long Road by Frank Viva

Publication date: 28 June 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN 10/13: 0316129259 | 9780316129251

Category: Children’s Picture Book
Keywords: Picture book, children’s, bicycling, travel
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed from the library

I picked up Along A Long Road at the library because of its eye-catching cover. Along A Long Road is unlike any picture book I’ve read recently. The illustrations are very graphic and stylized, with clean, fluid lines and only 5 colors (black, blue, red, white, and yellow). It doesn’t have much of a narrative. A bicyclist rides his bike up, down and all around - through town, by the sea, into a tunnel, by a carnival--following a yellow road throughout the book.

I really liked Viva’s illustrations and the fact that the road was shiny while the rest of the book was matte. It really gives the book a unique look and feel. I personally found the story to be a little boring and might have preferred it without words. That way I could have just lost myself in the imagery. However I can see how a simple story like this would appeal to very young children.

I think it would be really fun to have them follow the road and point out all of the people and things that are along the road. The standout here is definitely the art. I also just read on Viva’s website the following: “This celebration of cycling was created as a single, continuous 35-five-foot-long piece of art.” This actually makes me more impressed with the artwork than I already was and I would love to see this in its original 35 foot format.

I picked this book up for the illustrations and I can say that I wasn’t disappointed. While the story itself wasn’t a personal favorite, it’s a really easy read and I can see this appealing to very young children.

tweet @fishgirl182

Spotty, Stripy, Swirly - Review

2012-05-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

Spotty, Stripy, Swirly by Jane Brocket

Publication date: 1 January 2012 by Millbrook Press

ISBN: 0761346139 | 9780761346135

Category: Children’s Non-Fiction Picture Book
Keywords: Children’s, non-fiction, picture book, patterns
Format: Hardcover
Source: Netgalley

Spotty, Stripey, Swirly is one of the newest additions to author Jane Brocket’s Clever Concepts line of non-fiction picture books. Like her other books, this one is not traditionally illustrated but is filled with photos that Brocket has taken herself. As you can tell from the title Spotty, Stripey, Swirly is about finding and recognizing patterns all around us.

Stripes, dots, zig zags, and circles abound, punctuated by Brocket’s signature style of bright, colorful photographs. Using eye catching photos, Brocket teaches children what a pattern is and how to recognize them. She urges them to find patterns in everyday objects. From simple to complex, patterns are everywhere if you just know where to look. This would be a nice addition to a very young child’s library.

say "twee"!

Crayon Dragon - Video

2012-05-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

I know I'm running super-late on IMM now but I just had to share one more thing for the end of Children's Book Week:
"This animation, Crayon Dragon, was made by California Institute of the Arts student Toniko Pantoja as a second-year project."
Thank to my cousin TJ for drawing attention to this post on io9. I hope you love it as much as I did--if you like it, share it everywhere!

Descanso Gardens

2012-05-13T19:18:00.004-07:00

Descanso Gardens, a set on Flickr.

Here is a set of photos from our trip to Descanso Gardens for Mother's Day today. I walked around for hours with my husband's family. No books, but enjoy it anyway!

http://www.descansogardens.org

Event Recap: Summer Lovin' Tour

2012-05-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Happy weekend, friends! I hope you all had a nice week or at least that you have something fun planned for the weekend. Dropping by to give you a recap of the fun event that we went to earlier this week. Jenny Han, Jessi Kirby, and Moran Matson made a stop by Once Upon A Time to kick off their Summer Lovin' book tour.

There was a good crowd, given that it was a Monday night. It was actually a lot more crowded than I expected it to be. The ladies were just what you would expect, super fun and laid back. It was little bit like watching three really good girlfriends get together for a slumber party. Jenny had the other ladies play the fun game of Marry, Date, or Kill where you have three people and you decide which you would marry, date, or kill. Jenny cracked us all up when she tried to explain that she would marry Voldemort because she thought she could change him and make him a better person (I am skeptical about this plan). And Jessi Kirby said she would marry Gale while Jenny and Morgan said that they would kill him. Harsh!

After a brief Q&A with the audience, the ladies got ready for their autographing session. I "fixed" Jenny's broken camera (she dropped it earlier) while she signed my book. I really didn't fix it but offered to and it magically started working when I tried to turn it on. So I am going to just say that I fixed it.

And I missed the cupcakes, so I was a little sad. Just a little. We also hung out with some blogger friends including Jen & Mary from YA Book Twins, Kimberly from The Windy Pages, and Maggie from YA Anonymous (who had an awesome camera). You can also find a few more photos on our FB page here.

As always, Once Upon A Time puts on a great event and we had a ton of fun. Thanks to Jessi, Jenny, and Morgan for making it out to the store and being so awesome. Are any of you going to the other tour dates for Summer Lovin'?

A Greyhound of a Girl - Review

2012-05-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle

Publication date: 1 May 2012 by Amulet Books

ISBN 10/13: 1419701681 | 9781419701689

Category: Young Adult Fiction

Keyword: Family, Generations, Death, Life, Past, Ghosts

Format: Hardcover
Source: Netgalley

Kimberly's review:

Mary O'Hara is a smart, witty and fun 12-year-old girl who lives in a small town in Ireland. Her mother, Scarlett, and her visit her granny every day in the hospital. One day, a mysterious woman introduces herself to Mary, and there is something very familiar about this woman. The woman claims to be her great-grandmother, and the four generations of women begin a journey that will forever change the way Mary views life, death and everything in between.

This well-written short novel, coming in at a little over 200 pages, is a beautiful story about four generations of women and their lives, regrets and loves. Mary is a wonderfully sharp character. Mary is just the right balance between being a
young girl and an old soul. The dialogue is quick, funny and heartwarming. I loved Scarlett's relationship to her daughter Mary, and her relationship to her mother.

Great-Grandma's story is very bittersweet and each of the ladies has their own unique voice. I loved the way the book was set up, each character telling certain scenes from their own point of view. Their adventure is light but warm. The ladies explore their past and their future, without each other, during one last night of freedom and love.

A Greyhound of a Girl is a quick read with much to enjoy. Try it out and keep a tissue or two handy. You may need it.

Find more of Kimberly's reviews at The Windy Pages

Find the author online at www.roddydoyle.ie.

What I Do with Vegetable Glue - Review

2012-05-07T00:20:00.001-07:00

Vegetable Glue by Susan Chandler

Illustrated by Elena Odriozola

Publication Date: 15 May 2012 by Sky Pony Press

ISBN 10/13: 1616086610 | 9781616086619

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound

Category: Children's Picture Book
Keywords: Children, picture book, eat your veggies
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed

Thuy's review:

Vegetable Glue is the hilarious and adorable story of what happens to one little girl when she doesn't eat her fruits and veggies. Her body runs out of vegetable glue and things start to fall apart, literally. With a little help from her extremely fit grandma, the little girl learns the importance of eating her vegetables.

I picked up this book on a whim while at the used bookstore with a friend. We sat on the floor and laughed out loud as we read this unique and clever story. The story rhymes which makes it a fun an fast read. It's well paced and the story flowed easily from page to page.

UK Edition from 2004

And it was just FUNNY. There is a part where the little girl's bum falls off and my friend and I almost died looking at the illustration of the little round bum on the ground. I think children will really like the fun story as well as the illustrations.

And even though it's a funny story, it has a really great lesson that isn't too preachy. After reading Vegetable Glue, children and adults alike will remember to eat their veggies. It's a really excellent read that I highly recommend.

Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop (INTL)

2012-05-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop

May 7th - 13th

Hosted by

KidLitFrenzy, Classic Children's Books,

Mymcbooks & I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

What is Children's Book Week?

Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast!

For more information please visit: http://www.bookweekonline.com/

The winner of our giveaway will get to pick up to $18 worth of books from bookdepository.com.

Rules:

Open internationally.
To enter you must be over 13 years old or have the permission of a parent/guardian since you may be sharing personal info such as your email address.
We love comments, but please, if you leave one, please DO NOT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENT!
The winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter.
The winner must choose a children's book or books (picture book, early reader, middle grade, young adult) which includes a reading component, as opposed to a photo or pop-up book.

Here are some suggestions:

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview with Cover Designer Rich Deas

2012-05-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! I am super excited about this interview we have today. Most of you lovely readers have not doubt seen the cover to the upcoming release by Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone. I love, love the cover, with its Russian feel and great use of illustration. I did some digging and found that Rich Deas (creative director at Macmillian) was the art director on the project with Jen Wang (whose cover for Into The Woods I love) doing the cover art. I was a little nervous to approach Rich for this interview but he was so nice and cool and let me pepper him with questions. So check out the interview below with Rich. Please note that this is an extremely picture heavy post (how could it not be?). So it may take awhile to load, but it's worth it. Click on any image to go to see it in larger detail.

Hi, Rich! Thank you so much for hanging out on the blog today and answering our questions. We are big fans of your work. Some of my recent favorites of yours are Cinder, Passenger, and the Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Most recently I fell in love with the cover you designed for Lee Bardugo’s upcoming release, Shadow and Bone. This is totally one of those books that I would buy based on the cover alone.

Can you take us through the process of how you designed this cover? Do you start with sketches or work on the computer? How did you decide what elements you wanted to include?

As with most covers I work on, I usually start with rough sketches - just thumbing out thoughts as I read through the manuscript. For Shadow and Bone, I knew from the start that I wanted to try a more graphic approach, something strong and symbolic to match the ancient Russian tone of the story. I referenced quite a bit of old Russian manuscripts, type-treatments, artifacts, etc and created various comps. Well, it was a long road from those initial thoughts to the final cover. A lot of people were involved with this cover. Actually, I should say, a lot of people with very different opinions were involved with this cover (sales, marketing, editorial, author, publisher, etc). I created rough cover comps, on and off, for about 6 months before we all agreed on a direction. Over this period of time, I comped up at least 30 options using different approaches and styles: photographic, iconic, illustrative, type, etc. As you can see in the attached cover jpegs, I used various reference art (for placement only) to create the comps, just to get feedback and approval.

I love the font on the cover, too. Is that something you designed as well?

Once we narrowed down the direction, (Fig 1) I sent the rough comp to the amazingly talented illustrator/ designer Jen Wang. She worked out the lettering and art based on the approved direction. Here are some of her early comps (Fig 2 & 3). Jen did such an incredible job designing and creating a unique look for this wonderful series. I look forward to working with her on the entire series. Please check out her work at dominantprimordialbeast.com.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2 & 3

Is the final version very different than your original concept idea for the cover?

Attached is the initial comp which was used for the galley cover (Fig. 4). This served as a place holder until we found a direction we could all agree on. I'm also attaching a few of the early rough comps to give you better idea of the process.

Fig. 4

Can you tell us a little about how you got started in art and how you ended up designing book covers? Your online bio says that you started drawing at a young age but it wasn’t until college that you decided to commit to the study of drawing and illustration. Up until then was art something that was a part of your everyday life? What made you decide to make a career out it?

I've always had an interest in art. I spent a lot more time doodling in class than actually listening and studying. My entire family seems to have the artistic bug. All my brothers and my father have strong illustration skills. My older brother, Michael Deas is an accomplished illustrator and painter and has been a big inspiration for me. He has worked on many recognizable images including: The Columbia Pictures Logo (yes, girl with torch and clouds), the Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Edger A. Poe stamps, The Interview with a Vampire book cover as well as many Time magazine covers. For me, illustration was something I was always good at. In some ways, I don’t think there were other options for me since it was such a natural fit. In college, I studied graphic design. I thought it would be quicker than illustrating. I didn’t take illustration classes but I tried to incorporate illustration into most of my design projects. My professors weren’t crazy about the approach and pushed for more focus on design and concepts. But for me, I am an illustrator at heart and I like to bring the 2 skills together.

What’s the first book cover you ever designed?

I can't remember the title off-hand. Irene Gallo, the art director for TOR/Forge books gave me many of my first opportunities in book cover design – thanks, Irene! She is amazing and such a strong supporter of illustration and design.

On average, how many drafts of a cover do you have to do before you settle on the final composition/design?

I tend to keep going even after a cover has been approved. Time is a dangerous thing for me - the longer I have a cover in my hands, the more I will play with it. But on average, I design at least 5 comps per title.

How long in advance of a book’s publishing date do you need to start on the cover?

To give you a rough idea, we are starting in on our Spring 2013 lists. Covers need to be fairly final at least 6 months in advance to the pub date so that marketing and sales can promote and sell. The production of the book takes about 4-6 months. So about a year from start to finish!

Given the fact that there are so many choices in what to read these days, how important do you think a cover is to a book’s success?

I think a cover is very important to any book. It’s the unspoken voice promoting the story. There are so many books on the self, so you hope that your cover helps draw some attention and attracts the intended audience.

You’ve done covers for all kinds of books from adult to children’s to YA. Do you have a favorite type of book that you like to design covers for (mystery, dystopian, contemp, etc.)?

I love to design, so I love a title that lends itself to a conceptual or designey approach. Unfortunately, this is not always the preferred approach for the YA market. For quite a few years now, we’ve been looking at a lot of photographic covers with beautiful girls, romance-like poses, floating heads, etc. Look at the bestseller lists on line and you will still see this trend. Some of it looks rather generic. Some are even similar to the Harlequin romance covers of the 80’s, only photographic. I may not be a huge fan of this approach, but mostly because it’s so overdone and commercial. And, I do understand the demand and appeal for this. I think when done right, it can be quite beautiful or appropriate. I’d rather see more variation: illustration, graphic, hand-lettering and conceptual, which is coming back!!!

What’s a cover of yours that you had a lot of fun working on?

I enjoyed working on Into The Wild Nerd Yonder, Girl Stolen, Hole In My Life, and Once. They are fairly simple but have a strong graphic and conceptual look. I do enjoy adding and experimenting the silk-screened or hand-lettered look.

I read that you’re very inspired by concert and theater poster design. That’s really cool. Can you tell us who some of your favorite musicians are and who you’re listening to now?

I love listening, talking and arguing music. It's probably my greatest obsession. Here's are some of me all-time favorites:

EELs - Mark Everett is a genius. I’ve spent many hours listening o them as I design and illustrate.

The National – I am ready to retire and follow them on tour for the rest of my years.

Interpol - I can still listen to Turn On Your Bright 24/7.

Pj Harvey - She kicks arse. Sigor Ros - Incredible.

Radiohead - What more needs to be said!

Modest Mouse – Not all good music has to be depressing and based on traditional tuning.

Band of Horses – Sweet, sweet sound!

Pearl Jam - Yes, I said Pearl Jam.

Listening to now: Tamaryn Zola Jesus American Analog Set The Stone Roses Japandroids

It looks like artistic talent runs in your family. Your brother, Michael Deas, is also a very talented artist. He designs postage stamps which is fantastic. I am one of those people who still sends snail mail and I appreciate a good stamp. Have you and he ever collaborated on a project? If not, do you ever have plans to?

I guess it’s in the blood. My father and all my brothers are pretty quick with a pencil, brush, or mouse. My brother Michael is an amazing artist and painter. I am lucky to have grown up watching him work. As a kid, I used to pose for some of his paintings. I actually made it on the cover of a few books. . . destiny!?! We have worked on a couple of projects together: Hell House by Richard Matheson, he illustrated and I designed. Also, he helped with my first picture book, 10 Fat Turkeys. I kind of just dove into the book without any painting experience. Mike gave me tips along the way and also helped on a couple of the spreads.

Are there any recent book covers out there that you’ve been impressed with or have really caught your eye?

Wonder

The Other Life

BossyPants

The Watch That Ends The Night

Some random questions we like to ask:

If you could go back in time (and not mess with the space time continuum), what would you tell your younger self?

Do what interests you most, and care less about what others think.

Favorite movie snack?

The Cherry Coke and bucket-o-popcorn combo–super-sized, please.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?

Marine biologist.

Cake or pie and what kind?

hmmm. . . Do you consider the Brownie, cake? There's really nothing better than a hot brownie cooked to perfection.

Last book read?

Well, I mostly read manuscripts which doesn’t allow much free time. Thankfully, I like what we publish. I recently read the follow ups to: Cinder, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, the final book in the Jenna Fox trilogy. All as good or better than the first!!!

Favorite movie(s)?

The Great Escape

Blade Runner

Big Fish

And last question. What are you currently working on (that you can talk about) and/or what’s up next for you?

Have you read The Adoration of Jenna Fox? I just finished the manuscript for book 3 and it's pretty awesome! I love this series so I am excited to work on book 3. That's another cool aspect of this job, I get to read the stories before the rest of the world. So, I have some pretty good secrets that I cannot share or reveal. Also, I recently finished my second picture book, Cock-A-Doodle Dance. It goes on sale May 15! I don't get the chance to illustrate much these days so it's really fun to work on a picture book and see the art come to life.

Thank you, Rich, for stopping by. You’re awesome and we look forward to seeing more beautiful covers from you. :)

To see more of Rich's work, visit his website.

Click here to pre-order his new book, Cock-A-Doodle Dance! out May 15, 2012.
And don't forget that Shadow and Bone by Lee Burdugo comes out on June 5, 2012.

Events In May

2012-05-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Trenton Lee Stewart at Vroman's

May 2, 2012 at 6pm

Vroman's Bookstore

695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101

event page

Trenton Lee Stewart and discusses his newest book, The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict.

Summer Lovin' Tour
Monday, May 7 at 7PM
Once Upon A Time Bookstore
Montrose Shopping Park
Montrose, CA 91020
vent page

Come see Jenny Han (We'll Always Have Summer), Jessi Kirby (In Honor) & Morgan Matson (Second Chance Summer)

Teen Book Fest Ontario

Saturday May 5, 2012 from 1 - 4pm

Ontario Senior Center
225 E. B St.
Ontario, CA
Information: 909-395-2225.

event page

This is the 2nd Annual Teen Book Fest. We are thrilled to welcome Jay Asher (The Future of Us), Josephine Angelini (Starcrossed), Anna Carey (Once), Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me) and Alexandra Monir (Timeless).

Tony Diterlizzi
Wednesday May 9, 2012 at 5pm

Mrs. Nelson's Toy & Book Shop1030 Bonita Avenue
La Verne, CA 91750

event page

Tony Diterlizzi, author of the middle grade series, The Search for Wondla and A Hero for Wondla, the "Meno" picture book series, and countless others, will be coming to Mrs. Nelson's! He has so many wonderful books to be signed and fun stories to be told - don't miss out on this spectacular event!

LitFest Pasadena
Saturday May 12, 2012 from 10am - 4pm
Central Park / behind Castle Green

Del Mar and Fair Oaks corners

Pasadena, California
event page
official site

Lots of authors and events for this one so check out their website to find out more about the schedule.

Picture This! - Storytime & Workshop
Saturday May 19, 2012

San Rafael Elementary School

1090 Nithsdale Road

Pasadena CA 91105

10:30am - 1:30pm
event page

This is a big one, folks! Kids and parents of all ages, join us for a storytime extravaganza! Meet authors and illustrators, listen to stories, and draw anything you can imagine... Join Max Kornell (Bear with Me), Laura Lacamara (Floating on Mama's Song), Micah Player (Chloe, Instead), Candace Ryan (Ribbit Rabbit), Ann Stampler (The Wooden Sword). More authors and details will be announced soon! Check http://www.bridgetobooks.org for an updated guest list.

Writers and illustrators in the Workshop portion (which includes Storytime admission for 1 adult) please check out https://www.wepay.com/events/pbwkshop for more info. There is also info on a young writers workshop (for kids aged 10-14) on that page.

If we've missed any, let us know in the comments and we'll add them. Thanks!

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop (INTL)

2012-04-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Eve's Fan Garden

Today's giveaway is for Saundra Mitchell's The Springsweet!

Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound

From Goodreads:

Heartbroken over the tragic death of her fiancé, seventeen-year-old Zora Stewart leaves Baltimore for the frontier town of West Glory, Oklahoma, to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going. There she discovers that she possesses the astonishing ability to sense water under the parched earth. When her aunt hires her out as a "springsweet” to advise other settlers where to dig their wells, Zora feels the burden of holding the key to something so essential to survival in this unforgiving land. Even more, she finds herself longing for love the way the prairie thirsts for water. Maybe, in the wildness of the territories, Zora can finally move beyond simply surviving and start living.

Rules:

Must be at least 13 years old or have the permission of a parent/guardian to share your personal info.
Open to anywhere that bookdepository.com ships (which is just about everywhere).
The winner will be chosen randomly via the rafflecopter.com widget.

Good luck! Don't forget to visit the rest of the blogs on the hop.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview with Mike Mullin

2012-04-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

We're very excited to have Mike Mullin, author of Ashfall, on the blog today. I recently read Ashfall (see review here) and asked Mike if he would answer some questions for us. Lucky for us, he said yes.

Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really hoping this writing thing works out.

Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife and her three cats. ASHFALL is his first novel.

On to the interview!

Hi, Mike! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today. I read Ashfall recently and I have to say that I loved it. It was hard to read at times because I was really afraid for Alex and Darla and what was going to happen to them. I was so immersed in their world that I felt like I was on the road with them and it was pretty scary.

Thanks for inviting me, Thuy. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed ASHFALL!

Your online bio says that you once had a job where they showed slides of poopy diapers. What kind of job was this and how long did you work there?

I was an Assistant Brand Manager for Pampers Diapers at Procter & Gamble for a few years. At the time I worked there, the heads of Marketing and Product Development hated each other. So whenever Product Development had to give a presentation to Marketing, they’d schedule it at lunchtime and bring color slides of the most disgusting diarrhea-loaded diapers they could find.

Did you set out to write a YA novel or why did you choose to make your protagonist a teenager?

I set out to write a YA novel. I grew up reading Peck, Cormier, and Blume and never quit. Since I’ve been reading (and geeking out over!) YA novels for more than 30 years, it was natural to choose to write in that category.

There seems to be a lot of dystopian and apocalyptic fiction coming out lately. I think Ashfall is unique in that the story begins before the disaster happens. Why did you decide to start the story before the volcano erupted vs after?

I wanted to start Ashfall out with a bang (bad pun fully intended).

How much research did you have to do before you started writing Ashfall? Did you visit any volcanoes?

I spent 8 months researching volcanoes before I even began the first draft for Ashfall. Then I continued my study of geology as I wrote and rewrote Ashfall over the following two years.

I visited Mount St. Helens as part of my research. It has mostly recovered from the 1980 eruption, although the Toutle River is still an ash-choked mess in some places and inspired my description of the Mississippi in Ashfall.

There’s a more thorough discussion of the research I did for Ashfall on the Our Time in Juvie Blog.

I love Darla! She’s so badass. She knows all kinds of useful stuff like how to make a corn mill and how to skin a rabbit. Was she inspired by anyone in particular and/or why did you decide to make her the more skilled out of the two in terms of being able to live off the land?

Thanks! Darla is like my wife, Margaret, in her toughness, loyalty, intelligence, and willingness to rein Alex in when necessary. Unfortunately, Margaret can’t repair cars—it’d save us a lot of money if she could.

When I need Darla to accomplish some mechanical miracle, I call my brother Paul, who is an electrical engineer, and ask him, “So how would Darla…?” So I guess you could say she’s a bit of an amalgamation of my wife and brother.

I’ve always seen Alex as a city boy. So if he were going to survive, he needed to meet someone with the skills he lacked. And I liked the idea of turning the clichéd romance—boy rescues girl—on its head.

Alex is big on tae kwon do and I see from your website that you are a black belt. Why did you decide to give Alex this skill? Do you and Alex have anything else in common?

As I was planning Ashfall, I realized my protagonist would have to be someone exceptional to survive. The more I read about the Yellowstone supervolcano, the more shocked I became at what a devastating natural disaster it will be when the volcano erupts again. But at the same time, I’ve been an avid reader of dystopian and apocalyptic literature for years, and I wanted my book to be a little bit different from the excellent current crop of apocalyptic novels—I wanted it to be intensely realistic.

So, I decided my main character would be a martial artist. The only problem: I knew next to nothing about martial arts. I suppose I could have read a bunch of non-fiction about martial arts, but instead I decided to find a studio and train for a while. I happened across ATA Black Belt Academy, really enjoyed training in taekwondo, and stuck with it, earning my black belt not long before Ashfall was released last year.

Given what you know now about what would happen in the event of a sudden volcanic eruption, how long do you think you would survive should it actually occur?

Not long. Maybe a month or two. I researched this question: who survives natural disasters and why? Some of the best epidemiological research on this topic has been done on the Donner Party. To summarize, it shows that to have the best chance of survival, you need to be between the ages of six and thirty-five, female, and have family with you. I’m too old and too male to be a good candidate for surviving the kind of apocalypse I depict in Ashfall. If the supervolcano erupts in my lifetime, my goal will be to die in a way that’s consistent with my values—helping the younger generation to survive and rebuild.

A disaster occurs and you have five minutes to leave your home. What do you take with you?

If it’s a global disaster—a supervolcano, asteroid strike, or similar—I don’t leave my home. If it’s a local disaster, I grab a pack; throw in all the bottled water from the fridge, a knife, matches, a plastic tarp, rain poncho, fleece hoodie, and all the bottles in our medicine cabinet (aspirin, Tylenol, etc). I could grab that much in five minutes. You can survive a long time without food, so the immediate concerns are keeping warm, dry, hydrated, and healthy.

If you could choose, would you rather face an apocalypse from a natural disaster or a zombie apocalypse?

A natural disaster. Fighting zombies is fun in Left for Dead, but I don’t think I’d enjoy it for real.

What can you tell us about Ashen Winter, which comes out later this year? I want something good to happen to Alex and Darla but I have a feeling that isn’t going to happen.

No, Ashen Winter is, if anything, even darker than Ashfall. It starts six months after Ashfall ends—it’s June and the volcanic winter has only deepened. It’s still below freezing outside, and none of the four-foot blanket of snow smothering Iowa and Illinois has melted. Many survivors are desperate for food, and some of them will do anything—eat anything—to stave off starvation.

Some random questions we like to ask:

If you could go back in time (and not mess with the space time continuum), what would you tell your younger self?

Don’t quit writing Captain Poopy’s Sewer Adventures—this guy named Dav Pilkey is going to make a bundle selling Captain Underpants just nine years from now.

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?

Probably a teacher of some sort.

Cake or pie and what kind?

Pie—coconut crème with a meringue topping.

Last book read?

Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves

Favorite guilty pleasure movie?

Highlander—the first movie and the first year or so of the TV shows. The sequels are worthless.

Song that you can’t help singing along to when you hear it?

“Fire Water Burn” by The Bloodhound Gang.

Strangest food you’ve ever eaten?

Termites, on a dare from the resident entomologist at a company I worked for that made and sold insecticides.

Last thing - will you be doing any touring later this year for Ashen Winter (meaning where can your fans stalk you)?

I’ll be touring a ton. I’ll be at Book Expo America, The American Library Association, The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE, and numerous libraries and bookstores. You can find my schedule here. Check back frequently—there are a lot of events in the works, and I’ll add them to that page as soon as details are available.

Thanks for stopping by, Mike. We’re really looking forward to Ashen Winter and wish you the best. :)

Thanks for inviting me to visit Read Now Sleep Later!

Thank you, everyone, for hanging out and reading our interview with Mike. Ashfall is out now and its sequel, Ashen Winter, will be released in Oct 2012.

You can find Mike online at the following:
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

Purchase Ashfall

Autographed Copies

Indiebound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

In My Mailbox (10)

2012-04-29T12:34:00.002-07:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren (inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie) where you can show off the books that you got last week.

ARCs Received:

I'm on the blog tour; so excited that it's my turn to read! For more info click the widget on the sidebar.

I also volunteered for a friend and was rewarded for my troubles with the ARCs below.

Borrowed:

This looks adorable. I don't know if you can see: it says "translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath". Haha!

Netgalley:

It's been so difficult to get review copies from Disney-Hyperion so I'm glad they occasionally release titles to everyone. I'm very likely going to end up buying this anyway!

What's in your mailbox?

Ashfall - Review

2012-04-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Publication date: 11 October 2011 by Tanglewood Press

ISBN 10/13: 0446574473 | 9780446574471

Goodreads | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Category: Young Adult Science Fiction
Keywords: Science fiction, survival, natural disaster
Format: ebook, Hardcover

Thuy's review:

Alex is just a normal teenage boy living a normal life. He has an annoying younger sister and parents that he loves, but who also get on his nerves from time to time. His biggest concerns are homework and practicing for tae kwon do. But his life and everyone’s around him changes in an instant when a super volcano in Yellowstone National Park erupts, covering the land and sky in ash and changing the ecological landscape of the world forever. Now Alex must survive as he makes his way to find his family. Some of the people he encounters are kind, while others have much more sinister plans now that the world is in chaos.

Ashfall is one of those books that you want to read because you want to know what happens but also don’t want to read it for fear that something terrible is going to happen to the characters. Ashfall actually reminded me a little bit of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road though not as bleak and with less cannibalism. I’ve read a lot of dystopian and post apocalyptic novels lately. I liked that Ashfall was a little different in that it actually starts before the disaster. I think this actually makes Alex’s situation worse than other dystopian novels because 1) he has to survive the initial aftermath of the volcano eruption and 2) he clearly remembers what life was like Before. To me, Alex’s situation is much more relatable and I was right there with him wondering what the heck was going on when the roof crashed in on him.

Because Ashfall is based on actual science (yes, the super volcano exists!) it’s especially scary. Sure it’s unlikely that a volcano is going to erupt any time soon, but it could happen. I can also imagine a large earthquake, hurricane, tsunami having similar effects if large enough. And I know enough about people to believe that society would break down pretty quickly once food and water were scarce. There’s also some commentary on what the government would do in this type of situation which, while disconcerting, seemed believable.

It’s not all bad though. On his journey, Alex encounters many kind people. There are people who help him when they don’t have to. Alex would surely be dead if not for the help of many people and he tries pay it forward by helping when he can as well. I really liked Alex and my heart was in my throat every time he had to venture outside. I really didn’t want anything terrible to happen to him or Darla.

Speaking of Darla, she’s totally badass. I loved that she knew all kinds of things about mechanics and farming. She’s so unique - a totally strong and independent person who doesn’t even like Alex when she first meets him. I loved that she was so capable but still believable. As they learn to depend on each other for survival and more, Alex and Darla start to fall in love. I liked that it wasn’t an instant attraction and that Mullin didn’t shy away from the sex part of it. Yes, teens think about sex. Especially boys. But Alex and Darla tackled the subject practically and without drama, which was refreshing.

Ashfall is a story of will and survival. An intense and action packed drama filled with compelling characters, it will make you ask questions about yourself and the world we live in. Would I survive a major disaster like the one in Ashfall? Would society? I don’t know but I can’t wait to find out what happens to Alex in the sequel to Ashfall, Ashen Winter.

Visit the author online at www.mikemullinauthor.com and follow him on Twitter @Mike_Mullin

Fairy Tale Giveaway Hop (Intl)

2012-04-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & vvb32reads

My favorite fairytale right now is The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and my favorite character is the (often nameless) Prince. In some of the older variants he is "the old soldier". The story is about a dozen dancing princesses who are driving their father into penury by constantly wearing out a dozen pairs of shoes every night, to the point where the King has no choice but to lock them up in their bedroom at day's end. Still they somehow are able to wear out their shoes every evening. He offers the hand of any of his princesses to the man who figures out how they are doing this.

The old soldier or prince character, through a mixture of luck and cunning, is able to figure out that every night the girls disappear through a trap door which takes them to a Fairy Ball. They dance the night away and return worn out (shoes, too!) every morning. I love this fairytale even though it seems a bit senseless and without a lesson, because it gives other storytellers free license to imagine a bigger theme and character development, as well as romance, with the fairytale as the framework.

From Errol le Cain's 1978 adaptation of the tale (photo from Our Paper Moon)

Today you can win one of these Dancing Princess adaptations:

The winner gets to pick, but I highly recommend Entwined by Heather Dixon--it's my favorite! There is more than one "prince/soldier" character and I thought it was well-written, entertaining, and romantic.

Rules:

You must be at least 13 years old or have the permission of a parent or guardian to enter.
This contest is open to anywhere that bookdepository.com ships (so pretty much anywhere).
The winner will be chosen randomly through the rafflecopter.com widget. Thanks for entering!

Don't forget to visit all other awesome blogs on this giveaway hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway