Incarnate by Jodi Meadows was the title people were most excited for last week. I am DEFINITELY most excited for The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols this week, as she is probably my favorite author

Which are you most excited for? Vote in the poll and weigh in in the comments!

I totally stole this idea from Alexa over at Pages of Forbidden Love, and made a vlog about all the books I am hoping to read this month

People Mentioned:
Danny at Bewitched Bookworms 

What is on your to be read pile for the month?

I am always raving about new books or books that just came out, that I feel like I forget about the ones that came out longer ago. Therefore, I am giving away a copy of 2 of my favorite books that came out in 2009:

This is open to US/Canada only. And ends February 29! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren! In My Mailbox is a way to share the books you received each week.

This week I got:

For Review:
Goddess Interrupted by  Aimee Carter
In Too Deep by Amanda Grace

Gifted:
Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally + Sticker + Bookmark (If y’all haven’t read this one, you need to NOW! It’s SO good!)

From Sabrina:
The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
Point of Origin by Amanda Havard
The Story of Us by Deb Caletti
The False Prince by Jennifer A Nielsen
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Snazzy Book Braclet with Catching Jordan, Witch’s Brew, Sea and Brightly Woven on it

Bought:
To Catch a Thief by Christina Skye
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Karma Girl by Jennifer  Estep
Minion by LA Banks
Pride by Rachel Vincent
Ecstasy in Darkness by Gena Showalter
Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter
The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

What did you guys get?

First Day on Earth
Cecil Castellucci
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Pages: 150

Rating: 4 stars

A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.
“We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings.
“I know what I am.”
Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet loving the world — or, at least, an idea of the world.
Then he meets Hooper. Who says he’s from another planet. And may be going home very soon.

First Day on Earth was a cute read. I really enjoyed the characters, but I wish it had been a bit longer. I felt like the book was over much too fast. It was my first Cecil Castellucci read, but by no means my last.

This was a book of extremely short chapters. Usually, I think this may bother me, but it really worked well for this one. I loved the formatting too. Some pages only had a few sentences, but it was always meaningful when that happened.

The plot was fun. It was very simplistic, yet I still was never exactly sure where it would go. There wasn’t a lot of substance to it, and I do wish it had been a bit more fleshed out. The book was only 150 pages, so to me, there wasn’t really room for all of that.

The characters were fun. I loved the relationship between Mal and Posey – it was such an odd relationship, yet they had an invisible bond almost. Hooper was a riot. I loved him. I felt so bad for Darwyn! He was always doing everyone’s grunt work or being made fun of.

This was a super fast paced book that was really cute. I would recommend it if you are looking for one of those reads that you don’t have to think a lot while reading. I am very curious in seeing more from Cecil Castellucci after this one!

I am super excited to have Courtney Allison Moulton here at The Book Cellar today, for another Fantasy Five Friday.

Courtney Allison Moulton is the author of Angelfire, Wings of the Wicked, and the forthcoming Book 3 in the Angelfire series. She lives in Michigan with her horse, Pia.You can find her on the web at her website, twitter, and blog.

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

A teenage girl with extraordinary powers battles the armies of Hell with
the help of her reaper Guardian.

Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

I’d love to have superhuman abilities like in the X-Men. It would be fun
to be a secret government weapon or something. For like a weekend.

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the
plot?

This varies. I have about a hundred or so projects to finish on my
computer, and sometimes the world comes first and sometimes the character.
I don’t really know why one or the other, but I just go with the flow.

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book
could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

Hungry Hungry Hippos with human faces on the little balls and you, as
Ellie, have to chop their heads off before they eat the little people.
It’s like Anti-Hungry Hungry Hippos. I want to play this now.

Courtney’s next book, Wings of the Wicked, is coming out on January 31st.

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

Bargain Books is a feature here at The Book Cellar, on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month. I’m a huge bargain shopper, and I’m always finding tons of book deals on various sites (usually Amazon), so I decided to share them here.

This week is another e-book edition

Witch’s Brew by Heidi R Kling (1.99)
Arcania by Liz Maverick (1.99)
Dead Letter Office by Kira Snyder (1.99)
Getting Dumped by Tawna Fenske (1.99)

Jane by April Lindner (2.99)
Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey (1.99)
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach (1.99)

Need by Carrie Jones (2.51)
Lucky by Rachel Vail (.99)
Cloaked by Alex Flinn (.99)

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison (.99)
The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines (Free) (So apparently between the time I made this post and when it went up, The Vincent Boys is actually only free for prime members now – Sorry!)
Exiled by Rashelle Workman (Free)

A TON of books I love are on sale for 4.99 as of right now for the e-book, so I thought I’d link those up as well

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa
The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa
Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1) by Jennifer Estep
Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2) by Jennifer Estep

Also, feel free to post any bargains you have found in the comment section

I am super excited to have a guest post/interview from Kelly Milner Halls and Rebecca Fjelland Davis as a part of the Girl Meets Boy blog tour!

When the legendary Terry Davis (Vision Quest, If Rock and Roll Were a Machine) and his hand chosen writing partner Alex Flinn (Beastly, Breathing Underwater) couldn’t come eye to eye on their story pairs, I was faced with a duo of daunting problems. I needed a writer who would step easily into writing with Davis, and I needed someone who would do so quickly. The deadline was coming fast.
Enter Rebecca Fjelland Davis to save the project and the day.
Rebecca was Terry Davis’s ex-wife and loyal friend. She had a published YA novel (Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged; Chasing AlleyCat soon followed) and she knew him as well as any person alive and could synch with him quickly to meet the deadline. Her invention of an Iowa farm girl in love with Davis’s gentle Muslim boy created one of the most critically acclaimed stories in the anthology.
I caught up with Becky to find out how she felt about being recruited for GIRL MEETS BOY. Her answers are as thoughtful as her short story.
KMH: Did you create your short story specifically for GIRL MEETS BOY or was it a work in progress that just fit the girl/boy ideal?

RFD: Neither. Actually I had written this whole story, and Terry Davis had read it. He approached me asking if he could write Rafi’s story to pair with it, so it might be included in the anthology. I was excited–but a little cautious at first.

KMH: How was it writing with your ex-husband, award winning novelist Terry Davis?

RFD: First of all, I have admired Terry’s writing from the moment I first opened Vision Quest, long before I met him, so that part was thrilling–to have my story published alongside his? Wow. But also, I know Terry well, and I know that sometimes he pushes the edges of “propriety” and sexuality and vulgarity; even though what he writes is always honest and rings true. So it was a little scary to turn over a character I created to Terry, to let him find and establish Rafi’s voice. I loved most of what he came up with right away, but some of it seemed over the top. I couldn’t reconcile his Rafi with mine. We talked about it, and we looked at it together, and he was willing to listen to ways to revise–and I revised a lot, too, to meet him halfway. As we finally finished the pair of stories, we both loved how Kerry and Rafi turned out. Interesting, that even the writing of the stories parallels the theme of the whole collection: we all see relationships differently, no matter how close we are to each other!

And on a side note, everybody asks, “With your EX-husband”? Yes. Terry and I remain wonderful and supportive friends, and we consider his kids mine, and mine his, even without any biological connection. It’s a strange and wonderful extended family. My boyfriend is man enough to understand and accept it, too. (Thanks, Tom).

KMH: Any plans to turn your story into a novel so we can get to know the characters better? If so, can you share any developments?

RFD: Yes, actually. Terry and I talked about doing it as a tandem novel, but the logistics of that seem too complicated. And I don’t want to be Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich–too many possibly bad outcomes of that. I have been working on the story, starting at the beginning of their relationship, and how the whole thing developed in the first place. Kerry’s parents and her grandmother are ultra-strict and ultra-Christian like my mother was, so the complications are fun to play with. I also wrote several chapters developing what happens after this story, and that might involve some illegal activity on the hog farm site…but I have yet to decide where the novel will culminate.

Now that Terry’s in the hospital with a head injury, I have to think about revisiting working on parts of the story together…it might be a way to get him writing sooner. We’ll see about that.

KMH: How challenging was it writing about a Muslim boy?

RFD: Very. I spent an hour a week for nine months talking to a Muslim grad student from Bangladesh. I have an entire notebook of notes from those conversations. That gave me the groundwork, and the language to develop a “real” guy with his beliefs and cultural background.

I still got “stuck,” and I had to do the “how to develop a character out of thin air” exercise that I give my creative writing students. Then I finally understood Rafi on all levels. Remember, writing a good character is like building an iceberg. 90% is below the surface, and the readers never see that . But as a writer, you have to know the whole 100%.

KMH: I loved how you made Raffi so appealing and decent. Was he based on anyone real?

RFD: I actually met a man from Bangladesh named Rafi. I instantly liked him–and he was married to a midwestern Caucasian Protestant woman, who had converted to Islam. I couldn’t stop thinking about what that whole transition must have been like. And what if they had met when she was still in high school? What if her parents were super conservative Christians? How would Rafi have dealt with all of that? How do you conjoin and reconcile all of that?

Also, after 9-11, Muslims in general have gotten a bad rap and are subject to all sorts of prejudice. I have many, many wonderful Muslim students who are kind and sensitive and generous, and are the complete opposite of the radical stereotype. I want to do everything in my power to eradicate that misconception (like Kerry’s grandma holds).

KMH: You grew up on a farm, right? Did that influence your story’s major plot points?

RFD: Actually this is the first time I wrote a story in which I had an issue at the heart of what I wanted to write. I hate hog factories with a passion. I try to never, ever buy pork that isn’t free-range and organic. That’s because I raised pigs as a teen, and paid for my first two years of college with the savings. Pigs are smart. They’re full of personality. To confine their entire lives to a space barely big enough to turn around? It’s somewhere off the cruelty scale. I don’t mind eating meat that lived a happy life. But to live an entire miserable existence so I can eat? It’s like veal production. I think it’s absolutely inhumane. That’s a long way to say “Yes” to this question.

So–I had this idea to deal with hog factories–and I needed a girl who raised pigs to care about the issue. Kerry emerged. I also had Rafi in the back of my head as a character I wanted to write. Then I thought–what if?–what if Kerry fell in love with a boy who couldn’t eat pork at all? What sort of crazy conflict would that raise? The two of them took off from there.

KMH: You teach along with writing YA novels. How do you balance the two callings?

RFD: The two things are mentally mutually supportive since I teach English—Composition, Creative Writing, Literature (including Children’s and YA), and Humanties. The two callings are almost mutually exclusive timewise. Sometimes school takes so much of my time that I barely get any writing done in a week. I just keep plugging.

KMH: What advice do you have to writers hoping to follow in your footsteps?

RFD: To write because you love making stories out of words, not because “being a writer” looks appealing. And if that’s the case that you love to write, don’t let anybody or anything stop you from doing what you love.
My rules:
1. Live
2. Pay attention
3. Read
4. Apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair
5. Write it down

KMH: Can you tell us a little about your new novel?

RFD: The newest one is upper middle grade. It’s a murder mystery set in North Dakota during the depression. Grant O’Grady is the sheriff’s son, who discovers the body with his dad.

KMH: Any plans to write for another anthology in the near future?

RFD: At this point, I don’t know about any other anthology plans, but I would love to be part of another one. I’m so thrilled to be part of this impressive list of great YA writers.

Buy the Book: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Be sure to check out my review of Girl Meets Boy, which went up today as well. Follow the tour – the next stop on the tour is at Page Turners Blog!

Here is the trailer for the book

And here’s an excerpt for the book

Thanks to the lovely folks at Chronicle, I have a super exciting giveaway! One lucky winner will get a copy of Girls Meet Boy signed by ALL the contributors to the anthology! Ends of February 17 and open to US/Canada only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story
Kelly Milner Halls
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: December 28, 2011
Pages: 204

Rating: 3.5 stars

What do guys and girls really think? Twelve of the most dynamic and engaging YA authors writing today team up for this one-of-a-kind collection of “he said/she said” stories-he tells it from the guy’s point of view, she tells it from the girl’s. These are stories of love and heartbreak. There’s the good-looking jock who falls for a dangerous girl, and the flipside, the toxic girl who never learned to be loved; the basketball star and the artistic (and shorter) boy she never knew she wanted; the gay boy looking for love online and the girl who could help make it happen. Each story in this unforgettable collection teaches us that relationships are complicated-because there are two sides to every story.

First off, I just want to say I LOVE the concept of Girl Meets Boy by Kelly Milner Halls. The whole idea of hearing both the girl and the boy’s side of the story – brilliant. So many times you read a story, and you sit wondering “well I wonder what SO and SO thought” and this is your perfect chance to do so!

Girl Meets Boy had a really great mix of stories, which I loved reading about. There were definitely some stories I liked more than others, but overall there really wasn’t a story I disliked. The two stories by Rebecca Fjelland Davis and Terry Davis were definitely my favorites of the book! I just loved the story they set up – it was so unique and overall just great. Some of the stories weren’t everything I was hoping for, but were still a good read.

Girl Meets Boy definitely introduced me to some new authors. I hadn’t read anything by any of the authors prior to Girl Meets Boy, and had only heard of a few of the authors.  It was a really quick read, and was so much fun to read!

Buy the Book: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Check out the next stop on the tour at Page Turners Blog!

Check out the trailer for the book:

There is also a super cool Wattpad Contest running!

Wattpad is featuring the guy’s side of the story, and inviting their members to write same scene from the girl’s perspective. Stories should be no more than 300 words long, and the deadline is February 8^th. Winners will be announced on February 14^th.

One Grand Prize winner will get:

• A copy of Girl Meets Boy signed by all 12 contributors
• A critique of 25 pages of writing by editor Kelly Milner Halls
• A 30-minute Skype consultation with Kelly
• A copy of Kelly’s favorite how-to book on writing

Four runners-up will win a copy of Girl Meets Boy signed by all 12 contributors

The prize pack below is open to participants of the 2012 YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge only (make sure to sign up on that page or else you are not eligible to enter in the monthly giveaways). Link to your fantasy reviews that were posted in February below – each one will gain you an entry in this month’s prize pack! Please post your reviews in the format of Title by Author (Blog Name), and make sure to use a direct link, not simply a link to your blog.

FIRST OFF – January’s winner is Heidi @ Bunbury in the Stacks with her review of Daughter of the Centaurs. So Heidi, email me your address at thebookcellar @ wi.rr.com and I will get that out to you shortly

This month’s prize pack contains:

Books:
Witch’s Brew by Heidi R Kling (Ebook)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Bookmarks:
Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Breath of Angel by Karyn Henley

Other Goodies:
Sweet Venom Sticker
The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney Chapter Sampler

Link up Your February Reviews Below