Book Nerds http://booknerds.net YA (& sometimes non-YA) book reviews, contests & more! Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:14:07 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 booknerdsnethttp://feedburner.google.com Updates! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/mEeUOym_GBM/updates http://booknerds.net/updates#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:14:07 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2673
First off and most importantly/excitedly etc, a few months ago I got an email from the lovely Michelle Zink about wanting to redesign her site, and I excitedly clapped my hands, did a little dance, and sent her a quote. Last month we launched her new site and I have to say, it is by far my favourite site I’ve done so far!



I even got to do the bookplates, and bookmarks for Michelle!  It was an absolute pleasure working with her and I can’t wait for an excuse to do it again!

There is also the newly redesigned Book Nerds.net which I am in love with, so pretty and lacey and girly, and oh my! Purple! I can’t stand purple, but it works so well!

Sad news though… I am no longer accepting Blogger clients for web design – it’s just far too much work to match up to what people expect to pay. If you’re a friend, I’ve got you, otherwise, sorry!

On the review front, I’ve got a few scheduled for the upcoming months – including The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante, The Duff by Kody Keplinger, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, The Karma Club by Jessica Brody, Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry. As of the 2nd of September I will be in Daytona, Florida until the 7th where I will be enjoying the beach and writing reviews whenever I’m not in the water!
]]> http://booknerds.net/updates/feed 3 http://booknerds.net/updates Waiting on Wednesday (14) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/Dw2fsWgsjG8/waiting-on-wednesday-14 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-14#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:01:10 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2288 Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus His love captivated her… his secrets might kill her.

Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.

After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.

But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.

Release Date: July 13, 2010 (Egmont)
]]> http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-14/feed 6 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-14 Alison Dare’s Double Blog Dare Tour! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/8yLfz_NthfI/alison-dares-double-blog-dare-tour http://booknerds.net/alison-dares-double-blog-dare-tour#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:36:39 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2558 Summary for ‘Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures’: Alison Dare is not your typical 12-year-old. The daughter of an archeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab (and the niece of an international super-spy), Alison’s life has always been different from other girls her age. A craving for danger is in her blood. Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan of Arc Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more “normal” life for their daughter. But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals — Wendy and Dot — somehow manage to get into adventures that rival those of Alison’s globetrotting, planet-saving relatives.

Summary for ‘Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden’:

Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She’s the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she’s also the niece of an international super-spy; it’s no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan’s Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more “normal” life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals – Wendy and Dot – somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison’s globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it’s magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

Anna’s Thoughts:

4 stars
When I was first emailed and asked to participate in the Alison Dare’s Double Blog Dare Tour (try saying THAT five times fast) I was a little iffy, I hadn’t heard of the comics before (I am apparently the only one), and I’m not that fond of comics. I am a horrible nerd, I know. However after reading what each of the books were about I was instantly interested – especially when compared to Indiana Jones and Lara Croft – both of whom I love dearly. And while I wouldn’t rank Alison up there with Indy, she could certainly pull off a 12 year old Lara Croft.

Both of the books, Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventure and Alison Dare, The Heart of the Maiden are completely action packed, and full of mischief – she’s a girl after my own heart. I loved both of the books tremendously although I found Little Miss Adventures a bit jumbled, if you pay close attention it’s easy enough to follow along with. I loved Alison though, and her friends Dot and Wendy. Each of her friends have qualities that perfectly balance out the wild side in Alison. Not to mention as a person who has at least 20 reference books on Egypt it was fun to watch the stories that involved Egypt unfold, although I would hardly use them as reference materials themselves.

All in all I liked both books, they were fun, fast paced and full of action. If I had to label them anything I would say that they were a mixture of Indiana Jones’ mischief, Lara Croft’s action and a whole lot of fun. I would definitely recommend these to parents with pre-teen/early teen-aged girls who want to fuel their kids imagination and their thirst for adventure.

Contest time!

Along with the Double Blog Dare Tour, Tundra Books is also hosting an awesome photo contest wherein the top three winners will be getting an Alison Dare prize pack! The contest is open until July 27th so check out the rules and enter!

As for the awesomeness of Alison Dare, she has seemed to have found a new set of friends…

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Alison Dare and the newly renamed Fantastic Five


Thanks to Tundra Books for including me on such an awesome Blog Tour! You can find out more information about the contest here, as well as the other stops on the Double Blog Dare Tour!
]]> http://booknerds.net/alison-dares-double-blog-dare-tour/feed 2 http://booknerds.net/alison-dares-double-blog-dare-tour Waiting on Wednesday (13) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/XoDkck7IxQk/waiting-on-wednesday-13 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-13#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:01:21 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2284 By Midnight: A Ravenwood Mystery by Mia James April Dunne is not impressed. She’s had to move from Edinburgh to Highgate, London, with her parents. She’s left her friends – and her entire life – behind. She has to start at a new school and, worst of all, now she’s stuck in a creepy old dump of a house which doesn’t even have proper mobile phone reception. Ravenwood, her new school, is a prestigious academy for gifted (financially or academically) students – and the only place her parents could find her a place, in the middle of term, in the middle of London, on incredibly short notice. So she’s stuck with the super-rich, and the super-smart… and trying to fit in is when the rest of the students seem to be more glamorous, smarter, or more talented than she is, is more than tough. It’s intimidating and isolating, even when she finds a friend in the conspiracy-theorist Caro Jackson – and perhaps finds something more than friendship in the gorgeous, mysterious Gabriel Swift. But there’s more going on at Ravenwood than meets the eye. Practical jokes on new students are normal, but when Gabriel saves her from… something… in the Highgate Cemetery, and then she discovers that a murder took place, just yards away from where she had been standing, April has to wonder if something more sinister is going on… and whether or not she’s going to live through it…
]]> http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-13/feed 2 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-13 Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/pUbZFDaVTU0/raised-by-wolves-by-jennifer-lynn-barnes http://booknerds.net/raised-by-wolves-by-jennifer-lynn-barnes#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:16:07 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2375 Summary: Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn’t mean that she’s averse to breaking a rule or two.

But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian’s basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents’ murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she’s shaped?

Anna’s Thoughts:

5 stars
I hate werewolves. That is important here, because I honest to Jebus hate them, can’t stand them, wish I’d never have to hear about them again, etc. So much that I haven’t even read Shiver. Yes, I know I’m going to hell, we’ll talk about that later though (or not). I’m not really sure what it is about werewolves that make me dislike them so much, I can’t put my finger on it. I like American Werewolf in Paris, Underworld, Dog Soldiers and Big Wolf on Campus, but that’s about where my acceptance of them stops.
Raised by Wolves
That’s why when Emilee offered me a copy of Raised by Wolves I was very skeptical. I looked around though and a TON of people were excited about it, including a lot of people I had similar tastes with – and then, I saw the cover. I am a picture person, plain and simple. A good and catching synopsis is very important – but a great cover that makes me stop in my tracks in the middle of a store is even better. And had the ARC cover made it onto the final copy of Raised by Wolves it would have done just that. It has absolutely got one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen. I like the final cover, but the ARC cover is something I’d hang on a wall.

After such a GREAT cover you’d figure the book would have to suck because how could so much AWESOME be contained? But you know what? It was, because not only was the cover amazing, the story was even better. Bryn was such a strong and energetic character, it was hard not to love her. Really really hard, because I couldn’t (not love her, that is). Throughout the entire book the only thing that ever got on my nerves about any of the characters actually was Bryn and how defiant she could be. I can understand being curious and having the naivety to think that you know better than your caretakers but the absolute reckless abandon she had at times drove me insane. If you have an idea to do something, and chances are you’ll probably die doing it, you should probably NOT do it. Having said that though, it was really the only thing that bothered me about any of the characters. They were all really strong and very well developed.

The plot was just as good as the characters, if not better. There was never a moment once I started reading where I was bored, or where I considered putting the book down. Once I started, I was in it for the long haul. Raised by Wolves was fast paced and very entertaining, always giving you bits of information about characters, their back stories and sub-plots at all the right times. I never once questioned the world that Jennifer built and that Bryn and her family and friends lived in. It felt real, and the whole thing kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page.
]]> http://booknerds.net/raised-by-wolves-by-jennifer-lynn-barnes/feed 4 http://booknerds.net/raised-by-wolves-by-jennifer-lynn-barnes Waiting on Wednesday (12) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/SFUr5auc_9M/waiting-on-wednesday-12 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-12#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 04:01:05 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2266 Other by Karen Kincey Gwen Williams is like any other modern teenager with one exception: she’s a shapeshifter. Never having known her Pooka-spirit father, Gwen must struggle with the wild, wonderful magic inside of her alone—and in secret. While society may tolerate vampires, centaurs, and “Others” like Gwen, there are plenty of folks in Klikamuks, Washington, who don’t care for her kind.

Now there’s a new werewolf pack in town, and Others are getting killed, including Gwen’s dryad friend. The police are doing zilch. In the midst of terrible loss and danger, Gwen meets a cute Japanese fox spirit who’s refreshingly comfortable with his Otherness. Can Gwen find the courage to embrace her true self and find the killer-before she becomes the next victim?
]]> http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-12/feed 0 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-12 My Haunted Legacy by Saundra Mitchell http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/aYqx2B2DAi4/my-haunted-legacy-by-saundra-mitchell http://booknerds.net/my-haunted-legacy-by-saundra-mitchell#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 05:01:30 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2121 Saundra Mitchell is by far one of my favourite authors, as well as one of the most pleasant/friendliest/talented ones I’ve met since becoming a book blogger, so it was my honor for her to kick off her 30 Days of Summer blog tour on BookNerds! If you love ghost stories, then Shadowed Summer is definitely a book you should check out!)

I feel so honored to kick off my 30 Days of Summer Guest Blog tour here on BookNerds! This blog has such a special place in my heart! Last year, I was a brand new author, with my very first book. I worried that no one would read it- that no one would like it.

And then Anna posted an amazing review for it here. She said SHADOWED SUMMER was part of the reason she started this blog, and I couldn’t be more humbled by that. Thank you so much, Anna!

And to get things started, I’d like to share one of my family’s true ghost stories. Though my family isn’t quite as haunted as Iris’ is in SHADOWED SUMMER, we’ve still got some haunts of our own.

None of them ever led me to discover a tragic family secret; they didn’t even show me a secret passage or share a hint of the other side.

But they were real, and they were the start of my lifelong fascination with the not-quite-departed. A few months before I was born, my grandmother- known to drink a bit too much for most of her life- passed out in her bed after a long day.

At exactly 3:33am she woke up. At first, she thought she’d left the TV on, but when she put on her glasses, she didn’t see static on the set- she saw her parents.

Her dead parents.

Twenty years before cable TV, twenty years before VCRs- grandma’s parents appeared on her tv screen. Her mother told her that she had to stop drinking before her first grandchild (me!) was born- and by the way, that grandchild would be a girl.

My grandmother quit drinking that day, and never had a drop the rest of her life. She also lorded it over my mom that *she* knew that I’d be a girl before everyone else.

And yes, I totally stole her ghost and put it in SHADOWED SUMMER as one of the family examples. My haunted legacy began with apparitions- it only seemed right to memorialize them, so they could continue to haunt my family long after I’m gone.

I’ll be telling two more of my personal ghost stories later this month. Join me on June 16th in Sonia Gensler’s blog- I’ll introduce you to The Dark Lady, and to The Songbird.

SHADOWED SUMMER
by Saundra Mitchell
In paperback June 8, 2010
www.shadowedsummer.com

Check out the rest of the stops on the 30 Days of Summer Blog tour after the cut!

6/1 – BookNerds – http://booknerds.net/
(Reviewer)

6/2 – Myra McEntire – http://writingfinally.blogspot.com/
(Author, HOURGLASS)

6/3 – Jackson Pearce – http://www.jacksonpearce.com/
(Author, AS YOU WISH and SISTERS RED)

6/4 – Stephanie Burgis – http://www.stephanieburgis.com/
(Author, A Most Improper Magick)

6/5 – Kristina Springer – http://kristinaspringer.com/
(Author, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST)

6/6 – Kristin Walker – http://walkwrite.livejournal.com/
(Author, A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL)

6/7 – L.K. Madigan – http://lkmadigan.livejournal.com/
(Morris Award Winning Author, FLASH BURNOUT)

6/8 – Carrie Ryan – http://carrie-me.blogspot.com/
(NYT Bestselling Author, THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH and THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES)

6/9 – Mundie Moms – http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/
(Cassie Clare Fan Site)

6/10 – Diana Peterfreund – http://www.dianapeterfreund.com/blog/
(Author, SECRET SOCIETY GIRLS, RAMPANT and ASCENDANT)

6/11 – Josh Berk – http://www.joshberkbooks.com/blog.html
(Author, THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN)

6/12 – C.J. Omololu – http://www.cynjay.blogspot.com/
(Author, DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS)

6/13 – Rhonda Stapleton – http://rhondastapleton.blogspot.com/
(Author, STUPID CUPID, FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, PUCKER UP)

6/14 – Deva Fagan – http://devafagan.com/blog/
(Author, FORTUNE’S FOLLY and THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE)

6/15 – Sarah Rees Brennan – http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/
(Author, THE DEMON’S LEXICON and THE DEMON’S COVENANT)

6/16 – Sonia Gensler – http://soniag.livejournal.com/
(Author, THE REVENANT)

The Story Siren – http://www.thestorysiren.com/
(Reviewer)

6/17 – Poisoned Rationality – http://lastexilewords.blogspot.com/
(Reviewer)

6/18 – Kate Messner – http://kmessner.livejournal.com/
(Author, THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z)

6/19 – Jenny Moss – http://jenny-moss.livejournal.com/
(Author, WINNIE’S WAR and SHADOW)

6/20 – Pat Esden – http://patesden.livejournal.com/
(Blogger)

6/21 – Heidi R. Kling – http://seaheidi.livejournal.com/
(Author, SEA)

6/22 – Sarah MacLean – http://www.macleanspace.com/
(Author, THE SEASON and NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE)

6/23 – Anne Marie Writes – http://annemariewrites.livejournal.com/
(Blogger)

6/24 – R.J. Anderson – http://rj-anderson.livejournal.com/
(Author, SPELL HUNTER, WAYFARER and TOUCHING INDIGO)

6/25 – Tessa Gratton – http://tessagratton.livejournal.com/
(Author, BLOOD MAGIC)

6/26 – Becca Fitzpatrick – http://bec-fitzpatrick.livejournal.com/
(NYT Bestselling Author, HUSH, HUSH)

6/27 – Melodye – http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/
(Blogger)

6/28 – Kim Derting – http://kimberlyderting.blogspot.com/
(Author, THE BODY FINDER)

Hope’s Bookshelf – http://princess2293.blogspot.com/
(Reviewer)

6/29 – Sheela Chari – http://sheela-chari.livejournal.com/
(Author, VANISHED)

6/30 – Sydney Salter – http://www.mybignose.blogspot.com/
(Author, MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS and SWOON AT YOUR OWN RISK)
]]> http://booknerds.net/my-haunted-legacy-by-saundra-mitchell/feed 4 http://booknerds.net/my-haunted-legacy-by-saundra-mitchell Waiting on Wednesday (11) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/xv1qkCDbJPg/waiting-on-wednesday-11 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-11#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 04:01:47 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2265 Stranded by J.T. Dutton My best friend, Katy, says a person with a sparkly two-part name like Kelly Louise should be guaranteed a little glamour and excitement and not be forced to move back to Mom’s middle-of-nowhere hometown—now the center of a media frenzy since a farmer found an infant in his cornfield. (It just slipped from some mystery mother’s body without anyone noticing.)

Bizzaro.

But Baby Grace shadows every hair flip, every wink, and is keeping me from losing my virginity, despite my dynamite new boots. Even Katy doesn’t have any more good advice. The one boy around who rates anywhere near acceptable on the Maximum Man Scale only has eyes for my cousin, Natalie, who only has eyes for Jesus.

But Natalie has a secret.

Everyone is so busy burying the truth about Baby Grace, they can’t see who they’re burying alive.

Welcome to Heaven, Iowa.
]]> http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-11/feed 1 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-11 Waiting On Wednesday (10) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/xk8EfiQ_7Cs/waiting-on-wednesday-10 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-10#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 19:26:38 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2255 Impossible, I fell in love with her writing and her ability to tell a story so realistically (most of the time). Extraordinary sounds interesting, not to mention the cover (just as with Impossible) is stunning.

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin

Phoebe, a member of the wealthy Rothschilds family, befriends Mallory, an awkward new girl in school, and the two become as close as sisters, but Phoebe does not know that Mallory is a faerie, sent to the human world to trap the ordinary human girl into fulfilling a promise made by her ancestor Mayer to the queen of the faeries.

Release Date: September 7th 2010 (Dial Books for Young Readers – Penguin)
]]> http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-10/feed 8 http://booknerds.net/waiting-on-wednesday-10 Nashville Flood Relief Auction http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booknerdsnet/~3/XhpZrbNg36k/nashville-flood-relief-auction http://booknerds.net/nashville-flood-relief-auction#comments Sat, 08 May 2010 15:16:54 +0000 Anna http://booknerds.net/?p=2244 Do the Write Thing for Nashville from me for a complete blog makeover/design! This is meant for authors, bloggers, and anyone who might need a design for their site or a makeover! If you’re interested PLEASE head on over to the Do the Write Thing for Nashville site & bid! This is $1500 value and for SUCH a good cause! Please help if you can! (If you’re NOT interested there are a TON more auctions on the site that I’m sure you’ll be interested in!)
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