March 28, 2012

Casey Barnes Eponymous Giveaway


(made from a picture on we heart it)


Giveaway time! I have one copy of Casey Barnes Eponymous by E.A Riggs. I am so excited about this music themed book and decided to share it. E.A Riggs was nice enough to answer a few interview questions for me! 

A quote you live by? 
"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

What makes you nerdy? 
I love gnomes.  The first summer my (then boyfriend, now husband) and I were together we rented a beach house in a community where there was an abundance of gnomes (An Abundance of Gnomes should be a band name, btw).  All summer when we went jogging I would fantasize, out loud, about stealing the neighborhood gnomes and arranging them in compromising positions on the beach the morning of July the 4th, the most highly populated beach day of the summer.  My man was not amused.  He bought me a gnome for my birthday, thinking it would cure me of my obsession.  Instead it only made me want more.  We now have six :)

Do you have any other projects in the works?
Yes.  I've just started a book that will be the first in a series of three books. I'm very excited about it.  The plot is a bit more "high-concept" than Casey, but Casey has a better soundtrack!

Thanks so much for stopping by today E.A.!


Description: It's three weeks into the school year when music junkie Casey Barnes gets a second chance with her mysterious, heartbreaking ex-boyfriend. She comes up with a plan to win him back, but it soon spins out of control as rivalries, revelations about him, and music itself all start to collide. For Casey the new found attention means learning the difference between wanting center stage and actually being on it. GR Page

March 27, 2012

Playing Hooky

Spring Fever: Top Ten Books I'd Play Hooky With 





just sayin,
Kare

Through the Ears of Eve Marie Mont




Today Eve Marie Mont, author of A Breath of Eyre, has agreed to share how music has  effected her writing. 

“I write because I cannot NOT write.” 
~ Charlotte Brontë

As a child, Eve was a tomboy/animal lover/aspiring actress who staged lip-synched productions of her favorite musicals since she couldn’t sing. Her love for athletics and animals remained, but the acting bug was soon replaced by the writing bug. In fourth grade, she wrote her first chapter book entitled, The Only Tomboy in My Class, and she was hooked.

Now Eve teaches high school English and Creative Writing in the Philadelphia suburbs and sponsors her school’s literary magazine. When not grading papers or writing, Eve can be found watching the Phillies with her husband, playing with her shelter pup, or daydreaming about her next story.





Music & A Breath of Eyre

To get myself in the mood to write this post, I am listening to the playlist for A Breath of Eyre right now on Grooveshark. When Kare asked me to write about how music plays a part in my writing, I was super excited! While I can write a blog post while listening to music, unfortunately, I’m one of those people who can’t write fiction in the same way; I find the lyrics too distracting. BUT… that’s not to say music isn’t vitally important to my process. In fact, for most of the important scenes of A Breath of Eyre, I chose a mood-setting song, the song I imagined would be playing if the scene were made into a movie.

Some of the songs have the perfect rhythm or emotional resonance for a scene; others have lyrics that seem oh-so-appropriate. Either way, I listen to the song first so it’s echoing through my head, and then as I’m writing, the scene will often take on qualities of the song. It’s kind of a cool phenomenon, this synergy between art forms. For A Breath of Eyre, the bands that were most influential were Coldplay, Thirteen Senses, Barcelona, and Embrace. But there are other amazing bands and songs that became inextricably linked with my characters and their journeys. These characters are teenagers after all, and music plays an important role in almost every teen’s life. And music, I find, reveals a lot about character.

For example, the first time Emma and her roommate, Michelle, meet the adorable Owen, they sit around talking about their music tastes. Emma, who is introspective and bookish, loves British bands like Coldplay and Snow Patrol. Michelle, who’s more outspoken but has her secrets, claims to love classic rock to impress Owen, but really prefers hip-hop and pop. And Owen, a hippie at heart, loves folk and guitar-driven rock. Later on, Emma and Gray swap favorite bands and songs as well. In fact, Gray and Emma’s dynamic drives much of the conflict in the novel, so several of the songs chart the rocky trajectory of their relationship, like “Trouble Sleeping,” “Gone,” and “Fix You.”

A few songs in my playlist capture the mysterious and supernatural circumstances Emma find herself in when she gets transported into Jane Eyre: Thirteen Senses’ “Into the Fire” and Coldplay’s “Postcards from Far Away” come to mind. And sometimes I’ll even write a song into the novel if it’s significant enough, like Embrace’s “Gravity,” the song Emma and Gray dance to at the Snow Ball. In my mind, “Gravity” became the unofficial love theme of the book.

I hope that after you read the book, you might consider listening to the playlist, found on the “Links & Extras” page of my website: http://evemariemont.com/extras.html

You can also take a quiz there to discover your literary soul mate! Thanks so much, Kare, for such a fun guest post assignment, and happy listening!

Thanks for stopping by Eve! 

Books by Eve Marie Mont:
Description: Emma Townsend has always believed in stories—the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates in her head. Perhaps it’s because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school, or because her stepmother doesn’t come close to filling the void left by her mother’s death. And her only romantic prospect—apart from a crush on her English teacher—is Gray Newman, a long-time friend who just adds to Emma’s confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre… 

Reading of Jane’s isolation sparks a deep sense of kinship. Then fate takes things a leap further when a lightning storm catapults Emma right into Jane’s body and her nineteenth-century world. As governess at Thornfield, Emma has a sense of belonging she’s never known—and an attraction to the brooding Mr. Rochester. Now, moving between her two realities and uncovering secrets in both, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of Jane’s story, or in the unwritten chapters of her own…


You can find her and any information about her books  at any of these places:

just sayin,
-Kare

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont



Description: Emma Townsend has always believed in stories—the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates in her head. Perhaps it’s because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school, or because her stepmother doesn’t come close to filling the void left by her mother’s death. And her only romantic prospect—apart from a crush on her English teacher—is Gray Newman, a long-time friend who just adds to Emma’s confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre… 


Reading of Jane’s isolation sparks a deep sense of kinship. Then fate takes things a leap further when a lightning storm catapults Emma right into Jane’s body and her nineteenth-century world. As governess at Thornfield, Emma has a sense of belonging she’s never known—and an attraction to the brooding Mr. Rochester. Now, moving between her two realities and uncovering secrets in both, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of Jane’s story, or in the unwritten chapters of her own… (to find out more info click here)


Epic Wins:
  • A girl gets stuck in Jane Eyre's life? Give me that! I loved how Emma learned a lesson through becoming Jane. I love the idea that you could get sucked into a a book and actually be the character. I've been looking for this book all my life.
  • Emma- She is a book nerd who would much rather read then be a guest at her 16th birthday party. She was someone I could really relate to.
  • Gray- Long-time family friend who just happens to be high levels of cute. He has a bad reputation but does things that are so adorable- like waiting by her bedside till she wakes up- that make him hard to resist. 
  • All the 'incidents- lightning strikes, fires, near drownings - that girl attracts all kinds of danger. 
  • Beyond the Eyre-world, beyond the love story, beyond the coming of age crap is a story about a girl and her father and the doors that begin to open between them, doors that had been slammed shut years ago. 
  • Owen and Michelle- Her closest friends who are there for her when she needs them most. The two of them have a relationship- though slightly rocky - which is adorable.
  • Mont is a clever author tying a classic book with today's world and reminding us of their value. Her words do all the work and do not lack passion. I can't wait to read more of her stories. 
  • The plot is layered like a cake with dimensions you don't see coming. The characters are like the frosting, light but solid, sweet but not too thick. Can you tell I want cake? (#obviously) Makes one heck of a cake though.  
  • Message 1- No running in a thunder storm. No swimming during low tide. No running into a fire. I'm totally kidding but you should follow these suggestions regardless
  • Message 2- Blocking communication causes havoc unnecessarily. Talk people, talk. 
  • Quote- "Could I really marry Rochester and live at Thornfield for the rest of my life? Or did I have my own story to finish?A story that was only just beginning?" pg 181 (of the arc)

Overall: Two stories swirled into one relaying the same message. A lovely work of fiction that borders into reality. This book didn't live up to my expectations, it far surpassed them.


just sayin,
-Kare

March 26, 2012

Red-N-Rosey

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 
(as always the pictures were found at We Heart It








What inspires you?

just sayin,
-Kare

March 24, 2012

I never was good at playing tag


The Rules:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them 


Answers to Katie's Questions:
1. What is your favorite thing that you do on your blog? Reviews, Memes or a special Feature? I am a huge fan of Daily Dose. I love finding new pictures to put up and sharing them with you guys. 
2. What is your go-to book for recommending? Sorta Like A Rock Star. It's one of those books that really hit all the right notes with me. 
3. Who to you is the most swoon worthy character? Martin from The Mockingbirds, I mean come on he's a nerd! I also like Roger from A&R Epic Detour, Four from Divergent, and Clay from Thirteen Reasons Why. 
4. How often to you go to the bookstore? If you asked me this last summer I would have said once a week. The problem is I ran out of money so now I don't go very often at all. Like never :(
5. What's your favorite book-to-movie adaption? Harry Potter. Duh! (taking into account that The Hunger Games has yet to come out)
6. What are a few of your favorite YA Book Blogs? That Hapa Chick, Call Me Crazy, EceRed, and Awesome Bookworm
7. Do you like stand alone books or books in a series more? I'm a fan of stand alones. In fact I have a severe allergy to series, usually. There are a few exceptions...
8. What was your favorite book when you were growing up? This may take a while. The Amber Brown books, There is a monster at the end of this book, 
9. Paperback or Hardcover? There is always a debate going on in my head over this. Paperback is easier to read but hardcover typically stay neater. 
10. How do you keep your place in books? Dog ear, book mark, etc. All during high school I dog eared my books. It was easy and I didn't have to think about a book mark. Now? I use post-it notes. They are fun and colorful! Plus when you are reading you can stick it to the cover and forget about it. :)
11. If you could dress up as any literary character for Halloween, who would it be? Hm. I think I would dress up as Katarina Bishop (Kat) from Heist Society. It would be fun to dress up like a thief. Or maybe Anna from Anna Dressed in Blood. (easy enough right?)

1. What book blogger syndromes have you experienced? (guilt for not reading a review book, buying a book for the cover, blurting all you know about a book out to a random stranger in the store, you know things like that...)
2. What is one book that you read which struck close to home?
3. Approximately how many books have you read in your life?
4. How do you keep your page marked? (dog ear, post it note, book mark,  or whatever-the-heck-is-closes)
5. Do you hand write your reviews or type them strait up?
6. What is the funniest book you have read?
7. What is one book that you wish you could unread?
8. Along with being a book nerd do you also write?
9. What are your thoughts on e-books?
10. What book land do you wish you could live in?
11. Your favorite blog is... (leave the link!!)

Tagged: Brielle. Ecey. Julia. Alexa. Jade. Ashley. Valia. Jessica. Jess. Jenna. Books Ahoy. (and anyone else who wants to participate)

Thanks to Katie for tagging me!! :D

just sayin,
-Kare

March 22, 2012

Forbidden Mind by Kimberly Kinrade

Description: She reads minds. He controls minds. Together, they might get out alive. 


Sam thinks she's months away from freedom. After spending her life in a secret school, rented out to the rich and powerful as a paranormal spy, she is ready to head to college like any normal eighteen-year-old. 
Only Sam isn't normal. She reads minds. And just before her big going-away party, she links to the mind of a young man who changes everything. 


Drake wasn't raised as a 'Rent-A-Kid.' He was kidnapped and taken there by force. But his exceptional physical strength and powers of mind control make him very dangerous, especially to Sam.When they meet, Sam is forced to face the truth of her situation, and to acknowledge that not all is as it seems in her picture-perfect world. For what awaits her on her eighteenth birthday isn't a trip to college, but an unexpected nightmare from which she may not be able to escape. To survive, they must work together. But will their powers be enough to save them before it's too late? (for more info click here)

Epic Wins:

  • This book was short but still had a severely fast paced feel. You couldn't help but rush through it to find out what happens.
  • The Powers- They all had these crazy-amazing super powers that seemed to meld with their personalities. The Twins- Sams's best friends- a wall-walker and a human lie detector. You can tell they are close and mean a lot to each other. Heck they even made up their own language!
  • Same and Drake have this weird connection where they can talk/hear each other in their minds. Although they don't see eachother much they are always talking and know so much about one another. 
  • Drake- You don't know much about him except that his life has been rough and that he could control others minds. He was a sweetheart nonetheless. 
  • Same- Always been a rule follower but suddenly she finds herself questioning her whole world. She was strong and daring, a true heroine. 
  • The Concept- A company rents out paranormal kids to people who can afford to spend a lot. This idea sure got my attention. Add a girl trying to figure out the secrets of the said company and the boy who was kidnapped and presto, you have one heck of a ride!
  • The twists aren't even hinted at and you would never guess then until you read- they totally threw me for a loop. 
Epic Fails:

  • I think some of the characters need some solid fleshing out and a bit more dialogue


Overall: I am pretty sure I can't wait for the second book to find out what happens to Sam and Drake. A thrilling, fast, paranormal read that I so enjoyed. 

just saying, 
-Kare

March 19, 2012

Purple and the Porcupine

Daily dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly 
(as always the pictures were found at We Heart It)









I've been in a very purple mood lately. Everything I own is purple and by complete accident. Anyone else think that title would be a cool band name?
What inspires you?

just sayin,
-Kare

March 13, 2012

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig

Description: Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones. 

Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected. 

The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan. 

But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most? (for more info click here)


Epic Wins:
  • Teenage thievery? Don't mind if I do! I know it's wrong but I love the intensity that comes out of a story when stealing happens, mind blowing intensity, I say! 
  • Modern day Robbin Hood- The main character stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Good intentions, sure but even the best intentions lead to destruction
  • Willa- A girl who grew up on very little is thrust into a glittery world of endless money. She never forgot about her past and that's what leads her to help out those who are less fortunate. Of course using someone else's check book? Not the best idea. 
  • The Glitterati- Selfish, mean, yet oh-so-glamorous, these girls are the top of the heap, but a few of them have some nasty secrets. 
  • Some of the situations, like the blog that tears people from Valley Prep down, are very realistic. I may not have experienced this but I've heard that being the one torn down is pretty awful. That was portrayed very well in this novel. 
  • Aidan- Willa spends most of the book trying not to like him. He was mysterious and sarcastic, the best kind of bad boy. 
  • This is the kind of book that you have to clear your schedule for. I devoured it so fast because I just couldn't stop reading. 
  • The ending- As a major cliff-hanger it leaves you ready to plunge into the next one. I seriously can't stand waiting for the next one to come out!
  • Message 1- Beyond the glit and glam people can sometimes be ugly. 
  • Message 2- Every choice comes with a consequence and as you make that choice you accept the consequence that come with it. 
  • Message 3- Money is the root of most evil. (I say most because fame can claim a portion of evil too.)
Overall: A wickedly spun tale about restitution, justice, and thievery! To say I am a fan is an understatement.

just sayin, 
-Kare