Shop for Books: Day Six

It's Day Six of the 15 Days Book Blogger Challenge, and I must say it is really taking off! April of Good Books and Good Wine, brought this idea to the blogosphere and I'm sure she'd never expected it to be so huge!

Well Today topic is on How I shop for books . . .

It is based on many things,

Am I looking for a good deal?
Not always, but it is nice to get a good deal out of a book, check out my next question and answer

Did I find a good deal?
My recent purchase of The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare was marked down to 34% which made it 12.45 and then I used a 20% off one item for the 4th of July weekend and it was marked down to 9.76. Note that The Clockwork Princess was originally 19.99. SO Yes I did make a good deal on a hardcover copy

How badly do I want this book?
Sometimes I'll look at a book and say Boy I really want that, but just how badly do I want it? I had a time where I knew a particular book was being republished for paperback but I really like the hardcover version and I knew that Fiktshun was doing a giveaway of the exact same book that I desired. Ironically I won that book and I never had to go and buy that book, but now the task remains . . . I still have to read it!

It what's everyone buzzing about!
Yes I will often time buy a book that's everyone is buzzing about, like The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan. I've heard about it and looked up on it and it sounded pretty good but I had to wait until I could actually buy the book. Also I take by time purchasing a book that people are buzzing about because either A) I have a different book in mind or B) I can wait its no big deal.

Has it been on my TBR pile too long?
My TBR pile keeps on growing! like madly growing and I say if I'd owned all of those TBR pile, my room would be a disaster!! Books everywhere which isn't a big issue for me ;-) So sometimes I will buy books that been on my TBR pile.

Online or In-Stores?
It's varies, my local bookstore doesn't always have what I'm looking for so I turn to Barnes and Noble online. Then other times when I'm traveling I have to stop at a Barnes and Noble because it just more fun and you almost always see what theirs new books additions. Trust me I'd probably visited about 10 different Barnes and Noble stores.

So here's where Online comes into play, if the book isn't at the store and it hasn't been in awhile it won't be in the store ever based on when it was published. So I will order it off on Barnes and Noble and happily wait for it to arrive at my house. Other times I will order a book that is coming out through Barnes and Noble because I get it much quicker or eariler than my store would.

Well that is how I shop for books . . . it's a lot to think about right?

Sunshine Series: Character Interview

Today I have Sophie and Myles from Nikki Rae's Sunshine series, now if you haven't heard or read Nikki's Sunshine series you really should.

 

I will hopefully get deep inside the minds of Sophie and Myles, so let's start the questions!

Sophie: You been through a lot in your life, how come you decided to keep all that inside rather than tell someone? Even Myles felt your pain and your suffering

I’d rather keep things to myself than have people know. I don’t want anyone pitying me. I don’t need that.


Myles: What made you decide to tell Sophie about yourself?

She also had things happen to her that she couldn’t control, so I felt like she would understand. Though she wouldn’t admit it at the time, she trusted me, and I didn’t want to keep such a large part of me hidden from her anymore.

Sophie: You seem most at peace with yourself when you’re playing the piano, what are you thinking when you play?

That’s the thing. I don’t think when I’m playing. All I need to do is make sure the sounds that come out of that instrument are the sounds I visualize in my head. Everything else melts away. Nothing else matters.

Sophie: You and your mom don’t have that mother-daughter relationship, but when you got hurt that dynamic changed . . . How’s your relationship now?

It’s pretty much the same. Well, now it’s the same, but she calls me and asks how I am and she also holds back saying what she would have said without thinking pre-accident. So I guess it’s slightly better.

Myles: How old are you really? Or are you touchy about your age?

I don’t really know. I know I’m somewhere around four hundred, but I don’t remember when my birthday was when I was alive. Even if I did, years go by a lot faster for me, so it’s hard to keep track. I’m not exactly touchy about my age, but I don’t like thinking about it because it makes me think about what I am.

Sophie: How’s your band adjusting to the New York lifestyle? Any new songs from you and the band?

The band is doing AWESOME. We’ve been fighting like crazy, trying to understand each other when writing out the music because Boo and Trei read sheet music and I don’t, but other than that it’s been a blast. We’ve covered a lot of songs as well as written some new ones we’re excited to share.

Myles: You “marked” Sophie without her knowing it, did you ever explained to Sophie about that?

I did. I had my reasons for it, and I was going to tell her, but a lot of things happened afterward and it didn’t seem right to bring it up. I will, though. Eventually.

Myles: You said in the end when Sophie was dealing with Michael’s blood that you will fix your relationship with Sophie, how will you do that? I know Sophie had reasons to be angry at you and she's is known to keeping things that hurt her deep inside

We’ve both kept things from each other. When you get two people together that are used to hiding everything about themselves, I guess that’s the risk you take. I want to tell her everything. Telling her everything may not fix our relationship—it may break it entirely—but she deserves to know the truth.

Sophie: What your thoughts about getting your relationship fixed?

It’s going to take a whole lot of super glue to fix this. I hope it can survive, but at this point, I just don’t know. I don’t like thinking about it.

Well there you have it! I like to thanks Sophie and Myles for stopping by and answering my questions. I do hope that Sophie and Myles will be able to fix their relationship and hopefully will be in a happy place of their relationship.

Tears Worthy: Day Five

It's Friday and it also Day Five of the Book Blogger Challenge presented from April of Good Books and Good Wine, Today I'll recommend a Tears worthy book. While there are many that can cause Tears but this book I'm about to recommend definitely hits you in the heart.

IF I DIE (Soul Screamer #5) by Rachel Vincent

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.


Please note that this is book #5 so I heed warning to you if you haven't read the previous books, there are spoilers.

GOD this was such a emotional roller coaster Rachel Vincent have ever written, and trust me book #6 had that same feeling and heck even #7 but neither of them match up to the climax of the series and the twists and turns that IF I DIE presents.

So what happens? Well pretty simple really, Kaylee's borrowed time (her mom's soul) was up. But before Kaylee even allowed her time to be up, her primary focus was on saving Eastlake High from an incubus that was seeking the perfect host to carry his child but all but one suffered miscarriages and damaged to their chance of having kids in the future. But his child also needed a pure soul for his child in order to live. So you can see that Kaylee want this guy gone before she dies.

Ok wait SO Kaylee accepted that she is going to die? Haha nope not yet and someone else is doing the worries and concerns for her. Kaylee also goes through a relationship change and you know what that means . . . Tod the Reaper was finally her knight in shining armor.

Time is running out and all Kaylee wished was that she had more time . . . more time to be with Tod, more time to make things right between her and Nash after she broke his heart, just time to do everything and anything. Then the big bad incubus find that Kaylee's soul can keep his child alive and her dead, Kaylee fights until her death and like that was bad what was even worst was Tod taking her to the hospital . . . his actions ended up putting Kaylee on his list!

As you can tell, a lot happens in IF I DIE and I couldn't imagine it any other ways. Tod finally get the credits he deserves and the girl, and if you really want to do this "Firsts, Seconds" Tod technically saw Kaylee first long ago before she even began dating Nash. Sorry Nash! I know that was harsh.

"You're the brightest thing I've ever seen, Kaylee. You're this beautiful ball of spitting sparks out at this world, burning fiercely, holding back the dark by sheer will. And I always knew that if I reached out -- if I tried to touch you -- I'd get burned. Because you're not mine. I'm not supposed to feel the fire. I'm not supposed to want it. But I do. I want you, Kaylee, like I've never wanted anything. Ever. I want the fire. I want the heat, and the light, and I want the burn." ~ Tod  Pg 232


I wish I had more but either A) I haven't read a series that is tears worthy (there's some), B) Hadn't Gotten far in a series to make it tears worthy, or C) I just haven't read books that are tears worthy.  But I heard that The Clockwork Princess was very Tears worthy but I haven't read the series yet, noted I have read the Mortal Instruments not the Infernal Devices

Book Toss: Day Four

Book Flung

It's Day Four of April of Good Books and Good Wine 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge and today we're talking about Book Flung . . . When was the last time you flung a book?

What was the last book I flung across the room? Well I don't really flung my books . . . you know that could cause dents, crinkles, creases and I like to keep my books in precise condition. But I can't do anything with those that suffer creases, dents and crinkles because I've read them so many times.

 

I may paused reading a scene, thus partly closing the book thinking of these possibilities

 

WTH!!!!

NOOOOO!!!

GRRRR!!!!

WHY?!?!?

HUFFFED

 

But never any throwing unless it a text book that I shove off my bed . . .I'm sure there's a reason why they are called Textbook.

No imaginations, no other universe, no romance or excitements

Who are my Blogger BFFs: Day Three

Blogger BFFs

I made so many great connections with people in the blogosphere universe and someday I hope to meet these lovely people face to face.


Rachel @ Fiktshun, believe it or not I found out about her through a common book that we both love and from then on I love her posts and just how much she put her time into giving honest reviews and doing amazing guest posts and interviews. Plus I love the giveaways from her.
Here's a photo of one of Rachel's Avatar ;-)





Jessica @ Hackaroo's Review, I stumble across her when she made a comment with one of my favorite author and I just had to put in my 2 cents. Then it turns out we both love a lot of things, then that leads us to talking on twitter back and forth. We can go back and forth on a lot of things that i related to books or non related.





Kara @ Great Imagination, I was recommend to her through a mutal friend and while I still haven't ask for her editing services cause I'm still working on my craft, but I began following her blog and twitter chats. We both are big Backstreet Boys and we're both very excited for their new album. We also both loves animals to our souls.

There are so many lovely people in the blogosphere that I can't possibly pick and choose but these gals I've made a lot of connections and I hope I get to meet more!

Sun Poisoned Review

Sun Poisoned (Sunshine #2) by Nikki Rae

Sophie’s life has changed. She’s moved to New York, she’s playing music for new people, and she’s making new friends. Then there’s Myles, and the fact that he is now her boyfriend—and everyone knows it. There are a lot of new things to take in, but Sophie has no problem adjusting.

She’s not exactly normal, living in a half-human, half-vampire world, but she’s finally, truly happy. But some parts of Sophie and Myles’ old life still hide in the dark, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

Sophie’s having nightmares again, but they aren’t about her; Myles is hiding something that she’s not sure she wants to know.

And one lie will change everything.

No matter how hard she tries to cover up the marks her monsters have left behind, they never truly go away, and Myles’ monsters are no different.

Once again, Sophie’s caught between life and death, but this time, only she can save herself.

 

Kindle Edition

Published June 28th 2013 by Nikki Rae

 

Again I have to thanks Nikki for lending out her books to me in return my honest review. Sun Poisoned is book #2 of the Sunshine series, Sophie and Myles are back!

 

Review

Sophie nnd Myles are back and living it large in New York, the band is doing great . . . Life is good. Myles still can't feel what Sophie feeling anymore but that doesn't prevent him from getting close to her and her being close to him.

What do you do if someone you trust have been lying to you and for Sophie a tragic event happens that leaves her almost defeneless and in danger.

Was the Michael threat over? Or is there a greater threat beyond Sophie and Myles control?

I give this 4.5 cat's tails up, I really like the intensity of the climax of the story and that ending was just WHEW! and AW MAN! I have to wait until the next book.

 

Ramble

Yes I know my review is slightly short, but it was the best way I could do without revealing spoilers in the review. My ramble is for the spoil aspect. So onwards I ramble on, first off I'm glad that Sophie took the leap to go to New York, after what happen to her that previously winter I wasn't sure if even

 

Myles or the band could convince her. But now in New York life couldn't be any more perfect, except Sophie stills has a hard time adjusting to herself with Myles.

 

Myles does what he can to make Sophie as comfortable as possible and taking things slow but the memories still haunts Sophie no matter what she does to not think about it. Myles give Sophie the control since all she's ever know was being under controlled.

 

Ava and Evan part of Myles's past and good friends, but when Ava's sudden collapse in Sophie's apartment Myles has to explain to her about Ava's situation. Michael's blood, yes Michael is back in the picture (sort of) his blood is infected to others both vampires and humans. And Myles leaves out an important detail from Sophie and then Sophie becomes mad until a family thing happen.

 

The family tragic: I really hates these tragic stories especially when you're so drawn to those character and boom the author cut him out of the story.

 

And Cue the ending! I was blown away and Michael wastes no time trying to end Sophie's life and what better way to do so by getting her bitten by vampires that are infected with his blood? The pain and suffering Sophie went through and Jade came into the realization that without Myles's help Sophie will not survive.

 

Now Nikki did leave it open-ending, so we're left wondering if what Myles did will help her and how will Sophie's life change now?

 

Bedtime Reading Ritual: Day Two

What my Bedtime Reading Ritual?

Hosted by April of Good Books and Good Wine: Day Two Challenge link HERE

 

I don't have a definite bedtime ritual because it is always different every night. sometimes I watch a movie, I type, or I read. But all in one I do listen to music . . . that is the only thing that will be the same.

 

It really depends on my mood of reading . . .

I can do it two ways, choose a book that is on my current read or read a couple scenes from a book I've already read.

These are the books that I keep by my bedside (My headboard is a mini shelf), here's a few reason why . . .one I love the series and the author's writing. Some are books I have stack there that need review or they are simply just there.

Yes I do use a flashlight, since almost all book light fails to help me . . .

If I am reading a new book, I will only read so many chapters unless its a really good book that I can't possibly put down (yes I have dealt with lack of sleep many times)

If I am reading a scene from one of those lovely books by my beside, I'll pick and choose which one then I'll go to a scene I have a folded corner (yes I am one of those people sorry) but I can do it to these books because I'll get another set of copies that are not cornered.

Sometimes I will read books on the Ipad but the screen is bright and I get those night bugs YUCK! Other times the book I read on the Ipad are guilty pleasure books, shh its a secret.

Now if you asked "Have you ever fallen asleep reading?" The answer is no but I have been on my Ipad writing and fallen asleep or have forgotten to plug it in or turn it off . . . OOPS.

Here another question you may asked "How can you remember something you read the previously night?" I don't know how to explain it but I have a fond memory and I simple just continue reading the very next day. It's the same thing with reading multiple books at the same times how do you part them? I am just able to part two and two.

 

Check back for Day Three!

Who are my Blogger BFFs?