2012 January

My Top Ten Book Club Picks

January 31, 2012 By Lori 27 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish

This week’s topic is top ten books I think would make great book club picks. I’ve never been in a book club…but here are ten books that I could discuss endlessly:

1. Liar by Justine Larbalestier

For lack of a better term this book is a huge mind f***. HUGE! I loved every second of it, but I still don’t know what was true and what wasn’t.

2. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

My husband and I have heated discussions about these books (mostly just Mockingjay though) at least twice a month. He hasvery different opinions on some of the elements and I love that! These are really the only books I get to discuss in real life.

3. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

I would love to have a chance to reread this book and sit down with a group of people to discuss. It’s one of those that just left me in awe.

4. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

This book conjures up so many different emotions from readers. Either you root for them or you never get over the incest, it would make for excellent discussion.

5. Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

This is maybe the most intense book I have ever read and talking about it would probably have helped while reading it. I thought my head was going to explode.

6. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

You knew I would pick this one, right? There is so much to talk about with this book. The chat with Michelle a couple of months ago made me have more questions! I love hearing everyone’s thoughts and theories.

7. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I could talk about Jamie Fraser 24/7. Honestly.

8. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This is one of those books that I would have loved to read with someone else. It’s an experience that should be shared.

9. The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

This book is just amazing! It has so many layers and discussing them would be fantastic!

10. Stolen by Lucy Christopher

This is one of those books that left me with so many mixed up emotions.

Filed Under: Top Ten Tuesday

Review: Dead To You by Lisa McMann

January 30, 2012 By Lori 11 Comments

Release Date: February 7, 2012
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Amazon Vine
IBSN: 9781442403888
Blurb:

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle… at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable…

I love Lisa McMann’s books. I still say that the Wake trilogy is one the contributing factors in my love of YA. I also really loved Cryer’s Cross. I can always count on McMann to deliver a compelling and honest book. Dead To You is no exception although I probably didn’t love it as much as her other books.

The concept of this book is incredible. A kidnapped boy returns home after 8 years. The story mostly focuses on the current situation of Ethan’s family and not what happened in the past with the kidnapping. I thought that was a really interesting way to do the story because you never think of what happens after. You would assume that things are happy, right? That’s not the case with Ethan’s family at all. When he returns things start crumbling under his feet.

Ethan was interesting but I don’t think I ever really felt a connection with him. He was struggling with all these unfathomable issues but he still felt very closed off. That really makes sense later on in the story, but it still kept me from absolutely loving the book.

This book is really hard to review without giving something away! The ending is…a killer and it left me the tiniest bit unsatisfied. Overall I still enjoyed the book. This premise delivered in Lisa McMann’s haunting writing makes for a captivating read.

3.5

Filed Under: Lisa McMann, Review, Young Adult

In My Mailbox!!

January 28, 2012 By Lori 34 Comments

In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

There is a really cute cat moment right at the end…just FIY.

Trafficked by Kim Purcell

Dead To You by Lisa McMann

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth (my review)

The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Filed Under: In my Mailbox

Saturday Situation- Link up your reviews & giveaways!

January 27, 2012 By Lori Leave a Comment

Happy Saturday everyone! It’s time for a new Saturday Situation, hosted by Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and myself. So, here’s the scoop: I’m going to set up two Mister Linky’s. One for Giveaways that you want to promote and one for Posts that you want to promote. The posts can be reviews, discussions, rants, events you are planning, anything that you want people to read! I know there’s so many great posts out there that often go unread. Here’s your chance to tell the world! Feel free to link up to other bloggers posts as well! Let’s spread the love!

Reviews/Posts Linky!

In this Linky please link directly to any posts you want to share with the world! Example: Name: Fallout Review URL: http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/2010/09/review-fallout-by-ellen-hopkins.html

Please do not post giveaways in this Linky! They go in the bottom one!

Book Related Giveaways Linky!

In this Linky please link directly to any book related giveaways you have! Example: Name: Middle Grade Giveaway-It’s Raining Cupcakes and other Ends 9/30 URL:http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/2010/09/middle-grade-giveaway.html

Filed Under: Saturday Situation

Blogger Tips & Tricks

January 27, 2012 By Lori 5 Comments

I’m just doing two very simple tricks this week! The first one is something that I didn’t figure out until two weeks ago…I don’t know why I never looked into it before! So you have a Feedburner account, right? If not you should definitely get one. It’s a great way to see your stats and just overall improve your blogging experience. Since I’m not going to talk about setting up a Feedburner account here’s a nice post about that. If your blog is on Blogger ignore that last step because it’s for WordPress. But never fear because I’m going to show you how to get accurate stats from not just your email subscriptions but from things like Google Reader (and other Readers) too! For longest time I was like ‘Why does my Feedburner only show my email subscribers??!’ *Cries* I really needed to get my full count since I was moving to WP. So I asked around on Twitter and Twitter always comes through. Here’s what you do to get your full count on Feedburner:

You’re going to have to switch back to old Blogger because the option you need doesn’t show up in the new interface. To switch back click the little gear icon on the right side of your dashboard then select the Switch to old Blogger option. Then go to Settings- Site Feed. Put the url that Feedburner gives you in the Post Feed Redirect option.

Then save and you’re done! Allow Feedburner about 24 hours to update your count.

Now on to the second simple trick. This one is a tiny bit selfish….because I want you guys to have pictures on your comments here and it’s super easy. See I always thought you had to have a WordPress profile in order to have a picture show up with your comment. That’s not the case at all. Just go here: http://en.gravatar.com/ and set up your gravatar. It’s associated with your email address so it will always show up on WP sites!

Let me know if there are tips and tricks you want me to discuss!

Past Tips and Tricks:
New Features in Blogger–new interface & mobile templates
More info on mobile templates & reply to comments in Blogger
A overview on the new Blogger interface
Pros & Cons of word verification
How to make a customized link bar
Things that slow your blog down
New Blogger app
How to add live links to comments
How to remove hidden HTML from your posts (this is a life saver!)
Info on getting your own domain name
How to get the external link to your Followers gadget
Automatically tweet links to your posts with Feedburner
Keeping Up With Your Books Read Throughout the Year
Getting share buttons to work in Blogger

Filed Under: Blogger Tips and Tricks

Yay I Moved to WordPress–A Giveaway

January 26, 2012 By Lori 31 Comments

As promised here is my Yay I moved giveaway!

Open Internationally
Ends 2/9
Must be 13 or older to enter

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Giveaways, Goodbye Blogger, Wordpress Switch

Harbinger Art Reveal!

January 26, 2012 By Lori 6 Comments

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creaturesin this fast-paced thriller

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn’t expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she’s going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she’s come home. She’s even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she’s the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can’t trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her – and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.