It's Monday, What are you reading? & Updates.

Sorry for my prolonged absence everyone! This month hasn't been the best to say the least. But now I'm back! Finally got my laptop fixed and my personal life under control. If I owe you anything, I have been mailing things out all week. I would also like to thank those who have stuck around regardless. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe holiday season this year! I'm going to be working on a more festive layout so please be patient if the layout looks a little weird for a while :P

Now let's talk about books!



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? A fun meme hosted by Sheila at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books. It's where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week. So go check out her blog and join in on the fun!


My TBR pile for this week!

For Review:City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (finished, review soon)Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (finished, review soon)Clockwork Angel by Cassandra ClareThe Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa (!!)

Right now, I am reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa! Both books are amazing so far!

What are you reading this week??

YASpooktacular Prize Packs!

That was a ton of fun! Thanks so much for being part of the first ever YAspooktacular. We look forward to next year! And what about those stories?!? I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did.


If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you need to catch up. Go read the stories! You can click here for story 1: Darkness and here for story 2: A Soul Laid Bare.


Below you will find the entry forms to the grand prize packs for each story--and the one combined pack for all International people! Before you fill it out, double check this list and make sure you did everything you need to so you can enter.



1. Did you comment on every piece of the story? There are 13. If there's not a comment on each piece and your name is chosen by random, then you won't win. That will be sad. So, you should go check and see. A complete list of all the blogs can be found here.

2. The final TRICK. You won't want to miss this one. Really. Click the picture and then come back here to fill out your form!

See? That was fun. Thanks to that person in that trick for taking on that linking challenge!

Here are the forms. Find the one that corresponds with the story you read and fill it out. If you did both, you'll have to do both forms. If you are international, yours is all the way at the bottom.

DARKNESS pack includes:
*ARC of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

*Thirsty by M.T. Anderson
*ARC of Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
*The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French
*Vampireology
*Prom Nights From Hell (anthology)
*ARC of The Poison Bible

*Swag

A SOUL LAID BARE pack includes:

*The Dark Ground (book 1) by Gillian Cross

*ARC of Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

*Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

*ARC of Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

*The Saga of Larten Crepsley

*ARC Vampire Crush

*A SURPRISE BOOK!

*Swag (more than what you see here! almost the same as the Darkness Pack's swag!)

*$15 Gift Card to The Book Depository! (courtesy of Greyz)

The last thing is a survey. It's anonymous and optional but your feedback would be helpful. You can click here if you want to fill it out.

Thanks for participating! Winners for all ToTs and the grand prize packs will be announced by Nov. 6 via email and a blog post. This contest officially closes on October 31 at 11pm EST.

Until then, spread the word and, take a second to let me know what you liked most!

Jumpstart the World Tour - Character Interview (Elle) & Giveaway

For the eighth stop of Catherine Ryan Hyde's book tour for Jumpstart The World, I got to interview the main character Elle! I absolutely love her, such a strong girl.

Catherine Ryan Hyde's new book Jumpstart the World came out October 12th. Other titles by Catherine include Pay It Forward, Becoming Chloe and The Day I Killed James, and more. Jumpstart the World is Catherine's 14th published novel! Don't forget to check below for your chance to win a copy of Jumpstart the World.

In Jumpstart the World, Frank tells Elle, “The world doesn’t always play by its own rules.” He says we all agree that there should be equality for everyone. But of course there isn’t. And we just let it slide. He says, “That’s why there’s such a thing as activism. Sometimes you have to jumpstart the world just to get it to be what even the world admits it should be.”

For 5 ways you can "Jumpstart the World" check out Catherine's blog post

5 ways to Jumpstart the World

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Character Interview - Elle

1). For everyone who hasn’t had the chance to read Jumpstart the World, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure. My name is Elle. I just turned 16. And I live alone. Weird, I know. My mother pays the rent, but still. She moved me into my own apartment because of “The Donald.” Her idiotic new boyfriend. He seems to think he didn’t sign on to getting a teenager in “the package deal.” Like he’s buying my mom on the stock exchange or something. But you know what? It’s bullshit. I didn’t really even get on his nerves at home, because I hate him, so I stayed in my room with the door closed. It’s a…thing with him. I don’t know what kind of thing to call it. Like he has to win. So he said to my mom, “Choose. Her or me?” So guess who she chose? I know. It’s really sick.

In some ways it’s okay, though, because I’m not completely alone. I have some friends at the new school, Shane and Wilbur and The Bobs. They’re gay, and I’m not. Not that I care. It’s not a big deal. I just figure everybody thinks I’m gay now, too. But they did anyway, so…whatever.

And my best friend is Frank. He’s sort of more than a best friend, in a way. I mean, not really he’s not, but he is to me. He’s a lot older. And he lives with Molly, who’s also my friend. But I love him. I just do. He’s a trans man. That took a little getting used to on my part. Not because I have a problem with transgender. Because of my loving him the way I do. But I got over it. And I still love him. I think when you meet him, you’ll get why.


2) How would you describe your relationship with your mother?

(Strangled noise in throat.) That’s a hard one. That’s hard to know even where to begin. First of all, she doesn’t listen to me. At all. And she doesn’t see me. She looks at me. But I can tell she doesn’t see me, because she thinks I’m just like her. I’m nothing like her!

And I just can’t make her see about Donald. Like that cruise he decided to take her on. Big happy surprise! Right on my birthday! How obvious does he have to be before she gets it that it’s like a game with him, winning out over me?

And then, here I am living on my own like a grownup, and then she comes barging in now and then acting like she’s my mother and I have to listen. You can’t have it both ways. You’re either the mother or you’re not.

Crap. I probably never should have gotten started on that. Sorry.


3) What kind of music do you like to listen to? Do you have a favorite band?

My absolute favorite is Janis Joplin, which people think is stupid, because she died decades before I was born. But she’s so intense. Her voice is like…it’s like she doesn’t sing the lyrics, she screams them, and I can hear a piece of myself in those screams. When I listen to her, even if I don’t sing along, I feel like I’ve had a good screaming session myself. I feel emptied out. In a good way. It feels good.


4) For someone so young living by themselves, do you think it has made you grow up, emotionally?

I guess I thought I was all grown up, emotionally. But, looking back over the past few months, I see more about things. I don’t think living alone all by itself would have done it. I could have just curled in on myself more. I think it was Frank. And Shane, and Wilbur, and The Bobs. But mostly Frank. Knowing Frank grew me up a lot. (Wilbur helped, too. I love Wilbur.)


5) If you had to choose someone to play your role, if your story were a movie, who would it be?

Oh. Damn. I wish Clare Danes wasn’t too old now. If Clare Danes could somehow magically be the age she was in My So-Called Life…I don’t know, like a time machine or something…that would be perfect.

6) Can you tell us some surprising things no one would know just by looking at you?

That I’m scared. Most of the time. I act like I’m not, and I say I’m not. But I totally am. Sometimes I think I’m pulling it off and other times I think people see right through me. Also that I really do like to have people around, if they’re the right people. You know. A little company. I act like I don’t. But I think that’s just because of all those wrong people. But I get lonely, just like everybody. And no matter what I say, I really need friends. I guess we all do. Right?

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GIVEAWAY

Want a chance to win your own copy of Jumpstart the World?
Just comment below with your email address and I will select one person at random.

US/Canda ONLY, sorry.
Ends November 12th, 2011 11:59 p.m EST