Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday Extravaganza



I hope all you Americans had a lovely Thanksgiving, with lots of good food and many things to be thankful for (: Whilst us Aussies don't celebrate this tradition, we do love the Black Friday sales that occur after. So why shouldn't we have something bookish for Black Friday?

The Black Friday Extravaganza features 50 authors and on the blog I'll be spotlighting Cambria Hebert's Masquerade (Heaven & Hell #1)

Synopsis:
"I'm disfigured. Scarred. Ugly.
When I look in the mirror, I see a stranger. When I look over my shoulder, no one's there…
Yet I feel watched. Hunted. Afraid.
And then he tells me I’m beautiful.
He tells me I’m safe.
I believe him.
Until someone tries to kill me.
Secrets abound, danger is near, and still… my heart desires a boy with whiskey-colored eyes and far too many secrets.
Secrets that could cost me my life.
To stay alive I have to look deep, beneath the masks everyone wears, to find the truth.
To find myself."


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Buy Links

MASQUERADE is currently FREE on Amazon and Smashwords so what are you waiting for?!



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About Cambria Hebert

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book

Find her at the following places

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Giveaway

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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Stacking the Shelves #21: Birthday Edition

I'M BACK! Well I was back a week ago but had to catch up with some other stuff but now I'm OFFICIALLY back to book blogging. Research proposal handed in and exams done and dusted - out of sight, out of mind! For now...

Since my last STS I've gone to quite a few bookish events, gotten a mega haul (I need to stop letting them pile up) AND I TURNED 21 - I actually turned 21 on the 10th of November but exams and all so I didn't get to celebrate until last night. Would you believe that this 21st STS coincides with my 21st birthday? What a coincidence... Scary really. Anyway this STS will include my birthday present (books among other things) and the usual means I have of acquiring books. But I'll also have a recap of some bookish events!

Excuse my face in the photos. You can just ignore it. Just look at the awesome authors kthnx.

October 23 - Sydney Allegiant Book Launch

To celebrate the release of the last book in the Divergent trilogy, HarperCollins Australia hosted the book launch at Dymocks George in Sydney. There was Dauntless cake (cupcakes) and a goody bag with lots of swag inside :) There was also Divergent trivia and I got one of the questions so I won a book pack too! For those of you who have read the book, you'll know it's a tough one. I didn't rate it, and I won't - I really can't give it a rating. All I'll say is, it broke me, I can understand that ending, but it still broke me. If you read the rest of my opinion, I have a review on Goodreads you can see here. 



Book pack I won:

Thank you HarperCollins Australia for the launch and the book pack <3

November 1 - Meeting Jessica Shirvington and Empower

As part of a small blogger event, Keely (myspinonbooks.blogspot.com) and I, thanks to Kim (twogirlsandanovel.blogspot.com) and Hachette Children's Books Australia, got to meet Jessica Shirvington. Ultimate fangirl because I LOVE Jess and all her books. I've been a fan of hers since 2010 when Embrace, the very first Violet Eden Chapters was released. 3 years later and the final book in the series, Empower was released November 12. I was luckily enough to not only meet Jess, get all my books signed but also get a copy of Empower. I finished it that night and it was FABULOUS. Look out for my review coming soon! Theresa (the children's publicist) also gave us a copy of Shaun Tan's Rules of Summer, a lovely picture book which I gave 4/5 to, check out my review here.

There it is, the completed Violet Eden Chapters!

Jess! :D



All the books I have by Jess signed!
The Violet Eden Chapters (Paranormal Angels) in order:



That cover <3

Thank you Hachette Children's Books Australia for the amazing opportunity to meet Jessica Shirvington and these lovely books <3

November 13 - Meeting Samantha Shannon and Bloomsbury haul

Samantha Shannon visited Australia week beginning November 11! I was invited by Bloomsbury Australia to meet her and ohmygosh it was so amazing. Samantha is gorgeous inside and out - she's humble, so sweet and such a genuinely nice person I was so honoured to meet such a young, talented writer! Sonia (the children's publicist) also gave me a few lovely books to enjoy!

She's so pretty *O* and one of the loveliest authors I've ever meet

Yes, yes did tackle hug Samantha <333


From Sonia:

Thank you Bloomsbury Australia for such an awesome night, getting Samantha out to Aus and the lovely books <3

Unsolicited

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia and HarperCollins Australia for these review copies <3 

 Galleys
 

Thanks to Spencer Hill Press, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and CJ Duggan for these eGalleys <3

Requested


Thanks to Hardie Grant Egmont, Allen & Unwin, Simon & Schuster Australia, Random House Australia, HarperCollins Australia and Bloomsbury Australia for these ARCs/review copies <3

E-books Bought



Bought



I have rather OCD tendencies as those of you who know me are familiar with. As such, because the current copies of the Divergent trilogy I own don't match and/or are damaged, I had to get the box set to match. I don't even know if I'll be reading it again after the ending of Allegiant of but whatever you know it looks awesome :D

The Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth (Dystopia):

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (Middle-Grade Fantasy/Mythology):



Birthday Gifts




The awesome my friends got me. Gifts include Chloe perfume, a necklace, Bose earphones, Chanel soap/stuff, awesome tea stuff from T2 (not pictured, from my colleagues) AN IKEA GIFTCARD TO "help with my book fetish" ANDDD...

 Thank you Shirley (http://shiirleyysbookshelf.blogspot.com.au/) and Lana (https://twitter.com/nomnombanana) for In the Shadow of Blackbirds and Ender's Game and to all my lovely friends and colleagues for the gifts <3

Shirley and Lana also went the extra step and made me the most thoughtful card a booklover can ever receive.


LOOK AT ALL THE BOOK BOYFRIENDS OMG. AIDEN, ASH, CHAOL, DIMITRI, ISAIAH <3

If you managed to read your way through that well, kudos to you, have a cookie *gives cookies*

Thank you for all the gifts, birthday wishes and books!

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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Mini-Review: Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan

Firstly, thanks to Hachette Children's Books Australia for this copy of Rules of Summer <3

Changing it up a little with this review. I pretty much post only YA reviews, but this is one picture book had to review! Shaun Tan is definitely one of my favourite authors and illustrators and his 2013 release, Rules of Summer is a must for everyone.




Date Read: November 20th 2013
Release Date: July 11th 2013
Publisher: Hachette Children's
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Fantasy (Children's picture book)
My rating: 

Synopsis:
"Combining humour and surreal fantasy, Shaun Tan pictures a summer in the lives of two boys. Each spread tells of an event and the lesson learned. By turns, these events become darker and more sinister as the boys push their games further and further."

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For both the young and old, and everything in between, Tan's picture books are filled with messages that resonate differently with the different age groups that read it. Rules of Summer is no different. Filled with layered messages, each one sentence page holds varying messages depending on how you perceive it. The wild and wonderful illustrations show a different side to the seemingly innocent life lessons for things children (and adults) may get up to during the summer.

I loved the way the story was presented. Tan's meticulous brush strokes show at times haunting images of what happens when you "leave the back door open overnight" or "eat the last olive at party" (the looks people give you!). These colourful depictions are juxtaposed by the simple statements on the left-hand page with their light pencil scribbles on sepia and grey-toned backgrounds. By doing this, plain versus rich, Tan accentuates his gorgeous pictures and never overdoes the images. Such images also allow the reader to interpret his idea the way they want - oh what is that beautiful utopia where I can access all the things I need if only I could remember my password? The similarity I found with Tan's other books was the increasing bleakness the deeper we delved through the book. I love the idea of needing to overcome the dark before we find the light. 


Like his other masterpieces, Tan doesn't disappoint. This is one picture book I will be perusing time and time again for the different messages and hidden things I'll find each time.
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