Create a Cover Contest: The Saphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos

Hi! La Femme Readers is hosting a cool contest where you create a new cover for The Saphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos. You can win awesome prizes and it's fun re-making covers.

This is the original cover - 

This the cover I made - 

You can see the other entry's and enter here.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Name - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
Author - Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Publisher - Knopf
Release - October, 26th 2010
Rating - 5/5


Summary - “I’ve left some clues for you. 
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”
So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Information from goodreads.com

Review - 

I. Love. This. Book. 

I devoured this book. I started it last night and finished it this morning. It was light and fun and once you start reading it you won't be able to put it down.


This book is probably the best winter/holiday season book I have ever read. When I finished reading this book I was definitely in the holiday mood. 


Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have crafted yet another amazing book together.

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Name - Crescendo
Author - Becca Fitzpatrick
Publisher - Simon & Schuster  
Release - October, 9th 2010
Rating - 4/5


Summary - Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away, and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. 

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch, or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?Information from www.goodreads.com


Review - 
Crescendo is engaging, thrilling, and suspenseful. From the very beginning you are pulled in and thrown onto a fast paced, emotional roller coaster.


While reading Crescendo, I actually felt anger, sadness, and even sympathy. When a book can make you feel all of those emotions and more, everyone should read it. The only problem I had with this book was the writing. Sometimes there were scenes in the book that really didn't need to be there, and some aspects of the book were almost exactly the same as the first in the series.


None of the characters really blew me away, but some were very relatable.


All in all a good book. I think if you liked Hush, Hush then you should pick it up. If you didn't like Hush, Hush then you should still pick it up. 

Debut Author Challenge

Kristi over at The Story Siren is hosting the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. I have never participated in a book challenge before, so I am very excited for this. 

Here are a couple of book I would like to read - 

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

So Shelly by Ty Roth

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

You can sign up for The Debut Author Challenge over here.

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

As You Wish by Jackson Pearce

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Heist Society by Ally Carter

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

What did you get this week?

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

I can't wait to finally read this book!

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

I don't know much about this book, but it looks good.

From Alex at Electrifying Reviews

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Swag - 

Beautiful Darkness pin 

Caster Chronicles bookmark

Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) Tattoo

Fatal Infatuation: ALMOST HUMAN ~The First Trilogy~ bookmark (signed)

Firelight Sticker

From Christine Johnson - 

4 Claire de Lune bookmarks (signed)

4 Claire de Lune stickers (signed)

What did you get?

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Name - Beautiful Darkness
Author - Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publisher - Little, Brown
Release - October 12th, 2010 
Rating - 5/5


Synopsis - Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. 

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

Information from Goodreads.Com

Review - Amazing, this book was simply amazing. Kami and Margie's writing styles blend together to make this irresistible southern gothic come to life.

Beautiful Darkness was my most anticipated book of 2010 and it definitely deserved that anticipation. From the very beginning of Beautiful Darkness I was hooked. The town of Gatlin and all of the characters flourished in this astounding sequel. 

Lets talk some more about the characters. Liv was probably my favorite character in this book. I love people with accents so obviously she would be my favorite. Liv was definitely a good addition to the book. She is the typical know it all everyone loves. She is like the Hermione Granger of Beautiful Darkness! I also love Lucille. Yes one of my favorite characters is a cat, but this cat is seriously awesome! I don't really know why I love Lucille so much, but she kind of makes the story better for me. I always laugh when Lucille just shows up next to Ethan.

At points it got a little slow, but only for brief moments. Otherwise the writing was better than most. 

This book was excellent. I recommend everyone to read this book even if you didn't like the first in the series. 

New Banner

As you may have noticed, my blog has a new banner. I never really liked the other one so I am going to try this one out. I love this one? What do you think of it?

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It gives bloggers a chance to show of all the stuff we get each week.

Hush Money (Talent Chronicles) by Susan Bischoff

I love this cover! I love the concept! I love this book! I am reading this right now and I love it! 

Thanks to - 

Susan Bischoff

What did you get this week?

Winner!

The winner of the signed copy of The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 2), goes to... Mary3195!

Interview - Christine Johnson

Books by Christine Johnson-

Claire de Lune

Nocturne(Coming Soon)

Claire de Lune - Torn between two destinies?

Claire is having

the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps cha

tting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threate

ns her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?

Information from Goodreads.Com

Interview -

1. What are five words that come to your mind when you think about Claire de Lune? Excitement, romance, challenge, struggle, acceptance

2. How long did it take you to write Claire de Lune?

All told, from the first word of the first draft to the moment it hit the shelves was about two and a half years. The different drafts took varying amounts of time, from seven-ish months for the first draft, five for the major revision, two for the minor revision and then weeks for things like copyedits, etc.

3. Where did the idea for Claire de Lune come from?

Claire was born the way almost all of my ideas are - by what-ifing. When I thought of the idea, I’d just read a bunch of YA novels with a human girl who fell for a supernatural guy. I thought “what if the *girl* were supernatural? And what if she were dating a human guy?” It was a teensy little poppy-seed-sized idea, but after a lot more what-ifing, it got more and more interesting until I knew that I *had* to write it!

4. What character can you most relate to from Claire de Lune?

I’m going to take Claire out of the equation here, because it’s just too easy an answer. So, aside from Claire, I probably find it easiest to relate to Victoria, just because she’s the most like me. She’s a good girl, sort of quiet, part of the group but not the head of it - at least, not right now. But she has an inner strength that I admire and aspire to have.

5. Was it easier writing Claire de Lune or Nocturne?

They each had their challenges. CLAIRE was hard because I was building the world from scratch, but then again, I had zero external deadlines when I was drafting that book, which meant I got to take as much time as I wanted/needed creating Claire’s universe. With NOCTURNE, I already had a solid mythology for my wolves and a developed cast of characters, but my deadline was pretty tight and my youngest child was VERY TINY when I drafted it. It was quite challenging in its own way!

6. Who is your favorite character to write?

Again, *other* than Claire, who’s too easy an answer, I’d have to say Emily. Her voice is very, very clear in my head. In fact, I find it very difficult to *make* Emily say anything. She knows what she thinks and is very stubborn! Plus she’s fun - she’s larger than life in many ways, and her flamboyance is very refreshing to write.

7. How do you choose names for your characters?

I have a couple of favorite ways to pick names. I love baby name websites - I can go and browse through thousands of names, sorting them in multiple ways, including by meaning. What a name means is important to me, though it can be overridden if it’s fitting in every other way. For last names especially, I like old cemeteries. I like to look at the names on the headstones and pick from those. I figure, people put up headstones so they’ll be remembered - and what better way to “remember” them than to use the name in a book?

8. What is your favorite YA book?

My favorite book changes daily. Seriously. I can tell you that *today*, my favorite YA novel is Libba Bray’s GOING BOVINE, but tomorrow it’ll be John Green’s PAPER TOWNS and the day after, it’ll be Holly Black’s WHITE CAT. I love so many of them, and it all depends on my mood what my favorite right *now.

9. Do you participate in NaNoWriMo?

Not exactly. When I’m drafting (which is often,) I have daily word minimums to reach. I sort of do NaNoEveryMo, really, as I hate to be between projects. If I’m not revising, I’m drafting. Otherwise, I don’t have anywhere to put my crazy and it spills over into my real life. Everyone’s happier when I keep that stuff on the page!