WINNERS!!

by ⋅ 6 Comments

The contest for Hero by Cheryl Brooks has now ended!

First I would like to thank author Cheryl Brooks for stopping by and commenting to all the people who entered and providing her answers for the interview! Please come by anytime and thank you to Danielle from Sourcebooks as well for sponsoring the giveaway!

I used Random.org to pick the lucky 2 winners!!! The winners are:

and

 
I will be contacting you both shortly for your info to send to the publisher!
 
Thank you to everyone who entered and be sure to check my contest page for a lovely contest sponsored by The Fiction Vixen! 

(ARC Review) Grace by Elizabeth Scott

by ⋅ 1 Comment

GRACE
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Source: Around the World Tours

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (September 16, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0525422064
  • ISBN-13: 978-0525422068

SYNOPSIS:

Grace was raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb. But she refuses to die for the cause, and now Grace is on the run, daring to dream of freedom. In search of a border she may never reach, she travels among malevolent soldiers on a decrepit train crawling through the desert. Accompanied by the mysterious Kerr, Grace struggles to be invisible, but the fear of discovery looms large as she recalls the history and events that delivered her uncertain fate.

MY THOUGHTS:

I stepped out of my comfort zone again and chose a book with the dystopian theme.  I am not a big fan of this, but I thought I would give it a go.

I don’t know how to quite put into words how I feel about this book.  It had the good points, but it also had some bad points as well.  While I see Grace as a brave person who decides to choose her own path, I don’t like the idea of the women being weak basically and chosen to be used basically as suicide statements.  Since Grace was little, she knew she would be ordered to die. The One who is in charge has ordered it to benefit The People. I for one, hated this part of the story, but not because of the writing or the theme of it. I hated it more for the idea that it is decided by one person only who will die and who will live. No judge or jury decides, just one person.

Grace finds herself on the run choosing life instead of death.  She has decided to choose her own path and flee.  She meets up with Kerr, who is all about himself and no one else.  If Grace gets caught with him, he basically would throw her to the wolves so to say. Once I reached the middle of this book, I just couldn’t read much more.  Even though I wanted to know more about Kerr, and find out if Grace makes it, I just couldn’t bring myself to completely finish it.

The majority of the book that I read was so depressing and I just couldn’t bring myself to continue on in Grace’s journey.  This is not to say others will feel the same way. I just felt like this book was not going to have anything to look forward to at the end.  What I did read left me feeling sad yet thankful that we don’t live like this here right now. 

MY RATING:

DNF

SHOW ME THE SHELVES SUNDAY!

by ⋅ 3 Comments
Today on My Overstuffed Bookshelf, I have Misha from My Love Affair With Books! Let’s sit back and take a peek at her bookshelves and get to know her a little bit better!

Hey Everyone!
Thanks a lot to Amy for giving me a chance to show off my books! I am a new blogger and my blog is called “My Love Affair With Books.” Why this name? Because I have always preferred the company of books more , to humans! When I saw the previous “Show Me The Shelves ” posts, I almost felt like backtracking! Everyone’s bookshelves were so organized and pretty! I was scared….
 
I love , live and breathe books, I devour them like I am starving….BUT I am VERY disorganized !
I don’t keep all my books on shelves but in closets because there are too many of them and I want them all in my bedroom (Yes, I am paranoid!).
 
My first book was that of fairy tales , which I was gifted when I was just 6 years old.I still have it , though my sister tried to make mincemeat out of it , when I was 3.


The only book shelf I have is in my sister’s room.
 

The fascinating thing about my book closets is that it seems like a cave at times. Behind every stack of books, there are more and so on. If you stick your hands inside, you will discover more and more books. lol



I keep the books I like the most in the front and as you move behind , you will find the books I don’t like so much …(weird organizing style , I know)
 
I am a compulsive book hoarder, I can’t stop buying books. It is like an addiction! My TBR would soon start to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
 
 
Choosing just 3 books just rips apart my heart because I can think of atleast 30 favorites! But if I have to choose 3 favorites , they would be-
 
 
1. The Likeness by Tana French
Tana French’s writing is haunting. Her books always stay with you , long after you have read them. The Likeness is not only a brilliant suspense/mystery , but  is haunting too.Despite it being a huge book, I wished it had 500 pages more!

2. Birth Of Venus by Sarah Dunant
I have always loved reading about art , especially Italian artists. Birth Of Venus has the one of the best writing I have ever read. The description of the setting is so vivid and sensual. I could almost feel, taste , see and smell everything that was described.The prose is so lyrical , that I can read it again and again and again.

3. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood  is a genius- which is apparent from the number of times she has been nominated for and won the Booker prize. I think Blind Assassin is her best novel till date. Atwood’s novels have a unique quality to it , which not many authors can replicate. Blind Assassin is a literary fiction mixed with science fiction. Its beautiful, haunting and very original.

Thanks for having me here, Amy!
*** Don’t feel bad, Misha! I am a book hoarder too! I can’t stop buying them. I must have a TBR pile of over 500!  I have 7 large bookcases with 6 shelves on each! They are stuffed!****

If you would like to have your shelves featured on the blog, just send me an email at
djsfoxylady (at) gmail (dot) com

(ARC Review) Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

by ⋅ 9 Comments

LOW RED MOON
Author: Ivy Devlin
Source: Publisher/Author
* I received this ARC free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books (September 14, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1599905108
  • ISBN-13: 978-1599905105

SYNOPSIS:

The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver—deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can’t, and there’s nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school—Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she’s ever experienced. When Ben reveals he’s a werewolf, Avery still trusts him—at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she’s not the only one who can’t remember the night her parents died.

MY THOUGHTS:

I had such high hopes for this book. I have been reading more and more books about wolves lately and this book had captured my interest. When it arrived a few months back, I wanted to read and review it immediately, but I knew I needed to wait closer to release day.

The book starts off with Avery grieving about her parents death.  They had been brutally murdered, but Avery can’t remember who did it or why. All she remembers is being found afterwards, sitting next to her parents and trying to put them together again.  She is taken in by her Grandmother Renee who has secrets of her own.  Ben moves to town after his family is murdered as well.  They are drawn to each other from the moment they first meet and come to realize they are meant to be together.

Yes, there was romance and paranormal, but this book did not do well as a whole.  There were unanswered questions, the story flowed badly, and it had a tendency to skip around with dialogue. The plot was something that could have been great, but the execution of the book was not.  I feel that the author skipped around too much and never stayed focused on one thing at a time.  We could have had a beautiful romance between Ben and Avery, but it felt forced.

Even though I finished this book, it is not one I would read again.

MY RATING:

 
  If the library doesn’t have it, don’t worry about reading it! 2 STARS

Guest Post & Giveaway with Fiction Vixen!!!

by ⋅ 43 Comments
After begging, crying and nagging on my part, I FINALLY got the wonderful Fiction Vixen to appear and post on my blog!  She is so fun and entertaining to talk to and I knew that someday, she would cave and appear on my blog.  She is the equivalent to a movie star in the blog world in my opinion!  Everyone knows who she is and everyone wants her on their blog! Well, nah-nah! She is on MY blog today and she is all mine! HA! So sit back and enjoy the wonderful post she contributed to the blog today! Go check out her blog after you enter her giveaway she also is sponsoring here!

I’d like to thank Amy for having me as a guest at My Overstuffed Bookshelf.  I’m beyond flattered that she invited me and in awe of her bravery.  I do owe her an apology though.  She invited me quite some time ago and I have managed to allow real life and other pesky things to get in the way of my blogging fun.  You see, she left the topic and due date up to me.  Big mistake Amy.  Big. Mistake.  If I am given even the slightest opportunity to procrastinate, I’ll seize it, no guilt.  Procrastinating is one thing I do not procrastinate on. So now that I’ve managed to blame my lovely hostess for my slackassedness, let’s get down to business.  
Since Amy left the blog topic up to me, I had to do some deep philosophical thinking.  I donned my hooded robe, and retreated to a Tibetan monastery to meditate on life and blog topics.  I emerged from the experience a changed woman.  Oh, I still procrastinate and blame others for my short comings but I have a new appreciation for the comfort of hooded robes.  
Upon my return to bloglandia, I decided to visit My Overstuffed Bookshelf and become one with the blog.  I wanted to absorb its essence.  Understand it from the inside out.  And then, as if the heavens opened *queue dramatic music* a topic came to me.  
Hoarding: The Overstuffed Bookshelf and Why I Fear It.  

I wouldn’t call myself a neat freak; I can certainly tolerate my share of clutter.  But I like tidiness and organization for the most part.  Admittedly, books stack and store nicely in most cases but there are some of you in bloglandia that make me sweat and tear up with your pictures of your overstuffed books shelves.  I can’t handle it.  Bookshelves sagging under the weight of books crammed within shelves make my heart race and I whimper like a baby.  I have nightmares of being buried under an avalanche of paperbacks!  I can hear the creaking and cracking of the shelves as they struggle to support the weight of the written word.  This is a real phobia people, stop laughing at me. 
 Is that Fiction Vixen under there?
Books come and go rather quickly in my house.  I get them, read them, review them, and pass them on to new homes.  I know, I know…how can I do that right?  I do have collections of my favorite series and I keep the one off here and there but for the most part, once it’s read, it’s out of there.  No saggy shelves!  A library volunteer once had the nerve to roll her eyes at me when she saw me coming with yet another box of paperbacks.  Now I just roll up, toss the box toward the front door and speed away cackling like the wicked witch of the west.  I also put my books up for swap; I give them to friends and give them away on my blog.  Hopefully someone will discover a new author, write a review, and be entertained for a few hours.
So tell me, what team are you on?  Team Saggy Shelf or Team Read and Rid It?  Or are you somewhere in between?  
***GIVEAWAY***
I have an extra copy of My Way To Hell by Dakota Cassidy.  I can’t have duplicates just lying around the house so I’m giving it away.  I really enjoyed this book; you can read my review here. 
I’ll leave the rules of the giveaway to my gracious hostess.  

Ha! She left the entering rules to me! So, we are going to make this fun for everyone!

1.  This contest is only open to USA.
2. Answer the question above in red in the comments.
3. Please include your email address for me to contact the winner!
4. It is not required, but appreciated if you are a follower of Fiction Vixen and myself! We love having our own army of followers to corrupt!
5. Contest will run until 8/20/2010 with the winner be announced on 8/21/2010.