Books from the Backlog

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you would like to join in, please feel free to enter your link @ Carole's Random Life In Books, then spend some time visiting some of the other posts.

This week's neglected book

Soul Screamers Volume One by Rachel Vincent

Series:(Soul Screamers 0.5, 1, 2)
Publication date: November 22nd,2011 Publisher: Harlequin
My Review |

It starts with a scream….
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent's compelling Soul Screamers series keeps getting better—here, for the first time, the original stories are compiled into one special volume….
My Soul to Lose
—The prequel: never before in print!—
Kaylee is just your average girl shopping at the mall with friends—until a terrified scream bursts from her that cannot be stopped. Taken to a hospital ward, will she be able to save her mind—and her life?
My Soul to Take

She's always felt different, but now Kaylee discovers why. The screams that cannot be denied mean that someone near her will die—and she can never save them. Because saving one life means taking another….
My Soul to Save

Going on dates with her boyfriend is still new to Kaylee. But when the singer of the band they're seeing dies onstage and Kaylee doesn't scream, she knows something crazy is going on. Soon she discovers souls can indeed be sold….

Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Chapters

Why did I add Soul Screamers to my bookshelf? 

I so dearly wanted to like this YA paranormal fantasy because it's Rachel Vincent. Except for the "screaming" quality of Kaylee the paranormal banshee. Besides the girl was getting on my nerve. I wasn't enjoying the story so I thought I would pick it up some other time but I haven't yet. Idk my soul wasn't screaming for it? *pun intended. I have three volumes which translate to a slew of novels.


What are your thoughts? Have you read this book? Would you recommend it to others?

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday

1. Poison Promise (Elemental Assassin #11)
2. Bitter Bite #14
3. Unraveled #15

What's New On My Kindle

So I haven't read a lot this year

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

I plan a New Year's resolution to read more, talk less, post more reviews, and participate more in the blogging community starting right now!

I am currently reading two Holiday Collections of which are very affordable and will help you get into the Christmas Spirit.

Love, Christmas, and Christmas in the City II, are two very fun and fabulous anthologies developed by authors with pizazz.           Click to Tweet

Christmas in the City II by Samantha Chase

Buy on Amazon |

If I had, to sum up, Christmas in the City in just three words it would be, Fantastic, Fun, and Festive.
So far, I am enjoying it immensely.

Christmas Once Again by Samantha Chase is about Hunter Ashton and Lexi Hayes. They are practically High School sweethearts who are reunited after they'd broken up eight years prior. How could Hunter, who still loves her, fix Lexi's broken heart? By being honest and trustworthy and by growing more balls when it comes to his overbearing, pestering, mother, Susan.

Like Christmas by Ashlee Taylor is different in that Emmeline doesn't know who Sebastian is, contrary to Sebastian knowing everything about Emmeline. He has loved her all her life. I must say I am very intrigued by him. I am very curious to read more.

I liked Ugly Sweater by Elizabeth Hayes. It had lots of winter fun in the snow. Two girlfriends meet two gorgeous men. They fly to Aspen for a weekend and go Tubing and Skating, and well, hot-tub. Both men were wealthy as fuck.

A Change of Heart was different from the others in that it was about suffering and terminal illness. I liked Hunter, though, and I am looking forward to reading A Heart of Time.

Christmas break by Misha Elliott I didn't like. I didn't care for the characters

Joyful Temptations by Janine Infante Bosco would appeal to the hard rock, hard sex type of which I'm not that. Harley bikes and Satan's Knights. Really? I'd rather not think the devil as good in any way. Blackie and Lacey. Leather and Lace? I don't know that song reference. I also didn't like the sex. I thought it was gross.

Dancing Snowflakes by Madison Street
to be cont...

View all my reviews

Love, Christmas - Holiday stories that will put a song in your heart!

Buy on Amazon

The song "Do You Hear What I Hear?" was written as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the middle of the Cold War.

Now Christmas is just around the corner and live-in-lovers Shelley and Jake are in a cold war of their own. Detective Shelley Caldwell has all wonderful memories of Christmas, while Jake DeAtley, born of a mother turned vampire while pregnant with him, has none. They’ve come to a compromise that she can decorate “her half” of every room, but no Christmas tree. Then a case of hit-and-run leaves a dead body and a magical Christmas tree that Shelley can’t resist bringing home, heating up the war between her and Jake. There is more to the tree than either knows. When they discover the truth about it, will it bring them together or keep them farther apart?

I just finished Do You Hear What I Hear in the Love, Christmas Collection and I loved it! I appreciate the paranormal element in this novella. It was a very well written story by anyone's standards. If you like paranormal fantasy, you will like this. Mind communication, cute lovely fairies, and two cats in the yard! Sarge and Cadet. Also, Jake DeAtley, whose mother became a vampire when she was pregnant with him, so that's exciting! I liked the romance as well. Their troubles weren't so far away from real life. Shelley and Jake had their differences when it came to celebrating Christmas but who doesn't have their arguments over family Traditions and such things? I enjoyed this story, and that is why I wanted to share it with you. You can't find this story anywhere else but in the Love, Christmas Collection.

Cryptid Tales Triple Cover Reveal

Reveal (Cryptid Tales #1)

The eBook Version is Free on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!!!!!!
          Goodreads    Amazon     iBooks

Shay could be the key to ending a war that humans don't know exist. Of a race of beings that aren't real, or are they?

Shay Tafford's childhood has been fatherless, filled instead with memories of speaking to the dead. She is forced to hide her unique ability from those living around her. That's why it's been comforting to have Jeremy, a child ghost, as her confidante. But recently he's been absent, perhaps lost as her father is. When Shay meets Hugh, the guy she's had a crush on for weeks, and finds he can speak to ghosts too she's just starting to find a normalcy in her life.
But as Hugh reveals the truth to Shay, about who she really is and about what it is she can do, he erases all chances she had at a normal existence. Turns out talking to ghosts is just scratching the surface of her genetically engineered gifts. Shay learns she may be part of an age old prophecy that could save the entire race of cryptids. But can she?

Capture (Cryptid Tales #2)

eBook only $2.99!
       Goodreads       Amazon

One thing is for sure, Shay is in for the fight of her life.

Shay is finally learning who she is, and who it is she will become. But for now escaping the clutches of the evil Malsumis will have to be enough. Or is it?

In Capture Shay embraces other cryptids in order to defeat their common enemy.
She is willing to die trying to save her father and the love of her life, Hugh.
But can Hugh, her cryptid mate, protect her from the evil Malsumis? Or will she fall victim to his horrible plans?

Settle (Cryptid Tales #3)

Release Date Late January/Early February
              Goodreads

Betrayal leaves nasty scars. A soul departs. Love must conquer all, or be lost forever.

Shay's life has once again fallen into mystery as she discovers her father's whereabouts. On a mission to locate him and bring him home she learns more about who to trust than she thought possible. Her group of cryptids will be forced to rise again and defeat their common enemy, but they will also discover another hidden threat. As their queen, Shay's discoveries in Settle, the final installment of the Cryptid Tales series, will shake the cryptid world forever.

About Brina:

Courtney is a young adult author obsessed with chocolate, crime shows, and fantasy movies. She's spent the last few years as an elementary teacher and a high school cheering coach. She lives in a small town in Pennsylvania with her husband and two very loud, small dogs. 

Website: http://www.brinacourtney.com/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brina-Courtney/270546116309774 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/brinacourtney 
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5295520.Brina_Courtney 


There is actually a Cryptid Tale 0.5 but it might be in the back of the 1st book. (I'm not sure)

Ignite (Cryptid Tales 0.5) by Brina Courtney 

Goodreads

Jeremy has no last name. His family has left him at Marksville Orphanage in rural eastern Virginia, hoping to find work during the end of the Great Depression. Unfortunately Jeremy is never adopted, because HE intervened before Jeremy ever had the chance. Ignite is just a piece of his story. Don’t miss Reveal, the next installment in the Cryptid Tales .

I kind of liked the old covers more . The fonts are wild and riveting and they appeal to me. I generally don't like to see real people on book covers. They did the same thing with Beautiful Creatures UGH! really??!! This series is obviously not your typical run of the mill fiction so why not keep it fantastical? 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Last week I read 
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert . The only thing I liked about it was that she took us on her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia . The rest of the story didn't matter as I can say honestly it didn't change my life one iota.
Any Given Christmas a sugar shack novel by Candis Terry. I got ticked off when I lost my review on goodreads but I liked it nevertheless.

I am currently reading 
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. I don't know what all the hype is about . I am reading this to my boyfriend one chapter at a time so it's going to take me awhile to finish. I'm on chapter eight and we just learned that 'cold' Will was cursed and anyone who loves him would die , like his sister did , hence why he left his family too. We also learnt something interesting in Tessa's vision . Something about a boy who John Shade called the clockwork prince . Is it Will? So many unanswered questions for not having read clockwork angel :(

Will & Tessa Christmas art

I plan on reading
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov next ...stay tuned 

Follow My Book Blog Friday

Q: When you’ve read a book, what do you do with it? (Keep it, give it away, donate it, sell it, swap it ?)

I only have so much space in my apartment that I don't have the option of getting a bigger bookshelf so I don't have a choice BUT to get rid of 'em.

If I haven't so far it's because I only started reading and acquiring more books which I probably should decide what to do with soon.

There is only so many totes you can have to store books in also.

.........there is another solution to the problem ... Kindle ebooks ! The page I am currently reading is from Ann Voskamps :One Thousand Gifts

A 'Stash' of Books

Look at the stash of books I bought today! I got them from Value Village . They are used paperbacks that are Going -To- Be- Read .

 Starting from top to bottom..........

1. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry- I have The Giver so I thought I would add some more of this favorite author to my shelf

2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin - one that I've seen and heard so much about this past month .

3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - I don't know what possessed me to get this book , if only because I've heard it mentioned a few times .

4. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen - Also because I've heard it mentioned a couple times from a meme I participate in . All's I know is it has to do with circus' and I'm not sure if I'm going to like it or not but I'll never know until I read it.

5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - something different I might enjoy

6. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - I thought Melissa Gilbert from Little House on the Prairie wrote this book at first ha!

7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - well if it ain't the best written book then it's going to be the biggest book I've ever read !

It's Monday! What are you reading?

hosted by Sheila @ book journey.

t's another chapter of the week again and no , I didn't go to Church , nor have I read the bible unless you call reading a sermon and random bible verses as spiritual exercise . Shame on me boohoo. I did finish reading two books and you can review them if you want by clicking the links that will open in a new tab.

Books I read

• Ellen Degeneres Seriously...I'm Kidding
• You Suck by Christopher Moore

I am currently working on 

• Most Likely To Die by Lisa Jackson

Plan on reading

• House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III- this book I got awhile back when Oprah was reading it and that was next to 5 or 6 years ago .
• Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

I almost forgot to mention my new blog design! I installed it late on wednesday. How do you like it? It is one of Parajunkee's creations . I love the colors and the fonts and the little books and the Christmas theme . I thought it looked great and I'm very happy that it only cost $15 !

Follow My Book Blog Friday

Q: What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to books? Maybe you don’t like love triangles or thin plots? Tell us about it!

I don't think I've read a love triangle book or a thin plot. What does that mean anyway? Shallow books? too cliché ? too predictable?  Then ya, I don't like those kind of books.

Frankly I don't like reading books that bore me to death . I realize that it's a personal choice , not everyone is going to find the same book boring so this is why I try to stick to popular reads and well known authors. The grapevine is good for that, meaning, if I've heard it through the grapevine then it's most likely either a best seller or a flop but one that I should ultimately read lol. so I'll just say the ones I find boring are the ones that drag on and on and have lost my interest. It's a tough question for me because I don't think I've read enough books to be able to answer appropriately or fairly . The longest novel I've ever read was Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged and I didn't finish .

The Rules
Everyone participating this week is required to follow the featured bloggers and the FF hosts.  Click the button to join .

It's monday! What are you reading?

don't like Mondays----but this has been an interesting challenge and something to look forward to. This is where we share what we've read and what we've reviewed or what book we purchased last week , what we are currently reading , and what we intend to read.

Last Week ..... 

My mind was in bits and shambles thinking about what books to read . I made a wishlist for My Bookworm Santa and sent away my secret santas gift in the mail . I had no idea what genre of books I liked best because I feel I haven't read enough to know that; so my wishlist is based mostly on what others are saying or what I think I like. I don't think I've even read a YA book or any other funky new category to know what I'm missing. I'm basically choosing books by their cover and how well the reviews are . It's hard to know what to read but there is only one way to find out and that is to read more ...right? So anyway ....

his week I tried reading 'A Room Swept White' by Sophie Hannah but I couldn't get into it . I thought it was because of the length of the book but really , it's because I wasn't interested. I always thought I had a reading comprehension problem 'cause I found myself reading page after page not even aware of what I was reading . I hate those books and it happens a lot *I must be reading the wrong books*. It's for that reason I get turned off . It's the same with people who talk a lot . My brain just turns off and I don't even listen to them . I need to feel stimulated and interested to care about what I'm reading or what I'm listening too . My sister said it's because we're smart *idk about that* , she's the same way and I thought it was just me lol.

Are you like that?
Is it wrong to judge a book by the inability to comprehend it?
All I know is that not all books are boring ...

The following are two Christmas books I read and reviewed this week as part of my commitment to the Holiday reading challenge .

Texas Christmas Grooms by Pamela Griffin___this was a struggle at first but I'm glad I stuck with it cause I enjoyed it in the end :)
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans__Great book!
The Giver by Lois Lowry__ I forgot I also re-read the giver and it was just as intriguing the second time

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
― Lois Lowry, The Giver

Presently I'm reading....

The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. So far so good . I will finish my review sometime this week . UPDATE: I finished it, you can read my review HERE

I have to go Christmas Shopping and pick up a few more books :) I've also been adding to my stockpile for the 2012 reading challenges since I need 150 of 'em. Today I picked some free books up from my boyfriends work . They get books donated all the time .

What I plan on reading... is still a mystery

What book am I thankful for?

Thanks to a tweet from @twimom101, I was directed to this wonderful book giveaway at Beth Revis' blog . All's we are asked to do is share a book we are thankful for.

haven't read nearly as much in my lifetime as most of you probably have, so I definitely need to win these books.... If I must say which book I am most thankful for then it would have to be the Smurfs (schtroumpfs in french) and Peeweet (Pirlouit in french) .

The Smurfs and the Magic Flute is awesome :) At the same time there was Johan and Pirlouit. Had I not read these graphic books I would probably not have as much love for the English language or reading and writing as I do. So kudos for comic books! I started school in french so most of my reading in English was through comic books and I still like to read childrens books from great authors like Robert Munsch. Anyway.... I also loved Ivanhoe as a kid .

Tearjerker Books

I hate this because I have never read a book that made me cry . I need to read one. It was pretty frustrating growing up because I was very slow at comprehending what I read and it discouraged me from reading books. I must say archie comics is what first sparked my interest in the english language; it's how I learnt to read english ; so I cannot give school the credit for that.

Lucky for me , I think I have overcome my comprehension disability and I can pretty much decipher what the hell I'm reading now. I don't know about school books because if you don't understand something you probably wouldn't know what you are reading to begin with .

Anyway I still have to concentrate by re-reading paragraphs and sentences over: some of us aren't born genius; and it's funny because I was a very good reader just unable to comprehend what I was reading and I could spell 100% correctly .

Having an audience made it all worthwhile and I started to like reading again . I use to read bedtime stories to my kids and I loved Robert Munsch but I don't remember ever reading anything that brought me to tears . I hear the boy in the striped pyjamas is a tearjerker though.

Has a book ever brought you to tears? What book? Would you recommend it?

Sunday reads

This book comes highly recommended via These Stone Walls . The book is a courageous and compelling account of how money, media, and mayhem have distorted and driven the scandal and singled out the Catholic Church as a scapegoat for rampant abuse in our culture.

Angel in the Waters

Sophia Institute Press is giving away free copies of Angel in the Waters, the beautiful pro-life children's book that has already sold over 100,000 copies.

click on the picture to read it for free.

Angel in the Waters

... "Stunning in simplicity and beauty"

Christ asked the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to save life, or to destroy it?'
But they held their peace." Mark 3:4

Will you ... too?

Book of the Year

It came in the mail today and I am so thrilled I can't wait to read it . I urge everyone to get a copy by ordering the book online . 

A must read book for Lent

Fr. Longenecker's blog

 

It came in the mail today! I was a little late ordering it but I couldn't be more thrilled . It should be interesting to read . It's not too late to get yours !
If you are familiar with the screwtape letters , then this is absolutely brilliant. Don't you think?