Book Blog Chat (7) Schedule

We have our next book selected for our chats in January!

So, what book is it you ask...  Well, we have heard great things of this book and really look forward to reading it.  No, I'm not much of a zombie person, but I just can't pass this book up much longer it sounds like a great read - much more than the zombies that bore me.  And Robyn from The Bookoholic Zone agrees.  We have been following the author for some time and enjoy his humor.  Many of you may have already have read the books in the series about Amanda.  So we would love for you to join us in the chats.

So, it pleases me to say our next book to chat on is....

Happy Hour of the Damned
By Mark Henry
Seattle. One minute you're drinking a vanilla breve, the next, some creepy old dude is breathing on you, turning you into a zombie. And that's just for starters. Now, the recently deceased Amanda Feral is trying to make her way through Seattle's undead scene with style (mortuary-grade makeup, six-inch stilettos, Balenciaga handbag on sale) while satisfying her craving for human flesh (Don't judge. And no, not like chicken.) and decent vodkatinis.

Making her way through a dangerous world of cloud-doped bloodsuckers, reapers, horny and horned devils, werewolves, celebrities, and PR-obsessed shapeshifters--not to mention an extremely hot bartender named Ricardo--isn't easy. And the minute one of Amanda's undead friends disappears after texting the word, "help" (The undead--so dramatic!) she knows the afterlife is about to get really ugly.

Something sinister is at hand. Someone or something is hellbent on turning Seattle's undead underworld into a place of true terror. And this time, Amanda may meet a fate a lot worse than death...

We have the schedule planned all out for you, thanks to the help of Mark.
Stop 1 ~ January   6, 2011 - end of Chapter 11 pg 115
Stop 2 ~ January 13, 2011 - end of Chapter 23 pg 239
Stop 3 ~ January 20, 2011 - End of book

Tempest's Legacy...reading sample

Do you all know how cool Nicole Peeler is!?!  Well, in anticipation of Tempest's Legacy release in January she is doing some readings from the book.  Yep, SHE is reading!  Nicole is great at reading her books.  The infliction in her voice as she reads the parts is great.  You really get a feel for the mood in the moment.

Have you stopped by her blog to check them out yet?  No! Well, what are you waiting for?  Okay, I will give you the links to the two readings she has done so far..

First reading, CLICK HERE.
Second reading, CLICK HERE. The second one may be a little spoilerish. ;)

How can you pass up listening to a short reading?  Especially with covers like this!

Looking Forward To...(31)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the ever growing list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down.  Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

The Next Book Is...

The Sentinel Mage

By:  Emily Gee

Due Out:  Jan. 25, 2011

This book caught my attention when I first saw the cover released.  But this sounds like a great epic fantasy read.  Magic, Kingdoms, curses, assassins, shapeshifters, and deadly creatures... all things I love and eye catching for me.  And the cloak on the cover. Yep, I love those covers with cloaks. ;)

Goodreads Synopsis:

Her magic may be the only thing that can save a prince—and the Seven Kingdoms. In a distant corner of the Seven Kingdoms, an ancient curse festers and grows, consuming everything in its path. Only one man can break it: Harkeld of Osgaard, a prince with mage’s blood in his veins. But Prince Harkeld has a bounty on his head—and assassins at his heels. Innis is a gifted shapeshifter. Now she must do the forbidden: become a man. She must stand at Prince Harkeld’s side as his armsman, protecting and deceiving him. But the deserts of Masse are more dangerous than the assassins hunting the prince. The curse has woken deadly creatures, and the magic Prince Harkeld loathes may be the only thing standing between him and death.

Book Cover Released...

I have been a follower of Kelly Medings since the first book of Evy.  I've enjoyed her Dreg City series thus far.

Well, Kelly has reveiled the third books' cover...

Another Kind of Dead
Dreg City #3

The tag line reads:  She was born for this fight--no matter how many times it kills her.

When will it be released?

I believe we are looking at July 26, 2011

Kelly mentions there is the train yard in the background of the cover, which will see some action in this book.  And that nifty lightning!  It's got a plot point too.

I love this cover as it goes right along with the first two.  And she has her bad ass knife and the cross necklace.  I enjoy looking at covers to see what they tell of the story to come.  This looks like another great one!  I'm curious about the Lightning and the train station.

Looking forward to seeing where Evy goes this time around.

Favorite Fictional Character (31)

Favorite Fictional Character

Hosted by Ryan at Wordsmithonia - http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/

My pick this week is the Aunt of a main character.  I read the first two books of the World Weaver series thus far, I've got the third here on my shelf to read and review - soon.  Yes, this series is a Young Adult series and I would suggest it for Young Readers of ten or eleven and younger as well.

The Character this week is Thea's Aunt Zoe.  In this world author Alma Alexander has created magic is a given.  A norm.  Even expected of everyone.  Zoe is the fun, laid-back Aunt.  She can smell and sense different things, feelings, and such in peculiar ways.  Zoe can smell when someone is angry, or can tell when the wind is blue.  But she is fun.

We meet Zoe in the first book, Gift of the Unmage but really get to see her more in the second book Spellspam.  She is the caring Aunt.  The Aunt that can be fun and yet watch out for you.  The kind of Aunt you could trust and talk to, and not get the motherly over protectiveness.  She even had a moment where she got affected by the spellspam and reacted as she was suppose too (according to the spells expected reactions).  But then she was fun after she was to be cured I wondered if maybe there was more to it.

Zoe is a secondary character in the books.  But I enjoyed when she was on the page.

Secret Santa ~ Received!

I just had to do a post on the amazing Secret Santa package I received!  Tiffany of Tiffany's Bookshelf really hit it on the nose with all that she sent, and the lovely packing too!  I'm just excited!

Okay, let me set the scenario...

We just moved into our new home.  There were (are) still loads of boxes in the old home.  And things we need as we didn't finish getting the common stuff we use every few days out either.  And I was walking down to the other house to get my book totes in the snowy weather.

The mail lady was driving up to our mailbox.  She stopped to talk to me and tell me she has a big box for me.  She hands me the mail and box and we chat briefly in the snow about the new house and how beautiful she thought it looked.  But I saw my name on the box and couldn't wait to get back into the house.  When we where done chatting I did head back into the new house.  Sat the box down on the counter in the kitchen and told my husband about the Secret Santa I signed up for.  I said I had to get a few things out of the other house first then I would stop for more coffee and open the box up.

Well, the box wore on me as I didn't leave the house as fast as I had planned and that box was just teasing me.  It had lovely Christmas stickers on the front and it was screaming my name.  So I opened the box!  When I opened it my Secret Santa had wrapped the gifts with lovely Christmas paper.

My husband being the tormentor he is kept teasing me and telling me I had to wait until Christmas morning to open them.  It was from 'Santa' so I should wait.  I walked back and forth with the box from kitchen to living room and back.  I finally went to the living room and opened them all up.  I've never been one to wait with a wrapped gift in front of me.  I just had to open and dig in.  So, this is all I got:

Moving left to right starting in the front:

Colored Post-it Flags (these are perfffect for marking pages in books)

Star Post-it Notes (these are awesome to be used to write longer notes in the books)

3 3/8" x 5 1/4" Journal (I love this! Will fit amazingly in my purse to make my book notes and thoughts in)

Monogram Magnet Bookmarks (BEAUTIFUL! I always wanted these, but never got them for myself)

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Need I say anything!?! So many great reviews of this series I just had to add it to the list)

8 pack of Mechanical Pencils (just awesome! I'm always in search of pencils. Now I should be in supply for a time and I've told my son hands off. ;))

And a kind Christmas card:

It's a little hard to read the card in the picture but it says:

Simply bringing you wishes for a very merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas wishes to you and yours!  I hope you enjoy the literary goodies!

Have a great (and well-read) holiday season!

Your Secret Santa,

Tiffany

All I can say is THANK YOU TIFFANY!!! I love all the goodies!  I am so excited. :)

This was my first experience with Secret Santa and it was a complete success!

Thank you The Broke and the Bookish for hosting the Secret Santa.

Teaser Tuesday (53)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

Boiling grease splattered on her housedress as Emma thought back to the day in Eternity, at the gates of Titan Hall, the media capital of the Southern Sphere.  She was there to announce her landmark deal - three new galaxies of her design - but also to unveil her recently completed Milky Way galaxy.

Finders Keepers
By:  Russ Colchamiro
33 pg