There are so many awesome freebies today! I am really excited about the kids books and the cookbooks. Hopefully you see a book or two that you want to grab. I'll be back next Wednesday with more free e-books!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Free e-books on Amazon (6/6)
Yay, it's freebie time again!! I love Wednesdays. All these free books just make my whole week. Here are some free e-books for you all:
There are so many awesome freebies today! I am really excited about the kids books and the cookbooks. Hopefully you see a book or two that you want to grab. I'll be back next Wednesday with more free e-books!
There are so many awesome freebies today! I am really excited about the kids books and the cookbooks. Hopefully you see a book or two that you want to grab. I'll be back next Wednesday with more free e-books!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Bayou Myth by Mary Ann Loesch - Review, Excerpt, and Giveaway
Welcome to Reading It All's stop on the Bayou Myth book tour presented by Reading Addiction Blog Tours!
Title: Bayou MythAuthor: Mary Ann Loesch
Synopsis: As a sixteen year old voodoo queen in the making, Joan Renault just
wants to be like all the other girls in the small town of Monte Parish,
Louisiana—obsessed with boys and swamped with social lives. If the other kids
would quit calling her “hoodoo hag,” she might have a small shot at normality.
It would also help if Joan’s weekend outings with her secret crush, Dave,
weren’t always being interrupted by her dead Grandmere, the legendary Marie
Laveau. After all, it’s hard to make out with your best friend when your
grandmother is watching! But when you come from a long line of voodoo
priestesses with dried gator heads decorating the wall of their huts, normal
doesn’t come easily.
When Joan witnesses the brutal sacrifice of a child to a tree Druid, she learns
her Grandmere’s scandalous past has come back to haunt those living in the
present. Hera, a vengeful voodoo priestess is determined to use the residual
energy of Pandora’s Box to revive a sleeping voodoo god and declare war on the
descendants of Marie Laveau, especially Joan. Suddenly, Greek myths are being
re-enacted all over town, and Joan has her hands full trying to sort it all out.
With the approach of Samedi’s Day—the voodoo day of resurrection—Joan must
learn to accept her destiny in order to stop the approaching threat to her
family and friends.
My Thoughts: I haven't read many books about voodoo but I have been noticing a little bit of a trend of them lately. Maybe they will be the next big thing. I know that Bayou Myth by Mary Ann Loesch is a wonderful example of a Young Adult novel about voodoo. I had a lot of fun reading it and I truly felt like I was pulled right into the story.
Joan, or Baby Girl, is a really great character. She is learning to be a voodoo priestess all while trying to survive normal teenage things, like boys and friends. She is pretty spunky, and the times where she showed some attitude were so great. This entire book was a learning experience for her and she spent a lot of time trying to figure out who she could trust.
Dave and Joan have an interesting relationship. They are best friends and he is one of the only people outside of her family who understands her voodoo. He also completely supports her learning more about her abilities. Their unexplored feelings for each other make for some great moments in this book.
Joan's Grandmere Marie is really great. She is one no-nonsense kind of lady. She doesn't want any lip and things better get done her way. Hera is an awesome villain. She jumps right into making trouble for Joan. I love all the background that we get on both of the voodoo priestesses from the past.
This book was fast paced and held my interest easily. I really had fun reading all the Greek myths that were coming to life in the book. I think that a lot of people will enjoy this book. With all the voodoo, Greek myths, and relationship between Joan and Dave, people will have a lot of fun reading Bayou Myth.
Rating:
About the Author:
Mary Ann Loesch is an award winning fiction
writer from Texas. Her urban fantasy, Nephilim, was published in July 2011 by Lyrical Press Inc.
An avid blogger for All Things Writing (http://www.allthingswriting.blogspot.com) and Loesch’s
Muse (http://www.loeschsmuse.blogspot.com), Mary Ann has also contributed stories in the
horror anthology, All Things Dark and Dastardly. Her latest book, Bayou Myth, will be released in the
summer of 2012. While she loves dirty martinis and cuddling with her dachshund, she loves fan mail
even more!
Contact her through:
Excerpt:
A teenage girl stood in the hazy
glow. Unlike the other spirits, her form held solid. I got the sense that she
drew energy from the surrounding spirits. Her lowered head made it so I
couldn’t see her face, but the style of dress she wore dated back at least a
century. Not surprising, really. Monte Parish could trash its roots to the late
1700’s.
The ghost lifted her head. Her eyes
were empty sockets and rotted flesh hung from her face revealing bone. She
watched me, and the hatred pumping from her aura sucked my breath away. Her
head moved as if she were looking at Dave. A sly smile formed on what remained
of her lips, and the hatred crawling in the air multiplied. She moved towards
us with an unsteady gait. The closer she got, the sicker to my stomach I felt.
She meant to harm Dave. But not
because he’d done anything to her. It was because he belonged to me. Though she
never said a word, her intentions spilt off her and my psychic conduit picked
it up.
“Let’s go. We need to leave right
now.”
“What’s wrong?” Dave asked, but he
complied with my request and closed up the tailgate.
The girl continued our direction.
She raised a hand, and the sleeve of her dress slid back. Even from the
distance we were at, the long white scar on her arm could be seen clearly in
the moonlight. She pointed a finger at me.
You saw…the words hissed across the
cemetery, raising goose bumps on my arms.
Thorn by Intisar Khanani - Review & Giveaway
Welcome to Reading It All's stop on the Thorn book tour presented by Enchanted Book Promotions!
Author: Intisar Khanane
Publish Date: May 25, 2012
Synopsis: Princess Alyrra’s strength lies in silence. Scorned by her family, she avoids the court, spending her time with servants. When her marriage is unexpectedly arranged with the prince of a powerful neighboring kingdom, Alyrra feels trapped. As the court celebrates her match, dark rumors spread about the unexplained deaths of the women of her new family. Alyrra begins her journey with mounting trepidation. Betrayed while traveling, she seizes an opportunity to start a life away from court.
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the story line of this book. A girl who is being put in a position she isn't even sure she wants. Then she gets the chance to live a totally different lifestyle or be the person she is supposed to be.
I love Alyrra. She is shy and very unassuming. I love that she spends so much time with the servants. She seems very compassionate to their plight throughout the story. I also felt so happy when Alyrra gets away from her family. No matter her choice, she is the kind of person who will do great things for people.
Kestrin is a very interesting character. He is a very inquisitive guy and he is constantly looking for answers from Alyrra about who she really is. He also has a lot of secrets. I was a little upset with him at times. Sometimes he just didn't seem to do as much as he could, but in the end he makes up for that.
I love how important Falada the Horse's role is in this book. He is almost like a perfect conscious for Alyrra. He teaches her so much about the world and herself. I really enjoyed his parts. He was a fun character that added so much to the story.
The antagonists in this story were many, and they were all amazing. Intisar Khanani created so many people that were causing problems. From Alyrra's horrible brother, to Valka and the Lady, right down to the hateful goat boy. They all caused turmoil and obstacles for Alyrra, and they all had substance.
This wasn't really a typical love story. They didn't see each other and fall madly in love. Khanani did a really great job of building their relationship through out the entire book. I like that a lot. I also enjoyed that the love story is almost secondary. There is an entire conflict going on with Alyrra and Valka, plus another conflict with the Lady. I had a great time reading this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Young Adult fantasy.
Rating:
About the Author:
Intisar
Khanani grew up a nomad and traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five
different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first
remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely
recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she
was five. She now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and young
daughter. Intisar writes grants and develops projects to address community
health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which is as close as she can get
to saving the world. Her approach to writing fantasy reflects her lifelong
passion for stories from different cultures. She is currently writing a trilogy
set in the same world as Thorn. This
is her first novel.
Links
Website: http://www.thornthenovel.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/booksbyintisar
Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/intisar
Intisar Khanani is giving away a green fantasy cape that she made herself. Enter below for you chance to win!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
In My Mailbox (15)
Welcome to In My Mailbox, a book meme hosted by The Story Siren! If you click the covers or titles they will take you to Amazon or Goodreads, depending on where I could find them. Here are all the books I got this week:
For Review:
Sizzling PR
Sins of the Mind by L.J. Garland and Debbie Gould
Promotional Book Tours
Bitten Shame by Olivia Hardin
For Free:
Amazon
Mrs. Gorski, I Think I Have The Wiggle Fidgets by Barbara Esham (still free)
The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen (still free)
Burly and Grum and the Secret City by Kate Tenbeth (still free)
Henry Burp - Mind Your Manners by Michael Winn (still free)
Garbage Monster! Burp! by Tom Watson (still free)
Family Magic by Patti Larsen
WereSlave by Lia Slater (still free)
Across A Moonlit Sea by Marsha Canham (still free)
Hunting by S. M. Hineline
Clockwise by Elle Strauss (still free)
Thoughtless by Jacqueline Gardner (still free)
Junked by Boyd Brent
The Grind Show by Phil Tucker
Hollowland by Amanda Hocking (still free)
Out of Time by Deborah Truscott
Well there are all my books this week. Lots of freebies still available so grab the ones you want! What books did you get this week? Tell me in the comments!
Friday, June 1, 2012
The Chosen by Annette Gisby - Guest Post
Ebooks Have no Soul?
I've been seeing variations of that sentence for a while now on various places on the web. Interestingly enough, I haven't seen it on anything printed, you know, those things that supposedly do have soul.
I grew up in Ireland, storytelling was a way of life. There were always stories going round in my head. As a girl, I had dolls, but with me my dolls were characters in stories which I used the dolls to act out. Gradually as I got older I no longer used my dolls to act out the stories but started writing them down in notebooks with pencil or pen.
One Christmas my parents got me a manual typewriter so I started writing my stories on that. It had a strange quirk, that typewriter. Despite being new, the letter 'S' never worked properly, it always appeared as subscript rather than in the main body of the text. By the time I was considering getting work published professionally I knew that manuscript pages typed with the letter 'S' always appearing as subscript was not going to cut it, despite it being an interesting quirk. My first ever wages were spent on an electronic typewriter which worked perfectly out of the box.
I graduated next to an electronic word processor shortly after my husband and I were married. It was a bulky thing which only did word-processing and nothing else and to save work you needed 3in floppy disks. At the time we bought it we had no idea that most word-processors and personal computers at the time usually had 31/2 inch disks, not 3. But we'd paid our money and we stuck it out.
We had different word processors, typewriters and computers over the years, but one thing didn't change. I was still writing the same stories that I wanted to write. Did it matter that I no longer wrote with paper and pen but with a keyboard? Would the story have less soul? I don't think so.
To me, a story is a story whether it is printed on a dead tree or read on a computer screen or ebook reader.
Were the first people to write their stories down outcasts because they were no longer keeping to the oral tradition? Did Gutenberg suffer people not wanting to read books because they were printed rather than written with a quill and ink?
Everything evolves eventually, ebooks are just another step. A good story will have soul whether or not it is printed or electronic or read aloud. I don't think ebooks will replace paper books, the way paperbacks have not replaced hardbacks. They all complement each other and to say that one version has less soul than the other doesn't make sense to me.
I think of myself as a storyteller and I don't mind what way people read my stories, whether it is electronically or on paper.
My soul is in each of them.
I've been seeing variations of that sentence for a while now on various places on the web. Interestingly enough, I haven't seen it on anything printed, you know, those things that supposedly do have soul.
I grew up in Ireland, storytelling was a way of life. There were always stories going round in my head. As a girl, I had dolls, but with me my dolls were characters in stories which I used the dolls to act out. Gradually as I got older I no longer used my dolls to act out the stories but started writing them down in notebooks with pencil or pen.
One Christmas my parents got me a manual typewriter so I started writing my stories on that. It had a strange quirk, that typewriter. Despite being new, the letter 'S' never worked properly, it always appeared as subscript rather than in the main body of the text. By the time I was considering getting work published professionally I knew that manuscript pages typed with the letter 'S' always appearing as subscript was not going to cut it, despite it being an interesting quirk. My first ever wages were spent on an electronic typewriter which worked perfectly out of the box.
I graduated next to an electronic word processor shortly after my husband and I were married. It was a bulky thing which only did word-processing and nothing else and to save work you needed 3in floppy disks. At the time we bought it we had no idea that most word-processors and personal computers at the time usually had 31/2 inch disks, not 3. But we'd paid our money and we stuck it out.
We had different word processors, typewriters and computers over the years, but one thing didn't change. I was still writing the same stories that I wanted to write. Did it matter that I no longer wrote with paper and pen but with a keyboard? Would the story have less soul? I don't think so.
To me, a story is a story whether it is printed on a dead tree or read on a computer screen or ebook reader.
Were the first people to write their stories down outcasts because they were no longer keeping to the oral tradition? Did Gutenberg suffer people not wanting to read books because they were printed rather than written with a quill and ink?
Everything evolves eventually, ebooks are just another step. A good story will have soul whether or not it is printed or electronic or read aloud. I don't think ebooks will replace paper books, the way paperbacks have not replaced hardbacks. They all complement each other and to say that one version has less soul than the other doesn't make sense to me.
I think of myself as a storyteller and I don't mind what way people read my stories, whether it is electronically or on paper.
My soul is in each of them.
Annette Gisby
Title: The Chosen
Author: Annette Gisby
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Inc.
Publish Date: March 20, 2010
Synopsis: Prince Severin has been brought up to put duty before all
else. Now, his duty is to marry and produce an heir. He has his choice of
princesses. Unfortunately, his passion is for princes.
Havyn has been a slave all his life. When his powers are
discovered, he finds himself purchased and freed by a Prince and apprenticed to
the royal wizard, Ildar. His duty is to stay chaste to keep his powers strong.
Unfortunately, his passion is for Severin.
With kingdoms at war, the throne hanging in the
balance, and magic in the air, can the two men find happiness together, or is
duty more important than love?Purchase Links:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble
About the Author:
Annette Gisby grew up
in a small town in Northern Ireland. Being a very small town there were no bookshops
and a small library. When she'd devoured every book she could get her hands on
in the library, she started writing her own stories so that she would always
have something to read.
When not writing she enjoys reading, playing The Sims,
cinema and theatre. She loves to travel, especially ancient castles and
deserted beaches, great places for inspiration.
She currently lives in Hampshire with her husband, a
collection of porcelain dolls and enough books to fill a library. The library
is diminishing gradually since the discovery of ebooks but still has a long way
to go.
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