New School Year- New Books!

With August comes the beginning of another school year.  Whether your kids are going or yourself, it really is the most annoying time of the year.   You have to spend tons of money on school supplies, clothes, or tuition and rework you morning routine just to make sure you get yourself, and anyone else, out the door on time.  But with the start of school year comes some good things; seeing friends you haven’t seen in a while, football games (and tailgating!!), parties, and Halloween.  Something else comes with this time of year that I for one find fantastic.  With August marking the beginning of Fall, many authors launch a new batch of books for the new season.   Below are a list of some of the expected bestsellers coming out soon!

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead - August 23, 2011

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives...

Nocturne by Christine Johnson - August 23, 2011

When Claire’s human and wolf lives start to collide, her worst nightmares come true. She is hurting her best friend. She has been caught lying. And then the unthinkable happens: Someone discovers Claire’s secret...

The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies Book 2) by Pittacus Lore - August 23, 2011

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

Daniel X: Game Over by James Patterson - September 19, 2011

...and their next target is none other than Daniel. He'll have no choice but to turn to the aliens' rebellious son who needs help to stand up to his malicious parents. But can Daniel trust the progeny of this treacherous twosome? Or will it be "Game Over" for the alien hunter?

Destined (House of Night novel 9) by P.C. and Kristen Cast - October 25, 2011

...is Zoey really safe? Does she truly know those who are closest to her? And will love win when it is tested by the very soul of Darkness? Find out what's destined in the next thrilling chapter of the House of Night series.

Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle book 4) by Christopher Paolini - November 8, 2011

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson - November 14, 2011

The President's son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark. 

Witch and Wizard: The Fire by James Patterson - December 5, 2011

Wisty knows that the time has finally come for her to face The One. But her fight and her fire only channel more power to this already invincible being. How can she and Whit possibly prepare for their imminent showdown?

Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices book 2) by Cassandra Clare - December 6, 2011

In the hope of saving Charlotte and the Institute, Will, Jem, and Tessa set out to unravel the secrets of Mortmain’s past—and discover unsettling Shadowhunter connections that hold the key not only to the enemy’s motivations, but also to the secret of Tessa’s identity. Tessa, already caught between the affections of Will and Jem, finds herself with another choice to make when she learns how the Shadowhunters helped make her a “monster.” Will she turn from them to her brother, Nate, who has been begging her to join him at Mortmain’s side? Where will her loyalties—and love—lie? Tessa alone can choose to save the Shadowhunters of London…or end them forever.

Are you guys excited about all the new books coming out soon?  I know I cannot wait for Destined or The Power of Six! Do you have any recommendations that I forgot to mention? 

Let us know! 

--M

On the note of Virtue...

Happy Friday everyone,
This week our chosen book to review was Virtue by Amanda Hocking.
Now I have to note, I LOVE Amanda Hocking. I have so much respect for her as a person and a writer. I follow her blog and find her story one of much inspiration, especially for all of you Indie authors out there. So don't take my review as a bash on her as an author, it just wasn't my favorite story of hers.  Maybe all of this is unnecessary to say but I don't want anyone to think that just because I didn't care of a specific book, that I dislike the person who wrote it.

With that out of the way, I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend. :)
-J

Review: Virtue by Amanda Hocking

“In a world filled with magic, love might be the final answer in the eternal battle between good and evil. When Lux is tasked with retrieving the virtuous Lily for his master, his entire world is put in jeopardy. Lux must battle goblins, demon dogs, and sea dragons to rescue the one he loves, and that's only the beginning of what he must face...”

  

I was beyond excited when I heard Amanda Hocking was coming out with a new book. When she said that she had posted it to Amazon, I was checking my phone and my Kindle every half hour to see if the book had uploaded yet. But after I began reading the book, I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The idea for the plot was fantastic! How she had selected people being a certain virtue, the idea of finding your opposite (such as lust and purity falling in love) and the classic idea of good and evil fighting for victory was brought about in an all new way. But the way she went about writing everything was just something I wasn’t a fan of. The characters weren’t personal, a bit too much insta-love and oblivious characters that made the story difficult to believe and get into- yes, even for a faerie tale.

For me, the book was difficult to finish reading, and the ending wasn’t one that had me excited that I forced myself through it. But I could see the book being great for a young teen audience vs. the young adult world.

My rating for this book:

Amanda Hocking lives in Minnesota with her best friend Eric. She is the author of the My Blood Approves series as well as the Trylle Trilogy. Hocking was recently signed by St. Martin’s Press and You can follow her at:

 Twitter        Facebook        Goodreads         E-mail        Blog

 

How to Loan E-Books

I’ve wondered for some time how this process worked, so today we will be discussing how to loan a book to a friend on the Nook, as well as doing it on the Kindle.

There are a few things you need to know before you get started, and this applies to both e-readers. Once a loan is made and accepted, it cannot be taken back. Unless the person you lent the book to already has that book, then the book will appear back into your library.  You can only lend a book once, so if I lend Virtue by Amanda Hocking (which I’ll be reviewing Friday) to my mom, I can’t later decide to loan the same book to my sister. During this time, you have no access to that book. When you loan a book, the person who is borrowing has up to 14 days to read the book before it disappears back onto your e-reader. Also, not all books are lendable, but many of them are. From what I understand, this limitation is set by publishers but if you ask me, is a step in the right direction for sharing books.

Nook Directions:

1)      Choose the book title in your library. Press “lend” in the Menu.

2)      Add a contact or select an existing contact. The only things that are required is the person’s name and e-mail address.

3)      Type a note if you choose to (completely optional).

4)      Submit and confirm your loan!

The Nook lending process is really cool because you can let anyone who uses the same B&N book format borrow books! Inotherwords you can send it to an iPad reader, PC, Mac, Android reader, ect. You aren’t simply limited to your Nook friends. However, this doesn’t cross over into the Kindle world, Amazon has their own format altogether.

To accept a book that someone is trying to loan to you, go to your library. From there you will see a offer to accept, click on “Yes, borrow this.” Or “No thank you.” If you do not answer within 7 days, the book will be returned to the owner.

Kindle 3 Directions:

1)      Go to “Manage Your Kindle” from the Amazon website.
Amazon.com-> Your Account -> Digital Content Box-> Manage Your Kindle

2)      Find the book title from your Kindle library, click “Actions”

3)      From the drop down box that will appear, press “Loan this title”

4)      Fill in the lending details! And click “Send now”.

You can send Kindle books to anyone with a Kindle or a Kindle app whether that is on their Android device, iPhone, PC or Mac.

To accept a book that someone is trying to loan to you, go to your e-mail where the book was sent. Click on the e-mail, then “Get your loaned book now”, which will pop up a link with the book, name of the person lending, message and “Get your loaned book now”. From there it will be sent to you via Whispernet.

I hope this little guide helps you, I know I educated myself quite a bit! I'm sure as time goes on there will be improvements made to make both processes easier and more flexible. What do you think? Is this a good process? How would you like to see this improved?
-J

From Books to the Big Screen

Books have been made into movies for years.  There was Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice and multiple classics that are still being remade to this day.  Only until the past decade has it become a trend to for young adult books to be put on to film, for instane the Harry Potter series.  Since then, books such as the twilight series and those by Nicholas Sparks have hit the big screen, but that’s just the beginning.  Books have also become popular prime time series.  So far The Vampire Diaries by L.J.Smith, The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar, and Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard are the main ones that have made it to the silver screen although it too is an ever growing trend.

 

So what does this mean for authors?  For J.K. Rowling it meant that she became the first billionaire author in the world.  But that is a stretch of reality for most authors.  Most, although their income will increase with the rights of their books sold to movie producers, won’t be making that kind of money.  What they get is the chance to see their books brought to life and an increased fan base.  It used to be that it was a rarity for books to be transferred to film but it’s becoming more popular everyday giving some authors more hope that they too with get to see their stories brought to life.       

Pros:

-          The movie already has a fan base which means that there will be people interested in seeing it.

-          Fans of beloved books always want to see it produce on film.

-          By making a book into a movie, it introduces fans to the books. (Lots of people began reading the twilight books after it was made into a movie)

Cons:

-          Movies always leave off parts of the books.

-          Movies always add stuff that wasn’t in the books. (example: the Weasley house burning down in the movie of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

-          Movies are rarel yas good as the books if you’ve read them first. 

Upcoming books that are being made into movies/tv shows:

-          The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

-          The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins

-          Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard

-          Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

-          The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

-          The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

-          The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith

So what do you guys think about all of these books being brought over to film?  Are you going to read any of these books before they hit the big/silver screen?

-M

Happy Friday!

M's first review is posted today! It also happens to be our first review on a non-indie author, Aprilynne Pike. Wings is a book that will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about the faerie world!
I am very excited to say that we have a few topics planned out for next week that I think will interest you guys. But you'll just have to stay tuned to hear about them....

I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe weekend!
Until next time,
J&M

Review: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

“Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful- too beautiful for words. Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like magic.
In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We’ve all heard it a million times, although usually we’re referring to other people and not literally books. But I did just that. I have seen Wings a million times in the bookstore and didn’t even pick it up to read the back of the book simply because of the cover. But after seeing a brief description of it on an entertainment block, I decided to give it a shot. I’m definitely glad I did too! When Laurel’s family moves from their land to a small town, so her father can persue his dreams of owning a bookstore, aspects of Laurel’s life begin to change. She is now being forced to go to public school after years of homeschooling, she actually has a friend for the first time in her life and on top of that- she has a big flower sprouting out her back! This book is a page turner, one I couldn’t put down. It is a thriller, romance and fantasy novel all wrapped up in one story that has a refreshing new take on faeries.

My rating for this book:

Aprilynne Pike is the young adult author of the New York Times bestseller, the laurel series.  On top of that Wings (book one of the Laurel series) was her debuted novel.  She has a BA in creative writing and lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and three kids.  She is currently finishing up the last book of the Laurel series and starting her second. If you want to know more about her visit her website here.