In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme that is put on by The Story Siren where you tell what books you have received that week.  I don't post on this very often, but I have bought quite a few books this past few weeks, so I thought I would share.

Fearless by Francine Pascal
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo (illustrated by Mike Lowery)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

The Woman in Black particularly appeals to me because the movie is coming out on 03 February 2012 and I like to read the book before seeing the movie. Fearless was a Wal*Mart special and contains three books in the series: Fearless, Sam and Run. The book sounded interesting and I love buying books like this because there isn't a wait for the next book and it doesn't take up as much space. I've heard a lot of great reviews about Under the Never Sky and had to check the book out for myself.  Fart Powder and The Hunger Games are for a guest reviewer.

City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince

All of these are by Cassandra Clare.  They were on sale and I got all six books for around $40. I am excited to read these.  I have wanted to read these two series for awhile now because I have heard great things about them.  Now I have the books and have no excuse.

Author Interview: Jennifer L Armentrout

Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you've heard about her state aren't true. When she's not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories....which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Rogers.

The Covenant series, The Lux series and the Unchained Trilogy (under the pen name of J.L. Rogers) are some of the books that have been written by Jennifer. She also has a new novel, Cursed, coming out tentatively in September 2012. 

The books that I have read that Jennifer has written are Daimon: A Prequel to Half-Blood and Obsidian.  She has graciously answered some questions I had for her.

• You have a few different series out.  Which one is your favorite to work
  on and why?  Do you have a favorite character?  If so, who is it and why?
  
  Whatever series I'm working on is usually my favorite. It has to be for me to do my best. So one moment I'm totally in love with the Covenant Series and the next I'm all about the Lux series. I think my two favorite characters are Alex from the Covenant Series and Daemon from the Lux Series. Both of those characters bring the snark and I love me some snark!
• Cursed is coming out in September 2012.  Is this book going to be a
  stand-alone book or a series?  Can you tell us a little about this book and
  where you got the inspiration for it?
  
  Cursed is currently a standalone and is about a girl who dies and comes back (thanks to her little sister) with a toxic touch. Anything she touches basically withers up and dies. Beside trying to discover how her sister brought her back and what the means, Ember has to learn how to control her ability plus discover who caused the accident in the first place and why. Of course, she has some help from an uber hot guy with his own secrets and abilities. My inspiration for Cursed was kind of weird. It all started with the opening scene, which is Ember waking up with a dead hamster sitting on her chest. Yeah, I know, bizarre. But the hamster was her little sister's pet that had died and was brought back. So it was a weird Pet Cemetery moment., kind of creepy, kind of fun. It just spawned from there.
• What inspires you when you write?
  
  It's pretty simple. Telling stories inspries me. 
• Do you base your characters off of real people?  Do you have a process
  for coming up with characters?
  
  Some secondary characters are based loosely on people I know, but the main characters almost never. The characters are usually the first thing I come up and the plot develops around them. 
• Do you ever experience writer’s block and how do you get over it?
  
  Oh, God, yes. Scary moments there. Usually I try to power through them with a sledgehammer, but if the block is real big, then I moved ahead in the story, write a scene I want and then come back to the area that's tripping me up. 
• What type/genre of books do you like to read?  What are you currently
  reading?
  
  I'm a fan of paranormal and fantasy mostly. Right now I'm reading a billion novels it seems: Immortal Rider, Hallowed, Goddess Interrupted, Legend, and Enclave.
• Favorite color
  
  Red. 
• Favorite holiday/season
  
  Halloween and Christmas are tied.  
• Word that best describes you and why
  
  Random. I'm pretty random.
• Optimist or pessimist
  
  Realist. 
• Favorite author/book/series
  
  Right now? Rachel Vincent Soul Screamers.
• Favorite food/drink
  
  Red meat and coffee (healthy, right?)
• Favorite place to read/write
  
  Living room. 

Young Adult Book Reviews would like to thank Jennifer Armentrout for answering our questions. 

Find Jennifer

Daimon: The Prequel to Half-Blood

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Publish Date: already out

Version: e-book

Series: Covenant

 For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals—pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return—the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

Daimon is the prequel to Half Blood.  In the description of it, it says that it is Covenant 0.5.  The story starts out with Alexandria Andros remembering when she was examined by Hematoi ministers.  They do this because Alex is a half-blood and they determine what she will be in life.  Then Alex is pulled out of her memory by Matt Richardson, the boy that she is out with at the time.   While they were on the beach, a few guys came over to them and started some trouble.  Alex, having been trained, defended her and Matt from the guys only to have Matt get mad at her for it because he didn’t condone violence.

When Alex gets home, she is greeted by her mother who talks to her about sneaking out at night in Miami.  She relates the events of the evening and gets that off her chest before going to bed.  The next morning, she was supposed to be up “bright and early” cleaning up the balcony.  After waking up at noon, she quickly got dressed and then proceeded to go out to the balcony to begin cleaning it.  What she discovered when she was out there, was alarming.  She saw the very thing she was trained at the Covenant to fight – a Daimon.  Daimons feed on aether, the essence of the gods or the life force running through pure-bloods and less concentrated in half-bloods.  What happens when she encounters the Daimon is where this story really starts.

This is the second book by Jennifer L. Arementrout that I have read and I really like it.   She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.  I liked this book because it gave you a good background into the Covenant series.  Daimon leaves a lot of questions and I hope that they will be answered as the series progresses.

• Alex.  She has a good personality that is easily likeable.  She doesn’t know the reasoning behind her mom and her leaving the Covenant but doesn’t question this decision outright.  I also like the fact that she is a take charge kind of girl.


• Alex’s mom.  You can tell that she has given up a lot for Alex.  Being a pure blood, they believe that half-bloods, such as Alex, are beneath them.  Alex’s mom doesn’t show this belief.  She genuinely cares about Alex.

• Matt.  The guy that she is out with on the beach.  He doesn’t like it when Alex defends her and him.  He seems like a nice guy, but he makes Alex feel like a freak afterwards.


• Daimons.  They are aether-loving, evil, weird looking people with bad teeth.   

On the cover it shows a green tulip.  This picture reminds me of pictures that I have seen before where they took x-rays of flowers.  Only this particular flower has a green smoke-like substance rising out of it.  The cover is very pretty, although it doesn’t tell me anything about the story.

Release Date: already out

This is book one in the Covenant series.  After reading Daimon, I'm eager to read this book.
Buy Half-Blood: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

Tentative release date: April 3, 2012

Book 2 in the Covenant series.
Pre-order Pure: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

There is need. And then there is Fate...

Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her.

When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon... and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude... or killing her.

When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

Find Jennifer

Buy Daimon

The Gathering Storm

Robin Bridges

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Tentative Publish Date: 10 January 2012

Version: Netgalley e-book

Series: The Katerina Trilogy

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

This is the story of Katerina Alexandra Maria von Holstein-Gottorp, the Duchess of Oldenburg, who is known as Katiya by her family.  She goes to the Smolney Institue in St Petersburg, Russia with her cousin Dariya, where they teach how to be a good wife.  Katerina has always wanted to be a doctor and would rather go to medical school, but it is not acceptable for women to attend medical school in 1888.  Katerina is a necromancer.  She doesn’t understand this totally and calls this a “curse” that was given to her. 

At the annual Smolney Ball is when you are introduced to the tsar’s sons, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich and the tsarevitch Nicky Alexandrovich.  It is there at the ball’s dinner that Katerina is forced to use her “curse” to help the tsarevitch.  This is also when she catches the eye of the Montenegrins and earns an invitation to Cetinje for Christmas to meet Elena’s brother, Danilo.  This doesn’t bode well with Katerina because she knows that the Montenegrin princesses are witches and knows what Elena attempted with the tsarevitch.  After talking with Dariya about it, she decides to enlist the help of her brother, Petya.

Katerina doesn’t want to fall for the Crown Prince Danilo, but finds that she is be-spelled by him and eventually agrees to marry him despite the warnings that people have given her.  After that, strange things start happening in St. Petersburg.  Not only does Katerina learn of supernatural beings living in the city, but soldiers of the corps start dying and disappearing.   Unexpected alliances form to battle the same foe.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I was drawn into the story surrounding Katerina and will be anxiously awaiting the second book in the series.

• Katerina.  She thinks that her necromancy is a curse and doesn’t tell anyone about it.  She doesn’t like it when she is forced to use it at the ball and likes it even less when it draws attention to her from the Montengrin princesses.  All Katerina can think about is being a doctor.  She doesn’t want to think about marriage and other things that the Smolney Institute focuses on.


• Petya.  Katerina’s brother.  He is very loyal to Katerina and always helps her out when she needs it.  He is a soldier in the corps.


• Dariya, Katerina’s cousin.  She goes to the Smolney Institute with her and is someone who Katerina can talk to.


• Grand Duke George Alexandrovich.  He comes across as crass in this book, but he is worried about Katerina aligning herself with dark forces.  He does not like the fact that she is a necromancer and isn’t afraid to tell her.  Knowing all this, he wants to do what’s right, even if that means going against his first inclinations. 

• The Montenegrin  family: Danilo, Elena and her sisters Militza and Anastasia, King Nikola and Queen Milena.    All they think about is what they want and don’t really care who they have to hurt to get it.


• All the titles in the book.  My head was swarming with them.  I realize that it was important to know the social structure of the time period, but it was still confusing with all the princes, grand dukes, tsareviches, et cetera.


• Katerina’s mother, Yevgenia.  She was a frail woman who would have spells when stressful moments arose.  I believe that she wanted to do the best for her daughter and have her marry the best person, but she was only concerned with titles and not who the person actually was.

On the cover, there is a girl whom I presume to be Katerina.  The outfit that she is wearing reminds me of Russia, so that is a good fit.  It is snowing in the picture.  Even though I liked this cover, I didn’t think it supported the story very well.  It doesn’t give you a glimpse into what the story is about.  It wasn’t one of those books where you see the cover and say “I’ve got to read that book.”  I actually didn’t want to read it until I read the synopsis.

Find Robin

Buy The Gathering Storm

The Hunger Games!!

2012

I have read through a lot of best books of the 2011 posts and I have thought of the books that I have read and cannot narrow them down to my favorite. There were very few books I read that I didn't like and that is always a good thing.  Instead, I decided on doing a post of things I am looking forward to in the new year.  I guess you would call these my blog-olutions.

• The Hunger Games movie.  I cannot tell you how excited I am about this.  I am going to have to re-read the book before the movie comes out on March 23 because it has been so long since I last read it.  I have some ideas of special things to do for the movie release on my blog.


• There are a lot of book series that have new books coming out in 2012 that I am interested in reading.  Also, there are new series by authors that I love coming out.


• Expanding my reviews.  I have made some changes to the way that I write reviews.  I don't know if these changes are good or bad.  I think they are good, but I may be a little biased.  If you have any comments about new stuff, please let me know.


• Learning more html and css.  I want to take a class in this.  I wish I knew how to do stuff that I see on other blogs.  I am learning...slowly.


• Reading more blogs.  I love the different opinions on books.


• A co-worker of mine's 10-year old son, Alex L, has expressed an interest in reviewing books.  I hope to have his views on here this year.

A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end.  You live several lives while reading it.  ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

Obsidian (Updated)

Publisher: Entagled Publishing

Publish Date: already out

Version: e-book

Series: A Lux Novel

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

“Katy’s Krazy Obsession” is a book blog by Katy Swartz, who recently moved to Ketterman, West Virginia.  Her mom, Kellie Swartz decided that they needed a fresh start after living in the same spot in Gainesville, Florida after Katy’s father had died.  In Ketterman, Katy and her mother move in next door to the Blacks, Daemon and Dee.  When Katy meets Daemon, her initial reaction was that of shock of the way he looked.  She almost couldn’t ask him where the nearest store was, her reason for going over there in the first place.  Then Daemon talks to her and all bets are off.  By the end of the conversation, Katy is calling Daemon a “douchebag,” but he does give her directions to the store in Petersburg.

While at Foodland in Petersburg, Katy meets Dee, Daemon’s brother.  After talking with her a little, she agrees to come over to Katy’s house and help her with the flower garden later.  Through Dee, Katy gets more exposure to Daemon, although he isn’t any nicer to her.   Dee eventually makes him be nice to Katy and take her swimming.  This is the start of the love/hate relationship that Katy and Daemon have.

It isn’t long before Katy starts noticing that the Blacks, along with some other students in town are not “normal.”  While taking a walk in the woods with Daemon, he saves Katy from a bear and thus puts a trace on her.  This trace will lead certain people straight to her.  After a few more strange things happen, Katy is finally let in on the truth.  The only thing left is to figure out how to get a trace off of her, keep her safe and how to keep the identities of her new friends a secret.

When I started this book, I couldn’t put it down.  If you read my reviews, you know that I like things are not mainstream.  It makes my brain work and I like that.  This book was definitely that.  The fact that Daemon was such a jerk in the book made it all the better.  I was always waiting for the next altercation that Daemon and Katy would have.

• Katy.  In the beginning of the book, she decides that she is no longer going to be “reserved, practical Katy.”  Even though Daemon is acting like a jerk toward her trying to scare her away from Dee, she is still friends with Dee.  She takes in everything that happens in the book and fights for what she cares about.


• Dee.  Dee is one of a set of triplets.  There are Daemon and Dawson.  You don’t hear too much about Dawson because he disappeared with a girl the year before.  Dee wants to have a normal friend and that is what she sees in Katy.   She stands up to Daemon to keep her as a friend.


• Daemon.  Yes, I like Daemon.  Even though he acts like a jerk to Katy in the book, he will fight to protect his family and those he cares about.  That is what is important.  Even though he does give Katy unnecessary stress and tries to keep her from being friends with Dee, he does have his good moments.  


• Carissa and Lesa.  They are Katy’s two friends that she makes in school.  They inform Katy of the local gossip and about Dawson.  They are good friends to her.  Even though they don’t know what is happening, they are good friends.

• Ash.  I understand where she is coming from regarding Katy, but I still don’t like her.  She acts bratty and wishes she were Daemon’s girlfriend.


• The Arum.  They are the people who are after Daemon, Dee and others of their kind.  They don’t hesitate to hurt anyone that comes in their path.


• Daemon.  I put him on both sides because I don’t like the way he acts in the beginning of the book.  Even after Katy finds out about them, he still has his moments.  

I thought that this cover was brilliant.  There is a girl and a boy on the cover.  I presume the boy to be Daemon and the girl is Katy.  I like how you can see Daemon’s green eyes.  The title is written in hexagons at the top of the cover.  The green really makes it stand out and again helps bring out the green in his eyes.  The byline “They’re not like us…” fits here and you can tell from looking at the pictures that they look kinda perfect.

Tentative release date: February 21, 2012
This is described as Lux 0.5 and was meant as a prequel to Obsidian.  From the sounds of the synopsis, you don't have to read Obsidian to understand what is happening in this book.  This book stars Dawson, the lost triplet of Dee and Daemon.

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane. Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in. Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence...and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

Tentative Release Date: May 29, 2012
Onyx is the second book in the Lux series.  Again, it has Daemon and Katy on the cover.  I like the blue on this one.  Green is okay, but blue is my favorite color.  The ending of Obsidian left lots of questions, so I will be anxious to see if they are answered in this book.  Well, at least some of them. 

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense is here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

Find Jennifer

Buy Obsidian