Month in Review: March 2013

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 31 March 2013 - 7:45 PM |
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Reviews Posted:

 

Blog Tour Stops:

  • Review: Surrender by Rhiannon Paille (YA Fantasy)
  • Review: Disconnect by Imran Siddiq (YA Sci Fi)
  • Review: The Game by Shane Scollins (Adult Thriller)

 

Memes / Events Participated In:

 

Challenge Status:

2013 Debut Author Challenge: 0/12

2013 Ebook Challenge: 11/50

2013 Young Adult Audiobook Challenge: 0/24

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: 7/20

 

Giveaways Held:

 

 

Coming in April: 

 

+more

Meme: Stacking the Shelves #4

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 30 March 2013 - 5:00 AM |
6 Comments

Stacking the Shelves
Sharing the new books weighing down my to be read pile. Hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.




Review: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 29 March 2013 - 5:00 AM |
6 Comments

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Title: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares
Author: Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Published: October 26th 2010 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Source: Netgalley

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“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?


Not gonna lie, I almost gave up on this book during the first chapter. It introduces us to Dash, the snarly hipster who is too smart for his own good, and a little too pretentious for my liking. I thought the book of dares was vaguely interesting, but not particularly something that grabbed me.

Luckily, I continued to read and discovered Lily, who I kind of adored She is an awkward girl who has difficulty connecting with people her own age, and even more difficulty meeting boys because of all her overbearing family members. Lily loves Christmas, but her parents are away on vacation and she’s home with her brother, Langston, who only has eyes for his new boyfriend. The one thing Lily want most in life is a pet, but she’s not allowed to have one because she becomes overly attached and is absolutely inconsolable when they die. The kind of inconsolable that her family has nicknamed Shrilly, and who has to use a blackboard to communicate. The best thing about Lily, though, is her willingness to send this boy she has never met (but desperately want to) to get felt up by her uncle, who is a mall Santa.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares has some of the most fun secondary characters I’ve read in a good long while. There’s Langston, who catches a cold because he and his boyfriend thought it would be romantic to sleep under the stars in winter. Lily’s Grandpa who not only babies her to death, but spends a lot of time on a roadtrip trying to get a widow to marry him. There’s the cool, and at times delightfully cruel. cousin Mark who works in the bookstore that sets the stage for young love. And then there is Boomer. Dash’s entirely too awesome best friend.

Overall, I felt like Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares tried a little too hard. Parts of it are cute, but other parts are a little irritating, and I skipped over a lot of what they actually wrote to each other in the red Moleskine book because the angst and woe is me was a little much.

(3/5)

Rachel grew up in the D.C. area and graduated from Barnard College with a B.A. in Political Science. She has written many YA novels, including three that she cowrote with her friend and colleague David Levithan. She lives and writes (when she’s not reading other people’s books, organizing her music library or looking for the best cappuccino) in New York City.

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David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children’s book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.

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Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 28 March 2013 - 12:00 PM |
1 Comment

Hosted by I am a Reader, not a Writer and Jinky is Reading

 

Giving away one of the 2013 releases listed below to one lucky winner. Clicking the covers will take you to Goodreads to learn more about the book.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding The Trouble With Flirting by Claire LaZebnik
The Culling by Steven dos Santos Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway

Contest Rules:

  • Open Internationally (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)
  • You may choose an ebook if you prefer and it’s available. Will be gifted through Amazon only
  • Unless otherwise marked, books won will be the paperback version
  • Must be 13 to enter
  • Everyone may enter, even if you are not a follower (though following is always appreciated)
  • Winners will be notified via email
  • A new winner will be chosen if a response is not received within 48 hours
  • Contest ends April 5th, 2013

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Review: The Elephant of Surprise by Brent Hartinger

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 27 March 2013 - 5:00 AM |
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The Elephant of Surprise by Brent Hartinger

Title: The Elephant of Surprise
Series: Russel Middlebrook #4
Author: Brent Hartinger
Published: March 30th 2013 by Buddha Kitty Books
Genre: YA Contemporary LGBTQI
Source: Netgalley

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Amazon
Book Depository
Barnes and Noble
IndieBound


Book 1: Geography Club
Book 2: The Order of the Poison Oak
Book 3: Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies


In this latest book, Russel and his friends Min and Gunnar are laughing about something they call the Elephant of Surprise — the tendency for life to never turn out as expected. Sure enough, Russel soon happens upon a hot but mysterious homeless activist named Wade, even as he’s drawn back to an old flame named Kevin. Meanwhile, Min is learning surprising things about her girlfriend Leah, and Gunnar just wants to be left alone to pursue his latest technology obsession.

But the elephant is definitely on the move in all three of their lives. Just who is Wade and what are he and his friends planning? What is Leah hiding? And why is Gunnar taking naked pictures of Kevin in the shower?

The Elephant of Surprise includes Hartinger’s trademark combination of humor and romance, angst and optimism. Before the story is over, Russel and his friends will learn that the Elephant of Surprise really does appear when you least expect him—and that when he stomps on you, it really, really hurts


Last week, when I reviewed book #3 I expressed the hope that this book would be the one that blew me away. that I would finally get to rate something from this series with a 4 or 5. Did it? Will I?

No.

I am kind of mad, actually. I had really, really high hopes for this one. To steal a thought from it, I wanted it to validate my existence by being awesome and making sticking with the series worth it. Instead it invalidated books 2 and 3 for me.

Reading this book was very much like being kicked back to book 2, The Order of the Poison Oak, only without the cool burn survivor kids that tugged at your heart strings. When the story line with Wade showed up, I let out a groan and just had this sinking feeling it was going to be a Web situation (see book 2). At this point I have given up caring who Russel ends up with, because he sure as hell has no idea what he wants and he’s likely to fall in and out of love with anyone at any time.

And then there’s Kevin Land. I was a big Kevin fan in book 1, even when he was a complete jerk. I liked him so much that I found the way things ended downright depressing. Book 2 featured no Kevin at all. Book 3 brought back Kevin, but a much changed one from what we saw in book 1, even if he still had the ability to distract Russel from absolutely everything in life. The Elephant of Surprise’s Kevin is the most disappointing Kevin of them all. He went from being an interesting guy, to being too nice. Too willing to sacrifice everything. I just didn’t root for him anymore.

There is one upside to this book. Gunnar! I am actually surprised by how much I’ve come to like him in the last two books. He’s had an amazing character arc, going from what I consider the worst friend in the world, to being the only character I didn’t want to kick in the butt.

I didn’t hate this book, as with the other books in the series, it reads easy and fast, and is amusing in places. I just didn’t love it either. Perhaps this series would have worked better for me if I had months/years between each book to dull my expectations, but I read it pretty much back to back. I don’t know if there are any more books planned, or if this wraps the series up, but I am personally walking away now.

(3/5)

Brent Hartinger is the author of a number of novels, mostly for and about teens, including Geography Club (HarperCollins, 2003) and three sequels: The Order of the Poison Oak (HarperCollins, 2005); Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007); and The Elephant of Surprise (2013).

His other books include The Last Chance Texaco (HarperCollins, 2004); Grand & Humble (HarperCollins, January 2006); Project Sweet Life (HarperCollins, 2008); and Shadow Walkers (Flux Books, 2011).

Mr. Hartinger’s many writing honors include being named the winner of the Lambda Literary Award, the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and a Book Sense Pick (four times).

A feature film version of his first novel, Geography Club, will be released in 2013, starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky.

Hartinger is also the author of many award-winning screenplays and plays, including a stage adaptation of Geography Club, which has received regional productions in Tacoma, Salt Lake City, Edmonton, and elsewhere. A feature film version of his play The Starfish Scream, which has also received many regional productions (and was twice produced Off-Off Broadway in New York), is in active development for a possible 2014 release.

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Blog Tour: The Game by Shane Scollins

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 25 March 2013 - 5:00 AM |
3 Comments

The Game by Shane Scollins

Title: The Game
Author: Shane Scollins
Published: March 13th 2013 by Limitless Publishing
Genre: Adult Thriller
Source: Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Goodreads
Amazon


No matter where you are, they’ll find you, and put you in “The GAME”.

Candice Laguna’s life is being systematically dismantled, by an unknown force, for a reason she can’t imagine. But she is about to become the unwilling star of a reality game competition the likes of which has never been broadcast to the world.

Just when things get darkest, a mysterious man snatches her from the grips of doom. He is a man who is not what he appears, and not who he says. He has no name and his motivation to help Candice is not what it seems to be.

THE GAME is a mystery/thriller with an unpredictable paranormal twist. It has action and adventure and plays up the everyday exploitation of reality television obsession gone wrong.


This was my first taste of this author’s work, and clearly I did not read the synopsis well enough. The “unpredictable paranormal twist” threw me for a what the hell?. I found it a little jarring and distracting, truth be told. It also wrapped things up a little too neatly. I liked the plotline about Lukas and the leaping, but would probably have liked it more if stood on its own.

Now the sadistic reality show angle is pretty cool. I guess I’m as sick as the rest of the world, I was fascinated by the idea of how far people would go in exploiting others for the sake of fame and entertainment. I felt the story held back in that area. For all the chasing and mental anguish the main character, Candice Laguna, is put through in the beginning, the part with the actual game is over very quickly. It’s not like I want more torturing of women, but I was hoping for something… I don’t know, just more. Creepier. More of the mental anguish and less of the guy in the leather mask. More guys, really. Why is it always the girls getting beaten down?

The bad guy, Angus, was the most interesting character in the story to me. I think I would have liked to spend a little more time in his unhinged mind.

This is most definitely not YA, as listed. *scratches head* I’m not sure why anyone would think it was.

(3/5)

Shane Scollins is a freelance writer and author. Originally from New Jersey, he now resides in Upstate New York with his wife, Heather. He has worked as an automotive service manager, a website developer and a computer network engineer. Primarily a science fiction and paranormal novelist, Shane enjoys taking readers on surprising and unexpected journeys that twist reality.

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Moving on from Google Reader

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 22 March 2013 - 2:11 PM | ,
3 Comments

This is post is in response to the Bloggiesta mini challenge

Google Reader Replacement Options by Jenn from The Picky Girl. (@picky_girl)

Personally, the news that Google Reader is shutting down was like a kick to my non-existent nads. I have been using GR for a good long while, and to me it was practically perfect. It did all the things I wanted it to do, and few of the things I did not. All good things must come to an end, as they say, so it became time to look for an alternative reader.

Now, I am not going to give you a list of options. There are other people who have done a much better job than I ever could. I am going to tell you more about the one I settled on.

The Old Reader

The Old Reader is like Google Reader’s ugly younger sibling.

What I like about it:

  • It looks like Google Reader. The interface is familiar and I don’t have to learn to work a new system.
  • It shows the entire post instead of excerpts. I am lazy, and do not want to click on “read more” to get to the content.
  • It marks content as read as you scroll down, just like Google Reader.
  • Importing your subscriptions from Google Reader takes less than 10 clicks.
  • It’s browser based and does not need to be downloaded.
  • It has a set of share / favorite / email buttons. Which I have never used on GR and won’t be using now. Still, it’s good to have options.

Things I am not thrilled with:

  • It’s just not as pretty as Google Reader. See the lack of favicons?
  • It strips certain bits of coding from posts, most notably floats and centering. Also blockquote and text styling.
  • Importing is currently unbelievably slow. Everyone else is abandoning GR ship and all those imports take time. I am currently 30638 in the queue. You can still add feeds manually, but I quickly got bored doing that and decided to wait my turn.
  • Because of all these importations, the reader itself is also slow. I fully believe it will settle as soon as everyone stops freaking out.

There you go, my 10c. Clearly it’s not an ideal solution, but for me it’s better than the alternatives. I can live with the niggly bits. At least, until someone buys Google Reader and puts it back in my sweaty hands. Please, someone?

Bloggiesta (22 to 24 March)

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 22 March 2013 - 8:53 AM | ,
13 Comments

Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon revolving around ticking off those items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing. Our awesome mascot Pedro (Plan. Edit. Develop. Review. Organize) is ready to break out the nachos, enchiladas, drinks, mariachi music and whack a pinata or two! It’s nothing short of an awesome fiesta!

Bloggiesta was originally started in June of 2009 by the lovely and tenacious Natasha from Maw Books Blog. In March of 2012 Natasha graciously passed the torch on to Suey from It’s All About Books and Danielle from There’s A Book.

Goals

  • New layout! It’s officially autumn in South Africa, and I feel like having a layout that matches
    • Create new rating system
    • Attempt to create a WordPress theme from scratch
      • Learn more CSS
  • Streamline sidebar content into a single, non-cluttered sidebar
  • Set up review archives for per genre and per series
  • Rewrite the About Me page
  • Rewrite my Review Policy
  • Write and schedule discussion posts for April
  • Buy a new keyboard, one that doesn’t require hitting the A key 3 times before it works

I think I need incentive here. How about, the amount of stuff I get done is how much I’m allowed to spend on books this month? Of course, that means I am going to attempt to cheat by breaking stuff down into smaller components. Then again, smaller components are easier to accomplish, so that might just be perfect after all.

Completed

  • Find a new feed reader and re-evaluate which blogs I follow
  • Move fanart related stuff to a Tumblr instead
  • Participate in at least one of the Twitter chats
  • Reviews written and scheduled: 4
    • Astrology for Writers by Corrine Kenner
    • My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
    • Undeadly by Michele Vail
    • Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
  • Write and schedule details for Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway
  • Plan posting schedule for April
  • Worked on various items for the new layout:
    • Create Vector for Header
    • Create Actual Header
    • Create Social Media Icons
    • Create Post Content Banners
    • Create Meme Post Headers
    • Mockup Layout in Photoshop

Incentive Earnings: $15

Mini Challenges Participated In

Review: Tamed by Douglas R. Brown

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 22 March 2013 - 5:00 AM |
1 Comment

Tamed by Douglas R. Brown

Title: Tamed
Author: Douglas R. Brown
Published: February 13th 2013 by Rhemalda Publishing
Genre: Adult Horror
Source: Netgalley

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Werewolves are real.

And they make excellent pets.

Owning one of the legendary creatures is the latest fad. The WereHouse insists their werepets are loyal, docile, and 100% safe, but what happens when these gentle giants turn on their masters?

While on a routine EMS call, paramedic Christine Alt is attacked by a rogue werepet. She escapes with her life, but the encounter leaves her with more than just scars. As her body begins to change, she discovers the WereHouse is hiding a terrible secret, and they will stop at nothing to keep her from exposing them.


Werewolves are discovered, and mankind’s reaction to this? Kidnap them, enslave them, break their humanity and turn them into pets. It’s certainly a new and intriguing spin on ye olde werewulfen story. And, sadly, something I can actually see happening.

That said, I had some difficulty suspending disbelief for this one. How are the Werehouse allowed to sell seven foot tall beasts with teeth that can take off heads? Werewolf bites are infectious. It doesn’t matter how “tame” a pet is, shit happens, dogs bite people all the time. Shouldn’t there have been some kind of health and safety testing that put the brakes on this venture? It’s mentioned once that PETA isn’t impressed, but I would have expected more to happen on this front. The company is pumping out full grown werewolves, and they are all male. Did no one step in to see why? Where are the females? Where are the little ones? Is it some sort of puppymill? Granted, the wolves are crazy expensive and apparently the Werehouse has representatives everywhere and a lot of money exchanges hands, but there should still have been something. Protesters picketing.

No wild animal is ever really tame, and it doesn’t take long for things to get completely out of hand. Considering the abuses the werewolfs suffered, I’m surprised it took even that long. At this point the story turns quiet gory and action packed, which I really enjoyed. Douglas R. Brown doesn’t hold back from really putting his characters through the grinder, mentally and physically. Somewhere in the middle there is one particular scene that had me reading with one eye closed and a permanent cringe, worrying just how far he would take it.

Character wise, we have the very resourceful Christine Alt, a paramedic who gets attacked by a rogue werewolf during a routine callout and accidentally gets some of its blood in her mouth. Then there is Steve, the homeless man who has turned to alcohol to numb his memories of war and losing his family, until mysterious strangers in a van turn up and take him for a ride he’ll never forget. There is also the love interest, whose name I am not recalling at the moment, who after witnessing his beloved childhood pet slaughter his family, is brainwashed into hunting down rogue werewolves like the animals everyone thinks they are.

Oh, and if you were wondering why no female wolves, it’s because they are too stubborn and difficult to tame. Which I found very amusing.

The ending of the story was on the predictable side, and it tied things up a little too neatly. I had questions about the hows and whys there as well, but in the interest of not spoiling things, you will have to ask them yourself. Also, it has a pretty smart villain at the heart of things, for the most part.

(4/5)

Douglas R. Brown is a fantasy writer who lives in Pataskala, Ohio. He began writing more than five years ago as a cathartic way of dealing with the day-to-day stresses of life as a firefighter/paramedic for the Columbus Ohio Division of Fire. Now he focuses his writing on fantasy, where he draws on his lifelong love of the genre. He has been married for 14 years and has a son and two dogs

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Review: Double Feature by Brent Hartinger

  By Lindie Dagenhart | 20 March 2013 - 5:06 AM |
4 Comments

Double Feature by Brent Hartinger

Title: Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies
Series: Russel Middlebrook #3
Author: Brent Hartinger
Published: February 1st 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers
Genre: YA Contemporary GLBTQI

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Amazon
Book Depository
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IndieBound


Book 1: Geography Club
Book 2: The Order of the Poison Oak


It’s a horror-movie extravaganza in this companion to Brent Hartinger’s Geography Club Two books in one recount the stories of best friends Min and Russel who sign up to be extras on the set of a zombie film – then learn that there’s nothing scarier than high school romance Read one story, flip the book over, and read the other In “Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies,” Russel must choose between his long-distance boyfriend and a close-to-home ex who wants to get back together. In “Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies,” Min struggles to accept her cheerleader girlfriend’s decision to stay in the closet.

Russel and Min’s separate stories affect each other in surprising ways – but you’ll have to read both books to find out how.


Well, it should be said I hate the title of this book, and I kind of hate the cover. I also hated that it was a flip-it-over kind of book because the events in Russel and Min’s telling of the story overlaps quite a few places and I do not enjoy reading the exact same scene twice. Not even from different perspectives.

In book 3, we finally get to meet Russel’s parents. And they are kind of awful. Well no, they love their son and all, and perhaps the dad isn’t so bad, but egads, they are every gay teen’s worst nightmare. Including a nice trip to the local clergy to try and set Russel straight.

While all of that is happening, we also see the return of the infamous Kevin Land, Russel’s first boyfriend who hadn’t been willing to come out and had been dumped in book 1. It’s 8 months later, and he’s now very willing to flaunt his gayness at school. Not only that, Kevin wants Russel back. Unfortunately, Russel is now dating Otto, the unbelievably sweet boy he met at summer camp. Otto who lives very, very far way vs. Kevin who is within kissing distance and still hot as sin. *sigh* Even in gayYA I can’t escape the love triangles.

Then there’s the story of Min, who keeps falling for girls who aren’t ready to be out and proud. Truthfully, this story wasn’t that interesting to me, I just could not get into it. I blame the same scene twice syndrome. The story did provide insight into what’s going on with Kevin, but I kind of preferred not knowing, it gave me a bad feeling about what’s going to happen in the next book.

To me, of all the books in this series, the second one is the better. But, I have one left to read, so let’s hold thumbs that I am finally going to be blown away.

(3/5)

Brent Hartinger is the author of a number of novels, mostly for and about teens, including Geography Club (HarperCollins, 2003) and three sequels: The Order of the Poison Oak (HarperCollins, 2005); Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007); and The Elephant of Surprise (2013).

His other books include The Last Chance Texaco (HarperCollins, 2004); Grand & Humble (HarperCollins, January 2006); Project Sweet Life (HarperCollins, 2008); and Shadow Walkers (Flux Books, 2011).

Mr. Hartinger’s many writing honors include being named the winner of the Lambda Literary Award, the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and a Book Sense Pick (four times).

A feature film version of his first novel, Geography Club, will be released in 2013, starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky.

Hartinger is also the author of many award-winning screenplays and plays, including a stage adaptation of Geography Club, which has received regional productions in Tacoma, Salt Lake City, Edmonton, and elsewhere. A feature film version of his play The Starfish Scream, which has also received many regional productions (and was twice produced Off-Off Broadway in New York), is in active development for a possible 2014 release.

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