RAK - Wrap-Up September

This month I did not receive a gift, but I gifted Sam (from http://bookcrazedreviews.blogspot.fi/) Darkness Before Dawn, ain´t it beautiful!



If you don´t know about Random Act of Kindness, head on to Booksoulmates and find out!
http://booksoulmates.blogspot.fi/

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

(join at Tynga's Reviews.) 

for week 39

Purchased:

 

 Received for review:

BOOK REVIEW - Torment

Torment
by Lauren Kate
(series: Fallen #2)
Originally published 2010
Published by Doubleday
Romance, Paranormal, YA

4 stars

This is the second book in the Fallen series. It continues pretty much where there first left off. I did not have big expectations for this one, so I was very positively surprised as I got very excited about reading it! In the end I guess not much actually happens in the book and it ends with such a cliffhanger, everything in the story wide open! I would badly need to fill my need for more information what happens to all those old and new characters of the story, but I believe I have to finish some other books first. My advice is, do not read this one if you do not have the next one, Passion, to start right after this one!

In this one I really liked the new characters Shelby and Miles. And the dialogue between Shelby and Luce was fun. A lot is added to the background story of Luce and Daniel, and the angels and demons in general, in this second book, but still there are yet more secrets to discover.  I have no idea what to expect of Passion, but I really do hope I can start reading it soon!!

IT`S EASIER TO DANCE TOUR: Excerpt & Giveaway & Interview

Author: Annie Lauren Harris

Title: It's Easier to Dance

Website and Blog:  http://www.annielaurieharris.com

Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/pub/annie-laurie-harris/32/785/367

Facebook Page:  http://www.facebook.com/psuannie

Bio

Annie Laurie Harris, the oldest one of her ethnicity who lives independently, was born with cerebral palsy. She has defied the odds and challenged the medical prognosis since early childhood. She continues to live a full and active life in her 6th decade. After achieving her Master's Degree at Penn State University in 1985 she worked as a counselor and advocate for those with a history of chemical dependency. In 1990, she was recruited by the prestigious World Institute of Disability to be the Assistant Director of the first HIV/Disability Project. Her grant writing expertise is second to none as private foundations funded her innovative research projects again and again. Since returning to her home state of PA where she lives near her beloved alma mater, Ms. Harris continues to be involved in her community and avidly supports the Penn State athletic program. Once again,her love of writing helps to supplement her income. Her groundbreaking memoirs, It's Easier to Dance, is provocative and thought provoking.

Book Info:

Short description

It's Easier to Dance, a memoir, by Annie Laurie Harris, a woman of African American Heritage, born with cerebral palsy, depicts the highlights, turning points and crossroads of her life while living with cerebral palsy. 

Extended description

It's Easier to Dance, a memoir, by Annie Laurie Harris, a woman of African American Heritage, born with cerebral palsy, depicts the highlights, turning points and crossroads of her life while living with a complex, disability. Cerebral palsy is a neurologicalbirth defect that can impair the function of any part of the brain. In her case, her brilliant intellect exists concurrently with lack of muscle coordination and significant speech impairment as well as difficulty in swallowing and performing everyday tasks. Ms. Harris tells in detail of the struggle to learn to take care of herself, earn professional credentials, work in profit and non-profit organizations, and becoming a contributing member of her community.

Her vast experience and engaging personality jump off the pages as you read the compelling account of the highlights of her interesting life. Having studied dance while in graduate school and preformed with a group with varying abilities, the author uses the title to suggest... 

Tags/Labels

inspirational, self help, disabilities, cerebral palsy, african american women, virtual book tours, blog tour, author tour, virtual book tour café, its easier to dance, annie laurie harris

Excerpt:

Ticket to Freedom

My mother always stressed great importance in having an education. From early in my childhood, she insisted that I go to school like any other child. She became my first teacher. But never was college considered a possibility. After getting my high school diploma, I went to a rehabilitation center where I entered a typing program. No one bothered to tell me that in order to be a clerk typist, you needed to be able to type at least 40 wpm with a maximum of 5 errors. When I learned this, I felt betrayed, and I quit the program, returned home depressed. There was another reason I wouldn’t see my vocational rehabilitation counselor.   He wanted me to go to a sheltered workshop which was for those whose diagnosis was primarily “mental retardation”.  I didn’t get dressed; I don’t even remember eating regularly. I wondered what would happen to me. Finally, my brother, who was a graduate student at PSU, asked one of his professors if there was some way that his younger sister could go to college. The professor had influence, and recommended to the appropriate people (I assume was Admissions) that I would be able to attend the branch campus for 2 terms and then my acceptance would be based on my GPA.

In Sept. 1972, the year congress passed the Right to Education Law which allowed children with significant disabilities to attend public schools; I became an adjunct student at Penn State University’s Shenango Valley campus. I excelled academically, making the Dean’s List and that next fall, I began my undergraduate degree at Shenango Valley. Being older than the typical undergraduate, I made friends among the young instructors, who loved having me in their classes.  My academic advisor recommended that I be exempt from taking a language (something I later regretted), and she also thought I should not take the undergraduate speech requirement, which included giving public speeches. I went to talk to the instructor, James Elder, who said “Annie, you have important things to say to the world so you might as well start in my class.”  Except for statistics, college, was easy for me… not particularly intellectually challenging.

She is also hosting this amazing giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


INTERVIEW

If you had to choose, would you rather..? (why?)

- live in a house that is black or pink?
  Pink.  I want light to come in

- keep only writing books for the rest of your life or do another job?
I love writing more than anything!

- be an fish or a bird?  
Fish so I could live in water.

-be an Olympic athlete, a popular musician or a famous actor?  
Olympic athlete.  I like the discipline it takes.

- eat only meat or only vegetables for the rest of your life?  
Vegetables with a little grains and fish.  I felt best when I was a vegetarian practicing yoga regularly.

- have been a character in the movie Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings or Braveheart?  
Star Wars.  

A former colleague told me that I reminded him of Yoda because he found my outward appearance is so deceiving.  I never saw any of these movies.

- join the band Iron Maiden, Green Day, Backstreet Boys or the Beatles?  
Backstreet Boys.  I like their music.

- live in a country where it always rains or where it´s always sunny, no clouds and really hot
I lived in Central Texas for 6 months.  Loved the weather!

- live in a castle or luxury cruiser?  
Luxury cruiser.  It would suit me well!

- be an amazing cook or an amazing baker?
I AM  an amazing cook!  Learned most from my mother and the yoga community that I was part off for many years.

Thanks for hosting my tour!

Book Review Video:

Annie Practicing Golf Video:

Annie will soon have a new and improved Facebook Page.

She has a website and blog: http://www.annielaurieharris.com.

IT`S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

hosted by Book Journey.

Alright, this should be a good week for reading for me with a lot more time for it than usual. So here I go:

#1 Flicker by Kaye Thornbrugh

Didn´t have time for this last week for Brave New World took too long, so now it´s time I read it!

#2 Phoenix by Melissa Starr

Another review book, this one for Virtual Book Tour Cafe.

#3-5 Ever by Jenna Russo / Torment by Lauren Kate / Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols / On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves / 

Can I just say it is hard to decide what I´ll be reading during a week, so here´s some choices for me:

Last week I had four reviews posted, if you missed them, here they are:

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/2012/09/book-review-slammed.html#comment-form

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/2012/09/book-review-host.html#comment-form

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/2012/09/rebel-princess-tour-excerpt-review-and.html#comment-form

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/2012/09/book-review-brave-new-world.html#comment-form

BOOK REVIEW - Slammed

Slammed 
by Colleen Hoover
(series: Slammed #1)
Originally published: January 2012
Published by Simon & Schuster
Romance, YA

5+ stars

If you like the genre combination of YA and Romance, this is a book you need to get. Now.

The story is about Lake (Layken) who moves from Texas to Michigan with her mother and little brother. As she backs up to their new home, she does not realise what is in store for her in her new hometown. For when she gets out of that truck she meets her new neighbour, the 21-year-old guy even her mother immediately approves of. It just happens that their suddenly formed deep emotions to each other has to be pushed aside..

This book made me love it pretty much immediately when I started reading it. It was quite an emotional read, making me sigh out loud, snicker and laugh, tear up and I came pretty damn close to actually crying too. It was a beautiful story. It was so good that it is making me think that the basic 1-5 stars rating scale just doesn´t cover it. So that is why it is 5+.

In young adult books with romance in them the characters have a habit of falling for each other really easily and fast. Do you know what I mean? Well this book is romance and ya. But I have to say that the story in this, I really can buy it. There is something magical happening there. I really like the little brothers of the story, and I really like the main characters self-irony. I know I must often say that a book is an easy and a quick read, so I guess I have upgrade on that as well now, this was super easy and super fast. Infact, it felt pretty effortless.

Thank you so much for Simon&Schuster and Netgalley!

BOOK REVIEW - The Host

The Host 

by Stephenie Meyer

Originally published 2008

Published by Sphere

Science Fiction, Dystopia, YA

4 stars

In this world, the humans has diminished. Hosts has taken their place, their lifes. But there are still some, who fight against the Seekers. Those who hunt down the ones left to resist. Melanie´s Host is new to this life, hosting a human body. The host, Wanderer, is surprised by Melanie, still inside her mind. Their mind..

Or actually, 4,5 stars! Before I started to read this I had heard that I might not get into it right in the beginning but to bare it for it would be great when you get in to it. But I didn´t have to wait for it. I felt like I was immediately familiar with the world of the book and it was easy reading the story. So all you people who have this book stacked away in a pile in your bookshelf or hidden beneath your bed for no other space for books.. go and find it and start reading it, now! Yes it is a big book and it might feel hard to start with. But I can tell that it took maybe a month for me to read this book, but I often had 5 days that I did not touch the book for having to read something else. Every time I started to read this again, it was easy. So easy. I did not struggle with thinking where the story had left me last time I put the book down. So start reading! Also if Science Fiction is not normally up your alley, just be brave and have a go. And also if you hate Twilight books, be even braver and try this one, you might be pleasantly surprised. I have read the twilight books and I can tell you this did not remind me of them.

This book did something stories once in a while does for me. I fell in love with the bad guy. The side that I think I should not have rooted for. But in this case, things are a little more complicated than that..I did not add genre romance, but there is romance in the story as well. And just as I got surprised with the story, I was surprised with the characters. Some strange things happens with the characters in this story. But I felt it was all very believable, but I don´t want to spoil anything. The book has a slow and calm pace to it, once you get used to it, it´s great. Sure, there were some little things I felt weren´t necessary for the story or characters, but I thought that only a few times.

This book was exciting, emotional and filled with feeling of contradiction. The want you don´t want.

STACKING THE SHELVES

(join at Tynga's Reviews.) 

for week 38

Purchased:

The set includes:

Waiting for Anya

Why the Wales Came

The Wreck of the Zanzibar

King of the Cloud Forests

Kensuke´s Kingdom

Friend or Foe

White Horse of Zennor and other stories

Free from Amazon:

REBEL PRINCESS TOUR: Excerpt, Review and Giveaway

Synopsis:

Romance

Date to be Published: September 14, 2012 

An insider's first-ever behind-the-scenes scoop on how movies are REALLY made: gritty,  grinding, tunnel-vision labor, back-stage intrigue, explosive dramas, parties, and relationships that last a night or a lifetime. Larger-than-life characters who live life with fervor, and contend with their own inner demons and one another, all in the pressure cook er of a location shoot in the exotic world of Mexico.  This romp of a story  follows 

the making of a movie from pre-production through wrap.  A hotly passionate love story elevate the stakes.

Complete  with sex,  suspense and a possible murder.

 

EXCERPT

She may have made the first move then. He may have. They came together with a heat she had never known. Beneath the white satin robe whose belt he untied, she stood naked; glorius. The coral tips of her full breasts were hard. He caught his breath. For a moment his eyes luxuriated in her ripeness; her mouth, her breasts, her navel, the mound that was already so wet and swollen. She wanted him inside. But still – his teeth on her nipples, his fingers probing her wetness, rolling her clitoris – he made her wait. Made her wait until, writhing, almost out of her mind, all shame gone, all fear gone, she could only beg, “Please. No, please.”

                      He straddled and entered her and she gasped. Something irrevocable had happened. In her most private secret places, in her center, she was open to this man as never to anyone before. She moaned, and in mutual frenzy they moved to driving, thrusting, flooding climax.

                      The second time was slower. Now they had all the time in the world. He ran his tongue from beneath her ear to the hollow in her throat, played with it between her breasts and beneath them. With his tongue he circled her nipples and teased down to her navel, probing in till she shuddered, tonguing down further over her flat stomach to the rich chestnut hair. With his tongue he circled and teased and probed the still-swollen lips below, sucked them, thrust his tongue into the opening still running with their juices – and brought that tongue into her mouth so that she, too, could taste the two of them mingled. 

THE AUTHOR

 

Anne M.Strick has spent over twenty years in the movie industry. She has worked for Universal, Warners, Paramount and EMI, as a Unit Publicist, Project Coordinator and National Publicity Director,  and  with such Hollywood legends as Jack Nicholson, James Earl Jones, Sean Penn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Lynch, Sting and Dino De Laurentiis, among many others.  She has published theater reviews, articles in Parents Magazine , Frontier and The Nation, and six books: two novels, two self-help books, one memoir (a best-seller in Italy); and a non-fiction, scholarly critique of our adversary trial system. (”remarkable”) . Born in Philadelphia, and educated at Bennington College and UCLA, she lives in Los Angeles.

Contact Links:

 www.annemstrick.com

Purchase Links:

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Rebel-Princess-ebook/dp/B004SOYN52/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315764695&sr=8-3

Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80692

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW

This book is hard to describe, it has so many things to it! In the beginning I felt things started off a little slow for my taste, but when they did start happening, there was a lot happening! My first thought was, too much. But then I got into it and really liked it. It surprised me, what happened in the story and also some of the characters. There is some erotic scenes in it, which surprised me as well, but that is because I do not read the book synopsis´ or if I have a physical copy, the back cover. But that is not what this story centers around and there is not much of the description. I think it actually quite suited the story even if it first surprised me. If even a little part of this is what it´s like on a movie location, well I am not jealous! I liked that the storys main character wasn´t an actor, but someone who does something else in a movie. It gave a large idea of all the things that happens around making a movie. 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*

BOOK REVIEW - Brave New World

Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
Originally published 1932
Published by Vintage Classics
Classics, Science fiction, Dystopia

2 stars

Well, what can I say? 2 stars only and probably a lot of reasons why. In the beginning I think it took too long to get to the story. Maybe the beginning is meant to explain the world the events take place in. But it did not work for me. Then the book reached a part where I felt things were starting to happen, characters to follow were introduced.. But there was not one character you could´ve followed through the hole story. And that is something I think I would´ve needed here. I did not really care what happened to the characters.

I really like the idea of the story though! The world as so different than what it´s like really. I think if the world would´ve been introduced while introducing characters and the story going forward, I would really have liked this book. But not every book is suitable for everyones´ tastes, so this one just was not meant for me. There were parts where I really got into it but they were too short for me to stay excited. Sci-fi for me can only work so often.

IT´S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

hosted by Book Journey.

Ok so last weeks plan..almost made it. Finished Brave New World, but never started with Flicker. Got a lot of Host read, but am still reading that one.

So for this week, what´s new:

#1 The Rebel Princess by Anne M. Strick

I am not gonna add anything else since I am still in the middle of The Host and Rebel Princess has almost 400 pages as well.

Here´s some of the things I added on the blog last week:

GIVEAWAY of What Kills Me still on: 

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/2012/09/what-kills-me-tour-excerpt-read-first.html#comment-form

there´s also the whole 1st chapter for you to read!

And there´s the review of the amazing The Hallowed Ones!

http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.fi/2012/09/arc-book-

review-hallowed-ones.html#comment-form 

RELEASE DAY BOOK BLITZ - Of Blood and Bone

Of Blood and Bone (The Minaldi Legacy, #1) by Courtney Cole

Expected Pub: September 16, 2012 by Lakehouse Press

“I’m a monster, Eva. There is no saving a monster. But I love that you want to try.” 

My heart constricts at the expression on his face. He has no hope for himself, so I have to hope for him. 

“You’re not a monster,” I argue softly. “You’re a man, Luca. A man like any other, you’re made of blood and bone.” 

As a little boy, Luca Minaldi was told he was a monster.

As an adult, he knows it is true. 

He lives in Malta, a fairytale-like place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best kept of them all. 

Eva Talbot is spending the summer in Malta to finish up her doctoral dissertation. When she meets Luca, a mysterious and handsome shipping tycoon, there is an instant attraction, a disturbing and beautiful energy that she has never felt before. But she senses the darkness that lives within him. 

Eva is hired to care for his mother, who suffers from dementia, but it is Luca who Eva will eventually risk everything to save. Her life becomes a swirling chaos of darkness and romance, of secrets and mystery. And the question that emerges will become the most important answer of all. 

Can she save Luca from the darkness that plagues him without losing herself? 

The answer is a matter of life or death.

Teaser 

Eva’s Point of View

“Evangeline,” he says softly, his dark eyes glued to mine. “I’m so sorry about the other night.  I wish I could remember.  I wish I could take it back.”

“I don’t,” I tell him honestly.  “I really don’t.”

He gazes out the window for a scant moment more, seemingly deep in thought, before he crosses the room to me.  He kneels in front of me and looks into my eyes.  In this moment, he is as vulnerable as I’ve ever seen him, as I’ve ever seen anyone. He’s completely open to me, hiding nothing.

I want so desperately to kiss him.

“I can’t,” I tell his dark eyes, praying that I don’t fall into them.  “I want to kiss you right now.  But I can’t. You’re my patient.  There are ethics…”

Luca shakes his head, his hands on my knees and his gaze upon mine.  “You aren’t my doctor, Evangeline.  You’re my friend.  I’m simply talking to a friend who wants to help me tonight.  You’re not licensed to practice medicine in Malta, remember?  So where does that leave your ethics?”

He smiles wolfishly and waits without moving.  He’s offering himself to me.  I know that.  And it is against his better judgment. He has told me that, as well.  Yet here he is, on his knees in front of me.

I suck in a breath and inhale the air that is so charged with everything that Luca is.

Whatever that is.

It is dangerous on many levels.  I know that.

I reach out unsure fingers and trace the top of his shoulders, moving over the contours.  They are so broad, yet so slender at once.  He’s perfectly built.  Strong, lithe and powerful.  I drop my head.  I know that I don’t want to resist him anymore.  For the first time in my life, I’m going to do something that my heart wants to do, not what my head tells me to do.

I grip him tighter with my fingers and pull him to me.  He folds in between my knees, pressing me to his chest.  I can hear his heart thumping rhythmically against mine as my fingers linger on his warm back.

He dips his head and presses his forehead to mine, staring into my eyes.  His are a smoldering and stormy black.

“I’m afraid to get close to you,” he tells me.  “I’m afraid for you.”

“I’m not,” I whisper.  “I’m not afraid of you.  Kiss me, Luca.”

Even I can hear the thick desire in my voice and Luca hears it too.

He groans and covers my mouth with his own, muffling the sound with my lips.  He is pressed so close that he seems to absorb me.  Every plane of his body is against every plane of mine.  I don’t know where he stops and where I start, but it doesn’t matter.  All that matters is him and me and this.

Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/courtwritesYA

Website: www.courtneycolewrites.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15839914-of-blood-and-bone

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/courtneycolewrites


Author Bio:
Courtney Cole is a novelist who lives near Lake Michigan with her small domestic zoo (aka family), her pet iPad and her favorite cashmere socks. She’s always working on her next novel. To learn more about her, visitwww.courtneycolewrites.com