Author Events in October

These are the author events that will be occurring in the Chicago land area for the month of October. If you want to find out more information about each author. PLEASE DO CLICK ON THE LINKS AS SOME EVENTS REQUIRE TICKETS. If you know other events occurring in your area or ones that aren’t listed here please leave them in the comments. 

1st – Roz Varon at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville at 2 PM

3rd – Dan Brown at Tivoli Theater in Downer’s Grove at 7 PM

3rd – Rich Cohen at The Standard Club in Chicago at 11:45 AM

5th – Lauren Oliver and Adam Silvera at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville at 7 PM

5th – Colleen Hoover at Anderson’s Bookshop in La Grange at 7 PM

5th – Marie Benedict at the Standard Club in Chicago at 11:45 AM

8th – FIERCE READS TOUR
CALEB ROEHRIG, JENNIFER MATHIEU, MITALI PERKINS & ANNA-MARIE MCLEMORE
Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville at 2 PM

10th – Alice Hoffman at the Standard Club in Chicago at 11:45 AM

10th – Alice Hoffman at Community Christian Church at 7 PM 

10th – Robert Beatty at Anderson’s Bookshop in Downers Grove at 7 PM

21st – Valerie Bertinelli at The Book Stall at 6:30 PM

25th – Danny M. Cohen at The Standard Club in Chicago at 11:45 AM 

26th – Gabrielle Union at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville at 7 PM

27th – Gilly Macmillan at Anderson’s Bookshop Naperville at 7 PM

Stacking the Shelves (2)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! It is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. 

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page!

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Bought:

Archagel’s Viper (Guild Hunter #10) by Nalini Singh

This is one of my favorite series and I had it preordered the moment it was available on Amazon. Can’t wait to finish reading it and let you all know about it. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, try to and you might also fall in love with the main characters, a kick-butt no BS female heroine  and the same for the male protagonist.  You can find out more about the series on Nalinisingh.com . If you sign up for her newsletter you will also be able to read exclusive short stories that she sends in them about the psy-changeling and guild hunter series.

 

Review: Archangel’s Heart (Guild Hunter #9) by Nalini Singh

Archangel’s Heart (Guild Hunter #9) by Nalini Singh

Mass Market Paperback, 381 pages

Published November 1st 2016 by Berkley

Source: Own copy

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into a dangerous and exhilarating world where a deadly, beautiful archangel and his once-mortal consort are caught in a fury of twisted darkness…

One of the most vicious archangels in the world has disappeared. No one knows if Lijuan is dead or has chosen to Sleep the long sleep of an immortal. But with her lands falling into chaos under a rising tide of vampiric bloodlust, a mysterious and ancient order of angels known as the Luminata calls the entire Cadre together to discuss the fate of her territory.

Accompanying her archangelic lover Raphael to the Luminata compound, guild hunter-turned-angel Elena senses that all is not as it seems. Secrets echo from within the stone walls of the compound, and the deeper Elena goes, the uglier the darkness. But neither Raphael nor Elena is ready for the brutal truths hidden within—truths that will change everything Elena thinks she knows about who she is…

Nothing will ever be the same again. – Goodreads

Review: I have to say, the books just keep getting better and better. I feel as though the book is very fast paced and that made the book a very fast read. I LOVED THE SETTING. I loved that the setting this time was in Morocco. Lumia is set up in Morocco and that is where Raphael and the rest of the cadre have to meet up. This setting also brings us closer to the origins of Elena. I always found Elena’s story so intriguing and now we are able to learn what happened to her family. I won’t be adding more details so that I don’t spoil that plot for you but it explains so much about what and why her mom did what she did as well  as just also letting us understand Elena more. I found it interesting how the luminata (the monks of Lumia) were able to shift from their original purpose and change so drastically. Some of the things that are said I’m pretty sure are straight up quotes from the previous books, such as how Elena describes Beth’s and Harrison’s relationship. But overall, the book kept me reading and also kept me entertained and in suspense to see what will happen next. I really thought that the way the Luminata was treating Elena there would be many boundaries that are crossed and that was interesting to see that relationship play out. I also found it interesting the way that Elena’s and Raphael have grown as a couple.

Elena: I feel like she has grown more used to being an Archangel’s consort and that she herself has also grown more confident in herself. She has learnt when to play up the charms that Michaela seems to possess and knows when its time to play up beauty and when its time to kick some butt. She as in the previous books has been training religiously with all of the seven as well as more of the guild and has become even deadlier. Her speed and reflexes has gotten better as her immortality is settling in and she is getting there. I loved the scene in which Michaela tries to kill her but ends up being shocked by Elena instead.

Raphael: Raphael has grown in his relationship with Elena. He’s a little more moral I think and also he’s still learning to let her spread her wings. He’s still extremely over protective and struggles with her wanting to fly more and more. There really isn’t that much development in the book about Raphael. Although the plot of the book is based on the cadre meeting to talk about Lijuan and if she has disappeared and what to do with her territory if she really has disappeared, there really is not much of book that focuses on that so we don’t necessarily see Raphael talk about that. We mostly see Raphael and how he feel’s about Elena’s search of her ancestral history.

Aodhan: Although we don’t much about this member of the Seven from the previous books, we find out quite a bit about what happened to him and the after effects of what happened to him. In this book, we see how much he has grown as a character and as a being. From the first and second books in the series, we know that Aodhan shuns being touched but in this book we are seeing him being comfortable with touch and playing around with someone other than Ilium.

In this book, as we learn more about Elena and her past, we also see a bit of how the cadre handles problems that are occurring with the cascade and the with Lijuan. We are also able to see the progression of the relationships of the characters throughout the books. The book was very fast paced and entertaining. I couldn’t put it down and I can still state that this is still one of my favorite series to read and explore. I wrote this review late because of the new book in the series that just came out, Archangel’s Viper. Review to come soon.

Overall: 5 out of 5

Book Review: The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey

Kindle Edition, 320 pages

Published September 16th 2014 by Putnam Juvenile

Source: The Library

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate. – Goodreads

Review: Overall, the book was wow. It picks up right away from where the first book, The 5th Wave, ended. They are holed up in a motel and Cassie is waiting for Evan. Ben… you have no chance anymore… Its all about Evan now. To say the least that the team has been through a lot is saying something. They need to find a more permanent shelter especially now that there are more of them and they need to find the other survivors. The plan they have seems solid. Until of course things go wrong, as they are likely to do during an alien invasion. Ringer takes on a more main character role in the books than she did in the first and we see her transform from the bratty doesn’t believe in anything, doesn’t care about anyone to understanding Evan and who he is as well as understanding more about the aliens and who they are.

Cassie– Cassie is still kicks butt but not as much as in the first, I feel like that is because we had to learn more about Ringer and her journey. However, we see her making the choice between the guys basically as she sees how broken Ben is and so is Evan, however, mentally broken versus body broken is different. We see how much she cares about both of them as well as Nugget. I feel like she also takes a step back because she feel left out of the team as they all have their military nicknames and she doesn’t and they all know each and her brother isn’t the same anymore, he is harder and tries to act less like a child and more like a soldier.

Ringer– Ringer and Cassie do not get along. Ringer doesn’t want to believe anything Cassie tells her about the Silencers or Evan or surviving outside the compound it seems like. We also learn about her history and why she is the way that she is. But then her story changes as she also begins to experience love or atlas liking someone and then her story really changes as she realizes about her connections to other people especially Teacup and what she is willing to do for her. She also discovers the truth about the aliens after her capture and what they do to her makes her understand Evan more. The way she also saw the world and how she changes makes me root for her.

Ben– Ben is just broken. He has kind of given up and Cassie is trying to pick him up to make him want to live, we don’t really get his perspective in this book.

Evan– Evan is sticking to his save Cassie, must save Cassie at all costs. He is willing to sacrifice himself again to save Cassie. He is totally in love with her. After the explosion of the base in 5th Wave his body is more or less broken. He is rescued by another Silencer who tries to make him fall in love with her but even with the broken body he finds Cassie and there things go bonkers. I feel like he sacrifices too much for Cassie and she is getting annoyed with it because she wants him to stay with her and not die.

Overall, the book was fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. The next and last book in the trilogy is coming out in May 24th and I can’t wait to get it to read. I wonder who Cassie will finally choose and if the Others are going to win in the end or not. I’m also really curious on what’s happening with Ringer and how it will affect the group.

5 out of 5

Other reviews:

Real Rad Reads l Dutch Book Chick

Book Review: The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

Audible Audio, Unabridged, 13 pages

Published May 7th 2013 by Penguin Audio

Source: The Library

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains.
After the 2nd, only the lucky escape.
And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive.
After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother–or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. – Goodreads

Review: This was so much fun to listen to. I feel like the book ended faster listening to it then by reading and I think this book got me so excited to start listening that it got to me to start listening to more books. It also made it really easy to do other errands at the same time. I think that might be partially why I enjoyed the book so much. 🙂 (Love multitasking.)

Anyways on to the actually book review. Overall, the book was fast paced, action packed, and very nice character developement. There were amazing plot twists and the twists were ones that were completely unexpected.

The plot: I loved the way that the book began with Cassie shooting the Crucifix soldier and how it works throughout the book in how it’s brought out in the choices she makes. I found it interesting the way it jumped back and forth between Ben and Cassie and how you were able to see the comparison of the two characters and how their lives changed. The comparison was pretty neat to see what happens if you were one of the kids that was put on the bus vs one that wasn’t. The main question for me in that aspect however is, why did they take Ben and not Cassie? They are the same age but yet Cassie wasn’t allowed on the bus. The rescue of Evan was also kinda of really awesome and but the kind of trust he shows was suspicious and Cassie being suspicious the entire book of him was spot on and I love how Yancey alluded to Evan’s “condition” throughout.

The charaters: Cassie was awesome. I loved the way the book started with her having to show the hard choices she has to make in this new world. I also love how she explains the way that the Others took over the planet and how they wiped everyone out. I also love how she sees herself as so normal and unremarkable and a regular teenager but yet she grows into a badass. I loved that she takes almost every opportunity to learn something from Evan. And how at the end when it comes down to saving her brother you got to see everything she learned come together and she even surprises herself I think by how much she has learned.

Ben/Zombie… Ben just starts off cool from how we see him in Cassie’s eyes and declines from there. The interesting part for his parts in the book is that we can see what its like to be one of those that get on the bus. That gets “rescued” and how he gets trained to kick butt. The only difference is that he appears to have lost his hand eye coordination, because he can’t shoot a gun. And he appears to have become a little broken due to loss of his entire family. This is the comparison to Cassie, she also lost her family (included her brother because he got taken away) but she strives to get better and find him while Ben gives up sort of and just tries to take care of “Nugget.”

Evan, oh dreamy dreamy Evan. He is amazing. He made her a HAMBURGER… and made the bread himself… What can’t he do? That’s all I want to know. What can’t Evan Walker do? I think that’s something that Cassie was also wondering. He knows how to cook, hunt and fight. I think that that is something important to look for in this type of environment/world and I think that’s what makes feel so safe with him. But he is very suspicious. Where does he go when he isn’t with Cassie? He is just a mysterious character and then when we find out along with Cassie what he does and discover his story… OMG!!! I will not spoil it for those of you that haven’t read and are considering reading this but let me just say WOAH. It’s a good one.

The book was just amazing. I don’t think I stopped listening to it at all once I played it and stayed up at night to listen. It was that good. It kept me on the edge of my seat and it just rocked.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Other Reviews:

The Book Smugglers l YA Book Central l Reading Lark

Giveaway Hop: Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop Ends Dec 31 (INT)

Welcome to the Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop. It is hosted by BookHounds & I am A Reader.Thank you for stopping by and entering. The prize is a pre-order of Remembrance by Meg Cabot. It is a continuation of the Mediator series, which were a favorite of mine. It comes out on February 2nd.

Ends  12/31/15
Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary.
You must be 13 or older to enter .
The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

This giveaway is International as long as Amazon or BookDepository ships to you.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER (Rafflecopter)

Don’t forget to enter the other blogs’ giveaways! There are a ton of great prizes. HERE

 

 

Giveaway Hop: Best of 2015 (INT) (CLOSED)

 

Welcome to the Best of 2015 Giveaway Hop. It is hosted by BookHounds & I am A Reader. The Giveaway ends on the 18th.

The prize here is a $10 Amazon gift card for the book that was your favorite this year. All you have to do it fill out the form by clicking here. Thank you and GOOD LUCK! Since this is an amazon gift card, this giveaway is international.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Don’t forget to check out the other blogs!

 

Winner of Gratitude Giveaway Hop

The winner is Elizabeth of The Book Attict!

Presents for Book Lovers and More (Volume 1)

Perfect Christmas Mix

Since its almost time for Chrismas and the other holidays and  I know I have trouble finding presents for my friends and family so I always look for ideas online and here are some of the things that I have found. Some are DIY which are amazing and then there are some that are different price ranges. Some are perfect stocking stuffers and other supplemantaries to along with your gift. So here goes. As I find more items, I’ll post them as well.

1. Obviously BOOKS!
2. DIY projects
   1. Perfect Christmas Mix – a cookie mix inside a mason jar (idea from Hey Gorgeous Events blog)  This is awesome because you can customize this to make it the perfect cookie mix with the person’s favorite cookie mix. Just click on the link to take you to the site for instructions.
   2. Another easy one is a snow/glitter globe. I found this idea on pinterest and it looks super easy and fun.
      

      DIY Snow/Glitter Globe/Jar 🙂

      1. A great present for a person that loves taking baths and relaxing is Bath Bombs. I found this idea on pinterest as well. The pictures and recipe are from Sarah Titus. 
3. Projects that you could buy: 
   1. There is this wonderful scarf from the Etsy Shop – storiarts. It costs $48 and there are many different books that are used for it. Some of which are, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland and more. Check it out HERE
   2. Anthology Candle which is called Old Books. This candle is amazing, its a soy candle and handmade. Its perfect becasue it is soy, it burns longer and produces minimal smoke. Cost is $16. Check it out HERE
   3. There is also a website online called Out Of Print Clothing, and they have clothing and accesories that are book inspired. Check out their stuff its gorgeous. Check it out HERE

Frankenstein Tee for Men at Out Of Print Clothing

 

Review: Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

Paperback, 288 pages

Published April 21st 2015 by HarperTeen

Source: Publisher for honest review

Perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson and Gayle Forman, Every Last Promise is a provocative and emotional novel about a girl who must decide between keeping quiet and speaking up after witnessing a classmate’s sexual assault.

Kayla saw something at the party that she wasn’t supposed to. But she hasn’t told anyone. No one knows the real story about what happened that night—about why Kayla was driving the car that ran into a ditch after the party, about what she saw in the hours leading up to the accident, and about the promise she made to her friend Bean before she left for the summer.

Now Kayla’s coming home for her senior year. If Kayla keeps quiet, she might be able to get her old life back. If she tells the truth, she risks losing everything—and everyone—she ever cared about. – Goodreads

Review: From the start I knew/expected what the book would be like based on the subject matter however, I didn’t expect it to depress me as much it did. It’s a story about a girl, Kayla, who goes through something extreme in her life. It makes her question many things and we don’t necessarily find out what it is until about three quarters of the book. Which I think is really good because that way we get to experience what someone who is going through something like this must be experiencing. (I don’t want to say what that something is as it might be a spoiler, and I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone.) Anyways throughout the book, I kept thinking how similar this seems to be to Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Anyways, back to plot, I didn’t read the synopses of the story and just dived right into it. Kayla is from the perfect, small town with the super close community in which everyone knows everybody. And once Kayla does the “inexplicable” to the community by causing an accident after witnessing a crime, she is, for lack of better words, ostracized by the community and her friends. However she does make one friend in particular that somehow knows something about what she saw and why she had the accident. Throughout the story, Kayla struggles with the way everyone is treating her and with the decision of telling or not telling the truth.

The writing in the book is very good. Like I said earlier, as soon as I got through about twenty pages, the writing reminded me very much of Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing and especially of Speak. The story is also very similar, in regards to subject matter, perpetrator, even the treatment of the main character. Throughout the story, the way that Kayla reacts to the treatment that she receives is very interesting because if I was put in that situation, I would be telling the reason for the accident. However, she was also thinking about protecting herself all the same and the victim. What made the situation even worse however, is that in comparison to Speak, the rapist, is not ust some boy she met at a party but someone she knows very well and who she thought could never do something like this.  The way that she is treated is probably what causes her to question everyone and everything about her decision to tell or not. She is afraid that if she tells anyone that the treatment will get worse or that it would happen to her too. She is also afraid of the way the community would start treating her differently also especially since if she tells, their “golden boy” would be going to jail.

 The story is good and compelling and keeps you on edge to figure out who the victim is and what will happen to Kayla once/if she decides to tell what she saw/ experienced. But it’s just too similar to Speak for me and it just takes too long for Kayla to decide.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Similar books:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson  l  All The Rage by Courtney Summers

Other reviews:

YA Book Central  l  Dark Faerie Tales   l   Cuddlebuggery