Annette's Book Spot

Monday, September 19, 2011

Blogoversary Giveaway!

I'm not doing a Monday Memories post today, except for this one. In honor of my one-year blogoversary, I'm giving away two ARCs of some of my favorite books this year. So, these are really fond memories for me, even though I didn't read them long ago. I loved these books so much that I bought the final hard copy, so I'm giving away my ARCs and hope that you love these books as much as I did.

Blood Red Road
by Moira Young

Hourglass
by Myra McEntire

So, if you are interested in this giveaway, please fill out the form below. You do not need to be a follower, but if you want to, that would certainly be OK! You need to be at least 13 years old and have a US mailing address. I will personally mail the books to the winners, so I'm not responsible if they get lost or damaged in transit (but I certainly hope this never happens!) Entry deadline is September 26, 2011, at midnight central time.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

IMM -- Some Great Things!

It's amazing how every week is a great week, book-wise, but they are all "great" in a different way. You can check out lots of other mailboxes by visiting Kristi, The Story Siren, our host!

Here's the score:

For Review:

Every Other Day, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, from NetGalley

Won:

Dark Souls, by Paula Morris, from Heidi @ YA Bibliophile (along with a bunch of awesome swag!)

From the Library:

Stork, by Wendy Delsol. I really think I brought this home once before, but this time I'm going to read it because I already have the sequel!

I hope you got great stuff too! I"ll be looking forward to your posts. Have a great week!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

It's my Blogoversary!

Today is my One Year Blogoversary! First of all, thanks for visiting, and you can stop reading right now if you want. Secondly, my niece is getting married today, and both my kids are in the wedding, so it’s a big day and I won’t be around to hit my Google Reader or do much commenting. But I won’t be gone for long.

The story of Annette’s Book Spot:

I have another blog that I don’t post much on any more, but it was the first, The Housework Isn’t Getting Done, and I wrote about cooking, sewing, camping, and reading (my favorite hobbies.) But I read a whole bunch, and I read pretty fast. I found that if I wrote about the books I read I could remember them much better long term. I also thought some of my students and family would enjoy reading about the books I’ve read, as a sort of reader’s advisory service. I wanted to get some more advanced review copies – I had started using the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program and had received a couple of books. That was exciting!

So, on September 17, 2010, I decided to start a book blog. I called it The More You Read, The More You Will Know! You will see older posts on my blog, but that’s because I copied them over from the original blog. I’m not very proud of most of them… but this has been a learning experience!

Thing that have happened this year:

I have about 325 followers – this blog wasn’t about getting followers, but it is still exciting. It motivates me to try to do a better job. I’ve had about 28,000 pageviews. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but it sounds OK to me.

I changed my blog name – I decided the name of my blog should match the URL, which has always been Annette’s Book Spot.

I got brave and asked a couple of authors for interviews. That was exciting too!

I won some books from some great bloggers, and I had some of my own giveaways.

Several authors have commented on my reviews of their books! That is a really thrilling thing to read.

I have managed to get more review copies from various sources including a publisher that read a review I wrote and wanted to know if I would review the second book by that author.

I started tweeting as a way to further connect with book people – this has been a lot of fun too, but talk about eating up some time! I have to limit myself, otherwise I don’t get any reading done.

I found over 250 blogs that I regularly follow. This only happened after I discovered Google Reader – what a GREAT tool. I’m addicted to my reader…..

I’ve learned about SEO and have applied SOME of the basic tenants.

I participate in a couple of weekly memes, and I started one of my own, Monday Memories. It’s not been very successful, but I’m still enjoying it.

I changed my layout twice. I’m not very good at it, but each time I learn more.

I’ve learned SO MUCH!! About blogging, about books, about writing, and about life. And I’ve had a lot of fun. I love this stuff.

All of these things listed above are because of YOU. The book blogging community is SO friendly and helpful; I really appreciate all of you.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I’m posting a Blogoversary Giveaway on Monday, so stay tuned……

Friday, September 16, 2011

I've Been Looking Forward to THIS Friday!

Big weekend for my fam. My niece is getting married, both my kids are in the wedding. Son is coming home from college for the weekend. It has been a long time in the planning stage, and I'm ready!!!

So...let's talk about some bloggy Friday Fun!

This week's question from Ginger at GReads!

Book Disappointments: Have you ever come across a book you were so stoked to read, but it failed miserably in your eyes?

Interesting question, especially in light of a discussion post over at YA Bibliophile.... she posted about how she really doesn't do negative reviews, because that's not what her blog is about. Which I totally support. Go read it. She says it much better than I can.....OK, back? Well, my response was that usually (although there have been a couple of exceptions) if I don't like a book I don't finish it, and I don't write about it. So...the book that immediately comes to mind is .... (please don't hate me, I really like her other books) Finnikin of the Rock, by Melina Marchetta. I just could not get into that book. I think I gave it about 80 pages -- to confusing, and just ..... couldn't......

The hard part is, sometimes you read such great things about a book, and you WANT to like it. You feel defective if you don't. So I tell myself, some day I'll try this again. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. But...really...with a TBR the size of mine, is that very likely? If I'm honest I have to say, I think not. So, for those Marchetta fans, please forgive me. I really loved Jellicoe Road!

This week Parajunkee and Alison are asking:

What imaginary book would you like to make a reality?

URgghhhh....having a bit of trouble with this one.....hhmmmm...thinking, thinking......It seems like this question requires a "fantasy" answer. But some of my favorite books are not fantasy. So, if my favorite books are "reality" then, I can't use one of those. I guess the default answer is Harry Potter, although there are some elements of that story that I would not want to be a reality. But Hogwarts would be GREAT! I also like the idea of space travel, so something like Across the Universe or even Ender's Game would be fun, but again, I don't want the danger that goes along with them. I'm a scaredy cat! I'm just going to stop typing now, because this is a lame answer....

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy your weekend -- I'm planning on a SPECTACULAR one. And, by the way, tomorrow is also my blogoversary, so there will be a special post about that. I'll try to visit you, but it might be after the weekend before I can get there.....

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Book Review: Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead

OK, you were all correct. Vampire Academy is a great book. It’s taken me a while to get started on this series, but I’m glad I finally did.

First of all, I don’t think this book can really be compared to Twilight. This story doesn’t involve vampires hiding out in the general public. They are at a special school for vampires (Moroi) and their guardians (Dhampir.) And the romance is not the driving force of the story.

Rose is Lissa’s best friend and guardian, but they are in trouble. They’ve just been found and returned to the academy after a two-year escape. There’s a lot of mystery about why they escaped. There’s an interesting dynamic as they try to assimilate back into the academy’s life. Lissa is royalty, so what she did was extremely bad for the Moroi. Lissa is still in danger, but the administration doesn’t realize it, and they are keeping her and Rose apart.

Fortunately, Rose can feel what Lissa feels – and sometimes she can even get into her mind and see what she is doing, so she can still provide some protection. Rose has been assigned a special trainer, Dimitri, to help her catch up, and they form a special bond.

Mead writes in first person, from Rose’s POV, but since Rose can get into Lissa’s mind, we get a third person perspective too. I thought this was kind of cheating, but it worked for the story.

I enjoyed learning the lore of the Moroi, Dhampir, and Strigoi. This is a well-crafted history that I’m sure will shape the entire series. The characters are interesting – there’s a typical “high school” drama mixed in with the magic and danger. The romance isn’t a big part of this story, and it doesn’t take over. There’s a slow building of interest – no “insta-love.”

And, thankfully, there is a tense, exciting climax and a resolution of this episode even though this is a series. No huge cliffhanger, but enough of a back story to make me want to read more about these characters. This is the way a series should be. No stopping in the middle of the story. Kudos to Mead! Bring on Frostbite.

Recommend this to teens who like vampire stories, boarding school stories, or really any paranormal fans. I think mostly girls read this, but there’s enough action and strong male characters that I think boys could be entertained (at least so far….)

Published by Razorbill, 2007

Copy obtained from the library

332 pages

Rating: 4/5

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Book Review: Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld

Goliath is the last book in the Levithan series and it is not to be missed. Westerfeld is truly a master storyteller, and I enjoyed each book in the series more than the previous book!

The WWI story continues with Dylan and Alek back on the Leviathan. This time they will end up in Japan, Mexico, and New York. They will meet Nicola Tesla and some other historic figures. They will try to survive a hurricane, and will have to look out for each other once again.

The characters are so vivid and unique. Each one plays an integral role, and after three books we know them like we are on the Leviathan with them! Not only our main characters, but I love the comic relief provided by Bovril and the sarcasm of Dr. Barlow. The twists and turns of the plot are creative, ending up taking us pretty much all the way around the world, meeting famous (and infamous) people, and experiencing an adventure at ever stop. The ending is completely tied up and doesn’t disappoint.

How Westerfeld depicted the Clankers’ machines and the Darwinists’ beasts is beyond my comprehension. I don’t know where he came up with all this, but boy it is good stuff. I’ve been entertained by the illustrations in each of the books, but I think they got even better in this final installment. Simply fascinating.

Well, I can’t say enough good things about Goliath. Suffice it to say, this is a series that you won’t be disappointed with. I really don’t think you can read Goliath unless you’ve read Leviathan and Behemoth. And, of course, you won’t want to stop until you’ve read all three. These are great books for reluctant readers who like history or sci-fi stuff. They are appropriate for adults, and even younger teens. I’m sad to see these characters go, but I can’t wait to see what Mr. Westerfeld comes up with next.

Published by Simon Pulse, September 20, 2011

Ebook ARC received through Galley Grab for review

543 pages (qualifies for my 350 Page Book Challenge!)

Rating: 5/5

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Time for another Grammar Post

I collect errors that I see often on blogs. Not because I think I'm better than you (I'm sure you can find some errors on this blog--and I admit I have trouble with commas) but because I want to contribute to the professionalism of bloggers in general. Here's my last post, published in February: Spell Check Isn't Enough, if you are interested.

So, I'd like to mention a few things that I've noticed since the last post.

"piqued" vs. "peaked" -- Something "piqued" your interest -- the "peak" version is for mountains.... I'm always impressed when I see this used correctly, because I see it used incorrectly far more....

myriad -- another one that is almost always used incorrectly. This word never goes with "of."
I had myriad problems with this book. (this is correct; do not say "myriad of")

"prose" vs. "verse" -- novels written in verse are the opposite of novels written in prose. Prose is the "normal" way of writing -- verse is when you write in lines like poetry. I even saw an author interview where she used the term "prose" for her style of writing in verse. It made me think I was mistaken about this -- but I looked it up!

And now a few things that aren't wrong, but they just bother me and I think they look unprofessional.

Writing your review in one big long paragraph. To me, the shorter the paragraphs, the easier a review is to read. I must admit, sometimes I skim, and if I can find the paragraphs about setting, characters, etc. I'm more likely to read your review. If it's one big block of text, I'm probably going to skip it. (This is my opinion -- how do you feel about this one? I'd be interested to hear if this bothers you, or am I being overly sensitive?)

Centering your review text. Do professional reviews do that? Magazines? Newspapers? Do you send these reviews to publishers like that? I find it makes the text difficult to read. Why would you not format using traditional left-margin text? I don't get this one and would, once again, be interested in your opinions.

And I cannot recommend enough that you read your own reviews in Google Reader. Font colors and hi-lighting sometimes make the posts impossible to read. If you really want a lot of people to read what you write, why not make it as easy as possible for them?

OK. I'll take off my English teacher hat, and get back to reading!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Book Blogger Appreciation Week - Day 1

Happy Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

Today's topic is COMMUNITY.

While the awards are a fun part of BBAW, they can never accurately represent the depth and breadth of diversity in the book blogging community. Today you are encouraged to highlight a couple of bloggers that have made book blogging a unique experience for you. They can be your mentors, a blogger that encouraged you to try a different kind of book, opened your eyes to a new issue, made you laugh when you needed it, or left the first comment you ever got on your blog. Stay positive and give back to the people who make the community work for you!

I'm celebrating my blogoversary (one year) on Saturday. I can't believe where I started and where I am now. I've learned so much from other blogs, and more importantly, I've found so many blogs I really ENJOY reading. They are great people. I really haven't met any of them in person; I can't go to BEA or anything like that. If you are a blogger in the St. Louis area, please let me know -- it would be fun to get to actually meet an talk with some bloggers. I see lots of posts about bloggers meeting up, and it looks like so much fun.

I'm going to talk about lots of things I've discovered about books an blogging in my Blogoversary post, so for now, I'm just going to list the bloggers that I admire and have learned from. Thanks to all of you!

Mary @ The Book Swarm - I particularly love her student's "Teen Reviews." Great job!

Rummanah @ Books in the Spotlight - she's a high school librarian from ILLINOIS!

Rachel @ Parajunkee's View - Great, helpful tips and an awesome meme

Melanie @ Reclusive Bibliophile - we have a lot of the same tastes in books, and she does a fun "If You Like" meme

Ginger @ GReads! - another very nice blogger, who has the same tastes. I also enjoy her TGIF meme. She wants to be a middle school teacher -- bless her heart!

Melissa @ One Librarian's Book Reviews - She's a librarian! And, one of the first book blogs I ever found and followed.

Alison @ Alison Can Read - This is a beautiful blog, and a very genuine blogger. She's always commenting and very helpful. She's also one of the hosts of the Feature & Follow Friday meme.

Jen @ I Read Banned Books - How can you not follow a blog with that name? Also, love to participate in her book tours. She makes it very easy....

Anna @ Anna Reads - another sweetheart blogger. Always cheerful, comments a lot, and writes very entertaining reviews

Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner - great reviews, and also posts interesting discussion posts.

I'm sure I've forgotten some. I follow about 250 blogs, and am faithful about my Google Reader every day. I also enjoy "lurking" on twitter. I make a comment once in a while, but I don't seem to be as entertaining as those who I follow! I've enjoyed writing my blog and you can tell how much I've learned from these fine people if you compare my first posts to my current posts (but I might be a little embarrassed if you do that.....)

Book Review: My Name is Memory, by Ann Brashares

My Name is Memory is a unique and interesting romance and was well executed, even though I was disappointed with the ending.

Daniel can remember everything – I mean everything about all of his past lives, for over 1000 years. He can recognize people he knew in other lives, and one of these people is Lucy (currently in 2004), who he is madly in love with. But of course she doesn’t even know him. For some reason though, when Daniel begins attending Lucy’s high school, she is inexplicably attracted to him. This attraction continues and grows throughout the story, which ends in 2009.

The story is told from both of our main characters’ points of view. Daniel goes through many of his past lives, explaining how he is able to find Lucy (or Sophia, as he calls her.) I thought the explanations of Daniel’s existence, his memories, his history with Sophia, and what it is like to be a person who remembers was very complete and detailed. I thought Brashares thought of everything and couldn’t find many holes in Daniel’s story.

I also liked Lucy’s character. I thought it was mostly believable how she slowly figured out some things and then became compelled to figure more out. She was spunky and determined (eventually) and I liked the fundamental change in her character.

There are a lot of details that might turn off some readers. I found them interesting, but this might have to do with the fact that I listened to the audiobook. I tend to be more patient listening to long, descriptive books rather than reading them because I’m not in a hurry to finish.

I was a little disappointed in the ending. I would have liked more resolution, but more so because I thought it went on too long. This was one place where the descriptions, and in particular the repetition, drove me batty. OK. I know you love each other. I know you don’t want to die. Stop saying it…..and get on with the story. (I’m talking about the part in the water, for those of you that have read this.)

I had to read this book, since Sisterhood is one of my very favorite all-time reads. This book doesn’t live up to that, but I enjoyed reading it. I think it has some appeal for older teens, but mostly it’s an inimitable love story for adults.

Just a side note about the audio. The VERY LAST disk didn’t copy correctly, and stopped about 20 pages before the end of the story. Talk about frustrating – I had to order the book from another library and WAIT to find out how it ended. Errrggghh!

Published by Riverhead, 2010
Copies (both ebook and printed) obtained from the library
336 pages

Rating: 3/5

Sunday, September 11, 2011

IMM -- Still Takin' it Slow

I, once again, tried not to add to much to the pile this week, and I'm pretty happy with my reading progress. Here's the loot:

From the Library:

Stork, by Wendy Delsol

Daemon, by Daniel Suarez (audio book)

Free for my Kindle:

Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen

Wow. That's it. That didn't take long at all. Guess what -- I'm celebrating my Blogoversary -- one year -- in a week. I'm working on a giveaway, so stay tuned. Thanks to Kristi for hosting IMM, and thanks you all of you for visiting. I'll be coming around to your blog real soon.