JC's Book Haven

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Sunday Cover Scramble [51]

Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until the next day to let you know if you are right, allowing other to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. If you need hints, I will only post covers of series talked about on my blog previously. Also, let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more throughout the day if no one guesses it correctly. Here we go:

As of Monday, no one has it correct just yet so here is a clearer version:

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Friday, January 10, 2014

Sidekick Showcase [58] - She's So Vain

Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday, is a weekly bookish meme, hosted here by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on my page. Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week's topic
• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their's throughout the week as well

For the month of January, we should choose characters that we love, but have that one thing that they should definitely set a New Years Resolution for...that one flaw that they need to work on that maybe is even resolved in the series as the character grows. Sidekicks in need of Resolutions...

If you haven't stopped by my Blogaversary Giveaway, Please Do!

My choice is Aphrodite LaFont
House of Night Series by P.C. Cast & Kristen Cast

Aphrodite LaFont picture created by Jaclyn Canada

Aphrodite is so vain that she chose that as her name. Yes, students at the House of Night get to select their new names for their new lives when they enter the school specially built for fledgling vampires. When readers first meet her, she's almost unbearable. A really easy character to dislike since she's egocentric, hateful, and possesses all the qualities of the Alpha Mean-Girl. I haven't read all the books in the series so I'm not up to date, but she quickly became the character that I actually like the most. How do authors do that? I'm not entirely sure. She has excellent sarcastic quips, sees visions of future disasters, and a whole lot more that would just be spoilerly. She will always know she's the most beautiful person in the room though even if the quickest way to cause a mini-meltdown is by suggesting she is having a bad hair day.

Quotes:

“Because you are the superhero fledgling. I’m just your more attractive sidekick. Oh, and the herd of nerds are your dorky minions.”

“Nerd herd, focus. You're here to help the fledglings. Dour One and Dour Two aren't important," said Aphrodite.
"Dr. Seuss reference. I like it," Stark said, giving me a check-me-out-I've-always-read-books hottie grin.
Aphrodite frowned at him.
"I said focus, not flirt.”

"Aphrodite! I just said you look fine."
"Yeah, well, fine is fine for most people. For me it's terrible.”

“People suck. They do stupid things and they're not nice. The end.”

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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday [26]

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

(Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Publisher: June 10, 2014 Harper Teen
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Dystopia

Goodreads Summary

Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except...
There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

When life's kicking your butt, how about a theme song?

My friend Robyn from robgirlbooks tasked us with coming up with a theme song each month, and I love it! Music is a VERY big part of my life. I'm telling you guys, it hurt my heart when I lost my voice and couldn't sing for a couple of days and I realized how bad it really is. I'm seriously singing during the walk from my car to work, in the shower, in the car, and in every store I enter. That doesn't mean I'm fantastic at it either, just that I love music and I love to sing :D Some songs I enjoy for the lyrics, some move me due to the piano or guitar, and some it is the entire package. Yes, I actually cry while listening to certain songs because they have that impact on me (Sarah Mclachlan Angel, anyone?).

My choice for the month of January is:

Zane's choice for January:

The January playlist can be found here.

Sunday Cover Scramble [50]

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Saturday, January 4, 2014

Sidekick Showcase [57] - Party Animal

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in the week's topic
• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their's throughout the week as well

For the rest of the month of January, we should choose characters that we love, but have that one thing that they should definitely set a New Years Resolution for...that one flaw that they need to work on that maybe is even resolved in the series as the character grows. What do you all think about this topic? Sidekicks in need of Resolutions...

If you haven't stopped by my Blogaversary Giveaway, Please Do! I haven't had time yet to reply to everyone or visit everyone back, but I have read all the great comments and will spend tomorrow visiting everybody.

This week is Party Animal

My choice is Andrea Nash
Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews

Andrea Nash picture created by Jaclyn Canada

Andrea is five foot two (my height!) of pure strong, independent woman awesomeness. I know Kate would have to have a friend by her side that can hang, and this one does. OK, so I haven't read Gunmetal Magic yet which is her story, but I really want to. I'm so intrigued by her character, there are so many layers hiding underneath that I just know that I haven't even scratched the surface of yet, and I want to understand what makes her such a mystery. I chose her initially because she has the guns blazing, let's rock this attitude that I really love. Oh, and the animal part is literal. The Party Starter quote was a bonus since I haven't read Gunmetal Magic yet, I didn't even know about it ;)

Quotes:

I gave him my Order smile: sweet grin, hard eyes, reached over to my passenger seat, and pulled out my submachine gun. About twenty-seven inches long, the HK was my favorite toy for close-quarters combat. The rider's eyes went wide.
"This is an HK UMP submachine gun. Renowned for its stopping power and reliability. Cyclic rate of fire: eight hundred rounds per minute. That means I can empty this thirty-round clip into you in less than three seconds. At this range, I'll cut you in half." It wasn't strictly true but it sounded good. "You see what it says on the barrel?"

On the barrel, pretty white letters spelled out PARTY STARTER.

"You open your mouth again, and I'll get the party started."
The rider clamped his jaws shut.”

“I was a knight," Andrea said. "I'm not just going to start shooting every dickhead who mouths off to me."
"Just making sure."
"Besides, if I shot him, I'd do it so nobody could trace it back to me. I'd shoot him somewhere remote, his head would explode like a melon, and they would never find his body. He would just vanish.”

“You’re touching me,” I chided him.
He caressed my back, sliding his hand down, hitting every sensitive point I hadn’t even known I had. “No, this is touching you. That was just accidental contact.”
“Oh? Good to know. If you touch me again and I break your arm off, you can be sure it will be completely accidental.”

“No, really!” Desandra nodded. “Okay, so most guys don’t have a nice ball sack, right? It looks all hairy and wrinkled like some small animal died between their legs, but Gerardo’s is like two plums in a velvet bag...”
Derek, who’d been lingering in the doorway, took a careful step to the left behind the wall and disappeared from my view.
Kill me, somebody. I raised my hand. “Hold that thought. I need to borrow Andrea for a minute.”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway. Behind us Raphael growled, “Don’t leave me!”
Andrea leaned towards me. “Plums.”
“Listen...”
Andrea raised her hands, imitating holding plums the size of small coconuts, and moved them up and down.”

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Thursday, January 2, 2014

New Year Giveaway

So my Blogaversary has come and gone during the holidays and I didn't celebrate. Now is as good a time as any to do the giveaway and celebration of a fantastic and fun-filled year of blogging. I've had such a wonderful time getting to you know all. I would never have guessed how incredibly personable authors are with their readers or how accepting the blogger world is of new people just wanting to chat about the books that they love.

YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME!!

For my 1 year Blogaversary and the start of a new year, I thought I would do things a little differently. I hear bloggers mention that they'd love a Harry Potter wand, the Maurader's Map, etc and you guys all know how much I love Harry Potter. So I'd like the winner of this giveaway to choose either:

1) a wand (the character's of your choice)