Long time, no blog!

It's been exactly two months since my last post (yikes!) and sadly, there will be no super awesome post today - just an explanation for why I've been gone. December was a rough month; I was busy with my new job and then, on the 28th, my grandmother passed away. It was a huge shock to all of us, even though she'd been sick for almost four years. January wasn't much better, either; it was hard just to do normal things for a while and then once I did, I just wanted to drown myself in work and books. So, needless to say, I haven't really been in a mood to blog and even if I had, I haven't had the time because of work.

Anyway, when I finally get around to book blogging you'll have tons of reviews to look forward to. (Including Across the Universe, If I Stay, Before I Fall, Revolution, The Hunger Games series and many more.) To get myself back into the swing of blogging I'm going to start doing a cute little challenge I've seen floating around on Facebook! It, admittedly, doesn't have much to do with book blogging but oh well, I just need to get back into the swing of posting.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been close with for awhile.

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Day 04 - A picture of your night.

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory.

Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item.

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh.

Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with.

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.

Day 12 - A picture of something you love.

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.

Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget.

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change.

Day 25 - A picture of your day.

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss.

So, here's the picture and 15 facts for tonight's post:

1: My name is Chanel and that ^ is me.

2: I have five sisters and one brother; I'm the middle child of 7. My older siblings and I are only half siblings while my younger siblings were adopted when I was 16. 

3: I'm an English major in college but I'm currently taking a quarter (or more) off from school to decide if that's really what I want.

4: I love animals! Penguins are my favorite and I've seriously contemplated breaking into the zoo and bringing one home with me.

5: I'm having a hard time figuring out what to say about myself.

6: My graduating class consisted of 10 boys and 4 girls, including myself. I hated high school while I was going through it but now that I'm a few years older I really miss it. I realize now that it was one of the best times of my life, just like people said it would be.

7: I want to travel the world.

8: I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis three months before I turned 18.

9: I love board games, card games, etc.

10: I live in the middle of nowhere aka a small town in Ohio. I long to live in a big city but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't last a day in one if I moved there.

11: I recently discovered that I have Celiac disease, which is an intolerance/allergy to gluten. Gluten is wheat and it's derivatives. I've been (mostly) gluten free for a couple months. It's hard but I feel SO much better since I've eliminated it from my diet.

12: I converted to a Macbook from an HP in January of '09 and I love it. I'm now a firm believer that once you go Mac, you'll never go back. ;-)

13: I've had a bit of an obsession with vampires since I was a little kid. My mom does too, so it must be genetic haha.

14: I drive a 2008 VW Bug convertible. Her name is Lola and she's beautiful.

15: My family means the world to me. This should probably be higher up on the list because they are, literally, the most important things in my life but I'm too lazy to change it. :-)

There we go! My first post in two months which will, hopefully, get me back into the swing of things!

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

First of all, HAPPY 1st of DECEMBER!! It was definitely a great first day here in OH as we've seen snow all day! :-) Not enough to really accumulate but it's enough to get me excited about winter. Although, I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune once we're still having snowfalls in April. Ha! Now, onto today's post!!

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

This sounds soooo good to me! I don't normally like sci-fi-ish stuff but I feel like it's something that I'll probably enjoy. I'm also a sucker for a good romance so hopefully Amy and Elder's love story rocks. And of course, it's a gorgeous cover! I know, I know - it's so tacky, etc. to judge a book by it's cover but whatever you know you do it, too! ;-)

Across The Universe will be available in book stores everywhere on January 11, 2011.

I feel like WoW are the only posts I've done (ha) but I promise that that will be changing soon! I've got a couple reviews I'm getting ready to post in the next few days, so that's something to look forward to. Also, I'm putting together a giveaway/contest to help get my blog "out there" and to gain more followers. So stay tuned for that as well! ;-)


EDIT: Also, I can't figure out how to format the stupid huge space out of my post - I've tried everything I can think of... Sorry :-(

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. WOW spotlights forthcoming titles that we absolutely can't wait to read.

Vixen by Jillian Larkin
Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun ... or are they?
 
Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden.... 
 
Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry.... 
 
From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties ... when anything goes.

***

I just found out about this novel by searching for upcoming titles on B&N.com in hopes of finding one to blog about today. I've always been fascinated by the 20's; the flappers, prohibition, Al Capone, the suffrage movement... So many incredible (whether good or bad) things happened during that time. I'm looking forward to seeing - er, reading - about this author's take on that time period and how she'll navigate it. 

Vixen hits shelves near you on December 14 of this year!

Review: Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Synopsis: Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.  

But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.  

So much for normal.

Review: 
*sigh* Where do I even start?? Oh, I know! How about with the fact that I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep, give or take a few minutes, since I stayed up until 3AM finishing this book? I just could. NOT. put. it. down! I'll try to leave you relatively spoiler free in my review but if a few happen to slip out, I apologize in advance.

Evelyn (or, as she's mainly referred to in the book, Evie) is a sixteen year old girl who can see through the glamours of any and all paranormal creatures - vamps, faeries, werewolves, etc. This is such a rare skill - she's the ONLY person who is able to do this - that when she was found by, the now defunct, APCA (American Paranormal Containment Agency) she was the reason for the forming of IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency).

She lives in the main IPCA center and when not out performing her normal "bag and tag" (with the help of her trusted pink taser, Tasey) on paranormals, she's daydreaming of being a normal teenage girl; one that has a locker, a driver's license, and yes, parents. See, Evie was found wandering around at three years old and before APCA/IPCA found her (and her skill) when she was eight, she had been passed around from foster home to foster home. At the Center she fills her time with visiting her best friend (who just happens to be a mermaid) Lish, interpreting the Center's head hauncho Raquel's different sighs, trying to avoid he ex-boyfriend (who is also a faerie) Reth, and shopping online.

That all changes one night when there's a situation at the Center and a secretive shape-shifting paranormal, later known as Lend, shows up in Raquel's office (looking exactly like Raquel) rifling through her things. Soon, paranormals start mysteriously dying and no one can figure out who - or what - is causing their untimely ends.

As the novel progresses, the need to find whoever is murdering the paranormals grows more urgent as more and more are showing up dead and as Evie starts dreaming of and hearing haunting lines of a poem she doesn't know, that seem to describe her. This is also a romance so predictably, although most definitely not in a boring way, Lend and Evie's relationship grows from a friendship into something more - but not without some interference from the ever so hot (and really bad tempered) Reth. And that's all I'm going to say about the plot as I don't trust myself not to say something horribly spoilery and ruin it for all of you!

On the character front: I really connected with Evie. She's just one of those characters that you want to hug or have a sleepover with or something - you want to be her best friend. I don't really know how to explain why I had the compassion that I did for her throughout the novel; maybe it's because I can relate to the feeling of not quite fitting in or because she never had a chance at a "normal" life and that made me sad for her. I'm not sure what it was but it pulled on my heartstrings and I loved every minute I "spent" with her in her world.


Finally, if you choose to pick up this book, be prepared to laugh out loud, tear up a bit (or even cry), fall in love and enjoy the crazy ride Kiersten White has provided. It's a fantastic book and I'm definitely going to pick up the planned sequel that I've read will his shelves next Autumn. :-)

Rating:

5 out of 5 C's!

The end was a bit rushed, in my opinion, and there is a cute little cliff-hanger that makes you long for the next book. However, I fell in love with the characters and the plot was intriguing and kept me on my toes, so it deserves my highest rating!

Favorite Quotes:
He smiled. "Besides, how could I ever be afraid of someone who wears so much pink?" - Lend

"Evelyn, my love. Finally we dance." - Reth

"Bleep stupid bleep bleep faeries and their bleep bleep bleep obsessions. He had better stop bleep bleep bleep the bleep bleep rules or I will bleep bleep bleep the little bleeeeeeep." - Lish

I might not have been dead, but if anything had happened to that dress, someone was going to be. - Evie

In My Mailbox (1)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

In my mailbox this week (well, technically LAST week since I'm behind in posting this... Shh!), there was only one book - one that I WON in an awesome giveaway over at The Unread Reader! (Look here to see how I won, since I didn't technically "win", if you're interested!) 

(Me, with my new book! Heh.)

Missie, the legen*pause*dary blogger behind TUR, is doing a giveaway for reaching 600 Followers on her blog. In this giveaway, she is choosing one winner each Sunday of November who will, in turn, then choose one book from her own personal library that that person would like to read. 

And let me tell you, it was a HARD decision to make because Missie has excellent taste in books! I saw many that I already own and many that I'm itching to read! After careful consideration, I finally chose what book I wanted - Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice - and notified Missie of my choice. And that was it! My book was on its way. :-)

Now, the reason behind this (seemingly) random pick is simple - I've NEVER read it! Honestly, I don't know how I can call myself a true vamp lover since I've never read this iconic novel... But I swear, I am! I have been since I was a wee child and yes, I know how weird that sounds. ;-) I'm so looking forward to finally sinking my teeth into this book now that I finally own it, thanks to Missie, and then, of course, blogging about it!

That's all that was in my physical mailbox this week - but I bought a couple new NOOKbooks that I'm anxious to blog about once I'm finished with them, so look forward to that! 

Waiting On Wednesday (1)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. WOW spotlights forthcoming titles that we absolutely can't wait to read.

TWO KISSES FOR MADDY A Memoir of Loss & Love by Matthew Logelin

Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. The pair settled together in Los Angeles and they had it all: the perfect marriage, a beautiful new home, and a baby girl on the way. But just twenty-seven hours after they welcomed Madeline into the world, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and instantly died, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited.

Faced with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt coped by returning to the small blog he had created to keep friends and family updated on Liz's pregnancy, which today has become a place for him to share with over a million curious readers the day to day of two lives bound by loss and love. But there is more to his story than just raising a daughter alone: Matt Logelin is an extraordinary human being. Having been sustained through tragedy by the kindness and generosity of strangers, he is now dedicated to helping others in difficult situations by reaching out and inspiring those facing loss or adversity.

A heartwarming and heartbreaking story punctuated by beautifully recollected-- and often humorous-- memories and anecdotes, TWO KISSES FOR MADDYunquestionably has something to offer any reader who has experienced grief, and has sought the courage to live again.

***

I've followed Matt's blog (and subsequently his and Maddy's lives) for almost two years now and I can't wait to finally read this book. Don't get me wrong, the blog is wonderful, I'm just looking forward to having a hard copy of their journey (filled with even more details!) in my hands. Look for this book to hit shelves in April of 2011!

Epic Fail + A Giveaway!

So, I basically fail at blogging - I know this. However, I'm vowing to myself that I'm going to turn that around THIS MONTH. That's right, I'm going to make it a priority (you know, behind my real priorities) to blog at least once a week this month. Maybe more than that but definitely not less! I've read a ton of good books lately that I've got to figure out how to review, so look forward to that! Also, I might take a cue from some other bloggers that I follow and do some things like Waiting on Wednesday, What I Do When I'm Not Blogging, etc. So here's hoping that I actually stick with this whole blogging thing and do those posts! ;-)

Oh and sorry to get your hopes up but I'm not doing a giveaway - yet! (Although, I would loveee to do a Cover Remake contest once I get the hang of this whole blogging thing!) The giveaway in the title refers to a giveaway by Missie over at The Unread Reader (a blog I pretty much stalk religiously, heh). She's giving away a NEW copy of ANY book in her personal library EVERY Sunday in November. Now THAT is an awesome giveaway people, seriously. So do yourself a favor and enter the giveaway and follow it while you're at it, you won't be disappointed - I promise! :-)

Well, that's all for now! I'm going to go try to get started on my novel for NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck!!