Saturday, November 30, 2013

Books: Stim ~ Kevin Berry ~ promo

Title: Stim 
Author: Kevin Berry
Publication date: October 16th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult


About Stim

Robert is different. He has Asperger’s Syndrome. He experiences the world differently to 99% of the population. 

Follow his entertaining and highly empathetic story as he struggles to realise and accept who he really is, try to understand other people—which he cannot—and find a girlfriend. Especially find a girlfriend—he’s decided it’s his special project for the year. 

Accompanied on this transformative journey by his quirky flatmates, Chloe (who also has Asperger’s, amongst other things), Stef (who hasn’t, but doesn’t mind) and their oddly-named kitten, Robert endures a myriad of awkward moments in his quest to meet a nice, normal girl…and not even a major earthquake will stop him.

This absorbing and humorous story is starkly told from Robert’s point of view, through the kaleidoscope of autistic experience.


About Kevin Berry

Kevin Berry is an indie author. His particular niche is writing Aspie New Adult contemporary novels set in an earthquake zone. The first of these is STIM, published in October 2013.

His first novels, co-written with Diane Berry, are Dragons Away!, Growing Disenchantments and Fountain of Forever (humorous fantasy). These are available as paperbacks and ebooks at Amazon and elsewhere.

Guest post by Kevin Berry

Why negative reviews aren't bad

Let's face it.  Every author gets mixed reviews, even (and perhaps especially) the top bestsellers.  Just like we're not all attracted to the same kind of people, we don't all like the same kind of books.

Most readers know this.  And a negative review, if constructively written, can help them decide to buy your book, because whatever the reviewer didn't like might be exactly what the next reader does like in a book.  The only negative reviews that don't help are one like 'This book sucks' that tell you nothing about it. 

Of course, every author likes to get lots of good reviews and 4 or 5-star ratings, but even those can be misleading.  It's said that reviewers on Goodreads are harsher than those on Amazon, for instance.  Individually, some people might give very few books a 5-star rating, but others might give every book they like a 5-star rating.  It's hard to compare.


Even the overall rating can be misleading as to how good a book is going to be for you individually.  Here's why.  Imagine two books:  the first is a well-written, but run-of-the-mill, novel that nearly everyone likes, with mostly 4-star ratings and a few 3-star and 5-star ratings to give a 4.0 rating overall.  The other book is different, and half of the readers don't 'get' it and don't like it (and give it a 2-star rating), and the other half really love it and give it a 5-star rating.  The overall rating for the second book would be 3.5, well below the first book, even though half of the people who read it gave it 5 stars, and half of new readers would like it at least as much as the first book.  In this case, it comes down to a choice between a book you'll probably like and a book you'll either love or hate.


What is probably more important in choosing a book is the ratio of 5-star ratings to the total, or whether people who appear to like the same kind of books as you liked it or not.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Books: The Moon Dwellers ~ David Estes

Title: The Moon Dwellers
Author: David Estes
Series: The Dwellers
Publishing date: 30, Juni, 2013
Publisher: Self published
Number of pages: 369 p.
Age category: Young adult
Language: English only
Other books in this series:
The Star Dwellers, book #2
The Sun Dwellers, book #3
The Earth Dwellers, book #4

About The Moon Dwellers

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.

After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered.

At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.

My review

To be honest this is one of the harder reviews to write since I am not really sure why I liked this book, I remember it but I can't really put a finger on why I liked it. Looking at it from writer's point of view, this book contains a lot of world building. Which ofcourse is important if you are shaping a dystopian world.

But this made the first quarter of  the book a little slow, a lot has been explained about the Tri-Realms. Also we learn a little bit about Tristan and Adele background.

After that the real fun started, when Adele and her new friends Tawni and Cole escape from prison. From that part the story takes you across the Moon Realm, lots of actions which was really well described. I really liked the detailed fighting scenes and I loved the way David described the fighting scenes!

You know what? I don't usually compare books in the genre with each other but I liked this much more than Matched. Why compare it to Matched? Well they both have major world building going on in their books. But David combined this with a lot of action, which I felt Matched was lacking in that department.

My rating

So that is why I liked this much better than Matched, especially the wicked ending!  Which is probably my favourite part of the book. It is the ending that turned this from a three star read into a four star read! Splendidly done! *bows to David*  So therefore 4 skaters!!!!!


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Books: Trust me? ~ The Trust me #1 ~ K.E. Osborn ~ promo

This book is for mature audiences 18+ It contains explicit language and sexual content.

Title: Trust Me?
Author: K.E. Osborn
Series: Trust me? Trilogy
Publisher: Self published
Publishing date: 7th September 2013

About Trust Me

Jenifer Taylor is content with her life, dull and boring as it is. Being absent from the dating scene means she doesn’t have to deal with the major trust issues she has with men that stem from a controlling and aggressive ex-boyfriend and an absentee father. She’s happy being alone, sharing her life with her friends and family.
When Jeni starts a typical day in the big city of Mornington Vale, California, it turns from bad to worse when she’s involved in a chain collision on her way to work.
Her world changes forever that day because she meets Aiden O’Connell, the billionaire son of Alistair O’Connell, who owns Mornington Vale’s largest financial corporation. Aiden is an up-and-coming young businessman who's ready to take on the vice presidency of his father’s company. He is the good son, and it’s imperative to Alistair that Aiden succeed and follow in his footsteps. Life for Aiden involves working hard and not much else.
After the accident, however, Aiden’s world changes as well. He finds Jeni irresistible and instantly pursues her. With some coaxing, she eventually agrees to a date, and the attraction is mutual.
Jeni finds love quickly with Aiden, but trusting him is another issue. When to trust is tested in many different ways but comes to a head when Aiden is investigated for a serious crime. As her trust issues spark, she is forced to go through a journey of self-discovery.
She must decide once and for all whether she trusts the man she loves when she’s asked the ultimate question: “Do you trust me?”
This is book one in a series of three. Book two "Love Me?" is coming November 18th 2013.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Liebster Award Nomination #3!!!!!



A little while ago I received a third Liebster nomination for the Liebster award! For the people who missed the last post about the Liebster award, below you will find some information about the award. Here are my nominations for the Liebster award:  Here. I was really suprised by this nomination beause I love their blog, especially their layout, you should really hop over there and check it out! Here is the link: Pages in Paris


What is the Liebster Award? 

The Liebster Award is a way to help blogs you like with less than 200 followers, and to give them some deserved attention so our followers can discover them as well.

Rules:
Link back the blogger that tagged you; 

Nominate 10 others; 
answer the questions of the one who tagged you; 
Ask 10 questions for the bloggers you nominate;
Let your nominees know of their award;


So here are my nominations!!! It was really hard to put this list together! Since I follow over 200 blogs! 

The questions/De vragen:

1. What was your least favorite book and why?

Least favourite book, I read only two so far this year, but Mystic Wolves by Belinda Boring, was the worst of the two. The last name says a lot about half of te book, it was boring. The scene too streched out, I also had a sense of horrible de-ja-vu, because some sentences/scenes were so alike that they seemed to be copy and pasted throughout the book.

2. When did you start to enjoy reading?

I have always been a reader, when I was in high school, after that a little less. Until I got Twilight, Twilight is what got me back into reading again. After Twilight I searched for other books in this genre to read.

3. What stand-alone book do you wish there was a sequel to? 


Uh, stand-alones, this is a really good question, most of the stand-alones I have read are great on it's own and don't need a sequel. So I went back through my list to see of any could have a great sequel, and I saw Whistling past the Graveyard. That could have an interesting sequel, the nine year old growing up and I am curious if see would be fighting for equality. Read my review here: Review Whistling past the Graveyard

4. What book do you think kicked-off your love for reading? 

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

5. What book that had a sequel did you think should not have had one? 


What's up with all those difficult questions? LOL :D Well I would have to go with Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  I didn't really like the first one much, so the series for me could have ended right after the first book!


6. Do you ever DNF books?  If so, what book have you DNF'ed recently?

I mostly finish my books, I have some books I started and put down again, then pick it up again to eventually put it down again. Such as The Host by Stephenie Meyer or the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I hope to finish them some time but for now they remain half read.

7. What is your favorite genre? 

Must be paranormal! Vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches and warlocks! Other genres I am really starting to enjoy are (Post) apocalyptic and dystopia! I love dystopia because it has so many interesting aspects. The post apocalyptic books mostly are about survival, zombies and lots of fighting I am starting to enjoy those more and more!


8. What is one of your favorite books in your favorite genre?

Twilight is of course one of my favourites (yes I still love it). But I also love all of L.J. Smith's books! They are brilliant! The Vampire diaries (up until Midnight, after that they are not L.J.'s), the Secret Circle, and the Night world series are all really great!

9. What book(s) have you been wanting to read for awhile, but just haven't gotten around to? 


Yup, lots of the books I got on my shelf, but I am really looking forward to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children! I finally got it, started reading it yesterday!

10. What is the greatest number of books that you have been read at one time?

I tried to read 5 at one time, but mostly one or two hold my interest then I will finish them first before the ohers. After I finish the two I will pick up the rest again.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Books: Alive ~ Megan D. Martin ~ promo


Today I am part of the alive book blitz! Enjoy reading it! It seems to be a really interesting book!
Title: Alive
Author: Megan D. Martin
Series: Crave #1
Publication date: November 22nd, 2013
Publisher: Self-published
Genres: New Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance

About Alive

Flesh-eating zombies, dirty sex, and a shattered past…
What’s more dangerous—the man who broke her heart or those trying to eat it?


Fighting to survive, Eve finds herself alone in the world after the Crave—the only parallel of her former life. On the hunt for her sister, she runs into Gage—the first and only boy to have her heart and break it.

It’s been four years and he isn’t a boy anymore, nor is he the same person he used to be. Against her better judgment, Eve agrees to stay; with him when he divulges information on a safe haven near the small town they grew up in—but that doesn’t mean she has to like it…

Returning home elicits a myriad of emotions that both Eve and Gage thought they had buried. The past and present collide and they are forced to the face bitter deceits that ruined them in the before and threaten to destroy them now…

Buy/Find the book here


About Megan D Martin


Megan D. Martin is a multi-published author, mother, student and editor. In her spare time she enjoys decorating her house with strange things that do not match, playing her old school Nintendo Entertainment System, and buying fish for her many fish tanks.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

Excerpt from Alive

He jerked her body forward as she struggled against his iron grip. He didn’t stop until he had her back pressed against the decaying wall of the old wooden building with her backpack scrunched painfully in between.

 “I know what you need, Eve. You need me.” White-hot heat stabbed through her body like a knife. She fought the urge to rub against him. No, don’t let him control your body like this! “You can deny it all you want. You can escape and head to Eden on your merry way. I know you know where it is. I know you don’t need some fucking tour guide.” His words were vicious, his gray eyes brighter than moments before.

“Then why won’t you let me go? Huh?” She choked the words out, hoping he didn’t notice how he affected her.

 “You don’t know what’s out there.”

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Stacking the Shelves #8 Boekenfestijn Haul


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! This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and anyone can get involved!
Friday I went to a Dutch book festival called Het Boekenfestijn in Zwolle. It was awesome! A great collection of books Dutch and English alike! I browsed all the tables for books I really wanted for a really low price! And I went way overboard with buying! But it was all worth it! I found some great books which I bought at Het Boekenfestijn. And some I received over the past few weeks.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This one I have had on my wishlist for many years so I decided now was the time to buy it. This book is beautiful and I am curious about it!

Timekeepers by Nicki J Markus (Won at GR)




Boekenfestijn haul:


What did you get this week? 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Books: Red Caster Chronicles ~ Krystle Jones ~ promo

The Red Sector Chronicles by Krystle Jones
(The Red Sector Chronicles Omnibus)
Genres: Dystopia, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

About The Red Sector Chronicles

The strength of Sloane’s heart is about to be put to the ultimate test.

After the Eclipse – the night vampires began openly slaughtering human victims – everything changed. Out of fear, the government salvaged what remained of the human population and enclosed them in massive, security-laden cities called White Sectors, while marking the vampire infested territory as Red Sectors.

When seventeen-year-old Sloane McAllister’s twin brother disappears, she seems to be the only one who thinks he isn’t dead, and she vows to stop at nothing to find him. Gathering her courage, she braves the Red Sector to search for clues to his whereabouts. By chance, she encounters Aden, a handsome, charismatic vampire with a hidden agenda. He turns Sloane against her will and whisks her away to his underground city. Enemies quickly become friends as Sloane struggles against her attraction to Aden, and resists her growing loyalties to the creatures that ruined her life.

But the vampires themselves are the least of her problems. A war is brewing between the humans and vampires, along with a growing web of deceit and betrayal. And before it’s all over, loyalties will be tested, hearts will be broken, and no one’s lives will ever be the same.

Buy it here: 

The Red Sector Chronicles Omnibus Edition ~ Smashwords

Guest post by Krystle Jones: 

Vampire Apocalypse: Building a Dystopian Worldes

When I first started writing my Red Sector Chronicles series, I didn’t know at the time I’d be writing dystopia. I was actually leaning more toward urban fantasy, since that’s what I read a lot of. But then as I developed my characters and brainstormed story ideas, I came to realize this storyline would work better in a futuristic America, where vampires ruled supreme. But boy, did I have my work cut out for me.

Here’s the thing: Dystopian worlds are a lot of fun to write about, but they’re also a lot of work. I actually found them to be almost as involved as my epic fantasy worlds! In a dystopian novel, the world itself has a lot of influence over the rest of the story, especially the atmosphere.

Dystopian novels – at least all the ones I’ve read – often imbue a very bleak, dark future. This can make the story somewhat heavy and depressing, which affects the characters’ attitudes and the themes of the story. There are more upbeat/comedic dystopian stories out there Warm Bodies, anyone?), but the large majority I’ve seen are toward the depressing order.

Now, I like a little bit of humor in my books, so I tried putting that in my trilogy to provide some relief from the heavy atmosphere. Death hangs over my heroine through a lot of the story, since I also love thrillers, and I knew too much tension can strangle a reader. It’s like watching one of those movies where there’s so much action you eventually become desensitized to it, and it loses its effect.

So that was something I had to watch out for. I knew I wanted my vampires to be scary more so than sparkly (for the record, I love Twilight), but I’m also a little in love with the idea of the “romantic, dreamy” vampire that looks more like a human. So I decided to have both, the regular vamps and the Rogues, or flesh-eating monsters. Then it was a matter of figuring out how they fit into this dark world, and how they had altered history. That’s another thing, the “what went wrong” factor.

Every dystopian novel has it, from killer plagues to the zombie apocalypse. For me, I decided vampirism was more of a disease rather than a fantasy element (witch cursing a prince, or something equally fantastic), and the Rogues were going to be the vampires who’d fallen prey to their bloodlust and lost their minds to it. The “what went wrong,” “what’s happened since,” and “where we are now” play a big part in dystopian stories. The more I figured out about my dystopian world, the more I realized I was going to need a story bible.

There’s no way to keep all those details straight, because you’re pretty much making stuff up after a certain point, from alternate history, to world building, to the way society and the government function in this alternate universe. Especially if you’re writing a series, a story bible is wonderful for keeping yourself from sticking your foot in your mouth in later books. If you’re going to be the queen of the universe, you have to keep track of what you put into it.

Lastly, I’d say the one of the big decisions about writing dystopian is deciding how much fantasy versus science fiction you’re going to have in the story. For me, my world was pretty grounded in science fiction, as I think most dystopian stories are, but there are definitely sci-fi books and movies that incorporate some fantasy elements (i.e. Star Wars). I’d say figure this out in book one and stick with it.

If you’re writing a series steeped in reality and explainable science, and you suddenly have flying magical unicorns floating around your pages, readers will 1) be thrown out of the story; and 2) not believe it one bit. So stick to one or the other (no fantasy elements vs. some fantasy elements). Just be sure not to let the fantasy overwhelm the sci-fi, or else it becomes more fantasy. Those are some of the things I had to think about while writing my dystopian novel. Hopefully, they’ll help you write yours, if you’re a writer, or give you a glimpse into what a writer thinks about, if you’re a reader.

Thanks for reading!

About Krystle Jones

Krystle Jones was born and raised in the small, southern town of Tullahoma, Tennessee. Reading and writing have been lifelong passions of hers. In addition to being a novelist, she is also an award-winning flutist, and moonlights as a voice actress. Her voice can be heard in the popular online game, Alice is Dead 3.



Saturday, November 9, 2013

Swinging Saturdays #20 ~ Blue October Spotlight

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

Today I am doing something new with my Swining Saturdays post. I have been wondering how to get more fun music topic on for Swinging Saturdays. Then I thought  I listen lots of music of various artist, but the songs that are popular aren't always my favourites. So I came up with an Artist Spotlight, so I can show you my top 5 favourite songs from one artist!

This week I have chosen a band that is not really famous in the Netherlands but I came across it while I was living in Canada (after that I also saw that Stephanie Meyer did here book tour with the singer of this band as well! She listens great music by the way, you should check out the playlists for the Twilight Saga! Wonderful music on there!) Anyways Blue October makes music that always touches me deeply.

Last I want to say a big THANK YOU to all that follow my blog! I just saw I reached 100 followers on Bloglovin! So THANK YOU ALL!!  for that!

Blue October Top 5

5. The Worry List



4. The Answer


3. My Never

Oh Jake! Jacob's song, but also a little bit my song. I have felt this way to, wish I could have come up with such a nice description of how I felt.


2. Black Orchid

Well, who doesn't love this Blue October song!

1. Say It

Jup my favourite one, especially when I am angry. But this is also for all the times I was wrong and people told me: I told you so!.. And for all the times I thought I was the blame! So I don't want to hear you say it!
So that's it for my Top 5!!!
What's your top 5 this week?

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com Would love to hear what kind of music you like!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Shine On Award

Mina @ Mina's Bookshelf nominated me for this blogger award, I am very  honoured! Thank you very much Mina!!!  Please check her site here

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1. Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog, and link back.
3. Share seven, random interesting things about yourself.
4. Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs. 

 

7 Random things about me:

 

I am the woman that:

  1. Love to travel the world but haven't even seen a quarter of it! (Well Canada's size should count for some of this)
  2. Loves all things to do with mythology (hence the Lilith addiction)
  3. listens to all kinds of music, you can find Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, Pendulum, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and De Dijk all in ONE playlist
  4. Loves everything wintery, including skiing speed skating and the Olympic Winter Games!! Sochi 2014!!!
  5. Loves food and I love to cook, all kinds of styles, but my favourite food would be Italian, pizzas pastas..
  6. Love Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, though the latter is much more intense (thrilling!).
  7. Loves making to-do-lists but never tend to finish them in time
So nominations... Yeah this time I pass... I did the Liebster Nominations which took some time to put together, so I am not spending another huge amount of time on that... Really cost me almost a whole sunday. (I know I am a perfectionist and wanted to make it special, my bad :) )
But I  hope you enjoy this little post about... well me I guess. Oh there was an award was there! Lol..
Tell me something fun about you! Comment away :)


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

What's going on?

Hi all,
You might have noticed the slide degrees of posts and the lack of many reviews. So here an update on what is going on in my life.

Work

First of all work! Finally after half a year without a job, I got one!  Since August I have been working full time at a large company. Now I got a new job at a new much smaller company which fits perfectly with what kind of company I had in mind. Monday was my first day, I was really excited and I enjoyed the new challenge.

School

I am still finishing up my bachelor degree in International Business and Languages, therefore I spend most of my evenings studying or I was at one of my tutors who helped me prepare for my oral exams. I still had to pass 2 courses each worth 2 EC's, Spanish and German language. I passed my German course last week with a wonderful mark 7.0!

Today I had Spanish. Unfortunately  I didn't pass this one,  this was a real disappointment to me because I put a lot of afford into it, which wasn't repaid. So now I have to take this exam again at the end of the month. This means that this month the posts will be less.


The Goal

The goal is to get back on track with my blog once I finished my bachelor degree, which is of course much more important for me. Like the most important thing I have going on in my life right now! I will be celebrating once I get that awesome piece of paper in my hands!
My goal is to get back to blogging three or four times a week.


What's the plan for this month?

I did finish a couple of books, three to be exact! I will try to get at least those reviewed this month! These are the reviews you can expect this month.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Swinging Saturdays #19: Songs I have forgotten but love

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

This week in Swining Saturdays, songs I totally forgot about but still love very much. I put my Media Player on repeat last week an found some songs that I forgot I loved! I do this sometime if I don't know what to listen to, it always surprised me since I sometime forget what I have download (over 20.000 songs) its really exicited to hear the mix of styles I have on my computer. Really I have Metal, oldies, jazz, blues, musical, hardcore, rock, indie, pop, R&B, Rap, soul  and many other genres on there!

1. Damien Rice ~ Nine Crimes



2. Papa Roach ~ Scars

The lyrics means the world to me, and helped me through some tough times.

3. Lifehouse ~ Sick Cycle Carousel



4. Gary Jules ~ Mad World



5. The Rasmus ~  In My Life


Buy the albums on Amazon


So that's it for my Top 5!!!
What is your Top 5 this week? 
Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 
Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com.  I would love to hear what kind of music you like!