Showcase Sunday # 10

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea! 

This is where each Sunday, we can "showcase" what we've gotten in the way of books; 

in the mail, at the bookstore, the library, or as a gift!

Only a few books to share from these past 2 weeks. I was lucky enough to attend Erin Bowman's release party in CT for Taken with my aunt, sister, and cousin. We made it a girls day with mani/pedi's and topped it off with a fabulous chicken taco dinner with my aunt, uncle, sister and cousins! :)

Review: Hallowed - Cynthia Hand

Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand

Released: January 17th, 2012

Borrowed from library

Description from Goodreads:

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for (omitting spoiler) and her complicated feelings about the roles she and (omitting spoiler) seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This review is of the second book in the Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand. I took out the names of some of the characters in the above description because I felt they were a little spoilery of the first book. You can check out the Goodreads page if you want to see more. Again, this review may contain small spoilers from the first book, so enter at your own risk! :)

Review after the break.

Review: Unearthly - Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Released: January 4th, 2011

Borrowed from library

Description from Goodreads:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Review after the break.

Pitch Dark: Dark Days Book Tour

Pitch Dark, an online community from HarperCollins Publishing, is hosting 9 authors for their Dark Days book tour which takes place in the next couple of months. For the first leg of the tour, the first four authors will be visiting 4 bookstores in: Huntington Beach, CA, Decatur, GA, Cary, NC, and Cambridge, MA. 

The Cambridge, Massachusetts tour stop is next month, February 7th. Since I live in Rhode Island, I’m usually not able to visit book signings or author meet and greets, so when I researched the bookstore it is being held at, The Coop, I arranged a way to attend (with multiple forms of transportation :O ).

The four authors who will be present are Veronica Rossi, author of Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night, Tahereh Mafi, author of Shatter Me and Unravel Me (out Feb. 5), and Cynthia Hand, author of Unearthly, Hallowed, and Unbound, and Brodi Ashton, author of Everneath and Everbound.

As I had only read the works of Rossi and Mafi, I figured I would try Hand's and Ashton’s books so I could participate and enjoy the entire event, not just specifically half of the authors present. Over the next few days, I am going to post reviews of some of these authors work as I prepare myself for the event. 

I plan on reviewing these books in no particular order:

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi 

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand

Unbound (Unearthly #3) by Cynthia Hand

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton

I have already reviewed Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi and Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi which you can check out here and here. 

Please bare with me as there are only a handful of days left under the tour and I plan on having everything read so I don't overhear any spoilers at the event, so if my reviews are a little rushed and wonky, I will do my best to revise them...although they might just come out stream of conscious style. :)

For more information about Pitch Dark, the Dark Days tour, or just to interact with the online book community, check out their website, www.pitchdark.com. 

Happy Reading!

Showcase Sunday #4

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea! This is where each Sunday, we can "showcase" what we've gotten in the way of books; in the mail, at the bookstore, the library, or as a gift! 

I haven't done a Showcase Sunday in months and I think it just comes down to the fact that planning these out takes more time and finesse than I'm usually able to come up with, but I think I finally found an easier system to execute this each week, or every other week. :)

WARNING: VERY LONG POST WITH LOTS OF PRETTY PHOTOS OF BOOKS!

ENTER AT YOUR OWN WALLETS RISK!

Never enough Tour Dates

One thing that really grinds my gears is how authors have book tour dates, just like concerts, only they sign your books and talk about their work and you can usually get a photo with them. But they NEVER come to Rhode Island! I would go to every single one of them if they did. At least the authors that I like... I mean, Providence is just as much as a capital as any other in the United States, and just because we're the smallest state we get the shaft! Wouldn't touring in Rhode Island be like, kind of an exciting thing?

For one thing, almost every event I go to, it's usually packed, because being in the smallest state, EVERYONE within the states lines is able to attend, because it only takes 30 minutes to get everywhere. Rhode Islanders would PACK that bookstore like no other. Wouldn't that make an author feel loved and appreciated? I'd think so.

End rant.