Wednesday 29 September 2010

GoodRead - Book Cover Excitement (Forever)

As some of you know by now, I am enchanted by the world of Sam and Grace from the Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater (my review of Linger is here! Enjoy). You guys know that I love Maggie's writing prose in Shiver and Linger. I love Sam and Grace (THEY MUST STAY TOGETHER AT THE END OF FOREVER, MAGGIE! YOU HEAR ME!) and you guys now know that I love reading Isabel's Point of View when she got to speak in Linger (I want to be her friend. Is that possible?)

Now, Maggie has revealed what the US cover of the third and final book in the trilogy, Forever, will look like. It looks like this...!



Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?! I love the red! It seems so PERFECT! (as some of you know, the green in Linger bothered me a wee bit). I am waiting for the UK publishers - the lovely peeps at Scholastic UK - to reveal the cover for this, but I think there will be a tiny wait. But, I can wait...

I think.

Saturday 25 September 2010

CRESCENDO

Now, all of the books I have been willing to kill over. Expect one that will be coming out next month and, hopefully, I will be going to a book signing when the author comes to the UK.

This book is CRESCENDO by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Now, the reason am writing this blog is because of the book trailer has been released and if I watch it one more time, I might scream at the book gods and demand an ARC at once!



I'm sorry, but I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK! Plus, I love the "International Bestseller That First Bought You Fallen Angels" bit. Some people will disagree but Becca was one of the forehead of the sudden uprising against vampires.

Plus, there's a competition on Fallen Archangel, the Official Fansite for Becca's Hush Hush series. It's the get an Advance Reader Copy of Crescendo (WANT!). So, to enter (and it's international, not just USA - JUST ENTERED MYSELF!), go to http://www.fallenarchangel.com/. The competition ends tomorrow so RUN!

PS - the song used in the video (love it!) was "Mighty To Save" by Don't Wake Aislin. And, because I love music, here's the song...

Saturday 18 September 2010

Winter Photographs

Randomly, I went on youTube to find a song for a friend of mine. It was Sia's "My Love" and this was the video.



Now, some of those photographs used were BEAUTIFUL! And I was trying to find out (a girl in a wintery scene being blindfolded by her scarf) on GoogleImages. I failed, but I found a load of wintery scene photos that I fell in love with and decided to show you afew that I found striking! For some reason, wintery photographs are strangely beautiful.







Now, I LOVE the top image! It reminds me of Grace from Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER. Just LOVE that image. Maybe my next story will be set in winter!

Oh, I love this video. Very wintery. Reminds me of the Northern Lights. Thought I would add that here, too!

These Should Have Been My New Year's Resolution...

A LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGG time ago, I blogged about an image I found via a friend of mine on Twitter an image that I loved and was going to be my New Year's Resolution.

I found two more so I sense that they will be my New Year's resolutions for the rest of the year, or next year...





Wednesday 15 September 2010

Agatha Christie

Today is an important day. Today would be the 120th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime. And, I didn't know this till I saw a Tweet from GuardianBooks! This was the tweet in question - http://twitter.com/GuardianBooks/status/24555550556

Now, I love Agatha Christie. I have listened to a few of her books via audiobook (Third Girl and Death Comes As The End jump to mind), seen The Mousetrap (LOVE that play), read a collection of short stories by her (The Hound of Death) and, of course, watch Poriot and Marple on the TV (though I do want to ask ITV why they're putting Marple into stories that she wasn't in!)

Sorry, I sidetracked myself with my rant. Anyway, because of that, I wanted to do something random. I hope you don't mind...





Stuff is going on to celebrate this week and the link for that is on Agatha Christie's official website, as well as a recipe for a lovely looking chocolate cake... I WANT! Sorry, food lush! Here are the links:

http://www.agathachristie.com/christie-week/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/08/agatha-christie-cake-jane-asher

And now, I'll leave you with a quote from the Queen of Crime herself that I found and liked!

"Time is the best killer."

Sunday 12 September 2010

GoodRead - The Haunted

Last year, I wrote a tiny review about "The Hollow" by Jessica Verday (click here if you wanna read it)and I said that I really liked it and would read the sequel (it's part of a trilogy).

Well, here's the sequel, "The Haunted". When I first heard the title, I got excited. Oh, the creepy factor! And then, I saw the UK cover. Am going to admit this - I'm not a great lover of pink. What can I say? I'm a guy!

Of course, never judge a book by it's cover. Must remember that saying!

Sorry, sidetracked! Anyway, the story takes place several months after the events of Hollow and, Abbey has done everything she can to reclaim her sanity and get over Caspian. So, when she returns home, she throws herself into her perfume making, into her tutoring from Ben to help her make up for the schooling she's missed and tries to move on from the grief she still feels over Kristen's death and the hollowness she feels from Caspian's absence. But ... well, let's just say things don't go according to plan...

I really like this trilogy. And Abbey grew as a character. And we got to see more Ben (a request I made in my first review!) as well as the rest of the characters, though I would have like to see more of Nikolas and Katy (but they had their part to play so am happy about that!) It's not like Twilight and Vampire Diaries (I'm guessing because never read the books! Sorry!) with it all going 100 miles per hours, and that's one of the reasons why, I think, I like it. You take your time to discover things...

And now, with Jessica adding new characters (I like Beth, I do!) and one or two of them not all what they seem, it looks like the third and final book in the trilogy will be one interesting read...

Oh, I forgot to say, this book has funny moments (hence why I loved Ben!), but one chapter will awesome. I tweeted Jessica about it. (It's Chapter 7 - An Embarrassment). I wonder how many teens have gone through what Abbey went through in that chapter... heeheehee...

I await the third and final book in the trilogy. I hope I don't wait too long...

*

Okay, I know usually put a music track I relate to the book. But, I can't think of any! None jump to mind! Sorry. I still see "Raven Hair" by Michael Dashow linked to the series. So, when in doubt, go to the author! She said, on her website, that the Haunted's Official Theme Song is "She Moves Through The Fair" by Skully - (I believe it's an Irish folk song, but don't hold me to that!) - so am going to use that...



Friday 10 September 2010

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Zombie Music

I was asked on Twitter, via my twitter pal @asamum (check out her bookyblog by clicking here!) to help. Another blogger (@Splendibird on Twitter Or her blog is here!) will be doing a Zombie Week!



So, I was asked if I could pick some songs that are kinda zombie-related. And I've tried (youtube videos below). But I came a tad stuck. What songs sums up ZOMBIES and BRAIN-EATING?

So, I am turning to you. Do you know any songs that, when you hear it, reminds you of a zombie book you read? Or a creepy music from a Zombie flick? Any suggestions will be great!

*

Now, my picks (Heavens help us)...


Iain Ballamy - In the Dark Forest (from the film MirrorMask - very "The Forest of Hands and Teeth". I need to read this book. Link me to reviews, please!)


Laura Marling - Night Terror


Hurricane Bells - "Monsters


The Hoosiers - Killer


Slow Moving Millie - Beasts (Okay, not zombie, but very fantasy, in my opinion)

GoodRead - Mockingjay

Okay, this is a review of Mockinjay by Suzanne Collins. But... er... HELP! IT'S BEEN OVER A WEEK SINCE I FINISHED THE BOOK AND I'M NOT SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT!!!

I'm not sure how/if I should review it. Because, like I cap locked, I still not sure how I feel about it. So, let me show you want Amazon says about the book on its Product Description (Am trying so hard not to go spoiler on you lot):

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge...

The thrilling final instalment of this ground-breaking trilogy promises to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.


All I want to say is that this book will split opinions. Some people will love it. Some people will hate it. And some will need time before they make up their minds. I think I'm in the latter...

Now, a song that I was listening to (while reading Part 3 - yeah, I know...)

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Books and Their Theme Songs (Volume 3)

I just thought of two songs relating to two books (yep, two books. I know. Lame number, but I thought I would share now because I have a useless memory! And no, it's not music from my writing's playlist. I might reveal some tracks when I finish the story.)

Right, let's start with the book I failed to finish. Not because it was bad - IT'S WASN'T! I just suffered a HUGE cause of Reader's Block. But I will return to this book! PROMISE! It's "White Cat" by Holly Black.

With this, it was "I Am Not A Robot" by Marina and the Diamonds.



Now, am going to suggest a random song for "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins. Now, seeing as I am NOWHERE near finished, am going to suggest this song. But The Hunger Games trilogy, like the Harry Potter series, if very hard to pick music for! Very, very hard! So, am suggesting this song with a chance to veto myself when I finish the book.

Ready? It's "Versions of Violence" by Alanis Morissette

BeforeUGo - August 2010 Recommendations

Hello again!

Enjoying the summer month? Well, we kept going with our weekly suggestions for new music and, hopefully, you liked them. We will try and choose more different music over the next month or so (different genres and more unknown artists - that's the plan!). Anyway, here is the monthly update in which, if you don't follow our Twitter (twitter.com/BeforeUGo) or you're not a member of the FaceBook Group (click here), then here's a monthly update to either refresh your memory or for you to discover new music!

So, this month's choices were (in no order):

TRENT DABBS - http://www.myspace.com/trentdabbs
DEMS - http://dems.bandcamp.com/
THE CIVIL WARS - http://www.myspace.com/thecivilwars
LADY ANTEBELLUM - http://ladyantebellum.com/ & http://www.myspace.com/ladyantebellum
IMOGEN HEAP - http://www.imogenheap.com/ & http://www.myspace.com/imogenheap/

If you know any bands or like any music and you want to share it, you can. Leave a message on the blog, on the Facebook Group's wall or tweet to us on Twitter. Have a great month!

Mind + Blown

I never blogged this and for that, I am afraid. I discovered this video a month or so ago by Marina and the Diamonds' twitter (http://twitter.com/MarinasDiamonds) and I watched it and thought it was brilliant. This is a fan video of Marina's music which lasts for nearly 10 minutes. The point of the video (yes, there is a point) is a bit of a modern retelling for some fairy tales.

Don't care! I just love this video! I hope you like as well! ENJOY!