Monday, December 31, 2012

Last Minute Reading Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up!!






This fun event, hosted by Vonnie @ Vonnie's Reading Corner, ended yesterday, and she posted her wrap-up post today.  Eight bloggers, including me, participated.  Each of us had last-minute reads that we had decided to get under our belts before the end of the year.

Vonnie also held a giveaway for the read-a-thon participants.  The winner has already been chosen -- Ciska, @ Ciska's Book Chest!


Saturday, December 29, 2012

Shelf Candy Saturday #49: Falling Kingdoms, by Morgan Rhodes





Welcome to
Shelf Candy Saturday!!


This weekly meme/blog hop, hosted here,
features beautiful book covers!


If you'd like to participate, just grab my button (or create your own), write your own post, and link up in the Linky widget at the bottom of this post. (You have to click on "Read more" so that the entire post will open up.)

As a bonus, you can include information on the artist, designer, and/or photographer, but it's not required. You can simply feature a cover and explain why you love it!



Here's my choice for this week!



Hardcover, 412 pages
Razorbill
(an imprint of Penguin Group USA, Inc.)
December 11, 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction


Why do I love this cover?

Blue is the most beautiful color in the universe.  It simply is.  I have no words to explain the aesthetic pleasure I experience when I look at an object graced by this color...so of course this cover would attract my attention right away.  The way the artist handled the color here, too, is very appealing to me.  I love that mist in the background, through which a gloomy castle can be seen.  The flying white bird also has an ethereal look to it. 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Last Minute Reading Read-A-Thon Kick Off/Reading Updates!!





Welcome to the
Last Minute Reading Read-A-Thon,
hosted by Vonnie @
Just click on the button above for
all sign-ups & Vonnie's
terrific giveaway!



This awesome event will allow those of us busy bookworms that have not met this years' reading goals to catch up, or at least try to!  It's also for those who enjoy a good reading challenge, especially as the year nears its end.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!



Merry Christmas!!







Oh, holy night!
The stars are brightly shining,
it is the night of the dear
Savior's birth!

Fall on your knees!
Oh, hear the angel voices!
Oh, night divine,
oh, night, when Christ was born!
Oh, night divine...







Santa Claus is coming to town!
He's making a list
and checking it twice,
Gonna find out
who's naughty and nice!
Santa Claus is coming to town!






I would like to wish
all of you
a most joyous and beautiful
Christmas, full of peace
and the love of all of your family,
but especially...
His own special love!
















Sunday, December 23, 2012

Book Review: All I Want for Christmas, by Sheila Rabe (third review in The 2012 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge)





This is my third review for
The 2012 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge,
which runs from
November 19, 2012, to Jan. 6, 2013! 


For participation rules, please click
on the challenge button above.





All I Want for Christmas
Sheila Rabe (Sheila Roberts)
Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages
Jove Books
October 1, 2000
Christmas Romance, Holiday Romance


This is a rather enjoyable, light-hearted Christmas comedy of errors.  Although the plot is predictable, it's still worth a read; the dialogues between the characters are very witty, and the writing flows smoothly, being very well-paced.

The story focuses on the current, and rather ridiculous, phenomenon plaguing this most beautiful of all seasons -- the attack on Christmas-themed public displays.  I find it very disturbing that this kind of thing should have become so frequent in recent years.  The fact that, in this novel, the display has been created and maintained by a private citizen, makes it even more disturbing, although this is a fictional event.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Shelf Candy Saturday #48: Christmas At Timberwoods. by Fern Michaels







Welcome to
Shelf Candy Saturday!!


This weekly meme/blog hop, hosted here,
features beautiful book covers!


If you'd like to participate, just grab my button (or create your own), write your own post, and link up in the Linky widget at the bottom of this post. (You have to click on "Read more" so that the entire post will open up.)

As a bonus, you can include information on the artist, designer, and/or photographer, but it's not required. You can simply feature a cover and explain why you love it!



Here's my choice for this week!




Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages
Zebra Books
October 1, 2011
Christmas Romance, Paranormal Fiction,
Suspense


Why do I love this cover?


All the magic and wonder of Christmas are simply wrapped up in this gorgeous cover!  A little girl is staring longingly into a window display that houses a brightly-lit Christmas tree, with twinkling lights all around, while the whole scene is bathed in a rosy glow.  This glow also extends beyond the window, to the top of the cover, thus adding to the magic.  

At the bottom right-hand corner, another, smaller Christmas tree also extends the beauty and magic beyond the picture window.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday #57: Blood of Dragons, by Robin Hobb





This is a weekly book meme, hosted by
which features future releases that
we book bloggers
are eagerly anticipating!


Here's my pick for this week!



(Rain Wilds Chronicles, Book 4)
Hardcover, 448 pages)
Harper Voyager
April 9, 2013
Fantasy


From the Fantastic Fiction Synopsis

Dragons will fly over Kelsingra once more.

The Tarman expedition has at last found Kelsingra, a city filled with ancient treasures. Here, the dragons and their Elderling keepers may discover their full potential, but only if the magic of Kelsingra can be unlocked.

Already rumours of the city have floated down the Rain Wild River. Adventurers, pirates and fortune hunters will soon be coming to pillage what they can. Among them, Hest Finbok, determined to claim back his errant wife, Alise.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

BOOK LOVER'S HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY HOP FINAL WINNER!!!






And the final winner is...

Veronika!!







CONGRATULATIONS!!


You have won the fascinating 
YA novel, Entice!!




(The Violet Eden Chapters #2)
Paperback, 464 pages
Sourcebooks Fire
March 29, 2011
Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy,
Young Adult Fiction




(The Violet Eden Chapters #2)
Jessica Shirvington
Paperback, 448 pages
Orchard Books UK
September 6, 2012




You are the third winner
to be picked, since the first two
did not reply to my emails!
You have 72 hours.
If I haven't heard from you
by then,
that will be the end of
the winner selection process.
No further winners
will be chosen.


I'd like to thank everyone
who participated in this
Book Lover's Holiday
Giveaway Hop!!
Do stay tuned, because
there will be future
giveaways coming along!! 
  
   





Shelf Candy Saturday #47: Untimed, by Andy Gavin





Welcome to
Shelf Candy Saturday!!


This weekly meme/blog hop, hosted here,
features beautiful book covers!


If you'd like to participate, just grab my button (or create your own), write your own post, and link up in the Linky widget at the bottom of this post. (You have to click on "Read more" so that the entire post will open up.)

As a bonus, you can include information on the artist, designer, and/or photographer, but it's not required. You can simply feature a cover and explain why you love it!



Here's my choice for this week!



Trade Paperback, 325 pages
Mascherato Publishing
December 17, 2012
Science Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction




Why do I love this cover?
This is an incredibly stunning image!   There's such a clever juxtaposition of anachronistic elements, like the pulsating blue clockwork gears and springs in the man's chest, his distinctly 18th-century costume, and his mechanical left hand, which seems to be pressing something on the clock mechanism.   The saber he wields looks rather ghostly, yet somehow menacing. 

Friday, December 14, 2012

BOOK CLUB BASH: Interview with author Pavarti K. Tyler


 
 
Welcome to this stop in this
week-long event,
sponsored by
Novel Publicity Book Tours!!
 
 
Please click on the banner above
for a list of
all participating blogs!
 
 
 
 
Please join me in welcoming Pavarti K. Tyler, author of the riveting novel, Shadow on the Wall, to A Night's Dream of Books!  Thank you for joining us, Pavarti!

Now on to the interview!

Maria: What's your background as a writer?

Pavarti:  My undergraduate training was as a dramaturge (yes, it's a real word), which means I spent a tremendous amount of time analyzing plays and theatrical theory.  Working with playwrights taught me a lot about how to present a story to an audience, but the medium of written word (where internal process can be shared) is so different from theatre (where it's all action/verbal), it took me a long time to have the confidence that I could make the leap. 

I have always written and loved books, but it wasn't until I discovered the world of fanfiction that I really started to devote myself to learning HOW to write.  After multiple 100k plus fanfics, I had the confidence to venture out on my own and write something original.  I've had so much fun with it.

Maria: Have your life experiences played a part in your writing?  If so, how?

Pavarti: I don't think there's any way to avoid bringing your own life into your writing.  The art comes in by taking your own experiences and taking them to extremes so the message transcends the specific incident you are drawing on.  I'm certainly not a genetically-altered species hybrid like Sera in Two Moons of Sera, or a Windego like Hugo in Consumed by Love, but I do know what it's like to feel alone and like you're so different from other people you have to hide your true self, and I know what it's like to love someone so fiercely your body and soul burn for them. 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

BOOK CLUB BASH: Interview with author Anderson O'Donnell






Welcome to this stop in this
week-long event,
sponsored by
Novel Publicity Book Tours!!


Please click on the banner above
for a list of all participating blogs
and their weekly activities!!





Please join me in welcoming Anderson O'Donnell, author of the dystopian novel, Kingdom, to A Night's Dream of Books!  Thank you for joining us, Anderson!

Now on to the interview!


Maria: What's your background as a writer?

Anderson:  I always considered myself to be a reader first; the writing was just an attempt to mimic my heroes -- the paperback writers whose work I grew up worshipping.  But during my undergrad years, I came to appreciate the extent to which writing had become a critical part of my own life.  I hit a point when scribbling in the notebook wasn't just a hobby.  It was essential, like breathing or eating or sleeping.  After that discovery, there wasn't much else I could do but write.  But I still needed the discipline, and I'd say that's the area in which I worked the hardest.  I studied other writers' styles, sure.  But most importantly, I studied how they approached their craft, and mimicked these techniques until I finally hit my own stride. 

Maria:  Fascinating!  I think this process is part of every serious writer's development as a professional, as well as an artist.  Which writers have been your major literary influences?

Anderson:  William Gibson, Bret Easton Ellis, Jack O'Connell, Stephen King, Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, and Shakespeare.

Maria:  Very interesting and eclectic list!  How have philosophical/religious views on the nature of the soul impacted this novel?

Anderson: I tried to use some classic philosophical/religious texts' take on the human soul to serve as Kingdom's intellectual foundation.  For instance, the works of both Aquinas and Plato were essential in how I approached the soul.  But I didn't want to preach, so I tried to keep the philosophical diatribes to an absolute minimum.  It was my goal to use certain philosophical ideas about the soul as a starting point, and then have the characters in Kingdom put their own spin on these classic takes.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Book Review: A Covington Christmas, by Joan Medlicott (Second Review for The 2012 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge)





This is my second review for
The 2012 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge,
which runs from
November 19, 2012, to Jan. 6, 2913! 


For participation rules, please click
on the challenge button above.




A Covington Christmas
Joan Medlicott
Mass Market Paperback, 269 pages
Pocket Star Books
November 5, 2005
Christmas Fiction, Christian Fiction




Booklist refers to the novels of Joan Medlicott as 'gentle novels'.  This is the first one I've read by this author, but the classification certainly fits.  A Covington Christmas is the type of sweetly evocative novel one would want to read on a cozy winter's night.  For a while at least, I was transported out of the hot, humid South Florida weather, and to the delights of a part of the country where you can actually see the seasons change.  Medlicott certainly sets the scene well for this one, and I forgot all about palm trees and ocean surf, reveling in the North Carolina rolling hills and pine trees, instead.

Monday, December 10, 2012

BOOK CLUB BASH: NOVEL PUBLICITY BOOK TOURS!!






Welcome to Novel Publicity's
BOOK CLUB BASH!!


Just click on the banner above for
the blog hop list and more details!!


Five of the HOTTEST new authors
in the literary fiction genre 
are presenting
their latest books!!
Come and participate in
a week-long event, which
includes interviews,
author guest posts, reviews,
and prizes!!
These are the books
being presented:

















Saturday, December 8, 2012

Shelf Candy Saturday #47: Phantom, by Susan Kay





Welcome to
Shelf Candy Saturday!!


This weekly meme/blog hop, hosted here,
features beautiful book covers!
It was originally hosted by
Stephanie @
Five Alarm Book Reviews,
a blog I really miss...


If you'd like to participate, just grab my button (or create your own), write your own post, and link up in the Linky widget at the bottom of this post. Just be sure to click on "Read more" so that the entire post will open up.

As a bonus, you can include information on the artist, designer, and/or photographer in your post, but it's not required. You can simply feature a cover and explain why you love it!



Here's my choice for this week!




Trade Paperback, 464 pages
Llumina Press
April 25, 2011
Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction,
Romance, Suspense



Why do I love this cover?


This novel is a retelling of the original, titled The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux.   This brilliant retelling far outshines Leroux's novel, in my opinion!  As for this cover, it brings together all the elements related to the main character of this immortal story -- the Phantom's mask (it was originally described as covering his entire face), a musical score, a dripping candle on a candlestick, and a partial view of the Opera House stage. 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday #56: Shades of Earth, by Beth Revis






This is a weekly book meme, hosted by
which features future releases that
we book bloggers
are eagerly anticipating!


Here's my pick for this week!



(Across the Universe #3)
Hardcover, 369 pages
Razorbill
Expected Publication:
January 15, 2013
Science Fiction, Romance,
Young Adult Fiction


From the Goodreads Synopsis

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.