Feature & Follow Friday #20: Featured Blogger/2016 Book Excitement!!!

Welcome to Feature & Follow Friday!!

This weekly hop is hosted by  

Rachel @ Parajunkee's View, and 

Alison @ Alison Can Read!!

You can find the rules at the links above.

Join in the fun and make new blogging friends!

Every week, 1 or 2 new blogs 
are featured!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 
TO EVERYONE!!!

  

This week's featured blogs
are

Inked Brownies 

and.....

A Night's Dream of Books!!

Here are my answers to the 
interview questions:

1.) When did you start blogging?

I started in September of 2010. It's just incredible how fast time has gone by! But yes, I've been blogging for 5 years now!

2.) What is your favorite part of book blogging?

I really can't pick just one. When I first got started, I really enjoyed experimenting with blog designs. I finally settled into my present design, which I ADORE, because it's got so much BLUE in it! 

Of course, I LOVE blogging about books! I love reading YA, and other genres, as well. In fact, I have a blog for literary fiction, classics, and nonfiction, titled MindSpirit Book Journeys.

And last but definitely NOT least, I LOVE meeting other book bloggers, building relationships with them, participating in giveaways....Did I mention that I just LOVE EVERYTHING about book blogging?

3.) What type of books do you mainly blog about?

At the beginning, I had an eclectic blog. As time went by, though, I decided to start a second blog, and this one, A Night's Dream of Books, became dedicated to YA, with an occasional adult or New Adult book thrown in. I already mentioned my other blog above, lol.

4.) What are your favorite books?

OMG, I would probably spend all day here, telling you guys about those.... But I can single out the ones that come up right away. Of course, there's The Twilight Saga, the Harry Potter series, the Vampire Academy series....and I LOVE Claudia Gray's books! My favorite YA genres are fantasy, PNR, and UF.

Although it's not YA, I just have to mention my favorite classic of all time: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. Oh, the adoration....

5.) What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

The VERY best? Being one of the featured bloggers on Feature & Follow Friday!! YAY!!!!! 

Here is this week's question:

What books are you most
excited for in 2016?


Contributed by
Alison Can Read 

Here's my list of books!
(Click on each cover to access
the Gooreads page.)

Next Week's Question

TBA


Contributed by
TBA

  

These are my follow preferences.
The links are in my sidebar.

 Be sure to visit the rest of the
participating blogs!!

Waiting On Wednesday #151: A Tyranny of Petticoats, by Marie Lu and 14 Other YA Writers

This is a weekly event hosted by

Jill @ Breaking the Spine!!

It showcases future releases which

we book bloggers

are eagerly anticipating!!

Here's my choice for this week!

A Tyranny of Petticoats

(Shattered Realms, Book 1)

Jessica Spotswood, Editor  

Hardcover, 368 pages

Candlewick

March 8, 2016

Anthologies, Fantasy, Feminism,  
Historical Fiction,
Science Fiction, Steampunk, 
 Young Adult Fiction

From an impressive sisterhood of YA writers comes an edge-of-your-seat anthology of historical fiction and fantasy featuring a diverse array of daring heroines.

Criss-cross America — on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains — from pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960s Chicago. Join fifteen of today’s most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell.

Some of the authors included are Marie Lu,

Andrea Cremer, Marissa Meyer, 

and Beth Revis!!

Why I'm waiting on this one!

The main reason I'm waiting on this
one is that it features a whole
bunch of stories with kick-butt heroines!
Need I say more?
Well....yeah!! All the authors are
AWESOME YA writers, and...
heck, come March, I'm putting in an
emergency purchase to Amazon!!   

What do you think of my choice?

Leave your link below, so I can
come check out your pick(s)!

Shelf Candy Saturday #167: Speak, by Louisa Hall

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!

This is my weekly feature

showcasing beautiful covers!

It also provides information, if available,

on their very talented creators!
 

Here's my choice for this week!

Speak 
Louisa Hall

Hardcover, 336 pages
Ecco, First Edition 
July 7, 2015
Contemporary Fiction,  Historical Fiction, 
Science Fiction

My Thoughts About This Cover

This is not a YA novel, but the cover is so absolutely stunning and gorgeous, I just had to feature it on "Shelf Candy Saturday"! 

I have always loved circles and spheres (and all planets are spheres, which I am very happy about), so it's entirely unsurprising that I would love this magnificent cover.

Having studied this brilliant, yet fairly simple composition for several minutes, I have come to the conclusion that its symbolism refers to the interaction of human intelligence with nature. The patterns of nature, for instance, have inspired technological innovations. Also, the patterns in themselves are beautiful. A case in point: fractals. Their beauty is not lessened by their mathematical intricacies.

Human-made patterns are no less beautiful than natural ones, this cover seems to be saying. Thus, we have computer circuits and a moiré pattern interacting with a Nautilus shell pattern, and what look like patterns of bone and cell tissue seen under a microscope.

The circle in the middle, which holds the bold title, also displays a ghostly-looking 19th-century ship on symmetrically-rolling waves. I think this is a reference to the ship on which Darwin sailed -- the "Beagle". Thus, this is a subtle reference to his theory of evolution. I could be wrong about this interpretation, since I haven't read the book, but it seems like good speculation, considering the overall message of the cover.

What all this seems to be pointing at is the evolution of human intelligence, as it interacted with nature. This novel is about the development of artificial intelligence. That topic might be only slightly hinted at in this cover, but is not immediately obvious.

Aside from all the symbolism, the colors are strikingly beautiful, and the composition is very well-balanced, as well as visually pleasing.

I have already added this book to my Goodreads shelves, both because of this cover, and the subject matter of the book. This is a real treasure! When I do read it, though, I will be reviewing it on my second blog, because A Night's Dream of Books is dedicated to YA fiction. My other blog is titled MindSpirit Book Journeys.

The brilliant designer behind this great cover is Jim Tierney, a young American artist who studied Illustration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He designed book covers for Penguin at one time, but is currently working freelance out of his home in Brooklyn. He's married to Sara Wood, a Senior Designer at Ecco Books who also creates awesome covers. (Source: Website) Well, they both have a new fan here!!

       
 

Online Links

Website

Faceout Books

Digital Anarchy

What do you think of this 
week's cover?
Would it entice you to buy
this book and read it?

Merry Christmas!!!

Away In A Manger

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head,

The stars in the sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay,

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.

I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle 'till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.

May all of you who celebrate

this day have the merriest

Christmas ever,

full of divine blessings

and the gentle peace 

of this beautiful season!

And may you get what you asked

Santa for, all you nice

boys and girls!!