Another Giveaway Win!!!!

Yes, indeed, I am the declared winner of another giveaway,

this one hosted by Books Ahoy!!

I can't believe it!!

This time, I have won not one,

but three books!!!!

These novels are part of
 The Clockwork Dark Trilogy,
written by American author John Claude Bemis,
and are fantasy tales

of an entirely different order.

They are based on American myths and folklore,

like the legends of John Henry,

for example.  They also feature trains,

something that the author has long been fascinated by.

This first volume introduces the reader to

twelve-year-old Ray, who is an orphan haunted by memories of his father.

He jumps from a train going through the Southern states,

and ends up on a medicine show train.

The performers turn out to be superheroes fighting

an ancient evil known as the Gog....

In this second volume, we discover that there is a Darkness

spreading across Kansas.

It turns good people into bad,  and poisons anyone

who tries to escape.

Ray is now a Rambler, and leads his friends into 

the very heart of the Darkness, on a quest

to find the legendary Wolf Tree, 

which is important to fighting this mysterious evil....

In the final book of the series,
Ray and his friends confront the Gog once again,
at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago,
where they must prevent him from
using machines to control the world and human souls!


All this sounds just absolutely exciting!
I am breathlessly awaiting
the arrival of these books!

For more information on the author,
just visit

johnclaudebemis.com


The first two books can be purchased on Amazon.

Find The Nine Pound Hammer here.

Find The Wolf Tree here.


The third book, The White City, will be released on
August 23, 2011.

Find it here.
Since this one isn't out yet, I will be getting
an ARC to review.  Hurray!!

I am so very happy to be receiving these books!!!
It seems that, ever since I began
blogging about books,
my luck has turned!
I never used to win anything!!

Stay tuned for my reviews!!!



THANK YOU SO MUCH,
BOOKS AHOY!!!!!!

Daughter of Xanadu: Author Interview/Giveaway at "A Myriad of Books"

Daughter of Xanadu

Dori Jones Yang

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

January 11, 2011

352 pages, Young Adult

This novel sounds like an utterly fascinating YA read!  I also think that the cover is very beautiful!

Princess Emmajin is determined to become a warrior in her grandfather's army, and he is none other than the fearsome Kublai Khan...  Enter the great explorer, Marco Polo, to whom she becomes fiercely attracted as they travel across 13th-century China, encountering incredible adventures.  Thus she feels the tension experienced by every modern woman -- that between love and the call to a meaningful life mission.

The love story also offers what promises to be a totally enthralling exposition and contrast of two very different cultures.  According to Kat's review, Ms. Jones Yang has thoroughly researched the time period, with the result that one is totally immersed in it.  As everyone knows, there's nothing quite like getting lost in a good book!

Dori Jones Yang

The author has actually traveled to China, and visited the site where the Palace of Xanadu once stood.  Read the interview with Kat of A Myriad of Books, check out her review, and enter the giveaway!!   I, for one, am doing all three!  

And, last but definitely not least, Ms. Jones Yang has hinted that there just might be a sequel.... 

Twilightdreamlover's Picks: Fantasy and Paranormal Releases for January, 2011

I'm starting this new year off with a list of recommendations -- my favorite new fantasy and paranormal releases for January.  Unfortunately, due to my lack of time (and money), this doesn't necessarily mean that I will read every one of the books I've picked.  I'm  merely posting them here because the plots look very interesting!  

It seems that I'm getting more and more into the YA genre.  This started with The Twilight Saga.  I used to look down my nose at this genre, I must confess.  Well, the Twilight books changed all that!  I suddenly realized that this particular reading category offers very compelling plots and fascinating characters. Also, it does deal with adult themes, although it examines those themes from the point of view of "an emerging adult", to coin a phrase.  This is the case, for example, with the Harry Potter series, which becomes increasingly "adult" as one progresses through the books. 

Here are the January releases I would LOVE to read:

The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #2: Bloodlust

L.J. Smith

One can't really go wrong with L.J. Smith.   Her books are usually GREAT!  This is an interesting reversal -- the Stefan's diaries books are based on the TV series which is based on the novels originally written by Smith.  These latest books present the events in the previous books from Stefan's point of view.  This one reveals the truth about how the love triangle of Stefan, Damon, and Katherine developed, back in Renaissance Italy.  

Night School (A Blood Coven Vampire Novel)

Mari Mancusi

My first thought on seeing this one was that once again, we have a high school being associated with teen vamps, since this is, after all, a YA novel.  However, the plot does go beyond the by-now familiar stereotype.  The school in the title is a vampire-slaying academy, which is a nice twist.  Located in the Swiss Alps, it's the hiding place of the McDonald twins, two girls who have just discovered their Fae heritage.  Then their lives become endangered, and they have no way to contact their vampire boyfriends...  This is the newest installment in the series.

Unearthly

Cynthia Hand

Here is yet another romance between a supernatural and a mortal, and yes, there's a school involved.  However, the heroine, Clara, is a Quarterius, which means that she's a quarter angel. and she has visions that puzzle her.  Her mother, who is a half-angel herself, helps Clara to unravel them, thereby revealing that Clara has a mision to complete on earth.  Then she meets Christian, the boy in one of her visions, and befriends two very different girls.  One of their brothers, Tucker, complicates the plot, which includes a surprise trip to hell.... 

Blessed

Cynthia Leitich Smith

The heroine of this novel, Quincie P. Morris, is a neophyte vampire, and, incredibly enough, owns a restaurant!  As if this weren't wacky enough, her chef, Bradly Sanguini (this last name is obviously a derivative of the Latin word for "blood"), is the vampire who turned her!  So far, not so good.  Except that Quincie's boyfriend, Kieren, is a hybrid werewolf who has been accused of murder.  Another interesting twist!  Then there's the gorgeous Zachary, an angel, who brandishes a flaming sword...  Smith unites the characters of her two previous novels, Tantalize and Eternal.

Warped

Maurissa Guibord

This is a debut novel, and I'm sure it will eventually spawn a sequel, and then a series.  I will be totally thrilled when it does!  The heroine, Tessa, doesn't believe in magic, but is forced to change her mind when a very unusual tapestry comes into her possession.  It's a very old unicorn tapestry, and it brings strange dreams to Tessa, dreams of a past in which she herself participated.  Then she accidentally pulls a thread from this tapestry, thus unleashing a terrible curse..  She also meets William De Chaucy, who is a 16th-century nobleman.  Ah, romance! 

Archangel's Consort (Guild Hunter)

Nalini Singh

This one is not in the YA genre.  It still attracts me though, because I find the whole idea of angels and humans having a love relationship just as compelling as that of vampires and humans!  In this novel, Elena Deveraux's boyfriend is no other than the archangel Raphael.  Wow.  As if that weren't enough, his irate mother -- and she's obviously no angel -- arrives on the scene to reclaim her son.  Of course, she wasn't counting on Elena, who happens to be a vampire hunter, and not to be messed with!

Frostfire: A Novel of the Kyndred

Lynn Viehl

Lilah's mind-reading powers mark her as a member of the Kyndred, a group of genetically-enhanced humans.  They also make her vulnerable to a ruthless biotech company intent on stealing her superhuman DNA.  Murder is not a problem for them.  Meanwhile, Lilah will also have to contend with an unexpected threat from her fellow Kyndred...  This is an adult novel.

The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3)

Julie Kagawa

This is another very, very interesting series that I really want to read!  This book continues the story of Meghan and Ash after their exile.  Meghan has to fight the false Iron King; she has grown as a character, relying more upon herself than on others, while Puck and Ash have also come into their own. 

According to some of the Goodreads reviews, this is one of the best fantasy books yet, with lots of action, realistically-drawn characters, and a very vivid fantasy world.  Sounds absolutely awesome to me!!

Shadowspell (Faeriewalker #2)

Jenna Black

Dana Hathaway is a very talented girl -- she's a Faeriewalker, one who can travel unhindered from the real world into Faerie.  She is a rare link between both worlds.  Now the Faerie Queen wants her dead.  The Erlking is after her, too, with his private, murderous army, known as The Wild Hunt.  They have entered Avalon, the one place on earth where humans and Fae have long lived in peace together, thus breaking the uneasy treaty between him and the Faerie Queen.  And what exactly are the Eerlking's intentions toward Dana? 



Well, here they are -- the books I like the most, and would dearly love to read, from this new crop of  fantasy and paranormal releases for January, 2011.  I hope that at least some of you will be able to enjoy them! 

Beautiful cover for new Mortal Instruments release!!

Even though The Twilight Saga is my absolute favorite YA paranormal series, I know that there are other great series out there.  The Night World books, by L.J. Smith,  are also on my list of favorites for instance.  I have read the first installment in Lauren Kate's Fallen series, and hope to read the second one, Torment, soon.  So I include this series on my list, too.

There's another series I want to get into, and that's the best-selling Mortal Instruments series.  I own all the books that have come out so far -- I just need to read them! 

While browsing my list of book blogs, I discovered that the fourth book in the series is now out!  The cover has already been released, and is posted on some of these blogs.  The Mortal Instruments series is particularly noted for its absolutely beautiful covers, and this latest one is no exception!  The artist's name is Cliff Neilson.  Kudos to him!  I decided I just had to post his awesome new cover here!

The release date for this book is April 5, 2011, and of course, I'll have my credit card ready in my eager little bookworm's hands!!  So that means I've got to get started on the other books, as soon as the new year arrives!   

For those who have already read the other books in the series, you can read an excerpt from the fourth book here.

For those who are still unfamiliar with the books, here's a short summary of the first one, City of Bones, taken from one of my favorite book sites -- Goodreads!

"This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end."

For complete plot summaries of all four books, I refer my readers directly to the Wikipedia article on the series. 

HAPPY READING TO ALL!!! 

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is a holiday rich with traditions; in fact, no other holiday can compete with it in this respect. It is a fascinating mixture of Christian and pagan customs, so much so that, like intertwined threads in a multicolored tapestry, they can no longer be separated, although many devout Christians insist that the real reason for the holiday is the birth of Jesus Christ, and everything else is commercialized, pagan, and therefore superfluous.

The birth of Our Savior is, indeed, the fundamental reason for this holiday. Yet, the traditions that have become attached to the celebration of Christmas make it what it is today – a beautiful, joyful time of light, love, and peace.  Christmas traditions cannot and should not be done away with, for they give this holiday its distinctive style, which is strongly appealing at various levels of the human psyche, not the least of which is the emotional one.

The one basic theme of all of these traditions is that of loving relationship with God and one’s fellow human beings. The legend of Santa Claus, for example, is based on a real person, St. Nicholas, who gave gifts to poor children at Christmastime. Christmas trees blaze with lights and glittery ornaments, reminding us of the light of goodness that shines in the midst of the winter darkness. Mistletoe has long been used as an excuse to kiss that special person one loves, or would like to get to know better….

These traditions and customs also serve to remind us that the Christmas season is a time of miracles. If there really is no physical Santa Claus, still, the Christmas spirit is alive and well. It can move someone to make an anonymous donation where it’s most needed. An embittered veteran of a horrible marriage can suddenly encounter a new love, a new beginning. We can even entertain angels unaware…

Books are also, of course, an integral part of Christmas, especially such classics as Dickens’s A ChristmasCarol, as well as the story “The Gift of the Magi”,  by O’Henry. One of my own Christmas traditions, which I’m sure I share with many readers, is that of reading Christmas romances. If there’s anything truly magical in this world, it’s the magic of love, which can transform people and situations almost overnight. So, last year as well as this year, I went on a little shopping spree for such books, buying a couple of book lots on eBay, for instance. I have plenty of them now, so I need not fear that I’ll run out of romantic holiday material!

I especially enjoy Regency Christmas romances and paranormal Christmas romances. I recently reviewed the first installment of a series of three Silhouette Nocturne romances, dealing with Christmas and vampires, and am almost done reading the second.

Mary Balogh, my all-time favorite romance writer, has a number of absolutely beautiful Regency Christmas romances. One of them, which I read last year, is titled A Christmas Bride. I really should revisit it so that I can review it.

Another very nice Christmas read is A Magical Christmas Present, a paranormal anthology that I also read last year.

I’m currently reading another paranormal anthology, titled A Dreamspun Christmas, which I will soon be reviewing. This book was published back in the 1990’s, and it was one of my eBay acquisitions. As an inveterate book addict, I’m always buying books that attract me, with the intention of reading them at some time in the future…. So, this year, I went through my treasured collection of Christmas romances, and picked out this one. It’s not the only one I want to read, naturally. There will be more following! Give me plenty of romance at Christmastime!

Here are five other books I would like to investigate, as well.  Two of them deal with the central place of Jesus in the celebration of Christmas, while the other three are about the traditions associated with the season.

The first one, by Lawrence Driskill, is titled Christmas Stories from Around the World: Honoring Jesus in Many Lands. 

The next one, by Ann Christian Buchananan and Debra Klingsporn, is illustrated by Thomas Kinkade, and is titled Christ, the Light of the World: Celebrating the Glory of Christmas.



This one deals with the pagan customs that have become an integral part of the holiday.  It's titled, aptly enough, Pagan Christmas, and was written by Christian Ratsch and Claudia Muller-Ebeling.  It is lavishly illustrated.



This one deals with the evolution of the holiday in the United States.  The title is Merry Christmas! Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday, and its author is Karal Ann Marling, who is a noted art historian.

This is a decorating book, with loads of beautiful pictures of Christmas trees and other holiday decorations.  It's authored by Debi Staron and Bob Pranga, together known as "Dr. Christmas".  The title is Christmas Style.

Ah, Christmas! The wreath is on the door, the tree is twinkling with lights and several types of ornaments, Christmas carols are sofly playing in the background, and I’m all curled up with my magical Christmas romance book, sipping some eggnog, although there is no blazing Yule log in my non-existent chimney, and no snow outside. This is Florida, and all we get is a bit of cold and rain…

“MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!”

Current & Future Reading List

After a ten-year hiatus, Smith decided to continue the story of Stefan, Elena, Damon, and their friends in Fell's Church, in Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries: The Return, #1).  I like it so far, despite some negative reviews of it I've read.  It seems that this time, the evil Power at work in this town so frequently buffeted by the supernatural is...a group of Japanese demons!  My, oh, my....I don't much care for demons, but we'll see how it goes...

I happened to see this in a CVS pharmacy here in Miami, and the cover immediately drew me in!  It's from a new line of romance novels, based on true romance stories, and appropriately known as "True Vows".  (Yes, I enjoy reading regular romance novels, too!)  This one, by Alison Kent, is a very sweet tale (pun intended).  The female protagonist wants to open her own business -- a gourmet bakery.  It looks like her boyfriend wants to have a hand in the production of the goodies, as well as in the general direction of her life! 

Now this one is a very useful reference book for novice bloggers, which I am!  I'm still getting the hang of this whole thing, but this book, written by blogging expert Susan Gunelius,  has really helped me in several areas.  It contains excellent chapters on search engine optimization, as well as on how to grow your blog, and monetization of same.

Since the Christmas season is already here, I will be starting my Christmas romance reading cycle.  I've been meaning to read this one in particular, by Kerrelyn Sparks, since last year, but never have gotten around to it.  I have skimmed it, though, and found it pretty funny, somewhat in the vein of Lynsay Sands.  (And that's another intended pun. Lol.)

 This is a Regency romance.  I enjoy these, too, and I LOVE Mary Balogh's novels!  I wouldn't miss them for the world!  This is a reissue of a book originally published in 1992.  Hmmm...wonder how I could have missed it, what with all the used book buying I do...  Anyway, I figure it will definitely get me in the spirit of the season!

This is unusual....Christmas and vampires!  I think it makes for an interesting combination, though -- all that vamp angst and the cheerful holiday spirit....  I read the first story in this book, by Maureen Child, sometime last year, but don't remember it much, except that the ending was very, very sweet!  So I'll have to re-read it, and go on to the second one, by Caridad Pineiro, which I barely skimmed at the time.

This is the second volume of Christmas vampire stories. The authors in this one are Merline Lovelace and Lori Devoti.  I have just ordered it from Amazon.

I LOVE the combination of the Christmas season and vampires!  I guess the publisher, Harlequin, knows that a lot of women feel the same way, since this is their third collection of such tales, in their Nocturne line.  The authors here are Linda Winstead Jones, Lisa Childs, and Bonnie Vanak.  Another Amazon order!

This one looks to be very, very special, and the author, Andrew Greeley, is a well-known Catholic priest who has written many bestsellers.  This one concerns an Irish-American college guy who falls in love with a young Russian woman studying at Harvard.  Of course I've been looking forward to reading it, too!

Of course, I want to read this, too!  I've heard so much about it, I just have to put it on my reading list! 

Okay, so I'm wondering if I'll have the time to actually read all these books.  (I happen to have two jobs...)  It's like when one sits down at a delicious meal -- one eats with one's eyes!  All I can say is that I sure want to read all of these books, and I sure am going to do my very best to do so!