Far From Reality

Title - Divine Misfortune
Author - A. Lee Martinez
Genre - Fiction/Fantasy
Pages - 320
Challenge- Non YA book challenge
Format Read - Ebook

Teri and Phil had never needed their own personal god. But when Phil is passed up for a promotion - again it's time to take matters into their own hands. And look online. 
Throw in a heartbroken love goddess and an ancient deity bent on revenge and not even the gods can save Teri and Phil.

Thoughts
The charactors themselves were a bit boring, i did not really care for any of them and i did not  really feel connected. I think i really only liked the Goddess of heartbreak Syph. It was nice though to see some of the lesser known gods mentioned as well as some we all know. 
The comedy is fun and it is a book that does not take itself seriously, that is a good thing. 

 If your looking for a short, light read then this is the book for you.

RULES

• grab your current read
• open to a random page (if your doing it e-reader style just use the page your on or a few pages back/forward)
• post up (2) sentances from the book to share
• please try not to include spoilters!

I like to watch his hands as he works, making a blank page bloom with strokes of ink, adding touches of color to our previously black and yellowed book.

                                  Old Irish "poc"  meaning A male goat
                      Scandonavian  "pook" or "puke" meaning Nature Spirit

FACTS

• Shapeshifter (forms are a black goat, an eagle or more commanly a white or black horse with glowing yellow eyes)
• 21st century the Phouka changed from a terrifying spirit to a peaceful garden gnome
• Lives in mountains and hills
• Has the power of human speech
• Assosiated with Samhain, when the last harvest is brought in the remaining crops are considerd 'puka' and are inedible
• November 1st is Phouka's Day, a day when it will act civilly

Phouka In Books

• The Iron King and The Iron Daughter - A Phouka helps out Meghan and watches her
• The Spiderwick Chronicles - The Phouka is a type of Fae that shape-shifts and talks in riddles
• War of the Oaks - A main charactor is a Phouka

Mondays are my 'mythical creature mondays' where i highlight a mythical creature, be it fae, angel, demon, whatever and give a bit of info, a pic or two then some books on where they feature.
but...
Does anyone really even read my posts? do you care?
i know i love reading about mythical creatures, it interests me very much and i do love posting them. I wanted to do something diffrent on mondays then anyone else but if noone is reading them then whats the point?
please let me know!
just to let you in on it.. today would have been the Phouka (Pooka, Puca, Phooka)

Not much since i use my kindle for most my books but i get review books, i buy books and swap books occasionaly, so when i dont have any books ill jsut post up books that i have on my kindle since i have a fair share on it (46 books i believe to be read..)
Review - None
Bought - None
Swap - Ophelia by Lisa Klein
Won - None

The Book Kritik has awarded me with The Versatile Blogger Award. My first award, Thank you! It means so much to me when I get comments and find new blogs to follow and interact with!

The rules of this award are:
1. Share 7 things about yourself
2. Pass The Award to 15 bloggers recently discovered.
3. Notify the blogger recipients
4. Link The blogger who gave the award.

Seven things about myself:
1 - I love getting shots! i get any kind of shot i can just for the fun of it.
2- I am legally blind (but can see well enough to read nad function) just cant drive =(
3- I am allergic to all animals but have 2 dogs and 2 cats.
4- My favorite colors are black and purple
5- I hate sterotypes in books, the goth does NOT have to always do drugs and be the troublemaker, we can be well adjusted and sweet!!
6- I love mythology and lore
7- My favorite animals are red pandas, wolves and hyenas.

Now i guess i give the award to other bloggers, i may not have 15 though since most already have this award >.< but here goes.

1.  aobibliosphere
2.  Lu's Bloody Big Book Blog
3.  Whats Your Story? Reviews
4.   Magical Faeries Paranormal Reviews
5.   A Reading Kabocha
6. A Library Girls Familar Diversions

Title - Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires Book 9)
Author - Rachel Caine
Genre - Paranormal/YA/Fiction
Pages - 352

Description
While developing a new system to maintain Morganville's defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she's able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.
But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town's little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville...

Thoughts
Starting Ghost Town i was a little wary, how was the story going to progress after Bishop?  i mean, he was the perfect villian. So Caine did something unexpected and terrific, she created the perfect villian, from inside morganville.

People are losing thier memories, and acting all shades of crazy. Claire has to figure out how to  stop the epidemic before she completely forgets how. The story is a tad slow in the beggining and it takes a good chunk of the book to get into the whole memory loss scenerio but when it does its back to tension and twists.

Every one is back. Myrnin, Amelie, Frank, Shane, Eve, Michael and all the others from the  past books. However, Jason was not in the book, I was a bit sad as i really do like Jason.  Everyone is as witty and fun as i remember and loyal too, Hell even Oliver got brownie points  this time!

The ending was shocking and kind of bitter-sweet, a great way to get you ready for the next book (Bite Club) Which comes out May 2nd 2011.

Alright, this is my first Cover Love? post and im only doing it when i find a cover i absolutly love, or hate.

I just finished Ghost Town (morganville vampires bk 9) and i went searching for the next one to see when it comes out (May 2nd 2011) and this is the cover i found, i dont know if it will change and ive never singled out a cover for my inspection and opinion but here we go:

Its a nice cover to be sure, i do love the background with its iron gates and blue, somber tones.
However, while the model for Claire is fine, i guess. I do not like the model for (assuming..) Shane. He looks
dopey and while Shane is not the smartest guy, he is no dope. He also in my opinion, is not cute.
I do like how they look determined , well Claire does Shane just looks like "Hey im pretty, and i know it".. perhaps i have something against Shane?
All in all it is a fine cover and the first one with two people in it if i recall correctly.

Now if only we could get one with Myrnin on it.. lol!

Title - In the Hand of the Goddess
Author - Tamora Pierce
Genre - Fantasy/YA
Pages - 288

Description
I don't want to fall in love. I just want to be a warrior maiden."
Still disguised as a boy, Alanna becomes a squire to none other than the prince of the realm. Prince Jonathan is not only Alanna's liege lord, he is also her best friend -- and one of the few who knows the secret of her true identity. But when a mysterious sorceror threatens the prince's life, it will take all of Alanna's skill, strength, and magical power to protect him -- even at the risk of revealing who she really is...


Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's second adventure continues the saga of a girl who dares to follow her dreams -- and the magical destiny that awaits her.
Alanna's journey continues...

Thoughts
First off, I ADORE Tamora Pierce her books are clean, not too long and very entertaining.

Alright, back to the review:
In the Hand of the Goddess is the second book in the Song of the Lioness series. Alanna (Alan)
is still at the courts trying to win her shield, and become a knight. However, many dangers are presented as an evil sorceror is trying very hard to kill her and all she loves.  Tamora Pierce has a fabulous way of telling stories, In the Hand of the Goddess is written well and  clear, with no swearing, no sexual scenes (only a bit is implied) and the story flows very smoothly.

The charactors are REAL, Alanna is a strong girl with real worries, fear, hopes and dreams. She is not a spurnned woman out for revenge, she is solely becoming a knight because she wants to do the right thing, she wants to fight for her king and always follow the code of chivalry. The other charactors are just as real. George the thief is sweet and witty and caring, Prince jonathan is just as kind but also has a jelous side.
The other squires round out the cast wonderfully, and Roger is the perfect villian.

I enjoy such light-hearted and fun books that do have a serious side, with battles and plots, In the hand of the Goddess and  the book before are sure to please any age, as well as the two others in the series.

I know, you have probably seem these all before, im a little behind with the WoWs since i only came back 2 weeks ago >.< sorry!

Title - The Iron Witch
Author - Karen Mahoney
Pages - 288
Release - Feb 8 2011
Description
Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.


When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.

Rules

• Pick up your current read
• flip to a random page
• post about (2) sentances that you find here for everyone, it can be more then 2 but dont make it too long!
• please try not to include spoilters!

He clamped a hand around Alanna's arm  and levered her out of her seat, walking her out onto the floor. It was either walk or be dragged; Alanna sometimes wondered if Gary knew his own strength.

-Love, Love, Love this book/series!-

Title - The Iron Queen
Author - Julie Kagawa
Genre - YA/fiction/fantasy
Pages - 384
Release - Janurary 25, 2011

Thoughts
Meghan, Ash, Puck, Grimelkin and all the fae you loved from the first two books are back. This time they take on the False King in a story that is heartwarming and heartbreaking. I found myself crying more for this book then I have in a long, long time. Expertly written and planned out, the battle scenes were tense and the romance was genuine. The charactors were real and I loved them. I can not wait for the next book "The Iron Knight" told from Ash's point of view.

Its tough to review this book without giving away spoilers for it, and the two before it (The Iron King, The Iron Daughter) which I highly recomend you read!

• Lovers of wine,women and boys.
• They enjoy dance as well as pipes, cymbals, castanets and bagpipes.
• The pursue and have an obsession with Nymphs
• Older Satyrs were known as Sileni, younger were known as Satyrisci
• In the King James bible, the word Satyr is used to represent the hebrew word Sh'lrlm or "Hairy Ones"

Title - Cassie draws the universe
Author - P. S. Baber
Genre - Adult/Fiction
Pages - 444

Description (from goodreads)

Thoughts
Cassie Draws the Universe is a gritty and thought-provoking novel. Although sometimes, this is not always appreciated. While the story is fine, the overuse of large words and literary vocab could turn away alot of readers, especially if they dont carry a dictionary with them or own an Ereader with
one built in. The storys chapters always start off (most of them) with an exerpt from Cassies notebook, it was a nice way to start off a new chapter and i enjoyed the stories and poems very much.

LunaMoth loves trees!

Cassie, the main charactor, is anti-social, impersonal and I really did not like her for most of the book. She started off Ok, but then she got annoying with her cynisism and bad attitude, by the end though I started to really like her again. The other main player in this novel, Amy, I liked far better. She was someone you wanted to know, kind, smart, pretty but not self-serving. Thier friendship is really complexing, It reminded me of an episode of Gilmore Girls, alot of banter and debate. I could not for the life of me imagine two teenage girls sitting and seriously debateing topics like God, semantics and the ways of life.
By the end of the book I had similtaniously hated, loved, and respected P. S. Babers writing style and makeing me think, and question things I had never thought to question before. Younger readers beware: There is quite abit of swearing, sex and violence but it all comes together to work with the development of the story.

Title - The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, book 1)
Author- Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
Genre - Fiction/steampunk
Pages - 303

Description (from back of book)
In the year 1870, a horrible plague of vampires swept over the northern regions of the world. Millions of humans were killed outright.
Millions more died of disease and famine due to the havoc that followed. Within two years, once-great cities were shrouded by the grey empire of the vampire clans.
Human refugees fled south to the tropics because vampires could not tolerate the constant heat there. They brough technology and a feverish drive to reestablish thier shattered
societies of steam and iron amid the mosques of Alexandria, the torrid quietude of Panama, or the green tempmles of Maltaya.
It is now 2020 and a bloody reckoning is coming.


Princess Adele is heir to the Empire Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. She is quick with her wit as well as with a sword and gun. She is easger for an adventure before she settles into a life of duty and political marriage to a man she does not know.
But her quest turns black when she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan. Her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within thier territory.
Thier dangerous relationship plays out against an apporoaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans.

Thoughts
Vampire Empire (The Greyfriar, Book 1) was my first step into Steampunk literature, and im glad that I had recieved this book to review!
 While the story and take on vampires is nothing really new, the way it is told was beautiful and impeccably written. The story flows easily and does not feel forced or pushed at the end or at any part. While some parts may be confusing, they are quickly remedied within a few sentances.

 The charactors are likeable, even the intentionally unlikeable ones. Adele, our heroine is smart, witty, kind an d confident. Greyfriar is mysterious, strong, and loyal. I instantly fell in love with both of them, they are real and have real emotions and concerns. Another charactor I loved was Prince Gareth, the vampire prince, who is trying to understand humans more. He was heartbreaking for me and I ended up falling for him early on.
 
The 'unlikeable' charactors are subjective since i did like some of them Flay for example is the war chief of Prince Caesar (Gareths brother) and a ruthless killer, but i ended up likeing her becuase she also had a sort of soft side if you looked deeper at her. The others where easier to not like, Caesar is cruel and manipulative, Clark, while probably not supposed to be a bad guy, had me hateing him for his harsh treatment of Adele and his motives behind all he does.

Besides the charactors The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) offers tons of action, a little romance, scemeing, passion and a great read all around. Susan and Clay Griffith have created a magnificant world for readers. I anxiously await the second book in this vampire trilogy!

Yet another challenge for 2011 i will be participateing in, of course i am at the mercy of if they will be available as an ebook =) but ill still try!

Thanks to The Story Siren for compiling the list (not shown) and challenge!

2011 Debut Author Challenge participant information:

•The objective of the DAC is to read at least twelve novels from Young Adult or Middle Grade Authors. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit! I encourage readers who can read more than twelve to do so!
•Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States.
•You do not have to have an blog written in English to participate.
•You can join at anytime. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

Qualifying books:
•Books must be a Young Adult or Middle Grade noveel
•This must be the authors debut with a release date in 2011.
•If an author has a previous novel published under adult fiction/nonfiction or children's fiction/nonfiction, they can still qualify for the challenge if they are releasing their YA or MG debut.

More challenge guidelines:
•Novels must be read between January 1, 2011- December 31, 2011.
•You can use debuts from other countries, but the novel cannot be previously released in your county.

MY PICKS - i need 4 more!
1. Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton
2. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
3. A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford
4. The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
5. Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
6. Divergent by Veronica Roth
7. Falling Under by Gwen Hayes
8. Possesion by Elena Johnson
9. Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese
10. Lost Voices by Sarah Porter
11.
12.

Title - The Hunger Games
Author - Suzanne Collins
Genre - YA fiction/fantasy
Pages - 384
Description (from amazon)
In  a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katnis's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining districts female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place.

Review
The Hunger games is one part The Condemned and one part Battle Royle, but all parts awesome!
I picked up this book and read it straight for 2 hours before i took a break, It starts off with Katniss in the woods with her best friend Gale hunting, a thing that is not permitted in Panem, however most people starve so she is forced to go against the rules. The book give an adequate amount of backstory on Katniss and her fmaily. Its a nice premise before the real action starts!

Enter the Hunger Games, a brutal fight to the death for 24 contestants age 12-18, and it is televised to all of Panem! Only one can survive and the 'gamemasters' make it a tough journey. Katniss is spared initially but when her sisters name is called Katniss rushes to volunteer herself to save her sister from a certain death.

A good chunk after this part shows how the contestants are styled and treated (like kings and queens) before the games begin. Katniss gets to talk to her male counterpart in the games, Peeta. Peeta is from the same district as her, hes a bakers son and quiet but a nice enough guy. The other conestants are not so nice, among them are a girl named Foxface who is sneaky, a little (Rue) who reminds Katniss of her sister, a hulk-like boy named Thresh and others.

And then the games begin, immediantly a few are killed or badly injured, this is to be expected. The action is constant from this point on, there is triumph, heartbreak and heartwarming parts. The book is written so well and put together just as well. The story flows brilliantly and has the right amount of twists and turns to really grab the reader.

Katniss is a great charactor and i rooted for her the whole time, all the charactors are believable and realistic from the main competators to the ones that we dont get to hear about much or very little.

I can't wait to start reading the second book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Young Adult fiction, suspence, a bit of blood and just a great book in general.

Title - Enclave (Razorland Bk1)
Author - Anne Aguirre
Pages - 272
Release - April 12 2011

Description
WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE In Deuce's world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed 'brat' has trained into one of three groups-Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.



As a Huntress, her purpose is clear--to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She's worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing's going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning.

• Open your current book to a random page and type in a few sentances to share
• No spoilers!

Lines
 She was hungry, though, so finally reached for one of the biscuts on the pyramid pile. It flaked a little when she set it on her plate. she watched the way the general pasted on the honey and dipped her own knife in the flat jar before her plate, copying.

Thoughs
Its a good book so far, took aobut 60 or so pages to actually get into and get interesting but now im enjoying it.

This is the first post in a weekly post about Mystical Creatures in books. Each Monday will be a new creature with info, pictures and of course books they feature in.

This week:
                               Unicorns
                               (Unus Comu)

   Unicorns Throughout History:

•  Found on some seals from the Indus Valley Civilization, thought to indicate high social rank
•  In the Bible a creature called the Re'em is mentioned in various parts, often as a metaphor for strength.
• In the 13th century Unicorns where symbolised with chaste, love and faithful marriage
• It was believed only virgins could mount a Unicorn.
• In the 17th century it was believed that Unicorn horn could neutralize poisions.

Unicorns In Books

• Acorna by Anne Mcaffrey is about a girl with a unicorn horn and cloven hooves.
• The Unicorn Girl by M.L. LeGette is about a girl who can speak to Unicorns
• Rampant by Diana Peterfreund is a diffrent take on Unicorns, they are not shown as gentle creatures but as bloodthirsty.
• The Unicorn Treasury by Bruce Coville A collection of poems, stories and lore surrounding Unicorns.

Hopefully i can get doing more stuff and get more books! a kindle just makes buying books pointless, though there are some id like to get that i cant get on kindle, im just stingy! haha.

Title - The Christmas Dog
Author - Melody Carlson
Genre - Fiction/Contemporary
Pages - 172

Description
Betty Kowalski isn't looking forward to the holidays. She just can't seem to find Christmas in her heart. Maybe  it's because her husband is gone. Maybe it's because she's missing her children. Or maby it has something to do with her obnoxious new neighbor, who seems to be tearing his house apart and rearranging it on the lawn.

But when a mangy dog appears at her doorstep, the stage is set for Betty to learn what Christmas is really all about.

Review
I started reading this because i had nothing else to at the time. I was thouroughly suprised at how charming it was! The main charactor Betty is like the grandma you always wanted, sweet, spicy and caring. The book starts off a little slow and mentions the unruly neighbor (Jack Jones) alot, but i guess thats to set up what type of guy he is, which is according to Betty an uncaring, mean spirited, slob of sorts. The book progresses at an even pace, and really picks up when the little brown dog starts wandering through her yard and Bettys granddaughter (not by blood but by love) shows up on her door. There are times you want to cry, laugh and get angry, and the ending is so sweet i was smiling when i shut the book.

There are alot of good morals in this story, such as 'dont judge a book by its cover', 'love thy neighbor' and so on.. Its a very short read, i finished it in a few hours but its a good ride. The tale of the Christmas dog can be read by kids or adults, its clean, simple and heartwarming and i recomend it to anyone who wants to take a break from serial killers, vampires, and other such baddies for a while.

Check out her other book as well "The Christmas Bus"

Each week i will put up Free Ebooks that you can read on your computer, Kindle, Ipod, Ipad.. pretty much any electronic device. There is nothing this week because i just got back from my Hiatus yesterday and i am still trying to figure out what to do each week (got fridays, wednesdays, tuesdays, sundays and mondays coverd!)  so expect some next Friday!

phew!!! after a few months im back, ive been reading ALOT! i however do not have my kindle at this moment (friend is borrowing it) so ill have to review some wonky books my stepmom has till next week =)
i got a laptop so i should update more often!

i hope you all have a great day and  glad to be back!