Hades by Alexandra Adornetto: The Giveaway

Bethany and Xavier are even closer since battling Jake Thorn and his evil influence (in Halo) and Beth and her angel siblings must still protect Venus Cove from the Dark Forces.

When a party game – a séance – inadvertently releases Jake from the Underworld, he disguises himself and tricks Beth into taking a ride on his motorcycle. When the highway opens up and swallows them, Beth learns too late that she’s now a prisoner in hell. What happens to angels there? As her archangel brother, Gabriel, her sister Ivy, Xavier, and her best friend, Molly search for her, Beth must weigh Jake’s bargaining for her freedom: one night with him, and she will be released back to Earth.

Can Jake be trusted in this wager? And is he also using Beth to engineer the fall of the archangel Gabriel? Xavier has already lost one love – when Jake tricks him into thinking that Bethany is dead, his grief and anger result in a betrayal that will leave Bethany – and readers – wondering if he is so good after all.

It will be up to Beth to use everything she’s learned about her powers as an angel – and about love – to free herself and those she loves from the clutches of Hades.

Goodreads

Now that sounds like a great book! I have to go back and read the first one now! Wow!

If you want more information about Alexandra Adornetto on tour this Fall, check out: http://www.facebook.com/penfataletour.

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/AlexandraAdornetto

Macmillan page for the book and author:
http://us.macmillan.com/hades

Now for the fun stuff!

Contest time!

Rules:

*Only one entry per person.
*One copy of Hades will be awarded by the publisher to the winner of the contest.
*US/ Canada only.
*You must be 13 or older to enter.
*You  must be a follower  of Dana's YA Bookpile to enter.
*I am not responsible for any missing prizes.
*The contest is open from September 1st, 2011-September 11th, 2011. The winner will have one day to respond. (My deadline to submit is September 13th.
*Winner will be notified by email.
*The more you tweet, share or blog will contribute to how I choose the winner. Share and share alike!

Okay then...Let's have some fun...

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch: The Review

The wars that followed The Collapse nearly destroyed civilization. Now, twenty years later, the world is faced with a choice—rebuild what was or make something new.

Stephen Quinn, a quiet and dutiful fifteen-year-old scavenger, travels Post-Collapse America with his Dad and stern ex-Marine Grandfather. They travel light. They keep to themselves. Nothing ever changes. But when his Grandfather passes suddenly and Stephen and his Dad decide to risk it all to save the lives of two strangers, Stephen's life is turned upside down. With his father terribly injured, Stephen is left alone to make his own choices for the first time.

Stephen’s choices lead him to Settler's Landing, a lost slice of the Pre-Collapse world where he encounters a seemingly benign world of barbecues, baseball games and days spent in a one-room schoolhouse. Distrustful of such tranquility, Stephen quickly falls in with Jenny Tan, the beautiful town outcast. As his relationship with Jenny grows it brings him into violent conflict with the leaders of Settler's Landing who are determined to remake the world they grew up in, no matter what the cost.

Goodreads

What I Liked:

This book hits very close to home with many issues that we are being confronted with today. War, disease and the possibility of a future that may not be what any of us intends. Author Jeff Hirsch does a great job making you feel what Stephen is experiencing as he goes through life in America after the plagues have killed almost everyone. (No spoilers here!) When he meets Jenny (still no spoilers) he has to decide whether he will do what he thinks is expected of him, or whether he will grab the future with both hands and hang on.

What I Didn't:

Not a thing. It had appropriate levels of language, violence and a mild romantic situation.

Overall:

This book captured the essence of an American future with everything having been destroyed after a virus wipes out civilization. War, plagues, violence and survival are themes here. It is a great book for boys especially, as it is written from a boy's point of view. There is a light flair of romantic interest, but not too much.  Adventure, danger, accountability and what it means to be in a community are also topics that play an important role in the story. A great book for a reluctant reader-this book plays out like a movie.

I enjoyed this book and will keep it in my dystopian favorites section. Hopefully there will be more adventures for Stephen and Jenny in this new America. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, Maze Runner,Matched or Divergent you will like this book.

Many thanks to the wonderful folks of Scholastic for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Hopefully Autumn Follow Friday

Happy Follow Friday everyone! Dana's YA Bookpile has had a busy week. We have two contests for you to enter while you are here. Just scroll down a little and there they are. One for Lockdown and the other for Hooked. I can't wait to get my copies for review, but you get a chance to win one too!

Make sure you enter for extra points. The more points, the more chances you have to win!

Thanks for stopping by on the hop and supporting The Bookpile! Welcome back old friends and hopefully hello to some new ones. Leave a comment and let me know what you are reading. Stalk me on Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus. I am on Goodreads too! There are never enough wonderful people to talk books with.

You may wonder at my choice of picture today. In Houston, it has been over 100 degrees for days and days. The only rain we have gotten was last night, and it was a thunderboomer of epic proportions. I long for fall and some normal weather, so...here's me dreaming just a little.

Q. In books like the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series the paranormal creature in question "comes out of the closet" and makes itself known to the world. Which mythical creature do you wish would come out of the closet, for real?

A. Wow. That's a hard one. I wish they all would come out of the closet for real and be real. It is hard to pick, as they all captivate me, but my favorites are a tie between the vampires and the werewolves. I love the eternal nature of vampires, but I also love the werewolves for their bond with the moon and the primal energy they keep barely pent up. It is hard to decide. Yes, I was one of the ones who had a hard time with Twilight and who Bella was going to chose in the end. My idea of werewolves is more like a man/wolf combination. Not just a big wolf running around. Like Richard in the Anita Blake books.

Thanks again for joining me on this wonderful Follow Friday! Have a safe weekend and read some great books!

http://crazy-for-books.com/2011/08/book-blogger-hop-826-829.html
A non book related question this week:

Q. Do you have pets?

A. Oh yes. Dogs. I rescue everything, so my furry babies are my life. My husband and I treat them like we would if we had kids. I also have four finches, a fish (Cranky Fish) and Godzilla the lizard.

My best and most wonderful baby is Taddy. He is the cutest thing ever...

Have a great weekend!

Hooked by Catherine Greenman: The Giveaway

Thea Galehouse has always known how to take care of herself. With a flighty club-owner mom and a standoffish, recovering-alcoholic dad, Thea has made her own way in her hometown of New York, attending the prestigious and competitive Stuyvesant High School. But one chat with Will, a handsome and witty senior, and she's a goner—completely hooked on him and unable to concentrate on anything else.

Always worried that she loves Will more than he loves her, Thea is pleasantly surprised when their romance weathers his move to college and Will goes out of his way to involve her in his life. But then, Thea misses a period. And that starts Thea and Will on a wild ride that neither of them could have possibly prepared for. When they decide to keep the baby, their concerned parents chip in what they can to keep Will in school and give both teenagers a comfortable place to raise their child. But when a freak accident leaves Thea shaken and threatens to upend their little family altogether, Thea is forced to turn to the last place she would have chosen for comfort: her stiff, uncompromising father.

This smart, touching first novel brims with realistic, beautifully drawn characters, and reminds us that love is never as easy or predictable as we might like it to be.

Goodreads

Now for the contest!

*Only one entry per person.
*Contest is open from August 22, 2011 until September 3, 2011.
*One winner will receive a copy of Hooked from the publisher.
*I am not responsible if there is a problem with the postal system and you do not receive your prize.
*You must be over 13 to enter.
*This contest is open to US residents only.
*To enter, you must fill out the contest form. Additional points may be gotten after the form is filled out if you tweet and leave me a comment with the link.
* Winner will be notified by email and have two days to respond.

Alright! Good luck everyone and I hope you will enjoy the book. I am looking forward to receiving my copy and will be posting a review as soon as possible.

Lockdown: Escape From Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith: The Giveaway

Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries.

Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.

Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world.

Goodreads







Links:
Website: www.alexandergordonsmith.com

Become a Facebook fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lockdown/126095974414

Macmillan page for the book & author: http://us.macmillan.com/author/alexandergordonsmith


The Contest:

Rules:

*One winner will receive a copy of Lockdown from the publisher.
*Only one entry per person.
*The winner will be notified by email and will have one day to respond.
*You must be at least 13 years old to participate.
*This is for US residents only.
*You must be a follower to enter.
*Comments are awesome, but to enter, please fill out the contest form.
*The contest is active from August 21, 2011 to September 3, 2011. The winning entry has to be submitted to the publisher by September 5, 2011.
*I am not responsible if for any reason the winner does not receive the prize due to mail or shipping issues.
*The winner will be chosen by points and randomly within the topmost candidates with the highest amount of points entered. Links please!

And now for the fun: Good luck everyone!

Follow Friday

Happy Follow Friday!

Q. If you could write yourself a part in a book, what book would it be and what role would you play in that book?

 

A. Hard one. There are so many cool books out there right now. I think dystopian being my favorite right now, I could almost be comfortable in any book with a good zombie apocolypse or a large asteroid wiping out half the planet.

 

Katniss in The Hunger Games is appealing. She is not a sheep and she fights for what she believes in. She cares for her family and is not afraid to face anything to keep her sister safe. I would actively change the ending of the series though.



 

Follow Friday and Blog Hop

Welcome to Follow Friday!

Q. How has your reading habits changed since you were a teen? or If you are still a teen what new genres are you in love with currently?

A. When I was a teen, I read more romance novels and vampire books than I do today. I still love both, but my tastes vary. I am more prone now to read YA before reading any other genre. Why? I think it is due in part to the YA genre being so diverse. I love the gritty books like Ellen Hopkins, the zombie books from Jonathan Maberry, the Morganville Vampire books from Rachel Caine and even some of the chick lit types. They are just more fun than some of the adult books I have read lately.

What about you? What books do you read now that you didn't then?

http://crazy-for-books.com/2011/08/book-blogger-hop-812-815.html

“Let’s talk crazy book titles! Highlight one or two (or as many as you like!) titles in your personal collection that have the most interesting titles! If you can’t find any, feel free to find one on the internet!”

While the Bible may be the word of God, transcribed by divinely inspired men, it does not provide a full (or even partial) account of the life of Jesus Christ. Lucky for us that Christopher Moore presents a funny, lighthearted satire of the life of Christ--from his childhood days up to his crucifixion--in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. This clever novel is surely blasphemy to some, but to others it's a coming-of-age story of the highest order.

Joshua (a.k.a. Jesus) knows he is unique and quite alone in his calling, but what exactly does his Father want of him? Taking liberties with ancient history, Moore works up an adventure tale as Biff and Joshua seek out the three wise men so that Joshua can better understand what he is supposed to do as Messiah. Biff, a capable sinner, tags along and gives Joshua ample opportunities to know the failings and weaknesses of being truly human. With a wit similar to Douglas Adams, Moore pulls no punches: a young Biff has the hots for Joshua's mom, Mary, which doesn't amuse Josh much: "Don't let anyone ever tell you that the Prince of Peace never struck anyone." And the origin of the Easter Bunny is explained as a drunken Jesus gushes his affection for bunnies, declaring, "Henceforth and from now on, I decree that whenever something bad happens to me, there shall be bunnies around."
One small problem with the narrative is that Biff and Joshua often do not have distinct voices. A larger difficulty is that as the tone becomes more somber with Joshua's life drawing to its inevitable close, the one-liners, though not as numerous, seem forced. True to form, Lamb keeps the story of Joshua light, even after its darkest moments. --Michael Ferch

Goodreads

Christopher Moore is the king of comedy and hiliarious book titles.

Link:

http://crazy-for-books.com/2011/08/book-blogger-hop-812-815.html

In My Mailbox: Eve by Anna Carey

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Goodreads

Wow. I can't wait to start this one!

On My Nightstand: Trial By Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

There can only be one alpha.
Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were. With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone.

Bryn faces both the costs, and the rewards, of love and loyalty, in this thrilling sequel to Raised by Wolves.