'Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.'- Angela Carter

Sunday, 9 September 2012

Showcase Sunday #11



It's Sunday again so we all know that it's time for Showcase Sunday. It's a lovely weekly meme hosted by Vicki over at Books, Biscuits and Tea, and it allows us to show off all the lovely buys this week. I've been rubbish with my blog this week, only posting and not actually visiting blogs - blogspot was blocked in work! Psssht haha. So here's my lovely purchases for this week:

Books
Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1)

Kindle
A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

Net Galley
Fade (The Ragnarök Prophesies, #1) Ghost Planet Until There Was You (Coming Home, #2) Dash & Lily's Book of Dares Devil's Bargain (Red Letter Days, #1) Broken The Melancholy Countess (Short Story) 

Annoying that the only image of The Melancholy Coutness (Short Story) that I could find was so small! Quite happy with this weeks hauls! What did you guys get?

xxx

Coming Soon

Guest-post by Jennifer Selzer & Daniel Huber, authors of wonderful Legend of the Chosen.
My first ever giveaway - ebook of Legend of the Chosen. Woooo!

Friday, 7 September 2012

Feature & Follow #5

So here's Fridays meme: Feature and Follow hosted over at Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The aim of the blog is to gain new followers! :)

How to participate:


Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

What sets this Hop apart from others, is the Feature. Each week they will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow the Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy.
                         Featured Blogs: Books with Bite & Fantasy Book Chick


A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries Book #1)Q: What book(s) are you reading right now? What do you think of it?

I'm currently reading A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter. My opinon at the moment isn't all that great of the book. Half way through and it just doesn't seem right. I suppose you can't enjoy all Kindle freebies!







xxx


Distraction Technique No.1

MiddlemarchI'm currently doing a temporary work placement so I feel like my blog has been massively neglected this past week and a half :(. So I thought what better time to do a rambly post than when I'm stuck here until 7pm! Being back in the real world of work/ studying has made me remember (sadly) how little time it leaves for your own reading. I grabbed a freebie; Hidden Fire roughly a fortnight ago and I still have yet to reach 50%. Granted, the book itself isn't all that gripping at the moment, but still! I am not a slow reader, so even the most difficult of books shouldn't take this long to read. Eliot's mammoth novel Middlemarch was read in a week - I was pretty impressed with myself! Lol! I will admit though, I really did enjoy it. Once you were in the right mind set, the pages just flew by. It's one of the rare course books that I haven't actually sold on to other students. They don't usually tend to pick the most enjoyable of books.

Speaking of course books, the count down has officially begun! The 1st of October is coming quickly and I will be starting my Ma English. I'm quite nervous in a way even though it's the same university that I studied my Undergraduate degree at. I worry that maybe my brain isn't quite up to the standard of Masters level. We'll soon find out though I suppose! A fair few of the modules sound wonderful:
  • Gender and Culture: An Introduction
  • Neo-Victorian Mutinies: Gender and Racial Trauma
  • 'The Great Pretender': Masculinity in Contemporary Women's Fiction.
  • Angela Carter
Soooo many choices! I'm hoping two modules run but there isn't a lot of information about it:
  • When we Dead Awaken: Gendered Approaches to Myth and Fairytale
  • Gender and Mystical Experience in the Middle Ages 
How good do they sound?! Too good to be true, that's for sure haha. Fingers crossed they'll run though. I love studying literature with regards to gender - it's fascinating. The pictures surrounding are Swansea, the place in which I study. A university directly opposite the beach, you cannot complain. It's a beautiful place and I am absolutely in love with it.



 xxx

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

WWW Wednesday #7/ Waiting on Wednesday #5


Wednesday's meme is hosted over at Should Be Reading, a meme which I'm actively taking part in in which we show off the books we've read, we're reading and going to read :).
The rules are simple. All that has to be done is to answer the following three questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries Book #1)What are you currently reading?

I'm reading A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter. It's a freebie from Amazon and is the group read for a discussion I'm participating in. I'm around 45% of the way through and it really isn't grabbing my attention at all. It should make for an interesting discussion though!




What did you recently finish reading?

Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, #2)I recently finished reading Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James. This one surprised me. I felt pained rating the book at a 3/5* as everything within me was screaming that I shouldn't give this book anything slightly positive after my reaaally not liking the first. My inner feminist really wasnt't feeling all that happy. BUT, this one actually had a storyline, it wasn't entirely focused on the smutty scenes. I found that I'd learnt to tune them out and skip on to the next bit. It made for a much more bareable book!

  

Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose RhymesWhat do you think you'll read next?

Something from my ever growing pile of Net Galley to-be-reviewed books. I've been incredibly lazy with them! So I'm going to go with Two and Twenty Dark Tales by Georgia McBride and Michelle Zink.




-x-

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine , which allows us to show off the books we cannot wait to get our hands on :). My choice this week is:


Nalini Singh - Angels' Blood

Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, #1)

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she is the best- but she does not know if even she is good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, Elena knows failure is not an option—even if the task is impossible.

Because this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt does not destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just might. For when archangels play, mortals break.

xxx

Tuesday, 4 September 2012

My blog button aaaand Facebook page :)

I've finally made myself a blog button! Feeling really pleased with myself. It's so nice to be getting used to html and photoshop. It's really basic but I love it. Heeeere it is:

Blog button

Love, love, love it. I have to give credit where it's due though. I googled the pictures and then played around with two images to create it. The image of the beautiful forest is completely credited to  http://thoosah.deviantart.com/art/ and the silhouette of the girl is http://weheartit.com/klarihkardashian . So happy with it! :)

I kept myself occupied last night because I've also set up a Facebook page as well :). It's looking a bit lonely so I'd appreciate some company guys :).
xxx

Monday, 3 September 2012

Review: 'The Legend of the Chosen' - Jennifer Selzer & Daniel Huber


Legend of the Chosen – Jennifer Selzer and Daniel Huber


Synopsis:

In the beginning the gods created evil
Left alone it grew vengeful
Angry, it sought to destroy all of existence
The Bethel galaxy is all that remains.

Bethel, the charmed central planet of the galaxy is on the brink of the year’s most anticipated event: the celebrated Twilight Bloom. Quade Decairus has no reason to believe that this year will be any different than those in the past: food and music, friends and the good cheer of those he loves the most. So why has he been plagued with nightmares of the end of his world coming on this very night?
Prophecies masked as legends. Impossible visions, bringing universal destruction. Only one man can seek those chosen to stop the evil and save them all.
In a world rich with magic and technology, a seamless blend of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Destiny’s Kingdom explores Quade’s journey as he quests to save a galaxy that has always known peace and prosperity from a powerful evil only he can face.
Legend of the Chosen is book one in the Destiny’s Kingdom series.


My Review: 4/5*

Sunday, 2 September 2012

Showcase Sunday #10




It's Sunday again so we all know that it's time for Showcase Sunday. It's a lovely weekly meme hosted by Vicki over at Books, Biscuits and Tea, and it allows us to show off all the lovely buys this week. I'm posting this before I head off to an archery competition with the boyfriend - it's like 7am, so that's blogger dedication for you :). So, I haven't been so good this week, here's what I got:


Books
Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3) The Vagina Monologues The Final Act of Mr Shakespeare The Leopard Unleashed The Vampire's Bride (Atlantis, #4)
Unfortunately, I didn't realise that the Gena Showalter book was the fourth book in the series so have a bit of catch up to do! Also couldn't resist the final Fifty Shades. Let's see how this trilogy ends.

NetGalley
None received so far this week, but waiting approval or to be declined on these:
Crewel (Crewel World, #1) Season for Surrender Magic in His Kiss City of Dark Magic

Kindle
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (Jolie Wilkins, #1) The Vampire's Warden (Undead in Brown County, #1) A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries Book #1) Ghost in Her Heart The Soulkeepers (The Soulkeepers, #1) Welcome to Setcopia (Dystopian Thriller similar to Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty Four, A Clockwork Orange)The Ultimate Prophecy Uprising (The Fall of Haven, #1) How to Succeed in Evil The Charmer (Darklands, #1) Déjà Vu: A Technothriller (The Saskia Brandt Series, #1)

I went a bit mental this week with the books! I think all except one are free on the Kindle buys though :) so that is awesome. What lovely buys did you guys get this week?

xxx