February 26, 2018

Cover Crush: A Prom to Rememer by Sandy Hall



I love book covers! I love walking around Barnes and Noble just looking at all the different covers.  A good cover will make me pull the book off the shelf!  
It's almost like I have a crush on them :)

Today I'm crushin' on:


I'm just in love with this cover! I love the colors, the look of the dress - just everything! 

About the Book:

Seven seniors, seven problems, one senior prom.

Cora: Head of the Prom Committee (and basically every other club in school). Has been dating Perfect Boyfriend Jamie™ for approximately forever, and has NO IDEA how to break up with him....

Paisley: Sarcastic feminist who wants nothing to do with prom. Has somehow managed to nominate her anxiety-ridden best friend for prom king...

Henry: Quiet ballplayer who hates social situations. Invited to prom by the most popular girl in school. SEND HELP!

Otis: Charming, popular, and one half of one of the cutest couples in his class. Doesn't know how to tell his boyfriend that he's not quite ready for a post-prom hotel room experience...

Lizzie: A little bit shy, and a lot excited to finally get out of her comfort zone and go to prom. With a boy. Whose name she doesn't know.

Cameron: Loner with two jobs and zero friends. Is so done with high school and this whole town: the only thing he still wants to do is meet the mysterious girl who's been leaving him notes...

Jacinta: Unnamed Nerd Girl #3. Determined to become the star of her own life, starting with prom. Now if only she could find a date....

February 23, 2018

Blog Tour: Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda - Review +GIVEAWAY!

I'm very excited to be participating in the blog tour for Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda hosted by Rockstar Book Tours.  

I loved Shutter by Alameda, so I was thrilled to read her latest book.  


About the book

Title: PITCH DARK
Author: Courtney Alameda
Pub. Date: February 20, 2018
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 384
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

Set against a future of marauding space scavengers and deadly aliens who kill with sound, here is a frightening, fast-paced YA adventure from the author of the acclaimed horror novel, Shutter.

Tuck has been in stasis on the USS John Muir, a ship that houses Earth’s most valued artifacts—its natural resources. Parks and mountains are preserved in space.

Laura belongs to a shipraiding family, who are funded by a group used to getting what they want. And they want what’s on the Muir.

Tuck and Laura didn’t bargain on working together or battling mutant aliens who use sound to kill. But their plan is the only hope for their crews, their families, and themselves.

In space, nobody can hear you scream . . . but on the John Muir, the screams are the last thing you'll hear.



About the Author


A veteran bookseller and librarian, Courtney Alameda now spends her days writing thriller and horror novels. Her debut novel, SHUTTER, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and hailed as a "standout in the genre" by School Library Journal. Her forthcoming novels include the science fiction/horror mashup, PITCH DARK (Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends 2018), and SEVEN DEADLY SHADOWS, an urban fantasy set in Japan. (Co-authored with Valynne Maetani. HarperTeen 2018).

Courtney holds a degree in English literature with an emphasis in creative writing. She is represented by John M. Cusick of Folio Literary. A northern California native, she now resides in Utah with her husband, a legion of books, and a tiny five-pound cat with a giant personality.

Member HWA, SFWA, SCBWI; and SDCC Creative Professional.




I really enjoyed this book! I'm not usually one for science fiction type books, but this one was great.  Right from page one the story grabbed me, and so much kept happening that I couldn't stop reading.  I really loved Laura. I loved how smart she was and how unwilling she was to quit! She knew what she deserved - what her family deserved, and she wouldn't let it go. I would love to have her in m corner anytime.  I liked Tuck as well, but how much I like Laura overshadowed that. 

I need to talk about the world building.  It's got to be difficult to build a whole futuristic world.  Alameda did a great job.  I loved how the bits of our world were pulled into the future.  It was enough to help me understand everything.  I also liked the concept of the future and what happened to Earth.  I found it super interesting and well thought out.  

The plot was fast-paced and edge-of-your seat much of the time.  And when it wasn't that it was filled with mystery and suspense.  This came mainly because Laura and Tuck where never fully sure who they could trust.  That kept me not trusting everything as well.  I like that! 

Oh and I need to comment on the creature/mutated humans that Tuck and Laura encounter.  They were scary! I can't imagine have to survive them especially ones that kill with sound! How do you battle that?  Completely amazed at Alameda's ability to create them.

Over-all:  Great read that never slows down. 


Visit the other tour stops:


Week One:
2/19/2018- Here's to Happy EndingsReview
2/19/2018- Adventures of a Book JunkieInterview

2/20/2018- The Blonde BookwormReview
2/20/2018- BookHounds YaGuest Post

2/21/2018- A Gingerly ReviewReview
2/21/2018- Literary MeanderingsExcerpt

2/22/2018- Howling LibrariesReview
2/22/2018- YA Books CentralInterview

2/23/2018- The OWL Book Review BlogReview
2/23/2018- Pretty Deadly ReviewsReview

See the rest of the stops HERE!

Giveaway Details: 
3 winners will receive a signed finished copy of PITCH DARK & pin with a quote that’s important to the story.

US Only.

Ends on March 6th at Midnight EST!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

February 20, 2018

ALA Youth Media Awards

If were aren't aware - the ALA Youth Media Award Winners were announced last week.


I love when they are announced! 
I watch the live stream and everything! Some day I'll go to ALA Mid Winter and see it in person. 

When the winners were announced I was suprised by the number of book I already owned! (see pic 2). Then I went a bought a few more. 


We Are Ok by Nina LaCour
The 57 Bus Dashka Slater
Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Dear Martin by Nic Stone

I was really pleased with the choices this year.  They seemed relevant and like books teens will really want to read! Have you read any of these????

February 8, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday: Puddin' by Julie Murphey

There are some books I just can't wait for.  

Here's where I share! 



Why I'm waiting:
I absolutley loved and adored Julie Murphey's book Dumplin', so the thought of going back into that world is very exciting!  Can.  Not. Wait! 

Due Out: May 8th

Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream—and to kiss her crush. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they will surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

February 2, 2018

Audio Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline




Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Narrator: Wil Wheaton

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. 

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them. 

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. 

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. 

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. 

A world at stake. 
A quest for the ultimate prize. 
Are you ready?


My 16 year old son read this book awhile ago, and he kept telling me I needed to read it - especially because of all the 1980's references.  I grew up in the 80's you see.  Well when I saw the movie trailer I knew it was time to read the book so I could see the movie after.  I decided to get the audio book and listen to it.  I was NOT disapointed in any way!  The story is fantastic.  I loved Wade and seeing the world (both real and virtual) through his eyes.  I loved all the 80's references (seriously he watches Family Ties!!! - and War Games! and LadyHawk!).  Those references just put icing on the cake for a book I really enjoyed.  The battle to find the Easter Egg hidden in the OASIS was so well done.  It had tension and some mystery, and it wasn't easy to figure out.  I would've been very disappointed if I could figure things out before him.  Ok I admit I did figure one thing out before him, but it more just made me proud to figure it out first instead of annoyed.  See - it got into the hunt for the egg as well.  

I will admit the lines between the real world and the virtual world in the book blurred a lot.  I had to keep reminding myself when Wade (or Parzival in the OASIS) was in the real world and when he was in the virtual world.  It was easy to get them confused.  And honestly I think that was true for the characters in the book as well.  They lived so much in the OASIS that they often forgot the real living breathing world.  At first that bothered me, but in the end I felt it was addressed - the need for real human contact - so I was satisfied. 

The ending was great.  Loved how it played out.  Now I hear he is writing a sequel.  I'm curious about it, but in the same breath I don't need it! 

Thoughts on the audio book: Wil Wheaton did a fantastic job narrating this book.  I loved how he read it.  The voices were clearly defined.  He added the right amount of dramatics.  And honeslty when he read a line about Wil Wheaton being part of the OASIS I giggled.  I would listen to other books read by Wil Wheaton for sure!