Sunday, January 24, 2016

Discussion Post #3 - SHIVER by Maggie Steifvater



This week's discussion revolves around Chapters 32-44.

As a reminder, if you've read ahead, please don't post any spoilers! We want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to discover things as you did :). Let's discuss!

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* Okay, let's talk romance. Is Sam proving a swoon-worthy character for you? Do you think he's right for Grace? What do you think about him meeting the parents?

* What was your favorite scene in this set of chapters, and why?

* Olivia shares her secret with Grace, in these chapters, but things still seem tense. Do you think Olivia is hiding something else? Why do you think she didn't immediately go to Grace?

* Prediction time! Since we're on the 3rd set of chapters, it's time to let us know what you think is going to happen at the end. Do  you think Grace will get her happily ever after?

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I'm switching it up this year, and not being the first one to write responses! Instead, I'll respond to everything that you write. Now, keep in mind that I've read this book before, so don't worry if my responses are vague. It's just to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Choose February 2016's book!


Can you believe that another month has already almost come and gone? I know I can't. I'm still adjusting to the fact that it's even 2016. The good news is that it's time to pick our book for February! 

February is all about swoon-worthy protagonists, in all of their glory. I don't think they necessarily have to be in a romance to be deliciously addictive, and it seems you all agree. Here are your choices!


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Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1) by Nalini Singh

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation...

Adult Fiction - Urban Fantasy - 352 pages





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Tangled (The Tangled #1) by Emma Chase

Drew Evans makes multimillion-dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? He’ll tell you he has the flu, but we all know that’s not really true.

When Katherine Brooks is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.

How can one woman turn a smooth-talking player into a broken, desperate man? By making the one thing he never wanted in life the only thing he can’t live without.

Adult Fiction - Romance - 256 pages






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Wallbanger (The Cocktail Series #1) by Alice Clayton

The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she's gaining an--um--intimate knowledge of her new neighbor's nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy's athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed "dating hiatus," and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly...

In a delicious mix of silly and steamy, Alice Clayton dishes out a hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight.

Adult Fiction - Romance - 384 pages




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Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name.

Adult Fiction - Urban Fantasy - 332 pages







Discussion Post #2 - SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater



This week's discussion revolves around Chapters 19-31.

As a reminder, if you've read ahead, please don't post any spoilers! We want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to discover things as you did :). Let's discuss!

==================================================================

* Now that you have more insight into Sam and Grace as characters, what do you think of their relationship? Do you feel any differently about either one of them than you did at the beginning of the book?

* Shiver uses a very common YA trope, where the main character's parents are absent most of the time. Do you think this helps, or hinders, the story line? Would you change it at all?

* In these chapters, Sam shares with Grace a special spot that she couldn't possibly have known about, but did. Do you think this is foreshadowing? Did it take you by surprise?

* This part of the story ends with Sam finding Beck again. What do you think of Beck as a character, and his plan for the pack?

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I'm switching it up this year, and not being the first one to write responses! Instead, I'll respond to everything that you write. Now, keep in mind that I've read this book before, so don't worry if my responses are vague. It's just to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Discussion Post #1: SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater



This week's discussion revolves around Chapters 1-18.

As a reminder, if you've read ahead, please don't post any spoilers! We want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to discover things as you did :). Let's discuss!

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* Since this is the first time we've met Sam and Grace, let's hear your opinions. What do you think of these two main characters? Do you enjoy switching back and forth between their POVs?

* The temperature plays a big role in Stiefvater's version of werewolf lore. Are you a fan of her take on this well known paranormal creature? How do you think it will affect the story?

* It's looming out there, so let's tackle it. What's your view of "insta-love", or the instant attraction between two people. Will it make or break a book for you? Do you think Sam and Grace fall in this category?

* What's one burning question that you were left with at the end of this set of chapters?

==================================================================

I'm switching it up this year, and not being the first one to write responses! Instead, I'll respond to everything that you write. Now, keep in mind that I've read this book before, so don't worry if my responses are vague. It's just to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Monday, December 28, 2015

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater - January 2016 Chapter Breakdown


This month's theme is all about snowy locales, and the warm hearts that reside within them. As a reminder, we'll be reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater!

Below you'll find the chapter breakdown.


January 1st - Chapters 1 - 18
Discussion Post: January 9th


January 11th - Chapters 19-31
Discussion Post: January 16th


January 18th - Chapters 32-44
Discussion Post: January 23rd


January 25th - Chapters 45-67
Discussion Post: January 30th



As a reminder, it's perfectly fine to read ahead. This is just what we'll be discussing each week. The key is to remember to keep the spoilers to yourself! Different people read at different paces, and we don't want to ruin it for someone else.

Also, all discussion posts are open the entire month. So if you're a bit behind, feel free to join in whenever you're ready!

 

Friday, December 11, 2015

Choose January 2016's Book!

Okay ladies and gents, it's time to choose our book for January!

January's theme is all about snowy locales, and it's up to you to decide which one we'll visit. Below you'll find 4 books to choose from. You have until 8pm on 12/14 to vote.

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Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

YA Fiction - 416 pages






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The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.

Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

Adult Fiction - 400 pages




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The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Adult Fiction - 389 pages





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Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a stunningly original fairy tale of modern-day America, a dazzling ode to the power of fantasy, and a heartbreaking meditation on how growing up is as much a choice as it is something that happens to us.

In Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu tells, in her one-of-a-kind voice, a story that brings together fifty years of children's literature in a tale as modern as it is timeless. Hazel's journey to come to terms with her evolving friendship with Jack will deeply resonate with young readers.

Middle Grade Fiction - 336 pages



Vote Now!

Friday, December 4, 2015

Monthly Theme List for 2016!

In an effort to get a jump on next year, as I'm planning on it being altogether amazing, I've compiled a list of all the themes we'll be tackling! See below.


January 2016 - Dashing Through The Snow
* Choose a book that is set in a snowy locale!

February 2016 - Swoon Worthy Protagonists
* Let's steam up February with some HOT protagonists! Yes, girl crushes are allowed.

March 2016 - Books About Books
* Is it set in a library? Is the protagonist an author? Let's read books about books!

April 2016 - Graphic Novels
* We are doing this! I know we skipped it last year. Stories aren't always just words.

May 2016 - Middle Grade Magic
* May is all about amazing Middle Grade characters, and stories steeped in magic.

June 2016 - Road Trips
* Have a favorite book about a road trip? Here's your chance to share!

July 2016 - Independence
* A country, a family, a character. Anyone fighting for independence fits here.

August 2016 - The High Seas
* Arrrr mateys! We be choosing books about Pirates in August.

September 2016 - Banned Books
* So many books are banned every year, which is why we'll put them in the spotlight.

October 2016 - Haunted Houses/Cities
* Things get spooky in October, and we'll celebrate by visiting some haunted dwellings.

November 2016 - Novellas
* We'll slow things down in November, in preparation for the holidays, with a few shorter reads.

December 2016 - THE BIG HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY: TAKE 3!
* December is all about bonding, planning for the new year, and winning awesome stuff!


More information on how our monthly book choice is going to work next year, coming soon!