2011 Debutante Event

Badass Bookie is having an AWESOME contest over on her blog. The info below has all the details and is copied from her cite. Make sure you spread the word :)

The 2011 Debutante Event

From the 1st-25th of December, Badass Bookie is going to be your guide to next year's hottest debuts! My lovely Debs just simply can't wait to meet you all so they are debuting early! Everything you need to know about your Debs and their amazing book will be here! Oh! and did I mention Giveaways Galore? Not only do you guys get to know the Debs better, YOU also get to win their books!!!

What is a Deb? Well, my lovely poppets, a Deb is short for a Debutante which is a New Author to the YA genre. Basically, their first book is coming out next year!

However, the Debs and I need your help! We want to make this event bigger andbetter, we want EVERYONE to know about this event! SO we are giving away aPRIZE for anyone who spreads the word about it!!! So spread the word and WIN!

What is the prize?

That's a secret...nah kidding, I just haven't received THEM in the mail yet so I don't know and CAN NOT show you! They shall arrive by next week so look out for the weekend post! BUT I promise to make it good! On the Debutante's honour!

However it may have something to do with this....

and this .. .

and maybe these too ...

and some more... ( no cover yet ;P)

BUT I dunno...depends on WHETHER OR NOT YOU SPREAD THE WORD!

Unfortunately, the graphics for the event are currently not available since I haven't heard back from the designer... it's a pain but well we shall wait for the arrival of graphics!

WHAT YOU CAN DO IN THE MEAN TIME?????

Spread the word by -

You must include a link to this post or you entries won't be counted

- Doing a Blog Post ( +20)

- Tweet it ( +5)

Extra Entries -

- Follow Me ( +5)

- Follow Me on Twitter ( +5)

Once the Graphics are ready???/

- Grab button and put it on your blog, ( +5)

must be somewhere visible so not at the bottom of the page please!

A separate post will be posted soon ( hopefully!!!) with the graphics for you to grab! Separate form as well so not the following one!!!

Remember you MUST spread the word to be entered into the giveaway! There will be no initial entry and to get extra entries you must spread the words as well so you must spread the word! You are welcome to copy and paste info from this post though!

It's International! Ends 30th of November.

Missy's Reads & Reviews Birthday Celebration

Over at Missy's Reads & Reviews(missyreadsreviews.blogspot.com), Missy is celebrating her 27th birthday! Make sure to participate as their are some really great prizes!

Here's what and how you can win:

- As part of the entry form, entrants will list their top 10 books on their wish list.
- When the contest ends, I will randomly pick a number between 2 and 5. Whatever number is picked is how many winners there will be! This way, there will be at least TWO winners.
- There will be one (1) grand prize winner. After the grand prize winner is chosen, I will randomly pick a number between 2 and 7. The number picked is how many books the winner will receive. To add a sort of element of surprise, I will be choosing which books the winner will receive off of their wish list.
- The other winner(s) chosen will receive gifts selected by me. Prizes will range from $10-$25 in monetary value. These gifts may not necessarily be books, either. It's up to my choosing ... whatever I decide that I want to buy for you. Be sure to give me some good, specific ideas in the "Gifts Other Than Books" section on the entry form!

Make sure to enter and to wish Missy happy birthday!

This Mini Challenge Consists Of:

Date A Celebrity!

-Close Your Eyes!

-Imagine You Just Won A Contest Consisting Of A Date (Dinner And A Movie)

-You Get To Choose Any Celebrity/Singer/Sports Star To Go On A Date With
-FYI:Cartoon characters are exempt.

-Mission

-Write A Blog Post Telling Me Who You Would Choose

-Explain Why You Choose Them

-Be Creative In Your Post (maybe include a picture of said person or tell me what you would order for dinner)

-Leave Link To Your Blog Post In The Comments Section

-US Only (unless you have someone to ship to you internationally)

People on the busy city streets skirted around a prone form rudely obstructing pedestrian traffic. The prone form, a girl with dark-hair, lay ungracefully upon the pavement. She sat up with a groan, clutching her head. Ow, she thought. What happened?

"Careful now, darling." A hand suddenly appeared on her lower back, supporting her. "You seem to have struck your head."

The girl looked up to see a young Cary Grant sitting beside her, a crease between his brows. The narrowed her eyes and cocked her head slightly to the side, inspecting him. "Why," she said suspiciously, "aren't you in black and white?"

The impossible man's brows rose but his eyes never left hers. "I wasn't aware I was limited to only two colors. My apologies."

The girl squeezed her eyes shut tight and shook her head, her brown hair flapping wildly about her and striking her cheeks. From beneath her curtain of hair she opened one eye and peeked out at him.

"Still there," she sighed. "Why aren't you dead?" She cast a look about her and absorbed her surroundings. "I don't know where this is. Maybe it's me that's dead?" The girl returned her head to its cocked position and inspected the man crouching beside her. "I never thought I'd end up in heaven. My family must have prayed an awful lot."

The brows descended, furrowing yet again. His lips, which had previously been quirked up slightly as if she amused him, frowned. "You seem to be more grievously injured than I had suspected."

He spent the next minute quizzing her on her name and how old she was. Tina, she replied, eighteen. The questions continued but her replies ceased. She didn't see the point in answering beyond her name and age, since she was either dreaming or dead. Cary Grant sighed and hailed a cab.

"Where are we going?", Tina asked dreamily as he gently deposited her into the taxi and gracefully slid in beside her.

"To dinner." He glanced sidelong at her. "Unless you know better than to accept food from a stranger and would like me to take you home...?"

"Can we have sushi?"

With a sigh, Cary Grant leaned forward and gave the cabbie directions. He sat back in his seat and studied his date for the evening. She prattled on about something called "The Philadelphia Story" and someone named "C.K. Dexter Haven". As she talked, she grew more animated. She made sweeping gestures with her hands that caused her hands to brush up against his jacket or whack into the glass window. Each time her hand connected, she apologized (to both him and the inanimate window.)

As the cab wove through traffic, her chatter dwindled and she sat in thoughtful silence.

"Is something the matter?" He asked, suddenly how he had come across her. It was hard to believe someone so energetic could be injured.

"Well", she began hesitantly, "I was just wondering..."

"Yes?", he prompted.

"Can I wear your hat?"

Cary Grant removed his fedora and handed it to her. "Yes," he said gravely, "You may".

She placed it carefully on her head and then continued to twitch it with her fingers until it sat at a rakish angle. She beamed a smile at him. She wore it throughout the rest of their evening, except for when he made her take it off at dinner.

Top 5 books of 2011

Heard of Princess Bookie's Contest Craze? If you haven't, make sure to check it out. This is one of her mini-challenges leading up to the contest craze.

With so many awesome books coming out in 2011, it was difficult to narrow it down to just 5. "Challenge" indeed.

After struggling a bit, I finally settled on these:

1. City of Fallen Angel by Cassandra Clare

I've read everything Cassandra Clare has written thus far and have yet to be disappointed. I'm utterly attached to the entire Mortal Instruments Gang (even Simon, who REALLY bugged me in the first two books). I'm really excited to see what kind of trouble they'll get into next. And what Magnus will do/say. He's such a great character and I'm glad I get to see more of him.

2. The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan

I love Sarah Rees Brennan's writing. Love. It. The pacing of plots in her books are perfect. Her characters are lovable, and their dialogue even more so. I love the inclusion of family bonds, how that has more importance in these books than romantic ones. In YA, it's a rare thing but SRB pulls it off. When reading the first book, I couldn't connect with Mae. After reading the second book from her POV, I grew to love and understand her. But I noticed that I felt the same distance from Sin that I felt about Mae when I was in Nick's head. I'm really hoping I'll grow to like and understand Sin after reading her POV. Even if I don't, the rest of the characters and SRB's brilliant storytelling will keep me reading.

3. Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

I feel like I've been waiting for this series to wrap up. On one hand, I'm desperate to know what happens to Beka and the others. On the other, I'm not ready to say goodbye yet. The great thing about Tamora Pierce is that she brings some of her characters back in other books. I never manage to see all of the plot twists that the author weaves, either. I love how after reading so many of her books she still keeps me guessing and has mostly avoided a formula.

4. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Love her writing, love the humor, love the characters. Also, this series has absolutely stunning covers. I read the first book in one sitting and cannot wait for this one.

5. The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta.

Saving Francesca is, if I have to choose, probably my favorite book of all time. I loved the characters so, so much and really connected with the story. I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Marchetta, even the more "difficult" reads where I've suffered right along with the characters. I'm so glad that I get to hear more about the characters from Saving Francesca and meet new ones. I'm really looking forward to getting inside Tom's head!

Book Recommendation

Have you heard of the fabulous author Elizabeth Scott?

If you haven't, I plan to fix that. If you have, well, read this anyway because you can never have enough of her!

Elizabeth Scott is the author of seven Young Adult novels (Something, Maybe. Bloom. Living Dead Girl. Stealing Heaven. Perfect You. Love You, Hate You, Miss You. And coming out soon... THE UNWRITTEN RULE!) What makes Scott such an impressive writer isn't necessarily her employment of the English language (though that's pretty great too) but her ability to dive deep into the depths of an issue, be it a first kiss, your parents divorce, or abuse. Her characters and stories stick with you long after you've read them. I've laughed and I've cried (Cliché, I know, but it's true!) when reading her books. I absolutely adore them. So go Check Them Out!

Her newest novel, The Unwritten Rule, is about Sarah, who has a crush on her best friend's boyfriend.

Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like you best friend's boyfriend.

Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah's best friend.

Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful.

Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more...

In stores on March 16th!

Not a Review: But Check Out This Awesome Contest!

Long time no post, but it's a good occasion:

Dark Faerie Tales (the awesome blog) is having a contest. It's pretty simple: just say what fictional character gives you the creeps. Pretty easy, right?

The giveaway ends on March 21st (aka Sunday, a few weeks from now).

The Grand Prize Winner gets FIVE BOOKS! If that's not a reason to enter, I don't know what is.

Check it out at darkfaerietales.com/500-followers-contest.html!

Pretties

A brief interruption of your regular reviews to ask a question.

Is it just me, or have all Scott Westerfelds Pretties run away? I mean it, every single time I have been in a bookstore since reading Uglies (almost a full year ago) I can't seem to find a single copy. I have even tried my library and finally I have accrued a copy and right after that I'm told of a magical place where there are NINE copies. NINE!

I mean, I'm happy that people are reading Westerfeld's work, but I'm at a loss as to why Uglies will be there, Specials will be there, even Extras will be there but never Pretties. Can somebody explain this paradox to me? It would be greatly appreciated.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.
-Chrissy