Recently Read...

This past month has been hectic to say the least. My two new exchange students arrived in the middle of August, and we haven't stopped since! Between a family wedding out of state and getting the girls registered and then starting high school, this past month has flown by.

Even though I have been insanely busy, I wanted to mention some of the books I have read in the last couple of weeks that really stood out.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
June 14th 2012 by Dial Books For Young Readers

I adore this book. I would reread this book every month if I didn't have such a huge TBR pile staring at me. Everything about this book drew me in and made me read faster and stay up later because I didn't want to stop reading. The characters, both the main and supporting ones, were amazing. I wish I was younger and had Jase as my next door neighbor. Actually, I wish I had his whole family living next door! The main story line and even the minor story lines were extremely engaging. Even the cover is wonderful. If you haven't picked this one up yet, do so soon!

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin
August 2nd 2012 by Putnam Juvenile

I loved this story with stormchaser as characters! Something about the intensity of the race to find the next tornado and gather the necessary scientific data, crushing on a member of an opposing chaser team, plus the mama drama thrown in, made for some interesting, faced-paced, pages-flying, reading for me. Yet again, I loved this cover and what it represents: not only the stormchasers hunting down tornadoes, but the internal storms Jane is bottling up.  Be sure to check this one out!

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Strasse
July 10th 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

I can't really ever get enough dystopian books.  This one was tells the tale of Alenna, already forced to grow up an orphan when her parents were taken away when she was 10, who gets sent to The Wheel, an island in the middle of nowhere when the inhabitants are forced to pretty much fight each other for the right to survive. Yes, it does sound like the Hunger Games, but who cares! Bring it on!  I just keep reading, hoping Aleena was smart enough, savvy enough, or could at least fake it to make it through this book. I was getting worried in some parts!

Other outstanding books that deserve a shout out:

#daemoninvasion time!

Lux Series

Jennifer L. Armentrout

(@JLArmentrout)

Over the last couple of weeks, you may heard or seen something about the upcoming #daemoninvasion and we are so excited to share with you what is going on.

Really excited.

The beautiful and uber cool models, Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz, who grace the Lux covers, will be joining us in the United States!  You heard right.  They are flying here, from Hungary to spend a few days as Daemon and Katy! While they are here, the two will be working with Vania, from VLC Productions (the team behind Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments, Melissa de La Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Moira Young, Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl, Hillary Duff, Lauren Destefano, and many, many more authors’ book trailers), to film book trailers for the Lux Series.

During the filming in Atlanta, they will be accompanying us on tour! What does that mean? You get to meet them. In the flesh. They will be participating in the signings and events. At those signings, participating blogs be giving away signed posters, photos, and other swag. There will also be meet and greet events you can join in on.

At each signing, there will be advanced copies of Onyx given away!

And to top things off (as if this isn’t enough, but we don’t do anything small), there’s something very, very exciting in the works! It involves advanced copies of Opal, water, and a little destination known as the Bahamas.

This will be epic.

Are you excited? I am! This tour is going to be so much fun, and I’m so thrilled that Pepe and Sztella are a part of it. We owe them a huge thank you and a giant welcome making the 16 hour flight to meet the readers of the Lux Series.

Daemon Invasion Signing and Event Schedule

June 8^th
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, GA
3:00pm

June 10^th
Barnes and Noble
St Johns Town Center
Jacksonville, FL
3:00pm

June 13^th
Barnes and Noble
Waterford Lakes Town Center
Orlando, FL
3:00pm

June 14^th
Barnes and Noble
The Palladium at City Place
West Palm Beach, FL
4:00pm

There are several #daemoninvasion street teamers out there and if you want to join a team to win exclusive prizes, search down the #daemoninvasion hashtag to join one of the teams!

Don’t forget to visit Jennifer L. Armentrout’s blog to win a signed set of Half-Blood and Pure in celebration of her adult romance release, Tempting the Best Man, under pen name J. Lynn.

It can be purchased here.

Team #blackgems

It's time to introduce you to my #daemoninvasion street team. Here's our team:

Carla @ Library Mosaic

Cristina @ There Is A Book In My Bag

Deepest Blue @ The Deepest Blue

Jessi  @ Auntie Spinelli Reads

Joy  @  Book Lagniappe

Karin @ The Life Of Karin

Avie  @ Luxurious BlackGems

Daphne @ Winged Reviews

Look out for our hashtag on twitter: #blackgems

As you can see there are still two spots open on our team so, if you want to participate or know someone who might want to, let me know!

Here are some banners and a button in case you want to share the love. :)