My Favorite Covers of 2010

2010 brought a ton of beautiful covers! So, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorites, in no particular order.

Aren't they gorgeous?! What were some of you favorite covers from 2010?

My Favorite Books Read in 2010

Hello everyone! So 2010 has finally come to an end and man did I read some awesome books! The following are books I read this year that made my favorites list. As to the order they are in, the books are arranged by date read from January to December. Also, while I read the following books in 2010 this does NOT necessarily mean they were published in 2010. Well, here they are folks:

My Favorite Books Read in 2010
(Click on book covers to access my review of each book.)

These, of course, were not the only great books I read this year but to name all the books I read and enjoyed would mean a very, VERY long post. So instead I just posted my top 20. I can't wait for all the excellent books I'm likely to read in 2011! What about you? Were any of the books on my list of favorites for 2010 on your's as well?

YA Historical Fiction Challenge

Sabrina at YA Bliss has started an awesome challenge for all of those great historical fiction YA books out there. I was so glad to find this challenge and can't wait to get started! If you are interested you can find out more and sign up HERE.

Choose your level:

Level 1: 5 YA HF books in 2011
Level 2: 10 YA HF books in 2011
Level 3: 15 YA HF books in 2011

Rules:
All Historical Fiction books must be YA or MG
~Books don't have to be 2011 releases.
~Anyone can join. Please link to a public (web) place I can find you.
~You can join at anytime. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011

My List Level 3 (Italics=own)

1. The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal
2. The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
3. The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
4. Keeper of the Grail by Michael P. Spradlin
5. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
6. Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
7. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
8. The Red Queen's Daughter by Jacqueline Kolosov
9. In the Shadow of the Lamp by Suzanne Dunlap
10. Lady Macbeth's Daughter by Lisa Klein
11. Vixen by Jillian Larkin
12. The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird
13. Strings Attached by Judy Blundell
14. The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines
15. Selling Hope by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
    
    

Author Interview: Robert Feagan

Hello everybody! Today I have brought to you all an interview I did with Robert Feagan, author of the great YA novel Arctic Thunder! Not a lot of people have heard about his book and that's a shame because I know I really enjoyed it. So here he is everyone, Robert Feagan. :D

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TBP: To start off with, tell us a little bit about yourself.

RF: My father was in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which means we moved a lot when I was growing up. I was born in the remote northern community of Fort McPherson which is inside the Arctic Circle in the Mackenzie Delta. At that time the R.C.M.P. members patrolled large geographic areas by dog team and I was lucky enough to grow up in that environment. Although most of my life was spent in northern communities we also lived in Ottawa Ontario, St. John’s Newfoundland, Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, and Halifax Nova Scotia. I have five children and currently live in Edmonton Alberta.

TBP: With only 140 characters available, what would you tweet to get people wanting to read Arctic Thunder?

RF: It’s not just a sports story! It’s also a story of self-discovery. Boy moves from south to the Arctic where he must adapt to the culture. Funny/entertaining/educational.

TBP: Give us a brief description of your other two books.

RF: Napachee is a young Inuit boy living in the very remote community of Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories. He is having difficulty getting along with his father who is pushing him to maintain the traditional values of his people. Napachee’s dream is to visit the big city of Edmonton, Alberta and experience life in the South. When a group of men visit Sachs Harbour to capture a polar bear cub for the zoo, Napachee stows away on their plane and finally gets his dream of experiencing Edmonton! He quickly experiences culture shock and realizes that the North is really where he belongs. With the polar bear cub and his new friend Jo as his companions, Napachee makes his way back North. Their adventure is full of peril as they race against time to reach Sachs Harbour before they are captured by those that would use the polar bear cub for their personal gain.

Mystery at Shildii Rock is a murder mystery which takes place at Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories. Robin Harris is a youth with an overactive imagination who has a reputation for crying wolf. When he believes something suspicious is happening near Shildii Rock, his father, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police won’t believe him. As things escalate to murder, Robin and his friend Wayne Reindeer, fight to solve the mystery and gain the respect of their fathers.

TBP: Are you currently working on another book right now? If so, would you mind telling us a little bit about it?

RF: I am currently working on a fourth book. It is a work of adult fiction and quite a departure for me. The plot follows the life of a young Metis girl growing up as the only non-white in a small Alberta community. She faces a harsh existence as an orphan being raised by an aunt and uncle who despise her. There are supernatural overtones to the book and at this stage it is somewhat hard to explain. I based a good portion of the protagonists experience on my mother’s childhood and it has quite a personal feel as I write it. Several of my close friends are reading the book as it develops and love what they have seen! Their only complaint is that I am not writing it fast enough!

TBP: What is one of your favorite Arctic games and why? Favorite regular sport?

RF: I love all of the Arctic Sports however I would have to say that the Airplane is my favourite. The strength and endurance required are incredible! The fact that someone can keep their body perfectly rigid in the airplane position long enough to be lifted off the ground, let along be carried that way for a considerable distance is amazing!

My favorite regular sport of course is lacrosse! It was Canada’s first national sport and has always had to live in the shadow of our obsession with hockey. Lacrosse brings together speed, strength, endurance and incredible hand eye coordination. It also has a somewhat violent appearance with lots of body contact, cross-checking and slashing with the stick. I have held seasons tickets since the Edmonton Rush played their first game in the National Lacrosse League, and exposed many friends to the sport. Their first reaction is usually, “Are they allowed to do that??!!!” Once they gain an understanding of the game they are hooked! The amazing part is the players all hold full time jobs off the lacrosse floor. These are teachers, firemen, policemen, vineyard owners, and office workers who endure injury, travel and time away from family simply because they love the game.

TBP: Of all the places you have lived, which are your two favorites? Why?

RF: This is a difficult one! I have had the pleasure of driving from one end of Canada to the other and we have such a beautiful country. I don’t think the average Canadian appreciates how lucky we are. If I have to narrow it down I would say Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories. Prince Edward Island is a land of bright red soil, lush green pastures, and ocean vistas every direction you look. The people are incredibly friendly and it has that small town feel I love. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut have mountains, forests, rivers, the ocean and numerous amazing animals. Having the ability to step out your door, jump on a snowmobile or four-wheeler and literally be all by yourself within five minutes is one of the things I miss the most living in the city. To travel on the tundra and encounter a silence so resounding you imagine your ears are starting to hum is something everyone should experience. It can be a harsh, cold environment but the warmth of the people makes it all seem enjoyable.

TBP: What is your favorite thing to eat and/or drink to help keep warm on a cold night?

RF: Muktuk and tea! Muktuk, the outer skin of the whale, is natures food for a cold environment. The combination of vitamin C (yes vitamin C!) and fat immediately warms you up.

TBP: If you could be any comic book superhero, who would it be and why?

RF: I am a comic book fanatic so again this is tough for me! I am torn between which comic hero I enjoy reading about the most and which one I would like to be. Although Dare Devil and Moonknight are likely my favorite comics, if I had to become one of the characters it would be Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four. He is brilliant, has a cool superpower, and an amazing family!

TBP: If you could shapeshift into any animal, which would it be and why?

RF: I would love to shapeshift into a wolverine! They are intelligent, strong and very feisty! Not to mention they are pretty darn cute!

TBP: If you could meet any famous athlete no longer living, who would it be and why?

RF: I would love to meet Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion. The animosity and hate he endured as an African American Champion in 1908 must have been unfathomable. I would love to hear his stories and learn what kept him motivated. He was a brave man in the ring and outside the ring where he faced death threats and hatred.

TBP: What is the one modern convenience (indoor plumbing, electricity, cell phone, etc) that you'd be most reluctant to give up?

RF: I love my shower in the morning! Going through the experience of hauling and heating water makes me appreciate this convenience. Using an outhouse or Honey-bucket doesn’t bother me but give me my shower!

TBP: Anything else you'd like to add before you go?

RF: Thank you very much for this opportunity to talk about my books and the north. I was lucky enough to recently speak to students in Chicago and it was so rewarding to see their enthusiasm and excitement when learning about the north. It’s an amazing place that so many people still don’t know enough about.

~~~~~~~~~~

And thank you, Robert, for sharing with us! This has got to be one of my favorite interviews and I really enjoyed having you here at my blog. I would so love to go to some of the many places you've been to up north and really loved hearing about them. I'd go crazy with my camera.

Hope all of you out there reading this enjoyed getting to know more about Robert and will pick yourself up a copy of Arctic Thunder! It really is a great read and if you'd like to know more about it:

My Review
My Noteworthy Passages

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. :D

Noteworthy Passages: Fall for Anything

Fall for Anything (ARC) by Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: December 21st, 2010
Pages: 224
Age Level: 15+
Source: From publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Please note that this is an ARC and passages below are subject to change in the final copy.

Synopsis via Goodreads
From the author of Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are comes a gripping story about one girl’s search for clues into the mysterious death of her father.

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

Noteworthy Passages

Eddie; pg. 69
I settle back into the seat, smiling. I roll down the window and let the warm breeze fill the car, even though Milo has the air conditioner cranked. This is good. This feels good.
This is like before.
And then my heart does a complete 180 on the moment and it's like it's too good.
It's too good.
How can things be so good they're bad? That's so stupid. And yet I feel this sadness encroaching, getting close. This isn't good. This is the illusion of good.

Eddie; pg. 133
And then I realize I haven't really thought of him that way in a long time. As the man who laughed and smiled and joked and valued the people he lived with. The man who did every stereotypical father cliche in the book and acted like he loved it. I don't think of him anymore. I buried him. Now it's like I'm looking for answers to a stranger's death and I couldn't tell anyone why it's so important to me, because this stranger didn't do anything for me. He never showed himself to me--this tortured artist, who hated being here so much, who could find no good in anything. He just left, killed himself, and he ruined everything. So why should I care? Why?

Eddie; pg. 182
I'm sitting in a bedroom where the paint is peeling, my arms wrapped around myself. I wonder what happened in this place when it was new. Who lived here and what they did, and were they good people. Were they sad people. Are they dead now. Questions about things that don't matter, so I can push that other question out of my head: was I a good daughter.
It might have been me.
Imagine you're the weight around a person who jumps.

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These were some passages that I felt really explored the emotional depth of Fall for Anything and I seriously hope you will take the time to read this amazing novel. If you would like to know more about it you can read my Review.

Thanks for stopping by and remember, I love reading your comments. :D








PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.

Review: Fall for Anything

Fall for Anything (ARC) by Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: December 21st, 2010
Pages: 224
Age Level: 15+
Source: From publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis via Goodreads
From the author of Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are comes a gripping story about one girl’s search for clues into the mysterious death of her father.

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

Review
Fall for Anything is a brutally honest and heart-wrenching portrayal of what happens to those left behind when a loved one commits suicide. What's more, it shows the emotional damage done when left with the nerve-wrecking question of why.

Eddie was such a genuine and realistic character. Her confusion, longing, and heartbreak were so palpable making it very easy for me to form a connection with her. She wasn't all gloom and doom though. Despite the fact that her father had committed suicide, I found that she was actually very relatable and also had an amusing dry sense of humor that really helped lighten the mood at times. Then there was Milo, Eddie's ever loyal best friend. He was so sweet and even when Eddie would try and push him away, he was always still there for her. Now Culler, well he was, indeed, swoon-worthy but I could not shake the feeling that something just wasn't quite right about him. Then there was Beth who was seriously oh-so annoying but, in a way, I kinda grew to understand her near the very end.

One thing that made Fall for Anything such a page-turning, unputdownable story was the fact that Summers' had crafted the emotion, suspense, and longing in such a way that I found myself yearning to know why and understand Eddie's father's motives just as badly as she did. Every little detail of the plot just pulled me in deeper and deeper so that I didn't want to leave the pages. I just HAD to know! Another thing I loved about the plot was the incorporation of photography which is one of the first things that grasped my attention when reading what this book was about. However, I feel that Summers' should be aware that Canon trumps Nikon any day; of course, it could just be I'm biased. Maybe.

Summers' writing style is effective and simple but it is also very raw and straight-forward. There was such an air of authenticity throughout the writing and everything--from the emotion, to the situations, to the dialogue--rang true and was so keenly wrought.

A few chapters before the big plot reveal, the pieces started clicking into place in my mind. Honestly I thought the ending was expertly executed as well as practical. I don't think Summers' could have given Fall for Anything a more appropriate ending than she did.

All in all, Fall for Anything is one of the most powerful and gripping books to ever fall into my hands and I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it before. This book is an honest to goodness must read and belongs at the top of everyone's TBR pile. I can't wait to delve into more of Summers' novels and I give her two thumbs way, way up on this one. I now have a new book to add to my ever-growing list of favorites.

Grade
Characters: A-
Writing: A-
Plot: A
Ending: A+
Enjoyment/Likability: A
Recommendable: A+

Overall: A

Cover: A-

In My Mailbox (67) (Christmas Week Edition)

In My Mailbox
IMM is a weekly meme hosted and created by Kristie at The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

From Dad
~Card and money (Not pictured.)

From Mom

Books:
~Keeper of the Grail by Michael P. Spradlin
~The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
~Annie's Adventures (Sisters Eight, Bk. 1) by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
~Blackthorn Winter by Kathryn Reiss
~A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell
~Zen and Zander Undone by Amy Kathleen Ryan
~Undercover by Beth Kephart
~My Boyfriends' Dogs by Dandi Daley Mackall
~My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald
~Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings

Jewelry:
~4 sets of Diamonique sterling silver earrings clad in platinum
~Sterling Silver key necklace
~Steel by Design necklace with Hematite
~14k Gold key pendant

Philosophy Amazing Grace Set
~Perfume stick
~Perfume spray
~Shower gel
~Lip Gloss
~Body Lotion

From Aunt and her family

Box of picture frames

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Bookmooched
~Paper Towns by John Green
~ARC Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
~The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
~Wanted by Caroline B. Cooney

From Trade with Jessi
~The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

From Trade with Sandy
~ARC Low Red Mon by Ivy Devlin
~ARC Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

Won from Cari's Book Blogs
~Signed! The Eternal Kiss by various authors (Signed by SIX of them!)

Won from DeRaps Reads
~Betrayal by Gillian Shields

Won from YA Muses
~Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Bought from Book Depository (Had 10% off)
~Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
~Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey

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That's everything I got last week, including for Christmas. I know, quite the haul. lol. I want you all to know that I had filmed a vlog early Monday morning to post instead of this BUT Youtube wouldn't upload it and by the time I realized this I couldn't hardly talk anymore so there was no filming a shorter vlog.

Which brings me to an apology. I know I'm really behind folks and I'm sorry. Ever since Christmas got over, I've been sick, first with a migraine and nausea. Now my throat and the far back of my tongue are covered in sores, red, and swollen and my ears are killing me. Half the time I can't hardly talk and when I can it hurts really bad. If it was just my throat I could probably focus on my posts more but with my ears hurting, it makes it hard to concentrate. Going to the doctor tomorrow so hopefully I can get whatever is wrong cleared up.

Hope you all had an excellent Christmas and got some wonderful stuff. Will try and get some more posts up soon. Until then, so long everyone. :D