Monday, November 06, 2017
#BookReview: The Memory of Things by @gaepol #Giveaway

On the morning of September 11, 2001, sixteen-year-old Kyle Donohue watches the first twin tower come down from the window of Stuyvesant High School. Moments later, terrified and fleeing home to safety across the Brooklyn Bridge, he stumbles across a girl perched in the shadows, covered in ash, and wearing a pair of costume wings. With his mother and sister in California and unable to reach his father, a NYC detective likely on his way to the disaster, Kyle makes the split-second decision to bring the girl home. What follows is their story, told in alternating points of view, as Kyle tries to unravel the mystery of the girl so he can return her to her family. But what if the girl has forgotten everything, even her own name? And what if the more Kyle gets to know her, the less he wants her to go home? Gae Polisner's The Memory of Things tells a stunning story of friendship and first love and of carrying on with our day-to-day living in the midst of world-changing tragedy and unforgettable pain--it tells a story of hope.
#BookTour: Team BFF: Race to the Finish! (Girls Who Code #2) by Stacia Deutsch with @_AwesomeAnnie

Sophia and her coding club BFFs have the best time together. Sure, they work on coding projects, but mostly they gossip about crushes, eat cookies, and do totally silly impersonations. Now they're about to participate in their first hackathon--a full day of coding and meeting other coders--so it's time to step up their game!
Just when Sophia and her friends think their hackathon project is ready for the big time, a change of plans threatens to tear their group apart. Will they have each other's backs, or are they destined for an epic fail? They know that coding is all about teamwork and problem-solving--maybe friendship is, too!
Sunday, November 05, 2017
#BookReview: Bricked In by Max Wannow #Giveaway

#BookReview: Samson: the Mighty Flea! by Angela McAllister @_AwesomeAnnie @AndersenPress

Saturday, November 04, 2017
#BookReview: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32 and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?
#BookReview: Colored Pencil Painting Portraits by Alyona Nickelsen

Colored pencil painter Alyona Nickelsen reveals how to use the medium to push the limits of realistic portraiture.
Colored Pencil Painting Portraits provides straightforward solutions to the problems that artists face in creating lifelike images, and will prime readers on the intricacies of color, texture, shadow, and light as they interplay with the human form. In this truly comprehensive guide packed with step-by-step demonstrations, Nickelsen considers working from photo references versus live models; provides guidance on posing and lighting, as well as planning and composing a work; discusses tools, materials, and revolutionary layering techniques; and offers lessons on capturing gesture and expression and on rendering facial and body features of people of all age groups and skin tones.
Friday, November 03, 2017
#AuthorInterview with @Allison_Pang Magpie's Song (IronHeart Chronicles)
Nineteen-year-old Raggy Maggy is no different, despite the mysterious heart-shaped panel that covers her chest. Or at least she wasn’t… Not until her chance discovery of a Meridian-built clockwork dragon—and its murdered owner. When the Inquestors policing the city find Maggy at the scene of the crime, she quickly turns into their prime suspect. Now she’s all anyone can talk about. Even her clan leader turns his back on her, leading her to rely on an exiled doctor and a clanless Moon Child named Ghost to keep her hidden. In return, all she has to do is help them find a cure for the plague they believe was not exactly accidental. Yet doing so might mean risking more than just her life. It also might be the only key to uncovering the truth about the parents—and the past—she knows nothing about.
#NerdBlast: TRUTHERS by @Geoffrey_Girard #Giveaway @JeanbookNerd

Hoping to free her dad, Katie sets out to investigate his bizarre claims. Soon she's drawn into the strange and secretive world of 9/11 conspiracy theorists known as the "Truthers".
Wading through a dangerous web of fact and fiction, questions and distortion, Katie no longer knows what to believe. But she does know that she's being followed -- and that someone is determined to stop her search for the truth.
A novel for teens, exploring 9/11 & our conspiracy culture...
Thursday, November 02, 2017
#BookTour: Mary Rose by @Geoffrey_Girard #Giveaway @JeanBookNerd

After Simon hears about this disturbing episode in Mary Rose’s childhood, he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. He proceeds to launch his own investigation and arranges during their honeymoon for them to visit the island where she disappeared. But as Mary Rose’s behavior gets stranger after their engagement, the need for Simon to unlock the truth about her past grows even more urgent. What he uncovers is beyond his most terrifying fears.
Mary Rose is author Geoffrey Girard’s chilling and modern take on a classic ghost story originally written by J. M. Barrie. And for years, master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock attempted to adapt Mary Rose into a film but was never successful. With this novel, Girard taps into the nightmarish fears that inspired both Barrie and Hitchcock, while also bringing the story to the present day with his own unique voice.
Wednesday, November 01, 2017
#BoTM: The Beast Is an Animal by @peternelleva #TheBookAddicts

#BookReview: One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) by Kendare Blake
With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.
In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
#BookReview: Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.
The last queen standing gets the crown.
Monday, October 30, 2017
#BookReview: The History Makers by Val Bodurtha

By the time Spanish explorers reached the Americas, the Aztec Empire was one of the greatest powers in the world. The ancient priests would slaughter human sacrifices, sometimes by the thousands, all under the pretext that their gods needed blood to make the sun rise every day. What would have happened had this empire prevailed over the Spanish and survived to this day? How would its bloodthirsty theocracy fit in with our world?
Myla is an upper-class teenager in modern-day Azteca, partying her days away with her friends and the man who has claimed her as his wife. On her seventeenth birthday, she is finally “enlightened” and told the truth: that the Priesthood is lying to everyone. Then, in an intriguing twist of fate, she finds herself in the hands of Aztec’s rebels and their leader, Tezca.
Myla must now sort through all the lies she has been told her whole life and confront old secrets buried deep. Can she trust these people? Are they terrorists or freedom-fighting revolutionaries? And will she join them to dismantle the theocracy and its lies, or will the price she would be made to pay be too high?
#BookReview: You Dear Sweet Man by Thomas Neviaser

The use of a sophisticated, beautiful, adult film model as the centerpiece of the ad and two youthful computer nerds, specializing in holography and animation, leads to a most intriguing and ingenious advertisement ever invented that only responds to vibrations of whatever vehicle on which it is attached; hence, an exciting yet subtle motion to entice viewers to concentrate on the company's message.
The Ultimate Advertisement!
Of course, there are antagonists who are trying to sabotage the efforts of the company, but these attempts are thwarted through the devious and innocent maneuverings of the computer wizards.
The model's temper leads to revenge when her suggestions for the ad are repeatedly rejected by the CEO and board members, and she secretly uses her sensuality and paranormal skills to telepathically force the creators of the ad to produce ads to include unhealthy food images such as burgers and fries. She invents an alter-ego to serve as a replacement for herself in these ads; however, there is one component missing. To finalize her ad, there is a need to add a contrasting overweight and unattractive man. To find that person, the alter-ego must leave the ad, become a human image, and succeed in seducing such a man to return to the ad with her.
In the end, she uses his hunger for a burger and fries to coerce him into entering the ad. As he does, he finds himself in an unexpected predicament from which there may be no escape. As a result, she considers the ad complete, falsely believing the ad will exist forever.












