Digesting the Words

A few months ago, I came upon a blog with an intriguing name. After knowing about the IB program, I had to see what this blogger was doing. After looking around seeing the beautiful designs and reviews, I contacted Bailey to ask her a few questions about the IB program. In a few conversations, I knew that Bailey deserved some recognition for pulling together an amazing blog while still being a high school student. That's why, I picked Bailey and  IB Book Blogging  to be this month's ILYB Award winner! Here is my interview with Bailey: How did you get started blogging? Well, in the summer of 2010 I got really into reading book blogs. All of the blogs that I read inspired me to contribute to the community of book lovers but it took me awhile to actually do something. I was pretty self-conscious at first about whether my reviews would suck, or no one would read them. But I met some pretty awesome bloggers who gave me advice and helped me to gain confidence. How did you come up wi...

TTT is a weekly feature held by the Broke and the Bookish . This week's topic are books that we would love to reread. Here's my list: 1. The Book Thief by Mark Zusak Beautifully written and a different take and perspective on a huge event in our history. This was a school read, but everyone in my class was captivated by it. 2. Got Fangs? by Katie Maxwell It was absolutely hilarious and some of the best kissing scenes I've ever read. I kept up with this series and would love to reread how it all began between Fran and Ben. 3. Beastly by Alex Flinn This is one of the best YA book I've read so far. It's so simple with being based in Brooklyn, but I love the development of the characters and budding romance. 4. The Replacement  by Brenna Yovanoff I tried to read this at first and could not get through it. I wan to read it in the future since I know how well-written it is and what the heck Mackie is. 5. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce I absolutely love adaptions and th...

The winner of After Obsession is: Aydrea from Random Thoughts The winner is given 48 hours to reply to our email to confirm notification. If a winner is not able to reply back in time, a new winner is chosen by Random.org. Peace and Fangs, Alisha

"In the beginning, there's boy standing in the trees.... Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angle blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose , something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place- and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side. As Clara tires to find her way int a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she's have to make- between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, ...

"Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her... beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing... it's taken away. All of it. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step though the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest. But there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late." Plot: Right in the beginning of the story, these twelve princesses lose their beloved mother. Devastated, the girls must learn to stay a family. But the king is king, not dad, and it makes the girls even more distressed. Thinking their dad does not love them, they become angry and distant from him. Meanwhile, they have to go into a "mourning period" for a year full of isolation, black clothes, no outdoors, and even...

With the release of Dear Bully on September 5th, we are celebrating it's release and message here at BNR. From Sept. 4th to Sept. 14th, we will be having authors that contributed to DB on the blog. Today on the blog is Nancy Garden, author of "Annie on My Mind": A versatile writer, Nancy Garden has published books for children as well as for teens, nonfiction as well as fiction. But her novel Annie on My Mind , the story of two high school girls who fall in love with each other, has brought her more attention than she wanted when it was burned in front of the Kansas City School Board building in 1993 and banned from school library shelves in Olathe, Kansas, as well as other school districts. A group of high school students and their parents in Olathe had to sue the school board in federal district court in order to get the book back on the library shelves. Today the book is as controversial as ever, in spite of its being viewed by many as one of the most important books ...

With the release of Dear Bully on September 5th, we are celebrating it's release and message here at BNR. From Sept. 4th to Sept. 14th, we will be having authors that contributed to DB on the blog. Today on the blog is Jessica Brody, author of "My Life Undecided" and "The Karma Club": Jessica Brody knew from a young age that she wanted to be a writer. She started self "publishing" her own books when she was seven years old, binding the pages together with cardboard, wallpaper samples and electrical tape. After graduating from Smith College in 2001 where she double majored in Economics and French and minored in Japanese, Jessica later went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, Jessica quit her job to follow her dream of becoming a published author. In four short years, Jessica has sold five novels. Jessica recently sold five more young adult titles to her publisher, Macmillan Children's Pu...

Sorry for the delay! Everything is very hectic at the moment, so blogging has become rare for me this week. However, here are the winners for the past two giveaways: Winner of Tantalize Graphic Novel: Katherine Cromwell Winners of the Firelight merch are: Ashly F. from Lost in the Stacks and Wanda from Books are Magic Winners are chosen by Random.org and are given 48 hours to respond to our email. If they do not respond, we choose another winner from the existing entries. Peace and Fangs, Alisha

With the release of Dear Bully on September 5th, we are celebrating it's release and message here at BNR. From Sept. 4th to Sept. 14th, we will be having authors that contributed to DB on the blog. Today on the blog is Steven E. Wedel, author of "After Obsession" and the Werewolf Saga: Born and raised an Okie, Wedel typically sets his stories somewhere in Oklahoma's diverse landscape. He began writing in high school in the early 1980s and never stopped. He currently lives in central Oklahoma with his wife and four children. Besides writing, he earns his living as a high school English teacher.    Interview with Steven:   About Steven: Why did you choose to go into writing? I've always been a quiet, kind of shy person who preferred the company of books to most people. In sixth grade my teacher suggested I enter an essay contest. I wrote a short story instead, but that made me realize how much fun it was to write. Then in high school another teacher sort of fanne...

With the release of Dear Bully on September 5th, we are celebrating it's release and message here at BNR. From Sept. 4th to Sept. 14th, we will be having authors that contributed to DB on the blog. Today on the blog is Stephanie Kuehnert, author of "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" and "Ballads of Suburbia": STEPHANIE KUEHNERT got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist 'zines. After short stints in Ohio and Wisconsin, Stephanie ultimately returned home and received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. She currently resides in Forest Park, IL. Interview with Stephanie About Stephanie: How do you combine your love of literature and music into your writing? I write about characters who love music as much as I do. Sometimes they are the kind of characters I wish I could be, like Emily from I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, wh...

Q: Many of us primarily read one genre of books, with others sprinkled in. If authors stopped writing that genre, what genre would you start reading? Or would you give up reading completely if you couldn’t read that genre anymore? A: My favorite genre is romance, so if there were no more romance novels...I'd die! Maybe not die, but there would be a lot of...sad nights. I think I could get over it and venture on to other books, but I would have to go through the grieving process first. Q: Have you ever wanted a villain to win at the end of a story? If so, which one? A: Hmm....I would have to say the Twilight saga. Not that it was horrible or anything, I'm a HUGE TwiHard! However, in Breaking Dawn, I feel like Stephenie took the safe way out so that known of the beloved characters would have died. But, I would have wanted to know what happened if the Volturi and the Cullen clan/friends fought and the Volturi won. Who would have died? What would Nessie's life be like with Jaco...

With the release of Dear Bully on September 5th, we are celebrating it's release and message here at BNR. From Sept. 4th to Sept. 14th, we will be having authors that contributed to DB on the blog. Today on the blog is Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Tantalize and Blessed: Cynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-selling author of TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, BLESSED, and TANTALIZE: KIEREN'S STORY (Candlewick). Her award-winning books for younger children include JINGLE DANCER, INDIAN SHOES and RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME (all HarperCollins) and HOLLER LOUDLY (Dutton). Her website at http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/ was named one of the top 10 Writer Sites on the Internet by Writer's Digest and an ALA Great Website for Kids. Her Cynsations blog at cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com was listed as among the top two read by the children's/YA publishing community in the SCBWI "To Market" column. Interview with Cynthia About Cynthia: What f...

With the release of Dear Bully on September 5th, we are celebrating it's release and message here at BNR. From Sept. 4th to Sept. 14th, we will be having authors that contributed to DB on the blog. Today on the blog is Melodye Shore: Interview with Melodye About Melodye: What are some comparisons and differences between writing and public speaking? Speakers invite people to see things from different points of view…to think, to question, to act. So do writers. Whether on papyrus or at the pulpit, around the campfire or on Twitter, we create bonds of understanding by communicating. And as we draw people in, the walls of separation fall away. There are differences, of course, between writing and public speaking. A speech is a snapshot of ideas, framed for a specific audience and purpose. In the best of all worlds, sparks fly, and light bulbs go off. In the end, though, the feedback loop is structured, and take-aways are tied to the agenda. But a writer can take more liberties. Done r...

Synopsis: The MacKinloch Clan Highland warriors prepared to fight fiercely for their country...and for love BACK IN HER HUSBAND’S BED Alex MacKinloch is chief of his clan and, in these dark times of unrest, he has united his people. The void between him and his wife is proving a much harder challenge. When Alex discovers Laren has been keeping secrets from him, his thinly veiled frustration can no longer be contained. The pleasures of the marital bed seem long forgotten to Laren. Yet her warrior husband is looking at her with increasingly hungry eyes... This powerful highlander has seduction on his mind and his wife in his sights! Source   Review Plot: Laren is feeling unloved and unwanted from her husband. Alex is feeling his wife growing distant from him. The book revolves around this couple trying to figure out what happened to their marriage and what will become of it. Many have said that this plot dragged in some parts and I can agree with that. There were some scenes where...

With the release of Vanish on Tuesday, Sophie Jordan is stopping by BNR for a quick interview and a giveaway for our followers. Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she's also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she's not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances under the name Sharie Kohler. Interview with Sophie   What was the process of getting your first book published? I went the standard route of getting an agent first. This process took almost two years. I queried and submitted again and again again until someone finally said yes! ;) Ironically, it only t...