This is Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you have loads of fun trick-or-treating and dressing up today. As for me, I'll be working so I celebrated a bit early. Here's some photos I took from my Halloween party on Saturday night!

Here's my table:

Spiderwebs are covering the ceiling!

I made graveyard dirt cakes:

Yummy cupcakes:

Worm sandwiches:

Rice crispies (in the form of gravestones, cats and skulls):

And mummy dogs:

I decided to dress up in the same theme as my blog. I'm the Mad Hatter (I got the costume from Buyaliceinwonderlandcostumes.com):

The costume came early and was made of really great fabric. It was easy to wear, comfortable and people really dug the Alice In Wonderland theme! I plan on wearing the hat tonight at the police department.

Here's my husband dressed as Dexter Morgan from Dexter. He chose his kill suit:

It made me want to have a Dexter party sometime soon. I think we will and show the first few episodes from season 1. I'll pretty much build the whole kill room and make gross food. So excited!

My best friend went as Flo from the Progressive Insurance:

My cousin pulled an awesome Audrey Hepburn:

Here are some other guests:

In the end, it was a lot of fun. I love making fun foods and hosting parties. It was awesome!

Hope you all have an awesome Halloween. We had the best time ourselves. This is Halloween!

Cover Reveals- As Dead As It Gets, Underworld, Touched & Fated!

There have been some more epic covers released that you need to see to believe! Checkout the latest batch of awesomeness that has hit the internet and prepare to have your finger hovering over the to-read button on Goodreads!

As Dead As It Gets (Bad Girls Don't Die #3) by Katie Alender

It's been three months since Alexis helplessly witnessed Lydia Small's violent death, and all she wants is for her life to return to normal.

But normal people don’t see decaying bodies haunting photographs. Normal people don’t have to deal with regular intrusions from Lydia’s angry ghost, sometimes escalating to terrifying attacks.

At first, it seems that Lydia wants revenge on Alexis alone. But a girl from school disappears one night, and Alexis spots one of Lydia’s signature yellow roses lying on the girl’s dresser the next day. Soon, it becomes clear that several of Alexis’s friends are in danger, and that she's the only person who can save them. But as she tries to intervene, Alexis realizes that her enemy is a much more powerful ghost than she's ever faced before... and that its fate is tied to hers in ways she couldn't possibly imagine.

Not even in her worst nightmares.

I'm in love with this series and can't wait to read what happens to Alexis and Kasey. I've been a huge fan of this series since I finally made my wimpy butt get over the cover of the first novel. I can't wait for more scare-the-pants-off-you fun!


As Dead As It Gets comes out May 15, 2012 from Hyperion.

Underworld (Abandon #2) by Meg Cabot

Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. 

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead. 

Not this time. 

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey. 

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves. 

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies. 

And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.

I really did enjoy all the trouble Pierce got into in the first novel. Cabot's writing was addictive and I loved the retelling of Persephone. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Pierce gets herself out of the mess she ended up in during Abandon. If that doesn't have you hooked, maybe the full cover will:

Underworld is out May 2012 from Scholastic Inc.

Touched by Cyn Balog

Nick Cross always listens to the voice in his head. Because if he doesn’t? Things can go really, really wrong. Like the day he decided to go off script to save a life, dooming another one in the process. Trying to change the future can have disastrous consequences.. 

But this summer at the Jersey Shore, something’s about to happen that Nick never could have predicted. He meets Taryn, a girl with a dark family secret that may be the key to understanding his past. But will she also destroy his future? . Now the path that he thought he was on begins to shift . . . and there’s no way to stop it. Or is there? 

In a life where there are no surprises, nothing has prepared Nick for what he’s about to discover—or the choice he will be forced to make...

After reading Sleepless, I know Ms. Balog can pack a punch in a short amount of time. I can't wait to read what she's going to do this time. Plus, isn't that cover amazing?
Touched is out August 14, 2012 from Delacorte Press.

 Fated by Sarah Alderson

What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it? 

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight. 

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray - is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends. 

If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?

I've always been interested in fate vs free will. This novel looks like it's going to play with that. I'm not sure about the cover. I think there is a person in her pretty blue eyes but it's too hard to see. Story sounds amazing though!


Fated is out January 5,2012 from Simon & Schuster. 


What do you think of the new covers?

In My Mailbox (60)

In my mailbox is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren that encourages other book bloggers to share what they bought, won, begged for or borrowed. It is usually held on Sundays!





ARCs From HarperCollins (Thank you, thank you, thank you!):

• Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis
• Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
• Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer
• A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford
• Wings of The Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton
• Bewitching by Alex Flinn

Here's the cover for Bewitching by Alex Flinn as promised:

As you can see, HarperCollins was the BEST house on the neighborhood for trick-or-treating! Thanks so much for the holy grail of trick-or-treat candy bags!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Tell me what treats you got this week!

Saturday Discussions: Popping the Question

This week is a bit more of an advice post but I'd still love to hear your thoughts on the subject. I want to talk about popping the question. No, not the marriage question, sillies! I'm talking about contacting an author. I know that a lot of people, especially when they are just starting out, feel a little nervous about approaching an author. Heck, I felt nervous!

And why is that?

Well, for me, it's because I felt like I knew some part of them by reading the story they'd dreamed up. They gave me a piece of them and here I am, asking to talk to them when they nothing about me!

The truth is, (and this is a biggie) authors are just people too. They just get to share the voices in their head with you! Nine out of ten times, you're going to find that the author is just as excited to be getting an email from you as you are emailing them!

But what should you do?

I'm no authority on the subject but I'll tell you how I approach it.

First, find the author's website and make sure they accept author interviews. If they do, find their email and prepare to type!

My number 1 rule is to be professional. After all, you are representing your blog (you know, the one that you worked so hard to build from the ground up with awesome reviews, interesting articles and fun giveaways) so you don't want to come off rude or unprofessional.

Generally speaking, I'll tell the author a little something about my appreciation for their novel and point them in the direction of my review (though this is only if they are good). For me, this is never a problem because I always read the novel first to make sure I'm wild about the book before I agree to interview the author. I'll usually put a quote from my review or express that I'd just finished the novel and really enjoyed (add specific detail here).

After that, I'll simply extend an invitation by saying something like "I'd love to interview for my blog (blog name here)". I'll also express that I understand if time doesn't allow them too and thank them for their time.

That's it! That's all I do. It really is that simple. I try to keep it short and to the point because I know that they are busy people, I'm a busy person and I don't want to bombard them with paragraph after paragraph of nothing.

Sometimes, an author might not respond because they are busy or they forget or your email gets lost. If that happens, hey, at least you tried! But more times than not, the author will respond and tell you yes or give you an I-owe-you and a better time to ask. I have a few of those out now. *I'm looking at the magical Michelle Hodkin*

So that's it. The quick list:

1) Be professional
2) Be short and to the point
3) Be polite
4) Provide links to your blog
5) Respond in a timely manner

No magic spells or super secret potions involved.  Hope this helped.

Other bloggers, what do you do? Anything different?

New bloggers, do you have any questions?

Book Tunes (28)

Book Tunes is a new meme that will be held on Fridays and the point is to share the book your reading and a song you think represents it. 

Want to join in?:

• Write up a post
• Tell me the book you are reading, the song you picked and why
• Link up by leaving the URL to your posts in the comments

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. 

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting asThe Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

The Tune: Sick by Evanescence

The Lyrics:
Embrace the silence
Cause there's nothing that can change the way I feel
Taken all that you wanted
Now there's nothing that can change the way I feel

Hold on, little girl
‘cause the end is soon to come

Sick of it all, Sick of it all
We will not follow
Sick of it all, Sick of it all
They don’t understand how
Sick we are, Sick we are
Of this bottomless pit of lies
Behind closed eyes

Oceans between us
And there's nothing that can change the way I feel
I can still taste the poison
Every fall, every breath are ways to heal

Hold on, little girl

The end is soon to come

Sick of it all, Sick of it all
We will not follow
Sick of it all, Sick of it all
They don’t understand how
Sick we are, Sick we are
Of this bottomless pit of lies
Behind closed eyes

Someday you’ll know the feeling
Someday i will break through
And nothing you tell yourself
Will save us from the truth
Screaming out

Sick of it all, Sick of it all
We will not follow
Sick of it all, Sick of it all
They don’t understand how
Sick we are, Sick we are
Of this bottomless pit of lies

Behind closed eyes 


Shatter Me takes place in a dystopian world where the government is basically starving it's people while they live in luxury. Juliette has been poked, prodded, told she's worthless and stuffed into a locked cell with no one but a tiny window. She's beyond sick of the cruelty this new world has shown her and most times she's just hoping to die and end the pile-of-crap life she's been handed. I feel like this song expresses her frustration with her word and with Warner. Adam is what she's holding on for.


What song fits the book you're reading?

The Time Will Come 18

The Time Will Come is a weekly meme started by Books for Company which spotlights books that have been sitting unread on our shelves for too long.*

Want to join in?

- Pick a book you have been meaning to read

- Do a post telling us about the book

- Link the post up in the linky at Books for Company

- Visit the other blogs!

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him -- but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent -- and irresistible -- adversary, before the whole town succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him.

What do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?

Yup, this one still sounds as good as it did when I originally picked it up. Even the cover is as pretty as I remember it and with the second novel just coming out, I'll need to read this one soon. Like always, this is merely a time issue. So many, many, many books and so little time.


What's been on your shelf too long?

The Hunger Games Movie Posters

A while ago, we got this little gem as a sneak peek for what's to come from The Hunger Games motion picture:


My excitement for the work they put into this poster and the mere symbol of what Katniss is was overwhelming. They picked the cast and we all shouted our opinions on that matter. But now it's done. They've wrapped filming the first movie and the character are portrayed by the chosen actors whether we like it or not. Today, they've released 8 new character posters and we get to see the finished product of some of our favorite characters. Enjoy!

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark

Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne

Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy

Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket

Lenny Kravitz as Cinna

Amandla Stenberg as Rue

Alexander Ludwig as Cato

There you have it. Eight notable characters released for us to gander at! I don't know about you guys but I can't wait to see Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman and Donald Sutherland as one of the most evil villains I've met, President Snow. I can't wait for this movie. My friend has already stocked me with two t-shirt choices for the premiere I'm sure I'll be shopping for more soon!

I just want to say that I love that movie poster pose for Rue. She looks so young and innocent. She'd have to be to melt Katniss's cold, cold heart.

What do you think?

Teaser Tuesday (58) and Top Ten Tuesday (5)

TEAser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others!

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles!

First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci

My life sucks.

So I shave my head.

--Pg. 23 of "First Day on Earth" by Cecil Castellucci

I've just finished this really short novel (maybe even novella) and it really is something else. It reminded me a lot of Wake by Lisa McMann in the way it was written and the similar situations in the novel. Mal isn't really emo but I liked that passage. That's Chapter 10... all of it.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

"You can't touch me," I whisper. I'm lying, is what I don't tell him. He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him. Please touch me, is what I want to tell him.

But things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things.

Dead things.

--Pg. 11 of "Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi

So this is a bit more than two sentences but I wanted to share something that made sense and represented how this novel is written. I'm not much farther than this but wow, this one really is as good as everyone is saying. Can't wait to continue with it!

What are your teasers this week?

Top Ten Tuesday is a 10's list meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. There is a different question every week and all you have to do is answer their question with your top ten results!

Top Ten Halloween Reads

I've given you my picks all month so I'll be brief. All of these are scare-the-pants-off-of-you creepy in different ways. Hope you enjoy! 

1)Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake

2) Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

3) Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

4) From Bad To Cursed by Katie Alender

5) Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

6) Ashfall by Mike Mullin

7) Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

8) Fury by Elizabeth Miles

9) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

10) The Devouring by Simon Holt


What our your favorite Halloween reads?