Beautiful Creatures Movie Posters

Today I thought I'd showcase the Beautiful Creatures posters that have been released as of late. I swear, everything I see about this movie makes me want to see it more and I have got to get to these books. They've jumped to the top of my TBR pile. Anyway, here's the original one:

I love that this one captures the gothic, romantic feel of the old south. That is what made me pick up the very first novel originally and it is one of my favorite things about reading literature from the south. Everything has the old timey feel which is romantic and just a little spooky.

Here's the new book cover on the same backdrop with the cast:

Again, I love how this captures the feel of the book while adding in the movie. I actually think this is a very successful movie cover tie-in.

Here's a large promotional poster featuring the cast:

I saw this beauty hanging up in my movie theater and it was huge! I loved looking at it.

And now here are the individual character posters!

Lena:

I love this because she looks powerful and fierce. We're definitely getting a strong vibe from her and she is still looking girly in her awesome black dress.

Ethan:

Again, they were able to capture this moody background with the moss hanging from the trees. The actor himself isn't as impressive in his regular guy clothes but that is the character he is playing...a regular guy.

Ridley:

Yeah, and here we thought Lena was fierce. This outfit and pose could cut any man or woman down to size in a second. I wouldn't be messing with her any time soon. Gorgeous!

Amma:

This is a great shot and I love hos the sunlight is bursting through her arm which suggests a hint of magic from those hands.

Link:

I think this outfit choice is more interesting than Ethan's because it tells me a lot about the character. He almost looks like he's dressed in an elderly man's outfit. That tagline "friendship is sometimes led astray" has me very curious.

Ms. Lincoln:

She looks like the normal Southern lady but I love that she was put on a dark background with a dark tagline. It lets us know there is some bad stuff brewing just underneath her polished exterior.

Macon:

Again, a well dressed man in light clothing set against a dark background with a menacing tagline. Not all is what it seems!

It looks to me like the makers of this film really anted to do it right. From the posters to the not overly cheesy movie trailer, they are hitting the mark on every front. I'll tell you what, I was excited about the casting choice (based solely on acting chops) before but after seeing everything they are putting out and their attention to detail, I am dying now. This is just awesome!

In case you happened to miss the movie trailer, check it out:



So are you as stoked as I am? Sound off below!

In My Mailbox 101

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!

It feels funny posting two only when I actually have a whole boat load. However, those are wrapped and under the tree for Christmas so they don't technically count.

From Scholastic:

• ARC of The Believing Game by Eireann Corrigan

From Paper Lantern Lit:

• ARC of Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison

I'd like to thank both publishers for making my mailbox bright! I hadn't heard of The Believing Game but it sounds like an awesome thriller! Notes from Ghost Town has been on my radar for a while and I really enjoyed the inventiveness of Ellison's other novel so I was stoked to receive a copy of the newest!

What new books did you get this week?

Saturday Discussions: Book Trailers

Heck yeah, I'm bringing Saturday Discussions back because I missed it! So every Saturday, I'm going to proposing a topic and we are going to chat. Now with the reply feature, this will be even better than before.

So this week, I want to talk about book trailers. So my discussion question is:

Do book trailers sell books?

When I first heard about book trailers I thought it was kind of odd but the more I thougut about it, the more I realized that it was actually a natural progression of the times. I mean, why not have a trailer to give the reader a sneak peek at what they are getting themselves into? And if they are done right, they can really be effective.

Here's a list of some of the ones that I think are done exceptionally well:

From Bad to Cursed

I think From Bad to Cursed does this trailer well because it's a sneak peek that is just creepy enough to let my know what I'm getting myself into. It helps that it has a professional actress for the role though because it is acted wonderfully too.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Mara Dyer doesn't really give us much in terms of plot but it's a great trailer to amp you up to read the book. The flashes of scenes with the great song behind it make me want to find out more about the book.

Carnival of Souls

This one sort of isn't fair because they went to a beautiful, foreign location, hired actors and a stunt choreographer and have elaborate costumes but by george, I love it! It gets all the elements right and made me crave for this one to be out.

The Diviners

Holy creepy Batman! The 1920's clothes plus the super creepy song in the background sell this one for me all the way.


Another amazing trailer is Eve by Anna Carey. I love how beautiful the scenery is and it makes me super excited about the novel!
My biggest thing is I'm not really into trailers that just have pictures and words, especially when they are the same words that I can find on the back of the book. I feel like those trailers just aren't doing anything but making the words hard to read by flashing them across the screen when all I need to do is pick up the book and read them.

I'm more into the trailers that try to act out a scenes. Even if they happen to be kind of corny, at least they are trying to do something.

But do book trailers sell me books? I'm going to say, not really. What they can do is get me more excited about a title but a book trailer has never changed my mind about what I will and won't read yet. However, a bad trailer won't keep me from reading a book I'm already excited about. So my final verdict on book trailers are they can be loads of fun and can't hurt anything so keep them coming!

An interesting fact about me: after every book I read, I search for the book trailer on Youtube and end up watching it after finishing the book. It's backwards but you have no idea how giddy I am watching the suckers!

What about you? Have you ever bought a book based on a book trailer? What are some of you favorites?

2013 Debut Author Challenge Post

This year, the Debut Author Challenge is being hosted by Hobbitsies. I love this challenge because it encourages readers to go out and snag debut novels. I like supporting authors who already have one book out but it is so important to find new author's to love too.

So this year, you need to pick at least 12 books to sign up. I've compiled a list of books I'm going to try to read. I'm aiming for at least 12 of these.

Here's my list:

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Released January 15th

The Midnight Affair by Mindee Arnett

Released March 5th

Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey

Released March 5th

Taken by Erin Bowman

Released April 16th

Dualed by Elsie Chapman

Released February 26th

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Released February 5th

Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield

Released May 7th

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Released January 1st

Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland

 Released April 2nd

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Released February 5th

Prophecy by Ellen Oh

Released January 2nd

Broken by A.E. Rought

Released January 8th

Bella Epoque by Elizabeth Ross

Released June 11th

The Collector by Victoria Scott

Released April 2nd

Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

Released July 8th

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Released August 20th

I've actually got a tons more on my list but those are some highlights. I think 2013 is shaping up to be a really interesting year and I'm pleased to discover new authors. 

Have you signed up for this challenge? If so, what books did you add?

Series Catch-Up Challenge

The Series Catch-Up Challenge is hosted by Emilie's Book World and Lost at Midnight Reviews and is a challenge to get us to finish up some series which I adore!

Here are the rules:
- Runs from January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013

- Goal is to catch up on as many series as possible
- Two ways to meet your goal: number of books you've read to catch up series/number of series you've caught up on.
- On the first of each month there will be a post here and at Lost at Midnight Reviews so you can link up your reviews. For every review you link, you get one entry into a monthly giveaway.
- There will be a big giveaway at the end of the year.

So the reason I decided to sign up for this challenge is because I have started so many series that my eyes go crossed just thinking about them but so many sequels have come out that I haven't gotten around to reading. So I figured I'd sign up for this challenge and make myself read seconds of some of the books I love.

There are two ways to go about this challege. Either by books or series. I'm choosing books. Here are the levels and the one I'm going to do is in bold:

Goals - Books Read to Catch Up on Series
1 - 5: Book Novice
6 - 10: Book Aficionado
11 - 15: Book Connoisseur
15+: Book Maniac

I'd like to read more than 15 books but it's safest for me to go with the 11 to 15 category. And now onto the fun part.

My list of potential reads:
- Silence (Hush Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick
- Finale (Hush Hush #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick
- City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare
- City of Fallen Souls (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare
- City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare
- Captivate (Need #2) by Carrie Jones
- Entice (Need #3) by Carrie Jones
- The Lost Saint (The Dark Divine #2) by Bree Despain
- The Savage Grace (The Dark Divine #3) by Bree Despain
- Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman
- Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
- Passion (Fallen #3) by Lauren Kate
- Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate
- Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2) by Andrea Cremer
- Bloodrose (Nightshade #3) by Andrea Cremer
- Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie
- Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie
- Swear (Swoon #2) by Nina Malkin
- A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis
- Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3) by Kiersten White
- Hidden (Vanish #3) by Sophie Jordan

 ...And there are so many more! This isn't even mentioning the books that come out in 2013 that are sequels to things I read in 2012 like Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi, Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi and Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton.

As you can see, I'm going to have plenty of fuel for this challenge. As long as I keep on it, I'm pretty sure I'll meet this goal easily!

The Time Will Come (38): Daughter of Smoke and Bone

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!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. 

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Yes, I know this officially makes me a bad person for not reading this book. Like with so many others on my shelf, the only reason I haven't read this one is purely about time. Truth be told, I'm hearing so many good things about this one and it's sequel that I'm the tiniest bit scared. What if it can't live up to my expectations? Eep! But I will get to this one in 2013. I've decided it will be my treat for finishing the second rewrite on my current WIP.

What's been sitting on your book shelf unread for too long?

Waiting on Wednesday: None of the Regular Rules and Some Quiet Place

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where you can post about upcoming books you're looking forward to. This is a wonderful chance for blogger to show off what's coming out soon that they are excited about! Every week my wishlist balloons thanks to this awesome meme.

None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing

Sometimes, a few dares can change lives… 

The weekend before the start of senior year, Sophie Erickson and her best friends, Ella and Grace, discover a handwritten list of dares tucked away in the glove compartment of Sophie’s beat-up old Toyota. But this isn’t just any list; it’s a dead girl's bucket list. 

Sophie's beloved aunt Suzy died as a teenager in a fatal fall, leaving Sophie with an overly cautious family, a few fading photographs, and a bucket of bolts that barely passes for a car. But now, Sophie has Suzy’s list of the things she wanted to do in her last year of high school. Sophie can't help but wonder: What would happen if she tried to fulfill Suzy’s last wishes, to live out the longed-for life of her aunt, her hero? 

As Sophie and her friends attempt to knock off the things on Suzy's list of dares, love blossoms in unexpected places and Sophie begins to feel that her life is finally coming together...when in fact, everything is slowly unraveling around her. When the truth about a long-held family secret threatens to shatter everything she believed to be true, Sophie is forced to question everything she knew about the life and people she believed in, and ultimately herself.

None of the Regular Rules was out November 20th 2012.

I'm looking forward to snagging this one because it looks like such a fun concept. How cute does it look? I had no idea it was already out! I just wish I owed a Nook...

Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

Elizabeth Caldwell has perfected the art of pretending to feel emotion, but it’s always a lie. After a near-fatal car accident when she was a small child, Elizabeth lost the ability to feel any emotion, but along with that loss she gained bizarre abilities: she can see the personified Emotions she cannot feel. Fury, Resentment, Longing—they’ve all given up on her, because she doesn't succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one. Fear. He’s consumed by the mystery of Elizabeth’s past, consumed by her. 

And then there are Elizabeth's cryptic, recurring dreams, in which there’s always love, and there’s always death. Haunted by these dreams, Elizabeth paints them, knowing that they somehow hold the key to the mystery of her past.

But a shadowy menace is stalking Elizabeth. Her survival depends on uncovering the truth about herself. And when it matters most, she won’t be able to rely on Fear to save her.

Some Quiet Place is out July 8th 2013 by Flux.

Holy creepy cover! This looks terrifying and the summary is so interesting. From the summary, it looks like emotions are personified and I'll be interested to see how this is done. Sign me up for this one!

What are you waiting on this week?