HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Just popping in to say a very HAPPY N EW YEAR to all of my fellow book bloggers and readers!  I will commence blogging on January 2nd with my thoughts on Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross and pics of my Christmas book loot!!!!  WOOT! 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but to those of my readers who do... HAVE A MERRY ONE!!!!  And to other folks have a WONDERFUL holiday!

See you in the New Year! 

(We are off to my inlaws on Christmas Day and will be gone until after New Years!  I'll be back to posting around Jan 2nd!)

TEASER TUESDAY

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!

• Grab your current read
• flip to a random page
• select two (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• please do not include spoilers!
• add the author and book title so we can all add them to our TBR piles!

I have just started Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (from the library) and I am ABSOLUTELY LOVING it!  Georgous writing, and an "instant-getting-into" kind of book. Here is my teaser from Pope Joan:

"The canon's sobs slowly quieted, and he began the prayer for the dead.  This time Joan did not join in.  Quietly, under her breath, she began to recite the Oath, invoking the sacred name of Thor the Thunderer, just as Mama had taught her so long ago."


For more teasers click here.

REVIEW: LEVIATHAN BY SCOTT WESTERFELD AND STEAMPUNK GIVEAWAY!

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Firstly, I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Michelle at Simon and Schuster Canada for sending this out to me!!!!

And now on to my thoughts on this book.  I can sum it up in two words:

HOLY.


CRAP.

I literally just finished it yesterday and I cannot WAIT to tell you all about it!  Now I have to somehow put my words into some sort of coherant meaning. 

This is my very first Steampunk EVER, and suffice it to say it will NOT be my last.  I am so in love with this genre I cannot even see straight. 

Westerfeld has recreated World War  I in this little gem, and in it we follow two main characters - Deryn and Alek.  Deryn is a 15 year old girl who wants desperately to join the air service and train as an airman, and with the help of her brother she disguises herself as a lad and does just that.  Turns out she is naturally good at pretty much everything that comes her way, which makes her a solid asset to the military.  Alek is the son of the Duke and his common-wife who were murdered at the beginning of the story.  He is hoisted from his room by two of his father's men and quickly realizes that he is on the run for his life. 

The world that Westerfeld has created is fascinating!  Basically there are two camps and two trains of thoughts.  There are the Clankers and the Darwinists. The Clankers are the sort that use these incredible machines to fight the war, and the Darwinists use fabricated animals.  Seen through the eyes of Deryn, the beasties are to be respected and even loved, but seen through the eyes of a Clanker they are repulsive.  And Westerfeld gives us an authentic look from both view points. 

The story is loosely based on actual facts from World War I.  The "shot heard round the world" when Arch Duke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne and his wife were murdered, started the war and in Leviathan the beginning is exactly the same scenario.  He explains the similiarities and differences in the last section of the book.  For history buffs and the layman it is very interesting!

The Steampunk genre is awesome as it intertwines futuristic creatures and machines with old world ideologies and time frame.  The clothing is extremely cool, with the goggles and the boots and leather and bowler hats, along with the inventions of the time. 

The artwork is GEORGOUS, by Keith Thompson, and it accompanies the book nicely with illustrations sprinkled throughout.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to ANYONE of ANY age.  It is a relatively fast read, and you will be immersed into the Steampunk world in all its glory.  What an amazing movie it would make!  And the BEST part is that this is the FIRST in the TRILOGY, I just found out.  WOOT! 

RATING: 5/5

Now for the GIVEAWAY portion of this post!!  Because I got this book for free for the purposes of review, I want to show my support for this author and select one lucky winner for which I will order the book from Book Depository and ship it directly to them! 

Here are the rules to enter:  PLEASE PROVIDE SEPERATE COMMENTS FOR EACH ENTRY OR THEY WILL ONLY BE COUNTED AS ONE!

• post a comment, you do not have to put your email address if you do not want to, you then must just check back here on the contest end date when I will announce the winner and we will sort out the details then.  (1 entry)
• Follow my blog and get an extra 2 entries.
• Post about the contest in your sidebar or tweet about it and get another 2 entries.

Total of 5 chances to win! 

The contest will close on January 15th at midnight Alberta time.  January 16th I will announce the winner and will follow up with email if it is provided.

This contest is open to EVERYONE!  (Thank you to LADYBUG for the tip for ordering books from The Book Depository for free shipping!)
Good luck to the winners, and I can't wait to hear what the winner will think about the book!!

PS since this giveaway will definately bring me over the 200 follower mark, I will be doing the huge giveaway once we hit 300!  :0)

A GREAT GIVEAWAY IN BLOGLAND AND LAST CHALLENGE...MAYBE.

Over at Ramblings of a Bibliophile they are giving away 2 copies of Cherie Priest's Steampunk novel, "Boneshaker".  It sounds INCREDIBLE, and Nikki's interview with the author is amazing too. Click here to enter her giveaway!! 

Also, literally seconds after posting about the last challenge I signed up for, I stumbled accross Alyce's challenge over at At Home With Books.  It's called Time Travel Reading Challenge.  Does this not have "me" written all over it???!!!  As IF I am NOT going to sign up.  Puh-leeze.  The rules are simple, decide how many time travel books you are going to read, and then READ THEM before Dec 31st of 2010!  That's it!  And didn't she just make the cutest button? 

ME WANT....

Every Wednesday night while my oldest daughter is at her choir practice, my 2 year old daughter and I hit the Chapters nearby for a couple of hours.  She plays with the Thomas the Tank Engine set and I drool over books that I want.  Last night I sought out a few that have been creating some buzz in the blogosphere, so I finally had a chance to read the first few pages of each one, and can I just say HOW MUCH I AM DYING TO READ EACH ONE OF THEM NOW???!!!!

Here they are in no particular order:

MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner

This one opens with the character waking up in some sort of an elevator and the only thing he can remember is his name.  Seriously?  HOW COOL IS THAT! I have been avoiding summaries of this book like the plague because I love to go in FRESH, but I did read the first page and SWOON!  So, far... me likey.

Another one is GRACELING by Krisin Cashore

I have heard nothing but great things about this one, but also as is my way, I have not read a summary of the book, but did read the first couple of pages and once again... SWOON!  DYING to read it! 

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia

I only heard about this book earlier this week when some blogs were offering it up as one of their giveaways.  I had no idea what it was about.  In this case I did read the back cover (or was it the inside jacket?) and this is what it said:

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.


In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Sounds cool right?

THE BLUE NOTEBOOK by James Levine

This is totally my kind of book in every way.  It is a novel about a 15 year old prostitute in India, and is her notes about her life and her "profession".  The first page had me riveted, and it was all I could do to not run up and buy it.  And LOOK AT THE COVER!

Here is an excerpt from the letter written by the publisher:

The Blue Notebook brings us into the life of a young woman for whom stories are not just entertainment but a means of survival. Even as the novel humanizes and addresses the devastating global issue of child prostitution, it also delivers an inspiring message about the uplifting power of words and reading–a message that is so important to hold on to, especially in difficult times. Dr. Levine is donating all his U.S. proceeds from this book to help exploited children. Batuk’s story can make a difference.

SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

This is one that has been around for awhile, but I finally had a chance to have a look and read the first couple of pages.  I ALREADY love it, and can't WAIT to read it! 
Here is the description courtesy of Amazon.ca:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf - her wolf - is a haunting presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human -- until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears and the temperature drops, Sam must fight to stay human or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Sounds amazing, right?
 
Okay, so I left the bookstore feeling......well.... empty handed!  I could almost feel the weight of all of the books stacked in my hands, and if it wasn't almost Christmas I would not be responsible for my credit card bill!  They were all just TOO GOOD! 
 
Have a WONDERFUL day!

2010 CHUNKSTER CHALLENGE

So, I thought that 3 challenges for 2010 would be a nice odd number (I may add one more, but I can see how they can become addicting!!!).  This one is very cool, with a cute kitchy name, PLUS it goes nicely with the other challenge I'm doing (hosted by Diane of Bibliophile by the sea) "Clearing up your bookshelf".  The 2010 Chunkster Challenge ,hosted by Caribousmom,is all about the big 'ol heavy tomes that are just begging to be read.  Here are the guidelines for the Chunk:

Definition of a Chunkster:

A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) ... A chunkster should be a challenge.

If you read large type books your book will need to be 525 pages or more ... The average large type book is 10-15% longer or more so I think that was a fair estimate.

The Rules:

• No Audio books in the chunkster. It just doesn't seem right. Words on paper for this one folks.
• No e-Books allowed - we are reading traditional, fat books for this challenge.
• Short Stories and Essay collections will not be counted.
• Books may crossover with other challenges
• Anyone may join. If you don't have a blog, just leave me a comment on this post with your progress (and to let me know you are playing)
• You don't need to list your books ahead of time.
• Once you pick a level, that's it...you're committed to that level!
• You must pick a level of participation (thanks again to Dana for the humor in these categories!):

The Chubby Chunkster - this option is for the reader who has a couple of large tomes on their TBR list, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. 3 books is all you need to finish this challenge.

Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to 4 Chunksters over the next twelve months.

Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to 6 or more chunksters OR three tomes of 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

I'm committing to level 2 because I know there are several biggies on my shelves as we speak.  In fact, right upstairs is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which is a pretty beefy book.  And I have a few others floating around that should do juuuust fine.  And of course there are always more beautiful big books to accumulate!

For more information or to join this challenge along with me, click here.