book extravaganza - white cat giveaway

I feel like I’ve gone slightly contest crazy. And I like it. The crazy part. Oh heck, the contest part too…

In any case, welcome to the Book Extravaganza! Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st Century and Kate at The Neverending Shelf are hosting a weekend full of giveaways. They’ve gotten book bloggers of all stripes to offer giveaways over July 16-18, and I’m taking part.

So, for my first giveaway (yes, there are TWO!), I’m offering a signed copy of White Cat by Holly Black, an excerpt from Red Glove (Curseworkers #2), black Curseworkers gloves and a button.

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love – or death – and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

Oh yeah, and check out this photo of me with Holly Black! I got to meet her at ALA, where she was signing White Cat and being awesome. As you can tell, she is made of classy, and I have that glazed fangirl look. In other words, all is right with the world. But! You will want to know how to win the book and swag.

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To enter:

Leave a comment on this post with something that makes you smile. It could be a joke, a link, a (very) short story, a book title…whatever you want it to be. You can earn an extra entry for the giveaway if you comment on my review.

Please include a method of contact. Giveaway is open internationally. Comments will close on July 18 at 11:59pm EST, and I will notify the randomly selected winner via email.

Good luck!

choose my favorite genres?

The Book List is a short and fun meme that allows you to share books with the blogosphere and make a list. Who doesn't love lists (quiet, you!)? It is hosted weekly by Rebecca at Lost in Books.

This Week's Topic is: 3 favorite genres

If you’ve been following along with this weekly event, you’ll know that this week’s topic is a bit of a departure. Usually the task is to come up with a list of three books that fit the criteria.And yet this week I had to make a broader determination. I’m not going to lie: it was scary. I know what I like in specific books, but taking the plunge at the genre level seemed like a big deal. Luckily, I got over it.

1. Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Yes, fantasy (and a dash of sci-fi) is my first love. I know I’ve mentioned before that I love the escape and magic of it – it’s just so foreign and imaginative and WEIRD. It appeals to the same part of me that loves to travel and try out new people, places, languages and food…just to see if I can, and to see what’s inside everyone else’s heads. I didn’t always love fantasy best, but it’s become a big staple in my pleasure reading in my adult life, and I expect it will stay that way.

2. Young Adult

Is there anything quite as perfect as a good coming-of-age tale? Society has trained me to see growing up, taking the mantle of responsibility, and joining adult society as the major turning point in life. When I was a teenager I was in a rush to do all that, and I skipped a lot of ‘young adult’ fiction, though I read bits and pieces. I’m going back now and making up for lost time.The promise of finishing a novel in one day is pretty seductive as well…

3. Historical fiction (and if I’m honest with myself, historical romance)

Darn it, I loved historical fiction as a kid. Favorite genre EVER, up to the age of fifteen or so. I don’t know what flipped the switch, but I’ve never abandoned the genre, only moved it down the priority list. I have such vivid childhood memories of finding quiet corners at home, or sitting in a damp tent during a camping trip, or listening to my mother read aloud in front of the fire. Always about history, about ‘great men’ (and women!), and wars and intrigue…and I still love to get into it, and to its cousin, historical romance. Don’t judge.

What are your three favorite reading genres? Be honest!

flash giveaway (sleepless by cyn balog)

Cyn Balog’s latest novel Sleepless hits shelves today, and I have an extra ARC copy (thanks to Random House at ALA) to give away. If you want it, please comment by 11:59pm EST tonight (July 13) with a way for me to contact you. Open internationally. You can earn one extra entry if you comment on my review of Sleepless. I’ll email the randomly selected winner.

Good luck!

UPDATE: Winner of the giveaway is Jill of The O.W.L. Congrats, Jill!

teaser tuesday (45)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“Whether she’s fine-tuning, or mending and discussing, Madeleine likes tinkering with people’s hearts. I don’t feel such an oddity with my clock-work heart when I hear a client complaining about his rusty spine.”

-p. 9 of Mathias Malzieu’s The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart