Breathless Reads Tour including a stop at an awesome SoCal conference!

Guys, I am beyond excited and can not contain myself. Have you checked out the tour dates for the Breathless Reads tour yet? They are making stop all over the country! Here's their schedule. See if there is an event near you!

• February 15^th Anderson’s Bookshop Naperville, IL
• February 16^th Politics and Prose Bethesda, MD
• February 17^th Books of Wonder New York, NY
• February 18^th Towne Center Book and Café Collegeville, PA
• February 19^th The Doylestown Bookshop Doylestown, PA
• February 21^st Little Shop of Stories Decatur, GA
• February 22^nd Blue Willow Bookshop Houston, TX
• February 23^rd Barnes & Noble Frisco Frisco, TX
• February 24^th Once Upon A Time Montrose, CA
• February 25^th Passion and Prose Conference Long Beach, CA

Two stops in SoCal?! Lucky us! And oh my gosh, while I'm at it, can I just blabber on for a moment about the "Passion & Prose" Conference? Authors are ROCKSTARS! will be doing a "Road Trip" podcast from the event. We are so excited! It's a conference in its infancy, but we hope to see it become a SoCal book lovers staple! They have so many awesome guests including being part of the Breathless Reads tour. You should go to their website and check it out. It's a bit pricey, but I think it's going to be worth it. It's a whole day event including breakfast and lunch! Meg Cabot is even going to be there! SQUEE! Did I mention I was excited? :P

Not in SoCal but want to go? Heck, I think you should. My sister is flying out from Wisconsin to attend! It's gorgeous here right now. You can escape winter weather, meet awesome authors and then do some SoCal tourist stuff like visiting Hollywood, going on a studio tour (I recommend Warner Bros. Their studio tour rock!), etc. Yes, I know. I'm an evil enabler. If you do end up making a trip out here, be sure to stop by and say hi to us at the conference!

Okay enough blabbering on from me for now. Don't forget - we'll be interviewing author Beth Revis next week (February 3rd). Have a question you're just dying to ask her? Just leave a comment here or over on the podcast page. We'll have a post going up later today!

Happy Friday everyone!

Vlog Review: A Million Suns by Beth Revis

So, vlogging when the toddler is not napping is super fun. Most of the time he was eating, but then he got noisy. Then the animals got noisy. I cut it all out, but it makes for a bit of a choppy ride. Plus, I had to finish up after he was down so you'll notice lighting/scenery changes. LOL. Now I know...never attempt vlogging when the toddler is awake. :)

I didn't think it was possible to like "A Million Suns" more than I liked "Across the Universe", but I did. Listen to me blab on and on in this very silly (per usual) vlog review.



"Across the Universe" and "A Million Suns" are published by Razorbill (Penguin). I was provided with a copy to review by the publisher. Ms. Revis will be joining us on the podcast in the month of February, so if you have any questions for her, now is the time to ask. We'll try to include as many listener questions as possible on the podcast.

EDIT: We are giving away one pass to the Passion & Prose conference which Ms. Revis will be attending. Check it out.

Top Ten Tuesday - What do you have coming up on your list?

I'm trying not to become a regular meme-aholic. However, this week's Top Ten Tuesday is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I tinker around with my "to-read" shelf on Goodreads.com waaaay more than I'd like to admit. Somedays, I order it by preference. Sometimes, it's my "to review" order. I never can decide! And on days where I go on an adding rampage, it's a whole jumbled mess!

So, today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is to post your Top Ten "to be read" for the Winter. Picking just 10 books was TOUGH, but I think I've got it. Some of these aren't out until spring/summer, so I guess, technically I'm cheating, but the ARCs will be out in the winter. That counts, right?

1. The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare - I'm reading "Clockwork Angel" right now. I seriously cannot believe I didn't read this book immediately when it came out. It is so fun! I love steampunky/Victorian goodness and Clare's books are always so much fun. I am lucky enough to have one of the rare ARCs headed my way courtesy of Michelle Hodkin. I won her Twitter giveaway! :D :D
2. Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay - this book just sounds so sweet. I can't resist it. It's been awhile since I've read a contemporary love story and this one is in verse. I've always been apprehensive about reading books in verse, but I'm going to give it a shot.
3. Tempest by Julie Cross - this book just has my name written all over it. All you have to say is "Time Travel". Come on...what Doctor Who fan isn't a lover of time travel books?
4. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale - Do I seriously need to explain this to you? SHANNON HALE. 'Nuff said. (BTW, if you haven't listened to her on our podcast, you should go, like, now. She's amazing.)
5. Everneath by Brodi Ashton - I'm normally not a cover girl, but man. This cover has me intrigued. That dress and the mist? I'm already intrigued. As you may know from my reviews of Abandon and The Goddess Test, I love the Persephone myth.
6. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown - Mermaids + Lake Superior. COME ON PEOPLE. You are going to make me broke in 2012!! ;)
7. The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges - This book just sounds different and fascinating. 1800s Russian aristocracy, dangerous secrets, and romance? Mmm mmm.
8. Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer - Okay. I'm cheating. I already read it, but it does come out this winter. It's a fabulous finale to the intense wolfy triology.
9. A Million Suns by Beth Revis - I adored Across the Universe, so I cannot wait to find out what's happening next to Amy & Elder.
10. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows - This book sounds so emotionally powerful. I'll have to make sure it's in between some lighter books. I can already tell that it's going to be a tear jerker.

Phew! Well that's all for me. What is your "to be read" list looking like?

For those of you who are new visitors, be sure to check out big ol' anniversary giveaway page. It just started today! :)

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Go to their blog to join in on the fun.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Okay. I’ve been reading a lot of book reviews lately (since you know, I like other people reading mine so I feel like I should share the love) and it seems to me that people just love to write good reviews. I see so many glowing reviews of books I didn’t like at all and I wonder if maybe I read a different book? I don’t know. I just don’t want to become that type of reviewer where everything is “OMG INCREDIBLE” or done in my best “Comic Book Guy” voice... “Best…Book…EVER.” I want to be honest and tell you what I really think. I hope that you, the reader, will appreciate that.

That being said, let’s get on with the review of today’s book. “Across the Universe” by Beth Revis is a dystopian science fiction novel about two teens who have had their world turned completely turned topsy-turvy. Amy was cryogenically frozen and was mysteriously unplugged decades early. Elder finds out that the world he thought he knew was just an illusion. Together, they discover the truth about the world around them and each other.

The author calls it “a sci fi for teens who don't like sci fi” on her Twitter account profile. What do I call it? Pretty darn awesome, that’s what. However, I have a confession to make. I am a science fiction nerd. I know I know. Not a big surprise considering I am pretty geeky in general, but yeah. I love science fiction. I went as Deanna Troi for Halloween in 5th grade. I’ve always wanted to live on a space ship someday like the Enterprise. So when I read the description for Ms. Revis’ book, I knew I just had to read it. I was lucky enough to pick up an ARC copy at ALA. Thank you Penguin!

Well, now it’s time to talk about the good and the bad. Go go action bullet points!

• “Across the Universe” is an example that top-notch writing can come from a debut author! The prose flows smoothly back and forth between the two characters perspectives. Amy and Elder both have their own identifiable voice, but the transition is never too jarring for the reader. For science fiction, she keeps it light enough that even a non-science fiction reader can enjoy it. It never gets overly technical or bogged down with explanations.
• Showing instead of telling - this was something I was harping on last review. Ms. Revis does an amazing job at this. She has some great resources on her website for aspiring writers, including a WHOLE section on this subject matter. It really makes the book come alive and allows the reader to fully connect to the characters since you are experiencing things along with them.
• The Characters:
• Amy is definitely a teenage girl who has teenage wants and dreams, but she also is able to face this incredibly awful situation she’s been put in without losing herself. She is strong, but yet still vulnerable. She’s just so real and that’s not easy to do when you put someone into cryogenic sleep then wake her up on a spaceship full of problems.
• Elder is such an intriguing character. He is naïve, yet strong. Born to be a leader of the people of Godspeed, he knows that when push comes to shove, he’s got to step up to the plate. He’s the character that grows the most throughout this novel. He starts as this innocent boy and becomes a true leader by the end.
• The Secondary Characters – Harley, Doc, you name it. They were all great and I felt like we got to know each of them a little bit without losing focus on our two leads.
• The Ending – I didn’t even know this was the first in a trilogy until I went to Ms. Revis’ website! She left me wanting more, but still left me with a satisfied feeling at the end. THANK YOU.

Honestly, I don’t really have too much to say that is negative. I think Ms. Revis did a great job writing a great young adult novel that will appeal to the teenagers and adult readers alike. The sci-fi is simple enough for those that don’t usually care for it and engaging enough for those that love it. It’s not the most creative or ingenious book I’ve ever read, but it is solid, well written, and has characters you really care about. I would gladly read this book again, even after unlocking all the secrets with Elder and Amy.

I will definitely be adding Ms. Revis to my favorite author list and watching for her next novels to be released!

Thanks to Penguin Group/Razorbill Books at the ALA Midwinter Meeting for the ARC of “Across the Universe”. It’s already available at bookstores and online. Get your copy today!