NaNoWriMo 2014!

I can't believe that it is almost that time of year again.

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

Title: Etiquette & Espionage
(Finishing School #1)
Author: Gail Carriger
Length: 307 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books For Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Steampunk, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you Little Brown!)
Read: October 2014

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school. 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble ||Books-a-Million

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Compulsion Launch + Giveaway

The day is here!!! Compulsion by Martina Boone is out! I am so excited to get my hands on my copy that I pre-ordered today!

Compulsion
HEIRS OF WATSON ISLAND, BOOK 1
Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse
Hardcover, 10/28/14
ISBN: 18732883

Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder in Compulsion, the first novel in a spellbinding new trilogy.

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.
All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt's South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions. Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the
help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn't what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Top Ten Tuesday #31: Ten Movies That I Watch To Get Into The Halloween Spirit

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Their blog can be found here.

October 28st: Top Ten Books/Movies To Read or Watch to Get Into The Halloween Spirit

Compulsion Readalong! *Postponed*

*The #Compulsion Readalong that was scheduled for November has been POSTPONED! Due to timing and not enough signing up. We are planning on trying again in a couple months. So I hope you will check back and join us then.*

Announcing the #Compulsion Readalong!

Myself as well as Brittany @ Please Feed The Book Worm and Kate @ Kate Tilton are hosting this readalong.

You can also find all three of us on Twitter:
Stephanie: @stephalaughagus
Brittany: @kalebsmome
Kate: @k8Tilton

There will be discussion posts, other Compulsion related posts, a Twitter chat and prizes.

The Readalong will run from Sunday,  November 9th to Sunday, November 23rd. (Which gives you two weeks to read the book!)

Compulsion comes out Tuesday, October 28th! So make sure to get your hands on a copy so you can join in on the fun!

Please sign up below. We will love to have you join us!

Sign up with a link to where you can share your progress and/or reply to discussion posts. Like your blog or GoodReads account for example.

Not sure about what Compulsion is about?

Check out the book trailer:

More about the book:

Compulsion
HEIRS OF WATSON ISLAND, BOOK 1
Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse
Hardcover, 10/28/14
ISBN: 18732883
Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder in Compulsion, the first novel in a spellbinding new trilogy. Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.
All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt's South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions. Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn't what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.

Share with your friends and have them join us too! The more the merrier!

Check back soon for our schedule!

Splat the Cat What Was That? by Rob Scotton

Title: Splat the Cat What Was That?

Author: Rob Scotton

Length: Approx. 14 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books/HarperFestival

Classification: Children's Book, Halloween

Release Date: July 2013

Source: paperback 

Splat the Cat and his friends have a Halloween adventure in Splat the Cat: What Was That?, a  lift-the-flap book by Rob Scotton, creator of the beloved Russell the Sheep. Halloween should be a black cat’s favorite holiday, but Spat the Cat is nervous about visiting a creepy haunted house. He’s worried it will be too scary. Splat’s friend Spike tells Splat not to be a scaredy-cat—the haunted house is just for fun! Splat and Spike’s visit to the haunted house turns into a rescue mission when Splat’s pet mouse, Seymour, gets lost inside.Kids will relate to Splat’s apprehension about visiting a haunted house and they’ll enjoy the exciting surprises under every flap in the funny, spooky book. 

GoodReads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

Unmarked by Kami Garcia

Title: Unmarked
(The Legion Book 2)

Author: Kami Garcia

Length: 384 pages

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Classification: Young Adult, Paranormal

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you Little Brown!)

Read: October 2014

The heart-pounding sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Unbreakable, by New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures co-author Kami Garcia. He is here... and he could be anyone. Kennedy Waters lives in a world where vengeance spirits kill, ghosts keep secrets, and a demon walks among us–a demon she accidentally set free. Now Kennedy and the other Legion members–Alara, Priest, Lukas, and Jared–have to hunt him down. As they learn more about the history of the Legion and the Illuminati, Kennedy realizes that the greatest mystery of all does not belong to any secret order, but to her own family. With the clock ticking and the life of someone she loves hanging in the balance, Kennedy has to ask the question she fears most: what is it about her past that has left her Unmarked?

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

**This book is a sequel, so there will be spoilers for what happened in book one!**

Top Ten Tuesday #30: Top Ten New Series I Want To Start

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Their blog can be found here.

October 21st: Top Ten New Series I Want to Start

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Title: Unbreakable 
(The Legion Book 1)

Author: Kami Garcia

Length:305 pages

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Classification: Young Adult, Paranormal

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you Little Brown!)

Read: October 2014

Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code in this action-packed paranormal thriller, the first book in a new series from New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia. I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me. When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night. Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way. Suspense, romance, and the paranormal meet in this chilling urban fantasy, the first book in a new series from Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures novels. 

GoodReads  || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Afterworlds
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Length: 608 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Source: e-galley via Edelweiss (Thank you Simon Pulse!)
Read: September 2014

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings… Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most. 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million

***I received an e-galley of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*** 

Top Ten Tuesday #29: Ten Real and Fictional Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Their blog can be found here.

October 14th: Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit (Real or Fictional)

My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

Title: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Authors: Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt De La Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Stephanie Perkins, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor and Kiersten White

Length: 320 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Classification: Young Adult, Short Stories, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic, Christmas

Release Date: October 14, 2014

Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thanks St. Martin's Press!)

Read: October 2014

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. 

GoodReads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

Title: Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat

Author: Doreen Cronin

Illustrator: Betsy Lewin

Length: approx. 38 pages

Publisher: Scholastic (reprint)

Classification: Children's Book, Halloween

Release Date: September 2014 (First edition:2013)

Source: Paperback Scholastic reprint

Will the barnyard animals trick—or treat—Farmer Brown? Find out in this Halloween tale from the #1 New York Times bestselling creators of Click, Clack, Moo. Farmer Brown does not like Halloween. So he draws the shades, puts on his footy pajamas, and climbs into bed. But do you think the barnyard animals have any respect for a man in footy pajamas? No, they do not. For them, the Halloween party has just begun. And we all know these critters far prefer tricks over treats. There are big surprises in store for Farmer Brown! 

GoodReads |  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

Althea & Oliver by Cristina Moracho

Title: Althea & Oliver

Author: Cristina Moracho

Length: 384 pages

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Friendship

Release Date: October 9, 2014

Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you so much, Penguin Young Readers and Viking Juvenile!)

Read: September 2014

What if you live for the moment when life goes off the rails—and then one day there’s no one left to help you get it back on track? Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done. Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good. 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble ||Books-a-Million 

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Title: The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Author: Linda Williams

Illustrator: Megan Lloyd

Length: 29 pages

Publisher: The Trumpet Club Special Edition

Classification: Children's Book, Halloween, Humor

Source: paperback

Once upon a time, there was a little old lady who was not afraid of anything! But one autumn night, while walking in the woods, the little old lady heard . . . clomp, clomp, shake, shake, clap, clap. And the little old lady who was not afraid of anything had the scare of her life! 

GoodReads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

Compulsion by Martina Boone

Title: Compulsion
(The Heirs of Watson Island #1)
Author: Martina Boone
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Southern Gothic
Release Date: October 28, 2014
Source: e-galley (I was approved for an e-galley via Edelweiss. Thank you Simon Pulse!)
Read: August 2014

Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.

All her life, Barrie Watson had been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lived with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.

Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead. 

GoodReads || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million ||Amazon 

***I received an e-galley of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***

September Highlights

I seriously can't believe that September is already over. The months have been flying by! I feel like I had a good September. A lot of things going on. I had a bit of a slow start at the end of August/beginning of September, due to my Dad visiting. Which was awesome. It was a surprise trip and I am so happy that we got to see him. 

I think I read a lot of good books in September. Several that I REALLY enjoyed!

Love And Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander

Title: Love And Other Unknown Variables

Author: Shannon Lee Alexander

Length: 350 pages

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Friendship

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you Entangled Teen!)

Read: September 2014

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.By the time he learns she's ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared). 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million || iTunes 

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***