Books & Wanderlust

Traveling is one of the things that I strongly desire to do after graduation. To be honest, I have never been out of the country so that pretty much explains my serious case of wanderlust. I even have this small wooden journal where I listed every place I wanted to visit someday. I wish to go see every touristy and local destinations or perhaps just let my feet take me and discover the places for myself and along the way meet interesting people. The adrenaline from almost getting lost, excitement on finding the way back and probably a hundred other unpredictable experiences will be the most memorable things of the trip, the ones we least expect. ;)

Reading influenced my desire to travel and it made me feel as if I were really there...in that moment. The adventure, the culture, the languages... are all fascinating. I've always wanted to create a travel/book post like this so I made a list of some of the books I've read that greatly fuel my wanderlust:

Clockwork Princess

by Cassandra Clare

Release date: March 19th, 2013

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Margaret K. McElderry

Source: kayodeok.wordpress.com

                                                                     Destination: London

When I was reading the Infernal Devices I thought Blackfriars Bridge is only a fictional setting because of the genre (interestingly the name sounds like from a fantasy book too) then after reading the afterword of the author I found out that it is an actual place. The bridge has been an important place for the characters and I just think that it's really an awesome feeling what it's like to stand on the same spot where the writer imagined the characters were standing on. London is a mixture of old and new so wandering around the city would also be amazing (either with Will or Jem or BOTH, a girl can dream, right?) ;)

Anna and the French Kiss

by Stephanie Perkins

Release date: December 2nd, 2010

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Source: http://thesireniccodex.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookish-vacations-anna-and-french-kiss.html

      

    Destination: Paris

The picture above shows Shakespeare and Co., the antique bookstore across Notre Dame where Anna and St. Clair went. I remember that he also bought a book for Anna. Aww...For a book lover like me that is totally awesome St. Clair! 

What more can I say *happy sigh* it is Paris...totally a heaven for artists and the hopeful romantic.

Un jour bientôt Paris! Someday soon... :)

Reawakened

by Colleen Houck

Release date: August 11th, 2015

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Source: www.liberty-int.com

Destination: Egypt 

Adventure in Egypt? Count me in! I've always been fascinated by history, mythology and mysteries so the book and setting is a no-brainer. A tour inside the pyramids (sans booby traps) and the beauty of the great sphinx would be an ideal and exciting experience.

The Fault in Our Stars 

by John Green

Release date: January 10th, 2012

Publisher: Dutton Books

               

Source: www.hdwallpapersnnew.net

Destination: Amsterdam

Last but not the least, a picturesque place worthy of instagram! Haha. A bittersweet place for every TFiOS fans out there. Gus and Hazel's stroll around Amsterdam made it a must-visit place for me. I think to personally wander around the place would be a feast for the eyes. I guess I would be torn between capturing as many pictures as possible or taking in my surroundings with my naked eyes.

A very lovely place

Have you visited any of this place or do you plan to? What other places base from books would you like to visit? Leave a comment with a link of your blog post if you also made a list of places base from books and I'll make sure to stop by your blog!

By the way, it's been a long while since the last time I posted here, I miss y'all and blogging. It's good to be back! :D

Waiting on Wednesday: A Darkness Strange and Deadly and Afterparty

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

Here are my WoW picks this week (click title for the Goodreads page):

A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2) 

by Susan Dennard

Release date: July 23rd, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Following an all-out battle with the walking Dead, the Spirit Hunters have fled Philadelphia, leaving Eleanor alone to cope with the devastating aftermath. But there’s more trouble ahead—the evil necromancer Marcus has returned, and his diabolical advances have Eleanor escaping to Paris to seek the help of Joseph, Jie, and the infuriatingly handsome Daniel once again. When she arrives, however, she finds a whole new darkness lurking in this City of Light. As harrowing events unfold, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will mean life or death for everyone.

Sequel to the compelling book of Susan Dennard! Gorgeous cover as ever and I hope there's more zombies!  I want to know more about Daniel and Eleanor, I wonder if there's gonna be a love triangle. Anyways, Aim for the knees folks! :)

Afterparty
by Ann Redisch Stampler

Release date: January 7th, 2014

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

A toxic friendship takes a dangerous turn that leads to a rooftop tragedy in this riveting novel from the author of Where It Began.

Emma is tired of being good. She’s always done what’s expected of her, and she’s starting to feel antsy. That’s why meeting Siobhan is the best thing to happen to her, before it’s the worst. Because Siobhan is dangerous, and fun, and alluring, and experienced... In other words, she’s everything Emma isn’t.

And then things go terribly wrong.

There’s Dylan, the boy who comes between them. And it’s true that their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. But there’s even more to the story—and everything comes to a head at an infamous afterparty where debauchery rages on the rooftop, and an intense, long-awaited confrontation results in a terrifying freefall…

One look at the cover and I just can't help but drool.  Two words: gorgeous and contemporary! This past few weeks I undergo my contemporary YA phase so this book would seem a great choice. I bet this book is going to consume me...

FANG GIRL: Interview+Giveaway(INT)

Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

Paperback: 464

Release date: September 11, 2012

Publisher: Harper Teen

Goodreads Rating: 3.73

Goodreads Summary: Things That Are Destroying Jane Greene’s Undead Social Life Before It Can Even Begin:

1) A twelve-year-old brother who’s convinced she’s a zombie.

2) Parents who are begging her to turn them into vampires.

3) The pet goldfish she accidentally turns instead.

4) Weird superpowers that let her rip the heads off of every other vampire she meets.(Sounds cool, but it doesn’t win you many friends.)

5) A pyschotic vampire creator who’s using her to carry out a plan for world domination.

And finally:

6) A seriously ripped vampire hunter who either wants to stake her or make out with her. Not sure which.

Being an undead, eternally pasty fifteen-year-old isn’t quite the sexy, brooding, angst-fest Jane always imagined....

Helen Keeble’s riotous debut novel combines the humor of Vladimir Tod with Ally Carter’s spot-on teen voice. With a one-of-a-kind vampire mythology and an irresistibly relatable undead heroine, this uproarious page-turner will leave readers bloodthirsty for more.

"Helen Keeble Interview 1"

What would you do if you woke up in a coffin and discovered you were a vampire?

Um, probably panic and cry in a very undignified fashion. I’m much less tough and resourceful than FANG GIRL’s Jane! But once I’d got a grip on myself, I’d do the same thing that Jane does – phone my family. Who wants to be a solitary creature of the night when you can go back home where there’s bed, broadband, and people who love you?

Do you work with an outline, or just write and go with the flow?

When I first started writing FANG GIRL, I was definitely just going with the flow. The first draft was actually written in just thirty days, as part of NaNoWriMo 2008 (National Novel Writing Month – a yearly challenge where people try to write a whole novel in a month). But given that it took me at least five drafts and an entire year to turn that rough manuscript into something coherent (let alone publishable), I’m now a firm convert to outlining.

Plus, of course, these days I have to outline, because my editor wants to know what I’m going to write before I write it, so she can decide whether or not to buy it! So my second book, NO ANGEL, had a fairly detailed outline… not that I stuck to it.

Which came first – the story or the characters? 

I always get a couple of characters first (in this case, Jane and her family), and then have to figure out what story to tell with them. Then it’s an iterative development – I create new characters to meet the demands of that story, but those characters in turn alter the shape of the story so I have to change that, which may mean I have to tweak the characters again… and round it goes!

If you could go to lunch with any author, who would you pick?

I can only have one? Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, which I have probably read more than any other book in my life. I, uh, may also have watched the animated film version every single week between the ages of six and eight.

If I could have lunch with more than one, then I’d want Peter S. Beagle, Steph Swainston, China Mieville, Dan Abnett, Sarah Rees Brennan, Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin, Jacqueline Carey, and Cassandra Claire. Now that would be a literary party to remember!

Is there anything about you that would surprise your readers?

I may be a writer by night, but in the day I’m a professional engineer, developing software for industrial controllers. The cool (and terrifying) way of saying this is: “I design stuff that controls nuclear power plants!” The more accurate way of describing it is “I sit in a lot of meetings where people argue about tiny details in C++ code.” But either way, it’s an awesome job!

Can you give us any hints about book 2?

My next book (out in Fall 2013) is not actually a sequel to FANG GIRL – it’s another YA paranormal comedy with the same style of humour, but it’s not about vampires. It’s called NO ANGEL, so you can probably guess what romantic subgenre I’m poking fun at this time…

I’m working on a sequel to FANG GIRL at the moment, though can’t yet say when (or if) it’ll be released – whether or not my publisher, HarperTeen, decide to buy it will depend on how well FANG GIRL does! But I can tell you that the working title is THANK DOG, and in it Jane meets the inevitable hot shirtless werewolf… who is not quite what she’s expecting.

Author Bio:

Helen Keeble is not, and never has been, a vampire. She has however been a teenager. She grew up partly in America and partly in England, which has left her with an unidentifiable accent and a fondness for peanut butter crackers washed   down with a nice cup of tea. She now lives in West Sussex, England, with her husband, daughter, two cats, and a variable number of fish. To the best of her knowledge, none of the fish are undead.

Her first novel, a YA vampire comedy called FANG GIRL, is out 11th Sept 2012, from HarperTeen. 

She also has another YA paranormal comedy novel (provisionally titled NO ANGEL) scheduled for Sept 2013.

Website | Twitter| Goodreads

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

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Spellbound Book Blitz + giveaway (INT)

The 12 Days of Magic book blitz for the YA Paranormal series, Spellbound, by Nikki Jefford. The Blitz runs from December 10th to December 21st, 2012. Today I participate on promoting the Spellbound Soundtrack. Check it out and enter for the giveaways below :)

Spellbound Book 1: Entangled - February 20th 2012

Two months after dying, seventeen-year-old witch Graylee Perez wakes up in her twin sister Charlene’s body.

Until Gray finds a way back inside her own body, she’s stuck being Charlene every twenty-hour hours. Her sister has left precise instructions on how Gray should dress and behave. Looking like a prep isn’t half as bad as hanging out with Charlene’s snotty friends and gropey boyfriend.

The “normals” of McKinley High might be quick to write her behavior off as post-traumatic stress, but warlock Raj McKenna is the only person who suspects Gray has returned from the dead.

Now Gray has to solve the mystery of her death and resurrection and disentangle herself from Charlene’s body before she disappears for good.

 

Spellbound Book 2: Duplicity - March 20th 2012

If Graylee Perez thought sharing a body with her twin sister was bad, dealing with a duplicate of herself is two times worse. Gray the second doesn’t seem to get that Lee’s boyfriend, Raj McKenna, is off limits. Then there’s the problem of Adrian Montez. He expects one of the Grays to be his.

Nearly a year later, the council is onto them for past misdeeds; Lee, along with the rest of the coven, has lost control of her powers; and Gray is being stalked by what looks like the Grim Reaper.

If they work together, they may stand a chance of setting things right and making it out alive.

Spellbound Book 3: Enchantment - April 2013 

In the third and final installment of the Spellbound series, Graylee Perez (the duplicate), goes to Spain for a summer of escape. There she meets new friends and comes face to face with her old adversary, Adrian Montez.

When Gray tries to setup a spell that will banish Adrian from her life, she inadvertently falls under a love spell instead.

Charlene returns, having hijacked a new body, for one final battle between the twins.

Purchase:

Smashwords

"Spellbound Soundtrack"

ENTANGLED (S1)

Magic Dance by David Bowie from Labyrinth

This song has haunted my brain throughout the series. Plus David Bowie reminds me of warlock Adrian Montez minus the 80’s hair and tight pants…well, let’s keep the tight pants.

Lightning by The Wanted

Raj McKenna steals the show in Entangled. He is the ultimate bad boy with a good heart, and fiercely loyal to Gray. I stumbled upon this YouTube video and have watched it at least a dozen times all while thinking of Raj. Yeah, baby!

DUPLICITY (S2)

Within You and As The World Falls Down by David Bowie from Labyrinth

Adrian’s obsession with Gray reminds me of the Goblin King’s fixation on Sarah. At the end of book one Adrian risks his own life to ensure she doesn’t disappear. In book two his feelings intensify, but are harshly rejected. Sorry, Adrian, you have no power over Gray.

Bad Romance by Lady Gaga

The confusion spell Gray puts over Adrian requires her to speak gibberish the entire time. She starts singing “Rah, rah, ah, ah, ah; Roma, roma, ma; Gaga, ooh, la, la,” then accidently busts into the Bad Romance lyrics.

ENCHANTMENT (S3)

Barcelona by Giulia y Los Tellarini from the Vicky Christina Barcelona soundtrack

Love is in the air. Gray heads to Barcelona for the summer, meets the sexy Spaniard Carlo, wards off the attentions of the polite British Will, runs into Adrian and unwittingly falls head over heels for her arch nemesis. It’s all good fun!

Les Triplettes de Belleville from the French animation movie soundtrack

Charlene nabs herself a new body in Paris, shows up in Spain, much to Gray’s annoyance, and requests her help dealing with a stalker. I like to call this one The “Twins” of Belleville.

How does it all end? Find out Spring of 13!

Author Bio:

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. She writes edgy teen fiction, including the Spellbound Trilogy and Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter.

Nikki married Sébastien, the love of her life, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They now reside in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands, 70 miles northeast of Forks, Washington.

Website | Facebook| Twitter| Goodreads

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

First Giveaway:

• 1 Reading is Sexy sticker (as pictured here) and signed book swag (1 Entangled bookmark and 1 Aurora Sky door hanger)--1 winner gets all. 
• Just fill out this form  
• Open internationally.  Ends on December 28th, 2012

Second Giveaway:

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