Archives for June 2015

MONTHLY RECAP | June 2015 – ALA AWESOMENESS!

June 30, 2015 Comments : 6

june

OKAY, JUNE MAY BE IN THE RUNNING FOR THE BEST MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OH MY GOD, IT SERIOUSLY IS, MAINLY FOR ONE REASON: ALA + MEETING FRIENDS! <3

WHAT’S UP?

KELLY CAME TO CALIFORNIAAAAAA.

YES. SHE DID. JUST IN TIME FOR ALA.

Her decision to accompany me to ALA was pretty late in the game, but whatever because she came! I was very happy because she was the first person in the book blogosphere I became friends with and the first book blogging person I met in person. Yeeeeeee. I had a blast showing her around (but oh my god, my feeeeettttt!).

ALA was the best event in the world!

SERIOUSLY THE BEST.

Book conventions are events that every reader and book lover should attend at least once in their life. It’s pure heaven!

I won’t bore you with the details (since I’m planning to write recap posts about it), but here are the awesome things that happened: I got awesome books that I’m really excited about; met Kelly, Nikki, Angie, Katie, Sydney, Vanessa, Anya, and Tabitha; took a selfie with my favorite author Patrick Ness; talked with publishers + librarians about books; attended the DC Comics panel; had an amazing conversation with Brenden Fletcher (writer of Batgirl, Gotham Academy, + Black Canary); and many more!

Comics

FROM PANEL TO PANEL | Guest Post: God Bless America Chavez!

June 30, 2015 Comments : 6

from panel to panel

I love comics and graphic novels, so what do I do with that love? Well, I turn it into a new feature!

From Panel to Panel is a new feature where I talk about the awesome (and perhaps not-so awesome) comic books and graphic novels I’ve read. Basically, this will be me pushing them onto your laps. You’re welcome.

Since I’ve been busy and tired because of ALA, I have a special From Panel to Panel for you guys today!

Do you love wallpapers? Do you love awesome female characters? Well, the amazing Charlotte has created something awesome!

guestpostfestivo

[quote cite=”Charlotte” url=”http://thesimpletales.com”]When Cee heavily hinted about me doing a guest post for her just a day earlier, my mind went blank until I remembered I could make a wallpaper. Then it was just the problem of who to feature? The solution? AMERICA CHAVEZ aka MISS AMERICA.

America is one of the Young Avengers and a kickass Latina who identifies as a lesbian. She’s got superhuman strength, can fly, has invulnerable strength, and can create portals to travel between realities. How amazing is she?!? The comic series, A-Force, just came out with its first issue where I first came across America in the Marvel comics, and I just LOVE HER already. I made three (yes three and it wasn’t even intentional) wallpapers celebrating her awesome and this fantastic line which instantly made me fall in love with her. (Also if you haven’t noticed yet, Cee’s twitter profile pic is of America!) Enjoy![/quote]

O N E

[lightbox type=”image” src=”http://thesimpletales.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/americawallpaperA-1280×800.png”] america chavez wallpaper

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1280×800 | 1440×900 | 1680×1050 | 1920×1200 | 2560×1400 | iPhone 5 | iPhone 6 | iPad

Letters

SINCERELY, CEE | A letter from yours truly to Truthwitch

June 25, 2015 Comments : 6

**Dear Susan Dennard and Truthwitch,**

CAN I HAVE THIS RIGHT NOW PLEASE?

[quote cite=”Goodreads” url=”http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21414439-truthwitch”]On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.[/quote]

Reviews

REVIEW | Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn

June 23, 2015 Comment : 1

Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn
June 9, 2015
St. Martin’s Griffin
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
* Book courtesy of St. Martin’s Press

From the Morris-Award winning author of Charm & Strange, comes a twisted and haunting tale about three teens uncovering dark secrets and even darker truths about themselves.

When nearly killing a classmate gets seventeen-year-old Sadie Su kicked out of her third boarding school in four years, she returns to her family’s California vineyard estate. Here, she’s meant to stay out of trouble. Here, she’s meant to do a lot of things. But it’s hard. She’s bored. And when Sadie’s bored, the only thing she likes is trouble.

Emerson Tate’s a poor boy living in a rich town, with his widowed mother and strange, haunted little brother. All he wants his senior year is to play basketball and make something happen with the girl of his dreams. That’s why Emerson’s not happy Sadie’s back. An old childhood friend, she knows his worst secrets. The things he longs to forget. The things she won’t ever let him.

Haunted is a good word for fifteen-year-old Miles Tate. Miles can see the future, after all. And he knows his vision of tragic violence at his school will come true, because his visions always do. That’s what he tells the new girl in town. The one who listens to him. The one who recognizes the darkness in his past.

But can Miles stop the violence? Or has the future already been written? Maybe tragedy is his destiny. Maybe it’s all of theirs.

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “A rope course was a shitty place for self-discovery.”

What you can always expect from Stephanie Kuehn’s books: a riveting mindfuck. That is what Delicate Monsters is to a T.

Delicate Monsters is a dark and disturbing exploration of three messed up teenagers—Sadie Su, Emerson Tate, and Miles Tate—who harbor secrets that are extremely unsettling and haunts them every day of their lives. Those secrets won’t stay hidden for long, not with Sadie’s arrival back in her hometown. You’re in for a mindfuck ride, guys.

Holy Mother Cover

HOLY, MOTHER COVER! | Changes in Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

June 22, 2015 Comments : 7

holymothercover

Inspired by What She Reads, Pure Imagination Blog, and Stacked.

I admit I’m a book cover snob. Who isn’t though?

Book covers are the first thing that attracts readers to a book. A good cover can draw someone is, just as a bad cover can easily draw someone away. It can essentially make or break a book. Holy, Mother Cover! is where I showcase the book covers that stand out (or make me cringe), and discuss cover changes.

(A big special thanks to Georgie at What She Reads for bestowing me this fabulous name and to Charlotte at The Simple Tales for creating the beautiful feature banner you see before you.)

COVER CHANGE: Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

Lists

BLOG TOUR + ESSENTIAL READING | Books the Characters in Hello, I Love You Would Love + Why!

June 19, 2015 Comments : 4

A teen escapes to a boarding school abroad and falls for a Korean pop star in this fun and fresh romantic novel in the vein of Anna and the French Kiss.

Grace Wilde is running—from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who’s topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother’s breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start.

She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie’s twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can’t stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can’t deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol.

Soon, Grace realizes that her feelings for Jason threaten her promise to herself that she’ll leave behind the music industry that destroyed her family. But can Grace ignore her attraction to Jason and her undeniable pull of the music she was born to write? Sweet, fun, and romantic, this young adult novel explores what it means to experience first love and discover who you really are in the process.

Amazon · Barnes & Noble · The Book Depository · Books-A-Million · Indiebound · iTunes

Welcome to a special Essential Reading post! As part of the Hello, I Love You blog tour, I wanted Katie to pick books that would be a must read for her characters! And voila! It’s short and sweet.

For those who do not know what Essential Reading is, it is a feature on my blog where I ask authors to share five to seven books (children’s, YA, general fiction, romances, nonfiction, and all) that they or their characters love, or has impacted their lives or their characters’s lives.

Let’s see what Katie picked, shall we?

**BOOKS THE CHARACTERS IN HELLO, I LOVE YOU WOULD LOVE (AND WHY!)**

by Katie M. Stout

I don’t talk much about literature in Hello, I Love You, because the book is so centered on music. However, I think my characters would enjoy these books: