Archives for January 2016

MONTHLY RECAP | Welcome to the New Year! (January 2016)

January 31, 2016 Comments : 7

january

Welcome to the New Year!

Can you believe we’re already a month into 2016? Didn’t 2015 just end?

January was one of those weird months I was hoping for awesome new things to occur, but the middle of the month was plagued with lots of tragedies that got me down. It made me want to hide away from the world, but it soon got better.

WHAT’S UP?

So far in January—

Sign-up for the 2016 Love-A-Thon is opened! You will definitely want to participate in this awesome love fest. It’s one of my favorite events ever! Who’d say no to spreading love and joy to others? Sign up now!

I spent my New Years with my BFF for the first time in forever. It’s been ages since we’ve spent New Years together, and I felt so blessed and excited she was around. On New Years Eve, we drank and karaoked the night away. Before she left, we had delicious brunch and all the awesome. I miss her so much!

(Food we ate while she was visiting for the Holidays. Clockwise: 1. Avocado + mushroom omelette with hash browns and two pieces of toast; 2. Chicken Madeira with asparagus, mushrooms, and a side of delicious mash potatoes; 3. Brioche Pain Perdu: three slices of cinnamon brioche soaked in orange-water batter + sprinkled with lavender honey; 4. lemon gingerbread pancakes and poached pears. Not pictured that was eaten: carne asada tacos + horchata, and others I can’t remember.)
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Letters

SINCERELY, CEE | A letter from yours truly to Lindsay Ribar + Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies

January 30, 2016 Comments : 2

**Dear Lindsay Ribar and Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies,**

Doesn’t this book look magical?

[quote cite=”Goodreads” url=”http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23716100-rocks-fall-everyone-dies”]Twin Peaks meets Stars Hollow in this paranormal suspense novel about a boy who can reach inside people and steal their innermost things—fears, memories, scars, even love—and his family’s secret ritual that for centuries has kept the cliff above their small town from collapsing.

Aspen Quick has never really worried about how he’s affecting people when he steals from them. But this summer he’ll discover just how strong the Quick family magic is—and how far they’ll go to keep their secrets safe.

With a smart, arrogant protagonist, a sinister family tradition, and an ending you won’t see coming, this is a fast-paced, twisty story about power, addiction, and deciding what kind of person you want to be, in a family that has the ability to control everything you are.[/quote]

Holy Mother Cover

HOLY, MOTHER COVER | Theme: YA Anthologies

January 28, 2016 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.)

What can you do with an anthology cover? Well, you can do many things.

One of the many things I love about anthologies are the covers.There’s a connected theme inside the stories of the anthologies, and I just love that it’s reflected on the cover. Cover designers can go many ways with it, and in these batch of covers I’ve put together, you see ones with gorgeous typography, excellent attention to detail, illustrations, and so much more.

Let’s check out those covers!

Comics

FROM PANEL TO PANEL | January 2016 Graphic Novel Releases I’m Excited About!

January 27, 2016 Comments : 2

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.

Short and sweet for this month! Only three comics I’m excited about that comes out this month! You will see a total DC Comics dreamboat, and the other is about gang of girls protecting their turf.

Let’s see these January comics that intrigued me. (Maybe it will interest you too!)

*GRAYSON VOL 1 + 2*

Grayson · Vol. 1: Agents of Spyral

Dick Grayson. Former Sidekick. Former Superhero. Former dead man. Agent of Spyral?!

Unmasked, targeted and presumed dead, Dick Grayson’s world has been turned upside down. No longer Nightwing, former Boy Wonder, he’s now a man who doesn’t exist . . . which makes him the perfect double agent. Dick will have to leave behind the black and white world of super heroes to infiltrate the shadowy inner workings of the mysterious spy agency known as Spyral. Without a costume to hide behind, the would-be 007 must find the answer to one important question: just who is Dick Grayson?

A thrilling new chapter of Dick Grayson’s life begins here. A super-spy espionage thriller that will shock you and prove one thing: you might think you know Nightwing–but you don’t know Dick. Collects #1-7.

Written by Tom King and Tim Seeley, and illustrated by Mikel Janin. — DC Comics

Publication date: January 20, 2016 by DC Comics

Buy: LCBS · Amazon · Barnes & Noble · The Book Depository · Indigo · Comixology

Reviews

(ARC) REVIEW | Alive, But Dead and Not A Zombie (Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace)

January 25, 2016 Comments : 3

For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes.

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from HarperCollins for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “The first time I killed a man it was an accident.”

What maketh a monster?

Imagine yourself waking up—six feet deep, dirt suffocating you—in an unmarked grave in the backyard of a vacant house after you had been missing for a year. Some psychopath is peering over you, calling you perfect, and you freak out and essentially suck the life out of him and take his memories, especially the ones of him killing a family. Thus, you learn you have a crazy new power that lets you sense killers in your midst. You don’t know how that has happened and why it happened, so what do you do?

Typography

YOU’RE JUST MY TYPE | {36}

January 20, 2016 Comments : 4

I love fonts. You can say I’m obsessed with collecting them all. It’s no secret to those who know me. You’re Just My Type is a new feature where I showcase the fonts I absolutely adore and use. And hopefully, you will love the fonts I pick. Add all of them to your font collection! Let it grow!

Put on some music from your playlist, and check out all these beautiful fonts. You will see many awesome fonts that make you think about Amtrak, Audrey Hepburn, and carousels!

Go forth and add these fonts to your font book!

(Remember, when you download the fonts, look at the license to see what you can and cannot do with it. Majority of it will be for personal use only, meaning you can’t use it on stuff you’re selling. The ones with an asterisk* next to the font names are free for personal and commercial use. )

AMRAK

Amrak is designed by rômulo gobira.

**Note: Only uppercase letters.