Follow Friday (17) and Hunger Games Movie Countdown Trivia and Giveaway (8)

Q: Have you ever looked at book's cover and thought, This is going to horrible? But, was instead pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.

Hmm.  This is a very hard question because I do not usually try to remember the books with covers I do not like.  But here are some that I felt like the cover did not really tell me much about the book:

I had not heard about Ellen Hopkins until I started watching the book blogging community. At the bookstore, it did not draw me in. I kept looking past it. Then I heard other people talk about Ellen Hopkins and I just had to try her for myself. I love her now! And I guess the consistency in her covers have made it easier for me to recognize her books.


Another book where I felt like the cover did not give a lot of clues about the book, but now that I have started I can easily identify that the books are part of the series.

But now that I have answered the question, I feel like I need some of my favorite covers to balance it all out:

__________________________________________

My blogging buddy, Jen, and I have been working on a sequel to our Valentine's day celebration (the Famous YA Couples Trivia Quiz). 

So everyday I will post a trivia question about either a YA dystopian novel in general or the Hunger Games in particular.  Everyone gets one opportunity a day to answer--and it does not matter if you are right or wrong.  Any answer is worth a chance to win a prize!  This contest will continue until March 16.

The prize:
1) The Girl Who Was on Fire
2) The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook
Since these books are available from the Book Depository, I will open this giveaway internationally to any place that BD offers free shipping to.

What does Katniss' mother always say is the first treatment for burns?
A) Herb compound
B) Butter
C) Salt Rub
D) Cold Water

Please fill out this form to submit your answer.

Follow Friday (16) and Hunger Games Movie Countdown Trivia and Giveaway

Q: What book would you love to see made into a movie or television show and do you have actors/actresses in mind to play the main characters?

As we enter March, the month where my most anticipated movie of the year is coming out, I have been thinking a lot about a lot of the books I would love to see as movies:

Anyone who knows me well--yes Jen I am talking to you--know I have a little bit of a literary crush on Valek.  Him on the big screen...all I can say is *sigh.*


Veronica Rossi created a world of such vivid visual details that I would love to actually see it on the screen!


I have been sharing this one with everyone I work with (who is a big reader) and now we all want to see it on the big screen.

And Now To Announce:

My blogging buddy, Jen, and I have been working on a sequel to our Valentine's day celebration (the Famous YA Couples Trivia Quiz). 

So everyday I will post a trivia question about either a YA dystopian novel in general or the Hunger Games in particular.  Everyone gets one opportunity a day to answer--and it does not matter if you are right or wrong.  Any answer is worth a chance to win a prize!  This contest will continue until March 16.

The prize:
1) The Girl Who Was on Fire
2) The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook
Since these books are available from the Book Depository, I will open this giveaway internationally to any place that BD offers free shipping to.

What is the first line of The Hunger Games?
A) "Look what I shot," Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it, and I laugh.
B) When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
C) One time, when I was in a blind in a tree, waiting motionless for game to wander by, I dozed off and fell ten feet to the ground, landing on my back.
D) When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol.

Please fill out this form to submit your answer.

The Book Addict Celebrates 300 Followers With a Giveaway

I want to thank you all for participating in my Under the Never Sky giveaway. The lucky winner was Xia. I will be mailing the book out on Saturday.

I had so much fun with my last giveaway--and during the course of my last giveaway I hit a major milestone of 300 followers (sincerest thanks to each and everyone of you). So I felt the need to celebrate again--and of course a celebration means another giveaway!

Since I have reached 300 people I will be selecting 3 winners. The first winner will have their choice of the three prizes. The second winner will have their choice of the remaining two prizes. The third will will get the third prize. All of these books come from my amazing experience at YAllapalooza!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Friday (12)

Q: Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kickass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?

My favorite books all:

1) Were written in a way that absolutely drew me in.  When I first read Gone With the Wind (I was in middle school), the story and the writing enthralled me.  I could not put the book down which absolutely shocked me (and my friends) since it was by far the longest book I had tackled at the time.

2) Have a timeless story that can transcend time.  I have read and watched many re-interpretations of Pride and Prejudice and while nothing trumps the original--they always draw me back to Elizabeth and Darcy's story!

3) Have characters that stay with me long after the last page.  Aria and Percy both intrigued me--and I cannot wait to have another installment so I can read more.

What prompts you to claim a book as one of your favorites?

Follow Friday (11)

Q: Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?

I do not have a genre that I avoid at all costs, but I do notice that my favorite genre seems to swift from time to time.  I will go through phases where I read almost exclusively YA and then a lot of classics and then a lot of different adult books.  So many books catch my attention that it is hard to say that I would not find at least one book in that genre that I like!

Lately, it seems to be a lot of YA books.  And I am hosting a giveaway for one of the books that I think will be my favorite for 2012:



What book has surprised you the most?  Maybe you thought you would not like it and did or maybe you thought you would love it and did not?

The Book Addict Review and Giveaway: Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Website | Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Bought this book and had it signed by the author at The Dark Days of Supernatural tour stop.

In A Nutshell:
It's hard to determine my best book of 2012 in January, but Under the Never Sky may very well be the one for me!

Review:
Aria has been falsely convicted--exiled and left to wander alone under the Aether Storms.  Perry has been forced to leave--left to get his kidnapped nephew back.  Their separate upbringings has led them to initially distrust each other--but their circumstances force them to work together.  As their group grows, as they have to escape large groups who want to kill them, as they dodge dangerous Aether Storms--they learn that they may not be as different as they initially thought.

The artist in Veronica Rossi comes out in her striking and visually-compelling descriptions of the world she has created.  The sights, the smells, and the sounds come together to draw the reader into the story--makes them feel like they are part of the group.  I could not stop turning the pages as the characters (who I started to think of as my friends) covered treacherous terrain, dodged cannibalistic covens, tricked their way into guarded pods, learned the truth about themselves, their backgrounds, and their talents.

The only thing that killed me is when it ended--I wanted more.  I cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out and tell me what happens next.  This book ended in a cliff-hanger of all cliff-hangers!  The next installment cannot come fast enough for me!

Recommendations:
Since I think this may be my favorite book of 2012--I do not have a recommendation but a giveaway to share the wealth and the experience!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TBR Intervention (6)

I am declaring this week's TBR a success--at least a partial success.

Last Week

I finished Crime Fiction for Beginners--and loved it.  You can find my review today and I will have a guest post by the author tomorrow! 


I finished Under the Never Sky--it may be my favorite book of 2012.  My review will be out on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 and includes a giveaway of my signed hardback copy.  How's that for shrinking my pile?


I am almost to the halfway point with this one--and I am satisfied with that.  I will however be listening to a shorter book next time.  I think I need a little of a break before I tackle The Two Towers.


I am about halfway through this book--so far I love it and I cannot wait to read more of John Green's books.  I am so glad my buddy, Jen, shared this one with me.

Next Week

I will finish Looking for Alaska and continue working on The Fellowship of the Ring, but my new book addition will be:

After I read this article, I decided I had to read a book by the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Walter Dean Myers.

Summary (from inside flap of book cover):
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie.  Maybe I can make my own movie.  The film will be the story of my life.  No, not my life, but of this experience.  I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me.

Monster.

FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT.  A guard sits at a desk behind STEVE.  KATHY O'BRIEN, STEVE's lawyer, is all business as she talks to STEVE.

O'BRIEN: Let me make sure you understand what's going on.  Both you and this King character are on trial for felony murder.  Felony murder is as serious as it gets...When you're in court, you sit there and pay attention.  You let the jury know that you think the case is as serious as they do...

STEVE: You think we're going to win?

O'BRIEN (seriously): It probably depends on what you mean by "win." 

My friend and I are planning to read this book together and then talk about it--do a book discussion as a blog post.  So look for that to come out soon. 


What do you plan to read this week?

TBR Intervention (5): Better Late than Never Right?

First I have to admit that I was a big fail on the TBR Intervention this week.  It will almost look like I did not read anything this week--but I did!  I just did not finish any of it.  :(

Last Week

I am over halfway through this book--and so far I am intrigued and still in the dark as to "who-dun-it."

I am about halfway through this book--and I feel as though John Green is going to quickly become a favorite author of mine!

Not even close to halfway done with this one--but I expected that.  It is a long audiobook.  But I do love it!  And I am having a lot better time listening to this one as an audiobook than I have had in the past trying to read it.

Next Week

I am going to finish at least some (if not all) of the books from last week, but I do have to add one that I started last night after attending the Dark Days of Supernatural tour stop.  I have to finish:

 

Summary:

Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

In her enthralling debut, Veronica Rossi sends readers on an unforgettable adventure set in a world brimming with harshness and beauty.

What do you plan to read this week?