Friday, January 8, 2010

The 2010 Bloggiesta

I've decided to participate in the annual Bloggiesta, despite coming in late. I need some organization folks! I'm hoping this will get me going in the right direction. Since I'm starting late, my goals for today aren't too big. I have been working on some of this earlier before deciding to officially join tonight.

Friday's Goals: 8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.

Clean up and revamp sidebar

-Remove expire buttons. Add new ones.
-Check Blog roll for inactive blogs.
-Add online bookstore links that I use. (1/2 done)
-Update Goodreads widget.
-Add a list of blog tours coming up.

(I also put on a new background and a header, which I need to lighten a bit yet.)

I think this is about all I can try and get done tonight.

Saturday's Goals: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. then again in evening. (approx. 7-11 pm)

More...
-Write at least 3 reviews (2 done)
-Participate in 3 or more mini challenges.
-Make a graphic button for blog.

Bloggiesta Mini Challenges:
1. Copyrights and Footer Info. from Pam from at Bookalicio.us. Info. Here FINISHED!

2.Backing Up My Blog from Jackie from Farm Lane Books. Info.Here FINISHED!

3.I made a favicon and a gravatar! I used my little moon avatar and it looks great! This mini-challenge was from Trish from Hey Lady! Watcha Readin’? Info.here. FINISHED!

4. Emily from Emily’s Reading Room challenged us to sign up for Google Alerts. Information is here. FINISHED!

Sunday Goals: 9 a.m - 3 p.m. then again in evening.

2010 Book Challenges
(moved from Saturday)
-Put up buttons in sidebar
-Put up individual posts for each challenge to update.
-Add books read so far in 2010.

More...

-Write 2 more reviews.
-Participate in 2 or more mini challenges.
-Update my Profile on Blogger

Today's Mini Challenges:
1. Create a Cheat Sheet from Danielle from There’s a Book. Info.Here

~Moonsanity

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Book Review: Eternal Hunter

Eternal Hunter, Night Watch Series #1
Author: Cynthia Eden
Publisher: Brava (December 2009)
Paperback: 352 pages

I won my copy of Eternal Hunter from a contest the author had on her blog. I didn't know what to expect since she was a new author for me, but this first line had me wanting to read more:

Jude Donovan was used to hunting killers-used to running them down like the damn dogs they were and caging the bastards.

Eternal Hunter is a fast paced, action filled read that kept me on the edge of my seat. Jude is a shapeshifter who just wants to track down the bad guys. No complications allowed, especially a good looking woman who smells like a shapeshifter but denies it. He wants to ignore her, but finds himself protecting her instead. Go figure. Life is full of surprises. I loved the character of Jude. He's an alpha male in all his grumpy glory. Erin Jerome is a shapeshifter who's trying to start over in a new job and a new life. She has issues, and doesn't want to share them. Jude and Erin make a good team, despite both of them being strong and stubborn. Yes, you want to slap them at several points in the book, but they come through in the end.

I would consider Eternal Hunter a paranormal romance, but the mystery and suspense makes it much more. It popped into my head as I was reading that it is a cross between James Patterson and Lara Adrian. The combination works well, and I didn't guess the true bad guy until it was revealed. The side characters are quirky and give us a glimpse into what the series will be like. The bad guy is especially creepy and sly, as he should be.

I loved the characters, the mystery, the romance and the action scenes. Warning to readers about the romance. There are sex scenes, not just romance, but it's a part of the plot, not just stuck in there willy nilly. My only negative about the book is that I thought a few of the lines used during sex were cliche (ex: button of her need). Since I am actually new to the romance genre, things like that stick out to me. I'm more of a literal type of gal, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the steamy scenes between Jude and Erin.

I would recommend Eternal Hunter to fans of paranormal romance and writers such as Lara Adrian, Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the Night Watch series, which is I'll Be Slaying You, due out July 2010.

You can read an excerpt of Eternal Hunter here.

~Moonsanity

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Winners of The Better Part of Darkness!



Happy New Year! The winners of our giveaway for a copy of The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay are:

Scorpio M. said...
I'm new to the Urban Fantasy sub-genre if you don't count all the daydreaming I do at my cubicle...that's my attempt at witty..sorry ;) I do find Kelly's book very intriguing though so please count me in.

ck.twilighter said...
I am a newbie to urban fantasy but I love it. There is always so much action
and I just fall into the pages=)

Thanks to everyone for the follows and comments!

~Moonsanity

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy 101 Award From Lily's Bookshelf

I received the Happy 101 Award from Lily over at Lily's Bookshelf. What a better way to start off 2010 than with a sweet award? Thank you so much Lily!

The rules for this award are as follows:

List 10 things that make you happy.
Try and do at least one of them today.
Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.
Link back to the person that tagged you.

Hmmm...ten things that make me happy:

1. A Date Night with my husband.
2. Getting a new book:)
3. Reading a book SO good that I can't wait to get to the next page.
4. My kids smiling and laughing.
5. Snuggling with my niece who is almost 6 months old and seeing her smile.
6. Watching movies with my kids and my husband.
7. Listening to my ten year old daughter read out loud to me.
8. Bubble baths, glass of wine and a good book.
9. Growing flowers and herbs.
10. Taking pictures, especially nature, plants and wildlife.

Ten bloggers that brighten my day, huh? There are so many awesome bloggers, but I'll pick ten and if they don't have this lovely award they can pick it up for themselves. I appreciate you:)

Bibliofreak Blog
http://bibliofreakblog.com/

Writings Of A Wicked Book Addict
http://wickedlilpixie.com/

Larissa's Life
http://www.larissaslife.com/

Tynga's Reviews
http://tyngasreviews.blogspot.com/

The Neverending Shelf
http://www.theneverendingshelf.com/

The Fiction Vixen
http://www.fictionvixen.com/

Peace, Love & Pat
http://peaceloveandpat.blogspot.com/

My Overstuffed Bookshelf
http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com/

JoJo's Bookcorner
http://jojosbookcorner.blogspot.com/

All Things Urban Fantasy
http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/

~Moonsanity

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My Kindle is Here!

The Kindle I won from the generous and kind J.T. over at Bibliofreak arrived Saturday while I was at my in laws for our Christmas celebration. Our post office kept it safe until my husband picked it up for me. (Who then pretended he couldn't get it to see how disappointed I would be, so he could whip it out afterwards. Hmmm...not funny.) This is me cuddling with my Kindle in my favorite chair (I know it's ugly, but it's comfy!):



So far I've downloaded 10 books for free to test it out. I'm reading Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf right now, plus I have:

Once Bitten by Kalayna Price
Already Dead by Charlie Huston
Conspiracy in Kiev by Noel Hynd
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetic Works
Vanish by Tom Pawlik
Wit'ch Fire by James Clemens

My 16 year old son helped me pick most of the books. He wants to read The Invisible Man and The Picture of Dorian Gray plus he's a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. I think you can see why I call him Psuedo Emo Teen.

The Kindle is pretty easy to use. I think it would have really benefited from a touch screen option, especially when choosing books. Once you get into your book to read it the large button for "next page" is wonderful and works really well. It's easy to bookmark your page too. The little square that selects items isn't quite so handy, and to me it's a little awkward when searching for books. Here is a picture my son took of me actually reading with it:


The size, the screen, the weight etc. are all great and make it really easy to use when reading. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as I use it longer.

Thanks again to J.T. for the awesome prize. It would have easily been next year before I could have purchased a Kindle myself, and it's going to be super helpful in my reading and writing.

~Moonsanity

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas to All...

I couldn't just post any old message to my book blogging peeps. You are a special, unique group of people who are witty, and often warped, but I love you. I hope your Christmas is wonderful and full of humor and love. I give you the "silent monks" preforming a classic Christmas song:



Thank you for all of your support for my blog and my writing journey!



~Moonsanity

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

My Book Challenges for 2010

First, let me say that I have never participated in a book challenge. I still can't believe I didn't find the book blogging community until September of 2009. I have missed SO many cool things, and I'm just amazed at all the cool book bloggers out there. You all are awesome. So, it's time to pick a few book challenges for 2010. I have no idea how you all choose them. I'm guessing the idea is to challenge myself:) First, I choose The HMS Challenger over at Word for Teens. Nicole explains the challenge:



Way back when, the ocean had yet to be explored. We knew nothing about it. Then, the HMS Challenger was sent out - its challenge? To scope the ocean and learn it's secrets.

With that in mind, readers, I challenge you to read (or reread) ten books between now and September 19th of 2010. But not just any ten books. These books must involve water - be it about pirates, mermaids, or the coast of California, fiction or nonfiction.


Isn't this a cool idea? Wow, and some good books come to my mind!

Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme by Sara Douglass
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
Ilse Witch by Terry Brooks

Those are off the top of my head. I'm also excited because I can also reread Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler AND include the second book Tracking the Tempest due out in the spring or summer of 2010. Awesome.


My next challenge is the 100+ Reading Challenge from J. Kaye's Book Blog. The rules are as follows:

1. The goal is to read 100 or more books. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts.

What doesn't count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible.

3. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

4. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Books started before the 1st do not count.


This will be my "big" challenge. I constantly have a book that I'm reading, and now and then I read two at a time, so 100 books shouldn't be a problem at all. Reviewing each of them will take motivation on my part, but I really want to do this. So, I'm in!






Lastly, unless another challenge grabs me and hauls me into it's clutches is the 451 Challenge, which is based on 451 Fridays, a weekly feature hosted at As Usual, We Need More Bookshelves.
The Rules:

Between January 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010, participants are challenged to read books on the 451 master list. There will be several levels of participation:

Spark - read 1-2 books from the master list
Ember - read 3-4 books from the master list
Flame - read 5-6 books from the master list
Blaze - read 7 or more books from the master list

Re-reading is acceptable, as are crossovers with other challenges. Audio, print, and e-books are all acceptable. Each month, participants will be encouraged to post their reviews on the challenge blog, and each review posted will be an entry into a grand prize drawing for a $25 gift card to the online bookseller of the winner's choice.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was one of the first science fiction books that I read when I was a teen, and last year my teen read it for the first time, loving it as much as I did. He, like me, loves books and reading with a passion. So, I am going for the Blaze level and reading 7 or more from the list, which has some awesome selections!

I will post an individual post for each challenge in January. Have you chosen a book challenge for 2010?

~Moonsanity