Top 10 Tuesday - Beach Reads

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is: Top Ten Beach Reads.

I have to say, that I’m pretty sure my definition of “beach reads” isn’t the same as everyone else’s. And mostly that’s because over the last 5 years that I’ve increase my reading, I really haven’t read a ton of books that take place at the beach or anything like that. So…my list is probably going to appear random to some, but it makes sense to me.

1 –The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer– Because this was the series that Holly (my SNL) was reading at the beach when I got sucked back into reading and haven’t been able to stop since. After Holly finished with Twilight and started New Moon, I borrowed Twilight from her and finished it in a day while we were still at the beach. I think many people who were original fans of these books have in some ways betrayed the series. And I think that’s really sad. Of course the series is not without its flaws (no book is), but you can’t love it and fawn over it and then just because it picks up steam and makes something of itself suddenly change your mind.

2 – The Glimpse by Claire Merle – Because this is the book I read during my own beach vacation back in April. It was a fast read that I could get engrossed in and not come up for air if I didn’t want to.

3 – The Song of Fire and Ice Series by George R. R. Martin– Because these books are so long. You expect to be out on the beach for hours upon end, right? At least, I do. So why not have a huge book that I can hope to knock out (or at the very least, put a nice dent into) since I have the time, especially because who knows how long it might take for me to read these when I’m just reading bits and pieces at a time? But also because with the swapping of narrators, it makes for good stopping points if you need to run into the ocean for a dip to cool off or whatever various other errands you might have.

4 – Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley– Because it’s a stand-alone book that you could knock out quickly, and better than I expected.

5 – The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare– Mostly because I know two different people who decided to take these to the beach with them, and I’m a fan of the series as well. So why not? (Though they've been poping up on my Top 10 lists way too often.)

6 - Any of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich- Because you need some comedy while you're at the beach. Who doesn't want to bust out laughing at jokes that the people around them can't hear? I do, I do!!!

7 - Persuasion by Jane Austen - Because it's not that long. And though I believe most of Jane Austen's books include travel from one location or other, I've not read all of her books yet. But Persuasion actually has a beach/ocean location in the story. So, perfect beach read IMO.

8 - Divergent by Veronica Roth- This is just a series I can get sucked into. With the fast paced action, it is possible this could be an awesome beach book.

9 - Angel Burn by LA Weatherly - A quick read. Road trip with a hot angel-assassin. Count me in.

10 - The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan- Beach with Zombies. YAY! I know this is the 2nd in the series, but just read the first one before your trip. Or take it along and read both. Shoot, add the third if you've got time.

What do you guys think? What are your top 10 beach reads?

In My Mailbox - # 7

In My Mailbox is a weekly post hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren where bloggers can discuss the books we got in the mail this week.

What I Didn’t Say

By: Keary Taylor

Published: April 30th 2012 by CreateSpace

326 pages

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Goodreads description—Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat.

His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He’s been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it’s too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.

When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he’ll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn’t limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she’ll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe if she’ll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn’t say before, even if he can’t actually say it.

(Amazon | Goodreads)

God, Girls, and Guys: Answers to Questions on Dating and Relationships

By: Robin Marsh & Lauren Nelson

Expected Publication: August 1st 2012 by Harvest House Publishers

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Amazon description--Following their popular devotional for teen girls, God, Girls, and Getting Connected, award-winning news anchor Robin Marsh, and Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson, now help young women shape a healthy, biblical perspective on dating, emotions, and love.

With humor, Christ-centered counsel, and straight-talk to girls, Robin and Lauren share openly about their early dating misconceptions and their discovery of God’s Word as the best guide for every girl. Personal stories and relevant chapter topics encourage and empower young women to make smart, godly choices.

What is love?

How do I become the girl God wants me to be?

What does godly dating look like?

How far is too far?

What's he really thinking?

Does a perfect guy or perfect relationship exist?

This fresh resource honors the dreams and questions of today’s girl with a clear look at God’s hope for their heart.

(Amazon)

I plan to purchase Richelle Mead's The Golden Lily and Kristin Cashore's Fire this week. But I'll feature them more once I've actually bought them.

Graffiti Moon - Review

Graffiti Moon

By: Cath Crowley

Published: February 14th 2012 by Random House Children's Books

260 pages

Source: Won in Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop hosted by Kat @ The Aussie Zombie

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

(Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository)

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description—Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He’s out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy’s stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she’s managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they’re suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.

When I had the option to choose which book I wanted out of those available for the giveaway(The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Fine Art of Truth or Dare, Love and Leftovers, Wanderlove, Bittersweet, and Graffiti Moon), I looked them all up on Goodreads to see their descriptions and what others had rated them. While I originally thought I was going to pick The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, Graffiti Moon caught my attention with the synopsis, and not just that but it was rated higher than most of the other options as well. So I changed my mind at the last minute. And boy am I glad I did. I still want to read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, but I probably wouldn’t have sought out Graffiti Moon because I haven’t heard much hype about it.

Despite the decent ratings on Goodreads, I expected this book to be exactly what it sounds like. I wasn’t prepared for it to be so much more. Based on the synopsis, I wondered why in the world would Lucy just assume some guy who can paint graffiti is a guy she could fall for? I mean I get that he’s obviously talented, but the synopsis talks about birds and blue skies and I think to myself “what’s so special about that?”. But what the synopsis doesn’t tell you is that Lucy is an artist herself. AND that the way Shadow’s art is described in the book is so much more than birds and blue skies. Something about knowing Lucy is also an artist makes it more understandable how she could look at Shadow’s art and see his soul. But just some regular-Jane, non-artist person, I don’t know, that seemed kind of cooky.

And back to how Shadow’s art is described in the book…well…Cath Crowley does an excellent job of pulling you into this art-filled world. I’m not one of those people who can look at an art piece and get sucked into it. I can tell you if I think something is beautiful, quirky, or awesomely-weird, but I’m a surface kind of gal most of the time, blunt and to-the-point. But it was lovely to see Shadow’s art, and Lucy’s, through the eyes of an artist. And the words that Cath Crowley used to do so was done in a way that was nothing shy of art itself.

I’m not a huge poetry fan, though I do have an appreciation for it, and I can tell you what I like and dislike within the genre, but Poet’s words were pretty awesome too. More artistry.

The narration swaps back and forth between Ed and Lucy throughout the night, and Poet’s poetry is thrown in the mix as a separate form of narration. Sometimes the events overlapped. Like, Ed would have a chapter and when his chapter ended, Lucy’s picked up moments before his ended, so we get both perspectives on some moments. I liked this under this setting, but I can see where if I read books like this all the time, it might get old. I also liked how Cath Crowley didn’t give you 100% narration of the words said between the characters. Sometimes she just says “we talked about (insert subject)” and that’s all you really get. It leaves your imagination to play out the words for yourself. But again, too much of this would get old. I think she does it just enough so that you’re not annoyed.

The characters were also so much more real and deep than I expected based off the synopsis. Especially Ed. I do love a guy with talent. I love my kicking-butt-taking-names guys too, but I’m a sucker for an artist. It doesn’t matter if he draws, paints, sculpts, (all of which my actual husband has a talent for) or whether he plays the piano, guitar, sings, etc. Give me a guy with talent and soul and I’m hooked. Ed doesn’t disappoint and neither does Leo (Poet).

Overall I was much more impressed than I expected to be. I had a teacher in high school that told me once if a C-student exceeds your expectations on a paper, you might give him an A, and if an A-student doesn’t live up to your expectations you might give them a B or C, even if the A-student’s paper was better written than the C-students. If I were grading based off of expectations, I’d give this one 5 stars, but I am not. I’ll still give it 4 stars. Maybe even a 4.4. Check out Graffiti Moon, and let me know what you think.

Also, thanks again, to Kat @ The Aussie Zombie for hosting the giveaway that won me this book.

Armchair BEA 2012 - Ask the Experts

Today is day 5 (the final day) at Armchair BEA and today’s topic is ask the experts.

I don't feel as though I have enough knowledge about the blogging world yet to really give my own advice. But the one piece of advice I keep telling myself is that I don't have to keep up with everyone else. Being competitive as I am, I have to remind myself that there is no competition here. How fast someone else reads and how often they might be able to post has no bearing upon myself. I read at the pace I read, and I post at the pace that I post. That is all I can do, and trying to put pressure on myself to do more than what I might be capable of does no one any good. Least of all me.

Now, in the spirit of “no question is a dumb question”…

How do you balance reading, maintaining your blog, having a life, and having a full-time job (assuming you have a full-time job, most of the bloggers I’ve seen do)?

What specifically is a hop or a giveaway hop?

Do you have any tips about hosting a self-sponsored giveaway?

Is there any unspoken (or spoken) giveaway etiquette?

How do you generate sponsors for giveaways?

Do you usually make being a follower of your blog mandatory for entry to your giveaways?

What are your preferred methods for following other blogs?

What do you look for as determinants for following another blog? Or do you follow just about any blog you come across?

Do you read self-published works?

Are you partnered with other sites, your local indie bookstore, or library? If so, what do you accomplish by doing so?

Do you do guest posts for other bloggers? Or do you have others write guest posts for your blog?

Do you schedule your posts ahead of time? If so, how far ahead do you schedule them?

What are your blogging pet peeves?

I’m sure there are many, many more questions that I have, but I’ll settle for any answers you can give me to these for now. Thanks guys.

Armchair BEA 2012 - Beyond the Blog

It’s day 4 here at Armchair BEA and today’s topic is life beyond the blog. Making money through your blog, writing for other places and sites, and networking outside the book blog community.

Unfortunately, I have very little to add here. I do post my reviews of books with spiritual topics on my brother's site, Chasing A Lion and I've written an article for his site called, Prayer, The Perfect Communication. I do plan to write more articles for his site as topics come to me, but honestly, I haven't even had time to think about any other topic I want to write about.

I've really enjoyed creating this site and everything that has come along with it. And though I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had here, I can't think about adding anything extra at the moment. Sometimes my lack of patience would love nothing more than to skip through the learning process and get to the part where I know it all (as if that ever even happens), but then I remember that I would miss the journey. It'd be like reading the last 50 pages of a good book without reading any of the beginning, where we meet the characters or the middle where we experience their conflicts. And what reward is the ending without the other? So while one day I might find myself in a position of writing for other sites, organization, etc, or making money reading books and/or working this blog (wouldn't that be a crazy dream), for now, I'm enjoying the journey, I'm happy where I am, and I'm just soaking it in one piece of information at a time.