Mar 17
Sunday Post: Book Pre-Order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 3/17/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-Order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 3/17/19

Sunday Post 14

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. This past week on FYFA (and in my life): My MG bookcase is coming along very nicely. I still have some random books on the bottom shelf (and some adult classics on top, which will probably stay there), and I still have some more MG books floating around the house, but I’m pretty happy with the way this bookcase is turning out. Take a look: More track meets this week. My daughter Danielle managed to get her PR in high jump at 4’5″ on Thursday. I’m kind of in awe of her–not because she’s a top athlete necessarily (she placed 5th at our conference meet for JV)–but because… Read more »

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Mar 14
The Challenge of Running a Successful Meme (or Challenge!)

The Challenge of Running a Successful Meme (or Challenge!)

Blogging Tips, Let's Discuss 34

This post actually first appeared as a guest post over at 125 Pages a few years ago, but I thought I’ve probably learned a few lessons since then, and it might be a good idea to update it and post it here. In case you’re not aware, I run the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up and the Book Blog Discussion Challenge. Both of these have been very rewarding – especially the discussion challenge, which is definitely my proudest accomplishment as a blogger. It’s been a huge success, and better yet, I’ve made so many great connections with bloggers via the challenge! But what does it take to make a meme or challenge really work? How do you get it started? How do you get people interested in it? And then how do you keep people excited about it so it doesn’t fizzle out?  Well, I don’t claim to be an expert… Read more »

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Mar 11
The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord: A Dual Review with Danielle Hammelef

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord: A Dual Review with Danielle Hammelef

Dual Reviews, Reviews 12 ★★★★

(No actual dueling—or even arm-twisting—was involved. Don’t worry, this is a dual review, not a duel review. Sorry if you’re disappointed.) Danielle Hammelef was the latest winner of my Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up “Make Me Read It” giveaway, and she chose to make me read The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord. I’ve been wanting to read more Lord ever since I read (and LOVED) The Names They Gave Us, so I was excited about this selection! I read the book and then sent it along to Danielle, and we did a dual review together. Read on to see what we thought of the book… This book is a wonderful contemporary romance with a strong focus on friendships and a hearty dose of lovable, nerdy characters. Both Danielle and I really enjoyed it! What Fed Our Addiction: NICOLE SAYS: An unexpected romance. I love that Paige finds a romance she isn’t looking… Read more »

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Mar 10
Sunday Post: Book Pre-Order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 3/10/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-Order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 3/10/19

Sunday Post 47

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. This past week on FYFA (and in my life): Nothing new to say this week. I’ve still been working on organizing my MG bookshelf, but I don’t have a new pic yet. Spent lots of time at track meets this past week. And on doing homework with the kiddos. It’s been rainy here, but I’ll take that over snow!! Here’s what you may have missed on the blog since my last Sunday Post: Always lots of posts at the end/beginning of the month! Bite-Sized Reviews of Song for a Whale, A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean, The Color of Lies, and The Lunar Chronicles The… Read more »

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Mar 09
Bite-Sized Reviews of The Revenge of Magic, Hey, Kiddo, and Born a Crime

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Revenge of Magic, Hey, Kiddo, and Born a Crime

Reviews 22

I’ve got three reviews for you today: a Middle Grade fantasy, a MG/YA graphic novel, and a YA memoir audiobook. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book is filled with action and adventure right from the very start, and I flew through it! The story follows Fort, who witnesses his father’s death when a giant claw reaches up through the ground and pulls him under. When he’s offered the chance to learn magic and get revenge on those responsible, he jumps at it. But he soon discovers that things aren’t as simple as they seem and there are lots of people at his new school hoping he’ll fail. And, of course, that makes us root for him even harder, knowing that his teachers have put him up against practically impossible odds. Throughout the story, we get clues about the mysterious voice in… Read more »

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Mar 07
The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton – Excerpt & Giveaway

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton – Excerpt & Giveaway

Current Giveaways 6

Today I’m sharing an excerpt and giveaway for The Everlasting Rose, the highly-anticipated sequel to The Belles (you can see my review for the first book by clicking the link). I just received this book last night, and I can’t wait to jump into it! Watch for my review, coming soon. For now, I’m tiding you over with this little taste of what’s to come… EXCERPT ONE, p 4 – 5 “I have something more important to show you . . .something that will help us when we leave this place.” She’s shaky and casts nervous glances at the door. “I’ve been waiting until we were alone.” “What is it?” I turn away from the maps. “Watch.” Edel closes her eyes, concentrating so hard she looks minutes from laying a golden egg. Veins swell beneath her white skin and a red blush sets into her cheeks. The pale blond hair… Read more »

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Mar 06
Bite-Sized Reviews of Song for a Whale, A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean, The Color of Lies, and The Lunar Chronicles

Bite-Sized Reviews of Song for a Whale, A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean, The Color of Lies, and The Lunar Chronicles

Reviews 14

I’ve got four reviews for you today: two Middle Grades, a YA, and a YA series . I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This is one of those books that takes you into the heart and mind of a character whose experiences you might not be able to completely relate to—and you come out all the richer for it in the end. The story focuses on Iris, a Deaf girl who struggles to communicate with many of the people around her and to find her place in a world that doesn’t seem to know how to define her. When she learns of a whale with a similar issue, Blue 55, who can’t communicate with other whales, she makes it her mission in life to let him know there’s someone out there who understands him. I connected to Iris right away, even when I… Read more »

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Mar 03
Sunday Post: Book Pre-Order Incentives & Giveaways Galore – 3/3/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-Order Incentives & Giveaways Galore – 3/3/19

Sunday Post 55

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. This past week on FYFA (and in my life): Not much new to tell you this week. I think I’m all out of interesting news for now. (If by some chance, you’ve been away and haven’t seen the exciting news I’ve been shouting about, check it out.)  🙂 I have been working on reorganizing my bookshelves now that I’ve gotten rid of a lot of homeschooling books. I’m working on gathering up all my MG books so they’ll be together (right now they’re all spread out and/or in my kids’ rooms). For now, I have them with my classics. Here’s where I’m at so far: Here’s what you… Read more »

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Mar 01
February 2019 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch

February 2019 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch

Best of the Bunch, Monthly Recap 59

  My Goings On in February: I SIGNED WITH A LITERARY AGENT!!! Which I’m sure you already know because I have no chill and I’ve been shouting it from every rooftop. Does the rest of the month even matter? I mean, I guess I’ll go ahead and tell you a few other things that happened, but… I celebrated my 45th birthday on the 11th. My mom and I went to see Dear Evan Hansen the Musical. It was awe-inspiring, and I just want to go see musicals every week now. Okay, that’s unreasonable. Every month? I went on a field trip to the Holocaust Museum with my son’s class. It reminded me how very precious life is and how easy it is for people to ignore other people’s suffering. I attended lots of writing groups and events (check out my Sunday Posts if you want to see what they all… Read more »

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Mar 01
March 2019 Discussion Challenge & Giveaway

March 2019 Discussion Challenge & Giveaway

Book Blog Discussion Challenge, Current Giveaways 1

Welcome to the March monthly link-up for the 2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight! As usually happens at the start of a new year, we’ve been getting all sorts of fantastic bookish discussions rolling in. Don’t stop now! You’re doing great! (And if discussions fell off your radar in January and February, you can always get back into gear now.) The winner of our January discussion challenge giveaway was Jane @ Janepedia. She was supposed to choose a book with NEW in the title (to help celebrate the new year) and she chose Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent. Hope you love it, Jane! If you don’t know what this challenge is all about or haven’t signed up yet (but want to), head on over to the challenge sign-up page to learn more! Even if you’d rather not… Read more »

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