Jul 19
Goodreads’ Mid-Year Book Lists. Let’s Discuss.

Goodreads’ Mid-Year Book Lists. Let’s Discuss.

Let's Discuss 14

Annemieke over at A Dance with Books mentioned Goodreads’ mid-year book lists, and I thought it might be fun to do a quick post about them. The Best Books of the Year (So Far) Goodreads put together this list using a combination of popularity (on the most shelves) and rating. They listed a few books in each category: Fiction, Mystery & Thriller, Young Adult, Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, and Fantasy & Science Fiction. Not surprisingly, I haven’t read any books on any of the lists except Young Adult. BUT I was surprised to see that there are some other books on the list I’m actually interested in. Fiction: I’ll probably read Still Me at some point. I read and enjoyed Me Before You, but I never did get around to After You. I’d like to finish the series. Mystery & Thriller: I don’t read mysteries OR thrillers, so imagine my… Read more »

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Jul 16
Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen: Review & Giveaway

Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen: Review & Giveaway

Current Giveaways, Reviews 8 ★★★★½

This sequel was actually a whole lot different than the first book, and I was happy about that (even though I really loved Nyxia). It felt less like a continuation and more like a whole new story—which made sense since the Genesis kids were now on a whole new planet. Read on to find out why I loved it… What Fed My Addiction: A family. The competition aspect of the first book was completely gone in book two, and I was very happy about that since it was my least favorite part of book one. Not only was there no more direct competition (with points and such), but the whole group came together as one. Emmett talks about Genesis as his family, and that’s truly how they feel. With one minor exception, the group comes together and bonds in an extraordinary way. I found myself loving each and every character. Emmett…. Read more »

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Jul 15
Sunday Post: Pre-order Deals and Giveaways Galore – 7/15/18

Sunday Post: Pre-order Deals and Giveaways Galore – 7/15/18

Sunday Post 17

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 report this week, except that I’ll be heading out on vacation in Michigan (the UP) from the 21st – 28th, so I probably won’t update the blog during that time. Here’s what you may have missed on the blog since my last Sunday Post: The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag The WIFYR Workshop Experience Bite-Sized Reviews of Kiss of the Royal, Fukusha Model Eight, and Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries: Here are the birthdays and blogoversaries for the next two weeks! (Since I might not put up a Sunday Post next… Read more »

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Jul 14
Bite-Sized Reviews of Kiss of the Royal, Fukusha Model Eight, and Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe

Bite-Sized Reviews of Kiss of the Royal, Fukusha Model Eight, and Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe

Reviews 6 ★★★★

I’ve got three reviews for you today, one YA fantasy, one adult sci-fi, and one YA contemporary. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! I really enjoyed this fresh take on fairy tales. The book takes place in a world where a Kiss holds power to fight evil. It’s used as a weapon in war, completely devoid of the outdated concept of love. But there is a faction of people (the Romantics) who have rebelled—they believe that the kiss is being misused, that the meaning of True Love’s Kiss is much more important (and more powerful) than a kiss being used in war. I loved seeing Ivy’s views on the possibility of love change and grow—and her understanding of her way of life evolve as she learns that many of her basic beliefs are not only wrong, they’re dangerous. The romance is sweet, if… Read more »

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Jul 13
The WIFYR Workshop Experience

The WIFYR Workshop Experience

Let's Discuss, WIFYR, Writing Tips 11

Illustration Credit: Ginny Tilby I’ve had a couple of people ask about how the WIFYR workshop worked, so I thought I’d explain the process. This is the first workshop I’ve done, but from what I’ve heard from others, it’s pretty typical of the way writing workshops are run. (Though sometimes they might have a more specific genre or age range focus. And I’m sure there are some that are handled differently.) Preparation: There were 12 writers in my workshop. All of the novels submitted were either YA or MG. They could be any genre. (We had two MG blends of fantasy and contemporary—like mine, one MG fantasy, two YA historicals, two YA paranormals, two YA fantasies, a YA dystopian, a YA contemporary, and a YA retelling—which was actually a short story.) For this particular workshop, we exchanged the first 6000 words of our books (approximately 20 pages) for critique. (There were… Read more »

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Jul 11
The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag

The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag

Let's Discuss, Tags 36

I saw this tag first over at Read All the Things, but it’s been around for years and it’s making its way around the blogosphere! Best book you’ve read so far in 2018? Aru Shah and the End of Time is definitely my favorite MG I’ve read this year. This book has such gorgeous writing and the best MG voice I’ve ever read. It’s the kind of book that makes me wonderfully happy and weep in jealousy at the same time.  🙂 YA is harder, but I’m going with A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews. It’s really hard not to be biased here because it’s Cait, guys (and no matter how hard we try to check our biases at the door when we review, it can’t be done completely).  But I just loved this story. It broke my heart and featured Cait’s beautiful writing and it was just wonderful.   Best sequel you’ve… Read more »

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Jul 08
Sunday Post: Pre-order Deals & Giveaways Galore – 7/8/18

Sunday Post: Pre-order Deals & Giveaways Galore – 7/8/18

Sunday Post 42

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 oldest turned 16 on Monday! We celebrated Jade’s and my nieces’ and nephew’s birthdays on the 4th (my twin nieces were born 10 hours after Jade and my nephew is three years younger, but he was born on the 11th). My sister-in-law got a cake that said, “Happy birthday Jade, Krista, Molly, America, and Spencer.” It was pretty funny. I’ve been working on updating my rating system this week. (If you’re wondering why, read about it HERE.) Since I’ve been using worded ratings instead of star ratings, I added a little key to my sidebar. I’ve also been working… Read more »

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Jul 07
May/June Wrap-Up Round-Up “Make Me Read It” Giveaway

May/June Wrap-Up Round-Up “Make Me Read It” Giveaway

Current Giveaways, Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up 4

I created this giveaway to encourage people to visit people’s wrap-ups. There are entries for commenting on the wrap-up posts in the link-up. I didn’t end up posting the giveaway for May because I was too involved in getting ready for the WIFYR conference, so this month’s giveaway will include entries for comments on both May and June wrap-up posts. The last winner was Lily M., who chose Warcross by Marie Lu. Congrats, Lily!! The Link-Up Check out the May and June wrap-up posts in the linkies below. These are the posts that can be used for the giveaway. Didn’t have a chance to link up your June wrap-up post? That’s okay—you can still link up until the giveaway is over! May: An InLinkz Link-up June: The giveaway is open to everyone! You don’t have to link up to the wrap-up round-up to be eligible. The Make Me Read It Giveaway For this… Read more »

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Jul 05
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews: Review & Giveaway

A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews: Review & Giveaway

Current Giveaways, Reviews 33 ★★★★★

Oh, guys, I had such high hopes for this book, and I am thrilled that it lived up to every single one of them! What Fed My Addiction: Be prepared to be put through the wringer. This isn’t an easy book, by any means. At points it’s downright traumatizing. You should just prepare now to have your heart ripped out and stomped on. (I love it when a book does this!) Beautiful writing. The writing flows beautifully, and I loved the gorgeous and understated use of metaphor. Plus, you can tell that Cait is a pianist herself because the way she describes Beck’s playing is masterful. The characters. There aren’t any undeveloped characters in this book. Every one makes an impression. Even the characters we hate (i.e. Beck’s mom) have a developed backstory that helps us understand them. I fell in love with Beck almost instantly (and his marshmallow of a little sister). The dialogue. Cait… Read more »

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Jul 03
June 2018 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch

June 2018 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch

Best of the Bunch, Monthly Recap 32

  My Goings On in June: I attended the WIFYR writing workshop and conference!! And I learned so much. If you are a writer, I highly suggest workshopping your book. Not only do you learn from people’s comments about your own book, you also learn a lot from analyzing other people’s work and discussing it. I LOVED the whole experience! Lots of camp (for the kids). My oldest went to iDTech camp for a week for AI/machine learning (which, for me, mostly meant lots of driving, since it was a day camp). The camp itself was great, but the class was brand new and not so well thought-out. BUT iDTech is pretty amazing because when I expressed my disappointment, they gave me a full refund (including the money I spent on lunch, etc.). Since she loved the camp itself, we’re definitely going to give it another try. In addition, my two younger kids went away… Read more »

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