Month: May 2019

May 31
No Place Like Here by Christina June: Review & Giveaway

No Place Like Here by Christina June: Review & Giveaway

Giveaways (Ended), Reviews 24 ★★★★

Ashlyn has lived her life trying to measure up to her father’s expectations, but it’s always been a losing battle. So, even when he ends up in prison for tax evasion, he somehow still has a hold over her that she can’t quite break. She’s shipped off to work at a wilderness camp with her cousin—something she never would have chosen for herself—and she spends the summer wishing she could just go back home again. But the camp teaches her a few things about how capable she truly is, and she starts to realize that if she wants change, she’ll have to learn to speak up—as terrifying as that is for her. I felt for Ashlyn, and I could relate to her inability to speak up and her desperate need to avoid conflict. And I think almost any teen will understand Ashlyn’s sense of powerlessness in a situation that feels… Read more »

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May 29
Shred Girls by Molly Hurford: Review

Shred Girls by Molly Hurford: Review

Reviews 6 ★★★★

Girl Power at its best! Shred Girls follows Lindsay as she goes from shy superhero wannabe to BMX biker extraordinaire. Lindsay spends her time reading superhero comics and imagining a world where she defeats the supervillain, but in real life she feels like an outsider, never quite sure enough of herself to fit in. When her parents leave her with her older cousin Phoebe for the summer, Lindsay’s not sure what to think—after all, Phoebe’s always seemed like she’d fit the villain mold. But it turns out, Phoebe plans to teach Lindsay how to really fly—on a bike. Lindsay is both excited and nervous—but she might be even more terrified of making new friends. I loved that Lindsay gained confidence throughout the book, both in her riding and in her friendships. Neither subject was immediately easy for her, but she learned that, with a little persistence, she could be successful at… Read more »

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May 27
May 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up & Giveaway

May 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up & Giveaway

Giveaways (Ended), Make Me Read It, Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up 2

It’s time for the May Wrap-Up Round-Up!  The April giveaway ends soon, so head over there for your last chance to enter! This is the link-up AND giveaway for our May wrap-up posts. If you don’t already know about the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up, read the information below: Every month, at the end of the month, I’ll put up a monthly wrap-up link-up post where everyone can link up their month-end posts. There are no specific requirements for what needs to be in your post, as long as you have a book blog and your wrap-up summarizes your month in some way. The round-up will include a giveaway that encourages people to visit YOUR month end wrap-ups, giving entries for commenting and/or sharing. Anyone can participate in the giveaway—you won’t have to actually link up in order to participate. If you don’t already post a monthly wrap-up and want some ideas… Read more »

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May 25
Sunday (Saturday?) Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 5/26/19

Sunday (Saturday?) Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 5/26/19

Sunday Post 46

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): HA! Apparently, I don’t know what day of the week it is anymore because I had this post go up a day early (I think it’s because my daughter finished school Thursday and my husband took Friday off, so I kept thinking it was Saturday all day). Oh well, I’m leaving it. You all can enjoy my early Sunday this week! My mom and I volunteered at Bernie’s Book Bank again this week, only this time we got my daughter Danielle and my husband to come along too. (Jade would have come too, but someone had to be home… Read more »

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May 24
All the Little Checkboxes Confuse Me!! Let’s Discuss.

All the Little Checkboxes Confuse Me!! Let’s Discuss.

Let's Discuss 51

I have to start this post by saying that I’m not expecting anyone to do anything about this issue, and I don’t blame my fellow bloggers at all for my own state of checkbox confusion. I just need to vent for a minute!!! Ever since the disaster that was the new (or, no-longer-all-that-new) GDPR regulations, commenting on blogs has become a game of navigating a minefield of checkboxes. I mean, I get why they created these regulations, but for the average blogger, it’s just made our commenting lives a mess. I’ll admit it: I’m easily confused. Now every time I go to a blog to comment, I have to spend five minutes figuring out which of the fifty checkboxes I want to check, and I’m not too proud to admit that half the time I want to pull my hair out in frustration by the end! It doesn’t help that every blog… Read more »

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May 23
The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos: Excerpt & Giveaway

The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos: Excerpt & Giveaway

Giveaways (Ended) 12

Today I’m sharing an excerpt and giveaway for The Wise and the Wicked. Epic Reads aptly calls it a lush, dark, and unforgettable story of the power of the past to shape our futures—and the courage it takes to change them. I’m reading this one now, and I’m loving the LGBTQ rep in the book. For now, I’m sharing just a little taste of what you can expect with this story … EXCERPT FROM EPIC READS WEBSITE (Click the link to read even more—all the way through chapter 4) In an old house built of bloodred bricks, with a tea shop in the converted front rooms, there lived three sisters and their mother. Solnyshko, the eldest, was willow-tree tall and sweet. Zvyozdochka, the middle child, was beautiful and sharp as a cut diamond. The youngest, Zerkal’tse, was small but hard, like an unshelled nut. Each was different as could be… Read more »

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May 21
Bite-Sized Reviews of The Truth About Leaving, City of Ghosts, The Forever Song, & Educated

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Truth About Leaving, City of Ghosts, The Forever Song, & Educated

Reviews 22 ★★★★

I’ve got four reviews for you today: a YA contemporary, a MG contemporary fantasy, a YA fantasy and a memoir. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Lucy has spent her whole life living for other people: when her mom moves for work, she sacrifices her own time and energy to help take care of her little brothers; when it’s time to think about college, she doesn’t consider anywhere but where her parents want her to go; when her boyfriend wants more of her time, she quits dance, her one true outlet. She doesn’t know who she wants to be because she’s never given herself a chance to think about it—she just fills whatever roles are “assigned” to her in life. This book is about Lucy finding herself in a sea of other people’s expectations.  When Lucy meets Dov, her perceptions of the world… Read more »

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May 19
Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 5/19/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 5/19/19

Sunday Post 26

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): This week felt like a bit of a whirlwind. I ended up taking on another editing project. I had stopped editing for the past several months because I wanted to focus on writing, but I’ve been spending a lot of money on writing conferences and such lately, and I had just recently decided it might be a good time to jump back into editing. Well, this job fell into my lap shortly thereafter. It was far too perfect to pass up. (I also have another editing job in the pipeline that I’ll probably start in June. I don’t really… Read more »

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May 16
Have Books Ruined Me for Movies? Let’s Discuss.

Have Books Ruined Me for Movies? Let’s Discuss.

Let's Discuss 53

When I was younger, I LOVED going to the movies. I went often, and I especially loved Disney movies and the iconic teen movies that came out at that time (10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, Say Anything…, Heathers, Can’t Buy Me Love, Sixteen Candles, She’s All That, etc.). As I got older, my movie watching habit slowed WAY down. A lot of it just had to do with how much it cost—it always seemed like there were better ways to spend that money, and we’d occasionally rent something but it got harder and harder to find movies that everyone wanted to see (or even that my husband and I were both really interested in). When my kids were little, we often went to see the newest animated features, but other than that, my movie excursions were rare. Lately, I’ve started watching more movies again. It started because of… Read more »

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May 15
Shipwreckers by Scott D. Peterson & Josh Pruett: Review & Giveaway

Shipwreckers by Scott D. Peterson & Josh Pruett: Review & Giveaway

Giveaways (Ended), Reviews 6 ★★★★½

This book is a hilarious and perilous adventure, filled with action, goofy puns, and a nice helping of heart. When I read the author’s bios and saw that they write for kids’ TV, it all made so much sense–the book reads like an animated movie. It’s full of larger-than-life characters who make you laugh out loud (Captain Kevin Adventureson is incredibly clueless and yet full of himself, but he still manages to be lovable at the same time) and the kind of hold-your-breath swashbuckling adventures that keep you turning the pages. I promise you will never get bored when you read this book. But it doesn’t feature all that action at the expense of character development–I especially loved Mike’s journey toward understanding that it’s okay to take risks sometimes. He’s always been cautious and overprotective of his little sister Dani, especially since she got hurt when he was supposed to be… Read more »

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