Welcome to blogmas day 24!
For today I don't really have any post planned since we shouldn't spend this day chillin' online but rather with our families and/or friends, right? So for today I only want to say Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you're having a wonderful festive time, get lots and lots of amazing presents, even though we should remember that Christmas shouldn't be about the presents we get but about the time spent with those we love. I am thankful for each and every one of you, for reading my blog and following me on twitter and checking out my book, Petty Little Lives.
I'm going to go now, get ready for Christmas Eve, all the food I plan on consuming and the christmas music in form of a loop of All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?
Have a wonderful Christmas everybody and I will see you tomorrow for my blogmas wrap up!
Welcome to Blogmas day 8!
Today I have put together a list of books that I think would make amazing christmas presents. I tried to have two options for each of the seven categories, resulting in 15 different books, and I hope I could help out at least one of you seeking for good recommendations. These are all YA books, since that's what I primarily read.
#1 - A book for that friend who loves contemporary books and music
For the Record by Charlotte Huang - This book is amazing. This book not only has a really amazing plot line and character, but it literally takes you on tour with a rock band through the eyes of the protagonist, who happens to be the new lead singer of said band. I've read, loved and reviewed this book a couple of months ago so I think it is a perfect mix of music and a
contemporary read. (review)
This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales - This one is another amazing read that includes the love for DJing, which is something I've not read about in YA before I had picked up this one. It has sad moments, and the protagonist has a sad past, but it is never written about in that classical sobfest type of way. I really enjoyed this one so, if you have DJ friend who likes books, try this one.
#2 - A book for that friend of yours that loves unreliable narrators
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - How could I do a recommendations list and not include Mara Dyer? This is my favorite trilogy of all because it is the perfect blend of unreliable narrator, a sizzling romance, and an intriguing story. Mara is an amazing narrator, even though you will doubt everything she tells you, making this read lots of fun. It also holds a dash
of paranormal in form of teens with powers, but not in some silly cliche way, trust me, this is a good one!
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia - This is one of my favorite books of 2015 and features the ultimate unreliable narrator, Alex. She is a great protagonist, despite how unreliable she is, and her mental illness in portrayed perfectly and believably. The characters in this one are quirky and intriguing, so despite dealing with a hard topic this book still offered a lot of fun and humorous moments. (review)
#3 - That friend who loves books that tackle important topics
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio - This book is about a girl who discovers that she is intersex, the first book I've ever read that talked about this topic, eve though it is so incredibly important. The book perfectly mixes informations regarding what intersex is and how you can live with it, how to accept it and so on, and a contemporary read offering a wonderful story with amazing characters. This book is extremely important so I think, if you have a friend who likes books with hard topics, definitely choose this one asap. If you're interested here is my review and interview with the author, it might help you figure out if this is the book for you.
Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara - This book takes on the complicated topic of grief and takes us along a journey during which the protagonist tries to deal with her grief, find her way back into life, even though it's definitely not the easiest of things to do. This book is incredibly realistic, emotional and important, in my opinion. In addition it looks lovely on a bookshelf thanks to that gorgeous cover. (review)
Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Klinger - Teenage suicide, it's all around us but people seem to speak about it was too rarely, especially in connection to school and pressure coming from your family. I think books dealing with these topics are incredibly important since they show how damaging growing up with constant pressure coming from your family, pushing you to your limits when it comes to school and extracurricular activities, taking away your childhood and free time, can be. Besides that, Paint My Body Red offers an amazing story and brilliant characters, a wonderful blend between hard topics and a summer that changes lives. (review)
#4 - That friend that wants to get into fantasy
Throne of Glass by Sara J. Maas - This was the first fantasy book I read after years of thinking that fantasy isn't for me. I enjoyed it a lot and was drawn into the world and characters, their stories and all the different things that were happening in this book. Sure, it didn't necessarily make me want to read more fantasy novels,
but that's simply because fantasy truly isn't my thing, but there are thousands of people that swear that this series is amazing so I'm sure it's definitely worth giving a try.
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch - This one is another truly intriguing one that features a fantasy world split up in kingdom separated by seasons. Our protagonist and her friends belong to the fallen kingdom of Winter and try to win back their kingdom and its magic. It sounds awesome and the cover is gorgeous so why not try this one?
#5 - That friend that's into sci-fi reads
Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn - Imagine a future in which your future self sends you back a single memory that shows you the life you are facing, be it a career in acting, sport or cooking. Now imagine the memory you receive doesn't show you a career but you committing a crime, a murder. If this doesn't sound intriguing, I don't know what does. The world in which the story plays is great and the characters are intriguing and three dimensional, and the romance is incredibly well executed. This is a great sci-fi read on a somewhat milder end of the sci-fi spectrum, perfect for those who want to get into sci-fi and those who already love the genre. (review)
Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman - This book is amazing and incredibly unique in so many ways. Not only does the story feature an interesting plot, the most unique formatting and story telling way I've ever seen, but also a crazy AI and amazing characters. I could not put this book down while I read the ARC on my iPad and I cannot wait to hold the hardcover version in my hands. I could go on and on about how brilliant this book is and why you should definitely get it, but I will leave it at saying that this is definitely the perfect pick for sci-fi fans. (review)
#6 - That friend that likes mysterious reads
Bone Deep by Kim O'Brien - This book takes you along a journey onto archeological digging grounds where the protagonist, Paige, tries to figure out what happened to her friend Emily and why she disappeared. This book also contained a beautiful touch of Native American stories woven into it which only makes it more intriguing. The twist at the end is amazing and I definitely didn't see it coming, the romance is nice but doesn't take up too much space in the story.
So, if your friend likes murder-mystery books with a spin to them, this might be the right one for them. (review)
Never, Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher - This book, or rather the two current available novels that will form a complete book once the third one will be out, was written by two amazing authors who managed to create one hell of a mysterious and intriguing story that will leave you craving for more, along with powerful cliffhangers. Each time I picked one of the two up I couldn't out them away until I was done reading. So, if you're looking for a book that blends mystery with a dash of romance this one is exactly what you are looking for. (review)
#7 - That friend that likes summer contemporaries
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - I really, really enjoyed this book when I read it back in 2014. It has an amazing story and takes the reader along a road trip across the US where we get to see many interesting places through the eyes
of the protagonist, Amy. This is a perfect summer read that I hope to re-read next summer, simply because it was just that good. Besides, Morgan Matson is a great author with an addictive quality to her writing style.
Petty Little Lives by Alice Reeds - Yap, that's my book. It's a summer read so I took myself the freedom to include it on this list, in case your friends have not checked it out yet, or you didn't know about it. This one is all about summer, the value of family, overcoming differences and finding love in unexpected places. So for most of the reviewers quite liked it so maybe your friend will like it too.
And this is it, those are all the books I prepared for you. As you can see I've read most of them, so be reassured that they are good ones, in my opinion. I hope I could help some of you out and if you think you have any other valuable recommendation you'd like to add, leave them in the comments below or tweet them at me, @Alice_Reeds.
Hey guys!
Just like the title suggests I have some exciting things to tell you about. They always say that an idea for a novel, or any kind of story, can be born out of virtually everything and anything, I agree with that. Around the beginning of 2015 I suddenly had this name in my head, this quite different name, and I knew that I wanted to come up with a history for that name, create the person which belongs to it. At first it was only something I was doing in my head for the fun of it, but soon the name grew into something much bigger.
More names joined, more information’s started to appear and suddenly all these characters had lives and histories, childhood memories and goals. Suddenly this name in my mind had turned into an entire story I felt the need to tell and share.
A could of weeks late I had around 35.000 words down, the entire story planned out but I was stuck. It's hard to explain what I mean by that, how one can be stuck despite knowing exactly where you are going and which way you need to take, but I suddenly lost my connection to the story. The April round of Camp NaNoWriMo was coming up and I originally planned to finish the book during that time but suddenly I faced the fact that I couldn't. So I did what I always do, I started a different story to get a break and a step back. A couple of days into Camp NaNoWriMo the spark had returned and well before the end of April the story was complete. The first draft of my fourth book had been born.
I spent the next weeks working on it, re-writing passages that I felt were not quite there yet, edited and revised it until I was happy with the way it was, until I felt that that was it, that was the story I wanted to tell and it was the way I wanted to do it.
Next followed the part that anyone who ever wrote a book with the dream of being published had to go through: querying.
For those who don't know what a query is: a query is a type of e-mail you send out to agents, and publishers, in order of raising their interest and, ultimately, pulling them on your side. The better your query, the better your chances, though of course a good query isn't everything, your story needs to be good, too.
And then the unimaginable happened. A month prior to my birthday I told a friend just how brilliant it would be to get a publishing deal before my 21st birthday thinking that it was something that would never happen, because I didn't think I would be just that lucky. I was wrong. I signed a publishing deal with Limitless Publishing on the day of my 21st birthday.
Now, weeks later, I'm here to tell you guys about it all, have a little chat, story time style. I don't want to tell you too much about the story yet, because the release is still a good two months or more away, but I can tell you that it is a YA contemporary dealing with finding who you really are, overcoming differences, the importance of family and friends, and finding love in times and places you'd least expect it. I know, quite different from what I previously wrote. The title changed two times before the final one has been decided, it changed from two words, to five and finally landed on three: Petty Little Lives.
The title has a lot of meaning when it comes to the story, which is really nice. It might seem simple, maybe even a tiny bit weird, but once you guys will read it you'll understand the meaning behind it.
Lastly, Petty Little Lives is set to be released on August 18th 2015. It doesn't have a cover yet, nor does it have a goodreads page, but I will update you guys on everything that is happening along the way. I am really excited to finally have a book being published by an actual publishing house with professional cover designers, editors, formatters and people who believed that my story is worth being told. I am also really excited, and only a tin bit nervous, when I think of the day you guys will be able to read it. I know I didn't tell you much yet about the story, but it's all coming soon!
Before I will end this post I want to share the name with you which sparked it all, and also the second one which joined in days later: Roxanna Revolution and her cousin Sapphire Hope. I like names that are different, which I'm sure you've noticed by now.
Anyway, that is all for today. I hope you guys are just as excited as I am for Petty Little Lives as I am.
Cheerio!
