Armchair BEA - Young Adult

And it's time for the last Armchair BEA post.

I had lots of fun and will probably participate again next year (unless by some miracle I will be visiting the real BEA ;-)

Today's topic is Young Adult. I will confess I wasn't feeling creative when I tried to come up with a post, so here are 4 YA books that will release later this year, and that I'm really looking forward to reading.


Rain (Paper Gods #2)by Amanda Sun

American Katie Green has decided to stay in Japan. She's started to build a life in the city of Shizuoka, and she can't imagine leaving behind her friends, her aunt and especially Tomohiro, the guy she's fallen in love with. But her return is not as simple as she thought. She's flunking out of Japanese school and committing cultural faux pas wherever she goes. Tomohiro is also struggling—as a Kami, his connection to the ancient gods of Japan and his power to bring drawings to life have begun to spiral out of control.

When Tomo decides to stop drawing, the ink finds other ways to seep into his life—blackouts, threatening messages and the appearance of unexplained sketches. Unsure how to help Tomo, Katie turns to an unexpected source for help—Jun, her former friend and a Kami with an agenda of his own. But is Jun really the ally he claims to be? In order to save themselves, Katie and Tomohiro must unravel the truth about Tomo's dark ancestry, as well as Katie's, and confront one of the darkest gods in Japanese legend.




Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy #3) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Who will be the sacrifice?

Kami has lost the boy she loves, is tied to a boy she does not, and faces an enemy more powerful than ever before. With Jared missing for months and presumed dead, Kami must rely on her new magical link with Ash for the strength to face the evil spreading through her town.

Rob Lynburn is now the master of Sorry-in-the-Vale, and he demands a death. Kami will use every tool at her disposal to stop him. Together with Rusty, Angela, and Holly, she uncovers a secret that might be the key to saving the town. But with knowledge comes responsibility—and a painful choice. A choice that will risk not only Kami’s life, but also the lives of those she loves most.

This final book in the Lynburn Legacy is a wild, entertaining ride from beginning to shocking end.




Mortal Danger (Immortal Game #1) by Ann Aguirre

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn't imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She's not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he's impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes, and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly... bad things are happening. It's a heady rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil's bargains, she isn't sure who—or what--she can trust. Not even her own mind...




Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson

A year ago Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction — and taking the life of Dovey's best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.

But recently she's started to believe she's seeing things that can't be real ... including Carly at their favorite cafe. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.

As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah — where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk — she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.

Dovey's running out of time and torn between two paths. Will she trust her childhood friend Baker, who can't see the threatening darkness but promises to never give up on Dovey and Carly? Or will she plot with the sexy stranger, Isaac, who offers all the answers — for a price? Soon Dovey realizes that the danger closing in has little to do with Carly ... and everything to do with Dovey herself.

Armchair BEA - Zombies

Today I could pick my own topic, so of course I picked zombies!
The below post was (mostly) posted before in 2011 at Ex-Libris as a guest post.


I’m a big fan of zombies. Zombie book, movies, games: I can’t get enough of them.

I will confess I bought some books purely because there was a mention of zombies on the back.

But it has to be a specific kind of zombie for me. A real zombie to me is an undead, rotting monster with a craving for brains or flesh. A real zombie is the enemy, the evil that has to be fought. No people falling in love with zombies and vice versa for me (apart from the rare exception).

So why zombies?

Zombies are almost always equal to a great, exciting story. I mean: “Plague/virus/whatever kills off a lot of humans, but they rise again as undead monsters hungry for the flesh of those who survived the plague” is a plot that is difficult to turn into something boring (although it can be done sadly enough) and lends itself as a perfect backdrop for any kind of story.

Let me give you a few examples.


100 Days in Deadland by Rachel Aukes
This is a totally awesome Post Apocalyptic read that I can advice to anyone who loves a good zombie story. It has so much emotion and a gritty, action-packed story. That it's a remake of Dante's Inferno is a bonus, but believe me: you don't need to have read it to enjoy and love this book.

Soulless by Christopher Golden
Sure there are zombies and they’re doing their best to eat their way through humanity in a gruesome way, but above all this Young Adult book is about human nature and how people act in a crisis, about what makes one person a hero and another a coward.

Once Bitten, Twice Dead by Bianca D’Arc
The action storyline of this Paranormal Romance is all about fighting zombies hungry for human flesh, but in between the fighting and surviving there’s some hot romance, maybe even more intense because of the danger the lead characters face.


Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A.E. Moorat
In between the werewolves, demons and bloody zombie mayhem there are some very interesting historical facts to discover.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Zombies are just the thing that can convince your zombie loving friends to finally read this all time classic. There's also a graphic novel made out of this book, for those who love to have some visuals to go with the story.

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
This post-apocalyptic Young Adult story is filled with zombies, but apart from that it’s a beautiful story about family and how a 15 year old boy finds his place in life.

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So there you go: Everything is better with zombies!

Seriously: If you like lots of action and excitement, if you aren’t afraid to be a little disturbed by what you read, if you want a story that holds you on the edge of your seat: you really should consider picking up a zombie book.


And you?
Is there a creature or trope you can't get enough of?

Armchair BEA - Beyond the Borders

Today’s topic is about diversity.


As I mentioned in my post about graphic novels earlier this week: one of my first heroines was Yoko Tsuno, a young Japanese electro mechanic, who has exciting adventures both in space and on earth. I still reread the Yoko Tsuno series by Roger Leloup regularly.

What I’m trying to say is that from a very young age I was encouraged to read anything that I might find interesting. I grew up reading about different cultures, people leading different lives, and far away places.

So for me it’s hard to tell you what book, or character that was very different from me opened my eyes to diversity. In my mind it has always been a part of my reading life.

I do confess that I notice diversity is not common. I have grumbled about YA heroines always being either a feisty redhead or a perfect blonde. I have questioned why there are so few different heroines.

I recently counted how many books I’ve read this year that featured a PoC lead character (PoC = Person of Color). Out of 63 books, 4 had a PoC lead character. I will confess I didn’t dare count how many of those books had a redheaded or blonde lead character, because I’m afraid of the answer ;-)


So yes:
Diversity is something that deserves attention.
Here are some suggested reads:


Dark Oracle and Rogue Oracle by Alayna Williams
The hero is Asian.

The Last Herald Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
The lead character is gay.
This trilogy deals a lot with how the lead character tries to come to terms with being gay, but other books by Lackey have gay characters that are secure in their sexuality.

Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
A romanticized, but powerful and interesting story about the Comanche.

The Mercy Thompson series, or the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs
Both series have lead characters that are part Native American


The Blood of Eden trilogy by Julie Kagawa
The lead character is Asian

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Got any suggestions for me?
What books should I add to my wishlist?

Armchair BEA - Giveaway

You can't have a big book event without a chance to get a free book.

Make sure to visit the Armchair BEA site for lots of cool giveaways!



When I was scheduling my giveaway for Armchair BEA, I pondered what book I'd pick for my giveaway. Jessica from Notes of a Book Lover suggested City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare.

As I'm currently reading the Mortal Instrument series (I'm on book 2) that seemed like a good idea, but still I wanted to also promote books that I have read and really love.

So here's the deal:

You can chose from the following books:

City of Heavenly Fire By Cassandra Clare
One of the other Mortal Instrument books
The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle
The Outside by Laura Bickle
The Mark of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy

I will be honest and confess I think you should pick a book by Laura Bickle or Jeffe Kennedy, but it's up to you. Make sure to click the links to go to my reviews if you want to know more before making your decision.

The rules:

One person will win one of the above mentioned books (winner's choice)

- Fill in the form here to enter the giveaway.
- Leave a comment on this post telling me which book you want to win, or which book you think I should read, or something like that, to earn 1 extra entry in the giveaway
- Do so before June 9th 2014 (I will pick a winner soon after that date)
- Open to anyone who's legally allowed to enter this giveaway and lives somewhere the bookdepository ships to.

Winner will be contacted by email and posted in this blog post.

The winner is Debby! An email has been sent to notify her.

Armchair BEA - Short Stories

I’m a big fan of anthologies, especially themed ones that contain short stories by lots of different authors.

It’s the perfect way to read short stories with a theme that speaks to me, and to discover new-to-me authors. I have found several authors this way, and still have some on my list that I should investigate further.

I will list three anthologies that I really enjoyed:


Imaginary Friends - edited by John Marco and Martin H. Greenberg

I love this anthology. Most of the stories in it are enjoyable if not beautiful. This anthology introduced my to Anne Bishop. Her short story Stands a God Within the Shadows is still the most beautiful and captivating story I’ve read from her to this day. I reread it a lot.




Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre
edited by Paula Guran 

This Halloween themed anthology contains so many gems. Out of the 18 stories in this book I loved 14 of them, so it is well worth the read. My two favorite stories are From Dust by Laura Bickle and The Halloween Men by Maria V. Snyder.




Shards and Ashes - Anthology
by Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Veronica Roth, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder, Beth Revis and Carrie Ryan

An anthology with Dystopian stories!
There should be more anthologies with this theme in my opinion.
I did add Beth Revis and Kami Garcia on my radar after reading this book.



Do you know any themed anthologies you think I should give a try?

Armchair BEA - Expanding Blogging Horizons

Today's topic is about how I've expanded on my blogging by redesigning my blog, or vlogging, or working on a story to get publshed, etc...

Well, I’m keeping this one short.

I myself stick to my usual blogging, but I’m a muse to my owner’s writing and I help Voodoo Bride with her writing as well. Mostly I tell both of them to add more zombies, which they mostly ignore.


But if you are interested in seeing what Voodoo Bride does, you can check out Voodoo Bride Writes


There’s a Fantasy Romance written by Voodoo Bride posted in chapters there.

Armchair BEA - More Than Just Words

Today we’re talking about other ways to tell a story than just with words.

For me it was easy to decide what talk about for this topic:
Graphic novels.

I grew up with graphic novels and comics around me. My first heroes were Yoko Tsuno from Roger Leloup’s Yoko Tsuno series, and Philip Mortimer for Edgar P. Jacobs’ Blake and Mortimer series. I always kept on the look out for more graphic novels to fall in love with, and this is how I discovered Neil Gaiman: a friend let me borrow Sandman. I fell in love with it. The Sandman series is wonderful. There are so many cool characters, and the stories are magical and haunting at times.

But why are graphic novels so great?


I ‘read’ the first Yoko Tsuno book before I could read the text. But even without text I was engrossed in the pictures, telling me an exciting story about a young Japanese woman who has adventures in space. To this day when I read De 3 Zonnen van Vinea (The 3 Suns of Vinea) the story that I made up myself those first few times I ‘read’ the book, lingers somewhere in the background.

What I’m trying to get to, is how pictures can tell so much, even without text. Sometimes a picture can tell more than text ever could. Just look at the below pictures for example. On the left is Olrik, the villain from the Blake and Mortimer series by Edgar P. Jacobs. On the right: Edgar P. Jacobs. I think it’s pretty clear who Jacobs used as inspiration for his villain. If he had used words instead of pictures, I’m not sure anyone would be able to pick up on who the villain is based on. And yes: it’s an interesting look inside Jacobs' mind, that he based the looks of Olrik on himself, instead of painting himself as one of the heroes.



All in all I love reading graphic novels, and I’m always on the look out for new ones that are both beautifully drawn and have a great story to tell.

Armchair BEA - Author Interaction

I’ve been very lucky in author interactions. Often you hear about all kinds of drama going on and authors behaving badly, but I’ve had so many wonderful interactions.


My first author interaction was with a Dutch author. Midas Dekkers was visiting our local bookstore and I went there to get a book signed by him. He was kind enough to pose with me for a picture and we even made the local news together!

Most interactions with authors I have online. I’m the kind of pig who can’t stay quiet when loving a book, so I often either send an email, or find the author in question on twitter to tell how much I loved their book. This way I came into contact with great authors like Gini Koch, Carolyn Crane and Jess Haines.

Laura Bickle I came into contact with because I couldn’t get one of her books in our local bookstore. She kindly sent a signed copy to me when I asked her how I could get hold of her book. Following Laura Bickle around online I ended up on the blog Word-Whores where I met Jeffe Kennedy, Marcella Burnard, Kerry Schafer and other cool authors.

So not only is interacting with authors online fun, you can also run into other authors when doing so, and discover beautiful books you wouldn’t have otherwise.

I can confess I see some of the authors I met online as friends. They’ve helped me out, sent me wonderful presents and are the most awesome people you can imagine. I hope to one day meet them in real life, but living in the Netherlands that’s not easily arranged.

As for meeting authors in real life:


Last November I went to World Fantasy Con in Brighton and there I met some really cool authors. Suzanne McLeod was even kind enough to let me tag along on the first day of the con, when I was pretty much overwhelmed by being at my first con.

I also met Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan and Amanda Sun at WFC. I met Joanne Harris who told me about Zombies, Run, a great running app that my owner now uses to learn to run away from zombies.

And, and…


I met Neil Gaiman!

I acted like a total fan piggy, and he probably thought I was a loon, but it was awesome!


You can bet I will be visiting another con sometime in the future!

Armchair BEA - Literature

Armchair BEA - Literature

I was taught that something is only literature (literatuur in dutch) if it follows three rules:

1 Art for the sake of art
Meaning that it shouldn’t contain a lesson, or meaning.

2 - Individualism
It should be about the most secret inner emotions of the author.

3 - Naturalism
The author should look at his/her characters as a biologist looks at an anthill and should not shy away from the banal things.


So, yeah…
Not only do these three things contradict each other a bit in my opinion, it also makes for books with either really heavy subjects, or with more sexy times than an erotic romance (and those sexy time aren’t really sexy most of the time.)

I can tell you I didn’t really enjoy my required reading at school. A lot of Dutch Literature isn’t my cup of tea.

My preferred kind of books are what in Dutch is called ‘lektuur’. I’m not sure if there’s an English word for it. The closest the internet searches for a translation gave me is ‘reading matter’.

Lektuur is far removed from literatuur according to the rules I was taught. Literatuur isn’t written with the reader in mind, lektuur is. And according to some lektuur is worth far less than literatuur because of that.

Well…

I do not care!

Give me lektuur if that means it’s about zombies, werewolves, or any other cool Urban Fantasy or SciFi creature. If it tells a cool story that grabs me and takes me away to far off places, or places close by that suddenly are infused with magic and wonder.

Most probably there are books out there that are literatuur and that are beautiful and individualistic and naturalistic. And I’m happy they are out there, that there are authors who write them, and that there are people who love to read those books. And if such a book crosses my path I won’t avoid reading it.

But for most part I’ll stick to my beloved Urban Fantasy, Dystopia and SciFi. I’ll plunge into the worlds that the authors of my favorite genres write to entertain both themselves and their readers.

I think both literatuur and lektuur are important and even though I enjoy lektuur more than literatuur I won’t say one of them is better than the other. Both have value and have their own part to play.


How about you?

Armchair BEA - Introduction

This week there will be Armchair BEA posts next to my regular posts, so it's a busy week :-)

Armchair BEA is an event for book bloggers who can't attend Book Expo America and/or the BEA Blogger Convention in New York.


This is my first time joining Armchair BEA, so I’m winging it a bit.
Today I get to introduce myself to other participants, so here goes:

I’m Sullivan McPig, I’m part of a large family of Scottish pigs, that lives in Groningen, The Netherlands. I’ve been blogging since January 2009. I started with The Life and Travels of Sullivan McPig. I created that blog to be able to share pictures and stories with the world about my life, and the travels I make together with my owner.
In June of that year I started my review blog Pearls Cast Before A McPig, to keep reviews of books and movies apart from my regular blog.

At first I posted very little on my review blog, but in April 2010 I became more active in reviewing, and I’ve been keeping a steady pace ever since. The movie reviews almost disappeared, my focus is now mainly on books. I love sharing my thoughts about the books I read.

My best friend Voodoo Bride sometimes reviews books on my blog as well.

My social media details:
Twitter - @SullivanMcPig
Face book - https://www.facebook.com/SullivanMcpig
Instagram - Sullivan_mcpig

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On to some questions:

What genre do you read the most?
I love to read about zombies, because in my opinion they make for cool, action-packed stories. Just throw a few zombies in somewhere and there’s mayhem.

Seriously: although zombies are indeed my weakness, I love Urban Fantasy, post apocalyptic stories and Dystopian stories the most. I also love SciFi and Fantasy. My friend Voodoo Bride loves Paranormal Romance and well written BDSM.

What was your favorite book read last year?
The Outside by Laura Bickle


What’s your favorite book so far this year?
The Mark of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy

Spread the love by naming your favorite blogs/bloggers:
Agh, there are so many, so I will name the first 5 that come to mind:
Book Punks - http://www.bookpunks.com/
Shredded Cheddar - http://shreddedcheddar.blogspot.nl/
Word-Whores - http://word-whores.blogspot.nl/
Boeklogboek - http://boeklogboek.blogspot.nl/
Between Dreams & Reality - http://www.betweendandr.com/

What book would you love to see as a movie?
Enclave by Ann Aguirre

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That's it as far as my introduction.

Stay tuned for more Armchair BEA posts :-)