Belle

Belle

Friday, December 28, 2012

Review of Tempest by Jenna-Lynne Duncan


4 Stars!

I want to try to make this as spoiler free as possible. This is a short story told from the perspective of Hayden in the story Hurricane by Jenna-Lynne Duncan. I have been anxiously waiting for the second book in the series to come out and when Jenna-Lynne asked if I wanted to review this I was all over it! As you can tell, I was simply in love with Hurricane and this novella was no different. This was the same story but from the male's perspective which I am sure we can all agree on, will always be different from the females perspective. I am not going to go into details because if you have not read Hurricane (and why haven't you??) yet, then detailed info on this story would give away the book. Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed reading Hayden's view on things that were happening to him and the feelings he had about people and situations. It was the perfect little package to tide me over until the second book in the series comes out.
If you enjoyed Hurricane you will enjoy this. Although the situations are the same you are seeing it a totally different way as compared to our female protagonist in the first book.

Tempest (ebook novella)
Author : Jenna-Lynne Duncan (self published)
Published : Noveber 21, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Review : Girl of Nightmares

Girl of Nightmares
Author : Kendare Blake
Published : August 7, 2012
Publisher : Macmillan- Tor Teen

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I think my expectations were too high, seeing as how in love I was with Anna Dressed in Blood. To start off, what I liked most about this book was how scary the scary scenes were! When they were working through the suicide forest YIPE! I was in the comfort of my bedroom and I was seriously getting scared by this. The parts with Cas seeing Anna were also really freaking me out. Blake does a terrific job with her horror descriptions. The story was fast paced and action packed, another big thumbs up for that. However, there was one big let down for me in this book. Anna was hardly in it :( Her moments in the book were so fleeting, when I got to the end I thought for sure there would be another book in the series. Going back and thinking about it, these books are told from Cas' perspective and not Anna's so I need to realize that the focus is going to be on him. Although I really liked every single character in this book and the last, I have to say that I love Anna. I wanted more of her and her violent scariness. This book just didn't have something that the last book had and although I did enjoy reading it I was a little let down.

Monday, July 9, 2012

It's been awhile

It has definitely been awhile since I have posted here.   I decided to take a small break and just focus on my youtube vlog and also have been putting my reviews up on goodreads.  Although I enjoy doing the blog it is not my main priority, I am much more involved with the Youtube community and booktubers, so I spend most of time either communicating there or on Twitter.  I have not decided yet just how much more involved I want to be with the blog, but I am going to do my best to update it as often as I can.  However, you can always find us at youtube by typing in either Pebbles730 or ReadingwithPugs. 


Friday, March 30, 2012

Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss
Author : Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Published : 12-2-10
Pages : 384
Rating : 4 Stars

I enjoyed this book but did not love it.  I did not fall in love with either Eitenne or Anna, although I did like their story.  One thing that I did love about this book was the descriptions of Paris and the places they were visiting.  I almost felt like I was there with them.  I also appreciated the fact that Anna was a big movie buff and one of the first she ever went to see in Paris was It Happened One Night which is one of my favorite classic movies. 
I think the problem I ran into with this book was that there was so much hype around it that my expectations were way too high.  Which in truth is my fault, you should never expect anything going into a book and should just draw our own conclusions.

50 Shades of Grey Review


Fifty Shades of Grey
Author : E L James
Publisher : (Originally self published fan fiction)  Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Pages : 357
Rating : 4 stars

This book was really good for me, apart from all the sex. So a warning to people that are squeamish about descriptive sex acts in books, you will not like this book. I have to admit at times I felt naughty for reading this LOL I almost felt like I was reading porn without pictures. Hmmm is that even possible? Well anyway the sex thing really didn't deter me from the book although I could have done without it. I really loved the story line and both Ana and Christian. I liked how the first book ended and I was surprised by how the author chose to end it. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

Oh and this would be my choice for Christian Grey in the movie

The Midwife's Confession : Diane Chamberlain

The Midwife's Confession
Author : Diane Chamberlain
Publisher: Mira
Published : 4-26-11
Pages : 432

Review : 5 Stars
I adored this book. This book had a little bit of everything, love, hate, betrayal, secrets, kids, etc. It was great, it had so many plot twists and turns, you really were not sure what was going to happen or how it was going to work out till the end.

I simply love Diane Chamberlains's books. This is the second one that I have read and her books suck me in and make me want to not put her books down.

Friday, March 23, 2012

More Titanic!

I just saw this on Twitter today and since next month will be Titanic reading month for me, I thought anyone else that might be doing it would be interested in this.

here is the Twitter : @TheTitanic

facebook : http://www.facebook.com/TitanicTVSeries

Thursday, March 22, 2012

April themed reading

So if you watched my book haul yesterday you will know that I chose to read Titanic themed books for the month of April.  Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.  Which means...that it has been 100 years this year!  I have decided to read 2 books and possible a third to commemorate this event.

The first two are :

And if I am still craving Titanic stories this will be my third choice :
I will probably watch the movie on the day of the sinking so that I can say "I'm the king of the world!"  No not really. :)  If you are going to be doing any themed reading, let me know.  And, if you are going to be joining me on Titanic reading month, I'd love to know what you are reading and what your thoughts on the books were.

I picked a winner!

Seriously did you think of boogers and someone picking their nose when you first read that? I did when I thought of it :)  Well in case you missed the vlog, here is where I announce the winner.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Quick Update

Hey everyone,

I wanted to post here in case you are not following me on Twitter, which is where I have been updating what is going on.  I have had major problems uploading videos with the new camera to Youtube.  I filmed a whole bunch on Friday and I cannot get them to upload.  So, that is why I have not done the giveaway winner yet.  I want to film the winner being picked. 
It is very frustrating to say the least.  I'm going to try to work on it tonight and then hopefully be able to get it up.  If I can't get it working by tomorrow then I will just announce the winner here on the blog as I don't want you to wait too long for the winner.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Divergent Contest- Who's the winner?

Hi guys,

I have not chosen the winner yet for the Divergent contest.  I was trying to film a video tonight to let you know when and how I was going to do it but the batteries on my camera kept dying so I will be doing that tomorrow.

However the winner will be chosen this week and I will have the video vlog and blog post up this week with the winner.

Happy Reading!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Contest CLOSED

The contest is now closed.  I tried several times to film a video yesterday but my lap top camera has decided to not work anymore.  <sigh> So I am working on getting one of my other cameras to work. 

In the meantime, I wanted to let all the contest entrants know that I will be announcing the winner within the next couple of days here on my blog and also right after that I will put up a video, as long as I can get my camera to work.

You will have 24 hours to contact me after I have chosen a winner so that I can send your book off to you.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and I'm looking forward to our next contest!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Contest Update

The contest is going really well!  I have really enjoyed reading all of your responses on your favorite Disney characters and why you chose them.  If you watch my channel then you probably know I am a Disney A holic so this is alot of fun for me. 

You have a few more days to enter the contest, as it will close on Friday at 5pm EST.  Remember that if you have left a comment on my youtube channel then you ALSO must leave one here with the same information. 
I will be announcing the winner within a week after the close of the contest.

I'm also working on getting my new channel up and running.  It's going to feature segments about my life, Belle and my other pugs, my married life, my Fibromyalgia and also the products and clothes that I buy.  So I'm hoping that you all will like it and join me over there when I get it up and running.  

So that's it for today.  Thank you to everyone that has already entered the contest and I look forward to doing more of these in the future with you!

Happy Reading!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday fellow book lovers!  I'm so happy that it's Friday and I plan to get some quality reading time in this weekend.  I just started Divergent and I am loving it so far.  Wow, I can't believe I waited so long to start reading this.  I am in love with the writing, the pace, the characters and the story line!  I'm so glad this is the book I chose for my first giveaway. 

Speaking of the giveaway, it's going really well!  Just remember that you have to post both on my Vlog at : www.youtube.com/Pebbles730 and also here on the Divergent Contest post, in order to be entered.

Since Divergent is a huge book, that will probably fill up my weekend of reading.  So what are you all reading this weekend?

I also will be going out sometime shopping with my mom for some beauty shopping and also getting my nails done.  I'm thinking Sunday will be my lazy day but who knows.  So let me know what you are planning for the weekend and what your quality reading time will be spent on.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

World Book Day!

Today is World Book Day!  What are you reading to celebrate?  I've started reading Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I'm about 25 pages in and already I am loving it.  I can tell this is going to be my kind of book, and I'm really glad about that since I'm giving away a copy and wouldn't want to give away a stinker!  So let me know what you are planning to read to celebrate world book day.

If you would like some more information on what World Book Day is all about, you can check them out here :
World Book Day 2012

Happy Reading!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Divergent Contest Now Open!

Hi folks,

Please watch my Vlog on how to enter the Divergent Giveaway below and then leave your comment on yesterday's post about the contest.

Good luck!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Divergent Contest Opening tomorrow!

Tomorrow I will be putting up the contest rules for the Hardcover copy of Divergent that I will be giving away.   This contest is going to be for US only.  So if you are interested in entering the contest for this book, I'll give you a head start and let you know that one of the rules is that you must subscribe to my blog here.  So feel free to subscribe now and the rest of the information on the contest will be in my Vlog tomorrow on my Youtube page!

Looking forward to getting started on my first giveaway, hope to see you there!

Happy Reading!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Review : Slide





Author : Jill Hathaway
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published : March 27, 2012
Pages : 256
My rating : 4 Stars

This book was very entertaining. I loved the concept of our main character being able to slide into the bodies of others and experience what they are seeing and who they are talking to etc. I though it to be a very unique idea. On top of that, this turned out to be a murder mystery and I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. Imagine being able to see someone being murdered but not knowing who's body you were in and you are the one doing it!

This was a fast paced, keeps you guessing "who done it" till the very end kind of book. It definitely held my attention, I read this in one day because I just had to know who did it! I enjoyed Jilly Hathaway's writing style and the characters that she created and I will look forward to reading more from this author in the future.


Here is my Vlog review if you care to check it out!
 

Review : The Alchemy of Forever





Author : Avery Williams
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: January 3, 2012
Pages: 256
My rating : 4 Stars

I liked this book a lot.  It told the story exactly as it was described in the synopsis.  I did not know when I started reading this that this was going to be a series so when I got to the end I was surprised in how it left off.  I was glad to find out that there would be more to come, whew!  I read this right after I read Slide by Jill Hathaway as I wanted to compare them because they had similar plots.  However they were nothing alike so I could not compare them at all.  I really liked our main character who goes by several names, but her first, Seraphina.  I felt that she was a very likeable character and one that anyone would want to have as a friend.  She is honest, has a heart and is genuine in her feelings.  We only get to know her friends a little bit, but I think we will get to know them more as the story continues.  I was able to relate to Seraphina and could see where she was coming from in the choices that she was making and in her feelings for Cyrus.  I liked that the book had a fast pace and that there was always a situation that you were on the edge of your seat to see how should face it.  I will definitely be reading the next book in the series!

Divergent Giveaway!

Happy Sunday book friends!

I wanted to pop on the blog and let you know that I am still trying to figure out the logistics of this giveaway and how I want to run it.   I will have it figured out and hope to post the video by Tuesday on just what you have to do to enter. Do no fear!!  The rules will be simple, hence the reason this is taking me so long to figure out.  I want to figure out the best way to handle this and make it as easy as possible for you.

So until next time, Happy Reading!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi Booklovers,

Just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Valentine's Day!  I know alot of people don't celebrate this day, but I simply love love, so I do celebrate!  Give someone you love a kiss today, even if it's your pet, they need love too!  I work up a bunch of balloons, flowers, card and Barnes and Noble gift card!

I have the best hubby!

This week's book haul

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Review : I Am Diving

I was provided a copy of this book very kindly by the author, Joseph Valentinetti. 


I think this book was very interesting. It is the story of a ex military man who is having trouble dealing with the experiences of war/ fighting. Its the story of the planned assassination of a Navy secretary but also twisted into the assassination of President Kennedy. It was a short story and historical fiction. There is a lot left up to the reader to connect the events and how you think things transpired. If you like historical fiction and also the story of the assassination of President Kennedy, then this will probably be something you will like. I like that the book sort of suggested that because of one event this led to another event, it was sort of a mystery and left to you to figure out. It was interesting and I'm glad that I got the chance to read it.

Review : The Pregnancy Project

This book was a little difficult to review because it is essentially the true story of a girl who pretended to be pregnant for her Senior Project in school.  I think that I was a little removed from this since it has been so many years since I was in high school.  When I was reading this I was able to shrug off the things that were said to her but that is probably because I am way past high school and those things would no longer affect me.  However if I was still in HS I would probably be affected by other people's feelings on my pregnancy.  So here is my youtube review on both the Lifetime TV show or half of it and of the book.

Book Crafts : Home made bookmarks!

Hi Everyone,

Here is my most recent post on some home made book marking that I tried out this weekend.  Since then I have made 7 more so I'm going to be filming another video with those this week.  It is so much fun and I'm thinking about making some to give away!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Review : Season of Eden

Author : Jennifer Laurens
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Pages : 244
Rating : 4 stars

I loved this book. This was one of those for me that I could not put down. I will honestly say that the content might not be something that everyone would feel the same about. It's the story of a student falling in love with her teacher. I think that in order to like this story as much as I did you have to be into the whole forbidden love story, which is probably my favorite subject. I loved that there was great build up and emotions and feelings in the story and it kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen. I actually wished it was longer and more intimate, but I know this is a YA book so it can only go so far :)

review : John Belushi is Dead

Author : Kathy Charles
Publisher : MTV
Published : August 2010
Pages : 309

Rating : 4 Stars
This was such an unexpected great read for me. I did not own this book or even have it on a wish list but I saw it reviewed by another booktuber and I knew that I just had to get it. I loved how they mentioned dead celebrities and how they went to hunt for "hollywood treasure" for these people. I loved the descriptions that were given on where they were and it made me feel like I was right along with them in California.

Overall the book was fun and entertaining and this might be one that I read again

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Coincidentally...waiting on a Wednesday

So, I am sure you have seen on other people's blogs how they put up a post about a book they are excited for that will be coming out soon, and it's called Waiting on Wednesday.  I typically don't do anything like that because A) I don't keep up with my blog as much as I do with my Vlog and B) which is tied into A, I am incredibly lazy :)

Well it just so happens that this week, I am waiting on a Wednesday for a delivery.  Yes a delivery for 3 of my pre-orders!!  Yippee, they should be here by the end of the day.  Barnes and Noble has been so awesome lately with sending out the pre-orders.  I have been getting the next day after release where as one book had me wait 3 weeks back before Thanksgiving.  I don't know if they made a change to their shipping or processing, but whatever they have done, I am giving it a very enthusiastic two thumbs up, fine holiday fun! ( I tend to quote movies often...can you guess where that is from??)

So anyway my package is set to be delivered before the end of the day today.  My wonderful UPS man usually comes between 3-4pm.  Belle will alert me when he is here...and when I say alert me I mean carry on like a deranged lunatic, bite my furniture, and rip all of my Valentine's decorations out of the window.  Yes, I am talking about that sweet little furry creature that sits so calmly on my lap during my videos.  I have a video of her doing this, I'll have to get it uploaded so you know I speak the truth!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Review : The Fault in Our Stars

I struggled with coming up for a way to clearly articulate my ideas for this book in a way that I could do my own feelings justice but also justice to this book.  So rather than write it out, I'm going to post the review that I did on my vlog.  Sorry for the sound being off!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Make your haters your motivators

So much drama going on in the blogisphere right now.   It is between authors and bloggers, and now even between bloggers.  I really hate seeing this, it really puts a damper on the blogging world and I think it will eventually make some people quit doing something that they love. 
I can understand when Authors can get their feelings hurt over a negative review, it is their baby it's something they have worked hard on.  That being said, I cannot understand how an author can take such offense to a so-so review.  Unless a blogger goes through a review and bashes the book, there is really no reason to take such an offense to that.  No Author is a God, so their work is not perfect.  If you are going to put yourself out there in the world with your work, then you have to expect that not everyone is going to love you and not everyone is going to accept your work.  Same thing with bloggers.  I put up a positive review of a book yesterday on my Vlog about a Religious related book and I got this horrible comment from someone attacking me personally and telling me they wanted to kick my teeth in.  Way to be Christian!    We should all pull up our big boy and girl panties and move on and most of all  STOP ATTACKING EACH OTHER!!  There is nothing good that is going to come out of that.  If you put out negative energy, it's only going to come back to you.  I was shocked and troubled by the story that I heard yesterday within the blogging community.  It is the worst thing that can happen when bloggers go at it between each other.  We are striving to be respected and to NOT have authors attack us for our feelings on their book.  The worst thing we can do is attack each other, it will only make us weaker as a group.

So, in closing, I would like to say that we all need to get along.  If you have a problem with someone, simply talk to them about it and never attack someone.  You will only regret it later on when the word gets around and it will get around, it's inevitable.  Before you jump the gun or try to make something out of nothing, think about your actions first.  For every action there is an equal reaction.  Be kind to one another, we have enough to deal with, with attacks from troll commentors and authors that can sometimes be a little over sensitive.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Review : Fracture

Fracture by Megan Miranda
Release date : 1/17/12
Publisher : Walker and Company
Pages : 272

(Vlog review coming soon!)

This book had it all for me. Suspense, drama, intrigue, love, etc! I literally could not put this book down. What is even better than that is that I was not rushing through it to get to the end because I wanted to know what happened. I was loving every single page and although I wanted to know what would happen, I did not want it to ever be over!

The story was fast paced and never dragged. It was a page turner and have a beautiful flow to the story, I never once had to go back an re read what I had just read to figure out what was going on. I sailed through this in about a day in a half. I loved Decker and Delaney, but especially Delaney. I loved how she was strong and I could identify with her in parts where she was not willing to just accept the fate of the situation. She knew there had to be another way that she could help or fix it and I often feel the same way.

I hope there are going to be more in a series of this book because I will be the first one buying the second book if there is! Ok enough gushing...go get this book!!

Friday, January 13, 2012

I've made it to 500!!

That's right, I have made it to 500 subscribers on my Youtube page!  It's so exciting for me and I am thrilled to pieces!  Youtube and the book community has been amazing to me, I've made good friends and I am so happy that I joined. It is a great experience for me, I love doing the videos and I love watching them. In a way its a bit addicting watching everyones videos but that is ok, it's fun!

I have another HUGE book haul coming this weekend and reviews for Heaven is for Real and also John Belushi is dead. 

I also have a lot of questions for my Q&A video, so many in fact I might have to break it up into 2 videos.  So if you have any questions, make sure to email me on Youtube with yours.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year

Hello Book Friends,

Welcome to the first post of 2012!  I'm very excited for this year especially in the reading sense, there are so many great books coming out, I just don't know where to start.

Today I put up a couple of videos, a January To Be Read or TBR pile, a my favorites of 2011 and a review of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

I also finished reading Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo tonight.  Youtube and Goodreads review coming shortly.  

So off to a good start with finishing 2 books this week. 
I've decided to do two challenges this year, one is a the Goodreads challenge you set for yourself and I set up to read 55 books.  I shouldn't have a problem with this and if I read more than that, excellent!  I am also doing the Big Book Challenge on Goodreads.  It's keeping track of any books that you read that are over 400 pages.  So that's it for me for this year, I don't want to get distracted by trying to meet too many goals because there are so many great books that I would like to read this year, that I don't want to have to push some aside because I won't meet my goals if I read them. 
Here is what I am starting now : John Belushi is Dead.  SUPER PSYCHED about reading this one!