Know Me Better (#2)

I have decided to join Inspired Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, in this fun weekly post. Here we take 5 questions from our Author Interview list and answer them in a post. I highly encourage you, my readers, to answer theses long with me. Not only do I want you guys to get to know me better, but it would be great if I got to know my readers better, as well!

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Umm, well, I really like it where I'm living now....right in the smack middle of Washington state. I'd like to travel and explore the world one day, but I think this little town will always be my home.

Favorite Literary Characters?

Oh gosh, I've got too many to count. There's Lex from Croak by Gina Damico; Juliette, Adam, and Kenji from Shatter Me; Gwen, Daphne, and Logan from Mythos Academy; Eve Hollows from the Nightmare series by Robert Gray; Jace and Ethan from the Shifter series by Rachel Vincent; Jace from TMI...and a whole bunch of others!

In your wildest dreams, which author would you love to co-author a book with?

Me? Co-author a book? I don't see that happening any time soon. But if I had to choose one author I'd probably go with Rick Riordan. Love him! And I love mythology :) And his writing is just SO much fun!

Things that bring a smile to your face?

The weirdos that are my brothers. I don't have any kids myself, but I can always count on my 3 younger brothers to make me laugh.

Do you have a favorite saying?

Not really...but I'll go with "Honesty is the best policy."

Now it's your turn! Share an answer to one or more of these questions as a comment or post your answers on your blog and leave me a link here!

Review: Unbroken (Ruined #2) by Paula Morris

Title: Unbroken

Series: Ruined #2

Previous book in this series: Ruined

Author: Paula Morris

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: Feb. 1st 2013

Published by: Scholastic - Point

Source: the publishers via Netgalley (thanks!)

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis:

Welcome back to New Orleans.
Where the streets swirl with jazz and beauty.
Where the houses breathe with ghosts.

A year ago, Rebecca Brown escaped death in a New Orleans cemetery. Now she has returned to this haunting city. She is looking forward to seeing Anton Grey, the boy who may or may not have her heart.

But she also meets a ghost: a troubled boy who insists only she can help him. Soon Rebecca finds herself embroiled in another murder mystery from more than a century ago. But as she tries to right wrongs, she finds more questions than answers: Is she putting her friends, and herself, in danger? Can she trust this new ghost? And has she stumbled into something much bigger and more serious than she understands?

My rating: ★★★★★
Gosh, this book...it was awesome! I literally finished reading it in ONE sitting. Now, this doesn't happen too often, but when it does it means that the book was just too good to put down!

Review: Ruined by Paula Morris

Title: Ruined

Series: Ruined #1

Author: Paula Morris

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: August 2009

Published by: Scholastic - Point

Source: Won in a giveaway

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis:

Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her Aunt Claudia, who reads Tarot cards for a living. And at the snooty prep school, a pack of filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city.

My rating: ★★★★☆
This book had been on my to-read list for a while now. I am a HUGE fan of mysteries and especially ghost stories! And I thought Ruined was a great combination of both!

Showcase Sunday (#34)

Welcome to Showcase Sunday, hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea. The aim of this event is to showcase our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed form the libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders this week. For more information about how this feature works and to join in, click here.

Oh my gods, you guys. School has been super stressful lately, and I thought it was only going to be the one week! Now, I just cant wait for this quarter to be over! Only 1 more month! I swear, nursing school is going to be the death of me!

So, anyway, here is my 3 weeks worth of bookish things....

For review:

Spellbinding: thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic

Day After: thanks to J. Taylor Publishing

Godsmacked: thanks to Netgalley and Carpenter's Son Publishing

Unbroken: thanks to Netgalley and Scholastic

The Nightmare Affair: thanks to Netgalley and Tor/Forge

Insomnia: thanks to Netgalley and Flux Books

Bought:

I already own Ghost Hand as a paperback, but it was free for the last few days so I thought, "What the heck, why not? It was an awesome book!" (And by the way, I am having a giveaway of this awesome book right now! Just sayin' ;))

And Incarnate, I already have it also as an e-ARC, but seriously, these covers are SO freakin' gorgeous and the book is just AMAZING that I just had to buy it plus the sequel!

Gifted:

Thank you SO much to Emily @ Sharing Links and Wisdom for this RAK! It's Greek mythology related! SO exciting!! Thank you, thank you!

Won in a giveaway:

Fearless and ReVamped I won in a giveaway held by one of my favorite authors: Nikki Jefford! So thank you Nikki!

Ruined I won in a giveaway held by Mandee @ Compelled by Words...thanks a bunch!

Okay, I think that's all I got in the last 3 weeks. So, what bookish things did you get this week!

Giveaway: Ghost Hand by Ripley Patton

Hey guys, I have an awesome giveaway for you today!

This giveaways is now OVER. Thanks so much to everyone who entered, and the winners will be contacted shortly. If you are looking for giveaways, you can always check out the right sidebar of my blog, where you will always find something!

Olivia Black just discovered that her ghost hand, a rare birth defect, can do more than light up a room. It can reach into people and pull things out. Things from the darkest depths of the human psyche never meant to exist in this world.

Olivia can pickpocket the soul.

But she can’t control her ability, or the strange items it extracts, and the only thing between Olivia and the men bent on taking the power of her hand is a boy she barely knows and doesn't trust.

Hear me rave about this awesome book in my review! (spoiler free)

To enter just fill out the Google Doc down at the bottom. Ripley came up with a really fun way to enter the giveaway: Head on over to the book's Amazon page, click on the image (it says "Click to look inside"), and read the excerpt of the first few pages of the book! Once you have read the excerpt come back and answer these 5, fun questions. Easy, peasy.

And the author was awesome enough to offer up all these awesome prizes:

~3 e-book copies of Ghost Hand (international)

~One signed paperback (US only)

~Plus, the first three entries to get all the quiz questions right will get one of these little sticky Ghost Hands! (US only)

Cute, right? Disclaimer: ability to pickpocket the soul not guaranteed.

The Rules and Other-Important-Stuff-You-Should-Probably-Read:

• This giveaway has some INTERNATIONAL prizes on some US ONLY prizes.
• This giveaway ends Feb. 24th. The winner(s) will be notified by e-mail and will have 48 hours to claim the prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. (So please, when you sign in to the Rafflecopter form, use an e-mail you check often and double check that it is correct.)
• Must be 16 or older to enter or have parent's permission
• 1 entry per person. Duplicate entries will be deleted and participant will be disqualified
• Void where prohibited by law

After you read the excerpt come back here and let me know what you thought of it!
Thanks to everyone who enters, and good luck!