Mundie Moms

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Twitter Tuesday - City of Heavenly Fire Snippet



Team Good by Street-Angel

Cassie posted this CoHF snippet earlier today on her tumblr:
A moment later, Helen had returned; she was walking slowly now, and carefully, her hand on the back of a thin boy with a mop of wavy brown hair. He couldn’t have been older than twelve, and Clary recognized him immediately. Helen, her hand firmly clamped around the wrist of a younger boy whose hands were covered with blue wax. He must have been playing with the tapers in the huge candelabras that decorated the sides of the nave. He looked about twelve, with an impish grin and the same wavy, bitter-chocolate hair as his sister.

Jules, Helen had called him. Her little brother.

The impish grin was gone now. He looked tired and dirty and frightened. Skinny wrists stuck out of the cuffs of a white mourning jacket whose sleeves were too short for him. In his arms he was carrying a little boy, probably not more than two years old, with the same wavy brown hair that he had; it seemed to be a family trait. The rest of his family wore the same borrowed mourning clothes: following Julian was a brunette girl about ten, her hand firmly clasped in the hold of a boy the same age: the boy had a sheet of tangled black hair that nearly obscured his face. Fraternal twins, Clary guessed. After them came a girl who might have been eight or nine, her face round and very pale between brown braids.

The misery on their faces cut ay Clary’s heart. She thought of her power with runes, wishing that she could create one that would soften the blow of loss. Mourning runes existed, but only to honor the dead, in the same way that love runes existed, like wedding rings, to symbolize the bond of love. You couldn’t make someone love you with a rune, and you couldn’t assuage grief with it, either. So much magic, Clary thought, and nothing to mend a broken heart.

“Julian Blackthorn,” said Jia Penhallow, and her voice was gentle. “Step forward, please.”

Julian swallowed and handed the little boy he was holding over to his sister. He stepped forward, his eyes darting around the room. He was clearly scouring the crowd for someone. His shoulders had just begun to slump when another figure darted out onto the stage. A girl, also about twelve, with a tangle of blond hair that hung down around her shoulders: she wore jeans and a t-shirt that didn’t quite fit, and her head was down, as if she couldn’t bear so many people looking at her. It was clear that she didn’t want to be there — on the stage or perhaps even in Idris — but the moment he saw her, Julian seemed to relax. The terrified look vanished from his expression as she moved to stand next to him, her face ducked down and away from the crowd.

“Julian,” said Jia, in the same gentle voice, “would you do something for us? Would you take up the Mortal Sword?”
Oh no, the Mortal Sword???? What do you guys think? I think this will be the best TMI book, yet.

Blog Tour / Book Review: GOLDEN by Jessi Kirby

Welcome to today's MM's blog tour for Jessi Kirby's GOLDEN! I'm excited to be able to share my review with you guys today. I not only adore Jessi, but I love her writing!

About the Book




By: Jessi Kirby
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: May 14th, 2013 TODAY
Source: arc/book to review from publisher
5 Stars: I LOVED IT!
Purchase it from: Simon & Schuster | IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

Love, tragedy, and mystery converge in this compelling novel from “an author to watch” (Booklist).

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference


I am such a sucker for anything Jessi Kirby writes. She has a way of connecting me with her story telling, her characters, and all that goes on within the pages of her books. GOLDEN was no different for me. What a sweet, heartbreaking, beautifully told story. This is one of those stories that hooked me from the moment I picked it up, and had me wanting more. I was invested with all that was going on and what was happening.

You know those books you pick up to just "glance through" when really you should be doing other things like cleaning the house, prepping for a meeting or going grocery shopping, but instead you find yourself totally involved with the book even though you just picked it up? That was me with GOLDEN.  I kept telling myself one more page, then I'd get to that page and tell myself okay, to the end of the chapter, and then I'd get to it, and want more answers, and I had to know what was going to happen next, okay really I was hoping to read the first kiss between Parker and a certain someone, but that's beside the point. Before I knew it, I had sit and devoured this book. That's how good it is. Not that, that is a shocker to some of you, but those that know me, know how picky I am when it comes to reading contemporaries. This book is so good!

Parker Frost is a seventeen year old high school senior who has always done what has been excepted of her, like always. She's not one that's taken chances or broken rules or skipped school. She's a character who through her senior project one of her teachers gives her, starts to question the safe life she's always lived. Through this project realizes that maybe it's okay for her to go outside the "safe zone" a little bit, and spread her own wings and do things SHE wants to do, and not what everyone else always excepts and things she will. It's through the project of keeping a journal and then giving them back to the students 10 yrs later that Parker begins to really look into her life, as she reads the story of Julianna, one of the journals her teacher gives her to mail out.

I love this quote from Parker's mother to her, "Life works out a lot differently than you can ever imagine at seventeen." pg 81. I totally get this quote. It's one that has meaning within this story, and in real life. Being at the stage in life Parker's mom is now, I get it.

GOLDEN is a story within a story. I loved how Jessi told the story of Parker, and within Parker's story told the story of Julianna and her journal from 10 years ago. Within her journal is a girl I felt like I related to a little bit more than Parker, though I related to the stage Parker is in, in Golden and the feelings and emotions that come with it. This is a story about those teen years when you are finding out who you are, what your place is in the world, and about love. First love, where it's exciting and new, and one that maybe you lose a little bit of yourself in it, and the love where you find yourself, and the person who makes you feel like it's just you and them, and you can be yourself with them, and not give up any of the things that make you, you. It's about finding happiness and learning to spread your wings and fly, and I love how Parker correlates this into her life by reading the journal of Julianna.

I loved how this story slowly unravels. It's a story rich with emotions, and characters who really do see life outside of the box they're in. In the midst of this, is an emerging romance that's sweet, and so well written. GOLDEN really hit all the right buttons for me. The writing, the characters, the storyline, the setting, everything. I loved connecting with this book via my former teen self, and now as a parent. It's a beautiful, layered story and one I seriously loved. I'm wondering how many times I can throw the word love into this review. Don't tell me, I know. I've used it one too many times.

The characters in this story are fabulous! They are so well crafted, easy to relate to, and people I'd want to have as friends. I loved their interactions, their conversations, their relationships, and the chemistry, it was HOT! I love the snarkiness, and the unsure feelings that Jessi created with a first love, and those sweet moments that come from finding the courage to finally take that leap into a relationship, and the first kiss. Again, Jessi creates characters and situations that are realistic, and relatable. These are situations we've either experienced, are experiencing or hope to one day experience. I love it when an author makes me feel every range of emotion in her book, from sighing, to heart break, to laughing, and wiping away a tear or two.

GOLDEN is a beautifully told story that emotional hits all the right spots. It's vivid, realistic, and it's perfection at it's YA realistic fiction at it's finest. I HIGHLY recommend picking up this book and any of Jessi's books, though this is by far my favorite of hers.

About The Author



Jessi Kirby is the author of  Goldenwhich will be released in May of 2013, MoonglassIn Honor.  She is also a former English teacher and librarian, wife, mom, beach lover, runner, and lover of Contemporary YA, strong coffee, and dark chocolate.  In that order. (quote from Jessi's website)
Find out more about GOLDEN here.
Follow Jessi via her Website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads

The Giveaway
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, you can enter to win a copy of GOLDEN and a copy of each of Jessi's books on the tour! To enter, please fill out the form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*All entering parties are responsible for reading the giveaway rules before entering* Don't miss Jessi on Simon & Schuster's SUMMER LOVIN' TOUR




Summer Lovin’ Tour Part II with Kimberly Derting, Morgan Matson, Shannon Messenger, Sarah Ockler, and Suzanne Young!
May 15th at 7:00PM
Once Upon a Time Bookstore
2207 Honolulu Avenue
Montrose Shopping Park
Montrose, CA 91020
May 16th at 5:00PM
Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop
1030 Bonita Avenue
La Verne, CA 91750
May 17th at 7:30PM
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, Redondo Beach
2810 Artesia Blvd
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
May 18th at 3:00PM
Event with Whale of a Tale Bookstore
at Mission Viejo Library
May 19th at 3:00PM
Copperfield’s
Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa
Pizza Party!
May 20th at 7:00PM
University Bookstore
4326 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
May 23 at 6:00PM
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 South McClintock Drive
Tempe, AZ 85283
May 24 at 4:30PM
Panel at the Phoenix Comic-con
Phoenix Convention Center
100 North 3rd Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004



Blog Tour: SIRENS by Janet Fox


Welcome to today's stop in the SIRENS blog tour. Today author Janet Fox stops by to talk a little about   the role some 1920 US history played in her book.


Post #7. The Wall Street Bombing of...1920?


The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 plays an important role in SIRENS, as the brother of one of the characters died in that blast, and the brothers of two other characters may be implicated in the bombing itself. Since no one knows to this day who carried it out, I was free to play with the possibilities...and the parallels to our own time.


Yes, there was a bombing on Wall Street long before 9/11. The similarities between the bombing in 1920 and that in 2011 are eerie.




They both took place in September. They were both the work of foreign nationals (although no one was ever convicted in the 1920 bombing, that foreigners were involved remains the belief). Both were related to anti-US sentiment following war years. Both were leveled at institutions of finance in the Wall Street area. Both killed scores of innocent people, although in 1920 “scores” meant 38 – but that was huge at the time.




Following World War 1, the number of immigrant coming into the US increased dramatically. Some of those, and some of the returning soldiers, brought ideas about government that were considered hostile to traditional American thinking. “Radicals,” “Bolshevists,” and “anarchists” were a few of terms tossed around, and pretty soon these terms and other derogatory epithets were applied to any foreigner/immigrant whether justified or not (sound familiar?) Tensions ran high, and the “Big Red Scare” created hysteria that set everyone on edge.


The government took radical measures to roust out these radicals, and succeeded in arrested a couple of Italian men, Sacco and Vanzetti, who were almost certainly involved in the anarchist movement, but were probably not responsible for any bombings of which they were accused. It’s believed that the September 1920 Wall Street bombing was in retaliation for their arrest.


Regardless of perpetrator, it was an ugly incident. A horse-drawn wagon loaded with the bomb was parked at noon on September 16, right across the street from the offices of J.P. Morgan. The blast went off a few minutes later, killing 38, wounding 143 (plus the horse.) The ostensible target, Mr. Morgan himself, was not in his offices, and only one person in that office was killed; but there was a large number of clerks, secretaries, delivery people and so on out on the streets for lunch break – innocents, all.

It turned out that this bombing was the culmination of the Red Scare. After 1920 other obsessions took the place of anti-immigrant sentiments: Prohibition, radio, advertising, the automobile, sports, clothing, jazz, the Ku Klux Klan, moving pictures, flappers....all the complex things that made the 1920s “roar.”


The moral of this story? Life is complex; don’t jump to conclusions; until we learn, we are doomed to repeat our lessons.

Images with this post:
Radical Arrests
1919 Red Scare
Immigrants arriving Ellis Island
KKK
Wall Street Bombing


About The Book:


Published by: Speak
Released on: November 8th, 2012
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

When Jo Winter’s parents send her off to live with her rich cousin on the glittering island of Manhattan, it’s to find a husband and forget about her brother Teddy’s death. But all that glitters is not gold.. 

Caught up in the swirl of her cousin’s bobbed-hair set—and the men that court them— Jo soon realizes that the talk of marriage never stops, and behind the seemingly boundless gains are illicit business endeavors, gangsters, and their molls. Jo would much rather spend time the handsome but quiet Charles, a waiter at the Algonquin Hotel, than drape herself over a bootlegger. But when she befriends a moll to one of the most powerful men in town, Jo begins to uncover secrets—secrets that threaten an empire and could secure Jo’s freedom from her family. 

Can her newfound power buy her love? Or will it to ruin Jo, and everyone around her?


The Giveaway
Enter to win these:
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Blog Tour / Book Review: Beauty by Nancy Ohlin

Welcome to the first stop in Nancy Ohlin's BEAUTY blog tour. I'm excited to share my review of Nancy's latest release, BEAUTY.



By: Nancy Ohlin
Published by: Simon Teen
Released on: May 7th, 2013
Source: book from publisher to review
3.5 Stars: It's a Good Read / I Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

Looks to kill for...

Ana is nothing like her glamorous mother, Queen Veda, whose hair is black as ravens and whose lips are red as roses. Alas, Queen Veda loathes anyone whose beauty dares to rival her own—including her daughter.

And despite Ana’s attempts to be plain to earn her mother’s affection,
she’s sent away to the kingdom’s exclusive boarding school.

At the Academy, Ana is devastated when her only friend abandons her for the popular girls. Isolated and alone, Ana resolves to look like a true princess to earn the acceptance she desires.

But when she uncovers the dangerous secret that makes all of the girls at the Academy so gorgeous, just how far will Ana go to fit in?

I have a weakness for fairytale retellings, and I really like what Nancy did with Beauty. She took the story of Mirror, Mirror / Snow White and gave it her own touches, and spin. I have loved Snow White since I was young, and Nancy's Snow White is a little different than the one I grew up loving. In Beauty we get to see the relationship between Ana and her beautiful mother Queen Veda. While the Queen looks more like the classic Snow White than Ana, Ana does have her own beauty, and it's one she grows into, by learning to accept who she really is.

Ana is a character who is strong in her own right. She wasn't a character who stood out to me as being incredibly strong, but instead it's her quiet strength that I liked. She's defiant in a way you wouldn't except a Princess to be. Yet she also grows into the person her Father had trained her to be. I have to say I liked the way her deceased Father played a role in the story and aided Ana. 

Ana is a beautiful girl despite her out ward appearance. The Queen is constantly told her daughter will rival her for beauty, but Ana wants nothing to do with her mother, and does everything she can to make herself look ugly. I mean she literally lets herself go. She doesn't take care of her body and eats all the wrong things. In her "ugliness" she wins the Queen's favor. I admit, I liked this defiant side to Ana, because she didn't want any sort of approval from her mother. Her mother really is a wretched character. One thing is for sure, Ana can't hide from who she is forever, and at the Academy her mother set up for 50 of the land's elite girls, Ana finally steps into the role she's meant to have. 

Just like in the classic story, the Queen is jealous of anyone who rivals her beauty. Ana's best friend and each of the girls start to change in ways that aren't what I or Ana excepted. There is definitely something sinister going on at the academy, which Ana takes it upon herself to uncover. Let's just say this is an enjoyable read with a creative spin on a beloved story. Beauty is a fast paced, enjoyable read, and one I'd recommend to fans who enjoy fairytale re-tellings.

About the Author:



I am the author of Thorn Abbey, a YA retelling of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and Beauty. a YA retelling of the Snow White tale. 

I've also contributed to several celebrity novels, including a New York Times-bestselling YA trilogy.

I'm currently hard at work on my next YA novel, which will be as romantic and mind-bending as Thorn Abbey (I hope!). 

My favorite cures for writers' block are long walks, long showers, popcorn, chocolate, and really expensive coffee. I talk to myself a lot while I write (you know, to make sure the dialogue zings).

Visit Nancy via her: Website | Twitter | Facebook 

The Giveaway:
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, I have one copy of Nancy's BEAUTY to giveaway! To enter, please fill out the form below.

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