Newsletter 10 Part 1

The Happenings at Young Adult blogs…

If you know someone who would like to receive this have them email Ashley at princessashley9@gmail.com

~ If you can guess what one of the two pictures below is you win half a page to advertise your blog! They contain two book covers. Name both via email, to princessashley9@gmail.com. 2 winners. First come. First serve. J

(Photo not available.)

Giving It Away For Free
(the only time Momma would approve)
Serena Robar is giving it away for free the entire month of June. That’s right. A book a day, every day in honor of her latest book release Giving Up the V. All you have to do to is sign up for her newsletter and you are entered to win. Enter once and you are in the running to win a book every day the entire month of June.

The name is Renee, and I'd like to welcome you to The Book Girl Reviews! On this site you will be sure to find reviews of many YA novels, some adult ones, interviews with the wonderful authors, and contests on special occasions. We may even throw in a guest review or some other fun things, just to keep you on your toes (:-p). Everyone is welcome to come join in on the sites fun; Share feedback, thoughts, book recommendations, opinions, and more! Disagree with something? Even better! We're all about having opinions from multiple angles; it gives readers a better idea of what to expect from a book.

As for the reviews, we have a strict policy: Don't Diss The Book. We are firm believers in the fact that our opinion is not the only one out there, and that a review can very easily make or break a book. Sadly, we have yet to earn our Book Goddess badges, so for now we're sticking to this: Sure, we'll mention the things we didn't like, but you'll hear a lot more about the things we did. We want YOU to be the judge of the books quality; We're just here to get you to read it a little sooner ;-).

Intrigued? We hope so! If you want to see all of this in action, head on over to http://thebookgirlreviews.blogspot.com/. Hope you like what you see!

~

Basically, my blog revolves around the YA literature world. I love interacting with other book bloggers like me, and getting to know their purpose in blogging as well. My blog isn't about getting the free books, or the exclusive ARCS, even though it is kind of fun to brag about. :D But it's about giving out my opinion without being judged, and telling about the books I read. I also love to get involved in challenges, and getting to see where everyone else is in a challenge, is amazing too.

I've made many friends through blogging, and I love being able to talk to someone about books, or their favorite authors, or just asking them how their week went. By the end of the day, I'm glad I had started up my blog, because it has left me knew experiences, and opportunities than before. I don't know where I'd be right now without my blog, my books, and the people I have befriended that made it all happen.

-Amanda reviewabook123.blogspot.com

UK Book: Blood Water by Dean Vincent Carter

From Amazon: They're all dead now. I am the last one. Dr Morrow can't identify the 'thing' he found living in the lake but he knows it's dangerous ...then it goes missing ...Caught in the flood that is devastating the town, brothers Sean and James stumble across Morrow and the carnage left at his lab. The missing specimen is some kind of deadly parasite that moves from person to person, destroying its hosts in disgusting, gory ways. The death toll will rise along with the waters unless the brothers can track down the homicidal specimen and find a way to destroy it.

Blood Water is such a fun book! It's horror and sci-fi all rolled into one, and is a fast, thrilling read. Plus, it has got a brilliant cover!

New & Upcoming UK Releases:

~ Killing God by Kevin Brooks (June 25th)
~ Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur (June 25th)
~ That Summer by Sarah Dessen (July 2nd)
~ WAGs World: Knowing the Score by Anonymous (July 2nd)
~ Selina Penaluna by Jan Page (July 2nd)
~ The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P. Jones (July 6th)
~ What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell (July 6th)
~ Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters (July 6th)
~ Everlost by Neal Shusterman (July 6th)
~ Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick (July 16th)

~

~ Ashley is reading Pure.
~ Me/Lisette/robin_titan/T.V and Book Addict w/e you wanna call me- Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley and The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
~ Liyana is reading Eyes Like Stars by lisa Mantchev.
~ prophecygirl is reading The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner.
~ Silvia is reading Swoon by Nina Malkin
~ Donna is reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
~ (: Isa :) is reading Ghostgirl: Homecoming by Tonya Hurley.
~ Diana Dang is reading Death by Bikini by Linda Gerber (re-read and it's still pretty good the second time around!) and Hush by Donna Jo Napoli.
~ katie says - I am reading Skin Trade by Laurell K Hamilton and I'm not liking it so much. It's kind of weird. I plan on starting You Are Here by Jennifer E Smith soon!
~ !!!!Jackie!!!! is reading Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley.

~

~ L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (6/16)
~ Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog (6/23)
~ Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobelle Carmody (June 23)
~ Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper (June 23)
~ Fabulous Terrible, The Adventures of You: The Apocryphon by Sophie Talbot (6/25)
~ Tales of the Madman Underground: A Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes (June 25)
~ Killer by Sara Shepard (July 1)-Pretty Little Liars series
~ Hancock Park by Isabel Kaplan (July 1)
~ The Stolen One by Suzanne Carlisle Crowley (July 1)
~ Homecoming: ghostgirl by Tonya Hurely (7/1)
~ The Importance of Wings by Robin Friedman (7/1)
~ Crash Into Me by Albert Borris (July 7)
~ Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev (July 7)
~ Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (July 7)
~ Simply Irresistible by Jennifer Banash (July 7)
~ Libyrinth by Pearl North (July 7)

Blog Tips:

~ Don't have too many ads all over the place, it's okay to have some since the money goes towards books or blog related stuff, but don't overcrowd your blog with them because it distracts from the content. –From Lisette

~ Try to post often otherwise you will most likely lose some readers. I've seen this happen in some blogs so ...update! :). –From Lisette

~ I would recommend making sure to proofread every post. Often we get really excited when sharing our opinions about books we love or did not love so much, that we forget to check for spelling and grammatical errors. A good way to resolve this is to type your review as a word document and complete a quick grammar check. Then cut and paste the post on your blog. –From Shalonda

~ Make sure your personality is reflected on your blog. You can go about this several different ways. Use a background and colors that you love. Also make sure your words show who you are. For example, if you are a naturally funny person, it's okay to use humor in your posts. –From Shalonda

~ I think the look of a blog says a lot about the blog, itself but also the person behind the blog. When someone visits your blog what is the first thing they see? Your blog’s design. It’s kind of like a first impression in that way. Sometimes when people don’t put a lot of effort into the way their blog looks it makes me think that they don’t put a lot of effort into the blog and whatever they do on their blog. It takes only a couple of hours out of your day but it looks good for so much longer. –From Kelsey


Our JJ interviewed Jonathan Berstien. Here is what he had to say:

1. How did you come up with the idea for Hottie?

It actually started life as a screenplay. A lot of movies, bad ones especially, come into being because of writers thinking things like `What if we took the kids from High School Musical and put them in a Halloween sequel?' In my case, it was, "What if I took the girl from Legally Blonde and put her in a superhero movie?" Nothing much happened with the script but I remained fond of the idea and the character. Although fiction was something I never thought I'd have the skills or endurance to attempt, I decided to give it a shot a couple of years ago. Thus, Hottie was salvaged from my teetering pile of good ideas and expanded into book format.

2. What was the hardest thing about writing?

Oh My God. Everything. Starting. Ignoring distractions. Fighting the temptation to do anything other than remain focussed on the computer screen. Ignoring the self-doubt that never goes away. Resisting the urge to quit. And that's just the first ten minutes...

3. Why did you choose the YA audience for your first book?

It's a book about a teenage superhero who shoots flames from her fingers and it's packed with pop culture references, poop-based humor, love triangles, destruction of designer clothes and high-school backstabbing. What other audience couid I aim for?

4. Do you have any kind of playlist while writing that helps you think?

The iPod is always set to Shuffle. Doesn't matter what's playing-- although loud, mindless electro-pop gets the job done-- as long as there's something pounding away in the background.

5. Could you put a theme song to any of your writings?

Ha! In my blog--jonathanbernsteinbook.blogspot.com-- I featured a bunch of heat-based songs that could function as an imaginary Hottie soundtrack. The one song I had in mind as the theme tune to a Hottie movie would be Back Of The Van by Ladyhawke.

6. Are you interested in writing more YA books?

Sure. Hottie 2: Burning Ambition (title subject to change) will be out next spring. I'm currently in the middle of a new, non-superhero book, that's still YA, still--hopefully--funny and which, frankly, is kicking my ass right now.

7. What kind of books did you read growing up?

Steven King. Clive Barker. I had a lot of pent-up hostility.