Mundie Moms

Sunday, March 27, 2011

This Week's Features


This week we have a lot of fun things planned on the site, and I'm hoping nothing comes up like it did last time *crosses fingers* which resulted in not staying on schedule. Yes I'm such a schedule freak it's not even funny. I seriously think I need help. lol

TOMORROW- we have an exciting Mundane Monday planned, thank you to Cassie!! We'll be sharing the unedited DSAS which Sophie and I have both watched and yeah... it's hot.

I'm also going to be interviewing Brandon Mull who will be at Book People at 3 pm! If you're in the Austin area, come by and see him!! I'm looking forward to sharing my interview w/ him later on in the week. If you have any questions you'd like to ask, please leave me a comment. I will do my best to get your question answered.

The Vespertine Blog Tour- This Thursday (the 31st) we will be having a LIVE author chat with Saundra Mitchell!! Our chat starts at 8 pm CST and we're looking forward to chatting with her about her newest release.

Reviews we'll be sharing this week-
* Where She Went by Gayle Forman
* The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
* Entwined by Heather Dixon
* Memento Nora by Angie Smibert
* Shades of Atlantis by Carol Oates
* Betrayal by Lee Nichols

On April 1st we'll be kicking off The Shades of Atlantis tour! Be sure to visit here to learn more information about the tour.

We're looking forward to this coming week's events. If you know of any fun events going on in the blogging world, please leave us a comment and let us know about it.

In My Mailbox #67

I apologize in advance, as this post is going to be a little long. I'm making up for two week's worth of IMM since my hard drive crashed two weeks ago, making it a little bit hard to blog. YAY for a fabulous husband who installed a new hard drive.


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren where we share what books we've received through out the week either for review, that we purchased, borrowed or were gifted.

For Review-
* The Hunt of the Unicorn by C.C. Humphreys, published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, released on March 8th, 2011
* The Childe by C.A. Kunz, self published, released on February 18th, 2011
* Compuls1on by Heidi Ayarbe, published by Balzer & Bray, to be released on May 1st, 2011
* Percival's Angel by Anna Eliot Crompton, published by Sourcebooks, released on March 1st, 2011
* The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge (I received two copies and will be giving one away), published by Random House, released on February 22nd, 2011
* Intrinsical by Lani Woodland, published by Pendrell Publishing, released on August 20th, 2010
* The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner, published by MaMillan, to be released on May 10th, 2011
* A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young (for book tour hosted by Novel Novice), published by Balzer & Bray, to be released on June 21st, 2011
* Stay by Deb Caletti, published by Simon Pulse, to be released on April 5th, 2011
* Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, published by Egmont, to be released on June 14th, 2011


* Hex, A Witch and Angel Tale by Ramona Wray, self published, released on February 1st, 2011 (for a blog tour)
* Huntress by Malinda Lo, published by Little Brown, to be released on April 5th, 2011
* Friendship on Fire by Danielle Weiler, published by Sid Harta Publishers, released on March 2011
* Possession by Elana Johnson, published by Simon and Schuster, to be released on June 7th, 2011
* Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books, released on March 1st, 2011
* In The Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books, to be released on April 12th, 2011
* Betrayal by Lee Nicholas, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books, re-released on March 1st, 2011
* My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison, published by Bloomsbury Teens, to be released on March 12th, 2011
* Unlocked by Ryan G. Van Cleave, published by Bloomsbury Teens, released on March 1st, 2011
* Blood and Flowers by Penny Blubaugh, published Harper Teen, released on April 2011

For Mundie Kids-
* Sparrow Road by Sheila O Connor, published by Putnam Juvenile, to released on May 12th, 2011
* The Boy At The End of The World by Greg van Eekhout, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books, to be released on June 21st, 2011
* Fire World by Chris D'Lacey, published by Scholastic, to be released on April 26th, 2011
* Darke, Septimous Heap (Book 6) by Angie Sage, published by Harper Collins Children's Book, to be released on April 8th, 2011 (we will be giving away a few copies of the ARC on Mundie Kids in April)
* Goddess Girls, Athena the Wise by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams (for blog tour), published by Simon and Schuster Kids, to be released on April 5th, 2011

Bought-
I actually bought quite a lot of books the past two weeks, most most all of them are children's book and books that aren't YA. I've got two pre-orders from Barnes and Noble and Amazon that will hopefully be arriving soon.

* It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder
* Deception by Lee Nicholas
* Beyonders by Brandon Mull (not pictured)

Gifted/Won/To Giveaway-

* The Faire Ring by Kiki Hamilton bookmarks- I am so excited and totally honored that Kiki used a quote from my mini review of her debut book on her bookmarks!! I can't wait for her book to be released this fall! It's a fantastic debut! Thank you to Kiki, we have a few SIGNED bookmarks will be giving away for an upcoming Freebie Friday.

* Breathless Read Tour, signed poster from Beth Revis. I was so excited when I found out I won this signed poster from Beth, as part of her Breathless Reads giveaway. I can't wait to hang it up in my office.

Thank you to the following for the last two weeks wonderful reads:


I'm really looking forward to sharing our reviews, being apart of some upcoming blog tours, and hosting some great giveaways here on Mundie Moms and on Mundie Kids in the coming weeks.

What goodies did you receive?

Book Review - Deception

Published by: Bloomsbury
Published Date: June 8, 2010
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - This book is a must have. Go and get it and its sequel, too (Betrayal ) which is out in stores now

 Synopsis (from Lee's webpage): When Emma Vaile's parents go missing while away on a mysterious business trip, her brother's very cute best friend, Bennett Stern—Emma's knight in J. Crew armor—arrives unexpectedly to whisk her away to New England. There, Emma settles into his family's museum-like mansion and enrolls at an old-fashioned private school. Emma has memories of Thatcher that she can't explain—it's as if she's returning home to a place she's never been. Finally, Emma confides in Bennett and learns she is a ghostkeeper, a person who can communicate with ghosts. Bennett brought Emma to Thatcher to protect her, but now he needs her help tracking an other-worldly murderer.


A few days ago, I was in one of those moods, where I was re-ordering the TBR pile on my nightstand (okay, and around it as well) and I picked up Lee Nichols’ DECEPTION. I remembered that a few of my friends, who are never wrong, recommended it to me and I thought hey, I might as well read it.

HA. Might as well read it? Let’s just say that I read it in a day, mostly thanks to my 5-year-old daughter who woke me up at 2:30 a.m. to tell me that there are ghosts in her room. I immediately thought – where’s Bennett? So wide awake at that early hour, I picked up my half-finished book and didn’t stop reading it until I was done. I then promptly pulled up the Barnes & Noble app on my phone and reserved the sequel, BETRAYAL, at my local store. Listen, don’t judge me. It’s that good. Here’s why.

The story really starts when Emma gets whisked away to an exclusive private school by her preppy and not-that-much-older guardian, Bennett. Plausible? Perhaps. But here’s where Lee’s writing takes off. You see, it’s the lore. Lee’s world-building is so believable. The fact that Emma sees ghosts is something I completely bought into (no wonder my kid is having nightmares, right?). And placing the school in Massachusetts which has a history of witchcraft made the world even more concrete. Now imagine people with special powers who can communicate or command ghosts. See? You’re there with me. And all I can tell you is that Lee’s world gets richer and more detailed with every page as you discover, through Emma’s eyes, what it truly means to be a ghostkeeper.

In just about every review, I get asked, but what about romance (I really do pay attention to the comments section in my reviews)? And boy oh boy, does Lee know how to write romance (a certain dance on page 90 made my heart lose its rhythm for a few seconds). In fact, she brings a plausible Love Triangle into the story. On the one hand there’s Bennett, Emma’s older brother’s ghostkeeper friend. He’s someone she’s known for a while but he tends to ignore her and treat her like a younger sister. On the other hand, there’s Coby, the perfect boy on campus. But is he too perfect? All along, you can’t help feeling that this is only the start and things are going to get way more complicated. And without any spoilers, I can safely tell you, there will be surprises. A quick aside to say if you adore snarky dialogue and banter, you will laugh your way through Emma’s and her friends’ exchanges. Their dialogues in Latin left me smirking.

Don’t let this book sit on your TBR pile, MMs, pick it up now. You will find yourself enjoying Lee’s funny, helpful, troublesome and yes, menacing ghosts. You will be surprised by the turns in the plot and you will be absolutely delighted by the romantic moments. It’s a witty, dark and well thought out story. Now excuse me, I’m half way through BETRAYAL and I need to know what happens next. I have a feeling that, once again, I’ll be reading late into the night.

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