Mundie Moms

Monday, March 31, 2014

FILE UNDER: 13 SUSPICIOUS INCIDENTS by Lemon Snicket, Excerpt Read by Holly Black

Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday! 
Originally posted here on Mundie Kids, I couldn't not share this exciting post with you guys here. Today I'm so thrilled to be apart of Little Brown's feature for Lemony Snicket's FILE UNDER: 13 SUSPICIOUS INCIDENTS.
Here's a little bit about the book.


Out tomorrow, April 1st, 2014, Lemony Snicket's newest release, File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents, will be available to purchase in print, ebook and audiobook formats. The audiobook features the talents of Holly Black, Libba Bray, Kon Klassen, Jon Scieszka, Ira Glass & Rachel Maddow. 

Crack the case with Lemony Snicket in File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents. Set in the same mysterious world as All The Wrong Questions series, the young apprentice investigates thirteen suspicious incidents occurring around town.

In the thirteen top-secret cases, paintings have been falling off of walls, a loud and loyal dog has gone missing, a specter has been seen walking the pier at night—strange things are happening all over the town of Stain'd-By-The-Sea. Called upon the investigate, young Lemony Snicket collects clues, questions witnesses, and cracks every case. Join the investigation and tackle the mysteries alongside Snicket, then turn to the back of the book to see the solution revealed. 

Perfect for fans of Encyclopedia Brown, File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents welcomes readers into Lemony Snicket's world of deep mystery, mysterious depth, deductive reasoning, and reasonable deductions. 

I am so thrilled to now show with you an excerpt from Holly Black's narration of "Midnight Demon" by Lemon Snicket.



About The Author


Found out more of the mysterious Lemony Snicket here.

COIN HEIST by Elisa Ludwig, Cover Reveal; Excerpt & Giveaway

Happy Monday! I'm so thrilled to be able to share today's cover reveal for Elisa Ludwig's COIN HEIST! Check out this cover!



I'm totally digging this cover! I've been told Coin Heist is a Breakfast Club meets Ocean's 11! Sold, and sold. I'm really looking forward to reading this one. We'd love to know what you think about the cover! Leave us a comment, and enter to win one of five arcs we're giving away. Find out more about the book below:

About the Book
The last place you’d expect to find a team of criminals is at a prestigious Philadelphia prep school.  But on a class trip to the U.S. Mint – which prints a million new coins every 30 minutes – an overlooked security flaw becomes far too tempting for a small group of students to ignore. 
United by dire circumstances, these unlikely allies – the nerd, the slacker, the athlete, and the perfect student – band together to attempt the impossible: rob the U.S. Mint.  This diverse crew is forced to confront their true beliefs about each other and themselves as they do the wrong thing for the right reasons.  
COIN HEIST is a fun, suspenseful, and compelling thriller, told from the perspectives of four teens with different motivations for pulling off the biggest heist in recent history. 
Get The Book on June 10,2014 from:
iTunes | Amazon

About the Author



My debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins) was released in March 2012, and the sequel, PRETTY SLY, is out in March 2014. COIN HEIST, a YA thriller, is out in June 2014 (Adaptive Studios). I live in Philadelphia with my husband and son. 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Giveaway
Want to win an arc of Coin Heist? Tell us what you think about the book by leaving a comment, and fill out the form below to be entered to win 1 of 5 arcs I'm giving away.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read An Excerpt
Want to read an excerpt from the book? Keep reading below!

Lux: Consequences by Jennifer L Armentrout; Cover Reveal & Giveaway

Last week I had the chance to share the new cover for Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux: Beginnings.


Lux: Beginnings (Obsidian & Onyx) official Blurb

Obsidian
There's an alien next door. And with his looming height and eerie green eyes, he's hot...until he opens his mouth. He's infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, he lights me up with a big fat bulls-eye. Turns out he has a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal his abilities and the only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to him until my alien mojo fades. If I don’t kill him first, that is.
Onyx
Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro alien connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems. I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?



TODAY I'm so thrilled to share the cover for Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux: Consequences


Lux: Consequences (Opal & Origin) official blurb

Opal
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing alien hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Origin
Daemon will do anything to get Katy back. After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together?  


Here are both covers together:

Lux: Beginnings (Obsidian & Onyx) & Lux: Consequences (Opal & Origin) will both be releasing on June 3, 2014


LUX: BEGINNING (Obsidian & Onyx)Links:
Pre-Order it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads


LUX: CONSEQUENCES (Opal & Origin) Links:
Pre-Order it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads



ABOUT THE AUTHOR



# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer Armentrout lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki.


Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.


She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.


Additional links to Jennifer’s pages

The Giveaway
We will also be raffling off two fan inspired artwork from fans of the Lux series sent from the author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, herself.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mundane Monday #207 - Sophie & Gideon

Happy Mundane Monday!



“Sophie,” he said, and when she gave him a stern look, he took a hasty swig of the posset. “Miss Collins. I have not yet had a chance to properly apologize to you, so let me take it now. Please forgive me for the trick I played on you with the scones. I did not mean to show you disrespect. I hope you do not imagine I think any less of you for your position in the household, for you are one of the finest and bravest ladies I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.” 

*sigh* I LOVE this series! 

Source & artwork by Cassandra Jean


Sunday, March 30, 2014

Shadowhunter Tarot Cards

Check it out Shadowhunters, more Shadowhunter Tarot Cards! These are the first of the Rings (Pentacles arcana cards), which Cassie shared and talked about here.




Per Cassie:

The first of the Rings (Pentacles( arcana tarot cards from Cassandra Jean’s complete Shadowhunter Tarot. The ten of rings shows the Branwell family ring, with a pattern of waves, and Charlotte and Henry. The nine of rings shows Jace and Will Herondale and the Herondale family ring with a pattern of birds. The eight of rings shows Matthew Fairchild, the Fairchild family ring with a pattern of wings, and the seven of rings shows Clary and Jonathan Morgenstern and the Morgenstern ring with its pattern of stars. (Their pose is a little like the pose on the cover of City of Heavenly Fire — cool.)

Catching Up on Recent Cassandra Clare Posts: YA in Diversity & A New Character in City of Heavenly Fire


Cassie shared a great article recently on Tumblr from Publisher Weekly's 2013 article about Diversity in YA books. 

 




The number of diverse YA titles — when diverse means main characters of color, LGBT and/or disabled main characters — has remained flat. There has been no improvement overall since last year.
Read the whole post with charts and analysis at DiversityinYA.com.

Cassie talks diversity in YA, and about some new characters we'll be meeting in City of Heavenly Fire! This is from her post here.

Hey Cassie! I love your books and I love the fact you are very aware of racial diversity. My question is are we going to see African American shadow hunters in the main cast for future books? Also can you tell us more about Los Rosales. — axenicxspirit
Thank you. That is extremely kind of you to say. I was reading over Malindo Lo’s breakdown of Diversity in YA bestsellers and even though I was happy to see so many Shadowhunter books on the list it made me more aware of the ways in which, when I first started writing, I wasn’t aware of the lack of diversity in YA fiction, and my own shortcomings in rectifying the problem in past years. I am trying to do better and will continue to try.
There is an African-American Shadowhunter in City of Heavenly Fire (Maia of course is African-American, but not a Shadowhunter, though she has her own big plot line in CoHF) — her part is small, but I introduced her because she carries over to Dark Artifices where her plotline will be much bigger: she is part of the core group who lives at the Institute.
You’ll meet Cristina Mendoza Rosales’ father in City of Heavenly Fire as well, the head of the Mexico City Institute. Cristina in TDA is at the Institute because she’s just turned 18 and she’s doing what Shadowhunters do — traveling to other Institutes, like Gideon in TiD, to compare the way different Institutes do things. I don’t want to talk too much about her yet because characters change as you write them — I deleted an entire Blackthorn family member (Ariadne) (yes I’ve ALREADY KILLED A BLACKTHORN AND THE BOOKS HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED) because she wasn’t working with the plot structure. So Cristina as she is now is principled and thoughtful, she has a close, sometimes resentful relationship with her mother and father who have her whole life mapped out for her but she has a different vision, and she is two things I am not: calm and put-together. No, seriously, I haven’t seen my hairbrush in three days. *worries* Aspects of her could change, but I’ve pulled her very much to the forefront and given her more story and romance. I do speak Spanish but I’m trying to get myself to the point where my Spanish is as good as my French, for Cristina and the other Hispanic characters in TDA.
A few people have asked, having seen the cover of Iron Trial, what race Tamara, the heroine, is. She is Middle Eastern: specifically she is of Iranian descent, born in America. As a lot of you know I was born in Iran and Farsi was my first language and I’ve wanted to write an Iranian character forever. Cordelia in TLH has an Iranian mother and Cordelia speaks Farsi/Parsi so I’m excited to revisit the language.
"Hi I was wondering if you were really born in Tehran, Iran. I’d like to wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous Noruz! — 1stdayofsummer"
Thanks! I really was. I was born to American parents in the Bimaristan Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hospital) on the Boulevard Elizabeth in Teheran. We lived in the neighborhood of Yousefebad at the time (we were  behind the Cinema Goldis, the English language cinema. It is probably long gone by now.) My first word: Ø´ÛŒØ± .

Shadowhunter Tarot Cards: The Last of the Swords of Arcana Cards

Happy Sunday! Check out the last of the Swords of arcana tarot cards series that Cassie shared yesterday: 






Cassie shared the last of the Swords of arcana tarot cards here yesterday. Here's what she had to say:

The last of the Swords arcana tarot cards from Cassandra Jean’s complete Shadowhunter Tarot. Simon and Isabelle as the Ace of Blades, Jocelyn as the Queen, Valentine the Knight (why is he riding a horse shirtless? Is that safe?) Luke as the Page of blades, and the one who started it all, Jonathan Shadowhunter, as the King.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Girls Gone Sci-Fi Bonus Event / Signing in Dallas, TX


Check it out Texas readers! The Girls Gone Sci-Fi tour is coming to Dallas, TX for a BONUS EVENT! Authors Jessica Brody, Sophie Jordan, Victoria Scott and Tamara Ireland Stone are stopping in Dallas TOMORROW, March 30th for a fun afternoon. Stop by and meet your favorite YA authors!

When: Sunday, March 30th, 4 pm
Where: Irving Public Library (Valley Ranch)
401 Cimarron Trai, Irving, TX 75063
*Get directions here*

I'm so thrilled to be the designated blogger this event! That means I'll be tweeting live from the event, interviewing the authors and hosting an amazing giveaway with SIGNED books from all four authors.

Find out more information about the event HERE!

Bookish News

Happy Weekend! Here's some of this past week's bookish news.


DOROTHY MUST DIE hits shelves on April 1st, just in time to celebrate the 75th anniversary of
The Wizard of Oz. News has it, Dorothy Must Die is already slated to become a CW show produced by Heroes created, Tim Kring!
Thank you to Harper Teen, you can read the 1st 12 chapters.
Check out the novella No Place Like Oz, now available. 
This past week USA TODAY revealed the book trailer (featured below). 





Simon Teen is celebrating Jeri Smith-Ready's upcoming release, This Side of Salvation with a fun sweepstakes! Check it out & enter to win HERE.


Don't miss Tuesday's Fierce Reads author chat with Anna Banks! 

Check it out! Penguin Teen has a Book Club on Goodreads! Join HERE.


Epic Reads shared some great book recs this week for YA readers. I've read many of the books featured here, and have loved all of the ones I read. Check em out!

************

COVER REVEALS


USA Today revealed MAGISTERIUM: THE IRON TRIAL by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare cover reveal & shared an excerpt from the book. Find out more about the book HERE


Entangled Teen revealed the new cover for Jennifer L. Armentrout's The Lux Series: BEGINNINGS!
Find out more about upcoming release here.


Harlequin Teen revealed the last three covers for parts 4-6 of Clara Kensie's Run To You series.
Find out more about the series here.


Mundie Moms was apart of this last week's Crossroads Saga cover reveals! Check out all five cover reveals here. Be sure to follow author Mary Ting on Facebook here. 

Friday, March 28, 2014

City of Lost Souls Read A Long *Coming Soon*


Hello Shadowhunters! It's coming up on my favorite time of year.... well one of my favorite times of year. It's almost time for a Mortal Instruments read a long! Every year for the past couple of years a couple weeks leading up to Cassandra Clare's upcoming release, I always host a read a long for the previously released book. Kicking off in a couple of week is the City of Lost Souls Read A Long!

Kicking off on May 2nd, the Read A Long will go until May 25th. Each day we'll be discussing the chapters, epilogue etc. More information will be coming soon!

The Magisterium Series: The Iron Trial (Book #1) by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black; The Characters On The Cover


Yesterday I shared the cover reveal for Cassandra Clare & Holly Black's The Iron Trials here, which is book one in their MAGISTERIUM middle grade series. What a fabulous MG cover it is! Cassie also shared a link on Tumblr yesterday to read an excerpt (which is part of the cover reveal) from the book and she told fans who each of the characters are on the cover are. Here's what she said:
ETA: Who are the three children on the cover of The Iron Trial? I loved the cover! - <3 helenaandsherry="">
Aaron is in the center. Callum is on his left, and Tamara on his right.

About The Book
By: Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
Published by: Scholastic / Double Day
To Be Released on: 9/9/2014
Series: Magisterium Book #1
Pre-Order The Iron Trial from: Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial. Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail. All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him. So he tries his best to do his worst – and fails at failing. Now the Magisterium awaits him — a place that’s both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future. The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come… (per Cassie's site)

You can find out more about the series via Cassandra Clare's site and Scholastic.
I can't wait to read this one! I'm so excited she and Holly are doing a middle grade series together.

Signed Copies of City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare; Update & Where To Buy Copies of The Book


A couple weeks ago I shared Cassie's post about the limited number of signed copies of City of Heavenly Fire here, and yesterday Cassie took to Tumblr to ask questions about the signed copies and where fans could purchase copies of the book.


Hi Mrs. Clare :) Is there any news on the b&n signed pre-orders yet?? Will it be a special pre-order? I’m so paranoid I’ll miss the link and not get one! lol I would be gutted if I missed the chance to buy the signed copy… My cat is named after Church so I’m keeping my fingers crossed I get Church sketch copy when I order! Any update info would be appreciated, and thank you for being so amazing ♥ x — chelle-ma-belle
Could you please make some more signed books. <3 :p="" em="" hippytrippie="" i="" one.="" really="" want="">
Is it still possible to get a signed copy of CoHF? If not, where can I order the normal one?
——— 
The signed copies from Barnes and Noble that I posted about two weeks ago unfortunately sold out in a few days. They are gone and they won’t be replaced because what I did was sign “tip-in pages” — kind of like what John did with Fault in Our Stars — which means signing pages that will later be bound into the book when it’s printed. The books are being printed now so it’s too late to do more.

I work with one indie bookstore, Books of Wonder, in New York, owned by Peter Glassman, that stockpiles signed copies of my books — I go in whenever I am in town and sign them. Peter has hooked me up with signed Harry Potter first editions, so I owe him. Also it’s a fabulous indie bookstore that should be supported. :)

I will be going into BoW the day CoHF pubs and signing copies for them. I’ll try to put some Church sketches in. If you want one, you can always contact the store via email or phone and place an order. In fact, they have a big old banner about it on their frontpage:
http://www.booksofwonder.com/ (They do ship internationally, etc, you just have to call them.)

As for where you can get the normal one: any bookstore, Target, Walmart, Costco, Amazon.com.

CROSSROADS: Halo City by Mary Ting; Cover Reveal & Giveaway


WELCOME TO DAY #5 OF THE CROSSROADS SAGA COVER REVEAL!

We have come to the last and final cover reveal!
This has been so much fun! Cannot wait to find out who won! Check out all the other covers revealed on Mundie Moms here.

Missed the first cover reveals? Check them out below for a chance to win!

Day #1 | Day #2 | Day #3 | Day #4

Don't forget, EVERY DAY we are adding more entries to the rafflecopter!


Check out the FULL COVER....


ABOUT HALO CITY
When a massive group of angels known as nephilim—half human, half angel—had been found by the Royal Council, they were taken to Halo City. Instead of cleansing the Earth with a flood, which had been done before, the Royal Council created a place just for this group of angels. Upon meeting the alkins, a particular one by the name of Davin, refused to give up on helping Michael deal with his struggles. Together, they discovered a strange being that would appear at the Crossroads at unexpected times. Souls wandering there is nothing new, but this one aged as time passed. Mystified, they both searched for answers while refraining from telling the Twelve about her. Who is this being that has enraptured Michael's attention? And will Michael finally forgive himself and find the happiness that he yearns to have?




REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR THE BLANK SPACE FOR THE MISSING WORD. 
YOU CAN GUESS THE WORD ON THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW.
Hearing only half of what he said, I concentrated on a light that had suddenly appeared over the dirt road. After the glow faded, a little girl appeared. She was about Alexa Rose’s age.
“That never happened before.” Davin seemed curious too.
“What never happened?” Moving quietly, we were now deeper into the grass…between where Halo City and Crossroads intersected.
“The light. I’ve never seen one here before.” Davin seemed flabbergasted.
“You mean you’ve been doing this too?”
“Well…I wanted to speak to one, but I never did. Cause…we’re not suppose to,” Davin gritted through his teeth as his tone became stern. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”
Ignoring him, I continued to gaze. This little girl had me under her spell. Something about her was captivating. I felt strangely connected to her as I watched her searching, looking lost and confused. Wanting to help her, I nudged forward, but I was stopped.
“Are you crazy? What part of ‘I don’t want to get in trouble’ didn’t you understand?”
“Davin.” I bored my eyes into his. “Don’t touch me and don’t stop me. I want to talk to her.”
Davin furrowed his brows and spoke. “Michael, you don’t have a thing for little girls, do you?”
“What?” I asked, feeling confused.
“You know…old men liking little girls. You’re not a pervert, are you?”
“No! What gave you that idea? You’re _____.”
We stopped arguing when the light blinded us, then started to fade. “No….” I whispered under my breath. I didn’t know why but I got extremely livid with him. I had missed my chance. He was always in my way…always trying to keep me on the right path. Then, when I realized Davin’s good intentions, I calmed down. “Davin…next time, don’t stop me.”
“Or you’ll what?” he challenged.
“Never mind.” I didn’t know how I knew; I just knew she would come back. Without thinking, I said loudly in my mind, “You’re a pain.”
Davin looked at me strangely. “I’m not a pain. And how did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You spoke to my mind. You had a conversation with my mind and you didn’t even open your mouth.”
“You’re crazy. You’re hearing things.”
“Do it again.”
“No.”
“Chicken.”
There he went with that chicken word. “Fine.” And so I did, just to get him off my back. I said it loudly in my mind.
“What? I’m not a fart face,” Davin chuckled.

“I didn’t say that.”

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!



Everyday while this giveaway is running we will be adding extra entries to the rafflecopter. :) 

Make sure to check back to see all the covers, collect each word, and enter daily! 

Please read the TERMS & CONDITIONS at the bottom of the rafflecopter before entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway





Mary Ting resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.
Website † Facebook † GoodReads † Twitter † Instagram † Pinterest 


Mary Ting is also a featured author at Chapter by Chapter Book Rave happening in NY on September 20th! 100+ authors will be signing! There will be YA BOWLING, BILLIARDS PARTY, and more!


Tickets available today! www.cbcevent.com

Thursday, March 27, 2014

RUN TO YOU by Clara Kensie, Cover Reveal for Run To You parts 4-6

A few weeks ago I had the chance to read and review Clara Kensie's Run To You parts 1-3, and loved it! Check out my reviews here. Today I'm so excited that Harlequin Teen has revealed the covers for RUN TO YOU parts 4-6!! Check it out here:


I can not wait to read the next three parts of this series. Here's what Harlequin Teen said about today's cover reveal:

It’s #CoverThursday and today we’re excited to reveal not one, but three(!!!) covers! 

In Author Clara Kensie’s RUN TO YOU parts 4–6, we catch up with a family on the run from a deadly past, and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger. Harlequin TEEN’s first digital serial continues this July! 

Haven’t yet read parts 1–3? Get them HERE 
Add parts 4–6 to your Goodreads bookshelf HERE 


Now let's look at the pretties all together.....


 

Look how lovely these all look together! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that eventually this series will be published in physical book form, as I need to add these books to my bookshelves! I can't stare at them when they're on my kindle. lol Be sure to check out the series here.

Labels