Reading Road Trip - Alabama

Welcome to my first stop on the Reading Road Trip, the great state of Alabama, hosted by Britta at I Like These Books and Hafsah at Icey Books!

This is the state flag.

Here are some interesting facts about Alabama:

• Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819
• Alabama is known as the Yellowhammer State
• The first rocket to put humans on the moon was built in Huntsville, Alabama.
• The word Alabama means tribal town in the Creek Indian language.
• Alabama's Constitution has over 100,000 words and more than 700 amendments, making it one of the longest in the United States.
• Mail is delivered by boat in Magnolia Springs, Alabama. This city has the only all-water mail route in the United States.
• In Scottsboro, you'll find the Unclaimed Baggage Center, which buys lost luggage from airlines.

I've visited Alabama many times, and I think it is a very interesting state.  If any of you have the chance to ever visit, I would take the opportunity.  Many important Civil War battles and Civil Rights battles took place in Alabama; it is just oozing with awesome history.  But if you're unable to visit, I'm offering some books that I hope will help take you there!

There will be ONE winner who can pick ONE book from the choices above. 

(All books will be in paperback format & may not be the exact edition seen above)

This giveaway is also INTERNATIONAL, as long as the Book Depository ships to you!

Check the schedule to make sure you visit ALL the stops.

I also have a stop in Louisiana on July 16th, so don't forget to come back!

To enter:

Fill out the rafflecopter below 

(make sure BD ships to you first here)

The winner will be contacted by email

The winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

Must be 13 years of age

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Top Ten Tuesday (24)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of their bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

The topic this week is a free topic so I'm picking: Top Ten Of My Favorite Reviews!

I thought it would be interesting to list some of my favorite book reviews. I'm going to try and pick a bunch of different genres, but all are going to be really great books that you should read!

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns by Mindy Kaling

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Purity by Jackson Pearce

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Justine Larbalstier & Holly Black

Waterfall by Lisa T Bergren

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

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Teaser Tuesday (46)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following!

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share a few teaser sentences from somewhere on that page.
• MAKE SURE NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (you don't want to give too much away and ruin the book for other readers)

Share the title and author too, so that other readers can add your book to their TBR list if they like your teaser!

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Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie 
by David Lubar

Publication Date: January 18, 2007

                 Oh crap, this is starting to sound like a diary.  Next thing I know, I'll be telling you who my dream date is.  Oh crap again, I already said that, didn't I?

(Pg. 49)

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I saw this the other day when I was browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble.  I hadn't heard anything about it, but the cover (it is a really good cover) caught my eye.  So I read the summary, and I thought it sounded really cute.  I'm so glad I bought it because it is one of the best contemporaries I've read this year.  I'm so excited I've finally read it since it came out so long ago.  Sometimes it's good not to get too caught up in all the new, new, new books out there, and explore previously published works.  I suggest everyone read this one; you'll really be able to relate to it!

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Nook Bargains (13)

I have a nook color, which I love!  But whenever I see e-books on sale, they're always for the Kindle. 

So I thought I might start my own round-up of sales on e-books that are for the nook to help my fellow nookers (yes I've just made that word up).

The catch is that some of these books are on-sale for a limited time, so get 'em while they're hot!

All of these books are pretty awesome and cheap, but some are only on-sale for a limited time, so you better hurry and get them before it's to late:


There are so many books this time, but all are really amazing books especially for such a great deal!


$0.99:

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale - $0.99

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - $0.99











$1.59 - 1.99:

Hourglass by Myra McEntire - $1.59

The Captive (Guardians of Ga'Hoole #1) by Kathryn Lasky - $1.99










$2.99:

The Girl of Fire and Thornes by Rae Carson - $2.99

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - $2.99

Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan - $2.99

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce - $2.99

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski - $2.99

Enthralled edited by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong - $2.99

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton - $2.99

Hate List by Jennifer Brown - $2.99

Variant by Robison Wells - $2.99

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies - $2.99

Flawless by Lara Chapman - $2.99

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen - $2.99

Possess by Gretchen McNeil - $2.99

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten - $2.99










$3.99:

Forget You by Jennifer Echols - $3.99

Going Too Far by jennifer Echols - $3.99

Need by Carrie Jones - $3.99

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Past. Present. Future. (9)

There are a a lot of these "What're you reading?" features around, so I figured, hey why not start one too? Basically, here's where I highlight the books I've read, the books I'm reading, and the books I'm going to read. Fun, right? Please join in if you want!

PAST:

Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby - Super cute and super fierce!  You can tell from the cover this book will be fun, and it really is!  When I finished I wished there was another book in the series because I didn't want to let these characters go!  Definitely reading more by Amanda Ashby as soon as possible!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver - This was an amazing, heartbreaking, intense book.  It acted as an amazing bridge, leading us into the final journey of Requiem.  I thought Lena became even more of a heroine and a badass.  She was reborn in this book, but also found something she thought she lost forever.  There has been a lot of mixed reviews, but I think Lauren Oliver knocked it out of the park!





PRESENT:

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar - This is one of the funniest and most realistic contemporaries I've read in a while.  David Lubar has a great writing style, very easy to follow.  He also has a great voice; I can hear Scott speaking in my head.  Scott reminds me of a couple boys that were in my Honors classes in high school.  I think this is a very good read for reluctant readers, but especially boys!  Love it!





FUTURE:

Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard - I am really eager to read this, especially with the blurb from Pat Conroy!  This feels like it will be so much more than another contemporary novel.  I'm really digging the new "literature" genre that is popping up in YA.  It shows that style of book can and will be read by teens.  Really looking forward to reading!

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - Ooooh this book is on top of my 2012 debut list!  Sounds like an awesome mystery/supernatural story, it takes place in a kingdom similar to Russia!  I love Russia, so yay!  I want to know how this Shadow Fold came to be, how Alina uses her power, and who the heck is the Darkling (or maybe what...?)!  I'm really excited to dive in! I PROMISE I WILL EVENTUALLY READ THIS (for the 3rd week in a row...)!

If any of you've read any of these books, let me know what you thought (but NO spoilers) down below in the comments!

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Recommend A... (8)

Welcome to "Recommend A...", a fun new meme created by Shanyn over at Chick Loves Lit. Shanyn will post a new prompt each week, and anyone interested in participating will post a book recommendation that follows the prompt. A fun and different way to get recommendations!

This week's prompt is: Recommend a Book Published in 2010!

I didn't read this book until last year, but it debuted in 2010!  This is the first book in the Riders of the Apocalypse series by Jackie Morse Kessler.  It is a really great mix of contemporary teenage problems and biblical mythology.  The way the supernatural and reality come together make for a really great story!  I think anybody would enjoy this series.

Hunger
by Jackie Morse Kessler
Published October 18, 2010

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.” 

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? 

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

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Current Favorite Reads

I've decided to start a new feature here on Eli to the nth. I think sometimes books deserve a little more TLC than a review. With that in mind, I've decided to highlight my "Current Favorite Reads". This might be for the last couple weeks, for a whole month, or even just for a few days. Please join in if you want!

So this "Current Favorite Reads" is late being posted on here!  Sorry about that; I should have another one, actually, in a day or two....so yeah!  Enjoy!

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Judging a Book By It's Cover

Yesterday on Wired, Geek Dad revealed the new covers for Beth Revis' Across the Universe trilogy.  When I first saw a link to the article, I was very excited to see the cover of Shades of Earth, the last book in the series (release date January 15, 2013) .  I clicked on the article, and was surprised to see the extreme difference Penguin went with the cover design.

Here are the original covers for Across the Universe and A Million Suns (there is no cover for Shades of Earth in this design, as it isn't published yet):

Here are the new covers for the trilogy:

Personally, I don't hate the new designs, but I don't like them either.  I prefer the old ones, as I believe they have infinitely more character, are simply gorgeous, and they excite me.  The new covers are very predictable, and fall in line with the same old sci-fi genre books one sees on the shelves every day.  According to Geek Dad, "Penguin has made the...decision to repackage the trilogy to broaden the target audience..." (Liu, 2012, para. 2).  But who exactly is the target audience?

Yesterday, after the news broke, I had a long discussion with three fellow book bloggers, Eileen from Singing and Reading in the Rain, Annabelle from Sparkles and Lightning, and Kayla from Kismet Kayla on Twitter.  The opinion between the four of us was that this specific cover redesign, and other cover redesigns, did not work.  Often the covers don't inspire an interest in the story, for collectors it ruins the series cohesion, and the redesigns can incur additional costs for those readers who like having the same format and style of book.

I can count myself in the audience that these covers do not target, and the only reason why I'm continuing with the trilogy is because I want to support Beth Revis.  For me, the reason these covers don't work is the exact reasons I stated above; the main one being they don't excite me! However, if the point of this redesign is to target adults (which is only a guess on my part), or perhaps male readers, then I guess they've done their job.  

But it is interesting that we live in a society so influenced by the status quo of what is "right" for what audience, that amazing covers such as the first design are scrapped to make way for something a little less girly/juvenile.  I wished there were more of an explanation given when redesigns of this magnitude happen.  I'd like to understand from the publisher's perspective why they believe it is necessary, and what they hope to gain from it.

Whatever the reason, I hope that the books continue to do well in all their formats, as Across the Universe is an amazing trilogy.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the redesign.  Do you love it, do you hate, or do you not care either way?  Leave your comments below, and whatever you're opinion, do check the books out because they are really worth it! 


Reference:
J Liu. (2012, July 7). GeekDad exclusive: New covers revealed for across the universe trilogy [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/07/new-covers-across-the-universe/

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