Saturday, May 30, 2015

Armchair BEA Day 4 - Giveaway (Win $20 to The Book Depository)


Add a line to Story Time in the comments, then I’ll randomly pick a winner out of all the entries and they’ll win $20 to The Book Depository 

* Contest open to US and International, if you enter the contest make sure that The Book Depository ships to where you live.  You can check that here.(which means the giveaway is open Internationally as long as they ship to wherever you live.

* Giveaway will run today through June 7th, winner will be posted June 8th.)


Rules

1.) Only write 1 to 2 sentences
2.) Keep it clean
3.) Have fun and spread the word so the story grows

Here's the story that has formed so far:

Awesome people who have authored the story by adding lines so far: Sullivan McPig, Julie@My5monkeys, Susan Jane Bigelow, barmybex, Tiny Reverse Vampire, Man of la Book

Once upon a time in a time not that long ago there was a disturbance.

The cause of the disturbance was something that was well...truly disturbing.  In fact it was so disturbing that at first it was quite unclear what this disturbance was, because anyone who saw it was too disturbed to talk about it.

There came a noisy unruly girl who demanded that all must obey her. She was the girl of the mayor and weird things did happen around her. Pigeons tap danced when she blinked her eyes and cockroaches would mimic her words when she spoke.  Lights would go off and babies would cry when she passed.

This girl stood in the center of town, pigeons dancing, roaches waiting, lights flickering and babies crying all around.  She struck her umbrella on the cobblestones.  A hush fell over the town as purple sparks shot out of the tip of the umbrella and even the pigeons stopped their dancing and seemed to hold their breath.

As the astounded masses watched a massive hole slowly appeared in the middle of the street. As the dust settled it was revealed...a giant staircase leading down to complete darkness and then a faint music started to radiate from its depths.

There was such a ruckus in the town and trying to make sure that all the citizens were fine. The music coming out of the hole had a mesmerizing sound that attracted all the citizens.  It was almost like children's music.

The girl grinned mischievously and whistled along with the music while she slowly descended down the hole.

The further down she went the louder the music echoed. A strange shift filled the air and a cold wind howled past causing her hair to flutter round her face, but it didn't distract her. As she confidently walked on some of the pigeons and cockroaches followed her, cautiously and trembling with fear and a sense of foreboding.

"Wait," a high, piping voice said, "there are dangers below!" One of the pigeons had spoken. This was not a terrific surprise to the girl, who did not pause in her descent." Stay above ground if you don't have the courage to follow me," she stated calmly." But I must go on. The faith of the town depends on this."

As she kept traveling downward the tone of the music seemed to change and become more insistent.  Then in the distance a faint shimmering light appeared.

It glowed a dull purple at first, but then changed to a harsh, angry blue that pulsated like a frantic heartbeat that got more aggressive the closer the girl got to it.

The light was actually calling to her, and only her. She was different from everyone else in the town. It was her duty.

She edged closer with her arm out in front of her. The blue light grew in intensity until she had to close her eyes against the glare, a warmth surrounded her arm from the light and she pulled in a satisfied breath and grinned.

As more of the light enveloped her, she felt the heat spread and her body began to hum with a sense of power.

Then in her mind she began to hear a whispering chant almost as if the power knew who she was and what she had to do.

The words and the music started to sync together and then she began to speak the chant, as she spoke the discordant words the light solidified into a wooden door which slowly began to open.

The light around the door frame was still so bright it cast shadows into the room, making it impossible to see what was in there.

She slowly peeked into the room and felt so cold that there must be something not of this world in there. She slowly found the bed and sat down on it.

Then out of nowhere a dapper looking man appeared.  He looked like a perfect gentleman; he even had a strange purple top hat on.  Though when you looked in his eyes there was no warmth to be found and his presence seemed to suck the warmth from the room.

The man seemed to be staring straight at her but there was no recognition in his eyes, just blackness. Then he opened his mouth to speak and she felt shivers shoot up and down her spine.

His voice seemed to freeze the very air and stop all sound when he said, "I know what you're here for."

Thinking this was her job and her job alone, she wondered if he was friend or foe.

She steadied herself because she knew that if she showed any fear that he might pounce and his true form would be revealed.  Her bag of tricks was pretty full though and she had the spark of an idea.

She remembered his particular fondness for word puzzles and taking a deep breath began reciting an odd sounding riddle.

In the middle of the chant he began chanting along with her, their voices rose and the atmosphere in the room grew even more tense.

The girl could have sworn she felt the very walls vibrating and the floor shaking, but she knew she couldn't stop now. If this was some sort of test she was determined to succeed.

When she finished the chant he stopped at the same time, then with a deep rumbling the floor fell away beneath them.

The pair tumbled down into the darkness, but for some reason neither one of them was scared.

They seem to fall forever, almost floating in the air. The girl held the man's hand, or was he holding hers?

The man was still chanting, while the pigeons were flying in circles around them. That is when the girl notices something that sent cold chills to her spine: the cockroaches mimicked him!

She thought everything was under control but those darn cockroaches really fouled things up.

The farther they fell the more weightless she felt and the air seemed to thicken and become colder.

The chanting continued, she glanced down and saw that they were falling quickly toward a rather large clearing that was surrounded by snow and something shadowy she couldn't quite make out.

Bracing herself for a rough landing the girl blew out a deep breath and got ready for impact. At least the snow would offer some sort of comfort, or so she thought.

The closer they got the more the view changed.  The snowflakes now seemed to be separating, darkening, and slowly but surely rising to meet them.

The girl closed her eyes in the hope she was imagining it, but when she opened them again the shadowy snow was still coming towards them and now it looked like a dark outstretched hand just waiting to snatch them both out of the air.

As the hand wrapped around them, they could feel the very breath being squeezed from their lungs. It wasn't really a hand, they had fallen into a canyon with ridges that looked like fingers. It got narrower the further down they were drawn, then they could feel something on their toes.

"what is that?" the girl asked, trying to wriggle herself away from whatever it was, scrunching her nose in disgust. Her breath caught as she slipped again and fell further into the thing below.

"Why me?" she cried.

Then his voice boomed from right behind her, "You know why, it always had to be you."

She stared shocked while he continued, “I never forgot about you and I wasn’t just going to let you go.”


"You thought that you could just walk out and I wouldn't notice?"


the girl took a deep breath, realising she knew just who was behind her and knowing things were about to get a lot worse. "oh boy!" she sighed to herself.


Before she could turn around the temperature plummeted and then he was there, the man she thought she could get away from.  Well he wasn't exactly all human as she had found out before fleeing.


Taking two steps back she yelled at him, "I've learned a lot since our last meeting."


"She fumbled for the umbrella which lay a few feet away, broken and wet.”

“A life line, the umbrella, if only she could reach it.”

Friday, May 29, 2015

Armchair BEA Day 3 - Character Chatter

Character Chatter"It's time to give your favorite characters some love! Characters are essential to a story, and they can make or break a book for some readers. Now's your chance to shine the spotlight on your favorite characters, or maybe your least favorite. Who's your favorite couple? What are the components of a well written character? What are you favorite or least favorite cliches associated with characters?"


Favorite Characters

From Harry Potter my favorite characters are Hermione and Hagrid

Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson series

Kitty from the Alien series by Gini Koch

Meg from The Others series by Anne Bishop

Daemon Sadi from the Black Jewels series by Anne Bishop

Angel from The White Trash Zombie books by Diana Rowland

I think the components of a truly well written character are that they have to be well rounded and not one dimensional. The author also has to make it so you find yourself really caring what happens to all of these characters. With all of my favorite characters I find myself wanting to know everything about them. All these characters and their stories are very unique too, I think that's what really draws me to them the characters and the expansive world building just make it so it's extremely difficult to put down any of these books once you start.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Armchair BEA Day 2: Visual Expressions

"Visual Expressions
There are so many ways to tell stories. Whether it's comic books, graphic novels, visual novels, webcomics, etc, there are quite a lot of other mediums to tell a story. On this day, we will be talking about those books and formats that move beyond just words and use other ways to experience a story."


I love comics and graphic novels. I have a lot of fun reading them digitally on my kindle because it kind of makes it look like more of a cartoon. So do you like comics too and if so what would you recommend?

Here’s a list of what I’ve been reading lately:

This is an awesome take on Ms. Marvel and now I can't wait to read the next collection.


Spider Gwen is a great take on the Spider-Man mythology because you get to see what would happen if Gwen got bit by the spider instead. It is a very interesting read so far.



This one based on the X-Men from the '92 cartoon is awesome because I always loved that cartoon and it's very cool to get more stories with these characters.



This take on the superhero genre is a great read and I was thrilled to find them digitally. It looks at what might happen to superheroes if you saw them when they're older.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Armchair BEA Day 1:Library Love

"Librarians are awesome. Not only are they helpful, they're very fun to talk to and give great recommendations. Show your library some love, and the wonderful men and women that run it. Why is your library fantastic? Got any funny stories? Feature your library on your blog? Do an interview with a librarian?"

Since I actually work in a library as a Library Assistant (aka a librarian without a Masters degree), I knew I had to participate and tell some funny stories about my library.

Here’s just a small collection of some of the stories/pictures I have:

It was a Saturday, so I'm the only person in the library, I was helping a student with a paper. The "best" part came at the end.  She said because I had been so nice and helped her with her paper that she wanted to reward me.  This reward was her reading every single page of her paper out loud to me.  This was one of those cringe inducing moments because you don't want to say NO, don't read the paper to me and make the person feel dumb.  I ended up listening to her read me the paper right up until closing time...


Another time in probably close to the weirdest thing I’ve heard while working was when,
One of our ah special patrons told us that she built her own casket using info from a book we interlibrary loaned her and right now she's using it as a kitchen cabinet...



Turkey right outside the window.

What happens on a Saturday when nobody is around and the person who works downstairs and I get inspired to break out the googly eyes. :)

Armchair BEA 2015 Day 1 - Introductions


Welcome to another year of Armchair BEA everybody. Here’s hoping we all have a great week. :)

Today is all about intros, so here's mine:



1.) Armchair BEA: Tell us a bit about yourself: How long have you been blogging? Where are you from? How did you get into blogging?

Bibliognome: My name's Becky B.  I'm from Nebraska and I’m a Library Assistant at a community college. Trust me, it's always an adventure with students of every age from high school to life long learners.  I've been blogging since August 16, 2010.  I got into blogging because I love books. I first discovered Twitter and found book blogs there and after discovering/applying to review at other book blogs I thought why not just start my own blog, so that's just what I did.


2.) Armchair BEA: What is your theme song?

Bibliognome: Hmmm, my theme song. Well, if you go by the song I find myself singing all the time when nobody is around it would have to be the Rescue Rangers theme song (it’s just so darn catchy.)


3.) Armchair BEA: Share your favorite blog post on your blog. (aka written by you!)

Bibliognome: My favorite post is Story Time, where I start a post and people add on to the story. Here’s the link to the longest I think the story has gone on (please feel free to add a line here if you like the story.)


4.) Armchair BEA: What does diversity mean to you?

Bibliognome: Diversity to me in the realm of blogging and reading means that you should go out and read everything, not just authors or subjects you’re comfortable with but stories that will make you think and see things from a different point of view.


5.) Armchair BEA: What book are you reading right now?

Bibliognome: Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry. I love this authors books, no matter the character or topic you’ll just get drawn in and won’t be able to look away.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Author Signing - Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan

Had an awesome time at the Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan signing on Friday. I actually didn’t find out about the signing until Tuesday so I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson and the companion novel Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story over the course of three days. This was definitely one of those times when I was sorry I hadn’t read the books sooner (they are hilarious and heartfelt at the same time.) Plus I bought myself the special edition of Fangirl (which is awesome looking) to go with the other books I got signed.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Weekend Read - From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess

I love Cabot’s writing style and have read so many of her series so I can’t wait to read this one and see the connections to The Princess Diaries series.



Thursday, May 21, 2015

Review - The Big Fix

The Big Fix by Linda Grimes

* Received a copy from the publisher for review.

5 gnomes out of 5 gnomes

I adore this series, it’s always so fun and weird (in a good way.) It’s one of those books where you just have to smile while reading it. I went back and forth between 4 and a half and 5 gnomes but the ending really sold it for me.

I figured out a pretty important twist but some others threw me for a loop. The whole murder mystery was surprising and I liked getting to see more of the ranch and especially Eeyore.  

The twist that I did figure out though let’s just say wow that was a real punch to the face and if you’re like me you’ll be thinking something along the lines of oh foccacia...

These characters really shine because you never know what’s going to happen next with all this adaptor craziness. It’s great seeing the plethora of personas that they all go in and out of.

All Ciel’s brothers and the entire family are always there for each other and you get to meet even more people from Billy’s family. Speaking of family, I almost fell out of my chair laughing while reading a supremely awkward yet hilarious scene that Ciel walked in on.

The whole ending scene was pretty darn perfect because I thought I saw a twist coming but it went the other way. If you like your book to be full of surprises and characters you’ll really care about, be sure to check out this series.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Big Fix

The Big Fix by Linda Grimes


The first sentence from each chapter of The Big Fix, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

*Spoilers are highlighted like so :)
* Received a copy from the publisher for review.

“It’s not that I’m averse to holding on to something long and cylindrical, even if it does wiggle a bit.”

“Tell me again, cuz … how is this my fault?”

“I still don’t think we need to fly.”

“Billy was waiting at the barn.”

“Jackson Gunn’s face was all over the TV in the corner of the fitting room.”

“I took that as my cue to leave and surreptitiously texted an SOS to Billy.”

“I woke to the sound of pans clanging in the kitchen.”

Dave was sprawled on the cowhide sofa in the lounge, belly down and quietly moaning, bag of ice melting on his butt.”

“Finding myself on a plane for the fourth (or was it the fifth?”

“Nigel Overholt was even more impressive in person than he was on TV.”

“Are Sinead and Siobhan mad at me?”

“It had to be the longest week of my life.”

“Ciel!”

“If I hadn’t already figured out it was Billy at the wedding, I would have known it for sure when I saw the Chevy in the parking lot of The Barns.”

“I excused myself to go to the bathroom, and then, needing more time to sort out my feelings, decided to put on my robe and go downstairs.”

Billy was gone from the guest bed when I woke up, giving me a moment of panic until I heard him in the kitchen.”

The Golden Acres Funeral Home was a fair distance from Tinsel Town, but that didn’t stop the masses from showing up to gawk.”

“Billy and I picked up food at the In-N-Out drive-thru and checked into a hotel, where we proceeded to stuff our faces with their legendary Animal Style burgers (the grilled onions were fabulous) and Animal Style fries (topped with cheese, secret sauce, and more grilled onions) from the not-so-secret menu as we discussed our findings.”

“Back in Vegas, several three-ounce bottles of James’s magic potion (disguised as mouthwash) secreted in our carry-ons, Billy and I rented the biggest available car with tinted rear windows.”

“Billy took off to work some of his finessing magic with his Hollywood contacts while I went to fill in the blanks for Nigel and Lily-Ann.”

“Billy stayed in L.A.”

“Holy crap!”

“I raced to the soundstage as fast as my economy rental car and traffic would allow.”

“Jackson Gunn pulled his white Jag XJ convertible into the parking lot outside the warehouse.”

“What do we do with him now?”

“There was another woman in the holding cell when I was returned to it.”

“Nigel was waiting for me in his study, with the curtains drawn.”

Well, I can cross seeing Billionaires’ Beach off my bucket list,  I thought.”

“Within an hour, the video was mysteriously leaked to the press.”

“A few weeks later I lay on the couch in my condo, one of Auntie Mo’s lovingly made, but hideous, afghans tucked around me.”