ARC Arrival: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I received this from Random House via Shelf Awareness.

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Pub

lish Date: October 13, 2009

Pages: 374

From the website:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first
name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open,
Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large,
open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be
more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

This looks to be really great and I am hoping to share it with my older son as well as read it myself. It is also the start of a trilogy and I am a real sucker for trilogies/series.

I am really excited to read this and hope to have an interview with the author up later this month along with a giveaway.

Review Book Arrival: Dancing With Ana by Nicole Barker

Dancing With Ana by Nicole Barker

I received this from the author.

Publisher: Golden Road Press, LLC

Publish Date: August 1, 2009

Pages: 170

From the website:

Beth is a lucky girl…
She comes from a loving family. She has three best friends. She loves to surf and lives five minutes from the beach. She also recently discovered that the boy she’s grown up with has the most amazing green eyes…Beth has every reason to smile. Every reason to be happy. Every reason to feel blessed.
Then why is she sticking her fingers down her throat?

Sixteen year old Beth Baxter’s life merely resembles the one she’s always known. Her father has left. She is falling for Jeremy Duscana and the diet she started has
somehow turned into an obsession. Yet her three best friends remain the same, always there for her.
But even their love can’t save her from herself.

Dancing With Ana. A story about the journey to acceptance of one’s own reality, the incredible bond that exists between friends and a love that truly endures all things.

I am really excited to read this and hope to have an interview with the author up later this month along with a giveaway.

Teaser Tuesdays (Aug 4)

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 two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
  

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mine for this week is:

Cautiously he lifted his hand to touch her cheek. "Earlier, in the Deli
. . ."

Her cheek grew flushed beneath his fingertip. "It won't happen
again."

"Yes, it will. And when it does, it won't be an act. For either
of us."

Whew - feel the heat - I love a strong decisive male. This is interaction between Eve and Noah in Karen Rose's new book - I Can See You which will be out tomorrow. I'm about half through and if life would quit getting in the way I could finish it.

Mailbox Monday - August 3rd

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. To see this weeks list of participants go here.

ARC/Review copies of (click on book cover for post with more information about the book):

Books I won from other bloggers:

It was a very good week as you can see and I need to get busy reading!

The Sunday Salon - August 2, 2009

This is my first week joining in on The Sunday Salon which is hosted here. I have been reading posts for awhile, but don't usually have much time to blog on Sunday, but I hereby promise to start making time.

Time spent reading - about average, I think I have spent more time on the internet surfing blogs and writing reviews, but overall this week is an improvement over the last few weeks. I head back to work next week and that will actually mean more reading time because I will make more time for it in the evenings.

What I read:

Daniel X Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust
I'm So Happy for You: A novel about best friends by Lucinda Rosenfeld
Love's First Light by Jamie Carie

Thoughts on my reading:

• I did read one new author this week - Lucinda Rosenfeld. I really enjoyed her book and will be looking for books in her backlist.
• The Daniel X book was fun, just a quick simple read. I sometimes get a little confused in these books, but I enjoy them anyway.
• The Jamie Carie book is the second I have read by her and I love her. This was my first historical romance set in the French Revolution and I found it fascinating. I will read more of her books and I will also look for more historicals set in the French Revolution or around that time.
• All three books were review books, The first two were send by the publisher and Love's First Light was an Early Readers book sent through Library Thing.
  

What I'm reading now:

I Can See You by Karen Rose (an ARC - it comes out this week)
Reunion in Death by J.D. Robb (on audio in my car)

Up Next:

Wait Until Twilight by Sang Pak (review book)
Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse challenge)
Seven Up (Stephanie Plum reading challenge)

I'm off to Duke tomorrow for my 5-week post-surgery appointment. If all goes well I return to work on Wednesday and I think I will since I am feeling much better.

Everyone have a great week!

Winners: The Brutal Telling by Louise Perry and Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford

The Winner of The Brutal Telling ARC by Louise Perry is:

Debbie!

She has been emailed and I am awaiting her address.











The winner of Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford is:

Esme!

She has also been emailed and I am awaiting her address.

This book is wonderful and it's out, so go check it out.







Thanks so much for all the entries. Check my sidebar for more giveaways this month.

July Summary

Wow - recovering from surgery wasn't as easy as I thought. I spent those first few weeks on my side in my bed watching TV shows on DVD. I didn't even feel like holding a book. Then my reading slump continued, but I have finally broken out of it. So my summary is a little paltry for July, but what I read was great.

In July I read 5 books and all 5 were ARCs for review.

The books I read were:

1. 0 to 60 by Susan Slater - Review
2. Easy on the Eyes by Jane Porter - Review
3. Hollywood is Like High School With Money by Zoey Dean - Review
4. Daniel X Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust - Review
5. I'm So Happy For You: A Novel of Best Friends by Lucinda Rosenfeld - Review

The good news is I reviewed all books that I read in July! The other good news for you is that all 5 have contests attached that run through either 8/14 or 8/15, so go and enter if you haven't.

I've already finished 1 book for August, so August is looking better. I'm also 5 away from 100 total books for the year!

So it's off to church and then back to some relaxing Sunday afternoon reading (my review pile is stacking up!)