Playlist for Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala + Giveaway

Hello, and thanks to Crystal for celebrating the release of Don’t Breathe a Word and inviting me to stop by and chat about the playlist! Music is a huge part of Don’t Breathe a Word—Joy escapes
her secretly abusive life to a life on the streets with a new family…including Creed, the dreamy
musician who teaches her about survival and love.

Crystal asked me to tell you a little bit about the playlist—songs that both inspired the novel or
captured the emotional undercurrents of Joy and Creed’s story. I hope you enjoy!

(note: use the pop-out player to see the music - I don't know why it won't show up in my post, but the music shows up in the pop-out player)

This is Your Life, Switchfoot – Everything seems perfect in Joy’s life on the surface…so when
did it spin out of control? Nothing is what it seems, and there is only one way out.

I’m With You, Avril Lavigne – Even though Joy has spoken to Creed only once, his music speaks to her soul and calls her to believe his words: If you ever need help, you know where to find me.


Street Spirit (Fade Out), Radiohead – This is such a deeply painful and hopeless song, reminding me of the plight of many on the street. Joy begins to feel this kind of hopelessness before she meets May, Santos, and Creed.

You’re Not Alone, Saosin – Things change for Joy when she meets Creed, May, and Santos. But
there are challenges even in finding a new family…especially when they have secrets of their
own.


I Will Follow You into the Dark, Death Cab for Cutie – A song about life, death, loyalty, and love. Joy will find all of them, but in this moment, she finds only happiness.

Curl Up & Die, Relient K – Joy wants nothing but to rest her restless soul, but first she must
navigate her loyalty to her new family and the growing feelings she has for Creed.

Something of an End, My Brightest Diamond – Some good things must come to an end…and
some things shatter. When I heard this song, it gave me chills because it so closely mirrored such
a scene in DBAW.

Seventeen Forever, Metro Station – “We’re one mistake from being together, but let’s not ask
why it’s not right. You won’t be seventeen forever, and we can get away with this tonight…”
Sigh.


You Are More, Tenth Avenue North – Joy comes to a place where she must make a choice—to
stay silent and safe, or to speak and save the life of a friend.


Pride (In the Name of Love), U2 – A song of love, of triumph, of discovering that words have
power…and the power is love.

There are two songs I wasn’t able to include in the playlist—Deserter by Splashdown and
Frontload by Freezepop. I’ve loved Deserter for a long time, and it captures the essence of Joy’s story (that’s why we decided to use it for the DBAW trailer). Frontload is the song Joy and her friends are singing the night Asher shows his true colors…and the night Joy first meets Creed.
Plus it’s an awesome song!

Check out the rest of the DBAW tour for lots of chances to win books and prizes. Thank you,
Crystal, for having me to your blog, and I hope readers love Don’t Breathe a Word!

Holly's website 

Don’t Breathe a Word official site 

The {Teen} Book Scene DBAW tour 

Holly on Twitter

Holly on Facebook 

DBAW on Goodreads 

Order DBAW at Amazon

DBAW at IndieBound

GIVEAWAY Details

Harper has been kind enough to give Holly enough copies of DBaW to do a prize per day of the tour! And trust me when I say you want this book - my review will be coming next week - I read this months ago and it still sticks with me.  It's amazing!

Here is the details of how this is going to work:

*There will be one book given per day, drawn weekly. Everything entered by Saturday night will be put into a drawing on Sunday.

*The points DO accumulate, meaning entries put in for week one are still going to count for the drawings in weeks 2 and 3. (This is to reward those who follow/enter from the start, and doesn't punish them later because their entries are more spread out)

ENTRIES:

*There is one automatic entry

*For every post you comment on, it is one entry.  You must enter the link to the post you commented on in the entry form below.  (So make sure you comment here for an entry!)  Then check out the rest of the tour stops and comment and enter them on the form below)

*There is an extra entry if you tweet, facebook, do a blog post or somehow include on your blog. It is one for each of these, but only 1 per type (meaning you can't tweet every day and get points for it... its just one tweet)

*You need to fill out the form EACH time you do something to enter. If there is no link, the entry does not count (beyond the first initial entry, that you can just enter to win from)

There will be ONE international winner a week, assuming an international person gets drawn.  If the winner is international, they will be getting a copy from The Book Depository. US/Canada copies will be mailed from Holly and the copies will be signed.

The final drawing will held Sunday, January 15, and will include all entries through midnight CST Sat, Jan 14.

Here is the form to enter from: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGtuYnlZaWF1UUJmTlVzQmFEb1ZEV1E6MQ

Waiting on Wednesday (13)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I tried out Lisa Scottoline years ago when I found out about her through the Nora Roberts message board, A Day with out French Fries, (long before there were numerous blogs to help me find books).  And ever since I tried her, I keep coming back.  I haven't read as  much of her series as I have wanted (I meant to go back and start from the beginning), but I have read each of her stand-alones as they come out and I have yet to be disappointed.  So I eagerly await this one:

Come Home by Lisa Scottoline

Publish Date: 4/10/2012

Lisa Scottoline has delivered taut thrillers with a powerful emotional wallop in her New York Times bestsellers Save Me, Think Twice, and Look Again. Now, with her new novel, Come Home, she ratchets up the suspense with the riveting story of a mother who sacrifices her future for a child from her past.

Jill Farrow is a typical suburban mom who has finally gotten her and her daughter's lives back on track after a divorce. She is about to remarry, her job as a pediatrician fulfills her---though it is stressful---and her daughter, Megan, is a happily over-scheduled thirteen-year-old juggling homework and the swim team.

But Jill’s life is turned upside down when her ex-stepdaughter, Abby, shows up on her doorstep late one night and delivers shocking news: Jill’s ex-husband is dead. Abby insists that he was murdered and pleads with Jill to help find his killer. Jill reluctantly agrees to make a few inquiries and discovers that things don’t add up. As she digs deeper, her actions threaten to rip apart her new family, destroy their hard-earned happiness, and even endanger her own life. Yet Jill can’t turn her back on a child she loves and once called her own.

Come Home reads with the breakneck pacing of a thriller while also exploring the definition of motherhood, asking the questions: Do you ever stop being a mother? Can you ever have an ex-child? What are the limits to love of family? 

So what are you waiting on this week?

Book Review: A Whisper to a Scream by Karen Wojcik Berner

A Whisper to a Scream by Karen Wojcik Berner

Publisher: CreateSpace

Publish Date: June 14, 2011

Paperback, 278 pages 
Fiction, Women's Fiction, General Fiction
 ISBN: 9781456593650

My Review:
Overall I really enjoyed A Whisper to a Scream.  I feel like Ms. Berner created two main characters that I could relate to even though I am in neither of their specific situations.  I am not a stay-at-home mom with a husband on the road and I am not a want-to-be mom with fertility problems.  I am a working mom with two children so that puts me somewhere between the two I guess, closer to the SAHM you would think, but then like Annie because I work. 

I think that's what made A Whisper to a Scream really stand out to me is the relatability of the characters.  I think as a woman (and for the most part this is a book that will appeal to women) no matter where you are at in life you will find something to relate to in both of these characters.  Annie and Sarah are very real.  They face hardships.  They have ups, they have downs, they learn to celebrate the good and deal with the bad most of the time.  I loved them.  At times I wanted to strangle them but then I understood them.  I always came back to understanding them, and then I always came back to loving them.  Ms. Berner creates and brings to life wonderful characters and this is her strong suit in writing.  Her characters were amazing to me.

Did I have some issues with the book, yes I did, but it didn't spoil my overall love of the book for it's characters. I will eagerly await the second in this series so I can see more of the characters and hopefully get to know more of The Bibliophiles (I'm guessing that is the intent of the series).  One of my issues was that some things were paced wonderfully and then things were hurried up and tied up too quickly (or what I thought was too quickly).  I wished that it was just a little more evenly paced plot-wise.  Another issue I had was jumping around a bit between some of the minor characters.  I liked learning about them, but sometimes it left me confused about who it was and why it would be important to the story.  I liked having the back story, but by the end,  I wished some of that space could have been used to pace the main stories out a little better.  That said, again the characterizations are Ms. Berner's strong suit so these back stories really stand out and are memorable even if I had to ask myself who that character was in the framework of the story (who he or she was related to).  I also wish I could have seen just a little more of the book club together, but that is a small wish and minor to things overall.  These are all personal preferences and really minor in the scheme of how the book was to me and things that only came up after reading the book.  While I read the book, I only had complete enjoyment and just kept thinking that I could relate to both women so well.

Overall this book was very much worth my time and yours if you enjoy novels that revolve around the characters.  This isn't a happy-go-lucky novel, Sarah and Annie have tough issues to deal with, but in the end I like how they do it.  I like that the book club brings them together.  I read this book on New Year's Day and it was a great way to spend my afternoon.  I went through some emotions but came out feeling happy not drained and eager to see what happens next for The Bibliophiles.  I think A Whisper to a Scream is a good start for Karen Wojcik Berner and I'm interested to see where her writing takes her next.

My Rating: 4.0/5.0


About the Book:
Ovulation detectors. Hormone surges. Anxiety-ridden dreams. This is the world in which Annie Jacobs is thrust when she and her husband John receive a diagnosis of unexplained infertility. A 37-year old PR executive, Annie has wanted to be a mother since she first cuddled her Baby Tenderlove at age five. She is dreading another Christmas of relatives asking when they will be hearing the pitter patter of little feet, and Uncle Joe slapping John on the back, telling him to relax and take a cruise. Lots of people get pregnant on vacation, you know.

Across town, stay-at-home mom of two, Sarah Anderson, attempts grocery shopping with a toddler intent on hurling items from the cart at passersby. She notices a box of rice heading straight for a gray-haired head. Leaping across the aisle, Sarah grabs it, saving the woman from certain doom, or at least a minor head injury. Little Alex screams at being thwarted. The unknowing octogenarian shakes her head and admonishes Sarah for not knowing how to keep her child quiet in public.

"A Whisper to a Scream" is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. A vivid portrayal of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry.

About the Author (from Goodreads.com): 
Everyone has a story. When walking past the houses on your block during an after-dinner stroll or driving down a rural road dotted with singular farms, have you ever wondered what was going on inside? I have always been interested in people’s backstories. How did they get to where they are today? What ramifications does the past have on the present?

So I decided to bring a group of people together, bound only by their love of classic literature, and see what happened.

The result is The Bibliophiles Series, which begins with “A Whisper to a Scream,” the story of Sarah Anderson, a stay-at-home mother of two, and Annie Jacobs, a PR executive dealing with fertility issues, and continues with each novel devoted to one or two of the Classics Book Club members, including their fearless leader, Edwina Hipplewhite.

I have been a writer/editor for more than twenty-five years, ten of which were spent in editing trade publications. A two-time “Folio Magazine” Ozzie Award for Excellence in Magazine Editorial and Design winner, my work has appeared in countless magazines and newspapers. I have bachelor’s degrees in English with a writing concentration and communications.

Website 
Twitter
Facebook
Blog

FTC Information: I received this book from the author through WoW Tours for an honest review.  I do make money from purchases made at The Book Depository and B&N.com, but all money is used to fund giveaways and shipping for giveaways from the blog.

Guest Blog: Jane Austen: A Writer for the Ages by Karen Wojcik Berner + Giveaway

Jane Austen: A Writer for the Ages
By Karen Wojcik Berner

It was Mrs. Berkeley’s English class, sophomore year in high school. Our first full-scale research paper lay ahead. We were to pick an author, read three of his or her books, and write a term paper on recurrent themes in the work.

The list was filled with the Classics, ninety percent of whom were men. I glanced further down the page and came upon a name I had never seen before —Jane Austen. One novel’s synopsis started out something like, “Elizabeth Bennet meets Fitzwilliam Darcy at a dance. Neither is too pleased with the other.” I was hooked. I quickly ran up to our teacher, securing this Jane Austen before anyone else, for fear of being stuck analyzing Homer.

Pride and Prejudice changed my life. Elizabeth Bennet was witty and sassy, and her cat-and-mouse game with Mr. Darcy captivated my teenage heart. This felt real, whether it took place in the eighteenth or twentieth century.

Jane sparked my love of British literature, and I went onto major in English in college. Since then, I have read and re-read her novels, biographies and copies of her letters to her sister, Cassandra. Watching adaptations of her stories relaxes me. They are “my happy place.”

She also showed me, along with the rest of the world, that women could be great writers, intelligent and interesting, not merely second-class citizens penning accounts of nothingness, while the men went about having the adventures.

Jane Austen made it possible for me to write what I do today.

Last year, I visited her home in Chawton, Hampshire, England. It is a lovely cottage with a small garden to the side; “a prettyish sort of wilderness,” as Lady Catherine de Bourgh would call it.

I felt as if I had walked right into one of her novels. A display case held some of her letters. The cross necklaces owned by Jane and Cassandra, were there, along with a lock of her hair.

The sitting room held the greatest treasure. There, by the window, was a small octagonal table. Her writing desk! I imagined her sitting there, dipping the quill in ink, writing and re-writing, smirking to herself as she adjusts Mrs. Bennet’s rant about her poor nerves.

The mere thought overwhelmed me. I gently stroked the table, quickly though, as to not arouse suspicion. This was hallowed literary ground, and I was privileged to be there.

My family and I drove to Winchester Cathedral, about a half an hour away, to see her grave upon which I placed a simple bouquet of yellow roses for my dear old friend.

Her legacy is alive and well today. Have you seen how many novels are based on her characters?

Thank you, Crystal, for allowing me to rhapsodize about my favorite author on your blog. Dear readers, what is your favorite Jane Austen novel or movie adaptation?

Answer Karen's question in the comments to be entered to win a Kindle or B&N copy (ebook) of Karen's first novel in her The Bibliophiles series which is currently touring and I will be reviewing later today.  I will gift one lucky commenter with a copy of it after Saturday, 1/7, open to wherever these can be gifted to.  I will purchase the copy and send it to your email address.

About A Whisper to a Scream by Karen Wojcik Berner

Ovulation detectors. Hormone surges. Anxiety-ridden dreams. This is the world in which Annie Jacobs is thrust when she and her husband John receive a diagnosis of unexplained infertility. A 37-year old PR executive, Annie has wanted to be a mother since she first cuddled her Baby Tenderlove at age five. She is dreading another Christmas of relatives asking when they will be hearing the pitter patter of little feet, and Uncle Joe slapping John on the back, telling him to relax and take a cruise. Lots of people get pregnant on vacation, you know.

Across town, stay-at-home mom of two, Sarah Anderson, attempts grocery shopping with a toddler intent on hurling items from the cart at passersby. She notices a box of rice heading straight for a gray-haired head. Leaping across the aisle, Sarah grabs it, saving the woman from certain doom, or at least a minor head injury. Little Alex screams at being thwarted. The unknowing octogenarian shakes her head and admonishes Sarah for not knowing how to keep her child quiet in public.

"A Whisper to a Scream" is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. A vivid portrayal of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry.

New Year's Resolution Blog Carnival Giveaway

Hauling & Trucking, Medical Transcription Source and Makobi Scribe Present New Year’s Resolution Blog Carnival. My New Year's Resolution is to read more books from my tbr this year :)  We'll see how that goes, I think I planned on doing that last year and didn't succeed.  So in honor of my New Year's Resolution, I would love to add to your TBR pile.

 

For my giveaway I'm giving away an ARC of Cinder by Marissa Meyer which came out today (Tuesday) and I'm reading it right now and it is excellent.  All the reviews I have read so far rave about it as well. Enter using the Rafflecopter below, the only required entry is your name and email which if you are signed into Rafflecopter with Facebook are entered automatically.  If you have any problems with the Rafflecoopter, please email me at crystalfulcher(at)ec.rr.com.  Open to US/Canada only. 

About Cinder:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser Tuesday (13)

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! 

"Tell me if you feel anything . . . unusual."

Cinder opened her mouth, about to announce that any human touch felt unusual, but her breath hiccupped.

Fire and pain ruptured her spine, flooding her veins.  She cried out and fell off the table, crumpling to the floor.

From Cinder by Marissa Meyer





About Cinder (which is out today)
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. To see this weeks list of participants go here.

With Christmas in the mix this is the last two weeks of Mailbox Monday.  Thanks to the great authors, publishers and publicists who sent me these books.

I have to admit to being lazy this week and just taking picture of the books.  Another reason is I like looking at other people's actual pictures of books so I thought I would do the same.  Let me know what you like - stock cover pics or my pics (I'll try to do better ones next week, I was in a hurry this week).

I'll be reviewing One Perfect Word this week, - a great book for the New Year, I received it from the publisher Howard Books.  Lovesick by Spencer Seidel came from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations for tour in February.  The Sound of Red Returning by Sue Duffy and Unhallowed Ground are tour books for Kregel Tours.  Love Blooms in Winter by Lori Copeland is for a FIRST Wild Card Tour and came from Harvest House Publishers.  And finally, behind the beautiful forevers: Life, death and hope in a Mumbai undercity by Katherine Boo was received from the publisher Random House through Shelf Awareness.  It will be released in February.

Everneath and Where It Began were tour books and A Perfect Storm by Lori Foster came from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations for tour in April (I love this series and can't wait for this book.).  What Happened To Hannah by Mary Kay McComas and More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay came from William Morrow.  The Jerk Magnet by Melody Carlson came from Revell Books for tour later this month.

The Black book is Strange Flesh by Michael Olson and it's coming from Simon & Schuster in April.  I love that title is black on black raised, which doesn't show up well in the picture.  And what is funny is the spine says: "This is a story about SEX and GAMES."  That should be fun to read around the kids ;)  Actually I can't wait to read it and may bump it up on my pile if I can get ahead.  I received Cobbogoth by Hannah L. Clark and I also received a second autographed copy for a giveaway as well from the author.  Kill Switch by Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene came from the publisher, Kensington and I am excited to read it. Beautiful Disaster was a win from Luxury Reading.  Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai came from the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, through Shelf Awareness.