Thursday, February 18, 2016

Asleep Release Week Tour - exclusive teaser and giveaway!



To celebrate the release of the spine-chilling YA psychological thriller ASLEEP by Krystal Wade, we have a full blog tour and exciting giveaways ahead! ASLEEP is the debut novel from Blaze Publishing, and answers the question of what happens when Sleeping Beauty meets Freddy Krueger. If you want to see more of ASLEEP, you can still find the Ten Weeks of Teasers and other great content on the Blaze Publishing blog. Order your copy now!

“Hey,” Rose said, feeling stupid and idiotic for even trying to start a conversation with someone in a mental institution. “My name’s Rose.”

The guy didn’t respond. He merely stared at her the way she would a model in Life Drawing class, his intense brown eyes hooded by his forehead and lined by thick black lashes, soaking her in, memorizing her, making Rose feel raw and exposed. Every now and then his jaw clenched and popped. So much emotion simmering just below the surface, so much insanity. He’d make a perfect model himself with all that silent misery, hair swept to the side, broad shoulders and muscles stretching the sleeves of his white, cotton shirt, muscles he’d never get to use because he was stuck in here. Rose could almost envision him in one of her drawings, this guy standing in the background, still, hands in his pockets, staring at a girl in the foreground.

Shaking her head, Rose snapped out of her daydream. Drawing was part of the past that no longer mattered.

“Lights out,” Nurse Judy called, startling them both so badly they bumped into the table and left it quaking. She laughed. “Didn’t mean to scare you, dear.”

“It’s okay,” Rose said, rubbing her sore knee. “Keep it up, though, and I’ll have bandages everywhere.”

“My eldest daughter Isabel tells me I’m always sneaking up on her too. I insist she must have a guilty conscious to be so jumpy, but with you, I’m not so sure.” The nurse smiled again, kindly, her eyes glazed over, and Rose knew the woman was thinking about her daughter. “Well, I’ll try to be more careful in the future. But for now, off you go, to your room.”

“Good night,” Rose said to the guy.

But he didn’t respond, not that she expected him to. He gave Judy a long, hard glance, then got up and marched to a door on the opposite side of Hall A. Judy didn’t pay any attention to him as she wrapped her arm around Rose and ushered her off to bed, holding out a pill cup.

“Here you go. Meds and rest, Rose. Meds and rest. The best thing for you, aside from being open and honest with Dr. Underwood.” The nurse smiled in a way that said she knew open and honest hadn’t occurred earlier today.



"To cure fear, you must use fear."

Rose Briar claims no responsibility for the act that led to her imprisonment in an asylum. She wants to escape, until terrifying nightmares make her question her sanity and reach out to her doctor. He's understanding and caring in ways her parents never have been, but as her walls tumble down and Rose admits fault, a fellow patient warns her to stop the medications. Phillip believes the doctor is evil and they'll never make it out of the facility alive. Trusting him might be just the thing to save her. Or it might prove the asylum is exactly where she needs to be.









Follow the Blog Tour!

Tuesday 2/16Wednesday 2/17Thursday 2/18
Vicki Leigh: First Chapter ReadingJordan Elizabeth: First Chapter ReadingEve Langell: First Chapter Reading
Case Maynard: Promo PostWhat A Nerd Girl Says: InterviewA Thousand Books: Teaser One
Friday 2/19Saturday 2/20Sunday 2/21
OriginiquEquanimity: Promo PostJanelle Howard: Teaser TwoArchaeolibrarian: Teaser Three
Ryan Hill: InterviewNerd Girl Official: Promo Post
Tesairie's Book Reads: Promo Post


Giveaway!

We're giving away some awesome prizes to celebrate the release of ASLEEP, including this stylish cuff! Enter with the Rafflecopter below and tell your friends!






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Krystal Wade can be found in the sluglines outside Washington D.C. every morning, Monday through Friday. With coffee in hand, iPod plugged in, and strangers-who sometimes snore, smell, or have incredibly bad gas-sitting next to her, she zones out and thinks of fantastical worlds for you and me to read. How else can she cope with a fifty mile commute?

Good thing she has her husband and three kids to go home to. They keep her sane.



Want to stay up to date on everything from Blaze Publishing? Sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss a thing! The first 100 subscribers get free Blaze bookmarks (UK, US, and Canada only) AND get added to our Loyal 100 group, which gives you access to exclusive news, teasers, prizes, and ARCs!

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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

ARC Review: Asleep by Krystal Wade



Hey there!
If you've been following this blog for a little while now, you know how much I adored Krystal Wade's YA horror book Charming! So, when I heard that a new horror book by her was released early this year, I freaked out! I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and I was actually lucky enough to receive an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) from the new publishing group Blaze (thank you all lots and lots, guys <3).

Asleep is about the teenage girl Rose who is commited to an Asylum. There, she has to take meds that cause her terrible nightmares - she gets beaten up, is tortured and threatened. But suddenly she's not so sure anymore if what happens to her at night is actually just a dream and not cruel reality...

This book is so good at misleading you. You can never be sure who is trustworthy and sometimes I was even doubting Rose's sanity. But you get very attached to her character right in the beginning, as well as to some other characters (no spoilers - but he's hot). You feel with her during the nightmares and some parts of the book actually give you chills. Rose is strong and even though she doubts herself and others quite a lot, she can get very determined once she's set her mind on something. And what I really loved was how after some time she realized that maybe it's not always everyone else's fault but her's as well and that you have to give others the chance to make up for mistakes. So, obviously, she's going through a big character developement.
There's also some romance between Rose and a guy her age who's a patient too. He goes through similar things so the whole thing of them fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the rest.

The only thing I can complain about again is that I wish there would have been a little more of an outro, like an epilogue or something because to me the end felt pretty abrupt. But other than that Krystal Wade has written an amazing horror story once again! Slowly but surely she's becoming my favorite horror author, guys, don't miss out on her fantasic novels!! 

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day! <3 
 

Amazon Pre-Order
Kobo Pre-Order
Order Signed Copies
Add it to Goodreads
 
 
 
About Krystal Wade:
AUTHOR. CHICKEN (AND DOG) LOVER. MOTHER. WIFE. DREAMER.

I’m happily married to the love of my life (don’t gag) and raising three beautiful children in the gorgeous state of Virginia. We live just outside Washington, D.C., and every day I wake up to find myself stuck in traffic trying to get there.

The horrid commute gives me plenty of time to zone out and think about my characters in full, brilliant details (I’m a safe driver; don’t worry). Stories give me a way to forget about the sometimes smelly strangers sitting next to me on the fifty mile trek into town (I pick up hitchhikers every day. True story. Check out www.slug-lines.com if you don’t believe me).

I’ve been a part of organized hitchhiking for nearly fifteen years, but that’s just one small aspect of my oh-so-large life. When I’m not working, commuting, or chasing after my three children (four if you count the man), you can usually find me outside talking to my chickens like they’re the cutest things in the world (they are), or training my amazing dogs how to herd said chickens (which they love), or curled up on the sofa with a good book (why can’t that be 100% of the time?).

I hope you love my stories (or just like them a little; that would be okay, too). And I hope that one day you find your passion, because there’s nothing in life better than doing what you love while surrounded by people you love.

<3 Krystal

Website
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About Blaze Publishing:
Books with Heart for Teen and Young Adults
At Blaze, we're committed to bringing you high-quality, hard-hitting books full of heart. Whether the story is a mystery, a thriller, horror, steampunk, or some goofy comedy, there will be a message woven into the pages for readers to find and fall in love with. We want you to walk away inspired, in awe, or just happy to be alive. Or maybe you'll look at other people differently, in a less negative light. Whatever the case, you will find heart in our stories.

Our goal is to bring you four or five amazing works of fiction in 2016, and six in 2017 and each year after. We've already lined up a few and can't wait to see what comes across our desks next!

Do you have a submission you'd like to send us? We'd love to see it! You can find our submissions guidelines on our website.

Want to stay up to date on everything from Blaze Publishing? Sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss a thing! The first 100 subscribers get free Blaze bookmarks (UK, US, and Canada only) AND get added to our Loyal 100 group, which gives you access to exclusive news, teasers, prizes, and ARCs!

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____


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

I'M ALIVE!!

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Hello, my dear readers!! (damn, I missed writing my lame intros :D <3 )
I am finally back from my spontaneous, unanounced break! First of all, I want to apologize for not letting you guys know about it but I really wasn't planning on taking some time off blogging. And not just blogging but commenting on other posts, updating and interacting on Goodreads, writing, bookstagram and even - reading! It's not like I haven't read at all but just that I need much longer than normal for one book because of time issues. 
So, at the moment, I'm reading three books:
  • The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows 
  • Asleep by Krystal Wade (which comes out February 16th)
  • Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I will update my reading progress much more regularly now, so follow me or send me a friend request on Goodreads :)
Also, my plan for the next half year will be one post a week. This post can be a review, a book tag or anything else, really (book related of course ;) )
Upcoming posts are:
  • ARC Review: Asleep by Krystal Wade
  • Asleep Release Week Tour post
If you follow me on instagram (@on_my_bookshelf) you might have noticed that I have only posted two pics the past few weeks but I will get more active there in the near future, as well. 

Alright! I think that's all for now :-)
If you want to, leave me a comment with a post or book suggestion or tag me in any book tags you want <3

See ya!

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Christmas Bookathon - last update & New Year


Soo, the Christmas Bookathon is over and this is my resolution:

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1430163084l/23519340.jpgI completed the challenge "Read a book that's been on your TBR since last year" with the last book of the Dream trilogy by Kerstin Gier. I started it in November but ... let's just count it anyway ;D
 
https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1444192461l/26874617.jpgThen I started Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer which I haven't finished yet because I really wasn't in the mood for it anymore and wanted to read something else. It would have covered "Read a book with red AND green on the cover" and I got halfway through and ... I don't know, can I count it? You decide! XD

23437156And three days ago I started Six of Crows by leigh Bardugo and finished it last night. And WOW! IT IS SO GOOD!!! All this hype around it is now totally understandable. I'm so going to write a full review this weekend :-) Stay tuned!
Also, I'm so happy that I finally had so much fun reading again because I felt like I was kind of in a reading slump or something but now I think it was just because of those two books that weren't really good. 
Anyway, with Six of Crows I managed the "Read an author you've never read before" challenge!

12576579I just realized I also read Night School  by C.J. Daugherty which I also quite enjoyed but unfortunately it doesn't work with any challenge :/

All in all, I did 2 (3) challenges out of 12. Okay, obviously I'm not good at readathons - especially not such long ones. But at least I haven't read nothing ;-)

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402927856l/18081228.jpgAnd even though my next read isn't part of the bookathon anymore I thought I tell you what it is anyway: Next up is The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows because I need another high fantasy book ;-)



That's it! That was the Christmas Bookathon of 2015 - I can't wait for next year's! Because, let's be honest: I can only top myself after this year :'D
Did you participate? How did it go? Or just your "normal" reading month?


And now as the title of this post already reveals I wanted to say or rather write a little about my crazy 2015:
Early this year I "discovered" this community of book lovers. And I AM SO HAPPY I did because for one it's so much easier to find new books to read and get to know of new releases. But also, and that's most important, I interacted with so many amazing people who share my love for reading. 
Through starting this blog I learned that if you want to achieve something you have to work hard and long for your goal and you won't get there the next day. And that's okay :-)
Lastly, I just want to thank everyone (especially my "blogger friends") for supporting, commenting and fangirling with me!
Continue being awesome! 


Thank you all so much for reading! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!!! 


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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

T5W: Series I want to start next year!


I greet you, dear readers, on Christmas Eve Eve! (Can you tell I'm excited for Christmas? :D)

Today, I finally have a Top 5 Wednesday post for you!
This one is about my top 5 series I want to start next year. Enjoy!

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Lainey (gingerreadslayney on YouTube) over on Goodreads. Check it out!




#5 - The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZcklFDNmL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpghttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51djtVnrC0L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpghttp://d.gr-assets.com/books/1445626686l/25944798.jpg 
This is a high fantasy series and I actually don't know a lot about it but I think it's about a princess who flees her wedding day into a village and meets two strangers - one is a prince and the other one is an assasin sent to kill her. That's really all I know and all I want to know. But I'm super excited to read the series. The Beauty of Darkness is coming out August next year so I thought it would be the perfect time to read the series in summer - if I can wait that long...

#4 - Passenger by Alex Bracken
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This beauty is the first book in the Passenger series and comes out next month! I also don't know a lot about the plot but I heard there's pirates, timetravel and overall awesomeness! Sounds great to me ;-)
And we already have the title of the second book, it's called Wayfarer!


#3 - The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

http://www.thelunarchronicles.com/uploads/book-covers/9780312641894_FC.jpghttp://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/lunarchronicles/images/b/b0/Scarlet_Cover.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140525182919 http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375434619l/13206828.jpghttp://www.thelunarchronicles.com/uploads/book-covers/9780312642983_FC_PMIbnCm.jpg
Soo many people have already read and recommened these book to me. I believe these are all companion novels and fairytal retellings. Anyway, Winter just came out and I saw everyone on Goodreads, Instagram, Youtube and book blogs getting super excited about it which makes me want to read it so bad!

#2 - Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

http://38.media.tumblr.com/1bc7df1f2dd65d694823c1d82df0cefd/tumblr_inline_ndi6l1wdhJ1qb9izi.pnghttp://www.fallingkingdoms.com/assets/img/cover-book2.pnghttp://33.media.tumblr.com/b428c29bde0932da290b4eedc117b344/tumblr_inline_ndi6a3oc3O1qb9izi.pnghttp://www.fallingkingdoms.com/assets/img/cover-book5.png
This is also a high fantasy series consisting of 6 books though the last two aren't out yet. I'm not very certain what it's about because the blurb is a little confusing but this is what I got out of it: There's war and because of it the kingdoms are falling apart. Frozen Tides also just came out this month and the cover looks epic once again!  

#1 - The Witchlands by Susan Dennard
http://thewitchlands.com/media/cache/15/17/15172b7ad0f89de3f4c65dcfe3628afe.png
Truthwitch is the first book of the series and is high fantasy as well (I'm really on that high fantasy train at the moment, if you can't tell :)). It comes out the same day as Passenger and is about witches who can tell truth and lie apart. It sounds like a very interesting concept and I can't wait to read it! Plus, the cover is gorg!


 So, these are 5 of the series I want to start next year. I chose them in no paticular order actually :-)

Thanks you so much for reading and MERRY CHRISTMAS! <3
 What series do you want to start next year? Any of these? Or others? - Tell me down below!! 

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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The Book Lending Story

Hi book lovers!
So, as I already announced in my second bookathon update, today (on schedule for probably the first time, can't believe it myself) I present you THE BOOK LENDING STORY:

Okay, basically the whole thing started when I was in my room with my friend. We were sitting on my bed next to my bookshelf  when she said "You have so many books! I love reading and books too - I just never find any good ones... There are really so few good books out there".
First of all, the world has a lot of good books, and second: She does not like reading, like I don't know why she's telling that everyone but she doesn't. I mean, I was in her room and there is not one book if you don't count the text books for school (and she barely looks in them either...).
So naive me said to her "I can find you a book, trust me. Just tell me what genre you like or if you want something specific to happen in there and I'm sure I'll find the perfect read for you"
She wanted two things: a contemporary romance (that's not too childish) and one of them (the couple) should have some kind of dark past or gone through something that scarred him or her. And as she told me all that I looked at my shelf and Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover stared back at me. Unfortuntaly, at that time I interpreted that wrong because my mind probably tried to tell me to not lend a book but, well, obviously I did gave it to her. Actually at first I only showed it to her in the hopes that she wouldn't ask me if she could borrow it (am I stupid?) but of course she did and I'm certain I looked like this:
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 For the record, she was one of my best friends at that time and she knew how much books and that stuff means to me so I thought I could trust her treating my book well (again: am I stupid?)...

A few weeks later I was at her's and ... I saw it there, I saw Ugly Love and I swear I almost started to cry (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little here but it was pretty bad): apparently, my dear friend hadn't found a book mark so she put the book against the wall like this:
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Who does that? Is it really so hard to get a slip of paper to slide between the pages? I don't think so. 
But while I could have commented on how that "method" caused the crack in the book spine or that the corners of the book had obviously suffered, I didn't say anything because at that time it was too late anyway and I told myself "(hopefully) at least she enjoyed the book once she finishes it...)"

So every now and then when we met I asked if she made progress and how she liked Ugly Love so far, and I have to give her one thing: she knows how to make excuses.

Months later, actually just recently this December, I asked her if I could have it back because I "needed" it for something (my shelf missed it) and she was like "yeah sure, no problem! I'll bring it tomorrow" - dog-eared was what she forgot to mention.

Plus she didn't even finish it, she was about 60 pages in and gave up then. 
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Just kidding :D
Of course I forgave her (she never knew I was angry anyway) because in the end friendship matters more than any material things - even if that thing is a book.

And next time I'll know- ahh no wait, 
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There will be no next time...






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Thank you for reading!
Have you ever experienced something similar like this? Leave a comment, I would love to know :-)
I'm thinking about making this a series, like every week I tell you a story out of my life about books and the people who just don't understand. :D 
Would you be interested? Because I'd be totally up for it!
 

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Sunday, December 20, 2015

I was nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award!!

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Hello dear readers!
I am so very happy to share the One Lovely Blog Award that I was nominated for!!!


https://brycechristian.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/gay_imcool.gif?w=558https://45.media.tumblr.com/b4901ec2f628feb9c8bc2fde7d5c032a/tumblr_n3xg8b0Uiy1ttvuj6o1_500.gif
 

So, I was nominated by the absolute lovely Genni from Ready, Set, Read and before I continue I just wanted to thank her but also everyone else who visits my blog every day, reads my sometimes weird posts about books, life and fangirling - I love you all so much!!!


And now, may I present to you: the RULES for this fun:
-Thank the blogger who nominated you.  
- List the rules display the word button.  
- Give seven facts about yourself!  
- Nominate fifteen other bloggers for the award and make sure to notify them!  
- Display the award button on your blog and follow the blogger that nominated you.


My facts (I hope they don't scare you away :D)

#1 I am super clumsy - and when I say super clumsy, I mean VERY VERY clumsy. Like "running accidently against a street light" clumsy (true story by the way...)

#2 I only heard of the "book community" on the internet early this year. Until then I literally had no idea something like this existed and now look at me taking actively part in it! ;-)

#3 I prefer reading with music to reading without.

#4 Sadly, I am a person who starts a lot of things but never finishes them, so I'm really quite proud of myself that I still run this blog! I think that's actually one reason why I love reading so much and why it's the perfect hobby for me: Books are always different and we experience so many worlds through them that it's a new adventure every time we start one.

#5 When I was a child I wanted to become the youngest author ever published. So I started writing many different books but, again, never finished them. But I started to write, or outline for now, and am certain to finish this time!! (wish me luck...)

#6  A few years ago, i thought about making a beauty channel on YouTube though I didn't know anything about makeup :'D

#7 My user name on blogger is "OnMyBookshelf" because originally that should have been my blog name but it was already taken (though there is no blog called "on my bookshelf") so I called "A Thousand Books" instead. I should probably change my user name... 


Thanks for reading and below are my nominees: 

Lilivette @ Reading Against Time 
Katelyn @ From Cover To Cover 
Katie @ A Novel Idea 
Tabitha @ Tabitha Reads Books 
Yasmin & Paige @ The Wild Readers 

I know these are not 15 but right now I can't think of any more...
If you have a blog please tell me in a comment I would love to check it out!!!