Book Coop

Hello bookworms! This is Nicole here. It's been so hectic these few weeks for me with starting my university year and I finally got the time to post our monthly newsletter! 

I'm so excited to be able to post these month's book coop because I joined the The Double Trouble- Twin Reading Challenge earlier this year! So here's the list of books our team has read from our review request paired with the books we read from our personal bookshelf.

Review Request Coop                                                            Bookshelf Coop

The Thirteenth Prophet by T. Lucas Earle                          Under the Dome by Stephen King

Open Your Eyes by Jake Olson                                             Papertown by John Green

Escape the Doubt by Andrea Michelle                                 Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas

The reviews for those request coop will be definitely come around soon so keep an eye on it if you're interested to know more! I'm not going to promise we will do any review for the personal bookshelf coop books as life are getting more hectic for both Donna and I. I am starting my freshman year in college while Donna will be pursuing her graduate degree so please do understand that our time for reviewing books will be very limited now. 

I apologise for the delay to all the authors or publishers that books we accepted for reviews. We will review every book that we had agreed to review so rest assured. For the time being, BWS is not accepting any review request therefore we will not reply to any of the request emails. However, I will send out a notification email once we are back in receiving review request. Therefore, feel free to drop in an expression of interest to request a review!

The good news is BWS will definitely accept request in the near future. Once we had settled everything and are able to review books, I will let everyone know with a Book Coop post as well as through Google+. Author interview and guest post, however, is another matter. I am very happy to say that BWS still do and will feature author interview, book spotlight, and guest post! Just approach us through email and we will be more than happy to host those things for you.

I would like to say thank you for everyone who is reading and has been reading BWS for a while, or since we started (welcome to first-timers! So glad to have another enthusiastic bookworm! Even if you are not, it doesn't matter as we love to have another reader. We will have book giveaways and blog tours coming up; to those interested, you could sign up and participate in the giveaways :) Happy reading, everyone!

Bookworm Buzz

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: ANDREA MICHELLE

Today, we have the amazing author of Escape the Doubt for an interview with us. Read on to know more about her debut novel, what's she's currently working on, how she overcomes writer's block, and some advice shared with the rest of us.

Escape the Doubt book cover

BWS: Hi Andrea, thank you for agreeing to this interview. What inspired you to write Escape the Doubt?

Andrea: Escape the Doubt is actually inspired a lot from my own past. Although the story is fictional, many of the emotions involved in the story were my own at the age. In fact, the poems in the novel were written by me when I was sixteen and seventeen years old.

BWS: Give us an insight into your main character in Escape the Doubt. How did you come up with Riley Shaw’s character? 

Andrea: Riley Shaw is a troubled seventeen year old. She struggles with relationships. She knows she wants to love and she wants to be loved. But she doesn’t believe love exist, not forever. She see’s love as being full of lies and secrets. Men cheat and break hearts. She is full of doubt about love, life and everything in between. I came up with Riley by tapping into what I felt like at that age. I then added in what I could imagine it might feel like to have been through everything she had been through. It’s not her fault she is so scared. She wants to change, wants so badly to have things different. She just doesn’t know how to let go of her past and move forward.

BWS: What are you working on at the minute?

Andrea: I am working on the sequel in this series, Embrace the Moment. It is a continuation to their story. I’m also working on a NA Romantic Suspense Novel that I began before Escape the Doubt. Stories are funny like that. One spoke louder than the other. I also have an Adult Contemporary Romance Novel in the works, Abandoned Identity. Many stories are swirling in my mind and multiple WIP’s sit on my laptop but they’re only so many hours in the day. LOL ;)

BWS: Do you ever get writer’s block? If so, how do you overcome it?

Andrea: Yes, for example with my sequel. I’m content with the ending in Escape the Doubt. There is just so much more to tell to their story. However, I don’t want to ugly up their beautiful just to create conflict. So I’m trying to stay true to the story they want me to tell. As far as overcoming it... MUSIC. It is an addiction and almost necessary for me to write to. It creates inspiration. 

BWS: Where is your favorite place to write? 

Andrea: You might find this funny, but lying in my bathtub when I’m relaxed.

A Bowl For the Soul

BLOG TOUR: ESCAPE THE DOUBT 

Good day, bookworms! Today I'll be reviewing Escape the Doubt by Andrea Michelle as part of her blog tour. I receive an ARC from Enticing Journey in exchange for an honest review. It's a young adult romance story but it is also much more than that so here we go!

Synopsis:

After the unexpected death of her Dad and the haunting manner in which he died, Riley Shaw built invisible walls around her heart. Barriers she created to protect her from splintering into broken pieces that couldn’t be repaired. She was unable to move forward from her past, letting the guilt of her parent’s mistakes dictate her own choices. 



Dean Warren was safe. Being with him was innocent and peaceful because she didn’t truly love him. His words held her captive in a false sense of security. His eyes were deceptive, and his promises of never pushing her beyond what she was willing to give were broken, leaving Riley Shaw in a state of regret and doubt. 



Joshua Parker had the power to take what was left of Riley’s splintered pieces, and ruin her completely or make her whole again. He was her best friend, her next-door neighbor - everything she wanted and settled on never having. Loving him was as easy as breathing air. The fear of losing him forever was more real to her than the feelings she couldn’t escape. 



When faced with the very thing she feared the most and in the arms she thought were safe, Riley finds herself questioning every decision she has made over the past two years. When she finally escapes the doubt in her head and accepts the truth in her heart is it too late? 



Is taking a chance with your heart worth the escape or was it better to have never loved at all? Can forgiveness really set you free? 



*Warning: This is a mature young adult novel. Recommended for readers 17+ due to underage drinking, sexual content and adult language. 



*This is book one in a series however can be read as a standalone.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking love story about two teens struggling for their love towards each other while coping with their other life dilemmas at the same time. Everyone has gone through that particular phase where we fell in love for the first time and our times during high school. That is what exactly what I get from reading Escape the Doubt. We can relate well with the story and characters because it happened to most of us at some point in our life.

A Bowl For the Soul

Short Noir: The Thirteenth Prophet

Hi, bookworms! Last month (and year), we did a short story review and we are doing another one again because we love T. Lucas Earle's story that much. This time his short story is titled The Thirteenth Prophet.

Book Blurb:

Mulligan Burke, an over-the-hill P.I. who has forsaken the evils of Personality implants, is brought back from Alaska to investigate the murder of one of the Prophets. The Prophets inhabit the highest position of the social hierarchy - they dictate fashion trends. Fashion, in this instance, encompasses much more than clothing. And, as Burke discovers, being fashionable is something to die - or kill - for.


At first, I was quite confused  when I started reading this short noir story. There are several references that make myself pause and re-read to understand the meaning of the story depiction. Great thing is the editing is done nicely with almost neither typos nor grammar mistakes. Earle has created a complex dystopian setting with terms that painted a world full of Prophets aka government controls, cult followings, and rampant trends. The concept of The Thirteenth Prophet makes sense as nowadays, I find myself becoming a follower of consumerism and part of a social dysfunction. Our personality might even change due to the society. That is exactly what happens in The Thirteenth Prophet. The so-called Prophets (who people worshipped) have different personalities that are copied and uploaded into other people so they can be gods, in some sort of sense. 

Bookworm Buzz

AUTHOR ASK, WE ANSWER

Hi bookworms! Today we are doing an interview again but unlike most interview where bloggers ask the questions, this time we will be the one doing the answering! Heather Hildenbrand approached us for the interview, I got really excited for this opportunity. Here is my interview with Heather and I hope you enjoy it!

Are you a writer?

I consider myself as one so yes. I’ve written a few articles for my local newspapers and I’m working on a novel at the moment.

Do you have aspirations of publishing a book someday?

Yes, very much so! It’s been my dream since middle school. I’ve written a few short stories and now, I’m working on my first novel. I hope I manage to finish and publish it in the near future.

What is your overall opinion of self-publishing?

With the modern media and technology that enables anyone to promote their works through social medias, self-publishing is a good way to publish our book without being tied to large publishing house/ company. We can write on our own pace and liking since there’s no publisher that neither gives us deadline nor tells us to change any of the things we write.

Do you read self-published books?

Yes. I’ve come across several self-published books and in fact, since I started my blog I received a few self-published book review request. And I accepted them. I often found these self-published books to be an undiscovered gem!

What is one thing you like about reading or working with indie authors?

We feel a deeper connection with indie authors because they’re more approachable. I also found indie authors to be more appreciative of any help and inputs from their reviewers and readers.

What is one thing indie authors are doing well?

Definitely communication. They are making the most of social medias to get their book out there. Another thing is the increasing indie authors and readers community, which enables indie authors to communicate with each other and with fellow readers.

Starter: Reading Challenge Announcement

The Double Trouble

--

Twin Reading Challenge

Hi, bookworms! As mentioned in our first "Book Coop" post, I have decided to join with my two fellow bloggers to form a reading challenge. Last year, I realised along with my two blogger buddies, Chene @ Mean Who You Are & Pamela @ Reading is Fun Again, that our TBR Piles has grown to the point we decided it is time to do something about it. 

Being so new to receiving ARC's our TBR piles took the back seat, but never stopped increasing as awesome new books came out and we easily added to the pile via paperback or one-clicking on Amazon!

As a rule this year we decided for every ARC or review book we read, we need to read a book off our TBR pile too. Every month we will do a post updating our progress (in my case, I'll feature the updates in "Book Coop" post). If you want to join in the fun, we just ask to link back to one of our blogs and use the graphic in your progress post, so that others can join in too!

Grab one of the buttons here:

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<a href="http://bookwormsoul.blogspot.com" title="Chicken Soup From A Bookworm's Soul"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMy-yxuvGxSmJ21Qf1ps-0HHGskHTJdrF4xngIMS3aGj3qDMO61hxeEWwZaQsNboN1aM_xADiHfZvdwXuaMwxz9GzxOlNhk8VKb_yranWZ2A2WjjX_XnvPO-JjNCEYUF_Ahv-pz7S2DU/s1600/double+trouble+twin+names+%25281%2529.jpg" alt="Chicken Soup From A Bookworm's Soul" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Join in the fun & Happy Reading!!!

Book Coop

Hello, bookworms! I know it's kind of late but I still wanna say Happy New Year! I hope all of you have a fantastic 2014! Since our team is finally back to the blogging world, we decided to start a new post which acts as our newsletter. This year, we have tons of fun reading plans including a reading challenge. Keep an eye for further details about the reading challenge! Anyone can join in the fun :)

Since we've never posted about the books we receive and read, we'll be starting the year with listing all the books we got in 2014 from the author/publisher/editor. We appreciate every review request so here's a miniature spotlight for all the books and ARCs we accepted and signed up for in exchange for an honest review.

A Flight of Marewings by Kristen S. Walker (ARC- TBD)

Age Warfare by Juan Carlos Cantu (e-copy- our review)

Aversion by Kenechi Udogu (e-copy- TBD)

Escape the Doubt by Andrea Michelle (ARC- 24th of January)

It Ain't Easy Being Jazzy by Quanie Miller (ARC- our review)

Monkey Talk by T. Lucas Earle (e-copy- our review)

Open Your Eyes by Jake Olson (ARC- TBD)

Quest for the Red Sapphire by Rival Gates (e-copy- our review)

Shadow Allegiance by Lacy Yager (ARC- TBD)

The Indie Author's Guide: A Self- Publisher's Toolbox by Heather Hildenbrand (e-copy- TBD)

The Mine by John Heldt (e-copy- our review)

The Queen of Bad Decisions by Janel Gradowski (ARC- our review)

The Thirteenth Prophet by T. Lucas Earle (e-copy- TBD)
Unholy Alliance by Lacy Yager (e-copy- companion to Shadow Allegiance)

Weeks in Naviras by Chris Wimpress (ARC- TBD) 

*TBD- To Be Determined

That's a wrap, bookworms! Catch more of our Book Coop next month to for more list of books we got and updates on our reading activities. Happy reading, everyone!

A Bowl For the Soul

JOIN A QUEST FOR THE RED SAPPHIRE

We were approached by Rival Gates to review his debut novel: Quest For the Red Sapphire and I finally got the time to start reading it before Christmas. So here's the review! QFTRS (short for Quest for the Red Sapphire) is a fantasy, adventure story. Fantasy novels has always been my cup of tea therefore I got quite excited when I will be reviewing QFTRS.

Synopsis: 

The book centers around Linvin Grithinshield, a half-elf general called home from the goblin wars to run the lucrative family trading business after his father's disappearance. Only after his mother's murder does he discover his destiny is to be the Master of the Red Sapphire, the most powerful magic any mortal can possess. Together with his wise but mysterious Uncle Anvar and his infuriating cousins Bander and Rander, Linvin must flee the would-be assassins and find the gem before the sinister forces from whom he flees find the stone and take it for a dark purpose.

The story was mind-gripping for sure. It's action-packed and full of surprises that keeps the readers on edge. As most fantasy story, it includes a long journey for the main characters that ensure hardships and danger along the way. When one challenge was conquered, another came up and it always seems so bleak for the characters as the story goes on. Nevertheless, Gates has woven a story that makes me want to read on until the end to find out the outcome of this fast-paced, thrilling adventure. 

Liebster Blog Award Nomination

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm very happy to say that I was nominated for the Liebster Blog Award. This is such a great news and I'm really ecstatic that my blog is nominated. I was nominated for Third Liebster Award by Emma Taylor @ Confession of A Bookworm. Thank you, Emma! I'm relatively new to blogging so I did a little research about this 'Liebster Award'. Apparently, Liebster means lovely or pleasant in German!

Anyways, every award always has their own set of rules and the same goes for Liebster Blog Award. Apparently, Liebster Award's set of rules vary from blog to blog; however, I am nominated by Emma, therefore I'll comply with Emma's rules!

The rules for accepting this award are:

Link back to the blog that nominated you.

Answer the questions they set for the blogs they nominated.

Nominate 10 blogs of your own & let them know with a link to your post.

Ask 10 questions for the blogs you nominate to answer in their post.

Share a couple random facts about yourself.

My Questions set by Emma Taylor

1. What is your favorite author?

That is a really hard question for me to answer. I got so many authors in mind but I’ll settle with J.K Rowling for making my childhood an amazing journey!

2. What is your favorite holiday?

Definitely Christmas! It’s so heartwarming and makes us happy with giddiness. What’s not to like about Christmas trees, presents in the morning, and singing Christmas carol?!

3. Do you own any pets?

Unfortunately, no. I would love to have a Golden Retriever or a Husky, though. Or a dolphin. Or a Phoenix! Note: I know. I have an over-active imagination.

4. Do you read often?

That depends on each person’s definition of often. I read a book per week but during school holidays, it can escalate to 3-4 a week! But sometimes life gets in the way so it depends on my time and mood, I guess.

5. Did you love the Harry Potter Series?

As you can see from my answer for my favourite author, Yes!!! I am a major Potterhead and well, I actually waited for the Hogwarts letter when I was eleven (but it never came).

6. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Noisy eaters.

7. What 3 things would you want with you if you ever got stranded on a desert island?

Food and water supplies (a girl’s gotta survive! I don’t know what kind of poisonous berries lies on the island), a weapon (a big knife preferably..guns can run out of bullets), and a journal with pencil or pen (so I won’t get bored..I can doodle, or write, or send a bottled message in case I’m going mad)

8. If you could go anywhere, where would it be?

Either Hogwarts or Narnia. I can’t pick between those two! Can you?

9. What was the last book you read?

Bart Simpson’s Guide to Life

10. Did you like it?

Very much! It was so funny! Even if you are not a big fan of the Simpsons, I still recommend this book J

A Couple Random of Facts About Me

1. Writing is my passion and have been since middle school. I write business articles, short stories for my local newspaper, and currently working on my first novel.

2. My dream is to become a Pulitzer Award-winning journalist in the future.

3. Whistling didn't come naturally for me since I can't whistle until I'm 11 years old. As a part of a Character Building project at school, I chose to teach myself how to whistle and now, I can whistle to songs such as the Jingle Bells tune.
4. I have an (unhealthy, according to my friends) obsession with Greek mythologies.
5. I won eating ice-cream competitions a couple times since I was 6 years old.

Blogs I Nominate (in no particular order)

Cami Decker @ The Commonplace Notebook of a Modern Day Scribe

Laura Mac @ Laura's Literatour

Alison Jansen @ Alison J's Book Blog

Sara Mojica @ P.S With Love

Chene Sterckx @ Mean Who You Are

Kirsty-Marie Jones @ Studio Reads
Jessica Nicole @ Ramblings On Readings
Shannah McClamrock @ Shannah McClamrock
Krista Quintana @ Color Coordinated
Deborah McKnight @ D. S. McKnight

10 Questions for My Nominates

1. What inspire you start to start blogging?

2. Who is your fictional character role model?

3. Do you have any quirky or unique habits while reading?

4. What is your favourite book genre?
5. In a zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice?
6. What superpower would you like to have?

7. Are you working on writing a book or story?

8. What 3 words would you use to describe yourself?

9. What is your favourite book/series of all times?
10. What do you think is the best movie adaptation from book?

A Bowl For the Soul

SHORT STORY REVIEW: MONKEY TALK

Hello bookworms! We were approached to review a book by T. Lucas Earle so here is our first short-story review. 

  

Book blurb:

Monkey Talk is loosely based on the Chinese myth, the Monkey King, a timeless story about who belongs, and who doesn’t. In a future in which Chimps can give lectures on cybernetics, Mr. Towry is a Chimp with an attitude. Unfortunately, the rules are still “No shirt, no shoes, no service.”

The fact that the author could develop the characters in the story very well has made me very partial to this book. Especially considering it is only 16 pages long! In fact, while Mr Towry was quite a stubborn chimp, I find myself liking this character. He voices his mind outrightly with no malice intention which makes most of his conversations (internal and with other people) quite hilarious. It's not a full-blown humour but you can find yourself smile when Mr. Towry acts up and demand to be treated more equally by humans. His uses of canes was ingenious- since Towry is an ape, he has a short stature so he has to carry a cane everywhere to press the buttons on elevators and hits people that mistreated him on occasions. Then, he has to make an argument with his new assistant, Ms Liu, regarding the difference between beef and other animal meat (refer to monkey meat). It's an exceptionally heavy notion as Mr. Towry indicates that if all animals could voice their opinions, none of them wants to be cooked and eaten as delicacies for anyone.

After reading Monkey Talk, I can see exactly what the book blurb means. In the story, even though chimps are evolved and as capable (maybe even more so) than humans, they do not belong with the norms of the society. If you don't wear any shoes to a banquet, you can't enter. Unfortunately, Mr. Towry is not human therefore he has hands instead of feet. This actually makes a valid reason for him to be shoeless (how could you wear shoes on hands?!). Nonetheless, this was unacceptable by human standards. Ergo, the point of who belongs, and who doesn't. 

Thumbs up to the author for such a brilliantly executed story with enlightenment of some serious issues in the society. It's a very well-laid storyline with clear thoughts of the characters and being a unique story that does more than just a short story. I do wish that Earle would write more about the adventures of Mr. Towry, as I would love to know more about this particular chimp!

Author's Profile: 

T. Lucas Earle is a writer, filmmaker, and amateur statistician  He lives in LA, a comfortable 60 meters above sea level, where only three out of every 100,000 people are murdered. 

T. Lucas has a degree from Emerson College, which makes for a terrific placemat. He spends his days reading terrible scripts - a job for which he receives  nominal remuneration. Like many slightly brain-damaged children of hypoxic former left-wing political cult members of the 1970s , he will review almost anything. I once caught him writing a review for a Hamilton Beach toaster oven  instruction manual.

When T. Lucas is not reading and groaning quietly to himself, he writes and groans much louder.  He has written several short stories, a screenplay or two, and is working up the courage to write a note to the fetching young lady who works at the Starbucks on Glendale Ave. He's been published in Electric Spec, The Colored Lens, and on Amazon, where you can find his short stories. Find out more at his official website.

Reviewer Notes: I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own and do not reflect those of the author, my clients or tour companies I work with. This is not a paid review. To form your own opinion please support the author and acquire your own legal copy of the book.