I updated the 2010 Challenge and added a Mr. Linky so it will make for easier sign up! 🙂
2010 Historical Fiction Challenge
Update to 2010 Historical Fiction Challenge Post
Author: Ambrosia
Book Review: Hunted by P.C & Kristin Cast
What if the hottest guy in the world was hiding a nameless evil, and all he wanted was you? At the start of this heart-pounding new installment of the bestselling House of Night series, Zoey’s friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren’t Neferet’s secrets any longer. But an unexpected danger has emerged. Neferet guards her powerful new consort, Kalona, and no one at the House of Night seems to understand the threat he poses. Kalona looks gorgeous, and he has the House of Night under his spell. A past life holds the key to breaking his rapidly spreading influence, but what if this past life shows Zoey secrets she doesn’t want to hear and truths she can’t face?
On the run and holed up in Tulsa’s Prohibition-era tunnels, Zoey and her gang must discover a way to deal with something that might bring them all down. Meanwhile, Zoey has a few other little problems. The red fledglings have cleaned up well–they’ve even managed to make the dark, creepy tunnels feel more like home–but are they really as friendly as they seem? On the boyfriend front, Zoey has a chance to make things right with super-hot ex-, Erik, but she can’t stop thinking about Stark, the archer who died in her arms after one unforgettable night, and she is driven to try to save him from Neferet’s sinister influence at all costs. Will anyone believe the power evil has to hide among us?
And another installment of the House of Night series does not fail to bring you further into the story. Just when you think Zoey Redbirds life can not possibly get any more dramatic it does. But the way it is written does not seem to over the top.
When we last left Zoey and her friends the red fledglings were on her side, and the House of Night suddenly was not, Neferet had raised the immortal Kalona from his earthly binds, and they along with Kalona’s sons the Raven Mockers have taken over the House of Night and turned everyone into “pod people” as the twins are prone to saying.
And beyond that we have three men back in Zoeys life, Erik Heath and Stark oh my. The way the Casts’s have written this series keeps you wanting the next one. It is hard to draw yourself away from the mixture of typical teenage drama trouble, and the other worldly issues of being a fledgling trying to become a Vampyre. And not only are you a fledgling but the most powerful Marked fledgling of the known history of Vampyres.
If you enjoy the series you will Love Hunted and be eager to get to the next book. If you have not yet started this series, I once again recommend it. The blend of Vampyres and school make for a fantastic setting. And while I have said before its Harry Potter meets Twilight, I do say it with the best of love.
Friday Finds #22
From the pen of legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy comes an unforgettable true story of
royalty, passion, and innocence lost.
Born into an impoverished branch of the noble Howard family, young Katherine is plucked from her home to live with her grandmother, the Duchess of Norfolk. The innocent girl quickly learns that her grandmother’s puritanism is not shared by Katherine’s free-spirited cousins, with whom she lives. Beautiful and impressionable, Katherine becomes involved in two ill-fated love affairs before her sixteenth birthday. Like her cousin Anne Boleyn, she leaves her grandmother’s home to become a lady-in-waiting at the court of Henry VIII. The royal palaces are exciting to a young girl from the country, and Katherine ?nds that her duties there allow her to be near her handsome cousin, Thomas Culpepper, whom she has loved since childhood.
But when Katherine catches the eye of the aging and unhappily married king, she is forced to abandon her plans for a life with Thomas and marry King Henry. Overwhelmed by the change in her fortunes, bewildered and flattered by the adoration of her husband, Katherine is dazzled by the royal life. But her bliss is short-lived as rumors of her wayward past come back to haunt her, and Katherine’s destiny takes another, deadly, turn.
Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, pathologically driven, stubborn as hell.
Now, for the first time, the world’s most famous—and infamous—chef tells the inside story of his life: his difficult childhood, his father’s alcoholism and violence, his brother’s heroin addiction, his short-circuited soccer career, and his fanatical pursuit of gastronomic perfection—everything that helped mold him into the culinary talent and media powerhouse that he is today. He also dishes the dirt on the rich and famous, and takes you behind the scenes of some of the great restaurants.
Honest, outrageous, and intensely personal, Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen will not only change your perception of Gordon Ramsay but that of the cutthroat world of haute cuisine as well.
Friday Firsts #1
The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.
Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title & author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?
Link back to Well-Read Reviews in your blog entry.
Come back to this blog post, hosted on WellReadReviews.com and add your direct link to Mr. Linky! ** Very important!
It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind. ~ Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K Rowling
Well I have to say I just picked up the book after finnishing another, so that I could post this Meme. And honestly it has pulled me in. I am curious what the Prime Minister is reading, although I imagine it might be about magic. But there is only one way I can be certain. And that is to keep reading.
16 days til the 1 year Blogversery!
I can hardly believe it. It is almost 1 full year that I have been operating Fire & Ice. And I can say that I have loved every minute of it. I thank each and every one of my readers for having fun and keeping up with me as well!
I also want to remind you that over at my newest project Lady Ambrosia’s Creations. We have a Blog Makeover give away going on! You get a fully customized blog design with everything you want!
All you have to do is ENTER!
Booking Through Thursday
But enough about you, what about ME?
Today’s question?
What’s your favorite part of Booking Through Thursday? Why do you participate (or not)?
I enjoy the question topics. I also just enjoy reading the other answers on BTT. It is great to have a book related Meme that asks you questions. But maybe I am just goofy.
New Book Release Coming Soon
Check this out there is a new book coming out, and you might be interested in it. I am always happy to tell people about new books coming out. And this one is no exception here comes some more information:
, ‘You Better Not Cry’ from St. Martin’s Press:
From the author of ‘Dry’, ‘Running With Scissors’, ‘Wolf at the Table’ and ‘Magical Thinking’ is the latest offering from the viciously funny
Augusten Burroughs, ‘You Better Not Cry’ from St. Martin’s Press:
Augusten Burroughs has, and in this caustically funny, nostalgic, poignant, and moving collection he recounts Christmases past and present-as only he could. With gimlet-eyed wit and illuminated prose, Augusten shows how the holidays bring out the worst in us and sometimes, just sometimes, the very, very best.
They are having a giveaway for it as well! Book Giveaway
Wicked Wednesday #16
Wicked Wednesday a place to be wicked to other book readers and make them get those TBR piles growing. The concept is simple. Pick a book or two and tell s about them. If its one you read tell us what you liked. If its one you found tell us about that to. Than leave a comment to let us know where to find your Wicked Wednesday titles. Make sure to link back in your posts for other people to follow Wicked Wednesday.
So…you’d think after banishing an immortal being and a fallen High Priestess, saving Stark’s life, biting Heath, getting a headache from Erik, and almost dying, Zoey Redbird would catch a break. Sadly, a break is not in the House of Night school forecast for the High Priestess in training and her gang. Juggling three guys is anything but a stress reliever, especially when one of them is a sexy Warrior who is so into protecting Zoey that he can sense her emotions. Speaking of stress, the dark force lurking in the tunnels under the Tulsa Depot is spreading, and Zoey is beginning to believe Stevie Rae could be responsible for a lot more than a group of misfit red fledglings. Aphrodite’s visions warn Zoey to stay away from Kalona and his dark allure, but they also show that it is Zoey who has the power to stop the evil immortal. Soon it becomes obvious that Zoey has no choice: if she doesn’t go to Kalona he will exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. Will Zoey have the courage to chance losing her life, her heart, and her soul?
2010 Challenge
My main addiction to the challenges started last year thanks to my favorite book site PBS. So I am going to make my main challenge with them again of course. But I am going to scale it back a little so that I can complete it in 2010. I am going to fall short in 2009. Not to bad. Can’t win them all.
So this year I will challenge myself to read 100 books across the board. They can fall into any genre and go into any cross challenges as well.
13 / 100 books. 13% done!
1. Scandal’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens
2. Tempted by P.C Cast & Kristin Cast
3. Don’t Miss your Life! by Charlene Ann Baumbich
4. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos
5. Unmasked by Author: Janet Dailey, Jennifer Blake, Elizabeth Gage
6. Big Girls Don’t Cry by Author: Donna Hill, Brenda Jackson, Monica Jackson, Francis Ray 7. The Culture of Excess by J.R Slosar
8. Gordon Ramsay The Biography by Neil Simpson
9. Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
10. Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
11. The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
12. Plain Pursuit by Beth Wiseman
13. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
2010 What’s in a Name Challenge?
This is one I was successful in this last year so I am going to do it again. And see where it gets’ me. It has a new host but it is the same Challenge.
So here are these years’ topics I will be going through and selecting my books from my TBR soon.
2 / 6 Books. 33% done!
A book with a food in the title: Clockwork Orange, Grapes of Wrath, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery 1/19/10 I feel tea is a food and during Japanese tea ceramony they also eat sweets and other foods so it fits.
A book with a body of water in the title: A River Runs through It, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, The Lake House
A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Murder of King Tut, The Count of Monte Cristo, Lady Susan
A book with a plant in the title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Wind in the Willows, The Name of the Rose.: A Garden is a lot of plant’s so for this challenge I chose The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos Completed 1/16/2010
A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Out of Africa; London; Between, Georgia
A book with a music term in the title: Song of Solomon, Ragtime, The Piano Teacher
