Books + Cupcakes = Good Times
2:23 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
Closer...
Closer...
There we go! See how yummy the bread is!
This was my first attempt at a Red Velvet Cupcake, and I gotta say, they turned out pretty good! The cupcake anyway... cause the frosting (Cream Cheese) was a nightmare. I couldn't get it right, but I'll keep trying! I liked this video tutorial from Joy of Baking, so I'll try to do what she does next time.
You can also see my latest read: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. (I always try to read a book before watching its film.) It's good so far, nothing major has happened, but I like the pace and the writing.
Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
xo, Ella
Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
xo, Ella
Lauren celebrated the release of Pandemonium with a big party!
2:30 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
I was visiting the Paper Lantern Lit blog (to learn more about PLL, go here), and I found these pics from the joint release party for Pandemonium and The Butterfly Clues, by Kate Ellison. Check out Lauren's gorgeous dress!
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| A toast! |
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| Looks like Lauren won a raffle! |
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| The PLL staff. From left to right: Beth, Rhoda, Lexa & Lauren |
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| Kate Ellison and a friend |
It looks like they had a lot of fun! Have you got your copy of Pandemonium yet? I'm still waiting for mine, Amazon's international shipping takes forever!
xo, Ella
Review: New Girl, by Paige Harbison
10:14 AM Posted by Ella Preuss
Release Date: January 31st, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 3,5 out of 5 Stars
Read in March 2012
Summary:
It took me a while to get into this story. Normally I don't go for contemporary, but I'd read that this had a supernatural twist, so I decided to give it a go.
The first half of the book narrates the New Girl's life in Manderley, the boarding school her parents send her to. That's the school she wanted to go as a little girl, not now that she's a senior and has all of her friends in Florida. But she goes anyway, because she doesn't want to disappoint her parents.
I loved that the book had two POVs: Becca's and the New Girl (BTW, we don't learn her name until the final chapter, if I remember correctly. When I read her name, I was like, what, this is your name?, and started looking for it in past chapters. Very well played, Ms. Harbison!). Becca's chapters would be in the 3rd person and NG's in the 1st. With Becca's we got to learn more about the why behind her disappearance.
I only wish the first part of the book would have been faster-paced (yes, I like inventing terms, if they don't already exist). That's the part where you have to engage your reader. I felt like I was constantly reading a new girl's whines about how much she missed her family and home, and why everyone at school compared her to Becca. Becca's chapters, however, were completely engaging. She was a very cool character to read.
The boys from this book were appealing, and their story with Becca really showed us who they were. I started feeling sorry for them, for how Becca had treated them. Max and Johnny were good characters. Max definitely captured my heart along with NG's!
This school fed on gossip and rumours, and the NG got to be the centre of attention from the start. I liked how her character evolved towards the end, and how the mystery around Becca was finally solved.
So, my only critique would be: the book should have been more engaging in the beginning, like it is in the end. We can forget about the NG's whines, because they show her character, and she does change in the end. The end of the book definitely makes up for the slow parts.
I'm giving it 3,5 stars based on my personal enjoyment.
Ella
A contemporary young-adult retelling inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.My Opinion:
They call me 'New Girl'...
Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.
Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.
Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.
And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.
It took me a while to get into this story. Normally I don't go for contemporary, but I'd read that this had a supernatural twist, so I decided to give it a go.
The first half of the book narrates the New Girl's life in Manderley, the boarding school her parents send her to. That's the school she wanted to go as a little girl, not now that she's a senior and has all of her friends in Florida. But she goes anyway, because she doesn't want to disappoint her parents.
I loved that the book had two POVs: Becca's and the New Girl (BTW, we don't learn her name until the final chapter, if I remember correctly. When I read her name, I was like, what, this is your name?, and started looking for it in past chapters. Very well played, Ms. Harbison!). Becca's chapters would be in the 3rd person and NG's in the 1st. With Becca's we got to learn more about the why behind her disappearance.
I only wish the first part of the book would have been faster-paced (yes, I like inventing terms, if they don't already exist). That's the part where you have to engage your reader. I felt like I was constantly reading a new girl's whines about how much she missed her family and home, and why everyone at school compared her to Becca. Becca's chapters, however, were completely engaging. She was a very cool character to read.
The boys from this book were appealing, and their story with Becca really showed us who they were. I started feeling sorry for them, for how Becca had treated them. Max and Johnny were good characters. Max definitely captured my heart along with NG's!
This school fed on gossip and rumours, and the NG got to be the centre of attention from the start. I liked how her character evolved towards the end, and how the mystery around Becca was finally solved.
So, my only critique would be: the book should have been more engaging in the beginning, like it is in the end. We can forget about the NG's whines, because they show her character, and she does change in the end. The end of the book definitely makes up for the slow parts.
I'm giving it 3,5 stars based on my personal enjoyment.
Ella
Free ARCs of The Earthquake Machine by Mary Lowry at FridayReads
7:35 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
I'll be reviewing this book later in the month, and I thought you'd like to know about this chance.
The Earthquake Machine has been highly praised, and Lowry's yet-to-be released novel The Gods of Fire –based on her experiences as a forest firefighter– which has been optioned for film by Bill Mechanic (former CEO of 20th Century Fox) and is in pre-production.
To request an ARC (ecopy or hard copy) email Trixie T. at: bookbloom@hotmail.com
Are you on Figment? Then you can read the first four chapters of PANDEMONIUM for free!
12:41 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
You read right, Lauren has uploaded the first four chapters of PANDEMONIUM to her Figment account, so if you still haven't had the chance to buy a copy of the book, you can head over to Figment and start reading it now.
Read HANA for free...FOUR DAYS ONLY!
10:22 AM Posted by Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
Lauren hit her goal of 5,000+ pre-orders and has gifted us with HANA in its entirety.
You can read it right here on MTV for free...but only for four days!
Are you excited? I know I am! HANA had been going to tide me over until PANDEMONIUM came out...and then we got an ARC it at work. So now it will hold me over until REQUIEM comes out!
For those who don't remember, Hana is Lena's best friend from DELIRIUM...and she'll be in REQUIEM in a big way!
....You're still here? What are you waiting for? Go, read. NOW! ^.~
Pre-order PANDEMONIUM to read HANA for free on V-Day!
8:00 AM Posted by Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
You all know about PANDEMONIUM already, of course.
But do you know about Lauren's upcoming novella HANA?
It's based around--you guessed it--Lena's friend Hana's POV. I was always interested in what was going on with Hana and sad when we saw the last of her (or DID we? Lauren has hinted that she'll be returning in REQUIEM, the trilogy's jaw-dropping conclusion!).
I'm eagerly awaiting the release of this novella!
And....there's a chance that we can read it for FREE--and early--next week!
How, you ask? By pre-ordering PANDEMONIUM this week! Yesterday, Lauren blogged that if 5,000 people pre-order the novel, MTV.com will release HANA in its entirety for FOUR DAYS starting on VALENTINE'S DAY.
That doesn't leave us much time at all! If you're a member of Deliriously Falling, then you're already a Lauren Oliver fan. So get out there and post this on your blogs, on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Facebook...wherever you can!!!
Let's help Lauren reach her goal--and the New York Times Best Sellers List!!!
Movie Adaptation of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl finally commences!
8:58 PM Posted by Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
[And in the interest of full-disclosure? I have yet to read BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, though I did pick up a copy at a library sale last year. I should get on this soon, yes?]
THE SELECTION: Coming Soon to a TV Screen Near You?
9:00 AM Posted by Bonnie @ A Backwards Story
You guys know that I've been dying to read Kiera Cass' THE SELECTION since hearing about it in 2010. I was even more excited when the beautiful cover debuted last year! I was just peeking in at IMDB and saw that the CW has ordered a pilot episode of THE SELECTION.
The article states:
The CW has ordered three more intriguing drama pilots: One from J.J. Abrams, one that’s a “time-travel musical” (!) and a third that one insider described as “The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.”
This is a very interesting crop. Here’s how it breaks down:
Title: The Selection
Logline: Based on the forthcoming series of books by Kiera Cass, The Selection is an epic romance set 300 years in the future which centers on a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads.
Can you say EXCITED? I can, especially after confirming the news on Cass' blog. As long as they do it right, I'm in. (Same goes for the time-travel musical if it doesn't turn into a wtf kind of thing. I'm all about GLEE and SMASH!)
Around the World Covers: Pandemonium and Cinder
5:07 PM Posted by Ella Preuss
Hi everyone! Today I bring you a new feature, yay! Since I also blog in Spanish, I see a lot of the Spanish covers as well as the English ones. And I like to compare them, too, so I thought I'd share my thoughts with you, here. I also plan on making a button for this feature :D Click on the images to enlarge.
A couple of days ago, Lauren shared on her blog the UK cover for Pandemonium:
And, let me tell you, I'm not a fan. I do like the orange-iness of it, resembling the US cover, but it's got nothing to do with Delirium's UK cover, and I don't appreciate it when my covers don't match.
It looks like it's Lena in the Wilds, so that's a plus. But I prefer the US cover a hundred times over this one.
Now it's Cinder's turn, this fairy tale retelling/dystopia:
Compared to the US cover, I like this one better.
It matches the fairy tale vibe of it, and also, look at her awesome leg and arm!
Montena, the Spanish publisher, did a great job with it :)
The series is called The Lunar Chronicles; can you see the half moon that is the C? Love it.
What do you guys think?
xo, Ella
