The Watcher in the Shadows by Chris Moriarty

The Watcher in the Shadows 
(Inquisitor's Apprentice #2)

by Chris Moriarty

4.0 out of 5 stars An Alternate History? or Alternate World?, July 2, 2013

This book is everything that a tween or teen reader is looking for today...it is a little Victorian, just a touch of Steampunk and lots of Adventure.

That being said I really didn't expect to like it (not a big fan of Alternate Worlds) but it won me over! I didn't read Book One in the series, The Inquisitor's Apprentice so I truly thought it might be a difficult read but the characters and story sucked me in!

Magic - History - and death by an Electric Tuxedo?  what's not to like?  ...oh and the author's name is Moriarty...Seriously?  Love it!

The Watcher in the Shadows (Inquisitor's Apprentice) has something for everyone and boys will love it as much as the girls...some of the dialog is a little disjointed, though that could be a period issue.

I would recommend this series to boys and girls from 12 up (10 if they are good readers).



Summary from Amazon:
At the turn of the twentieth century, New York’s Bowery District becomes the scene of a terrible murder when the Klezmer King gets fried to a crisp by his Electric Tuxedo—on stage! The Inquisitor’s apprentice, thirteen-year-old Sacha Kessler, tries to help find the killer, but the closer he gets to solving the crime, the more it sounds as if the creature that haunted him in his first adventure is back. Worse still, his own Jewish family is in danger. Sacha has avoided learning magic until now, but as his world falls apart around him, he changes his mind.

#BookTrailerThursday - Debut Novel "Let The Sky Fall"

Book Trailer Thursdays!

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before. 

Today we are featuring a Sneak Peek from...Shannon Messenger's Debut Novel! ...with some amazing buzz!

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

#BookTrailerThursday - Can't Wait For More From Shatter Me Author Tahereh Mafi?

Book Trailer Thursdays!

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before. 

Today we are featuring a novella from "Shatter Me" author Tahereh Mafi!

Did you LOVE Tahereh Mafi's "Shatter Me"?

You remember...

"Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior."

Make the wait for the sequel, UNRAVEL ME a little easier...enjoy the novella...DESTROY ME!


The official trailer for DESTROY ME, an e-original novella in Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me series.

"In SHATTER ME, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner-and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But Warner is not that easy to get rid of . . .

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner's father, the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son's mistakes, it's clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Set after SHATTER ME and before the spellbinding sequel, UNRAVEL ME, DESTROY ME is told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45."

For more information, visit: http://www.epicreads.com/.

...so while you are, not so patiently, waiting for the sequel to Shatter Me - check out Destroy Me 

You know I wouldn't leave you without a teaser for UNRAVEL ME - are you as in love with the cover art as I am?

"And oooooooooooh, it is amaaaaazing. This is an aesthetic change-up for the series, and we're digging it! And with that strikeout tagline—a clever throw to Juliette's inner monologue from the first book—there's no doubt that "Unravel Me" will open up a whole new world for the heroine as she finds her new home at Omega Point, meets other people with gifts like hers, and struggles to focus on her love for Adam even with the villainous Warner still out there. (And speaking of Warner: Don't miss the digital novella, "Destroy Me," (out in October) that offers a scary-sexy peek inside the mind of the man who tried to claim Juliette for his own...and that might just have you rethinking how you want this story to end.)"                                                                Cover Comment and Reveal via Hollywood Crush on MTV!

Review: The Seven Swords - Book 2

THE SEVEN SWORDS

Book 2 of the Otherworld Chronicles

By Nils Johnson-Shelton

The Kingfisher children, Artie and Kay, have found that an Otherworld and magic exist, and that in that world, Artie is King Arthur. They also found that freeing Merlin from The Invisible Tower was not the end of their adventures.

Now, Artie, Kay and the rest of Artie’s court and friends must find and rejoin the Seven Swords: Excalibur, Cleomede, Gram, Kusanagi, Orgulus, the Anguish and the Peace Sword. This quest brings them many perils, new friends and allies, and knowledge about what is right and wrong. Artie, especially, learns what the duties and expectations of a good king are.

While this is the second book in a series it can easily stand alone and you won't feel lost....personally I am looking forward to getting to know these characters better!

This title will be released on January 2, 2013.

Publisher's Description (from Book 1: The Invisible Tower):

Part of the spell has already been broken.

The first stones have begun to crumble.

In Artie Kingfisher’s world, wizards named Merlin, fire-breathing dragons, and swords called Excalibur exist only in legends and lore—until the day his video game Otherworld springs to life.

You are special, Arthur,

Says the mysterious message in his game.

In one week’s time you will come to me at the it.

Cryptic clues lead Artie to a strange place called the Invisible Tower, where he discovers that nothing in his life is as it seems. Artie is none other than King Arthur, brought to life in the twenty-first century. Artie has won the battle in the virtual Otherworld—now the key to saving the realOtherworld lies in his hands as well.

Green dragons, hungry wolves, powerful sorcerers—suddenly Artie must battle them all as he wields Excalibur and embarks on a quest worthy of the Knights of the Round Table. With his sister, Kay, by his side, Artie steps into the Otherworld—straight toward his destiny.

#BookTrailerThursday - The Diviners by Libba Bray!

Book Trailer Thursdays!

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before. 

Today we are featuring a Sneak Peek from the latest from Libba Bray "The Diviners"

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he'll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

Printz Award--winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray opens a brand-new historical series with The Diviners, where the glittering surface of the Roaring Twenties hides a mystical horror creeping across the country.

#BookTrailerThursdays - The Rise of Nine

Book Trailer Thursdays!

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before. 






This week we are featuring:

The Rise of Nine
(Lorien Legacy #3)

by Pittacus Lore





The official book trailer for THE RISE OF NINE by Pittacus Lore, in stores 8/21/12!

THEY know the charm is broken.
THEY know we're all in danger now.
THEY are determined to find us before
WE find each other.
WE must come together.
WE are Lorien and Earth's only hope, and
WE are prepared to sacrifice everything.

POWER IN NUMBERS WILL SAVE US ALL.

For more information, visit: http://iamnumberfourfans.com/

#BookTrailerThursday - Endlessly by Kiersten White

Book Trailer Thursdays!


To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before.


This week we are featuring:

At last, the wait is over - the final book in Kiersten White's thriller "Paranormalcy" trilogy...Endlessly! ...and another stunning book cover!

Endlessly
by Kiersten White

Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate. 

The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands. 

So much for normal.

Latest Louise Rennison Heroine - Tallulah Casey

Have you seen the latest from the brilliantly funny author Louise Rennison?  you remember Louise from the hilarious high jinks in her "Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" series.

With this latest series she introduces a new heroine, Tallulah...drama queen in more ways than one!  With titles like "Withering Tights" and "A Midsummer Tights Dream" -  the Misadventures of Tallulah Casey promises:

"Hilarious new series from Queen of Teen – laugh your tights off at the (VERY) amateur dramatic antics of Talullah and her bonkers mates. Boys, snogging and bad acting guaranteed!"

....and to help you with those hard to understand "English" terms...

#BookTrailerThursday - The Age Of Miracles

Book Trailer Thursdays!
To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before.






This week we present...

The Age of Miracles
by Karen Thompson Walker

“It still amazes me how little we really knew. . . . Maybe everything that happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It’s possible, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.”

Luminous, haunting, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles is a stunning fiction debut by a superb new writer, a story about coming of age during extraordinary times, about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty.

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.

With spare, graceful prose and the emotional wisdom of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker has created a singular narrator in Julia, a resilient and insightful young girl, and a moving portrait of family life set against the backdrop of an utterly altered world. 

#BookTrailerThursdays: Changeling, By Philippa Gregory

Book Trailer Thursdays!

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before.

This week we present...Changeling, the very first YA book by the amazing  Philippa Gregory via Simon Teen






Italy, 1453. Seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is brilliant, gorgeous—and accused of heresy. Cast out of his religious order for using the new science to question old superstitious beliefs, Luca is recruited into a secret sect: The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and danger in its many forms, and strange occurrences across Europe, in this year—the end of days.     

Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl shut up in a nunnery so she can’t inherit any of her father’s estate. As the nuns walk in their sleep and see strange visions, Isolde is accused of witchcraft—and Luca is sent to investigate her, but finds himself plotting her escape.     

Despite their vows, despite themselves, love grows between Luca and Isolde as they travel across Europe with their faithful companions, Freize and Ishraq. The four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers as they head toward a real-life historical figure who holds the boundaries of Christendom and the secrets of the Order of the Dragon.      

The first in a series, this epic and richly detailed drama is grounded in historical communities and their mythic beliefs. It includes a medieval map of Europe that will track their journey; and the interior will include relevant decorative elements as well as an interior line illustration. And look for a QR code that links to a note from the author with additional, detailed information about the setting and the history that informed the writing. With Philippa Gregory’s trademark touch, this novel deftly brings the past—and its salacious scandals—vividly and disturbingly to life.

The Mark of the Golden Dragon (Bloody Jack Adventures)

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (Bloody Jack Adventures) (Hardcover)  

by L. A. Meyer

I never get tired of these books and in this recent installment on the life of the cunning and now beautiful Jacky Faber, soldier, sailor, spy, and Pirate Extraordinaire we follow Jacky into a world of danger and high adventure in the South China Sea!!!!

The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (Bloody Jack Adventures) doesn't disappoint - on her return trip to London to find the man she loves a typhoon turns the ship, and the lives of the crew, around!

I have to share a moment with you - I love these books for the gripping adventures and world travel - but I never realized just how much is based in history and how much of the drama and events that unfold are based in reality. I was watching Jeopardy one night and was able to answer an entire column of questions on the founding of the Australian Colonies due to the last book in this series The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, On Her Way to Botany Bay (Bloody Jack Adventures). BRAVO L.A. Meyer - who knew history could be so much fun!

Recommended for boys & girls alike (my opinion - 10 and up) - girls will love the strong willed Jacky and boys will be in awe!  This book was provided to me through the Amazon Vine Program.

The Earthquake Machine

The Earthquake Machine
by Mary Pauline Lowry


Mary Pauline Lowry offers up an action filled, brilliant debut novel that takes the reader on one WILD ride!  ...and she pulls from her varied background to develop her characters and storyline.


The Earthquake Machine is the story of a very unhappy 14 year old Rhonda who "escapes" her painful home life to find the one person in her life that she has been able to rely on...Jesus, the family gardener.  Her adventure takes her south of the border and teaches her the value of the people that surround you and illustrates the inequities that exsist between traveling as a young girl versus as a young girl...while also sxposing the reader to Mexico's historically exotic culture.


The story moves well and the charachters will draw you in...from the delightful 14 year old Rhonda who has assumed the blame for he Mother's insanity; her abusive Father; the drug adled Bartender who manages to become a key part of Rhondas travels; to the tender and supportive Jesus and his Mama.


Exploring topics of Mexican and American Culture and Norms along with the obvious "coming of age" issues that any story of a 14 year old will...this is a book that I highly recommend.


Thank you to the author for providing a review copy of The Earthquake Machine.

#BookTrailerThursdays: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Book Trailer Thursdays!
To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before.

This week we present... "Insurgent" the sequel to Veronica Roth's Blockbuster "Divergent"!



INSURGENT is the much-anticipated sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling DIVERGENT.

ABOUT INSURGENT:
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. 

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. 

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature. 

Join the #DivergentNation at http://www.facebook.com/divergentseries 

Order your copy today:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/H21jGu 
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/H8E65h 
Books-A-Million: http://bit.ly/Hy1PLb 
iBookstore: http://bit.ly/H0uy9e
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/Hy28Wy

...and I couldn't resist adding this cool Thank You from the author!



Thank you, Divergent Nation, for making both DIVERGENT and INSURGENT #1 New York Times bestsellers!

For more information on INSURGENT, visit:http://harperteen.com/books/Insurgent-Veronica-Roth/?isbn=9780062024046
For more information on DIVERGENT, visit:http://harperteen.com/books/Divergent-Veronica-Roth/?isbn=9780062024039

Join the Divergent Nation at http://facebook.com/divergentseries

#BookTrailerThursday - The Lure of Shapinsay

#BookTrailerThursday!  

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before.
(not sure who started this meme - let me know and I'll give credit)


This week from the author of The Lure of Shapinsay, Krista Holle:


"Here's a bit about me: I'm an indie author who published her first e-novel this past December called The Lure of Shapinsay.  It’s soon to be released as paperback.  It's a unique paranormal romance dealing with the very old Scottish mythology of the selkies.  

Ever since Kait Swanney could remember, the old crones of the village have been warning her to stay away from the selkies. They claim that like sirens of old, the seal men creep from the inky waters, shed their skins, and entice women to their deaths beneath the North Sea. But avoiding an encounter becomes impossible when Kait is spotted at the water’s edge, moments after the murder of a half-selkie infant. 

Kait is woken unexpectedly by a beautiful selkie man seeking revenge. After she declares her innocence, the intruder darts into the night, but not before inadvertently bewitching her with an overpowering lure. 

She obsesses over a reunion deep beneath the bay and risks her own life to be reunited with her selkie. But when she lands the dangerous lover, the chaos that follows leaves Kait little time to wonder—is it love setting her on fire or has she simply been lured?"

Sounds GREAT can't wait to get my hands on this one for a review!

#TeaserTuesdays - CHOMP!

“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!”

Chomp 
by Carl Hiaasen

Pg. 175

“The pain was so piercing he forgot about the lights and cameras and how ridiculous he must look on videotape with a flapping varmint attached to his face. Immediately he grew weak and woozy, slipping into a dream haze.”

#TeaserTuesday - Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

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!

My Teaser Tuesday:

"Bertie rubbed her thumb over the scrimshaw as she peered at him.  Another one wearing a mask, though it's as ugly as what lurks underneath.  He smirked, sending nasty, oily serpents to pluck at her composure, to push, to goad, to tug at the reins of her temper while the Players looked on."

From "Eyes Like Stars" by Lisa Mantchev

(I chose this book today because it was recommended by one of the FABULOUS people who work at the Brea Borders - we will miss every one of you!)