Thursday, May 31, 2012

"Katie O'Shea Books" Writing Blog on Pinterest!

https://pinterest.com/katiesoshea/katie-o-shea-books-blog/


What is Pinterest? (A quick lesson for those not yet in the know) :)
"Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes."

And now people use Pinterest to showcase their blog in visual form! (Or at least I am).

After reading some cool Pinterest articles about people using the site for new things, (check out my new Pinterest board "Read Me Now or Later" for examples) such as creating boards to save articles they want to read (hence the above), or even creating digital Pinterest resumes, (Seriously! How cool!) I decided to do some creative Pinterest/Blog crossover-ing of my own.

So I created a board on Pinterest just for this blog where I will pin all of my blog posts for your easy viewing pleasure. It will be a fun way to check out the blog in a neat visual form and easily see what posts I've written about and you can re-pin them to share with your friends too! I hope you like the new idea!

Leave me a comment below on what you'd like to see on the blog/Pinterest board and any cool ways you've been using Pinterest!

Also since this is a Pinterest-themed post, I simply must give a shout-out to "Pinspirational" author Jessica Khoury (her debut YA book ORIGIN comes out in September!) for amazing use of Pinterest. Check out her awesome boards, such as "Characters in Want of Story" and "Have Setting. Insert Story." for some truly inspiring pins that led to my own new boards "Quite the Character" and "Stories Happen Here." She also had the great idea of using Pinterest to have people submit entries for an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) giveaway on her blog where they repinned one of her pins and added a short story. Very creative! 

Monday, May 14, 2012

Summer Reading List Part 1!

Now that the dreaded 1L (first year of law school) has finished up and I'm officially on summer break (hooray!!!!), it's time to read as many books as I can get my hands on! There are so many books I've been waiting to read that have finally come out (Insurgent for one!) and then there are some that have been on my to-read list that were put on the side during finals and the editing process of my book so I'm so excited to have some time to read them now! But I need MORE book recommendations from YOU! Let me know below in the comments what books you've read that you loved and what's on your summer reading list!

In no particular order (because I still haven't decided which to read when) my summer reading list thus far:

Title: Insurgent

Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA--Fantasy
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Series: 2nd in series
Publisher: HarperTeen
How I Got the Book: Bought
GoodReads Description: "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."

Media

Why It's On the List: Veronica Roth's debut book Divergent was one of my absolute favorite books of last year and boy did it end with a bang. I've recommended it to tons of friends who have also loved it (and then hated me for making them read it before the next book was out). So I've been so excited to read the sequel which came out last week during finals. Ever since it arrived on my doorstep I've been dying to open it up and now that final are done I finally have the chance.

Title: Zoe Letting Go

Author: Nora Price
Genre: YA--Fiction, Social
Release Date: June 28, 2012
Series: No
Publisher: Razorbill
How I Got the Book: ARC from Nora Price
GoodReads Description: "A girl's letters to her best friend reveal two lives derailed by anorexia in this haunting debut that's Wintergirls meets The Sixth Sense

It's not a hospital, a spa, or an institution. That's what they told me--that's what the brochures promised.

But no matter what the brochures promised, Zoe finds that Twin Birch is a place for girls with a penchant for harming themselves. Through journal entries and letters to her best friend, Elise, she tries to understand why she was brought there, and how she could possibly belong in a place like this. But Zoe's letters to Elise remain unanswered. She wonders why her best friend would cut her off without a word, reliving memory after memory of their beautiful, rocky, inescapable friendship. But everyone has secrets--including Zoe--and as her own fragile mental state hangs in the balance, she must finally learn to come to terms with what happened to Elise before she's able to let go."

Why It's On the List: I first heard about Zoe Letting Go on author Nova Ren Suma's blog as part of her 2012 YA Debut Interview Series and was immediately interested in reading the book. I tweeted author Nora Price to tell her how excited I was to read it and in a wonderful surprise she tweeted me asking if I'd like an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy). Of course I said yes and I'm so excited to get to read it even before it comes out this summer!


Title: City of Lost Souls

Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA--Fantasy
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Series: 5th in series
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
How I Got the Book: Bought
GoodReads Description: "The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?"

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Why It's On the List: I've loved this series since the first book and the last one ended at such a cliffhanger. I'm so excited this one is finally out--just in time for summer! I can't wait to read what happens next!



Title: Boy Meets Boy

Author: David Levithan
Genre: YA Fiction--Romance
Release Date: September 9, 2003
Series: No
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
How I Got the Book: To-purchase
GoodReads Description: "This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance. 

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world."

Why It's On the List: Because there should be more books with gay main characters and I've been dying to read David Levithan so I figured I should start with his first book!



Title: Clockwork Prince

Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA--Fantasy
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Series: 2nd in spin-off series of The Mortal Instruments
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
How I Got the Book: Bought
GoodReads Description: "In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart."
Media:

Why It's On the List: Victorian London. British accents/people. ;) And because for those who love the Mortal Instruments series it's a cool look into the past to see what happened before the series. It's a really cool setting and is very well done. I've been looking forward to reading this ever since it came out and I don't know how I haven't already!

By Wikibooks_misscover.svg: *Gray_book.png: gingercoons PD-icon.svg: Various. See log. (Original SVG was based on File:PD-icon.png by Duesentrieb, which was based on Image:Red copyright.png by Rfl.) derivative work: Jon C (talk ) derivative work: Pixel Pixel - http://pl.wikibooks.org/wiki/Plik:Przyklad.JPG derivative work: Marek M (Wikibooks_misscover.svg;) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

You tell ME! What else should I read this summer? What's on your summer reading list? Please share below in the comments!




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