Happy New Year everyone! My hiatus was a nice break but I’m happy to be back blogging and refreshed for the new year. I’ve got some great posts planned for 2014, awesome events especially for my 3 year blogoversary in the fall, and I also may be getting a co-blogger which you all know and love already 😉 We’ll see if/when that happens! So today let’s check out Xpresso Reads’ 2013 highlights, exciting happenings you may have missed, and an awesome giveaway to kick off the new year in style!
We introduced our new feature that me, Jenni (Alluring Reads), and Amy (Book Loving Mom) do together: Book Girls Don’t Cry… They Vent which we’ve had a lot of fun with bookish discussions and vents. It began as a weekly meme but now it’s more of a “whenever we feel like it”. We’re also always looking for topic ideas for this meme so if you have anything you’d like to see us discuss, vent on, or talk about you can leave your idea here!
Along with Jenni (Alluring Reads), we organized our first giveaway hop for Cover Madness. We’ve done about 4 or 5 cover madness giveaways so far which are always a hit and get the most entries out of any giveaway I do, so we decided to do one as a hop. We’ll likely do another one in 2014 as well seeing as how much participation there was so you can look forward to that!
I’ve had a few books I had to put down this year and DNF – which is always unfortunate. I don’t review DNF books fully but I do like to do round-up posts to explain why I DNFed them. This could help like-minded people decide if it’s a book they should skip or not. Missed them? Find my DNF round-up Part 1 here, and Part 2 here!
My move to WordPress happened in July (which seemed like only a few weeks ago!) and it was the best decision I made this year! If you’re considering it it’s completely worth it and I recommend you contact the WP wiz, Ashley, to help you out. I posted about my move and how it all went down here if you want more info on that!
BEA 2013
I attended BEA for the first time this year – and will be going again in 2014 as well. I had a blast and it’s really an experience I will never forget! My recap post is here with all the fun and a few pictures. I hope to see a lot of you there in 2014! 🙂
Boston Blogger Meetup
Even though only a couple bloggers showed up I met my blogger soulmate (Book Loving Mom) so it was the shiz! I also go to visit Boston (a city that I will never ever drive into again O_O) which was awesome.
To kick off the New Year in style, I’m giving you all a chance to win one of my Top reads of 2013 which was listed yesterday in my Top Ten Tuesday post. If you missed it here’s the list:
I’ve heard wonderful things about this book so far and I can’t wait to read it myself. And one lucky Canadian can enter to win their very own copy, today, thanks to the lovely people at Random House of Canada.
Giveaway
Random House of Canada has generously offered a finished copy of Red Rising for giveaway.
Open to Canada only Giveaway ends January 10th, 2014 Full contest terms and conditions found on Rafflecopter
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I’m currently on hiatus but scheduled this giveaway in case you missed me and all that. But also to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, as well as give you a little something you can win for being all kinds of awesome! It is the season of giving, after all! 🙂 So I recently shared the books on my TBR list for my 2 weeks holiday vacation. Well one lucky winner will get one book (pre-order if not released) from that list AND a 2nd book of your choice at The Book Depository!
What’s up for grabs:
A lucky international winner will get one book of choice via The Book Depository AND one book from the list below:
…
I’m part of the Heartbeat blitz tour where we’re going around and celebrating the upcoming release of Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott! If you haven’t heard about this book before here’s your chance, and you can also win an ARC of this pretty! I’ve been excited to read this myself ever since I met the author at BEA (which was awesome) and heard her talk about her book 🙂 Watch for my review after the holidays!
“An intense examination of a family coping with grief, this absorbing character study easily keeps pages turning.”
— Kirkus on Heartbeat
Heartbeat Sneak Peek
“Hey,” Olivia says, and I know it’s her because I would know her voice anywhere. We’ve been friends since fifth grade, and we’ve…
Some might think a book about a sex addict is simply an excuse to write a “New Adult Erotica” but it’s not like that at all. These are people who are addicted to the point of self destruction, and what could have easily been a depth-less sex-oriented read becomes a true eye opener into a very tricky subject.
I’d heard of sex addiction before, but I never really thought about how intense and all empowering the addiction could be. You only need to do a quick Google search to realize it’s an addiction that is under quite the debate. Some experts even say it’s a myth. This novel, however, makes a convincing argument for it. One way it does this, and it does it brilliantly, is by creating a…
Having read and really enjoyed a novel by this author under a mysterious other name (Oh I’m on to her!) I’m happy to have Reese Monroe on the blog today to talk about her newest book, Forged by Fate, which has just released this week through Entangled. Let’s have a look at what it’s all about and then we’ll give the blog floor to her!
Guest Post by Reese Monroe
Favorite Part of Writing Forged by Fate
I really enjoyed writing Forged by Fate, mostly because I love the characters so much. It’s difficult to pick a favorite part of the story, but I’m going to have to say I loved writing Sadie. This part in particular:
“I feel your turmoil.” He leaned down, so…
Have you read this book yet? If not you’re definitely missing out! You can find my full review here if you missed it but it’s a awesome read! I’m excited to have the wonderful ladies behind this great novel on the blog for a fun guest post on how they created these characters together! First, in case you live under a rock and missed what this book was all about:
Guest Post by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Let It Play Out: Role-playing scenes to establish characters
One of the challenges in any story is ensuring that every character her their own very definitive point of view. They need opinions, a backstory, goals and their own personal motivation to do whatever they’re going to do…
I’ve got the wonderful Katie McGarry on the blog today for an interview as part of the Crash Into You blog tour. I’m very excited to have her over, I love this series! You can read my review of Crash Into You here if you missed it!
Interview with Katie McGarry
HI Katie! I’m so happy to have you over! I’m a big fan of this series – Crash Into You being my favorite so far actually! 🙂
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