What I Look For In a Book--a Guest Post By Haley Fisher!

Hey, readers.  Cam here. I'm not a morning person, so this is on a schedule. >///< Anyway, Haley Fisher, author of Rising Calm, will be posting...now:

Interview with Haley Fisher

Haley Fisher, the author of Rising Calm, gives us insight on writing her novel.  :D WOOOO

Rising Calm Book Tour AND Giveaway AND Review!

I feel like such a procrastinator.

The Book File's very first blog tour is tomorrow, and I haven't posted anything. At all.

Oooo-kay. So all day tomorrow , we're hosting a blog tour, on the book Rising Calm, by Haley Fisher. It's about a girl, named Cara, and her very *coughhotcough* mysterious friends, with certain habits and peculiarities. Read more to find out about the review, guest post, book giveaway, and interview--

Holidays and Rant Days

'Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house,
A bored and book-starved Cam
Rumbled about.

"I have no good reads!" she shouted in anguish,
grabbing her jacket and boots in a spree,
Heading to Anderson's,
And adoring their tree.

Cam found a shelf
And rooted herself there,
As a trio of people
Walked in and browsed their ware.

She hunched over novels,
Iron King, City of Bones,
When along came a hand,
Grabbing a book next to hers and saying, in a not-so-cheery-tone,

"I knew the author, we were classmates,"

Cam slowly glanced over,
At the book in a trio-members' hand,
Seeing a familiar flame,
Surrounded by a band.

The book was ornate,
As every book should be,
But there was something special about this book...

How Divergent could it be?



------

So, long story short, I went to Anderson's and was shopping for new blogging books, when in walked a group of people. They walked over to where I was, and I thought they were going to be all like, "EHRMAHGERD! IT'S CAM! SHE AND HER BEST FRIEND RUN A BLOG!" *faints*

No. They were more like,

*completely ignores the girl--me--next to them, and reaches for a copy of Divergent* "I knew the author. We went to high school together."


That made me almost melt on the inside! As weird as it was...then, I hardened up, when one of them asked, "Is it any good?"


>:|

"It's like Hunger Games. I think. Well, they're making it into a movie."
^^First lady's reply (Not like the POTUS' first lady, but...you know what I mean.)

I really wanted to yell:

"IT'S SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME! I DISCOVERED THAT BOOK HERE! WITHIN THE MONTH IT CAME OUT! AND CHOSE IT OVER LEGEND, SINCE I HAD A LIMITED AMOUNT OF FUNDS!"

I don't know why I chose it over Legend. Something compelled me to read it before anyone else...so I did. Now, everyone's buzzing about Divergent, and I'm all like, "Psssht. I read Divergent, like, last year."

I can't say that, however, without sounding like a crazed Directioner: "I WATCHED THEM ON X-FACTOR! I NOW KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM! I WAS THERE FROM THE BEGINNING!"

(^If they ever read this: I bet you are great guys. But I'm not into all of the hype--technically, I should be the one starting it.)



Happy Holidays, from our virtual home to your--hopefully--real one,

Cam
(and Perri, I guess. •<:D)

Article 5...not done yet.

I'm reading Article 5 by Kristen Simmons...great intro, as well as weaving in character backstory within the first chapter.

Woah. That was a lot of big words.

I'm not on my phone, I'm on my brand new, handy dandy computer, so I guess that does it for you. Hmm.


Happy Holidays!

Cam

The End of the World!!!!!!!!!!!

So as you might have heard the world is supposedly ending on 12-21-12 and TODAY IS THAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!  Now, if you are one of those people who thinks that the planets will align and cause Earth's destruction on the Sun will explode, I totally respect your beliefs and I'm sorry if I insult you. I believe that the world will not end today because the Earth is supposed to have another 6 billion years until the atmosphere reverses and we go back to be like Mars, that is if we stop global warming (which I do believe in). Another thing people also say that the world is going to end because 12-21-12 is the last date on the Mayan calendar...I say that maybe if we hadn't like totally tried to eliminate the Mayans, they probably would have gotten a chance to FINISH THEIR DANG CALENDAR!!!!

Sun Exploding

                                                                                 Sincerely, Perri (have a happy D-Day) 

UPDATE FROM THE BOTH OF US: WE SURVIVED! YEAH! (we knew that the world wasn't going to end, because the third Divergent novel hasn't been released, City of Bones and The Sea of Monsters haven't been viewed by millions of adoring fans, and we still haven't seen Le Mis yet.)

Goodreads Choice!

Hey everyone!

This past month, Goodreads has been doing their annual 'Goodreads Choice Awards'. These awards are the best books in certain categories, and they receive instant fame and bragging rights!!

That sounds like a pretty good reason to start finding a publishing company that will publish my stories...

Anyway...

Veronica Roth has a lot to brag about: not only did her hit sequel to Divergent (respectively titled Insurgent) win her 'Best by a Goodreads author' (meaning that the author has a profile on Goodreads: Cassandra Clare was also up for grabs on that one), but also the 'Best Young Adult Fantasy' award! Good job Veronica!

While we're still in the YA genre, The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, won 'Best Young Adult Fiction'! Awesome! I am yet to read this...I hear from Eliz--my sources that it may make me cry. Darn.

Also, Rick Rioridan won the 'Best Middle Grade and Children's'! His newest book, The Mark of Athena, won that for him.

And, to make myself feel warm, fuzzy, and gory, all at the same time: 'Best Graphic Novel or Comic' was won by The Walking Dead, Vol. something-or-other. Good job, Daryl and Rick. You make me feel happy to be catching up on season 1.


Hopefully I'll finish season 1 by the time the world will (not) end.

-Cam

3 Books...3 Hours...

This was originally meant to be posted a few days ago. Sorry!

Road trip--way home. I finished Fearless. In an hour. Now, to feel semi-accomplished, I'm gonna try and read Sam and Run in the 2 hours, 26 minutes it takes for me to get home (well, as of now).

Book 1--Fearless

Title: Fearless (Gaia Moore #1)
Author: Francine Pascal
Pub: SimonPulse (aka, Simon & Schuster)
Pub year: 1999 (it doesn't seem THAT outdated...)
Genre: YA Fiction/ Sci-Fi Action
Pages: 189--paperback copy

3.5/5

“You see, I have this handicap. Uh, that's the wrong word. I am hormonally challenged. I am never afraid. I just don't have the gene or whatever that makes you scared.

"I guess you'd say I'm fearless."
(^Page 8 of Fearless)

It was a good read, very funny and fast paced. Gaia is a hilarious character, and like Cammie Morgan (Gallagher Girls series) and Jason Bourne (Bourne series), all the while mixing in drama from high school. "Mean Girls" meets "Alex Rider".

There were some downsides, though. The writing style was different, which isn't wrong, but was a little confusing if you didn't comprehend it the right way. Many different POVs throughout.

Despite the cons, there are more pros--in my opinion. I got it at B&N for $10.99--totally a steal! It's a 3-pack, with Fearless, Sam, AND Run, all in one book. WOOT!


Off to finish the next two...in two...
C

Goodreads.

Hay...so I don't know if you guys heard yet, but the third book in Ally Condie's series came out last week. The new book is called Reached, and it is amazing. Ally Condie did an AWESOME job to this great ending of the Matched series. Also, Beautiful Redemption, the final book in the Caster Chronicles series was so good I just don't even know how to describe it.


Check out more books by these authors at www.goodreads.com
Just type in your email, Facebook, or Twitter info and your ready to go!!!

We're also on goodreads-link to come!
                                                                                                     - Perri

Roadtrippin!

So. Here we are again, doing one of my FAAAAVORITE things in the world.

Taking a road trip.

This time, it's 7 glorious hours to Ohio. Don't get me wrong, I love Ohio, but I don't like seeing field after field after FIELD after F. I. E. L. D.

On that high note, I'm bringing books with me. Yay! Which books, you're probably not asking?

-Fearless and Sam(Author...I forgot your name. Sorry D:)
-H.I.V.E., The Overlord Protocol(Author...forgotten...book 2 in the H.I.V.E. series)
-Defiance (by C.J. Re...Red...Rew...I'm sorry...)
-Insigina (by S. J. Kincaid...it's always good to have a great read with ya!)
-And also, quite possibly Dark Life, by Kat Falls, and--of course--Divergent or Insurgent, both by Veronica Roth.

-C

Wattpad. And stuff.

More like 'schmuff'...I'm on Wattpad, which is fantastically amazing, and one of my friends (Schmuff_Luff) had a status saying this:

"All I wanna do is lay in bed, eat food and watch A Hard Day's Night. T_T"

She's a HUGE Beatles fan, and writes Beatles fanfiction, and in one story, I am a character...:3 (If you read 'All My Loving, Lucy, I am Charlotte, the quiet, tree-drawing girl sitting by herself at a party.)

Anyway, the photo below is what I replied back, and I think it's appropriate.

I'm almost done with The Evolution of Mara Dyer! So excited to post a review, it is such a phenomenal book. I think I'm taking so long because I don't want it to end...

Cam

(to see my Wattpad profile, click here!)

Movie images from last post

                   

The movies of 2012-2013

So there are a lot of amazing books that are being turned into movies and I'm here to tell you about them:

First, we have Beautiful Creatures, a book about a guy who meets the mysterious girl in the small town of Gatlin after he has a dream about her (check out earlier post for more info).

Next is Uglies, which is a book about a new society where everyone under the age of 16 is ugly and on their 16 birthday they get an operation to make them perfect.

Third is The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which is about a girl named Clary who discovers she's a Shadowhunter( a person who hunts demons) and her long journey into finding out who she is and why she is such a special Shadowhunter.

Fourth is Shiver, about a werewolf that falls in love with a human girl who tries to find a why for him to be human.

Fallen is about a girl who finds herself in between the battle of two men for her love and finds later that they are both Angels who have loved her for centuries.

Maximum Ride is about a group of kids who have 2% avian (bird) DNA so they have wings and can fly; they try to get their youngest member back after she is kidnapped, AND try to find their parents ( see older post for more info).

Sixth is The Maze Runner, which is about a boy who wakes up in a a maze with a bunch of other guys and one girl and they have to try to find their way out (see older post for more info).

The Graveyard Book is about a young boy named Nobody and is raised by a graveyard full of ghosts, after his whole family was brutally murdered.

Forgotten is about a girl whose memory is erased every day at 4:33 AM, which allows her to only see things from her future; one day she meets a boy who becomes her friend, but she can't find him in her future.


Ninth is Divergent which is a book about a society that divides people based on human traits (see past post for more info).

Catching Fire...the sequel to The Hunger Games.

MORE TO COME SOON!!!!
                                                                                                                                -Perri

Now isn't this a charming picture?

I'm only posting this because my best friend Lorrin—yeah Lor, y-o-u—is OBSESSED with My Chemical Romance.

:) This is for you, Gallagher-Girl-in-training!

-Cam

Impossible is just the beginning.

Title: Insignia (Insignia #1—hopefully there will be a #2!)
Author: S. J. Kincaid
Publisher: Katherine Tegen, 2012
Genre: Sci-Fi/YA Fiction

Rating: 6/5...HAHAHA!
-/-/-/-/-
“It's World War 3. The enemy is winning.
What if the government's secret weapon is you?"


Sorry for the lame summary, I didn't have enough creativeness to come up with one. I just finished this epic novel, and am stunned by how well-written this debut was! Tom is a great character, but I have to say that my favorite is either Wyatt, or Beamer. Beamer, since he's comically lazy, and Wyatt because she's just awesome!

I really don't have anything else to say about the debut, except to READ IT, but don't stay up super early trying to finish a chapter. ;)
-/-/-/-/-
Hardcover copy @ Barnes & Noble in the US: $17.99

Starbucks coffee: $3.67

Finishing the book and loving it: priceless.
-:-:-:-

Just read it.
C

9th Annual YA Writer's Conference!

:D Anderson's is hosting a YA Writer's Conference @ the Hotel Arista in Naperville—$99, or $75 if you're a full-time student(i.e.; 1st-college)

More details to come, I'll update this post with the website+info.

Thank you, Anderson's...

...for allowing Mr. Eoin Colfer to sign books at your bookstore!

Mr. Colfer, if you're reading this right now, I just want to say that I LOVE your writing, and will definitely look forward to your upcoming steampunk-ish novel, about the FBI, wormholes, and London! Last night was a blast, and thanks for choosing to write.

Readers: Comment if you came out to Anderson's last night...I may or may not have seen you!

ARTEMIS FOWL HAS BEEN READ!!

Yes! I finally finished AF: The Last Guardian, surprisingly later than I thought I would. Normally, I could finish that book in easily a day or two, but it's been since...Saturday? Sunday? I lost track. Anyway, here's my review!

Title: Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl #8)
Author: Eoin Colfer
Publisher: Disney~Hyperion
Pub year: 2012
Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.9/5

Opal Koboi is at it again, creating an evil plan to get revenge on humankind. Haven City is rubble, electronics of all kind are destroyed, and just when the LEP are about to lose hope, their favorite rival, his feared bodyguard, and LEP on-again-off-again agent jump in to—hopefully—defeat Opal and save Haven. But to help, they'll need techie centaur Foaly, the flatulent, snippy dwarf Mulch Diggums, and two other mischievous little boys–Myles and Beckett Fowl. Read the last journey of Artemis Fowl and his comrades, and I'm sure you'll like it!

So...that was–I think– my first blurb that I've written so far...it pretty much sums up the book without giving too much away, right? Well, you wouldn't know unless you read the book, correct?
I rated the book 4.9 for personal reasons–because it's the last book in the AF series. :„(
The book is a pricey $18.99 in the U.S., and $20.99 in Canada! Don't worry, though, as after this book is done, you'll be so happy you got it!

Looking forward to Friday,
Cam

Emmy Laybourne and Eoin Colfer!

(No, I didn't forget about Eoin Colfer in this post...just read the review, then you'll get to it.)
Title: Monument 14(Monument 14 #1)
Author: Emmy Laybourne
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, an Imprint of Macmillian
Pub Year: 2012
Genre: Realistic Fiction/ Sci-Fi

Rating: 4.5/5

“In Emmy Laybourne's action-packed [Monument 14], six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.”

This is her debut, which was startlingly good and descriptive, especially with the many symptoms that the children faced. To me, however, this book deserves a 4.5, since it seems too much like two other books I know:Gone, by Michael Grant, and No Safety In Numbers, by Dayna Lorentz. Funny enough, you can buy Lorentz's book with Laybourne's book on Amazon, and get a reduced price, since they're frequently bought together!
Long story short (no pun intended), M14 was a great YA sci-fi debut, and I hope that the sequel, Monument 14: Sky on Fire, comes sooner than summer 2013! I got this book for $16.99 in the US, but in Canada, the price is $18.99. I also do NOT recommend this for children under thirteen or fourteen, since there is some adult content!


On a completely unrelated topic, next Friday, I get to meet—after a very long drive, of course—Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer(Picture courtesy of Anderson's Bookshop)! Anyone in the area should come on down to Anderson's Bookshop, and see him answer questions and sign books at 7 pm! Click here for more info, and I hope to see you there!


Exhausted from rock climbing,
Cam

Become Immortal or Die Trying

Title: The Goddess Test (The Goddess Test Trilogy #1)
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pub Year: 2011
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fiction
Price: $9.99 U.S./$11.99 CANADA


Rating: On a scale of 1-10, this would be an 11!


The Goddess Test, which is author Aimée Carter's debut novel, is "A fresh take on...Greek myths," says Cassandra Clare, the author of The Mortal Instruments. The story revolves around a high school senior named Kate Winters, who has a mother with cancer--predicted to live for only a few more days. She moves to Eden, Michigan, and meets Henry--a mysterious man that owns a large mansion in the small town. Henry says he can help Kate, as long as she agrees to help him.
Read the book to learn more about Kate and Henry's bargain, why they made it in the first place, and what lies ahead for this heroine.

Hope you like it!
C