Kristi Chestnutt's Blog, page 10

A to Z: Egg-cited

Um, yeah.

I totally just typed that.

*snicker*

Seems appropriate, right?

And I really am egg-cited about the upcoming holiday. Easter is one of my favorite times of year, not just because I get to dye brightly colored Easter eggs with my toddler, but because I'm reminded of all the blessings around me. It's a time to reflect on the meaning of it all, of the ultimate sacrifice, and a time to spend with my family and friends, where the more people, the merrier. Good times.

And it all most definitely has to do with a book. The Book. (Thought you were going to catch me off my theme, didn't you?)

 

No matter what your belief this holiday season or what the holiday means to you, I hope you're egg-cited and I wish you all a very hoppy and happy Easter, filled with loved ones and way too much Ham.


Click HERE to enter my April Autographed Book Giveaway - simply fill out the form to be entered to win.

A to Z: Delirium

A few bookerly stats:

Title: DeliriumAuthor: Lauren OliverAuthor Twitter: @oliverbooksAuthor website: http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/Publisher: HarperTeenDescription: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn't understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she'll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable. She falls in love.

Okay, it's no secret that this series is one of my favorite YA picks. Ever. In case you missed my review last year of this first book in the series, you can find it HERE.
And I had the chance to meet Lauren in person during her Pandemonium tour a few weeks ago and she was seriously cool and down to earth, making me love her books that much more. I now happily own every single one she's written. :)
How about you? Any favorite authors that made you love their work even more after meeting them in person? Or what about the opposite? Every met an author that turned you off so much you couldn't continue reading their work? (Thankfully this has NEVER happened to me but I'm always worried.)

Click HERE to enter my April Autographed Book Giveaway - simply fill out the form to be entered to win.

A to Z: Carrie Ryan

YA author: Carrie RyanWebsite: www.carrieryan.com/Books: The Forest of Hands and TeethThe Dead-Tossed WavesThe Dark and Hollow Places
Why I love her: She took something like zombies, the likes of which we've all seen in B rated movies time and time again, and made them into something amazing. These books are among my very favorite YA reads of all time. Her style of writing, coupled with the world she so well creates, are bursting with heart and hope in the darkest of places. They will totally suck you in. You won't know what hit you. You'll cry. You'll read until the wee hours of the morning. You'll think about the books and their stories for days.
I'm telling you, it's good stuff. Really, really good stuff.
Any other Carrie fans out there?

Click HERE to enter my April Autographed Book Giveaway -
simply fill out the form to be entered to win.

A to Z: Bush

Okay, yes, I know it's a band. More importantly, one of my favorite bands of all time.

So how am I going to tie it in to my book theme?

Because not only does music inspire my own writing, but I own and have read the book to the right.

See? Sneaky.

Their latest album, The Sea of Memories, is on constant repeat right now and I love every.single.track. It's magic.

Band website: http://bushofficial.com/

Current Members:
Gavin Rossdale - Vocals/Guitar
Chris Traynor - Guitar
Corey Britz - Bass
Robin Goodridge - Drums

Check out their latest video:

Pretty awesome, right? Their lyrics and sound are amazing. Then again, I'm probably biased. Love, love, love this song.

What about you? Any favorite music or bands that inspire you? That have been with you through the years?


Click HERE to enter my April Autographed Book Giveaway - simply fill out the form to be entered to win.

A to Z: Alcide Herveaux

The first day of the blogging A to Z challenge!!!
*crosses fingers I chose right day to start*
I'm going to try to do a book related post for each day (Did any of you have any doubts as to the subject material? Really?)
This guy seemed like a good place to start:

Character Name: Alcide Herveaux
Book Relation: Were (werewolf) in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, and consequently the TV series True Blood that is LOOSELY based on the books
Why I love him: Aside from his hotness in the series (seriously cute, right?), his character in the books is written really well. He isn't this perfect dashing man who always gets it right and never makes a mistake. On the contrary, his ex-girlfirend is horrible and he still cares for her (for awhile), he uses Sookie for her telepathy off and on without telling her, even though it's obvious he's interested, and he tends to be a little male chauvenistic from time to time. And sometimes *gasp* I'm not even a fan. He irritates me. *double gasp* But that's also why I tend to think his character has more depth. Real men (and women) make mistakes. Sometimes they're selfish, sometimes they don't think before opening their mouths. None of us are perfect, but so often in romance novels especially, the characters have few flaws and the ones they do have are easy to overlook, or sneaky enough to actually highlight their good traits.
Characters like Alcide remind me as a writer to keep my characters human, to allow them their flaws.More often than not, it'll add depth to your stories.

Signed Pandemonium Giveaway Winner & Gearing up for the A to Z Challenge!

According to randomizer.org, the winner of a brand new signed copy of Pandemonium is....
*drumroll please**
Evie over at Bookish!!!!
Congratulations! I'll get your address ASAP and put it in the mail first thing Monday morning. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
And if you've never visited her blog before, you should click HERE and go there now. It's got all kinds of fun and pretty bookly information to read. I, for one, just bookmarked it and added it to my regular blogroll reading. :)
And now, it's time to gear up for the A to Z blogging challenge that starts tomorrow!
Can't wait. This is my first year participating. Anyone with me? Lots to do, lots to do.

Another Giveaway! Signed Ally Carter Book up for Grabs!

That's right...yours truly was lucky enough to meet some more awesome YA authors last week, thanks to local, independent bookstore Quail Ridge Books.Rachel Hawkins and Ally Carter were not only hilarious (seriously had me laughing so hard I almost cried), they were both very down to earth and humble. Meeting them was a joy.
And check out the loot I brought home! (I swear not all of these were for me. Promise!)
I have to admit I've never read either author as of yet. *bows head in shame*
BUT after having met and heard them talk live, I'm going to change that. Tonight, actually. I'm starting with Rachel Hawkin's Hex Hall series and hope once I catch up to start Ally Carter's Heist Series I've heard so much about.
And the Gallagher Girls of course.
Which brings me to my latest Giveaway:
The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie's summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It's a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer
Click HERE to fill out the form and be entered to win.
Contest is International and winner will be drawn at the end of April.
Good Luck!

Wednesday Book Recommendation is back!

Since I'm currently having a giveaway for this book, it only seems appropriate to post my review for it as well. I lurved every minute of it.

If you haven't entered my augographed giveaway yet, you can do it HERE.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My review:
Everyone knows writing/reading the second book in a series, especially when the first book was amazing, is hard. There's a lot to live up to. How do you keep the momentum of the first going and manage to still blow your readers away?

You do something different. You take them somewhere else. You force them to grow with your characters, teach them things they didn't know about your world. You create magic.

This book, for me, was magic. I love the way Lauren alternated between "Then" and "Now" throughout until the two times met at the end. I was nervous about the technique being confusing or losing my place, but it was done so well it added depth to the story that worked and intrigued, rather than took away, from the plot.

I finished this book in a week and I have a full time job, a writing hobby, and a toddler to take care of, so that's saying something.

It was good. I cried. I loved every minute. I felt like not a single page was wasted and that every word was necessary. It pulled me in and didn't let me go.

It put Lauren at the top of my list of favorite YA authors, right there with Cassie Clare and Maggie Stiefvater.

View all my reviews

Anyone else read it yet??? What did YOU think?

A blog party for a worthy cause, and did I mention, prizes?!?

Fellow blogger and uber-creative lady, Catherine Denton, is having a blog party this
Monday, March 12th
in honor of her daughter's summer trip to Africa, in which she'll be working with children in an orphanage.
There will be giveaways and prizes all during the day, so be sure to check it out HERE.
Among the prizes will be an original painting by Catherine herself (how cool is that?!?) and a $20 online Amazon giftcard (donated by me) for whatever you fancy, which if you're like me, will ALWAYS be books. LOL. I hear there will be lots of other goodies to be had as well, so be sure to stop by and take a looksie.
It's a great chance to support an amazing young girl whose actions are an inspiration for us all.

As Promised: Signed Pandemonium Giveaway!

That's right, as promised, it's time for my signed Pandemonium Giveaway!

Meeting Lauren and getting to hear her talk about her career, her writing, and life in general, was beyond fun. My friend Charity and I had a blast. *waves to Charity*

If you want to check out a LiveStream broadcast of Lauren's visit to NC, you can view it HERE:

And you can go HERE for Lauren's writing website/blog (Love the look of her site, and am happy to see that I already own every book she's put out thus far....needless to say, I'm a bit of a FAN!)

Lauren & I (yes, I'm THAT short...lol)
And YES, she's just as nice, sweet, and adorable as she looks. Was totally impressed with the way she carried herself/interacted with her fans. She has a laid back, friendly vibe that makes it easy to talk and joke with her, or ask her anything for that matter. It felt very honest and real, which I loved.
You want to know what's up for grabs? Check it out...

An autographed copy of this gorgeous book:

Description from Goodreads:
I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.


The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.


Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

I started this on Sunday and have been tearing through it, loving every minute.

And because I'm in an UBER lazy mood, all you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with some way for me to get in touch with you, no following needed, though it's always appreciated.

For those of you who like extra credit, you can:
Follow my blog +1
Follow me on Twitter (@kristikay13) +1
Friend me on Facebook +1

Just be sure to tell me in the comments (in a single post) how many entries you have.

Thanks for entering AND for visiting!

GOOD LUCK!

**Winner will be chosen via randomizer.org and announced on March 31st**