Monday, May 24, 2010

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

No, it's just a book.  But a good book. Our copy of Diana Palmer's Dangerous goes to our only suggester.  Tammy Z suggested we read "Magic Bites" by Ilona Andrews.  So we're going to.  

Why did we move up the date of this contest? Well, Ms. Palmer's publisher decided to release it tomorrow.  Which is earlier than anticipated.  And we're nice chicks so why make Tammy wait?

Congrats to Tammy and keep your eyes peeled for our next GiveAway!!!

"Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Suppose you live in a small southern town that takes a crazy amount of pride for their small contribution to the Civil War.  Suppose you've been having strange dreams about a pretty girl that leaves you sweaty and dirty in the morning. (No, not those kind of dreams. I mean literally dirty.  Muddy even)  Suppose that girl suddenly shows up at your school and her voice is in your head.

Now you know what Ethan Wate's life has been like the last few months.  The dreams start shortly after his mom dies, but the adventure is just getting started.  Lena Duchannes is the niece of the town's shut-in.  She's just arrived, but her connection to Ethan seems to be generations in the making.  

Shuffling between shared visions of the past and present day occurrences, Beautiful Creatures in a fantastic, fantastical story.  History of the town and these families unravels before you.  Slowly.  A great read for anyone looking to escape into what is ultimately a love story, this book will also resonate with the Sci-Fi reader in us all.

Pick it up and fall in love (or like) with these characters before the sequel, Beautiful Darkness, comes out in October.  Go, read, and meet the wacky, whimsical townsfolk.  Besides our heroes, there's Ethan's housekeeper/spiritualist, uncle Macon, a special librarian, and of course the kind of people that populate every town everywhere.  There are the cheerleaders who think anyone different is bad, their mothers who coddle them, the jocks, the old folks are there too.  

It's a hard to put down page turner and you would be silly to miss out on it.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

"Another Faust" by Daniel & Dina Nayeri

Hey gang, finished Another Faust over the weekend.  this is an amazing read.  Written by brother and sister Daniel & Dina Nayeri, I will admit I had some trouble getting into it.  After all, I'm a geek.  So, of course I've read Faustian tales and seen movie adaptations, even most of the opera.  Unfortunately, that meant I was trying to compare this stand-alone from its namesake.

Once I got over that, it sped by way too fast.  A tale with 5 potential  orphans getting most of what they think they want, this book is a must read.  Their governess Madame Vileroy is both sweetness and light as well as creepy and dark.  The big question put out by the authors: What would you sell your soul for?  Maybe you want to be the most beautiful, or the best athlete, the smartest, the poet, or maybe just hidden. 

Take the journey with Victoria, Christian, Belle and her twin Bice, and Valentin into self-discovery and decided your own self-worth. And know that once you get hooked, this book will be over way to fast.  But, dear reader, do not despair.  For Another Pan will be out October 12th.  Still set around the Marlowe School our five plucky stars of Another Faust dominate, this tome will feature the brother-sister team of Wendy and John Darling, an ancient Egyptian artifact, and an R.A. named Peter.  I can't wait!!!

Till next time, keep reading!!!

oh, and we have a twitter account!  Look for tweets from 2chicksreading.

Kat's reading Beautiful Creatures.  What are YOU reading?

Don't forget to enter our contest!  More will be coming soon.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Our First Give Away

Diana Palmer's Dangerous which comes out in July has been given to us for review as well as a copy to give to you.  We are looking for suggestions of what to read. If you want to be entered for the chance to win this new hard cover send us an email with what book you recommend. We will randomly select a winner on June30. 

We will have a review of this book up shortly.

Let's see what new great reads we can find. :-)

Oh, Sookie, Sookie

As promised the new Charlaine Harris, Dead in the Family.  Well this one picks up where Dead and Gone left off and without ruinning anything in the series here you go.

Without the outright possiblilty of getting hurt like with the vampire summit or the shifter war, (which Sookie is still recovering from) Sookie may have the chance to spend some time with her new/old lover.  Eric completely remembers his time hiding out at her place and is trying to figure out what to do about it. While the vampire empire has been taken over and Eric is trying to secure a place within it; Eric's maker pays a visit with his new child. 

This is not to say that Sookie's life is calm and easy. The shifters are using her land, there is a fairy wandering in her woods, she has a new roommate, there's baby showers and oh yea, a wedding of sorts. While all these changes are happening in Sookie's world she is being framed for murder with a body in her woods. 

This continues to be what you would expect from Charlaine Harris and I can't wait until the next one.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

"Inside Out" by Maria Snyder

Our first book back is the newest by one of our faves, Maria Snyder. A "local" author for us, Maria writes for the booklover in all of us. Her newest is no different.

Full of twists, turns, and the ocasional caste system, "Inside Out" is a welcome departure from Ms. Snyder's other series. While a gigantic fan of both the "Poison/Magic/Fire Study" novels as well as the newer glass series (Spy Glass out this fall), this new venture is a fantastic break. Trella is a scrub. She makes sure the pipes stay clean and do what they should. Trella is one of thousands who work the lower levels. As the back of the book says: "I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I ocasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels?"

Following Trella and her friends as they inadvertently start a revolution, the reader gets a glimpse of what the age old haves/havenots struggle has always been about. add to it a sci-fi twist and the adventure takes on an interesting new direction. (it's so hard to tell you to go read this book without giving it all away- aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!) Some questions to think about when reading:

Does Trella have what it takes to take down the system?
If she takes it down, what will happen to the world she knows?
Does she have parents? And if so, do they know where she is?
What is Gateway and does it really exist?

Have I peaked your interest? I hope so. Run, don't walk to your closest bookstore and pick up "Inside Out" by Maria Snyder as soon as possible.

Too bad I have to wait until next year for "Outside In". It will feel like forever.

Remember kids, reading is good for you and makes your parents wonder what you've done!!

kat & ash

We're BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!

After a hectic xmas season and the unexpected closing of our store, Ash and I have recommitted to getting all of you as excited about the books we're reading as we are!!!


It's Saturday, May 1st and our new goal is to each post at least 2 reviews a month. After 3 months, we will reevaluate this goal and hope to increase it. Ash has been fortunate enough to start at our a local bookstore and is lucky enough to be on the team to do outreach. What might this mean? We might be able to let you in on info involving booksignings!!!


Also, we've gotten into our e-mail and have some feelers out for early reviews!!! I know, it's quite exciting to us too. We are going to try to link up with our google calendar to be able to remind you of release dates.


This Tuesday, the new Sookie drops!!! WE CAN'T WAIT!!!!! How about you? What do you think is in store for our little Delta Queen? Are you a Sookie Stackhouse reader or a True Blood watcher? Let us know your predictions and we'll review it soon. I promise!!!


Books of interest for future posts:


Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr (Read it already? don't ruin it for me. k)
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
House of Night Series (Burned to be exact) by P.C. Cast
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts
Red Queen by Phillippa Gregory
The Next Queen of Heaven:A Novel (not out until October) by Gregory Maguire


Know a book we should review? Tell us, we'll check it out. Maybe you'll get a prize. Maybe just our gratitude.




Get back to reading with the 2chicks!!!!


Kat & Ash