Happy Birthday, Izzy Spellman!

If you read The Spellman Family mystery series by Lisa Lutz, you're already well acquainted with Izzy Spellman. And while you may laugh to know Izzy's birthday is on April Fool's Day, it should also come as no surprise! It's such a fitting birthday for this offbeat young sleuth.

Document 5
(latest release)

I started reading the Spellman Family mystery series in the fall of 2009 and quickly became enamored by the female protagonist Isabel Spellman. She's quirky and at times immature and impulsive, often making poor decisions. But her heart is in the right place and she's really doing the best with what she's got and that's an equally quirky family. The Spellman family is a tad dysfunctional, but hey--whose family isn't, right? Theirs perhaps just lingers more on the edge of wacky than most. But who am I to judge? In fact, I suggest you read the series and find out for yourself. It is for the most part a lighthearted, amusing series with many laugh-out-loud moments about a family of private detectives, but don't be fooled by the alleged comic factor--there's a dose of seriousness to the stories as well, especially for the cast of core characters. Document 4--The Curse of the Spellmans even made me cry! --but take that with a grain of salt. I am a crier.

I posted about the first book in the Spellman Family series on my blog WITH THIS POST which pretty much links to a buddy review of The Spellman Files, Document 1 that I did with nath on the blog Breezing Through that you can read HERE.

The Spellman Files
Document 1

If we don't convince you to give the series a try, maybe this will: For a limited time [NOW through April 6 ONLY], the ebook version of the first Spellman Family novel-- The Spellman Files is only 99 cents! Grab it while it's hot or at least dirt cheap! Check your local independent bookstore or anywhere books are sold.. Amazon, B&N, iTunes, etc. You know the drill.

The FREE E-Sampler!

ALSO, there's a series E-Sampler available FOR FREE. The E-Sampler includes a charming letter from the author, a guide to reading footnotes on e-readers [these books have lots of very fun footnotes..], chapter excerpts from all 5 Spellman Documents, reading group guides and special bonus material including dossiers on the Spellman family members and a list of Izzy's ex-boyfriends. No, seriously. Did I mention it's FREE? You've got nothing to lose. Go forth and sample.

Document 5 in the series, The Trail of the Spellmans was released on February 28, 2012 [omgosh more than a month ago, already?! Gotta get my butt in gear!]. I can't wait to read it and see what kind of trouble Izzy is up to! Or uh... I mean, what kind of cases she's solving.

Visit Lisa Lutz at her website lisalutz.com.


Do you read The Spellman Family documents? 

If not, and you decide to pick it up, come back and let me know what you think! :o) 

Play FreeRice and feed the hungry.

FreeRice is a non-profit website founded by John Breen in October 2007 who donated the site to the United Nations World Food Program in March 2009. It's an educational online vocabulary game that generates donations from sponsors the more it gets played. I played it once or twice over a year ago, and then forgot it for a while. Then I was at LeeAnn's blog a few days ago and saw she had a link to FreeRice on her sidebar. Of course, I clicked straightaway to play. I've been playing on and off for the last couple of days, generating free rice for hungry people around the world. My vocabulary level is improving, too! I'm currently at level 42 out of 60 and determined to raise it.

All money raised by the site goes toward feeding the hungry. You can find information about FreeRice in the FAQ section at the FreeRice website and at the UN World Food Program website. Want an abbreviated version of the FreeRice program and it's success? Read this article.

Go play! Click here on FreeRice or click on the FreeRice graphic on my my sidebar. It's fun, easy, educational and you're helping to feed the hungry.

REVIEW: My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent

Audiobook. Narrated by Amanda Ronconi
1 hour 48 minutes.

This is the novella prequel to Rachel Vincent's new young adult series called Soul Screamers. It is currently available as a FREE audiobook on audible.com and a FREE Kindle ebook at amazon.com that can be downloaded to your Kindle or to your iPhone Kindle App. (The iPhone Kindle App is available free at iTunes).

Book review:

Book blurb:

It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

The book blurb accurately explains to what takes place in My Soul to Lose. The story is the prequel novella to the Soul Screamers series, and is best read if you intend on continuing with the series as it is akin to a several chapter prologue to the next novel.

My Soul to Lose is a story of the awakening of Kaylee's ability to sense death or the shadows that appear around someone before they die. It starts as a panic attack, but soon she feels despair and fear deep in her soul. And as much as she tries to resist the urge to scream, she can't fight it and its as though her vocal cords take over on their own and she can't help but scream.

My Soul to Lose is an introduction to Kaylee and her "curse" and has established a premise to what sounds like a very interesting series. I felt empathy for Kaylee--knowing what she experiences is very real, but also knowing no one would believe she sees and feels shadows of death. I hope that in the next book she finds some answers to what she experiences, is able to take command of it, and possibly use her ability to help people. I plan on continuing Kaylee's story with My Soul to Take, the first full length novel to the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent.

My Soul to Take My Soul to Save

Published August 1, 2009. Available January, 1, 2010

AVAILABLE NOW.

Visit author Rachel Vincent at http://www.rachelvincent.com/

My first audiobook experience:

I downloaded the audiobook of My Soul to Lose about three weeks ago onto my iPhone from audible.com and finally listened to it this morning. As this was my first time listening to an audiobook, I wasn't really sure what to expect or if I'd even enjoy listening to a book when I could be reading it. I ended up listening to the first few minutes of the book three or four times. At first I found it disconcerting, I think in part because I had to get the character names straightened out in my head. I had to hear the names a couple of times and who was what character... the main character, the friend, the boyfriend, the cousin, and so on. It's not that the story is confusing at all, but rather I needed it repeated a couple of times so I got my bearings. It was entirely my own issue, I think, after being so used to reading names that get imprinted in my mind immediately as opposed to hearing them and them not sinking in.

Then once I repeated the first few minutes a couple of times, it took a few minutes for me to get used to the narrators voice and her rhythm. I don't think it was more than five minutes and the narrator successfully brought me into the story and I was listening with the same concentration and comprehension that I would have if I were reading it myself. I have to say, I really enjoyed my first audiobook experience and I'm definitely open to listening to more audiobooks in the future.

I'll also add that listening to an audiobook is really conducive to multitasking, too! I weeded my entire front and side yard landscaping while listening to the book. At one point I was so into the book, that one scene made my eyes tear up and it took me a second to realize I couldn't see the weeds at my finger tips. ;)

Do you listen to audiobooks?

A Demonica Compendium

Cover by Valerie Tibbs.

Larissa Ione, author of the new Demonica dark paranormal romance series has just revealed the cover to a compendium she is writing for the series. Demonica: A Demon Compendium will be available as a free ebook download in January 2009. The book will include in depth information on demon species, deleted scenes, and a short story about the brothers Eidolon, Shade and Wraith. If you loved Pleasure Unbound, as much as I did, you, too, are probably intensely craving more from this world. Demonica: The Demon Compendium should help satiate us a bit until the next full length Demonica novel. Visit Larissa Ione's website HERE for more details. 

If you haven't yet read the Pleasure Unbound, the first novel in the Demonica series, I highly recommend you do. It's a dark, edgy and sinfully sexy novel that will redefine all that you love about paranormal romance. Larissa Ione writes her characters and their stories in such a way that the lines between good and evil are blurred and everything in the world is rich shades of gray. 

The next two novels in this series, Desire Unchained and Passion Unleashed will be available in March 2009 and April 2009 respectively. 

FREE Podcast of DARKFEVER by Karen Marie Moning

Listen to the first book of NY Times best-selling author Karen Marie Moning's Fever series for FREE! You can listen via the really cool DarkFever Podcast widget (see below), or you can download and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes for FREE! I read DarkFever last summer when it was released in mass market paperback and am listening to the podcast to refresh my memory before the second book, BloodFever is released in paperback on August 26, 2008. The hardcover release of the third book, FaeFever will be released on September 16, 2008.

Each chapter of DarkFever is approximately 20-30 minutes. Perfect for the commute to work, sitting in the doctor's office, while you're exercising, mowing the lawn, or just plain trying to tune out your adorable children. ;)

Dark Fever Podcast Widget

Get this widget!