Join In on the "Review Request" Holiday!

Over the past several weeks, I've accumulated approximately *counts review copies on Kindle* 10 different unique and wonderful books from authors. It's really a blessing to be working with such outstanding writers and poets! I was glad when I saw the number of review requests in my inbox. 

So... 

From October 21st to November 21st, I am going to be hosting a month/official celebration of debut authors and other lesser known authors. Basically throughout this time period I am going to post a review of a new book every other day starting from October. If you're a blogger and you have a load of ARC copies/review request books/etc to review, I suggest joining in! This is a great way to introduce our readers to lesser known authors, and it's also good publicity for the author! If you follow me on other social medias, information and the dates of the authors will be posted there. So if you are on the blog during these few days, you'll get to experience and submerse yourself in a world of entirely new books! There might also be some giveaways and interviews. It's really a month to look forward to! 

Who will be joining us, you ask?? Here is just a small list of some authors...

• The renowned Rysa Walker (returning for review of her second book, Time's Edge in the Chronos Files series. Click here for the review of the first book!
• Stan Yocum, an up-and-coming fiction/thriller author, with his book Unrelenting Nightmare.
• Rey Del Valle with his novel, The Valentine Circle 
• High fantasy author Rival Gates and his book The Quest for the Red Sapphire. 

and so much more... 

You guys, I'm really excited for this establishment to take place. I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting so many review requests from some truly inspiring authors. Some of these genres that I was asked to review are a mysterious to me, but that's kind of the joy in reviewing them! 

Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander: Book Promo

Title: Love and Other Unknown Variables
Author: Shannon Lee Alexander
Pages: 350
Published: October 7th, 2014
Genre: YA Contemporary

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he'll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe's greatest unanswered questions. He's that smart. But Charlie's future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl's neck. 

The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she's counting on the present. She's not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop- until she learns he's a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy. 

By the time he learns she's ill- and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte's illness- Charlotte's gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he's always relied on or the girl he's falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared). 

Goodreads
Buy LinksAmazon  | Barnes & Noble  | Kobo Books  

In Love and Other Unknown Variables, Ms. Finch, the new English teacher at a school not known for it’s love of English class since the students tend to prefer math and science, has assigned a project in which the students must explore the ways in which math and science intersect with literature.

Charlie and his best friends, Greta and James, have decided to do their project on the concept of infinity as seen in poetry. Charlie does a better job of explaining it than me, so here’s an excerpt.

Ms. Finch wants us to demonstrate how our mathematical concept can be used in literature. We’re showing how words can be combined in infinite combinations to make poems. Like the poetry magnets my dad gave Mom for Valentine’s Day a few years ago. With the 50-word magnets in the box you could make 2,118,760 possible 5-word poems. Which isn’t an infinite number of poems, but it is, in layman’s terms, a butt load.

Since words are constantly being created, it can be assumed language is infinite. If you raise the power in the exponential equation to infinity, it equals a possible number of poems stretching from here to eternity. Not quantum physics, but not the worst topic ever either.

I thought it’d be fun to give Charlie, Charlotte, Charlie’s sister Becca, Greta, and James a group of words and see what kinds of 5-word poems they could come up with. Of course, Charlie rolled his eyes, but Charlotte convinced him to do it. Charlotte has a way of getting him to do what she wants!

Here are the words they had to work with. I pulled 25 words randomly from my Magnetic Poetry kit:

I, wanting, sad, like, sing, whisper, lazy, her, the, dream, blue, and, beat, light, drool, moan, place, boy, a, is

And here are the poems!

5-Word Poems by the cast of Love and Other Unknown Variables.

James: Lazy boy is like drool.

Greta: A sad moan is wanting.

Becca: I whisper like the dream.

Charlotte: I sing the blue beat.

Charlie: Her place is the light.

Think you can come up with a few of your own? Use the words above or choose your

own and then share your 5-word poems with me! You can leave a comment here or share on Twitter and tag me @shanlalexander. Use the hashtag #LAOUV5wordpoems.

Happy writing! 

 Shannon Lee Alexander 

Shannon Lee Alexander is a wife, mother (of two kids and one yellow terrier named Harriet Potter). She is passionate about coffee, books, and cancer reseach. Math makes her break out in a sweat. Love and Other Unknown Variables is her debut novel. She currently lives in Indianapolis with her family. 

Author LinksGoodreads  | Website  | Twitter  | Facebook 

Giveaway

Grand Prize (2): Signed book, bookmark, tissue holder, temporary tattoo, mathematical charm, science/math book page rose pin (made by Shannon), infinity charm bracelet (made by Shannon). 

One 2nd place prize: Signed bookmark, tissues, temporary tattoo, mathematical charm, science.math book page rose pin (made by Shannon), infinity charm bracelet (made by Shannon). 

3 Runner-up prizes: Signed bookmark, temporary tattoo, science/math book page rose ring (made by Shannon). 

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Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare- A #WTF Ending

Title: Clockwork Princess 

Author: Casssandra Clare 

Pages: 576
Published: September 5th, 2013 

Genre: YA Fantasy 

Tessa Gray should be happy- aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anyting to save her. 

** SPOILERS ARE INTENDED FOR THIS REVIEW** 

It brings me great sorrow to tell you all that I'm at the end of the journey with this amazing trilogy. I loved it!! Mainly one of the best trilogies I've ever read. I know I should have taken up Cassandra Clare in my early years of reading, but I just never had the time. I'm (hopefully) pulling through when I say I will get into the Mortal Instruments series! I'm way too excited to start. Overall although this book left me in shattered pieces and reading till 4 a.m. with a huge migraine, I loved loved loved it. Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series now holds a true place in my heart- one I've been saving for a good fantasy series like this!

First things first I've realized after finishing this book, that I feel like I was shot in the heart. And I had quite the fit of rage on my bed this morning as I was reading the Epilogue. 

We continue on from the second book where Will's sister, Cecily has found her way into the London Institute. Is Will happy to see her?? *shakes head* No, No, in fact, he screams and yells for her to return home. So blah blah blah skip skip skip, the Shadowhunters are faced with Mortmain and his Infernal Devices. After capturing Tessa and taking the last ingredient, his animated machines are filled with ruthless demons, who show no mercy on the Shadowhunters. We have Jem, on his deathbed. And Will, going after Tessa. As Will is riding to Idris (Where Mortmain is hiding), his parabatai rune- connecting Will and Jem as blood brothers- snaps signaling Jem's death. Tessa is soon found and told of Jem's death. Will and Tessa mourn but then. make love to each other after. 

I'm gonna stop right there and start to tell you why I'm so annoyed by this book. I loved loved loved this book. I really did. It was everything I'd hope for in a good YA fantasy thriller. But god, Tessa was killing me in this last book. First she get's engaged with Jem, even when she still bears feelings for Will. And then Jem dies, so she makes love with Will. Like seriously? If you hate love triangles as much as I do, this book is so not for you. 

But the romance was a beautiful thing in this book. And I like how Cassandra Clare masterly infused it into the action and conflict of the story. I must say that I really liked all the ships in this book. There was Gideon and Sophie. Cecily and Gabriel. And of course if you haven't already determined, I'm on team Will! 

And if you haven't already deduced from the gif above, Will dies in the Epilogue... 

I legit cried after reading this part. Tessa being a warlock, is immortal and watches Will die with Jem as a freaking Silent brother. And if you think Tessa didn't feel bad enough about Will's death then this is really going to kill you... She meets up with Jem at their yearly spot on the bridge, but Jem is different. No longer a silent brother, Tessa falls for him as she has always loved him and always will. They share a kiss on the bridge.

I do indeed share a love and hate relationship with this book. But I really couldn't love this series more! If you're waiting to read from Cassandra Clare, there is no time to waste! You must finish the trilogy and come back to tell me if you're team Jem or Will. And I'm not going to give this trilogy four stars when I know in my heart that it deserves more. What an amazing trilogy- one that I will never ever forget! ALL HAIL CASSANDRA CLARE! 

Seven Deadly Sins #BookTag

To the lovely Jazmen from This Girl Reads a lot! for tagging me. 

Greed

What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book?

My most inexpensive book is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I got it at a bargain price for $1. My most expensive book is my hardcover version of Percy Jackson's Greek Gods book. That thing is ginormous, retailing for a price of about 27 bucks. 

Wrath 

What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
This definitely goes to Rainbow Rowell. I've had some very uneasy times reading her books. Like some of her books I didn't like and others just blew me away.

Gluttony
What book have you devoured over and over with no shame?
Alice in Wonderland, totally! For shame, for shame. I'm halfheartedly admittedly to devouring all of Gena Showalter's books, and I mean all of them. She is, and always be, my favorite author!

Sloth
What books have you neglected reading due to laziness? 
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I wouldn't say it was laziness. The reason I'm holding back on this book is because my obsession with Science Fiction and Dystopian, and I'm starting to read those again.

Pride
What book do you talk about to sound like an intellectual reader? 
The Giver by Lois Lowry. I feel like anyone who's ever read and understood this book to the fullest should get the bragging rights as an intellectual reader!

Lust
What attributes do you find attractive in male or female characters?
I'm more for that bad boy type in the male characters of any book! I've realized, over reading so many books, that I tend to appreciate a character's stubbornness and compassion.


Envy
What book would you most like to receive as a gift? 
Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch. I've got an obsession with his books omfg!

Sorry in advance if you've already been tagged...
Tagging
The Hardcover Lover
Pretty Little Pages