The Weekly Odyssey: August 18-24, 2008

Here we go again. It’s the third edition of the Weekly Odyssey!! Below you will find various links and topics from around the booking world! The are a lot of exciting contest you might want to sign up for! And there are also some bloggers and authors mentioned! Most of the review links are for books that I haven’t reviewed yet or probably won’t get around to reviewing anytime soon! Author in the Spotlight is pretty explanatory! Is there anything you would like to see in the Weekly Odyssey, let me know!

I do have a new feature on the Weekly Odyssey. I had such a great response when I posted “Books to Pine For” that I’ve decided to try and feature a book to pine for every week. What do you think?

If you are an author, reviewer, publisher, book person in general and would like to be mentioned on the Weekly Odyssey please email me at thestorysiren(at)hotmail(dot)com!

Week of August 18-23, 2008

Contests

Here is a compiled list of some of the contest I’ve come across! Please be sure to check the official guidelines and deadlines!

The Book Muncher is having a contest on her blog. You can win a signed copy of The Brothers Toress as well as some other goodies.

Kelsey at Reading Keeps You Sane is celebrating her 100th post!! She’s giving the winner a choice of prize from the following titles:

ARC-Chloe Doe by Suzanne Phillips
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess
ARC-The Big Game of Everything by Chris Lynch
ARC-Jet Set by Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Melissa at Book Nut is giving away three ARCs:
Rapunzel’s Revenge
Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning
How to Ditch Your Fairy

The Page Flipper is having a weekly contest! Head over there to sign up to win Amore and Summer Secrets. The deadline is tomorrow!! You might want to head over there now!

The Fox Reads is giving away a copy of Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard. She is looking for a new banner on her blog, can you help her out?

Author Musings

Micol Ostow (Popular Vote) is having a Cyper Party to celebrate the release of her new novel Popular Vote! The party will be in session September 8-13th!

Taylor Morris (Total Knockout: Tales of an Ex-Class President) posted about her fun trip to Texas! The biscuits and gravy look really good! Yum.

Maggie Stiefvater (Lament) is counting down the days until her debut novel Lament, which I cannot wait to read!!! Every Tuesday, she posts a Twisted Teaser Tuesday, which in essence is a scene from her novel that has been slightly twisted and disguised as to not reveal the true source!

Claudia Gray (Evernight) is going on a book tour! She has yet to announce the cities she will be visiting though… But she will also be teaming up with Ellen Schreiber (Kissing Coffins) and Nancy Collins (Vamps) for the “Pitch Black” tour! Hopefully she will be coming somewhere near me! I’ve been known to drive hours to author visits!

Regina Scott (La Petite Four) posted about a popular pastime for a young lady in the nineteenth century….. it’s of course reading! Head over to Nineteen Teen to read the entire post.

Justine Larbalestier (How to Ditch Your Fairy) has an interesting post on her blog about “Girl Books, Boy Books.”

Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands and Teeth) blogged about continuing the writing on book two, and worry about publicity and marketing!

Nic Sheff (Tweak) just started a blog. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Nic’s work, Tweak is a memoir of Nic’s drug addictions growing up. I haven’t read the book, but it on my reading list. Before you check out his blog, be warned that Nic loves to drop the f-bomb!

Author in the Spotlight

Lesley Livingston is an actor and a writer living in Toronto. Lesley’s debut novel, WONDROUS STRANGE is an urban fantasy that weaves elements of A Midsummer Night’s Dream together with teen romance and chilling adventure that erupts when dangerous faeries invade the human world through a gate in Central Park. Look for it in December of 2008 from Harper Teen.

http://www.lesleylivingston.com/index.html

Blogger Blurbs

The Compulsive Reader reviewed Paper Towns by John Green. “The characters are as real as your own friends, and teens can’t help but see pieces of their own lives in this amazingly candid book.”

Breanna at B is for Books reviewed Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye. “My heart strings were being pulled the entire time and I absolutely loved it.”

Bookluver-Carol reviewed Not Anything and The Pretty One.

Tasha from And Another Book Read reviewed Geek High by Piper Banks. “Overall I was really impressed with this book and I love the geek power.”

Jocelyn at Teen Book Review was able to snag an ARC of North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. “I loved the originality of this story that is, yes, in some ways predictable, but still amazingly unique.”

The Book Reader reviewed The Girlfriend Project by Robin Friedman. “The Girlfriend Project was a very interesting and original story about high school dating.”

Mrs. Maggo Reads reviewed The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. “I was fascinated by all the interesting magical elements that Michael Scott threw in, and by the end of the book he left me wanting more.”

The Book Muncher consumed Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt.”This story and the characters had a lot more depth than I expected from what I thought was a simple romance story.”

Book Chic reviewed What Happens Here by Tara Altebrando. “This book was quite fantastic, and just so well-written.”

All Five Stars reviewed Ambition by Kate Brian. “This instalment in the popular mystery/drama/romance series won’t let down any of the die-hard fans or even those who’ve only picked up a couple of the books.”

My Reviews

I reviewed Fairest by Gail Carson Levine and Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley this week!

Book to Pine For

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child’s birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won’t be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?

Visitors

These cool people stopped by The Story Siren this past week and commented on a review or post! I just wanted to thank you personally for stopping by!

Valeria, robin_titan, Kimberly Pauley, ambeen, Diana Dang, Breanna, The Book Muncher, Barrie, Shooting Stars Mag, Claire, Chelsea, Liv, whatvanessareads, Liviania, Kelsey, cat, Sarah Rees Brennan, Jackson, Kristy, tetewa, Caroline Says, Margay, Khyrinthia, Booked Books, Doret, meg, Fyrefly, Lesley Livingston, softindierocker, YA Book Realm, Cassandra, Lenore, WannabeWriter, Just Blinded Book Reviews, Carol, cyn2write, girlrockingguna, J. Kaye Oldner and Chick Lit Teens

In other news….

I’m still looking for author suggestions for Author Tales. These are the authors that have been mentioned so far: Maureen Johnson, John Green, Laure Wiess, Lisa McMann, Nancy Haddock, Michael Grant, C.K. Kelly Martin, Garth Nix, LJ Smith and Meg Cabot.

I’m currently working with another blogger to start a new forum. I only have about ten members on my current one right now, and I get loads of spam. So, I’m hoping by teaming up with another person, a.) well be able to get a wider range of members and b.) I won’t have to deal with all the spam alone!