This month it has been a little difficult for me to get much reading done. Life threw me a curve ball and bunch of stuff has had to take up the majority of my time. Three books is probably an all time low for me and that bums me out because I love the different fantasy lands I get to visit through out my reading. So for the month of May, with things getting somewhat better, I promise to try harder to bring you more book reviews. Shiver by: Maggie Stiefvater
Linger by: Maggie Stiefvater
Dare to Dream by: Carys Jones
Book of the Month:
" The world was going to end. Of that, Maggie Trafford was certain."
Fourteen year old Maggie Trafford leads a normal life. Well, as normal as being crammed in a three-bedroom house with four siblings and a single parent, can be, anyway. But despite being somewhat ignored at home, Maggie excels, earning top grades, a best friend who would do anything for her, and stole looks from a boy in Maths.
It's not until the dreams start that Maggie realizes ''normal'' is the least of her problems. Every night, she lives the same nightmare-red lightning, shattered glass, destruction. But nightmares are just that, right? No one believes her when she says it's an omen. At least, not until the mysterious pillars of Stonehenge start falling.
No longer alone in her fear, Maggie and the world watch with bated breath as one after another, the historic stones tumble, like a clock counting down. But only Maggie knows what it means: when the last stone falls, destruction will reign. And when the world ends, there's only one option left-survive.
Horrifying and raw, Dare to Dream is equal parts tragedy and hope, detailing the aftermath of apocalyptic catastrophe, the quest for survival, and the importance of belief.
This is a new feature, where you can participate, telling us your craziest confessions. Here’s how it works. Write a post about your most eccentric bookworm confession, and put your post link below.
This feature will help create a bond between bookworms, because at the end if we don’t understand one another, then who is going to understand us? Plus we get to see how crazy we really are, and still call that normal. (haha!)
Confession:
I've always had this weird habit of when I find a book that I want to read I'll write it down in a notebook. I even have a special notebook I use that nothing else can be written in it, it's just for my books and I'll get kind of crazy if anyone tries to mess with it. Well, ever since I've started blogging and connecting with other book bloggers, I've began to start going to every blog page I follow and I'll sit and write book titles into my little notebook, and the more books in there the better lol.
This weeks question:
Do you prefer using bookmarks, or bending the book page?
Definitely bookmarks! I'll use whatever I can find to use as a bookmark: business cards, scraps of paper, gum wrappers, and unopened band-aids. I use the unopened band-aids the most because my kids love to play with them so there are always some lying around. When I was in grade grade school I used to dog-ear the pages, but I thought that was how you were supposed to do it because everyone else in my class did it. It wasn't until I got a little older that I started to use a bookmark. Now that's all I'll use because when I started buying my own books I tried to keep them in the best possible condition.
What about you, do you use a bookmark or bend the book page?
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is Top Ten Characters who grow up poor. 1.) Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from" The Hunger Games" by: Suzanne Collins
2.) Maggie Trafford from "Dare to Dream" by: Carys Jones
3.) Mary from "The Forest of Hands and Teeth'' by: Carrie Jones
4.)Brooke, Bree and Ben from "Arena One" by Morgan Rice
5.) Kaylin from "Cast in Shadows" by: Michelle Sagara
6.) Nihal from "Nihal of the Land of the Wind" by: Licia Troisi
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and all opinions within the review are my own.*
Title: Dare to Dream
Author: Carys Jones
Publisher: REUTS Publishing
Release Date: Feb. 15, 2015 Kindle Editon
March 3, 2015 Paperback Edition
Synopsis:
" The world was going to end. Of that, Maggie Trafford was certain."
Fourteen year old Maggie Trafford leads a normal life. Well, as normal as being crammed in a three-bedroom house with four siblings and a single parent, can be, anyway. But despite being somewhat ignored at home, Maggie excels, earning top grades, a best friend who would do anything for her, and stole looks from a boy in Maths.
It's not until the dreams start that Maggie realizes ''normal'' is the least of her problems. Every night, she lives the same nightmare-red lightning, shattered glass, destruction. But nightmares are just that, right? No one believes her when she says it's an omen. At least, not until the mysterious pillars of Stonehenge start falling.
No longer alone in her fear, Maggie and the world watch with bated breath as one after another, the historic stones tumble, like a clock counting down. But only Maggie knows what it means: when the last stone falls, destruction will reign. And when the world ends, there's only one option left-survive.
Horrifying and raw, Dare to Dream is equal parts tragedy and hope, detailing the aftermath of apocalyptic catastrophe, the quest for survival, and the importance of belief.
Review:
Carys Jones' Dare to Dream is an amazing thrill ride from start to finish. It'll have you sitting on the edge of your seat and you'll be unable to put it down, I know that I didn't want to. The action starts almost instantaneously and never slows.
Maggie is a brillant 14 year old girl from Bainbridge England and attends Bainbridge Wells High School. She has always been the type of kid that her mother never had to worry about: she got good grades, helped out around the house and with her siblings, and never got into any trouble. Then she starts having these horrific nightmares and her entire life starts going on a downward spiral.
Maggie is the main character but we get more than one POV. We have the chance to hear the thoughts of not just Maggie but also, Angie (Maggie's Mom), a news reporter, Dawn (her best friend), Andy (a classmate), and a few other characters. Maggie was an easy character to like, and I found myself getting attached to her and caring about her well being. She hasn't had it easy growing up being the middle child out of five kids. Her mother Angie, has tried to care for them all, but being a single mother with some serious emotional issues she's fallen short.
Dawn is Maggie's best friend and lives on the other side of town, the well off part of town. Financially she has always had whatever she has wanted, at school she's always been the girl that every guy has wanted, but she hasn't had the best home life. It's not as bad as what Maggie's is, but it's not been the perfect life either. She kind of comes off as shallow, but her and Maggie have the ideal friendship, the kind that other people envy.
Andy has always been just another guy in some of Maggie's classes. He's always been a nice but quiet guy. In the first part of the book you just get brief snippets of what kind of person he is, but in the second part you get to see what it is that makes him the type of person he is.
I would love nothing more than to talk about the entire book but I don't want to spoil it and this is one of those books where you need to read it and experience everything for yourself. Carys Jones has crafted a thrilling, slightly scary, suspense and surprised filled world that will have you wanting to know what happens next. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read.
Carys Jones loves nothing more than to write and create stories which ignite the readers imagination. Based in Shropshire, England, Carys lives with her husband, two guinea pigs and her adored canine companion Rollo.
When she's not writing, Carys likes to indulge her inner geek by watching science-fiction films and playing video games. She lists John Green, Jodi Picoult and Virginia Andrews as her favorite authors and draws inspiration for her own work from anything and everything. To Carys, there is no greater feeling then when you loose yourself in a great story and it is that feeling of ultimate escapism which she tries to bring to her books. For more information about Carys you can visit www.carys-jones.com or follow her on Twitter; @tiny_dancer85 . ************************************************************************************************
Author Interview:
Hi Carys, and Welcome to Mountain Rhinestones and thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me.
1.) How did you come up with the idea behind Dare to Dream?
A while ago I read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. If you’ve not read it, it’s quite a bleak tale about a post-apocalyptic world. You’re never really told what happened to the world, you just endure the exhausting quest for survival with the MC and his son.
The challenge of writing about a destroyed world really appealed to me. But I wanted to give my own story some more context, I wanted to describe what happened to the world and experience the destruction first hand. Then I started thinking about what if someone knew the world was going to end? And what if no one would listen because they were just a fourteen year old British school girl? And from those initial thoughts Dare to Dream was developed.
2.) Did you draw the image of any of the characters from anyone in your life?
No, I don’t tend to base the characters in my books on anyone as I feel there is too much danger in it. I’d hate someone to think a character was based on them and then that character does something awful or dies and the person reads too much in to that. So if anyone reads my books and thinks a character is based on them I can promise that it’s merely a coincidence.
3.) Will there be a sequel to Dare to Dream or is it a stand alone?
Dare to Dream is actually the first book in a trilogy. The second book is Dare to Believe and the third is Dare to Fight. I’m currently writing the second book.
4.) What was your favorite part, of Dare to Dream, to write?
The parts where the world ended were a lot of fun to write, as warped as that sounds. It was an exciting challenge to imagine all the destruction and how that would be perceived on a personal scale through Maggie’s eyes.
5.) When you first started writing did you ever imagine you'd be a best selling author?
All I’ve ever wanted to do with my writing is to be able to share it and have people enjoy it. Everything else is just an awesome added bonus.
6.) How would you describe your journey so far as an author?
I’ve been really fortunate to get to work with some great publishers like Reuts and CarinaUK but my journey has been pretty long and at times really tough. You have to knock on a lot of doors and face a lot of rejection to get to where you want to be and some days that’s easier to take than others. The best part of being a writer is always the process. I’m happiest tucked away in my writing room working on my WIP.
7.) How would you describe a normal writing day?
I always write first thing in the morning as my mind is freshest then. I rely heavily on notes and have a quick check of where I’m at in a story and then just dive in and don’t get up until I’ve hit my word target for the day. I try to write daily to help maintain the thread of a story. I have a pink room in my house where I go to write and my dog, Rollo, comes to sit with me.
8.) What is your most interesting writing quirk?
I’m not sure it’s all that interesting but I have to write in absolute silence. I can’t even hold a conversation while writing as I’m too busy chatting with all the characters in my head! It means that when I do finish writing I’m a bit of a zombie for a while afterwards! Lol.
9.) What advice would you give an aspiring author?
Write as much as you can! But more importantly write the books that you want to read. It’s tempting to look at what trends are popular or write what you think other people will like but ultimately the best advice I’ve ever received is simply to sit down and write the book that I’d love to read.
10.) What are some of the books in your To-Be-Read pile?
Ihave a stack of books piled by my bed that are demanding my attention! They include The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, Fallen by Lauren Kate and I also need to read the sequels to Shadow and Bone and Alice in Zombieland. It doesn’t help that I’m a painfully slow reader…
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions, you rock!!
************************************************************************************************ To buy a copy of Dare to Dream you can visitAmazon Here . *I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and all opinions within the review are my own.*
So, in my last Feature and Follow post I was explaining how Mountain Rhinestones ended up with it's name and trying to describe the beauty of the place that I live. The imagination is an amazing thing but no matter what words I choose to describe the Appalachian Mountains, it does nothing to capture the picture perfect view. I've decided that I would post some pictures so everyone can get a clearer picture of what I was trying to describe.
This is one of two waterfalls a few miles away from my house, located in Twin Falls State Park, West Virginia.
And this is the other waterfall, located in Twin Falls State Park, West Virginia.
This is the Pioneer Farm also located in Twin Falls State Park, West Virginia.
The New River Gorge Bridge, Raleigh County, West Virginia. The worlds longest single arch bridge. The Lost World Caverns in Lewisburg, West Virginia. About an 1 1/2 hour drive from my house. Seneca Rocks, Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. The same Seneca Rocks featured in Jennifer L. Armentrouts Lux Series.
Blackwater Canyon, West Virginia
Winterplace Ski Resort Ghent, West Virginia
My honey up on Tater Hill behind our house.
Mountains in my hometown.
On the riverbanks. My youngest one is pretending to have a magic wand with a stick.
Sunrise from my front porch.
My honey and my oldest and me (I'm taking the picture) out Geocaching.
I'm so excited to have myself and Mountain Rhinestones be one of this weeks Featured Bloggers. This blog is featured over at Parajunkee's View and you can jump over there to view my interview answers and Book Yabber is featured over at Alison Can Read and you can go there to view Book Yabber's interview answers.
Feature and Follow is a weekly feature hosted by TWO hosts: Alison from Alison Can Read and Parajunkee from Parajunkee's View. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way they will be able to show off more new blogs.
Rules:
1.) (REQUIRED) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts
3.) Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to put it in your post.
4.) Grab the button and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say ''hi'' and that they are now following you.
5.) If you are using Wordpress or another CMS that doesn't have GFC (Google Friend Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed.
6.) Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also don't just follow, comment and say ''hi''. Another blogger might not know you're a new follower if you don't say ''HI".
7.) If someone comments and say they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers.
8.) If you're new to the Follow Friday hop, comment and let the hosts know so they can check out your blog.
This weeks question:
How did you come up with your blog title and address? Does it have a special meaning for you? -Suggested by The Paperback Princess.
Answer:
When I first decided to start my blog I spent almost a week looking at the best place for me and ways to start it, along with coming up with a blog title that suited me and my personality. I live in the Appalachian Mountains, and aside from my book and reading obsession, my favorite things to do are spending time out in my huge and beautiful ''back yard'' fishing, hunting, hiking, and riding my 4-wheeler. I absolutely love my mountains and like just about every other girl, I love diamonds, jewels, and rhinestones of all kinds. I set and tried almost every combination of Mountain and jewel names until I found the one that stood out to me. I would say that Mountain Rhinestones has special meaning because it describes parts of me. What about your blog title, how did you come up with it and does it hold any special meaning for you. If you don't have a blog, what name would you choose and why if you started one?
You can choose which ever way is more convenient for you when following Mountain Rhinestones.
This is a Blog Hop!
I couldn't get the Linky Tool to work right so if you click Here, you should be able to get there. Sorry for the inconvenience.
