Did You Know You Could Get Your Old Blogger Interface Back? Well Me Neither But You Can!

So yesterday I was helping my aunt with her Blogger layout. She is new to Blogger so she didn't know how to upload the layout, or what to upload, or where. So here I was, guiding her with my written words through Facebook, thinking "this shall be easy. I've done it thousands of times!"

Well, it seems the new blogger interface doesn't let you upload things like XML documents, so that was a bump in the road (my ego received a little blow as well, I thought I knew it all -that was so not the case). But instead I found something even better, I managed to revert to the old blogger interface! (where in fact it lets you upload XML documents at will and the likes). I really liked the old blogger interface, and was a little upset when they MADE me change to the new one, so I figured I would share my good fortune with those kindred spirits out there.

Step 1: On your new Blogger interface go to your Template option.

 

 

Step 2: Click on the symbol next to "Backuo/Restore" and in there you will find the option to revert back to the Old Blogger Interface.

 

And that's it! It's so ridiculously simple! And now I have my olg blogger interface back ^^ (once you do this you can revert back to the new one whenever you want).

 

Anyways, this is for those of you who liked the Old Style and want it back (just like Justin Timberlake wanted Sexy Back- good song). I hope this brightens someone's day :)

 

PS; Sadly though this offer only lasts for a short time, cause sometime in the upcoming months they are deleting the Old Blogger Interface T_T

 

Click on the image and you'll see.

 

Bastards.

 



So I started reading Insignia by S. J. Kincaid...

Goodreads

Okay, so in this really awesome book people are able to play out different scenarios. They aren't really real, it's like computer generated scenarios. Anyways, our main guy, Tom, is in this scenerio where he is forced to play Queen Guinevere because he refused to bow down to this other douch bag of a guy and so the douch bag changed his character into the Queen. Tom however is too smart for his own good, and won't just stand by like a good lady, he will instead bring the fight over to him. Observe:

"Wait,' Wyatt called after him. "What's happening?"
Tom wheeled back around and remembered she had a sword resting forgotten in her scabbard. He closed the distance between them and drew it before she seemed to realize what he was doing.
"Look, Wyatt, if you want to be a bookworm Lancelot, that's fine. Just lock the door to the library and maybe slide a table in front of it. I'm stealing your sword if you're not fighting though."
"What are you going to do with it? You said Guinevere can't leave the castle."
"She can't. But Queen Guinevere can lower the drawbridge and order the castle sentries to stand down. Just like this Queen Guinevere did about then minutes ago. Oh, and she can also send a messenger to the Saxon king to let him know Camelot's defenseless."
Wyatt gaped at him. "That sound outside... that's the Saxon army, isn't it?"
"Yuri's right. You really are smart." Tom heard the screams starting, and started for the sound with a bounce in his step.

I am in love with this book. Seriously, it's awesome times awesome. It can be read by both young adult guys and girls, it has fantastic world building, funny and relatable characters, good writing... Basically it has everything it needs in order to become one of my favorites. Let's see how it keeps going, since I am only in page 134 so far.

Mini Review: Eleven Minutes (Fractured Prequel) by Megan Miranda

Title: Eleven Minutes
Author: Megan Miranda
Series: Fracture
Book #: .5
Pages: 373
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.77
Published: Jan. 2012

Fracture is told from Delaney's perspective, and if you've read the first two chapters, you know that she falls through the ice in chapter one, and she wakes up 6 days later. And what happens in between—well, that's Decker's story.

This is the story of those eleven minutes, and the six days that follow, from his perspective. Because while it must be terrifying to be trapped under the ice, it's a different kind of terror seeing your best friend trapped...

Especially if it's your fault.

Taschima's POV:

Eleven Minutes is everything I was hoping for and more. So much more. Being inside Decker's mind when Delaney falls into the cold water was too much. A tear might have fell, or two, I won't deny or confirm. I just fell in love with Decker's character in Fractured, he is so kind, and strong, and brave. He is the boy next door without being cheesy (and seriously hot).

I wish, sooo bad, that Megan Miranda (who is BTW an amazing author who deserves all the chocolate she wishes for) would write Eleven Minutes as a full fledged novel. I really do. Because this e-novella was to be quite honest TOO SHORT. And it stopped at the very. best. part. Why do you do this to me?! I want to see how Decker felt when he saw Delaney's eyes open. I want to be there when he finally wakes up. Cause even though Delaney was the one who fell on the water Decker was just as gone.

Plus this novella made me really want to read Fractured again because it gives us such inside into Decker's character. So hear my warning, if you are to read Eleven Minutes read it with Fractured right by your side because, trust me when I tell you, you will need it.

Review + Giveaway: Black City by Elizabeth Richards.

Title: Black City
Author: Elizabeth Richards
Series: Black City
Book #: 1
Pages: 373
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating:
Goodreads Rating: 4.09
T.B.Published: Nov. 13th, 2012

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable--they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash's long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they're caught, they'll be executed--but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

Taschima's POV:

To put it in the simplest terms Black City is like Legend only mixed with vampires. This is not a bad thing; Legend is great, and so is Black City! It has some of the things Legend has, only heightened- ex. love becomes forbidden love. Corrupt government? Check. People being oppressed? Check. Two main characters, one from the government the other a normal person? Check. Adding to this delight Black City manages to have a plot that is original and not monotonous. Black City is that typical book you can't put down, it enthralls you with it's very complicated dark world,it makes your heart beat just a little bit faster. I bet If you were a half-darkling this book would kick start your heart right up.

It is a hot day in Black City (I can only imagine) when Natalie, the Emmisary's daughter (fancy term for a high ranking government official), and her remaining family move to the crappiest place in the world, Black City, from Centrum (a "better" city than Black City). On top of that she now has to attend public school along with the rest of the work boots (not so fancy term for people who actually have to work for a living). How will she ever survive?

"It's your bew identity bracelet. Do you like it?" I ask.

Martha nods slighly, not saying anything. She must be overwhelmed; it's a very expensive gift. She slips it on.

Some context on the quote, Martha is Natalie's maid and she is a Darkling (Darklings who live on the human side of the wall are made to use bracelets with their info on them). I thought this quote described Natalie great at the beginning of the novel. Natalie pissed me off at first. She was such a spoiled brat. It was hard to root for her, but then she grows up. It's so amazing, she went from someone who I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole to a brave self sufficient heroine that doesn't need to be rescued. I respect her, I like her.

"I place a hand against the wall and slip my other hand between her thighs, gently easing her legs apart. Touching her doesn't turn me on, but I groan like it does, knowing she'll enjoy that. They all do, even the guys -it's why they come to me instead of the Haze dens."

Ash is a Haze dealer, and a half-Darkling. You can say he got the "short" end of the stick in life (though in fact he is really tall). He is an outcast, abondoned by his mother at a young age. It's clear that he has issues.But It is very hard NOT to like Ash, he is so conflicted. You just want to hug him, and help him. He is the one who drew me to the story beginning on Chapter 1.

The story evolves around these two characters with a backdrop of war, corruption, and danger. It's a very dark world, but then again which dystopian world isn't?

The characters, the world building, the intense connection between the characters, the customs of Black City and the Darklings, all of this and more is what I loved about this book. It was just a very good read.

Some things were hard for me to swallow, like how can the vampires (who are stronger, faster, PREDATORS) be oppressed by the humans? I would have liked some more information on the old war. What happened, and how? Were the humans always privy to the existence of this other race? How did they exactly beat the vampires and made them live in guettos? I have no idea! I missed that history lesson.

Another thing that bothered me was the romance, at first. Because the characters show this instant connection to each other without really knowing anything about each other. They meet, they dislike/are sttracted to each other, and on the next page they are bound together. This was something that bothered me, BUT it was completely addrssed and insta-love was succesfully avoided. And even though I could smell the twist to the romance a mile away I still enjoyed it (maybe I like being proved right).

But if you can look past the non existent/much needed history lesson you will really enjoy this novel. I liked the writing, I loved Ash, and I liked Natalie, as well as the rest of the characters. It's a very easy story to get sunk into, and I enjoyed every single page.

Giveaway Rules!

1. Follow Bloody Bookaholic.
2. Leave an email, and maybe say hi, in the comment section so I can contact you.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/23149111/"

There are plenty of options to go around, and they are very easy to achieve so good luck guys!

Number of winners: 1

This contest will end September 30th. Enough time to give many of you a chance to enter! Spread the word! U.S. only.

YA E-Book Sale: Experience Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, for only $3.99!

 

You heard right, this book...

 

 

...for THAT price.

 

I verry rarely do these kinds of posts but I just HAD to share this one with you guys because it's BEAUTIFUL CREATURES! And you can have it for $3.99! That is an opportunity you shouldn't miss. Beautiful Creatures is a very good book, and it's being made into a movie so you don't wanna be that person who watches the movie first and then reads the book. You never want to be that person.

 

Here is what it said in the email I received:

 

Visit your favorite e-retailer this week and enjoy the first book in the

 

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series at a special low price.

So go to Amazon, or whenever you get the e-books. And enjoy!

 

 

Catching Fire Casting News: FINNICK ODAIR has FINALLY been cast!!

Sam Claflin as Finish Odair

 

...and he's a hottie!!

 

"Ending weeks of speculation, Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman) has officially been cast as the dashing former Hunger Games champion Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate announced today. The British-born Claflin, 24, had been the front-runner for the coveted role since mid-July. "

-IMDB

 

And you know what, I am not even going to critize. Cause Look at what they did with Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Effie, Haymith, and so many others (minus Cinna of course). Magic, pure magic. So I am giving them a break. Hurray for the casting of Finnick!

 

And of course it doesn't hurt WHAT A CUTIE he is. That never hurts.

 

 

Would You Read Me? Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover (10)

And the book cover from last week's summary is...


Goodreads

The cover is just fine. It's a good quality picture, but nothing speial.

Now I am going to give you guys a summary of a book that may or may not sound good (you be the judge) but I am not going to give you an image to accompany the book. This way we can find out if you would read it or not even if the image of the book sucks a lot.

16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams. Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder. The setting is Arkwell. And then it comes true. Now the Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

So, now, all you have to do is say if you would read it or not!

(Yes or no will suffice if you don't wanna write a lot)

Next Wednesday I will post a new summary with no image,

I will also post the cover and book information of this week.
 

Would I read this book? Hell yes! I am interested in this whole Nightmare thing (probably because of the Soul Screamers series) and it doesn't sound bad at all.

PS; If you know the name, image or whatever of this book do not say anything. Don't give any sort of information away please.
 

Winners, Winners, Winners!

I always forget to post the winners. With work and everything is been near impossible for me to get close to a laptop/PC in order to work on the blog. But you'll see more of me from now on now that I fixed my laptop!!

Oh silly me, here you go, the chosen winners for Skinny, Throne of Glass, and Pushing the Limits:



Natalie @Mindful Musings!

Tiffany Drew

Sana Adam

Congratulations to you all! I have emailed every single one of you, please reply to me ASAP in order for me to mail you your books!

Review: A Fractured Light (A Beautiful Dark #2) by Jocelyn Davies

Title: A Fractured Light
Author: Jocelyn Davies
Series: A Beautiful Dark
Book #: 2
Pages: 352
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating:
Goodreads Rating: 4.17
T.B.Published: Sept. 25th, 2012


When she wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings, Skye knows something terrible has happened to her. But it's not until she hears Asher, the dark, rebellious angel she fell in love with, that the memories come flooding back. She tries to put the past behind her, but she knows she'll be forever haunted by the ruthless betrayal that almost took her life.


Skye returns home, but with the knowledge of who she really is, nothing can ever be the same. As she tests the limits of her newfound powers, Skye discovers that she's capable of far more than anyone could have imagined. Both the Order and the Rebellion want her for their side as war between the factions looms. She can't forget the terrifying truth she now knows about the Order, but something holds her back from embracing the Rebellion.

Taschima's POV:

While being nothing out of the ordinary A Fractured Light still managed to surpassed A Beautiful Dark in entertainment, and a bit of originality. Skye managed to go from "bland" to slightly interesting, Asher is still sort of hot, though not really, Devin is infuriatingly surprisingly still around, Cassie is still the 2D man/gossip obsessed girl she has always been, Ian is an ass, and Adam still eats fries. Though I had less of a struggle with A Beautiful Dark to be honest, I guess I was just expecting a little more from this instalment and did not get what I wanted.

Basically is the same recipe of the first book with a few things changed along the way. Again, a mindless read. Fast and easy going.

Not to say that everything stayed the same in this instalment, the plot moved along, kind of. After Skye gets seriously injured she gets a mini vacation, but then when she returns to her town and school the place is crawling with Guardians. Who are supposedly trying very hard to kill her (I laugh at this assumption). But that ain't gonna bring our girl down, oh no, she, am, spends the novel honing her abilities, trying very hard to come up with good lies (she fails miserably) and being totally oblivious to the obvious signs around her. While at the same time trying to figure out what she wants to be, a rebel or a guardian? Does she want to be a mindless drone or a chaotic soul?


The plot resembled a lot of the first book. Skye is still slightly torn between her two fellas (how?! Don't even get me started on this because if a guy stabbed ME he would surely be out of my mind for good), there's a party sprinkled in the middle where things happen, and the end is just as confusing as the first book's was. In trying to be fast paced and to leave the reader with the "OMG! What JUST HAPPENED?" what it actually did was leave me like this: "Uh, okay, so what?"

I don't know, but the one word I would use to describe this novel/series is obvious, too obvious. The plot, the characters, the decisions, everything that happens really. It doesn't have any spark. It doesn't take you by surprise. I rolled my eyes so many times it ain't even funny.

Again, and I cannot stress this enough, if I were a new comer into the genre this series might have blown my mind, but for veterans of the genre it's like "oh no, not again." The story line has been beaten to a pulp. This series just ain't for little old me.

Fabulous Sequel Covers: Deviants #3, Glitch #2, and The Hunt #2



So I've been away for a while now, about two weeks roughly, and have only posted about 3 posts in all. I work at a student property and move in move out has been going on for two weeks now, leaving me no time for ANYTHING else. But enough of the yapping about my work, time for some book cover lust! I do not know if these were release recently because I honestly haven't been on top of my game, but I decided to release them here anyways because they look fabulous!



Goodreads

The Hunt #2

Goodreads

Deviants #3

Goodreads

Glitch #2

I didn't want to add any summaries due to the fact that these are sequels and I don't want to spoil anything. My favorite is The Prey by far! It's so cool, blue, and it looks awesome. The half-moon design in the title, the way you can't see the whole image... Way better than The Hunt's cover.

Ravage is pretty cool, it definitely goes with the "theme" of the other covers of the series. So good flow. I think all I like about Override is the title really, and the way the lady is writing on her wrist, though to be honest I had to do a double take at first ("What is she doing? Oooh writing on her wrist, got it").

Hope you enjoyed these, and I advise you to come back very soon because, well, school is starting soon so I might just have to do one of my major giveaways with soon to be released books.

Plus I have other tricks up my sleeve, and those are always fun.

Would You Read Me? Don't Judge a Book by It's Cover (9)

And the book cover from last week's summary is...



Goodreads

The cover SUCKS, but the summary seemed pretty good. Furious girls, mythology, revenge... I'm there!

Let's play another little game shall we? I am going to give you guys a summary of a book that may or may not sound good (you be the judge) but I am not going to give you an image to accompany the book. This way we can find out if you would read it or not even if the image of the book sucks a lot.

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away. That’s why they make the perfect assassins. The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated. Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else ever notices them.

So, now, all you have to do is say if you would read it or not!

(Yes or no will suffice if you don't wanna write a lot)

Next Wednesday I will post a new summary with no image,

I will also post the cover and book information of this week.

Would I read this book? From the summary alone, I'd say no, but you HAVE to read the prologue! In fact, I'll add it below...

One week earlier . . . Nine letters. Two words. He refused to think of them as a name. With detached objectivity, his steady hands set the thin white paper, with its evenly spaced black lettering, to the side. He’d done this before. One, Two, Three . . . He’d do this again. More needles, more knives. More evenly spaced black letters that carved themselves, blood-red, into the recesses of his mind. The only way you can make a difference in this world is to kill. From the moment he’d opened the envelope and see the name, the pictures; from the moment he’d committed those nine letters to memory, the outcome had been a foregone conclusion. His target had been marked. Death was coming. So be it.

PS; If you know the name, image or whatever of this book do not say anything. Don't give any sort of information away please.

Weekly Rant, YA and "Bad" Words

So I'm reading this book, Black City by Elizabeth Richards, and it's going great. But there is something that is bothering me, that happens every other page, and it's something that snaps me off the story every single time. I guess you can call it a pet peeve. Here is a couple of examples:

"He has a point. I've been up all night expecting the Sentry guards to bang down my door and arrest me, but they never showed. It could only mean one thing: that Sentry brat Natalie didn't tell anyone about me. Good. My threat must've gotten through her stupid blond head. I light up a cigarette and take a long drag. Fragging Sentry. The world would be a better place without them in it,but I can't see that happening any day soon."

Here's the second one...

"My fingers grasp the edge of her satchel, but she twists out of my reach and climbs onto the stage.

Fragg!"

Fragging? What the fuck is fragging? Oh right, Fragg= Fuck.

In case you missed it.

It maybe something mild, something some would consider unsignificant. But it bothers me. It completely snaps me off the flow of the story. What is wrong with a few 'fucks' along the way? Its realistic. It sometimes even makes the dialogue a bit better. I mean, there is a difference between a few curse words and when characters curse constantly and without any real motive, sometimes, but most of the time I am fine with a few bad words that aren't alowed on TV or radio.

Another story that bothers me when it does this is House of Night series. But don't even get me started on that one because if not I will go on a massive rant.

There is no such thing as bad words, there are only socially unacceptable words. That is the truth. Curse words don't corrupt the youth, they are a part of our every day lives so I don't see the point in avoiding them.

Unless this is a "new style" of curse words, instead of censoring, in that case the word Fragg still bothers me because it's stupid.

Oh but other than that I am really liking the book. Woohoo.

So I started reading Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Goodreads

Okay so I just started reading this book and it's already got like 4 or 5 quotes that I want to share with you guys. So instead of picking only one long quote as usual I am going to pick snippets of parts that I've really liked thus far. I hope you like them as much as I do:

"She hands me an old playing card with two hearts in it, one red, one black. It's my calling card. It seemed an appropriate choice; that's what I'm selling after all, an illusion of love."

Another snippet...

"Focus, ash. Don't blow your load.

I lean towards her, pressing my lips agaisnt the soft flesh on her neck, just below her ear. Her pulse flutters under my lips, and I nearly lose it. I begin to nibble on the flesh, tickling the tiny hairs on her neck with my tongue, making them wet with my saliva.

"Do it," she whispers.

So much for foreplay."

Just one more! I promise:

"An explosion of pain bursts inside my chest, and I clutch a hand over my lifeless heart. I sense someone behind me and turn.

A girl stands by the entranceway, lit by the headlamps of a passing truck. In the fleeting lightm I catch a glimpse of cornflower-blue eyes flicking between me and the Hazer writhing n the ground.

Her gaze finally fixes on me.

I fall back, struck down, as the pain in my chest blooms again.

Shivers run through my body, rushing towards a single point in my chest. There's a spark of electricity and then:

A flutter."

Ah, vampires how I've missed thee! I haven't read a decent vampire book in a while so I am really hopeful about this one. An interesting fact of the book is that vampires are called Darklings here, I like that word. I usually associate it with faeries, but as Black City shows us it can work quite well with vampires too.

*ARC quotes. All and any quotes here are subject to change in the final product.







Cover Winner of July; New Covers for August

The book with the best cover to hit shelves on July was...

 

I love the purple in this cover, and the very very blonde, almost white, hair of the model. Absolutely breath taking. Though for a minute there I thought The Unquiet's Cover was going to win but Endlessly won by one single vote. Who said one vote can't make a difference?

Breakdown:

 Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3) by Kiersten White - 23 (31%)

The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee - 22 (29%)

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols - 18 (24%)

The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter - 6 (8%)

Waking Storms by Sarah Porter - 5 (6%)

August Contenders: 

Summary

Summary

Summary

Summary

Summary

It is so hard this month because all these covers are beautiful! I love every single one of them, from the red details of Girl of Nightmares to the cool blue undertones of Throne of Glass.

As always the voting in on the left sidebar, remember to vote! I also made a slideshow (it's on the top of the page) with January to July 2012 releases, with each passing month I increase the number of covers. It shows the date the books are released as well. You are welcome.

Which is your favorite? Also, you can leave suggestion in the comment box for covers for next month. Suggestions are always welcomed.

PS; All of these covers, and many many more, you can find at Bloody Bookaholic's Facebook Page. Check it out and you are welcome to "like" it.

So I started reading A Fractured Light (A Beautiful Dark #2), by Jocelyn Davies (Teaser).

Goodreads

"Even though it was only March, everything felt like it was coming alive- including me. It had been a long cold winter, a dark winter, full of fear and an aching I'd never known before. But now the spring was coming and I could feel it at the tips of my fingers and on my cheeks. I could choose what I wanted to be, and I had chosen. I was a Rebel, ready to fight agaisnt the very notion of fate and destiny."

So she choose to be a Rebel, or did she? This girl don't know how to make up her mind and make it stay put so who knows. Something may change by the end of the novel. A Beautiful Dark sure wasn't my favorite, but A Fractured Light might be better. I might even like it. If only Skye wouldn't be so flimsy when it came to her damn emotions, or could make up her own mind! Plus, she needs to grow a pair. Like ASAP. In other news Asher is still sort of hot, Cassie is still sort of cool-ish (though oh so gullible), Ian is still infatuated, Dan still eats lots of fries, and Devin is still an ass. All is right with the world.


*This quote was taken from an ARC copy and so it made change in the final product.