Oct 31, 2014

Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Anna Dressed in Blood


Beware, beware, the third (!!!) annual Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf, a Halloween feature I like to do here on Beauty and the Bookshelf, IS FINALLY HERE...and coming to an end. For the first two years I had thirteen days of interviews and guest posts from authors whose books could somehow relate to this spooky holiday. (You can find year one here and year two here.) But this year, I'm switching it up and doing something different.

From now through Halloween, I will be posting LOTS (okay, so not LOTS, but not exactly a little either) of posts with different ideas for Halloween costumes of fictional characters! I did this for a number of reasons, one because I wanted to have a lot of FUN, and secondly because, hello, who doesn't want to dress up as a character from a book?

Costumes these days can be super pricey and, for us ladies, quite revealing. And maybe you don't want to be a cop or a devil or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Maybe you want to be a book character, because HOW COOL would that be?! So I'm here to help you. I'm going to show you how to take the simplest things you might own and turn them into a costume fit to represent fictional characters, with some modern twists, of course.

Are you ready?

Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Going Goth with Eve Rosser


Beware, beware, the third (!!!) annual Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf, a Halloween feature I like to do here on Beauty and the Bookshelf, IS FINALLY HERE! For the first two years I had thirteen days of interviews and guest posts from authors whose books could somehow relate to this spooky holiday. (You can find year one here and year two here.) But this year, I'm switching it up and doing something different.

From now through Halloween, I will be posting LOTS (okay, so not LOTS, but not exactly a little either) of posts with different ideas for Halloween costumes of fictional characters! I did this for a number of reasons, one because I wanted to have a lot of FUN, and secondly because, hello, who doesn't want to dress up as a character from a book?

Costumes these days can be super pricey and, for us ladies, quite revealing. And maybe you don't want to be a cop or a devil or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Maybe you want to be a book character, because HOW COOL would that be?! So I'm here to help you. I'm going to show you how to take the simplest things you might own and turn them into a costume fit to represent fictional characters, with some modern twists, of course.

Are you ready?

Morganville: The Series - Exclusive Behind the Scenes Look


I am such a big fan of Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series that you don't even know. I have all the books (of course I do) and am now starting my collection of the UK covers. And this series? It's one of my most absolute favorites and I love it so, so much. Morganville is like a second home. I know the characters and they seem so real; I love their stories; and just EVERYTHING. And now these books are also a web series, which is super freaking cool. So it is with great pleasure that I share some exclusive info with you!

Oct 30, 2014

Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Let's Get Vicious


Beware, beware, the third (!!!) annual Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf, a Halloween feature I like to do here on Beauty and the Bookshelf, IS FINALLY HERE! For the first two years I had thirteen days of interviews and guest posts from authors whose books could somehow relate to this spooky holiday. (You can find year one here and year two here.) But this year, I'm switching it up and doing something different.

From now through Halloween, I will be posting LOTS (okay, so not LOTS, but not exactly a little either) of posts with different ideas for Halloween costumes of fictional characters! I did this for a number of reasons, one because I wanted to have a lot of FUN, and secondly because, hello, who doesn't want to dress up as a character from a book?

Costumes these days can be super pricey and, for us ladies, quite revealing. And maybe you don't want to be a cop or a devil or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Maybe you want to be a book character, because HOW COOL would that be?! So I'm here to help you. I'm going to show you how to take the simplest things you might own and turn them into a costume fit to represent fictional characters, with some modern twists, of course.

Are you ready?

Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Enter the Selection


Beware, beware, the third (!!!) annual Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf, a Halloween feature I like to do here on Beauty and the Bookshelf, IS FINALLY HERE! For the first two years I had thirteen days of interviews and guest posts from authors whose books could somehow relate to this spooky holiday. (You can find year one here and year two here.) But this year, I'm switching it up and doing something different.

From now through Halloween, I will be posting LOTS (okay, so not LOTS, but not exactly a little either) of posts with different ideas for Halloween costumes of fictional characters! I did this for a number of reasons, one because I wanted to have a lot of FUN, and secondly because, hello, who doesn't want to dress up as a character from a book?

Costumes these days can be super pricey and, for us ladies, quite revealing. And maybe you don't want to be a cop or a devil or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Maybe you want to be a book character, because HOW COOL would that be?! So I'm here to help you. I'm going to show you how to take the simplest things you might own and turn them into a costume fit to represent fictional characters, with some modern twists, of course.

Are you ready?

Oct 29, 2014

Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Dressing as Tiger Lily


Beware, beware, the third (!!!) annual Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf, a Halloween feature I like to do here on Beauty and the Bookshelf, IS FINALLY HERE! For the first two years I had thirteen days of interviews and guest posts from authors whose books could somehow relate to this spooky holiday. (You can find year one here and year two here.) But this year, I'm switching it up and doing something different.

From now through Halloween, I will be posting LOTS (okay, so not LOTS, but not exactly a little either) of posts with different ideas for Halloween costumes of fictional characters! I did this for a number of reasons, one because I wanted to have a lot of FUN, and secondly because, hello, who doesn't want to dress up as a character from a book?

Costumes these days can be super pricey and, for us ladies, quite revealing. And maybe you don't want to be a cop or a devil or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Maybe you want to be a book character, because HOW COOL would that be?! So I'm here to help you. I'm going to show you how to take the simplest things you might own and turn them into a costume fit to represent fictional characters, with some modern twists, of course.

Are you ready?

Waiting on Wednesday (105)

Waiting on Wednesday
is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 
that people are very much anticipating.

Seriously. WHO ISN'T WAITING ON THIS? I think we all want need this book like right freaking now.

Oct 28, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday (105)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten Books to Read to 
Get in the Halloween Spirit

Oct 24, 2014

Let's Talk About Balancing School + Blogging


Life is like a nice big bowl of cereal. (Not what you thought I was going to say, was it?) If you pour in too much milk then your cereal is just swimming in it. But if you don't pour enough milk into the bowl, then your cereal is too dry and unenjoyable. Just like a PB&J sandwich, fruit salad, or Top Ramen (I don't like too much water in my final product), it's all about two things: ratio and balance. Too much of one thing doesn't work and too little of another won't work well, either. It's also like blogging and school (or work).

Oct 22, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (104)

Waiting on Wednesday
is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 
that people are very much anticipating.

This is set at Woodstock. WOODSTOCK. HOW GROOVY IS THAT?

Oct 21, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday (104)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten New Series
I Want to Start

Oct 19, 2014

Mara's Retribution: Discussing The Unbecoming

In case you missed the news, there's a readalong of the ENTIRE Mara Dyer trilogy happening RIGHT NOW. It's called #MarasRetribution and is hosted by Stacee from Adventures of a Book Junkie, Danielle from Love at First Page, and Katie from Polished Page-Turners, and myself! To keep up with the reading schedule in time for the release of The Retribution of Mara Dyer, participants should be finishing up with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. And that just happens to be what I'm discussing today!

Oct 15, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (103)

Waiting on Wednesday
is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 
that people are very much anticipating.

While I wasn't as big a fan of the second book, book one in this trilogy was VERY GOOD. In fact, this trilogy itself is pretty gosh darn good. So OBVIOUSLY I'm waiting on the final book and hoping it will be nice to me.

Oct 14, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday (103)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten Places Books Have
Made Me Want to Visit

Oct 13, 2014

Review: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Title: The One and Only Ivan
Authors: Katherine Applegate
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publishing Date: January 7, 2012
Pages/Format: 307, Hardcover
Add on Goodreads!

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.


Book in One Word: IVAAAAAN.

Oct 10, 2014

Be Our Tattooed Guest: Shari Green + The Words of Aslan


Welcome to Be Our Tattooed Guest, an original feature here on Beauty and the Bookshelf! This feature is all about tattoos of the literary, poetic, and bookish variety, and people showing them off! To learn more about Be Our Tattooed Guest, please go here.

This week features a tattooed guest who's an author, with a quote from a very popular author's book tattooed on her arm.

Oct 9, 2014

Review: This Night So Dark by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Title: This Night So Dark
Authors: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publishing Date: October 7, 2014
Pages/Format: 109, eBook
Add on Goodreads!

Don’t miss the breathtaking short story that connects the first two novels in the Starbound trilogy, These Broken Stars and This Shattered World

Tarver still has nightmares about the night, six months before the Icarus crash, when he rescued a group of civilian researchers being held hostage by brutal mercenaries. Now Tarver and Lilac must reconcile his memories of that fateful night with the truth that they uncovered on a mysterious planet after the Icarus crashed. 


Book in One Word: MOOORE.

Oct 8, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (102)

Waiting on Wednesday
is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 
that people are very much anticipating.

I have yet to read anything by this author, though I do own the first book in the trilogy she's known for. I had a friend tell me this book was really, really good, but I wasn't sold; this isn't the kind of book I read much of. But then I read the beginning during the YA Scavenger Hunt, and I read the character's voice, and I was sold.

Oct 7, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday (102)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten Character
Driven Novels

Oct 6, 2014

September Falling into October

September! An anticipated author signing, school, and many books! And then it's October, woohoo!

Oct 4, 2014

Blog Tour: Shadows Fall Away by Kit Forbes

Hello, shadows of the internet! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Kit Forbes's Shadows Fall Away (you can see all the stops on the tour here). If you're a fan of Jack the Ripper, you maaay want to check this book out. And lucky for you, I have all the info on Shadows Fall Away, some info on the author and where you can non-murderously stalk her, and a guest post about why Forbes wrote this book with some of the elements that she did. Plus there's a giveaway, so go ahead and take it all in, but don't go down any dark or shadowy alleys...

Oct 3, 2014

Be Our Tattooed Guest: Christine + Miles to Go


Welcome to Be Our Tattooed Guest, an original feature here on Beauty and the Bookshelf! This feature is all about tattoos of the literary, poetic, and bookish variety, and people showing them off! To learn more about Be Our Tattooed Guest, please go here.

Today features a feathery tattoo with a quote from a poet who's a little frosty...

Oct 1, 2014

Mara's Retribution: A Readalong

Ever since we read the beginning of Michelle Hodkin's The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, "My name is not Mara Dyer," we've been wondering who exactly Mara Amitra Dyer is. We've seen her unbecoming and her evolution and now, in just over a month, her retribution is here. And so it is time for #MarasRetribution.