Today's TV Tuesday is going to be short, but oh-so-sweet. Because GUESS WHAT?! Austenland is finally out on DVD! So if you weren't able to see it in theatres, now is your chance! Click here to check it out on Amazon. They've also been running some fun contests on Facebook!

I really enjoyed this movie. Was it different from the book? Yes. Quite a lot. But I think the changes made were necessarily for the translation from page to screen. And honestly? I thought the changes were WONDERFUL because it meant that some things in the movie were still a surprise to me! it was like getting a whole new Austenland that was just as good as the original!

And the CAST! Oh man. Do not get me started on the cast. Everyone was brilliant! I really don't think I could have come up with a single person who could have done a better job.

So in a nutshell: BUY THE MOVIE!!!

Trailer

Release Date: March 4th, 2014
Genre: Fairy Tale, Middle Grade
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 304
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens...whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End-both for a story and for a life.

As the daughter of the Evil Queen, Raven Queen's destiny is to follow in her mother's wicked footsteps, but evil is so not Raven's style. She's starting to wonder, what if she rewrote her own story? The royal Apple White, daughter of the Fairest of Them All, has a happy ever after planned for herself, but it depends upon Raven feeding her a poison apple in their future.


What if Raven doesn't sign the Storybook of Legends? It could mean a happily never after for them both.

Blurb: The goal may be to sell Mattel, but this is still 100% Shannon Hale.

Review: I did have a concern going into this book, but it doesn't seem to be the same concern that most people had. In nearly every review I read I saw people saying "I was nervous about Shannon and Mattel working together." To which I say: ...why? For some reason I never had this worry. Yes, I knew that the goal of this book would be to sell the dolls, merchandise, etc. But I also felt pretty confident that Shannon wouldn't have agreed to any kind of book deal if she didn't know she could be true to her own writing.

So no, that wasn't my concern. My concern was simply that this book was clearly targeted for the middle grade audience. Not only am I not a middle grader, I actually really dislike middle grade books (just personally, not in general).

Both of these concerns were resolved by the same fact: This book was written by Shannon Hale. Despite the commercialism behind it, Shannon rocks out some awesome values. And despite the intended middle grade audience, the brilliant writing can make this appealing to all ages!

I'll admit that I struggled through the first few chapters. It was just dripping with puns, and at first the use of the word "hex" was just too much for me: "hexcellent" "hextbook" "hexting" AHHHH!!! But eventually it became just like any other book that makes up its own lexicon, and I got used to it. After that happened I loved this book. There were so many subtle things that I'm not even sure a middle grader would get, but I got it and thought it was hilarious. There were even some sections (particularly when the narrator is addressed directly) where I could hear Shannon reading the book in my head. So yes, this book is meant for middle graders, but in the same way Disney movies are made for kids: most adults can still enjoy it if they embrace a little bit of silly.

And I definitely noticed some awesome messages that Shannon had stuck into the book. There were several, but the main one that stuck out to me was how she portrayed the female body image. Yes nearly every princess in the book is described as being beautiful, but I can't remember one time a character was described as "skinny." One of the main characters puts her hands on her "broad" hips, and then later when called "plump" the character isn't bothered. And another character is positively described as having very strong legs (my favorite character in fact, guess who?). Now... I may be reading too much into this, but when I look at those dolls I see skinny waists, big eyes, and high heels. But when I read this book I see princesses that every girl can love and become. And whether or not Shannon consciously wrote this into the book, I LOVE it!

In fact, I loved everything about it. Was it fluff? Hex yes! Fluff to the max! But what did Austenland teach us about froth and fluff? It's the best part! And honestly, I am just as excited for the sequel to this book as I am for some of her YA books.

Other Reviews (TBA):

• TBA (Loved it!) I can't find one of these on a blog! Just goodreads. Anyone know where I could find one?
• Random Musings of a Bibliophile (It was okay)
• TBA (Didn't Like It.) Also couldn't find a blog with one of these. Instead I found a lot of GoodReads reviews that simply said "It was too fluffy and punny, I couldn't finish."

*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Revealed today was ANOTHER super-secret project from Shannon! This one looks SOOO cute! At first the idea of her partnering with Mattel turned me off (anyone else remember the barbie Princess Academy thing?) but after reading about it I am 100% on board!

Click the image for Shanon's post and more details!

I dunno if I can handle all the Shannon Hale awesomeness happening in the next couple years. My heart may explode!

I was going to post a review today, but this is SOOOOO much more important! NEW SHANNON HALE!!! NEW SHANNON HALE!!! Coming April 2014! Stare in awe at the cover, then CLICK HERE to read what Shannon has to say about it!

EDIT: There's also a giveaway! Again, click that link to learn more!

This last Saturday I had the AMAZING opportunity to attend the Libba Bray and Shannon Hale event. It was BRILLIANT. Probably the funniest author event I've ever gone to. And you can enjoy it to! I uploaded the entire hour to YouTube!

The first video is the entire event, the second video is Libba and Shannon singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and the third video is my favorite rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Which you can only see if you actually come to the blog. No feed readers!). Enjoy! When I have more time I'll try to come back and add bookmarks to my favorite parts. But no promises.

Release Date: August 21st, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 336
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Series: Princess Academy #2
Summary: (Spoilers, highlight to view)

Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting . . . until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she "should" help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city. Picking up where "Princess Academy" left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom.

Blurb: "Holy cow. Holy holy cow. If there ever was a holy cow, I’m invoking said cow now." ~Shannon Hale

Review: I adored this book. No joke. Loved it. I think I may even love it more than the first one. Shall I tell you why?

First of all, the characters were BRILLIANT. Shannon masterfully managed to weave together so many lives that I loved all the characters, especially Miri. I loved watching Miri grow and learn. In the first book Miri became book-smart, and now we get to see her become street-smart and it's just as wonderful.

Another reason? I don't think this book would win the Newberry. Why? Because it's much more plot-driven than Princess Academy. And honestly, I prefer that. Even if you were to take out all of Shannon's writing ability and look at this book JUST AS A STORY, it would still be awesome. Put Shannon's writing in, and it becomes amazing. This one just has such higher stakes than the first one. And the first one had pretty high stakes.

Was it perfect? Well... I'm afraid to call anything perfect. There was a slight love-triangle introduced, and Miri and Peder went through a little bit of sequel-phase, which I'm never a fan of. But honestly, there was very little I didn't like. Shannon has wowed me once again. You should go read these books now so you can be wowed too. Okay? Okay.

Other Reviews:

• Emily's Reading Room (Loved it!)
• Hope, Love, and Happy Endings (It was okay)
• TBA (Didn't like it)

*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

I made both a vlog and picture version of this IMM so you can choose which you prefer. Picture is below vlog, links are below picture!


People mentioned:

• Ashley (Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing)
• Shannon's Blog Post
• Fairy Tale Fortnight
• Emily (Emily's Reading Room)

Won:

• The Day Before, by Lisa Schroeder (Goodreads | Amazon)
• The False Prince, by Jennifer Nielsen (Goodreads | Amazon)
• Fjellprinsessen, by Shannon Hale

For Review:

• Masque of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffin (Goodreads | Amazon)
• The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy (Goodreads | Amazon)

Purchased:

• Everneath, by Brodi Ashton (Goodreads | Amazon)
• Starters, by Lissa Price (Goodreads | Amazon)
• Das Buch der Tausend Tage, by Shannon Hale (Goodreads)
• el Fuego de Enna, by Shannon Hale (Goodreads)

Borrowed:

• Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia & Margie Stohl (Goodreads | Amazon)
• Insurgent, by Veronica Roth (Goodreads | Amazon)

Is anyone going to the Shannon Hale event tomorrow? If you are, let me know in the comments or e-mail me! I want to know who's going to be there!

Release Date: January 31st, 2012
Genre:  Romance, Paranormal
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 423
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Series: Companion to Austenland
Summary:

When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

Blurb: Shannon is as hilarious as ever, but Midnight in Austenland lives up to its name in that it's certainly darker than its predecessor.

Review: This book had everything I love about Shannon's books. It was witty, hilariously funny, and the personal growth that Charlotte experiences was even more wonderful than Jane's in the first Austenland. Seriously, at the end I think I loved Charlotte 10 million times more than Jane, and I love Jane to pieces!

I especially loved how this book had so much meat! If you're a big Shan-fan like me, then you know that Austenland is (quite-lovingly) described as froth. Well this book is the big dense whipped-cream froth on top of hot chocolate with cinnamon! Austenland is primarily a romance, but this book is most certainly a mystery first and foremost which adds fabulous spice to the romance. How cool is that?!  I didn't go in expecting a mystery, so it was fun to really get sucked into it. It was a cool mystery too. I loved who the villain ended up being, and who Charlotte ended up being with. What an AWESOME twist!

However, this is the first time I haven't given a Shannon book 5 flowers, that's because this was the first time that I've felt like I couldn't fully appreciate one of Shannon's adult books. With Austenland it was easy to forget how old Jane was because she was still single and dating, and I'm still single and dating. With The Actor and the Housewife the characters were literally IN MY WORLD (or state at least), and it was easy to relate to Becky and everything that happened around her because they were things I was familiar with.

In this book... I don't know. Maybe a teen of divorced parents might relate to it better? I've always counted myself lucky to have almost NO experience with divorce. And Charlotte's back stories just made me sad, unlike Jane's which just made me laugh. So even though I LOVED it, there were times where I thought the real meat of the story was going over my head. I really felt like it's meant for adults or those with some experience with divorce. Not single 20-somethings living in a happy bubble. Perhaps I shall try it again when I'm an adult. What's that? 20-somethings are technically adults? Pish posh.

Oh! Disclaimer! When I say "meant for adults" I don't mean there's any "graphic" content. There's very minimal profanity, and it never goes beyond kissing. A teen definitely could read this.

But I must admit. I think my favorite line was (some profanity, highlight to view) "I will go mama bear on your ass." I don't like profanity, but this made me do a breakfast club fist-pump into the air. Go Charlotte! I truly loved her, even if I couldn't relate to her.

P.S. If you'd like a review from someone who wasn't bothered by this un-relate-ability thing, you should check out Emily's review here. I especially love (and totally agree) with this part of her review:

If you are a fan of the first novel, you'll really enjoy this one. However, I doubt that this companion will persuade any non-believers. Nor do I think it is meant to. ... Charlotte's story begins sadly, but in a very honest way that I think many women will relate with. And though there is fun and frivolity, I was also pleased that Charlotte grew very significantly as a character throughout the book.

~From Emily's review of Midnight In Austenland on Emily's Reading Room

Man. This is one of those moments where I get super-jealous of other reviewers and their ability to articulate things far better than me. Because GAH! this review was hard to write. I hope I made it clear that my issues with the book are because of PERSONAL things, not because of the book itself. I still believe that Shannon can do no wrong. This book just showed me that she isn't just writing books for me (I know, shocker, right?).



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Yes! Today is the release of Ally Condie's newest book: Crossed! What better way to celebrate then with these AWESOME pumpkins?!
Pumpkins carved by my super-amazing friend, Laura. You can see more of her pumpkins today at Shannon Hale's blog!

My review of Crossed will go up as soon as my brain gets back from it's "vacation" to school-land. Which could be quite a while...

...stupid math history.

It may sound absolutely insane, but I can now sleep better at night knowing they're all finally together.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TODAY IS?! It's the release of the Forest Born special edition with the BEEEE-YOUTIFUL Alison Jay cover. Have you bought yours yet? I've had mine preordered for SEVEN MONTHS. It should arrive tomorrow.



Well? Did you buy it?

It's my four year blogoversary! How crazy is that?! FOUR YEARS! True, my blog didn't really kick it into gear until about 18 months ago, but still. FOUR YEARS! I'm pretty excited about that. I was also excited to realize (maybe I realized this before) but my blogoversary also marks the day I first met/saw Shannon Hale! It's been FIVE years since that. Crazy!

I can't imagine ever stopping blogging. Yes, I love all of my readers, but the blog has just become such an important part of my life that I can't believe it could ever stop. How would I remember what I read? How would I remember how I felt about what I read?

And since I'm so excited about this, I've decided to have a contest! It's been over six months since I did my last guess-the-cover contest, so that's what we're going to do!

Last time you guys were WAY smarter than I gave you credit for, so this time I've made it REALLY HARD. You only have 100x100 pixel squares, and I tried to pick obscure peices of the covers. Here they are! Look below for some hints and contest details.


HINTS:

• All of these books have not yet been released (as of 7-15-2011)
• They will all release in 2011 or early 2012
• All of these books are US covers (so far as I am aware)
• Shannon Hale may be involved
• Not all have been featured on Squeaky Books, but some
• They are all books I REALLY want

Those are your only hints! And there are two prizes!

Prize #1 Fastest 100%
The first prize will go to the first person who gets ALL of the covers correct.

Prize #2 Random
I will then randomly select a winner from all participants. The more covers you get right, the more entries you get!

Both winners will get to choose any book they want from Amazon.com under $13.

Here are the details:

• Giveaway open 7/15-7/29
• Open to ages 13 and up
• Open to US residents only (Puerto Rico is fine)
• You MUST have at least one cover correct to be entered
• You must fill out THE FORM to enter
• DO NOT LEAVE ANSWERS IN COMMENTS
• Multiple submissions WILL NOT COUNT. If you enter more than once, only your first submission will be counted. If you're going for the 100% prize, you have to have them all at the same time. Much more challenging that way, I think.

Hey, y'all! I just want to take a moment to promote the following book:

If the TITLE doesn't make you want to buy this book, then I don't know what will. Except perhaps them AWESOME story.

I have read this book, but I have no idea how to review picture books, so this is not a review. It is just me saying that Dean Hale is awesome and you need to go buy his book right now.

If you want proof of his awesomeness you should check out this post by Shannon Hale (his wife) and this post by Dean. And while you're visiting dreadcrumbs you should read some of the past posts and be OVERWHELMED by his awesomeness.

If you know a kid, or if you have an inner kid, then you should buy this book. It's hilarious, and the phonetics in it are great for kids learning language, and adults looking for a laugh.

This is all I have to say on the subject. Go buy the book.

All right, here's that bookshelf tour I promised. It's a pretty rough video, but you get the general idea.

Well, not until October actually. Feast your eyes people. This is legit:


This honestly has made me the happiest person ever. I LOVE the earthy-tones, and the fire sisters.




Tee hee. Yes. I did have this posted only 3 minutes after Shannon herself posted it. If any of you want to challenge my shan-fan-ness, you're going DOWN!

No "real" post today because I spent all day performing Austenland. It was so, so fabulous. Thank you to everyone who came.

And what made it even better? I came home to this:



No, I don't actually have a copy of the book, just this not-quite-completed image. But that is enough for now my friends. Just the fact that it's coming 1 year from now gets me all excited.

A good day.

Hey local peeps! I have something FABULOUS to tell you about!


If you aren't local, you can still donate by clicking here.

To know everything there is to know, you should go to the website:


Additional Resources:

• Silent Auction (Donate to charity AND win cool things!)
• Shannon Hale Talks about WFC
• Bree Despain talks about WFC
• Ally Condie talks about WFC
• Emily Wing Smith talks about WFC
• James Dashner talks about WFC

No, not me, the REAL Enna!

Some of you may have heard of the YA Fantasy Showdown, eh? Well guess what? ENNA IS LOSING!! To who? *scoff* Percy Jackson! The outrage! The audacity! You must CLICK HERE and vote for Enna. You MUST. I insist! Go now!

I have a FABULOUS reader, Maria who saw my post on the fun UK Shannon Hale covers and she sent me these!


Aren't these EPIC? I love Love LOVE the Enna Burning cover! Even though I'm generally against people on covers, I just think it's so intense.

Thanks, Maria!




Here's just a bonus, the Princess Academy French edition. Don't like this cover.