"Waiting on" Wednesday: A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Title:  A Need So Beautiful

Author:  Suzanne Young

Publication date:  June 21, 2011

Suzanne Young's:  blog | twitter | facebook
Pre-order it here:  IndieBound | Amazon | Borders | B & N
Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | LibraryThing

Summary (from Suzanne's Blog):

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger. 

There have been others before who’ve felt the Need, but they’re gone—erased from the memories of everyone whose lives they had touched. It's as though they never existed. This is the fate that awaits Charlotte. But the last thing Charlotte wants to do is disappear, to be Forgotten. She wants to stay with her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. She wishes she could just ignore the Need, but she can’t. And as everyone important in her life begins to slowly forget her, she has to decide if she’ll fight the Need in order to remain herself—no matter how dark the consequences. 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.  

Awesome Book Event! Richelle Mead!

Richelle Mead

Last night I attended a Powell's book signing event featuring the fabulous Richelle Mead!  It was awesome to meet her and to hear more about her writing process and upcoming projects.  She read a bit of Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5), answered several questions from the audience, and signed lots of books!  If you would like a signed copy of Vampire Academy, be sure to check out our giveaway post HERE.  Candace from Candace's Book Blog will also be giving away a signed copy of Vampire Academy, so you can enter both contests to double your odds.  :-)

Rather than summarize the whole event for you, I decided to record Richelle's Spirit Bound reading and most of her Q & A session to share with you guys.  (My apologies for the shaky camera work and my noisy camera that creaks and clicks while attempting to focus.)  You can find all seven clips on TheEagerReaders' YouTube Channel.

Part 1 - Richelle responds to a question about whether her characters are based upon real people. She describes the inspiration for Abe's wardrobe in her Vampire Academy series. She also answers a question about whether she would rather be a Dhampir, a Moroi, or a Strigoi.

Part 2 - Richelle responds to a question about which scenes she enjoys writing the most.  She also discusses the challenges of working on a scene repeatedly throughout the editing process.

Part 3 - Richelle talks about the possibility of a Vampire Academy movie now that the film rights have been optioned.  She describes how little input authors have in the movie-making process once the rights are sold.

Part 4 - Richelle responds to a question about why she chose to have her vampires hail from Russia and Romania.

Part 5 - Richelle discusses the way short story anthologies typically come together and mentions her story about Lissa's parents in the upcoming Kisses from Hell anthology.

Part 6 - Richelle responds to a question about where she gets the ideas for her books & mentions a metal dragon sculpture she recently stumbled across in Leavenworth, Washington that captured her interest.

Richelle reads an excerpt of Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5).  This excerpt is from chapter three, and Richelle pauses part way through the excerpt to explain a bit more about how Rose came to be eating a popsicle in that scene.  :-)

The Vampire Academy series is one of my favorite discoveries this year!  I don't know how it took me until May to pick up the first book, but as soon as I finished the first book I couldn't wait to devour the other four.  It is definitely in the running for the most addictive series I've read all year.  Rose is a fantastically  tough and snarky heroine, her best-friend Lissa is charismatic and complicated, and the guys in this series are DELICIOUS!  If you haven't picked up the Vampire Academy series yet, you may want to read the first five books before the sixth and final book, Last Sacrifice, is released December 7th.  To learn more about the Vampire Academy books or Richelle's two adult urban fantasy series, visit Richelle's website, blog, facebook, or twitter.

Vampire Academy

Buy it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing | Visual Bookshelf

Frostbite - Vampire Academy #2

Buy it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing | Visual Bookshelf

Shadow Kiss - Vampire Academy #3

Buy it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon 

Add it to your: Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing | Visual Bookshelf

Blood Promise - Vampire Academy #4

Buy it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing | Visual Bookshelf

Spirit Bound - Vampire Academy #5

Buy it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing | Visual Bookshelf

Last Sacrifice - Vampire Academy #6

Pre-order it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | Library Thing | Visual Bookshelf

I am excited to check out Richelle Mead's two adult series, her Georgina Kincaid books and Dark Swan books.  In addition to meeting Richelle and having fun visiting with Candace, it was wonderful to see local authors Lisa Schroeder and Suzanne Young again.  Lisa Schroeder has a children's book called Little Chimp's Big Day coming out September 7th.  It looks completely adorable, and I hope to be able to attend her signing event next month.  Suzanne Young's third Naughty List book, A Good Boy is Hard to Find, will be in stores November 25th.  And she also shared a bit of info regarding her upcoming YA novel, A Need So Beautiful (which I cannot wait to read)!  Lisa and Suzanne are seriously the sweetest and friendliest authors ever, and it is always a pleasure to visit with them.  If you haven't pre-ordered their upcoming books yet, be sure to check out the links below.

Lisa Schroeder's:

Pre-order it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository | Powell's | Amazon | B & N

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Shelfari | Visual Bookshelf

Suzanne Young's:

Pre-order it:  IndieBound | The Book Depository |  B & N

Add it to your:  Goodreads | Library Thing  

Winners!!

Thank you to everyone who entered our first two giveaways here on The Eager Readers!  Eighty-four people entered our giveaway for Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder, and the winners are:

1st prize = Sherry S.

First prize = a signed, hardback copy of The Body Finder + a signed bookmark + a sticker + a bracelet                                               

2nd prize = Jamie L.

Second prize = a signed The Body Finder poster + a signed bookmark + a sticker + a bracelet
3rd prize = Wendy

Third prize = a signed bookmark + a sticker

4th prize = Jessica  (from Book Sake)

Fourth prize = a signed bookmark + a sticker

Thirty-seven people entered our giveaway for Suzanne Young's The Naughty List.  And the winner is:

1st prize = Sophia L.

First prize = A signed copy of  The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

All winners have been contacted via email and have 48 hours to respond before new winners will be drawn.  Thank you to everyone who entered!  We will have another book giveaway beginning Monday!  You can stop by to see if you won The Body Finder contest at Candace's Book Blog HERE.


Happy Reading!  :-)

Flower Friday: Rockfoil

"Pixie Rose" Rockfoil

Today's flower is "Pixie Rose" Rockfoil.  This little evergreen perennial has makes a beautiful groundcover.  It blooms from mid-April to early June & requires very little attention.  It grows well in partial shade and spreads quickly.  We've never had any pest or frost issues with ours, but it does occasionally get a bit sparse toward the center of the plant as the little green mound spreads outward in all directions forming an expanding ring of green around a fairly sparse center. You can read more about rockfoil (Mossy Saxifrage) at Dave's Garden & Botany's Saxifraga page.

Brief book update:

I met P.C. & Kristin Cast, authors of the House of Night series, last night and should have an event report about that posted soon.  I'm also planning to go see L.K. Madigan, Lisa Schroeder, and Suzanne Young tomorrow afternoon, and I will be giving away a signed copy of Lisa Schroeder's It's Raining Cupcakes here on The Eager Readers.  So look for that giveaway post on Wednesday.

Reminder: Our giveaways for The Body Finder & The Naughty List end tonight!

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter our signed book giveaways for Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder and Suzanne Young's The Naughty List.  Both contests end at 11:59 pm (PST) on Friday, April 30th!  Winners will be announced Saturday evening!

Click HERE to enter to win a signed copy of Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder (plus swag).

Click HERE to enter to win a signed copy of Suzanne Young's The Naughty List.

Book Giveaway!!! The Naughty List by Suzanne Young!

UPDATE (5/1): CONTEST CLOSED

37 individuals entered with a total of 168 entries

Winner = Sophia L.

I had the pleasure of meeting Suzanne Young last month at the SCBWI Book Fair, and I was fortunate enough to see her again at Kimberly Derting's signing event for The Body Finder last weekend.  Suzanne is sweet and funny, and I am very excited to have picked up an extra signed copy of her debut novel, The Naughty List, to share with one of you!  :-)

The Naughty List summary:

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility!

Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe?

The Naughty List.  Is your boyfriend on it?

You can read my full review of The Naughty List HERE.  In addition to the two remaining titles in the Naughty List series, So Many Boys (available this June) and A Good Boy is Hard to Find (available this November), Suzanne Young has two other books due out next year:  

A Need So Beautiful is scheduled for publication next summer.  
Goodreads summary: 

In which a 17-year-old discovers that by performing the good deeds that her body compels her to, she will disappear into the Light and be forgotten, but by fighting “the Need,” her fate could be even more dire.  

And Delinquents is scheduled for publication next fall.  

Goodreads summary: 

When seventeen-year-old Savannah Sutton drives a pencil through her boyfriend’s hand during math class, she’s sent to the not-so-esteemed Brooks Academy—an alternative high school. The legal system has deemed her a delinquent, even though she was only defending Evan, her mentally handicapped little brother. Somebody had to. 

With junkies and toughies by her side, Savannah is finding that loyalty is worth more than any prom date or squad spot. And when Cameron, the ridiculously sexy new guy, turns up at school, Savvy’s life starts to feel almost normal.

But now her ex-boyfriend is back seeking revenge and Savannah must do everything she can to keep her brother safe. Even if it means giving up the only good things in her life. Even if it means proving what they thought all along—that she’s a delinquent. 

You can learn more about all five of Suzanne Young's books on her blog.  :-)

Contest Details:

The Prize:
A signed copy of  The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

Contest deadline:
April 30th at 11:59 pm  (PST)

How to Enter:
Simply fill out the form near the bottom of this post.  You will receive +3 entries for being a follower of  The Eager Readers.  *required*  (Limited to US residents only.  Sorry!)

Extra Entries:
+2  for posting a link to this contest on your blog [sidebar is fine]
+1  for tweeting the following link to this contest:  
Book giveaway!!  Enter to win a signed copy of THE NAUGHTY LIST by @suzanne_young!  Visit @TheEagerReaders (ends 4/30) ---> http://wi.nr/rB
+1  for sharing a link to this contest on facebook
+1  for visiting Suzanne Young's fun blog

Please don't hesitate to comment on this post or to ask any questions you may have in the comments section, but remember that only entries submitted on the form below will be counted toward the contest.  Thank you!!  :-)