Contest!

Oh my beloved blog and bloggy friends how I have missed you! This past year has been the most wonderful and exhausting of my life! Between working two jobs, getting pregnant, and being the mother to a newborn I have hardly read any books never mind doing any book reviews. With that said in the past three months my reading has slowly begun to gain momentum as I get into a routine and in turn I will hopefully get my groove back!

I have been wanting to have a contest to help me get back into the swing of things and then I had an idea....apparently as a mother you would do just about anything for your baby....my baby is in a contest...to win a photshoot and be on the cover of a local free parenting magazing....I am winning...not by much...I need more votes....help?...I give you a free book?...

Ok yes I am shamelessly asking for votes in exchange for any book purchased from the book depository that is under $20.00! But its a win win situation! Just look below at how cute my son is :)

So to win a FREE book $15.00 or under from the Book Depository please vote for my son by clicking here and then clicking "like" on BOTH City Parent and Emmet's photo. Please also comment in this post that you voted so that I can enter you in the random draw. I realize this magazine is irrelevant to most of you so by all means after the contest is over and the winner announced feel free to "unlike" the page. Contest closes on August 19th.

Me pregnant 34 Weeks (Emmet was born early at 36 weeks)

The first time I ever held him

The day he came home

This is him yesterday having fun in his bumbo chair

And this is the photo you will be voting on!

Good luck to all who enter and THANK YOU for your vote!

The Count Down Is On!

I have definitely not been with "the program" for some time, so it came as a surprise when someone asked me if I knew when The City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare was coming out and for the first time in forever I did not know the answer! While you are likely more "with" the program then I am at the moment, for those of you who don't know, the release date is fast approaching and we will be blessed with the fourth installment in the Mortal Instrument series on April 5th, 2011.

It only took reading the first few paragraphs of City of Fallen Angels to be sucked back into the world of Shadowhunters, vamps and werewolves and after searching for a book to capture my attention for some time now I anticipate that this may be the one to have me curled up on the couch for hours while I read it front to back as I did with the previous three novels in the series.

I gather from the first chapter that the narrator of this novel will be Simon and while I fully expect there will be lots of interaction with all the main characters I hope I enjoy the focus being on him as much as I did with it being on Clary.

What I loved so much about the Mortal Instrument series was its appeal to teens and adults alike as well as being a YA novel enjoyed by both men and women. I remember being at my cottage and watching as the novels were passed from myself to my younger cousin, my aunts, and eventually even to my uncle! The appeal of these novels seemed to stem from a fascination with the concept of Shadowhunters while still having a strong foundation in the ever popular themes of vampires and werewolves.

Below I have attached a few "extras" that I found of interest regarding the City of Fallen Angels and the Mortal Instruments series. I look forward to reading the book when its released and (fingers crossed) posting an ecstatic review of the novel the following day!

Web site: The Mortal Instruments
Author Blog: Cassandra Clare 
Click here for the first chapter of City of Fallen Angels




For those of you who have not read the first novel in the series, City of Bones below is the book trailer.

Will it be as good?

I was sad to read the final book in the Vampire Academy series and I knew she had something else in the works but I didn't expect Bloodlines to be released so soon (August 23, 2011). You can read more about the debut novel/spin off here in an EW article. As for the cover....I am not a huge fan. While the up close faces is reminiscent of her previous covers I really dislike the font and flowery vines of the title. At first I was put off by the swirly vines on Sydney's face because it reminded me to much of the covers of The House of Night series however my currently forgetful (baby brained) mind remembered that it is in fact a gold filigree tattoo given to alchemists in the Vampire Academy series (if my memory is recalling correctly). For those of you looking for a little more click here for a blog entry by Richelle Mead detailing more about the novel, for her official web site click here, and for a visual aide in counting down to the release of Boodlines click here.

SOS

In my last post I mentioned that I am 4.5 months pregnant and I have gone from reading 3 books on average a week to 1 a month....it sad....its depressing...its got to STOP! Ironically my pregnancy coincided with me getting a second job so I have much less free time to read however part of the problem is I just can't seem to get...hooked by any new authors or novels. I started Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare over a month ago and while its an excellent story I am not devouring it as I had hoped. I have a stack of books I still need to review but I am looking for that something special to get me back into the reading groove. So that's hopefully where my readers come in! If you have read something that enthralled you and that you couldn't put down for even a moment please let me know! My trips to Chapters haven't revealed anything  but maybe my readers will!

Pregnant and Reading

Well its time to reveal that I am pregnant! This is my husbands and my first child and we have waited a long time for this miracle to happen! Pregnancy and working two jobs has drastically impacted my reading for the past 4 months. For the first 3 months I just slept ALL THE TIME! And then I got sick with the flu and couldn't take any medication. So for a woman who averages reading 2 to 3 books a week I have managed to read only 3 books in the past 4 months.....yes its sad I know. While I am still tired and working 2 jobs I hope to finally get back into my reading swing. I have quite a few books I still need to read and review before taking on any new material but on a go forward basis I don't think I'll be reading quite as much as normal! With that said I do hope to be posting a review a week in addition to getting back to posting book covers, author interviews, book news, etc. Thank you all for having patience with me and for not deleting me from your blog roll. Never did I imagine pregnancy would make me this tired or this disinterested in doing my favorite thing (reading of course)!

Hopefully within the next two weeks you will see the pace picking up on The Book Guru!

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday :)

Happy Reading,

Lindsey