Thanks for stopping by! I'm here to share all things Bookish and also news about Movies, TV Shows, and even Video Games I love! I love to read your comments :)
In a
land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a
deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally
transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains,
and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:
Cleo: A
princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into
enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.
Jonas:
Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that
have kept his country impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s
revolution centuries in the making.
Lucia: A
girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her
past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.
Magnus:
Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize
that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...
The only
outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant
when all they know has collapsed?
I've seen this book compared to Game of
Thrones, like it’s The Game of
Thrones for YA crowd. At first I was like no way because I love GOT and I didn't think that comparison could be true but, then I read Falling Kingdoms and this book was epic!
So I could see how some would compare the two.
Morgan
has written a High Fantasy tale that will take its rightful place among some of
the best High Fantasy for YA written! This story has so many twists and turns,
magic and treachery, and is told from multiple POV’s. I will admit there’s such
a big cast of characters that it was a bit confusing at first and, I had to
keep flipping to the beginning of the book to where the cast is written out by
land. Also her world building is fantastic. Oh and don’t get too attached to
any of the characters you never know who will live and who will die. I actually
became quite attached to a few(Magnus especially he was a tortured soul that just happened to be drop dead gorgeous and I fell hard for him!) and I won’t say if they survived or not.
I could
ramble on about this book forever but I would be getting into spoilers and
y’all really need to read this one for yourselves. I am dying to get my hands
on book 2!
I chose
a passage that I loved to share with you all.
He reached down to take her hand in
his. “I was so worried about you.”
Cleo was surprised that he’d drawn so
close to her. “I know.”
“You could have been killed.”
“Theon, I wasn't thinking straight.”
“Neither was I. And neither am I at
this very moment.”
She looked up at him just as he
captured his mouth with his and kissed her deeply.
This was not a chaste kiss of
friendship. This was a kiss of true passion, such as she’d only dreamed of
before. Her heart leapt in her chest and she wrapped her arms around him to
pull him closer. When it ended, he stepped back from her, his eyes steady on
the ground, a deep frown creasing his brow.
“My humble apologies for that,
princess.”
Make sure to go grab this one when it comes out or pre-order it from the links above! I will definitely be buying my copy to add to my High Fantasy shelves!
Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of
course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting
on Wednesday Meme!
This week the book I’m dying to read is Unbreakable by Elizabeth
Norris! I am seriously dying to read this one! I loved Unraveling and I can’t
wait to read more about Janelle and my dear sweet Ben this boy totally stole my
heart!
Four months after Ben
disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll
never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally
starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay
shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking
ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the
prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben
doesn’t turn himself over within five days.
And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own
world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay,
regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real
culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever.
Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin
to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may
not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before
everyone she cares about is killed?
So what do you think?
Will you be adding this to your pile? What are you dying to read this week?
Hey y’all!
Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Big Honcho Media I have 2 finished copies
of Julie Kagawa’s The Lost Prince to giveaway! I’m a huge fan of Julie’s books
so I’m super stoked to be able to host this giveaway and get Ethan, Megan, Ash,
Puck, Grim, and all of Julie’s Fey out there into the world! So fill out the
Rafflecopter form below!
About The Lost Prince
Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them. That is Ethan
Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his
reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the
rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall
for.
Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's
world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with
nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a
land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny
comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.
About The Iron Fey Series
The Iron Fey saga follows half-human, half-faery Meghan Chase as she
fights to claim her magical birthright.
Meghan’s journey begins in the mortal world, when her half-brother
Ethan is kidnapped. The mission to rescue the innocent child draws Meghan into
the Nevernever—the magical world—where the never-before-seen Iron fey are
raining destruction upon traditional faeries. Meghan’s quest is fraught with
unimagined dangers, unpredictable powers…and an utterly forbidden love.
Now little Ethan is all grown up—and a new breed of fey has come for
him. Bound by blood to a world he despises, Ethan plunges into the Nevernever searching
for answers: who are the ghostly assassins hunting him? Who controls them? And
why are exiled and half-breed faeries vanishing from the mortal world?
With a vulnerable human girl to protect and an enigmatic faery ally
he could never have imagined, Ethan embarks on his own Fey saga. Along the way
he will encounter kin, comrades and deadly new enemies. He will discover his
formidable strengths, and his deepest weaknesses—and he will fight for his life
against the Forgotten. The second book in the Call of the Forgotten trilogy will
be released November 2013.
About the author
Born in Sacramento, CA, Julie Kagawa moved to Hawaii at the age of
nine. There she learned many things: how to bodyboard, that teachers scream
when you put centipedes in their desks and that writing stories in math class
is a fantastic way to kill time. Her teachers were glad to see her graduate.
Julie now lives in Louisville, KY, with her husband and a plethora of pets. She
still laughs whenever she sees a centipede.
In addition to The Call of the Forgotten trilogy, Julie will be
releasing book 2 of her Blood of Eden series, THE ETERNITY CURE, in May 2013.
Hey ya’ll! Welcome to my stop on the Crewel Blog Tour! I have an interview today between author,
Gennifer Albin and her editor, Janine from Farrar Straus & Giroux! I also
have a finished copy of Crewel to
giveaway and a Crewel bracelet! Don’t
know what Crewel is? Check it out!
And make sure to check out myreview!
Crewel
Gennifer
Albin
Release
Date: October 16, 2012
Hardcover:
368 pages
Publisher:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (Macmillan)
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old
Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild
is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is
everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being
something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very
fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how
many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t
interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing,
and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen
to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to
pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.
Now on to
the interview!
To Janine: When did you know you were going to buy Crewel?
I knew from reading the very first sentence that CREWEL was a
project that I had to have! I read the manuscript one summer afternoon while
pretending to play with my son in the sandbox and pool (good thing my husband
was there to actually take care of the poor child!), and fell in love with it.
How many people read it in-house before you offered? A handful of people in
marketing and sales and FSG's publisher, Simon Boughton. Everyone agreed that it
was the perfect project for FSG's list: it is just the right blend of literary
and commercial, and it's artfully written.
To Genn: When did you know you were going to choose
FSG/Janine?
It was a hard decision, because it felt so important. It
was my debut book, after all! It was really down to two houses, and Janine
understood I wanted this story to be a trilogy. The other editor thought
two might do. Believe me, I couldn't squash this story into two books!
Then we (my agent and I) received an email the day before auction closed
with an amazing plan for the book, and that pretty much clinched it. I
slept on it, woke up the next morning and called my agent to accept the FSG
deal.
What's your editorial process like?
It involves lots and lots of reading and re-reading, and asking
questions, as well as more detailed line edits. It's especially important when
world-building is involved.
What she said! I tend to layer in as I revise, so
rereading is crucial. Plus, I get a little wild with my worldbuilding and
plots, so we have to make sure they make sense.
What are you most excited about in coming books in the Crewel
World trilogy?
Watching Adelice hone her skills and become who she destined to
be.
Writing kissing scenes.
What? It’s true.
Which boy would be your fictional crush in the book?
Hmm. They're all too young for me! But the sixteen-year-old me
would definitely have crushed on Erik because he's a little bit
dangerous.
That’s hard to say, especially since I know who she ends up
with. I plead the fifth.
To Janine: Was it the world or one of the characters that
hooked you?
Both! I love the world Genn has created. It's so rich and
unique, and it feels completely real. Genn has a gift at crafting characters
that come alive on the page, and you find yourself emotionally invested in
their lives. Plus, she is a master at giving the reader villains that you will
love to hate.
Who is your favorite character and why?
Adelice, of course! She's tough and determined and I like that
in a girl. Beyond that, I totally enjoyed when Maela showed up in scenes. She
is pure evil in a good way.
I won’t lie. I love
Cormac. I can’t even say I love to hate
him. He just flows onto the page.
Will you work together on future books? (lol, I'll have to
get through writing the rest of this series before we can answer that!)
YES! Genn is an editor's dream author. She's fun and smart, and
she views the process as a collaboration, which it should be.
I have to finish this series first! But I love Janine and FSG, and I think
there’s a lot of value to building a relationship with a publishing houses
rather than jumping around too much.
Can you tell I’m excited?!?!?! LOL well I am! Y’all know how much I
loved Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins!
Hell I even co-hosted the Sweet Read along with Mindy, Rachel, Tara, and Nancy!
So when I found out that the rest of the series had finally gotten picked up (Thanks
Harper Teen for lagging and giving me a heart attack lol) I couldn’t wait to
see the new cover! And it’s finally here!!!!!
So without further ado I present you with the cover for Sweet Peril!
Anna Whitt, daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised
herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive
to make such a claim. She’d been naive about a lot of things. Haunted by demon
whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing
her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl.
Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe,
son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.
When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds
herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain
support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon
becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping
to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put
aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and
face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?
Book 3 of The Sweet Trilogy, Sweet Reckoning, is slated
for spring/summer 2014.
Gorgeous Right?????? I'm dying to read it even more now!!!
About Wendy:
Wendy Higgins was born in Alaska, grew up an Army brat, and lived all
over the United States before settling in the Washington, DC area. She attended
George Mason University for her undergrad degree in creative writing, and
Radford University for her masters in curriculum and instruction. Wendy taught
9th and 12th grade English in a rural school before becoming a mother and
author. She now lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son. Sweet
Peril is her second novel.
Oh and don’t forget Wendy has already agreed to do the Sweet Peril
Blog tour with Rachel and I over at Rockstar
Book Tours so make sure to go follow us and sign up to be a
tour host! Ooh and make sure to follow us on twitter to keep up with all tour
news!
Hey ya’ll
so I have Gavin here from the amazing book Renegade by JA Souders. Gavin is
somewhat cagey so to get him to sit still and do anything like this was a feat
but he’s so damned adorable and I thank him for trying! I was supposed to post
a review along with the post but I felt it would be too long so my review of
the book is below I’ve added a very hot scene for my excerpt so make sure to
read it!
Ok so
handing this over to Gavin for a sec….
Transcript
from video log.
*image
is wobbly as Gavin sets recorder down* *clears
throat*
Hi, um,
I’m Gavin. Er, you probably want my last name, too. That’s how these things
work, right? It’s Hunter. That’s a weird last name, isn’t it? (*laughs*) Well, I’m a hunter, and my dad was a hunter
before me, and his dad before him and so on and so forth until before the war.
I’ve no idea what our last name was before that, although I’m sure we had one…,
but someone around the time after the War became a hunter and someone else
called him Hunter and our last name was born.
Hmm.
Maybe you didn’t want to know that. It is kind of boring…
*Gavin
looks around the room and taps his fingers on the table*
Hmm.
What to talk about? What to talk about?
Gah! I
don’t know how to do these things! Evie’s the one who usually handles these
things. She’s the princess after all. She’s been trained (*scowls*) to know how to speak
eloquently and with passion and fervor, while looking absolutely gorgeous
without a hair out of place and a smile plastered onto her perfect face. All
the while not worrying that she’s talking to an ungodly amount of people. Even now when she…*glances over shoulder,
turns back around and stares at hands*) even with everything that’s happened,
she still has the regality to her.
Me? I’m just a hunter from a tiny little
village off the Atlantic who’s used to spending my time doing my best to avoid human
contact as much as possible. Now? Now I’m
stuck trying to figure out how not to sound like an idiot. Sh*&%
*female
voice in background* Gavin!
*Gavin
winces, and turns away from the camera*
Sorry, Evie!
*Turns
back around, and runs hands through hair.*
Okay, so
what the *winces again, clears throat* What am I supposed to talk about? I’m
sure you all want to know what our story is about. Should I tell you that?
*Face brightens, then falls again* Nope, Jess would have my head on a platter
if I did that.
*frowns at camera, then tosses hands in the air* I give up. I’m getting Evie to
do this. She’s much better at it.
*end
transmission*
Lol he cracks
me up! I adore this guy! Ok so haven’t heard of Renegade yet? Check it out!
Since
the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be
Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from
hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that
everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.
But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their
secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization:
everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and
body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a
monster.
Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a
ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.
About JA:
J.A.
Souders lives in Florida with her husband and their two children and is an
active member of RWA, DFRW, YARWA, SCBWI, and SFWA. RENEGADE is her first
novel.
Since
the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be
Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from
hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that
everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.
But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their
secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization:
everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and
body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a
monster.
Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a
ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.
Holy
crap y’all this is one of my favorite books of 2012! Renegade is a sci-fi Dystopian post-apocalyptic book that rocked my world!!! I literally tweeted my
friends and told them that if they had this book that it was a DEAR! (For those
of you who don’t know DEAR= Drop Everything And Read) I fell for this
underwater Utopia and the beautifully written characters, crazy plot, and holy
shit hang on the edge of your seat last few chapters!!!
I
instantly fell in love with Gavin he was brave, smart, strong, and OMG
swoonworthy! And Evie is an amazing MC I mean the chick battles amnesia on a
daily basis. She is a very badass chick! I mean who can just spout off gun
specs on a whim and then turn around and hack into a tricky computer system?
Evie can! And the bad guy? I loved that it wasn't actually a guy! It was a
woman whom Evie called her mother and she’s completely unhinged and evil! The
funny thing is I could kinda understand her motivations even though she went
about thing the crazy way! Y’all seriously need to add this book to your TBR
piles you won’t regret it! And I'm dying to get my hands on book 2 like now! Oh and if you read German which I don't there's a prequel novel from Gavin's POV called A Dark Grave so go check that out! I really hope it releases in English soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I
had a good amount of passages marked but I thank you’ll thank me for this one
it’s hot and funny and we've dubbed it the “Shower Scene” lol
I find a pair of black leather sandal
wedges that I can run in if I need to, then I gather up Gavin’s clothes and
step into the bathroom to set them on the counter for him.
In a classic case of worst possible
timing, he steps out of the shower just as I look up from the clothes. My jaw
drops and I have to force myself to shut it. I can’t help it—my eyes travel the
whole lovely way from his muscled shoulders to his stomach and back up again.
Water slides gloriously over every muscle, causing them to glisten in the
lights.
I’m barely aware that I’m staring until
he says, “Enjoying the view?”
Heat rushes into me and I blush from the
tips of my toes to the roots of my hair. I quickly avert my gaze to the wall
behind him. “I’m so sorry. I just meant to drop off your clothes for you. I, uh,
I’ll see you…out there…when you’re finished.”
I rush out the door on shaky legs. The
minute I hit the living room, I lower myself onto the couch and stare off into
space.
Oh, Mother. My mind keeps replaying what
I just saw. Wavy, golden hair. Thick muscular chest, hard toned abs. Bronzed
skin. And…I shake my head. That is not something I should be thinking about.
I fan a hand in front of my face. It
feels hot, like someone has raised the temperature a good twenty degrees.
Hehehehehehe
I hoped you liked that one!!!! I sure did :D
Hey y’all thanks for stopping by to see my Dying to Read post and of
course as always I have to give credit to the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine for the Waiting
on Wednesday Meme!
This week the book I’m dying to read is Nameless by Lili St. Crow! I
am seriously dying to read this one! I love revamps of fairy tales and this one
seems like it’s going to be right up my alley!
When Camille was six
years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather
of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa
Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and
raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.
Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded
scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two
best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother
to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that
she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies
buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals
scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find
out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.
New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow thrilled legions of
fans with her dark paranormal series Strange Angels. Now she
has crafted an evocative update of Snow White, set in a vividly imagined world
and populated by unforgettable new characters.
So what do you think? Will you be adding this to your pile? What are
you dying to read this week?
Hey y’all I am super excited to reveal this cover!!! I have been
waiting and waiting and waiting to finally see it and also to read this book!
It feels like forever since I read Carrier and I can’t wait to read Shadows! I
need to check in on my DeRis boys especially Rian!!
So without Further ado check out the gorgeous
cover!!!
Life for Megan Rosenberg just got a lot more complicated.
While she evoked the air element, and her feelings for Adam intensified, a web
of lies, deceit, and betrayal has been spun around her. With the
Order tightening its hold, and the reinstatement of the Mark Knights, Megan has
more questions than answers as the
Marked Ones grow in strength.
New people arouse suspicion, the DeRises start behaving strangely, and Megan
begins to unravel a destiny shrouded in mystery. It’s a destiny the Order
has struggled to hide, and a destiny someone from the past far in the past, has
already laid claim to.
Alliances will be made, and friends will be lost, as the Order’s dark secrets
are revealed by the very thing they sought to destroy.
Here’s
Leigh’s feelings about the cover
I know, there's no mistaking it. This is definitely a Carrier Series cover,
but that was the intention. After the amazing reception to the cover of
Carrier of the Mark, Harper Collins wanted Shadow's cover to be instantly
recognizable. And it is, but the new darker color palette reflects the
darker tone that this installment brings, and the pink and purple really
make it pop. I love it and think Harper Collins have done another amazing
job. I hope you like it too.
About
Leigh:
I started out life in South Africa. A year later my parents moved home to
Dublin, Ireland. When I was older and realized my parents had moved me from
exotic Durban, to sedate Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, I was rightly ticked off.
Giving up lions for sheep, I grew up in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains where
I went to a convent school and had to contend with uniforms, gabardines, and
nuns. When not dodging the beady glare of the Sisters of Mercy, I was
devouring every book I could get my hands on.
I traveled all over Europe while working in banking and treasury, but I gave up
my calculator in favor of a keyboard and haven’t stopped writing since. My
first book, Carrier of the Mark, was published by Harper Teen in 2011.
Our home is in Cork in the south of Ireland, but we’re currently on loan
to Massachusetts in the US where I continue to write books about magic,
ghosts, and romance, with a bit of Irish flavor.
A signed ARC of Shadow of the Mark,A Signed copy of Carrier of the Mark,2 signed Carrier of the Mark Bookmarks,2 Carrier and Shadow buttons/pins so fill out the Rafflecopter and good luck!!!!
Hey y’all
today I have M. Beth Bloom here to talk one about one of my favorite things
besides books? Yep you know it I have another music post! So before we get to
the music here’s a little info about Drain
You just in case you haven’t heard of the book! Oh and make sure to go over to MundieMoms and Hobbitsiesfor the launch posts and the other participating blogs!
Summer.
The 90s. The rich, sun-bleached neighborhoods of the Los Angeles canyons. Enter
Quinlan Lacey, a cool, bored, sarcastic, sexy 17-year old with a dull part-time
video store job and a mild case of teen ennui. That is, until she meets the
alluring, River Phoenix-esque James, and realizes the hills are alive with the
undead. Inspired more by the early, dry L.A. short stories of Bret Easton Ellis
than the current crop of serialized vampire fiction, the supernatural grunge
romance, Drain You, narrates the headaches and heartbreaks Quinn
undergoes in her quest to stay sane and cool and in love and alive.
Now on
to the post and I will add a few videos for the songs I really love which may be hard to pick because being a 90's kid I seriously love this playlist!!!!!!!!!!!!
Drain
You Playlist
Psychologists
talk about the “nostalgia bump” being that era in young adulthood that becomes
our most vivid throughout life – that one decade where memories are the
strongest, peaking just before middle age and then steadily declining. Heavy stuff.
But nothing could be truer when it comes to our processing of pop
culture. For me, everything fabulous and
amazing happened between ’91 and ’98 – eight years of music that still blows my
mind, has me car crooning and chair dancing, misty-eyed in my old Volvo. I was an R ‘n’ B/Hip Hop kid who had to learn
the ways of grunge when Nevermind
hit, rotating between my Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt and Boyz II Men baseball
cap. Music informed so much of my junior
high and high school years, and so when I went to write my protagonist, music
was just there – creating a mood and setting the scene. If I say Bikini Kill, that means jumping on
the bed, feeling tough. If I say
Portishead, that means pensive night swims thinking about a boy. And if I say Dee-Lite, that means ecstatic
getting dressed montage. See how it all
works?
-Nirvana,
Drain You
I wanted
to name the book after a 90s song and it was crucial to me that the title
matched the vibe of the plot as well as the time setting. BOOM!
I almost fell out of my chair when Drain
You came to me – laughing, crying, and lots of “In Utero” on repeat. The lyrics also really work for me: “I don’t
care what you think unless it is about me.”
Now that’s teenage.
-Ice
Cube, Today Was A Good Day
“The
Ghetto” was a huge taboo idea in the mid ‘90s in LA. Especially with Boyz In The Hood and “The Chronic” coming out and just completely
taking over suburbia. I remember MTV
used to play this video twenty times a day and I became more and more
mesmerized – and SCANDALIZED! Guns,
condoms, 40 oz’s, low-riders, and Ice Cube’s awesome badassedness. This was the
chilled-out, summer classic of ’93 and it’s a crucial zen beat-the-heat tune
for Quinn.
-Weezer,
The Sweater Song
No one
really knew that Weezer would have such legs.
This was a novelty tune by a seemingly novelty band who liked to pair up
with then semi-novelty director Spike Jonze and be meta. Perfect for the beginning of indie-rock
faux-nerdiness and goofing around with friends.
There wasn’t a single person in my clique who didn’t know EVERY SINGLE
word to this song.
-Pavement,
Shady Lane
This is
what a Quinn becomes when she gets to college.
Matador and Pavement were a womb for me when 17 hit and I craved poetic
lyricists and men who didn’t quite rock. “Shady Lane” is a song about nostalgia,
looking at your life in the moment and already missing it. Malkmus is a great writer, speaking to so
many of us who were looking to just “get it,” you know?
-Deee-Lite,
Groove Is In The Heart
Still
one of my favorite songs, one of my favorite groups, and certainly one of my
all-time favorite frontwomen. “Groove”
was like that thing on TV you couldn’t ever wrap your mind around – like where
did these Soho New York hipsters with their overtly gay pride, glamour, and
fabulism come from and how did I get lucky enough to catch even a short glimpse
of them!?!? Obsessiveness commence! I always picture Quinn in front of her
full-length mirror doing the Lady Miss Kier dance, shimmying her body when the
whistle sounds.
(Can't find a good video but just listen to the song. Love it!!)
-Bikini
Kill, Sugar
Kathleen
Hanna is just IT for all riot grrls and faux riot gurls (like me). She wrote the word BITCH on her stomach in
permanent marker, wore sloppy little kid ponytails, mismatched her tiny ripped
clothes, and spit – literally and conceptually.
BK is the perfect teen angst music: forget emo, forget Elliott Smith;
this is about being heard and being heard LOUD.
A daily Quinn mantra.
-Black
Box, Everybody Everybody
Dancing
is hugely important to me and, though Quinn as a character is a bit “cooler”
than I ever was, I like to think of her as a solo-dancer. Someone who blasts tracks alone in her room
so she can bop, stomp, and jump around.
But I have to think of her as a groover too, because she’s sexy and thinks
about sex and bodies and bodies moving, etc. etc. Black Box had that deep soul groove for
dancin’/romancin’. Def not anything
Quinn would share with her friends, but for sure a secret pleasure.
-Hole,
Miss World
“Go on,
take everything, take everything, I want you to.” That’s anthemic beauty in its rawest
state. Such a great time to be a teenage
girl, when you’ve got feisty (pre-op) Courtney Love screaming at the other boys
and girls who don’t love you because you’re a) overweight, b) misunderstood, c)
punk, d) weird, e) loud-mouthed, f) all of the above and everything else.
-Sonic
Youth, 100%
Thurston
and Kim were the ultimate in f’ed up cool, and this album especially gave them
a tiny bit of KROQ crossover. What an
awesome song to hear on the radio – distorted guitars, feedback, instrumental
randomness, and the line: “All you men are slime.” This is the soundtrack to runway grunge, Marc
Jacobs for Perry Ellis, baby Sevigny raver-skater, and Quinn Lacey headbanging.
About
the author "Bloom's
first short story “Love And Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape” was featured
in Story Quarterly and selected by Dave Eggers for inclusion
in The Best American Nonrequired Reading: 2003 (Houghton-Mifflin),
which he curates annually. Bloom is the founder of underground dance
label 100% Silk (profiled here in LA Weekly) AND the producer/lead singer of the
band LA Vampires (written up in The Guardian as well as Pitchfork and Fader). Her
next book will be published through HarperTeen.
M. Beth
lives on the east side of L.A. where she indulges in raw fooding, magazine
subscribing, thrift shopping, Sunday matinee'ing, and ladies book clubbing.
Make
sure to check out the Drain YouPublisher's
Weekly review: "Bloom debuts with a languid, stylish
novel that reads like a love letter to cult vampire flicks like The
Lost Boys, the work of Francesca Lia Block, and Southern California in the
1990s."
Fill out the Rafflecopter form for your chance to win One of 5
Copies of 'Drain You' signed by the Author, -$50 Credit at Wasteland (Quinn's
favorite store), -Pages from Quinn's Notebook \, -10 'Drain You'
Bookmarks handmade by Quinn, -10 90's mixtapes curated and created by Quinn!
