Love My Indie with Author Sandra Brannan

Love My Indie is a feature where fellow bloggers, readers, and authors tell me about their favorite independent bookstores. I love the feeling I get when I go into an independent bookstore - like it is filled with hidden treasures just waiting for me to find them. Maybe one day I will have the chance to visit these amazing bookstores.

If you're interested in participating in this feature, please send me an email at actinupwb@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you and discover your favorite indie bookstore! 
 

Showing some Indie Love today is:

Author Sandra Brannan

"As a debut author and just beginning my journey to visit the indies, I can already tell you choosing a favorite is painfully difficult!  Any Indie who is venturesome enough to invite a debut author into his or her store for a book event is tops in my book, since those are the ones I've met across the country so far.  Every one of them has been gracious, kind, and thoughtful, willing to open their doors, arms, and hearts to me and impart their knowledge of the industry.  Thank you for that!  Peggy Stout at Prairie Pages in Pierre, SD has been wonderful to this hometown girl. 

And what an experience Maggie and her team at I Love A Mystery in Mission, KS provided me!

Some of the best help I've received are from indies I haven't yet made it to, like Books Unlimited's Suzanne Harouff in Franklin, NC and Boswell Book Company's Maria Upichard in Milwaukee, WI, whose endorsement earned me the Indie Next List Notable for September 2010.   

So this South Dakotan is looking forward to skipping around the country in the years to come to meet all the wonderful indies, the respite for American readers these days!"

Sandra Brannan
Author of In The Belly Of Jonah, a Liv Bergen Mystery/Thriller

Lot's Return To Sodom, the second in the series, in stores 6/1/11

Visit Fanpage on Facebook or the official website at www.sandrabrannan.com !

And the PUSH Spotlight Giveaway Winners Are . . .

The Winners Are . . . 

Prize 1 - You Remind Me of You and Splintering by Eireann Corrigan

Elisquared at Eli to the nth Power

Prize 2 - You Remind Me of You

Beth at A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

Prize 3 - Splintering

Amanda at Letters Inside Out

There were a total 19 entries and using random.org, numbers 18, 17 and 2 were selected.

All winners have been contacted by email.

PUSH Spotlight - Author Eireann Corrigan and giveaways End Soon!

My giveaway for books by Eireann Corrigan, an author you should know, is ending tomorrow. Her poetry memoir, You Remind Me of You, is one of my favorite books. It is raw, emotional, heart-breaking and eye-opening and I want more people to know about it. Also included in the giveaway is her verse novel, Splintering.

There are 3 prizes and there will be 3 winners.  Head over to the original posting HERE to enter. Good Luck!

Prize 1

 

 

a copy of You Remind Me of You

and Splintering

Prize 2

a copy of You Remind Me of You

Prize 3

a copy of Splintering

In My Mailbox (30)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme run by The Story Siren which explores the books that have been delivered to our mailbox or doorstep or directly into our hot little hands.

 For Review:

 Max and Menna by Shauna Kelley

Purchased:

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer

Swapped:

Diary of a Crush: Kiss and Make Up by Sarra Manning

Paperback Swap

Gifted:

Random Act of Kindness from ComaCalm at ComaCalm's Corner

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Thank You!

I can't wait to see what everyone got this week.

Love My Indie with Author Amanda Brice

Love My Indie is a feature where fellow bloggers, readers, and writers tell me about their favorite independent bookstores. I love the feeling I get when I go into an independent bookstore - like it is filled with hidden treasures just waiting for me to find them. Maybe one day I will have the chance to visit these amazing bookstores.

Showing some Indie Love today is:

 Author Amanda Brice

Who doesn’t love an independent bookstore? As a rabid reader, I will happily buy books anywhere, but there’s just something special about an indie.

I was so sorry that hear that Joli doesn’t have an independent bookstore near her, but unfortunately that seems to be the story of our times. With even the big box stores stocking up with more and more non-book gift items and toys (and losing book shelf space as a result), the small local stores are finding it hard to compete.

My mom worked for years at a beloved independent bookstore in Northern New Jersey. It was such a fixture of the community, and she did a weekly children’s story and craft time, but unfortunately The Book Loft closed its doors for good this February.

I live in Alexandria, VA, and my favorite local bookstore is Hooray for Books (http://www.hooray4books.com/). It’s a fabulous children’s bookstore, that also has a thriving Young Adult section. The staff is helpful and courteous, and always has great suggestions for just the right book. Plus their program for the toddler/preschool set is great! We love taking our 16-month-old daughter to the story time. Once she’s 2, we’re going to start taking her to the French story time there.

I attended law school at Arizona State University, and while I was there, I discovered a delightful mystery bookstore called The Poisoned Pen (http://www.poisonedpen.com) in Scottsdale. It was great, because whereas most bookstores have a mystery section consisting of several bookshelves, at The Poisoned Pen it’s the entire store. As a result, they’re able to stock more obscure titles. I discovered many great cozy series that I probably never would have found otherwise, just because the shelf space was completely devoted to mysteries.

But probably my favorite bookstore of all time is Shakespeare & Co. (http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/) on the Left Bank in Paris. Originally founded in 1919, this welcoming English-language shop was a gathering place in the ‘1920s for writers such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. In fact, American ex-pat and owner Sylvia Beach originally published James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922, when it was banned in the US and the UK. The original Shakespeare & Co. closed in 1941 during the German occupation of Paris in WWII, but a new Shakespeare & Co was opened in 1951, where it remains today.

I just love this store, and make a habit to stop in if I travel to Paris. In fact, a store modeled on Shakespeare & Co. plays a big role in one of my unpublished YA manuscripts (Party Like It’s 1899).

Thanks Amanda for sharing your favorite bookstores. I visited the website for Hooray for Books and it looks like it would be a fun place. I think catering specifically to children and teens is a great idea allowing them to love books at an early age and encouraging them to grow into readers. And Shakespeare & Co. - how amazing is this store! Filled with history, I'm sure that it was an experience just walking through its doors.

Amanda Brice is the author of Codename: Dancer, a YA mystery released this week. She is the Vice President of Washington Romance Writers, and a two-time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® Award. In her day job, Amanda is an intellectual property attorney for a large federal government agency. She is also a popular conference presenter, speaking on basic copyright and trademark law for writers. You can learn more about Amanda and her books at www.amandabrice.net.

If you're interested in participating in this feature, please send me an email at actinupwb@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you and discover your favorite indie bookstore! 
 

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss?

Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive....

Not your typical beach read. (from Goodreads)






I love books about summer. And as I am longing for summer to hurry up and get here (yes, I know spring has just begun), this is the perfect book to read. Told from the perspective from middle-brother Chase, we get to look into the lives of the functioning dysfunctional McGill family.


Chase loves the summer, he loves the beach and his family, especially his older brother Noah. Every summer, the family vacations at their beach house where they spend the long days with their neighbors, the Hathaways - Melinda, Shannon and Bella. The story begins with Chase's 15th summer as he takes care of his deaf younger brother Gideon, out-of-control sister Claudia, and awaiting for the arrival of his new baby sister. He is having a good time catching with his friends, quoting Camus at any available opportunity but all he wants, more than anything, is for Noah to be around more - and for his parents to fight a little less.

The story continues with the family returning to the beach house every summer but as the years pass and the siblings grow older, Chase begins to realize that nothing can remain the same. Life gets more complicated, girls make it more complicated and summer can't last forever.

I loved this book so much. I loved the exploration of the dynamics of such a large family with each sibling playing to their respective roles. Claudia, too grown-up for her own good brought humor and a dose of reality to the family. I was worried about her, but at the same time her insight was refreshing. She could see through all the crap and let you know about it too.

Invincible Summer is a quick, but not light summer read. It will have you longing for hot summer days, the breeze coming off of the ocean, and a time that you will always want to remember and can never forget.

Invincible Summer is the second novel by Hannah Moskowitz. It is available now from Simon Pulse. You can visit Hannah's blog at http://hannahmosk.blogspot.com/

I requested this book for review from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab and this review is based on the Advanced Reading Copy.

 

Cover Reveal: Forsaken Harbor

I'm pleased to reveal the second book of the Summer Chronicles - Forsaken Harbor by Laura Kreitzer.

Here is the beautiful front cover:

 

and the back cover:

About the book:

SUMMER CHRONICLES BOOK II:

The Secret Clock Society has infiltrated every aspect of the government. You can’t hide from them, you can’t out run them—the only choice is to surrender or die fighting. Well, Summer’s found her voice and her confidence. She’ll fight if necessary, but for now she’s on the run. And the only place that can offer her refuge is the one city that’s been devastated with disease and death. Full of savages, Forsaken Harbor holds her life on the edge of a knife. Is there still hope to be found here after all? Or will survival mean savagery?

Forsaken Universe will be released on July 1, 2011.

Phantom Universe, Summer Chronicles Book I, was published on February 15, 2011 by Obsidian Mountain Publishing.

In February, Laura wrote a guest post on my blog to bring awareness to human trafficking. If you missed it, you can read that post HERE.

To learn more about Laura Kreitzer, check out her website at www.laurakreitzer.com