Summer Reading Edition: July 17

This is my first (and only) post from my iPod touch. I bought the iPod today and can't put it down. But that's not what I'm bloging about. The challenge for this month was supposed to be reading a genre that you don't read as much. Mine was normal fiction. No magic, no ghost, no superpowers. So since I never read a book written by Sarah Dessen I was going to read three by the end of the month. Little did I know that her books are really long. So I will probably finnish only one due to the high demand for her books at my library and my lack of book money. I have Lock and Key at home and will crack into it ASAP. How are you doing? If you still want to join you can!

Happy Reading!

Summer Reading Edition July

Last month was a lot of fun. Even though I didn’t reach my goal of reading five new releases in June, I did read a lot. Personally I blame my lack of money. It stopped me from purchasing my own copy of the books. Here are all the books I’ve read last month. The Bolded titles are the books that were released last month. The titles in purple are books I own.

1. Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguié

2. Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

3. Insatiable by Meg Cabot

4. Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy

5. Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barns

6. Ghost Huntress: Awakening by Marley Gibson

7. Ghost Huntress: Guidance by Marley Gibson

Looking back at what I read, I realize I really didn’t do well with my challenge. Five out of the seven books I read last month have been paranormal/fantasy and if I would have finished Dark Flame by Alyson Noel a day earlier my list would still be heavy on the paranormal/fantasy side. The truth of the matter is that I find it hard to read normal book about real life. Don’t get me wrong I still read the normal stuff, just not as much.

So I have a challenge for you readers. What kind of books have you not really given a chance? Does your list contain more mysteries that dramas. Have you had a hard time picking up a paranormal romance? So for July’s challenge for Reading Writing and Chocolate’s Summer Reading Edition, I challenge you to pick up three books you never thought you would read and read them by the end of the month.

Confession time. I’ve never read a Sarah Dessen book. There I said it. I have never read a book written by Sarah Dessen. Never. Not one. So my goal is to read three of her books this month. Any Suggestions?

With that said. Post below what kind of books you don’t read that much and by the end of the month tell me what you’ve read and if you liked them.

Happy Reading!

PS. What kind of chocolate confection are you munching on this Independence Day?

Mistakes I never thought I would make, but I did

Earlier today I dropped my cell phone in a sink full of water. I always criticized people for being dumb enough to drop their phone in water. Well now it’s barely working and I hope it will work better after it’s dry.

That got me thinking about other things I thought I’d never do but I did anyway. Well back in the day so did I. I honestly thought that I would not make any silly mistake that I’ve read about in countless blogs. Boy was I wrong. So right now I’m going to take a break from Summer Reading Edition and tell you a few amateur mistakes I thought I would never make and I did.

1. Querying before you’re ready. This was one of my biggest mistakes. I thought after spending my entire junior year editing my manuscript would be enough. Boy was I wrong. After over thirty rejection letters I stopped my insane query quest and read my manuscript again. It was horrible. Like really bad. So I spent a lot of time rewriting it and trying to make it as polished as possible.

2. Not having a good query. All of the advice blogs I read say you have to have a near perfect query before you submit to agents I thought mine was perfect. Boy was I wrong. Well after the rewrite I took a look at my query. Not that good either. I rewrote it until I thought it was presentable.

3. School first writing second. My junior year I screw up. I was so concerned about editing my manuscript I let my grades slip. At first I was in denial. I thought I was in control of my grades. Boy was I wrong. When I saw that my grade was lower than I expected I had to pull off a high final score to get a decent grade. If I had spent less time with my manuscript and more time on Algebra 2 and Chemistry I would have graduated with a higher GPA.

In the end I hated myself for making such stupid mistakes.I honestly did not think I would be the one to make these mistakes. I’m just like everybody else. The point is we all make mistakes and my biggest mistake was not thinking I would make one.

Happy Reading!

Summer Reading Edition: June: Day 17

Hello Readers.
It’s the middle of June and the Summer Reading Edition of Reading, Writing and Chocolate is going smoothly. So far I’ve read two of my promised five new releases. My last read was Insatiable by Meg Cabot. While I wait for my next reading to come into the library, I would like to know what new releases this month you’ve read and would recommend?
Happy Reading!

Forgive My Fins Winner

After cutting and folding countless amounts of paper, I finally have a winner.
    and the winner is...

MARISKA!!!

Congratulations!!!!
Thank you all so much for participating. Now a contest like this will come once in a blue moon so just read the blog and keep your eyes peeled for more about reading, writing and chocolate.
Happy Reading

Forgive My Fins Giveaway

Well my hunt is over. I bought a copy of Forgive my Fins and loved it. Well here’s the thing. I won a copy the day I bought mine. Lucky for you, readers, I will be giving away my copy. Here’s a quick synopsis of Forgive My Fins from Tera Lynn Childs website:

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily's mermaid identity is a secret that can't get out, since she's not just any mermaid—she's a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn't feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she's been living on land and going to Seaview High School ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems—like her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince Fletcher—but it has that one major perk: Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren't really the casual dating type—the instant they "bond," it's for life.

When Lily's attempt to win Brody's love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily ever after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Do you want to win the fabulous novel? Here’s the 411. I’ll be picking a name randomly out of a hat. If you comment on this post you will automatically be entered into the drawing. To increase your chances you can follow this blog and/or me on Twitter. You can also tweet or blog about this giveaway for your name to be put in the hat more times.

There you have it. I will announce the winners on Tuesday June 15.

Happy Reading!

Edit: Make sure you mention me when you Tweet about the giveaway. It would be much easier for me.

Summer Reading Edition: June Day 1: The Hunt

I'm on a hunt. I need to get my hands of Tera Lynn Childs' new book Forgive My Fins.
I've been waiting for this book to come out forever and it's finally here! Now, I have no money at the moment and no way to the bookstore. Here's the deal as part of Reading, Writing and Chocolate's first ever Summer Reading Edition I pledged to read five new releases this month. I will obtain the targets, read them and blog, all in the month of June.
Yep well that's it really. It's only the first Summer Reading Edition. Maybe it'll get better next year. I don't know. I'm still new the blog thing.

Happy Reading!