Book Announcements: The Thirteenth Chime Twitter release party

I'm so excited! Today, Friday, August 13th, 2010, I join, for the first time, a Twitter release party for a book. It's so cool!
So, as you can see, The Thirteenth Chime is released today. And Emma Michaels (you can find her blog here) decided to have a Twitter release party. Today, from 4pm to 10pm central time (GMT-5) . It's way cooler for me because I live in Romania, GMT+2, and I convinced my parents to let me stay from 11pm on Friday night till 5am on Saturday night for this party. So it's gonna be a night full of fun for me!

As a conclusion, join us! It'll be fun. We've already started tweeting. You can find more about how can you participate and get real-time tweets of #The13thChime on Emma's post.


peace,
-Ana.

P.S.: The personalized pic above is made by me. Feel free to save it and use it. I'm using it as a profile picture for my personal Twitter account, @anaivanus, right now. *winks*

Contests on other blogs: Summer Lovin' Giveaway at Confessions Of A Bookaholic

At Confessions Of A Bookaholic, there's a cool giveaway with awesome prize packs!
And... the day is finally here. The day for Prize Pack #10 - which is INTERNATIONAL! Simply amazing, huh? One (1) international winner will receive a copy of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Halo by Alexandra Adoretto or Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (that means you have to choose one book between the three of them if you win). The prize will be ordered from The Book Depository so check this list to make sure they ship to you.

So, join the giveaway.. and good luck to everyone! ;)


-Ana.

My reviews: Shadow Souls (Vampire Diaries - The Return, 2) by L.J. Smith

Full name: Shadow Souls (Vampire Diaries Book 6, Vampire Diaries - The Return Book 2)

Author: L.J. Smith

Pages: 486 pg.

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

Release date: May 6, 2010 (first published March 16, 2010)

Synopsis:

ELENA GILBERT RETURNS IN A BRAND NEW, THREE PART, VAMPIRE DIARIES SEQUENCE...

Elena must come to terms to her altered physical state. Even she can barely comprehend what she is now capable of.

Finding herself forced to travel to the Dark Dimension with Damon, Elena is secretly terrified of letting her long-disguised feelings for Damon run wild. For if Damon does lure her into becoming his dark princess, her new power might not be used for good...

My review:

This was the first book I read this summer (summer 2010) and I'm really glad it was. The Reunion sequence, like any other Vampire Diaries book, is fantastic. I can't imagine myself starting to be bored by the well-known characters we all love: Elena, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Meredith, Matt and Mrs. Flowers. Of course, the villains aren't missing. We have the fox twins, Shinichi and Misao, starring as the-pain-in-the-butts characters *laughs*. Now this book is awesome. Elena, Bonnie, Meredith and Damon arrive in the Dark Dimension to save Stefan from the Shi No Shi. And, apparently, Elena's short "state" as a spiritual child left her with a Power that must be controlled, otherwise she'll attract all the vamps on Earth - cool. And this Power lets Elena visit Stefan in the Shi No Shi. So amazing, isn't it? And, whoa, Elena gets through so many dangers in the Dark Dimension, it's no wonder she hasn't totally freaked out yet. And (so sweet of him), Damon stays with Elena during all those oh-so-creepy moments. He even takes her pain when she is whipped for not "obeying" her master - which is Damon, because there, every "prisoner" has to have a master and, as they couldn't enter the Dark Dimension but as master + prisoners, they had to enter "undercover". And, well, no one can perfectly fake that.. But, anyway, she finally saves Stefan, they go back home and.. ouch, Damon gets poisoned and becomes..... human. How can we deal with that?! I mean, hey, can anyone imagine harsh and ironic Damon as a human? Well, we'll see what happens next in Midnight (2011)!

I give this book, as usual, a full 5/5 stars. This series is simply amazing. Seems like L.J. Smith could write even two more trilogies to Vampire Diaries *giggles*. I recommend this book for all readers who like YA books, especially vampire ones.

-Ana.

My reviews: Nightfall (Vampire Diaries - The Return, 1) by L.J. Smith

Full name: Nightfall (Vampire Diaries Book 5, Vampire Diaries - The Return Book 1)

Author: L.J. Smith

Pages: 471 pg.

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

Release date: March 4, 2010 (First published on February 10, 2009)

Synopsis:

ELENA GILBERT RETURNS IN A BRAND NEW, THREE PART VAMPIRE DIARIES SEQUENCE...

She's alive - but no longer just human!

When Elena's beloved, Stefan, is lured away from Fell's Church, Damon seizes his chance to convince her that he is the brother she is meant to be with...

But a darkness is infiltrating in the town, and Damon, always the hunter, is now the hunted: he becomes prey to a malevolent creature that can possess him at will, and who desires Elena just as much, but for what purposes?

My review:

After finishing The Reunion, I simply couldn't wait for this book to come out. I was waiting for the UK edition. And for my bookstore to stock it. And I waited and waited.. till whoa! It was finally in my hands. I started reading it at once, in the car (even if I couldn't read much because my nausea started again). And I read and read and read. The Maths Olympiad was coming, it was an important contest, but I still found time to read. Now, getting back to the plot. The Return is a really cool sequence of Vampire Diaries. Stefan and Elena became the perfect couple. I loved the idea of Elena as a spiritual child. She simply was so innocent and cute! And Stefan.. the way he called Elena.. "little lovely love".. oh, it simply lets me with tears of happiness in my eyes. Damon.. Damon seems to be a jerk when he plans Stefan's "disappearance" in the Shi No Shi. But he's actually ruled by some ugh-so-disgusting creatures that led to.. Shinichi's plan. Shinichi is a fox boy. And he has a twin sister, Misao. But they definitely do NOT act like bro and sis. They act like girlfriend and boyfriend. Bleah!.. Caroline? Oh, oh, she's slept with Tyler! And now she accuses Matt of rape or so. She is a real jerk. Matt? Remains Elena's friend, helps her with her plan to defend the fox twins. Bonnie and Meredith? They stay with Elena at Mrs Flowers's house. And, whoa - Mrs Flowers is kinda a witch! With potions, herbs and so on. Can you imagine that? So The Return trilogy, as you've probably already figured out, is the best sequence anyone could write from Vampire Diaries.

In the end, I give this book a full 5/5 stars. L.J. Smith still has tons of ideas for Vampire Diaries, and I truly appreciate her for that. You definitely should start reading Nightfall.

-Ana.