Mundie Moms

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Latest Cassie News!



Clockwork Angel won the Silver Inky Award!! YAY! Clockwork Angel won for the most popular international book! We're so thrilled that Clockwork Angel is winning big this year (as it should). Congratulations Cassie!!!


Cassie's updated her UK tour page. Here's the latest on her London and Ireland signings:

Wednesday, October 26: London (tomorrow!)
Foyle’s 1-3 pm
113-119 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0EB
With Sarah Rees Brennan*
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7437 5660



October 27: Dublin: 6pm
Easons: 40 Lower O’Connell Street
Phone 01 858 3800
With Sarah Rees Brennan*


October 28: Galway: 4:30
Easons
33 Shop Street Galway, Ireland
I’ll be signing from 4:30 on.

* Technically these are ticketed events but only the pre-signing presentation is ticketed. You don't need tickets to show up and get your books signed, get the giveaway (s
igned copy of Magnus' Vow, tote backs, other cool stuff.) So just show up!
This is what Cassie will be GIVING AWAY at the signings: LOOK HERE. If any of you lucky MM's attend any of Cassie's signings, please let us know how it went. We wish we could be there with you.

Switching gears, I have heard nothing but great things about Cassie's newest short story, Some Fortunate Future Day, which is in the new STEAMPUNK release, a collection of various short steampunk stories. Here's a snippet,

Time is many things, her father told her. Time is a circle, and time is a great turning gear that cannot be stopped, and time is a river that carries away what you love.

When he said that, he looked at Rose’s mother’s portrait, hanging over their fireplace mantel. He had invented his time device only a few short months after she had died. It had always been one of his greatest regrets in life, though Rose sometimes wondered whether he could have invented it at all without the all-consuming power of grief to drive him. Most of his other inventions did not work nearly as well. The garden robot often digs up flowers instead of weeds. The mechanical cook can make only one kind of soup. And the talking dolls never tell Rose what she wants to hear.

“Do you think he’s ever coming back?” says Ellen. She means Rose’s father. She is the dark-haired talking doll, the saucy one. She likes to dance around the room, showing her ankles. She arranges the sugar cubes in the tea service to form rude words. “Perhaps he has taken to drink. I hear that is common among soldiers.”

“Shush,” says Cordelia. Cordelia is the gentle doll, redheaded and quiet. “Ladies should not speak of such things.” She turns to Rose.

Cassie tweeted the link for fans to read her story this morning. Please go here to read it. Visit Candlewick's site for more info on the book.

Book Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa


Published by: Harlequin Teen
Released on: October 25th, 2011 TODAY
Source: ARC from publisher to review
5 stars: I LOVED It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her.

My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl… quoted from Goodreads

A beautiful ending to one of my favorite series. Julie Kagawa took me on an emotional roller-coaster as I embarked on an unforgettable journey with Ash. He does everything in his power to return to his Iron Queen, and along the way I was completely caught off guard with how easy it was for me to feel his wide range of emotions. What starts out as a quest for Ash, turned into me getting a look into Ash's past and seeing what shaped him into the person he is now. I loved the way Julie did this. She really allowed me to see and understand Ash a lot more. His path is far from easy, and making the right choice is often hard, but Ash proves once again that he has an inner strength that's not only admirable but commendable.

Julie continued to surprise me with her phenomenal plot line, and engaging story. I don't know how else to describe the way Julie sucked me right back into her captivating world. She has a raw talent for storytelling and while I didn't want this story to end, I could not have imagined a more fitting end than this. Be rest assured, Julie is FULL of surprises in this book. Half of things that happened are ones I never would have even considered and kudos to Julie for keeping all this under wraps! Fans are truly going to love what she has done with this series and the beautiful way it wraps up. While there's moments of bliss and happiness sprinkled through out the story, there's also uncertainty, fear, love, hope, regret, disappear, happiness, loyalty, friendship, jealousy and that undeniable feeling of completeness etched into it. Many of these things have been reacquiring themes through out the series, only it's amped up a lot in The Iron Knight.

I'll be honest, I missed Meghan for the first part of the book, but I loved what Julie did when she and Ash were reconnected. I loved seeing them fall in love all over again. This is selfish to say, but I liked having just Ash for a good portion of this book. Readers really needed to see his change and what he goes through to reconnect with Meghan. Fear not Puck and Grimm fans, these two beloved characters provide the perfect amount of witty comments this story needed. Mixed in with my tears of happiness and moments of worry, were also moments of laughter thanks to these two. The story wouldn't be complete with out them. I didn't think I could love Grimm any more than I already did. What a fabulous character he is. That wise old fur ball, though I'm sure he wouldn't like that if I called him that. One of the things I love about these characters is how believable and real they are. They're all far from perfect, they make mistakes, but they all keep trying and I love the way they've continued to grow as the series has progressed.

This story is remarkable. This quest with Ash will leave you in awe. If you weren't already an Ash fan, you will be after this. If you already were a fan, than you'll be putting him on a high petal stool. The story is truly beautifully written, and completely captivating. I am incredibly happy I was able to take this journey with Ash and I'm looking forward to a whole new generation of books from Julie. Thank you Julie for the tears, the happiness and the characters who will live on in my book world. Now hurry and go pick up the book so we can talk spoilers! Believe me, there is a TON to talk about. It was hard keeping this review vague and not mention the surprising things that happen.

This is an incredible, mesmerizing end to an absolutely brilliant series! I HIGHLY recommend picking up the series you've not already. If you have, I HIGHLY recommend picking up Ash's story TODAY!
_______________________________

If you missed it last night, Julie announced she's writing a book from Ethan's point of view! YAY!
You can also see the entire playlist for both The Iron Knight and The Iron Daughter here.
Don't miss reading Ash's Letter to Meghan.

Julie posted about last night's Twitter party for The Iron Knight, along a link to the information about an awesome giveaway!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! We're chatting with Julie Kagawa on November 15th!! YES, this chat will be a spoiler chat. We're going to be talking all about The Iron Knight and the series. *more details will come*

Stay tuned for a fun giveaway coming up later today!

Clockwork Angel Read Along Day 14: Chapter 13 Something Dark


It's day 14 of our Clockwork Angel Read Along! Please be sure to visit our link here for our schedule, guidelines and to fill out the form to be entered to win some fabulous prizes. Feel free to answer any number of the questions asked. You don't need to answer all of them if you don't wish to.

Today we're discussing chapter 13. Sophie opens up a bit to Tessa. Tessa is fighting her feelings for Will. Jessamine shows her true colors. Tessa lets Will and Charlotte have it. Jem offers to take Tessa to is favorite place in London.

* I really like Sophie's character, but I'm a little unsure of her judging Will to her last employer. The first time I read this it made me a little mad she would judge Will based on some horrible person from her past, especially since it seems like she doesn't really even know Will. Charlotte mentioned to Tessa earlier in the book that Sophie can see things others can't and I would agree with her that there's something dark about him. I personally don't think it's something all that evil, but something that he's battling internally that makes him put on this act and push people away. I hope that makes sense. Do you think Sophie is right? Do you think there's something dark about Will? Could there be a whole another side to him we've not yet seen?

* Were you caught off guard with Jessamine's conversation with Tessa about her motives for reading to her brother and wanting to nurse him back to heath? I'm beginning to think that Jessamine really is a bit shallow and selfish. Is that just me or do you guys feel the same way?

* What do you think is up with Will and his curt remarks to everyone? I seriously love how Tessa holds her own with him. Tessa herself really surprised me in this chapter and I wanted to stand up and clap for her on her frankness with Will, Jem and Charlotte and their motives behind wanting Tessa's help. Did you agree with what she said or do you feel she was being a bit dramatic?

* *sigh* Oh Jem. He always knows exactly what to say and when to say it. I'm curious, are you guys more of a Will or a Jem fan? I know that's a bit of an unfair question to ask.

Please keep your comments SPOILER FREE

Twitter Tuesday: All Hallows Read with Neil Gaiman & Harper Teen


Give the gift of the dread! Join Harper Teen & Neil Gaiman in celebrating a new holiday tradition of scary book giving during the week of Halloween.

Through out the day today Harper Collins Children's Books will be dropping scary books throughout various location in NYC to celebrate All Hallow's Read. Follow @HarperTeen, @EpicReads, @PitchDarkBooks, and @HarperChildrens to check out their drops today.

You can join in too! All you have to do is drop off a scary book at any location of your choice (similar to the Book Drops we've posted about before). Be sure to photograph & share your book drop TODAY & use the #AllHallowsRead hashtag.

Check out this video by Neil himself talking about the drop.


Go to the All Hallow's Read site to print downloadable stickers to add to your books, find out more about the book drop and enter the poster contest. Don't forget to follow tweet your pictures!

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