Monthly Archives: November 2013

15th YAppiest Giveaway! “Struck” by Jennifer Bosworth

30 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Book Reviews, Dystopian, Supernatural, Thriller, YA, YAppiest, Young Adult

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17 YA AUTHORS + DISNEYLAND = THE YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH!

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If you couldn’t make The YAppiest Day on Earth, never fear! The YAppiness keeps rolling with epic read giveaways by each of the 17 authors.

This is the 15th YAppiest Giveaway! for Struck, by Jennifer Bosworth.

For a chance to win a FREE copy of this book, see the “Here’s How” section below. For a complete list of upcoming giveaways, go here.

A High Voltage Dystopian

STRUCK coverMia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything. [Synopsis]

To save everyone, she must risk everything…

Mia is haunted by her ability to attract lightning, and frightened by the power each strike has left building inside her. She sees her power as a curse, but the warring religious cults in Los Angeles see it as something to be claimed and manipulated to their own ends. Mia wants nothing to do with either faction, but her brother is drawn to one side and her mother the other. To make matters more confusing, she meets an enigmatic, totally hot guy named Jeremy who possesses a strange power that draws her to him. Mia doesn’t know who she can trust. Not her brother or her mother. And least of all Jeremy, who shows up when she least expects it and then disappearing just as mysteriously.

STRUCK is an engaging, super fresh take on the dystopian theme with a unique paranormal twist. Mia may be a lightning addict with mystical powers, but she is also a teenager with insecurities and family drama we can all relate to. Her mother is left mentally broken as a result of what she endured in the massive quake, and Mia is doing whatever it takes to hold their small family together. The mystical elements of the story are woven through the realistic setting of post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, substantiating a plausible explanation for the cataclysmic events Mia faces.

STRUCK is equal parts high-voltage action and thoughtful character study. For nothing shows a person for who they are more than how they act in a crisis. In the first sentence of the book, we learn that Mia’s life has been a royal flush in that department…

When you’re struck by lightning as many times as I have, you start to expect the worst pretty much all of the time.

Check out the following book trailer… 

Here’s how to win…

NOTE: The FREE giveaway of a copy of this book is open to residents of the United States only, due to shipping costs. My sincere apologies.

  1. Leave a comment on this blog–explaining WHY you want to read this book— by midnight, December 6th (1 entry).
  2. Tweet about this giveaway, including #yappiest in your tweet (1 entry).

I’ll tally the entries and choose a winner, then announce it on this blog on Sunday, December 8th. Good luck!

Stay tuned for the next YAppiests Giveaway!

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A 50 Year Secret that Saved 669 Lives

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Amazing but true!, Hero, Inspiration

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Project Kindertransport

Nicholas WintonIn 1938, a British gentleman by the name of Nicholas Winton received a call from a friend while he was on ski trip in Switzerland. His friend urged him to come to Prague to participate in a “most interesting assignment.” Mr. Winton obliged, and went to  Czechoslovakia to volunteer at a refugee camp.

At that time, Hitler and his troops were raging through Eastern Europe. Mr. Winton soon realized the danger the children were in. Mr. Winton set out to save the lives of 669 children, finding them safe passage out of Czechoslovakia and homes in the cities where they went to live. This endeavor was dubbed Project Kindertransport.

Fast forward fifty years.

Mr. Winton never told anyone about his efforts to save those children’s lives. No one would have known what he had done either, if his wife hadn’t discovered the documents in their attic—quite by accident. Realizing their importance, she submitted the documents to the BBC. The “thankful” reunion documented in the following video was the result. You can read the entire amazing story of Project Kinderstansport here.

The Infectious Power of “Good”

Since news of Sir Winton’s deeds came to light in 1988, his story has inspired people around the globe to make a positive difference in whatever way they can. The following CNN video is evidence of the infectious power of “good”…

No Ordinary Moments

The circumstances in our lives may not be as dramatic as those of Nicholas Winton and the children he helped. Still, that doesn’t mean we have any less to be thankful for. Quite the contrary. Mr. Winton’s story reminds me to be thankful for all the people, situations, and things in my life. Because in truth, there are no ordinary moments. I need to remember to be grateful for all the blessings in this wonderful life. Every. Single. Day.

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR today?

14th YAppiest Giveaway WINNER! “Rootless” by Chris Howard

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Giveaway, Winner!, YAppiest, Young Adult

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17 YA AUTHORS + DISNEYLAND = THE YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH!

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The 14th YAppiest Giveaway! is for Rootless, by Chris Howard. A gripping dystopian story where … Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.

Cover for "Rootless" by Chris Howard

And the Lucky Winner Is…

… Drum roll …

~oOo~

Tami

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

*** Tosses buckets of confetti! ***

~oOo~

I’ll contact you via email in case you miss this post.

Coming Up Next!

The 15th YAppiest Giveaway! for Struck, by Jennifer Bosworth is just around the corner, so…

Stay Tuned!

For a complete list of YAppiest Giveaways, go here.

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Grumpiest Cat Alive Takes on the Happiest Place on Earth

21 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Amazing but true!, Cats, Disneyland, Humor

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Who’s the Grumpiest Cat in the land?

Grumpy Cat (a.k.a. Tardar Sauce) was born on April 4, 2012. She is a female cat Grumpy_Catwho’s face appears grumpy because of feline dwarfism and an under bite. Grumpy Cat soared to popularity when a picture of her was posted to the social news website Reddit on September 22, 2012 by the owner’s brother.

Tabatha Bundesen, Tardar Sauce’s human parent, says that she and her brother Pokey were born to normal kitty parents. Due to Tardar Sauce’s dwarfism, she is undersized and her hind legs don’t work quite the way they should (you can see her cute waddle-walk in the following video).

Oddly enough, her human insists that Tardar Sauce is calm and “really nice”. It’s her brother Pokey who’s actually the grumpy one. Image from Wikipedia.

The Grumpiest Bestseller

GrumpyCat-a-grumpy-bookGrumpy as she is, Tardar Sauce wasn’t satisfied with just being an internet sensation.

Oh, no. She needed a bestselling book deal too.

The official Grumpy Cat book was published on July 23, 2013 by Chronicle Books. Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book…

Teaches the fine art of grumpiness and includes enough bad attitude to cast a dark cloud over the whole world.

What’s the big about all the grumpy?

I seriously did not get the Grumpy Cat sensation. Maybe because I pretty much ignore sensations of any sort … twerking included. So I didn’t pay much attention to Her Grumpiness … until I saw the following video of a grumpy dwarf cat getting the royal treatment at the Happiest Place on Earth.

That’s when I finally realized she was a real cat, and that was her real face—not just a photoshopped expression. (I know, I’m a little slow some times.) I loved the way she walked, because it told me that she’s a special needs kind of kitty, which makes her all the more adorable. Plus… this cat rates getting to go to Disneyland when no one else is there!!! Visiting royalty doesn’t get that type of exclusive treatment. Only Grumpy Cat. She instantly became my new hero!

GrumpyCat-disneyland_composite

I’m an animal lover, and I get a little goofy (pun intended) over animals in general, grumpy or not. But I still didn’t get the world-wide Grumpy Cat craze, until I read the blog post by Josh Getzler, Why we need Grumpy Cat.

What do you think? Are you a Grumpy Cat fan?

Before you answer, watch the following video. If you’re not a fan, you just might become one in the next minute and a half.

Grumpy Cat Meets Her Disney Side

Ernest Hemingway was a “Cat Lady”

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Amazing but true!, Cats, Fun Facts

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Six-toed cat standing next to Hemingway's typewriterYes. It’s true. Hemingway, one of the manliest men to ever hit the literary scene loved cats. A plethora of them. 40-50 six-toed (polydactyl) cats still roam his Key West, Florida estate.

40-50 cats = Cat Lady

I don’t mean to dis The Man, nor the furry family of six-toed cats he adopted. Quite the opposite. I consider the “Cat Lady” title a badge of honor. It means the person is a kind soul who helps animals. And let’s face it. We could use more kindness in the world. Being a “Cat Lady” is more about kindness than the number of cats in a person’s care. Photo of a six-toed cat next to Hemingway’s typewriter at the Earnest Hemingway Home and Museum.

Hemingway’s Six-Toed Cats

One of Hemingway’s first feline companions was a six-toed white cat named Snowball, which was given to him by a ship’s captain.

Hemingway with sons Patrick and Gregory with kittens

It is thought—though not proven—that some of the many cats who currently live on the Hemingway Home and Museum grounds in Key West could be descendants of Snowball. After all, Key West is a small island. Which makes it entirely possible that more than a few of the cats that inhabit the island are related. Photograph of Hemingway with sons Patrick and Gregory with kittens, from Wikipedia.

What is a polydactyl cat?

Normal cats have five toes on each front paw and four toes on each hind paw. A polydactyl cat can have as many as eight toes on their front and/or hind paws. Polydactyl cats are not a particular breed. The six-(or more)-toed trait can appear in any breed, Calicos, Tabbies, Tortoise Shell, etc. They vary in shapes, sizes, colors and personalities. What they have in common is a genetic mutation.

Cats with this genetically inherited trait are most commonly found along the EastGray six-toed cat Coast of North America (in the United States and Canada) and in South West England and Wales. Throughout history, polydactyl cats have been popular as ship’s cats. their extra toes aid them in climbing and hunting thereby helping to control rodents on ships. Being good “ship cats” contributed to the spread of polydactyl cats. Photo of one of the polydactyl cats at the Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West, Florida. This particular cat has 26 toes!

No one knows for sure whether the polydactyl genetic trait originated in New England, or was brought there from Britain. However, there is evidence that the polydactyl trait spread as a result of cats that were carried on ships originating from Boston, Massachusetts. The prevalence of polydactyl cats in various other ports correlates with the dates those ports first established sea trade with Boston.

Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida

The Key West, Florida home Ernest Hemingway and his wife Pauline purchased in 1931 was originally built in 1851. The Spanish Colonial style mansion was in a serious state of neglect when the Hemingways took ownership. Luckily, they saw beyond the disrepair to the grand architecture. The Hemingways immediately took on a massive restoration and remodeling that turned the home—built from rock excavated from the property—into the National Historical Landmark that thousands of tourists visit and enjoy.

I don’t know about you, but visiting Hemingway’s Key West home is on my bucket list, for a number of reasons. If you’d like to learn more about the estate, click the following links for information on the Hemingway home, gardens, tours, and of course … the cats. Image from Wikipedia.

Hemingway Home in Key West Florida

14th YAppiest Giveaway! “Rootless” by Chris Howard

15 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by in Book Reviews, Giveaway, YA, YAppiest, Young Adult

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17 YA AUTHORS + DISNEYLAND = THE YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH!

YAppiest Day on Earth icon

If you couldn’t make The YAppiest Day on Earth, never fear! The YAppiness keeps rolling with epic read giveaways by each of the 17 authors.

This is the 14th YAppiest Giveaway! for Rootless, by Chris Howard. For a chance to win a FREE copy of this book, see the “Here’s How” section below. For a complete list of upcoming giveaways, go here.

Brutally gritty … yet fueled with hope

Cover for "Rootless" by Chris Howard17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan’s never seen a real tree—they were destroyed more than a century ago—his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .

Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo—a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can’t escape the locusts—the locusts that now feed on human flesh.

But Banyan isn’t the only one looking for the trees, and he’s running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he’s forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees. [Synopsis]

When you lose everything, you’ll try anything…

Banyan’s post-apocalyptic world is as brutal as it is desolate. The people who survived the Darkness, and later the flesh eating locust, are desperate and borderline feral. So when Banyan loses his father in a dust storm, he is driven to search for him; the only family he’s ever known. Luckily, serendipity is in his favor. Banyan takes on a construction project for a despicable man that uncovers secrets to the location of the last living trees on earth, and evidence that his father is there. If he’s still alive.

Banyan’s harrowing journey to find his father and the last living trees on earth, throws him together with unlikely comrades who prove their worth as friends when the going gets ugly. And trust me, “ugly” is an understatement. Howard doesn’t pull any punches with this fully realized view of what our world could become. The characters are drawn with realistic brush strokes as well, revealing the harshness of their flaws. This is not a “light” read. But the ugliness of the world makes the threads of hope and humanity woven through the main characters shine all the brighter. I can’t tell you much more about the plot without spoiling this monumental story for you.

What continues to resonate with me long after finishing the last page of Rootless, are its thematic questions: “What defines family?” and “Where do you draw the morality line?”

But that’s just my interpretation. Which is what’s great about a good story — it touches each of us on a personal level. Here’s what Chris Howard says about Rootless on his blog:

In ROOTLESS I tried to draw an analogy between human creativity with the forces of nature and the cycle of life.

Rootless is the first book in a series.  For more information about Chris Howard and the upcoming books in this series, visit his web site: chrishowardbooks.com

Here’s how to win…

NOTE: The FREE giveaway of a copy of this book is open to residents of the United States only, due to shipping costs. My sincere apologies.

  1. Leave a comment on this blog–explaining WHY you want to read this book— by midnight, November 22nd (1 entry).
  2. Tweet about this giveaway, including #yappiest in your tweet (1 entry).

I’ll tally the entries and choose a winner, then announce it on this blog on Monday, November 25th. Good luck!

Stay tuned for the next YAppiests Giveaway!

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Lions and Tigers and Boxes… Oh, My!

07 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Amazing but true!, Animals, Cats, Funny Videos, Humor

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The Mysterious Magic of the Cardboard Box

There are times when I’m sure the person who invented cardboard did it for his cat. You don’t have to be a cat owner (ownee, is more like it) to have noticed how an empty cardboard box — of any shape or size — is an instant domestic cat magnet. Case and point…

Cat in a cardboard box

Studies have been done on this phenomena … I’m sure somewhere, and undoubtedly funded by the government.

When some failed to find the logic and reason behind the feline obsession, they waxed philosophical, interpreting deep meaning in the behavior. Obviously channeled from Obi Wan Catobi. If you don’t know the 21 Lessons You Can Learn From Cats In Boxes, your life is not yet complete. Because…

Cats in boxes aren’t just cute. They’re also infinitely wise.

The inexplicable need humans have for discovering the magic cardboard has over felines can be the only reason lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats and other large cats were exposed to world’s cheapest cat toy. The cardboard box.

The results were unanimous…

Lion, cougar, and tigers playing in cardboard boxes

Boxes. Not just for little kitties…

YAppiest Giveaway! ~ 7th Inning Stretch

02 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Giveaway, YAppiest

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Taking a Short YAppy Break…

Ball games and shows have breaks, whether it’s half-time, intermission, or whatever.

The YAppiest Giveaways have been rolling out like clockwork at two a month since April. So far, that’s 13 YAppiest Giveaways! Which is awesome, but it seemed like a good time to give everyone a little bit of a breather.

Kind of like baseball’s 7th inning stretch…

Moose mascot dancing in front of the crowd at a baseball game

So get down with your YAppiest dance. We want you in true YAppy form for the final four (yes, 4!) YAppiest Giveaways! [image from morguefile.com]

Rootless, by Chris Howard
Struck, by Jennifer Bosworth
Ten, by Gretchen McNeil
Unremembered, by Jessica Brody

Stay Tuned…

The 14th YAppiest Giveaway — Rootless by Chris Howard — will be coming your way on November 15th!

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