Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

I'm coming back tomorrow!!!

With an exciting cover reveal!!!

Did you miss me? I missed this blog like crazy but  life got in the way.. So hang on to your hats and get ready for tomorrow morning! Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Customizabooks-Twas the Night Before Christmas

So this won't be your typical book review from the Mother Daughter Reading Team. Today we are diving into new adventures with a book that is an App. The App comes to us from one of the hottest new things out there for kids, Blackfish Children's Books.
We all know how great apps are, many of us read books on apps on our smart phones now. But this, this is for the kids and the holidays! Everything we love all wrapped up into one! What better time of year to to find this app with the holidays right around the corner.

 We asked Blackfish Children's Books for a little description and here is what they shared with me:

One of the best-loved and most frequently read Christmas stories of all time, this classic has been updated and customized for the iPhone and iPad. Beautifully illustrated, engaging, and interactive, our version allows you to continue sharing this magical story through the generations.

Features:

★ There are interactive objects on every page that kids love to touch and watch what they do. Try and find all of the objects throughout the story. At the end, the book tells you what you still need to find

★ Recorded narration with words that highlight as it is read

★ Record your own Narration

★ 1 Purchase gets you both iPhone/iPod and iPad versions

★ Easy to use navigation, customization, and page turning effects

★ Music throughout the book


C's Review- This is the coolest book we have seen yet. It is pretty pictures of course and I love Santa. But I can listen to the guy, or make someone else record it or I can even record my voice on my sisters Ipod. It was really easy to record on and I like to listen to myself , but I sound kind of funny. I love that I can read it all year long after mom has put away the Christmas stuff. I just wish there were more books ( SIDE NOTE: I interrupt her review to tell her there are more stories) OMG mom really, what books?  Can we read them all now?  Can I record them? 

Mom's Review- Well nothing quite warms my heart like the excitement of my little girls so I knew I was thrilled with this from the moment I showed it to my daughters. But as I began to really play with it I was struck by two things. one was how real it looked on my screen. Check out this image below, I feel like that reindeer is staring in my eyes. Also the ease of this app/book in terms of recording. I recorded some pages, made a mistake and it caught it and guided me through so I didn't mess up my story. I love that the navigation buttons are clear and the kids never once got lost maneuvering through.I love that this held the attention of a girl reading Little House on the Prairie books and a girl who is reading picture books. It really was family fun all around. 















 My husband and I decided to surprise the girls by recording together the book on each of their I-Pods to listen to in bed on Christmas eve and guess what you can do that too!

Here's a few simple ways. One you can go buy the app yourself here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twas-night-before-christmas/id581608353?ls=1&mt=8


Or you can enter our drawing below and win a promo code for your very own copy! a Rafflecopter giveaway






Some other praise for the book

A much loved classic for the holidays! This one is so rich in graphics, life, interaction, and overall quality that it is certain to become a favorite for your kids!" -- bestappsforkids.org

"if you are looking for a nice traditional version of ’Twas The Night Before Christmas, illustrations with a warm, cozy feel, fun interactive elements, seasonal music and sound effects this is well worth downloading." -- 4/5 stars -- the iMums





*We were not compensated in any way for this review. We just downloaded the app, loved it and wanted to share it. 

A Season for Sin

Title: A Season for Sin
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub Date: September 12th  2012
Author: Vicky Dreiling
Received From: NetGalley




Introducing the Sinful Scoundrels...

The Earl of Bellingham is nothing is not a creature of habit:  money, meals, and mistresses must be strictly managed if a man is to have a moment's peace.  It's a system that works splendidly for him--until now.  With his oldest and dearest friends succumbing, one by one, to wedded bliss, Bell is now restless and a trifle lonely.  Enter the Sinful Scoundrels--Colin Brockhurst, Earl of Ravenshire, and Harry Norcliffe, Viscount Evermore--who drag him back into society and draw his rakish eye to the ton's new beautiful young widow.  Bell isn't after a wife, but a challenge.  And Laura Davenport should fit the bill quite nicely..


A short introduction to the new series to come brings us the Earl of Bellingham or Bell. Bell is a bit set in his ways and after a recent loss of mistress looking hard for another.  He seems to be setting his sites on the one Lady Chesfield who is setting her sites on finishing off the raising of a young boy. She doesn't come off as a strong character. Quite honestly none of these characters really speak to me in this story but I think it is a factor of not having the time to go into their lives and personalities. It is a bit disappointing to find so much lacking in this short novella, but if you think of it as a great preview and plan to read it right before the publication date of What a Wicked Earl Wants then i think you'll get far more out of this book!

Meant to Be

Title: Meant to Be
Publisher: Random House Childrens Books
Pub Date: November 13th 2012
Author: Laura Morrill
Received From: NetGalley

     Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 

     It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be"). 

     But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love. 

     Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.


I am a huge fan of fun books that let me relive the moments of my youth that I enjoyed so much! With Meant to be what I found was an experience I never got to have. But even thought i'm not re-living.. I was  living in the moment in this book. It was really great to see Julia who is for sure a bit stuffy and stuck in her ways to begin with come out of that shell she's been hiding under. The class trip to London was one that changed the lives of both Julia and Jason. it is always great to see the depth of a character grow over a story and that really happened with Jason  These two had some crazy adventures and in the end found they were seeing one another in a new light. I'd consider this a good fun YA read!

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Title: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
Publisher: Harlequin UK
Pub Date: October 5th 2012
Author: Rachel Cohn David Levithan
Received From: NetGalley

"I've left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don't, put the book back on the shelf, please."

Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.


 Two teenagers stuck in the city over the holidays with no family around find one another when Lily leaves a Red Notebook with a dare in it in a bookstore. Dash happens to be the one to find it and the adventure takes off there. The reader is taken on a journey unlike any I've seen with the usual teenage angst added in to the places they send one another and the amount of time it takes till they meet in person. I found it so fun to follow this journey! Dash opens his heart in this notebook, sharing things with a mystery girl. Life isn't exactly all roses and cupcakes for either teen. But they handle things like Lily's disappointment in her parents choices, and Dash's mad at the world moods are lightened a bit by Lily. The one piece of the book I didn't care much for was the whole becoming infamous and what for. the authors descriptions of the actions by the mothers in the book made me gasp. Really who acts like that? I am for sure a protective mom but I felt like this just gave teens more reasons to hate adults. Overall I'd say it is a cute fun book and a easy read!

Skinny

Title: Skinny
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub Date: October 1st 2012
Author: Donna Cooner
Received From: NetGalley


Find your voice.

Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies's head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she'll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it. 

But there is another voice: Ever's singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical - and partly to try and save her own life - Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over. 

With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own. 


Ever is one of those characters that you just fall right in love with.I mean honestly she isn't perfect, in fact she is kind of mean in the start of this book, but I felt like I got her. Maybe it's because I too listen to Skinny far to often, but from the very first chapter I was sucked into this book. Ever being a large weight decides to undergo gastric bypass surgery after hearing the Skinny in her head share what she thinks people really think of her. The surgery isn't a end all cure but it is a beginning point where things start to change for Ever and the author writes the story and the characters in a way that you really see all sides of it and them. Books like this are something that should be in the hand of all teens!

The Stork Trilogy- Giveaway

If you've been following along all week you know I've been spending the week with the Stork Trilogy by Wendy Delsol. I reviewed each of the books, did an interview with the author and now today I am giving away all three of the books signed by the author!

Stork- Paperback


Review


Frost-Paperback




Review


Flock- Hardback



Review

Join in now these are three books you won't want to miss, for yourself or as a gift to the reader in your family!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway