Poke the Box by Seth Godin

This is the first book I recieved on my Kindle as part of a Bzzagent campaign I joined. This is one of many books that are being published by the Domino Project. Poke the Box is a motivation book to get you moving and taking chances to make a difference in the world or just your daily life. Stop going with the crowd and hiding your ideas and creativity. Poke the box and push your ideas to come to life. Seth Godin talks about the failure of most people to take initiative and do something. Most sit around following the crowd since we are programed to never take chances and do something different. What if everyone in a company shared their ideas and tried them instead of just a small team of people? Notice I say 'tried.' Godin doesn't say that every idea will be a success, but that honestly most will fail, but eventually you learn from these failures and find something truly remarkable. For those who are nervous about going for a dream or idea that they have thought about for a while, this is a good book to start reading in order to hopefully get you motivated to accomplish your goal. It doesn't work to just think or start something, you must finish it.

The List by Melanie Jacobson

I found this book from a Seagull Books ad and was intrigued by what it had to offer. I found it pretty good and humorous from a Mormon standpoint. Melanie does a very good job poking fun as the stereotypical college age group of mormons and their tactics and views on dating and marriage. It was fairly funny at times.

Ashley Barrett is our main character who goes to school at famous BYU where her whole family has gotten married when they were 19 and started having kids immediately. Sounds like a normal mormon view on life after highschool. Well, Ashley does not find this at all appealing since her sisters and mother seem to always be stressed out and missing out on life. They hurt financially and it seems to take a toll on their marriages. So to prevent this from happening to her, Ashley puts together The List. 25 things to do before getting married with things such as learn to surf, sky dive, learn to make sushi, get a masters, etc... So she finds herself in California staying with her cousins for the summer so she can learn how to surf and possibly mark off another couple things on her list such as internet dating and having a summer fling. She finds herself targeting Matt Gibson as her summer fling and surf instructor. It is entertaining to see them at ward activities and the typical blond haired girls that are super spiritual in order to try to get Matt's attention. Ashely, of course, is the opposite of all stereotypical Utah blonde, super spiritual females and so is able to help Melanie poke fun at the LDS social life. Unfortunately for Ashley, she finds herself falling in love with Matt and has to decide whether to forgo the last three items on her list for Matt or leave Matt behind. Bet you can't figure out what she chooses in the end? Overall, a very enjoyable read for an LDS targeted book.

Logan Author Night

The Logan Library set up an author night tonight at Mount Logan Middle School. Unfortunately, I was only able to last an hour with my two kids there (which is amazing in itself), but it was an enjoyable presentation. Author Shannon Hale seemed to be the one in charge of getting everyone there and she even showed up with one of her twins. Authors Jessica Day George, James Dashner, Brandon Mull, and Ally Condie were also present.

I'm a little surprised, but Shannon Hale is the most checked out author at the Logan Library along with Jessica Day George and James Dashner. Shannon Hale is known for the Bayern series and Princess Academy. Impressively, she also has graphic novels and screen plays that she has written. I have not read any of Jessica Day George's books so I will have to get on that and see what they are like. The only book I have read of James Dashner's is The 13th Reality. His more well known book is The Maze Runner so I will have to put that on my list to read as well. I am not familiar with Ally Condie either. Her more famous book is Matched, which if you are looking for at a library you will have to put down as Allyson Braithwaite Condie to find. And anyone who does not know Brandon Mull by now is missing out. Fable Haven, Candyshop Wars, The Beyonders, etc...

Now as far as personalities go, Ally Condie was very quiet so I did not get a feel for her except that she seems nice and more reserved than the others. Jessica Day George and Shannon Hale were very talkative about themselves even to the point of being annoying. We're at a book signing and we get to hear about their kids behaviors and labor stories. Come on. Yeah, not too impressed with them individually, but that's just personally. James Dashner and Brandon Mull seemed a little more relaxed and not caring. They were quick to keep things light hearted and funny without laughing and drawing too much attention to themselves. Overall, it was a decent night.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

So I knew a fourth book was coming out, but from what I thought it was the last book and written from Simon's view from a past book. Nope, I was wrong. Yes, it is written from multiple points of view, which I have begun to really like for most books now. It is nice to get the perspective of multiple main characters instead of only knowing one main characters feelings and experiences. However, after reading this book I have to come realize that this series is going to continue furthur. Once again I am stuck reading a series that I have to wait years to finish.

So anyway... The war is over, but life goes on for everyone. Simon is trying to come to terms with his daywalker vampire self and living longer than everyone else. Clary is trying to train to become a Shadowhunter and Jace is still is cocky self, however, he is being manipulated by a demon and losing control over his actions. We don't see much of Alec and Magnus since they are vacationing around the world, but we do see at the end that Alec is having to come to terms with Magnus's past relationships and him being a relationship at the time that will end with him dying and Magnus moving on. Isabel is still her self-centered self, but she is starting to realize that she wants/needs a steady, serious relationship and it seems that may be with Simon. So there you have it summed up within a few sentences. Pretty much Sabastian is brought back to life and Jace is controlled by him. It is nice to see that this set up forces all the other characters to take some more main parts in the upcoming books since Jace is unable to protect and save everyone. Everyone is now going to have to fight against him as well as Sabastian while also trying to keep Jace alive. A crazy twist I'm interested to see how is solved.

My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking

I just recently read about Amanda Hocking and her success starting out by self-publishing from Writer's Digest. I was interested in her writing mostly because Blake is in the process of publishing his first book so I wanted to see what her writing is like to see how if compares to Blake's. She has a few series out and just barely started publishing with an actual company instead of on her own. This series, My Blood Approves, is a typical vampire series. It reminds me a bit of Twilight in the sense that the main character falls in love with a vampire, but her blood is meant for another vampire that she is drawn too and she wants to become one. I have read the first two books in the series and there are two others out that I will have to read at some point. I got these books for Kindle since her books are not at my local library yet and only available online right now.

So overall, I have enjoyed reading her books. I have been pleasantly impressed with her editing skills compared to many ebooks that I have read that you honestly get distracted with the amount of errors. Come on, if you're going to publish your book make sure it is properly edited. It seems books are being edited very sloppy recently. Anyway, back on subject. Alice is saved one night by Jack who she finds out is a vampire. They become friends, but when Jack introduces Alice to his 'family' her blood is drawn to Peter. Because of this bond, Peter claims Alice as his even though he fights his desire to be her soul mate. Ironically, and unusual, Jack falls in love with Alice and they form a slight bond as well that interfers with Alice and Peter's bond. Alice decides to wait to be turned to a vampire simply because her brother is 15 and just realized he's gay (does it seem interesting that most books lately always have a gay kid) so she does not want to leave him alone. Well as fate would have it, in the second book her brother gets in an accident and the only way to save him is to turn him into a vampire. Well, now Alice has to wait still for her brother to learn how to control his instincts and be trained. Peter leaves and Jack bites Alice which is pretty much a death sentence for both of them since Peter has claimed Alice as his. The second book ends with Jack and Peter fighting and Jack turning Alice into a vampire. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the books have to offer.

The Domino Project

Ok, so this isn't my usual post-about-the-latest-book-I've-read, but I believe it is very relevant to this particular blog I update. The Domino Project is part of a new bzzcampaign that I am participating in during this upcoming year as part of being an agent with Bzzagent.

I spent some time looking at the main website this morning and am intrigued with what it has to offer. Every month as part of the campaign I will be recieving a free kindle version of the book being offered for us to read and review. I am totally excited to start adding to my kindle collection since I have only been downloading free books or .99 titles. I do have a new author that I have downloaded a few books from who has self-published her works through AbbottPress.com. She sounds like a promising 26-year-old author so keep your eye out for when I get around to reading her works. I am still working on re-reading some of Marcia Lynn McClure's books and will finish probably the beginning of next week when I'll write my first review of The Domino Project's first book I will recive titled Poke the Box by Seth Godin, also the founder of this site.

This site is determined to change how books are published and marketed. As an author I would definately subscribe and watch for what could potentially be a way to get your material published partnering with Amazon. They are not staffed enough yet to really shift through tons of submissions or anything, but hey, you might as well keep your eyes open for any and all opportunities to get your book out there. I know I will since my husband wants to get his works published soon. You can subscribe to be updated of new releases as well as recieve discounts off of books they have as well.

Visit the site and subscribe for free! http://www.thedominoproject.com/