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December 30, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday | Our Top Ten Goals for 2015

This is a weekly meme hosted by the amazing girls over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This is the last Top Ten Tuesday of 2014!

I would say that this year went by quickly, but that would be a lie. While we really picked up on our blogging pace, it was not easy. Also, life has gotten in the way a couple times.


We are going to try and keep our blogging momentum going next year. We still have a lot of work to do, so here are our blogging for 2015.

Max

My main goal for 2015 is to keep a better record of the books that I read. This includes recording every book that I read on Goodreads. Most of the time, I forget to mark a book as "read" on Goodreads and give it a rating.
Another part of this is to write more reviews. I want to remember what I read and how I felt about it. Between the dozens of books that I read every year, I want to remember the books I loved and the books I hated and the reasons why. I think of it as a literary scrapbook to chronicle my reading adventures.

Tessa

In the coming year, I want to be a more consistent blogger. When I looked at the number of posts from November and June compared to the posts during December. There were 39 posts in November, but only 10 in December, including this one. I was disappointed with myself as a blogger. For most bloggers, posting once a week is a great goal, but I feel that we can do better. There are so many things that I want to write about, but I have not been able to find the time. So, I am going to focus on writing posts and reviews in advance. I am planning on creating a stockpile of reviews during the weekends and hopefully distributing them out over time.

I also want to be a more confident blogger. I constantly second guess myself about every idea that I have, and that has really set back my blogging pace. One of the reasons that I love to write is the ability to remain anonymous, but still spread my personal thoughts and feelings. Over this year, I have discovered that blogging is not about hiding yourself, but discovering who you really are. In 2015, I want to have the confidence to spread my wings as a blogger.

As a blog, we our goal is to write more discussion posts. To us, blogging is about spreading ideas, and we also want to hear ideas. We want to create a way for everyone to have their own voice at Crazy for YA.

So, we joined the 2015 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight.

We are aiming to write 13-24 discussion posts in the coming year.

So, those are our unrealistic ambitious goals for next year. I hope you will be joining us to see if we actually accomplish any of them. You better get ready for another year of crazy blogging!



What are your goals for the new year? How do you want to improve your blog, or your life?


December 29, 2014

2015 Book Blog Discussion Post Challenge | Sign-Up

Our New Year's resolution at Crazy for YA is to be better bloggers.

Why so vague? 

This year we have some work to do. There are countless things we need to work on, so trying to put all of our goals into one resolution would be impossible. So, we did not even try. 

You can expect some changes over the next month or so. 

We plan on posting more often, commenting on more blogs, cleaning up the blog, and being more involved in the book blogging community. 

To accomplish this, we want to write more discussion posts. 

We believe that the heart of the blogosphere, and even the whole bookish world, is discussion. The whole reason we started a blog is to communicate with other people who have the same interests. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that much around here. On the bright side, Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight have come up with the perfect solution, a discussion post challenge!

We have not done many discussion posts yet. We dabbled with them during BookBlogWriMo, and our first, real discussion post by Tessa was published a couple weeks ago. The discussion, about the Goodreads Choice Award winners, was one of our most commented posts. We started some great conversations, which is what we want to do with every post.

2015 Discussion Challenge3

The challenge is probably the simplest one that you will find. 

All you have to do is write discussion posts and link them up in the monthly recap posts.

Our goal is to have 13-24 discussion posts next year to achieve the level of Creative Conversationalist.  For those math people out there, that adds up to about 1-2 discussion posts a month. 

My favorite thing about this challenge is the most people who join, the better the challenge will be. So, if you are missing the crazy lovely voices of fellow bloggers in your life, then this should be your challenge for 2015.

Sign-ups are open until December 31st at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. 

Make sure to lick your introduction post to the linky at either Feed Your Fiction Addiction or It Starts at Midnight.

There will be a kick-off post at Feed You Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight on January 1.

The lovely hosts have also promised that there will be monthly giveaways!

To connect with other participants, use #LetsDiscuss2015

We cannot wait to start all kinds of bookish conversations with you!

UPDATE: 12/30/15

Here is the list of all of the discussion posts that I wrote in 2015 for this challenge.


December 27, 2014

E-book Deals | Holiday Edition



I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

I have finally recovered from slaving over infinite batches of cookies, wrapping presents, and shoving homemade food in my face. It was quite exhausting.

Now, I am experimenting with my new KINDLE that I got for Christmas. Yes, I finally conceded to getting an e-reader.

Now, I could not be happier with the conversion. I can basically read any book I want anytime I want to. Also, there is a bunch of free and cheap books to find! Today, I decided to share with you the best jewels I found in my search for e-book deals. You do not need to feel guilty about spending your holiday money on any of these steals!

The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter, #1)

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

$1.99
until January 5th


Unearthly (Unearthly, #1)

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

$1.99 
until January 5th



Panic

Panic by Lauren Oliver

$1.99
until January 5th



The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

$2.99

Amazon

Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1)

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Goodreads Choice Award Winner 2014 for Best Debut Goodreads Author

$1.99

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Google

The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries, #1)

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L.J. Smith

Based on the popular television show

$1.99 
until December 29th

BookBub * Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Google

Uninvited (Uninvited, #1)

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

$1.99
until January 5th

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Google

Say What You Will

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

$1.99
until January 5th

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Google

Talon (Talon, #1)

Talon by Julie Kawaga

$4.99

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Google


Until Midnight (Alienated, #1.5)

Until Midnight by Melissa Landers

A Christmas-themed short story in the Alienated series

FREE

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Google

UPDATE

Side Effects May Vary

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

$1.99

Amazon

$2.80

Google


*Disclaimer*
All of these e-books were still on sale as of the time this post went live, December 27,2014 at 5:00 p.m.
Make sure to double check the price of anything you wish to buy before you purchase it. 

If you are interested in looking for more e-book deals, check out BookBub. You can sign up for the e-newsletter that contains new deals everyday.

Have you found any noteworthy deals this holiday season? I would love to hear about them!



December 19, 2014

Book Blitz | Where Dead Bodies Lie by Kat Cazanav



Where Dead Bodies Lie
(The Body Dowser Series, #1)
Release Date: 12/16/14

Summary from Goodreads:
For as long as I can remember, I have been told to follow three important rules;
Always guard my ability
Never share my secret
And pretend to be normal.

However, those three little rules don’t make my life easier. I still find dead people and deal with strange visions. Not to mention, an attraction to a boy who doesn’t exist. Whenever we cross path’s he mists away like smoke on a mirror. He drives me crazy, that Kaff Cooper.

As a flock of dead crows fall from the blackened sky, Kaff becomes the only one who can see the truth straight to the dark underbelly of who I actually am.

My hands feel the pull to extract the forsaken, the lost, the forgotten. It comes as naturally as breathing and there is no stopping it. 





Excerpt

A coldness nipped at my fingertips and no matter how hard I shook my hands, the mist clung to them. I heard a cracking sound and looked up at ceiling lights as they exploded, sending  shards of glass spraying everywhere.
Students screamed, covering their heads. Another fury of wind swept in through the window. 
Papers flew, stools toppled, and lab vials burst.
The door flung open and panicked shouts filled the air as a stampede of bodies flooded out into 
the hall. I felt nothing as if I were standing in the eye of a storm, detached from the riot a few feet away.
“Let me out!”
“She’s crazy!”
“Shit, move your ass!”
“I can’t breathe. She’s killing us!”
Moments later, the door slammed shut. I was all alone and the room melted away, exposing water lapping at the legs of chairs. A flicker of shadow crawled up from the floor. I could only make out her form a few feet in front of me. She was standing in the middle of the room, her head bent down, face hidden by a mop of wet black hair hanging over her face. Her image flapped and unfurled like a flag in the wind. I climbed down from the desk and leaned against it as the girl floated toward me on a current of air. I shrank back, trying to understand what I’d done.
 What was she going to do to me?

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December 17, 2014

Double Cover Reveal | Greta and the Glass Kingdom & Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs



Greta and the Goblin King
Release Date: 12/11/12
Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
While trying to save her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side that comes out with the eclipse.

To survive, Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young goblin king, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her will to escape.

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. An ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal, and with the next eclipse mere days away, every bloodthirsty creature in the realm is after her—including Isaac. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back...

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Greta and the Glass Kingdom
 (Mylena Chronicles #2)
Release Date: February 2015
Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
The sequel to the Hansel & Gretel retelling Greta and the Goblin King ups the stakes of danger and romance. As conflict surges across Mylena, the tough Greta struggles to save those she loves.

Against all odds, Greta and the Goblin King miraculously survived the battle against the evil Agramon. Greta should be happy to be alive and ready to claim her place in Mylena by Isaac's side. Yet nothing is the way she thought it would be. The battle against Agramon left a dark magick inside Greta that will eventually kill her. Isaac hasn't been the same since he almost went Lost. And there are whispers of a rebellion brewing throughout Mylena...

Determined to save Mylena from a bitter civil war, they travel to the mysterious Glass Kingdom to form an uneasy alliance with the deadly Faerie race. But when an unexpected disaster tears Greta and Isaac apart, she must make the journey on her own. Along the way, she discovers a conspiracy stretching back to events she never thought she would have to revisit, betrayal from allies whose loyalty she never questioned, and an enemy vying to control all of Mylena.

Follow Greta into unexpected romance, explosive secrets, and shocking betrayals that will leave her and all of Mylena forever changed in the stunning second installment of The Mylena Chronicles.

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About the Author
Chloe Jacobs is a native of nowhere and everywhere, having jumped around to practically every Province of Canada before finally settling in Ontario where she has now been living for a respectable number of years. Her husband and son are the two best people in the entire world, but they also make her wish she'd at least gotten a female cat. No such luck. And although the day job keeps her busy, she carves out as much time as possible to write. Bringing new characters to life and finding out what makes them tick and how badly she can make them suffer is one of her greatest pleasures, almost better than chocolate and fuzzy pink bunny slippers.

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Cover Reveal Organized by:
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