Sunday, November 29

In My Mailbox (17)


In My Mailbox explores the really cool stuff that comes weekly in my mailbox. Items mentioned have been received from various sources, such as the library, the publisher/author, or bought by me. This event is hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren.


Review:
Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus
The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus

Contest: (Thank you, Alyssa!)
Must Love Black by Kelly McClymer
Switch by Carol Snow
Kaimira: The Sky Village, Book One by Monk Ashland, Nigel Ashland

Bought:
House of Night 1-4 Box Set by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

I re-bought these because I am not sure where my other copies went. Plus they came in a really nice box with a pretty poster.

That is all for me this week. I cannot wait to see what everyone else got. Happy Reading!

Saturday, November 28

Design It Up! (5)

Design It Up! is a feature which helps you learn handy little tricks to tweak up your blog. This week we are going to tackle Google Forms. These forms are very flexible and great to use for many different blog related events. They are very easy to set up, plus you can customize them in almost any way that you want. And with the concerns over personal privacy beginning to surface, this is a proactive step that a blogger can take to help ensure their readers information be kept private.

How to create a new form:

1. If you don't already have one, you must sign-up for a Google account. They are free, and only take a minute or two to create.

2. Once you are signed in, go to Google Documents either by visiting http://docs.google.com, or selecting "Documents" from the Google main page.

3. You will then select "Create New," then select "Form."


4. Next you will see the basic "Form." From here there are a few things you can do:

1.) Add questions
2.) Change the background. They have almost 70 different ones to choose from!
3.) Embed the form onto your site by copying and pasting the HTML code
4.) These are sample questions. You can either edit or delete them. I usually just delete them to start with a black form.
5.) At the bottom, there is direct link that you can also use to link to the form.


5. Once you have the form and questions set up how you like, just hit save and you are done! All that is left is to decide how you would like to implement the form on your site, and plug it in.

Now, if you are like me, and want to know when people submit a form, there is a nice feature that Google has where it can email you. To set this up, go back to your main Google Documents page, and select the form which you would like to get notifications for. Go to "Tools"- "Notification Rules...". From here you can select what kinds of emails you get, and how many.

And that is it! Enjoy!

Got any blogger designing questions you want addressed? Leave a comment or email me at neverendingshelf(at)gmail.com.

Friday, November 27

Animanga Review: Avalon High

Author: Meg Cabot, Jinky Coronado (Illustrator)
Released: 2007 by TokyoPop
Copy Provided by: Library
Summary from GoodReads:

Meg Cabot's magical Arthurian epic continues...MANGA STYLE!
Being a new student at Avalon High has been exciting for Ellie, to say the least--she's an honor student, a star on the track team, and, oh yeah, dating the super-hot class president, Will. Who also happens to be the alleged reincarnation of King Arthur. Ellie couldn't be happier to have Will in her life, but she's also worried that his estrangement from his parents is tearing him apart. To make matters worse, Will's doubt that he really is King Arthur could prevent the Merlin Prophecy--an age of enlightenment--from occurring. Can Ellie convince Will to believe in something that even she isn't sure about? And more importantly, can she get him to give his parents another chance?With all the mythology and mysticism of AVALON HIGH, Meg Cabot's very first manga is indeed a tale for the ages.



Avalon High was a joy to read, yet frustrating at the same time. This is a continuation of the novel of the same name by Meg Cabot. While I really enjoyed the novel, the first volume of the manga series is almost blah. The beginning was really well done. The back story was given, and all the characters were nicely introduced. Yet for the rest of the first volume, it just seemed a little too repetitive. Ellie is constantly trying to find ways to tell or convince Will of the prophecy. While I understand this is not an easy task, I found the dialogue to be stale. Thankfully, my interest was recaptured by the introduction of the "evil" characters.

All in all, this was not the worst manga I have ever read, but it also was not close to the best. The drawings were pretty well done. I really loved the Arthurian outfits that were included. It gave a nice authentic feeling to it. While I am not too sure, if that is enough to make everyone keep reading, I think that I am willing to give the series another chance and attempt Vol. 2. I honestly hope that the second novel picks this series up a little bit because I really do want to like it, but it just hasn't given me much of a reason to yet.

My rating here.

Thursday, November 26

2010 Debut Author Challenge!


What is the 2010 Debut Author Challenge?
  • The objective is to read a set number of YA (Young Adult) or MG (Middle Grade) novels from debut authors published this year. I'm going to challenge everyone to read at least 12 debut novels! You don’t have to list your choices right away, but if you do feel free to change them throughout the year. I will also be focusing on mostly Young Adult novels.
  • Anyone can join, you don’t need a blog to participate. If you don’t have a blog you can always share your views by posting a review on Amazon.com/BarnesandNoble.com/GoodReads/Shelfari, or any other bookish site.
  • The challenge will run from January 1, 2010- December 31, 2010. You can join at anytime!

Hosted by The Story Siren. This challenge sounds amazing! There are so many novels being released by 2010 debut authors that I cannot wait to get my hands on. I am so excited to start this challenge.

I hope to read a minimum 30. But I am hoping that as 2010 rolls on, I will be able to make that number much higher. There truly are so many great novels to look forward to in 2010. Here is my list of must reads thus far (in no particular order):

  1. The Line by Teri Hall
  2. Shadow Hills by Anatasia Hopcus
  3. Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White
  4. The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy
  5. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
  6. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubard
  7. The Mark by Jen Nadol
  8. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
  9. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
  10. Mistwood by Leah Cypess
  11. The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
  12. Sea by Heidi R. Kling
  13. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
  14. Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson
  15. A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis
  16. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
  17. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
  18. Everlasting by Angie Frazier
  19. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
  20. Other by Karen Kincy
  21. Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
  22. Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis
  23. Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien
  24. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
  25. The Naughty List by Suzanne Young
  26. Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony
  27. Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt (Review coming soon!)
  28. Epitaph Road by David Patneaude
  29. Dirty Little Secrets by CJ Omololu
  30. The Ghost and The Goth by Stacey Kade

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Want to take a moment to wish all those out there celebrating today a Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope that everyone has a great holiday, and gets to eat lots of wonderful food.

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