Mundie Moms

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A Holiday Treat from Cassie - The Last City of Fallen Angels Excerpt

Artwork by burge_bug

Cassie tweeted simply the best holiday treat for all of us Mundie Moms -- the final excerpt from City of Fallen Angels. Here's Cassie's complete tweet:

"December teaser for City of Fallen Angels. This is the LAST TEASER. Starting spring of next year I will begin Tweeting teasers from Clockwork Prince.

Jace and Clary, midbook.
The alley and the music all fell away, and there was nothing but her and the rain and Jace, his hands on her. . . He made a noise of surprise, low in his throat, and dug his fingers into the thin fabric of her tights. Not unexpectedly, they ripped, and his wet fingers were suddenly on the bare skin of her legs. Not to be outdone, Clary slid her hands under the hem of his soaked shirt, and let her fingers explore what was underneath: the tight, hot skin over his ribs, the ridges of his abdomen, the scars on his back. This was uncharted territory for her, but it seemed to be driving him crazy: he was moaning softly against her mouth, kissing her harder and harder, as if it would never be enough, not quite enough —
Does it end there? Well, the scene doesn’t but the teaser does. That’s why they call ‘em teasers. Have a happy holidays!"

Cassie, thank you for the best holiday present ever!!

Our Favorite 2010 Reads- Our All Time Favorite Reads From 2010

This last week we've shared with you our favorite reads from 2010. We broke our lists up into our favorite books from a series, our favorite debut authors, our favorite couples, love triangles & hot scenes, and we also shared with you what 2011 releases we're looking forward to from debut authors and established authors.

Today we're sharing with you what Our Favorite (top picks) Reads From 2010. First, I want to say THANK YOU to the fabulous review team we've had on Mundie Moms the last two years. The review team members have been Carla, Andrea, Heather, Amber, Cynthia, Sophie and myself (Katie).

Here's a picture sample of our favorites (in no order & not all of our favorite books are pictured, see the lists below)-
























































































































Sophie's Top Picks:
  • Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
  • The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
  • Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
  • Gone by Lisa McMann
  • Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
  • Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
  • Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
  • Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Katie's Top Picks:
  • Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
  • Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
  • Queen in Exile by Donna Hatch
  • Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garica & Margaret Stohl
  • Guardian of The Gate by Michelle Zink
  • Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
  • Fire Light by Sophie Jordan
  • Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
  • The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
  • The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
  • White Cat by Holly Black
  • Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
  • Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Heather's Top Picks:
  • Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
  • Icing on the Cake by Elodia Strain
  • Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
  • Siren by Tricia Rayburn
  • Shadow of the Sun by Laura Kreitzer
  • Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Stolarz
  • Far From You by Lisa Schroeder
  • Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
  • Matched and Being Sixteen by Ally Condie
  • Firelight by Sophie Jordan


Amber's Top Picks:
  • Harmonic Feedback - Tara Kelly
  • The Duff - Kody Keplinger
  • Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly
  • Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
  • The Lonely Hearts Club - Elizabeth Eulberg
  • The Dead Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
  • Split- Swati Avasthi
  • Crossing - Andrew Xia Fukuda
  • Sea - Heidi R.Kling
  • The Reckoning(Darkest Powers #3) - Kelly Armstrong


Cynthia's Top Picks:
  • Grace by Elizabeth Scott
  • Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala
  • The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
  • Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
  • Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
  • The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
  • Sea by Heidi R. Kling
  • Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
  • Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
  • The Clockwork Angel by Cassandran Clare


What are your favorites?

Don't forget to enter our giveaways from this past week! See our side bar to enter our signed swag giveaway, a pre-order for a debut book from 2011, and a pre-order for a 2011 release from an established author.

Thank you to all the authors who have been a part of our site this year! Thank you to their support and to the support from some wonderful publishers who made our giveaways, reviews and interviews possible. We are looking forward to all 2011 has in store!

Blog Tour- Random Magic
























By Sasha Soren
Published By Beach Books
Released in 2009

When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Struths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time (quoted from Goodreads).

We're today's stop in the Winter Longing blog tour for Sasha Soren's Random Magic. Sophie and I thought it would be fun to mix up our reviews a bit, which resulted in our coffee chat style review:

Let's discuss Random Magic.....

The Characters -
S-They were fun and whimsical for sure but lacked a sense of familiarity thus rendering them a bit un-relatable. Having said that, I liked Henry and sympathized with his search for the real Alice through a series of what appear to be haphazard and slightly nonsensical moments.

K- I would agree. I felt like I didn't connect on any level with the characters, as I was left feeling like I didn't get to know them. I wanted to feel like I was apart of their world and their journey, but I needed to feel a connection with them that I didn't get in order for that to happen. If I had to choose a character I did enjoy the most, I would also agree with your choice with Henry. I don't know if it's because he was on a quest that drew me to him the most, as you know how I like a good adventure. (Dawntreader anyone!?)

The Plot -
S- Shut up! *snickering* Back to Random Magic's Plot. It's very episodic. The story lives up to its title -- Random Magic. The episodic quality leaves you with a sense that you are dropped into a story and that perhaps there was a particular beginning that you may have missed. I loved the very long and silly chapter titles and I must say, I looked forward to them the most.

K- So if BinBons was lost in Wonderland would you go down the rabbit hole after him!?! *looks to Sophie, laughing* Okay sorry, I had to go there.

S- Yes brandishing my sword and all. *looks to K's pretty new Chronicles of Narnia with the Dawntreader cover*

K- I'm sure you would *laughing* Okay, seriously back to Random Magic's Plot. I was really lost with the plot. I'm not sure if I missed the satire bandwagon on this or if I made the mistake of going in reading the book thinking it was going to be like Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland or what. It wasn't what I expected at all. I think it's a book that needs to be read with a very open mind. I thought it was one thing, and it ended up being something completely different. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it's just not my cup of tea.

S- If a hot, snarky shadowhunter named Jace was lost in Wonderland, would you enjoy it then?

K- I'm sure he has a rune that prevents him from getting lost, plus he could fight his way out of Wonderland. lol

The World Building -
S- A very detailed although sometimes a trifle too dense nod at Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland series. Its fairytale-like landscape lends an air of frivolity and magic. But again, I was a little lost and given the fantasy nature of the book expected a more linear plot that builds upon itself.

K- I liked the fantasy aspect of the book, but I felt like it was kind of jumpy. Don't laugh, but even Alice In Wonderland left me scratching my head a few times. *looks to Sophie* Okay, fine. If there was a wolf or some sort of paranormal activity I would have followed Alice's adventures a little more closely.

S- Are you distracted by the thought of Jace?

K- Hmmm? Sorry, what was the question?

S- Just as I thought.

K- Ha, ha, very funny. I really did try to keep up with what was going on, but I felt more confused than satisfied. Normally I'm someone who falls in love with the world building of a book. This time I didn't feel like I was part of the world to make that connection.

My Overall Impression -
S- If you love Lewis Carroll and are a fan of pure fantasy, this whimsical tale is for you. As for me, it was a little too random in its episodes for me to follow along.

K- I think Random Magic lived up to it's name, as it is very random. Though it wasn't a book that I was able to enjoy as much as I wanted to, I would recommend this book to readers who love a different type of fantasy, or whimsical tale as you mentioned.

You can find out more about Random Magic, and the next stop on the Winter Longing tour by visiting Sasha's site here

Don't forget to check out Random Magic's book trailer-

Labels