Top Ten Tuesday (#13) + Teaser Tuesday (#35)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

This week's Top Ten is: 

Top Ten Favorite Authors In YA Contemporary Genre:

1. Katie McGarry (author of Pushing The Limits)
2. Stephanie Perkins (author of Anna and The French Kiss)
3. Lori Culwell (author of The Dirt)
4. John Green (author of The Fault in our Stars)
5. Jennifer Echols (author of Such a Rush)
6. Hannah Harrington (author of Speechless)
7. Sarah Dessen (author of Along for the Ride)
8. Gayle Forman (author of If I Stay)
9. Sherry Gammon (author of Unlovable) 
10. Ally Carter (author of Heist Society)

Share you list with me in the comments section below. I will come take a peak. ツ

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

The Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) or so “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

This week's teaser comes from Promised written by Caragh M. O'Brien.

She took off the sling she'd use for Maya and checked to make sure she had her knife in her boot. Then she glanced back at the stream of people still winding their way down into the unlake.

Taken from page 58

Please share with me your Top Ten or teaser for this week.
 It may take me some time to get all of your blogs but I will asap. ;)

I am so excited to be reading the next book in the Birthmarked series. Has anyone else read these books? 

Thank you for stopping by and Happy Reading!

 

Book Review: Hollywood Car Wash by Lori Culwell

Title: Hollywood Car Wash
Author: Lori Culwell

Number of Pages: 320

Published: May 5th 2009 by Simon & Schuster 

Source: Author (paperback)

Genre: Contemporary > Chick Lit

Reading Level: YA - Adult

Star Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads | Purchase

College drama student Amy Spencer dreams of starring in independent films. When her roommate signs her up for a mysterious "television project" audition, she blows away the competition with her girl-next-door looks and impressive acting chops, inadvertently getting a starring role on a major TV show and going from Michigan teen to Hollywood starlet overnight.

To keep the part she didn't even know she wanted, Amy finds herself taking a spin through the "Hollywood Car Wash" to make her more marketable. First, she'll have to lose twenty pounds (don't ask how). Then it's new clothes, new teeth, blonder hair, new friends, and a megastar, high-profile boyfriend (though hers comes with a big secret). Bombarded by jealous, two-faced colleagues, overeager plastic surgeons, and manipulative network executives, Amy slowly learns that the only way to survive in Hollywood is to lose her identity. Will Amy get too caught up by the glitz or will she get a grip on her life before it's too late?

Hollywood Car Wash is the second book I have read by author Lori Culwell. The first being her latest novel "The Dirt".  I was not sure what to expect going into this one but I will say I did hope I would love it as much as I did The Dirt. I was right, so right! This book has everything from interesting characters to a fun and engrossing story-line. I mean I know everyone loves hearing some juicy gossip. It's all about the world of fame and fortune and how one young woman rises to to the top and what she does to get there.

When Amy Spencer gets the chance to audition for a major role in a TV series called Autumn Leaves. She goes to California for the audition hoping this is her break to make it big. When she gets a call back for another audition then another for the TV series. Amy now has high hopes that they loved her acting and will ask her to sign a contract. So when Amy gets "THE" call and finds out that the studio was blown away by her auditions and wants her to be the newest STAR and Amy is beyond thrilled. She will now have the chance to be a real actress and help her family with their financial problems as well. At first everything is great. Amy has just about EVERYTHING handed to her on a plate. Free food, new clothes, a huge room in a fancy hotel and is always being showered by gifts. Amy is living the high live and knows it. One day when she is called in to speak with one of the network executives. Amy is told she needs to make major changes in order to boost the shows ratings. They want her to lose weight, chance her hair and many more aspects of her body but the biggest change comes when they asks her to chance his name to STAR instead of Amy. While Amy feels she looks fine the way she is and likes her name.  She ends up doing as told, only to find out she really likes the new Amy Star. As Autumn Leaves becomes more and more popular, so does Star. She will she risk everything to continue to climb the ladder to fame and fortune even if it means losing her true self along the way.

I personally never watch TV shows about actors and actresses like Entertainment tonight. I could really care less about them. This book really opened my eyes and gave me a real inside look how today's celebs live and deal with their fame and fortune. Lori Culwell really did a excellent job at portraying the life of a celebrity and making the reader understand it. The book is very face paced and highly entertaining that I could not put the book down. 

Although I did have a couple problem area's for me in the book, one being how Amy did anything and everything she was told, whether she liked it or not. I felt like she lost her soul when she signed that contract deal. I literally was "shaking my head" when she agrees to do certain things to her body when the network asked. I had a deep sense of pity for her and wanted to she her be true to herself. 

I give this book much praise and would so recommend Hollywood Car Wash to my readers. I feel it is a really great and eye opening story for anyone who enjoys watching or reading about celebrities. Author Lori Culwell has definitely written a superstar novel.

Giveaway Winners! / Foretold + The Dirt & Hollywood Car Wash

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the the following Giveaways:

+ 

Welcome to all new followers! =D

Signed print copies of The Dirt & Hollywood Car wash

Print copy of Foretold

Winner of the signed print copies of The Dirt & Hollywood Car Wash:

Natasha

Winner of the print copy of Foretold is:

Robin Woods

Yay for the winners! I will be contacting each of you very soon. Be sure to enter the other three giveaways going on now. Just click the Current Giveaway link above. Thank you again for being such awesome friends, and readers!

Author Lori Culwell talks about "Authors & Negitive Reviews!"+ DOUBLE Giveaway!

Hello everyone & Happy weekend! So as promised I am here today to bring my readers a awesome and quite informative post from Author Lori Culwell. She is the author of such books as The Dirt and Hollywood Car Wash. Both books are published with Simon & Schuster and Booktrope. I have had the pleasure to read The Dirt and loved it! 


As most of you know things have gotten pretty heated up with authors and book bloggers alike in the topic of a "Negative or Bad" review. I myself try hard not to get involved by these occurrences but often wonder what different authors opinions are on this topic. So I have asked the lovely Lori Culwell to write about what she thinks and feels about the drama. 


Here is what she has to say....

What Can You Do About the Bad Review?

by Lori Curwell

I don’t mean to be the “total buzzkill” guest blogger, but I have sad news for you,

aspiring writers: somehow, someday, someone is not going to love your work.

Sometime after you put out your book (even if that book comes out through a major

publisher), someone is going to write a bad review about something that you wrote.

I challenged a bad review once and only once, on the grounds that the review said

IN THE REVIEW that he knew nothing about/ never read the genre in which I

was writing, and that he probably shouldn’t be reviewing it anyway. I can take a

negative opinion, but a negative UNINFORMED opinion just seems silly. It did take

a lot of back and forth, but eventually that person took down their review.

It’s happened again since then, and I have to say, now I don’t even read the bad ones,

because I know they are part of life as a writer. I accept that there are people in the

world who just don’t like my writing. I’m lucky enough to say that I get paid money

to write books, and with that privilege come challenges. Sometimes I can’t find

the right publisher for whatever book I’m working on at the moment. Sometimes

a book sells less than I would want. Sometimes people just don’t like me OR my

writing. That’s part of the job.

If you read the book “Turning Pro,” by Steven Pressfield, getting serious about your

work really makes sense. Really, you are writing for yourself. If you happen to get

paid for this work, you should consider yourself even luckier.

I’m not even one of those “glass half full” people, honestly, but over the years, I have

found that the occasional bad review is well worth the privilege of publishing. Just

my opinion, of course.

My advice: don’t argue with the bad reviews. Consider them a badge of honor.

Wow, this is some awesome stuff! Very honest and thought provoking.

Thank you Lori!!

I hope everyone enjoyed Lori's guest post. I know I did. :) So Lori being the awesome gal she is has offered my readers SIGNED copies of BOTH of her books (paperbacks). 
WOOT! How cool is that? 

One lucky reader will take all. Until I talk with Lori the giveaway will be open to US only but may change, so check back. 

Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter:

Ends August 20th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am featured on Book Promotion.com!

Good evening everyone! ^__^ I have some really cool news to share with you all... well at least it's cool for me. I was asked my Lori Culwell who is the author of the book "The Dirt" (as well as many other amazing books) to be featured on her site: www.bookpromotion.com.  Lori did a interview with me and asked bunch of great questions having to do with my blog, book queries, my review policy/guidelines, and how I react or handle the good, bad and the ugly. Some examples are: 

• Do you respond to “generic” type emails?
• Generally, are the queries you receive good, or do some of them make you wonder why/ how that person wrote a book in the first place?

and so on... If you want to see all of my answers please come check it out: --> HERE <--


Thank you, Lori! I had a blast!  Also for those of my readers who are interested in who Lori Culwell is and more about her books, come check on my review on her recent novel The Dirt. 

Like my review? You want a chance to win this book signed? Then stop by later this week for an awesome giveaway!! (there will also be a surprise thrown in) 


Thank you all for reading this post and sharing my good news with me. I hope everyone has a nice night ( or morning. ^_^ ). Chow.

Book Review: The Dirt by Lori Culwell

Title: The Dirt
Author: Lori Culwell
Number of Pages: 205

Published: November 22nd 2011 by Booktrope Editions

Source: Publicist (paperback copy)
Genre: Chick Lit 

Reading Level: YA 
Star Rating: ★★★★1/2
Goodreads | Purchase

Lucy Whitley cannot wait to get out of Palm Desert. It’s not a place for a frizzy-haired science nerd, particularly when her fashion-obsessed older sister Sloane is the head of a clique of pretty girls who rule the school—and practically the whole town.Fortunately, life is about to change forever. Lucy’s dad is getting re-married, and then she can transfer to a boarding school in Connecticut, escaping all the mean girls and the endless whispers about the Whitley family scandal. Everything is going to be perfect—as long as the wedding goes smoothly.

First Impressions: I have come to find I adore the genre of Chick Lit and have recently been reading many of these types of books. So when I was asked by Lori's Publicist to read and review her book I was super excited. I just love the cover of the book, so very simple and fits the story to a tee. From what I read in the blurb about the book provided for me I knew The Dirt would be a excellent fit. 
My Review: Upon opening the book and reading the first page I was hooked already. The story moved along very quickly and as I read I found there was never a dull moment throughout the book. While The Dirt is a short read with only 205 pages it surely packed a punch; leaving the reading always wanting more. 
Lucy Whitley and her two sisters, Sloane and are the talk of the town. Being rich and having wild gossip always surrounding them is part of there every day lifes. Lucy wants nothing more than to get through her Father's wedding, move away from all of drama and go to a prestigious boarding school in Connecticut. Oh course nothing seems to go as planned for Lucy. When her Father and new step-mother are about to say their "I DO"S", when "someone" from the past shows up with shocking news. Now Lucy is being forced to leave for vacation with her family and the "new addition" is coming along for the ride. While what comes in the story next will blow you away. The Drama, The Deception and The Dirt makes for a thrilling read.
I adore everything about the book from the cover to the story itself. Very fresh and unique. I loved how smooth and fast the pace of the book when. The story and the character's were very entrancing. I could not put the book down, literally. I stay awake until 1 AM to finish the book. I just found I NEEDED to know what came next and how it would end. I really enjoyed Lucy's characteristics although I did feel she was a but whiny at times. Sloane. Well she is the girl you love to hate, always at the root of all the drama and scandal's. Author Lori Culwell has written such a fun book for all ages and definitely knows how to dish out The Dirt! 
Final Thoughts: The book has beyond any doubt lived up to my expectation's. The Dirt is a true form of a Chick Lit novel. Anyone  who enjoy these types of books as I do would wholeheartedly "dig" The Dirt.