We are so excited to be a part of the Beautiful Darkness teaser series! We have the honor of posting the SECOND video clip in the series!

From Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl:

“This is a unique series that will culminate in a message at the end of the last teaser.  The teasers themselves are also full of hidden images that are not easy to catch the first time you see them.

It’s not easy!

So, from the authors who wrote their first novel on a dare (us), we challenge YOU to figure out the message/theme of the series — and the images embedded in each teaser.  If you can . . .”

Keep an eye out for the contest!

Check out what we will be reading for August! We have 2 new books for you:

White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat tells the story of Cassel Sharpe, a young man who comes from a family of so-called Curse Workers. They work magic with the simple touch of a hand — and that’s why everyone wears gloves, out of fear of being cursed by an unknown Curse Worker. Oh, and Curse Working is illegal — so Cassel’s family are all mobsters. Con men. Of course, Cassel just so happens to be the only non-Worker in his family. But he’s not the “good kid” in a bad family. He also killed his best friend (and childhood crush) Lila three years earlier.

But after waking up on the roof of his school dorm — and not sure how he got there — Cassel begins to suspect something isn’t quite right. And then there’s the mysterious white cat that keeps showing up. Pretty soon, Cassel is convinced that all is not as it seems.

Everlasting by Angie Frazier

“Sailing aboard her father’s ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a lady in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love in order to preseve her social standing. On her last voyage before the wedding, Camille learns the mother she has always believed dead is in fact alive and in Australia. When their Sydney-bound ship goes down in a gale, and her father dies, Camille sets out to find her mother and a map in her possession – a map believed to lead to a stone that once belonged to the legendary civilization of the immortals. The stone can do exactly what Camille wants most: bring someone back from the dead. Unfortunately, her father’s adversary is also on the hunt for the stone, and she must race him to it. The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar – a handsome young sailor and her father’s first mate – who is in love with Camille and whom she is inexplicably drawn to despite his low social standing and her pending wedding vows.

With an Australian card shark acting as their guide, Camille eludes murderous bushrangers, traverses dangerous highlands, evades a curse placed on the stone, and unravels the mystery behind her mother’s disappearance sixteen years earlier. But when another death shakes her conviction to resurrect her father, Camille must choose what – and who – matters most.” [Amazon product description]

Both books are available in the TwilightMoms Amazon Store HERE.

COME READ & DISCUSS WITH US HERE.

*Due to forum technical difficulties the August BOTM Discussion Forum has been placed at the very bottom of the TwilightMoms Forums. We hope to have this fixed soon! Thanks!

Available Now!

Have you gotten your copy of Stephenie Meyer’s latest addition to The Twilight Saga? The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is out NOW! You can order your copy online HERE! And take part in the book discussion! HERE! ...and don’t forget the playlist posted on Stephenie’s website HERE.

Thank you Stephenie!

Order your copies HERE. Take part in the book discussions HERE.

We will be chatting with this month’s Book of the Month Author, Kaleb Nation, on Tuesday October 13th at 8:00 pm Eastern Time. 

The chat will take place in this thread.  We hope you can join us!

It’s September 1st (How did that happen?!?!?) which means that our September Book of the Month forum is now open!!!  This month we’re discussing the Poison Study Series by Maria V. Snyder. You can find our discussion forums here.  I loved, loved, loved these books so I hope lots of you will join the discussions.  I’m anxious to read your reviews!

Exciting news!!! We have a chat scheduled with the Maria V. Snyder on September 10th. I will be posting the times when we have that information solidified.  It will be in the evening so clear you calendars now!

Now, I don’t want to seem pushy, but the reason I’m doing this is because the second book in the series, Catching Fire, will be available September 1st. And that only gives you four days, eleven hours, twenty-nine minutes and thirty-three seconds to read The Hunger Games. (Though I promise it won’t take that long. And I’ll give you fair warning, you won’t be able to put it down once you start. So make sure everyone in your house has been fed and bathed or can fend for themselves for a few hours at the very least. I don’t want to get hate mail from any children or spouses.)

Here’s what Stephenie had to say about Catching Fire:

It not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. It’s just as exciting as The Hunger Games, but even more gut wrenching, because you already know these characters, you’ve already suffered with them…Stunning. You won’t sleep when you’re reading this one…I suggest beginning in the early morning and clearing your calendar for the day.

And for all of you who just can’t WAIT until Tuesday, I have some news that may just make your day. You can read the first two chapters on-line RIGHT NOW!

Chapter 1 @ Scholastic.com
Chapter 2 @ NPR.org

So to recap, The Hunger Games is amazing, incredible, suspenseful and all kinds of awesome. If you have not read this book, you should. (Once you do, you can check out The Hunger Games BOTM forum to see what other TMs thought about it.)

And with that, I think I’m done bossing everyone around now. (Seriously, go read it!)

We are excited to announce that the author of our July Book of the Month, Bliss, Lauren Myracle will be joining us for a chat on July 23rd.  The chat will take place at 5:00 pm PDT/8:00 pm EDT. Check out the Bliss forum for details on the chat, info about prize giveaways and great discussion of this book. 

Don’t forget our TwilightMOMS Book of the Month for June is Skinned by Robin Wasserman- 

Lia Kahn was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular — until the accident that nearly killed her. Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can’t ever truly die. But she is also rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend, and alienated from her old life.

Forced to the fringes of society, Lia joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks. They are hated…and feared. They are everything but human, and according to most people, this is the ultimate crime — for which they must pay the ultimate price.

The author, Robin Wasserman, has agreed to stop by and chat with us so if you haven’t started reading don’t wait another day!  You can order the book from the TwilightMOMS Amazon store here. 

Lia Kahn was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular — until the accident that nearly killed her. Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can’t ever truly die. But she is also rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend, and alienated from her old life.

Forced to the fringes of society, Lia joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks. They are hated…and feared. They are everything but human, and according to most people, this is the ultimate crime — for which they must pay the ultimate price.

“A spell-binding story about loss, rebirth, and finding out who we really are inside. This intense and moving novel will wind up under your skin.” —Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies series

“Futuristically blurring the boundaries of life and death, this text intimately tackles tough ethical topics, including faith, identity, suicide and genetic engineering, through blunt dialogue and realistic characters.” —Kirkus Reviews

You can purchase Skinned in our TwilightMOMS Amazon store here.  Our discussion forums open up on June 1st so order yours today!

I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle’s walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has “captured the castle”–and the heart of the reader–in one of literature’s most enchanting entertainments.

Last April Stephenie chose City of Bones by Cassandra Clare as our Book of the Month.  Many of us fell in love with the world of Shadowhunters, Warlocks and Demons and quickly devoured the sequel City of Ashes.  Then we started the waiting game for the third and final installment in the Mortal Instruments Trilogy, City of Glass.  Well that waiting game has finally been won, our April Book of the Month, City of Glass is available today!  Don’t worry- we aren’t going to make you wait until April to discuss the book.  Our discussion forums will be open soon (give us a couple of days to get the book read).  Cassandra Clare has promised to stop by again to answer questions (YAY!) The forum will be full of spoilers so do not venture in there if you haven’t finished reading. 

If you haven’t started this series don’t wait another day!!  It is fun, intriguing, and full of mystery and danger!  You will love it!!!  To quote a certain author we all love- “The Mortal Instruments Series is a story world that I love to live in. Beautiful!” ~Stephenie Meyer

If you haven’t read The Hunger Games, it’s not too late! It’s a fantastic book! Once you’ve read it join our discussion forum here.

For March Stephenie has selected The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde-

In Jasper Fforde’s Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë’s novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde’s ingenious fantasy-enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel–unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

We are going to be announcing the next month’s book on the 1st of the month to give everyone plenty of time to read. For February Stephenie has chosen Dragonflight, Book 1 in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey.

We are also highlighting Love is Hell, which is a book of short stories featuring stories by a couple of our former Book of the Month authors- Gabrielle Zevin and Scott Westerfeld.

We realize that three books is a lot for one month but they are easy reads so they won’t take long to read.  We are announcing the book of the month earlier than normal as well so you all can get a head start on reading.  These would be a great thing to put on your Christmas lists.  You can purchase the entire series here in the TwilightMOMs Amazon store. 

“People often ask me for reading suggestions, and I’m always happy to share because books are exciting things to me. My latest excitement is this: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I was so obsessed with this book I had to take it with me out to dinner and hide it under the edge of the table so I wouldn’t have to stop reading. The story kept me up for several nights in a row, because even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it. I’ve been recommending it to total strangers in Target. And now to everyone who reads my website. The Hunger Games is amazing.”

Here is a brief synopsis of The Hunger Games that was posted on Suzanne Collins site-

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.

The Hunger Games can be purchased HERE.  You can learn more about author Suzanne Collins and her other works HERE. 

Our discussion forums will open up November 1st so you better get reading!

Amazon has the Paperback for sale here, the Kindle version here, on Audio CD here, and the Hardcover edition here.