BLOG TOUR: Ben Braver Series by Marcus Emerson

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the BEN BRAVER SERIES by Marcus Emerson Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:

Title: BEN BRAVER AND THE VORTEX OF DOOM (Ben Braver #3)

Author: Marcus Emerson

Pub. Date: March 3, 2020

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook

Pages: 384

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

An ordinary kid like Ben Braver is no match for a band of super villains, but he may be humanity's only hope in Marcus Emerson's Ben Braver and the Vortex of Doom.

The world will never be the same . . .

When the baddest of bad guys threatens the world with a giant black hole, Ben Braver is the only one who can stop it. Ready or not, he's about to learn what it really means to be a hero.

The Ben Braver series is “a crazy fun ride--action packed and loaded with laughs!” says Max Brallier, author of the New York Times–bestselling series The Last Kids on Earth.

Grab the first 2 books in the series!

THE SUPER LIFE OF BEN BRAVER

BEN BRAVER AND THE INCREDIBLE EXPLODING KID

About Marcus:

Marcus Emerson is the author of the hit Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja series and the Secret Agent 6th Grader series. His career started in 2nd grade when he discovered Garfield. He grew up playing Super Mario Bros. 4, watching Thundercats, and reading comics like X-Men, Superman, and Wildcats. He lives in Eldridge, Iowa with his wife and children.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

Three lucky winners will receive finished copies of The BEN BRAVER SERIES, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

3/2/2020	Lifestyle of Me	Review
3/2/2020	BookHounds YA	Excerpt/Spotlight
3/3/2020	Locks, Hooks, and  Books	Review
3/3/2020	Books,Dreams,Life	Excerpt/Spotlight
3/4/2020	Nay's Pink Bookshelf	Review
3/4/2020	Preciousbooksworld	Excerpt/Spotlight
3/5/2020	Savings in Seconds	Review
3/5/2020	Word Spelunking	Excerpt/Spotlight
3/6/2020	Not In Jersey	Review
3/6/2020	The Writerly Way	Review

Week Two:

3/9/2020	fictitious.fox	Review
3/9/2020	Twirling Book Princess	Excerpt/Spotlight
3/10/2020	Turning the Pages	Review
3/10/2020	Hurn Publications	Review
3/11/2020	She Just Loves Books	Review
3/11/2020	Little Red Reads	Review
3/12/2020	momfluenster	Review
3/12/2020	Wonder Struck	Review
3/13/2020	PopTheButterfly	Review
3/13/2020	Two Points of interest	Review

Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare *SPOILERS*

After having this book on my TBR since I finished reading Clockwork Prince and then not getting to it for months, I am proud to say that I finished it in a week and I enjoyed most of it. It was still childish and immature but some of the characters are finally growing up. Clary was still an absolute nightmare and I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head, I was rolling them so hard. Especially when she yelled at her mom that she was ruining her life by not letting her go look for Jace. LIKE FOR REAL!!! And also, the timeline from when all of this stated to the events in this book was 10 months. Clary met Jace 10 months ago and she head over heels puppy love in love with him.

I could have done without the Maia and Jordan relationship because it honestly did nothing for the story. Reading about the little rouge vampire Maureen and her killing Camille, my jaw freaking dropped. I wasn't as annoyed with Simon this time around because his character growth along with Isabelle. Magnus and Alec broke my freaking heart. I absolutely love Magnus and to see him hurt by Alec made me want to kick some ass.

Now I can finally read Clockwork Princess and get back to Jem Carstairs.

Review: Miracle In The Andes by Nando Parrado

My A-Z challenge for 2020 is still going well. I have finished my 3rd book. For the letter M, I chose Miracle In The Andes by Nando Parrado. It is about a Uruguay rugby team that had a plane crash in the Andes Mountains between the border of Argentina and Chile. This is the memoir of one of the survivors.

Sixteen boys survived out of 35-40 passengers. They were stranded on the glacier for 72 days and they had to endure harsh winds, snow, avalanches, altitude sickness, frost bite, dehydration, and starvation. They had chartered an Uruguayan air force plane to take them to Chile to have an exhibition rugby match against a Chile team.

In the first chapter, it was kind of boring to read because the author info dumps so much of his family history into this one chapter. He talks about how they are on the plane and it starts to go down and then he goes into his grandfather's and father's history and then start talking about how his mother immigrated from Europe with her family before the start of World War 2. I personally didn't care about the history of his family and it didn't make a difference to his story.

I thought I would have a problem with the cannibalism that they had to resort to in order to survive. They had to eat the bodies of their friends. I was horrified but that it is a crucial part of any survival, that if you have not available food source or animal life around, you may have to wait for a person to kick the bucket first.

Review: let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

This was the book pick for the Dragons and Tea book club over on GoodReads and this is the second book I am reading with that book club ever. I did not know how this read was going to go. I knew I would fly through it in a day or two but stuck with the reading schedule that the Mods came up with and it kept me engaged in this story. I connected with these characters and it may be on this year's favorites list but I did rate it a 4 out of 5 stars.

We follow a girl named Alice and she has just been dumped by her girlfriend for not wanting to have enough sex. Alice is asexual and she does not know how to live without being judged for it. She works in a library and one day she sees this guy and he his drop dead gorgeous on her cutie code. He breaks the cutie code and it turns out that he is a new employee and she has the job of "training".

This book is filled with amazing rep for asexuals. But there is also a lot of toxic relationships and bullying and sexual harassment and racism. I connected with this book because the male character Takumi had twin nieces in the NICU and he was also cheated on by his ex fiance. While reading about the cheating, Alice told Takumi that he fiance did that while not thinking about him or caring enough and that hit me so hard because I have been cheated on by my husband and it definitely brought up bad memories and anger, and resentment.

REVIEW: Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs by Russel Ginns

Back in March of last year, I read the first book in this series Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans for a blog tour spot. I was also given the second book and I have finally gotten around to it and it was slightly better than the first. It was still coooky and whimsical. It had a bunch of non-sense that a kid would love but an adult would find annoying. Reading this as an adult, I was not immersed in the crazy transportation or the villian clowns who had smell issues. The only thing I did enjoy was the facts about some of the places and landmarks that the author included in the story. I did not know anything about the Mosque of D'jenne, and I thought the ostrich eggs on top of the towers were made up, but it is actually real.

I am reading this with my oldest daughter, Samantha and she is loving it. So it is definitely for kids in the age range recommended.

AUGUST 2019 OWLCRATE AND OWLCRATE JR

OWLCRATE: STORMS & SEAS

• House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (signed, exclusive OwlCrate Edition)
• Whimsical Tea Light Candle Lantern (Team OwlCrate)
• Sea Witch-inspired Loose Leaf Tea (Riddle's Tea Shoppe)
• Daughter of the Pirate King-inspired Wooden Bookmark (Juniper and Ivy Designs)
• The Little Mermaid-inspired Bath Salts (The Soap Librarian)
• The Scorpio Races-inspired Pencil Case Tin (designed by Stella Bookish Art
• Exclusive OwlCrate "Lighthouse" Enamel Pin (designed by Laserbrain Patch Co)
• Exclusive House of Salt and Sorrows Author Letter and Bookmark. 

OWLCRATE JR: THIEVES IN THE NIGHT

• The Good Thieves signed first edition by Katherine Rundell
• Aladdin 5-Star Collectible Figurine (Funko)
• Robin Hood & Little John magnetic bookmark duo (Made by Crafted Van)
• Imagination kit, complete with blueprint notebook, felt bandit mask, and green glass gemstone
• Exclusive OwlCrate Jr "Emerald" Button (Designed by Melanie Demmer)
• Exclusive Author Letter and The Good Thieves bookmark
• OwlCrate Jr Magazine Issue #12 (Designed by Michelle Gray)
• September 'Legends Of The Deep' sneak peek postcard (Designed by VeepDoodles) 

Review: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly

Finally, my 10 year old daughter can't stop spoiling me on what happens in this book. This was the first big book that she read by herself and ever since she finished it, she has been wanting me to read it so she can talk to me about it. I read it in three days because it is a very quick read. I love short chapters, but some were a page or two and then the next would be almost 10 pages long. I really don't like that in books, especially when the next chapter picks up where the previous chapter left off.

It takes place during Belle's time in Beast's castle. Beast has just gifted his library to Belle and she is cleaning it up and she finds a book titled Nevermore. Now the origin of the book comes from Death. At the very beginning, we met Love and Death playing a game of chess and they wager a bet to see if Belle will eventually love Beast or will she find him a monster forever and the servant and Beast will die. That is Death's plan all along, so she becomes a Countess in Nevermore.

I loved the illusions and descriptions of the settings and I loved Death's character. But I do give this a 3 out of 5 stars mainly because I do not like Disney princesses, except for a couple. I am not a fan of Beauty and the Beast. My favorite character by far is Cogsworth.

I still would love to have the library but then I would probably get overwhelmed and say too many books like I am with the ones I own at the moment.