Hey everyone!

I just wanted to take a minute to write up a quick post and let you all know, with my husband and I getting ready for our move to the UK and the Holidays upon us, things here will be a bit slower than usual.

No need to worry, there are posts set for many weeks to come so it won't be a ghost town here, but a tad slower until after the first of the year. With packing here, the long flight and travel day, and my mother in law recovering from surgery right when we arrive... and Christmas, New Years and all that comes with it I didn't want to have to worry about things here online during such a busy time for us.

We here at A Life Bound By Books hope that you'll understand and will keep an eye out here for some pretty amazing things we have coming up on the blog in the New Year! I know I can't wait!

Tons of big things happening, you don't want to miss out!

So, until things settle a bit after New Years things here will be a bit quieter than usual. As mentioned above, posts are set and ready to go, there just might be a few days here and there without a post. Thanks for continuing to visit during this time and for understanding. <3

Hey everyone! I've been thinking about doing a post sharing all the different ways you can follow - A Life Bound By Books and I figured now would be the perfect time for it.

There are a few different ways you can follow along with the blog, other than Google Friend Connect and that's what I wanted to talk about today.

Subscribe by email: One of the best ways to follow along to is subscribe by email. On the right had side of the blog, under Google Friend Connect you'll see a box that you can enter in your email address and when a new post goes live, you'll get an email showing what's new on the blog! Enter your email address, click the "Subscribe" button and a window will pop up asking you to enter in a code. You just have to do this once, so don't worry! Once that's finished you'll receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Once you've done that, you'll receive emails keeping you up to date on everything here at A Life Bound By Books.

Follow via Bloglovin': With the somewhat recent news all hitting us that Goggle is disposing Google Feed Reader many of us have been looking for other ways to promote our blog. After hearing others talk and checking things out I've gone with "Bloglovin'". It's easy to use and is pretty straight forward. Want to follow along too? There's a handy, easy to use link on the right side bar, also under the Google Friend Connect. Follow A Life Bound By Books on: Bloglovin'

Twitter: I'm also on Twitter!! Love Twitter. Also, I have my blog connected to my Twitter account so any and all posts will be Tweeted with a link. You can find me on Twitter: @BoundByBooks. Let's chat!

Goodreads: I'm on Goodreads. I use it all the time. It's a great utility for me as a reader, if only to find books I'd otherwise never hear of and for keeping track of what I read... it works for me. Not to mention it's another way to chat with my fellow book lovers, so I use it and I use it often. Be sure to send me a Friend request there and let me know you found me there via my blog! Find me at: Goodreads

Now, I have a question for you guys. I am not currently on Facebook. My blog isn't on Facebook either. I haven't wanted to create an account because it's hard enough for me sometimes to keep up with everything so I've not wanted to add another thing to my plate. Should my blog have a Facebook account? And if so, is this something that I'd need time to maintain? I have no clue guys and I need your help! So, let me know in the comments! Thanks!

I hope you'll all take a minute or two and make sure you're following A Life Bound By Books in the way(s) that make things easier for you. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to comment below or send an email. I'd be happy to help.

Since Google Reader will be leaving us this summer I thought I'd add my blog to Bloglovin sooner rather than later. Be sure to follow using the link below in this post or the button on my sidebar so you can keep reading my blog via a Feed Reader! 

Any question, please let me know and thanks to all who visit, follow along and read my blog!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Excerpt from Torn:

A funeral without a body is like a wedding without a bride. Or a groom.

Except this isn’t officially a funeral – it’s a memorial service. Instead of a coffin, there’s an easel with a huge photo. She looks pretty. Hopeful, even.

The church is jam-packed. People standing at the back, craning their necks to get a good look at the family. There were even photographers outside when we arrived. It’s a zoo. A snivelling, wailing zoo. Not that I can talk – I’ve been snivelling too. Dad pressed a hanky into my hand as soon as we got here. Now it’s sodden and snotty, so I’m guessing he won’t want it back.

No one’s wearing black. Black is officially banned. Apparently she used to joke about her funeral, saying she hoped everyone would wear crazy neons and wave glow-sticks around. Well, no neons as such, but I did manage to pour myself into my purple skinny jeans (what was I thinking?).

Sometimes I used to imagine my own funeral. It was nothing like this. And it certainly didn’t involve the school choir singing ‘Keep Holding On’ by Avril bloody Lavigne. Polly Sutcliffe is centre stage. New haircut. Highlights too. She manages to get through most of the first verse before dissolving into tears. Real, actual tears, just like the ones I’ve been crying for days and days.

Tears of shock.

Tears of sadness.

Tears of guilt.

School has been weird since it happened. It’s all anyone can talk about. The first day back, every teacher said a few words about her at the start of each lesson. Some were more convincing than others. Miss Daley hadn’t even known her – not really – but you could tell she was genuinely upset.

Daley arrived at the start of the school year, fresh and new and vulnerable, a tiny bird-lady with I’m a newly qualified teacher, please take advantage of me tattooed on her forehead. So we did what we always do – try to find a weakness, see how far we can push her, wondering if she’ll cry if we take things a little too far. But she held up pretty well .She took everything we could throw at her – even Tara’s major attitude.

I keep looking over at Cass; I can’t help it. She’s picking cat hairs off her skirt, like she always does when she’s bored. Except Cass hardly ever wears skirts. Her mum must have talked her into it. Looks like she’s had a haircut too. It seems like everyone’s got spruced up for the occasion. I catch Cass’s eye and she half waves in my direction. I shake my head, just a tiny bit so no one else will notice. She shrugs and goes back to grooming her clothes. Jesus.

I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s not crying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry. Not even when Boots Mark 3 got run over last summer. And Boots Mark 3 was her favourite of all the Bootses. Boots Mark 4 isn’t quite matching up, apparently. He’s certainly hairier than the last one. I try to steer clear, since I’m sort of allergic to cats. Not properly – just enough to make my face itch when I’m around them.

Cass prides herself on being strong. She thinks girls who cry all the time are pathetic. Crying at the end of a Disney film? Pathetic. Crying because the boy you fancy doesn’t even know you exist? Pathetic. The entire school crying on and off for the past couple of weeks? Pathetic pathetic pathetic.

Luckily she makes an exception for me. I’m allowed to cry whenever I want, and she’ll do anything she can to cheer me up. Which usually involves making me laugh. She can always make me laugh. It’s one of my favourite things about her. Although I hate it when she does it on purpose when I’ve got a mouthful of orange juice or something. That’s just cruel.

The singing is over, thank God. I check the order of service: a reading by the three witches. Of course it doesn’t actually say ‘witches’, but that’s what Cass calls them. They’re not that bad – individually, at least. Just normal girls: Gemma, Danni and Sam. But put them together and they transform into something bigger, something badder. And if you add their fearless leader into the mix, they mutate into a multi-headed monster of popularity. A monster that teachers love, for some inexplicable reason. A monster that boys love even more, for very obvious reasons. A monster that the rest of us bow down to – out of fear mostly, but also a kind of grudging respect. And jealousy.

But their fearless leader is no more.

Torn is available on December 22nd, 2011!

Synopsis: Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt.

Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.

Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...

A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.


 


Preorder Torn Online:

The Book Depository | Amazon UK


Find Cat Online:


Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Enter to win an ARC of TORN!

Rules and now to enter:

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
To enter, please fill out the form provided below.
Giveaway open INTERNATIONAL!!
Giveaway ends: November 10th, 2011

Don't forget to stop by and check out who Jessica is featuring today for Haunted Halloween!

REMINDER: *If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry.
Please ready full entry rules >>>HERE<<<

Cat, Thanks so much for allowing me to post an excerpt from Torn! Sounds like a great beginning to the new book, and I can't wait to read it! Also, thank you so much for having me host this giveaway for an ARC copy.

*I am not compensated at all for any of the links within this page.

First, a Hello goes out to all my new and old followers!! Thanks for stopping by and leaving all the comments you guys do. I hope you'll keep dropping in and interacting with me and each other and that I'll get a chance to get to you know better.

As for why it's been a quiet few days here on the blog -well, really it's been a weird few months when it comes to the Internet for us. The trouble with our Internet has continued to get worse and after many techs visiting the house to test lines, replace boxes & modems and then in the end replacing every cable coming to the house, attached to the house, inside and out and being on the phone every other day.... we THINK they figured out that there was a MAJOR issue in the area that they have since fixed. However it kind of threw a wrench in the works for a about a week. They are still trying to fix issues with TV...... but that's a whole other story.

I think I have a post or two set up for sometime over the next few days, but I hope for everything to go back to normal next week. Thanks to each of you for hanging in there with me and for understanding!

Psssst - Some great things happening in September and October & can't wait to share it with you guys!

So, as you all might have noticed my blog has been a little lacking in content since around the first of the year. This wasn’t my intention; however, during the first week in January I was told I needed to have surgery. I thought I would have been in recovery mode at this point, but as luck would have it, bad luck that is – some of my test results came back slightly elevated and I was referred to a “specialist”.

Since then I’ve been poked and prodded and had a MRI - that turned out to be an event I never want to have to undergo again… and have since found out that while I still have to have surgery, it’s for a different Diagnosis. THANKFULLY my chances of cancer have been extremely reduced with this new Diagnosis. It was a very stressful four weeks thinking I have a chance of having cancer. There’s still a chance, but it’s really small. I won’t go into specifics, which I’m sure you won’t mind… but yeah… it’s been a horrible beginning to 2011.

By the time this posts I’ll be getting ready for my my pre-op (tomorrow morning) and getting ready for my surgery that’s scheduled to take place on the 25th. The doctor/surgeon will go in and do what he needs to do and after a possible 3 day hospital stay; I’ll be on the road to recovery and shouldn’t have any further trouble.

I’m not looking forward to any of this, but will just be happy it’s all over and done with. It’s not fun waiting, which is something I’ve been doing since all this originally stared back in mid November!

I hope you’ll all understand that the first week or two of my recovery at home I won’t be blogging. I have a few people who are writing up guest posts for me, which will be scheduled ahead of time… I have WoW’s set up as well. If anyone out there would also like to contribute a guest post, I would be more than happy to host you for a day. The more the merrier. You’d all be doing me the greatest favor ever! If you'd like to send one to help me out, please get in touch asap! I've provided a form below, feel free to use that, or email. :) I'd like to have all guest posts by Wednesday, Feb 23rd. I think on Thursday I'll be to much of a nervous wreck to function lol Thanks! And if you don’t have time, not to worry! Please just send well wishes and good thoughts my way.
I’ll try to do a quick post to check in as soon as I’m able. If you have any questions my “twin” and BFF Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic knows how to get in touch with me. Thanks for that twin!

Until the 25th, I’ll be trying not to freak out and will keep working away on my blog to see just what I can get scheduled. Everyone, I can't say thanks enough for all your understanding during this time. Each of my readers, new and old... yes ALL of you Internet ninjas out there are the best!! I might be away for a couple of weeks or so, but I’ll be far from blogging. I have TONS of great books to keep me busy when I’m not sleeping, watching TV and movies or at follow up appointments….  When I return, I have many reviews to get caught up on and I hope to add more to that list while recovering... Until then - Happy Reading everyone!

PS - I have I think one giveaway ending right after my surgery. Sorry about that guys. I set that up before my doctor gave me the date. Bare with me, that'll be one of the first things I do when I get back!

I thought I'd take the time to point out a few things that are new around the blog. With the big blog make-over that was just recently done - via Parajunkee there was a few things added that I didn't have before.

First off, I have a button! I'm excited that now I have one to share with everyone. Who ever wants to take it, feel free! You can find it down on the right side. Speaking of buttons, I started adding other blog buttons here too. You can check out the scrolling button roll that is also located on the right side. I’ll be adding to it here and there over time, so that'll always be changing.

Another thing... and this I think is great, I use it to follow a few other blogs and I'm looking to use it more. What am I talking about you ask? Well... you can now subscribe to my blog! Yep, you can get updates from me sent right to your email. It's quick and easy to do. Just scroll down on the right side... it's located under my followers - Subscribe Via Email. Type in your email address and hit the subscribe button and your pretty much set to go!

Other new and exciting things happening around here would be that I've become affiliated with Open Book Society. It's a great site with TONS of information on everything from books to movies and so much more. Be sure to take a look throughout the site to see all they have to offer.

Note worthy amazing things I have coming up, that I’m more then excited about - An interview with the author of Claire de Lune, Christine Johnson. Along with that will be a giveaway for a finished copy of the book! Also I have an interview with author of Shade, Jeri Smith-Ready and a possible giveaway with her as well! Other then the two mentioned, there are other interviews and various other contests in the works, so be sure to follow, subscribe and keep and eye out here for more information coming soon!

Don't forget to enter the two contests I have running right now. The chance to win an ARC of Perchance to Dream is about to end (4/19). Enter Here.You still have a couple days to enter. The other is a chance to win 1 of 5 finished copies of The Light (5/3) Enter Here. Good luck everybody!

My blog has had a HUGE makeover! Thanks to the ever magical Parajunkee!! She's worked her magic here and I think it's amazing! She's great at what she does, takes everything you said you’re looking for and makes it all come to life.
If you’re looking to give your blog a makeover be sure to check out Parajunkee's Design Blog here for more info.

There are a few things new as well. First - I have BUTTON! GASP! Yep, finally a button! Over the next few weeks I'll be adding in some buttons from others blogs I follow and love as well. So, feel free to snag the code and post it on your site or blog soon!

Second, now you can follow via your email! On the left side you'll see a place where you type in your email and subscribe. Every time I make a post you'll get it sent directly to your email. It'll let everyone keep up to date on everything here from Reviews, to contest to interviews... to guest posts and more! So subscribe today!

I have a bunch of tweaks to do yet here, so bear with me on a few things. I still want to add a few things as well, so it'll be changing a bit here and there too.

Thanks again to Parajunkee and all her beautiful work! You are amazing chicka!

Comments, Comment and more Comments! What all do you guys think? And, who's taking my button? Because I'm looking to take some myself now!

Also - don't forget to enter to win 1 of 3 copies of Numbers By Rachel Ward! Contest ends tonight, but I'll let it run until I wake up tomorrow. So get your entries in now!

Then while your at it, enter to win an ARC of Perchance to Dream. There's still a couple weeks left for that one, but you still don't want to miss out on it.