Giveaway: Obstacles by Christopher Michael Reardon

Hey everyone! I've decided to host a giveaway by request of the debut author, Chris Reardon. His novel Obstacles is a YA urban fantasy/paranormal genre. 

If you are interested in possibly winning a copy, you can enter below! Your choice of paperback or E-book. Open worldwide and ends on March 1st. 

Title: Obstacles
Author: Christopher Michael Reardon
Description: A child will die. You're afraid to live. Would you go to all lengths to save him? Darkness knows no bounds, as Alcott, an African American doctor sees all too well. The man is petrified by death. His fragile existence rests at the mercy of the universe. This fact is far too much for him to handle. From unyielding nightmares to elevator terrors, he's lost in paranoia. 

Assigned to look after an ill child, Alcott's horrors only heighten. Gari is a nine-year-old boy with a fatal disease. He will surely pass on within the year. Alcott bonds with him more and more each day. Part of him knows this grim fate just isn't right. 

Alcott befriends a hospital patient. This lunatic forces him to lug home an ancient text on bringing back the dead. Despite the man's obvious dementia, Alcott attempts the scheme. Charging up a cliff, he recites the chant over ocean gusts. A god woman glides in from the horizon. She instructs Alcott on the trials to save Gari's life. These fearsome Obstacles require true strength. From battling sharks to wielding a flail, he must prove fortitude against genuine danger. Alcott decides his fate at this moment. 

Death's claws shall not grasp Gari's soul.

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5th Annual YA Novel Discovery Contest

Serendipity Literary Agency in conjunction with Sourcebooks Inc. is hosting their fifth annual Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition.


No query? No pitch? No problem!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win exposure to editors and a review of your manuscript from one of New York’s TOP young adult literary agents, Regina Brooks.


NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo 

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

GREAT PRIZES 

The Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to submit an entire manuscript to YA literary agent Regina Brooks AND receive a free, 10-week writing course, courtesy of Gotham Writers' Workshop, plus a collection of gourmet teas from Possibiliteas.co! 

The Top Five Entrants (including the Grand Prize winner) will receive a 15-minute, one-on-one pitch session with Regina Brooks, one of New York’s premier literary agents for young adult books. They will also receive commentary on their submissions with editors from Scholastic, Feiwel and Friends, Random House, Little Brown, Kensington, Candlewick, Bloomsbury, Simon and Schuster, Penguin, and Sourcebooks. In addition, they will receive a year’s subscription to The Writer magazine!

First 50 Entrants will receive a copy of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks.


HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: The rules of the contest are simple and entering is easy. Submit entries of ONLY the first 250 words of your manuscript and the title via the contest website at http://tinyurl.com/YAContest13


One entry per person; anyone age 14+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1st, 2013 until 11:59pm November 30th, 2013 (ET).


YA literary agent Regina Brooks and her team will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Deidre Jones Little Brown, Nicole Raymond Candlewick, Aubrey Poole Sourcebooks, Kendra Levin Viking Penguin, Mercedes Fernandez Kensington, Annie Nybo Simon and Schuster, Erica Finkel Abrams Books, Monica Jean Random House, Catherine Laudone Simon and Schuster, Stacey Friedberg Penguin Group, Paula Sadlet Random House, Laura Whitaker Bloomsbury, Anna Roberts Feiwel and Friends. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to five, and each of the five winners will be provided commentary on their submissions.

So enter now! http://tinyurl.com/YAContest13

Giveaway: Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Title: Infinity

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Description: At 14, Nick Gautier is an average kid who runs with the wrong crowd. But on the night he decides to go straight and refuses to mug an innocent tourist, his crew turns on him and just as he thinks his life is over… a new one begins.

Kyrian of Thrace isn’t just a vampire slayer, he’s a Dark-Hunter and he introduces Nick to a world that he never imagined.

With new enemies who make his old ones look like wimps, Nick must either measure up or get sized for a body bag. It’s kill or be killed and this kid who was born on the wrong side finds a strength inside him that he never knew existed.

Now if he can only find someone to help battle the demons that don’t reside inside...

~~~

Loving the summary of this novel? Eyeing Infinity for awhile but never had the chance to pick it up? Today is your lucky day because I am giving away one copy of Infinity away!

Entries:

+1 Be/come a GFC follower (Mandatory or no entries!)

+1 Tweet and leave link

+2 Blog and leave link

Giveaway is opened to Canadian and US mailing addresses only! Giveaway ends on April 4th, 2012 at 11:59 EST.

Giveaway: Cinder by Marissa Meyer Audiobook

First giveaway of 2012! :) For anyone who would like to try Cinder, but have no time to read, this is perfect because you could listen to it instead during commute or in the car! Description of the novel:

Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

If you would like to see the trailer of the novel, click here!

Now for the giveaway rules!

Entries:

+1 Mandatory! Be a GFC follower

+1 Tweet or retweet this link (leave username): https://twitter.com/#!/StopDropandRead/status/155802243277402113

+1 For every other way you spread the word online (blog, tumblr, etc. simply leave link for each)

Open to US mailing addresses only. Giveaway ends on January 31, 2012 11:59 PM EST.

Trailer Tuesday: My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody + GIVEAWAY

Title: My Life Undecided
Author: Jessica Brody
Description: "...Brooklyn Pierce, a fifteen year-old girl notorious for making bad decisions, enlists the help of the online blog reading population to vote on how she should live her life. But some things in life simply aren't a choice...like who you fall in love with."

This cute teen novel is up for a giveaway! If you like the idea and/or the trailer, here is your chance to win!

Entries:
+1 GFC follower (MANDATORY)
+1 Tweet, leave link
+2 Blog about this giveaway, leave link

Canadian and US mailing addresses only. Ends October 8th, 2011 11:59 PM EST.

1st reply wins audiobook of Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon!

US mailing addresses only. :) Post now to win!

Trailer Tuesday: Dreamland by Alyson Noel + GIVEAWAY

Title: Dreamland
Author: Alyson Noel
Description: Riley's finding that the afterlife can be a lonely place when all you do is focus on work. So she goes to the place where dreams happen, hoping to find a way to contact her sister, Ever. She meets the director, who tells her about the two ways to send dreams. As a Dream Jumper, a person can jump into a dreamer's dream, share a message, and participate. As a Dreamweaver, an entire dream can be created in a studio and sent to the dreamer. But Dreamweaving was outlawed decades ago, and the studio was boarded up. Thinking it's her only way to reach out to her sister, Riley goes in search of the old studio. There she finds a ghost boy, who's been creating and sending nightmares to people for years. In order to stop him and reach out to Ever, Riley is going to have to confront and overcome her own fears.

Yes, yes, another giveaway. o-o I apologize I haven't put up any reviews. Second year at university is hectic when you want to be on top of your classes and add in extracurricular activities. I'll try to get a review up soon since I have about 3 planned. Until then, enjoy the free giveaways. :) Check the above links for more giveaways!

Entries: (separate comment per entry)
+1 Public GFC follower (MANDATORY)
+1 Tweet, leave link
+2 Blog post, leave 2 separate comments for this entry

Giveaway is open to Canadian and US mailing addresses only. Closes on September 23, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST.

Giveaway: All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Title: All These Things I've Done
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Description: In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

Like the sound of this new spanking YA novel? Well guess what? Giveaway time!

Entries:
+1 Be a public GFC follower, I will check! (MANDATORY)
+1 Tweet, leave link
+ 2 Blog about giveaway, leave link (separate entries)

Giveaway ends September 17th, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to Canadian and US mailing addresses only!

Giveaway: Audiobook for Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I recently did a giveaway for the new novel Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Unfortunately it lasted less than 2 weeks and some may have missed their chance to enter. So I have a new giveaway for the same novel except in audiobook format! This is perfect for long car rides and you're unable to read (roadtrip idea!).

To make this easier for me and equal opportunity for everyone, simply become a follower through GFC (will check) and comment below!

Open until September 17, 2011 at 11:59 EST. US mailing addresses only.

Winner of Retribution

Winner of Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon is... Bee W Bedard! :) Congrats! :D

Trailer Tuesday: Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon + GIVEAWAY

Title: Retribution

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Description: ...Harm no human…

A hired gunslinger, William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave. He believed that every life had a price. Until the day when he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost everything, including his life. Brought back by a Greek goddess to be one of her Dark-Hunters, he gave his immortal soul for vengeance and swore he’d spend eternity protecting the humans he’d once considered prey.

Orphaned as a toddler, Abigail Yager was taken in by a family of vampires and raised on one belief- Dark-Hunters are the evil who prey on both their people and mankind, and they must all be destroyed. While protecting her adoptive race, she has spent her life eliminating the Dark-Hunters...

I haven't put up any trailers for ages. However, I was asked if I would like to host a giveaway for Retribution and was also sent a link to the new trailer. Since today is Tuesday, thought I can bring back this old meme once more. Not to mention, giveaway!

Ways of entries (put all in one post):

Be a public follower [MANDATORY, without this done, you will not be eligible to win] +1

Tweet giveaway [link please] +1

Blog about the giveaway [link please] +2

This contest is opened until August 11th, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST and for US and Canadian mailing addresses only! If I don't get a reply from the winner within 24 hours, I will pick a new winner.

Bookmarks Winner

Orchid! :) Going to be emailing you now. Yay for bookmarks! :D

Bookmarks Giveaway

So I have quite a bit of bookmarks and I want to get rid of them. What better way than to give them to readers? :) (Hope you guys don't mind used bookmarks!) I may or may not add other goodies. I may do this giveaway for the next couple of months to give everyone a chance, but we'll see.

Become a follower if you are not (I will check) and leave a comment with your email address. That's it! :D

Open to Canada and US only (sorry, I'm broke!) and it ends on June 30th, 2011.

Spread a Word about Fury of the Phoenix!

Okay, in all honesty I have been out of the YA book loop lately. University started last fall and bam! My reading and blogging consistency shot down. Therefore, I barely know what the latest and hottest novels are. However! There were a couple of sequels that I looked forward to for the books I read in the past. One of them is the sequel to Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon, Fury of the Phoenix! Just came out yesterday, you can go purchase it at a store near you!

I really wished they stuck with the original cover style like the did when Silver Phoenix first came out...

So in celebration, Cindy Pon created a contest where you must advertise the novel in some way (requirement is that you must read it first)! The winner receives an original Chinese painting made by Cindy herself! Please click here to read all the details. (International entries are welcome).

And by simply spreading the word about it like myself, you can receive some awesome swag! For example, you can get these GORGEOUS postcards below! (I am a huge art fanatic. Especially when it comes to Chinese art. They are LOVE.)

Ai Ling and Chen Yong

Silver Phoenix and Zhong Ye

Beautiful, aren't they??? I need to get my characters commissioned like that...

So anyway, what are you waiting for?? Buy Fury of the Phoenix now and enter!

Sidenote: Regarding the donation for Japan's Relief, I'm still awaiting for money to be transferred over to my Paypal. It seems that Red Cross has not yet distributed the $1 billion dollar donation received around the world so far to the Japanese victims (click here for the full news). So I have changed my mind to donate to GlobalGiving instead, where they update every time they are helping in Japan.

Jennifer Laurens: Celebrate

Jennifer Laurens, Author of Heavenly series

Celebrate! You're leaving behind the catty, cliquey, trendy, insignificant things in life forever more. Right?

I hope this moment is as freeing for you as it was for me: standing on the precipice of all of your dreams.

It's an exciting, synergistic time. The sooner you solidify the direction you want to go in, the better. No more comparing your goals and dreams with anyone else's. This is your time to do what you want.

At this juncture in my life I knew exactly what I wanted and, all these years later, I am standing exactly where I saw myself being. For those of you who don't know anything about me, I didn't set out to be an author. My foremost goal was to be a mother with a big family, because I was an only child.

I attended college, married and have 6 children - one has autism, and is the inspiration for my HEAVENLY series about a teenage girl who falls in love with her autistic sister's guardian angel. My point is, looking back I didn't set out to be an author, I set out to be a great mother. I have loved being there for my children, and there is nothing that compares to the countless things I've learned from them and the growth I've experienced because of this choice.

I've always loved writing and took it up again when my youngest entered school.

And, here I am - years later, writing what my heart desires.

Is it possible to have all your dreams come true? My life says YES!

We make what we want happen, if we truly want it enough. Take each dream as it comes and make it come true.

~~~

You can read my review of Heavenly here!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of Heavenly and 1 copy of A Season of Eden

# of Winners: 2

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Gitty Daneshvari: Suggestions, not advices

Gitty Daneshvari, Author of The Makedown and School of Fear

I am not one for giving advice (mostly because I tend not to follow it no matter how sound) so instead I am sending you a list of three suggestions as you prepare to enter college.

1. Don’t eat your roommate’s food, even if they tell you it’s ok. Eventually this will really annoy them. Plus, this will lead to them eating your food, which will of course inevitably irritate you. Play it safe and keep separate pantries.

2. Don’t buy papers online. While I never did this, a roommate of mine did, and the results were wholeheartedly disappointing. She bought a paper by a person who was actually MORE intellectually challenged than she was and received a C-. There are also dire consequences both morally and educationally to doing this, but you already know that.

3. Don’t sign up for a credit card when you don’t have a job. There were always booths near my college bookstore each Fall where eager faced people tried to explain the importance of building credit at a young age. Trust me it can wait until you have a job.

~~~

I love Gitty's hilarious adult novel The Makedown that I highly recommend! You can read the review of it here! You can win her latest tween novel, School of Fear, today!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of School of Fear

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Lori Culwell: Things I wish I knew back then

Lori Culwell, Author of Hollywood Car Wash

Things I Wish I Knew Back Then

I was just talking to one of my friends from high school (who I’m still friends with even now), mostly about how the more time goes by after high school, the more a couple of things happen:

-- You look back at the high school version of yourself and think “what a bonehead.”

-- You stop making such a big deal out of everything because, frankly, you’ve seen most of it before and you know that eventually things get better.

I don’t mean to be blasé in my attitude toward high school students, because frankly, I find today’s teenagers to be much more mature and worldly than I ever was. In a way I guess that’s also kind of sad, because whereas I had years to marinate in life experience before I did anything like, say, start a business, or write a blog, or have a real relationship, it seems like everyone is doing all of those things these days, all before they get out of high school. That’s too fast, man! I didn’t do any of those things in high school (at least not successfully) because, as I have mentioned, I was a bonehead back then.

Actually, if I have to be honest, I feel more like myself now than I did back then, mostly because I have a better handle on my emotions. I can actually laugh at things that are ridiculously frustrating. If there is an emergency, I’m pretty confident I can figure out a solution. I have done things like get books published, work at jobs for long periods of time, buy real estate, and travel to many and various locations. I have driven across the United States—by myself.

Here are some other pieces of insight I wish I could have told myself back when I was 17:

1. Calm down. No really—calm down. Things are going to turn out ok.

2. Relationships are important. Don’t take people for granted. If you have regrets later in life, they will be based not on material things you did or didn’t do/ get/ achieve, but on time—time with people, with loved ones, with friends. That is the one thing you never get back. Take the time. Do nice things for people when you think about it.

3. One day, you might face a hard choice on the road of your life, and there will actually be no clear right answer (no matter how many people tell you to “trust your gut”). If this occurs, the solution is simple: take the option that is the shortest and least painful, put your head down, and do the time. The lesson: sometimes things just suck, and then they don’t.

On the bright side, the more years you get in your rearview mirror from high school, the more opportunities you have to reconnect with people who meant something to you then (and who mean something to you now). That is one of the things I love most about the internet—everyone is connected in a way we never have been before, and really, it’s good to still be friends with people who met me when I was a bonehead. It is even nicer to know you again now that I am an even better version of myself.

~~~

I absolutely adore Hollywood Car Wash! An amazing novel that I highly recommend! Read my review of it here.

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 2 copies of Hollywood Car Wash

# of Winners: 2

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Gayle Nobel: Ready to launch

Gayle Nobel, Author of Breathe & Co-author of It’s All About Attitude

The end of high school is the beginning of the rest of your life! Now what?

What if you left high school and there were no college opportunities waiting for you, no job possibilities, and you had no ability to express yourself and make a choice regarding what you might want to do with the rest of your life?

I am writing about my son Kyle. He is 26 years old and severely affected by autism and several other developmental issues. He was able to stay in high school until the age of 21 because he was in special education. After that, I was left to figure out how to create a meaningful life for him. Unfortunately, the options are very limited for adults with special needs.

It can feel overwhelming because it seems like we have to know everything all at once rather than just taking the next best step. As a parent, it’s scary too because we know we will not always be around to make these important decisions for our child.

At the risk of giving away the ending, here’s a piece from my newest book, Breathe.

Epilogue

Ready to Launch

Throughout this book, I have endeavored to provide you with oxygen-rich tools to help you love and live well with your child. I hope you have found them valuable and useful.

Yet, as I write this final chapter, I realize I have left one very big challenge unaddressed – launching our children from the nest. When will they be ready? When will we? Where will they go?

These are tough questions. I wonder when Kyle will be ready to launch. More accurately, I wonder when I will be ready to launch Kyle.

With my daughter, Rachel, there is no question. She is ready to launch. With college graduation just behind her, she is beginning her adult life. She has worked hard to get to this point, and I am excited for her. Even in these uncertain economic times, her future is bright with opportunity. I don’t worry about her. I have full confidence that she is prepared to face the world and will thrive wherever she ends up.

With Kyle, I am frequently asked whether he will be able to live independently. Kyle does not have the skills or the judgment to take care of himself, so the answer is no. I do not have the same confidence in Kyle’s future as I do in Rachel’s.

This is a scary place for me, and one I have not delved into very deeply. I am not yet ready to launch Kyle, but am keenly aware that the day will come when, ready or not, I must face the decision. Where will he live, and who will take care of him? These are the questions that remain tucked away for future consideration.

So, I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I hope for the best, trusting the answer lies in the future. With so many children being diagnosed these days, there will eventually be a flood of adults who need supported-living situations -- new opportunities that have yet to come into existence.

For now, Kyle waits on the launch pad, and I stand firmly beside him. I release the need to know right now. When the time comes, I trust I will be able to let go and allow Kyle to move forward with grace and ease. In the meantime, I hope, pray, and trust.

Oxygen-Rich Tool

Here is what I have to offer you: hope, pray, and trust. Believe that the best will happen for your child. Let go. Love. Most importantly, breathe.

Gayle Nobel, Bio

Breathe is poetic, yet practical: not just for parents of children with autism, but as a guide for living and parenting.

Gayle Nobel is the coauthor of It’s All About Attitude: Loving and Living Well with Autism and author of Breathe: 52 Oxygen-Rich Tools for Loving and Living Well with Autism.

She holds a BA in Special Education, and directed an intensive home therapy program for 11 years for her autistic son Kyle, who is now 26. During that time she trained over 100 volunteer therapists and aides in the attitude she writes and speaks about.

Originally from New York, Gayle is an author, inspirational speaker, and also a sister to a 50 year-old brother with autism. Her book, Breathe is for anyone wanting to move beyond the autism cure books. She offers support, inspiration, and hand-on tools in every chapter for living well with life's challenges. To learn more visit http://www.autismwithattitude.com.

~~~

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of Breathe

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US only

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Giveaway: The Blood Confession by Alisa M. Libby

Title: The Blood Confession

Author: Alisa M. Libby

Description: Erzebet Bizecka lives in a remote castle in the Carpathian mountains, the only child of the Count and Countess Bizecka. Born under the omen of a falling star, Erzebet is a child of prophecy: the predictions of a scryer tell of a child whose days will end quickly, or whose days will have no end. As a teenager, Erzebet strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young village girl, Marianna, but even her dearest friend can not understand her overwhelming fears of growing older and losing her beauty. The only one who does understand her is Sinestra, the beautiful, mysterious stranger who visits Erzebet and assures her that there are ways to determine her own destiny. With the Biblical passage “The life of the flesh is in the blood” he successfully lures her into a dark world of blood rituals in order to preserve her youth and beauty for eternity. But will the blood treatments—exacted from willing servant girls—be enough to keep her safe forever? How far will Erzebet be willing to go to sever her life from the predestined path God has chosen for her?

~~~

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of The Blood Confession

# of Winners: 1

Eligibility: US and Canada

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Robin Wasserman: Happily ever after

Robin Wasserman, Author of the Skinned Trilogy and Seven Deadly Sins series

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

So I’m told I’m supposed to offer advice about life after high school. Just one thing: I don’t have any. Except possibly: ENJOY.

You’re talking to someone who spent her teens psychotically desperate to get into college and her early twenties psychotically desperate to get back there. So I’ve got plenty of advice about what to do in those situations (although I guess most of the advice boils down to: This too shall pass). But as far as I’m concerned, college – despite all the melodramatic lows that go along with the many (let’s just say metaphorical) highs – is, after the tyranny and monotony of high school, pretty much a ridiculous paradise of free choice.

The whole point of life after high school is that, unlike in high school, no one can tell you what to do.

Your life is suddenly your own. Everything terrifying, exhilarating minute of it.

That said, I have to admit that as an embarrassingly huge pop culture addict, my life post-graduation wasn’t entirely my own. I’m not saying I modeled my college life after Saved By the Bell: The College Years . . . but I’ll admit there are a select number of pop cultural entities that pretty much shaped my entire understanding of life after high school. So in that spirit (with the full knowledge that I’m dating myself), a list:

1. How I Got Into College

2. The Freshmen

3. Can’t Hardly Wait

4. Dead Man on Campus

5. Wear Sunscreen

6. Conan O’Brien’s Harvard Commencement Speech

7. Back to School (Because the only thing that could improve college would be the presence of Robert Downey, Jr.)

8. PCU; (starring a manic, pre-Entourage Jeremy Piven)

9. The Secret History

10. And, of course one of the all time greatest college movies . . . Real Genius (You thought I was going to say Animal House, didn’t you? Apparently, you didn’t know me in high school. The linked-to clip, one of the greatest scenes of the movie, should fill you in.)

~~~

You can read my review of Skinned here and Crashed here. I can not wait for Wired!

Giveaway Item(s): A copy of Skinned
# of Winners: 1
Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)

+2 Old follower

+1 Link (5 max)

+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll