Blue Monday: Under the Sea

If it's Monday, it's time for...

If you love to read about the ocean or fantasy stories about mermaids, you may want to investigate the Under the Sea Giveaway Blog Hop, going on through Sept. 20th and hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.

Inspired by some of the gorgeous sea-themed book covers I came across while exploring the hop (any of which you might win if you participate), I present my favorite underwater-inspired pins. If you're anything of a reader of YA books, you'll recognize that once one or two bestsellers in the genre start a theme (red dresses, white dresses, the lip close-up, hand-holding or, in this case, mermaids), it spreads like wildfire...er, wild water. See, for example, Jillian Audrey's analysis.

You can see my previous underwater-themed Blue Monday post HERE.



The deep sea blue of this cover and the little bit of golden highlights in the cover model's hair could have been  the inspiration behind this little gem.

I've been wanting to read Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs for years now, but I never have. A touch of blue on the lips, shades of blue on the eyes...

...could have inspired this look...

...or this.

My 'Secret Santa' Rocks!

This year I took part in the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. I sent out a holiday gift to a book blogger. Since I happened to know she loved YA novels and chocolate, I sent her Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Twilight: The Graphic Novel. For some fun little extras I included a bookmark, Harry Potter stickers, and a Twilight blank journal. I hope she liked it! She may not know this yet, but she's also getting a package of young adult titles from AG Press--one of the perks of being an editor.

Giving was the fun part, but today I received a gift from my book blogger Secret Santa. She turned out to be Mariah from A Reader's Adventure.

She sent me:

*The Heights by Brian James, young adult, contemporary retelling of Wuthering Heights (which just happens to be one of my all-time favorites!)
*A bookmark for Tera Lynn Childs' Forgive My Fins
*A bookmark for Suzanne Young's Naughty List Series, signed by Suzanne Young herself
*Two stickers for The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Mariah darling, your gifts were thoughtful and are truly appreciated. (How did she know I love stickers?) I had so much fun with the Book Blogger Holiday Swap, I'll do it again next year.