Thursday, October 20, 2011

Blog Tour: Ashfall - Mike Mullin - Alex's Book Picks & Giveaway Details

Mike Mullin is here today with Alex's Book Picks courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for his new release, Ashfall. Thank you for being here today, Mike! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy! 

Alex’s Favorite Books
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
Anyone who even occasionally glances at Google News knows some places are a lot crappier to live in than the United States was before the supervolcano. This book explains why.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman
About a future world in which parents can choose to have their teenagers disassembled for parts. So, only slightly worse than today. I don’t think Mom would unwind me. At least not on most days.

Red Thunder by John Varley
A bunch of kids get together and build a spaceship. The cool thing about this book is that, except for some hand-waving about a “bubble drive,” this would really work.

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
Unless you’re satisfied learning only the history that Texas Board of Education wants taught, you need this book. (Yes—even in Iowa, and probably your state—the Texas Board of Education decides what goes into your high school history textbooks; check this out if you don’t believe me.)

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
My favorite fantasy—it reads like a real history of Italy, but with magic thrown in for extra fun.
Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution by Benson Bobrick
This is my favorite history of The American Revolution, which is also one of my favorite topics in history.

1632 by Eric Flint
A small West Virginia town is suddenly transported to the northern Germany of 1632. Mayhem ensues. This book rocks, but the sequels are meh.

Startide Rising by David Brin
Talking, sentient dolphins! And chimps! Hundreds of alien species. Some of which want to eat us. What more do you want? The Uplift War, set in the same universe, is just as good.

Feed by M.T. Anderson
Here’s the first sentence, “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” Tell me that doesn’t make you want to read the whole book. It doesn’t? Oh well, it worked for me.

Thank you for sharing some of your favourite books with us today, Alex!

Thank you for being here today, Mike and Alex! 

Mike Mullin can be found on his website, his blog, and on twitter

Want to buy an autographed copy of Ashfall? Look here.

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Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

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Giveaway Details

Comment to be entered to win an autographed copy of Ashfall. US/Canada only. 
Mike will draw a winner each week of the tour.
International winner will be selected at end of tour. 

8 comments:

Bwyatt said...

Oh, I've really been wanting to read this one. Thanks for the book list!
britneywyatt[at]gmail[dot]com

Myra C said...

This book sounds really good and thanks for the book picks!

myra0502 at yahoo dot com

Christinabean said...

Sounds like a great title! Please enter me!

clderwee at gmail dot com

Beverly said...

Nice post - book sounds amazing! Thanks for hosting. Please enter me.
bevsharp@desch.org
old follower!

Mary Preston said...

INTERNATIONAL

I have added to my reading list thank you.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

candice (thecrjreviews) said...

Unwind and Feed are awesome books! Thanks for the insight to Alex.

candicerjames [at] gmail [dot] com

Jessy said...

I've been wanting to read Unwind and Feed for so long now. I heard they are both awesome. I must get on that.

Findjessyhere at gmail dot com

Lisa Richards/alterlisa said...

I'd only recently read the blurb on this book and it sounds awesome. I read a few of this type book in the last few years and it does sound like one of those that long after it's finished you continue to take out and mentally flip through the pages again and again.

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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/