Stacking the Shelves 09/30/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT

 

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I got Shiver on my kindle from my library, but they didn't have Linger or Forever, and I had to know what happened!

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

 

Love is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison

I love the Georgia Nicholson series. I've read them all, and I own the first 8 now. I hadn't bought one of these in years! Except it does drive me crazy that my first 4 books in this series are the older covers and the rest are the newer ones. They aren't even the same size! Sigh.

Torment by Lauren Kate

I read Fallen recently and I enjoyed it, although it wasn't a new favorite or anything. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on this series, so I guess I'll just have to find out for myself if it's worth continuing reading. 

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Same with this series: a lot of mixed reviews. But it was one of the $5 copies they are selling for the release of Finale, so I thought I would give it a try. 

Room by Emma Donoghue

I read this book over the summer and absolutely loved it. Fantastic adult fiction.

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

Bought this because I have Incarceron.... which I still haven't read yet. Whoops.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

I've heard wonderful things about this book, so I've been wanting this one for a long time. Plus who doesn't like dragons??

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Another one I've been wanting a really long time. I can't wait to read this one.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Read this one recently as well, and I honestly loved it SO much more than his Thursday Next series. I'm super excited for the next book, Painting by Numbers, which is due to come out sometime next year.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Yeah, I know. I haven't read any of these books. But I'm working on it!

 

Three cheers for Amazon gift cards!! A bunch of these were used from the Amazon Marketplace, so I saved a lot too.

Bookshelf Tour!

I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE seeing other people's bookshelves. Not sure why, maybe I'm just nosy haha. So anyway, I thought I would give you a tour of mine!

This is my bookshelf at my mom's house... AKA all the books I've left behind for most of the year while I'm at college. I'm pretty sure the thing I'm most excited for when I graduate and get an apartment of my own is being able to have all of my stuff in one place, especially my books! It's so frustrating when I want to read a certain book and then realize it's 300 miles away haha. Anyway, this bookshelf is organized by genre, but besides that, I pretty much put things wherever they fit. I really need more shelves.

Starting at the top: this is pretty much my over-flow shelf. There are some comic anthologies (yes I have 15 Foxtrot books haha), my first edition, first printing signed copy of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that my dad gave me, and then just some books that wouldn't fit on my other shelves.

The next shelf down is my sci-fi/fantasy shelf. What you are seeing is Harry Potter (obvs), His Dark Materials, and some of the Quirk Classics like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This shelf is double stacked, so... what you aren't seeing is a lot of Star Wars books haha.

The middle shelf is what I consider to be classics or pretty much whatever you would read in an English class in high school. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catch-22, Shakespeare, etc.

Next is the YA/chick lit shelf, with the Jessica Darling series, some Meg Cabot, and Twilight.

The bottom shelf is pretty much anything that can be called "contemporary." Mostly fiction, but a few memoirs and a couple of non-fiction too. This shelf is also double stacked and obviously way too full. Meep.

Here is the bookshelf I share with the boyfriend at our apartment, and I would say we split it about 50/50. There is absolutely NO rhyme or reason to how we shelve books on this one, unless you count by size. I pretty much threw the books on there that way just to maximize shelf use. It makes finding books a complete pain, and I hate having them stacked horizontally because I always seem to want to read the one on the bottom! But we are graduating and moving back to the home side of the state in May, so I'm just going to deal with it until then. Seriously, I can't wait to be a real person instead of a college student and have more bookshelves haha.

Here is my to-read pile on my nightstand. Mostly books I have never read before, but there are a few re-reads thrown in.

This is the boyfriend's to-read pile... as made by me. So yeah, we'll see how that turns out haha.

Stacking the Shelves 9/16/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT

Hit up Goodwill while I was home this weekend and bought: Tuck Everlasting, The Devil Wears Prada, Voyager, Dragonfly in Amber, The Help, This Lullaby and Lock and Key. Whew! 7 books for about $10 just makes the penny-pincher inside me soooo happy haha.

Also got Fallen from using my points on Random Buzzers!

 

I know I've been pretty MIA this week, but it was a really hectic one for me. I should be back with some more reviews soon, and I have a couple of other posts planned for this week. Happy reading!

Stacking the Shelves 09/09/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT 

Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt - (on Kindle)
I've been wanting this one for awhile, so when I saw that it was on sale for $.99 I bought it right away!

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - (on Kindle)
Only $2.99 right now!

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin - (on Kindle)
Also $2.99!

That's it for this week. The HarperCollins sale going on right now on Amazon is super awesome!

Waiting on Wednesday 09/05/12

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

  Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

 Expected publication: September 25th 2012 by Harlequin Teen 

Blurb from Goodreads: Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I mean really... look at that cover! So gorgeous. I can't wait for this book.

Unspoken Chapter Sampler

  Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Hey guys! Just wanted to share that you can check out a chapter sampler for Unspoken right here. I'm looking forward to reading this one!

Blurb from Goodreads: Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

Stacking the Shelves 09/02/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta - (from Amazon)

Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta - (from Amazon)

WON

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake - (on Kindle)

Won an ecopy of this from Berd's Fly. Super excited to read this one soon!

That's it for this week! And now I'm putting myself on a book-buying ban for awhile haha. My bank account needs to recover from paying tuition....

Waiting on Wednesday 08/29/12

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

  Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Expected publication: February 5th 2013 by Feiwel and Friends

Blurb from Goodreads: Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Review: The Blood Keeper

  The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: Paranormal romance fans who are looking to up the ante will be drawn to this tale of horror, fantasy, and romance. For Mab Prowd, the practice of blood magic is as natural as breathing. It's all she's ever known. Growing up on an isolated farm in Kansas with other practitioners may have kept her from making friends her own age, but it has also given her a sense of purpose—she's connected to the land and protective of the magic. And she is able to practice it proudly and happily out in the open with only the crows as her companions. Mab will do anything to keep the ancient practice alive and guard its secrets. But one morning while she is working out a particularly tricky spell she encounters Will, a local boy who is trying to exorcise some mundane personal demons. He experiences Mab's magic in a way his mind cannot comprehend and is all too happy to end their chance meeting. But secrets that were kept from Mab by the earlier generations of blood magicians have come home to roost. And she and Will are drawn back together, time again by this dangerous force looking to break free from the earth and reclaim its own dark power.

I was pretty surprised to see that this book focused on new characters, but I ended up enjoying this one even more than Blood Magic. I liked Will much better than Nick, from the last book, and liked Mab as much as Silla. She is such a unique, brave character, and I loved reading about her and her connection to magic.

 I think my favorite thing about this book is that Tessa Gratton doesn't take the easy way out at the end of the book. It makes the story so much more real when sacrifices have to be made. I can't stand books that have endings where every single thing works out perfectly, or solved with a deus ex machina, or the conflict is resolved with "Oh, never mind then." (cough TWILIGHT cough.) 

The one thing I thought could have been better is a little more recap on blood magic. Like "binding" for instance. That came up a lot, and I was like "Ok, now why are they doing this? What is it accomplishing exactly?" And I don't think it was because I read the first book too long ago, because I just read it last week haha. But I think because Mab was so accomplished at using magic, the author glossed over some of the more basic things about it, unlike the last book where we were learning about it along with Silla.

Stacking the Shelves 08/26/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton - (from Random Buzzers)

Sort of bought this? I used my points from doing activities on Random Buzzers. Love that website! And yes, I got this in the mail on Thursday and have already read it haha.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth - (from Amazon)

Yep, finally got around to buying this one!

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - (from Amazon)

This book, guys. I don't even know. It is SO GOOD! My absolute favorite thing I have read in the last year. I'm probably going to have to re-read this one soon.

That's it for this week! School started on Monday and I guess being a senior in college means you don't get syllabus week anymore, because I had actual homework to do this week. And still have to do more today... sigh.

Waiting on Wednesday 08/22/12

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

Every Day by David Levithan

Expected Publication: August 28th 2012 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Blurb from Goodreads: Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.

Stacking the Shelves 08/19/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

WON

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

I was sooo excited to get this from Tea for Three: Book Review!! I can't wait to read this one.

The Blood Keeper (ARC) by Tessa Gratton

Won this from Random Buzzers! If you like YA and haven't joined this website yet, you should definitely check it out. It's totally worth it.

I somehow restrained myself from buying any books this week! Haha. Classes and my campus job start up tomorrow (boooooooo!) so I am back to being a poor college student. Ah well, at least I will have a degree in May!

Review: Downburst

  Downburst by Katie Robison

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: Kit’s only goal is to stay alive. Right now, that means dodging brutal gangs while peddling fake I.D.s on the back streets of Winnipeg. But things get complicated when Kit sells a license to a girl named Aura—a girl who could almost be her twin. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kit is plunged into an underground society with heart-stopping surprises at every turn. To protect herself, she’s forced to assume Aura’s identity. But storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, and when Kit learns the truth about Aura, she knows she has to get out before the storm breaks. There’s only one problem: escape isn’t an option.

Suddenly, staying alive just got a lot harder.

I read this book in one sitting. It was seriously that good. I doubt I could have put this down if I tried; it caught my attention from the first few pages and the storyline stayed intense until the very end. This book was completely action-packed and full of suspense. 

I love a strong, brave female lead, and Kit definitely delivered. She and the other main characters are very relate-able, despite the magical context. The world built in this book feels fresh and original, and one of my favorite things about it is the Native American mythology entwined throughout.

I will definitely be reading the second book when it comes out, but for now I highly recommend checking out Downburst. A fantastic debut. It's only $2.99 on Kindle right now, too!

Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop

This giveaway hop is hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer, and The Elliot Review.

This is my first giveaway, guys! I'm so excited!

Here is what I have up for grabs: Paperback copies of the first two books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

I don't really need to explain what these are, right? Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure you know all about George RR Martin's epic fantasy series. Anyway, I'm giving these books away because... I couldn't make it through A Game of Thrones. I got about 600 pages in, which seems like a pretty fair chance to me. Apparently I'm missing something, as the rest of the world loves these books. So even though I don't want these, I'm sure someone else will! =) Enter via the Rafflecopter below!

Rules:
1) US entries only please
2) Must be 13 or older to enter
3) Must respond to email within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to check out the other blogs in this hop!

Review: Ready Player One

  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

I think I should probably preface this by declaring: I AM A HUGE NERD. As in... I did marching band for 8 years in a row in high school and college, my D&D character is a dwarf barbarian, and I have a huge fangirl crush on Wil Wheaton. So I am going to surmise that this is one of the reasons I loved this book so much. 

Another reason is my love of 80's music and movies. Any book that references Ferris Bueller (FAVORITE MOVIE EVER) three times by page 65 is probably going to be a winner for me. While I know little to nothing about the classic video games of this era, missing out on a lot of those references did nothing to diminish my experience of reading this book, so don't let that stop you from trying it. 

Cline did a great job with the treasure-hunting aspect of the story, keeping the tension at a high enough level that I HAD to stay up last night to finish. I especially enjoyed the sections when Cline explored the culture of this world he created: a society based around an MMO game. People in this book pretty much abandoned their real lives in favor of a virtual one, and although this trope has been used in dystopian/sci-fi novels before, it still made for an interesting, fun read.

Stacking the Shelves 08/12/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT 

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison - (from Overflowing Bookshelf)

Alright, so Danielle over at Overflowing Bookshelf is giving away a bunch of extra books that she has, and all I had to do was pay for the shipping! So I kinda bought these, but kinda not... haha. Check out her list and see if you spot anything good! I was so sad that the Georgia Nicholson books ended, but this new series is just as hilarious.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher - (from Overflowing Bookshelf)

Same as above! I haven't read this one yet, so I'm super excited to check it out!

Angelfall by Susan Ee - (from Amazon on Kindle)

I was REALLY trying to hold out on buying this until it came out in paperback, but obviously that didn't work out. I have heard nothing but fabulous things about this book, and the Kindle version is only $2.99.

WON

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman (on Kindle)

Won an ecopy of this book from Book Haven!

Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski

Got this from Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf!

So that's it for this week! I have really been slacking on reviews lately, since I have been pretty busy finishing up my summer job/getting ready to move back to my apartment at college (tomorrow! eek need to finish packing!)/spending my last bit of time with the fam. But I have a whole week off from work and school this week, so plenty of time for reading. Super exciting!

NPR's Top 100 YA Books

Recently, NPR held a poll to determine the top 100 books for young adults. There were 235 finalists to vote on, and I can't exactly remember all 10 I voted for (it was so hard to pick only 10!) but I did end up choosing more of the classics, such as The Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, and The Hobbit. I was surprised at some of the books that didn't make the finalists, such as A Wrinkle in Time.

Anyway, here's the final list they came up with. I crossed off all the ones that I have already read, so now I have a go-to list when I need something good to read! Are there any books you were surprised to see on here? Any you think should have made the top 100?

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
7. The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry (hmmmm I've only read the first one I think)
12. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams
13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery
15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
16. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
17. The Princess Bride, by William Golding
18. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
19. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth
20. Paper Towns, by John Green
21. The Mortal Instruments (series), by Cassandra Clare
22. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
23. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
24. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
25. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
26. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
27. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
28. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfeld
29. The Infernal Devices (series), by Cassandra Clare
30. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
31. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series), by Anne Brashares
33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green, David Levithan
35. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
36. Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones
37. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
38. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
39. Vampire Academy (series), by Richelle Mead
40. Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom Trilogy (series), by Garth Nix
41. Dune, by Frank Herbert
42. Discworld / Tiffany Aching (series, by Terry Pratchett
43. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
44. The Dark is Rising (series), by Susan Cooper
45. Graceling (series), Kristin Cashore
46. Forever..., by Judy Blume
47. Earthsea (series), by Ursula K. Le Guin
48. Inheritance Cycle (series), by Christopher Paolini
49. The Princess Diaries (series), by Meg Cabot
50. The Song of the Lioness (series), by Tamora Pierce
51. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
52. Delirium (series), by Lauren Oliver
53. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
54. Hush, Hush Saga (series), by Stephanie Perkins
55. 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson
56. It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini
57. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (series), by Libba Bray
58. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
59. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
60. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
61. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
62. Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen
63. A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L'Engle
64. The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
65. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (series), by Jonathan Stroud
66. Bloodlines (series), by Richelle Mead
67. Fallen (series), by Lauren Kate
68. House of Night (series), by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
69. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
70. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlsit, by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
71. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver
72. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
73. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
74. The Maze Runner Trilogy (series), by James Dashner
75. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
76. The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
77. Crank (series), by Ellen Hopkins
78. Matched (series), by Allie Condie (again, only read the first one in this series so far) 
79. Gallagher Girls (series), by Ally Carter
80. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
81. Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters (series), by Tamora Pierce
82. I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak
83. The Immortals (series), by Tamora Pierce
84. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series), by Patricia C. Wrede
85. Chaos Walking (series), by Patrick Ness
86. Circle of Magic (series), by Tamora Pierce
87. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor
88. Feed, by M.T. Anderson
89. Weetzie Bat (series), by Francesca Lia Block
90. Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
91. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series), by Louise Rennison
92. Leviathan (series), by Scott Westerfeld
93. The House of the Scorpion, by Scott Westerfeld
94. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (series), by Diana Wynne Jones
95. The Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen
96. Gone (series), by Michael Grant
97. The Shiver Trilogy (series), by Maggie Stiefvater
98. The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
99. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson
100. Betsy-Tacy Books (series), by Maud Hart Lovelace

Whew, looks like I have a lot to choose from! 

Waiting on Wednesday 08/08/12

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

 The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Expected Publication: January 22nd 2013 by Hyperion

Blurb from Goodreads: Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous—it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

Stacking the Shelves 08/05/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews


BOUGHT

Divergent by Veronica Roth - (from Amazon)

How did I not have this one already?? Honestly.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez - (from Amazon)

This is such a beautifully written book, I can't wait to reread it! One of those books I've been meaning to buy for years. 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - (from Amazon on Kindle)

I've been seeing this one everywhere, and at $2.99 how could I say no? Unfortunately it looks like that was a short sale, as the Kindle price is back up to $9.99 already.

Hourglass by Myra Mcentire - (from Amazon on Kindle)

I got this one because I keep seeing great reviews about it, too. Still going on Amazon for $1.39!!

WON

Downburst by Katie Robison (on Kindle)

Won this from Amanda's Writings! I'm so excited to read this one... it sounds really great!

And yeah.... forgot to take a picture of the two non-digital books before I shipped them off with the boyfriend to take back to our apartment at school. Oh well.

Waiting on Wednesday 08/01/12

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Expected publication: November 6th 2012 by Little, Brown & Company

Blurb from Goodreads:  In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was declared a "must read" by Entertainment Weekly, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, and The New York Times called it "a breath-catching romantic fantasy."

Stacking the Shelves 07/29/12

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews

BOUGHT

The Secret History by Donna Tartt - (from Goodwill) 

This book is amazing. I'm pretty sure I've read it at least 3 times. Anyway, I finally decided to buy this one since I've had my dad's copy of it on my shelves for the last 4 years.... probably time to give it back to him. =)

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - (from Goodwill) 

Another beautifully written book. I haven't read this in about 7 years, so hopefully it's as good as I remember!

The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - (from Goodwill) 

I've been wanting to read this for awhile, so I was really excited that I found it. Who doesn't love books about books?? It kinda sounds like The Shadow of the Wind/The Angel's Game, so hopefully it's as good as those.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - (from Amazon)

Oh gosh. I read the excerpt of the first chapter on Goodreads and immediately ordered it. Technically, I got this and the 2 below about 3 weeks ago, but I haven't even cracked any of them open yet because I have so many library books checked out! It's just sitting there on my nightstand... waiting...

The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart - (from Amazon)

I read the first book in this series (The Crystal Cave) earlier this summer, and it was awesome. I love pretty much anything about King Arthur, so I'm surprised it took me this long to get around to this series. 

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - (from Amazon)

I NEEDED to buy this book. I got it from the library last month, and I was really hesitant to read it because of the title but... oh my gosh. I found a new favorite! (Probably gonna try to get the boyfriend to read this one soon. I love that he likes YA, it's awesome. Seriously, I borrowed HIS copies of the Twilight series when we first started dating...)

WON

 Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Won this from Goodreads First Reads. Woooo for chick lit!

That's about it for this week, but I have a couple more on the way from Amazon that should be here soon! I work full time in the summers, so I actually have money to spend on books for a few months. It's very exciting haha. Also, I don't know how I JUST now realized how great Goodwill is for buying books. Seriously. You'd think I would've known this a lot earlier considering I'm so cheap frugal. The one in my town is $1 for mass market paperbacks, $2 for regular paperbacks, and $3 for hardcovers. It's pretty hit or miss, and there obviously aren't many super new releases, but the prices? You really aren't going to do better than that anywhere else. So for all those books that you've been meaning to buy for the last 5 years, I'd definitely take a look at Goodwill and see what you come up with.

Review: Leviathan Wakes

 Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach. 

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, "The Scopuli," they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why. 

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to "The Scopuli" and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything. 

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe. 

This book took me longer than it normally would to finish because I have been really busy finishing up summer semester. But every time I picked it up, I went "Oh yeah! Why haven't I been reading more of this? It's awesome!" It had a whole Firefly vibe going on, which I really loved.

The book was narrated by two different characters, which I think was the most interesting aspect to me, mostly because their viewpoints were SO opposite. One is described as "righteous," but interestingly enough, his actions are ultimately responsible for a lot of the war. The other is a world-weary cop whose mission and experiences drive him to do, well... less than "righteous" things.

Also, it did not end the way I expected it to at ALL. Woooo for plot twists! The ending left me wanting to know more about what happened, which is convenient because the next book in the series, Caliban's War, just came out. Overall, I thought this was an exciting, fast-paced read.

I read this book along with The Sword and Laser (which you should definitely check out if you like sci-fi/fantasy!)

Review: Insurgent

Insurgent by Victoria Roth

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

"New York Times" bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian "Divergent" series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

I did not like this book as much as I liked Divergent. With the first book, I got that frantic, compulsive, "can't go to sleep until I find out what happens!" feeling. Not so much with Insurgent. It seemed like all that happened in the first half of the book was them going around from faction to faction, and there was very little tension at that point. The pages and pages of political discussions between factions got old pretty quickly for me. Luckily, the second half picked back up with the action, and I felt like I was finally getting the book I had expected to read.

Overall, it left me feeling slightly underwhelmed. I'm still looking forward to book number 3, but it looks like middle book syndrome strikes again!

PS: Also... we are supposed to believe that Tris and Four can just put on a different faction's clothes and no one recognizes them? Really?

Review: My Life Next Door

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

I absolutely loved the first part of this book, which is all about Sam and Jase falling in love. There were many times that Sam's thoughts about their relationship and falling in love for the first time made me stop and go: "Yes! That is exactly how I felt!" It was awesome.

In the second part of the book, I feel like that relationship kind of falls to the wayside, and it focuses more on Sam's relationship with her mother instead. There were also many issues that never got resolved: what happened with her friendship with Nan? What happened to Tim? Or to Mr. Garrett? Was Jase able to go to college? It seems like some storylines were brought up and then just trailed off with no conclusion, which left me wondering what the point of them was. I really wanted more from the ending. Overall though, the wonderful first section was enough to make me overlook the issues I have with the last part.

Review: Limos, Lattes & My Life on the Fringe

Limos, Lattes & My Life on the Fringe by Nancy Rue

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: Outcast? Tyler Bonning is used to life on the outskirts and believes she's beyond caring what others, like the popular and wealthy Ruling Class, think of her. Until she's nominated for prom queen as a joke. Unexpectedly hurt, Tyler decides to turn her nomination into a cause and starts a Prom for Everyone campaign that will help make the event affordable. But just as her cause gains momentum, opposition at school and at home forces Tyler to question not only the campaign, but also the way she's perceived by others. As prom approaches, Tyler faces her biggest challenge yet---one her brains alone won't be able to solve. A perplexing leather book might hold the answers, but is Tyler willing to listen?

So... Christian fiction is definitely not my thing. As in there is less than a 1% chance I will actually pick up a book in this genre. I just do not appreciate being preached at. Luckily, this book didn't seem as pushy as some others I've seen, although to be honest, I skipped over most of the sections with the "magic book," so that may be why.

Otherwise, the plot was completely farfetched. Is anyone REALLY dissuaded from going to prom because they can't spend $3000 on it? I'm pretty sure I spent MAYBE $150 on prom, and you know what? No one cared. Why would the so-called "Ruling Class" even worry about what other people are doing? Also, the writing style was pretty awkward. There were sentences here and there that I had to read a few times until I understood what the author was trying to say.

Definitely not the worst book I've ever read, but I don't think I'll be reading it again.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Review: Tigana

Tigana by Guy Gavrial Kay

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: Eight of the nine provinces of the Peninsula of the Palm, on a world with two moons, have fallen to the warrior sorcerers Brandin of Ygrath and Alberico of Barbadior. Brandin's younger son is slain in a battle with the principality of Tigana, which the grief-stricken sorcerer then destroys. After sweeping down and destroying the remnants of their army, burning their books and destroying their architecture and statuary, he makes it so that no one not born in that province can even hear its name. Years later, a small band of survivors, led by Alessan, last prince of Tigana's royal house, wages psychological warfare, planting seeds for the overthrow of the two tyrants. At the center of these activities are Devin, a gifted young singer; Catriana, a young woman pursued by suspicions of her family's guilt; and Duke Sandre d'Astibar, a wily resistance leader thought dead. Meanwhile, at Brandin's court, Dianora, his favorite concubine and--unknown to anyone, another survivor of Tigana--struggles between her growing love for the often gentle tyrant and her desire for vengeance. Gradually the scene is set for both conquerors to destroy each other and free a land.

I had a hard time rating this one. I would have given it 5 stars except that it was suuuuper slow at the beginning. It took at least 100 pages for me to really get into the story. Other than that, this is one of the best stand-alone fantasy books I've read in a long time.

Also, the resolution was incredibly frustrating to me, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I can appreciate an author who decides not to neatly tie up all the loose ends, or who makes a conclusion ambiguous... even if it sometimes drives me crazy.