In My Mailbox (49) / Stacking the Shelves (4)

in my mailbox stacking the shelvesOctober 20, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees! Stacking the Shelves is another weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews. They’re both awesome memes and I love meeting all of you through them!

LOTS of good stuff to shout out, friends! Some awesome-sounding contemporaries and a SUPER sounding MG. All in all, a good week for me, my dears.

NETGALLEY

book cover for eleanor & park by Rainbow Rowell

Amazon | Goodreads

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (March 15, 2013 from St. Martin’s Press). A contemp set in 1986 is always going to snatch my attention right up. I was a super-cool kindergartener in 1986, so I can’t say that I was having serious talks about Bono during that school year, but grown-up Amy is still DYING to read this book. It seriously sounds amazing.

book cover for uses for boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt

Amazon | Goodreads

Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt (January 15, 2013 from St. Martin’s Press). Another contemp that sounds pretty stellar. I am really looking forward to reading this one, about a girl with a stinky home life who befriends boys over other girls, and who suffers the brunt of that truly horrible brand of teenage judgement where kids assume a girl who likes to be around boys all the time is a slut. Subvert, Anna!

BOUGHT

Book cover for Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara

Amazon | Goodreads

Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara. Sigh. This book sounds like something right up my alley. A girl retreats to the woods (LOVE the woods) to regroup after a horrible car accident and meets a boy there who’s dealing with his own troubles and the two of them connect. Sounds deep. Also, I read the little snippet on the cover flap. Guys? THE WORDS ARE PRETTY.

book cover for Justin Thyme by Panama Oxridge

Amazon | Goodreads

Justin Thyme: The Tartan of Time #1 by Panama Oxridge. Scottish time-traveling, middle grade adventure?!? STOP IT RIGHT NOW.Guys, I’m so excited that I found this book. This book has a CAST OF CHARACTERS page, featuring a Laird of Thyme named Willoughby, a butler named Peregrine Knightly, and a computer-savvy GORILLA (!) named Eliza. ALSO, it has a map/illustration of the castle where Justin, our MC, lives. I DIE A BAZILLION TIMES.

SO STOKED! Hope you guys love your hauls this week!

In My Mailbox (48) / Stacking the Shelves (3)

October 14, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees! Stacking the Shelves is another weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews. They’re both awesome memes and I love meeting all of you through them!

Got a big pile of MGs this week guys and I. AM. STOKED.

FOR REVIEW

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A Thunderous Whisper by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Amazon | Goodreads

Guys, I’m pretty jazzed about reading this middle grade, friends. It’s about a young girl living in Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. If the name Guernica sounds familiar to you, maybe that’s because Picasso has a pretty famous painting of the bombing of that town, where the town is basically destroyed and tons of people died. So…there’s that. Also, spies. And a couple of young kids who sound brave and awesome. I’m going to be reviewing and blog touring for this one over on Bookalicious.org in November.

The Invisible Tower: The Otherworld Chronicles #1 by Nils Johnson-Shelton

Amazon | Goodreads

In which an Arthurian legend-based video game COMES TO LIFE (I KNOW) and a young kid named Artie finds out that he is the modern incarnation of KING ARTHUR. Guys, there are dragons and Excalibur and Merlin in this book.

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Amazon | Goodreads

This MG about a young Southern girl is kind of right up my alley. I LOVE books set in the South almost as much as I love books set in places that I know, and Moses LoBeau sounds like one of those sassy, smart young girls that I love to cheer on. Also, her bff is named after Dale Earnhardt. LOVE IT.

The Cloak Society by Jeramy Kraatz

Amazon | Goodreads

Umm, did someone say “elite group of supervillains”? YES PLEASE. This book is about superheroes and the villains they have defeated. That’s right. The MC, Alex, is junior bad guy in The Cloak Society who wants nothing more than to become a grown-up bad guy and use his telekinesis to do bad things. Of course, he befriends a girl from the good side–The Rangers of Justice! God, I love a good league of superheroes–and begins to question everything.

Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli

Amazon | Goodreads

This sounds like a super cute MG contemp about two twins, Jake and Lily, and the summer they turn 11, when they start hanging out with other people and dealing with some things. In a humorous, heartwarming way, though. I know I’ve mentioned before that I love reading about brothers and sisters, so I’m looking forward to this one for sure.

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

Amazon | Goodreads

Friends, give me a book set in a beach town and I’m pretty much in. The fact that this book takes place on Cape Cod is double exciting because I love Cape Cod. It’s so pretty there. This one is about a young girl named Stella who’s living with her Great Aunt while her mother “finds herself” and she befriends a girl there. I’m looking forward to this one, too.

BOUGHT

Book cover for Sean Griswold's Head

Amazon | Goodreads

Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt. Guys, I’ve already read this book and adored it and the way it surprised me. So when it was the kindle daily deal yesterday, I snatched it right up. This is one of those YA contemps that is so much more than you think it will be. This cover up here is the paperback cover. Which is ok. But props for the kids actually LOOKING like the main characters, and I think it’s sweet that he’s kissing her head. ANYWAY, read this one, friends.

NETGALLEY

Book cover for Velvet by Mary Hooper

Amazon | Goodreads

Velvet by Mary Hooper (November 13, 2012 from Bloomsbury). Victorian historical fiction! This one is about a seamstress in Victorian London (I think) who gets hired by a famous medium. Dangerous things ensue. Sounds good!

Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (47) / Stacking the Shelves (2)

October 7, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees! Stacking the Shelves is another weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews. They’re both awesome memes and I love meeting all of you through them! 

I’m off today to attend Oktoberfest with my family (as in, we create and host our own and it’s basically THE BOMB), but I wanted to share these goodies with you guys!! Because I’m excited.

NETGALLEY

Book cover for Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

AmazonGoodreads

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (January 8, 2013 from Delacorte). I have to confess that I still have not read Clare Vanderpool’s Newbery Award-winning MOON OVER MANIFEST. But there’s not much in this book that doesn’t sound super to me, and I’m always on the lookout for great middle grades! So, after WWII, there are these two boys at a school in Maine and one of them sounds a little odd. But they become friends and wind up going on this journey on the Appalachian Trail (a portion of which runs through my town) together.

Book cover for Splintered by A.G. Howard

Amazon | Goodreads

Splintered by A.G. Howard (January 1, 2013 from Amulet Books). I will admit here and now that I’m not the hugest fan of Alice in Wonderland. It was always a little too weird for me. But I can appreciated oddities, friends, and SPLINTERED sounds like it takes the Alice in Wonderland business in a new direction: by keeping it in the family of the girl who inspired Alice from the books, and making her ability to hear flowers and bugs talking to her a curse that runs in her family, all the way down to Alyssa, our MC.

 

BOUGHT

Through To You by Emily Hainsworth

Amazon | Goodreads

Through to You by Emily Hainsworth. Woot! So excited to have this one, friends, because I’ve been waiting on it for awhile now. It just sounds so twisty and intense and emotional: a story about a guy whose girlfriend dies, only for him to discover a parallel world in which she has not died at all. I’m looking forward to this debut for sure!

book cover for The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Amazon | Goodreads

The Mark of Athena: The Heroes of Olympus #3 by Rick Riordan.  Friends, I adore Rick Riordan. His middle grade series about Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythologies are pretty stellar and they have given the world one of the very best heroes in children’s literature, in my opinion: Percy Jackson. This book features the reunion of Percy and his Camp Half-Blood friends, including his gf, Annabeth. The book is humungous–it’s over 600 pages long–but I have no doubt that it’s going to be full of action, heart, and drama.

Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (46) / Stacking the Shelves (1)

September 30, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees! Stacking the Shelves is another weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews. They’re both awesome memes and I love meeting all of you through them! 

This week was CRAZY for me, friends, so to say that I needed some good books to brighten things up is basically an understatement. THANKFULLY, I found a few solid cheapies hanging around for both my eyes AND my ears. I’m STOKED. Plus, I’m taking part in some blog tours for books that sound really great, too!

FOR REVIEW/BLOG TOUR

Book cover for The Gleaning by Heidi R. Kling

Goodreads

The Gleaning: Spellspinners of Melas County #2 by Heidi R. Kling (October 2012 from Colliloquy).  I really enjoyed the first book in this series, WITCH’S BREW. It’s basically a choose-your-own story, although it doesn’t have quite as many choices. But still, AWESOME. Also, I’m a big fan of witches, especially these witches, who are all about natural magic and prophecies and danger and STEAMY TIMES between Lily and Logan. Woot!

Book cover for Conjure by Lea Nolan

Amazon | Goodreads

Conjure: The Hoodoo Apprentice #1 by Lea Nolan (October 16, 2012 from Entangled Publishing). WHAT HOODOO! First of all, that word ALWAYS makes me think of this song (even though they only say “hoodoo” once), which I still know all the words to. But focusing back on the book–a 2012 debut!–is all of the words in the Goodreads synopsis that set off my bells: the South, hoodoo, messages in a bottle, PIRATE BOOTY, curses, hellhounds, WAH AWESOME! So excited about this one. Blog touring this one up on November 5.

NETGALLEY

Book cover for The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

Amazon | Goodreads

The Madness Underneath: Shades of London #2 by Maureen Johnson (February 26, 2013 from Putnam Juvenile). WHOA. I just saw this on NetGalley and I HAD to request it. THE NAME OF THE STAR was one of the first books I reviewed on my blog and I loved it. I’ve been looking forward to the second book in this series ever since.

BOUGHT

Book cover for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Amazon | Goodreads | Audible

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. I actually just started listening to this one today and, guys? I’m totally hooked already. The narrator, Scott Holst, has a really nice voice, and I’m digging the alternate paranormal history vibe. I’m REALLY looking forward to reading more about how vamps played some major role in the Civil War. I mean, STOP IT.

Book cover for Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

Amazon | Goodreads | Audible

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy: The Gallagher Girls #2 by Ally Carter.  I’m always on the lookout for good audiobooks, now that I’m a card-carrying member of the audio fan club, and I’ve heard really great things about the narrator of this series, Renee Raudman. I’ve heard great things about this series in general, and I liked the first book lots. Because SPIES. Spies, boarding school, secrets, danger, etc. Looking forward to this one, friends.

Book cover for The Bastard by John Jakes

Amazon | Goodreads

The Bastard: The Kent Family Chronicles #1 by John Jakes.  This is a series–the story of a bastard son of an English duke who comes to America before the Revolution and fights with the colonists for their independence–that gives me TINGLES. I will shout my love of historical fictions from Revolutionary America for ever and ever. It’s my favorite time period. So when April @ Good Books and Good Wine dropped the knowledge on me that this book is only $0.99 for kindles right now, I got on that shizz ASAP.

Book cover for The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle

Amazon | Goodreads

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle. I have been hearing OUTSTANDING things about this book! Amish + vampires = AWESOME? Who knew?! But I’m excited. I’m excited to read this book that manages to take something well-tread–vampires–and puts it in a fresh context–Amish communities.

Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (45)

September 23, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

It’s FALL!! HUZZAH!! My favorite season of the year. The leaves are starting to turn, the air is getting crispy, and I’ve had hankerings for pumpkin bread and spiced apple cider. EXCELLENT news, guys. But the start of fall also means something else in my reading life: Maggie Stiefvater. I swear, I read her books during this season ALL THE TIME. Maybe because her books come out this time of year, it seems, but they also feel right being read now, too. I got only one book this week, which I purchased for myself.

BOUGHT

Book cover for The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Amazon | Goodreads

The Raven Boys: The Raven Cycle # 1 by Maggie Stiefvater. So I’ve actually already read this one because I was lucky enough to get an ARC at BEA this year. Guys, it was pretty legit. Mysterious and creepy in a way that Maggie’s other books aren’t: a bunch of very different boys from a wealthy private school on the hunt for the burial place of an ancient Welsh king, and the girl daughter of psychics who helps them but is cursed to kill her true love with just one kiss. It’s totally different and really enjoyable. I’ll be reviewing it soon–and giving away my ARC to boot! HOLLA!

Also, some quick bloggy business…

So apparently there was some shizz that went down with Feedburner recently that I was unaware of until yesterday. My apologies! But I went and fixed it right quick, and set up shop at Feedblitz. Alas, even though I migrated my Feedburner feed, I lost all of my feed followers, you precious, beautiful few. I’ve updated my RSS feed link on the sidebar, or you can just click HERE to continue the goodness.

Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (44)

September 16, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

I’ve returned to NetGalley my friends. I couldn’t help it. There were good books on there!

NETGALLEY

book cover for princess of the silver woods by Jessica Day George

Amazon | Goodreads

Princess of the Silver Woods: Princess # 3 by Jessica Day George (December 11, 2012 from Bloomsbury). I didn’t realize that this book is the third in a series, but they sound like companion-ish things more than sequential series books, and I’ve got some time to catch up on these fairy tale retellings (HELLO AWESOME!). This one sounds like a mash-up of Little Red Riding Hood and ROBIN HOOD, where the Merry Men are freaking werewolves. I mean…

book cover for flash point by Nancy Kress

Amazon | Goodreads

Flash Point by Nancy Kress (November 8, 2012 from Viking Juvenile). Dystopian novel about a future America after a HUMUNGOUS economic collapse where  the only work the main character, Amy, can get is as a contestant on a reality TV show. Sounds good. Also a little bit closer to home than other dystopians, and I find that I like those the best. Also, AMY. I can’t resist my namesakes.

book cover for Sirens by Janet Fox

Sirens: Faithful #3 by Janet Fox (November 8, 2012 from Speak). YO. So Janet Fox has written a couple of historical fictions. I haven’t read any of them yet, but even though this is listed as a series, they aren’t really. (Not that I don’t mean to read them anyway. LOVE historical fiction!) But SIRENS? Friends, 1920s New York with GANGSTERS. Historical fiction with the mob. I DIE. So excited for this one!
Thanks so much to Penguin and Bloomsbury for these books!
I’m so excited for the books I got this week! Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (43)

September 2, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

Yay! My birthday mailbox!! Yes, yes, today is my birthday. When you get to be my age, that loses a little bit of its luster, I have to say. But that doesn’t mean a girl doesn’t still get excited when she gets super-awesome stuff for her birthday, and for me, books have always qualified as “super-awesome.” That being said, just a few things this week, but I’m JAZZED about all of them. 

NETGALLEY

Book cover for Shadowlands by Kate Brian

Amazon | Goodreads

Shadowlands by Kate Brian (January 8, 2013 from Hyperion Books for Children). This cover…there is just something REALLY awesome about it. Hopefully it contains a book as awesome as its summary sounds: The story of a girl who goes into the witness protection program when a serial killer who tried to off her but failed escapes and is on the loose.

BOUGHT/FOR BLOG TOUR/GIFTED FROM AWESOME PEOPLE

Defiance: Defiance #1 by C.J. Redwine. (Amazon | Goodreads) Fantasy/dystopian about a society where women have legit no power whatsoever, and a young girl must go find her father, accompanied by her “protector”: a young man whom she has confessed some FEELINGS to in the past. I’m really looking forward to reading this one.
The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini (September 25, 2012 from Balzer + Bray). (Amazon | Goodreads) Friends, I’m really excited to be a part of the blog tour for this book. It sounds like a huge nerdgasm. See, this kid who loves to play RPGs finds himself actually SUCKED INTO ONE, and he has to be the hero and save the princess. It’s also a book about not letting your life pass you by while you sit on your ass by yourself, but I’m digging the gaming angle something FIERCE. My date for this tour–complete with a Ned Vizzini guest post AND a giveaway–is October 3.
Stormdancer: The Lotus War #1 by Jay Kristoff (September 18, 2012 from Thomas Dunne Books). (Amazon | Goodreads) EPIC thank you to April from Good Book and Good Wine for sending this ARC my way. I’m incredibly eager to read this Japanese-based steampunk about a young girl and an impossible quest in a dangerous and, quite frankly, gnarly-sounding world. THANK YOU, APRIL!!
I’m so excited for the books I got this week! Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (42)

August 26, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

Holla for alternative formats! Got some REALLY great books in electronic and audio format this week, friends. And yes, that means NetGalley. *looks shameful* But it’s a really cute one! 

NETGALLEY

Book cover for Secrets of Shakespeare's Grave by Deron R. Hicks

Amazon | Goodreads

Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave by Deron R. Hicks (September 4, 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Books for Children). Umm, seriously? How could I resist a book about a young girl with family secrets involving LITERATURE, along with basically a travel-through-time-and-the-world bookish middle grade adventure.

BOUGHT

Book cover for Angefall by Susan Ee
Angelfall: Penryn and the End of Days #1 by Susan Ee. So, ANGELS. I am for sure waaaaaay behind on angel books and while I have enjoyed the ones I’ve read, I’m not sure that I’ll get around to reading a whole ton of them. That being said, this book–ANGELFALL–sounds pretty legit. It’s basically the story of the post-apocalypse world, except the REAL BIBLICAL one, not some man-made disaster like wars or disease. The main character teams up with a fallen angel to rescue a missing family member and the DRAMZ ensues. I can’t believe I’ve missed this one for so long. It sounds fantastic.
Book cover for Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Shadow of Night: All Souls Trilogy #2 by Deborah Harkness. Guys, I am loving Audible lately.  I used one of my credits to buy the audiobook for the sequel to A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, which was actually pretty great. A little adult paranormal does the body good, friends. I’ve never listened to a book from Penguin Audiobooks before, but the little sample of narrator Jennifer Ikeda sounds awesome. I’m really looking forward to seeing (hearing!) what happens to Matthew and Diana.

I’m so excited for the books I got this week! Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (41)

August 19, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

Guys, have you noticed that I haven’t gotten a lot of books from NetGalley lately? Aren’t you proud of me?!  I’ve been resisting it really well, I think. Which is good, because I’ve got plenty of NetGalley stuff to read already. Plus it give me more time to moon over the books that I buy for myself, like this week’s small haul. 

BOUGHT

Book cover for Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar
Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar. I have already read RAW BLUE, but now I can actually have a real copy of my own, thanks to UK publisher Catnip and fishpond.com. Guys, this book is one of the best Aussie contemps ever. It’s about a girl named Carly who has some horrible things in her past, and the surfer guy she bonds with who helps her move past them. Except it’s not as smooth and perfect as that little synopsis of mine sounds, and it’s certainly not cute. “Raw” is a good word for this book. Also AMAZING.
book cover for Dante's Girl by Courtney Cole
Dante’s Girl: The Paradise Diaries #1 by Courtney Cole. I just heard about this book earlier this week, and I decided to give it a go. It’s a self-pub, but it sounds really cute, and it’s about an American girl in London, and I can ALWAYS get behind that. Fingers crossed that it’s as adorable and fun as it sounds!

I’m so excited for the books I got this week! Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!

In My Mailbox (40)

August 5, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

SUPER excited about these two books, friends! 

BOUGHT

Throne of Glass: Throne of Glass #1 by Sarah J. MaasI’ve actually just finished this one, friends, and it was wonderful. As solid a beginning to fantasy series as you’ll find. I cannot wait for book 2!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1 by Laini TaylorFriends, I loved this book when I read it’s just GORGEOUS. So, so beautiful. I’ve always loved the UK cover of this book better than the US one, so I bought it for myself. I DIE over those opalescent feathers. DIE.

I’m so excited for the books I got this week! Hope you guys love what you got in your mailboxes, too!