June 24, 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!

Whew! Guys, I got lots of packages this week. Some of them were gifts from exceedingly awesome folks. Others were gifts from my exceedingly awesome wallet. (And by awesome I mean simply that I love it and am sorry for constantly abusing it, not that it’s, like, BURSTING with ca$h.) Plus a few NetGalley books, because I’m a NG whore. No secrets there. 

NETGALLEY

League of Strays  by L.B. Schulman (October 1, 2012 from Amulet Books). This one has been on my radar forever, and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with superheroes, which, I must admit, is my first thought whenever I see the word “league.” Nope, this book is about a group of outcasts at a high school who take some revenge on bullies, and a girl who starts to have some misgivings about vengeance. It sounds SUPER.

Dualed: Dualed #1 by Elise Chapman (February 26, 2013 from Random House). Guys, I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing LOTS about this book, a dystopian about a society where two copies of each person exists–an alt–and coming of age consists of those two clones doing battle to the death. FOR REALZ.

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rossett (August 28, 2012 from Harlequin). A contemp about a young girl who’s dad has just died who also has some EPIC anger issues. This one sounds great, mostly because Rose sounds like a girl who is kind of living without any care for much, and THAT makes for some great drama, friends.

(Thanks to Amulet, Random House, and Harlequin for these lovelies!)

BOUGHT & GIFTED

The Wise Man’s Fear: Kingkiller Chronicle #2 by Patrick Rothfuss. Because OBVIOUSLY. I finished the first book, THE NAME OF THE WIND, last week and started listening to this audiobook that same afternoon. But since I have a hardcopy of the first book, I needed a hardcopy of the second, hence this gorgeous hardcover on my list. Kvothe is the studliest stud there is. 

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen. I love me some Dessen, guys, but there are still quite a few of her books I haven’t read. This is one of them. Now that the paperbacks are so GORGEOUS, I figured I’d give this one a go. Because it’s got music in it. And it’s purple.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. Now THIS book is one of the Dessen’s I HAVE read, and it’s just as good as everyone says it is. PLUS, this is, BY FAR, my favorite of the new covers. I LOVE turquoise, as a color and as a stone, so my eye goes right to this cover. Also, WES.

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller. So first of all, this book is amazing. Travis and Harper are damaged and smoldery and awesome. Plus, it’s got that military angle that just GETS ME. Second of all, the actual hardcopy of this book is kind of tiny in a totally adorable way (it’s  a smaller trim size than the Dessen paperbacks). So that’s two good reasons you should both buy and read this book.

Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn. This gem came from the always fabulous Lisa from Lisa is Busy Nerding and the Debut Author Challenge ARC Tours. HOLLA to Lisa, and to Diana Renn, who wrote a book about Japan AND thievery. I just started this one today and it’s already got its hooks in me!

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh (October 9, 2012 from Hyperion Childrens). GUYS. I have Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks to thank for this, and THANK HER I DO. One, she’s awesome. Two, this book sounds awesome. It’s about a  young boy dwarf who is basically imprisoned in the court of the Spanish Infanta, and escapes only to be dragged around Europe as a prisoner of someone else. It’s a historical fiction…wait for it…BASED ON REAL HISTORICAL PEOPLE. I can’t even deal with that shizz. This book sounds so amazing.

  Thanks SO MUCH to Lisa and Heidi and my wallet for these killer books! I hope you guys got some awesome stuff in your mailboxes this week!

June 17, 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!

Happy Father’s Day, guys! I’m hoping that, in honor of Father’s Day, these books feature some excellent dads/father figures, but we’ll have to see. At least I KNOW for a fact that one of them does, and isn’t that the best news? I love great dads, and sometimes we don’t see too many of them in the books we read. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this lot: Mostly middle grades, and one STELLAR 2012 YA debut. 

BOUGHT & GIFTED

 Kepler’s Dream by Juliet Bell. I got a package of MG AWESOME this week from Pam, and it made me soooo excited! All of these books sound so good, KEPLER’S DREAM included. It’s about a young girl with a sick mom who goes to live with her wackadoo grandmother. It sounds really touching and wonderful. Can’t wait to read it.

Tracing Stars by Erin E. Moulton. Another contemporary MG featuring two very different sisters, a pet lobster, The Sound of Music, and a boy named Owen (I LOVE that name).

Deadweather and Sunrise: The Chronicles of Egg #1 by Geoff Rodkey. HOLY EFFING CRAP, guys. This MG sounds off the chain. It’s got PIRATES, for crying out loud! And a young boy who’s had a crazy, adventurous life, which gets markedly WORSE when someone tries to kill him. WOW. Yes, please.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. Guys, I read this one just last week from NetGalley and honestly? It was awesome. There have been an INSANE number of excellent contemps so far this year, guys, and we’re only half-way through it! This was as good a debut as you’ll likely find, AND it features that awesome dad I mentioned up top there. My review for this one is coming up this week. Preview: both thumbs WAY UP.

 Thanks SO MUCH to Pam for these super middle-grade books! I hope you guys got some awesome stuff in your mailboxes this week!

June 10, 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!

So, BEA happened this past week and I got some great stuff, guys. I’ll probably tell you more about it later this week. But don’t sleep on these books, either! They’re awesome, too!

FROM NETGALLEY

Spark: Elementals #2 by Brigid Kemmerer (August 28, 2012 from K Teen). So I haven’t actually read the first book, STORM, in this series yet. But I have it, and I am DYING to get to it because it sounds so good–brothers who can control the elements and get caught up in danger and conspiracies, etc. Also, Tara from Hobbitses assures me that there are MANY hot boys in it, so I can only imagine that this would still be the case in book #2.  

 BLOG TOUR

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig (March 13, 2012 from Katherine Tegen Books). I’m so excited to be a part of Literary Logistics‘ blog tour for this book! A modern-day retelling of Robin Hood, with a girl as the thief, stealing from the rich kids at her high school? YES, PLEASE. My date for this tour is June 28th, so keep an eye out for my review then!

BOUGHT

Guys, I’ve recently started falling for audiobooks. Mostly I thank April from Good Books and Good Wine, who is always talking them up, and Asheley from Into the Hall of Books for LOVING UP my first purchase, THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss. They have inspired me to go audio, friends, and since Audible was having a sale yesterday, I snagged two more books.

The Wise Man’s Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle #2 from Brilliance Audio. Narrated by Nick Podehl. GUYS, I’m in the middle of listening to THE NAME OF THE WIND right now and I’ve loved it almost from the instant it started. The world and the story are outstanding, Kvothe is STUDLY, and Nick Podehl’s voice is like butter/honey/magic/smoky hotness/PERFECTION.  I can’t wait to listen to book #2.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson from Brilliance Audio. Narrated by Suzy Jackson. It shouldn’t be any secret that this is one of my FAVE contemporaries. I love road trips. I love well-formed and well-told romances. And I love great writing and great characters. Amy & Roger has all of these things. April from Good Books and Good Wine always talks about how awesome this audiobook is, and how super Suzy Jackson is. I’m excited to listen to this one, too!!

I hope you guys got lots of fabulous things in your mailboxes this week!

June 3, 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!

OMG GUYS!! It’s Book Expo week! Finally, Book Christmas is upon us, friends, and I’ll be there on Wednesday. I CANNOT WAIT. But, like I said, Wednesday. Today is only Sunday. So I have a couple extra days to fawn over these awesome books before I come back from BEA with tons of great stuff and stories to share with you guys. YAY!!

FROM NETGALLEY

Origin by Jessica Khoury (September 4, 2012 from Razorbill). Oh, guys. Quick confession: whenever I see or hear of a book that’s set in a jungle, all my bells go off. I LOVE that environment. Also, the blurb mentions “conspiracies” and Lost. I’M IN. Can’t wait to read about the immortal girl birthed by science who escapes out of her compound and into the jungle. Sweet!

 GIFTED

Tara from Hobbitses is one fabulous lady, guys. TRUST ME. But if you needed any proof, I offer you this: She has awesomely shared these books with me. Like I said. AWESOME. 

Keepin it with the Ss, y’all!

Tara is the HERCULES of packing an envelope with books.

Storybound: Storybound #1 by Marissa Burt. Been looking forward to this one–a MG about a girl who lives in the land of Story–for a loooong time. It sounds right up my alley. 

Storm: Elementals #1 by Brigid Kemmerer. Guys, THIS one sounds FUN. A bunch of hot brothers who can control the elements and get caught up in danger/conspiracy etc., while trying to juggle all the girls. I read the little prequel story to this and LOVED it. Can’t wait to dive in!

The Storm Makers by Jennifer E. Smith. So, Jennifer E. Smith–author of THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, which was AMAZING–wrote a MG book about siblings who discover that one of them can control the weather (SERIOUSLY one of my favorite plot devices, ever since I saw Twister). BOOM. Sounds awesome. 

Dear Tara, you are wonderful. THANK YOU times infinity for being so generous and fantastic in general. xoxo, Amy.

May 27, 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!

So in honor of my Memorial Day Weekend NetGalley BONANZA, during which I will spend this holiday weekend reading ONLY NetGalley titles, I find it appropriate that I have managed to acquire EVEN MORE NetGalley books to add to my near-toppling “pile,” as it were, of e-galleys. This one’s also a little heavy on the middle-grades, friends. Which is SOLID NetGalley-ing. 

FROM NETGALLEY

The Believing Game by Eireann Corrigan (December 2012 from Scholastic). YO! This book features the following: a boarding school, a cult with enigmatic leader, a young, troublemaking girl, a charismatic local boy, drama, danger, etc. Also, check out this CREEPTASTIC cover?! THE “I” IN THE TITLE IS AN EFFING BLOODY KNIFE. I’m sold.

Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley (April 12, 2012 from Penguin BFYR). Awww, guys! This one sounds so cute. Also, I’m surprised that this was still ON NetGalley, since it came out last month, but I’ll take it. Because this is a middle grade that I’ve been wanting to read pretty badly. It’s about this quirky town (HOLLA! One of my favorite plot devices) where everyone is…wait for it…remarkable. Except our main character, whose name is Jane Doe. When these two EVIL Grimlet twins (whose name makes me think of an adult beverage I don’t particularly enjoy, so that makes sense) show up in town, shizz hits the fan. AWESOME.

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron (September 1, 2012 from Scholastic). So I’ve made a pledge this year to read more steampunk, because it’s usually not my thing, and this book sounds SOLID. It’s got inheritance troubles, crazy relatives who turn out to be odd geniuses, hot apprentices, spies, and a girl who begins to question her own sanity. WORD. 

The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers (September 1, 2012 from Scholastic). THIS middle grade sounds funny and adorable and I’M LOVING IT. Also, I’m loving those fabulous Hot Topic sneakers the kids are wearing on the cover there. I like the vibe I get from those shoes. Because this is the story of a girl who, to pass the time while grounded, decides to write an encyclopedia about herself, and her family, who live with a child who has Autism. And of course, there’s a boy. Looks super cute, friends. 

(Mad love for Scholastic and Penguin BFYR for these awesome books!)

 BOUGHT

Partners in Crime: Sleuth or Dare, #1 by Kim Harrington. I actually bought this for le kindle a week ago, but forgot to include it last week! SAD! Because this middle grade mystery series sounds FUN. Two friends who have to create a fake business for school and decide on a detective agency, which of course becomes REAL. The second book in this series is coming out in the fall, but I can’t wait to get started on this one, guys. MG mysteries, whut whut!!

HUZZAH for the books this week! Hope you guys got AWESOME things too! 

May 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!

Couple great things this week that I’m really excited about, guys! To the books!

FROM NETGALLEY

Burn for Burn by Siobhan Vivian and Jenny Han (September 18, 2012 from Simon & Schuster BFYR). So this one is a vaguely paranormal revenge story that is the first in a set of companion novels about a group of girls who are all about the vengeance. Siobhan Vivian and I don’t always get along, but Jenny Han and I are BESTIES. Looking forward to this one, even though coauthored books always make me nervous. I feel like if there were any two who could pull it off, though, it might be these two. 

The Golden Door: The Three Doors Trilogy #1 by Emily Rodda (October 1, 2012 from Scholastic). By now, everyone knows my LOVE of MG. Probably you also know that I LOVE fantasy. So put those two things together, and you get THE GOLDEN DOOR, a new MG fantasy about a walled city that is under attack from things that sound like dragons, and the MC decides to join up to fight them even though he’s too young. YO, the last sentence of the synopsis is this: “What terrors await him beyond the Wall?” Bonus points and my undying love if you can guess what I IMMEDIATELY thought of when I read this. 

(Hugs to Simon & Schuster and Scholastic for these two!! MWAH!)

 BOUGHT

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. I’m not sure I can talk about how excited I am to read this, even though I KNOW that it’s only going to give me snotty-faced FEELINGS. But seriously: World War II, spies, young girls being brave and smart, friendship, jeopardy, drama. SERIOUSLY cannot wait to read this!

DAC ARC TOUR

 Secret Letters by Leah Scheier. Thanks to Tara from Fiction Folio for hosting this FAB tour for a totally awesome-sounding book about a young girl in Victorian England who goes to London to solves crimes with Sherlock Holmes. Who might also be her real dad. EXCEPT when she gets to London–BOMBSHELL!–Holmes is already dead. Of course she picks up where her dad left off, solving crimes and all that biz. I love historical mysteries, so I’m PSYCHED about this one. TACKLE HUGS, TARA!! 

Squee! Loving these books, guys. Hope your week’s were awesome, too!