July (2012) Book Haul (2)

Hi Guys,
This past Saturday I received a package in the mail which I wasn't expecting. When I looked at the package, it said that it was from Scholastic, which was an even larger shock to me. I tried remembering if I entered a contest, or requested an ARC recently. I couldn't remember either one, so when I opened it, I was very excited (and I might've done some happy dancing). I received an ARC of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater! I forgot I'd sent an e-mail requesting an ARC of this, several months ago. I got an e-mail back saying that they would put me on the list, but I was not expecting to get one, because this is a new release from a very popular author. I'M GLAD I GOT IT! I've started reading it, but I'm only on page 30, because I wanted to finish Isle of Night first (which was a great book by the way, the review of it is coming soon). I've read Shiver by Maggie, but I didn't like it as much as I hoped to. The main character was very... I don't know, I just didn't like her. But almost everything else about the book I liked, with the exception of some minor things. I can already tell that I'll love the characters of this novel, there are several of them, and they each have their own personality and back story, and I really like it so far. I can't wait to finish it and review it soon. This book is set to release on Sept. 18, 2012. So I'll probably post a review for it at the start of September. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

I love this book so far, and I can't wait to dive further into the mythology, and the overall story of this novel. I'm very glad that I received this ARC, and I wanna thank Scholastic publishers as well as Maggie Stiefvater, for sending me this ARC. I hope you guys are as excited about this book as I am. I can already tell that this book will be one of my favorites.

First Editions Giveaway (2)

Hi Guys,
Happy Friday, in order to celebrate this wonderful Friday, I'm hosting a book giveaway. Last weeks First Editions Giveaway Winner was Kathleen C. Congratulations Kathleen! I hope you enjoy Delirium. Now that Kathleen won Delirium, it will no longer be available to be won. That leaves just three books to choose from. The books I'll be giving away are below, in a slide show.

Blood Red Road and Shatter Me are both Hardcovers, and Glass Houses is a mass market paperback.

These were all previously my copies, but I was thinking about a great giveaway, and First Editions came to my mind, so I was racking my brain for books, and these four were the top four to giveaway. I haven't read any of these books, so they are in great condition. Blood Red Road and Shatter Me, however, have a small cut under the back flap of the book, but it's not noticeable, if you leave the dust jacket on. The reason they are like this, is because I put my name and phone numbers on that part of my books, so I didn't want my phone info going out into the world. Also, Shatter me has a small binding problem on the title page only... unfortunately, I bought it that way, not realizing how it was before I bought it. I'm operating this contest a little differently. I'll host ONE giveaway every TWO weeks, and there will be only ONE winner for each giveaway. The winner of the first giveaway will get to chose which book they would like to receive. Then for the next giveaway, the winner will have the other three books to chose from, etc.

Here is the info for the giveaway:

• This is a giveaway for the US only, sorry international people.
•  YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG!!!
• There will be ONE WINNER for this giveaway.
• The Winner will be able to chose from any of these four books.
• The Winner must reply to my e-mail within a week, or the opportunity will go to someone else. 

• If for some odd reason my rafflecopter widget doesn't work for you, you may leave a comment on this post explaining the situation, and I'll enter you into the contest as well. BUT you MUST be a follower of this blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

That is all you have to do to enter this giveaway. This giveaway will end in two weeks, on July 20th, 2012. Good luck to everyone who enters, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.

Cover Features (1)

Hi Guys,
Today, I'm going to be trying out another type of blog posts. They are called Cover Features, a meme hosted by Emily's Crammed Bookshelf where I will feature books that have the same theme in their covers. I saw this meme on Emily's blog, and I fell in love with it immediately, I often find myself staring at my bookshelves, and finding out what some different book covers have in common. I'm very excited to be doing this, and today's Cover Feature is... Tattoos. There are tons of YA books that have a tattooed up character on the front cover. I like getting books with tattoos, it makes the story all the more interesting to me, and my favorite kind of tattoos on the cover of a book, are Ancient Celtic looking tattoos. They always grab my attention, especially when the tattoo(s) is/are on the face of the character, that pikes my interest in the book.

Here are the books I chose to represent the Tattooed Covers of YA:

1) Wired by Robin Wasserman
2) Specials by Scott Westerfeld
3) Reckless by Cornelia Funke
4) Hidden by P.C. and Kristin Cast
5) Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
6) Crave by Laura J. Burnes and Melinda Metz
7) City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

I like all of these covers, the tattoos really bring everything together. My top three covers would have to be Reckless, Hidden, and City of Lost Souls. These three books have Celtic-like tattoos on the characters, and I love them. Specials came as a close fourth to me, I like the arrows going up the spine, that makes everything that much cooler. Wired would also have to be tied with Specials for fourth, I love the way the tattoos look like computer tech stuff, I don't know how else to put it... it just looks futuristic and cool. I love the other covers as well, but these five were the best to me. leave a comment letting me know of any other books that have tattoos on them. I would love to see them, and add them to my TBR pile. I believe the next Cover Features I do will be about... hmm... you know what, I have no idea, so leave a comment and tell me which cover feature you would like to see next. The one that I have the most covers for will obviously be posted as the next cover Feature.

First Editions Giveaway (1)

Hi Guys,
Happy Friday, in order to celebrate this wonderful Friday, I'm hosting a book giveaway. The books I'll be giving away are below, in a slide show.

Delirium, Blood Red Road, and Shatter Me are all Hardcovers, and Glass Houses is a mass market paperback.

These were all previously my copies, but I was thinking about a great giveaway, and First Editions came to my mind, so I was racking my brain for books, and these four were the top four to giveaway. I haven't read any of these books, so they are in great condition. Blood Red Road, Delirium, and Shatter Me, however, have a small cut under the back flap of the book, but it's not noticeable, if you leave the dust jacket on. The reason they are like this, is because I put my name and phone numbers on that part of my books, so I didn't want my phone info going out into the world. Also, Shatter me has a small binding problem on the title page only... unfortunately, I bought it that way, not realizing how it was before I bought it. I'm operating this contest a little differently. I'll host ONE giveaway every TWO weeks, and there will be only ONE winner for each giveaway. The winner of the first giveaway will get to chose which book they would like to receive. Then for the next giveaway, the winner will have the other three books to chose from, etc.

Here is the info for the giveaway:

• This is a giveaway for the US only, sorry international people.
•  YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG!!!
• There will be ONE WINNER for this giveaway.
• The Winner will be able to chose from any of these four books.
• The Winner must reply to my e-mail within a week, or the opportunity will go to someone else. 

• If for some odd reason my rafflecopter widget doesn't work for you, you may leave a comment on this post explaining the situation, and I'll enter you into the contest as well. BUT you MUST be a follower of this blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

That is all you have to do to enter this giveaway. This giveaway will end in two weeks, on July 20th, 2012. Good luck to everyone who enters, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.  

July (2012) Book Haul

Hi guys,
The other day I received five packages in the mail, four of which I bought on eBay, and another that was sent to me by the author. From eBay I received: the first five books in the Night World series (in their original covers), the last two books in the Dark Visions series (in their original covers), and the first, second, and fourth books in the Vampire Diaries series (in their original covers). I actually ordered the third book in the Vampire Diaries series as well, but for some reason I didn't receive it in the mail, so I guess I'll have to get it from somewhere else. I bought these books, because last year, while at a consignment shop, I found the fourth Vampire Diaries book in the original edition, and I bought it for less than a dollar, and since I love the books, I thought I would try to collect all of them in their original covers. Now, I still have to get the third Vampire Diaries book, the first Dark Visions book, the last four Night World books, and the three Secret Circle books. I'm excited I'm a little over half-way done with my collection, and I can't wait to continue collecting them. 

I also received a book from Nancy Holder, author of several hit YA books (Crusade/Unleashed/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc.). The book I received from her was her most recent release, On Fire: A Teen Wolf Novel, I was very excited when I saw this in my mailbox. I love the television show, and I just know I'll love this book as well. I love the characters of the show, and I can't wait to read about them in this novel. The character I'm most excited about reading about is Stiles. I didn't like the character in the original Teen Wolf movie, but Dylan O'Brien's Stiles is hilarious, and I can't wait to read about his experiences in this novel.

So i had a pretty good In My Mailbox this week, and I hope you guys have had a good one as well. I hope you guys check out each of these books, and I look forward to reviewing them for you guys on the blog.

The pictures below are of the original editions of the books I got this week, as well as a picture of the cast of Teen Wolf posing with On Fire by Nancy Holder.  

Winners of Dark Light Swag Giveaway

Picture from: The Lost Lola

Hi Guys,
             A few weeks ago, I posted info on the 2nd Giveaway that YAB has had. We got about 60 entries for the giveaway. Through a random selection, the winners were chosen, and e-mailed about their win. The Grand Prize Winner of this giveaway is: Karen, and the second place winners are: Susan Sowers Light and Tiffany Webb, I'll mail the swag to them soon, and I hope they receive it soon. CONGRATULATIONS GUYS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SWAG!

*Stay tuned for the upcoming giveaway (starting this Friday), and I will be giving away 4 AWESOME YA books. The name of the contest? FIRST EDITIONS!