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!

The Orphan, The Soulcatcher, and The Black Blizzard Blog Tour Book Review

Hi Guys,
Today I'm doing a blog tour post for The Orphan The Soulcatcher and The Black Blizzard by Kimberlee Ann Bastian. I'll be giving my review on this novel, and I'll give it my rating based on my honest opinions. You can purchase this book on amazon, whether in paperback, or e-book edition for your kindle. This blog tour is hosted by Young Adult Novel Reader, and you can click HERE to get a list of blogs who are also partaking in this blog tour. I really enjoyed this book, even though I was wary at first. Here is the synopsis of this novel:

Most of his life, Charlie Reese has been surrounded by a loving family and all the comforts of home. But when a house fire claims them, he and his cousin, Jimmy are sent to an orphanage in the heart of ‘Depression Era’ Chicago. A year later, Charlie’s life is shaken by yet another tragedy and with it comes the mysterious introduction of a secretive runaway, named Bartholomew. As Charlie begins to discover more about his new companion, he unknowingly becomes a participant in a two-hundred year old secret. Come the morning of the Black Blizzard, Charlie finds he must make a choice - flee the destiny laden at his feet or take on his responsibility and follow a path full of supernatural wonders.

My first impression of this book was good, I read the synopsis on Young Adult Novel Reader's post, and it did not show a cover. As you guys know I can't help but judge a book by it's cover. If I would have seen the cover of this novel before signing up for a review, I probably wouldn't have signed up... not because I don't like the cover, it's just that it doesn't POP to me. However, I'm very glad I read the synopsis first, because this novel was very good. It was a little slow for me at first... and by at first, I mean the first chapter, because after that first chapter the author took you on a wild-ride that you couldn't get off of if you wanted to. One thing I disliked at the beginning of this book, was the immediate death of one of the characters, I didn't get a real connection with him, so when other characters would mourn his death later, I felt weird reading why they would sob, and not being able to feel what they did for the character. A few other things I didn't like about this book were:

• There were several grammatical/spelling errors throughout the book

• There was a repetitive use of descriptions (Ex. The Grocer was described as the portly man...so... The portly man walked towards the door, then the portly man did this or that). It just got a little annoying after a while. 

Those were the very few things that I disliked about this book. There is something that I didn't know whether to like or hate... It seemed that very little about the mythology was revealed until the end, and yet it was mentioned several times throughout the book, and I didn't understand what they were saying sometimes. It was definitely better to not think to hard at the beginning of this book about the mythology, It'll all come together in the end. Which was one thing I really liked about this book, because not all authors bring the story to a good ending for the first book, so that it's closed revealing all the things you had questions about, but it still left things to be revealed for the second book. Some other things I liked were:

• Great/Relatable Characters (Buck and Charlie specifically, my personal favorite was Buck.)
• There was a lot of mystery and suspense (There were two original scenes in this book that had me on the edge of my seat: the Pool (Billiards) scene, and also the Harmonica contest. I wasn't expecting to be so interested in these two scenes, but I was... and I Loved it!)
• The mythology of this book was amazingly original, and I loved learning more about it as the story progressed. 
• The author's story-telling skills were very good as well.
•   Left a perfect set-up for book 2

I also found myself highlighting two quotes on my kindle from this book. Those quotes were:

• "If anything, fear the man who does not keep his word, for he is the truest of tricksters and cannot be trusted."
• "Buck, sometimes it's not about being brave or having something to prove, but rather taking the risk because you have nothing to lose."

Alright, it's time for my rating. My rating for this book is (Drum-Roll) 4/5 STARS! The great things in this book outweighed the bad things. I look forward to The Breedling & The Trickster, which comes out later on this year. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an original, refreshing, and wonderful read. The things I didn't like about this book will not be a problem for you unless you are a member of the grammar police like I am, but even if you are you will enjoy this book, but a little less than everyone else.

 Don't forget to check out the author at these sites:
goodreads
facebook
twitter 

If you would like to purchase The Orphan The Soulcatcher and the Black Blizzard you can do so HERE.


 

Waiting on Wednesday (4)

Hi Guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted a WoW in two weeks, but I've been kind of busy with summer projects, but I couldn't hold off on this post any longer. So this is my fourth WoW post, and Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This Wednesday I'm waiting on:

Light (Gone #6)

by Michael Grant

unknown number of pages

Katherine Tegen

Sometime in 2013

YA

There is currently no synopsis for Light, but I've read books 1-5 in the Gone series, so I believe I understand a little of what may happen. For those of you who have read the Gone series, and finished Fear, you know what Grant led up to while finishing Fear. I believe that this will be one of the most epic book finales in history, and I know that Michael Grant will choose wisely as to how it will end, so I'm not worried about it not meeting my expectations. 

This is the final book in the Gone series, and I'm very excited about it! I've followed this series since Gone was published, and I can't wait to see how everything ties together, and to find out who makes it out of the FAYZ alive, and what happens after the FAYZ. 

The cover of this novel is wonderful, I think it may just be my favorite cover of the series (with Fear as a close second).

This is going to be my favorite book of 2013, and I can't wait to find out how many pages it is, and I'm hoping for a long Harry Potter 7/Breaking Dawn sized book to end this series... but I'd be fine if it wasn't.

So if you haven't read the Gone series, please do, it's my favorite book series, and I'd love for you guys to read it, and fall in love with it as much as I have. 

Are you guys waiting for this book, leave a comment telling me what book your waiting for today. 

Stay posted on the blog, to see what I'll be waiting for next Wednesday... or the Wednesday after that... or even the Wednesday after that... let's just hope it's soon! 

YALL FEST 2012

Hi Guys,
Today's post is going to be about the YALL FEST which will be hosted in Charleston SC, November 9th and 10th. This will be the second year of YALL FEST, which is put together by the authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. On the website, the About tab wraps this even up better than I can, and it states:

"Who’s coming: 44 (and counting) of the country’s top YA authors, including 25 New York Times bestsellers.

What: Panels, presentations and signings on more than three stages on Upper King Street, as well as the infamous YA Smackdown!

When: Sat., Nov. 10, 2012, 10 am to 6 pm. 

Where: Blue Bicycle Books & The American Theatre, King Street, Charleston, SC 

Cost: FREE!"

So that pretty much sums it up, and you would be crazy not to want to come to this event... I mean "44 (and counting) of the country's top YA authors" all at one event. This is what Heaven is for the YA Book community. So come on out to support these authors, and also get a chance to have a conversation with them. I'm very excited for this, I've never been to a book event like this, and I was planning to go last year, but something came up, so I couldn't make it... but this year I'm determined to not only be at YALL FEST, but to make the best of my time there.

The authors that will be there are:

YALLFEST CONFIRMED AUTHOR LINE UP 2012
(Check back soon for links to author’s websites!)
Keynote: Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, “Literary Friendships” 
Kwame Alexander      -      http://bookinaday.org/
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, PhD      -      http://www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com/
Holly Black      -      http://www.blackholly.com/
Pseudonymous Bosch      -      http://thenameofthiswebsiteissecret.com/
Sarah Rees Brennan      -      http://sarahreesbrennan.com/
Heather Brewer      -      http://www.heatherbrewer.com/
Kiera Cass      -      http://www.kieracass.com/
Cinda Chima      -      http://www.cindachima.com/
Cassandra Clare      -      http://www.cassandraclare.com/
Andrea Cremer      -      http://www.andreacremer.com/
Katie Crouch      -      http://www.katiecrouch.com/new/books.shtml
Gitty Daneshvari      -      http://www.gittydaneshvari.com/
Melissa De La Cruz      -      http://www.melissa-delacruz.com/
Matt de la Peña      -      http://www.mattdelapena.com/
Kim Derting      -      http://www.kimberlyderting.com/
Simone Elkeles      -      http://www.simoneelkeles.net/oldsite/index.html
Elizabeth Eulberg      -      http://www.elizabetheulberg.com/
Gayle Forman      -      http://www.gayleforman.com/
Kami Garcia      -      http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/
Adam Gidwitz      -      http://www.adamgidwitz.com/
David McInnes Gill      -      http://davidmacinnisgill.com/
Adele Griffin      -      http://adelegriffin.com/
Deb Harkness      -      http://deborahharkness.com/
Jenny Han      -      http://www.dearjennyhan.com/
Siobhan Vivian      -      http://www.siobhanvivian.com/Hello/Home.html
Michelle Hodkin      -      http://www.michellehodkin.com/
Ellen Hopkins      -      http://ellenhopkins.com/YoungAdult/
Tonya Hurley      -      http://tonyahurley.com/
Michele Jaffe, PhD      -      http://www.michelejaffe.com/
Caitlin Kittredge      -      http://www.caitlinkittredge.com/
Alyson Noel      -      http://www.alysonnoel.com/
David Levithan      -      http://davidlevithan.com/
Stephanie Perkins      -      http://stephanieperkins.com/
Diana Peterfreund      -      http://www.dianapeterfreund.com/
Kathy Reichs      -      http://kathyreichs.com/
Brendan Reichs      -      http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3399125.Brendan_Reichs
Beth Revis      -      http://www.bethrevis.com/
Jessica Rothenberg      -      http://www.jessrothenberg.com/
Carrie Ryan      -      http://www.carrieryan.com/
Eliot Schrefer      -      http://www.eliotschrefer.com/
Natalie Standiford      -      http://www.nataliestandiford.com/
Trenton Lee Stewart      -      http://www.mysteriousbenedictsociety.com/
Margaret Stohl      -      http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/
Cate Tiernan      -      http://catetiernan.net/
Robin Wasserman      -      http://www.robinwasserman.com/
Marjorie Wentworth
John Corey Whaley      -      http://www.johncoreywhaley.com/
Kathryn Williams      -      http://kathrynswilliams.com/KW/Welcome.html


WOW, That is a very large list of authors, and I'm excited to see most of them. I'm not familiar with some of them, but I hope to be able to find out more about their novels, and hopefully have some new books on my TBR pile. 

So if this post hasn't convinced you to come out to YALL FEST, maybe the official website will. Click HERE to check it out, and I will hopefully see you there. 

The Dark Light Swag Giveaway

Hi Guys,
Happy Thursday, in order to celebrate this wonderful Thursday, and the start of my summer vacation, I'm hosting a swag giveaway. The swag I'm giving away is from Sara Walsh, the author of the 2012 debut novel The Dark Light (Which I did a WoW for a few weeks ago HERE). After receiving my own bookmark from Sara for The Dark Light, we exchanged e-mails, and she saw my WoW post. She then agreed to send some swag for a giveaway on my blog, and not long after I received two packages in the mail. Sara, if you're reading this... THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Here is the info for the giveaway:

• This is a giveaway for the US only, sorry international viewers...
•  YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THIS BLOG!!!
• There will be One Grand Prize Winner, and Two Other Winners.
• The Grand Prize Winner will win a bookmark, a bracelet, a sticker, and A SIGNED POSTER for THE DARK LIGHT!
• The Other Two Winners will win a bookmark, a bracelet, and a sticker of The Dark Light 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

That's it, that is all you have to do for a chance to win all of these wonderful things! Trust me, I was very tempted to steal the Grand Prize for myself, but I would rather see one of you guys win... (*Goes into the nearest corner and cries).

Well, stay posted on the blog... this giveaway will end in about TWO weeks... on June 22nd, 2012... which is also the day that I will post my blog tour review of The Orphan The Soulcatcher and the Black Blizzard by Kimberlee Ann Bastian... MY FIRST BLOG TOUR! I'm very excited, and I hope you guys are as well, this is a wonderful book so far, and I can't wait to finish it to see what happens.

I borrowed the picture at the top of this post from Sara Walsh's blog, because my camera is misplaced for the time being, so I know that poster isn't signed, but the one you guys are competing for is... so GOOD LUCK!

P.S. If you guys, for some reason, can't view the Rafflecopter thingy... I also put in in the side bar.