Stacking the Shelves: The Simon & Schuster Edition

This week instead of participating in IMM I thought that I would give Tynga over at Tygna's Reviews new feature Stacking the Shelves a go! As Tygna writes, "Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!"

Bought

• "The Last Echo" by Kimberly Derting

Won

• "Unholy Night" by Seth-Grahame-Smith (Thanks to Hachette Canada)

For Review (I almost fell over when I got these ARCs this week- big thanks goes out to Simon & Schuster Canada!)

• "Between the Lines" ARC by Jodi Picoult

• "Surrender" ARC by Elana Johnson (I must admit that I have yet to read "Possess", even though its been on my wishlist FOREVER, so this will give me an excuse to buy it!)

• "Envy" ARC by Elizabeth Miles (same with "Possess"- must buy "Fury"!)

• "The Unnaturalists" by Tiffany Trent (I must also admit that I had never heard of this book prior to having received it, but it sounds AMAZING- right up my alley- I really want to start reading it ASAP, but I think that I better hold out until August when it is released)

What did you get this week to add to your shelves?

On My Wishlist

 

On My Wishlist is a great event that Book Chick City runs every Saturday. It's where you list all of the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. I thought that this was a fantabulous idea so I thought I would join in!
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"The Iron Witch" by Karen Mahoney

From Goodreads: "Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.  

When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect."

"Jessica Rules the Dark Side" by Beth Fantaskey

Release Date: January 10, 2012
Publisher: Harcourt (Thomas Allen and Son)
Pages:  308

From Goodreads: "It’s one thing to find out you’re a vampire princess. It’s a whole other thing to actually rule. Newly married Jessica Packwood is having a hard enough time feeling regal with her husband, Lucius, at her side. But when evidence in the murder of a powerful elder points to Lucius, sending him into solitary confinement, Jessica is suddenly on her own. Determined to clear her husband’s name, Jessica launches into a full-scale investigation, but hallucinations and nightmares of betrayal keep getting in her way. Jessica knows that with no blood to drink, Lucius’s time is running out. Can she figure out who the real killer is—and whom she can trust—before it’s too late?"

 When I started reading this book I had a really big problem with it, that being that Jessica and Lucius's wedding scene wasn't actually included within this book, it was written in a novella-like form on the author's website. From my experience novella's are written for pure entertainment value/ have little to no impact upon the story- typically they just show us a different side of its characters that we haven't seen before, or they elaborate upon something in the plot (like Rachel Vincent's "Reaper" novella, which shows us how Tod died and came to be a reaper). But this was NOT the case for this novella, you HAVE to read it in order to fully comprehend what is happening in this book, otherwise everything is out of context (for instance, "Why does Mindy play such a large role in this book?", "Who the heck are Raniero and Ylenia?", and, "Why does Mindy make a mad dash out of a room whenever Raniero enters it?"). Furthermore, I found the novella to be ill-advertised (I mean, I didn't know it existed until after I read the book and flipped to the front of the it and found in itty bitty writing, "To read about Jessica and Lucius's wedding, go to www.bethfantaskey.com"). I think that there were better ways to have distributed the novella, like including it in this book, not unlike how Rachel Vincent's novellas are now being included in her "Soul Screamers" omnibus', or having it available for download so that readers could read it on their E-readers (I don't know about y'all, but I LOATHE reading things on the computer, I would much rather read them on my Kindle).

Because I had no idea what was going on for the large majority of the first half of the novel (and the fact that I found everything to be extremely slow moving), it took me FOREVER to read this book, I kept dragging my feet- I could literally only read twenty or so pages at a time before I would become overwhelmed and have to put it down (according to Goodreads it took me 23 days to read this book which is crazy to me as I can usually finish one or two in a single day). However, once I hit the halfway point of the book (and started to better grasp what was going on) I found it to be much more manageable and I believe that I was able to finish it within a couple of hours.

Like with the previous book, "Jessica's Guide to Dating the Dark Side", I very much enjoyed Lucius's letters in this book, though letters written to Raniero, Lucius's cousin, rather than his uncle. Again, the letters were still chock-full of Lucius' dry humor, but they went beyond that- they were also chock-full of raw emotion. I was never quite sold on Lucius's feelings for Jessica until I read said letters, the letters made me swoon all the more for him.

While in the first book I found Jessica to be quite lacking in personality, I found that in this book it was much more developed and complex (though admittedly it did take a bit to get there, at about the halfway point it finally reared its head). I also enjoyed the fact that she actually grew throughout this book, becoming a strong woman who would make her mother proud. 

Furthermore, not only did I come to like Jessica in this book, but I did eventually come to like Mindy and Raniero. Admittedly I didn't think that there was much to Mindy in the first book in this series, I just thought that she was a stereotypical YA book BFF, just there for the sake of being there as she twirled her hair around her finger and snapped her gum, but she was anything but. She was quite a complex character who was placed into a number of difficult situations (like trying to appease her mother, trying to find herself, and the likes of). I thought that she brought a lot of comedic value to this story. As for Raniero? Well, he was tall, dark and handsome (with a European accent!), so I think that there is little more that we could ask for/ want. 

Rating: 8/10

I received this book from the publisher to read and review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating...
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Title: "Dark Companion"
Author: Marta Acosta
Release Date: July 3, 2012

From Goodreads: "When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove.

Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother.

The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the longer Jane stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and a missing faculty member.

Jane discovers one secret about Birch Grove, which only leads to more mysteries. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to stay at this school...and be bound to Birch Grove forever?"

"Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side" by Beth Fantaskey

Release Date: February 1, 2009
Publisher: Harcout
Pages:  351

From Goodreads: "The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction."

In all honesty, I found that this book had very little substance, but I was a-okay with that- sometimes it's nice to read a little fluff, it helps keep you entertained and your mind occupied while you wait for the new episode of "Game of Thrones" to be on (or something of that nature). 

One of the biggest problems that I had with this book was how Jessica came to understand and accept her feelings for Lucius- I found it to be a bit cheesy and overdone (ie. not accepting your feelings for someone until you are about to loose them). Furthermore, I would have liked to have seen Jessica to have been a bit more developed, at times I found her personality to be lacking and contradictory at times (she is a science/ math nut, she NEEDS solid evidence to accept something as being true and despite being shown and told numerous times that Lucius was a vampire she absolutely refused to accept it until the last possible moment).

That being said, I thought that Lucius was extremely well developed- my favourite part of the entire novel actually involved him, the letters that he wrote to his uncle. I enjoyed the letters as they showed us an entirely different side of Lucius. There were countless times while reading them that I burst out laughing due to Lucius's way with words and his dry sense of humor. 

All in all, I recommend this book for those times when you need a break from a heavy dystopian or an emotional drama, it will help lifts your spirits and have you giggling the entire time while reading it.

Rating: 7/10

Memorable lines from the book: 

"I come from civilization," Lucius retorted. "You wouldn't be familiar with the territory" (23%). 

'"No, Lucius is harmless," I fibbed. If you don't count the fact that he thinks that he's a warrior prince representing a semi-cannibalistic race of undead bat people' (23%). 

'"Whatcha doin', freak?" Frank sneered, kicking my shin[...] 
"We want to know what's going on in that garage at your parents freak farm" [...]
"You two use the word 'freak' a lot," I noted. "You should check out a thesaurus[...]
"He broke up with me," she wailed. "That freak-" [...]
She suddenly realized I was there and turned her wrath on me, stabbing the finger in my direction. "You... you two... you're both..." 
"Freaks?" I ventured' (74-76%). 

On My Wishlist

 

On My Wishlist is a great event that Book Chick City runs every Saturday. It's where you list all of the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. I thought that this was a fantabulous idea so I thought I would join in!
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"Forgiven" by Jana Oliver

From Goodreads: "Jana Oliver's third spellbinding Demon Trappers novel - following The Demon Trapper's Daughter and Soul Thief - brings all new thrills, as Riley Blackthorne takes on demons, love... and the future of the human race. 

 The days are growing darker for 17-year-old demon trapper Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, Beck barely speaking to her because of a certain hunky Fallen angel, and a freshly-made deal with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s Demon Hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s in hiding, at the top of everyone’s most-wanted list. 

But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than Riley, and rapidly getting out of control:  something sinister is happening in Atlanta… or someone. The demons are working together for the first time ever and refusing to die, putting civilians in harm’s way. Riley thinks she might know who’s behind it all, but who’s going to believe her? Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming – and it may be closer than anyone thinks…"

Free E-books

Lately I have come across some really amazing E-books that are currently being offered for FREE on Amazon (though only for a short time)! Therefore I have compiled a list of some of them for y'all! Just click on the cover and it will take you to Amazon. 

***If you decide to pick up some of these books look at the prices to ensure that they are, in fact, still being offered for free as their prices are subject to change quite quickly!***

ARC Review: "The Selection" by Kiera Cass

Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Pages: 327

From Goodreads: "For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined." 

While this book has by far one of the worst endings I have ever read before- think Sophie Jordan's "Firelight" or Tera Lynn Childs' "Sweet Venom", where the story ends right at the most epic moment (seriously, the last line of this book reads "END OF BOOK ONE")- I still really enjoyed it (in fact, prior to reading this book I was in quite a book rut- being unsatisfied with the large majority of books I had been reading and this book was able to lift me out of said rut).

I think that one of the biggest reasons why I enjoyed this book is because it is quite unlike anything I have ever read before and because it was just so different from my typical go-to book (I mean, this book has been marketed as a book for fans of "The Bachelor" and I have never felt any inclination to watch "The Bachelor").

Both America and Prince Maxon were such fun characters to read about- America in all of her bluntness, honesty, and snark, and Maxon in all of his awkwardness, dryness, and just overall goodness. Furthermore, I also quite intrigued by the love triangle presented in this book (trust me, I am as shocked as you are as I typically loathe love triangles). I think that both Maxon and Aspen are quite swoon-worthy characters in their own rights and that they each bring out a different- and frankly better- side of America.

All in all, I do think that this is quite a strong debut from Kiera- I think that Kiersten White best describes this book when she states, "Charming, captivating, and filled with just the right amount of swoon". I am very much looking forward to seeing what Kiera has in store for us in the next book in this series (and I am entirely excited by the prospect that this book's television adaptation has been picked up by the CW network)!

Rating: 5/5

I received this book from the publisher to read and honestly review.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating...
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Title: "The Blood Keeper"
Author: Tessa Gratton
Release Date: August 26, 2012

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."

Top Ten Tips For New Book Bloggers

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. They created this feature because as I quote, "... we are particularly quite found of lists". 

Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers on their blog as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

I'm not even going to pretend to be an expert with this week's topic, I mean, after close to two years of blogging I am still learning new things each and every day! I'm just going to provide some advice about things that I wish I had known when I first started blogging, starting with a topic that most new book bloggers want to know more about- ARCs. 

ARCs are not the end of the world. I know, I know, this is REALLY hard to swallow when you see someone with an ARC of a book that you are. Legitimately. Dying. To. Read. But look at it this way, from my experience, ARCs only come out a few months before a book is released (I think I have maybe gotten one 6 months in advance?)- so that means that you don't have to wait all that long for that highly coveted book! Remember guys, ARCs are a privilege and not a right- if you are blogging solely to get ARCS you might want to reconsider whether you are blogging for the rights reasons (ie. you are blogging to share your love of books).

But... How do you get ARCs? Don't. Email. The. Author (I mean, there are a few authors out there that are okay with this because they will just forward the email to their agent, publicist, or publisher, but I think that the vast majority aren't, so it's just better not to and plus, SKIP THE MIDDLEMAN! It will probably save you a lot more time in the long run, plus your favourite author will have more time on his or her hands to write)- authors don't get tons and tons of ARCs of their books to distribute to bloggers and reviewers, they only get a handful, AND they have to use their hand earned money to ship them to you. 

The best way to get an ARC is to directly contact the publisher- look on their website, the vast majority of them have a specific email address to contact for review copies. Join an ARC tour- there are plenty of them out there like Around the World ARC Tours. Join NetGalley. Enter Goodreads giveaways (seriously, they have these going on ALL THE TIME and in some instances 100 copies of a single book might be distributed!). And if all else fails and you can buy a copy of the book from somewhere like The Book Depository which has some of the cheapest prices around WITH FREE worldwide shipping and/or you could always check out the book from your local library. 

Blog consistently and blog quality stuff. That thing I said about ARCs? Some publishers will actually only distribute ARCs to bloggers who post up to 5-6 times a week. And posts which are exclusively book related posts (For instance on NetGalley Entangled Publishing states, "We are looking for reviewers who.. Update their blogs daily or almost daily... Blog about books!", as does Knopf Doubleday when they state, "Blog should be updated daily or almost daily... Blog content must be relevant to the book being requested...). Also, when readers stop by your blog every couple of days for three weeks straight hoping that you will have an updated post and you don't, well, they will be less inclined to stop by for the 850283058th time.

As for quality stuff? Memes are nice and all, admittedly I do participate in upwards of three a week, but anymore than three or four I'd say is too many. Also, I personally dislike it when a blog posts more than one meme a day. Yawn.

*That isn't to say that memes are bad, they are a great way to get a blog rolling and a great way to meet new people, but you don't want your audience to feel like they are drowning in them.

Don't allow yourself to get burned out. If you are starting to feel burned out, take a step away from blogging. I have done it on numerous occasions myself, typically around December and April when I can't successfully juggle blogging and my final exams in school. Remember, for many of us blogging is a hobby, we aren't being paid to do it, so it's okay to take a break every now and again. Just explain the situation to your followers and all will be fine and dandy. 

Make yourself accessible in the world of social media. I cannot tell you how much my blog has grown from being an active Tweeter- seriously, Twitter has opened up so many doors for me, from making contacts that I might not have otherwise, receiving ARCs and books (seriously, do you know HOW many authors and publishers have Twitter giveaways that very few people partake in? A lot!), and the likes of. Ditto with Facebook. A lot of people don't have blogger accounts and therefore only follow their favourite bloggers via Facebook, Twitter, and the likes of, so if you aren't participating in these forums, then you are missing out on a lot of potential readers. 

But don't allow yourself to become too dependent on/ obsessed with social media. Because before you know it, you will be cruising Twitter for hours when all you had intended to do was "check in" (I admit that I am terrible at this. If I am working on school stuff on my computer, which can be upwards of eight to ten hours, I will have Twitter up the entire time)- use that time that you would have otherwise spent on Twitter doing something productive- like writing reviews, scheduling posts, or better yet, reading.

Make an identity for yourself. I recently read that there is something like 5 million blogs in the world. That is A LOT of blogs. Obviously those aren't all book blogs, but there are still quite a number of those too. Because there are so many blogs out there (I mean, there are probably 60+ active YA-focused blogs run by my fellow Canadians that I could find in a snap, so just think of how many American YA-focused blogs there are, when y'all have ten times the population that we do) you want to set yourself a part from the rest of them. Admittedly, this is something that I have struggled with A LOT. I think that now, almost 2 years into blogging I am starting to finally find my identity in the world of YA blogs (I think that the creation of my avatar has given me a much needed boost of confidence since she is a logo of sorts that I can carry beyond my blog header, on bookmarks, business cards, etc).

What are you good at? Or what are your interests? Use those to help you establish yourself. Take Jenny over at Supernatural Snark for instance, she is arguably known for her snarky, yet extremely eloquent reviews or Melissa over at Books and Things for her reviews of a mish-mash of genres, her habit of starting in the middle of a series, and her love of animals.

Don't start drama, better yet, don't get involved in any sort of drama. So many reputations have been destroyed in the book bloggy world because of drama and it is a damn shame. I mean, you work years to establish yourself and then it can all be lost in an instant with an inappropriate or offensive tweet, email, remark, or anything along those lines.

In my opinion, the only time I think that you should start "drama" (and by drama I mean, "A low key and nicely worded email to the person in question"- take the high road peeps!) is when you find out that someone has lifted something of yours, whether it be a meme that you created, a review or something along those lines. Otherwise, just leave it be.

*However, that's not to say that I don't read blogger-related drama. Because I do. What can I say? It's my guilty pleasure, it can bring me hours of entertainment. But I think that it is also a good learning experience, IE. THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD NEVER BEHAVE. SO YEAH, DON'T BEHAVE LIKE (INSERT PERSON'S NAME HERE), also it provides you with different perspectives and ways of thinking that you might not encounter otherwise.

Get rid of Captcha. Seriously, Captcha is perchance the most annoying thing I have EVER encountered in my time as a blogger/ a reader of blogs. Don't know what Captcha is or how to uninstall it? Rachel over at Parajunkie wrote a fantabulous post about it/ made a video on how to GET RID OF IT.

I personally haven't had Captcha on my blog for over a year now and haven't had any problems with spam or anything along those lines (*knock on wood*). I think that if you *do* have Captcha on your blog that you are missing out on A LOT of comments because A) a lot of people won't even bother commenting on a blog with Captcha installed and B) *if* someone does leave a comment on your blog and they incorrectly type in the wrong words in the Captcha box they will be less likely to give it another try. So save yourself (and your followers) a lot of headaches and just uninstall it.

But most of all, have fun! There are few things I can think of that are more fun than talking books with people from all over the world who share similar interests to you.

ARC Review: "Destined" by Aprilynne Pike

Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 320

From Goodreads: "Laurel now knows the truth: Yuki is a rare Winter faerie, the most powerful—and deadly—of all, and she is working with Klea to conquer and destroy Avalon. With Tamani, David, and Chelsea by her side, Laurel prepares for a fight she never thought she would have to face.

Filled with heart-pounding action, sweeping romance, and higher stakes at every turn, Destined is the series conclusion that readers have been clamoring for—with a twist that will leave them breathless."

As I am sure some of you have come to realize over the course of my blogging I love Aprilynne Pike's "Wings" series. Like A LOT. In fact, not too long ago "Destined" graced my Top 10 Most Highly Anticipated Books of 2012 list and last fall I even made a WoW post (one of my most popular posts to this day) where I detailed everything that I hoped would happen in this book, the final book in the series. However, I must admit that after having finished I am not entirely satisfied with it and I can't quite put my finger on why and it is a fairly irrational feeling as the large majority of what I was hoping to happen in this book did. I'm not sure if just feels like something is missing, that I have outgrown the characters (after all, I am a whole year older than them than I was while I read "Illusions'), or something along those lines.

I think I got it, I think that it is a combination that I am having a difficult time relating to the 17 or so year old characters and that this book didn't have any moments that took my breath away, unlike in the previous books where there were countless instances that that happened. Like in "Illusions" when Tamani told Laurel that he couldn't be nicer to her boyfriend, David, because, "I just don't want to cozy up to the guy whose girl I have every intention of stealing"... I really wanted to be swept off of my feet by this book Tamani and while there were times that I came close to being pushed off of the edge of the swoon-worthy ledge, I never completely made it off said ledge. Or, or, perhaps it is that David played a HUGE role in this book, arguably the largest role he has played in any other book and seeing as I have never been a David fan, well... That might explain it. Or, or, because Laurel was so defenseless in the first half of this book- I mean, she didn't even get a knife or sword! Yeah, I'm just going to stop now because I am obviously not any closer to figuring out what about this book irked me.

That being said, the remainder of the book was quite good. The vast majority of it took me by surprise- I never expected there to be so much action and adventure in this book as there was. Also, I enjoyed that each of the faerie fractions got their own individual chance in the spotlight, it allowed us to develop a deeper understanding and awareness of them and the abilities that they possess (for instance the Summer faeries during a moment of action).

All in all, while I was obviously a bit disappointed by this installment of the series, I would still highly recommend it to readers of all ages (the earlier books especially)! This is by far my most favourite faerie-related book series I have ever read before and one that I will come back to time and time again.

Rating: 8/10

I received this book from the publisher/ Edelweiss to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review. 

In My Mailbox: Vampires and Alchemists Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly post hosted by Kirsti at The Story Siren as a chance to share the books we've bought or received over the past week.
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For Review 
"My Life in Black and White" ARC by Natasha Friend (Thanks to Penguin Group Canada/ Razorbill)
"The Golden Lily" ARC by Richelle Mead (Thanks to Penguin Group Canada/ Razorbill)

Bought 
"Insatiable" by Meg Cabot
"Vampires: The Recent Undead" anthology (includes the likes of Kelley Armstrong and Rachel Caine).

On My Wishlist

 

On My Wishlist is a great event that Book Chick City runs every Saturday. It's where you list all of the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. I thought that this was a fantabulous idea so I thought I would join in!
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"Hourglass" by Myra McEntire

From Goodreads: "One hour to rewrite the past . . .
 
For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut"

Free E-books

Lately I have come across some really amazing E-books that are currently being offered for FREE on Amazon (though only for a short time)! Therefore I have compiled a list of some of them for y'all! Just click on the cover and it will take you to Amazon.

***If you decide to pick up some of these books look at the prices to ensure that they are, in fact, still being offered for free as their prices are subject to change quite quickly!***