Where reading is a way of life

Saturday, February 2, 2013

In My Mailbox #20


In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.  Us bloggers feature any new books we've received in the past week, either bought, borrowed, or received for review.

 So far I am loving 2013!  Every week my mailbox is bursting!  
ebooks I bought



 

ebooks from Netgalley











eBooks for Review





Now onto Physical copies!
Books I borrowed from the library




I checked out Incarnate to reread it before I read Asunder!

Received for Review


Books I received for YA trade with other bloggers




Books I bought







I've already read Prodigy and I can't wait to read Asunder!

 And, finally, I received a multitude of signed bookmarks with some of my books!


What did you receive in your mailbox? Leave me your links below, and I'll check it out!
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Book N Bloggers Swap Wrap Up



How it works:
You purchase 3 books for your partner.  One book you love, one book you haven't read but think they'll like, and one book from their wishlist which will be provided to you.  Then you ship them off, and your partner does the same for you!
So I sent off my box to Angie@My So Called Chaos




Book on her wishlist: A Touch of Dead
Book I have read : Secrets of Tudor Court
Book I haven't read: Four Sisters, All Queens
I also sent some swag and a journal!


I received my package from Beth @ Living a Goddess Life!
She picked some great goodies for me!



I received A Feast for Crows (my wishlist), Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (book she read), and The Twitter Diaries (Book she hasn't read)!  She also sent some handmade bookmarks!

This swap was so fun, I can't wait until the next one!  Make sure you keep an eye on Chaotic Goddess Swaps for the next one!



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January Wrap Up + Challenges Updates



So I managed to get a lot of reading accomplished last month!  I still have some reviews to write, but I did much better this month than I have in the past!  I read a total of 40 books.  Click Here to see my Best of the Bunch post for January!

Stats
Books Read: 40
Books read for review: 10
Adult books read: 4
YA books read: 36
Total posts: 63
Reviews: 30
Blog Tour posts: 3


Challenges Updates

 New & Sparkly Reads Challenge

Books read:
1. Shadowhunters and Downworlds by Cassandra Clare
2. The Essence by Kimberly Derting
3. Hysteria by Megan Miranda
4. Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter
5. Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison
6. Gates of Paradise by Melissa De La Cruz
7. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
8. Hooked by Liz Fichera
9. Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa



This month's theme was Vampires!






1. RED-- Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier



 1. Dystopian-- Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
2.  Romance-- A Look of Love by Bella Andre
3.  Sci-Fi--Tempest by Julie Cross
4. Paranormal--Vanquished by Nancy Holder & Debbie Vigue
5. Contemporary-- Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
6. Short Stories-- Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa



1. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
2. Tempest by Julie Cross
3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
4. Vanquished by Nancy Holder and Debbie Vigue
5. Ruby Red by Kristen Gier
6. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
7. Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey
8. A Million Suns by Beth Revis
9. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons



1. Hysteria by Megan Miranda
2. Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter
3. Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison



1. Across the Universe series
2. Crusade Series
3. Blue Bloods Series



I didn't get anything read for Tea and a Good Book Challenge, Pre-1960s Childrens Book Challenge, or Fairy Tales Retold Challenge.  Hopefully I get to those challenges next month!
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Best of the Bunch January 2013



Best of the Bunch is hosted by Always Lost in Stories.  Best of the Bunch is a monthly wrap-up and award ceremony hosted here on the last day of each month, where we can look back over the books we have read and give a Best of the Bunch award to our favorite book of that month.

It is also a blog hop for bloggers to showcase their pick of "Best of the Bunch". I always put up my post on the last day of the month, but remember, you can add your link anytime in the following month- please join in, I love hearing about which books you thought were the most amazing!

For more info and to grab the button and stickers visit the BOTB page here, then all you need to do is write up your post showing us your Best of the Bunch and add your linky to the list below. Don't forget to check out the other blogs to find out which books other bloggers have awarded the best.

 I outdid myself this month!  It was really hard to pick a Best of the Bunch, so I had a tie!

 What I read this month

 Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi--4.5 stars--My Review
A Look of Love by Bella Andre--3.5 stars--My Review
From This Moment On by Bella Andre--4 stars--My Review
Tempest by Julie Cross--5 stars--My Review
Today & Tomorrow by Julie Cross--5 stars
Across the Universe by Beth Revis--5 stars--My Review
Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi--4 stars
Can't Help Falling In Love by Bella Andre--4 stars--My Review
Vanquished by Nancy Holder--5 stars--My Review
Shadowhunters and Downworlders by Cassandra Clare--4 stars--My Review
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier--4 stars--My Review
The Essence by Kimberly Derting--5 stars--My Review
If You Were Mine by Bella Andre--4 stars
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead--5 stars--My Review
Hysteria by Megan Miranda--3 stars--My Review
Ruled by Caragh M O'Brien--4 stars
Me, Him, Them and It by Caela Carter--4.5 stars--My Review
Promised by Caragh M O'Brien--4 stars--My Review
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs--4 stars--My Review
Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs--4 stars--My Review
Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison--5 stars--My Review
Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey--3 stars
What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang--4.5 stars--My Review
Clarity by Kim Harrington--3 stars
Gates of Paradise by Melissa De La Cruz--4 stars--My Review
Ten by Gretchen McNeil--4 stars--My Review
If I Stay by Gayle Forman--5 stars--My Review
A Millions Suns by Beth Revis--5 stars--My Review
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis--5 stars--My Review
Breathe by Sarah Crossan--4 stars
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry--5 stars--My Review
The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater--4 stars--My Review
The Diviners by Libby Bray--4.5 stars
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons--4 stars--My Review
Crown of Embers by Rae Carson--5 stars
The Shadow Cats by Rae Carson--4 stars
Glitches by Marissa Meyer--4 stars
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor--5 stars--My Review
Hooked by Liz Fichera--4 stars--My Review
Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa--4 stars--My Review

AND THE WINNERS ARE.....

Goodreads

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceshipGodspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.

But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.


Goodreads

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.
RUNNER UP WINNERS!
Goodreads

 They say first love never dies...

From critically acclaimed author Kate Ellison comes a heartbreaking mystery of mental illness, unspoken love, and murder. When sixteen-year-old artist Olivia Tithe is visited by the ghost of her first love, Lucas Stern, it’s only through scattered images and notes left behind that she can unravel the mystery of his death. 

There’s a catch: Olivia has gone colorblind, and there’s a good chance she’s losing her mind completely—just like her mother did. How else to explain seeing (and falling in love all over again with) someone who isn’t really there?

With the murder trial looming just nine days away, Olivia must follow her heart to the truth, no matter how painful. It’s the only way she can save herself.

Goodreads

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Goodreads

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
Which book won your bananas?
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Friday, February 1, 2013

Fire Country by David Estes Book Blitz + Giveaway!







Fire Country


In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely. 
Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.
Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with. 
As the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.

Title: Fire Country (Country Saga #1)
Author: David Estes
Publisher: ShareAread
Release Date: February 1st, 2013
Formats:  E-book
Goodreads TBR: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16160701-fire-country
Cover Artist: Regina Wamba


On February 1st, the ebook is on sale for only $2.99!




Early praise for the author

“David created a world I was excited to learn about and characters I cared about. I'll remember this story for a very long time!”
Alexandria Nicole ~Goodreads

“Estes delivers a winner with confident writing that truly draws you into the story. “
Think ~ Goodreads

“The author, David Estes, has forged his name into writers to be watched and read.”
Marni ~Goodreads

“David is such a fantastic author and he really knows how to pull at the heartstrings.”
Kay ~K-Books



About the Author

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife. A reader all his life, he began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010. He´s a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table

You can follow David at:


The author is giving away a signed copy of Fire Country!
Thank you, David!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
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