Sunday Post #56 and Stacking the Shelves 5/8/16

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme. So this will be encompassing the last two weeks, because last weekend I did my April wrap-up post instead.  

Last 2 weeks on the blog:

• Reviews:  The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh, Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey, The Shadow Queen by CJ Redwine,  Traitor Angels by Anne Blankman (Giveaway),  and His Kind of Trouble (Beauty and the Brit #1) by Terri L. Austin
• Audiobook Reviews:  Confess by Colleen Hoover,  and Jet (Marked Men #2) by Jay Crownover
• Promo posts:  Release Day Blitz - The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh,  Armada by Ernest Cline Paperback Release, and Blog Tour - The Selection Series by Kiera Cass - Top 8 Book Boyfriends I Think Eadlyn Would Give a Rose To
• Waiting on Wednesday:  A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir, and United (Alienated #3) by Melissa Landers 
• Cover Characteristic:  Circus, and  Ferris Wheels
•  It's New to Me First Check-In and Giveaway
•  April End of the Month Post

 As you can see, it was a busy couple of weeks!  And I'm still at the point where I am way behind on reviews.  Only two more weeks of school, and then I hope to get caught up!  I also decided this past week that I was going to need kind of a "me" vacation, away from family, my house, work, and even my dogs.  So I have a friend with a cabin in Fort Collins, Colorado, and she is going to let me borrow it at the end of June.  I'm looking forward to getting away, and I'm kind of planning to use it as a writing retreat as well.  I have my writing partner from the past two years who might go with me. But I'm excited just to get away and have some peace and quiet and no stress!  My exercising goal of twice a week has been okay, although I only got one day last week, so I have to try to get 3 this week.  I know I'm going on Sunday for sure, and then I'm hoping on Wednesday and Friday.  I've only got a couple more weeks to do this to reach my next goal.  And then my reward is either going to be the new Alta Fitbit, or maybe a pair of Tom's.  I also did my first check in post for my first year long hosted challenged, It's New to Me.  Also, I had a lot of fun with my blog tour post for The Selection Series, you should totally click on the link above and read about my very own book boyfriend rose ceremony, just like in the Bachelorette tv show.

Coming up this week on the blog:

• Reviews:  Dream On by Kerstin Gier, The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude, The Mirror and the Maze and The Crown and the Arrow by Renee Ahdieh
• Waiting on Wednesday
• Discussion Post:  Is it important to specify age level for the books you review on your blog?
• Promo Post:  Recoil by Joanne MacGregor
• Comment Challenge Sign Up Post
• Cover Characteristic:  Maps

Another busy, busy week!  One nice thing is that during the last weeks of school we have IB (International Baccalaureate) testing in the library, and so about all I can do is things that I'm sitting at my desk for the most part, so that gives me some time to do some blogging while I'm doing other things at my desk.  I mentioned my plans for walking this week as well.  I've got a couple books to get read because I have some tours that I have to have my reviews for the week after this one. 

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  Again I'm sharing two weeks worth of books.  And I got a ton!  The first week lots of physical books, and then I've been kind of bad about downloading free ebooks again.  Oops.

Physical books:

So two weeks ago I got some great books!  The top one is from my OTSP Secret Sister.  She's helping me collect the whole series!  The next four are all books that I kind of traded for through a group on Facebook, really I just paid for shipping on them.  Revenge and the Wild is one that I won through a Rock Star Book Tours Giveaway.  The book on the very bottom is one that I purchased at work, found it on one of our bargain tables, and it sounds like a read right up the same alley of what I've been reading a lot of lately.

This past week I didn't get as many, but I did get four, three of which I was very excited for!  On the bottom is an ARC that was sitting on the table at the bookstore where I work.  No one picked it up this week, so since it was a YA, I went ahead and grabbed it.  The middle two are ARCs that I received for being on tours that are coming up.  What's weird is that I had also just won a contest from the author Eleanor Herman at the beginning of the week for Empire of Dust and so I thought that was where it came from, but when I posted on Twitter about it, she said she hadn't sent it yet!  So I told her that she should probably save the copy I'd won and have another giveaway.  It was one that I couldn't wait to read, and needed it to match my ARC of the first one.  I'm just a little disappointed that the cover is plain white. The top book, Traitor Angels, I got for being part of a tour through Irish Banana Book Tours.  And it is a book that I loved!  You can see the link to my review up above.

Netgalley:

The first one I had been waiting to get approved for, so when I did, I was very happy! The second one is a sampler, I don't usually like those, but I thought I'd try it. And since the Netgalley books that I download the Kindle file of don't seem to expire, I can read it at my leisure if I so choose. And the final one I saw on Edelweiss, but I went ahead and downloaded it from Netgalley for the Kindle reason.

Edelweiss:

 I haven't downloaded all of them yet, because most of them expire after 60 days, so I'll have to wait till closer to their publishing dates.  I also found Freeks by Amanda Hocking, but since there isn't a cover for it yet, I didn't put it above.  

Free or Cheap E-books:

 Okay, as you can see, I went WAY overboard this past week with free ebooks.  Other than the last one, they were all free, and the last one, Not Young, Still Restless, was only $0.99.  You can also tell that I have a certain kind of book on the brain right now.  Again, other than the last two, they are all romance, and mostly steamy romance.  The first book, Back to You, I've already read.  It was a quick, fun read, and I will be reviewing it soon.  I think because of what a quick, good read it was is why I ended up going and searching for a bunch of free romance books.  I'd say shame on me for downloading so many, but it will be nice to have what I know will be quick reads on my phone's Nook or Kindle apps when I need something to read.

So, that is my huge "pile" of books that I added the past two weeks.  What books have you added to your shelves?  How does your upcoming week look?