In My Mailbox April 21st, 2013

I will participate in In My Mailbox this week since it may be the last one for awhile that The Story Siren is hosting due to her probably having her baby soon!  I got to meet Kristi at BEA 2012 last year very briefly, and so wish her happiness with this new part in her life!  Anyway, my post probably matched the title "Stacking the Shelves" better this week, because these books didn't technically come in my mailbox.  My sister brought them back from NYC with her last weekend for me to borrow.  She had run out of things to read, and now with us living so far apart, she can't count on just coming over to my house to raid my shelves.  So a couple times I'd get a call from her while she was shopping in Barnes and Noble for some ideas of books.  I'm happy to say that she was pretty  happy with my suggestions, and that a couple of them were books I've been wanting to read, so now I get to reap the benefits and borrow her books for a change! She's also decided she needs to start shopping more at The Strand, so she can get some good deals on books, not always have to pay full price.  Anyway, I only have 3 books to share this week, so let's get on with it.

First is Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham.  I've wanted to read this for awhile since my friend Charlotte at Charlotte's Web of Books told me how funny it was.  My sister bought it based on me telling her this, and she said it was a quick but good read.

And the other book she brought for me is one I've also heard good things about, plus it is going to be coming out as a movie later this year, Austenland by Shannon Hale.  

I also found a free pdf download of As They Slip Away, an Across the Universe novella by Beth Revis.  So that was exciting!  

Only 3 books, but as I'm still way behind, and will be behind on my TBR pile forever, it's not like I'm hurting for books.  I've requested a few from Netgalley that I'm still waiting to hear back on.  And then there are some that I'm downloading and having issues getting them to show up on my Nook.  I can read them on my laptop, but I don't want to, I want them on my Nook.

In My Mailbox for January, February, and March 2013

This is something sponsored by The Story Siren.  While it is a weekly event, I wouldn't say that I get books quite that often, at least not anymore.  For awhile I was probably buying books weekly, but since I've cut back on my expenses lately, that is not the same.  Plus it feels silly to talk about books I purchased myself for this, as In My Mailbox seems as if it's about books that I received from someone else.  So far this year though, I've won a couple giveaways, and have received some ARCs in the mail that I want to share.  One of the giveaways was actually won last November, and I didn't find out about it until I was cleaning out my Facebook "extra" mail about a month or so ago.  Fortunately the blog responsible for the giveaway was nice enough to still have me as the winner and hadn't picked another winner since I didn't respond right away.

So, I'll list that awesome blogger first, Ruth at My Devotional Thoughts gave me the chance to win any book of my choice, and so I chose Rise by Andrea Cremer.

My 2nd book was an e-boook from Angeline at Berds Fly.  I chose Everbound by Brodi Ashton.  I figured since I read the first in the series as an e-galley and didn't have an actual copy of the first book, and e-book was the way to go!

The next two books I won from a blog I've been following for a long time, Jen at The Starry-Eyed Review.  They were both ARCs, one was a book I really wanted, the other may end up as a giveaway since I haven't read the first one in the series yet.  The first one was 172 Hours on the Moon by John Harstad (the one I was looking forward to) and Invisible Sun (Black Hole Sun #2) by David Macinnis Gill (the one that will probably be available as a giveaway later!)

The last two books I got from the publishers.  I signed up to win them through ads in the Shelf Awareness Newsletter.

Unnatural Creatures (Stories selected by Neil Gaiman) from HarperTeen, and The World's Strongest Librarian:  A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne from Gotham.

I plan to try to do this meme once a month or at least once every three months like this, it could be a quarterly event on my blog maybe.  Although I know in May I'll be going to the Scholastic Warehouse sale and probably end up with a ton of books again.  And while I didn't share in December, I should try to next time I guess.
How about you?  Have you received anything in your mailbox lately?

In My Mailbox - August 2012

I haven't participated in too many of these, because I forget about them, and then I forget what books I got when, etc.  But, once again in honor of my 3rd Blogoversary celebration, I'm going to participate, but do it as a whole August compilation.  Now, I know, there's been a lot of controversy recently regarding The Story Siren who hosts this, but as she is one of the bloggers that I feel really got me more involved with the whole book blogger community thanks to her Debut Author Challenge, and I feel like she's said she was sorry, and it's time to move on, AND she was really nice to me when I went up to say hi at BEA, I'm going to continue to participate in this meme when I remember, and also follow her.  I hope that doesn't offend any of my followers, but I'm kind of a live and learn, and let live person.

I know a lot of people are doing vlogs for this post, but I'm not a fan of seeing myself on camera, or listening to my voice, so I'm just going to do a normal blog post.  First, a picture of all the books, other than e-books from this month.

• The first book in the picture, The Mapmaker's Sons, is one I'm very excited to talk about, and will be reviewing this upcoming week, so stay tuned for that post.
• The 2nd book in the picture is The Slayer Chronicles: Second Chance by Heather Brewer.  She had a contest/post on her Facebook asking reviewers to email and request the book.  I did that, but figured I was not in the first 19 or whatever number she asked for, and I also emailed and asked if she might do a guest post for my blogoversary.  Now, this was actually back at the end of July, beginning of August, and then the other day I got an email back from her saying she'd try to get a post done for me, and was sending me an ARC, and it came this past week and I was soooo excited!
• The 3rd book is another exciting story involving the author, Flesh & Bone by Jonathan Maberry.  He also made a post on Facebook, his was asking for ideas to help name his next short e-novella.  So one of my first suggestions was Tooth & Nail, which he liked, so I won, meaning he's going to name it that, PLUS I got an ARC of Flesh & Bone.  
• The 4th book is called The Coffin Quilt and it is by Ann Rinaldi.  This is one I bought.  I really enjoyed the History Channel's The Hatfields and McCoys, and so began looking for books to read more.  While this is fiction, and is a kids' level book, it seemed like a good one to get, by a good author, and one I could put in my classroom library when I was finished with it.
• The 5th book is one I won!!  I got Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross from Nori's Closet's Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway.  It's one I have seen on the shelf at the bookstore where I work, and I've picked it up and read the back of it a lot, but haven't ever bought it, so was glad to win!!
• The 6th book is another purchase.  I didn't want to read Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter  by Seth Grahame-Smith until after I'd seen the movie.  I just thought it might be better that way, so I wouldn't be disappointed if it strayed too far from the book.  And I loved the movie, so when I saw we had the book on our bargain table for $5.98, plus my 30% employee discount, I couldn't pass it up.
• And the final book is another ARC  I got in the mail.  Another of my favorite series is by Jasper FForde, and this book comes out in October, The Woman Who Died A Lot, part of the Thursday Next series.  Now, I'm actually a book behind, haven't read the one before, One of Our Thursdays is Missing.  But I made sure to order it and intend to read it in September as part of the Sequel Challenge I'm going to hold, so also, watch for my post on that this upcoming week, and join in!

Now, I've also got some e-galleys from Netgalley, and one e-galley I got as a free deal.  The free deal was Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey.  From Netgalley I've also got on my Nook right now Archived by Victoria Schwab, which I'm guessing a lot of other people got too, and also The Future We Left Behind by Mike A. Lancaster.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?  And don't forget while you're here to go enter my Giveaways:

• 3rd Blogoversary Celebration Barnes & Noble gift card.
• Copy of Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
• Copy of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  I'm very excited to do this meme this week as I won some books from Lea at LC's Adventures in Library Land in the Hunger Games Movie Premiere Giveaway.  I hardly ever win contests, but this was the 2nd one I've won, the first one of 2012 I think though!  I won the books below:

While I already have The Hunger Games in hardcover, I can now share the paperback movie tie-in cover copy with people who want to read it, so I don't have to worry about losing my hardcover copy.  But I love having the tribute guide from the movies, and I love the movie companion book, and I do have to say that after seeing the movie a 2nd time, I'm much more happy with the movie.  I think I was very tired at the midnight premiere and may have actually slept through some parts.  I have all the movie companion books for the Twilight movies, well, I haven't bought the Breaking Dawn one yet, but otherwise I do.  Such an exciting week!  It has made me redouble my efforts to win contests through blogs.  Especially some of the great ones going on right now, especially the ones for an Insurgent ARC.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

In My Mailbox (2)

Okay, second time I'm doing this meme.  In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren.  This is a way to share the books you got during the week.  This week the only books I actually got were 2 that I bought.  I'm trying really hard to limit how many books I actually buy since I have such a huge TBR pile sitting taking up one whole bookshelf in my office.  So, I got paid from my teaching job, my once a month paycheck, this past week.  So I decided to let myself spend about $15 at my bookstore where I work part time, and with my discount that was two books.  One of them I've been talking about a lot lately, I got to read one part of it for free in a stripped cover book from the store where I work, and wanted this compilation volume since I saw it:

The 2nd book is one in an adult mystery series that I really like.  Unfortunately I've had to stop buying them in hardcover and buy them in paperback, so I had to wait on that, and now, well, I intend to read it as soon as I'm done with my current book, because I feel like I haven't read anything but YA!  (Not that there's anything wrong with that, just feel I should pull out some adult books once in a while too.)

What did you get in your "mailbox" this week?

Dark Eden 2: Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman

I was lucky enough to get an advanced readers copy of this when Kristi at the Story Siren was cleaning out some of her shelves.  I was excited to get this as I hadn't read the first Dark Eden yet, and so I figured I could read them right in a row.  I did really like the first one.  And it ended in a way that could have been done, but also left with hanging questions, and a way to come back, and the story came back in the sequel perfectly.  At the end of the Dark Eden our seven who have been cured, all of them have been left with a side effect, which Will Besting knows why, but he has not let all the others in on the secret.  Well, one other does know, Avery, and that is because she is now with Rainsford.  Mrs. Goring has called the other 6 back to Fort Eden.  She says she has a cure for the side effects they have, as well as a way of stopping Rainsford.  Only, of course, she is still a part of his family, and does have her own evil reasons for doing all of this.  And so she traps them in what used to be a nuclear missile research underground lab and silo.  And forces them to figure out how to get to where the vials from their cure have been stored without dying.  It is a dangerous place to be, live radiation, huge holes that lead into polluted water, etc.  And come to find out, Mrs. Goring hasn't just invited them back, she's also trapped Rainsford and Avery in a room down in the underground.  And Rainsford gets out and throws yet another danger into the mix, because he doesn't want them to get the cures, because it will destroy him if they follow through with Mrs. Goring's plan.  Mrs. Goring has learned well and even improved her husband's devious cures, and now we have a new player in the game, Amy.  Who is once again, not who she seems.  I'm sure there could be a sequel to this, even though it seems to have ended with Will returning the final Goring 7 cures to their owners.
This has all the immediate links as you read through it, like inks to watch the cures that we read about in book 1 to start with.  I haven't gone to look at them yet, but I'm sure they will be really cure.
My only issue was that this ARC was missing pages 199-214.  And from the difference in where the story was on page 198 to what was happening on page 215, I know I missed some major action.  This will be one where I do have to buy the actuall book for sure so I can see what really happened!  It didn't totally ruin the whole story, I was still able to keep up with what happened, I just would like to know what events led up to the point where I joined back to the story. 
And again, this is a great series to get kids reading, with the interactive links and apps, it will pull in the kids who are reluctant readers, just like Patrick Carman's other books have.

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

Now I have been waiting to read this one for what seems like forever.  Since I got to meet Patrick Carman last fall, and then the book didn't come out till November, then I didn't have the money at the time to buy it.  So it actually is part of my TBR challenge since I've been waiting so long. 
I really did like this book.  The main character is Will Besting.  He has been seeing a psychiatrist for a while, and she now thinks that there is only one way to fix his problem.  Now, Will is a bit sneaky.  His main issue is being around other people.  When his psychiatrist leaves the office, he goes through the files on her computer.  And the day she tells him about this "cure" and that he'll be there with 6 other people, he searches and finds the files for the other 6 people.  So he copies them to a recorder and takes them home and listens to them.  So by the time he goes to Fort Eden with these 6 other people, he knows all about their problems.  But, due to his problem, he chooses not to go with them, and finds a bunker to hide in on the premises.  From there he finds a room with monitors where he can see all his fellow patients, even see how they are cured.  He makes friends with one of the girls in the group, and even sneaks out to meet her.  But with his issues he is paranoid, and while he is seeing things the others aren't, he doesn't know what is something to worry about and what isn't. 
I saw what was going to happen when it came time for Will's cure, not in a bad way, just had a feeling that was going to happen.  And you wonder all throughout why the cures are so easy, but leave them each with different side effects.  But when you find out exactly what is happening, it's a good twist, and I like that it was left open for a sequel.  Which I am actually reading right now, thanks to an ARC I got from The Story Siren when she was clearing out some of her shelves.  I love when I get to read series books one right after the other. I often wish I would get into series after they were over so I didn't have to wait a year, or longer, in between each book.
What I also love about Dark Eden, and many of Patrick Carman's books, is the interactiveness, such as the app and website for this book.  The first segment of the app is free, you can find it under the keyword Dark Eden.  And the website where you can go is Enterdarkeden.com.  I learned when I met the author that he has a recording studio in his house and so is able to do all these cool things, which if you've read the Skeleton Creek series, you've seen some really creepy videos.  I brought these books in for our special education teacher to share with her kids who weren't big readers, and they love them! I think this is such a great way to get non readers hooked!

In My Mailbox (1)

So, I've seen so many blogs that I follow do this, and I've never taken part.  Well, I actually got a book in my mailbox this week, and decided to participate.  I notice that it doesn't have to be something you actually received in the mail, it could be something you purchased or check out at the library, and I'm going to hope/assume that egalleys work as well?  Because I'm going to list the ones I got this week.  Like Kristi at The Story Siren, who hosts this says, I don't always get around to reviewing all the books I get, so this is a way to share some that maybe others will be interested in.  So here goes.  This week, I'll just share the photos of the covers if possible.  So let's start with the book I actually got in the mailbox: 

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

The Weepers:  The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker (egalley)

Swipe by Evan Angler (egalley)

The Raft by S.A. Bodeen (egalley)

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne (egalley)

Now to go link up my very first In My Mailbox blog post at The Story Siren!



Follow Friday #13

It is time for this week's Feature and Follow Friday, hosted by Parajunkee, and Allison Can Read. This is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers.
This week's question is:

It's Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., so we want to know what you are thankful for - blogging related, of course! Who has helped you out along the way? What books are you thankful for reading?

First I am thankful for all the years I have been employed by the Barnes and Noble book company. It is through them that I got my first ARCs. I also met my friend Charlotte, who has her own blog: Charlotte's Web of Books and kind of inspired me to start blogging about books. Along my journey, I've learned lots about book blogging from people like The Story Siren, and even Parajunkee. Even non-book bloggers have helped, like another of my friends from the bookstore, Greg at The Confounded Cook, inspired me with his consistency and dedication to his blog. So many authors that I've met and talked to online through Twitter keep me going too. I also am a big fan of Netgalley.com, another site I learned about from my friend Charlotte, that helps me get to read egalleys of books. And finally, I have to once again thank my bookstore job, as they allowed me to have a table in the store this past summer and fall that had my book recommendations as well as a sign advertising my blog. So that was really cool! And I want to thank Parajunkee for letting me be a featured blogger, and helping me to increase my blog following. I'm thankful for all the great bloggers I meet who share new book titles that I may not have heard of before.

So, what are you thankful for in your book blogging world?

2011 Debut Author Challenge 3: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I actually didn't pick this book to read as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge sponsored by Kristi over at The Story Siren. I had chosed to read So Shelly by Ty Roth. However, that book just didn't catch me. Sure, I only got to page 20, but I've decided there are so many books out there that I want to read, unless it is something I've heard that is great and I need to give it a chance, I am going to quit and read something else. I've actually heard many people talking about this book, and have seen it at the bookstore. So I chose to read it because it looked and sounded good. It was only after I finished it and went to the author's website that I realized it was a book that would fit this challenge, and then I checked Kristi's website and it was on the list, so I'm doing that for my next book.

And, on to the actual review. Our main character, or the first of our 2 main characters that we meet is Amy. Amy is going to be cryogenically frozen with her parents to travel on the first manned spacecraft to the first Earthlike planet. Her mom is a scientist, her dad is military. The first part of the book is intense. We get to read as Amy watches her parents get frozen. And it is INTENSE! Then we get to be in Amy's head as she gets frozen. They are going to be frozed for the 300 years it will take to get to the planet.

Now, every other chapter in this book is either Amy, or Elder, our other main character. And normally I don't like this, it can get too confusing if it is told too similar. However in this book, the two characters are so different that it works. Yet, at first, I sped through the chapters with Elder, because I didn't quite get where it was going, I didn't understand why Elder was the way he was or why there were people on the ship like him.

Soon though, Amy gets unfrozen 50 years earlier than planned. This is bad, because they are unable to re-freeze her, which means she will be an old lady by the time they reach the planet and her parents are unfrozen. Not to mention all the weird stuff going on around the ship when Amy wakes up. There is intrigue and mystery as more people get unfrozed ahead of schedule. Elder is learning from the Eldest how he will soon have to lead the ship. And we find out how things are going on the ship, and what is really happening with the landing.

I do have to say I guessed who a certain character was pretty quick. I won't say who, I'll let you read for yourself.

This was a great read, I will highly recommend it to science fiction fans, as well as romance fans, as it is both.