Stacking the Shelves # 64

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is a way to share with everyone all the goodies you've received through out the week. 

Just click the covers to be taken to their goodreads pages. 

For Review

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I loved the last book I read by Patty Blount, so I'm super looking forward to this one. Damage Done and Truest look great too. :)

This week has been chilly. We even had some snow. 

Screw you Spring! 

I blame our whacky weather for Aubrey getting sick. 

She's a trooper. Poor little thing. At least she's sick this week, and not next week when we are chilling with Mickey.


Hope you all have a great week!

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Labels: stacking the shelves

The Weekend Update - 4.25.15

So, since my end-of-the-week post isn't just about what I got in my mailbox or on my Kindle each week -- though that is a big part of it, I won't lie -- I decided to change up the title and intro a bit.  I might tweak the format a bit over the next few weeks, but for the most part, it'll contain the same stuff: stuff I got, stuff I did, and stuff that's coming up on the blog.  Plus, I get to use the awesome GIF you see here and blow kisses to all the people who sent me lovely books and bookish things.  Oh, and I've started linking up to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews since I'm not using a specific meme title anymore.  April's also doing her own Stacking the Shelves posts on Sundays.  Stop by and say hi!  =)

Man, I cannot believe it's going to be 90 here today! I mean, I can because it's Texas and spring only lasts two weeks here, but damn. Where did my perfect outdoor reading weather go? On the other hand, I am sooo ready for school to be out so that we can get a break from our routine. o_O

Anyway, here's what I scored this week:

For Review:



Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout - This was my WoW pick back in January. It sounds adorable and just what I'm in the mood for. :)

Gifted/Traded:



The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson - ARC from Ashley at The Quiet Concert via trade...so happy to be completing my collection of one of my favorite series!

Library:

Nothing this week! But that's only because none of my holds have come through yet. :D

Purchased:



Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby - I had an ARC (or two) but I never found the time or the mood for this. And when I finally did, I just wanted to listen to it, so I got it when it was 50% off in that last Audible sale. I'll be reviewing it soon.

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine - Loved this when I read it as an ARC last year, but I wanted to refresh my memory before I dive into the sequel. No better way to do that than with the audio, which I also grabbed in that Audible sale. =)

Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier - Another one where I had an ARC, but I loved her other series on audio so much that I decided to wait for this one on audio.

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta - I'm finally going to do this. I have the HC, but again, no time for it, so I finally bought the audio. I've always wanted to read this series...Jellicoe Road is one of my favorite contemps so I know I'll love this, too.


So, that's my haul. :) How about you? What did you get this week?

The Week in Review:

Reviews:

• An Ember in the Ashes - Jen
• Rook - Jen
• Where She Went - April (audio)

Current Giveaways:






Promotional/Discussion Posts:  

• Our #TopTen favoritest authors EVAR...or, well, as close to ten as we could get, lol
• Rook Blog Tour - my 5 ★ review + a giveaway!
• #WoW - this week, we're waiting on Nothing Left to Burn & Dreamstrider
• Gardening Fun 2015 - #1 - April's green thumb is already at work this spring!
• Have You Seen This...??? In which I plea for books to add to my collection. :P

Jen's Currently Reading/Listening To:

This story is kind of sad and beautiful and poignant and not at all what I had imagined and yet so much more than what I was hoping for. I'm not emotionally connected to the characters yet, but somehow I'm still very much enjoying it.

Just starting this one but so far so good. :)

Upcoming Reviews:

Like honest reviews & giveaways?  Be sure to follow us on Bloglovin' so you never miss out!

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Labels: in my mailbox (imm), stacking the shelves, the weekend update

Have You Seen This...?

So, I've seen this feature around a bit, and I've been wanting to post one myself because there are several series/authors I collect and for which I'm missing certain books. I just hadn't found the time to do it yet...until today. :) Big shout-out to Andi at Andi's ABCs and Brittany at The Book Addict's Guide for putting together such an awesome feature and helping the rest of us realize our dream of book hoarding collecting, lol.

Now, I know which books I covet the most, so that wasn't what took me so long to get this post together. I thought that instead of just letting you know which gems I was looking for, I'd show what I had available, too, in case any of you were looking for them. Thought it might make the trading process a bit easier. Anyway, it's a big ole mix of PBs, HCs, and ARCs, but I've made it easy to sort through by putting all the data into a Google spreadsheet. I also have most of them shown below for your viewing pleasure:

Okay, so now you've seen what I have up for trade. Here's what I'm looking for:

ARC of The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson (traded w/ Ashley at The Quiet Concert)

ARC of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (trade pending)

See, it's taken me so long to get this post together that I've already completed a trade! :P

ARC of Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

ARC of Cinder by Marissa Meyer

ARC of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

ARC of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

ARC of Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

And the pièce de résistance, my Maggie Stiefvater collection, of which at least 80% is signed:

ARC of Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (trade pending)

UK edition of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

UK edition of Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

UK edition of Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

UK edition of The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

ARCs of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series would also be loved

Obviously, I'm missing some finished copies, but those are so much easier to procure than ARCs. However, I do still need them, so if you have them and are willing to trade, I'm open to those, as well, but probably only for other finished copies on my list. Every situation is different, though, so don't hesitate to contact me.

Also, foreign copies. I love foreign copies, but I rarely run across them. And most people want to hold onto the copies they have, but I just thought I'd put that out there. =)

If you see something I want that you'd like to offer up for trade, feel free to email me. If I have something you want on my books for trade list, email me. And if you have something that you think would go swimmingly with my collection even though I don't have it on my wishlist, again, feel free to email me. This is only my first go at this...I need want to complete several other series, but I didn't want to inundate you with all of them this first time. :) I think I'll keep shipping within the US and Canada for now, but as the search gets harder, I may expand that to international.

Thanks for checking out my wishlist and let me know if I can help with your own collection!

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Labels: book collecting, book purging, bookish wishlist, grabby hands, have you seen this

Gardening Fun 2015 #1

Spring is here!! Well, for the most part. There aren't any pretty flowers like this up at my house on the mountain yet, but at least I get to see them at work. :) 

The most exciting thing about Spring for my husband and I, is getting the garden started. 

It doesn't look like much yet, but we are getting there. At least our yard is finally free of snow. 

Onion and Shallot bulbs went in last week with the garlic

And we have some sprouts!! :) 

This year we also decided to try out a Mason Bee house. Mason Bees are little tiny bees that don't sting, but are great for pollinating the garden. 

So cute!! they live in the holes and fill them with mud. 

That's about it for this garden post. Not a whole lot happening yet. Can only plant the cold weather plants right now. 

Are any of you getting your gardens ready yet? 

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Labels: gardening

{Audiobook} Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Narrator:  Dan Bittner
Series: If I Stay, book #2
Length:  5 hrs 21 mins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

Back in 2013, I decided to finally read If I Stay. I really liked it, there were some slow parts. Now years later, I finally got around to reading Where She Went. I saw that my library had the audio available recently and no one had checked it out. so I grabbed it. 

It's short, which was great for me, because I only get the chance to listen to audio when I'm driving. I try at work, but the constant interruptions get old. I was able to get through this one pretty quickly due to the length. 

I have to say, I loved Where She Went even more than If I Stay. It was great hearing it from Adam's POV. The Narrator was absolutely perfect. NO, really he was. He brought Adams character to life. 

There was so much to love about this book. My favorite part was just finding out what all goes down after Mia wakes up. You are given minimal info at the end of If I Stay. So getting the scoop was like closure you could say. 

One thing I do not recommend is listening to the audio while you drive.

That gif says it all. I pulled into my driveway as I was finishing the book and tears were running down my face. Not necessarily sad tears. Some happy, some just sad for all Mia lost... Basically, its' a short book but it really packs a punch. It's very emotional and I loved every second of it. 

If you are like me, and read If I Stay, but haven't given this one a try yet, you totally should! 

About the author:

I suppose the short version of this bio could simply read: My name is Gayle Forman and I love to write young-adult novels. Because I do. So thank you for reading them. Because without you, it’d just be me. And the voices in my head.

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications as Jane, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine, to name just a few. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Find Gayle:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: audiobooks, emotional, gayle forman, if i stay, penguin audio, reviews, tears in the car, where she went