Stacking the Shelves (65)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that allows us to show the books that we received the previous week.

Christy's Haul

ARC Book Review | When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
Pages: 304
My Rating:4.5 out of 5 stars

13 Reasons Why meets the poetry of Emily Dickinson in this gripping debut novel perfect for fans of Sara Zarr or Jennifer Brown.

A Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her. Emily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal. Both girls are in Ms. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. One of them will attempt suicide. And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

In an emotionally taut novel with a richly diverse cast of characters, readers will relish in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and be completely swept up in the turmoil of two girls grappling with demons beyond their control.

INKED | Samantha from I Heart YA Fiction

 

Today we have Samantha from I Heart YA Fiction joining us!  Be sure to leave her a comment and let her know what you think of her INK!

 

Name: Samantha Randolph

 

Website: I Heart YA Fiction

 

Tell us a little about yourself:

Hello! I'm Samantha. Between being an English major, a blogger, a reviewer, and an intern at a literary agency and publishing company, about 75% of my time is spend reading, which I love. :) The other 25% is made up of Netflix binging, sleeping, social media-ing (particularly pinning tattoos on my Pinterest board), more sleeping, and hanging out with my best friend and roommate (without whom I probably wouldn't have a social life at all).

10 Authors We Need to Read

Erica's Authors to Read

We all have so many books that just compile our TBR, but mostly what I have been noticing on my TBR are the authors that I have not gotten to read, yet. There are so many authors that I just haven't gotten to yet, and I know that many of you will see them and totally judge me. Anyway, I know I need to get around to reading a lot of these - a lot of them are highly recommended by Christy (cause she's the best). 

Trivia Tuesday (9)

I hope you guys are ready for another fantastic round of Trivia Tuesday

Reminder:

We are going to do a giveaway connected with this feature!! This is how it's going to work. Please be sure to read all of the below rules!

• The first person to guess ALL 3 answers correctly will be entered to win a surprise book off of their wishlist
• Their will be 2 giveaways a year, one at the end of June and one at the end of December
• This will be INT (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)
• Everyone is welcome to play each week, no matter if you've won the week before.  However, since this is the case, the winner will no longer be able to generate a question for the next week, but they will receive a shout out on Social Media
• The entries are simple, the first person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing TWICE.  The 2nd person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing ONCE.  This will happen each week.
• At the end of June and then again at the end of December, Erica and I will add up all the entries and draw randomly.  The winner will then need to provide us a link to their wishlist (on Goodreads, Amazon, etc) along with their address and we will surprise them with one book from their list.
• If you have any questions please let us know!

Last Week's Winners Were:

Karen @ Kissin Blue Karen will get 2 entries into the wishlist giveaway!

Lara @ The Paperback Palace will get 1 entry in the wishlist giveaway!

Here are the answers to last week's questions!

Question One (First Line): Our lives are made up of choices.  Big ones, small ones, strung together by the thin air of good intentions; a line of dominos, ready to fall. [YA, Thriller] Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Question Two: (Who said it?): "Should have stayed in here and watched porn with me." [NA, Contemporary] Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover (Warren)

Question Three: (Tagline): Just Remember [YA, Thriller, Mystery] Never Never by Colleen Hoover

This Week's Questions:

Question One (Tagline): One sick love story. [YA, Romance]

Question Two (First Line): "Nadia and I scramble down the hill at the edge of school property right as the morning's final late bell rings behind us." [YA, Contemporary, Romance]

Question Three (Who am I?): I am stuck in another country, where I had lost one of my closest friends. My boyfriend and the other friends that were on the trip were free to leave and are safe and sound back at home. Not only am I stuck in another country, but I am stuck in a jail cell awaiting my trial. Who am I? [YA, Mystery]

Guess away, my lovelies :)

ARC Book Review | The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

Sunday Silliness (4) Guess Who

 

Welcome to another Sunday Silliness!  Today we're going to play a little game that I'm going to call Guess Who.

 

How it Works:

I'm going to post a the synopsis of a few books and you have to guess which book it is. These will all be books that have already been published. FYI - I'll be omitting anything in the summary that may give it away (ex. author's name, etc)

 

 Sound fun?  I think so :) I also thought it may be a good way to find some new books to read (Like we all don't have enough on our TBR pile hehe)

 

 

Stacking the Shelves (64)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that allows us to show the books that we received the previous week.

Christy's Haul:

ARC Book Review | Then Frederick Ran by Nicholas M. Bugden

Format: e-ARC
Source: Author via Goodreads
Publisher: Spider House
Publication Date: February 18, 2015
My Rating; 4 out of 5 stars

Don't quit your day job, sleep through it.

Would you give your manager complete control over your body to sleep through a day of work? Or spend a night at a sleep lab to get a video recording of your dreams? Then Frederick Ran is a collection of short stories that include a restless husband who purchases a mask that lets him be anyone for a night; a bully who clones himself for a funeral to hear what people actually think about him; DNA analysis that thinks it can weed-out the violent at birth, leading to a difficult decision for a struggling mother; and 9 other distinct stories that take place in the near future.

INKED | Author K. Larsen

 

For today's INKED post, we have author K. Larsen joining us!  Be sure to leave her a comment and let her know what you think about her ink!

 

 

Name: K. Larsen

 

Website: www.klarsenauthor.com

 

Tell us a little about yourself:  I have a weird addiction to goat cheese and chocolate martinis, not together though. I adore my dog.  He is the most awesome snuggledoo in the history of dogs. Seriously.  I hate dirty dishes.  I like sarcasm and funny people.
I should probably be running right now… because of the goat cheese….and stuff.

 

Books We're Scared of Reading Due to Ratings/Reviews

Have you ever been SO excited for a book, you preorder it, and you anxiously await its release date.  Then as that date keeps getting closer and closer, you keep seeing negative reviews, so you go check out Goodreads only to see a 3.4 rating? 

Or you see a book that looks interesting at a book store so you grab it, then when you get home, you check out reviews and see that they aren't so great, and the Goodreads ratings are even worse?

Does this change your excitement for the book? 

Trivia Tuesday (8)

Is everyone ready for another round of Trivia Tuesday?

Reminder:

We are going to do a giveaway connected with this feature!! This is how it's going to work. Please be sure to read all of the below rules!

• The first person to guess ALL 3 answers correctly will be entered to win a surprise book off of their wishlist
• Their will be 2 giveaways a year, one at the end of June and one at the end of December
• This will be INT (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)
• Everyone is welcome to play each week, no matter if you've won the week before.  However, since this is the case, the winner will no longer be able to generate a question for the next week, but they will receive a shout out on Social Media
• The entries are simple, the first person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing TWICE.  The 2nd person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing ONCE.  This will happen each week.
• At the end of June and then again at the end of December, Erica and I will add up all the entries and draw randomly.  The winner will then need to provide us a link to their wishlist (on Goodreads, Amazon, etc) along with their address and we will surprise them with one book from their list.
• If you have any questions please let us know!

Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard Excerpt

Christine Dadey’s family uprooted their lives and moved to Houston for her to attend the prestigious Rousseau Academy of Dance. Now, two years later, Christine struggles to compete among the Academy’s finest dancers, her parents are on the brink of divorce, and she’s told no one about her debilitating performance anxiety and what she’s willing to do to cope with it.

Erik was a ballet prodigy, a savant, destined to be a star on the world’s stage, but a suspicious fire left Erik’s face horribly disfigured. Now, a lonely phantom forced to keep his scars hidden, he spends his nights haunting the theater halls, mourning all he’s lost. Then, from behind the curtain he sees the lovely Christine. The moldable, malleable Christine.

Drawn in by Erik’s unwavering confidence, Christine allows herself to believe Erik’s declarations that he can transform her into the dancer she longs to be. But Christine’s hope of achieving her dreams may be her undoing when she learns Erik is not everything he claims. And before long, Erik’s shadowy past jeopardizes Christine’s unstable present as his obsession with her becomes hopelessly entangled with his plans for revenge.

 

Excerpt

ARC Book Review | Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.  

ARC Review | The End of Feeling by Cindy C. Bennett

Fomat: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Publisher: Skyscape
Publication: January 27, 2015
Pages: 304
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Benjamin Nefer seems to have it all. He’s the most popular guy in school, the star quarterback with college scouts looking at him, his grades are near the top of his class, he can get any girl he wants . . . but he hides behind his dream life to mask the nightmare of his reality.

Charlie Austin is the new girl. Forced to move in with a bitter aunt, she only wants to protect her fragile mom from the world’s cruelty. When Benjamin sets his sights on Charlie, she’s armored against his charm—friends warned her about Benjamin’s game of pursuing and then dumping a long line of girls, not caring about the broken hearts he leaves behind. She doesn’t count on how single-minded he can be when she refuses him, or how charismatic, easing into her life through what he claims is just friendship.

Benjamin thought he could keep Charlie in the same place he keeps all girls—something to be used and then discarded. But Charlie has as many secrets as he does, secrets he’s determined to discover while keeping his own hidden. He realizes she’s the perfect girlfriend candidate . . . someone he can use to keep up the façade of a perfect life. Now he just has to keep his frozen heart from softening toward this unique girl, because if he doesn’t, his carefully constructed lies might just come thundering down around him, crushing him beneath the burden of feeling.

Sunday Silliness (3) Four Pics, One Series

Christy has done Four Pics, One Series before and if you would like to check out how it works, look no further... Four Pics, One Series -- check it out.

I'll let you know how it works here real quick though. I will be posting four pictures of the series different covers. Once you figure out which series the pictures belong to post your guesses in the comments :) I hope you enjoy Four Pics, One Series.

Stacking the Shelves (63)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Erica's Haul

Purchased:

ARC Book Review | Ever Always by Diana Garden

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Publisher: Forever Yours
Publication: January 13, 2015
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Hunter Waters has loved only one woman for his entire life.

Unfortunately she's his brother's girlfriend, Ever Allen. Hunter isn't the kind of guy to betray family, but when his brother Sam has to leave town and asks Hunter to look after her, the feelings he's fought for years can no longer be buried.

Ever can't think of a time when both Waters brothers hadn't been watching her back. Sam's boldness had charmed her, but now Hunter's quiet, steady strength makes her feel safe for the first time in her crazy, messed-up life. But how can she choose between the only two people in the world to have cared about her? How can she live with loving one brother if it means breaking the other's heart?

INKED | Angie from Pinkindle

 

Please welcome our very first INKED guest, Angie from Pinkindle!

Name: Angie

Website: Pinkindle

Tell us a little about yourself: Eek! I hate talking about myself! I'm Angie, obviously, and I'm fond of books, movies, animals, nail polish, The Sims, and cheese.

10 Authors We'd Love to Meet

Authors Erica Would Like To Meet

Today I had my college class of Intro to Human Communication and was absolutely dreading going. I hate public speaking, I hate talking to new people, it just makes my stomach go into knots. Just talking about it right now is making me all jittery. So to my point, if I met one of my favorite author's I would be so nervous and would probably pass out in the midst of waiting in line. I want to meet them, no doubt, just don't know how well it would go if it came to that.

Okay, enough of the rambling that I am oh so good at, I just want to say that I am never going to pass up a chance to meet one of my favorite authors...or an any author in general.

Trivia Tuesday (7)

Trivia Tuesday, coming your way.

Reminder:

We are going to do a giveaway connected with this feature!! This is how it's going to work. Please be sure to read all of the below rules!

• The first person to guess ALL 3 answers correctly will be entered to win a surprise book off of their wishlist
• Their will be 2 giveaways a year, one at the end of June and one at the end of December
• This will be INT (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)
• Everyone is welcome to play each week, no matter if you've won the week before.  However, since this is the case, the winner will no longer be able to generate a question for the next week, but they will receive a shout out on Social Media
• The entries are simple, the first person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing TWICE.  The 2nd person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing ONCE.  This will happen each week.
• At the end of June and then again at the end of December, Erica and I will add up all the entries and draw randomly.  The winner will then need to provide us a link to their wishlist (on Goodreads, Amazon, etc) along with their address and we will surprise them with one book from their list.
• If you have any questions please let us know!

Book Review | The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: November 11, 2014
My Rating: 6 out of 5 Stars

After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.

This year, it is my turn.

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

This award is special because it is meant to connect women all over the world!  We were nominated by the lovely Tessa from Crazy for YA

Here's the rules if you are nominated:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their website.
2. Put the award logo on your blog to show that you are now part of the sisterhood.
3. Answer the ten questions from the blogger who nominated you.
4. Nominate ten bloggers.
5. Write ten questions for your nominees to answer.

Stacking the Shelves (62)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Christy's Haul:

I got a few books this week and some I'm EXTREMELY excited about!

Purchased/Won:

Book Review | Meet Me in Silicon Valley by Anita Claire

Format: e-book
Source: Author on Goodreads
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Publication Date: September 1, 2014
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Meet Juliette Cole, she’s just arrived back to Silicon Valley after three heartbreaking months following her grad school love to London. Moving in with childhood friend turned blond bombshell she gets introduced to Cassie’s crazy over the top lifestyle. Taking a job at a Silicon Valley startup she learns that work is more than just hoodies and free gourmet food. Thankfully she has The Princesses, her close group of girlfriends from college who all went as princesses to a Halloween party their freshman year.

They don’t call San Jose- Man Jose for nothing. Juliette’s heart is not lonely for long. Swimming before work she sees a guy with the most amazing six pack get out of the pool. Now she has a new quest – to meet him. While playing soccer she gets knocked out by an opposing player. The player’s hot doctor brother helps her to the sidelines then starts texting her. As things start heating up in Juliette’s personal life she now has two guys vying for her attention. Who will it be sexy swimmer Zach or hot Dr. Nate?

INKED | Christy from Novel Ink

For today's INKED post, I will be showing off my tattoos :)

Name: Christy

Website: Novel Ink

Tell us a little about yourself: I always suck at answering these types of questions, but I'll do my best.  My name is Christy and I'm 27 years old.  I'm married to my high school sweetheart, Jesse, and we have 2 beautiful kids, Landon who is 8 and Shyann who is 1 1/2.  I'm currently in Nursing School (I'm done in July!!!) so between school and the kids, I don't have a lot of free time, but when I do, you can find me with a book in my hands or on the computer blogging.

10 Books We Still Need To Read

Today, we thought it would be fun to list a few books that we really want to read but haven't yet, and to take it a step further, we are going to let you all decide which one we just HAVE to read first!

Trivia Tuesday (6) With An Announcement

Welcome to another Trivia Tuesday!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Before we get started on today's Trivia Tuesday post, Erica and I have an announcement regarding this feature. 

We are going to do a giveaway connected with this feature!! This is how it's going to work. Please be sure to read all of the below rules!

• The first person to guess ALL 3 answers correctly will be entered to win a surprise book off of their wishlist
• Their will be 2 giveaways a year, one at the end of June and one at the end of December
• This will be INT (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)
• Everyone is welcome to play each week, no matter if you've won the week before.  However, since this is the case, the winner will no longer be able to generate a question for the next week, but they will receive a shout out on Social Media
• The entries are simple, the first person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing TWICE.  The 2nd person to guess all three answers correctly will get their name in the drawing ONCE.  This will happen each week.
• At the end of June and then again at the end of December, Erica and I will add up all the entries and draw randomly.  The winner will then need to provide us a link to their wishlist (on Goodreads, Amazon, etc) along with their address and we will surprise them with one book from their list.
• If you have any questions please let us know!

ARC Book Review | Gone Too Far by Natalie Richards

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication: January 6, 2015
My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Keeping secrets ruined her life. But the truth might just kill her.

Piper Woods can't wait for the purgatory of senior year to end. She skirts the fringes of high school like a pro until the morning she finds a notebook with mutilated photographs and a list of student sins. She's sure the book is too gruesome to be true, until pretty, popular Stella dies after a sex-tape goes viral. Everyone's sure it's suicide, but Piper remembers Stella's name from the book and begins to suspect something much worse.

Drowning in secrets she doesn't want to keep, Piper's fears are confirmed when she receives an anonymous text message daring her to make things right. All she needs to do is choose a name, the name of someone who deserves to be punished...  

Sunday Silliness (2) What We Want in 2015

What We Want in 2015

Our Sunday Silliness this week will include our resolutions/goals for the year of 2015. Christy and I will be telling you guys about bookish, life, and any other miscellaneous resolutions/goals that we have. It won't stop there though because we would love to hear what you guys have planned for your year. I know this may not be the 'silliness' you guys would think of, like fun/games, but it is something from the norm of just book reviews so I thought we should give it a go...especially to celebrate the new, beautiful year we have ahead of us. 

Stacking the Shelves (61)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Book Review | No Such Thing as Perfect by Sarah Daltry

Format: e-RC

Source: Sarah Daltry's Rep. Karen via E-mail

Publisher: Smashwords Edition

Publication Date: November 27, 2014

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

College was supposed to be perfect. She was supposed to be perfect.

For Lily Drummond, life is about following the rules. To be specific, her mother’s rules. College fit into the plan – maintain perfect grades, date the perfect guy, and live the perfect life. On her own, though, Lily realizes that she doesn’t actually have a plan. Without being told what to think and do, she keeps making mistakes.

Away from home, the perfect facade is beginning to shatter. When Lily herself starts to break, it’s the support of an unlikely friend that teaches her how much of a lie perfect really is – and how to be whole on her own terms.

NOTE: This is NOT a romance novel and there is no on-camera sex.