Monday, December 30, 2013

Bout of Books Read a Thon 9.0


It is time for another Bout of Books read a thon. This will be my 8th time participating in the read a thon. I love  it and encourage everyone to join. I am going to keep my goals low this time. I know I probably will not get through all these books, but I always love to try :)

My goals
Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire
No Place Like Oz- Danielle Paige
The Pilot's Wife- Anita Shreve
The Cuckoo's Calling- Robert Galbraith

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Stacking the Shelves (Christmas Edition)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I hope this will be my last haul for awhile because it is crazy huge. I got a ton of books for Christmas then gift cards so I bought a whole lot of books. I have put in another order but it is a pre-order so I will be waiting awhile. I asked for the other books I ordered to come when the pre-order does since I have so many to read already so I am in no rush.  I hope you had a great Christmas if you celebrate and if you do not then I hope you had a great holiday :)

Bought New (Kindle)
Reason to Breathe- Rebecca Donovon ($2.12)
Barley Breathing-  Rebecca Donovon ($2.12)
Out of Breath- Rebecca Donovon ($2.12)
Shadow of Night- Deborah Harkness ($2.25)
The Bone Season- Samantha Shannon ($1.99)
Soulless- Gail Carriger ($1.99)

Gifted (including gift cards)
Crush- Nicole Williams
The Rosie Project- Graeme Simsion
Amy and Roger's Epic Detour- Morgan Matson
The Bronze Horseman- Paullina Simons
Lola and the Boy Next Door- Stephanie Perkins
The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfuss
Noughts and Crosses- Malorie Blackman
Birdsongs- Sebastian Faulks
It's Kind of a Funny Story- Ned Vizzini
Ready,Player One- Ernest Cline
The Hunger Games Trilogy
Harry Potter 15th Anniversary Edition Box Set- J.K. Rowling

Borrowed
The Pilot's Wife- Anita Shreve
Sever- Lauren DeStefano 
Barney's Version- Mordecai Richler
Dexter in the Dark- Jeff Lindsay



What books did you get?

Friday, December 27, 2013

Booktube a thon Wrap-up

I did surprisingly well with my list. I finished two of the three books I put on my list. I did not get any reading done on the first two days but on the Sunday I managed to get two books read. This is a super late post, I have had no time to do anything it seems unfortunately.  

The List
Something Real- Heather Demetrios
Fracture Me- Tahereh Mafi
September Girls- Bennett Madison

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Stacking the Shelves (101)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This week was super busy so I did not get that much reading done but I still managed to accumulate books.

Bought Used
Walking Disaster- Jamie McGuire
Valiant- Holly Black
Wallbanger- Alice Clayton

Bought New (Kindle)
Fracture Me- Tahereh Mafi
Rule- Jay Crownover
The Pledge- Kimberly Derting 

Borrowed from the Library
How to Love- Katie Cotugno

Gifted
The Summer Garden- Paulina Simons 
The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield



What did you get this week?

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Booktube a thon: Christmas Edition

I have been a complete slacker this month for posting and reading so I am hoping the booktube a thon will help me out. I am keeping my list super short because I have to work Friday and this weekend I am getting together with friends before the holiday so I do not have a ton of free time but I am still determined to get some reading done. 
This is not a set list because I am just giving myself some options

The List
Something Real- Heather Demetrios
Fracture Me- Tahereh Mafi
September Girls- Bennett Madison

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Hidden Girl- Shyima Hall

Title: Hidden Girl
Author: Shyima Hall
Source: Blogger meet up grab bag
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4/5
Publication Date: January 21 2014








Goodreads Summary:

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude—but her journey to true freedom was far from over.

Shyima was born in Egypt where it is common for parents who are poor to sell their children into slavery. She was sold off when she was eight years old to make money for her family and to also pay back for the money her sister stole when she worked for the same family. Shyima lived with the family in Egypt until they moved to the United States and brought her with them. She continued to be enslaved for a number of years until someone called the local police department and she was rescued.

This story is a heartbreaking story. Shyima gives a unabashed description about her life as a child slave. Her family was upset with her once she was rescued and told her to go back because she was no longer making money for her family that sold her off. She bravely stood up for herself and even spoke about her experience in court to be able to have the people who enslaved her prosecuted.  Even after her rescue she deals with the anxiety and depression of missing out on so much of her childhood and trying to find a place to call home and redefining her belief of what a family is. 


This is a page turner. I highly recommend it. Shyima not only told her story of being sold into slavery but she also gave an account of what she dealt with after being rescued and how hard it was for her to adjust to being a normal teenager and how people still tried to take advantage of her even though they were suppose to be people helping her. I gave this a 4.5.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Stacking the Shelves (100)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This is my 100th stacking the shelves. I have bought a lot of books over the course of starting Stacking the Shelves. Amazon had some amazing deals this week so I took advantage of them.


Bought New (Kindle)

Wait for you- J.Lynn 
The Testing- Joelle Charbonneau 
The One and Only Ivan-Katherine Applegate
Eleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell
The Lord of the Opium- Nancy Farmer
Uglies- Scott Westerfeld

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Reading Resolutions for 2014

I gave myself some reading resolutions last year and I found that I did stick to them...mostly and they did help me a lot so I decided to do the same thing this year since 2014 is going to be a crazy year.I am getting married in June and I still have a ton to do.

These are goals that I know I can achieve and it will keep me from stressing out too much :).

1) Read one e-book a month. I try to do this now but some months I do not use my kindle at all so I want to use it more because I really do love having  it.

2) For every library book I read, read one of my own books. I get caught up with all the pretty new books I get from the library that I neglect the books sitting on my shelves so if I force myself to read one of my own books for each library book I own I will feel less guilty.

3) Read one book I own for every book I buy. I buy a lot of books, I can admit it so I need to read more of what I already own.

4) Finish the incomplete series on my shelves. I made a post about this last month. I have a lot of series where I have the entire series but I never finished it or I have not started it so I am going to try to put a book from that list on my TBR each month.

5) Read every day. I try to read every single day at least a little but but sometimes I slack off. I really enjoyed pushing myself to read every day this year even if it was only for 10 minutes so I want to do it again.

7) Stick to my monthly TBR. I am guilty of consistently not finishing my TBR, but I need to force myself to do it because I put every single book on their for a reason and when I do not read it when I have put it on my TBR it usually takes me awhile to get back to it.

8) Re-read more. I love re-reading books and this is why I buy my favorites but I feel guilty for re-reading a book because I  have so many unread books so I am going to try to re-read one book a month.

9) Read big books.  They are intimidating but I need to get past it and read them.

10) Get out of my reading comfort zone. I try to read from a variety of different genres but I know I still hesitate sometimes with a genre I am unsure of so I need to stop hesitating and try it out.

What are your reading resolutions? Let me know :)

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Book Addicts Reading Goal

I participate every year in the The Book Addicts reading challenge. I made a list awhile ago but I finally narrowed it down.

1) The Demon King- Cinda Williams Chima
2) Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire
3) Blood Promise- Richelle Mead
4) Nightshade- Andrea Cremer
5) The Dark Heroine- Abigail Gibbs
6) Slated- Teri Terry
7) The Black Echo- Michael Connelly 
8) Jessica Z- Shawn Klomparens
9) Fall On Your Knees-  Ann-marie MacDonald
10) The Rules of Civility- Amor Towles
11) Shine- Jeri Smith-Ready
12) Across A Star-Swept Sea- Diana Peterfreund


Alternatives:

13) Lucid- Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass
14) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling



Sunday, December 8, 2013

Stacking the Shelves (99)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I bought way to many books this week but with the Cyber Monday deals and the Kindle monthly and daily deals running I found a lot of interesting books for cheap. I need to go on a book buying ban...starting in January of course.

Bought New
To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee (I own 3 copies now)
Crash and Burn- Michael Hassan
Insignia- S.J. Kincaid (Kindle)
The School of Good and Evil- Soman Chainani (kindle)
A Coalition of Lions- Elizabeth Wein (kindle)
Poison Princess- Kresley Cole (kindle- 99 cents)
Shadows- Jennifer L. Armentrout (free on kindle)
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging- Louise Rennison (kindle)
The Goldfinch- Donna Tartt ($2.99 on kindle)
Burial Rights- Hannah Kent ($2.99 on kindle)
Altered- Jennifer Rush

Borrowed from the Library
Finding it- Cora Carmack
September Girls- Bennett Madison

Thursday, December 5, 2013

November Wrap Up

This month was a good reading month. I read through my TBR pretty early on in the month and so I got a lot of my own books read. I did a lot of shelf cleaning this month. I read a lot of the novellas that have been piling up on my Kindle and a lot of books I picked up but never really put on my TBR to clear them out and make room for books I hope I get for Christmas :)

November's TBR
The Ninth Wife- Amy Stolls
Gone- Michael Grant (started-need to finish)
Iron's Prophecy- Julie Kagawa
Silent Harmony- Michele Scott
The Book Thief-Markus Zuzak (Re-Read)
This Song Will Save Your Life- Leila Sales

Books I own: 19

For Review: 1
Borrowed: 9
E-Books: 9
Total: 29

Gone- Michael Grant
Iron's Prophecy- Julie Kagawa
Silent Harmony- Michele Scott
This Song Will Save Your Life- Leila Sales
Just One Year- Gayle Forman
Fear: Inaccurate Realities- Multiple authors
The Ninth Wife- Amy Stolls
Macbeth- William Shakespeare
Dairy Queen- Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Alice in Zombieland- Gena Showalter
The Book Thief-Markus Zuzak
The 19th Wife- David Ebershoff
Tin Star- Cecilia Castellucci
Assassin Study- Maria V. Snyder
Zom-B- Darren Shan
The Aftermath- Rhidian Brook
Quidditch Through the Ages
The Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman
Warm Up- Victoria Schwab
Takedown Twenty- Janet Evanovich
The Beginning of Everything- Robyn Schneider
The Space Between Us- Jessica Martinez
The Meeting- Richelle Mead 
Wild Cards- Simone Elkeles
Night of Cake and Puppets- Laini Taylor
The First Star to Fall- Diana Peterfreund
Orange is the New Black- Piper Kerman
Lovestruck Summer- Melissa Walker
Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Jeff Kinney

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten Tuesday topic is top ten 2014 releases I am dying to read

1) Ignite Me- Tahereh Mafi
2) Dreams of Gods and Monsters- Laini Taylor
3) Cress- Malissa Meyer
4) The Retribution of Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkins
5) Rise and Ruin- Leigh Bardugo
6) Mortal Heart- R.L. LaFevers
7) Split Second- Kasie West
8) City of Heavenly Fire- Cassandra Clare
9) Panic- Lauren Oliver
10) Renegade (Mila 2.0)- Debra Driza

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Stacking the Shelves (98)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

How is it that it is already December?! This entire year feels like it just started. This is by birthday hall and books that somehow find their way to me. I also got some delicious tea from David's Tea.


Bought New

Pushing the Limits- Katie McGarry (kindle)
Night of Cake and Puppets- Laini Taylor (kindle)
The First Star To Fall -Diana Peterfreund (free on kindle)
The Rose of Fire- Carlos Ruiz Zafon (free on kindle)
Throne of Glass- Sarah J. Maas (Black Friday kindle deal)
Savages- Don Winslow (Black Friday kindle deal)
Ella Enchanted- Gail Carson Levine (Black Friday kindle deal)

Borrowed from the Library

More Than This- Patrick Ness
The Bone Season- Samantha Shannon

Gifted 
Orange is the New Black- Piper Kerman
Ready, Player One- Ernest Cline
The fiancee also bought me a travel mug for my tea that keeps it warm for hours to go along with my new books :)