My Favorite Reads Giveaway Hop!

Thank you I am A Reader, Not A Writer and Rachelle Writes for hosting this giveaway! To see all the other blogs participating, please click on the image above, or keeping going down to the end of this post, for the full list.

I had to join this hop! For starters, how cute is the picture of the book making the heart? And also, I just have so many favorite reads! And because I think everyone should have at least two favorite reads, I’m offering up two books! What’s up for grabs? You can enter to win two of my favorite books down below. These aren't even all my favorites, just a lot of them...And all the books I’m listing are books I really consider favorites. I have read them all more than a couple of times. And I hope that you will too.

(This is only available to those in the US. And my standard rules apply. If you win, I will email you to get your mailing address, and you will have 48 hours to get back to me, or I will select a different winner.)

Thanks for stopping by. And good luck!

What’s up for grabs –your choice of two of the following:

 

 Alanna: the first adventre by Tamora Pierce, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, Sabriel by Garth Nix, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz, Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, Sloppy Firsts by Megan MacCafferty, and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.

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Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

I got this one for free at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. I think I actually traded another girl for it. Some of the books I got were ones I already owned, and trading with teen girls for random titles was actually so much fun! I wanted this one because a coworker of mine highly recommended it to me. Thanks, Anna! I loved it. And I’m so glad I don’t have to wait for the next one because both Shift, and Shine are already out, and I have a feeling I will need to get my hands on them soon.

It’s about Aura. She lives in a world where people born after a certain time can see ghosts. Literally, all the young people in this book can see the dead walking around them, but all of the adults can’t.  The book begins on Aura’s boyfriend’s birthday. Logan (aka: boyfriend) does something stupid. He combines drugs and alcohol in effort to have sex with Aura. They’ve kept postponing this night, and finally when it’s going to happen, Logan is too drunk, so he decides to take some drugs that were given to him by a record company that wants to sign his band.

Aura knows when he’s dead because, well, she sees his ghost. And what most people don’t know is that Aura was the first person born to see ghosts. She actually started what everyone calls the shift. And while her whole life has been about trying to ignore the pleas of the dead (wearing red helps turn them away), she now all of a sudden can’t imagine ever wearing red again. She doesn’t really have to grieve and move on from a boyfriend that’s still haunting her, does she?

Well, enter boy number 2 in the triangle: Zachary (aka: the last person born not able to see ghosts). He and Aura have the same birthday, born only seconds apart. And while Aura is learning how hard it is to have a relationship with a dead guy because no touching is possible, her relationship with Zachary is building. He’s new to the school, but so quick to defend Aura to all the jerkfaces that start rumors about her involvement in her boyfriend’s death.  And Zachary is helping Aura with her thesis about ancient astronomy and megaliths. She didn’t want help on it because she was sure that what was she was studying would help lead her to some answers about the shift.

Zachary helps her anyway. And some of my favorite scenes involve the two of them studying the stars! Any way, soon it becomes clear that Zachary is really special. And the two are confiding a lot to each other about who they really are. Aura learns that she’s been watched for a large part of her life because she was the first one to turn. There’s escape scenes, parties, rumors, ghosts, ghost repelling, love triangles, and a lot of awesome and creepy world building! There’s even a little bit of Edgar Allen Poe thrown in the mix.

I loved Aura! She is just so much tougher than she thinks she is. I was so embarrassed for her in the court scene. Logan’s parents were suing the record company for giving their son the drugs that killed him. And Aura had to step up in front of everyone and talk about her sex life (or lack of one). But, while she was terrified, she handled it all so bravely. I loved her relationship with Logan’s family. And I loved how she seriously thought out all of her dicusisons, everything from replacing red sheets to which boy she thought she should be with.

I also loved the world! It was so creepy. I want answers to it as much as Aura does! What does everything have to do with her mother???? I loved the romance, especially all the tension between her and Zachary! And I loved that it wasn’t clear which boy loved her more. They both were so willing to sacrifice themselves for her and help her with whatever she needed.

The one thing I didn’t like was how unbelievable some of the stuff was. Aura forgave Zachary super fast. She also just accepted that she was important super fast. And then she and Zachary just accepted the short answers from his father and her aunt…super fast. These characters don’t accept anything. Why didn’t they question their guardians more? And also, some things weren’t really described adequately enough for me. Like what are shades exactly? Why does Aura seem to see more of them than anyone else? Maybe this will be dealt with in the next two books. I know I will definitely be reading the next two books, needing some answers!

I give this one a 9/10. I really enjoyed reading it. And frankly I don’t know why I never read these books before!

A Good Week in Books (7)

I had another good week in books! I received one new book to review. I got two new ones on Net Galley. I won a book from my friend, Christina’s blog! And I have an order to pick up at Barnes and Noble. Technically, I’ll be getting my Barnes and Noble books next week (I get a special discount soon!), but I figured listing these now will make me look a little less crazy next week, when I go through my shopping list. What can I say? I take advantage of book discounts.

Thank you, Disney Hyperion for this one!

 
From What I Remember… by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas.

These two I received from Net Galley:

 
BEA Buzz Books: Excerpts from Over 30 Top Fall 2012 Titles by BEA Publishers Lunch
Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (comes out October 2012).

I won this awesome book from A Reader of Fictions!

 
Swipe by Evan Angler

And these lovelies are ones I ordered to pick up at Barnes and Noble:

 
Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Thumped by Megan McCafferty
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

That was my week in books! How was your week? Also, next week I know I will be purchasing a lot of books and I’m so excited!

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

How gorgeous is this cover? It’s probably one of new favorite YA covers. The cover along with the fact that this is a witch story, and along with the fact that a large amount of bloggers I like really enjoyed this one, encouraged me to buy it.

It wasn’t what I was expecting. I want to call it a historical novel, but it’s not really. It has all the problems a historical piece would provide for the female characters. Women are meant to be wives or part of a religious sisterhood. Powerful women (witches or women who could be witches because they seem too smart or brave) are arrested, locked up, or sent to labor camps. Women have to wear fashionable and constrictive outfits. And they also literally have to lower themselves around the presence of the brotherhood. But, it’s not a historical piece because of the supernatural element, and also because the brotherhood/sisterhood thing just never happened.

The brotherhood is the group in charge. And from what I gathered, they are pissed at witches because a few of them were able to use mind control powers to really run society for a while. And Cate Cahill is one of the few who knows how to use mind control. She keeps this ability hidden from everyone. She has two younger sisters that she has pretty much been taking care of since their mother died several years ago. The father is out of town on business much of the time. All three girls can use magic.

It’s not until the suggestion of a governess is brought up that Cate begins to see how dangerous her lifestyle has become. She notices that the brotherhood has been going after sisters (particularly sisters of three). She also notices that the lack of fashion, blendability, and outness in society for the Cahills, makes them stick out and sticking out to the Brotherhood is never good.

The governess comes around the same time a mysterious letter from a friend of their mother does. Soon, Cate is caught up in a witch prophecy that can prove to be the end of the brotherhood. And between the love triangle, the secret books, the wonderfully rebellious bookstore, the magic mishaps, the sisterly arguments, some gardening, and a lot of fake prayer, there is an authentic story of family and sacrifice. Cate really would give anything up to protect her sisters.

Cate has a lot of decisions to make: marry someone or join the sisterhood. Listen to her governess or her instinct. Marry one guy or a different guy. Protect herself or protect her sisters. And I can’t help but think she always (or almost always) makes the decisions I wanted her to. And I liked her a lot for being so strong and for being such a good sister.

I hated one of the sisters and frankly, would not have sacrificed what Cate did for someone so awful. I also hated the governess. I wanted to like her more. I wish her offer was more appealing or that she handled things more maturely. She just felt like a character that would have seemed more real and relatable if she wasn’t all bad.

I loved the guys! I loved the house staff. I loved the other witches Cate becomes friends with. I loved the youngest sister. I loved the whole sorty of dystopia-type sisterhood and brotherhood. I loved all the witch secrets. I loved all the scenes where the girls couldn’t control their magic. The ending was so good! I was on the edge of my seat for those last twenty pages or so.

I just wish I was on the edge of my seat a little bit earlier. I felt like a lot of the beginning of the book was not necessary and a lot of things took too long to happen. Everything sort of seemed to happen at the very end. And while I get that some things need time to build, like true love, other things could have happened sooner, like trusting the youngest sister. In other words there was a little too much sisterly conflict and not enough action for me.

Despite the slow writing style, I really did enjoy this book. It definitely was a different kind of witch story. And I want, no need to know how certain things will resolve. I will definitely keeping reading these. And this gets a 8/10.

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

I won this one a little while back from my friend, Christina’s blog. Not everyone loves Kimberly Derting, but I so do! I love her Body Finder series. And I absolutely adored this book. I know it kind of seems like I love everything I read, but lately I’ve just been so impressed with the YA books I’ve been reading. And Derting has totally won my respect for this one.

She has developed such an interesting and unique dystopian world. Her main character is amazing. She combines, war, dystopia, romance, and royalty in this one. There’s torture, death, bombings, evil queens, revolutions, first love, and secret powers all in one book! What about that sounds bad?

It’s about Charlie. She has the amazing ability to understand all languages without ever really learning them. Unfortunately for her, she lives in a society where the people are divided by the languages they can speak. The poor people have one language, the merchants have one language, the wealthy have another language, and the royalty have one only few know how to speak at all. And once you are born into your place in the world, you can’t ever change; you can only know the language that fits your class.

Charlie’s parents have forced her to hide her ability since they found out she had it. They also are working on having her younger sister learn to hide her own special abilities. They never really explained why this needs to be hidden, but then things happen, and it’s hard to question. Like, when Charlie breaks a rule and actually looks someone of an upper class in the eye when they are speaking their own language, the consequences for her should be death. Seriously, in this world, all it takes is looking at someone when they are speaking a higher up language, and off you go to be executed!

Thankfully, Charlie gets away with it out of luck. But most people don’t. The queen has a very strict set of rules, and this has resulted in a revolution. Many are fighting against her, and the land is constantly going through drills and then actual attacks. There’s a lot of time spent in hiding, underground from bombs. There’s also the side story of the queen and how she got to be the way she is. For centuries, the oldest royal daughter born becomes queen. Men never rule. And the queen is always the same. The same essence takes over each girl’s body. So Ludania has only really ever seemed to have one queen (not that anybody really knows this).

Charlie falls hard for a soldier, Max, in a night club she goes to with her best friend. She goes to these clubs partly because her friend is boy-crazy, and partly because these sort of illegal places (where underage girls get stamped with a drug that makes them “looser”) are the only places where class and language don’t seem to matter. Everyone dances and drinks with everyone and no one gets in trouble for looking up when a different language is being spoken.

And as the romance and the story builds, it becomes more and more clear that there was a lot more than the mere thought of death that was keeping Charlie’s parents so secretive. They make sure at all costs that their daughters stay as far away from the queen as possible. Soon, it’s up to Charlie to save the lives of everyone she cares about. She finds herself walking a thin line between hiding to protect herself and her sister and joining the revolution. No one is who they seem to be. And Charlie will have to decide what is more important to her: the ones she loves, her country, or herself.

So, I really did not want to give a lot away here. But, be warned I am about to give a little something away right now. Charlie learns she is actually a long lost royal daughter. And the main reason she needs to stay hidden is because if the queen were to find out, her body would be taken over by the queen’s spirit, and Charlie would be gone forever. Oh, and the queen is very old and desperate because she has no female heirs to pass her essence to.

And I’m bringing this up because I just love how Derting handled this. I love how Charlie hated the idea of being a queen, yet she never whined about her life. She struggled so much to survive, but never complained. She did everything she did for her sister. And I loved her for not whining about how hard her life was! She took it, lived it, and eventually fought it. I loved the other characters too! Her parents clearly loved her. Her sister was just so awesome. Charlie could speak every language, but her sister never spoke at all. And she reminded me so much of Charles Wallace from A Wrinkle in Time!

The queen storyline was really interesting too! It reminded me of some the evil queen’s storyline in Once Upon a Time. I would have loved to have gotten more of the revolutionary story. I felt like Charlie just kind of accepted that really quickly. How did everyone living underground get there? What made them join this cause? And why were they so willing to accept a different queen? Why any queen at all?

And the only thing that I honestly was not a huge fan of was the romance. I loved the tension between Charlie and Max, really, I did. I just felt like it kind of came out of nowhere. All of a sudden, Max will do anything, risk anything, and be anything to protect a girl who continuously rejects him? I feel like there was something missing here, some important connection scene that was cut out. Still though, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t eat up the romance.

I give this one a 9/10. I really loved it. I was just so impressed with the story, the concept, the world, and the characters. Really, Derting has won my respect for this one. And I really hope she continues Charlie’s story!

A Good Week in Books (6)

I’m thinking I might need to make one of these posts every Sunday, or at least on weeks where I get good books!

I got one new one from NetGalley. I got two free books via a book swap (two new ones for one ARC!) Thank you, Alex! And I bought some crazy, cheap books at a book fair! I love book fairs and I definitely love reduced price YA books!

From NetGalley, I got this one:

 
Saving June by Hanna Harrington (comes out June, 1^st)

From my book swap with Alex, I got these two beauties (that I’m so excited to read!!):

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

My cheap finds at the book fair:

 
Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg
The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

How was your week, in books?

 

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

If you read my review for book four in this series, you might have picked up on some disappointment. I kind of loved the ending of book three and then wasn’t too impressed with the direction book four was taking things. I take back all my unsure disappointment, and I replace it with happiness!

The things that drastically improved this one: Alex and Magnus playing a more important role in things, the romance/love scenes going even further (!), and Clary’s newfound shadow hunter strength! At least now when Clary, makes rash, reckless decisions, she has some fighter power to protect herself through the process. And most of all, I just love these characters. Clare really knows how to build on characters and she really demonstrates some of her best character development and dialogue in this one. For example, I had to include this short scene:

‘“My mother seems to have accepted it,” Alec said. “But my father –no, not really. Once he asked me what I thought had turned me gay.”
            Simon felt Isabelle tense next to him. “Turned you gay?” She sounded incredulous. “Alec, you didn’t tell me that.”
            “I hope you told him you were bitten by a gay spider,” said Simon” (pg 389).

Clare just has this magical way of discussing tough topics, but giving them a humorous twist in a way that is not only acceptable, but also makes her characters seem so much more real.

To the story! It takes place right after City of Fallen Angels finishes. After the epic scene on the rooftop with Lilith, and Jace finally having control and freedom once more, book four finishes with Sebastian (aka: the real Jonathan Morgenstern) making his back-to-life voice heard. And this book begins with Jace being missing. And while the Clave has been looking for him, they have also had other demon-type problems to deal with.

And when the Clave decides that they can’t spend much more time at all searching for Jace (after weeks of hearing nothing), Clary, Simon, Maia, Magnus, Alec, and Isabelle of course decide nothing will make them stop looking. Clary remembers a certain possible deal the fairy queen offered. And between dealing with fairies, stealing magical rings, and making more Clary-type risky decisions for people she loves, Clary seems so much braver now! And the other characters are all going through their own problems. Simon is falling harder for Isabelle. And Raphael wants Simon’s biblical protection. Maia and Jordan rekindle an old relationship. Jordan’s werewolf group comes in handy. Alec, Magnus, and Clary’s mother are hard at work trying to find a weapon that can help Jace.

And then of course when we see Jace, he is not in control of his own body again. This time Sebastian is controlling him. But, like before with Lilith, Jace can’t ever get Clary out of his mind. And this time, if anything happens to Sebastian, it also happens to Jace. You can’t kill one without killing the other. So the gang is on a mission to discover a weapon that can separate them. And Clary follows the controlled Jace through dimensions and countries, so she can find out as much as she can about how to thwart Sebastian’s evil plans. And his plans are evil. Instead of wanting to kill all downworlders like his father did. He wants to embrace them, and let the demons take over! He also wants to bring back Lilith, who he thinks of as his true mother. Clary has some tough decisions ahead of her, decisions like what’s more important to her: saving the world or saving Jace.

There’s a lot of new characters and side missions. There’s adventures and travels around the world. The book is loaded with romance! And I loved all the scenes with Clary, Jace, and Sebastian. All of those interactions were filled with so much tension that I never wanted them to end! Though, there was some more creepy incest-like-Sebastian-hitting-on-Clary-moments… I feel so bad for Jace who never seems to be in control of his own self any more! And for a character that is all about rebellious actions and freedom, it was so hard. And I love that these characters, while mostly all seeming to have teenage soul mates, have also dated more than one person! It’s about finding love, and loving more than once. And I like that.

The witty dialogue, the club scenes, all the scenes where Clary was finally able to kick major butt –her training has finally begun to pay off, the crazy magic spells, the angels, the demons, and the battles really made this book so much fun to read! I love these characters. I still kind of wish that Clary and Jace would have it a little easier and I’m interested in seeing how their relationship progresses in the next one! I’m also interested in seeing if a certain break-up lasts. And so much more! I give this one a 10/10, and I really can’t wait for what I think will really be the last book in this series.

Uglies: Shay's Story by Scott Westerfeld and illustrated by Steven Cummings

So, I much prefer reading novels to reading graphic novels. I can totally get into graphic novels or manga, much like any normal person, but it takes me a little while to get used to the whole setup because I read so few of them compared the amount of books I read. And while my inner-librarian likes anything that will get kids into reading, another part of me hates retellings done in graphic novel format. I like original graphic novels. And sometimes when things get redone, I can’t help but think how the original artist would feel. I feel this way about movies too, yet I still watch them. I’m a contradictory person, I guess.

But, this book is kind of different. For starters, it’s Westerfeld, and if anything has his name on it, I think it’s safe to say at this point, I will read it. And it’s not a normal re-telling. It’s retold from a different character’s perspective. His original series is told from Tally’s point of view. And I always kind of thought of Shay as the somewhat dumber, and rather selfish best friend. So, I was glad to be able to see her in a different light. Also, Westerfeld, had a say in how his characters were illustrated. That helps a lot. I wish more authors were given the right to have more of a say in their retellings.

It takes place around the same time Uglies began. Instead of just witnessing Tally’s abandonment by all her new, pretty friends, though we get to see Shay hanging out with the Crims, a group of uglies who plan lots of tricks, like turning a whole pretty party naked at the exact same time. And the reason we find out that Shay didn’t go with her friends to begin with to the Smoke, was because David wrote her a letter saying he knew she was in love with him, and that she shouldn’t risk everything for him, but should risk it for herself.

Instead of the harsh letter affecting her too much, Shay decides David is an egocentric jerk, and that she will do what she wants for herself, no matter what anyway. And then she meets Tally, in Prettytown, doing her own worthy trick. And it’s so frustrating to see Shay trying to convince Tally that she is pretty, and that she doesn’t need a surgery. And it’s even harder to watch the two boys who will eventually love Tally, love Shay first (both of them!) Shay and David had a first kiss! And the whole reason Zane didn’t go to the Smoke in the beginning (well maybe not the whole reason because he does tell Shay he knows Special Circumstances is real) is because he also got a note from David saying not to go just because he was in love with Shay.

So, I guess what I’m saying is here I finally understand the levels of Shay’s anger. Not only did Tally cause the Smoke to be found out, bring on an unwanted pretty surgery, and totally betray her, but she also managed to get both the guys who originally loved Shay, to love her…That is a lot to forgive in a best friend! And I also liked seeing certain things in this format! I loved seeing the smoke! I loved seeing the hover boards and getting a better idea of what flying them looks like!

Watching Shay and Tally initially become friends was nice too. In the book, I just didn’t fully understand their friendship. But, the risks, tricks, and flying they do together that I can see in this format, made their initial bond seem stronger to me.

The only thing I was not a fan of was how abbreviated everything was. I would have liked to see more of the Specials finding Smoke, more of the fighting, and definitely more action. Though, I get this format limits length a little bit.

Overall, I was super impressed here! I loved getting Shay’s side. I loved seeing how these characters might look. Though none of the uglies were actually ugly. I’m not sure if that was on purpose or not –you know everything being a matter of perspective and what not. They did all kind of look like super cute Sailor Moon anime versions of what I’d myself imagine, but in this case it worked. It worked with the overall statement of the book. I loved how the end was portrayed with the surgery! And I definitely loved getting more of a story I thought I would never hear more of! I give it a 10/10, and I’m so glad this exists!

Forgiven by Jana Oliver

I got to meet Jana Oliver recently, and she was so cool! She chatted with me a bit, and even gave me some extra swag! She was so cool, but I acted like an idiot and referred to Beck as Riley while talking about her books! She laughed along with me though at my blunder. I know I must have asked her if there would be more books in this series, but I couldn’t remember what she said, so I looked it up on her blog just now, and I am so happy to know that book 4 is in the works! Because I need a few more things settled! You know, Riley saving the world from an apocalypse just wasn’t enough for me! I need all the loose ends tied up.

So, this book was just so awesome! I love this series! I love Riley! What can be bad about a girl who kicks serious demon butt, puts her family above all else, wants to succeed in a job dominated only be men, and is marked to both help heaven and hell?

Partly due to her ex-boyfriend, Simon, and partly due to her “involvement” with the fallen angel, Ori, Riley gets taken in for questioning by the Vatican’s demon hunters, who are way more religious than the Atlanta demon trappers. The questions stop and Riley is let go when they do a test on her that reveals the sign of hell on one hand and the sign of heaven on the other. Someone with the sign of heaven is apparently someone who can be released, as long as she’s watched and doesn’t wander over to Lucifer’s side any time soon.

And while Riley might have given her virginity to a fallen angel (who she didn’t know was a fallen angel), and she might owe Lucifer a favor, she certainly has not promised anyone her soul, or at least not yet. So, she has that going for her, I guess. Though, apparently, her father did make a deal with his soul. Lucifer reanimated her father who had made a deal with him, all in effort to protect Riley. And while the demon hunters and demon trappers alike are working together with the giant onslaught of demons in Atlanta, Riley is building up her relationship with her dead/reanimated father. She’s also learning a little about magic from the witches and necromancy from the necromancers. Riley and Beck get a lot closer in this one too, despite the fact that Beck is so mad at her for sleeping with Ori.

Oh, and Riley learns early on in this book that the little favor that heaven wants from her is to prevent an apocalypse. There’s a lot of fighting, questioning, kissing, surviving, mystery solving, and world saving in this one! Not only are there more demons, but now there are demons that bullets can’t affect. And demons who can now walk on holy ground. There are zombie demons. There are people, Riley discovers, who are worse than Lucifer. A lot happens in this book. A lot gets answered. And Riley has to ask herself a lot of tough questions. The top one being, how much is her soul really worth? Is it worth giving up to save her father, to save Beck, or even to save the world?

There are angry good angels, fallen angels turned into statues, Lucifer appearances, and then all the fun, normal stuff like class time in Starbucks and investigating phony holy water. There’s an epic battle at the end that reminded me a lot of the battle at the end of The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman and also of a certain season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All the magic, angel/demon mythology, and end-of-the-world type action has made this book my favorite one in the series so far.

It ended with a little bit of a cliffhanger/mystery. And I know a lot will continue to go down in the next volume, and I am so excited and ready for it. I recommend this series highly to fans of Buffy. And I give it a 10/10.

A Good Week in Books (5)

So technically this good week was last week, but last week I was house-sitting/cat-sitting and all the books I wasn’t reading at the time were at home.

I bought some books. I got all my pre-orders in the mail! I got a couple of books on NetGalley. I won some books from a blog giveaway. I got some free books from work. And I was sent one book in the mail to review from the publisher.

I bought these two beauties at my favorite independent Chicago bookstore: Women and children First.

 
The Agency: The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee (It’s book 2 in a series I started a while ago. Book 3 is already out, so I have some catching up to do! The first one was such a fun YA mystery!)
Blue Thread by Ruth Tenszer Feldman (Never saw this one before. It’s a YA book that deals with women’s rights and the suffragists, so how I know I have to like it)

I bought this one at my store, which is not independent, but will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve been going to Barnes and Noble since I was kid. And this one is signed!

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi (It’s book 2 in a series I started last year. I was really impressed with the first book, so I’m really looking forward to this one!)

I got these wonderful pre-orders in the mail!

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Insurgent by Veroinca Roth

I got these books for free, at work!

 
The Iron King
The Iron Queen
The Iron Daughter
The Iron Knight all by Julie Kagawa (I haven’t read this series yet, so I’m so ready to start these books that so many people/bloggers have loved.)

I got these two books on NetGalley:

 
Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia C. Wrede (I read it a long time ago, but definitely need to re-read this one! Thank you Open Road Young Readers)
Anything but Ordinary by Lara Avery (Thank you Disney-Hyperion)

I got this one to review from Disney!

The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan

And I won these pretties in a giveaway. Thank you, Lisa!

Pure
Half-Blood
Daimon  all by Jennifer L. Armentrout (This is another series I’ve been meaning to read! These books sound so good! Plus, they, along with matching bookmarks, are all signed! Again, Lisa, thanks for such an awesome giveaway!)