March 2014 Book Haul!

Hey there! Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves! This awesome meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and we get to show each other the books we acquired this week whether bought, from the library or for review!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and checking out the books that have somehow come into my possession this month!

Purchased: 

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Half Bad by Sally Green

Teen Spirit by Francesca Lia Block

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messanger

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

For Review: 

Wings by Elizabeth Richards

Scan by Sarah Fine

Embers and Ash by T.M. Goeglein

Library: 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

A huge thank you to Putnam & Sons for the review books! 

What Does the Bookworm Say? Favorite TV Shows

I'm so excited for this topic because I watch a lot of TV. Let's just be honest! Watching TV is so easy and there is just so much to watch! I don't have cable or anything so maybe I don't watch as much as I think or as much as I could. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Resurrection: This show just started on ABC so if you haven't watched it yet you can probably catch up on all the episodes on Hulu! I really love this new show because it's so mysterious! There is so much going on and so many unanswered questions already! I hope enough people watch it so that it will stay around for a few more seasons.

2. The Mindy Project: One of my favorite comedies right now is The Mindy Project! For some reason I love all things Mindy Kaling and I think she's just incredible! It's only in the second season but I'm so excited for where it's going and I can't wait for it to come back this week!!

3. Downton Abbey: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Downton Abbey! I watch this with my mom and sister and we can't get enough! Even though not a lot is going on, I've become attached to the characters and I pretty much hope the show never ends! And Maggie Smith is brilliant, as always!

4. Criminal Minds: I've watch Criminal Minds since day 1 and have loved it ever since! There's just something about serial killers that fascinates me! I especially love the episodes that are really violent and bloody but I don't know why!

5. Scandal: I LOVE SCANDAL! There's so much DRAMA!! I really hate it when people cheat on each other but for some reason I'm always rooting for Olivia Pope and Fitz! Maybe because the First Lady is so scheming and underhanded.  But it's so good and I am wrapped every week!

Honorable Mention: Parks and Recreaction, The Black List and Gray's Anatomy

Don't forget to check out the other bookworms and see what they like to watch: Thuy @ Nite Lite Reviews, Kimberly @ The Windy Pages and Nicole @ The Reader's Antidote. 

Waiting on Wednesday (110)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Girl From the Well
Author: Rin Chupeco
Hitting the Shelves: August 05, 2014

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.

Why I want this: Anything that is pitched as "Dexter" meets whatever else, I'm totally on board! This books sounds so awesome and definitely creepy!!

Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Title: Black City

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Series: Black City #1

Publisher: Putnam's Sons BYR

Source: Library

Find it Here: Amazon, Goodreads

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-old Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

My Thoughts:

Since I already own an ARC of Phoenix and just received an ARC of the final book in the trilogy Wings I thought that it’s probably high time that a write a review for Black City. I was a little hesitant going into this book because I had heard it was about vampires and we all know that the whole vampire thing is way overdone in YA lit!

Looking back, I’m glad I've waited so long to write this review. I've read a few vampire novels since Black City and they all fell flat for me and has made me realize how unique this vampire story really is. While checking out my Goodreads account, I noticed that I gave this book 3 start just after I finished reading it. After my year of retrospection of vampire novels, this book definitely deserves 4 stars.

Black City starts off really, really strong! It’s super action-packed right off the bat which reeled me immediately! But then towards the middle it starts to drag a bit and get a little boring. And then at the end it gets really good again! I feel like I’m describing a trilogy all in one book!!

Even though it has a little insta-love, I still really loved the relationship between the two main characters. As far as world building, I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the vampires and/or darklings and how they’re depicted as a separate species. It’s all very interesting and something I want to read more about. Black City is one of the better vampire novels out there in YA literature!

Waiting on Wednesday (109)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend
Author: Katie Finn
Hitting the Shelves: May 13, 2014

Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?

Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.

Why I want this: When May and June roll around, this is the type of book that I want to read! It helps put me in the summer mood and they're so much fun. Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend sounds like a really great read! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring 2014 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme of lists hosted by The Brooke and The Bookish. 

Here are the top 10 books on my spring 2014 TBR:

1. Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo: I loved Shadow and Bone so I really don't know why I've waiting so long to read the second one! But the third is coming out soon so I really need to get on it! 

2. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin: I started reading this book last year but for some reason I just wasn't in the mood.  But now I really need to read it to be ready for the third and final book!

3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: I've been wanting to get into this series for a really long time. And this spring is when I'm going to do it! I've just heard it's so awesome! 

4. Misborn by Brandon Sanderson: This is going to be the epic fantasy series that I get into this spring! Bring on a whole new world! 

5. Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian: Loved Burn for Burn and it's about time that I get on Fire with Fire! Can't wait to read more about these girls' revenge. 

6. Fracture by Teri Terry: Slated was, surprisingly, a pretty great dystopian and I'm really interested to see what happens next for Kayla!

7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: I want to read this book SO. BAD! I've heard the most amazing thing about it and I need to seriously make some time for it! And the book itself is just beautiful! 

8-10. The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima: I've read The Demon King and it was really great! I plan on reading the next three books this spring because it's a great YA epic fantasy series that I'm so glad I've finally picked up! 

What Does the Bookworm Say? New Adult

What Does the Bookworm Say is a bi-weekly discussion post hosted here! To see what some other bookworms say on the topic you can read their posts at Nite Lite Book Reviews, The Windy Pages and The Reader's Antidote! 

So sorry for the late post guys! I've been sick and since it's spring break work has been pretty busy. This week we're talking about the genre New Adult.  

I guess I first heard about New Adult about a year or so ago.  I was confused as to whether or not it was considered YA or not because I was reading about it on a lot of YA blogs.  So I wasn't really sure what it really was. 

So, according to my understanding, it's written like YA but it's for a more mature audience because of the sexual content.  These New Adult novels are usually contemporaries following characters that are college aged.  

Even though I still haven't read a new adult novel (I planned to read one by now but it didn't happen), I have two that I really want to read and will hopefully do so soon!

I would really like to see a New Adult fantasy novel! Now that would be something that I would definitely read! 

Right now, New Adult is usually published by indie publishers.  This makes them a little bit harder to find in hard copy but also very cheap in e-book form.  Hopefully, sometime soon the big publishing houses will see how well New Adult is doing and start publishing some New Adult novels. I really think New Adult can be something big and exciting in the future! 

Do you guys like/read New Adult? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Life by Committee

Title: Life by Committee
Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Source: ARC
Find it Here: Amazon, Goodreads

Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they've dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.
But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

My Thoughts:

Life by Committee, which will be released in May, takes in interesting look at how influential the internet can be in teenagers’ lives. Not only does it show the inter-working of female friendships but it also shows just how fragile everything seems when you’re in high school.

Life by Committee follows high school student Tabitha after she has had a huge falling out with her best friends. As a hobby, she likes to collect old, used books, especially those that have notes in the margin so that she can go through and read other people’s thoughts. While reading the margin notes in a used copy of The Secret Garden she comes across a website called Life by Committee. It’s a place where teenagers can share their secrets as long as they agree to complete dares set by the moderator. They are also required to complete one dare a week if they want to continue being members of this group. Before Tabitha knows it, she becomes completely obsessed with Life by Committee and is living her life by secrets and dares; almost all of her decisions are made by the group’s moderator. Nothing good can come when you let other people make important life decisions for you. And most of Tabitha’s dares involves another girl’s boyfriend. If you felt like you had no one left who understands you, would you turn to strangers on the internet? It’s interesting because a lot of people do even though it’s not to this extreme.

I thought Life by Committee was a pretty good contemporary and a pretty quick read. I liked it because it’s not the typical love story and the ending was definitely different.  I really like contemporaries like this: short, quick read, intriguing main characters and a story that wraps up well at the end.  I definitely recommend this book for those who are really into contemporaries.

Waiting on Wednesday (108)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Hitting the Shelves: April 15, 2014

To All the Boys I've Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

Why I want this: I love Jenny Han's writing! I've read all her books since The Summer I Turned Pretty series and they're so good! This book sounds awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on it! 

What Does The Bookworm Say? Booktube

Hi! Welcome to this week's What Does the Bookworm Say? Today we are talking about our thoughts on Booktube, the Booktube community and who are favorite booktubers are. Also stop by Thuy @ Nite Lite Reviews, Kimberly @ The Windy Pages and Nicole @ The Reader's Antidote and check out their thoughts on Booktube.

Booktube is something that I have stumbled on pretty recently; as in within the past year. For those of you unfamiliar with Booktube it is a community of people on Youtube who make videos primarily about books. And it is a thing you guys. It is a BIG thing! I have seen it grow and evolve over the past year exponentially and more and more Youtubers are joining the Booktube community every day.

Through my travels of Youtube, I've noticed two very different types of Booktubers. There are the Booktubers who love read books and love to get book recommendations. They love fangirling over books that they love and the overall tone of their videos is always happy! I love watching people like that. They’re optimistic about sequels to books they love and they understand that book to movie adaptations are just that: adaptations. They have high hopes and the look on the bright side.

Then there are those Booktubers who have not quiet mastered the art of the critical review and sound like they’re complaining all the time. Nothing can be just right for them. They don’t like this cover or that love triangle which is all fine and good but when you’re talking about it in front of a camera you really have to get the tone right or it comes off as whining and complaining. Do you want some cheese with that whine?

If you start watching Booktubers for any consistent amount of time you will notice that they all talk about the same few books, always. For instance, right now I can’t watch a booktube video without hearing something about these four books/series: Vicious by V.E. Schwab, Under the Never Sky Series by Veronica Rossi, the Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu or The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Braken. Every. Single. Video. Granted these are all really great books and series but switch it up a little bit seriously! Booktubers need to get some new favorite books!

Another aspect I don’t really like about booktube is review videos. I have found that I would much rather read a book review. That way, if I haven’t read the book, I can skip parts of the review that I think might give something away. I can’t do that with a video review. If I skip to three minutes in, I might find myself lost.

The best types of videos to watch are book hauls, monthly wrap-up videos and for some reason I really like Q&A. Here are five of my favorite Booktubers and a great way to become introduced to the booktube community.

1. Little Book Owl
2. booksandquills
3. The Readables
4. Ermahgerd Berks
5. PeruseProject

Thanks for reading our discussion this week! Do you keep up with the booktube community? Are you a big fan? Let me know in the comments!