Stacking the Shelves: The Yearly Edition 2015

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alexandra Bracken, Alienated, All Fall Down, All the Rage, Ally Carter, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Amie Kaufman, Amy Ewing, An Ember in the Ashes, Barry Jonsberg, Because You'll Never Meet Me, Bright Before Sunrise, Brigid Kemmerer, Champion, Cloudwish, Courtney Summers, Cynthia Hand, Dawn Kurtagich, Dead of Winter, Demon Road, Derek Landy, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Ellie Marney, Every Move, Every Word, Far From You, Fiona Wood, Fleur Ferris, Frostbite, Half Wild, Happily Ever After, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Illustrated Edition, Hold Me Like a Breath, Holly Black, Illuminae, Illusions of Fate, In the Afterlight, In The Skin of a Monster, J.K. Rowling, James Smythe, Jane Austen, Jay Kristoff, John Flanagan, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Julie Kagawa, Justine Larbalestier, Kady Cross, Kathryn Barker, Kerstin Gier, Kiera Cass, Kiersten White, Kresley Cole, Laini Taylor, Lair of Dreams, Lauren James, Lauren Oliver, Leah Thomas, Legend, Leslye Walton, Libba Bray, Lisa M. Stasse, Maggie Stiefvater, Magnus Chase, Magonia, Margo Lanagan, Maria Dahvana Headley, Marie Lu, Meagan Spooner, Megan Miranda, Melinda Salisbury, Melissa Grey, Melissa Landers, Miss Mayhem, Pandora Jones, Panic, Percy Jackson, Pittacus Lore, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Prodigy, Queen of Shadows, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Ranger's Apprentice, Razorhurst, Rebel Belle, Red Queen, Renee Ahdieh, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Risk, Rogue, Ruby Red, Sabaa Tahir, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, Sea Hearts, Shadow Kiss, Shiver, Sisters of Blood and Spirit, Skulduggery Pleasant, Soman Chainani, Sophie Jordan, Soulprint, Spark, Star Wars, Stephanie Oakes, Stray, Susanna Clarke, Tess Sharpe, The Darkest Part of the Forest, The Dead House, The Diviners, The Dream Thieves, The Fate of Ten, The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, The Forsaken, The Girl at Midnight, The Heir, The Iron Warrior, The Jewel, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Next Together, The Raven Boys, The Ruby Circle, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The School of Good and Evil, The Scorpio Races, The Sin Eater's Daughter, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, The Wrath and the Dawn, These Broken Stars, Thicker Than Water, Tiffany Schmidt, Trish Doller, Uninvited, Vampire Academy, Vanishing Girls, Victoria Aveyard, Way Down Dark, Where the Stars Still Shine

Stacking the Shelves is a thing where we talk about the books we’ve collected in the past week. These can be bought, delivered, ARCs, ebooks, etc.. Pretty self-explanatory.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tygna’s Reviews

When I did this last year, it was so much fun I just had to do it again.

So, here are ALL the books I obtained throughout the year 2015.

Books Bought:

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, by Leslye Walton
Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White
Hold Me Like a Breath, by Tiffany Schmidt
An Ember in the Ashes, by Sabaa Tahir
Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Magonia, by Maria Dahvana Headley
Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
The Ruby Circle, by Richelle Mead
The Diviners, by Libba Bray
Lair of Dreams, by Libba Bray
Way Down Dark, by James Smythe
The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black
Pandora Jones: Admission, by Barry Jonsberg
The Last Time We Say Goodbye, by Cynthia Hand
Razorhurst, by Justine Larbalestier
Alienated, by Melissa Landers
Sea Hearts, by Margo Lanagan
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes
These Broken Stars, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renee Ahdieh
The Dead House, by Dawn Kurtagich
Vanishing Girls, by Lauren Oliver
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, by Rick Riordan
All Fall Down, by Ally Carter
Ruby Red, by  Kerstin Gier
The Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan
Rebel Belle, by Rachel Hawkins
Miss Mayhem, by Rachel Hawkins
The Fate of Ten, by Pittacus Lore
In the Afterlight, by Alexandra Bracken
Every Word, by Ellie Marney
Every Move, by Ellie Marney
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling (new edition)
Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope, by Ian Doesher
Vampire Academy: Graphic Novel
Frostbite: Graphic Novel
Shadow Kiss: Graphic Novel
Legend: Graphic Novel
Sisters of Blood and Spirit, by Kady Cross
Far From You, by Tess Sharpe
The Sin Eater’s Daughter, by Melinda Salisbury
Uninvited, by Sophie Jordan
Soulprint, by Megan Miranda
In The Skin of a Monster, by Kathryn Barker
The Girl At Midnight, by Melissa Grey
The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater
Risk, by Fleur Ferris
Ranger’s Apprentice #1, by John Flanagan
Because You’ll Never Meet Me, by Leah Thomas
Skulduggery Pleasant books, by Derek Landy
The School of Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani
Dreams of Gods and Monsters, by Laini Taylor
Rogue, by Julie Kagawa
Happily Ever After, by Kiera Cass
The Heir, by Kiera Cass
Half Wild, by Sally Green
Prodigy, by Marie Lu
The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas
Box Set of Puffin Classics, various authors
Harry Potter Illustrated edition

The Shiver Trilogy, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Scorpio races, by Maggie Stiefvater
Champion, by Marie Lu

Books Won:

The Jewel*, by Amy Ewing
Spark*, by Rachel Craw
The Iron Warrior, by Julie Kagawa
Demon Road (signed ARC), by Derek Landy
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
Cloudwish, by Fiona Wood
In the Afterlight (signed), by Alexandra Bracken

I also somehow ended up getting a bowling ball.

*Won in 2014, received in 2015

Miscellaneous:

ARCs and Review Copies (requested and surprise):

Bright Before Sunrise, by Tiffany Schmidt
Where the Stars Still Shine, by Trish Doller
Stray, by Rachael Craw
The Next Together, by Lauren James
Thicker Than Water, by Brigid Kemmerer
A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes
The Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan

Books I got through BooksForTradeAU:

Pandora Jones: Deception, by Barry Johansberg
Pandora Jones: Reckoning, by Barry Johansberg
The Forsaken, by Lisa M. Stasse
Cinder (ARC), by Marissa Meyer (Not pictured)

Presents (Birthdays, Christmas, etc.):

Panic, by Lauren Oliver
Dead of Winter, by Kresley Cole
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen)

Books I got for free (through various means):

White Time, by Margo Lanagan
All The Rage, by Courtney Summers
The Lost and the Found, by Cat Clarke
This Raging Light, by Estelle Laure
Pompidou Posse, by Sarah Lotz
Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy
Running Like China, by Sophie Hardcastle
We All Looked Up, by Tommy Wallach
Hidden, by Marianne Curley
The Astrologer’s Daughter, by Rebecca Lim
Lifespan of Starlight, by Thalia Kalkipsakis
State of Grace, by Hilary Badger
Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, by Rebecca James

---

So…that was all the books I got my hands on 2015.

How was every one else’s year?

July: A Summary

Tags

Aimee Carter, Alienated, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Blood Of Olympus, Captive, Dark Days, Dead of Winter, Debra Driza, Derek Landy, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Frostbite, Holly Black, Illusions of Fate, James Smythe, Julie Kagawa, Kiera Cass, Kiersten White, Kresley Cole, Laini Taylor, Legend, Marie Lu, Melissa Landers, Mila 2.0, Mortal Coil, Pittacus Lore, Rachael Craw, Renegade, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Rogue, Skulduggery Pleasant, Stray, The Darkest Part of the Forest, The Fortelling of Georgie Spider, The Heir, The Revenge Of Seven, Way Down Dark

I’m back at uni and with the return to uni comes what can only be described as a need for procrastination. As some of you may have noticed, I disappeared around the middle of July, but it’s ok. I’m back now.

So, why did I disappear?

Well, some of you may recall this post where I talk about my plans for July: namely, much reading during the uni holidays.

And I quite succeeded in this challenge: I read 11 books! And while that doesn’t really feel like much (especially since I had a 5 week break from uni), it does sound rather impressive when I say that 7 of those books were read within a 6 day period.

I’m actually really proud of that.

Of course, in order to do that, I decided it was best to disappear from the internet (almost) completely. I went a whole week without twitter (*shock horror gasp*), and only went on goodreads to update the books I was reading. Though I did continue to check instagram.

And did I miss twitter? Well, yes and no. I did miss talking to people, and generally shouting random things into the void, but I spent practically an entire week doing nothing but reading.

The last time I was able to do that, I was probably 13 and the only thing I would read back then was Harry Potter.

But then I returned, just in time to find out something very exciting

THIS BEAUTY WAS RELEASED INTO THE MAIL!

And it was glorious!

My review is coming…I just need time to get over all THE EMOTIONS!

And what I find hilarious about all this, is that if I’d stayed away from twitter for one more day, I would have never known it was coming…which meant there would have been much less running around screaming with excitement as I grabbed my keys and jumped into my car to race to the post office to get the package.

And where’s the fun in that?

Despite returning to twitter, I remained absent from the blog

Like, seriously, as of the time when I am writing this, I have done zero blogging for 2 weeks…at least.

And, honestly, I didn’t really miss it.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love blogging, but to just read/do nothing for 2 weeks without writing a single word has just been so relaxing. I’ve actually missed not blogging.

But that does not mean I’m planning on quitting any time soon.

Ok, musings over, what have I been reading?

Frostbite Graphic Novel
Legend Graphic Novel
Blood of Olympus, by Rick Riordan
Rogue, by Julie Kagawa
Captive, by Aimee Carter
The Heir, by Kiera Cass
Dead of Winter, by Kresley Cole
Renegade, by Debra Driza
The Revenge of Seven, by Pittacus Lore
Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White
Stray, by Rachael Craw
Dark Days, by Derek Landy
Mortal Coil, by Derek Landy

And what books did I buy/receive?

Bought:

Frostbite Graphic Novel
Legend Graphic Novel
Dreams of Gods and Monsters, by Laini Taylor
Alienated, by Melissa Landers
Way Down Dark, by James Smythe
The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black
The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, by Ambellin Kwaymullina

Received:

Stray, by Rachael Craw

What can you expect in August?

Due to time constraints, because of various stuff happening, I probably won’t be posting much variety (unless I can come up with and write a brilliant discussion post within, like, an hour), but there are several reviews I’ve been meaning to write, so expect those.

It’s June Now

Tags

An Ember in the Ashes, Barry Jonsberg, Betsy Schow, Bright Before Sunrise, Everything Everything, Fool Moon, Illusions of Fate, Jim Butcher, Kiersten White, Miss Mayhem, Nicola Yoon, Pandora Jones, Rachel Hawkins, Sabaa Tahir, Spelled, Stephanie Oakes, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, Tiffany Schmidt, Virginia Boecker, Witch Hunter

So, May was a busy month

After April’s “I bought almost nothing” fiasco, I had much to make up for.

Books Bought:

Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White
Miss Mayhem, by Rachel Hawkins
An Ember in the Ashes, by Sabaa Tahir

Books for Trade haul:

Pandora Jones: Deception, by Barry Jonsberg
Pandora Jones: Reckoning, by Barry Jonsberg

TeenCon Book Haul:

List available on my TeenCon Wrap Up post

I read 7 books

Bright Before Sunrise, by Tiffany Schmidt (Review)
Spelled, by Betsy Schow
Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher
Miss Mayhem, by Rachel Hawkins
Witch Hunter, by Virginia Boecker
Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes

So…June…

Uni is wrapping up, with my final week being this week, and then exams, and then FREEDOM!

The plan:

– Finish ALL the books on my ‘currently reading’ shelf on Goodreads (it’s getting out of hand)
– Buy as few books as possible
– Clean up this mess:

TTT: 2014 Releases I haven’t read yet

Tags

2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To, A Thousand Pieces of You, Abigail Haas, Claudia Gray, Dangerous Boys, Gasp, Illusions of Fate, Katrina Leno, Kiersten White, Lindsay Cummings, Lisa McMann, Marie Lu, Pittacus Lore, Revenge of Seven, Sophie Jordan, Suzanne Young, The Half Life of Molly Pierce, The Murder Complex, The Treatment, The Young Elites, Top Ten Tuesday, Uninvited

Top Ten Tuesday is a thing where we get given a topic, and we have to list our ‘top ten’ things for the topic. Pretty self-explanatory.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn’t Get To

1. The Young Elites, by Marie Lu
Curse you book buying ban! *Shakes fist*
But it’s ok…I got it for Christmas 

2. A Thousand Pieces of You, by Claudia Gray
I have it. I’ve had it since November. Now I just need to read it.

3. Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten
I don’t think I’ve even seen this in Australia yet…I blame that.
And the ban. Always blame the ban.

4. Dangerous Boys, by Abigail Haas
Again, let’s blame the ban.

5. The Half Life of Molly Pierce, by Katrina Leno
I read the first, like, 4 1/2 chapters online, and now I really want to read the rest!!
Stupid ban.

6. Uninvited, by Sophie Jordan
THIS THING CAME OUT LAST JANUARY WHY HAVE I NOT SEEN IT YET!?
*sobs*

7. The Treatment, by Suzanne Young
 Haven’t found it in the library yet

8. The Murder Complex, by Lindsay Cummings
Looks awesome, haven’t seen it anywhere

9. Gasp, by Lisa McMann
Crash and Bang were AWESOME! But this is another one hasn’t shown up at the library yet…

10. The Revenge of Seven, by Pittacus Lore
I bought this on release day and everything…

A New Year, Things are happening!

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Champion, Cynthia Hand, Dangerous Deception, Dead of Winter, Forever, Half Wild, Illusions of Fate, Julie Kagawa, Kami Garcia, Kresley Cole, Let the Sky Fall, Linger, Maggie Stiefvater, Margaret Stohl, Marie Lu, Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, Prodigy, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Rogue, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, Shannon Messenger, Shiver, Sword of Summer, The Dream Thieves, The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, The Forgotten Crown, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Raven Boys, The Raven Cycle, The Ruby Circle, Throne of Glass

New Bloggish Stuff

It’s January, which means it’s a new year! (In case you missed it, New Year’s Eve was on Wednesday). This means that I can finally implement the changes I’ve been planning since October!

First, if you look towards the left of the screen, you will notice that a rating system is being added. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.
Also, if you look up, you’ll notice that I’ve created a review archive. That was fun to make.

And speaking of reviews, I have finally figured out a general format for them, which makes me happy.

In other news, Top Ten Tuesdays and Stacking the Shelves will continue on as usual. Sometimes there’ll be pictures or links, other times just a list because I’m lazy/busy.

I haven’t done one in a while, but my weekly wrap-ups, known as This Week in Books, will now be called This Week’s Adventures, and will hopefully start to become more elaborate.

Book Buying Limitations

As you can see here, last year’s book buying got a little out of hand.

To combat this, I’m giving myself a list of books I am allowed to buy. If it’s not on the list, I am not allowed to buy it.

Note: this list is still in progress, so it may change slightly in the near future.

Coming 2015:
The Ruby Circle, by Richelle Mead
The Last Time We Say Goodbye, by Cynthia Hand
Throne of Glass #4, by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
Rogue, by Julie Kagawa
The Forgotten Crown, by Julie Kagawa
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, by Rick Riordan
The Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan
Dangerous Deception, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Half Wild, by Sally Green
Dead of Winter, by Kresley Cole
Let the Sky Fall #3, by Shannon Messenger
The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Raven Cycle #4, by Maggie Stiefvater

Already out:
Prodigy and Champion, by Marie Lu
The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Shiver Trilogy, by Maggie Stiefvater
Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White

So, last year, by final count, I was buying an average of 9 books per month.
To keep this up, I have to buy an average of 2 books per month.

Bookish Bingo Challenge

So, Maddie over at The Girly Geek has created this marvellous challenge which basically consists of this bingo card:

 

Overall, there are 45 challenges, to which I say:

 

This Week in Books

Tags

Afterworlds, Are You Seeing Me?, Cassandra Clare, Darren Groth, Heir of Fire, Holly Black, Illusions of Fate, Kiersten White, Mockingjay, Rick Yancey, Sarah J. Maas, Scott Westerfeld, The Infinite Sea, The Iron Trial, This Week's Adventures

So, it’s been a while…

I realise I haven’t done this post in a couple of weeks…anyone following me on twitter will be aware that I had several tests/assignments, etc., and as such went on a ‘hiatus from life’ (that’s what I’m calling it, because it is the most accurate way I can think of to describe it).

But I’m on holidays now. YAY! (Only for one more week, though).

So, this post is going to contain things from the past few weeks.

Books released:

Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White

The Infinite Sea, by Rick Yancey

Afterworlds, by Scott Westerfield

Mockingjay trailer:

Books Read:

Heir of Fire, by Sarah J. Maas
*Incoherent noises*

The Iron Trial, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
I wanted to like this one…I really did. The review is still under construction, but it won’t be an overly positive one.

Are You Seeing Me?, by Darren Groth
Definitely not my usual type of novel, but enjoyable nonetheless.

This week in blog posts:

Kirsty @ Studio Reads posted the first chapter of Half Wild

Emily @ The Loony Teen Writer started a link up for Loony Blurbs

Cait @ The Notebook Sisters talked about 10 Ways to make a Book Blogger Furious

Maddie @ The Girly Geek did an infographic on eBooks vs Physical Books

Top Ten Tuesday

Tags

A Discovery of Witches, Aimee Carter, Alexandra Adornetto, Blood Of Olympus, Blue Lily Lily Blue, Books I want but don't have, Brigid Kemmerer, Captive, Danielle Parker, Deborah Harkness, Debra Driza, Dorothy Must Die, E. Lockhart, Ella Minnow Pea, Ender's Game, Halo, Illusions of Fate, James Dashner, Julie Kagawa, Katrina Leno, Kiersten White, Maggie Stiefvater, Marie Lu, Mark Dunn, Michelle, Orson Scott Card, Pittacus Lore, Renegade, Revenge of Seven, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Sacrifice, Sophie Jordan, Talon, The Half Life of Molly Pierce, The Maze Runner, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, The Ruby Circle, Top Ten Tuesday, Uninvited, We Were Liars, Young Elites

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten Books I really want to read but don’t own yet

I’ve decided to split this into two lists:

Books that haven’t been released yet-

1. The Retribution of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

2. Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White

3. The Revenge of Seven, by Pittacus Lore

4. Talon, by Julie Kagawa

5. Sacrifice, by Brigid Kemmerer

6. Blood of Olympus, by Rick Riordan

7. Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater

8. The Ruby Circle, by Richelle Mead

9. The Young Elites, by Marie Lu

10. Captive, by Aimee Carter

Books that have been published-

1. Uninvited, by Sophie Jordan

2. Dorothy Must Die, by Danielle Parker

3. The Half Life of Molly Pierce, by Katrina Leno

4. We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart

5. Renegade, by Debra Driza

6. Halo, by Alexandra Adornetto

7. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn

8. A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

9. The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

10. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card