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

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

How was every one else’s year?

These are a few of my favourite things

Tags

Cara Lynn Shultz, Cynthia Hand, Everything Everything, Lauren James, Lauren Oliver, Leslye Walton, Magonia, Maria Dahvana Headley, Mary E. Pearson, Michelle Hodkin, Nicola Yoon, Spellbound, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Next Together, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Vanishing Girls

Sometimes, you read a book, and it is just full of all the things you love in a book.

Here’s a list of all my favourite things:

Short non-chapter-ish format

As seen in: Everything Everything, The Adoration of Jenna Fox

I’m not sure exactly how to describe this format, but if you’ve read the books above, you’ll know what I’m talking about…those books that are not made up of chapters, but of snippets. Random thoughts, short moments…I just LOVE a book that does this.

Reincarnated/Fated love

As seen in: Spellbound, The Next Together

There’s just something I really love about the whole reincarnated thing, where two characters fall in love over and over only to get horribly separated and have to relive the whole thing again.

News articles/Blog posts/etc

As seen in: Vanishing Girls, The Next Together

Don’t know why, but I always love it when the book is full of news paper articles, or blog posts, or police reports, or the like. I just find it really interesting.

General Weirdness

As seen in: Magonia, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava lavender

When things are weird, and don’t make a brilliant amount of sense, I just love it!

A good, healthy does of ‘what the heck is going on here?’ is exactly what we all need sometimes.

Amnesia

As seen in: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Where the main character has forgotten things that need remembering. Whether the memories are gradually brought to light throughout the book, or if the character just has to learn to cope with knowing nothing, I very much enjoy forgetfulness.

SCIENCE! And Nerds/smart people

As seen in: The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Next Together

Smart people are the greatest. Especially when they also love maths 🙂
I like maths.

Stories told in Flashbacks

As seen in: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I absolutely LOVE the flashback thing. Where there’s a story happening in the present, and there’s one happening in the past. Love it.

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So, those are my favourite things. What are yours? Do you agree with anything on this list? Do you disagree? Let me know.

Also, if you have any recs you’d like to give me of books containing any of these things. Let’s here ’em.

TTT: Auto-buy Authors

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alexandra Bracken, Cynthia Hand, Hex Hall, Julie Kagawa, Keira Cass, Lament, Maggie Stiefvater, Michelle Hodkin, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Rebel Belle, Sarah J. Maas, Shiver, Spark, Stephanie Oakes, Talon, The Darkest Minds, The Immortal Rules, The Iron Fey, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Mara Dyer Trilogy, The Raven Boys, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The Selection, Throne of Glass, Unearthly

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 Auto-buy Authors

Regardless of whether I have money or not, you can be pretty sure I’ll buy the newest book from these authors:

1. Sarah J. Maas
Having read all the Throne of Glass series, and ACOTAR, I can truthfully say I will probably love anything this woman writes.

 2. Rachael Craw
Everyone should know by now that my love of Spark knows no bounds. And I am sure this love will continue with any other book Rachael Craw decides to write. (She’s amazing, people!!)

3. Julie Kagawa
I searched for ages to find The Iron King, wanting desperately to read it. And I was in no way disappointed. Since then, I have been able to get my hands on all of Julie Kagawa’s books, and I have loved them all.

4. Maggie Stiefvater
Ok, I really don’t think I need to explain this one. I need The Raven King like I need air.

5. Alexandra Bracken
I cannot believe it took me so long to get around to reading The Darkest Minds! I loved it so very much, and am VERY excited for Passenger.

6. Kiera Cass
It’s funny, that the only reason I read The Selection was because my sister wanted to read it…I may have barely given it a second glance otherwise, and wouldn’t that be disappointing.

7. Cynthia Hand
With the exception of the very beginning of Unearthly, I absolutely ADORED the Unearthly trilogy, and The Last Time We Say Goodbye was pretty amazing too. I can’t wait to see what Cynthia Hand writes next.

8. Rachael Hawkins
It took me WAY too long to find Hex Hall, but it was worth the effort. And the Rebel Belle trilogy has been just as good so far.

9. Michelle Hodkin
The Mara Dyer trilogy was so fantastically creepy! I’ve actually been wanting to reread the series for a while.

10. Stephanie Oakes
Ok, so she’s only got one book out so far…but it’s a darn good one. I am very excited to see what’s out next.

The Challenge: A Summary

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alexandra Bracken, All Fall Down, Ally Carter, Amie Kaufman, Ballad, Cooper Bartholemew is Dead, Cynthia Hand, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Derek Landy, Half Wild, Harry Potter, In the Afterlight, J.K. Rowling, Justine Larbalestier, Laini Taylor, Lauren Oliver, Leslye Walton, Maggie Stiefvater, Meagan Spooner, Megan Miranda, Melinda Salisbury, Never Fade, Rachel Hawkins, Razorhurst, Rebecca James, Rebel Belle, Red Queen, Richelle Mead, Ruby Circle, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, Shadow Kiss, Skulduggery Pleasant, Sophie Jordan, Soulprint, The Darkest Minds, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Sin Eater's Daughter, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, These Broken Stars, Uninvited, Vampire Academy, Vanishing Girls, Victoria Aveyard

As some of you may recall, I gave myself a challenge at the beginning of February. I was to limit myself to reading only books that I already owned/had out from the library. I was not to buy any new books in this time, with the exception of new releases.

So, how did I go?

Well, silly me forgot to take into account the fact that it was my birthday in February. Which means that I got birthday money to spend on ALL THE BOOKS!!!

So, here are the books I bought with my birthday money:

And here are the books I was ‘allowed’ to buy during the challenge period:

And here are all the other books I bought because they were there, or because they were cheap, or because books.

And here’s a picture of them all together:

Total number of books bought: 16.

That’s like, one book every 4 days.

Better yet, for every one book I was allowed to buy, I bought three others.

Reading wise, I faired a little better, reading 6 of the books I bought, as well as several others:

And due to the fact that I read a few ebooks/library books/Netgalley books, here is a full pic of all the books I read:

Total books read: 18.

So, while I did technically read more books than I bought, I made a very, very small dent in my to-read pile. Also, some of these books didn’t make it to the to-read pile before they got read (namely, the ebooks/Netgalley books), so they were, if anything, counter-productive.

In conclusion:

TTT: Autumn TBR List

Tags

A Thousand Pieces of You, Aimee Carter, Captive, Claudia Gray, Cynthia Hand, Ignite Me, Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Pittacus Lore, Rachel Hawkins, Rebel Belle, Red Queen, Rick Yancey, Shadow and Bone, Tahereh Mafi, The 5th Wave, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Revenge Of Seven, The Young Elites, Victoria Aveyard

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 Books on my Spring Autumn TBR List!

Note: I’m probably going to look at this post in June and realise I have read none of the books on it…because that’s how I roll.

1. The Young Elites, by Marie Lu

2. The Revenge of Seven, by Pittacus Lore

3. The Last Time We Say Goodbye, by Cynthia Hand

4. Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

5. The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey

6. A Thousand Pieces of You, by Claudia Gray

7. Ignite Me, by Tahereh Mafi

8. Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo

9. Rebel Belle, by Rachel Hawkins

10. Captive, by Aimee Carter

Reading Challenge: All the Owned books

Tags

books, Cynthia Hand, Richelle Mead, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Ruby Circle

As those of you following my twitter and instagram may know, I’ve recently started challenging myself to start reading all the books I bought last year but haven’t read yet for whatever reason. Which basically means no buying/borrowing books until all the books are read.

And, as those of you who saw yesterday’s Stacking the Shelves post may have realised, this has not gone well so far.

So, I thought I’d make it an official challenge: from now until the end of March, I will not buy or borrow any book, but will only read the books currently in my possession (be it owned or borrowed).

There are, of course, exceptions. If there is a book on this list which is being released in either February or March, I am allowed to buy and read it. This will include books like The Ruby Circle, by Richelle Mead and The Last Time We Say Goodbye, by Cynthia Hand (which I have already pre-ordered).

And, of course, my birthday is coming up, so any books I get for my birthday will just get added to the pile.

Waiting On Wednesday: The Last Time We Say Goodbye

Tags

Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a thing where we talk about the books we’re waiting for. Pretty self-explanatory.
Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

Author: Cynthia Hand

Release Date: 10 February, 2015

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 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.

Why this book?

Ok, so this is definitely not my usual style of book, but I loved the Unearthly trilogy, so I’m willing to read anything Cynthia Hand writes.

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:

 

Top Ten Tuesday

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015, Cynthia Hand, Half Wild, Julie Kagawa, Let the Sky Fall, Maggie Stiefvater, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, Shannon Messenger, The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, The Forgotten Crown, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Raven Cycle, The Ruby Circle, The Sword of Summer, Throne of Glass, Top Ten Tuesday

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 Books I’m Looking Forward To In 2015

1. The Ruby Circle, by Richelle Mead

2. Half Wild, by Sally Green

3. The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, by Ambelin Kwaymullina

4. The Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan

5.  The Last Time We Say Goodbye, by Cynthia Hand

6. The Raven Cycle #4, by Maggie Stiefvater

7. Throne of Glass #4, by Sarah J. Maas

8. The Forgotten Crown, by Julie Kagawa

9. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas

10. Let the Sky Fall #3, by Shannon Messenger

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So…which books are you looking forward to?