Book Haul: Mid-January 2015

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!

It's a book haul! I haven't done a book haul in so long! I didn't get books for Christmas (well, one book) but I did get a lot of Amazon gift cards! And I've used them. Here's what I've bought:

Bought:

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Jellicoe Road by Malina Marchetta

Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

The Rose Project by Graeme Simsion

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch

As You Wish by Cary Elwes (the one book I got for Christmas)

Amulet, Vol. 1 by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet, Vol. 2 by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet, Vol. 3 by Kazu Kibuishi

From the Library:

Bobcat and Other Stories by Rebecca Lee

Runaway by Alice Munro

St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman

That's all for me! I hope you guys had an awesome week in book and happy reading! 

Giveaway Friday: The Mara Dyer Trilogy!

Hey readers! Welcome to Giveaway Friday! I decided to start this weekly giveaway because I need to unload myself of some books! I'm getting married toward the end of this year which is very exciting. But that also means I will have to share my space with another human! So I'm trying to downsize my collection of books before that happens.  So come back every week to see what I'm giving away!

Rules and Terms and Conditions

• Giveaway will start Friday 12:01am (pacific standard time) and will last until Thursday 11:59pm (pacific standard time)
• Must be 13 years or older to enter
• US residents ONLY
• I am not responsible for any packages lost, stolen and/or damaged in the mail
• One set of entries per household
• PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE COMMENTS
• Winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter and will be notified the day after the giveaway ends
• Winner will be notified by email and given 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen
• If you have any questions or concerns about the giveaway, you can contact me by email
• My only requirement is that you follow the link to Facebook and like my Facebook page
• any extra entries are optional and are not required to be entered into the giveaway

This Week's Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Title: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns)
Author: Mindy Kaling
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: January 01, 2011
Source: Purchased
Find it Here: Amazon // Goodreads

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

My Thoughts:

I'm a big fan of Mindy Kaling. I watched The Office from the beginning when everyone thought it was a pretty weird show. But I loved it and I especially loved Mindy. After The Office came The Mindy Project (poorly titled, IMHO) which has forever cemented my love for Mindy! Learning more about Mindy Kaling by reading Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me and seeing where she had come from was pretty awesome! She worked really hard to get where she is and it shines through in her book!

Mindy is so funny and I really like how she can poke fun of her past and her struggles.  She is a woman of color who has embraced that part of herself and has used it to be the funny woman that she is now. I definitely enjoyed reading about her memorable childhood moments and her unlucky in love relationships. She puts a funny spin on everything and makes it very fun to read. I love that she didn't change her body to meet what is usually considered the "standard" for women in show-business. To me, she really represents the average woman and she's not afraid to eat what she wants.

I love Mindy's character on The Mindy Project and if she's anything like her character in real life, then she seems like a really fun and awesome person to know! Mindy always seems to have an adventure up her sleeve and I'm so glad she's writing another book! It's definitely going on my must read list!

Waiting on Wednesday (140)

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: Even When You Lie to Me
Author: Jessica Alcott
Hitting the Shelves: June 09, 2015

Charlie, a senior, isn't looking forward to her last year of high school. Another year of living in the shadow of her best friend, Lila. Another year of hiding behind the covers of her favorite novels. Another year of navigating her tense relationship with her perfectionist mom.

But everything changes when she meets her new English teacher. Mr. Drummond is smart. Irreverent. Funny. Hot. Everyone loves him. And Charlie thinks he's the only one who gets her.

She also thinks she might not be the only one with a crush.

In this stunning debut, Jessica Alcott explores relationships-and their boundaries-in a way that is both searingly honest and sympathetic.

Why I want this: I would have to say that Even When You Lie to Me is one of my most anticipated contemporary releases this year! A girl in high school and the forbidden relationship of a teacher. I think this story just sounds so interesting and I can't wait to eat it up! I'm definitely interested to see how this story plays out and how much scandal is actually written into it! I can't wait to get my hands on it! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Everyone Liked but I Didn't

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

This week's topic is top ten book published in 2014 that we meant to read but didn't get to. I feel like we just did this topic so I decided to do the books that everyone loves but I don't. I think a lot of book are over-hyped and even though I give them their fair chance, I don't always love them like everyone else. So here are a few of them: 

1. The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

2. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

3. Panic by Lauren Oliver

4. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

5. Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

6. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

7. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

8. These Broken Stars by Amy Kaufman Megan Spooner

9. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

10. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

I don't mean to step on anyone's toes with these books but I can't like what I don't like and we all have our own opinions and prefrences.  Do you sometimes feel this way with over-hyped books but feel afraid to say so? I sometimes feel afraid to say anything but it's important to speak up. Like I said, we're all entitled to our own opinions! 

Bout of Books Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Bout of Books 12 read-a-thon is now over and my reading was absolutely terrible! I only finished two books and they were graphic novels! 

As for total number of pages read the whole week it's probably pretty low but I'm still going to do a breakdown:

Amulet, Vol. 1: 192

Amulet, Vol. 2: 224

The Bone Season: 33

The Winner's Crime: 82 

Total pages read: 531

I also did a lot of audio book listening and I listened to 4 out of 5 parts of My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece (did you know it's narrated by David Tennant!!!!!). So I also listened to about 6 1/2 hours of book. Which I think is pretty good since I had almost no motivation to read at all! 

I also completed four out of the eight challenges which was what I really focused on during the week. Out of all the other Bout of Books read-a-thons that I participated in I never did any of the challenges before and I have to say they were really fun! I'm already getting excited for the next Bout of Books read-a-thon because participating in the challenges was really rewarding! 

If you guys participated in Bout of Books 12 I hope you did way better than I did but most importantly that you had a good time! Happy reading and until next time Bout of Books! 

Giveaway Friday: Legend and Champion by Marie Lu

Hey readers! Welcome to Giveaway Friday! I decided to start this weekly giveaway because I need to unload myself of some books! I'm getting married toward the end of this year which is very exciting. But that also means I will have to share my space with another human! So I'm trying to downsize my collection of books before that happens.  So come back every week to see what I'm giving away!

Rules and Terms and Conditions

• Giveaway will start Friday 12:01am (pacific standard time) and will last until Thursday 11:59pm (pacific standard time)
• Must be 13 years or older to enter
• US residents ONLY
• I am not responsible for any packages lost, stolen and/or damaged in the mail
• One set of entries per household
• PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE COMMENTS
• Winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter and will be notified the day after the giveaway ends
• Winner will be notified by email and given 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen
• If you have any questions or concerns about the giveaway, you can contact me by email
• My only requirement is that you follow the link to Facebook and like my Facebook page
• any extra entries are optional and are not required to be entered into the giveaway

Today's Giveaway:

I would have included Prodigy but I don't own it. I figure since I've owned Champion for over a year now and haven't read it, I'm probably never going to read it. But if you want to read it I want to give you that opportunity! One lucky winner will win one hardback copy of Legend and one hardback copy of Champion! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday (139)

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: Charlie, Presumed Dead
Author: Anne Heltzel
Hitting the Shelves: June 02, 2015

In Paris, family and friends gather to mourn the tragic passing of Charlie Price—young, handsome, charming, a world-traveler—who is presumed dead after an explosion. Authorities find only a bloodied jacket, ID’d as Charlie’s. At the funeral, two teens who are perfect strangers, Lena Whitney and Aubrey Boroughs, make another shocking discovery: they have both been dating Charlie, both think Charlie loved them and them alone, and there is a lot they didn’t know about their boyfriend. Over the next week, a mind-bending trip unfolds: first in London—then in Mumbai, Kerala, and Bangkok, the girls go in search of Charlie. Is he still alive? What did their love for him even mean? The truth is out there, but soon it becomes clear that the girls are harboring secrets of their own.

No one knows whom to trust in this thrilling tale of suspense and deception.

Why I want this: First of all, that cover is awesome and second of all, that synopsis just left me wanting to know what happened to this Charlie character and who is he really? I just want to know all the answers! I'm also a little hesitant. In 2011, I read Heltzel's first book Circle 9 and it was absolutly terrible! One of the worst books I read that year. But then again that was three years ago and hopefully her writing and storytelling has improved by leaps and bounds. Here's to hoping! 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2015 Debut Novels

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme of lists hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

I haven't really been keeping my ear to the wall when it comes to debut novels for 2015. I'm usually all about the new releases, whether they're debuts or not, so I really had to do a lot of research to come up with a good variety of debut novels. In the end, I didn't even come up with ten but I think this list is sufficient. 

1. The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

2. The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

3. Even When You Lie to Me by Jessica Alcott

4. In a World Just Right by Jen Brooks

5. The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

6. The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

7. The Girl on the Tran by Paula Hawkins

8. The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

Bout of Books 12 Sign Up Post

 

It's finally here! The first Bout of Books read-a-thon for 2015! Love these read-a-thons! These are the times that I like to challenge myself because it only lasts one week!

 

For Bout of Book 12 I'm trying to read two book and two graphic novels.

 

 

 

 

It's Bone Season that I'm worried it going to take the longest. If I finish these with time to read more, then I'm just going to read whatever I feel like. Or maybe Saga, Vol. 4. For this round of Bout of Book I'm participating the way it's intended. I'm going to try my best to participate in all the daily challenges and do wrap-ups every couple days or so. Wish me luck! 



Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Title: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Author: Leslye Walton
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: March 25, 2014
Source: Own
Find it Here: Amazon, Goodreads

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

My Thoughts: 

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a beautifully written book that captures the reader from the very first page. This book is so underrated on the blog scene and I would really like more people to know about it and to read it! Even though I just finished it at the beginning of this year, I already know it's one of my top books of 2015!

By the title of this book, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, you would think that it is mostly about Ava. Even though that's true in a sense and the book is narrated by Ava, the story takes the reader back all the way to Ava's great grandmother and sort of explains why the family is a little bit strange. I love that the story follows Ava's maternal line all the way back to France and tells how strange each and every one of her family members were. 

The story is beautiful and rich and jammed packed into just three hundred pages. I would imagine that for a book like this every single word is carefully picked. Each sentence creates an image for the reader and every paragraph seems necessary for the story to be complete. Every character is given somewhat of a back story to the point that there are literally no flat characters in this book. Everyone has their own unique story. 

I can't believe The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows is Leslye Walton's debut novel! I really hope she keeps writing and that she continues to dazzle readers with magical realism. She is an absolutely beautiful writer and I will definitely continue to read her work!

What Does the Bookworm Say? Reading Goals and Challenges

I've been thinking a lot about reading challenges and what I have challenged myself with in the past couple of years.  The Goodreads reading challenge is one that I've always used and set myself with an overall goal of books read throughout the year.  In the past, I've had a year where I completely exceed my reading challenge and another year where I completely fell short.  2014 I just barely made 100 books (total books read: 101). Because I challenged myself to read 100 books in 2014, my choice of which book to read next was often determined by that challenge and how fast I could read it. That means I put that really chunky book I've had my eye on aside; I didn't start reading Outlander when I became absolutely obsessed with the show. I haven't read Amy Poehler's Yes Please yet because it will probably take me more than a few days to get through and in 2014 I didn't want to spend that much time on one book.

Not this year Goodreads challenge. I'm going to go where the wind takes me this year and read what I feel like reading. I don't want to see that number constantly breathing down my neck every time I log in. I don't want to know if I'm behind on my reading. And you know what? There should be no behind or ahead in reading. Reading is reading and this year I want to go on some epic reading adventures. I'm going to read that chunky book even if it takes me a month.

With that being said, a found a really great challenge in 2014 that I'm going to participate in again. It's called the Full House Reading Challenge and it's hosted by The Book Date. It's a really great challenge because you can end up reading a variety of books. Books I would have never read, I read because of this challenge.

It's kind of like a bingo card and she switches it up every year. It really mixes up my reading and it's a nice relief when I get bogged down with all the YA that I read. Even though this is the only reading challenge I will be participating in this year, I still love to participate in read-a-thons. In fact, 'Bout of Books 12 starts on Monday and goes through Jan. 11.

2015 is going to be a good year for me! I'm going to read what I only really want to read and I'm not going to fall into the pit of overhyped books. I'm excited to see how 2015 unfolds and what the year will bring.

Are you participating in any reading challenges this year? Let me know in the comments!

What Can You Expect from Books Unbound in 2015?

It's a new year and I have some big plans for this blog in 2015!

First things first: I'm getting married this year! Do you know what that means? Lots of wedding pictures coming to the blog but that's not until the end of this year so we still have a little while.

Because I'm getting married this year, I'm also trying to downsize my book collection. I literally have so many books that I have but will probably never read, books that I've read and didn't like and books that I read but don't like enough to read again.  These are the books that I will be giving away every week over the course of 2015! So that means a giveaway literally every week!!

 



The very first giveaway Friday will go up on Friday January 9th! So one week from today I will have a giveaway posted!

Next order of business is Outlander! You guys, I LOVE Outlander! I have been so obsessed with it recently that I knew I had to do something on my blog that has to do with Outlander! If you guys haven't watched this show on Starz yet then you NEED to! It premiered on Starz on August 9 and has done very well! They've only released 8 episodes so far and will be returning for the second half of season 1 in April! I have already watched those 8 episodes twice!

 



So, in honor of Outlander being such a success on TV, a couple of blogger friends and I will be doing some sort of read along for the first book in the series, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon! If anyone else is interested and wants to participate, just let me know! Since February is a short month, I'm hoping to do the read along sometime in March. Needless to say, there will be a lot of Outlander talk on the blog this year!

What Does the Bookworm Say will also be continuing in 2015! It's one of my favorite features and I love discussing bookish topics! If you're not familiar with it, What Does the Bookworm Say is a feature that we post every other week where we each discuss the topic for that week.

There's another feature I could POSSIBLY be participating in with another blogger but everything hasn't been worked out yet. But as soon as I know, you will know!

As far as the types of books I'll be reading this year, I'll still be reading mostly YA but I'm also trying to read more adult fiction and non-fiction! I also need to get on those book to movie adaptations and actually make time to read the book then make more time to watch the movie. I really need to watch Gone Girl and Horns, both of which I read in 2014.

I only have two big author events on my calendar so far which are Y'all West which is April 11-12 in Santa Monica and ALA which is June 25-30 in San Francisco! With all my wedding stuff going on this year I don't know how many smaller author signings I'll be able to attend. Here's to another great year of blogging and reading and awesome books!