Stacking the Shelves (20)

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!

I got a little crazy this week at the library and ended up with a whole mess of books to read!

Library:

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

Perception by Kim Harrington

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle

For Review:

Out of the Shadow by J.S. Winn

What new books are stacking your shelves?

Top of My Pile (9)

Hey there and welcome to Top of My Pile! I decided to start this post because I often times feel the need to talk about the book that I'm currently reading and throw out some of the thoughts I have before I finish it! I usually have all these crazy theories about how the story is going to end or what's going to happen to the main characters. But by the time I get around to writing my review, I forget what was swirling around in my head. So that's why I started this new Saturday post. It also gives me a chance to let you know what I read this week and also, what I'm planning on reading next.

Time change is not usually this hard for me but I've had a rough week of headaches and feeling really tired.  Yesterday and today I've been feeling much better and I look forward to a great week next week of blogging and reading!

Currently Reading:

Renegade by J.A. Souders

I'm about 100 pages into Renegade and I'm really loving it! I'm excited to see where this story leads and learn the truth about Elysium and Mother. 

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So I just discovered that I can download the Nook app to my iPhone and then read ebooks on my phone! So the first book I decided to read on my phone is Onyx and boy am I loving it! Daemon is so freaking hot and I love it when he calls Katy Kitten.  I just melt!! If you get a chance head over to the Entangled website and vote Los Angeles for the Opal release party!

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

This month for book club we are reading Birdsong. I'm about 50 pages in and I really like it so far. It has some elements that remind me of A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemingway which is the first book that ever made me cry. 

Reading this week:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

I've set a noble goal for myself this week to, hopefully make up for last week. But I figured I have a lot of time to kill this week so I might as well read! Have a great week!

Waiting on Wednesday (77)

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 Archived
Author: Victoria Schwab
Hitting the Shelves: January 22, 2013

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous-it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

Middle Grade Monday: Framed & Dangerous by Kim Harrington

Hey! Welcome to Middle Grade Monday, a weekly feature I started to talk about anything middle grade bookish related! I never thought I would really enjoy middle grade novels but after reading my first one this year, I was hooked! Since I review mainly YA on this blog, I didn't want the middle grade reviews to get shuffled in with the YA books so I decided to create this feature!

Title: Framed & Dangerous
Author: Kim Harrington
Series: Sleuth or Dare #3
Publisher: Scholastic
Find it here: B&N, Goodreads, Mysterious Galaxy
Source: Purchased

Who's the culprit?

Norah and Darcy are still in a fight, but crime doesn't stop just because the girls aren't speaking. Someone has set fire to their school's brand-new field house. And the prime suspect is Zane Munro, the cute boy Norah can't help crushing on.

When Zane asks Partners in Crime for help, Norah and Darcy must band together to investigate. Norah knows Zane is innocent, but the clues are not in his favor. Can she and Darcy mend their friendship, crack the case, and clear Zane's name before it's too late?

My thoughts:

I love this really cute series! It's full of fun, adventure and two super smart girls who can kick butt and solve awesome mysteries! These are such great books for kids who are not yet teenagers but are looking for something a little more exciting to read! 

Norah and Darcy are one the scene again when the new field house at their school goes up in smokes.  Norah puts all her effort into the case when Zane, the boy she's been crushing on, is framed as the main suspect.  Partners in Crime is also trying to solve a case over fifty years old that turned into an urban legend called the Prom Killer. I love how they had to go into the library and look at the old newspaper clippings on the microfiche.  Digging into the past was one of my favorite parts of this book!

Norah and Darcy have a great friendship and are able to work through the bumps they experience.  They don't just throw their friendship away when they have a miss-communication but they talk about their differences. They're a great team and I love reading about the mysteries they solve! I give Framed & Dangerous 4 hearts!

Stacking the Shelves (19)

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!

Just one book for me this week!

Repotting Harry Potter: A Professor's Book-by-Books Guide for the Serious Re-Reader by James W. Thomas

What new books are stacking your shelves?

Top of My Pile (8)

Hey there and welcome to Top of My Pile! I decided to start this post because I often times feel the need to talk about the book that I'm currently reading and throw out some of the thoughts I have before I finish it! I usually have all these crazy theories about how the story is going to end or what's going to happen to the main characters. But by the time I get around to writing my review, I forget what was swirling around in my head. So that's why I started this new Saturday post. It also gives me a chance to let you know what I read this week and also, what I'm planning on reading next.

It's a little bit late in the day but I thought I would post this anyway! I did some excellent reading this week and I read everything that I wanted to read! So I wanted to keep the momentum going and let you guys know what's going on.

Currently Reading:

Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Gustav Gloom and the People Taker by Adam-Troy Castro

Reading this week:

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Renegade by J.A. Souders

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler

Weekly Wrap-Up:

Sunday I showed you the new books Stacking my Shelves

Middle Grade Monday I reviewed Little Magic Shop of Horrors by Annette and Gina Cascone

Tuesday I gave you my Top Ten list of kick-ass heroines

Wednesday I waited on The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

Thursday I reviewed The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Review: The Golden Lily

Title: The Golden Lily
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #3
Publisher: Razorbill
Find it here: Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Mysterious Galaxy
Source: Purchased

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.

But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.

Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?

My thoughts: 

I want to start this by saying that Richelle Mead writes the most amazing stories! I have yet to read one of her books that I don’t like! I've read all the Vampire Academy novels, the first and second in the Bloodlines series and I’m getting ready to start the second book in her Succubus series. I love them all! I just can’t get enough! You can bet that I will be buying the first book in her newest series, Gameboard of the Gods!

So pretty much in The Golden Lily, vampire hunters are after Sonia because they don’t believe that she is truly restored and Sydney is fighting her inner conscience about possibly using magic. That’s pretty much all that happens. Little side stories here and there, Adrian trying to be a better Adrian and of course the awesome ending and DIMITRI!

I love when I get to immerse myself with this world that I love so much. At first, Sydney was just an okay character for me when we first met her in the Vampire Academy series. But now I’m really starting to love her! She’s always looking out for other people while constantly reminding herself that she needs to keep everything professional because it’s her job. I also love her internal struggle and conversations with herself about magic. I knew it was just a matter of time before she gave in! The one thing that always annoys me is when she thinks she needs to be on a diet because being a size 2 isn't skinny enough. I HATE that! I wanted to give Adrian a big high five when he told her that she could stand to gain a few pounds! And speaking of Adrian and Sydney together!! We’re finally getting some sparks and passion! Dimitri is, of course, perfect and I just love how he always plays the protector role!

Needless to say, Bloodlines is one of my favorite series and The Golden Lily was just spectacular! I have to give The Golden Lily 5 hearts because I am on the edge of my seat waiting for The Indigo Spell!!