ARCs ARCs ARCs!

Sara at Babbling Flow is having a gigantic ARC contest - 

August 18 - September 8, 2010 - you have to stop by and check it out!

Here ya go!

A set of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (hardcover) andBEAUTIFUL DARKNESS(ARC)! BOTH are signed by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl!!

These books are awesome. Seriously awesome. If you haven't already read BC, you're crazy in my book ;-) And BD... well, all I can say is wow. It releases in October (Little Brown), but you so want to read it sooner if you can!

An ARC of NIGHTSHADE, by Andrea Cremer.

First of all, the book has one of the best covers... EVER. Second, it doesn't let you down in the pages!

"While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats." Uh, yeah. Enough said! (October 19, Philomel)

An ARC of ROT & RUIN, by Jonathan Maberry.

With a tagline like "Benny Imura couldn't hold a job, so he took to killing" who wouldn't want to read this?

Growing up in a zombie-infested world, Benny reluctantly agrees to train as a zombie killer, but ends up discovering what it really means to be human.  (October 5, Simon & Schuster)

An ARC of THE UNIDENTIFIED, by Rae Mariz.

A funny and sharp novel in which 15-year-old Katey goes to school in the Game: a mall converted into a "school" run by corporate sponsors. Except she finds out she doesn't have rights to her ideas, her privacy, or her identity--and that's notokay with her. (October 5, Balzer + Bray)

An ARC of HALT'S PERIL, by John Flanagan.

For all you Ranger's Apprentice lovers (of which there are many, over 2 million of these books have been sold, holy moly!) this is the ninth installment in the series. In this one: the false prophet of the Outsider cult escaped, and Halt is determined to stop him before he crosses the border. (October 5, Philomel)

An ARC of THE GOBLIN GATE, by Hilari Bell.

This is the highly anticipated sequel to The Goblin Wood! Jeriah is thrust into a tangled web of political intrigue when he uncovers a dangerous secret--one that could change the fate of an entire kingdom! (October 5, Harper Teen)




An ARC of JANE, by April Lindner.

This is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre--except in this one, Jane falls in love with a rockstar! Too bad they're haunted by a torturous secret from his past. (October 11, Poppy)

An ARC of THE WINDS OF HEAVEN, by Judith Clarke.

Clarke, a Printz Honor winner, tells the compelling tale of Clementine and Fan: cousins and best friends. But when the summer's over, small tragedies threaten to tear them apart from each other... and themselves. (September 28, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

These are the books that she is giving away! I can't wait - I soooooooo hope that I win!  So many amazing titles!

It's a late In My Mailbox! August 18, 2010

I realize that it is not Monday, but I wanted to post an In My Mailbox because I have been getting some of the greatest books - - from all kinds of places!!!

I recently had company (my boyfriend's family) and his mother was reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.  When she finished it she gave it to me.  I thought that was sweet.  I have not read this one and so I have added it to my TBR Mountain.

Before the in-laws, so-to-speak, my family was here for my gramma's funeral.  While I was waiting for my sister's flight I wandered into the airport news shop and just had to buy a book.  Does that happen to you?  Anyway - I bought Catherine Coulter's Knock Out.  Of course they called the arrival of the flight and I didn't even open the book.  Too busy with everything that was going on to read it, it too has been added to my TBR mountain.

While I was spending time with my family, my dad mentioned that he had a number of books that he had finished, he doesn't have the same "keep all your books issue" that I do and he asked me if I would like to add a few to my library.  Of course I said sure and so these four books have found their way onto my TBR mountain as well.  

I have been incredibly lucky with the giveaways too! These are the books that I have won recently and have arrived in my mail this week.  

I won: Other from Katelyn at The Bookshelf Sophisticate,

I am Number Four from June G at Writing is a Blessing,

Flash of the Firefly from Rebecca Wolfe,

Mind Games from Chasity at LLL808,

Eternal Ones from Kari at A Good Addiction, and

Infinite Days from Felicia at The Geeky Blogger.

Thanks so much for all the great books!  Be sure to click on the links here to go check out their blogs!

I also won The Holy Reaper from Roxanne at Fang-tastic Books and The Hunted 2060 from Karissa at Karissa's Book Blog, but I don't have pictures of them yet.  You can find a pic of Hunted 2060 on Amazon, but it isn't the cover I have and this one is so much better I wanted to wait and post the actual cover with my review later.  Thanks to both of these bloggers too - and remember to check them out as well!

Review: Shapeshifter by Holly Bennett

I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers Group.

Shapeshifter by Holly Bennett is an incredible story.  It tells of loyalty, determination, love, fear, control, and desire.  It is the story of a girl, a shapeshifter girl, but of so very much more than that.  I am not sure what I was expecting when I opened the cover of this book, but what I got was amazing.  I fell in love with the characters.  The names, not so much - but I think there is meaning in them too.  The main character, Sive, is stronger than she could ever imagine.  It is this strength that in so many ways is both her downfall and her saving grace.  Sive is a powerful singer with a magical voice and once the Dark Man hears her, her life changes forever.  The Dark Man - obviously the villain, is everything you expect the bad guy to be, in spades.  He is treacherous and cold, cunning and evil and will stop at nothing to have the power of Sive's voice.  Sive's father is one of my favorite characters, he makes me think of my own father, those incredible men who would stop at nothing to save their children.  I would have liked to learn more about Sive and Finn's son, Oisin.   I truly enjoyed the story, although it is sad in so many ways.  I was, as I always am, hoping for the happy ending - and I wasn't disappointed.

Mini Review: Moira Rogers - Down and Dirty Series

I love Moira Rogers books - just wanted to start my post with that statement, because I didn't love this mini-series.  They are short novellas and although I have loved everything else I have read by her - these just didn't have enough story for me.
I try to do my reviews with the WWW theory.
W: Why did I pick it up? I picked these up because I love her stuff and thought I would try them.  (Why did I read all three when I wasn't loving them? Because I wanted to see if there was more story in the next one, and then the next one).
W: What did I like about it? I love the characters.  Moira Rogers always builds a character that pretty much demands that you like her.  The men are always gorgeous and the women are always strong.

W: What didn't I like about it? I didn't like that I thought there was too much sex and not enough story.
Although these weren't my favorite reads of the summer - I will still grab the next Moira Rogers book I see and read that too!

Huge giveaway from In Which A Girl Reads!

Meg at In Which a Girl Reads is hosting a gigantic giveaway!

A very humongous blogoversary contest

It's a blogerversay contest!

There will be three lucky winners who get to choose from a pile of 25 books that you see above. 

Three winners: 
1. First winner gets choice of 3 books from pile
2. Second winner gets choice of 2 books remaining in pile
3. Third winner gets choice of 1 book remaining from pile

You have to check this one out!

It's Friday and I am hoppin'! August 13 - 16, 2010

It's Friday - last Friday I got my post together and didn't get a chance to hop or follow - so this Friday I am starting earlier - it is only barely Friday - just 20 past midnight and so I am hoppin' now and hope to hop again late Friday night, early Saturday morning!  Hope you are all getting the chance to hop too!

Crazy For Books hosts the Book Blogger Hop and Parajunkee hosts the Friday Follow!

I am hoping to start posting all my reviews on Saturday - so check back and see what I have been reading!

This week the question is: How many books do you have on your TBR?  

The answer to that question is so far out my my ability to answer that it shouldn't even be funny, but it is.  I remember a time when I had a TBR stack or pile.  Now I have shelves, piles, stacks, lists, boxes, and I am so far behind in reading all the books I want to read that I fear I will never catch up.  I am sure that if I quit buying and borrowing books, blogging, working, cooking, cleaning, eating, sleeping, and having any kind of social interaction with humans - I could finish reading all the books that I have in my TBR mountain in the next say three/four years.  Of course I could be wrong.  I hope your stack isn't like that too.