Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• The Queen Of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter (purchased)
• The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan & Maureen Johnson (purchased)
• Four by Veronica Roth (purchased)
• Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer (purchased)
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner (purchased)
• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (purchased)
• The Death Cure by James Dashner (purchased)
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased)

It happened again. It’s been months since I’ve posted one of these. Work’s been busy, life’s been busy–I’ve just been super time poor. Also, I haven’t bought that many books. I’ve just been letting the few I’ve gotten accumulate in a pile before I tackled the task of finding somewhere on my over-stuffed shelves to squeeze them in. Personally, I think I need a whole new set of bookshelves. My current ones are looking ready to fall apart. I’d really like to get some built-in ones–wall to ceiling once I’ve built my own house. I think that would look awesome.

For now, though, I’m just getting more books. I don’t really know when I’ll read any of these as I’ve read only the first of Gena Showalter, Veronica Roth and Brigid Kemmerer’s books and none of the other series yet–oh, except for The Mortal Instruments, so I could potentially jump into Magnus’ bunch of stories anytime. I just need to get in the mood for a giant book. I’ve actually just finished reading Sarah Rees Brennan’s Unmade, the final in that trilogy. My review will come soon as I’ve thought it up. It’s just so hot this weekend, that I can’t really bare to sit a the computer for an extended period. I need ice cream, and I need it NOW. With that said, I’ll leave you to your stinking hot weekends–or chilly, depending on which side of the world you’re on.

So, what books have you gotten lately? Let me know what I should be checking out in the comments.

Title: Sinner (Wolves Of Mercy Falls #4)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: July, 2014 by Scholastic
Pages: 357
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

A standalone companion book to the internationally bestselling Shiver Trilogy.

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole’s story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole’s darkest secret — his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel’s life. Can this sinner be saved?

Final Thoughts:
Given how sparsely the werewolf aspect came into play, this book was basically a contemporary. Don’t get me wrong, I love contemporaries, but stepping back into the series after the events of Forever, it took a moment to adjust to the change in pace. While I didn’t fall in love with the book, I still enjoyed it for what it gave us: Cole and Isabel as semi-adults—the in-between stage. I wasn’t entirely sure whether I agreed with them as a couple, they clearly cared about each other, but it was hard when there were just so many angsty interruptions. I wanted something I could root for, the moments that make you love what you’re reading, but Sinner just didn’t get there for me.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• City Of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (purchased)
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased)
• Broken by CJ Lyons (purchased)
• Secret by Brigid Kemmerer (purchased)
• Take Me On by Katie McGarry (purchased)
• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (purchased)

Firstly, CoHF, why is that book so large? It looks good on my shelf, but I was so tired after reading it. I feel like it could’ve crushed me if I’d fell asleep reading it in bed. I mean, I enjoyed it, but it just could have been shorter. I needed to read a Rainbow Rowell book after it to recharge.

I found the other two hardcovers, Broken and The Dream Thieves for $8 each at an independent secondhand bookstore I just discovered in a residential side-street. I’ll be going back there. There wasn’t a huge selection, but it was fun seeing what random YA books they had sitting in a tall stack there.

I picked up Take Me On last weekend during Big W’s 10% off sale. I’m still yet to start the series, though, so it’ll be gathering dust on my shelf for a while. However, after how much I loved Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door went straight to the top of my to-read list as soon as it arrived. I’m either starting it today or tomorrow depending on whether I get sucked into watching a Nikita marathon this afternoon. I just finished Fringe yesterday, so Nikita‘s next on my list of TV to watch.

Here’s what Joey and I have been reading this week:
Clare, Cassandra City Of Heavenly Fire – This ate up practically my whole weekend.
Haas, Abilgail Dangerous Girls – Joey took this one on to see what all the hype was about.

So, what books have you gotten lately? Which books would you recommend I read first? Let me know in the comments.

Touch Jus Accardo	Warm Bodies Isaac Marion	Dawn Of Darkness Daniel A. Kaine
If I Die Rachel Vincent	Stick Andrew Smith	Burn Bright Marianne de Pierres
Forever Maggie Stiefvater	Black Swan Rising Lee Carroll	All These Things I’ve Done Gabrielle Zevin
Raised By Wolves Jennifer Lynn Barnes	The Demon’s Surrender Sarah Rees Brennan	White Cat Holly Black
Alpha Rachel Vincent	City Of Fallen Angels* Cassandra Clare	Unraveled* Gena Showalter

* Review not available

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Stick by Andrew Smith (purchased) – My Review
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased)
• The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (purchased)
• Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry (purchased)

I reached my goal of reading 100 books in 2011 a couple days ago with Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. The goal seemed a little crazy to me at the start of the year as I think I read all of five books in 2010. Anyway, onto my mailbox. I read the galley of Stick a couple weeks ago and thought it was a real heart-wrencher. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for hours after I finished it. I ended up ordering myself this hardcopy mid-way through typing up my review. The Scorpio Races was an auto-buy for me. I’ve loved Maggie’s other work so I had to get my hands on this. Unfortunately, I’ve heard some not-so-great things about it, but I’ll give it a try. I still haven’t even started The Iron Fey series, but I had to get myself a copy. I love the cover too much. Rot & Ruin is a lot thicker than I thought it would be. But that’s a good thing. I’ve been wanting to dive into the zombie genre for a while. That’s probably why I’m currently reading Warm Bodies.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Moone, April, Strawberries and the Beast
Oliver, Jana The Demon Trappers #2, Forbidden
Smith-Ready, Jeri Shade #1, Shade

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!

It was another one of those sleep deprived nights as I got up early for the three hour drive to Brisbane on Saturday morning for the Brisbane Writers Festival. With Brittany from Nice Girls Read Books, I had my first attempt at driving in the middle of the city. Fun. We made it home in one piece and that’s the main thing. We’d been waiting for a month or so for Maggie Stiefvater’s workshop. It was a ticketed event limited to 16 people, and not everyone turned up, so it was an intimate setting. The two hour workshop flew by extremely quick. It was really relaxed with Maggie throwing back and forth around the small meeting room, letting each of us talk about what we’d been working on and asking her anything we liked.

I took down a lot of notes as she discussed a heap of things from plotting to characters and the elusive gimme points. It was a lot of fun. She had so much energy bursting from her that it felt nothing like a lecture. It was just her and us. She had her boarding pass with her which she’d used to scribble all over with a sharpie, full of various discussion topics. She talked about writing as a roadtrip where you know your destination but if you come across somewhere random like Little Norway along the way, you just have to check it out, even it turns out to be something completely worth avoiding.

Melissa from Spellbound By Books was also at the workshop too, so we got to meet up with her again. She’s become our Brisbane blogger friend that we keep catching up with. It was weird, but when we walked into the State Library, even though it was packed, we stumbled right into her. It happened twice too, after lunch as well. We should probably exchange numbers instead of relying on coincidence. Before Maggie had to leave, she stuck around after the allotted time and signed everyone’s books. I’d brought eight with me since I have both UK paperbacks and US hardcovers of the Wolves Of Mercy Falls series. She even signed the front of the cardboard box that houses the hardcovers so I can display her signature without having to flip open the books.

After Maggie, the three of us got tickets and went into Super Natural Superstars panel. Australian authors Marianne de Pierres and Trent Jamieson were there doing a Q&A. They talked about Spec Fic and crossing over between genres. They also discussed things like the Australian book industry and developing a network of people for researching and critiquing. The main point seemed to be that you need to be willing to ask others, as they’re usually happy to help. Marianne said that you need to get the people around you to realise that writing is a part of your life and you take it seriously. Because if you really want to write, you’ll find the time.

After it ended, we dashed out of the room and got to the very of the signing line downstairs. Marianne was so easy to talk to, and has a very distinctive Australian accent. She reminds me of someone but I’m struggling to figure out who. She hopped out from behind the desk for each of us so we could take our photos, which was awesome of her. I can’t wait to finish off Burn Bright now!

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased) – My Review
• Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased) – My Review
• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (purchased) – My Review
• Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake (won – thanks Jena @ Shortie Says)
• Mammon by J.B. Thomas (purchased)
• My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares (purchased)
• Unwelcome by Michael Griffo (thanks to publishers) – My Review
• Forbidden by Jana Oliver (thanks to publishers)
• Twisted by Gena Showalter (purchased)
• Guardian Of The Dead by Karen Healey (won – thanks Ange @ Moonlight Reader)
• Beastly by Aliex Flinn (won – thanks Holly @ In Interest)
• Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (purchased)
• Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart (purchased)
• Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent (purchased)

I met Maggie yesterday and got eight books signed, the five paperbacks I had, and this hardcover set. She even signed the front of the box that they go in. I got a few of my giveaway wins this week. I especially can’t wait to start on Anna Dressed In Blood. I received a couple review books too. Thanks to Kensington for Unwelcome, which I just reviewed a few days ago. I’ll be reviewing Forsaken and Forbidden next week after I finish Burn Bright which I’m half way through at the moment. I’ve been waiting on Twisted for a while. I love the Intertwined series so I’ll be pushing that up in my TBR so I can get it to it soon. I bought My Name Is Memory on a whim, it looks like a clone of Fallen with matching character names and similar blurb. And lastly Blood Bound, it’s another I have to make time for. I love Rachel’s books, so I’m hoping I’ll get just as addicted to her new series.

Here are my reviews from the past week:
Griffo, Michael Archangel Academy #2, Unwelcome
Stiefvater, Maggie Books Of Faerie #2, Ballad

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!