Never Always Sometimes : Adi Alsaid | BookTalk w/ @sslluvsbooks

Rating: 66%

Series: None

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult,

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Publication Date: August 4, 2015

Page Count: 308

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

The Book Depository | B&N | Goodreads | Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis: Never date your best friend.

Always be original.

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never dye your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

Disclaimer: On Loving the Language of Literacy, the term "BookTalk" refers to a thorough review of the novel plus a spoiler-filled discussion. 

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

Fans of Morgan Matson, Emery Lord, Robin Benway, Jenny Han & Rainbow Rowell

Background & Backstory?

I actually didn't intend to read this but was in the mood to get out of my school-induced reading slump, so I picked this up for a quick cutesy contemporary.

What Was My Reaction Upon Finishing?
Seriously?

Plot | 80%

Premise | 67%

Characters | 50%

Romance | 60%

Originality | 90%

Cover | 75%

Title | 55%

Feels | 40%

Writing Style | 57%

Pacing | 70%

Ending | 60%

How Likely Is It That I Will Read Another Book By This Author?

45% | I'm not certain I'll read Let's Get Lost simply because the feedback hasn't been stellar but I'll consider it if I'm in the mood for a road trip novel.

Conclusion: Never Always Sometimes was a cute, diverse contemporary with well an unpredictable, well-developed plot and characters.

{Book Review} On the Fence: Kasie West

Rating: 6.75/10
Series: None
Genre: Contemporary, Realistic, Romance, Young Adult, Fiction,
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Page Count: 294
Format: Paperback
Source: Library

Barnes & Nobles ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis: For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows—including her longtime neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world of makeup, lacy skirts, and BeDazzlers. Even stranger, she's spending time with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game.

To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their Fence Chats can't solve Charlie's biggest problem: she's falling for Braden. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

Fans of light, fluffy, and fun contemporary romance novels
The Distance Between Us: Kasie West ~ Anna and the French Kiss: Stephanie Perkins ~ Since You've Been Gone: Morgan Matson ~ This Song Will Save Your Life: Leila Sales

Would I Buy It?

30%
Because the re-readability isn't very high, neither is the possibility of me purchasing it. While On the Fence was a cute book, I don't think it will go down in history for its storyline. The cover and spine aren't the most appealing, to be displayed on my bookshelf either. 

Background & Backstory

Again, there isn't an elaborate back story to go with this book.... I am SO losing my touch. I did however read The Distance Between Us also by Kasie West which is what made me pick up On the Fence. 

What Was My Reaction After I Finished This Book?

Sequel is needed!

Pro ~ Cameos!!!: On the Fence could be considered a distantly related cousin to The Distance Between Us by Kasie West. In case you are wondering, I have read and guest reviewed TDBU on Divergent Gryffindor's blog, so you can click on this link to learn my thoughts about OtF's relative. It's set in the same town, well actually, the same strip of stores. Even though the book is centered around new characters, we do get cameos from Caymen and (her best friend) Skye which I was so happy about. They were extremely short, but then again, that's what a cameo is.

Con ~ Oblivious Main Character: One of my largest problems and other people's as well was how innocent and oblivious Charlie was when she was thrust into the world of femininity. It was similar to the children's book The Music of the Dolphins by Karen Hesse. The protagonist had been raised by dolphins and had never been into what we consider civilization before. She was fascinated with every unknown element that she came across with a child-like innocence that was completely understandable in the book. On the other hand, Kasie West -at least in my opinion- did not execute Charlie's discoveries with enough believability. I know she's grown up in a family with all boys.... but she's seriously NEVER had to dress up for ANYTHING before?

Pro ~ Incredibly Fast Pace: This is a YA Contemporary novel, which is Sofia-World means I either flew through it or it took me a week to read. In this case, it was the former. I started On the Fence on the walk down the hill from where my dad parked the car. I finished it around 8 at night. If you ask me, 12 hours is record time for being in school with lots of homework. Kasie West's writing  just rolled off your tongue, like chamomile tea infused with honey.... or maybe eyes, since I was reading silently. I was reading around two pages per minute, and loving every moment of it.

"Why do we pretend during the day that this doesn't happen?"

"Because this is like a dream. It doesn't have to be real. It almost feels like we're floating just outside of consciousness and we can say whatever we want, and in the morning, like with dreams, it just slowly melts away."

Con ~ Cliche Plot: Charlie gets introduced to the world of femininity by the summer job her father forces her to take in order to pay off speeding tickets. She is like a lost baby animal and is clueless most of the time. Yet, it is also a time of self-discovery and a personal journey that will prove to herself that she can like makeup and nice clothes, while still being the sporty, athletic girl that she is. She DOES NOT have to compromise one for the other. During this time, she starts "dating" a guy named Evan, but she comprises her integrity and values by changing who she appeared to be when she was around him. Of course, there is also Braden, her long-time friend and neighbor.... and he doesn't stay just that. You can fill in the rest of the information for yourself, it's the plot of a lot of Rom-Coms and movies about adolescent girls coming to terms with who they are and growing up.

Pro ~ Why that wasn't so bad: I had some issues with the plot.... okay looking through my notes, I have A LOT of issues with the plot. The flow of the story was very Disney Chanel-ey, the plot predictable, and done before. Yet what I had to do when reading On the Fence was separate myself from the storyline so I could focus purely on the feelings it gave me. I had to do this because of my harsh judgement of contemporary romance novels that don't have some paranormal, fantastical, or futuristic element to them. With OtF, I had to set aside my requirements and criteria for normal books and accept it for what it was.

Con ~ Forgettable Characters: The characters were a hassle at times too. Charlie was strong and tough, both physically and emotionally, but when she was so easily steered into the wrong direction (changing herself for a guy), I thought she was pretty pathetic. While I did have a sense of who she, Braden, and Gage were.... a lot of the second tier characters got jumbled up in my mind. Charlie is introduced to a lot of girls who she makes friends with, and they help her discover that girls talk about things OTHER than boys and makeup. Yet, for the life of me, I could not tell you the difference between them.

How Likely Is It That I Will Re-Read This Book?

20%
I'm pretty certain that I will not be re-reading On the Fence any time soon. It was funny and enjoyable, but there wasn't a gripping story that's making me want to come back for seconds. I can see OtF as the type of comfort-read I would turn to when I needed something happy, but that is the only scenario I can think of,

How Likely Is It That I Will Read Other Contemporary Novels By Kasie West?
80%
I have loved both of Kasie's contemporary novels in the way you can only love contemporary novels. You don't read them for the evangelic zeal of inspiration, or for the non-stop action and adventure. You read them because of the warm, fuzzy bunnies that appear only during young love. On that note, I will most definitely be reading The Fill in Boyfriend when it comes out Summer of 2015.

Conclusion:

What Were Your Thoughts On....?

-The cameos from The Distance Between Us

-The relationship between Charlie and Braden. Are they your new OTP?

-The cliche plot

-Charlie's deer-in-the-headlights reaction to femininity 

-The godawful cover and font

-The meaning behind "On the Fence"

{Book Review} Shatter Me #1: Tahereh Mafi

Rating: 8/10
Series: Shatter Me #1
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Dystopian, Young Adult, Fiction,
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: November 15, 2011
Page Count: 338
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

Goodreads Synopsis:
I have a curse
I have a gift

I am a monster
I'm more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

While this wasn't the BEST book I have ever read (*applauds* Congrats Sofia for having such a positive first sentence), it certainly is one of the most exhilarating, romance-filled, yet fast paced novels I have ever read. My first, pre-first point is that Shatter Me has had a lot on controversy surrounding it and people who have read it have either loved or hated the book. Personally, I was one of the ones that loved it.

Backstory Time:  It's past midnight on Monday, the 14th of July. Sofia (yes, it's third person time) has already finished two books in the time she has been awake that day. And instead of going to bed, what does Sofia do? She starts a new book which happens to be Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. *Fun Fact* Sofia had been wanting to read Shatter Me for a while now, and had borrowed it from the library, but she was not intending to start this specific book. Yet, she literally reached down to the floor (where the pile of books are *flips hair* obviously), and picked it up on a semi-whim. So then Sofia reads until almost 4 am and would have liked to keep reading, but was too tired to continue doing so, and promptly leaves off at 238 pages so she will have an even 100 more. The very next thing she does later that day (because it was past midnight) is pick up the book, and continues reading until completion at approximately 11:30 am. 

Writing Style: This is unlike any book I have ever read before. The text itself was crossed out in certain places for either a word, or a sentence, or even an entire page. I have only ever seen striked through text in Every You, Every Me by David Levithan, and the same rules applied in Shatter Me. Crossed out text is what the narrator truthfully thinks/wants to say versus what is actually said and done. On top of that, the phrases and quotes were beautifully lyrical, and the writing just flowed and almost gave off a whimsical feel.

Romance: There are two things most people in the bookish community hate. Number One - Instalove. Number Two - Love Triangles. Shatter Me.... had both of them. Yet, I personally think they made the story better. The romance played a huge part in the novel, and was one of the factors that drove the plot without Shatter Me being A. annoying or B. over-bearing. There are two love interests, Warner and Adam. Warner is the over-bearing obsessive and possessive 19 year old leader of Section 45. Adam, on the other hand, is the secretly rebellious soldier who works for Warner and has an instant connection with Juliette because of his connection with her because of her somewhat tragic past.  
Warner: As Sofia, 95% of the time, I gravitate towards the main character, and more commonly if the MC is a girl. Yet, that is not the case with Shatter Me. My favorite character in the book, as well as one of my favorite male characters of all time (he's seriously up there with Peeta, Day, Percy, etc). Don't ask me why I like him so much either. He is actually an extremely psychotic person, who is borderline creepy at times. If I were to try and compare him, I would say he was a much rougher and gruff Anden from the Legend if Anden were in the head of the military instead of the head of a country. *Sidenote: I do not count being a pilot as part of the military* Warner is a very.... twisted person that is twisted in an almost stalker-ish way. Then again, you really have to read the book in order to see his appeal, because the way I'm describing him to you.... is making him seem like the LAST character you want to read about.

World-Building: I am aware from some reviews that people had the impression that the world-building was poorly done. I loved the world that Tahereh has created. While it was a standard dystopian premise, I appreciated all of the details she gave us, and the intricate background. Occasionally, it felt like there was info-dumping, but I still enjoyed hearing about the rich structure and everything that had gone to hell.

 

Pace: In my personal reading experience, Shatter Me was one of those books where you open page one, and all of a sudden you look down and see that you are on page 67. I know that some might say it was too romance driven, or not enough political intrigue, and a number of other complaints, but something about Shatter Me made me feel like I was on an insane rollercoaster that was going 100 miles an hour (yet I didn't throw up which can be a huge downer). There just seemed to be event after revelation after plot twist after intense making out session.

Continuation 90%: I have already reserved the other two books in the trilogy and cannot wait to dig into them. I have heard that the series just gets better and better and that Ignite Me is one of the most explosive finales some people have ever read.

Conclusion: Shatter Me is a gorgeous novel with beautiful prose, detailed world-building, breakneck pace, and swoon worthy protagonists.

Book Buying & Bookshelf Organizing~ Musing Mondays (1)

This is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading where I can gripe about anything I want, because it's a freaking Monday.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits. • Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s). • What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!  • Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it. • Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us! • Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

My 1st Musing:
So, it all started one day in December on a day that happened to be my birthday. One of the gifts I was most grateful for was a $50 Giftcard to Powell's Books a widely-known Indie book store based in Portland Oregon. My mom had said, "But Sofia, you can buy used books too." The problem was that I didn't have books that I wanted to own that were old enough to be sold used, if that makes any sense. 

So, one ordinary Wednesday last week, I received the bi-monthly Scholastic Book Orders. I usually scoff at them, laughing, and say, "I belong to a much superior world and have either read all of you over-hyped up books, or heard of you." But this particular batch of book orders have some beauties. If you are unfamiliar with Scholastic Books, this is the wonderfully-amazing-awesome catch. 

The books are sold at discounted rates.

I'm not talking a measly 20% off, but 50% and sometimes even more. A brand new, hardback copy of Cress by Marissa Meyer for $12. The Runaway King, and The False Prince sold in a paperback bundle for $9. There are so many deals like that in the book orders that overwhelm my book-hungry eyes. 

Now comes the hard part. I have to convince my mother to take my $50 Powells Giftcard, and then give me $50 for the Scholastic Book Orders. I calculated the books I wanted the most. I could get 7 or more books for $50 using Scholastic, and 4...maybe 5 at Powells.

These are the books from the book orders I want to buy:

$12~Cress: Marissa Meyer
*$10~Inhuman: Kat Falls
$9~The Ascendance Trilogy (#1 & #2)
$8~The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight: Jennifer E. Smith
*$5~Stung: Bethany Wiggins
$6~Between Shades of Gray: Ruta Sepetys

*Or...I could buy these instead of those
$9~Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: Ransom Riggs
$5~Blindsided: Priscilla Cummings

What do you think? Am I giving my mom the short end of the bargain? Am I being a smart and savvy book buyer? That's up for you to decide, in the comments below.

My 2nd Musing: 

I organized my bookshelf this weekend! I have a whole new organization system now that I am very happy with. Before I start showing pictures and going on and on about how brilliantly I organized it. I want to get something out there. On twitter, I have seen some pics of other people's bookshelves, and my entire bookshelf matches their ARC collection only. I know others might say I have so many more books than they do. I don't want to cause a dispute, I'm just showing my bookshelf, and I'm not doing this to brag, or anything like that, I'm just showing you this because I am really excited about it. 

Here's a fun fact about me; I hate cleaning, or even picking up my room (my mom has had years of first-hand accounts with this fact). But this was one organizing project I was happy to do. Now when I say bookshelf, I am referring to the small three shelf one in my room. I have another one in the family room with all my favorite childhood picture books, and other books like that. Then downstairs, my mom has a humongous book shelf taking up one wall of the Living Room with so many books, and I don't even know what kind they are (I'm convinced there is a secret passageway behind it).

The Bottom Shelf is of all my series I own that may not be my very favorites, but still look very pretty on my bookshelf.
The Inkheart Trilogy: Cornelia Funke
Reckless & Fearless (The Mirrorworld Series): Cornelia Funke
Wonderstruck & The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Brian Selznik
Les Miserables: Victor Hugo
Anne of Green Gables: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Tomorrow Girls Quartet: Gray
Among the Hidden Series: Margaret Peterson Haddix
His Dark Materials Trilogy: Phillip Pullman

The Middle Shelf holds all of my most prized possessions.
A random fact about me is that I find a new bookish obsession every year around late Winter/early Spring.
2008: Harry Potter: J.K. Rowling
I remember my best friend telling me about this series, and me scoffing at it because she wasn't that good of a reader at the time an I even had to help her with the hard words. It started with my mom showing me the first 20 minutes, of The Sorcerer's Stone, then saying it was bedtime. That got me hooked. I read the entire series in this order: 2, 1, 7, 3, 4, 6, 5. Did I fully follow? No. Did I care? No.
2009: Percy Jackson: Rick Riordan
I remember thinking that nothing could live up to Harry Potter until I found Percy Jackson. Everything was hilarious, Percy was relatable, and I just fell in love. The weird thing is the entire time I was reading the series, I imagined Percy like Harry, Grover like Ron, and Annabeth like Hermione.
2010: The Mysterious Benedict Society: Trenton Lee Stewart
My mom used to read to me every night and this was one of our gems. I remember begging her to read me another chapter more times than I can count with this series. It was so quirky, fun, and perfect for me at the time.
2011: The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins
Now we travel into the Young Adult section.  I actually refused to let my mom know what this series was about for about two weeks after I finished it because I knew she would think it was a horrifying concept. Nevertheless, this was the launching pad for the reader I am today.
2012: Underland Chronicles: Suzanne Collins
I wanted more from Suzanne Collins, and where better to go than her Middle Grade series? There's a long story going with this one, but what I learned is to give books a chance no matter what your first impression. I loved Luxa and Gregor, they were my OTP even more than Katiss and Peeta because they were closer to my age.
2013: Legend: Marie Lu
I think we all know about this one. Legend is one of the best Young Adult novels I have ever read and will be even when I'm old and have read hundreds of others. I really don't need to say any more because you know how crazy I am.
2014: ?????? I have no idea what this years obsession is going to be other than -according to past experience- it's supposed to come soon.

The Top Shelf consists of my physical TBR list, and all the Standalones that I own that I love and/or books in series that I only own one book of (no grammatical sense whatsoever).
I don't want to bore you to death, but I'm going to share some stories about a few of these.

The Lost Children is one of my favorite Middle Grade books of all time. If you have any kid you need to get a gift for ages 8-12, you HAVE to get them this book. It was so gripping, suspenseful, mysterious, captivating, and everything else a little kid could want for.

 Moon Over Manifest was also one of the many books my mom had read to me, and it was one of our favorites. I don't remember much, but what I do recall is that the book went between two time periods, and it was a mystery I would give 4 ink jars to. If you want a book for a slightly quirky kid, then this will definitely be it.

The Limit was one of my first-ever futuristic, evil government books way before The Hunger Games. It was very suspenseful, and action-packed (in my memory), and let me tell you, the ending is a HUGE surprise. This was also one of my first-ever books that I read in one sitting, if you can call it that since I was reading in the bathtub (I was a weird kid).

This isn't part of bookshelf, but it is a huge part of me keeping track of my books. This is my trusty little Library Basket, which is pretty explanatory. From a young age, my mom made me put all my library books in it after every haul because I was notorious for losing library books.

While doing this, you can imagine I got a little misty. It was like re-discovering lost treasure as I looked at books that had been my bestest friends when I was little. I saw some of my childhood beauties and it was nostalgia galore of all the feels I had way back when.

Have you organized your bookshelf recently? If so, how do you organize it? By genre? Title? Author? TBR order? Leave it in the comments below and have a great Monday (although who am I kidding,it's MONDAY).

The Sunday Post (4) + Stacking the Shelves (6)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on the blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Loving the Language of Literacy Lookout and Lookback:
-I have a bunch of new blog graphics all thanks to the amazing Laura @ Laura Plus Books. She is so nice, and cooperative, and does great blog graphics for FREE on Laura Plus Designs! She endured my insaneness when I was trying to figure out the image slider, and it took A LOT of patience to deal with that. Laura made the signature for this, post graphics, follow me buttons, and so much more. If your blog needs designs, then she is the person to go to.
-I apologize for two weeks ago, I have had a lot of personal issues and stress, and got a pitiful post count of two up. Not my finest blogging hour. This week as you can see, I have improved and gotten a lot more posts up.
-I am starting to do a TON of memes. Don't worry, all my review schedule is staying the same, as well as Spontaneous Saturday, The Sunday Post, and everything else. I just want Loving the Language of Literacy to constantly have new content. My schedule isn't finalized, and I still need to schedule a lot, but you will be seeing multiple posts a day now!
-I know I said the Fight For the Future transcription would be up a lot sooner, but I have been so overwhelmed, the entire month of Feburary has been one hec of a month. I made the decision to make it a two or even three part post because of how much footage I have. Part One will be up this week if not next. 
-If you have any ideas for a Spontaneous Saturday post, blog features, post requests, or anything else, leave it in the comments below, tweet me @sslluvsbooks, or shoot me an email at sslluvsbooks@gmail.com.

She also made this amazing header-ish-thing with an original quote :)

Blog Button w/ grab code in sidebar :)

The CUTEST rating system this side of the Mississippi

2/10-2/22 Posts

• {Blog Tour+Giveaway} A Touch of Honor: J.P. Grider-3 ink jars
• {ARC Review} The Tyrant's Daughter: J.C. Carleson-5 ink jars
• Reasons I Love Being a Blogger/Reader: Top 10 Tuesday
• Edna in the Desert: Maddy Lederman-4 ink jars
• {Blog Tour+Interview+Giveaway} Butterman (Time) Travel-4 ink jars
• {Blog Tour+Giveaway} Reaper's Rhythm: Clare Davidson-3 ink jars

Projected Posts 2/23-3/1
*This week will be very high-pressure with Math Field Day Practice three times, multiple Standardized Tests, and more. Therefore, I am trying to schedule everything, but I make no promises. Everything will be a lot more structured and regular once I get into March. I know it looks a but ambitious, but I am DETERMINED to get this scheduling thing down this weekend*

Monday: 
-{ARC Review} Fire and Flood: Victoria Scott
-*song choice tentative~ Music Monday (1)
-Scholastic Book Orders Vs. Powells Books~ Musing Mondays (1)
Tuesday: 
-Top 10 Tuesday REWIND
-Reader's Workouts (1)
Wednesday: 
-{FEELS Review} This Song Will Save Your Life: Leila Sales
-WWW Wednesday (1)
Thursday: 
-Discussion Thursday:
-Whats Next (1)
-Wild Card~ Characterize It  (1)
*Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts (1)
Friday: 
-{Blog Tour+Giveaway} Peaceful Genocide: J.A. Reynolds
*Feature and Follow Friday (2)
*Falling Behind on Firday (1)
Saturday: 
Spontaneous Saturday: *tentative title* Fight For the Future with Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner, Margaret Stohl, and Marie Lu (PART: 1)

*Tentative Posts

Books Read 2/10-2/22:
-This Song Will Save Your Life: Leila Sales
-Steelheart: Brandon Sanderson
-A Touch of Honor: J.P. Grider
-The Tyrant's Daughter: J.C. Carleson
-Moon at Nine: Deborah Ellis
-The Geography of You and Me: Jennifer E. Smith

Upcoming Blog Tours:
2/28 Peaceful Genocide: J.A. Reynolds
3/7 Journey to Landaran: Judy Goodwin

3/14 A Chance of Love: Karolyn James

3/17: Alliance: Aubrie Dionne

3/21 The Making of Nebraska Brown

3/28:The Prophecy: S.P. Cervantes

Giveaways:
-ENDS 2/26/14 {Blog Tour + Interview} Butterman (Time) Travel Inc: $10 Amazon GC, T-Shirt, Bettie Bookpage Ornament
-ENDS 2/31/14 {Blog Tour + Review} EKHO: Marie D. Jones: $25 Amazon GC 

Stacking the Shelves

"Stacking the Shelves" is a meme when you list the books you've added to your shelves, virtual, physical, or whatever shape or form you get them. I am now combining "Stacking the Shelves" with the "Sunday Post" because it is so much a personal preference about when and what you post "Stacking the Shelves" with. I am doing this meme once a week, so you will probably see nothing but library books because originally, I only did "Stacking the Shelves" as an every-time-I-go-to-the-library thing. As people may know, “Stacking the Shelves” posts are hosted by “Tynga's Reviews”  

{Disclaimer: I am in no means trying to brag about what I got, and merely shared this post for the benefit of my followers seeing what I so generously received, and as a favor to the lovely people that sent me things}

Books I Received for Blog Tours:
Journey to Landaran: Judy Goodwin

Books I Bought (I went a little crazy with the kindle daily deals):
The Archived: Victoria Shwab
Catalyst: Laurie Halse Anderson
Origin: Jessica Khoury
My Life Next Door: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Where the Stars Still Shine: Trish Doller

Books I Received from Netgalley: 

Fire and Flood: Victoria Scott
Me Since You: Laura Wiess
Riot: Sarah Mussi
Moon at Nine: Deborah Ellison
The Shadow Throne: Jennifer Nielsen

Books I got some other way:
{lent} The House of Hades: Rick Riordan
{giveaway} ARC The Geography of You and Me: Jennifer E. Smith
{giveaway} This is What Happiness Looks Like: Jennifer E. Smith

I would like to send out the biggest thanks to Scholastic, Little Brown for Your Readers, MTV Books, Jayne @ Fiction_TheNewReality, Pajama Press, and my friend Aimi.