In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly blog post hosted by Kirsti over at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

Well I did go to Borders this weekend since they're closing forever and I wanted to be able to get a few more books before that happens. And sure enough the whole parking lot was filled! Made me so freaking mad that now that they're closing people decide to shop there. And the sale prices weren't stellar. It started at 10% for books and whatnot. Magazines were the only 40% that I saw. Soooo irritating!! Was super p-oed that these people were shopping there all of a sudden. Borders gave great discounts prior to their closing sale. Heck, better ones!

Okay, enough ranting. Sorry! Had to get that out!

Anyways here's what I got this week. I went to Amazon first and bought a few ebooks I've had my eye on since I thought this was going to be a bad week for book getting, anyway I bought:

Fate by Amanda Hocking

Flutter by Amanda Hocking

Wisdom by Amanda Hocking

Virtue by Amanda Hocking

Violet Tendencies by Jaye Wells

Happily Never After by Jeaniene Frost

I got all these for around $16 on my Kindle!

Then I was actually at Marshalls browsing their book selection and came across some steals!

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Night World Omnibus #3 by L. J. Smith

Hex Hall was on clearance for $4 and the Night World Omnibus which has 3 of the Night World books was marked down to $2!!

So after I bought those I had to hurry down to Borders and buy these:

Night World Omnibus #1 by L.J. Smith

Night World Omnibus #2 by L.J. Smith

Dark Visions Omnibus by L.J. Smith

Since my Rewards Plus membership is still good I got an extra 10% and Dark Visions was clearanced at $3.99 I ended up paying about $20 for 3 compilations containing 3 books each, that's like $20 for 9 books!!

Then in the mail I got my SIGNED copy of The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter from Christy@The Reader Bee:

Thanks again, Christy!

Then in the mail came a SIGNED copy of Burn the Night by Jocelynn Drake from Jocelynn!

Thanks so much, Jocelynn!!

And that was my mailbox for the week! What did you get?

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Here's a little info about the meme taken from Larissa's blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: FAVORITE UF COVERS!

*in no particular order

Viper Moon by Lee Roland

Okay, I haven't read this one yet, but I looove the cover! It's just so UF! The kick-a$$ heroine in leather with her gun and a dark background!! So can't wait to read it! It's next up on my TBR pile!!

Blood Song by Cat Adams

Love this cover too! I like the close up of Celia, it makes her look kick-a$$ as well! And her eyes are just freaking awesome! Simple cover yet good placement of certain elements, like her hair just over her eye.

Halfway to the Grave by Jeanine Frost

Generally the first cover in a series sets the theme or overall look, generally. Totally love Jeaniene's Night Huntress series! The covers are wicked awesome! It's because of Cat's bada$$ look that led me to pick this one up!

Magic on the Line by Devon Monk

I totally love this cover! My fave from the Allie Beckstrom series so far!! These covers are always awesome as well. Showing Allie some way with her tattoos and sword! Now she has a gun as well and looks ready to kick some a$$! Totally UF!

Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

I just love the background of this cover! So dark and eerie with the graveyard, the building off to the side. The overall grayness and smoky candles. And then you have Alex with her red top as the only color source! It's just very eye catching!

And here are some other honorable mentions as well:

And this section here is my obvious or "duh" ones that are faves. If you know me by now you know I fell in love with this series based on the first cover!

Shannon Delany's 13 to Life series! Told ya it was a "duh" collection!! ;)

Friday Hops

This blogger hop was created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books.

Here are the rules:

1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below (be sure to include how long you've been blogging and what genres you review!). If you post about the Hop on your blog, please link directly to your Hop post (don't forget to answer this week's question - see below!).

2. Visit other blogs in the Linky List! Make new friends! Follow new book bloggers! Talk about books! Rave about authors! (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

3. Post about the Hop on your blog! Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!

4. In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!):

What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

MY ANSWER: I guess I wish I could get into the dystopian theme that's going around. I try to, but there doesn't tend to be a whole lot of paranormal in them. I'm a paranormal girl. There's gotta be some sort of supernatural going on for me to be interested--magic counts as paranormal too, in my book. I was actually surprised when my older sister started reading more of the dystopian books. Never thought she would read that! I have given some a try, I just didn't enjoy them.

This is a weekly blog meme created by Parajunkee's View.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list

2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://annettesbookspot.blogspot.com/

3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.

4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments

5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can

6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

This week's question is: Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

MY ANSWER: Is it bad that I'm having a hard time answering this one, since I've actually done it already? ;) I've chatted with a few authors in my time, as in an actual sit down/hang out and chat kind of talk! The best was at RT 10, loved that trip and going to go to RT 12 in Chicago in hopes of talking to more authors like that!

But to answer the question I would love to chat with Karen Marie Moning, Kalayna Price, and Erin Kellison. Really I wouldn't pass up a chance to talk to any of my fave authors. But I haven't met these three [yet ;) ] and I would love to talk to them about writing and whatever else we feel like!

Review--Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

Finally finished Maggie Stiefvater's epic conclusion to the Wolves of Mercy trilogy, Forever. What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? Going to be tough.

It was a very emotional book in some ways, as much as the first two have been at least. This time around Grace is the wolf and Sam is the boy and yet they still can't quite be together. What makes things even worse is that Isabel's father plans on getting rid of the wolves in Mercy Falls permanently.

Complicated things go on throughout the book, there's focus on Sam and Grace and Isabel and Cole as you may know by now. How Sam and Grace yearn to be together but still have to overcome Grace's wolfiness and Isabel and Cole play the game of wanting to be together and hating one another at the same time or some such thing. 

It comes down to a very frightening ending with several shockers that change everything for the characters. There's a sort of completeness to the series, yet there's also the knowledge that these characters will continue on with their lives even though we will not be there with them. I like that when series come to an end. And as the cover description mentions, not everyone makes it to their HEA ending. So yeah, big time shockers!

This has been a fun trilogy to read. There hardly seemed to be a dull moment. There was either tension for upcoming battles and other action packed scenes or there was an emotional intense-ness going on that just really grabs the reader, makes them feel for the character (at least that's how it was for me).

Maggie has written a truly beautiful trilogy and I am going to miss it, but still I feel satisfied with the ending although I wouldn't have complained for more! I look forward to seeing what other novels she has cooked up in her head. She will definitely be an author I'll keep my eye on!

Overall rating 4/5 stars

Random Thursday

Did you know that there are some Disney movies with Disney character cameos? They're also known as Disney Easter Eggs or some such thing.

Here's a bunch that I remembered that other people apparently caught too:

Others that I recall that aren't here were this:

In the same scene above from The Hunchback of Norte Dame when we see Belle, there's also Aladdin's Magic Carpet and Pumbaa in the left corner from The Lion King.

Also in The Princess and the Frog we see Aladdin's magic lamp when Mama Odie is rifling through all her junk. The lamp goes flying by her pet snake.

Of course there's a lot more "Easter Eggs" and it would take wayyy too many posts for me to go through all of them. And this is just animated Disney movies! There's still all the Pixar Easter Eggs to discuss as well!

Cover Copy Reveal--Richelle Mead

So can't wait to read this one and I haven't even read Bloodlines yet! Know I posted the cover last week or so, but now here's a cover description to go with it!

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students—children of the wealthy and powerful—carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.

The Golden Lily releases May 1, 2012

Cover Copy Reveal--Kelly Meding

What always amazes me about Kelly's series is that her main character Evie is always a "different" person on the cover. I get why. Usually that's the way things go. But sometimes I think it's hard to connect to the character when we can't get a good image on her. Sure we know what she looks like for the current book, but since it constantly changes--usually with good reason--I feel like I can never remember who Evie is. I can't get a good picture of her as I read.

But that's just a minor annoyance. Otherwise I still love reading this series!

Monster hunter Evangeline Stone woke up on the wrong side of dead this morning—and now there’s hell to pay.

Barely recovered from her extended torture at the hands of mad scientist Walter Thackery, Evy can use a break. What she gets instead is a war, as the battered Triads that keep Dreg City safe find themselves under attack by half-Blood vampires who have somehow retained their reason, making them twice as lethal. Worse, the Halfies are joined by a breed of were-creature long believed extinct—back and more dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, Evy’s attempts at reconciliation with the man she loves take a hit after Wyatt is viciously assaulted—an attack traced to Thackery, who has not given up his quest to exterminate all vampires . . . even if he has to destroy Dreg City to do it. With Wyatt’s time running out, another threat emerges from the shadows and a staggering betrayal shatters the fragile alliance between the Triads, vampires, and shapeshifters, turning Evy’s world upside down forever.

Wrong Side of Dead releases January 31, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday

                     I hate waiting...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

This week I am DYING to get my hands on:

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD ADEN STONE HAS HAD A HELL OF A WEEK. HE’S BEEN:

Tortured by angry witches.

Hypnotized by a vengeful faery.

Spied on by the most powerful vampire in existence.

And, oh, yeah. Killed – twice.

His vampire girlfriend might have brought him back to life, but he’s never felt more out of control. There’s a darkness within him, something taking over . . . changing him. Worse, because he was meant to die, death now stalks him at every turn. Any day could be his last.

Once upon a time, the three souls trapped inside his head could have helped him. He could have protected himself. But as the darkness grows stronger, the souls grow weaker – just like his girlfriend. The more vampire Aden becomes, the more human Victoria becomes, until everything they know and love is threatened.

Life couldn’t get any worse. Could it?

TITLE: Twisted

AUTHOR: Gena Showalter

GENRE:YA Paranormal

RELEASE DATE: August 30, 2011

What am I Going to Do?

Okay I'm still feeling really down in the dumps about Borders closing forever. Seriously. I've been shopping there forever! Went to Harry Potter midnight parties there. Waited in long lines. Spent hours skimming the shelves, finding new and terrific reads.

Sorry to keep harping on this, but Borders has been where I've done literally all my shopping for books. The times I didn't shop there is practically countable on my fingers. I really have no clue where I can shop now and save money at the same time. Especially on my paperbacks.

And while not totally the same in the lyrics, all day today I've had Where Do We Go From Here from the Buffy the Musical episode playing in my head. Cause really, where will I go from here now that Borders is closed.

Cheesy yes, but still. My store for nearly 10+ years of book shopping is closing its doors on me and I feel so lost. :(

Cover Art--Mara Purnhagen

Mara Purnhagen is going to have another novella in her Past Midnight series!! This one takes place a few weeks after the events of One Hundred Candles! Can't wait to read it, even though I've read Beyond the Grave early thanks to NetGalley!

Here's the cover:

Haunting the Night releases August 1, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a page

3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE

4. Name the title, author, etc.

"Suddenly there's a sharp sound at the door. I spring to a crouch, a surge of adrenaline staving off the pain. Something scrapes against the metal door. The scratch of metal raises the tiny hairs on my nape. My gaze drills into the doors. I inhale, readying myself, letting heat build and gather at my core." Loc 1658/2603


*Quote comes from my e-ARC, quote and location are therefore not final and are subject to change.









TITLE: Vanish
AUTHOR: Sophie Jordan
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2011