2016- A Book Year in Review

Hey everyone I wanted to put up a post on this last day of 2016. Man, what a year! We have lost so many celebrities and others along the way. Most important to me was my own Nana and now it seems my grandfather will be finding her soon. The only really great thing to happen to me this year was the birth of our 3rd child and only boy, Killian. He is such a happy baby and I am so in love with him. He is now 6 weeks old and I can not believe how fast time is flying by. Here is some of his best faces of 2016:

Isn’t he just the sweetest???

Enough gushing about him just for a min. I wanted to tell show you guys the books that I have read this year. It wasn’t my original goal of 100 books but I did manage to read some.

*FYI pregnancy and babies can kill your reading habit*

I was able to read 21 books or 5,206 pages.

I enjoyed each and everyone of these books and I thank all of the authors and publishers that have sent me books to review. I still have a ton left to read and review.

Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought of them!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Follow me on IG, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads!!

 

April TBR

*found this image through Google*

I can not believe that it is already April, can you? This year is going by way to fast. I did not meet my mark for books read for March. (Bad Bookworm) All of the books that are in this TBR are all from my Author’s Shelf, which are books that were given to me for review. Yes they have their own shelf!! So with out further ado here are the books….

 

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Frey by Melissa Wright

Frey’s life is a lie. She doesn’t remember being bound from magic. She didn’t intend to get entangled in Council business.

But she did.

And now she’s on the run. As the Council trackers pursue her, Frey discovers a world beyond their lies. With the aid of a stranger, she fights to reclaim her true identity before the others hunt her down. If they find her, she will burn.

The Fold by Peter Clines

STEP INTO THE FOLD.
IT’S PERFECTLY SAFE.

The folks in Mike Erikson’s small New England town would say he’s just your average, everyday guy. And that’s exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he’s chosen isn’t much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and peaceful existence.  

That is, until an old friend presents him with an irresistible mystery, one that Mike is uniquely qualified to solve: far out in the California desert, a team of DARPA scientists has invented a device they affectionately call the Albuquerque Door. Using a cryptic computer equation and magnetic fields to “fold” dimensions, it shrinks distances so that a traveler can travel hundreds of feet with a single step.

The invention promises to make mankind’s dreams of teleportation a reality. And, the scientists insist, traveling through the Door is completely safe.

Yet evidence is mounting that this miraculous machine isn’t quite what it seems—and that its creators are harboring a dangerous secret.  

As his investigations draw him deeper into the puzzle, Mike begins to fear there’s only one answer that makes sense. And if he’s right, it may only be a matter of time before the project destroys…everything.  

 

Downburst by Katie Robison

(This one has an awesome giveaway and blog tour coming in June!!)

When Kit skipped town, she wasn’t planning to get pressed into a secret training camp or pulled into an ancient war. Now she’s just fighting to get home alive. Fans of The Hunger Games will devour this fast-paced fantasy that critics are calling “a thrilling head-rush of an adventure”

 

Touched by Elisa S. Amore

What are you willing to sacrifice when the only person who can save you is the same one who has to kill you?

After vampires and werewolves, after wizards and fallen angels, a new breed of Angels is here to usher you into their dark world. An ancient, deadly, inescapable race.
No one can see them. They’re shadows of destiny. They’re knights of death. They’re the Subterraneans and they’re here to claim our lives.
Commanded by a mysterious congregation called the Màsala, the Angels of Death ensure that each man’s destiny takes its due course on Earth.
But what happens when love intervenes?
Can an Angel of Death deny his own nature and challenge destiny?
Can love rebel against fate?

When Gemma’s eyes first meet the dark, piercing gaze of Evan James, an ominous shadow creeps into her life, ultimately leading her to face her destiny. She doesn’t realize Evan is one of Death’s soldiers and that Death is summoning her.
Her time is up: Gemma must die . . . and Evan has been sent to kill her.
But what if she’s the only one who can truly see him?

Against every rule. Against fate itself. Against everything and everyone. A story of forbidden love and star-crossed destinies.

Dark. Romantic. Dangerous.

 

Look To The Stars by Catherine Wilson

Tucked away in the remote territory of Ashen, Penelope Brave lives an ordinary, sheltered life until the day her papa goes missing. No one seems intent on finding him but her, so she breaks the rules… and ends up changing her world. When strangers from the northern kingdom of Orien arrive with news of her papa, but at a price, Brave learns that even the quiet city of Ashen has its secrets—the darkest of which just might be her.

Forced to trust the help of Aras Renn, the arrogant and regrettably handsome guard from Orien, Brave soon finds that if she wants to see her papa again, she’s going to have to face a past she never knew she left behind. Together, they’re thrust into a world of magic, lies, and hidden truths as Brave discovers there’s a deadly war brewing in the north. What she doesn’t know is the answer to each side’s victory can be found in her heart…

Determined not to follow the destiny the stars have laid out for her, Brave sets out to make her own, embarking on a harrowing journey where she must decide what matters most. Love or blood?

 

WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS MONTH??

 

 

 

 

 

Workhaul~Bookhaul

Hey guys it has been awhile since I put up one of these. I have a lot of books to show you! I bought all of these at my job today and only paid $5 ( I get a discount but most of the books at the stores are either $1-$2!!!) So let me know if you have read any of these or not!!!

 

These first two books are awesome!! They are filled with notes, envelopes, and even hidden pictures!!

 The Cottington Archive reluctantly announces that more information about the infamous Lady Cottington has surfaced: a scrapbook compiled by the fairy smasher herself of her correspondence with luminaries such as Queen Victoria, Annie Oakley, Igor Stravinsky, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Andrew Lang, P.T. Barnum, and more. All about fairies, these hilarious letters contain everything from wisdom to suggestions to chastisement. Lady Cottington has made notes in the margins not to mention smashed fairies throughout (will she EVER STOP this nasty habit?!). And the fairies…ah the fairies…they too have done their part, sprinkling magic and mayhem throughout.

Now you, dear reader, hold in your hands the never-before-seen archives of the secret Ghost Society. This incredibly useful guide is your key to making contact with the beyond. So read on . . . but only if you’re ready to find our what lurks on the other side.

Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book’s categorization to be sure that ‘The Devil in the White City’ is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair’s construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.

Burnham’s challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous “White City” around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair’s incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World’s Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.

Forty years after the destructive Chaos War, dragons have divided the continent among them, but a magical storm will begin to shake up the existing order.

In 1903 a mysterious young woman flees alone across the west, one heart-pounding step ahead of the law. At 19, she has just become a widow–and her husband’s murderer. As bloodhounds track Mary Boulton through the mountains, she is tormented by mad visions and by the knowledge that her two cold-blooded brothers-in-law are hot on her trail, determined to hunt her down in revenge for their brother’s death. Responding to little more than the primitive fight for life, she flees further and further into the wilderness, and into the wilds of her own mind, encountering an unforgettable cast of eccentrics along the way.

The first in an exciting new series, “Touched by Venom” is a powerful debut novel by an author destined to rank among the fantasy genre’s best.

Book 1 in the White Magic Trilogy

Tales are told of the mysterious, powerful Mountain where the gods — powerful beings in the form of white horses — live. But Valeria knows no woman has ever been called to the Mountain. Until she feels a strange pull and answers the call — as a boy…

When her secret is discovered Valeria loses all that she’s won. Her anger and frustration with the Empire might be enough to give the barbarians a way into the Mountain. And so the Empire now depends on the will, the strength and the loyalty of one Rider. A Rider who has been rejected by all but the gods…

Book 3 In the White Magic Trilogy

Once again the Aurelian Empire is in danger, and once again Valeria must risk more than her life to save it. With threats from without, including sorcerous attacks against the soon-to-be empress, and pressures from within — the need to continue the dynasty and Kerrec, the father of Valeria’s child, the first choice to do so — Valeria must overcome plots and perils as she struggles to find a place in this world she’s helped to heal.

But her greatest foes have not been vanquished. And they won’t be forgotten or ignored. Nor will the restless roil of magic within Valeria herself. Soon the threat of Unmaking, a danger to all the empire, begins to arise in Valeria’s soul once more. It is subtle, it is powerful, and this time it might win out!

I know what you are thinking where is book 2? Well….the lady that donated them I guess had some kind of rodent issue. So I would of bought it anyways but there were sentences at the bottom of the first couple pages that were eaten….ugh!!

Knight’s fantasy debut concerns a rare, scaleless gray dragon named Auron. Born high in a mountain cave, he witnesses the slaughter of his parents at the hands of a band of dwarves and eventually matures into the last hope for the survival of his kind. Once above ground, Auron learns quickly just how dangerous it is to be a dragon. With dwarves, elves, and humans relentlessly hunting him, Auron finds friendship in the most unlikely of places — but the young dragon’s quest to find others of his kind may not lead him to the answers he hopes to find.

The good news is that Knight has penned a highly entertaining novel with profoundly moving themes that should appeal to fantasy fans of all ages, especially those with a penchant for dragon-powered story lines a la Anne McCaffrey’s Pern and Mercedes Lackey’s Dragon Jousters trilogy (Joust, Alta, and Sanctuary). The bad news is that those who have already read Knight’s brilliantly dark and addictive Vampire Earth novels and are expecting something similar will be sorely disappointed.

Last but not lease the One Rose Trilogy!

The legends of the Godstruck were just that — legends. Until, in an attempt to defend her people, Captain Kallista Varyl called on the One for aid and was granted abilities such as no one had seen in centuries. Now Kallista has been charged with a new destiny as one of the most powerful women in the land — but her power is useless if it cannot be controlled. Mastering her “Godstruck” abilities is the first step. The next, learning that she cannot unlock the secrets of the Compass Rose and defeat her nation’s enemy alone. And finally she must stop a demon-possessed king . . .

I don’t want to spoil myself so I am going to leave the Goodreads links for the synopsis of these two books underneath them!!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1272288.The_Barbed_Rose

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1375792.The_Eternal_Rose

 

Thank you for checking out these books with me! I can’t wait to get my new shelves!!!!

 

Bookhaul!!!

Hey guys! I’m back with another bookhaul. It seems like forever since I’ve done one of these. I really need to get a charger for my laptop asap. Today I bought 9 books from my work and I can’t wait to read them!!!

The Women’s Murder Club is stalked by a killer with nothing to lose.

San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer is loving her life as a new mother. With an attentive husband, a job she loves, plus best friends who can talk about anything from sex to murder, things couldn’t be better.

Then the FBI sends Lindsay a photo of a killer from her past, and her happy world is shattered. The picture captures a beautiful woman at a stoplight. But all Lindsay sees is the psychopath behind those seductive eyes: Mackie Morales, the most deranged and dangerous mind the Women’s Murder Club has ever encountered.

In this pulse-racing, emotionally charged novel by James Patterson, the Women’s Murder Club must find a killer–before she finds them first.

Everyone thinks Emmy Dockery is crazy. Obsessed with finding the link between hundreds of unsolved cases, Emmy has taken leave from her job as an FBI researcher. Now all she has are the newspaper clippings that wallpaper her bedroom, and her recurring nightmares of an all-consuming fire.

Not even Emmy’s ex-boyfriend, field agent Harrison “Books” Bookman, will believe her that hundreds of kidnappings, rapes, and murders are all connected. That is, until Emmy finds a piece of evidence he can’t afford to ignore. More murders are reported by the day–and they’re all inexplicable. No motives, no murder weapons, no suspects. Could one person really be responsible for these unthinkable crimes?

Invisible is James Patterson’s scariest, most chilling stand-alone thriller yet.

Entrancing in its lyricism, In Sunlight and in Shadow so powerfully draws you into New York at the dawn of the modern age that, as in a vivid dream, you will not want to leave. In 1946, Harry Copeland has returned after fighting in the 82nd Airborne from North Africa all the way to the Elbe. Reluctantly assuming the direction of the family fine leather goods manufacture, he finds his life unsatisfactory and on hold – until he is “accidentally” united with Catherine Thomas Hale, the woman for whom he has been waiting all his life, although the forces behind his patience have never been revealed to him. A young actress, singer, and heiress, she has been waiting for him, even if she has known this only in flashes that do not come clear to her until the end of the narrative, and that have not prevented her engagement to a much older man who has been taking advantage of her since childhood.

The meeting of Catherine and Harry, their courtship, and their intense love, play out on the stage of New York awakening at mid-century – in the deep worlds of the theater, industry, and high finance, and during the collision of aristocratic New York society with the formidable wave of second-generation, fully assimilated Jews. Though after being broken in the war Harry wants nothing but peace, family, and love, organized crime carries on its extortions as always, even in a city now full of the kind of men who stormed the Point du Hoc and the Siegfried Line. This becomes his moral and physical struggle. While Catherine’s is of a different nature, it is just as consequential, and the courage required of her is perhaps even greater.

Of the widest scope – from the air over Sicily to the heat-and-color-saturated Sacramento Valley; the Bay of Biscay to the sea off Maine; the steel mills of Gary, Indiana to the beaches of Amagansett; London in the blitz; the invasion of Normandy; and a single shell gliding across an American lake in August; from the luminous houses of the wealthy to the pounding of the boards beneath a Broadway chorus line – this is yet, first, and foremost a love story, but also a hymn to New York of the period when one great age elided into the other that we call our own. Rich in language and classical allusion, it is true to the mottoes at its outset: the Dantean “Amor mi mosse, che me fa parlare,” “Love moved me, and made me speak,” and to the lines of Lucretius that describe Catherine’s extraordinary representation of the powers, beauties, and graces of womanhood – “Nothing comes forth into the shores of light, or is glad or lovely without you.”

A sequel to J.M. Barrie’s classic story, Peter Pan, by the author of Shannara

Peter, now grown up, returns to London with his wife and two children. During their visit to Wendy, the children disappear from the nursery, and all that can be found is a cryptic note, signed “Jas Hook, Captain”.

One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter’s marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds. Like her House Rules and several other previous Jodi Picoult novels, Sing You Home grapples with hot button issues. The novel also includes a CD of songs, each matched with a chapter in the book. Perfect for book clubs.

Jodi Picoult has touched readers deeply with her acclaimed novels, such as Keeping Faith and The Pact. Gifted with a remarkable ability to make us share her characters’ feelings (People), Picoult now explores the complex choices of the heart for a young Amish woman — the compelling journey of discovery for an urban lawyer who befriends and protects her.

The small town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, is a jewel in Lancaster County — known for its picture-postcard landscapes and bucolic lifestyle. But that peace is shattered by the discovery of a dead infant in the barn of an Amish farmer. A police investigation quickly leads to two startling disclosures: the newborn’s mother is an unmarried Amish woman, eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher. And the infant did not die of natural causes. Although Katie denies the medical proof that she gave birth to the child, circumstantial evidence leads to her arrest for the murder of her baby.

One hundred miles away, Philadelphia defense attorney Ellie Hathaway has achieved an enviable, high-profile career. But her latest court victory has set the sands shifting beneath her. Single at thirty-nine and unsatisfied with her relationship, Ellie doesn’t look back when she turns down her chance to make partner and takes off for an open-ended stay at her great-aunt’s home in Paradise. Fate brings her to Katie Fisher. Suddenly, Ellie sees the chance to defend a client who truly needs her, not just one who can afford her. But taking on this case challenges Ellie in more ways than one. She finds herself not only in a clash of wills with a client who does not want to be defended but also in a clash of cultures with a people whose channels of justice are markedly different from her own. Immersing herself in Katie Fisher’s life — and in a world founded on faith, humility, duty, and honesty — Ellie begins to understand the pressures and sacrifices of those who to live plain. As she peels away the layers of fact and fantasy, Ellie calls on an old friend for guidance. Now, just as this man from Ellie’s past reenters her life, she must uncover the truth about a complex case, a tragic loss, the bonds of love — and her own deepest fears and desires.

Moving seamlessly from psychological drama to courtroom suspense, Plain Truth is a triumph of contemporary storytelling. Jodi Picoult presents a fascinating portrait of Amish life rarely witnessed by those outside the faith — and discovers a place where circumstances are not always what they seem, where love meets falsehood, and where relationships grow strong enough to span two worlds.

att and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. After years of long-distance dating, the pair finally settled together in Los Angeles, and they had it all: a perfect marriage, a gorgeous new home, and a baby girl on the way. Liz’s pregnancy was rocky, but they welcomed Madeline, beautiful and healthy, into the world on March 24, 2008.

Just twenty-seven hours later, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and died instantly, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited. Though confronted with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt did not surrender to devastation; he chose to keep moving forward– to make a life for Maddy.

In this memoir, Matt shares bittersweet and often humorous anecdotes of his courtship and marriage to Liz; of relying on his newborn daughter for the support that she unknowingly provided; and of the extraordinary online community of strangers who have become his friends. In honoring Liz’s legacy, heartache has become solace.

Ashley Judd is an award-winning film and stage actor known for her roles in both box-office hits and art-house gems, and the daughter and sister of country-music royalty. In 2002, drawing on a deep well of empathy, she found her true calling: as a humanitarian and advocate for those suffering in neglected parts of the world.

Asked why she was opting out of a successful career, walking away while she was one of the highest-paid women in Hollywood, Ashley herself could not provide an answer. She simply knew that after her first trip to the notorious brothels, slums, and hospices of southeast Asia, her own life depended on advocating on behalf of the vulnerable. Promising each new sister, “I will never forget you,” Ashley began writing extraordinary diaries—on which this memoir is based—expanding her capacity to relate to, and to share with a global audience, stories of survival and resilience.

Along the way, Ashley realized that the coping strategies she had developed to deal with her own emotional pain, stemming from childhood abandonment, were no longer working. Seeking in-patient treatment in 2006 for the grief that had nearly killed her, Ashley found not only her own recovery and an enriched faith but an expanded kit of spiritual tools that energized and advanced her feminist social justice work.

Now, in this deeply moving and unforgettable memoir, Ashley Judd describes her odyssey, as a left-behind lost child attains international prominence as a fiercely dedicated advocate. Her story ranges from anger to forgiveness, isolation to interdependence, depression to activism. In telling it, she resoundingly answers the ineffable question about the relationship between healing oneself and service to others.

Thad Beaumont would like to say he is innocent. He’d like to say he has nothing to do with the series of monstrous murders that keep coming closer to his home. But how can Thad disown the ultimate embodiment of evil that goes by the name he gave it-and signs its crimes with Thad’s bloody fingerprints?

Thank you for checking out my blog!!

You’ve Got Mail

BOOKMAIL!!!

 

I love getting books in the mail for review. It makes me so happy and blessed to have someone offer trading their hard work with me to read and review for them. Since starting my blog last February my Author’s Shelf has grown so much. Of Course I have other things like kids, a job, and other responsibilities I need to do so I can not get to them all right away, unless its an ARC those get to priority. Anyways I wanted to share with you three books that I have received this week from some amazing authors!!!!

Book #1

Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things 

By Martina McAtee

17 year old Ember Denning has made an art of isolating herself. She prefers the dead. She spends her days skipping school in old cemeteries and her nights hiding from her alcoholic father at the funeral home where she works. When her own father dies, Ember learns her whole life is a lie. Standing in the cemetery that’s been her sanctuary, she’s threatened by the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen and rescued by two people who claim to be her family. They say she’s special, that she has a supernatural gift like them…they just don’t know exactly what it is.

They take her to a small Florida town, where Ember’s life takes a turn for the weird. She’s living with her reaper cousins, an orphaned werewolf pack, a faery and a human genius. Ember’s powers are growing stronger, morphing into something bigger than anything anybody anticipated. Ember has questions but nobody has answers. Nobody knows what she is. They only know her mysterious magical gift is trying to kill them and that beautiful dangerous boy from the cemetery may be the only thing standing between her and death.

As Ember’s talents are revealed so are the secrets her father hid and those in power who would seek to destroy her. What’s worse, saving Ember has put her cousins in danger and turned her friend’s lives upside down. Ember must learn to embrace her magic or risk losing the family she’s pieced together.

 

Book #2

Hooked By Carrie Thomas

Millie Diamond is your typical high school senior. She has great parents, a younger brother, and two best friends who round out her better than average life. Her future is planned out, thanks to her police officer father, who strictly enforces the rules with a firm, but loving hand. Millie is a kind-hearted soul and proper daughter who respects her dad’s authority…until she meets a mysterious new student who stirs emotions in her she’s never felt before. A drug deal gone bad in South Boston, leaves Cash Davis’ mother no choice but to move him to Tennessee. His life hasn’t been easy, but Cash is tough, and plans on making his future better than his past. Those plans include keeping his head down and finishing high school… but nothing ever comes easy for Cash. His connection with Millie surprises him, and as hard as he tries, he can’t stay away from her. Millie’s dad arresting him before their first date is definitely not ideal for Cash, and it causes friction between Millie and her parents. Can Millie convince her parents that Cash is the guy for her? Will she still want to after secrets from his past are revealed?

 

Book #3

Sigrun: The Bandamann Saga

By: Deidre Mapstone

The Lundgrens own and operate Sigrun: A family restaurant on the shores of Mount Desert Island, Maine. They are a hard working, every day, American family. But like every family, they have their secrets, some stranger than others. The way these secrets unfold may surprise you.
Their tale begins with a familial ease considered unique to most, but their seemingly perfect relationships are ordinary compared to what hides beneath the surface.

 

Thank you once again for these gorgeously covered books. I am in love with every one of them!!!

My Year in Books-2015 Edition

This year has been one of the best in the last 10 years. One of the things that made it so much better is that I decided to dedicate more time to reading. I have always had the love for the written word and the worlds they take me to.

Also this year was the first time I started this blog and became more apart of the book community on social medias. I have made so many new friends and I am so thankful for all of you.

I was able to reach and will exceed my reading goal of 60 books this year. I will link all of my social media pages and Goodreads at the bottom. Feel free to add me on any of them. I am so looking forward to 2016 and the all of the books that I will be reading.

Here is the list of books that I have read this year. Let me know if you read any of them and what you thought of them. Any recommendations are more than welcome.

My year in Books

• 1408 ~ Stephen King
• The 5th Wave ~ Rick Yancey
• The Infinite Sea ~ Rick Yancey
• Air Awakens ~ Elise Kova
• Fire Falling ~ Elise Kova
• Alex + Ada Vol 1 ~ Jonathan Luna
• Alex + Ada Vol 2 ~ Jonathan Luna
• Alice ~ Christina Henry
• Allegiant (Divergent #3) ~ Veronica Roth
• Angelfall ~ Susan Ee
• Aria ~ M.D. Luis
• Beautiful Affliction ~ Lene Fogelberg
• Beautiful Creatures ~ Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• The Breadwinner ~ Stevie Kopas
• Cinder ~ Marissa Meyer
• A Darker Shade of Magic ~ V.E. Schwab
• The Darkest Minds ~ Alexandra Bracken
• Deep Dark Fears ~ Fran Krause
• The Distance From Me to You ~ Marina Gessner
• The Faerie Guardian (Creepy Hollow #1) ~ Rachel Morgan
• The Faerie Prince (Creepy Hollow #2) ~ Rachel Morgan
• Fire In The Woods ~ Jennifer M. Eaton
• The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles #1) ~ G.P. Taylor
• The Giver ~ Lois Lowry
• The Goddess Test (#1) ~ Aimee Carter
• Goddess Interrupted (#2) ~ Aimee Carter
• The Goddess Inheritance (#3) ~ Aimee Carter
• The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever Made ~ Jeff Strand
• The Gunslinger (#1) ~ Stephen King
• Insurgent (Divergent #2) ~ Veronica Roth
• Into The Volcano ~ Don Wood
• Kin (The Good Neighbors #1) ~ Holly Black
• Kith (Good Neighbors #2) ~ Holly Black
• Kind (Good Neighbors #3) ~ Holly Black
• Lali of the Lill ~ Adi Mandal
• The Lightning Thief ~ Rick Riordan
• Lost Time ~ Susan Maupin Schmid
• Manga Classics: Les Miserables ~ SunNeko Lee
• The Martian ~ Andy Weir
• The Maze Runner (#1) ~ James Dashner
• The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2) ~James Dashner
• The Death Cure (Maze Runner #3) ~ James Dashner
• A Monster Calls ~ Patrick Ness
• Never Never (#1) ~ Colleen Hoover
• Not Every Girl ~ Jane McGarry
• One Way ~ Jeff Lane
• Picture of Grace ~ Josh Armstrong
• The Raven Boys (#1) ~Maggie Stiefvater
• Rise of the Horde (Zombie Attack #1) ~ Devan Sagliani
• Sacrificed ~ Emily Wibberley
• Second Chance ~ Allyson Sinclair
• The Suffering (The Girl From the Well #2) ~ Rin Chupeco
• This Is Where It Ends ~ Marieke Nijkamp
• This One Summer ~ Mariko Tamaki
• The Tiger Rising ~ Kate DiCamillo
• What Lies Within ~ James Morris
• Where the Sidewalk Ends ~ Shel Silverstein
• The Winner’s Curse ~ Marie Rutkoski
• Zoo ~ James Patterson

 

Whew! That was a lot of links. I can not wait to start my next book and join in on the fun with BookTubeAThon that starts tomorrow!!

 

Thanks for all the fun times and remember…..

 

Library Book Haul ~Arcs

This is one of the local libraries here in Volusia County, Florida. It is located in Port Orange and I have been going to this library since 1992. I have thrown many pennies into that fountain and wished for many things…some of which have came true. I love that my kids now also love this library and always ask if they can throw their own coins into the fountain.

I was at work yesterday and I had the strongest urge to go to this library. They always have books for sale and for really cheap prices. Their paperbacks range from 25-50 cents up to hardcovers at $2. I haven’t really seen anything there in the last few weeks that caught my eye but yesterday they exceeded my expectations.

I was able to find 13 books and most of them are Arcs. Most of them just got published this year in the past 4 months. I also found some awesome published books and 2 Arcs that are coming out next year! So I’ll start with those. If you want to know the synopsis to these beautiful books I have linked the Goodreads pages with all of them!!

Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance

Paperback, 336 pages

Expected publication: February 23rd 2016 by Feiwel & Friends

Saving Montgomery Sole

240 pages

Expected publication: April 19th 2016 by Roaring Brook Press

Arcs that Have Come Out This Year

The Devil’s Dreamcatcher by Donna Hosie

272 pages

Published October 1st 2015 by Holiday House

Tell The Story To Its End by Simon P. Clark

208 pages

Published October 20th 2015 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Breakaway by Kat Spears

290 pages

Published September 15th 2015 by St. Martin’s Griffin

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

320 pages

Published September 15th 2015 by Thomas Dunne

Unspoken (Shadow Falls After Daek #3) by C.C. Hunter

416 pages

Published October 27th 2015 by St. Martin’s Press

Finished Books

 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

349 pages

Published May 5th 2009 by Shaye Areheart Books

Now my Gillian Flynn “Trilogy” is complete!!

Regenesis by Eric Walters

Paperback, 336 pages

Published September 15th 2015 by Doubleday Canada

LOVE THIS COVER!!!!

Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee

Paperback, 360 pages

Published April 8th 2015 by Flux

Looks really good!

Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards

Paperback, 320 pages

Published January 6th 2015 by Sourcebooks Fire

Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

322 pages

Published November 3rd 2015 by Sourcebooks Fire

Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published March 17th 2015 by Katherine Tegen Books

Heard this one was good!

Wrap Up

 

I bought 13 books in total, 1 hardcover and 12 paperbacks. I only paid $5 for all of them.

 

Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these or are looking forward to reading them! Tell me what you thought. NO SPOILERS!!

 

 

2016 Goals

I know its only the 7th of December but if the last 3 months have taught me anything its to make time to read. I have been in a reading slump the past 3 months but its mostly due to our family getting extremely busy. The girls got into Girl Scouts and ever since its seems like I haven’t had the time to sit and read. Or when  I actually get to I am to tired to read one sentence.

So I am going to try and write out some goals for myself for 2016. Let me know if you have some reading goals of your own.

1. Make the time to read more.
2. Read 1 Dean Koontz book a week
3. Blog More
4. Limit the amount of books from authors and publishers per month
5. ReadMore
6. Buy new and Organize my bookshelves
7. Read to my kids more
8. Blog some more
9. Read outside of my comfort zone at least once a month
10. Challenge myself to read more

 

I am sure there are some more goals I can put up but for now I think that pretty much sums up what I am going for. Thank you for reading my little blog and being a follower!

My 2016 Most Anticipated Books

Hey Guys and Gals!!! Can you believe that its December already?? I can’t. This year has been amazing and I am thankful for a lot of things. Most of all that I found my reading bug again. I really missed the written word and all of the amazing worlds they hold within their pages.

So I have decided to list some of the books that I am most excited about being released next year. I think it maybe a little early for this but I don’t care because I am so excited. Let me know if you are looking forward to these books as well or some I didn’t list.

The Last Star by Rick Yancey

Release Date: May 24th, 2016

Synopsis

We’re here, then we’re gone, and that was true before they came. That’s always been true. The Others didn’t invent death; they just perfected it. Gave death a face to put back in our face, because they knew that was the only way to crush us. It won’t end on any continent or ocean, no mountain or plain, jungle or desert. It will end where it began, where it had been from the beginning, on the battlefield of the last beating human heart.(Goodreads)

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Book 2 An Ember in the Ashes

Release Date August 30th, 2016

Synopsis

A Torch Against the Night takes readers into the heart of the Empire as Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia’s brother from the horrors of Kauf Prison. Hunted by Empire soldiers, manipulated by the Commandant, and haunted by their pasts, Laia and Elias must outfox their enemies and confront the treacherousness of their own hearts.

In the city of Serra, Helene Aquilla finds herself bound to the will of the Empire’s twisted new leader, Marcus. When her loyalty is questioned, Helene finds herself taking on a mission to prove herself—a mission that might destroy her, instead. (Goodreads)

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Release Date Feb. 9th, 2016

Red Queen #2

Synopsis

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Release Date: Jan 5th, 2016

Synopsis

 passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Release Date: May 3rd, 2016

Synopsis

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court–but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms–and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future–and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

The Rose and The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

Release Date: May 3rd, 2016

Synopsis

I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid’s empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn’t yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: November 8th, 2016

Synopsis

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king’s marriage proposal, she meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship.

Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

Release Date: Feb 9th, 2016

Synopsis

Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son totally changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star.

Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords. Vowing to fight for the future that his wife believed in, Darrow joins a secret revolutionary group and is remade into a Gold so that he can infiltrate the ruling class and bring them down from the inside. Now, after years of hiding amongst the Golds, Darrow is finally ready to declare open revolution and throw off the chains of oppression. Nothing in Darrow’s world has been easily won, and this final fight will be the most harrowing of all.

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Release Date: Feb 23rd, 2016

Synopsis

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again—meaning that another London must fall.

Those are the top 9 books I am most looking forward to getting to read next year. Most of them I haven’t even read the first book of. I am such a slacker. Anyways….

Let me know which books you are looking forward to reading!!!

Small BookHaul

I left work today and before I went home I decided to swing into my local GoodWill store just to peruse the book section. Last time we came here it was a mess. There was no organization what so ever but this time it was a little bit organized. They obviously got an employee with some common sense.

First book I found was:

The City by Dean Koontz

As you all might now I have a slight obsession with Dean Koontz’s work. This came out last year along with the next book I will show you. BUT this one is SIGNED!!!! I was so excited to see that it was. I would of given them all of the money I had just for this one book. They however only charge .99 for hardcovers…OMG!

Which Leads me to my next find Innocence by Dean Koontz. Hardcover!

I am in heaven people!!!

172 Hours on the Moon

This was a shocking find. Not only because I have been wanting to get it but because it is an ARC copy! .50 I think I can do .50!!

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

I only own the first book to this amazing series and regrettably I’ve only read the first. This copy though is in perfect condition and for .50 I couldn’t pass it up.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

I have only heard good things about this book so I had to grab it. I mean it won 3 medals so it must be good….right?

OK everyone thank you for looking at my latest bookhaul. If you are reading or have read any of these please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of them!!