August R.A.K Wrap Up & September Sign Up

AUGUST WRAP UP

I'm back to R.A.K. This is my first time participating in Random Acts of Kindness in almost a year. The last time I signed up was back in October of 2011.

Although I didn't receive any R.A.K. books in August I did send out two.

I sent Jessica @ The Daily Bookmark

Legend by Marie Lu

I sent Helen @ The Fiction Conniption

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

*It was her birthday month!

SEPTEMBER SIGN UP

The link for September Sign Ups is now live!

Link to my main R.A.K. Wishlist

Interested in signing up?

Head on over to Book Soulmates to find more info and big shout out to Isalys & Vanessa for putting this whole thing together! What a great way to spread some book love!

"Waiting On" Wednesday #43

"Waiting On" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

It's been way too long since we've done a WOW but here's the newest books we're "Waiting On".

Shannon's Pick~

HOLLOW EARTH by John Barrowman & Carole E. Barrowman
Release Date: October 30th from Aladdin Books

Synopsis from Goodreads
Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.

The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.

As a MASSIVE Doctor Who fan you can bet your entire bank account that I'm dying to read the book John Barrowman co-wrote with his sister. I originally didn't care what Hollow Earth was about, LOL but I'm pleased that its a middle grade fantasy book as I haven't read many of those lately.

SALVATION by Anne Osterlund
Release Date: January 10th, 2013 from Speak

Synopsis from Goodreads
Salva (aka Salvador) Resendez is a god at Liberty High School. Quarterback. ASB President. National Honor Society Member. His Mexican immigrant parents have high expectations, and Salva is prepared to fulfill them. Mostly. But what he really wants is to blend in with his friends and enjoy his senior year. A goal bound for destruction when an asinine requirement forces him into AP English with the teacher from hell. And with walking disaster area, Beth Courant. Who may be his salvation. But what neither Salva nor Beth knows is that the cost of salvation is mortality.

Salvation sounds like a reverse version of Perfect Chemistry, with a straight laced guy instead of a bad boy. Contemps are my fav and I always love discovering new ones.

Carrie's Pick~ 

MIDDLE GROUND (Awaken #2) by Katie Kacvinsky
Release Date: November 20th, 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 

Synopsis from Goodreads
In this provocative cautionary tale for teens, the sequel to Awaken, seventeen-year-old Maddie’s rebellion against the digital-only life grows dangerous. Maddie is in Los Angeles, trying to stay out of trouble. But one night, a seemingly small act of defiance lands her in the place she fears the most: a detention center. Here, patients are reprogrammed to accept a digital existence. Maddie is now fighting for her mind, her soul, and her very life. 

Awaken really surprised me so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in Middle Ground.


CATHERINE by April Lindner
Release Date: January 2nd, 2013 from Little Brown BFYR

Synopsis from Goodreads
A forbidden romance. A modern mystery. Wuthering Heights as you've never seen it before.

Catherine is tired of struggling musicians befriending her just so they can get a gig at her Dad's famous Manhattan club, The Underground. Then she meets mysterious Hence, an unbelievably passionate and talented musician on the brink of success. As their relationship grows, both are swept away in a fiery romance. But when their love is tested by a cruel whim of fate, will pride keep them apart?
Chelsea has always believed that her mom died of a sudden illness, until she finds a letter her dad has kept from her for years -- a letter from her mom, Catherine, who didn't die: She disappeared. Driven by unanswered questions, Chelsea sets out to look for her -- starting with the return address on the letter: The Underground.

Told in two voices, twenty years apart, Catherine interweaves a timeless forbidden romance with a compelling modern mystery.

I'm a big fan of modern retellings of classic novels. I found April Lindner's Jane Eyre retelling (Jane) really enjoyable so I'm excited to see what she'll do with Wuthering Heights in Catherine.

What are you all "Waiting On"?

Top Ten Tuesday (7) - Bookish Confessions

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish

This Week's Top Ten is all about Bookish Confessions. What kind of bookish secrets do Carrie and I want to confess? Check um out below.


Carrie's Top 5 Bookish Confessions:

1) My husband bought me a Nook so he wouldn't have to keep buying bookshelves but I keep buying more physical copies anyway. Darn you Salt Lake City with all your great authors and book signings.

The King's English Bookshop in SLC

2) As mentioned above I keep buying more and more books which means I can't keep up with reading them all. My TBR stack is out of control. I counted all of them the other day but I'm going to keep that number to myself. I'm in denial.

3) I love my library and use it quite frequently which means the books I own are still not getting read. Sigh.

4) Even though my shelves are bursting at the seams I can't part with a single book. I think I might have a slight problem. Lol

5) Since I covet my books, I have a hard time loaning them out (I do but it isn't easy...lol) because I'm very anal about their condition. I don't like broken spines, dog-eared pages or ripped/nicked/bent covers. When I purchase books from the store I have to pull them all off the shelf so I can buy the best looking one. Also when reading hardcover books, the dust jacket comes off so there is less chance it will get damaged in any way.

*Well there you have it, I'm an anal book hoarder but isn't the first step to recovery admitting you have a problem? Hi, my name is Carrie and I have a book addiction.

 Shannon's Top 5 Bookish Confessions:

1) I am a book pusher, LOL! I can get many of my friends to read books they wouldn't normally read. The sad part is a lot of times its books I've heard amazing things about but haven't actually read myself.

2) I'm a serious bookmark hoarder and because of this I have to keep giveaway swag separate from my own stash. I currently have over 4 envelopes filled with various bookmarks which I have no intention of parting with...like ever!

A small sampling of my bkmark collection

3) I have wasted perfectly good reading time watching entire series on Netflix. My most recent addictions have been: Pretty Little Liars, Dance Academy, Alphas and Falling Skies. To save myself and this blog it had to go. Bye, Bye Netflix you will be missed. Phew...I should have way more time for reading now.

4) YA books helped me become a better reader. This might sound like an odd thing to say but I wasn't the best reader when I was young and sometimes I still struggle. In middle school if I had to read aloud in class it was complete and utter fear. I always tripped over words and had a hard time with pronunciation. This caused me to read less and less as I got older, but the thing is I loved the transformative power books gave me. I didn't want to lose that so instead I found books that made reading enjoyable. It started with Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and I've been reading YA ever since.

5) Most likely I'm not reading what you're reading and I'm okay with that. I've been told by many bloggers and readers that they've never heard of the book I'm reading: 172 Hours on the Moon, Five Flavors of Dumb, Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls, The Space Between and so on. It's not that I don't enjoy reading the bigger name titles, its just I love drawing attention to the under the radar book. Its one of the thing I like most about blogging. Helping others find a book they might have otherwise overlooked. What can I say I'm a sucker for the underdog.

Stalking The Shelves (5): Shannon's Book Haul

Stalking the Shelves is a play on Stacking The Shelves which is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. The meme title so closely matches our blog name that we decided to make a small change to it. Stalking the Shelves is just a fun way to show off the books we've been buying, borrowing and hoarding. LOL

 

Sorry this is going up a bit late but it's time for another around of Stalking the Shelves. All books shown are ones I received between August 12th-25th.

Won:

~Touched by Cyn Balog

(Thanks to Random House for the contest!)

Bought w/ Random Buzzers Buzz Bucks:

 ~Banished by Sophie Littlefield

 

For Review:

~Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell

(Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for the review copy!)

Library:

~The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

~Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

~Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Well that's it for me this week. What's taking up space on your shelves?

Nifty Nook Book Deals #8

Every time I've done one of these posts it's been a huge success and since I haven't done one in FOREVER, here you go.

All title links go to Barnes & Noble so you can easily buy the books. BTW, I have no affiliation with B&N.com so I don't make any money off the sale of these books. Instead this post was inspired by the lack of attention Nook Books get in comparison to Kindle Books, which always seem to be on sale.

Free Novel

~Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

Novels On Sale For $0.99

 ~Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble
~Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen

 ~Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall

~The Great Lover by Jill Dawson

Novels On Sale For $1.99

 ~Nine Rules to Break... by Sarah MacLean

~The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

~Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

 ~Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Novels On Sale For $2.99

 ~All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

~Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

~Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

 ~Enclave by Ann Aguirre

~Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt

~Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

~The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

~Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe

~Bloodspell by Amalie Howard

~Being Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram

~On the Fringe by Courtney King Walker

~Still Life by Louise Penny

Novels On Sale For $3.99

~The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

~Easy by Tammara Webber

~Crash by Nicole Williams

~Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

~Pretties (Uglies #2) by Scott Westerfeld

~Beautiful Creatures by Garcia & Stohl

~The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

~The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

 Please leave a comment if you'd like me to do more of these Nook Deal posts. They take quite a bit of time but if you all like them then I will keep posting them as often as I can.

Happy Reading Everyone!!!