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books

In My Mailbox (15): Or when things get out of hand.

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This image makes me miss spring time and the smell of flowers and days before my mailbox broke into two pieces. Also, it makes me want to hole up in a Dutch windmill and do nothing but read.

Welcome to this week’s installment of In My Mailbox, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a weekly look at everything received for review, purchased, or picked up at the library.

The Cybils? Full swing ahead, baby. But I also got a nice box and envelope of 2011 preview titles from Simon and Schuster. I also got my nookcolor, which I am already in love with. More on that later.

For review:

10 Miles Past Normal by Francis O’Roarke Dowell: This is her first teen novel (she’s written a number of middle grade titles). The cover of this one is after my own heart.

Choker by Elizabeth Woods: A thriller!

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton: A story where New Orleans is rebuilt and reimagined? Yes please.

All three of these came together in an envelope with a cube of paper featuring the covers on four of the sides and a “2011 Debut Titles” logo on the forth. I love it so much I took it to work just to look at it.

Girl Saves Boy by Steph Bowe: This one’s out of Australia and it’s by a teen author. It’s about coincidences and growing up and lawn gnomes. I finished it last week, and I’ll be really interested to see how it might be made a little stronger when it launches in the US through Egmont.

Runaway Storm by D. E. Knobbe: A boy takes on his own to kayak the Canadian wilderness.

Survivor’s Leave by Robert Sutherland: Looks like a war story of some kind.

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins: I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while, so, this was a nice gift.

I Am Nuchu by Brenda Stanley: I don’t know much about this one, but I know it’s one of Westside Books’s later 2010/early 2011 offerings.

Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty: Forth in the series, and it’s supposedly a gothic novel…which you know how I feel about.

Rhythm and Blues by Jill Murray: Cecil Castellucci is blurbed on the cover, which already makes me excited.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson: I didn’t like the first one. I know that pretty much makes me satan but I’m pretty okay with that.

8th Grade Super Zero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich: This is the longest author name I have ever typed in my life.

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick: Loved the first one so I’m excited to see this story continue.

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer: A mystery!

Sellout by Ebony Joy Wilkins: A story about race and being “inauthentic.”

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan: I read this one last week and really, really liked it. Review will be up shortly!

Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman: I know this one has to do with a foreign country in South America.

The Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell: The audiobook! I think this one will be hilarious. You know, for when I’m don reading Cybils titles.

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins: Last book in her Kristina series.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst: A funny story, I believe aimed at the middle grade.

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis: A magical story set in London for middle grade.

Freefall by Mindi Scott: I’ve read this one, and you’ll be hearing about it (and Mindi!) soon.

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott: I’ve read this one, and I haven’t reviewed it here purposely. I’ll leave it to that.

Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick: Read and reviewed here.

Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber: A historical fiction that looks pretty good!

Forget You by Jennifer Echols: High intensity romance? Yes please.

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden: Read and reviewed it here.

Nothing by Janne Teller: Read this one, and it made me want to drink.

Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont: Read and reviewed here.

Sweet, Hereafter by Angela Johnson: This one’s gotten a lot of attention. It’s the third in her “Heaven” trilogy.

Lifted by Wendy Toliver: Read this one, too!

Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams: Read this book in verse and reviewed it here.

After the Kiss by Tera McVoy: Read this. Also a book in verse with alternating voices.

Perfect Shot by Debbie Rigaud: One of the Simon Pulse romantic comedies.

Change of Heart by Shari Maurer: This one sounds a bit like In a Heartbeat.

The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla: Something about grown up decisions and I think heartbreak.

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield: Read and reviewed this one here.

Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore by Marci Stillerman: Historical murder in 1930s Chicago.

Stringz by Michael Wenberg: This one’s got a backdrop of music and performance.

The Summer I Got a Life by Mark Fink: The main character had a bad summer. It changed his life.

In My Mailbox (14)

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Welcome to In My Mailbox, a weekly feature hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a chance to highlight the books received for review, purchased, or picked up from the library.

Friends, I am suffering book burnout from work, so forgive me for the less than excellent photo quality and set up here. It was another busy week here with receiving materials for the Cybils. Lots of mail love, and I did purchase one book since my copy seems to have gone missing.



For review:

Abe in Arms by Pegi Deitz Shea: A story of a teen struggling with post traumatic stress disorder.

When I Was Joe by Keren Davis: I read this one already and really, really liked it. I’ll have a review up shortly.

China Clipper: A Nick Grant Adventure by Jamie Dodson: Sounds like an action adventure story.

So Over My Head by Jenny B. Jones: I read this one, too. It’s a clean Christian romance/humor story with a bit of a mystery to it. The third and final installment in a series.

Exit Strategy by Ryan Potter: About the desperation to leave one’s roots for bigger things.

Indigo Blues by Danielle Joseph: A story about a band, I believe, and it’s told from multiple viewpoints.

The Fiddler’s Gun by A. S. Peterson: A historical romance amid a battle between America and Britain.

Purchased:

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers: I have reviewed this one before, but I lost my copy somewhere, so I picked up another.

In My Mailbox (13)

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Welcome to the 13th edition of In My Mailbox here at Stacked. It’s a weekly showcase of books received during the week either through the mail, purchased or picked up at the library, and it’s hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

For Review:

Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor: A middle grade novel about life at an artist’s colony being compared to Ann M. Martin and Sharon Creech.
The Trouble with Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante: You know what excites me about this? There is an awesome person of color on the cover. A younger-aimed YA title about loss and life in a housing project.

Then, for Cybils reviewing, I got a ton of stuff this week:

The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy
The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
The 10 p.m. Question by Kate DeGoldi

Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett
Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs by Ron Koertge: I read this one already and loved it. My review will be up this week!
The Agency, Book 1 by Y. S. Lee

The Agency, Book 2 by Y. S. Lee
Beat the Band by Don Calame
The Secret to Lying by Todd Mitchell

Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald
City of Cannibals by Ricki Thompson
Sweet 15 by Emily Adler and Alex Echivarria
Mindblind by Jennifer Roy

Since I was out of town all week at a conference for work, I didn’t check out any books, and the only book I bought was a preorder, which I’ll be reviewing and talking about like crazy in about a month. Stay tuned on that one.

What was in your mailbox this week?

In My Mailbox (12)

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Welcome to In My Mailbox, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a weekly showcase of what I received for review, from the library, or bought.

Let me start with the fact this was an awesome week book wise. Also, it was really expensive. You’ll see why in a second.

For Review:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: A sweet romance set abroad? Count me in.

The Hole in the Wall by Lisa Rowe Fraustino: Picked this one up off a table at KidLitCon. It looks dystopian or at least like it has some nice pits of desperation in it.

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers: Do I need to explain my love for Courtney?

The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride: I got this one for my Cybils reading. A finished copy even!

The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull: This is a new series by the author of the Fablehaven series the kids at my work are CRAZY about. I also got a sweet tote bag along with this one!

From the Library:

Scrawl by Mark Shulman: Jackie said this was one I *needed* to read as part of the Cybils reading since it has a good male voice in it. I’m excited!

Bought:

Drinking at the Movies and The Fart Party by Julia Wertz: After reading reviews of these two, I couldn’t resist. Alea and I stopped at the comic book store next to the Open Book and these were my purchases.

And my biggest, most exciting purchase this week:

I preordered the nookcolor and will be joining the world of ereadership! For those of you who are appalled by the idea of ereaders or ebooks, please take a minute to read this fantastic post by Maggie Steifvater. The ereader is another reading option and is not a replacement. I was so excited I waited to buy one for this particular device: it’s run on android and with its format, it has the potential to be a mini tablet. Sweet! It’ll arrive in a few weeks.

In My Mailbox (11)

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Welcome to another week of In My Mailbox, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a chance to highlight the books received in the past week in the mail, from the library, or from the book store.

This week marked something pretty sad here in southern Wisconsin. My mailman, who I know, destroyed my mailbox. It is entirely cracked on the side and hanging on by dear life right now. How did he destroy it, you ask? Well, I figured it out when I noticed that the envelope I got from Simon and Schuster had a rip — a huge rip — on the opposite side to that which was broken on the mailbox. It was your classic shoving the envelope into the box too hard maneuver.

But in that envelope, I got…

Wither by Lauren DeStefano: This book is the first in a dystopian trilogy. While that in itself kind of excited me, what really got me interested in this was Lauren’s blog and the fact this trilogy from a debut author snatched a supposed 7 figure signing deal. Sweeeeet!

The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi: I got a finished copy of this one by surprise. It looks like a great middle grade fantasy, something I need to bulk up on a bit.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare: I had a review copy of this one from BEA, but during the summer, I had a comment contest on my library’s facebook and our teen winner got to take it as a prize before I read it. My coworkers have been buzzing about this one, so I’m looking forward to it post-Cybils.