Back to the Books Giveaway Hop

~ This giveaway is now CLOSED ~

This giveaway hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Buried in Books. Find the rest of the giveaways at the main hop site page.

Giveaways are really fun to host. Quite weird if you think about it, since I'm the one having to provide the prizes and shipping costs and whatnot. But there is this certain sense of satisfaction I feel after giving away a book that would otherwise have just sat on my bookshelf for the next decade or so.

For this hop, I'm giving away 4 books:

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep (review)

Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby (review)

The Dark City by Catherine Fisher (review)

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers (review)

I'm also giving away a set of 24" x 36" Twilight movie posters. I will even throw in that tiny Taylor Lautner poster if you want it, too.

Now, if are at least semi-familiar with my reading tastes, you would know that I abhor Twilight (no offense meant to Twihards). However, my history with Twilight is actually quite complicated. I was a tween Twihard back in my impressionable middle school days and have since grown out of my obsession and discovered how stupid Edward the glittery vampire really is. Well, my Twilight posters were purchased during my phase, so now I'm passing it on to others who are still in love with Twilight.

I apologize for the length of that story...

Anyway, onto the details of the giveaway:

• There will be 3 winners
• 2 people will receive 2 books each
• 1 person will receive the 2 posters
• Winners will be notified via email
• Open to US residents 13 years of age or older only

In My Lap (3)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. I'm calling mine In My Lap because 1) I do not have a mailbox, just a small cubby, 2) I do in fact have a lap, and most importantly, 3) clueless individuals will think this is really sketchy, and I like confusing people.

This week's pickings:

The Star Shard by Frederic S. Durbin (Pub: Feb 2012)
       A MG fantasy novel. The synopsis looks really interesting.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
       Reading this next for my English class. Very excited, since I've always wanted to read Hamlet.

...And that is it for my physical copies. Of course, I also got 6 textbooks, but I'm sure you're not interested in those.

Some random eBooks:

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley
       After I finished Billingsley's Chime, I immediately snatched this one up.
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
       I'm ashamed to say that I've only read 1 Card novel: Ender's Game. Although I've read Ender's Game a grand total of 4 times, so you'll let me off the hook, right?
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
       The title is hilarious. And the reviews -- both good and bad -- are really piquing my interest.

What landed in your lap this week?

Bloodlines Winner!

First off, happy Bloodlines release day 2!

Thanks to all of you who joined my first giveaway. You have no idea how happy I was that it received almost 40 entries! Although, of course, that must be attributed to the fact that Richelle Mead writes awesome books.

So, without further ado. The winner of Bloodlines, according to Random.org is:

Comment #22. Congrats, Paige! I will email you soon.

It's Monday! What'cha Readin'? (3)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey as a way to share what we read this past week with the lovely people of the interwebs. This will also be my designated random life rant meme.

A snippet of life: Today I randomly decided to contact my counselor and add an AP Statistics course to my schedule. Now I have 4 AP's: 2 math and 2 science. See what I mean when I say I'm the ultimate nerd?
#PleaseLetMeSurviveJuniorYear

This week I filled my brain with:

[4★] 離不開 by 鄭梓靈

• I. Lurve. This. Author. Seriously, they should translate her romance novels so more people can read them. Tears are guaranteed. I have yet to read one of her books and not end up bawling like a baby.

[4.5★] Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

• The ending was just gorgeous. Would have gotten a 5★ if the beginning hadn't been so hard to get into...

[5★] Saving June by Hannah Harrington (my review)

• Compelling, emotional. You know the set of adjectives that go with this kind of YA contemporary. See my review for more details!

[5★] Chime by Franny Billingsley

• Give this one a try if you love eccentric fantasy novels (like me). I stayed up until 3:30 AM on Saturday night to finish this. So. Amazing. Words cannot describe my love.

Looking at this list of super high ratings, you'd think I was one of those people who just give 5★s to everything. Heh, I totally don't. Here's a handy-dandy screenshot of my rating frequency out of 1300 ratings from my Goodreads profile.

This week has just been filled with a selection of awesome books. Such a great way to end the summer.

Right now I'm reading:

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

• Hmm, I don't know. Haven't gotten very far, but the beginning isn't as grabby as, let's say, Chime's.

I'm going to miss this week. What an awesome reading week it was...

In My Lap (2)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. I'm calling mine In My Lap because 1) I do not have a mailbox, just a small cubby, 2) I do in fact have a lap, and most importantly, 3) clueless individuals will think this is really sketchy, and I like confusing people.

So on this lovely last week of summer vacation, I got:

I told you guys you'd be able to see a picture of my lap eventually.
...That was an awkward sentence, wasn't it?

Saving June by Hannah Harrington (Pub: Nov 2011)
       A YA contemporary that I loved. So much. You have no idea. See my review.
離不開 by 鄭梓靈
       My friend brought me this all the way from Hong Kong! I stayed up until 3:00 AM to finish this last Tuesday night. Cried myself to death, I tell you...

And from NetGalley and Galley Grab:

The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison (Feb 2012)
Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Dec 2011)
Lie by Caroline Bock (Aug 2011)

You Are My Only by Beth Kephart (Oct 2011)

Past Perfect by Leila Sales (Oct 2011)

The Hidden by Jessica Verday (Sep 2011)

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez  (Oct 2011)
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey (Sep 2011)

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins (Oct 2011)

Also, some random eBooks I got:

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt

Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe
Dark Heart Rising by Lee Monroe
Passion by Lauren Kate
     I hated Fallen and Torment (sorry, I really did). So yes, I have no idea why I got this. Perhaps morbid curiosity?

Conclusion: I will never be able to read all of these, but I really cannot resist galleys. I need to get going on my review pile before it turns into Mt. Everest.

So, what landed in your lap this week?