Showcase Sunday #8

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea! 

This is where each Sunday, we can "showcase" what we've gotten in the way of books; 

in the mail, at the bookstore, the library, or as a gift!

Ok, this should be my last Showcase Sunday featuring "books bought" because I need to enforce a severely strict BOOK BUYING BAN for the next few months. I have bought TOO many books in the past few months and I haven't gotten through ANY of them. I definitely don't have book buyers remorse (LOL, like that exists!), but I guess what I'm feeling is pressure to read the books I already have. It sounds weird, but I love the thrill of a the chase... in the book buying world. When a book has a release date, I count down the days and hours until I can buy it and then once I have it, I move on to the next soon-to-be released book. There really should be medical coverage for book therapy. I'll bet even authors would back this up. 

Without further ado... 

Friday Free for All #2

Back in November 2012, I came up with a random post called "Friday Free for All" and I gave a summary at the beginning of the post for my reasoning which you can read about it in the original blog post.

An updated tag-line: 

Friday Free for All is my infrequent anti-meme where I discuss anything book related that is on my mind in the past/present/future, where I share an informal rant/ discussion/ story/ experience/ dream/ propaganda scheme/etc. that may or may not make me sound like a looney-bin. Plus, there's a fun bright colored flashy gif to distract you!

Review: The Fallen Star - Jessica Sorenson

The Fallen Star by Jessica Sorensen
Released: April 11, 2011
Free e-book on Kindle for Amazon

Description from Goodreads:

For eighteen year-old Gemma, life has never been normal. Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she's around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma's life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn't be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death.

Review after the break...

Showcase Sunday #7

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea! This is where each Sunday, we can "showcase" what we've gotten in the way of books; in the mail, at the bookstore, the library, or as a gift!

Yay! I found the time to do a Showcase Sunday this week XD. I really shouldn't be doing these for another 3 months as I have about 60 books sitting on my bookshelf that I have accumulated over the past 6 months and I'm kind of afraid it's going to break under the pressure of all those books... Being a book lover is a not-as-expensive addiction as hard drugs, but it's still costly and takes up a lot of space in your dwelling (ahhh, Under the Never Sky term :).

Warning: I can has bookz syndrome likely to evolve...

Review: Hallowed - Cynthia Hand

Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand

Released: January 17th, 2012

Borrowed from library

Description from Goodreads:

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for (omitting spoiler) and her complicated feelings about the roles she and (omitting spoiler) seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This review is of the second book in the Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand. I took out the names of some of the characters in the above description because I felt they were a little spoilery of the first book. You can check out the Goodreads page if you want to see more. Again, this review may contain small spoilers from the first book, so enter at your own risk! :)

Review after the break.

Pitch Dark Dark Days - Harvard Coop Event

See that little weirdly shaped state in the North East? Yes, I was there for this event of Tour Leg 1 for the Pitch Dark Dark Days tour at the Harvard Coop bookstore on February 7th with:

Veronica Rossi, author of Under the Never Sky, Roar and Liv (e-novella), and Through the Ever Night

Tahereh Mafi, author of Shatter Me, Destroy Me (e-novella), and Unravel Me

Brodi Ashton, author of Everneath, Neverfall (e-novella), and Everbound

Cynthia Hand, author of Unearthly, Radiant (e-novella), Hallowed, and Boundless

Very long post with lots of photos...enter at your own risk!

Review: Unearthly - Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Released: January 4th, 2011

Borrowed from library

Description from Goodreads:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Review after the break.

Review: Everneath - Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Released: January 24^th, 2012

Borrowed from library

Description from Goodreads:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

Review after the break.