In My Mailbox (8)

In this meme, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, we share the books we've received, bought or taken out from the library.

Despite the fact there was nothing in my physical mailbox, I had a pretty great haul this week thanks to my awesome libraries!

Bought as library discards (including the prices because they were such steals!):

Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (25 cents)

Anne of the Island by L.M.M. Montgomery (20 cents) - I have the first two of the Anne books but the third is my favorite and I didn't have my own copy till now!

Midwinter Nightingale by Joan Aiken  (20 cents) - never heard of this one before but apparently it's part of a series called the Wolves Chronicles.

Julie's Secret by Cora Taylor (25 cents) - I read Julie a few times when I was younger (did anyone else?) but I had no idea there was a sequel until I stumbled upon it on the sale shelf!

Rumors by Anna Godbersen ($1) - A hardcover for $1? Especially one in a really well-known series? Oh yeah. (Even though  it turned out half a page was ripped out...apart from that it's in good shape though.)

Attica by Garry Kilworth (20 cents) - hadn't heard of this one before either but it looks kind of spooky...

Early to Death, Early to Rise by Kim Harrington ($1) - this is the 2nd in the series, I haven't read the first yet.


Borrowed:

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn (Adult)

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison (I figured, since I was buying the 2nd in the series, I might as well see if they had the 1st, and lo and behold, there it was.)

The Beautiful Between by Alyssa Sheinmel

So that was my week! What did you get in your mailbox?

Forget-Me-Nots: The Fairy Lair Series

This is a feature on my blog for highlighting books I enjoyed in childhood and the teenage years that I don't see getting much attention nowadays.

This week's pick: The Fairy Lair series by Anne LeMieux (The Fairy Lair: A Special Place, The Fairy Lair: A Hidden Place, The Fairy Lair: A Magic Place)

Goodreads' description of the first in the series:

"A packet of mail-order seeds called "Magic Meadow Medley" involves Sylvia Widden in a fight to preserve a fairies' habitat threatened by drought. She finds an unexpected ally in a neighborhood bully with problems of her own."

This series was one of those hidden gems that gets virtually no buzz and unfortunately goes out of print quickly. My memory is a little fuzzy for this one, but as I recall it was a sweet read incorporating themes of friendship, magic and environment. I had the first two in the series, but was never able to get my hands on the third one, even from the library :(

Does anyone remember these books? *looks around hopefully*

2011 Debut Authors Challenge

This will be my first time participating in this challenge, hosted by The Story Siren, and I am excited for it! The goal of this challenge is to read at least 12 YA/MG debut novels being published in 2011, beginning January 1st and running until December 31st.

There are so many awesome-sounding books coming out next year. Here are some of the ones I'm hoping to read:

Warped – Maurissa Guibord
XVI – Julia Karr
The False Princess – Eilis O’Neal
Choker – Elizabeth Woods
A Touch Mortal – Leah Clifford
Wither – Lauren DeStefano
Entwined – Heather Dixon
Kat, Incorrigible – Stephanie Burgis
Divergent – Veronica Roth
Possession – Elana Johnson
Lost Voices – Sarah Porter
Memento Nora – Angie Smibert
The Near Witch – Victoria Schwab
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer – Michelle Hodkin
Queen of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

 For all the details, see this post at the Story Siren's blog.

Who else is participating and what books are you looking forward to reading?

Book Blogger Hop (17)

 

It's time again for the Book Blogger Hop! This awesome meme is hosted by Crazy-For-Books and this week's question is,"Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let's use this week's Hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!"

Well, I'm Canadian so we celebrated Thanksgiving back in October. But I'll play along anyway :) I'm always thankful for the support of my family, for books and the fun I have interacting with the book blogger community, and of course for chocolate.


As for Thanksgiving traditions...well, we're vegetarian, so there is never any turkey happening at our house. We always have a really fabulous dinner though, and delicious pumpkin pie, which I LOVE.

New-ish items on the blog:


- I am currently having a giveaway for Kiersten White's Paranormalcy. I really enjoyed this one, and you can read my review and enter the giveaway here (you don't even need to be a follower, though if you'd like to, please do!) 


- Getting into the holiday spirit? Share a book from your Christmas wishlist each week in my "All I Want For Christmas Is..." meme! Link your post up for this week here :)


Other recent posts:


Waiting on Wednesday: Waterfall and Ashes, Ashes
Top Ten Tuesday: Villains, Criminals and Other Nasties
The Maze Runner: In A Nutshell 



Happy Thanksgiving in advance to all my American book blogger friends!

All I Want For Christmas Is... (6)

This is a feature/meme where I choose a book each week leading up to Christmas and say why it's made it onto my wishlist – and I'd love to see what books everyone else is hoping to get! I'll be posting my pick each Thursday, but you guys can link up and visit other people's posts all through the week.

This week's pick: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

From Goodreads:

"Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew—just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road—diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards—this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself."

 
I have seen so many glowing reviews of this book. Having it set during a roadtrip makes a change from the conventional contemporary YA format, and it sounds like it tackles some heavier topics while remaining a cute, fun read. And the added "scraps from the road" sound perfect for this one!


What books are on your Christmas wishlist? Link your post up below!