Stacking the Shelves # 8

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is a meme for sharing books you've purchased, borrowed, or been sent for review. They can be physical or e-format.
It has been a long time since I posted one of these! I went a few weeks without new books and so I thought I would wait until I had a few new things to share. I was also really sad about the cat, so little blogging, reading, and buying done in the last month.

Library:
   

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell ( I have seen nothing but positive reviews about this book, so I am excited to read it.)
Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede (I hope to review the first book really soon. It was a fun read with a strong heroine.)
Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter (I love both of her series and she is another one who creates really strong female leads.)


Bought:
  
Confessions of a Prairie...by Alison Arngrim (1.99 Amazon Kindle Monthly Deal) Even though it has one of my least favorite words in the title, I had to purchase this. I read Melissa Gilbert's biography and loved learning more about their lives on and off the set.

My Own Mr. Darcy by Karey White (I have seen this on several blogs with really good reviews, so I had to purchase it.)


Won:

Teardrops by Lauren Kate from Jen at YA Romantics. I loved the Fallen series, so I am super excited to receive this one! I participated in the Tackle Your TBR read-a-thon and Jen hosted a Book Pairing challenge, which was really fun. Thanks again Jen, you are awesome!

Review: Thanks to Harlequin Teen, Abrams, Entangled, Dial, Netgalley, and Edelweiss for these great books!



Pawn by Aimee Carter (Harlequin Teen) I loved the Goddess Test series and read them all as egalleys and read them all before they released, so I was super excited to see this one.
Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin Teen) I am getting close to the end of the Iron Fey series, so I can't wait to start the Call of the Forgotten series.
Unhinged by A.G. Howard (Abrams)  and I was also auto-approved for Abrams, so very exciting! I read Alice in Wonderland and I really want to start reading all the great retellings and twists on the story. I know this is a favorite series, so I was excited to get this one.
Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes (Entangled) This is a retelling of Oliver Twist, one of my favorite classics!
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick (Dial) The teens that come into the library love The Boy Next Door, so I just had to request this one, so I could booktalk it!

I also received a paper galley of Rags and Bones from Little, Brown. I think this will work as a great pairing with the original tales. This has some great authors and I will have to read some classic short stories to see how they compare.


I hope you got some great books!

FrightFall Read-a-thon Mid-week Update

I finished both Dream Dark and The Ocean at the End of the Lane and I managed to review Dream Dark already! I also finished Teacher's Pest which I reviewed too, so reading has been great. Unfortunately the reason I have read so much is that I have a sinus infection and have no energy, but at least I can read so there is that. I hope to review The Ocean at the End of the Lane soon and to catch up on the other two books I need to review. I also jumped off list, because I forgot I had a book that needs to go back to the library soon, so I added Something Borrowed, Someone Dead to my reading stack for this week. I hope everyone else is having a good week!

FrightFall Read-a-thon Updates

Day 1 update:
Currently reading: Dream Dark, Teacher's Pest, Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by MC Beaton
Pages/Percent read: Dream Dark- 10 pages and finished, Teacher's Pest- 176 pages and finished, Someone Borrowed, Someone Dead- 15 pages
Books Finished- 1 novella-Dream Dark, 1 book-Teacher's Pest

Well I did not have as much left of Dream Dark as I thought, because most of what was left was the first part of Beautiful Chaos. Teacher's Pest was a middle grades creepy read and it was very fast-paced. And yes, I already jumped off the list, but I forgot about the new release MC Beaton book I had checked out for the library. I need to finish it soon, so I am adding to my reads this week.

Day 2 update:
I only read on my reread book, so no update here.

Day 3 update:
Currently reading: Something Borrowed, Someone Dead, Ocean at the End of the Lane
Pages/Percent read: SBSD- 18 pages, Ocean- 40

Day 4 update:
Currently reading: Ocean at the End of the Lane
Pages/Percent read: Ocean- 33 pages and finished!

Day 5 update:
Currently reading: Something Borrowed, Someone Dead, Fangirl
Pages/Percent read: SBSD- 9 pages, Fangirl- 5 pages

Day 6 update:
Currently reading: Nevermore Poe Collection
Read: Masque of Read Death, half of Ligeia

Day 7 update:
Currently reading: Nevermore Poe Collection, Something Borrowed Someone Dead
Read: rest of Ligeia, Cask of Amontillado, The Tell Tale Heart, The Black Cat, SBSD- 20 pages

September is for Sequels Wrap-up

September is for Sequels is hosted by Lisa @ Lisa Loves Literature. This was the second annual challenge. Well I did read 3 books and a novella, even though three of them were not on my original list. I was in quite the reading slump until the very end of the month. I am starting to love reading again, but I still miss my little reading cat and that had me depressed most of the month. I love doing the sequels challenge, because I suddenly remember just how great particular series are and that I should actually finish the series. I ended up reading Always a Witch, which was on my list and I thought it was a fitting ending to that short series. I read the second Gallagher Girl book, Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy, which I loved and I need to finish that series and read the third Heist Society series book. I read Dream Dark, a novella in the Caster Chronicles, and now I want to start Beautiful Chaos. I also read Teacher's Pest, a middle grades novel, that is part of the Tales of Lovecraft series. It was a perfectly creepy read for fall and now I am just one book behind in that series. Thanks again to Lisa for hosting!

Book Bingo Oct 1 Update

In the TBR category I have read a total of 11 books.

Always a Witch

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

Achieving Apollo

Monstrous Beauty

Once a Witch

The Will of the Empress

The Night Dance

The Red Garden

Shatterglass

Crimson Thread

Beauty Sleep

 

In the Series category I have read a total of 12 books.

Earthbound

The Girl with the Iron Touch

Hero

 

Full Moon Kisses

Professor Gargoyle

Prodigy

Opal

Iron Daughter

The Gathering

Crescendo

Silence

Onyx

 

In the Books released in 2013, I have filled all my squares, except the Free Square for a total of 12 books.

Life After Theft

School Spirits

Wild Song

Rapunzel Untangled

The Art of Wishing

The Dead and the Buried

Towering

Jinx

Goddess Inheritance

Shadowhunters and Downworlders

Mind Games

Day of Doom

 

In the Books that Everyone but You Has Read category I have only finished 5 books.

Vampire Academy

Pretty Little Liars

My Soul to Take

Austenland

Dealing with Dragons

In the Rereads category I have finished 7 books.

The first six Harry Potter books

The Lightning Thief

I still need a book for my free space and I will have a bingo line complete at that point.

Teacher's Pest by Charles Gilman

This is another book I read for the September is for Sequels challenge. It is the third in the Tales of Lovecraft series, so there are spoilers for the first two books.

Lovecraft Middle School appears to be your average state of the art middle school, but behind its facade lurk demons and monsters that are straight from nightmares. After defeating the twins and a teacher, Robert and Glenn face down their next challenge, the class president, Howard, who is a gigantic bug. Howard plans on creating a bug army for the evil Tillinghast and causes wave after wave of insects to invade the school. Couple with this, Glenn begins acting strange and Robert fears he has lost his friend forever. To try to discover the evil plan, Robert sends Pip and Squeak down a tunnel. When the two-headed rat does not return, Robert will stop at nothing to save his friend and the world from the buggy invasion.

The book is full of gross situations and mild horror, perfect for a middle grade read. The series has the chills of Goosebumps with the grossness of the Rotten School books by Stine. Each one has an ending, but they all build up to the next story in the series. Each demon seems worse than the last and you wonder what is going to happen to those who are taken over and if Robert and his friends will be able to stop Tillinghast from destroying the world.

Favorite character: Robert. He is a good and loyal friend and apologizes for his mistakes. He is mean to Karina in this one, but apologizes for his rudeness. He manages to defeat the evil minions of Tillinghast, but never gets too cocky.

Favorite quote: "'If we were strangers? And I saw you standing in a crowd of others kids? I wouldn't even notice you.' 'That's very sweet,' Karina said, shaking her head. 'That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me.'" That is the perfect thing to say to a ghost girl. ;)

The horror is perfect for 5th grade and the grossness will definitely appeal to boys. 4 cups of cocoa!

Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Dream Dark is the novella following Beautiful Darkness. This is 2.5 in the Caster Chronicles This review will have spoilers for the first two books in the Caster Chronicles. I read this for the September is for Sequels challenge.

Link is adjusting to his life following the circumstances of his encounter with John Breed over the summer. Link is now a quarter Incubus and with that comes superior power, but also an aversion to food and a need to feed on dreams. Link is able to discuss his problems with Macon Ravenwood. Macon gives Link a task to test him, but it may prove to be impossible.

This novella is from Link's point of view as compiled by Ethan. It has most of Link's humor, but from Ethan's perspective. I liked seeing more of Link's relationship with Ridley through Link's perspective.

Favorite Character: Link. Link seems to hold to his religious beliefs in his own way, while adapting to the Caster life. He also has a sense of humor even in the darkest situations.

Favorite Quote: "Small towns are known for lots of small things, but they're known for some big things too. Like stories that start out as small as the town itself, until folks grow them." I love Garcia and Stohl's descriptions and the way they set the scenes.

This makes me want to start Beautiful Chaos soon. Nice short story into the life of Link with a hook at the end to get you geared up for BC. 4 cups of cocoa!