Stacking the Shelves {4} & My Reading Pile {8}

Before I get started on the awesome books I got this week, I want to take a moment to sincerely apologize to my followers.  Yesterday I realized with great shock and disbelief that I haven't posted in over a week and that is not OK. It has been a very strange week - I have been living a day behind (seriously, all day yesterday I thought it was Wednesday, and I spent today thinking it was only Thursday and didn't realize my mistake until the NHL Draft started on TSN) and if that wasn't enough to throw me off, it has also been an extremely hot week - and not the good kind of hot, if you know what I mean... Tonight's the first night the temperature is halfway decent.

In addition to all that, I was waiting on a book to get here and the longer the mail took, the more frustrated I got - I couldn't even pick up another book because my mind was fixated on this particular one. It finally arrived yesterday and I've been feeling like I've died and gone to heaven ever since I first touched it.

So, long story short, until yesterday I didn't feel like doing anything, I had lost "my spark" if you will, and let me tell you, that is no fun at all. I am going to try my very best and start posting more regularly again. Thank you so much for sticking by me! I appreciate it a whole lot!

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Enough with the rambling and on with the things you actually came here for.

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and as I am sharing what I received in the mail this week, I'm giving a big shout out to her.

First up is the book I had been waiting for all week:

A HUGE thank you to Rachel from fiktshun for hosting the incredible Soul Screamers Reading Challenge, and to Rachel Vincent for offering a signed, early copy of Before I Wake for a SSRC giveaway - which, as you might have guessed already, I was lucky enough to win. In all honesty, I still cannot believe I actually won it and that I am reading this precious book right now. I am only about halfway through, and it is so fantastic already! If only there were more hours in a day, so I could spend more time reading...

Another thank you to fiktshun for the amazing bookmarks of A Touch Mortal, A Touch Morbid, and Witch Eyes! They are all so pretty!

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Another book I got is a galley of Holding On To Zoe by George Ella Lyon which is set to be released on July 17th, 2012.

I failed miserably trying to remove the "Not Final Cover" sticker cleanly, but if you would like to see the finished cover, simply click on the book title above and it will take you to the Goodreads page. I received this book from MacMillan. They had mentioned this book on their twitter account (@MacKidsBooks) and I happened to tell them it sounded like a very interesting story (you all should definitely check it out). The next thing I know, they asked me for my address, so they could send me a copy. I was so perplexed - and still am, actually - but am really excited to find out the truth about Jules and her baby Zoe.

This week at the library

 

My local library was so awesome to me this week. A while ago, I had put in a "request to purchase" for Veronica Roth's Insurgent after Lisa - the lovely woman who does my little man's story time at the library - recommended I should do it. She has read Divergent too and really wants to know what's happening in the sequel as well. So, when I went to the library last weekend she came up to me all excited, saying that Insurgent was in the process of being put into the system, and since I was the one who put in the request, I would be the first to get it. When I went back to pick it up a few days later, Lisa was there again and she was all giddy and saying I should read it really, really fast because she was next in line for it. She is such a sweetheart and I love the fact I actually know a few of my librarians. Two of them have actually said that me and my little man are almost living at the library...ah, I wish... So, yes, another long story, but I am super thrilled to read Insurgent.

To my surprise, I also had Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers waiting for me. Last time I had checked online, it still said it was being acquired, but they seem to speed up the process when somebody puts the book on hold even before they actually have it - which is very useful to know, by the way. When I first saw that they were trying to get it, I immediately put my name down to have it, and no two weeks later...voila... I am so happy. Of course, it also means I will have to read these books super fast because I won't be able to keep them longer than three weeks since other people have put them on hold as well.

So, yes, this was an extremely happy and exciting book week for me!

My Reading Pile {8}

As I am sharing what I will be reading this week, I am giving credit to fiktshun who came up with this wonderful idea.

First up is of course Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent. I am hoping to finish it tomorrow or the day after and I can already feel that I will want to re-read it again right after, but I will try and force myself not to.

My second book for the week will be Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I already started it while I was waiting for Before I Wake to arrive, but I just couldn't concentrate on it. With my mind was set on Before I Wake, so I didn't want to continue with Insurgent because I was afraid my reading experience would get ruined. So, I am very ecstatic to get back to it sometime this week.

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Now you know what I got in the mail and what I will be reading this week. How about you? What goodies did you receive this week? Are there any particular books you would like to read this week? I would love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful reading week!!!