Stacking the Shelves {6} & My Reading Pile {10}

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews, so as I am sharing what was in my mailbox this week, I am giving a big shout out to her.

Wow! Has it really been three weeks already since my last STS post? I can't believe it.

First of, I have to mention an amazing book I forgot to talk about during my last Stacking the Shelves post. I'm not sure how many of you participated in the #CleanUpTBRPile Read-a-thon that the wonderful Valerie from Stuck In Books hosted a while back. It was such an amazing event, and Valerie did an amazing job with it. During one of the twitter parties I actually ended up winning a prize which I was allowed to pick myself. There were quite a few winners before me, so I had to keep my fingers crossed that the book I really wanted would still be available by the time it was my turn to choose.

Well, I got lucky and it was, in fact, still available, so my choice was

Exiled by M.R. Merrick!!! The author himself send me a Kindle copy of it and I cannot wait to get started. Now, I'm just waiting to finally get my Kindle, but it will come. So, yes, I am super, super excited for this book! Thank you so, so much to both Valerie and M.R. Merrick! You guys rock!

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I received four books in the last three weeks and each and every one of them is fantastic!

If you've read my last STS post, you probably know how devastated I was about having to bring Veronica Roth's Insurgent back to the library before finishing it. Well, lo and behold, two days after I returned it, this beautiful, beautiful ARC showed up at my front door.

I won it a few months ago, but there were some shipping issues, so it took a little bit longer. But it was sooo worth the wait! I read it right away and it was absolutely fantastic. Though, I haven't decided yet whether I like this one more than Divergent or not. At the moment, I'm leaning more towards Divergent being my favorite, to be honest.

Thank you so much to the lovely Harmony of Radiant Reads!!!

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The next two books I won during ArmchairBEA. The amazing Cindy from Cindy's Love Of Books was offering a Gift Card and I was the lucky one who won it. With it, I picked these two fabulous books.

I had a really tough time deciding which books to pick. Well, that's actually only half true, because I always knew I would pick Rachel Vincent's Shadow Bound, mainly so I would finally get off my butt and read Blood Bound which has been collecting dust on my shelves for way too long. There are three books I have to finish first, but after that I'm going to make a list and both, Blood Bound and Shadow Bound, will be very close to the top.

Now, I had real trouble picking the second book because there are so many I really want to read. At the end, it came down to If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers.

My dear friend Alba (from BookPics) urged me to get If I Stay. She absolutely loves the book and the author; and after some research at my local library, I discovered they were purchasing Grave Mercy. Just like that, the decision was kind of made for me, both by the library and Alba. I know I'll have to have lots of tissues handy when reading this, so I'm going to wait until I'm in the mood for a real good cry to read this one.

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 The last book is a book that got sent to me directly from the author.

It's called Die Klingen der Rose (Jenseits des Horizonts) by Zoe Archer, which is the German version of her book Warrior (The Blades of the Rose #1). She also included some really neat swag. I especially love the pen, I've been writing everything with it ever since I got it. Yes, I admit, I'm a sucker for swag. *lol*

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Now, off to topic number two...

My Reading Pile {10}

The fabulous fiktshun came up with this wonderful idea to share the books you are planning on reading each week. So, as I am sharing my picks with you, I am giving credit her.

I have two books on my pile this week.

The first one is Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. It is the book club read for July and since our next meeting is on Tuesday, I better get at it. So far, I have only read the first couple of pages, but I am liking it already. I can't wait explore this new world some more.

The second book is a book I received for review - House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier. I have read the first chapter already and it's a little bit difficult to keep up because there are so many strange names, but I am hoping the more I get into the story, the easier it will get to tell who is who.

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You know what I will be reading this week, so it's your turn to tell me. I would love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful reading week!!!

Let's Play Tag!

Since I was tagged by Mag from Geek Chic, it's now my turn to tag some other bloggers! This is just a way to get to know fellow bloggers a little better. Thanks for tagging me, Mag!

THE RULES

1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to   ask the people you’ve tagged.
3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

1. Who is the author you own the most books by? This is a toss-up between James Patterson and Stephen King. I think I have about equal amounts of books by both of them.

2. If you meet ANY author, who would you pick? Can I only pick one? If so, then I would have to say Alexander Gordon Smith. I would love to know how is mind works to come up with a world as gruesome, disturbing, and dark as the one in his "Escape from Furnace" series. If I can pick a second one, I would have to go with James Patterson. I have adored his work for many years and would love to have a sit down with one of the greatest authors ever. That being said, I don't think I would be able to get too many words out, because I would be so starstruck.

3. What book have you reread the most times? Without a doubt, "The Outsiders" by Susan E. Hinton. It is one of the best books ever written, and I still cry every time I read it.

4. What is your favorite book genre? Right now, I would have to say pretty much anything Young Adult which has supernatural/paranormal aspects in it.

5. Do you ever listen to music while you're reading? Yes, I do. Usually, it's only on very low volume though, just so it's not completely silent around me. I like a little bit of background noise.

6. Who is your favorite character from any book? I know you already know that one, so it is no surprise to you. Tod Hudson from Rachel Vincent's "Soul Screamers" series. He is simply incredible. He is charming, funny, protective, caring, honest, and it doesn't hurt that he is super handsome too.

7. If you could meet (and be friends with!) any character from any book in real life, who would you choose? No, I'm not going with Tod Hudson here, but with Kaylee Cavanaugh instead. She is the female heroine in the "Soul Screamers" series and she is one tough chick. Being friends with her would never get boring. Sure, you would probably end up staring death square in the face a few times, but hey, who doesn't want to get their heart rate up every now and then.

8. Five books that made you laugh? Okay, this is a bit of a tough one. I will have to think about this. Is it okay if I pick series too? 1. The Ghost And The Goth by Stacey Kade, 2. Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent, 3. Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout, 4. The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine, 5. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

9. Five books with the hottest guys? No surprise 1. Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent (Tod Hudson, I really like Alec too), 2. Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith (Donovan and Alex), 3. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead (Adrian and Dimitri), 4. Divergent by Veronica Roth (Four), 5. The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine (Shane and Michael)

10. How many books do you read in the average week? I always try and be super optimistic when I say I'm going to read two books a week. However, the truth is, I'm lucky to get one book a week done. My little man doesn't allow for much free time, apart from the evenings.

11. And now for the most impossible question ever: If you had to pick ONE BOOK, what would you say your favorite is (at least, as of right now)? Oh gosh, what a hard question. I'm so torn right now. Okay, okay, I'm going to go with... "If I Die" by Rachel Vincent, with "Lockdown" as a close second. I just couldn't leave that one out.

Now it's my turn to tag other bloggers and come up with some questions for them.

First, here are the bloggers I'm tagging:

1. Rachel @fiktshun

2. Alba @BookPics

3. Backplume

4. Jessica @Hackaroo's Reviews

5. Rebecca @Kindle Fever

6. J.A.Y.A.

7. Lady Bluestocking @3500wordsperpound

8. Amanda @Book Love 101

9. Laura @All of Everything

10. Brandi @Blkosiner's Blog

11. Aimee @Getting Your Read On

These are my questions:

1. What was your favorite debut novel in 2011?

2. Who are your top five female heroines?

3. Who is your favorite author of all time?

4. Who are your top three book boyfriends?

5. If you could switch roles with a fictional character, who would you want to switch with and why?

6. Which are your favorite supernatural beings? Why?

7. Which book release are you most looking forward to in 2012?

8. Which three books made you both laugh and cry?

9. Who are your top five favorite fictional couples?

10. If you could pick only one book/series to take to a deserted island with you, which one would you pick and why?

11. If you could live in any of the worlds created by any author, which one would you choose and why?

Now, it's your turn. Thanks so much!