Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession

This feature is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

I have added several books to my shelves recently. I added a few library books to my shelves as well, so those will hang around for only a few weeks.

Go forth and check out the books I added this week!

Library Books


Becoming Jinn (Becoming Jinn #1) by Lori Goldstein
-I’ve heard both good and bad things about this book, but I’m head over heels in love with the cover-
Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
-I’ve heard mostly good things about this book, and it definitely looks like something I’ll love-
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
-My FAVORITE Sarah Dessen book. So, so, SO good!-
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
-I had my eye on this book before, but it was Corey Ann Haydu’s vehement insistence that I read this book, that won me over-

Review Books

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jan Bennett
-I’m very hopeful for this book. It looks like something I’ll enjoy-
The Sister Pact by Stacie Ramey
-Suicide pact + sister books! Eeeeeep! Things that I love. I have high hopes for this book-

Gifted

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno
-One of my FAVORITE books of 2014. A million thank yous to my Secret Sister for sending it to me-

Bought

Under the Lights (Daylight Falls #2) by Dahlia Adler
-I am so excited to read this book. I’m in LOVE with that cover-
Paperweight by Meg Haston
-One of my favorite books of 2015. It was utterly gorgeous & I needed a finished copy-
The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson
-I fell in love with The Kiss of Deception and I knew I needed to pre-order The Heart of Betrayal-

Let me know if you added any of the same books on your list this week. Also don’t forget to leave the links to your post in the comments below.

Stacking the Shelves #78

 This feature is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews, and it’s a way to show what we’ve added to our shelves recently.

Wow, this is my first official Stacking the Shelves post from my new home. Well, new home as in, the blog is now on WordPress, but you all know I’ve been blogging for 2 years.

This week, I added one book that I preordered and 2 books I got from the library that I’ve been excited about (Already read & reviewed Saint Anything!)

I added two books from Edelweiss & one book from NetGalley.

I also got one of my favorite books from 2014 from my Secret Sister.

 Bought

Under the Lights (Daylight Falls #2) by Dahlia Adler

Received for Review

-Edelweiss-

 

Underneath Everything by Mary Beller Paul

Come Back to Me by Mila Gray

-NetGalley-

No Such Person by Caroline B. Cooney

Library

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Gifted

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Review: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Book Title: Belzhar

Author: Meg Wolitzer

Publish Date: September 30th, 2014

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be  at home in New Jersey with her sweet British  boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching  old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing  him in the library stacks.

She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss.

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.

Disclaimer: I participated in an ARC Tour for this book and I read it with the ladies of On The Same Page.

Review:

What the hell did I just read?

And I mean that in the best way possible. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with Belzhar, but I was willing to give it a shot. In the beginning, it was a little slow, but by the time Page 60 rolled around, it was really picking up. By the time Page 100 rolled around, it was next to impossible to even consider putting this book down.

I’m a weirdo, I love Sylvia Plath’s poetry, so when I heard that Sylvia Plath was going to be featured in this book, I was stoked and I had really high hopes for this book.Sylvia Plath also wrote The Bell Jar, which is one of my favorite novels ever. Told you, I’m a weirdo.

Anyway, this book follows five students, Casey, Sierra, Marc, Griffin and Jam. They are the only five students in this “Special Topics in English” class that has been taught for a long time by the same teacher. Each of them has their own story, their own reason for being at The Wooden Barn. Yes, we do learn about the reasons these people come to The Wooden Barn, which was probably my favorite part.

The supernatural elements of the book were also quite fascinating. I kept wanting to read more and more of the book. I wanted to find out more about Belzhar as a whole. It had a very Dead Poets Society feel to it, which I loved as Dead Poets Society is one of my all time favorite movies. I don’t know if it was intentional, but it definitely reminded me of the movie.

I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book, but I knew I had to give it a chance and I am so incredibly happy that I did give it a chance because it was nothing like what I was expecting and when book surprise me like that, I get excited. I am honestly not sure why I can’t give it the full 5 stars because I did think it was awesome. If I had to put my finger on it though, I’d say that the ending was abrupt and I really wanted more of this book, an ending that was a bit more smooth than what I got. I did really like it a lot and I would definitely recommend it.

Review: If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

Book Title: If I Stay (If I Stay #1)

Author: Gayle Forman

Published Date: April 2nd, 2009

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: Book 1 in If I Stay duology

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

Disclaimer: Library book.

Review:

Oh boy, this book has been so hyped up recently due to the movie that is coming out very soon. I’ve watched the movie trailer about half a bazillion times and I knew I wanted to read the book first to decide if I really want to see the movie. I liked the book overall, but I didn’t love it the way I wanted to.

Normally I don’t like the lyrical writing style, but in this book it was effectively used and I found myself really liking the writing style. It was beautifully written throughout the entire book, which really made me happy. Beautiful writing both excites me and scares me because sometimes the writing is beautiful in order to cover up a book that is not very interesting overall. Yet it can also be a tool used to draw the reader right into the world of the book that’s being read.

I craved just a little more character development. It was decent but it wasn’t amazing like I was hoping it would be. Mia’s character development overall was stronger than Adam’s which bummed me out. I wanted to know more about Adam, but I really didn’t get what I wanted. With Mia, we knew what made her tick, who she spent most of her time with and what her passions were. We got some of that with Adam, but not as much.

I gotta say that I didn’t cry as much as I was expecting to. I got teary eyed a couple of times, but the time that really broke me is when Mia’s grandpa was sitting with her and telling her it was okay if she wanted to go. Full. On. Sobs. That absolutely broke my heart and I wanted to reach through the book and hug her grandpa.

I did enjoy the book and I’ll most likely be going to see the movie at some point. It was a quick read, but it was not at all, an easy read. If you haven’t read it yet, you definitely should. I’ll be giving this book 4 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #48

This feature is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Let’s keep this short and sweet. Thank you HarperTeen for uploading new books onto Edelweiss. I’m so excited about the ones I picked up. Last week I totally forgot to include my e-ARC of Dangerous Boys so I made sure I included it in this one. I also picked up a couple library books this week.

Here’s the book haul!

Bought

–

Received for Review

-Edelweiss-

Everything That Makes You by Moira McStay

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Little Peach by Peggy Kern

-From the Author-

Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Won

–

Gifted

–

Library Books

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Let know if you are excited for any of these and if you have read any of my library books. Also leave the links to your posts & vlogs so I can stop by and check out what you got this week.