Sunday, November 28, 2010

In My Mailbox (7)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren and all you have to do is post about what books you received that week by mail, library, or store.

Again, I didn't get much this past week but what I DID get are two books that I've been anticipating since the second I found out about them.




Delirium by Lauren Oliver is a galley courtesy NetGalley and it's also the first book to be read on the Kindle I bought with birthday money. I'm reading Delirium right now and am only on chapter 4 but I'm really into it so far.


Fall for Anything is by Courtney Summers and don't you just LOVE the cover? It's even cooler to me because Courtney tweeted about the cover a while back and how the pictures on it, are actually pictures in the book! Thanks Jessica for sharing your ARC with me!

So that's it. What do you think? Are you looking forward to either/both of these books? Do you like Summers' or Oliver's previous work?

Sunday, November 21, 2010

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren and all you have to do is post about what books you received that week by mail, library, or store.

I was planning on doing a vlog, but I've been sick this past week and it probably would end up terrible. There's not much, and I actually got the books two weeks ago.

First up, I made another trip to 2nd and Charles about a week ago. I was trying to limit what I came home with so I only got Princess in Waiting by Meg Cabot. I have to admit, part of the reason why I picked this book was because of it's purple-ness. I AM collecting all of these books (slowly but surely) but I recently rearranged some of my books by color and I needed a bit more purple.


I also won an auction The Undercover Book Lover was holding to help raise money for the flooding in Pakistan. I won a signed copy of Princess for Hire (given to my girl Tameka) and a signed ARC of Sean Griswold's Head by the fabulously sweet and cool Lindsey Leavitt. I can't wait to start reading it!

Lastly, I ordered some AH.MAZ.ING bookmarks as a birthday present to myself and they came this past week. Do you want to see them? Of course you do! 


I ordered these bad boys from Hot Topic and they even came in this nifty little case. I was quite impressed. I have more Harry Potter related stuff on my Christmas wishlist from Hot Topic (I totally want that Hogwarts Crest throw), so here's to hoping! Yes, I have seen Deathly Hallows part 1 and OMG..best yet in my opinion. Go see it!

So what do you think of my stuff? What did you get this past week?


Monday, November 15, 2010

Winners!

Wow, I kinda suck with the updates huh? The past week has just flown by and I'm sorry I didn't post the winners to my birthday giveaway sooner. Don't hate me!

I didn't have that many entrants, so basically if you entered you at least won something. That makes me happy to say that though, prezzies all around! Without further ado, I bring you the big winners.

First up, the winner for a signed copy of The Realm of Possibility is:
 
Jennifer S.!










Next up is the winner for a copy of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist signed by David Levithan is...

Kylene K.!










Thank you to everybody who entered. If you do not see your name above, fear not, I will still be sending you some book swag that I have squirreled away. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

So begins my journey

The husband and I have made a decision. This is something I've thought about doing for the last couple of weeks and after talking to a friend, we're going to bite the bullet and jump in. What is this life altering decision?

We are going to begin P90X. I know, I know. Going from basically a couch potato to beginning probably one of the toughest workout DVD that is out there, you probably think I'm crazy. Maybe I am but I desperately want a change. I'm not going to torture you with updates everyday, but I am going to post about it maybe every 2-3 weeks.

We did the fitness test today and with the exception of the pull-ups (we don't have anything that will allow us to do those so we just skipped them), we passed all the minimum requirements. Come Monday we'll officially have started P90X.

Have you ever tried P90X?

Monday, November 8, 2010

Lasso-dicking Around

Megan McCafferty. Don't know who she is? Man, do I feel bad for you. Megan is the author who wrote the fantastic Jessica Darling series and created one of my top book-crushes, Marcus Flutie. I mean, how could you NOT love a Backstreet Boys t-shirt wearing guy?
 just because I still love them..

She has quickly become one of my favorite authors because of that series through her characters, witty writing, great voice, and a fantastic personality.

Need examples of my fangirl-ishness? Inspired by Megan's books, a few of us from my online book club took to twitter to try and get #lassodicking as a trending topic (which Megan saw and loved and sent us each a signed book) and we became the Lasso-Dicking Posse. Later, we went on to come up with the 12 Days of Jessica and Marcus and I also have a ring with the quote "My thoughts create my world" stamped on it.

When I found out that she was working on a new project, Bumped, I stalked her twitter in anticipation of any news relating to it. Haven't heard about Bumped? Here's the synopsis:


When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.



I'm really excited to be getting another book by Megan and this one sounds like it's going to be a good one and I really hope that I'll get the chance to read it before April because that is a long time to wait! Plus, this would be an awesome birthday present since she's picking the winners on my birthday.
 Here's lookin' at you, Megan

What do you think? Have you read any of her books? Are you interested in this one?


Bumped will be released on April 26, 2011 and you can pre-order it here.



Saturday, November 6, 2010

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren and all you have to do is post about what books you received that week by mail, library, or store.

This week I'd like to think I hit the book jackpot. It may not have been in quantity, but it certainly was when it came to quality.

Jessica (member of my online book club/blogger/writer friend/super cool person) acquired a few ARCS that she was kind enough to share with our writing group. I don't know how it happened, but somehow I was going to have all three books at once so we diverted one of them to someone else first. Anyhoo, I received ARCs of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and Across the Universe by Beth Remis (which both happen to be debut novelists) courtesy of Jessica. I've already finished Anna and the French Kiss and it was absolutely fantastic! Etienne is so swoon-worthy and I must say, that he joins Marcus Flutie and Jamie Fraser as my number one book crush (because I don't want to choose).



The other book I got this week was Jandy Nelson's The Sky is Everywhere. I have been wanting to read this book for MONTHS (thanks to the previously mentioned Jessica saying this was one of the best books of the year) and only put it off this long because it was one of my choices to get my book club to read (along with Hex Hall, Shiver and Before I Fall) and it became November's book. I'm SO excited to finally get to read it, it's not even funny.

Like I said, it may only be three books but the three I got have been highly anticipated. I've already pre-ordered Anna and the French Kiss (you should too) and can't wait to have my very own copy. She will be loved.

You can also order The Sky is Everywhere and pre-order Across the Universe.

Have you or do you want to read any of these? What did you get in your mailbox this past week?

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Here, have some stuff

November is probably my favorite month because SO many cool and fun things happen. There's Dia de los Muertos, Thanksgiving, the Iron Bowl, Black Friday (if you're into insane shopping crowds -- I am not), National Author's Day, and so on.

As much as I love all these days, there's a particular day, the 9th to be exact, that I just love. If you guessed it's my birthday, you'd be correct!

I have been stocking up on book swag and even have a few signed books to giveaway. My original plan was to hang on to everything to celebrate a year of blogging but I've already waited a few months and I want to give stuff away NOW! You don't mind, do you?

I'm not a huge fan of extra entries and making you jump through hoops to enter my giveaway, but I will be giving extra entries (this time) for old followers and new followers. In case anybody wants to earn an extra "share with the world" point, you can do that by tweeting.

I guess I should tell you what I kind of book swag I have stock piled, huh?

The books I have are Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Cohn, Levithan)* and The Realm of Possibility (Levithan).



The book swag includes:
Firelight bookmarks, postcards, and stickers courtesy of Sophie Jordan 
Mockingbird bookmarks, discussion guide, stickers, and temporary tattoos courtesy Kathryn Erskine
Leaving Gee's Bend bookmark courtesy Irene Latham
The Tension of Opposites bookmark (I got an extra in a contest I won)

Also, if you're name is Crystal you will be entered to win a special signed book surprise by one of my favorite authors! 

Ready, Set, ENTER!

*Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is only signed by David Levithan