Hello readers! Welcome to another edition of nail art inspired by fiction. This weeks nail art is an homage to one of my favourite things of all time – Superheroes! You could get technical and say they’re not based on books, true. But they are based on graphic novels and comics. Still counts in my book. Yes… I just wanted a Batman week. ;) And I may do this again in the future – warning. lol

Good afternoon! Yes, you’re seeing Stacking The Shelves on a Saturday now. As it used to be In My Mailbox Monday and then Monday Mailbox and now Stacking The Shelves, there’s no reason to have this on a Monday anymore. And Saturday is when Tynga posts her shelves, so to be more in line with this, I am also. :)

I have a few books this week from the library and netgalley to show off! I spent $0 on books this week.. go me!

Stacking the Shelves is bought to you by Tynga from Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

The Truth About You & Me – Amanda Grace

Woo thanks to Netgalley I got a copy of this, which I think looks awesome! I did a cover reveal on this one a little while ago and it looks like it could be quite controversial.

Smart girls aren’t supposed to do stupid things.

Madelyn Hawkins is super smart. At sixteen, she’s so gifted that she can attend college through a special program at her high school. On her first day, she meets Bennet. He’s cute, funny, and kind. He understands Madelyn and what she’s endured—and missed out on—in order to excel academically and please her parents. Now, for the first time in her life, she’s falling in love.

There’s only one problem. Bennet is Madelyn’s college professor, and he thinks she’s eighteen—because she hasn’t told him the truth.

The story of their forbidden romance is told in letters that Madelyn writes to Bennet—both a heart-searing ode to their ill-fated love and an apology.

Screwed – Laurie Plissner

This one has received some pretty harsh reviews on Goodreads in some cases, but I am curious to see what I think of it myself. I got this one from Netgalley also!

Grace was the girl who always did everything right, until the night she fell for a boy’s sleazy line and became pregnant. Nick couldn’t care less about pretty math-geek Grace or the baby he fathered. He’s had a dozen girls like her, and he’ll have a dozen more. When Grace confesses to her super-religious, strait-laced parents, they deliver a shocker: They’ve scheduled an abortion. All they want is to pretend this never happened.

When Grace balks, they literally throw her out in the street. A rich, elderly neighbor takes her in, and, with the help of the friendship she needs in Charlie, the old woman’s great-nephew, she must make the toughest choice of her young life. The people she believed in were only playing a role, while others, in an unlikely way, are true heroes.

Grace can never have the life she planned, but she has one chance to be the person she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Her choice will cost her, big time, either way–and no one can make it except her.

Texas Gothic - Rosemary Clement-Moore

I got this one from my local library. I have heard a little bit about it, and I love the premise of the book combined with the cover. It sounds like it has some really good potenial.

Amy Goodnight’s family is far from normal. She comes from a line of witches, but tries her best to stay far outside the family business. Her summer gig? Ranch-sitting for her aunt with her wacky but beautiful sister. Only the Goodnight Ranch is even less normal than it normally is. Bodies are being discovered, a ghost is on the prowl, and everywhere she turns, the hot neighbor cowboy is in her face.

Blind Spot – Laura Ellen

Another library read! Amazing cover… I won’t lie, I love a good cover!

There’s none so blind as they that won’t see.

Seventeen-year-old Tricia Farni’s body floated to the surface of Alaska’s Birch River six months after the night she disappeared. The night Roz Hart had a fight with her. The night Roz can’t remember. Roz, who struggles with macular degeneration, is used to assembling fragments to make sense of the world around her. But this time it’s her memory that needs piecing together—to clear her name . . . to find a murderer.

This unflinchingly emotional novel is written in the powerful first-person voice of a legally blind teen who just wants to be like everyone else.

That is all from me this week, what did you receive in your mailboxes? Let me know – leave your links in the comments section below!

Release Date: February 12th 2013
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 371
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: Time is running out for Rhine in this conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden Trilogy.

With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

Review: Sever is the book where my adventures with The Chemical Garden series all comes to an end, and honestly kudos to Lauren DeStefano for tying up those loose ends in Sever, because it ended in the only way I could have imagined it ending. Perfect.

Lauren DeStefano is a beautiful writer. She has a way of taking any subject and crafting words in a way that you just want to stop to take notice of the paragraphs and sentences she writes. I usually am not one to be so taken in by things like that (I am more of a “get to the heart of the story” type of chick”), but I appreciate good writing when I see it.

I was a little torn with Linden and Rhine in this book. As per the cover, Rhine has her wedding ring off, and based on Fever it’s no secret she wants out of this marriage. They really do have this love/hate thing going on sometimes, and sometimes they act so sweet and tender towards each other that I can’t help but actually really like Linden, as messed up as the whole forced marriage situation really is.

The whole premise of this story from Rhine’s perspective is all about getting as far away from Vaughn as she possibly can and to track down her twin brother Rowan. And along the way we encounter no less than three major twists that turn this story on it’s head and leaves you going OMG. OMG. OMG.

So much happened in Sever, and I’ve given a lot of thought as to how exactly I am meant to review this book without giving any of those spoilers away, because there are multiple huge twists and I feel going in blind is the only way to really feel the effects of the story.

If you haven’t read Wither or Fever, please give them a chance. It’s a fantastic series, very layered and entertaining. I challenge anyone to say they found this series boring!

Quotes:

“We’ll squeeze every second that we can from our lives, because we’re young, and we have plenty of years to grow. We’ll grow until we’re braver. We’ll grow until our bones ache and our skin wrinkles and our hair goes white, and until our hearts decide, at last, that it’s time to stop.”

“We figure out what death means when we’re born, practically, and we live our whole lives in some kind of weird denial about it.”

“There’s a limit to how much living can be done in a life without freedom.”

“When we’re alive, life consumes us. But when we die, all of the color and the motion is gone so quickly, it’s as though it can no longer stand to be wasted on us.”

Trailer:

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the past week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Pivot Point by Cassie Westat the moment. I’ve just started it, but it looks like it’s going to be a really good read!

What did you recently finish reading?

In the last week I have finished reading Scarlet by Marissa Meyer as well as Sever (The Chemical Gardens #3) by Lauren DeStefano. Both were really great reads and books I was highly anticipating this year, so I was really pumped to have had the time to squeeze these ones in! The review of Scarlet was posted yesterday and the review of Sever will be up on Friday! 

What do you think you’ll read next?

I am happy that I’ve made a bit of a dent in my TBR pile and I hope to continue this in April with, Reached by Allie Condie and The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I am still up to date with my ARC’s right now – I am going to be reading The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa later in this month as an ARC, but aside from that April is every bit a catch up month for me, so I am going to try my hardest to get through as much as I can!

What is everyone out there reading at the moment? Share your links below!

Release Date: February 5th 2013
Published By: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 452
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth…

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Review: Scarlet offered me so much more than I originally thought it was going to. I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out, since it’s based on the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood (In the same way Cinder was based on Cinderella), but we got more than we bargained for as Cinder makes a comeback in this novel also.

It was so good being reunited with old faces with Cinder and Prince Kai and finding out what the continuation of her story was, and then meeting new characters like Scarlet, Wolf, Grandmere and Thorne

The two girls stories are told in alternating chapters, where Scarlet and Cinder have their own thing going on until their stories converge. I really thought the way this was written was quite clever. To be truthful, I have no idea how she did it. I know I read and experienced this merging of two classic fairytale characters, but I am still in shock and awe at how seamlessly and naturally this was done. Big applause to YOU Marissa Meyer, you genius you! Oh and to then give these fairytales a classic sci-fi/dystopian edge to them on top of the amazing spin you’d put on the books. Incredible.

Scarlet and Wolf. Holy crap. Such a love/hate thing going on there. Classic example of loving the bad boy that you’re not meant to have! I frigging loved this relationship to bits. I enjoyed the progression relationship wise with ALL the characters actually, because Cinder is still pining over Prince Kai, but then there’s this weird flirty sarcastic relationship happening with Thorne. I am wondering if there’s more to the story in Cress (coming out next year) and maybe Thorne meets his match someplace else?

So I am pretty excited (like you can’t tell) about the next two books. As mentioned, Cress is coming out next year and the interwebz is telling me that this will be based on Rapunzel. Goodreads tells me that this book will feature Cinder and Rapunzel and will take place in the Sahara Desert! And then in 2015 (woah), Winter is coming out. This book will feature Cinder and Snow White and will take place on the moon. OMG

Bring it on. This is a fantastic sci-fi series that anyone with a soft spot for a fairytale will love. I highly recommend it – these first two books have been a knockout.

Quotes:

“I knew they would kill me when they found out, but…” He struggled for words, releasing a sharp breath. “I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you.”

“But you’re the only one, Scarlet. You’ll always be the only one.”

“A relieved grin filled up Thorne’s face. “We’re having another moment, aren’t we?”
“If by a moment, you mean me not wanting to strangle you for the first time since we met, then I guess we are.”

Trailer:

Good evening! Sorry for the slightly late edition of Stacking The Shelves, I’ve been a busy little beaver today with reading, work, reading, social club meeting, and now home finally! Few great reads to share this week, I am excited!

Stacking the Shelves is bought to you by Tynga from Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

This Is What Happy Looks Like – Jennifer E. Smith

Pumped!! I got this with The Statistical Probability Of Love in a double pack from Kmart for $15! I’ve read TSPoL already, but I previously had the ebook, and now I have the actual book next to this gorgeous cover on my shelves!

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs?

Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1) – Kasie West

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) – Katie McGarry

An ARC from Netgalley!

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom’s freedom and her own happiness. That’s how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn’t want her and going to a school that doesn’t understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn’t get her, but does….

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can’t tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn’t be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won’t let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all….

That is all from me this week, what did you receive in your mailboxes? Let me know – leave your links in the comments section below!

Hello readers! Welcome to another edition of nail art inspired by fiction. This weeks nail art is based on a series I am yet to read but some of my friends at work have read this and are raving about it – Game Of Thrones.

I have too many books. It’s official. And look, honestly I realise there are far worse problems a girl can have. But I have run out of shelf space. So I am about to embark on a mission to make more room. Some of my shelves are just in too far of a messy state to share right now (I feel guilty everytime I look at those dusty shelves! lol) but here’s some of “The Book Situation”

I think I am going to have to find a new place for those DVD’s and Blu Rays…

Yes.. there are even books in that basket in the top left corner. Creepy looking right? lol The decorative stuff may have to go if I can’t find enough room for books.

The shelf under these houses more random books but mostly crime and true crime. And the state of those shelves is messy as, thus why the image cuts off where it does! haha

Just another random shelf.

And this is just some of my books!!! EEK! If things go to plan, I am looking at moving to a bigger place this year, where I will have heaps more space to spread out the books and fit more shelves in. When that happens, I’ll be a very happy girl! Until them, I am trying to make the best of a limited space situation.

Release Date: December 28th 2006
Published By: HarperCollins Australia
Pages: 263
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis: A deeply affecting coming-of-age story, Looking for Alaska traces the journey of Miles Halter, a misfit Florida teenager who leaves the safety of home for a boarding school in Alabama and a chance to explore the “Great Perhaps.” Debut novelist and NPR commentator Green perfectly captures the intensity of feeling and despair that defines adolescence in this hip, shocking, and emotionally charged work of fiction.

Miles has a quirky interest in famous people’s last words, especially François Rabelais’s final statement, “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” Determined not to wait for death to begin a similar quest, Miles convinces his parents to let him leave home. Once settled at Culver Creek Preparatory School, he befriends a couple of equally gifted outcasts: his roommate Chip―commonly known as the Colonel—who has a predilection for memorizing long, alphabetical lists for fun; and the beautiful and unpredictable Alaska, whom Miles comes to adore.

The kids grow closer as they make their way through a school year filled with contraband, tests, pranks, breakups, and revelations about family and life. But as the story hurtles toward its shattering climax, chapter headings like “forty-six days before” and “the last day” portend a tragic event―one that will change Miles forever and lead him to new conclusions about the value of his cherished “Great Perhaps.”

Review: I didn’t really have much idea about what Looking For Alaska was all about before I started reading it. I knew that it has a massive fan base (Which goes along with John Green territory really), but no idea about the story itself. I highly recommend going into this book blind like I did, because I feel it amplified my emotions. I was caught off guard and went on an emotional rollercoaster with this one.

How does John Green do this? He is able to tap into the mind of an everyday ordinary teenage boy and describe the day to day goings on in such a way, that even though it’s an ordinary life, feels extraordinary when you take it in. The characters are written with such realism that it’s hard to forget you’re reading a work of fiction. I mean, drinking Strawberry Hill, smoking in the bathroom with the shower on to hide the fumes, mixing your liquer in milk, a suit case that transforms into your coffee table, confidence issues, experiencing your first blow job. This is a coming of age story at it’s rawest.

But it’s also more than that. Because it’s about relationships as well. It’s about making friends despite your differences, it’s about falling in love (and also maybe a bit about falling in lust). It doesn’t pretend that all friendships are smooth. The charatcers are complex and three dimensional and layered. Alaska herself is friendly one moment, and the next she is angry and doesn’t want to talk. And then she goes to being flirty and playful, and the next in tears. The characters are presented on paper as they would if they were real people, because that’s what we are – complex creatures. I feel like John Green has a beautiful way of highlighting this through his writing.

In particular I really appreciated the self-depreciating way that Miles is about himself. We often are told of how perfect our YA boys are, yet one of the very first things Miles talks about himself is to say that he has no friends, is not popular, and is far too skinny. He carries these insecurities with him throughout the book, and it’s clear that Alaska and Lara both don’t share the same sentiments as they mention how hot they find him, but our protagonist has his hang ups about himself.

This is the second John Green book I’ve read (I also read The Fault In Our Stars) and both books were absolutely wonderful and evoked strong emotions in their own ways. Any praise John Green gets is so well deserved. I am definitely planning on reading his other books after this experience.

Quotes:

“When adults say, “Teenagers think they are invincible” with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don’t know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.”

“Thomas Edison’s last words were ‘It’s very beautiful over there’. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.”

“I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.”

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the past week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I absolutely loved Cinder and so far I am enjoying Scarlet, but it’s early on in the book (Chapter 5) at the moment.

What did you recently finish reading?

In the last week I have finished reading Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff as well as Looking For Alaska by John Green. The review of Paper Valentine was posted yesterday if you want to check that out, and my review of Looking For Alaska will be posted on Friday – but in short, it was AMAZING. I really got wrapped up in the emotion of the book.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I’ve been reading some books that I’ve long had on my TBR list like Paper Valentine, Looking For Alaska and now Scarlet. There’s so many, that realistically I’ll never ‘catch up’, but there’s a lot of books I’d love to read when I’m not reading ARC’s. Depending on my mood at the time I’d love to get around to Sever by Lauren DeStefano, Reached by Allie Condie, The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I am still up to date with my ARC’s right now - I am going to be reading The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa later in this month as an ARC, but aside from that April is every bit a catch up month for me, so I am going to try my hardest to get through as much as I can!

What is everyone out there reading at the moment? Share your links below!

Release Date: January 1st 2013
Published By: Simon & Schuster UK
Pages: 305
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realises that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life – and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Review: This is the first book of Brenna Yovanoff’s that I have read, but I am most definitely keen to read some of her other books now that I know what her work is like. It was one of those books that I barely knew anything about before I went into it (I’ve been kinda doing that a lot lately by my own admission).. and in this case it worked exceptionally well.

Dark, not afraid to cross genres and most of all strong from start to end, I really enjoyed Paper Valentine. Part paranormal fiction, part murder mystery and part contemporary, this was a beautifully unique blend of genres that hadn’t crossed my mind before.

Hannah has been seeing the ghost of her best friend Lillian for 6 months now. Lillian passed away from anorexia and she follows Hannah just about everywhere. Then the murders start happening in Ludlow. Teenage girls are being killed brutally with small toys being sprinkled around their dead bodies. Hannah is appalled but also morbidly curious about finding out who is behind the murders. And of course, there’s Finny. The object of Hannah’s fantasies. Finny is the bad boy at school, and Hannah can’t help but become drawn to him despite her best attempts not too.

Firstly, I loved the relationship between Hannah and Finny. Going from acquaintances to awkward friendship to their first kiss. Finny is the ultimate example of being misunderstood. Yes, he’s done some bad things before. But he’s also had a really bad life and suffered through some pretty shitty things from the sounds of it before living with his Aunt, whom it’s clear he adores. Maybe it’s me.. I am a sucker for a bad boy, but in this case I think Finny has been judged too soon!

Lillian…. sigh. I didn’t like her character at all. But I learnt to look past her (cause she’s a ghost… get it?! *crickets*) mostly because whilst she is present a lot of the time, it’s background noise a lot of it. I got why she was in this book, I made the connection when I finished this read and could see why she was included, but at the same time, I feel like this book could have very well have been written without her character included and it would have still been as good. I didn’t feel she offered THAT much to the story, except to go into detail about what happened to her – which I feel could have been told by Hannah without Lillian actually being a character in the novel. It didn’t annoy me THAT much. It was the only thing that made me go meh in this book.

The plot was absolutely original and suspenseful. I admittedly didn’t see the twist coming (because I have always been absolutely terrible at these types of guessing games my whole life – I know this will never change, and I accept this about myself) and as soon as it happened I was like OMG I saw that coming all along (I didn’t). I really enjoyed the ending. I thought it was a perfect end to a really entertaining book.

Definitely pick up a copy of this one guys – even if you borrow it from your library like I did. I really enjoyed this!

Goooood morning readers! How are you doing? Did you have a great week in books? I did! Smallish but the quality of books is exciting!

I’m ditching Monday Mailbox for Stacking the Shelves you may have noticed! Not for any other reason other than it was too much doing one post for two memes. So I picked one and STS won!

Stacking the Shelves is bought to you by Tynga from Tynga’s Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Mila 2.0 (Mila 2.0 #1) – Debra Driza

I’ve been wanting this since only FOREVER!!!!! It’s here, I am so happy! I plan on reading this one SOON!

Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Let The Sky Fall (Let The Sky Fall #1) – Shannon Messenger

Another March release that I am so happy to own now also! What a beautiful cover!

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

The Nightmare Affair (The Arkwell Academy #1) – Mindee Arnett

Another of my cover loves from March. This book looks SO different and dark… I am very much looking forward to starting this one!

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

Strands of Bronze and Gold (Strands of Bronze and Gold #1) – Jane Nickerson

I’ve been wanting another historical fiction style YA book to wrap my hands around and I believe I’ve found it in Strands of Bronze and Gold. Looks great!

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

That is all from me this week, what did you receive in your mailboxes? Let me know – leave your links in the comments section below!

Hello readers! Welcome to another edition of nail art inspired by fiction. This weeks nail art is Winnie The Pooh!! Such a classic!

Thoughts: OMG IT’S HERE!!!! Julie Kagawa, easily one of my all time most favourite authors has just released the cover of The Iron Traitor! I got into this series fairly late in the game compared to most, but I think in the space of a month I had read The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen, The Iron Knight and The Lost Prince. It was a lot of iron books to read in that space, but honestly, I couldn’t get enough. And so I am pumped to see that this is coming out in October (Still… why so far away?!).

In the time being, I am getting my Kagawa fix with The Eternity Cure from her other series “Blood of Eden”. Soooo good.

Synopsis: None… yet! Rest assured when I know more, you will also know more!

Release Date: September 26th 2006
Published By: Image Comics
Pages: 144
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis: An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.

Review: I truly feel that even if you don’t enjoy reading comics (or even if you have never read a comic before), you would still love The Walking Dead.

The introduction, written by the author Robert Kirkman tells us that this is the most emotional story he has had to write, with good reason. This might be a series about zombies, yes. But it’s about so much more than that. It’s about people and their relationships. It’s about surviving the worst imaginable elements and trying to protect your loved ones at any cost. And it’s a story of death and loss also. It’s as real and emotional as any fiction book out there with the added benefit of illustrations.

We’re introduced in the beginning to police officer Rick Grimes who was shot and ends up in hospital. Rick has been in a coma for three months and when he wakes up, the hospital is absolutely deserted. He ventures out into the streets, and sees… humans, that aren’t quite human. Without really understanding what has happened, Rick at least understands that something seriously is not right. He runs into some assistance from Morgan and his son Duane who find Rick in the street and explain to him that what he is seeing are “walkers”. Zombies.   Rick’s son and wife are missing, and he soon decides he is going to head into the city by all means to see if he can be reunited with his family at a refuge.

Yeah, there’s a whole lot of carnage that ensues. Many zombies, many heads explode. Many of you will be happy to know this comic is in black and white. lol And if the TV show is too gruesome for you, then I highly recommend checking out the comic, since it was easy to digest!

What sets The Walking Dead apart from every other zombie comic on earth is the feels. This book is filled with emotion, and you become  emotionally invested in each one of the characters, so when something happens to them or their lives are at risk, you’re right there with them hoping for the best.

I loved this so much, that I’ve gone out and ordered the whole Walking Dead Omnibus Vol 1 from The Book Depository ($50!) which contains this volume, plus more (it’s a whopping 1088 pages), and I intend on ordering the second volume of the Omninus also to complete my collection at some point.

Amazing series!

This is my first graphic novel/comic review. I’m interested in feedback from you – my readers! I normally review only YA novels, but comics are a big part of my life also, and I am keen to add a review every now and then of a comic that has grabbed my interest. I think this will add a new dimension to Book Nerd Reviews. The YA novels are here to stay – these are my passion. But I am interested in adding diversity also!