Saturday, February 15, 2014

Weekly Rewind (1) 2.15.14

Saturday, February 15, 2014 12:06 AM with 16 comments


The Weekly Rewind

The new books on my shelves, the links I loved, and my week in a nutshell.









The Weekly Rewind is my new weekend post. Since I started this blog I've participated in Stacking the Shelves, which is a weekly feature hosted by Tyngas Reviews, and I'm going to continue linking to that meme, but I don't want my weekend post to just be about the books I've received. I'm trying to make this blog more personal, so The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves, and the links I've enjoyed over the past week from other blogs. 

My Life and Blog

On the job front: So, good news, I had two different meeting this week regarding working as a substitute teacher. The first one was for one of the districts close to me which "hired" me as a sub. There is an app on my phone that alerts me when a job is available. I couldn't take any this week, but my phone has been beeping so I know that next week I'll definitely be able to snag a job or two. The other meeting was with a district consortium that handles six different districts in my city. The woman I had a meeting with said she just needed to review my file, but that everything seemed to be in order, so by next week I should be approved for seven different districts. Yay!

On the blog front: This week I posted three reviews and one discussion post.
  • Monday: A book review for the hilarious Hyperbole and a Half. If you are unfamiliar with Allie Brosch and her blog hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com, I highly recommend checking it out. She is hilarious. This book is a compilation of posts from her blog. 
  • Tuesday: A discussion post where I did A Blog Reflection. This was one of the more personal posts I've ever written. I talk about guilt and pressure and arcs and memes and comments. It was a lot to get off my chest and I've been feeling so much freer and better about reading and blogging since I've started looking at the two differently.
  • Wednesday: I was a slacker. It happens.
  • Thursday: I posted an early book review for the YA contemporary Bright Before Sunrise. I enjoyed this cute story that takes place over the course of a single afternoon/night, but I didn't love it like I wanted to.
  • Friday: A movie review for the awesomely funny and touching The Way Way Back. I loved this movie and would highly recommend if you are looking for something to watch this weekend.
On the book front: My birthday haul hasn't come in yet because 1. I took to long to decide which books to get and 2. I chose the free shipping for orders over $35 because I'm cheap like that. I did get a lot of review books and a pretty sweet library haul to share with you all, though, and I promise to post my birthday haul next week. 

Review Books

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Panic by Lauren Oliver
For some reason I thought this book was dystopian, but it's not which is awesome. I'm about 20% in or so (and am reading in conjunction of about 5 other books so I know it will take me the next week or so to get through it), and I am enjoying it so far. It's set in a small town where recent high school graduates compete in a series of challenges for a grand prize. People were comparing it to The Hunger Games, but, no. That's a horrible comparison.
Grim by various authors
This almost 500 page (!) book is a compilation of short stories based on fairy tales. Pretty awesome. 
Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger
I still need to read Let the Sky Fall, but I've heard good things and I couldn't resist this cover. Pretty.
I'm not exactly sure what this one is about. Two girls bonded over being adopted. One purposely overdoses on pills. The other decides to find her birth mom to honor her? I've enjoyed books by the author in the past. We'll see.
Hung Up by Kristen Tracy
This novel about a boy and girl who start talking about one of them dials the other by accident sounds pretty cute, but I read the first 5% or so and it is really young. I don't know if I'm going to continue.
That title pretty much says it all. This book looks at the history of the sitcom using 24 episodes from popular sitcoms throughout history. A truth about me: I often find the ideas behind nonfiction to be absolutely fascinating, but I rarely read nonfiction. 

What I snagged from the library

15789443 Let the Sky Fall (Let the Sky Fall, #1) 17332270

Something Real by Heather Demetrios
This book about a girl in a Jon and Kate Plus 8 type show has been getting raves. I was so excited when it come in for me so quickly.
Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messanger
I figured I should probably read the first book. I cannot NOT sing this title in my Adele voice. 
Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
I was approved for the e-arc of this, but it was on of those ones that you couldn't send to your reader and I can't stand reading on my computer, so I never got around to it. I know that it didn't get great reviews, but the premise sounds interesting and oh, that cover. One of my favorites.

Posts/Links I loved this week

From blogs:
From around the web:

Well that's it for me this week. Feel free to leave a link to whatever weekend post you do (Stacking the Shelves, In My Mailbox, etc). I love to see what books people have recently snagged. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

16 comments:

  1. Interesting haul. A lot of these look really good and interesting. I hope you enjoy your new books.

    Grace
    Books of Love
    http://gracebooksoflove.com

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  2. I'm currently reading Grim and for now it's really nice! Happy reading!

    here is mine

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  3. I'm reading Grim! I just finished the first story and I hope it reflects everything else because it was AWESOME. Just awesome. So yeah.

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  4. Nice haul! I still need to read Let the Sky Fall. It feels like my TBR pile is out of control. Happy reading!
    My STS:
    http://booksojourner.blogspot.com/2014/02/stacking-shelves-46-weekly-wrap-up.html

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  5. Great haul this week! I haven't read anything about Panic but I'm happy to know it's not dystopian, will defo keep an eye out for it.

    Good luck with the jobs!

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  6. Eep. A link. That has totally made my day (thank yooou!) ^.^ I had the same confusion with Panic. Why did I think it was dystopian?!! I was actually super disappointed with it, although the writing is good. *shrugs* I can't wait for your review of Grim! THAT looks awesome!! :) My StS!

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  7. I so need to start reading Let the Storm break! Happy reading

    Check out our STS.

    Leydy @ OUaT & Redcarpetendings

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  8. Looks like you had a busy week, Natalie! Awesome to hear that things are going great on the job front! Oh that Tumble & Fall cover...so gorgeous, but makes me all the more sad that I just couldn't get into the story! Panic sounds awesome and something that I might actually want to read now that you've said it's nothing like Hunger Games. Don't get me wrong, I loved Hunger Games, but for whatever reason, the constant comparison really turned me off of reading this one, but I might give it a go now!

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  9. I thought the same thing about Panic, I thought it was a dystopian. I enjoyed Let the Sky Fall, so hopefully you will too and it's great you already have the second book...no waiting! Thanks for the shout out about Sheri's discussion question post! And it's great to hear that things are going well on the job front! ~Pam

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  10. Let the Sky Fall! Can't wait to read that one! And that "Publishers Now Want You to Binge Read" article was really interesting! Thanks for the link!

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  11. I loved Something Real and you can count me in among those who weren't blown away by Tumble & Fall. I saw Panic and wanted to read it but just can't fit in another review book in March. Come see what I got at Ms. Martin Teaches Media and Inside of a Dog. Happy reading!

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  12. Great haul. I hope you enjoy all of your books :) Congrats on the job news, hope you get approved soon! :) My STS.

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  13. The Sitcom book looks really interesting - I could do with reading more non-fiction too. Although, I'm currently reading Never Have I Ever by Katie Heaney (so far, so good), which I guess counts as non-fiction. Lovely to hear things are going well on the job front and I hope things continue that way for you!

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  14. Congrats on the job news Natalie! It's also nice you'll have multiple districts to choose from too! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying Panic- I've heard some mixed things so it's nice to see you don't hate it. Hung Up looked cute, but if you say it's young, I doubt I'll like it. I am preferring upper YA lately. I also need to snag a copy of Let the Sky Fall, as I have the sequel for review also. And Tumble & Fall. I think I rated it 3.5 stars. I didn't hate it, but didn't love it either. I could appreciate it for what it was though. Anyways- I hope you enjoy your new books and you get some of those sub jobs!

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  15. Great haul! I absolutely loved Panic, but it seems that it's getting very mixed reviews. For me, I loved Lauren Oliver's picture perfect depiction of a hopeless town where you have to risk everything for a better life! I hope you enjoy all of these books!
    -Scott Reads It!

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  16. Love your new format! I just redid mine, too. :) It just makes more sense to make it an everything kind of post, doesn't it? I can't wait for you to finish Something Real so we can discuss. I absolutely loved it and I don't quite understand how it was so under the radar...why aren't people talking about how awesome it is? I'll probably post my review early next week once I collect my thoughts. Great haul...I always take to long to press the purchase button on my orders, too...I have a bunch of books for a friend's birthday in my cart right now, but I'm still deliberating...meanwhile, her birthday is looming. Oops.

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Hello, there! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I read each and every one and will do my best to respond--usually on your blog instead of on mine. I will, however, always answer direct questions. Due to serious time restraints, this blog is now an award free zone, but I appreciate the thought!