Weekly Rewind 2.22.14

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: I'm officially a substitute teacher for about 10 different school districts in my city. YAY! I picked up two jobs this week: 1. I subbed for an elementary school library which was pretty fun. I thought I would mostly be checking materials in and out (I work at a public library), but it wasn't like that. Every period I had a different class come in and so I had either story hour or had to help with research projects. It was pretty awesome. 2. On Friday I subbed for an middle school English teacher (I'm certified in English). It wasn't horrible, but I had 5 of the same English classes for 40 minute periods and what the teacher left the students to do only took about 20 minutes. Each class was really good for the 20 minutes it took them to do their work--well, for the most part--but as soon as they were done, they were supposed to sit quietly and read from their personal novel. Well it was Friday, a pretty nice day after weeks of horribly cold weather, and they had a substitute teacher, they didn't want to sit quietly and read. By the end of the day, I was just completely beat up. So tired and in need of a nap, a bath, and a bottle of wine.

Regardless, I'm so happy to finally be set up with the different districts. I'm still working part time at the office, but they are actively looking for my replacement, so I'm glad that as soon as they give me the boot I'll be able to just pick up sub jobs every day until June, at least, who knows what will happen then. My lovely husband had these waiting for me after my first day. The picture's pretty bad, but they are beautiful. My favorite flowers are daisies and they make up the bulk of the bouquet.

On the blog front: 

• Monday: I posted a review for Perfect Lies , the sequel to Mind Games. I enjoyed this novel as much as the first. I've heard this is a duology, but I would love to have one more story--which is kind of crazy because on
• Tuesday: I totally ranted about Yet Another Series and how I'm pretty over them in a discussion post. Judging from the comments, I'm not the only one.
• Wednesday: I'm waiting for For Real which is about sisters on an Amazing Race type show that looks so fun.
• Thursday: I took the day off blogging
• Friday: A review for the movie Ender's Game. A good, although forgettable popcorn film.

On the book front:

Ok, so I have a ton of books to share with you all. I got a handful of review books I'm really excited for plus my birthday haul finally came in. So without further adieu...I hope you are all having splendid weekends!

Review Books

 
 

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Yep. I got it, and I'm pretty excited because I've heard nothing but good things. I'm hoping to get it started next week.
Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowksi
I love Sarah Mlynowski and have read pretty much everything she puts out for years. I've already read this story about a group of students who develop mind-reading powers after getting the flu shot and really enjoyed it. The writing style of first person plural (we/us) isn't going to be for everybody, but it didn't bother me after the first couple of chapters. A review should be up next week.

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier
I don't usually pick up books about illnesses, but this historical fiction story about the Spanish Influenza sounds pretty interesting.
16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler
A girl goes on a roadtrip to find the dad she's never met after her mother has a heart attack.
Wicked Little Games by Kara Taylor
The second book in the Prep School Confidential series. I'm going to go ahead and just admit that I haven't read the first one yet. "But, Natalie," I'm sure you're thinking, "I thought the days of requesting sequels to books you haven't read yet were behind you." To be fair I thought this was coming out in May. Ok, I have no self control. Period. 
Freewill by Chris Lynch
A Printz honoree about a town plagued by a rash of teen suicides. 
Death Sworn by Leah Cypress
After losing her powers and place in society, a girl goes to be the tutor of a secret sect of assassins. It sounds awesome...but don't they always. It's getting pretty mixed reviews.
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
I think I forgot to put up the fact that I snagged the first book when it was up on NG a few weeks ago. So I had to snag the sequel, of course. I've heard wonderful things about this series.
The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson
I really enjoyed this Swedish author's debut The Unwanted which is a dark adult mystery. This is the third book in the series, but I'll probably skip #2. With mysteries that's usually alright. We'll see.

My Birthday Haul

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

I've long been meaning to read this book about a girl who is gamely planning to have a summer fling while mourning her dead secret boyfriend. 

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

I read this book when it first came out, but wanted to give it a second look after recently reading--and loving--the author's latest. It's about a girl who, after finding out her bf was cheating on her, organizes a single-and-proud girl's club. 

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I read this as an arc when it came out, and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to snag myself the paperback which is my preferred form.

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

I've already read this somewhat unbelievable book about two teen girls who trick their parents into letting them live on their own. It's cute, but silly, which is sometimes what you need. It was on clearance on Amazon and since I needed to get up to $35 for free shipping, into the cart it went.

Pivot Point by Kasie West

I've already read, and loved this one. I read it as an arc last year, too, but wanted to own the PB.

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

This is the other one of the pile that I haven't read yet. I've heard good things and enjoyed the author's sophomore effort which I read the arc of fairly recently. 

What I snagged from the library

Prep School Confidential by Kara Taylor

This combines two of my favorite things: prep schools and YA mysteries. I'm excited to read this (and, ahem, its sequel).

Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster

As much as I love Jen Lancaster's memoirs (Such a Pretty Fat, My Fair Lazy), I haven't been able to get into her fiction. This one is getting dismal reviews, but I'm going to give it a try. We'll see.

Posts/Links I Loved This Week

From Blogs:

• I Swim for Oceans showed us some Mid-Series Cover Redesigns.
• Jessie over at Ageless Pages Reviews shared her Awesome Wedding Proposal. Seriously, so sweet.
• What She Reads looked at Covers With Ribbons.

From around the interwebs:

• Incredible Things showed these really neat pictures of Disney Princesses and Their Villains' Shadows.
• Mental Floss had an article about 7 Book Dedications that Basically Say "Screw You"   which is pretty funny.
• This Buzzfeed post of 27 Questions You Should Never Ask the Internet cracked me up. Especially #4: What ever happened to Lindsey Lohan's English twin? You never hear about her anymore. Lol. 
• io9 asks: What makes a movie "so bad it's good" instead of just bad?
• Also on Mental Floss an article about What Causes that Old Book Smell.

I didn't get around to nearly as many blogs/websites as I would have liked this week. I love working in schools, but it definitely cuts down my web time. That and the Olympics.

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 and especially enjoy hearing about my fellow bloggers' weeks. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!