Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves, the links I loved, and my week in a nutshell.
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. Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. 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 and the interwebs in general.
My Life and Blog
My Life: I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who stopped by my Weekly Rewind post last week that wished me well and that talked about the school stabbing that hit so close to home for me. I know that some people only care about the books I received this week and don't even bother reading the personal parts of this post, but I'm really touched by all of those who do. Last week was a rough one for me, but it truly helped to hear from all of my blogging friends. You really are so awesome and I appreciate each and every one of you.
So, this week was much better. I subbed a full day on Tuesday and a half day on Wednesday. I skipped Thursday because I needed to go into the office and all the schools in the city were closed on Friday for Good Friday/Spring Break. Most of the schools had to eat away the majority of SB this year due to all the snow days, so I'm sure the students are all happy to get a three-day weekend. I know I am. My graduation ceremony is next Sunday (even though I graduated in Dec) and my parents are coming up for it. I usually only see them once a year--and ALWAYS at either their place or my sister's, so I have some MAJOR cleaning to do this weekend. Lol.
The weather is finally getting nicer. I had to laugh at myself because all my WY friends were posting on FB about the snowy weather they were receiving while it was, like, 80 degrees here. I was feeling so smug until it snowed here 2 days later. The weather is supposed to get nicer again by the weekend. Oh, Spring.
Finally, Happy Hockey Play-offs to all you fans out there. This is my favorite time of year. I'm a rabid Colorado Avalanche fan, but just adore hockey play-offs period. That's pretty much all that will be on the TV for the next couple of months.
My Blog:
- Sunday: An early review of What I Thought Was True. This is the newest from the author of My Life Next Door--a book I, and many of you, I know, absolutely adored. I really enjoyed this one, too. It is different from MLND, but I liked it just as much.
- Tuesday: A release day review of The Geography of You and Me. The latest from Jennifer E. Smith was perfectly cute and very pleasant, but kind of...vanilla. I wanted more.
- Wednesday: I'm waiting on Get Even which contains two of my favorite things: prep schools and a murder mystery.
- Thursday: I reminisce on my love of the genre and went a little crazy on my recommendations during my discussion post: A Look at Chick-Lit.
New Books: I have lots of pretty titles to share with you this week, so without further adieu. I hope you all are having splendid weekends!
For Review
Out of Control by Sarah Alderson
Ms. Alderson contacted me to see if I'd be interested in reading her latest. Of course I jumped at the chance! I haven't read anything by her yet, but I cannot wait for The Sound and this one about a teen girl who witnesses a murder and then escapes with a car thief sounds so good. Thanks, Sarah!
The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel
It is Thursday afternoon as I put together this post, and I just finished this one this morning. It was a pretty solid and cute read. While the believability factor gets stretched pretty thin at times, the author writes some truly introspective passages about girlhood that are fairly impressive period, but especially for a male author.
Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson
A normal teen girl agrees to be the girlfriend of a former child star/current PR nightmare. I wonder if they fall in love? JK.
The Taking by Kimberly Derting
A girl loses three years of her life due to an alien abduction. I loved the first two books in the Body Finder series (I wasn't crazy about the third and STILL need to read the finale), so I have high hopes.
Tease by Amanda Maciel
I've read the first chapter of this and am pretty intrigued by this story told in the first person by a girl who is accused of causing another girl's suicide.
Exile by Kevin Emerson
The premise of a teen girl managing a rock band reminds me of the book Five Flavors of Dumb which I didn't really enjoy. We'll see how this one goes.
Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike
A modern day Oracle tries to stop a serial killer. How amazing does that sound? I'm trying not to get my hopes up seeing as I couldn't even finish the author's last book, but I'm definitely excited to give this a try.
In the Shadows by Kiesten White and Jim DiBartolo
Per GR: "A spellbinding story of love, mystery, and dark conspiracy, told in an alternating narrative of words and pictures." Yep, sold.
Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan
A teen girl is determined to break up her sister and the finance she is convinced is wrong for her.
Saving Lucas Biggs by Melissa de los Santos
This MG novel follows a 13 year-old girl with the power to time travel who goes back in time to "save" the mean judge who has sentenced her father. Isn't that cover gorgeous? I love it.
Summer Love by Jill Santopolo
This MG novel follows a 13 year-old girl with the power to time travel who goes back in time to "save" the mean judge who has sentenced her father. Isn't that cover gorgeous? I love it.
Summer Love by Jill Santopolo
This romantic "choose your own adventure" sounds pretty cute, but the e-arc just isn't formatted right for what it is (like all CYOAs, it tells you to go to page whatever...but there are no page numbers). I just don't have the patience to try to figure it out, so I'll look out for it when it is released.
What I snagged from the library
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
SO EXCITED. I've been dying to get my hands on this book and was so pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got it from my library (like, for real, the day after it was released).
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
I have to admit that some middling reviews and star-ratings have dampened my excitement for this one a little bit. I'm still excited to read this--but that is the problem with these over-hyped books. If you aren't one of the first to read them, you almost can't help but be disappointed when the reviews start rolling in. (Don't get me wrong--we can't ALWAYS be the first to get a book.) Hopefully I'll be surprised and will still love it. We'll see.
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
I'm listening to this short story collection on CD in my car. I love the celebrity narrators--although it is mostly the author himself--but the stories are definitely hit or miss.
Half Bad by Sally Green
This one has been pretty polarizing amongst my GR and blogger friends. I'm certainly curious but just based on the pure number of arcs I have to get to for the remainder of April--not to mention May!--this one might not happen quite yet.
Link Love
Blog Love:
- Reviews from a Bookworm posted a thoughtful discussion of Glorified Abusive Relationships in Books.
- Parents will especially appreciate this joint post by Jen and April over at The Starry-Eyed Revue about Reading at the Kids' Table. They discuss instilling the love of books into their respective little girls which is truly just so important. My mom had/has a huge love for reading which she passed down to me. I can't remember a time in my life where books didn't play a HUGE role.
- Anya from On Starships and Dragonwings posted an oh-so-true post about the 8 Ways in Which Book Blogging is Like Grad School.
- Just in time for Easter, this Buzzfeed post of 19 Vintage Easter Bunny Photos That Will Make Your Skin Crawl had me craughing. Some of these are seriously not ok.
- I loved the Huff Post Books post that gives readers 5 Good Reasons to Take Your Kids to the Library Today. As somebody who works in a library, I wish I could tell everybody how awesome your local library really is.
Upcoming Reviews
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!
I was already in love with your blog, and now I read from your personal section that you love hockey!!! I love hockey too. Some might say that "love" is too soft of a word to describe what I feel towards hockey - maybe more like obsession or... I follow both NHL and the Finnish hockey-league (I'm from Finland) and right now it's playoffs for both, which is definitely the best part of year and tops Christmas and all that. My favorite team from Finland is in the finals (game three today and I am so nervous), whereas from NHL I am kind of cheering for multiple teams at the moment because my favorite, Washington Capitals, is off. I am kind of partial to Anaheim at the moment because Teemu Selanne, probably the coolest Finnish hockey player ever, is retiring after this season. :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read your review for 'All the Boys I've Loved Before' - I got it this week as well and I'm not quite sure whether I should read it now, or save it for the summer. And yay for B.J. Novak's book - I really need to read that one ASAP because I adore that man.
Have a good weekend! :) And enjoy the Playoffs :)
I'm not familiar with the Finland league, but I hope your team won! You'll have to let me know. I really like Selanne, too. He is a class act. He played for the Avs briefly. Definitely my favorite time of the year. I'm always happy to find a kindred hockey soul. Lol.
DeleteI just finished To All the Boys and really enjoyed it. BJ's book has been hit or miss for me. I do recommend the audio for his narration and some celebrity friends.
I hope your weekend was grand and that you enjoy the playoffs, as well. :)
Wow you are going to be busy with all those review books! I used to review about 20 books a month for authors, sometimes more, but I'm having to take a break from it to tackle my own tbr! Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI don't stress about review books. I used to, but I don't anymore. Happy reading to you, too!
DeleteI haven't been keeping up with posts these past couple of weeks, so I completely missed the fact that the stabbing took place so close to you. I'm so sorry. No one should feel unsafe full stop, whether it's at work or at school, or just in the street. I can't imagine what it's like for you and other teachers in the US right now *hug*
ReplyDeleteNo problem. It's hard to keep up on all the blogs!! Thanks for your kind words. It always hits hard when I hear about school violence, but having an incident happen SO close to me really had me down. I'm feeling less stressed about it this week. You got to keep living, right? *Hugs, back.*
DeleteI come here every week so I can see that tape you have made for the weekly rewind. I love it. =)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy all your new books!
Mary
My STS
Thanks. I can't take credit for it, but I do love it, too.
DeleteI'm so sorry to read about the stabbing that took place so close to you. How sad. :-(
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to read that you had a better week! It looks like you've got some great review books to get stuck into! I enjoyed Tease, but I think it's going to completely split people!
Thanks, Chrissi. It was sad. I've read the first chapter or so of Tease and it does look different than other bullying stories, so I'm hoping to enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteHave fun at graduation and having your parents visit!
ReplyDeleteI just finished What I Thought Was True. I did like it, but when I found out about what happened between Cass and Gwen, I was really disappointed in Cass. He never tried to explain things to her? He just stood there as she walked away? He is certainly no Jase. And that is never resolved to my satisfaction. As you can tell, I'm feeling sort of rangy, I may have to write a spoiler discussion for this book.
The Taking! I'm so excited for that one. And To All the Boys, I got that this week too and I'm excited about reading it. Have fun reading! ~Pam
Sorry, the spell check will not let me write my non-word, changed it to rangy. But I was talking about ranting. :) ~Pam
DeleteOh, no. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. I understand what you are saying, BUT I think that he was just so embarrassed and didn't know what to do about the situation. I agree he should have talked to her, but then there wouldn't have been a story. Lol. I did enjoy To All the Boys and am excited for The Taking. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteYou got To All The Boys I Loved Before super quickly! I pre-ordered mine because my library sucks and never gets new books in. I was a little disappointed by it sadly, I hope you enjoyed it more. I loved Tease however, I thought that was a really thoughtful book.
ReplyDeleteThis week I visited UK's most beautiful library! Find me Under The Mountain
Also reading Catch a falling star this week!! Looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteMy Catch
I've heard really mixed reviews about Half Bad, though I think it sounds fantastic! Plus, the cover is really gorgeous. To All the Boys I Loved Before sounds really fantastic and I love Jenny Han's writing style, so I'll definitely have to pick that one up soon. The Taking looks amazing; I've actually only read the first Body Finder book, so you're ahead of me! I hope you enjoy all of your books and thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI just got Out of Control too! Really excited! Enjoyed The Taking and To All The Boys I've Loved Before. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteMy Stack
I was not around for last week's posts, but I do know exactly what you mean by being constantly worried about violence in schools. We had a very horrifying day at my son's school recently, someone was shot in our town ( and I live in a VERY SMALL town) and the suspect was seen heading toward the school, so the entire school system went on immediate lockdown. I always thought I was fairly level headed but I cried the entire time until they were released and I could have my son in my arms again. I never want to go through anything like that again. But it is terrifying that we seems to hear about these horrible things happening more and more.
ReplyDeleteOn a brighter note... You got some amazing books this week. Especially your library haul! :) I can't wait for To All the Boys and I really enjoyed Dorothy Must Die so I hope it works for you!
Ugh. How scary! I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm not a parent, but I'm sure it is nerve-wracking when you hear about school violence, too. I enjoyed To All the Boys and am excited for Dorothy.
DeleteI hope this week was a lot less stressful/upsetting for you. And I feel you on the cleaning, we get a 4 day weekend so I didn't want to waste it and have spent the past 3 days cleaning and tidying - very therapeutic!
ReplyDeleteSo many good books this week, I don't know where to start! Love and Other Foreign Words sounds cute!
Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist
I HATE cleaning. Once I get in a rhythm it's alright, but I've never been one of those people who enjoys the act. As soon as I can afford it, I'm totally hiring a maid. Lol.
DeleteI've started Love and Other and it is pretty interesting so far.
Awww I'm sorry to hear about the school stabbing. I can't even imagine how scary that would be. I hope things are getting better.
ReplyDeleteAnd wow! So many books! I hope you enjoy them all, and I see a few I definitely want to read sometime :D
Thanks, Courtney. I was pretty stressed out last week, but I am feeling better.
DeleteOh wow, last week sounds really crappy :( and scary. But glad to hear this weeks a bit better for you, at least you got to sub for some of it. :) And hey, at least you have the graduation ceremony to look forward to. You know, I kind of like cleaning (I always dread it, but then music on, hours later, I feel a lot better- I know, that's weird.)
ReplyDeleteAhhh, Out of Control, lucky! I haven't read anything by her yet either, though I've had Hunting Lila on my shelf for years and still haven't read it. I LOVED The Break-Up Artist, and forgot while I was reading it that it was written by a male, haha. But, Tease, you'll either love or hate it. I still don't really know if I loved or hated it but it's definitely a lot of thoughts kind of book. And of course, I loved Half Bad. :)
Now, get to cleaning! ;)