The Best of 2012!

2012 was an absolutely AWESOME year of books for me! I had such good look with many of the books I read. This past year I really branched out of my comfort zone as far as my reading taste goes. I slowly started to get more into the mature YA and NA books that were popping up like crazy. After having awesome luck with a few, I read as many as I could fit in. I also began seeing some of my blogging friends dipping their toes into the world of adult books and since I trust their opinions with my bookish life, I decided to give it a try. Some positive reviews led me to purchase a few and falling in love with those few led me to purchasing a whole lot more and boy am I glad that I did! Out of the 85 books I was able to squeeze into 2012, I gave 5 stars to nearly 40 of those books, crazy I know!!!! Below are all the books that I loved & adored with all of my heart in 2012. Clicking the picture will lead you to the Goodreads page of that particular book unless I had the chance to review it on the blog, if so, the picture will lead you to the review!

In no certain order, the best books of 2012:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

 

Did you get a chance to read any of these titles in 2012? Did you love them as much as I did? Are there any books you would recommend to me for 2013?

Happy Halloween + Giveaway!

Happy Halloween to all of you! This is one of my favorite holidays for a number of reasons all of which make me seem like a legit 5-year old.

-First up is the costumes. I LOVE dressing up so very much! Even though my friends and I are completely lame and do not get invited to any parties (Sidenote: What is up with this? I know we are obnoxious, annoying, and slightly loud sometimes but we attempt to be amusing sometimes…), we still love to dress up in crazy/silly/funny costumes and go trick-or-treating in them (Sidenote: Since we are past the acceptable age of trick-or-treating, we like to hand out the candy now using the following philosophy: one for them, two for me.)

-Second is the candy! I was born with not one but ten sweet teeth. I am a picky eater but sugar is the one food group I eat with practically no complaints.

-Next is the classic Halloween movies like Hocus Pocus, Casper, The Adams Family, and The Goonies. Even though I’ve seen each of these movies more times than I can count, I still get all giddy every time ABC Family plays them on their 13 Nights of Halloween!

-And last but not least, there are the spooky stories! I am a HUGE baby so I make sure the books I read aren’t that freaky but I still manage to come across a few that remind me of Halloween. Over the past couple of years, this blog has led me to a number of great books. There have been books about demons, witches, werewolves, ghosts, vampires, and everything in between!

So in honor of my favorite holiday I am giving away one of my favorite spook-tastic books! Below you will find a list of books that while they may not be super scary, they help put me in the mood for Halloween time!

     

     

   

Giveaway Details:

-This giveaway is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to you

-Giveaway ends on 11/7

-Winner will receive their choice of one of the books listed above

Click this link to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!

In My Mailbox (34)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for book bloggers to post what they have received for review, borrowed from a friend, bought at the bookstore, or picked up at the library!

It has been far too long since my last IMM post and people, SO MUCH has happened since then!!! I went to the RT Convention, bought a few new books, and pretty much just accumulated quite a large list for this IMM post! Take a look, add onto Goodreads, let me know what you think, and of course link up so I can see what lovely books you got in your mailbox!

RT Convention:

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong- Won

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout- Previously owned but now signed

Enclave by Ann Aguirre- Won & signed

The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams- Bought & signed (by 2/3 of the co-authors)

Tattoo by Jennifer Lynn Barnes- Previously owned but now signed

Chime by Franny Billingsley- Previously owned but now signed

Sirenz by Natalie Zaman and Charlotte Bennardo- Previously owned but now signed

Swag from Jennifer L. Armentrout, Ivy Adams, Natalie Zaman, Charlotte Bennardo, Jeanette Battista

Eve by Anna Carey- Bought & signed

Heist Society by Ally Carter- Previously owned but now signed

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter- Won & signed

The Summerland by Elizabeth Cheryl- Won & signed

Oh. My Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs- Previously owned but now signed

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore- Bought & signed

Haven by Kristi Cook- Bought & signed

The Guardian by Carey Corp- Bought & signed

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting- Bought & signed

Swag from Anna Carey, Elizabeth Cheryl, Tera Lynn Childs, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Carey Corp, Kimberly Derting, Bree Despain, Kiera Cass, Rachel Caine, Ally Condie

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl- Previously owned but now signed

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl- Previously owned but now signed

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl- Previously owned but now signed

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand- Previously owned but now signed

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand- Bought & signed

Hearts At Stake by Alyxandra Harvey- Won

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Wicked: Witch & Curse by Nancy Holder- Previously owned but now signed

Wicked: Resurrection by Nancy Holder- Previously owned but now signed

Swag from Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Cynthia Hand, Nancy Holder, Jennifer Estep, Colleen Houck

Firelight by Sophie Jordan- Previously owned but now signed

Hidden by Sophie Jordan- Won

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade- Previously owned but now signed

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade- Previously owned but now signed

Body and Soul by Stacey Kade- Previously owned but now signed

Phantom Universe by Laura Kreitzer- Bought & signed

Forsaken Harbor by Laura Kreitzer- Bought & signed

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert- Bought & signed

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert- Bought & signed

Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel- Previously owned but now signed

Torn by Erica O’Rourke- Bought & signed

Swag from Sophie Jordan, Stacey Kade, Stephanie Kuehnert, Alyson Noel, Erica O’Rourke, Emily McKay, Michele Jaffe, S.R. Johannes, Saundra Mitchell, Mari Mancusi

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- Previously owned but now signed

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins- Previously owned but now signed

Die For Me by Amy Plum- Bought & signed

Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi- Bought & signed

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors- Previously owned but now signed

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready- Previously owned but now signed

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready- Previously owned but now signed

Soul Screamers: Vol. 1 by Rachel Vincent- Won

Swag from Stephanie Perkins, Amy Plum, Veronica Rossi, Suzanne Selfors, Jeri Smith-Ready, Sarah Rees Brennan, E.J. Stevens, Beth Revis

Review:

Promise by Kristie Cook (e-book)

My Thoughts: I got this book for a blog tour I am participating in later this month! I can’t wait to read!

Silver Knight by Caron Rider (e-book)

My Thoughts: I am fascinated by reincarnation so I am excited to see how this one is done.

Casey Barnes Eponymous by E.A. Rigg (e-book)

My Thoughts: I love, love, love books that have a music influence!

Shift by Kim Curran

My Thoughts: Thanks to Strange Chemistry, a snazzy new publisher for sending out this ARC! I can’t wait to get started on it!

Shackled by Angela Carling

My Thoughts: I read a more “light-hearted” book by Angela last year so I am very interested to see how her more “serious” writing turns out!

Elements: The Beginning by Kate Fuentes (e-book)

My Thoughts: Kate is awesome! I can’t wait to read this one for the blog tour I am participating in later this month!

 Any Love But Mine by Debbie Davies (e-book)

My Thoughts: Nothing is better than a forbidden love story!

Bought:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

My Thoughts: I FINALLY HAVE THIS BOOK IN MY POSSESSION!!!!

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

My Thoughts: Do yourself a favor and go buy this book right now!

Blood Born by Jamie Manning

My Thoughts: Jamie is seriously the bees knees! I won this book from Mandie (see below) but decided I needed an actual copy for when Jamie goes on an awesome 10-state tour sometime in the future.

Gifted/Won:

Blood Born by Jamie Manning (e-book)

My Thoughts: Thank you so much to Mandie for this awesome book! I cannot wait to read it!!!!!

Re-Cap: RT Teen Day

YOU GUYS!!!!! Are you ready for a post in which I tell you all about the awesome adventure I went on? You better be because there is a ton of WIN in the following novel-ish re-cap of Teen Day (beware: lots of !!!!!!! and ALL CAPS ahead)!

Teen Day was quite possibly the most fun I have ever had! I got to meet so many bloggers, authors, other random bookish people; it was just pure brilliance! Here’s how the trip went down:

Kati and I left Michigan early Friday morning. After getting lost only about 3 times (all my fault), we arrived in Chicago at around 1:30, checked in at the hotel, then proceeded to get lost in the city (also my fault). We got to see a whole lot of the city but what we really wanted was The Cheesecake Factory. It was hours later when we finally realized that the book signing we were going to that night was in fact an hour away (again, my fault). We somehow found The Cheesecake Factory, Cookie Dough for me and Lemon Raspberry for Kati, and then we were off.

We got lost on our way to the book store (you guessed it, my fault) but we managed to get there with a few minutes to spare. Kati and I took our places managing to cause a little bit of a scene which may or may not have included me tripping over my purse (don’t ask) and then making friends with a guy behind us who I have seen at a previous book signing. Some of my very favorite bloggers were at this event, and since my navigation skills suck hard-core, I was not able to see them before hand. Lynn (Bringing the Epic) and Laci (Blog-O-Rama) were some of the few lovely ladies wondering where the heck I was (never fear, I was only sitting in the back…behind very tall people *insert sad face*). The authors, Veronica Rossi (Under The Never Sky), Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me), Anna Carey (Eve), and Cynthia Hand (Unearthly, Hallowed ) talked about their books, they were insanely funny and super sweet, then we got in line for the signing. Kati and I made lame jokes to one another the whole time and probably drove everyone else in line completely crazy.

After getting everything signed, I was FINALLY able to talk with everyone! The bloggers that were at this event were: Laci (Blog-O-Rama), Jamie (The Broke and the Bookish/The Perpetual Page-Turner), Heidi (YA Bibliophile), Kristi (The Story Siren), Anna (Anna Reads), Lynn (Bringing The Epic), Jasmine (The Reading Housewives of Indiana), Jacinda (The Reading Housewives of Indiana), Jen (Makeshift Bookmark), Tara (Fiction Folio). I will be honest, I was totally freaking the eff out! They might not have known who I was at the time but I knew of them (not literally of course, but from their SUPER AWESOME blogs) and I was finally seeing them in person! It is so crazy to finally meet someone you talk to on a regular basis, or see someone who writes a blog you read all the time, in actual person! Seriously you guys, I was basically in awe by how lovely, funny, and sweet these bloggers all were. (I’ll stop sounding creepy right about…now)

After we took a group shot, Laci, Jacinda, Jasmine, Kati, and I all went out to eat. I am pretty sure that at this point we were all so hungry we may have considered gnawing on the super cool recycled straws at the table. During dinner we talked about Jasmine’s SUPER tiny town (seriously, one cop!?!? And come on, how does this ONE COP manage to get his squad car stolen?),Jacinda’s (and my grandma’s) inability to pay attention when being talked to, Salt ‘n’ Pepa, and probably a whole lot more randomness. They were so funny and we all had a genuinely brilliant time, but mostly I was still super excited that I finally got to meet them. And then, what’s dinner without the desert (so what if I had cheesecake just hours before!)? We went to this tiny gelato place and it was so good! After that we went back to our hotels to get some rest before our next crazy day!

Saturday was the actual event. Kati and I got up and ready, I decided to rebel against dry floors by soaking our bathroom while showering (this made Kati…upset), we ate delicious waffles made by yours truly, and then we were off again. We got lost again (yes, my fault but I also blame the city’s super sucky “Parking Ramp This Way” signs). We managed to find a parking spot a whole half mile from the event, got my bags of books and headed in. So of course we arrived pretty early but an hour late in bookish people timing. We got redirected a million and one times, Kati asked Kimberly Derting if we were in the right line to check in (we were not, it was the Starbucks line), but we finally made it. And after waiting for forever, they finally let us in.

Holy AMAZEBALLS! I have never seen so many people in love with books in one place before. It was amazing for lack of a better term. We got to the Teen Author section and this is where everything is a bit of a blur. I met SO MANY people that I could hardly keep my head on straight. Stacey Kade, Kimberly Derting, Kristi Cook, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Nancy Holder, Charlotte Bennardo, Natalie Zaman, Jennifer Armentrout, Ally Carter, Kiera Cass, Elizabeth Cheryl, Tera Lynn Childs, Sophie Jordan, Stephanie Kuehnert, Alyson Noel, Erica O’Rourke, Jeri Smith-Ready, Stephanie Perkins, just to name a few (yes I do consider that list a “few”). The list goes on and on and on… I wish I could tell you all about every super awesome person I got to meet but we’d be here for forever, seriously! But I will say this, I got to meet nearly every YA author there, and I was truly blown away by how generous, sweet, and all-around awesome they were. Every time Kati and I went up to a table, the author was so quick to start a conversation with us regardless of how socially awkward we both are. I still can’t get over how great this part of the day was.

After checking out of the book signing and paying for the crap-load of books I bought, we finally took the stuff back to the car (which, if you remembered, was a half-mile away. FUN!). I regained some feeling in my arms at this point and we headed back into the convention. There were then three sessions of panels and author events you could choose to go to. We first went to the Author Speed Dating session. This was so much fun! There were about 20 tables set up and you sat at one of them for the whole time. The authors rotated between all the tables every three minutes. Many of the authors remembered Kati and I from the book signing (what can I say, we are incredibly lame and hard to forget) and then we were able to make friends with the new ones we hadn’t met yet. After this we attended two sessions of Author Speed Reading. Each author had a short amount of time to read a section from one of their books. It was great to hear a little bit of each of their stories but the authors teased us so much!

Finally it was time for the Teen Party!!! We got in line again (they really liked lines at this place!) but it wasn’t for too long. Teens at this event got an awesome bag filled with books (heck yes for being a teenager!!!). There was food set up, a psychic in one corner, a face painter in another, and then there were authors crawling all over the place! It was the perfect time to chow down on cupcakes and take pictures with some of your favorite authors. Kati and I got to take pictures with Stacey Kade, Stephanie Perkins, Franny Billingsley, and Kimberly Derting, and then we even got a few more of our new books signed! After making our rounds around the room 20+ times and stalking just about every author there was to stalk, it was time to head out. *sad face*

The whole day, as you can clearly see was SO FANTASTIC! It was the first big bookish thing I have ever been to and it honestly couldn’t have been a better first experience. I will definitely be going to it again in the future.

After the event, we had food (…again! Obviously we like to eat.) and went back to the hotel to pass the out. We woke up, packed up, and then headed into the city for our very last time. We got to spend a few hours exploring Chicago and seeing all sorts of cool things. This was Kati’s first “real” time in the city so I just HAD to show her all the great things in Millennium Park. All too soon, we had to head home. It was a long drive but we finally made it. Visiting Chicago and attending the RT Convention was one of the greatest trips I have ever been on. I was so excited to go to a fun place with Kati, I learned that I was one crap-tastic navigator, I was able to meet so many AMAZING bloggers and authors, and I got a whole slew of new books and swag; what could be better?

And now, a slideshow of the whole thing!!!!

p.s. This song’s for you Ginger! (I sooo wish you could have been there! One day, we’ll meet and it’ll be epic)

In My Mailbox (29)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for book bloggers to post what they have received for review, borrowed from a friend, bought at the bookstore, or picked up at the library!

The last IMM I posted was all the way back in November! Yeah, it is safe to say the holidays definitely got in the way but I am hoping to keep up with the weekly IMMs from now on. Since I missed almost two full months, this IMM is going to be a lot of craziness! Let’s take a look at what I got!!!

For Review:

Unbreakable Love by Angela Carling

Loving Emily by Anne Pfeffer

Dark Days by C.A. Kunz

Trade Secrets by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout (e-book)

The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez (e-book)

Settling by Shelley Workinger (e-book)

Bought:

Books

Don’t Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough

Winter’s Kiss: The Ex Games by Jennifer Echols and The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Catherine Hapka

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Switched by Amanda Hocking

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

Hush Money by Susan Bischoff (e-book)

Impulse Control by Susan Bischoff (e-book)

Indigo Blues by Danielle Joseph (e-book)

Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (e-book)

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner (e-book)

My Thoughts: I got some great deals over some awesome books the past couple months however I am now on a book buying ban! There are just too many things I am saving up for plus I now have enough books to last me a lifetime!

Music

Dashboard Confessional

Anberlin

Thriving Ivory

Ryan Adams

Fitz and the Tantrums

Foster The People

The Summer Set

My Thoughts: Can you tell that I ran into some deals at the CD store? All of their used CDs were super cheap plus if you bought 3, you got the 4th one free!

Gifted/Won:

From Alexa @ AlexaLovesBooks

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Chocolates & a card!

My Thoughts: Alexa is one freaking awesome book blogger (and not just because she sent me a super sweet gift!) She never fails to make my days brighter and the day I got this lovely package in the mail was no different. My brother managed to eat both chocolate bars she sent me but I am sure they were delicious! The card was so dang sweet and I cannot wait to read these books!

From Laci @ LovePassionBooks

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

A Taylor Swift card!

My Thoughts: Laci completely surprised me for my birthday! She saw it was my birthday on Twitter and offered to send me two books. I was stunned and so thankful when I got these two in the mail. Plus, she just knows me so well, she got a TAYLOR SWIFT birthday card!!! This made me smile big time :)

From Cyndi @ Dog-Eared and Bookmarked

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Twilight Saga journal set

A Winter Song CD

Water For Elephants Soundtrack

A Christmas Song CD

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Soundtrack

A hand-made scarf & a card!!!

My Thoughts: Cyndi is so full of amazing, I wish I could just hug her! She had been teasing me on Twitter for FOREVER about the gift she was sending me and when it finally got here I cried. Seriously. She was so extremely generous and thoughtful with her gift, it totally made my day!

From Jamie Manning @ Writers Write, Right?

A singed Eternal Starling bookmark from Angela Corbett

My Thoughts: I am not entirely sure how I got this or even why, but hey it is a gorgeous, signed bookmark; I am NOT complaining!

From my Dad and Stepmom:

Books

A New Bookshelf

Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman

Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

New stationary so I can write letters to all of my blogging friends!

Music

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Tenth Avenue North

The Fray

The Cab

My Thoughts: I love my dad and stepmom so much! They spoiled me on my birthday and Christmas and I couldn’t be happier :)

From my Mom:

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

My Thoughts: It may have taken a while to convince my mom that it was actually okay to buy me books for Christmas but once she finally understood, she made an excellent decision! I can’t wait to continue on with this series.

From my Grandma:

Books

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

$25 gift card to Barnes & Noble

My Thoughts: My grandma also did good with the book choice this year! I haven’t read the first of The Infernal Devices but when I do, I now have the second to immediately follow-up with!

Music

Plain White T’s

The All-American Rejects

My Thoughts: Last time I asked for an All-American Rejects CD from my grandma, she got me an Alter Bridge CD. They are COMPLETELY different! I was so happy she could find the right ones this time around!

From my Aunts & Uncles:

Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Bookmark pens

The Nook!

My Thoughts: I am thrilled I got an awesome book and bookmarks but I am even more thrilled that I now have my very own Nook! I was very adamant that I would hate an e-reader, but I now love having one! Go figure!

So that’s a ton of great books that I got the past couple of months! Since it is going to take a lot of time to read those, I am officially putting myself under a book buying ban. It should be interesting to say the least. Don’t forget to leave a link to your IMM post in the comment section and I will be sure to check it out!

TGIF (33)

There once was an awesome blogger named Ginger and she decided to create a super fun feature where fellow bloggers would answer fabulous questions via blog posts every Friday. TGIF was born and we all have Miss Ginger at GReads! to thank for that! This week’s question is:

2012 Must Reads:

Which books are at the top of your list to be read this year (new or old releases)?

If I were to answer this question fully, you guys would be here for days reading over the titles I am most looking forward to! There are a ton of books, lots of new ones and even more old ones, that I want to read hopefully this year. I wish I could move every book to the top of my TBR list but I have not figured out where to obtain those super human powers yet!

I guess first and foremost, the top books on my TBR list this year are my review books! Right now I still have a huge pile of books (hard-copies and e-books) that need to be read for reviews. I will be the very first to admit that I sucked it up near the end of 2011. I am working my butt off trying to catch up on all my review books and so far it is kind of working! (Key-phrasing in that last sentence of course being “kind of”) Some of these titles that needed to be read like yesterday are:

Dark Days by C.A. Kunz

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Trade Secrets by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez

Now there is the list of books that I own but have really not been read yet. I am officially (as of a few days ago) on a book buying ban. I really, really, really want to get through a few titles before I buy more books. The goal is that for every five “older” books that I read, I am allowed to purchase ONE book. I may have to remind myself of this rule a few thousand times but I hope it works because I now have 162 titles to work through! Some of the books at home that I want to read super bad are:

Sirenz by Natalie Zaman and Charlotte Bennardo

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

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

Last on the list are the books I have for my challenges this coming up year! I have already mentioned several times how excited I am to actually complete all the challenges I signed up for so naturally I am pumped to read all of the books! You can check out the full list of books I hope to read on my 2012 Challenges tab but a few of the titles I can’t wait for are:

Forgiven by Janet Fox

Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

This week on Kate’s Tales of Books and Bands (1/6-1/13):

TGIF (32) All of my reading and blogging goals for the year!

Life As Kate (13) An actual good week! This is odd for me!

My New Name!!! My blog gets a new name and it’s all thanks to you guys!

Loving Emily by Anne Pfeffer + Author Interview <<< I LOVED this book!

Tune In Tuesday (42) This week features The Cab, one of my favorite bands!

A Touch Awesome Blog Tour + Sign Ups – If you guys have read A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford (or can read it within the next week like me!!!) I would LOVE it if you signed up. It’s the first ever tour I have hosted!

TGIF (30)

There once was an awesome blogger named Ginger and she decided to create a super fun feature where fellow bloggers would answer fabulous questions via blog posts every Friday. TGIF was born and we all have Miss Ginger at GReads! to thank for that! This week’s question is:

Dear Santa:

Which books made it to your Christmas wish list this year?

I think the easiest thing to ask would be “Which books DIDN’T make it to your Christmas wish list this year?” Every year I try to come up with books I want but fail to formulate a really awesome list. Random times throughout the whole year I think  “Oh my, I really really really want that book,” and by the time Christmas rolls around, I have forgotten which one it was.

However, I tried to be better this year (keyword-TRIED)! At the beginning of the year I put my sticky note app on the computer to good use! Every time I added a book to my TBR list on Goodreads, I thought to myself “Do I want this book or do I REALLY want this book?” If I really wanted it, I put it on the sticky note so I wouldn’t forget about it months later. Of course if I was out sometime shopping and happened to buy one, three, or ten of the books on my list, that was okay because I was constantly adding more, right? Wrong! (Well right about constantly adding more books, wrong about it working out okay)

Imagine my shock when my grandma asked me what I wanted for Christmas last month and I soon realized I had purchased most of the books on my wish list. I went into panic overdrive. Seriously, I was coming up with a complete blank on which books I wanted. After hours, and yes I mean hours, of deliberating, I decided I should do the smart thing and ask for books that would finish out a series for me. I have the first or second books to many series but do not have the whole thing so I asked for books like Cascade and Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren or Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins, Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade, Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty were some more among the list. Keep in mind this was only for my grandma! Then I had my mom, stepmom, three aunts, and friends asking what I wanted!

This is the point where I was about ready to pull my hair out so I got organized. I got on Goodreads, went through all the books I have read. If it was part of the series and I didn’t already own the rest of the books, they went on the list. If I owned parts of the series (and have NOT read them yet) then the rest of that series also went on the list. Then I went through books on my 2011 DAC list to see which ones I missed this past year but still wanted to read. After that, I quickly scrolled through the 1000+ books on my TBR list on Goodreads and came up with some random ones that I wanted! This was quite the production once everything was all said and done. Some random books that made it to my list were:

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have) by Sara Mlynowski

Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris

Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway

Even though I have all of these awesome titles (and more) on my Christmas wish list this year, the chances that I will receive any of them are slim to none. See, the issue with my family is they think that getting me books is too boring or predictable (or some other wacky excuse). They like to do anything in their power not to buy me books. This whole thing baffles me! Last year my wish list was a lot less complicated but I still had a ton of good choices. How many books do you think I got for Christmas? ONE! I got one whole book for Christmas. So unless the guy in red has a few extra books lying around, I will most likely be buying my own bookish presents this year.

And just to show how insane I really was with the Christmas list this year, I have evidence!

This week on Katelyn’s Blog (12/16-12/23):

TGIF (29): Crazy blog stats and my most popular posts!

Life As Kate (10) Making up for lost time and more craziness!

Bad News…: My good friend Stacey was in a pretty bad car accident. Everyone’s kind words, prayers, and well wishes have made a world of difference. Thank you!

Tune In Tuesday (39) Part 1: The bands I would LOVE to see in concert!

25 Days of Jubilation: Tune In Tuesday Part 2 + Giveaway: My top 10 favorite nontraditional holiday songs PLUS an international giveaway!

TGIF (22)

There once was an awesome blogger named Ginger and she decided to create a super fun feature where fellow bloggers would answer fabulous questions via blog posts every Friday. TGIF was born and we all have Miss Ginger at GReads! to thank for that! This week’s question is:

Spooktacular Reads:

Which books do you consider festive Halloween reads? Which stories have chilled you to the bone?

I would like to think that I am a tough person who can handle scary books but in reality I am a big, big baby. However, I have managed to sneak in a few creepy books and by somewhat of a shock, I actually enjoyed them. The first couple are books that just really freaked me out. The rest are ones that have Halloween-ish elements in them (a.k.a. Paranormal books that I find to be totally, freaking awesome!!!)

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

I just read this one. HOLY FREAKING CREEPY!

The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way

I read this one over a year ago and I STILL think of how twisted that story is!

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Of course fighting off demons with swords can be considered a great Halloween read!

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

This is a book about a girl who can sense dead bodies, FREAKY!

Bone Dressing by Michelle Brooks

This book is more of a love story but the main characters do spend quite a bit of time in the cemetary which is ALWAYS good for freaking people out.

Beautiful Creatures + Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Both of these books a million times YES! Everything about them shouts great Halloween read! Plus Ethan and Lena…I <3 those two!

The Childe by C.A. Kunz

This is the PERFECT book for this time of year. It definitely makes me think of one of those cool made for TV movies that ABC Family always has this time of year. It could totally be right up there with Hocus Pocus!

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

I love me some Stacey Kade! You can’t have Halloween without a friendly little ghost (or in this case, a spoiled little ghost who wants things to go her way!)

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

I was so surprised by how much I loved this book that is based so heavily on Edgar Allen Poe. This story is dark, creepy, and twisted, what more could you want?!?

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

I don’t think this one has anything to do with this time of year but I think it is a phenomenal paranormal book!

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Oh yes, definitely a great paranormal book that is perfect for reading this time of year!

Released by Megan Duncan

Demon slaying people on the run? YES please!

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Oh how I love this book! Another great paranormal book that has NOTHING to do with Halloween but you should read anyway!

So what do you think? Are any of these on your list of books to read during Halloween time?

This week on Katelyn’s Blog (10/21-10/28):

TGIF (21)

Life As Kate (4)

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Tune In Tuesday (31)

Destined by P.C. & Kristin Cast Book Trailer + Giveaway!!!

TGIF (11)

TGIF is a fun little feature hosted at GReads! Every week we re-cap what has happened on the blog plus Ginger asks a question for us to answer. This week’s question is:

Author Block Party:

If you could gather a handful of authors to hang out with, who would you choose? 

This is the post in which authors will (if they haven’t already) start thinking I am Creep Mc.Creepster. There are a TON of authors who I think are made of awesomesauce. I have read books by most of them, I have chatted with a few (very few! I am still uber shy) on Twitter, and the rest I stalk whether it be on their vlog, blog, or through Twitter. So if I were to have the most awesome of awesome parties I would send out invites to… (Keep in mind that my version of handful is A LOT. I am just greedy like that)

Sarah Dessen & Melina Marchetta are Y.A. Contemporary Goddesses! I am 99.999% sure that books don’t get much better than theirs do. Sarah has been a favorite of mine since I first started reading Y.A. I will always love her books for the simple fact that they got me so completely hooked on reading. I have only read one by Melina Marchetta but I can say with confidence that I will absorb, adore, love, and cherish every book that she writes. I would probably burst with happiness if I were in the same room as them!

Yvonne Collins, Sandy Rideout, Simone Elkeles, and Jennifer Echols have all created some of the best books. Yvonne and Sandy have these light, easy reads that can make you laugh and cry within the span of a few pages. Simone is a genius when it comes to creating hot, Latino boys that I want to keep for myself (the books themselves aren’t too bad either ;) you should probably read them if you haven’t already!). Jennifer Echols is the author I probably fan-girl the most. She makes some seriously HOT scenes in her books! I could die a happy person if I were able to meet all of them!

Elizabeth Eulberg, Antony John, and Robin Benway all put my two favorite things together, books and music. For Elizabeth, she took the rock stars known as The Beatles and mixed them with a wonderful main character to create a book I love, The Lonely Hearts Club. Antony John’s Five Flavors of Dumb was such a wonderfully unique story about a deaf girl managing a rock band. Perhaps my favorite of all of them is Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway. This  is a book in which there are no words to describe the musical goodness that comes from it. I imagine myself, along with these three authors, would have lots to talk about between books and music!

Diana Peterfreund is another favorite of mine, of course! I would probably interrogate her on her Secret Society Girl series. The story is just so incredibly well-written and full of mystery & romance. I am dying to know if any of the stories are true!

Kiersten White is hilarious. I could just watch her stream of Tweets day & night and be completely entertained.

 Stephanie Perkins created Etienne St. Clair. That should be enough to convince ANYONE to invite her to their party.

Stacey Kade. I talked to her once on Twitter….about pizza. It was the greatest fan-girl moment of all time. I love, love, love her book The Ghost and the Goth! She was able to do the whole character switch-er-roo thing so well and I love how her characters play so well off of each other. I can guess that Stacey and I would have a wonderful conversation about ghosts and if that doesn’t work out, there is always pizza!

 Gae Polisner, author of The Pull of Gravity, a book I have NOT read, would be a definite invite to my author block party. Not only is Gae super nice and generous but she is funny, like REALLY funny! I will sometimes just read through her Facebook updates for fun. And trust me on this one, it is lots of fun!

Karsten Knight is another author of a book that I have not read before. I would invite Karsten for the simple fact that he will have the whole party laughing; there is no doubt about it. I even subscribed to his Youtube channel because I find him so freaking hilarious! 

 Carrie Harris, yet again, have not read her book but I think we could have a good conversation about zombies and book bloggers who stick plungers in their head.

 Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman, co-authors of Sirenz are two more goofballs I’d love to meet. Charlotte is always dropping sweet, funny, random tweets and I love her for it. She has even convinced me to purchase a red pair of shoes to wear while reading her book!

I would also like to add one more to this list. LK Gardner-Griffie is such a sweetheart! I have yet to read her book, Misfit McCabe but trust me, I hope to make that very soon!

There are all the authors I would invite to my bookish party of awesome. I am sure there are many, many more but that is all I could think of off the top of my head. Don’t forget to let me know what you think of my guest list and of course, leave a link to your TGIF post and I’ll be sure to check it out!

This week on Katelyn’s Blog (8/5-8/11):

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

In My Mailbox (22)

Tune-In Tuesday (20)

Friday Is Forever Tour

Giveaway: Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop

Welcome to my first ever giveaway here on the blog! This blog hop was organized by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Books Complete Me. The giveaway runs from 12:01 a.m. March 17th until 11:59 p.m. March 20th with my winners being announced on March 21st. There are many great book-related giveaways going on so get your clickers ready and start participating! Just follow the linky at the end of my post to hop from blog to blog; it’s as simple as that!

*If, by any chance, the linky isn’t working, you can view the complete list of participating blogs by clicking on the “Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop” picture*

Even though it is a St. Patrick’s themed giveaway, I found myself drawing a blank as to what “Irish” or “Lucky” themed book I would choose to giveaway. It is at that precise moment that I decided to be unique and do an UN-LUCKY themed giveaway. So excuse me if I stray away from the purpose of St. Patrick’s Day for a moment. One of the unluckiest characters (because she is umm… not alive) I have ever read is Alona, from Stacey Kade’s The Ghost and the Goth. ***Also, after posting this, Stacey Kade so kindly reminded me that Will, the male protagonist, is indeed Irish. How fitting!*** This is one of my favorite reads of 2010 and I am impatiently awaiting the arrival of her second book titled Queen of the Dead due to be released in June. So for one LUCKY person, you can win The Ghost and The Goth. You will hopefully have it read (and be in complete love with it) in perfect timing for the release of her second book! Here is a quick summary of the book, courtesy of Goodreads.com:

Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star… and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?

GIVEAWAY:

If you are interested in winning this book, here are a few simple rules:

1) Contest is open to U.S. residents only

2) You must be 13 or older to participate

3) You must leave a comment on this post with your name and e-mail address (This earns you an automatic 1 pt.)

4) You must enter before 11:59 p.m. on March 20th

Now that is not to bad is it?

HOWEVER, if you really want to win, you can earn a few extra points:

1 pt. for subscribing to this blog

1 pt. for tweeting, facebooking, or blogging about the giveaway + leaving link (one entry per person)

1 pt. for including your most UN-LUCKY moment in the comment

Alright so there you have it, now quick, go enter! You have until 11:59 on March 20th to enter. I will e-mail the winner on March 21st. You will then have 48 hours to respond before I chose another winner.