Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week we are invited to post a list on a variety of book –related topics.

I haven’t participated in a while but this week’s topic spoke to me!

I am so guilty of rushing out to get a new release or a book I am dying to read only to have it sit on my shelf. I also pre-order my favourite authors so I have it as soon as it comes out and they sit on my shelf too. Here’s a list of the Top Ten books I couldn’t wait to get my hands on, but haven’t cracked open yet.

1. Shine by Lauren Myracle
2. Dearly Departed by Lia Habel
3. Bloodlines by Rachel Mead
4. Matched/Crossed/Reached by Ally Condie
5. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
6. Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
7. Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
8. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
9. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
10. The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Do we have any in common? Which one should I make a priority to read next?

Stacking the Shelves/In My Mailbox 2

In My Mailbox (hosted by the Story Siren) and Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga) are weekly memes where we are invited to post about the books we received via mail, store, friend or library. 

Links go to GoodReads :)

For Review:

The Bully Book by Eric Kahn Gale

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan –this sounds wonderful

Crash and Burn by Michael Hassan

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill

The Menagerie by Tui T Sutherland

 

The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepard –love the sound of this-Historical

The Shadow Girl by Jennifer Archer

Period 8 by Chris Crutcher

Stick Dog by Tom Watson

Wasteland by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan

I Represent Sean Rosen by Jeff Baron

 

Huge thank you to my wonderful Book Fairies at HarperCollins for these!

What was in your mailbox? Leave a link in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday–Favourite Books I’ve Read During My Blog’s Lifespan

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the fab Broke and the Bookish.

Each week we are invited to post a top ten list about a variety of book related topics.

This week’s list:

Top Ten Favourite Books I’ve Read Since My Blog Began

This is a challenging list to create.

I’ve been blogging for 2 1/2 years and I’ve read A LOT of books in that time…..

Be sure to check out the reviews to see why these are my favourites.

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay – Review

Delirium by Lauren Oliver – Review

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting – Review

Divergent by Veronica Roth –Review

The Fault in our Stars by John Green – Review

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater –Review

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate –Review

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern –Review

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas –Review

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky –not one I could review…..

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi -Review

If I Stay by Gayle Forman -Review

What’s on your list? Do we have any in common?

Feature and Follow Friday-May 4th

It has been forever since I participated in the Feature & Follow. 

It's hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

This week's question was asked by featured blogger The House Work Can Wait.

What is one thing you wish you could tell your favourite author?

I was lucky and was able to meet my favourite author (Lauren Oliver) 

I was completely gushing and not sure if I made a whole lot of sense when I was talking, but telling her how much her writing has impacted me was the goal.

Has that every happened to you? Where you meet someone you admire and are completely tongue tied?

Happy Friday!

May the 4th be with you:)

Banned Books Week Giveaway

Banned Books week ( in the states) begins today and runs until next Saturday October 1st. The Canadian version of Banned Books Week called "Freedom to Read" is usually in February. 

Both are important weeks and need our support. Books are empowering, freeing, address issues, start conversations and often remind us that we are not alone. Books are not dangerous. They are memory makers and life savers. We have the right to read what we want and we should always have the freedom to choose and ensure that others have that freedom as well. For more information check out this link- http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

To bring awareness to Banned Books Week I'm participating in the Banned Books Week Giveaway! Special thanks to Jen from I Read Banned Books and Kathy from I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for hosting the hop. The giveaway opens today (September 24th) and closes October 1st with one winner chosen at random and announced on October 2nd. To enter just fill out the form. The winner will be able to select one book from the list of top ten banned books in 2010 below. Be sure to visit the other blogs participating! Just visit Jen or Kathy's blogs for the link list!

                                                      The Top Ten Banned Books in 2010

 1) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

 2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

 3) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

 4) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins

5) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

 6)Lush, by Natasha Friend

7) What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones

 8) Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich

 9)Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie

 10) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Canada Day Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my Canada Day Giveaway and to http://knitpurlstitch.blogspot.com/ & http://snowdropdreams.blogspot.com/ for putting the hop together!!!

I loved reading everyone's answers.
According to the majority of people living outside Canada, we are known for:

Hockey, Maple Syrup, Cute Bears, Speaking French and Snow

The most popular Canadian author mentioned was:

 Kelley Armstrong, with Margaret Atwood coming in a close second.



Two winners have been drawn and they will each get $15.00 towards their choice of book

from the Book depository-

The winners are:

Carmel @ Rabid Reads

and

Rebecca at everything to do with books

Congrats!!!!



Canada Blog Hop

July 1st is Canada Day!!

and to celebrate my Canadian self -I'm participating in a blog hop with other

 Canadian Bloggers who are each hosting a giveaway.

I thought since it is a Canadian Holiday that I would post a few of my favourite books by amazing Canadian authors:

                                            

Have you read any of the titles above?

Note: I made a slight error in creating the form below- Out of Canada residents need to just answer the "one fact about Canada one time to earn an extra entry (not twice) :)

Giveaway:

Be sure to check out the next blog on the hop:

In the Next Room

TGIF and Follow Friday

TGIF is hosted by the lovely GREADS. If you haven't checked out her blog- go now......you're missing out!

            Each Friday we can recap our blogs weekly posts and

Greads posts a book related question:

Summer Love: Where's your ideal place to take a summer vacation & get lost in a book?

How about here:

or



(my dream place Santorini)

Since neither will be happening, I settle for my back yard deck.....:)

So glad it's summer!

Monday - Ashes Ashes Plague and Pestilence Tour Q & A

Tuesday- Top Ten Tuesday- Reasons I Love Blogging

Wednesday-Waiting on Wednesday -The Faerie Ring

Thursday-Story time with Shark in the Park

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkees View!

This weeks question:

 

Q. In light of the Summer Solstice. Also known as Midsummer...let's talk about fairies. What is your favorite fairy tale or story that revolves around the fae?

I think my ultimate favourite fairy will forever be Tinkerbell.
I loved her in the stories of Peter Pan (clap your hands if you believe)....

As for YA Fae books I would say - Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and
The Iron Fae Series by Julie Kagwa.

What about you?


Follow Friday -favourite genre

Follow Me Friday is a weekly book-blogger meme hosted by Parajunkee over at Parajunkee's View. If you have a book blog, you can join in the fun too! This week’s Follow Friday question is:

GenreWars! What’s your favorite genre and which book in that genre made it your favorite?

A  great question! My favourite genre tends to change a bit, I love Paranormal (Twlight by Stephenie Meyer) but Dystopian tends to be my absolute favourite- I think it was Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins that made it my favourite- there is something about a character rising up over adversity and what seem like impossible obstacles that just speaks to me, maybe because I wish I could be more like them?
 
What about you? What's your favourite genre?

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

It's been a while since I've participated in the follow but I loved this weeks question:

The magic book fairy pops out of your cereal box and says "you and your favorite character (from a book of course) can switch places!" Who are you going to switch with?

I think there are many that I would switch with but I'm going to go with the very first one that popped into my mind.

Violet from The Body Finder Series by Kimberly Derting

She has a unique gift, and although I'm not sure that I would like to discover deceased people and their murderers, my teenage self would very much like to date the love interest from this book- Jay. He's the perfect book boyfriend. Violet is also strong, independent, and has a wonderful family.

I love that she's willing and brave enough to help others even if it might put her at risk.

What character would you be?

Blogger Hop

It's been a little while since I hopped! Happy Friday!

The Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-For-Books

This week's question:

Do you read only one book at a time or do you have several on the go?

I usually have two on the go- one at work (for break time) and one at home.

  Sometimes a book will grab me so much that I'll read it in one sitting.

Don't forget to leave a comment so I can visit you too!

Follow Friday

Time for the Friday Follow! Hosted by Parajunkees View.

This week's question is a focus on the SCI-FI genre.

If you are a fan of Science Fiction what is your favorite book? If you haven't read Science Fiction before...any inkling to? Anything catch your eye?

 I had to look up genre defintions on the internet as the lines between fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian seem a but fuzzy to me. When I think of Sci-fi, I think of Sir Arthur Clarke, or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451...though perhaps now, Fahrenheit 451 might be closer to dystopian? I found this great post "The Fine Points Between YA Dystopia and Sci-fi "


 A few sci-fi books I've enjoyed:

1. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
2. The Uglies/Pretties/Specials/Extras by Scott Westerfeld
3. Matched by Ally Condie
4. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
5. Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

Do you find defining genres a bit of a challenge sometimes? Is there one genre that you tend to read more?

Have a great weekend!

Follow Friday

It's Friday and that means it's time to do a little networking and discover some new blogs and bloggers.

The Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books

This week's question:

"Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!"

This week I'm featured on The Broke & The Bookish website in Bookish Jobs for Bookish People.

I'm so lucky that I look forward to going to work everyday. (well most days)

 Do you have a bookish dream job?

Here's the Link

I also have a Book Lover's Giveaway that you can enter until Sunday February 13th.

The Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

This week's question:

What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?

 I love this question:

In books I tend to fall for the bad boy.

You know the type, all tough on the exterior but inside he's really just looking to be loved like anyone else.

The guy I ended up being married to is definitely the strong silent type.

Thanks for stopping by, be sure to leave a comment so I visit you too!

Have a great weekend.

I Love Fridays and the Hop

It's Friday! & I actually have the weekend off.

My son is turning 10 (double digits) so we'll be in party mode all weekend.

It's also time to discover new blogs and visit favourites.

The Hop is hosted by Crazy-For-Books. This week's question?

"What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011?

Why are you anticipating that book?"

Only one? This is hard to answer but I think i'll have to say -

City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare.

I loved the first three books and I can't wait to see what happens to Clary & Jace.



The Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkees View

This weeks question? What was your favourite subject in school?

I really liked English but I'd have to say Music.

Singing is still one of my favourite things to do, and makes me very happy.

Happy Weekend!

Friday -Blogger Hop

It finally Friday- This week took forever!! and I'm actually off this weekend so I'm looking forward to reading & resting.

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

This week's question:

What makes up your non-human family?

We have a dog named Blue and a Bird (parakeet) named Sumi.

The Blog Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books. This week's question:

Why do you read the genre you do? What draws you to it?

I've always been drawn to the fantasy and science fiction genre. I enjoy contemporary and historical fiction as well, but not as much as fantasy and sci-fi. I love the quests. The few destined to save the many. The ability to overcome unimaginable evil, and the fact that anything is possible.

What about you? Make sure you leave me a link so I can visit you too!

Blogger Hop & Friday Follow

Yay the hop is back!!! I love Fridays!!!

The Friday Friday is hosted by Parajunkees View

This weeks question is from Stalking the Bookshelves:

What book(s) have you discovered lately from someones book blog?

The Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine

I can't remember what blog I saw the post on- I'm hooked! see my review here.

The Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

This weeks question:

What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?"

It's funny because I recently did a post about this very topic:
 
Books have always had tremendous impact on me, (obviously I love them and love to read or I wouldn't be blogging or working in a library) but it's much more than that.
There are a few every year that stand out as my "life lesson" books. I even have a special shelf for them.

One from a few years ago was by the author Kate Di Camillo. It was called The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. It reminded me during a very difficult time not to give up on love and though love may be a sacrifice in the end it's always worth it.

This year, the stand out was If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

My review is here.
If I Stay reminded me that life is always a choice even if it doesn't always feel like it. We need to hold on to the ones we love and treasure the moments we might usually miss because we never know what might happen. It also taught me that sometimes the very best thing we can do to show our love for someone is to let them go.

Do books have the same type of impact on you? If so, What was the book that impacted you the most this year?

Leave I link so I can visit you too! Happy Friday!

Follow Friday- Blogging Resolutions

It's Friday! -Almost. And it's time to visit the book blogosphere!

Friday Follow is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

This week's question:

What are your New Year's Blogging Resolutions?

1. I need to remember that I began blogging because I love to read and wanted to share that...I need to make a bit more time for reading, or find a balance between blogging and reading.
2. Write more reviews...a goal of 2 per week
3. Take notes when I read, I love quotes -maybe post it's would work? What do you use?
4. Relax -focus on content
5. Comment, comment, comment, on here and other blogs
6. Become more comfortable with graphics/design and layout.

I'm looking forward to reading yours....leave me a link.

Tomorrow: I plan to post my New Years Resolutions (family.blogging.career.life.)

Blogger Hop

It's Friday, Friday, Friday....this week took forever!



The blogger hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books every Friday. It's a great opportunity to network and visit other blogs and meet new blggers.

This weeks question:

What is your favourite book cover?

I like so many! but I'd have to say: It's this one.

  I haven't even read it. But I love the colours and I have a thing for birds...and every time it crosses the library desk I pause and look at it.

Follow Friday is Hosted by Parajunkees View!

A few days left to enter the gratitude giveaway. It's open internationally (wherever the Book Despository delivers) and to new and old followers.

Have a great weekend. Love your comments and emails.

Blogger Hop

It's the HOP! Hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books! It's similar to the Friday Follow where we visit blogs we know and blogs we don't. I look forward to it every week!
This week's question:
In celebration of Thanksgiving, let's share what we're thankful for...

This is a great idea. Thanksgiving for me was in October (Canadian that I am) and we had most of the family over to our house for dinner. I'm lucky because the husband is a fabulous cook.
We usually have the entire family over, but my mom was unable to attend this year as she's in the middle of chemo treatments and she's really not up to doing very much. I missed her terribly at our dinner.
Things I'm Thankful for:
My husband, my incredible son and our beautiful home. My mom and our wonderful relationship. I'm thankful that her cancer is treatable and that she'll be at our thanksgiving dinner next year.
I'm thankful that I have a job that I love (most of the time), and friends to laugh, cry and share with. I'm thankful for books, and movies. For coffee and dark chocolate. I'm thankful that my 9 year old son still likes to hold my hand-even in public.I also thankful that I have so many things to be thankful for :)

What about you?

Friday Follow

It's Friday! (almost) and It's been another crazy week. I think as the holiday season approaches it's just going to get crazier and crazier.

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkees View and it's a weekly feature/meme where we're able to visit other blogs and "network" with other bloggers.
Parajunkee's View always features a blog & blogger and this week it's Ginger at GReads. If you haven't visited her blog, you need to! Its Fabulous!



This weeks question: How long have you been blogging?

I started blogging in March 2010 on Wordpress. I decided to switch to Blogger in April and started actively posting in May. I truly love it, though I think my hubby thinks I spend a bit too much time on the computer.

Be sure to check out my gratitude giveaway. It's open to new and old followers and internationally (wherever Book depository delivers to).

Be sure to leave a comment so I can visit you. Have a great weekend.