Saturday, November 17, 2012

Stacking the Shelves & blogging update

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase books we got during the past week, no matter how or what format they came in.


I bought:


Onyx, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3), by Julie Kagawa

The little key necklace you can see in the upper part of the picture is a very pretty piece of jewelry I won in a giveaway by A.G. Howard, the author of Splintered. Can't wait to finally read her book in January!


Furthermore, I got a free downlaod access to Ali Cross' first two books in the Desolation series because I voted for the title of the third book and was among the majority who chose 'Destined'.

Here are the first two books, click the covers to get to goodreads:




I also got my first review request! Check it out below:

 
She’s a halfbreed in hiding.

Rainbird never belonged. To one race, she’s chattel. To the other, she’s an abomination that should never have existed.

She lives on the sunway.

High above the ground, Rainbird is safe, as long as she does her job, keeps her head down, and never ever draws attention to herself.

But one act of sabotage is about to change everything.
For Rainbird. And for her world.






I love the cover! Her dancer's pose, high up in the night sky. Also, someone approached me to review a book! Not the other way around! I know many bloggers get dozens of review requests every week or so but this is a first for me, and the email exchange was a very positive one. I recently heard about all the terrible ways some bloggers get requested to review books (e.g. on twitter, facebook, generalized emails without sufficient info etc) and I'm glad it wasn't this way! I'm excited to read the book once I'm done with one or two NetGalley titles. It sounds very promising and like it could be a 'me' book.


Blogging update:
This is a confession of shame. Yes, I haven't been very active. I think this marks the second week of almost meme-only posts and no reviews, and I don't like it at all. I want to have actual content on the blog. But I've just been feeling very very drained - I do just enough to keep up with universtiy coursework. I've had a lot going on, and I just had a kind of review writing block. I also haven't written on my NaNo novel since Sunday. It all just feels wrong and I'm very discontent with how things are going. I've been pretty much off twitter, too. I've had little energy and motivation to write anything, but I think I'm past the worst part. I hope I can finally write my review for The Shadow Society tomorrow. It's not that I was in a reading slump (I don't think that has ever happened to me) but I just couldn't get my thoughts straight and into review mode. I really hope I can turn this around in the coming week!
If any of you have tips on this problem that they can share, ways to get motivated again... bring them on! I'd really appreciate it!

Otherwise, let me know what you think of my haul & link up your own in the comments :)

17 comments:

  1. Congrats on your first review request!!! And for the free downloads too, thanks always fun :) I really need to get started on both The Iron Fay series & The Lux series...there's just not enough time in the day haha! Nice haul Carmen & thanks for sharing - I hope things slow down for you and you get to read for fun some more soon.

    My StS this week

    Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows

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  2. Looks like you got some great books! I love the Ali Cross book covers. Good luck on getting your motivation back. Don't worry, all bloggers go through that, I know I have!

    Here's my Stacking the Shelves.

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  3. Rainbird looks so good! First review books are always so exciting!! I hope you enjoy all you got :)

    Here's my STS!

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  4. Rainbird looks interesting. Great haul of books. Don't worry about things. Schoolwork comes first. Concentrate on that and come back when you are ready. Sometimes RL makes blogging difficult.

    Grace

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  5. Ohh Onyx was awesome! I hope you really enjoy it. I can't wait for Opal next.
    -Jenese
    www.readersconfession.com

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  6. Congrats on your first requested book :D As far as blogging slumps go, my advice is to be okay with it for a little bit I guess. I'm a graduate student, so I definitely understand the stress and pressure for time. We'll all still be here if you need to take a little break here and there, so it's really okay. I find that it helps to purposefully take breaks instead of trying to half-heartedly keep juggling everything. Then you can come back rejuvenated :D Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  7. Awe Wow! Looks like you got some interesting reads there. Onyx - what can I say, it's an amazing follow on from Obsidian. Can't wait for Opal :D

    My STS @ Marilyn's Mystery Blog

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  8. This Iron Fey series is pretty good, huh? I feel forced to read them, which will probably be a project for me next year.
    Those Desolation covers look... wow. Made me curious, going to check those out and might be putting them on my tbr (I can already see it...). Rainbird has me thinking of the movie Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff :P, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless. ^^
    My Haul

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  9. I get review writers block too and sometimes I just get fed up with blogging and need to take a little break. It's a lot of work.

    Anyway, great haul this week. I haven't read the Lux series yet but I want to. And I loved The Iron Fey series so I hope you enjoy it too. Congrats on your review book, hope you enjoy that too :)

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  10. Nice haul. I have to get Onyx as well, I've read a lot of good reviews of Lux series.

    Thanks for stopping by ;)

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  11. Yay for your first review request! I hope you love it. That necklace is super cute and Onyx is good! It's all good, everything! LOL I hope you enjoy all the new goodies!

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  12. I love the cover for Rainbird. Hope you like it!

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  13. I recently bought Onyx but I still have not read Obsidian!
    Great haul :)

    My Stacking the Shelves

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  14. Onyx and Iron Queen for the win! OMG! Been wanting to get those!

    Happy reading!

    My STS #5 <3

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  15. I get stuck in that rut all the time...mostly after a weekend with my family. They tend to remind me that my world doesn't revolve around books, even though sometimes it feels that way. I think what you're doing is what I usually do...just take a break. :)

    Anyway, nice haul. I think The Iron Queen was my favorite in that series. And yay for your first review request! Pretty soon you'll be turning them away because you have too much on your plate. :P

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  16. I love the cover of Rainbird! I've never heard of it before, but it's pretty! Enjoy your new books!

    Thanks for stopping by and sorry for my late reply!

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