Showing posts with label Days of Blood and Starlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Days of Blood and Starlight. Show all posts

Friday, December 21, 2012

My Six Month Blogoversary & Giveaway


Wow. I can't believe my half-year milestone of blogging crept up (and past) me like this! I seem to be forever unprepared for these things. I made my first post here on May 24th, though theoretically it might be better to count the days from when I posted my first review, which would set the six months mark at December 16. I wanted to post this a little in advance, but then end-of-semester-madness and near-disaster happened.

No matter which way you put it, time simply flew for me this past year! Half a year ago I never could have imaged the place I feel I'm at with this blog right now. I never thought I'd be reading ARCs (okay, they're digital so far but so what?!) or that my blog would have around 500 followers! That number seemed astronomical. And though I know not every one of you reads each of my posts, I want to thank you all for sticking around! I'm happy about every pageview and every single comment makes me smile before I even look at it! I feel like I've come to 'know' some of the more regular commenters and their blogs a bit. I know this sounds silly - it's just a few lines after all. But I feel that way anyway.

Not being social and part of the community enough is one thing I regret quite a bit at this point. I'm shy about approaching people, and I don't really know where or how. Are there forums or websites where bloggers 'talk shop', so to speak? Or is it all on Twitter? Another problem is that I'm so busy I often don't have the time to catch up on my twitter feed at all. This was especially bad for the last month or so. I overbooked my university schedule this semester, and along with my two jobs and occasionally meeting friends and reading and writing (not as much as I'd like) it's just all getting a bit much. That's also the reason why there have been more promo/meme posts lately and less reviews - something I want to balance out better in the future! I can't wait for the holidays and I hope I'll do better next semester!

There are still things I want to improve. Like a header, or a blog button. If you have any suggestions about what type of post you'd like to see, feel free to tell me in the comments! I've also been thinking about adding a weekly poetry-meme for a while now. What do you think of that?

Enough of my prattling and rambling. This is a celebration post after all, so let there be presents and a giveaway! Unfortunately, since it's so close to the holidays, I have to watch my money a bit so I can't give away two packages of three books each like last time, but I have selection of both old and new releases for you to choose from. Also, to help get the word out there about some indie authors I really enjoy, there's also a rafflecopter for a kindle eBook of your choice from the selection. So there are TWO rafflecopter forms for you to fill out and TWO chances to win. Both giveaways are INTERNATIONAL but please check the rules for details!


Rules:
  • One entry per person / household. I check IP addresses.
  • You must be at least 13 years old.
  • Giveaway is international provided that The Book Depository ships to you. For the eBook giveaway you have to be able to accept kindle gifts.
  • I will email the winner and they'll have 48 hours to respond. After that time has passed, I'll pick someone new.
  • You may enter one or both rafflecopter forms.
  • I will check all entries before picking a winner. Cheaters will be disqualified.
  • Once the book has been shipped, I am no longer responsible for it.
  • I will choose whichever edition is cheapest on The Book Depository.
  • If a book is from a series and you already have it, you may choose a different installment of the same series.
  • I reserve the right to change entry options or end the giveaway early.
If you have any questions, either email me or send me a tweet @Butterfly_Ghost. Good luck to everyone, and happy holidays! :)

Paperback choices:






a Rafflecopter giveaway

Indie eBook choices:


 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Stacking the Shelves: I won sweet and signed stuff

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme created by Tynga's Reviews to show off all the books and other book-related awesomeness we bought, borrowed, won, found or however acquired during the past week.

Since I decided that I was fed up with my book buying ban last week, I ordered quite a ton of stuff (bargains!) but not all of it has arrived yet. I'm also really sorry for the lack of reviews lately :( I'm really busy with university stuff, and now I have NaNoWriMo on top of everything... I'm always behind and feel like I'm running after my life and never able to quite catch up and basically half-assing everything by trying :/ I have to hand in an essay draft by Sunday and as of this morning, I didn't even know what to write on. I do now, but I still don't have a clear thesis, much less secondary literature or anything like an outline. And I'm working tomorrow and then leaving to visit family... yeah. I don't see this one working out either.

I got two physical books:


Days of Blood and Starlight, by Laini Taylor
Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2), by C.C. Hunter

I was soooo happy when DoBaS arrived in the mail!!! It's so gorgeous, and... really big. Which means that the cover is even more stunning. Can't wait to get around to reading this one - the writing of DoSaB was so gorgeous!
I really enjoyed Born at Midnight, the first book in the Shadow Falls series, when I read it over the summer. I hope the sequel is just as addictive.

I also won two books in giveaways:

 

The Blemished, by Sarah Dalton
Affinity - Bird in a Guilded Cage, by Mary E. Merrell

Click the covers to get to the Goodreads pages.
I love both covers, especially the one for The Blemished. Purple is my favorite color ^^ (I'm sure you never would've guessed from my blog design...)

Furthermore, I just got this eBook from amazon for free:

The Light Tamer, by Devyn Dawson

I linked to amazon because the description there is better than the one on goodreads.


The list goes on... I got approved for two books on NetGalley:


Again, click to get to goodreads.

I requested The Stone Demon yesterday afternoon as soon as I read a tweet of Karen Mahoney's that it was on NetGalley! I love her Iron Witch Trilogy! To my total surprise, I was approved just hours later o.O
City of Dark Magic is a book I requested weeks ago and didn't really expect to hear back about anymore. I mean, it's Penguin. And my blog isn't exactly 'big'. When I got the email I expected a rejection, and was left blinking at the screen for a while when I got accepted instead o.O I started reading it late last night because it's out on the 27th and I really like the opening so far! The tone is very special.

And finally....


Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!! I can't wait to read Black City!! I have it on preorder and can't wait for its pretty, hardcover self to make an appearance at my door! So I was super-excited to get an email from Elizabeth Richards that I'd won a bunch of SIGNED bookmarks for both Black City and its sequel, Phoenix!!
They are so so pretty! All shiny and smooth and gleamy and signed. The picture does not do them justice ^^

Also, because I don't need all of them for myself, you guys can expect a giveaway, problem along with my review ;)
 
Alright, I'm at the end of my haul. Have you read any of the books I got, or are they on your TBR? And what did you get this week?