Celebration giveaway! INT

Hey guys! This post is WAY overdue! I originally wanted to do a giveaway in mid-June because that was my blog's one year blogoversary. But due to a case of credit-card fraud mixed with being hacked and having to format my harddisc while also needing to meet a deadline for a paper... yeah, it didn't happen.

But this week a mix of things came together and it's about time! 1) I reached 45,000 pageviews! That might not seem like a lot to some of you but for me it's a pretty big deal. 2) I finally got a banner and I looove it! :D and 3) I also made a blog button based on the same design. You can grab the code in the right sidebar. In addition to that, I also got a new set of social media buttons. The Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr are more about other stuff I'm into than strictly about books, but a lot of it is bookish anyway because that's just who I am ;)

I also want to change things around a bit generally and find new types of posts I could do to generally make things a bit more interesting and fun. What would you like to see? I'm open for suggestions. Should I embarrass myself by doing a vlog? Should I try to do more author interviews? Do you have topics you'd like to have a discussion about? Let me know in the comments!

All of this together is reason enough for a giveaway! As always, it's open internationally and the winner's prize will be ordered from The Book Depository.

Below is a selection of books I've read in the past year and really really loved. I definitely recommend them! However, you can also pick another book up to 10$.






Rules

• One winner can choose one of the books listed above or another up to 10$ (as seen from my location)
• Open internationally provided The Book Depository ships to you
• Only one entry per person/household
• If you cheat, I will disqualify and delete all your entries. Make sure to read what to put in the rafflecopter box carefully! Writing 'done' or copying the message of the tweet does NOT count! If I say I want the link, then please copy-paste the link.
• I check all entries BEFORE I choose a winner
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email, after that time frame I will pick a new winner (seriously, use a rafflecopter email that you actually check!)
• You must be at least 13 years old
• I am not responsible for books lost in the mail. Once I've put in the order, I am no longer accountable for what happens to the book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday: top books I've read so far in 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week the participants post their top ten to a specific topic.

This week's topic is the top ten books we've read so far in 2013.
Omg you gotta be kidding. I've read so many fantastic books, it'll be hard to choose only 10 >.<
No particular order.



Divergent, by Veronica Roth
The hype made me suspicious but WOW! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, and I love Tris :)


In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters
Wonderful and complex, haunting, caught between science and magic in a period of war, sickness, and despair. And still there's a love story, told in the form of memories and by the ghost of a tortured young man.


Marking Time, by April White
I was so surprised and blown away by how much I loved this story! Time travel, paranormal creatures, abilities, grandiose setting, and most of all compelling characters! I've never read anything like it and I definitely need more ;)


Splintered, by A.G. Howard
And Alice retelling in a deliciously creepy wonderland. With Morpheus the moth boy and secret agendas and the threat of madness. More, please. I read the Unhinged sample chapters from Netgalley yesterday and now the wait is even more agonizing...


The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff
I cried my eyes out. In the best way. This book made me ache and I marked so many passages because of how beautifully they were written. I've wanted to read a changeling book like that for ages. And it's perfect just as it is. No sequel needed.


Just One Day, by Gayle Forman
It was so good that I bought her other books immediately afterwards and read all 3 in only one week. Gripping and realistic. It made me want to get up and be strong and face my life and try to really live it.


The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin
What took me so long to catch on to the awesomeness of this series?!?! I read this book in a day. Noah Shaw is now among my top book boyfriends. I loved the dialogue, I loved Mara's family, I hurt for what she had to endure. Also, unreliable narrators are awesome. And the abilities here are really something different from the usual.


The Sea of Tranquility, by Katja Millay
Everyone says it's awesome and everyone is right. These characters are so unique and so realistic at the same time. I love how the events that lead to the characters being how and who they are are slowly revealed, and how there was more to even the minor ones that I'd supposed at the beginning. Really, really interesting dynamics.


Debt Collector serial, by Susan Kaye Quinn
Sci-fi is not my go-to genre, but seriously - this future noir/retro sci-fi series is amazing!! I had volume 1-3 from Netgalley but I had to go to Amazon and order and read 4-6 right away! The world building, characters, and intricacies are fantastic and gritty. I just couldn't stop reading. And despite the violence, it was fun too!


Dance of the Red Death, by Bethany Griffins
Characters, plot, beautiful writing, imagery... and the creepiness of Poe, the desperation of a dying world, the resolve of a girl caught in a deadly power game.


Runners-up:
With All my Soul, by Rachel Vincent (the conclusion! Wrath! Kaylee! Tod!)
Whither, by Lauren DeStefano (wonderful imagery, intriguing premise. Not so happy about the sequel.)
Blood Rights, by Kristen Painter (it's hard to make vampires fresh and unique again but she did it)
Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo (the world, the powers, the Darkling, the setting, the twists)

Gahh this nearly undid me with how many great books I couldn't feature, even though I sort of cheated with the runner-ups... Did you have a hard time choosing, too? What do you think of my picks, and what are yours?

Stacking the Shelves: Hopeless, She Went into the Shadows of Blackbirds

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase all the books we got in the past week. Those can be bought, won, gifted, for review, borrowed, print or ebooks... no matter, just share what you got :)

This was a mostly ebooks week for me, apart from Where She Went, which I bought and read on Thursday...

Bought:

Where She Went, by Gayle Forman

Won:

ARC of In The Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters
Won from Anna from Peace, Love, Teen Fiction - THANK YOU!! :D

Ebooks:

Hopeless, by Colleen Hoover
Love & Skate, by Lila Felix
Eternal Starling, by Angela Corbett
Fairy Metal Thunder, by J.L. Bryan

I'm especially happy about In The Shadow of Blackbirds!! It's so rare that I can hold a physical ARC in my hands, and I really can't wait to read this book! But Hopeless and Love and Skate sound so awesome too ^^

What do you guys think, and what did you get this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: In the Shadows of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking The Spine to showcase upcoming book releases that we're excited about.


This week's pick:

Release date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: Hardcover, 400 pages

Goodreads description:
In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.


I love history, and I found out that the late 19th and early 20th century are my top periods. The atmosphere of the book sounds bleak and intriguing, and  the cover is beautiful! I'm fascinated by early photgraphy and séances, so I think this will be right up my alley!

Have you heard of my pick? And what have you chosen for your WoW this week?