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: hauling in two week's worth of awesome

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 :)


My haul this time is fairly big because I didn't do one last week. I was generally MIA apart from a promo post I had already agreed to. Why? I had to finally kick my own ass and finish the Paper Of Doom. But here are my new lovelies from the past two weeks...

NetGalley:

Insomnia, by J.R. Johansson
Strange Fates, by Marlene Perez

I've highlighted Insomnia as my WoW this week because the premise is just so awesome. Strange Fates is something I stumbled upon on NetGalley. It involves the Fates of Greek legend but it's set in the present day, with a male protag, and kinda UF sounding. Loved the idea, and it was Read Now, so no need to request if you'd like to head over and snag it yourself ;) In fact I like the description so much that I'll probably squeeze it in really soon. I really feel like reading something like that at the moment.

Won:

How to Date an Alien, by Magan Vernon
How to Break up with an Alien, by Magan Vernon
How to Marry an Alien, by Magan Vernon

I won this in a giveaway on the blog tour a while back. Not my usual read, but I like to go out of my comfort zone every once in a while and the books sounded really fun in the reviews :) I used to say 'nope' to aliens but see how that turned out in the case of Obsidian... :P

Bought online:

Opal, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Indigo Spell, by Richelle Mead

I'm reading Opal right now and still loving the series :)
I read The Indigo Spell last weekend and it was AMAZING!! If you haven't ordered it yet or not started the series, go do it! I hope I'll get around to posting my review soon.


And I went and ordered a crap-ton on TBD that I'm now waiting for >.< Remember that book buying ban I wanted to do a couple weeks ago? Yeah...bargains are the death of me. I mean come on, a print book for 3 to 4 euros?! At the store I'd pay like 15 or 16.

Ebooks:

Kingdom Series Collection, by Marie Hall
Wings of Arian, by Devri Walls
The Torn Wing, by Kiki Hamilton

Wings of Arian and The Torn Wing were free on amazon when I got them.
The Kingdom Series was a totally spontaneous buy last week. I'd never heard of it before, but I fell for the cover and checked out the description. It's three stories centering on Alice and the Mad Hatter, Beauty and the Beast, and Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. The twists for the retellings sounded really cool so I bought it :)

Book store trip:

Just One Day, by Gayle Forman
Rapture, by Lauren Kate

I don't usually do book store buys anymore because I can save so much money by ordering online, but every once in a while I just can't resist... and there was a special 20% discount for students. It also ensures that I definitely get the right edition, so when Rapture was finally out in the one that matches my other books, I had to have it. Even though I have a strange relationship to the series. I'll probably make a 'book thoughts' post about the whole series once I've read Rapture.
And Just One Day, well... all those reviews! I needed it. I couldn't believe they actually stocked it. It'll be my first Gayle Forman book because I still haven't gotten around to that If I Stay copy I bought secondhand a while ago.

Oh, and guess what?!?! I GOT A KINDLE FIRE :D No more reading ebooks on my phone!
But there are a couple issues I don't really get and which annoy me. If anyone has one and would be okay with me sending them a couple questions via email or whatever that'd be awesome! It mainly concerns how to get ebooks not from amazon (but in mobi format) and ARCs to show up with the books instead of as coverless documents.

Oh, and one more cute thing I wanted to share. It was my birthday recently and a good friend I don't see all that often gave me this when we met a couple days ago:

It's Oliver the owl from Skelanimals!!! He's so cute ^_^ I had to set him there a bit awkwardly because he kept falling of the shelf, but doesn't he make a cute book owl together with Billy the Bat? Erm yeah... as you can guess, there's still a 17-year-old emo girl living somewhere in my heart :P Can't resist creepy things that are also a bit cute.



Okay, I think that's all... hopefully I didn't forget any books. What do you think of my haul (or my sanity, haha)? Any of those new to you? Got ideas about my Kindle issue? And please share the links to what you got in the past week :)