Stacking the Shelves #13

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

So I kind of went crazy at the library, and borrowed All Our Yesterdays in audiobook form. Apparently there aren't any fees to take out audio books, which is surprising for me. Well, I have never tried an audiobook before, so we'll see how this goes!

And then I also get Mistborn, because it is this month's Sanderson Cosmere book! If you want to join our discussions, we now have a Goodreads group, run by the awesome Faye.

And then I also borrowed Falling Into Place, only because it was in the newly released section and I've seen so many reviews on it. I'm not really into contemporary, so we'll have to see how this one goes to.

Thank you so much to Larissa @ YA Midnight Reads for hosting this giveaway for Atlantia, which I'm super excited to read by the way. It arrived this week, even though I kind of gave her the wrong zip code since I keep forgetting I don't live at school anymore. Oh well it didn't affect anything this time.

Also, look at this adorable note Larissa wrote for me!

So cute. Shout out to Larissa for being adorable!

Thank you to Little, Brown Books for approving me for We Should Hang Out Sometime on Netgalley!

I had a pretty boring month.

Honestly I'm just waiting for my car to break down, I honestly have such pessimistic thoughts about my car, aha. If it lasts until Thanksgiving, which is when I'll be getting a new car battery, then it should be fine for the winter, hopefully.

WORRIES ASIDE, as all you guys know, I love improving my blog. So when my best friend's little sister opened up an art shop, I decided to help her out and buy something of hers. Which is why, yet again, I will be tweaking my blog header. Surprise. Haha.

Yep, so since I'm an awesome big sister (not related by blood, mentally? She's pretty much my sister. Our families are planning to live next to each other when they retire, I think that says something), I'm going to share some of her art.

Original Tumblr post here with these art samples and prices. Her deviantart here.

Yep, and she's still 12 years old! Just kidding she should be 16 years old now. 

She also drew this one below for me, when I asked her if she could draw me a couple of penguins, and pandas? I don't remember exactly what I asked for. But anyways, that little poop completely twisted everything I asked into this. 

It's a bunny, panda with a beak that is crying? While eating a carrot? 

This is giving me second thoughts about my header....WELL ANYWAYS, I had an okay week, how was yours?

Top Ten Tuesday #31

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Top Ten Characters that NEED Their Own Book!

Whatttt. Minor characters getting their own book? YES. That would be fantastic because there are so many times where I wish I knew more about a side character. It's even worse when the author spends almost no time on them AT ALL, which kind of pisses me off, especially when it's a character that's just awesome. 

Or you know, if the character that totally deserves the girl but in the end she chooses some poopy prince guy (*cough* The Iron King *cough*)

Ok, let's get this list rolling!

Noah from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - He is my all time favorite character in the series, and it's just saddening to know we won't be reading much more about him (or from what I've heard from bloggers reading The Dream Thieves, I haven't started it yet) -- I can't find the original art source for Noah, so um, if anyone knows, let me know!

Mogget from The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix - MOGGET THE TALKING KITTY. But he's not a kitty. Or is he? I want a book on Mogget and who he really is and how he came to be. Also, important question, is Mogget in Clariel? I saw Clariel in the library the other day, but resisted because I actually want to buy the book.

Puck from The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa - *cries* Puck you are so awesome and so funny and so quirky, LOVE ME INSTEAD. 

Grimalkin from The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa - Who doesn't want this sarcastic puffball to have his own book? I mean, where does he go all the time anyways? He's talking kitty #2, right after Mogget.

Vasher from Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - I just finished reading Warbreaker, so it makes sense that I have UNANSWERED QUESTIONS that neeeed to be answered, Vasher being one of them.

Rudy from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Where we get the story told from Rudy's perspective and how much he loves Liesel and and then there would be a HAPPY ENDING. gah. 

Silas from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - I don't know where this guy comes from, or how he's able to leave the graveyard, or how he knows basically everything. This needs to be explained. I really need to reread the book or buy the graphic novel, since this was my favorite Neil Gaiman read.  

Ziri from the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series by Laini Taylor - There's already a novella about Mik and Zuzanna, which I read halfway before stopping (for some reason), so next on my list was ZIRI, because he was so awesome in Dreams of Gods & Monsters. Plus he's cool. Yeah. Good reasoning there. Ha.

Morpheus from Splintered by A. G. Howard - BECAUSE NO ONE CARES ABOUT JEB. I'm just kidding, I think the same amount of readers pair up Alyssa with Morpheus as with Jeb. But anyways, that's besides the point. You know what I would like? I would like a nice back story on Morpheus and how he came to be. Or I don't know, anything about him because he's mysterious, and moth-y.

The Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo - DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER, I actually haven't finished the trilogy yet, so I'm not sure whether these questions are answered in the sequels, BUT THE DARKLING! I want to know MOAR about him. Because! I just do. I don't necessarily have a crush on him, because I don't, I just want to know how he came to be, and such. You know, that stuff.

Wow. so basically this list consisted of mysterious people that need to be explained. I mean, fair enough it makes sense. I just need my answers. Now to actually make the authors write about them....

All images were taken from either Pinterest or Deviantart, and are linked back to the original source, unless I couldn't find the original source.

What do you think? What kinds of characters do you want to know more about? Feel free to link up your TTTs!

Review: Parallel

Parallel by Lauren Miller
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
Source: Library
Date Read: 11/2/14 to 11/7/14
448 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

So that ending was a complete and utter shock, but I really should've seen it coming, HONESTLY I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED IT.

But no. oh no. 

I've had Parallel on my Goodreads TBR list for so long, that when I spotted it at the library, I immediately took it out. I've been going on a huge science-y trend for a while (and it's also Sci-Fi November, what a coincidence, not that I'm participating, sadly), so I thought this would be a great addition to my review list.

It really did not disappoint. At all. 

The story itself is incredibly original. We have Abby, living the life of a Hollywood star. After somehow being spotted by a famous director while performing in her high school play due to drama class, she's been casted for a role in a movie. Unfortunately due to that, college has been pushed back, and she realizes that this isn't really what she wanted.

CUE PARALLEL LIFE COLLISION! Abby wakes up in a dorm room at Yale, with no idea what she's doing there, and wondering why she's not in L.A. After a few calls, she finds out that her past self, or Parallel Abby, ended up not taking the drama class, but astronomy instead, leading her to never get the lead role in the play. So there you have it, Abby is now at college.

Except there's a catch. Abby has a one year memory gap, which is being filled by her parallel self. Basically, any choice that Parallel Abby makes will affect the present, causing Abby not to wake up to the same present.

I know what you're thinking. "Val, how is this possible? There's no way they could've explained all the science without disappointing anyone. There's definitely gotta be plot holes here and there." Well....hmmm. To be honest. Yes, I would've loved a science-y explanation on how all came to be, and why only Abby was able to remember both her and her Parallel self's memory. But you know what? Miller made a good choice in leaving some of the information out. It really emphasized the message of the whole book.

“That's the funny thing about life. We're rarely aware of the bullets we dodge. The just-misses. The almost-never-happeneds. We spend so much time worrying about how the future is going to play out and not nearly enough time admiring the precious perfection of the present.”

And then, there are the characters. Other than some under-developed minor characters here and there, the main important ones, Caitlin, Tyler, and Josh, were clearly developed, though the story itself mainly focused on the switching of POV between Parallel Abby and "real" Abby. 

I loved how a decision that Parallel Abby made in the past affected the situation that "real" Abby was in in such a huge way. It just emphasized the fact that a small decision, like which class you choose, affects your future, although I think getting a major movie deal is a little out there. Since I was so focused on how "real" Abby was going to handle everything, I didn't connect much with the characters. But that was fine with me, since the ending just destroyed me.

And it wasn't even that shocking of an ending! I'm the type of person that works really hard for anything and everything, so to see all of Abby's hard work unwound simply due to her stupid Parallel self really put me on edge. I hated seeing everything that Abby lost, even though in the end it all worked out. And that's the message of the book, I suppose. That everything works out, and everything is okay in the end. 

So yep, as you can tell, I loved, loved, LOVED Parallel. It tackled science fiction, and deeper issues without going over the top into confusing topics. No paradoxes, no confusing science terms, just an amazing story told in an original way.  

Review: Warbreaker

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: June 9th, 2009
Source: Sanderson's Library
Date Read: 10/16/14 to 11/4/14
592 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰1/2

Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.

Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Just a note before hand, I actually read the rough draft of Warbreaker, which can be found on Sanderson's website! The full book is in his library, but he uploaded the chapters while he was writing them, just to show his writing process. Basically, I just couldn't get a copy in time for #SandersonCosmere, and I'm also broke, HA.

Everytime I read another Sanderson book, I end up changing my mind about my favorite book by him. I don't think I've mentioned this enough, but Sanderson is king of all fantasy novels. If you haven't picked up at least one written by him, then this is a good place to start!

The strengths of all his novels lie in the world-building. And this is yet again, shown in Warbreaker.

• In the world of Warbreaker, colors make up the magic system. Every person has a breath, and they can obtain more breaths by buying them off people

• The more breaths you have, the more color you are able to see.

• You can awaken and command certain objects with your breath, or even control dead people!

• But once you get rid of your one breath, you become a drab, basically meaning you yourself no longer have any color, which is sad, because I RATHER BE COLORFUL.

And then, there are the characters. This is the first book I've read by Sanderson where the characters actually come together pretty quickly, though the format of the book is still in multiple POVs.

First there are the sisters Siri and Vivenna. Both are trying to save their country from being invaded, though Siri was dragged into it when her father decided to send her to marry the God King of Halladran, rather than Vivenna. Of course, the whole marriage deal was to keep the peace between the two nations, but NOPE. No such thing as peace here!

Then there's Vasher, who's interesting because he has a ton of Breath, and therefore pretty powerful. Not much is said about him in Warbreaker, which is why I'm also dying for some sort of sequel.

And lastly, my favorite character, Lightsong. He's apparently a god, in that he Returned from the dead to fulfill some sort of prophecy. He's humorous, sarcastic, and refuses to partake in the politics of all the gods and the priests. (If anyone has read Way of Kings or Elantris, he kind of reminds me of Kaladin and Raodan).

Overall, the world-building of Warbreaker is what really pulled me into the story. The idea of using colors as magic, and being about to perceive more vibrant colors the more breath you have, is just incredibly original. Once again, Sanderson does not fail in delivering a complex, well-developed fantasy world.

But with saying all of this, I'm a little upset on how rushed the ending was! I really wanted to know more about what happened afterwards, but NO. I GOT NOTHING. So I just had to deal with what was given, which didn't end well because I spent a couple hours in a book hangover. 

It was not a good time for me. 

But in the end, Warbreaker is another amazing fantasy read, and it's definitely going into my favorites pile!  

So How Do You REALLY Feel About Not Reading The Book First?

It's no surprise that as bloggers, we love our books. And of course, we love it when said books get adapted into movies. I loved being that nerd that flailed over the books getting their own movie adaptations, and with more and more YA and adult movies coming out, I AM EXCITED.

For example, two years, I read Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson, and I loved it. AND GUESS WHAT, there's going to be a movie for it! I really had no idea it was popular enough to be made into a movie!

I don't even care if I have to watch it alone or if it has bad reviews. Though now that I think about it, it is a lot similar to Gone Girl, which actually brings me to the main topic of this discussion. 

I watched Gone Girl without reading the book first. 

To be honest, I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but now that I've already watched the movie, I really have no motivation to read the actual book. I knew that I wasn't going to pick it up in the first place, but at least beforehand there would've at least been a chance that I would've read it. Now, eh.

This also happened with me when I went to watch Divergent. Now that I already know the plot, why should I bother reading the book when I already know what's going to happen. This was even worse in Gone Girl, since there were many plot twists that I absolutely loved. 

I know that there are a lot of readers out there that need to read the book before watching the movie. And although I see myself as that kind of person, I sometimes am too lazy to read the book first simply because I don't want to (the perfect excuse, because PROCRASTINATORS UNITE TOMORROW!)

But I want to watch The Maze Runner.

I also want to read The Maze Runner. 

And along with this, so many more YA books are being adapted to movies, like Insurgent, Paper Towns, Mockingjay, that I almost feel obligated to reading all the books before watching their movies. (I also say that Fallen is going to be adapted as well, I'm pretty sure, not that I knew this book existed until now)

On the other hand, I would love to see movie adaptations of my favorite YA novels. Like The Raven Boys and Daughter of Smoke and Bone. That would be so awesome if that happened!

Enough about me, what about you? Is there another reason to read the book before the movie? Comparison reasons maybe? Do you absolutely refuse to watch the movie until you've read the book?

Talk to me. Go go go.

Top Ten Tuesday #30

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Top Ten Books I Want To Reread!

In an ideal world of course. I am already behind on every single released book, ever since I took high school off from reading books. But now that I'm back in the game, I need to get on it. Which is why, sadly, rereading books is not the priority.

But I do have my lists. And I do have some books I would love to reread.

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce - I pretty much read all of Tamora Pierce's books, and Alanna was the one that started it all. BUT I DON'T REMEMBER MUCH FROM IT. Which is why it must be reread, one day.

The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot - Yep. Just the entire series. This was the first series that got me into paranormal and fantasy YA, so it's my all time favorite. Sadly, I only own the first book, so I would have to check them all out from the library and binge read them.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - I loved the first book in the series. The second book was okay. But then I stopped halfway through the third, Inkdeath. Which is saddening because I own all three, and I would love to read through them all! Starting with a reread of my favoritest favorite book of all time.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - And then I would cry and sob. I honestly think I'm a masochist, because I read the ending every once in a while so that I can cry and FEEL THE PAIN. Because oh man the feels.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - I actually stopped reading the series and the book because I could not handle the stress that was coming from it. I was so scared to find out what was going to happen to the main character, but now, now I think I'm ready to face it. BRING ON THE CONFLICT.

The Machine of Death by Ryan North and others - Best. Anthology. Ever. That is all

Still Alice by Lisa Genova - An amazingly sad story about Alzheimer's. Bring on the tears.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor - Now that the trilogy is finished, I feel like I have a hole in my heart that must be filled with a reread. 

Quiet by Susan Cain - This is one of my favorite non-fiction books in the world, only because I understand the topic, since it's a pretty easy read. I LOVE IT.

Harry Potter by J K Rowling - GUYS I HAVEN'T READ THIS SINCE LIKE SECOND GRADE. I BARELY REMEMBER THE BOOKS AT ALL. In fact, I don't think I even understood the whole Horcruxes plot when I first read it, I mean I do now, but that's because I watched the movies.

I'm not gonna lie, but these are some really good books. I highly recommend you check them out!

Review: The Unhappening of Genesis Lee Blog Tour + Giveaway

The Unhappening of Genesis Lee by Shallee McArthur
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: November 18th, 2014
Source: FFBC Blog Tour
Date Read: 11/1/14 to 11/1/14
290 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰

Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.

Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.

The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things— or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.

Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Shallee McArthur originally wanted to be a scientist, until she discovered she liked her science best in fictional form. When she’s not writing young adult science fiction and fantasy, she’s attempting to raise her son and daughter as proper geeks. A little part of her heart is devoted to Africa after volunteering twice in Ghana. She has a degree in English from Brigham Young University and lives in Utah with her husband and two children.

She is represented by Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. Her YA sci fi novel, THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE, debuts from Sky Pony Press Nov. 4, 2014.

And because people always ask, her name is pronounced "shuh-LEE." But she answers to anything that sounds remotely close.

Author Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Tumblr | Youtube | Instagram

Thank you to FFBC for providing me with an ARC for the blog tour!

There's a lot to be said about The Unhappening of Genesis Lee. It's one of those books that sticks with you for awhile simply because our main character has the ability to remember everything with the help of her "links". But then on the other hand, because of that, plus the added romance and huge plot going on for the book, everything seems a bit disorganized and half-developed.

So before everything gets confusing, let me lay out the basics of the setting:

• The population is divided into two groups, the Mementi (people, like Genesis, that remember everything through their "links" because they're brain damaged), and the Populace, who are normal people that have normal memory.
• Due to the transfer of bad genes, some people can't hold memories in their head. That's why there are these little stones, called "links", that store the memories for them. This way, when they need to access a memory, they access it through the link itself
• If someone steals their link, they lose ALL of the memories inside that link. This becomes a huge problem in the book
• Also, apparently the Mementi can't touch each other because then they'll accidentally share memories with one another.
• And of course, the Mementi and the Populace hate each other.

So what exactly is The Unhappening of Genesis Lee about you ask? Well it's about science. And deception. And the ethics of research on BRAINS. Definitely up my alley since I'm majoring in the field. Unfortunately, it didn't really meet all my expectations, but I did like the concept of it.

Our main character, Genesis or Gena for short, lives a pretty perfect life with her family, until her friend loses one of her links while they were out clubbing. This means the last two years of her life are gone until she's able to recover her missing link. But this isn't uncommon. Apparently there is a link thief out there, and Genesis makes it her job to find out who stole her best friend's memories. She even goes as far as to team up with a Populace boy. gasp.

As much as I loved Genesis and her beautiful brain of permanent memories, I didn't really connect with her much. Same with the love interest, Kalan. It felt like the romance itself wasn't needed in the plot, but was just put in so that it could fit the mold of a YA. However, putting that aside, the mystery of who was behind the huge "master plan" kept me reading. There weren't any twists, but I couldn't correctly guess who the culprit was until it was finally revealed to me.

Unfortunately, there was a huge problem with The Unhappening of Genesis Lee that really, really bugged me. And this is probably only because I know a lot about brains and neurons. Since the story takes place in our future, I wasn't a fan of how the Mementi came to be (if you read on in the book, you learn that it's (highlight for spoiler) due to scientists from our present time trying to eradicate PTSD, making it so that patients could dim down their traumatizing memories. Unfortunately the gene therapy backfired, and it caused the patients to lose their memories instead, while holding on to the emotional aspects of it). The situation, and the ending itself, felt so unrealistic, because I just don't see how the scientists were able to research the Mementi brain, and come to conclusions so fast. The brain is so interconnected, that to me, it just seems extremely unrealistic. I know this is categorized as science fiction, but with the explanations so incomplete, I was left unsatisfied.

I NEED MY BRAIN EXPLANATION.

Drugs. Yes. That's it.

So yeah. Overall, I did enjoy The Unhappening of Genesis Lee (such a long title haha), but I wish there was just more to it, but then less at the same time? Does this make sense? I just felt that too much was crammed into this standalone that most of it wasn't developed completely.

Anyways, there is a tour-wide giveaway, that I definitely encourage you to enter! Lots of goodies and prizes to be won :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway