Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway!

Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway!

 Happy Happy New Year Everybody!

Happy New Year 2013 Giveaway

We are excited to be participating in the New Years giveaway hop hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer & Bab’s Book Bistro.

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What We’re Giving Away

♦ A $10 GC to either Amazon or B&N. ♦

OR

♦Book of Your Choice from the Book Depository for $10 ♦

Ways to Win

 ♦ Easy Entry on the Rafflecopter! ♦

♦ Tweet about the giveaway through the Rafflecopter ♦

♦ Comment with one New Years Resolution ♦

♦ Follow Pabkin’s on Twitter ♦

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you visit other stops on the hop (follow links above!) and have a wonderful New Year!

Best of 2012 & Fast Forward 2013

Best of 2012 & Fast Forward 2013

Well, I originally intended to create a cool video like I did last year, except even cooler, but since my new laptop has decided it doesn’t like me, and this laptop no longer has Power Point on it, that’s now a pipe dream! So in lieu of a video I opted for this post!

Best of 2012

Best of 2012

*in no particular order, it was just way to hard trying to put them in any sort of order! :D

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan Amazon | Goodreads

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Amazon | Goodreads

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Buddy Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Other Half of Me by Morgan McCarthy Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Heft by Liz Moore Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Prophet (The Graveyard Queen #3) by Amanda Stevens Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Review | Amazon | Goodreads

White Horse by Alex Adams Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Meyers Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Croak (Croak #1) by Gina Damico Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Partials (Partials #1) by Dan Wells Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Shadowfever (Fever #5)  by Karen M. Moning Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Iced (Dani O’Malley #1) by Karen M. Moning Amazon | Goodreads

 2013 Goals & Stuff

 The year isn’t quite over yet but I know I’m going to fail my Goodreads challenge to read 80 books [seriously, what WAS I thinking? I read like around 50 in a great year..] I’m now trying to focus on reading 62 books so I can at least beat last years record of 61. Looks doubtful at this point!

Next year I think I might set a goal of 65-70 books, that seems more manageable and realistic and still challenging.

I also want to become more active on Goodreads. I know I am complete crap at Goodreads, I barely remember to paste my reviews over there, it’s shameful really. Bex is determined to get me involved in some of the groups she’s in though and the challenges they have [which look quite fun!] She’s got her whip which provides a lot of motivation. :D

I should also mention that little ol’ me plans to venture into some new territory – Bex and I plan to read 50 Shades of Grey together, so I’m sure that’ll be a hilarious buddy review!

 Goals for the blog:

√ to become more consistent with posting [big one]

√  to venture out more with new ideas, and be BRAVE!

√ this goes along with the previous, but to try different formats and mediums for various posts

√ more cool events and collab posts/projects with other bloggers

Overall, next year is already shaping up to have a very different start from 2012. This year the year started with me having loads and loads of review books to read [mainly because I got way to giddy on NetGalley and never thought in a million years I'd be approved for them all, so I didn't pay attention to time lines like I normally would - whatever you do, don't make the same mistake I did!] which I’ve literally been trying to make up for ALL this year. It’s gotten me quite depressed actually and I’m just now starting to pull myself out and make myself read some books I’ve been setting aside for far to long.

So, I’ve made it a practice to make sure I have no review copies that are due to be read at the beginning of the year, in fact, I think at this point I have zero review copies for next year. That makes me really, really, really happy. *bursts into song* I feel pretty, oh so pretty, and witty and briiiiiiiiiiight..

I can’t end this post on 2012 without mentioning how incredible of a year it’s been for My Shelf Confessions – and especially moi. I started this book blog in February of 2011 with Jenn @ The Bawdy Book Blog as my only fellow blogger. Last year I met Bex (like seriously, it’s been over a YEAR!) and we became pretty much instant BFF’s. I also met Pabkins and when I realized she wasn’t blogging I was like *POUNCE* join meeee, join meeeeee *giggle* So this year MSC has grown by two bloggers, awesome bloggers! *Wipes tears from eyes* I’m not aloneeeee, I’m not aloneeee. I have to thank them for helping me through the year, it’s been a challenging one for each of us in our own ways, and this blog has benefited so much for having both of you! <3

What about you?

What would you like to see on My Shelf Confessions next year – have any ideas for us, feel free to send us an email or write us in the comments! Also, what are your goals for next year, whether reading or blog related or not, let us know! :D

Sticky news: Wicked Valentine’s Read-a-Thon!

Sticky news: Wicked Valentine’s Read-a-Thon!

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon

When: Feb. 7-14th [but as always you sign up and read the days you want, freedom baby yeah!]

Where: Blogosphere, Twitter, Goodreads, in yo house!

CLICK HERE for full details and sign up!

 

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Pabkin’s One Liner: A cyborg Cinderella who throws a monkey wrench into the reselling of an age old classic!

Cinder

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

“I’m not sure I would label it a ‘survivor’” said Iko, her sensor darkening with disgust. “It looks more like a rotting pumpkin.” – pg 47

Cinder is one of my favorite books YA books that I have read.

Fairytales – everyone knows them – the beautiful damsel in distress, the heroic young champion who saves her. But Cinder, is so not your classic fairytale. I love how Meyer reinvents the story Cinderella with such wonderful twists! She takes all the main points that everyone knows and tweaks them into a fabulous new story – which for our day and age is a million times better. It is still a fairytale in my mind – but so much more. It’s drama, it’s sci-fi, it’s paranormal!!

Cinder isn’t just a young girl enslaved by a hateful stepmother and her two daughters. She is also a cyborg. A member of a minority of people who have had parts of their body replaced with cyber engineered parts. She suffered an accident when she was very young and was saved by these advanced in medical technology. Unfortunately, this minority is treated rather harshly by the rest of the populace. This is a futuristic Earth, based on the year in the book, at least over a hundred years into the future. The world has warred, changed, Nations have been combined and some cease to exist. Technology has advanced such that we have hover cars, AI robots and a lot more. So with that we are given a sci-fi aspect to the story.

Cinder lives in the Eastern Commonwealth which appears to be the bulk of all the former Asian countries combined. There are still politicians and nobility, doubt the world will ever get away from that – Plus we needed our prince now didn’t we? So perhaps there will be a bit of romantic feelings developed? I’m not telling – but the interactions and acquaintance formed between Cinder and Prince Kai (Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth) – are interesting. Both Cinder and Prince Kai’s characters were fleshed out so well that I didn’t feel like there were any wasted pages what so ever. Often, I find that supporting lead characters are never done quite so well as the main protagonist. Not so here.

The descriptions in this book are perfectly executed in my mind. Particularly, I enjoyed the description of the market. I could feel the masses of people going about their business, hawking their wares, rushing here and there. I still got that sense of a busy street market like we have today in Asian countries, but also filled with a lot of technology. Meyer really made it a point to add nuances of several different Asian cultures into the Eastern Commonwealth and I thought she blended them so nicely.

Now to add some more drama to he mix – there happens to be a very nasty plague that has been afflicting the inhabitants of Earth for some number of years. Her adopted father was stricken with this illness right after she was taken in some 10 or so years ago. Others close to her, (who shall remain nameless – no spoilers allowed) are also afflicted. The incubation of the illness and subsequent death of the patient is very short – usually a matter of days. Currently, there is no vaccine or cure. This to me is the gritty realism needed in a great tale.

Lastly, where does she get that title for the series? – The Lunar Chronicles? Why because there are people that live on the moon! Descendants of Earth that colonized the Moon long ago and who have evolved to have unique paranormal abilities. I won’t go into it too much here – but they are a very key element to this tale.

And don’t worry folks, we still have the pumpkin, glass slipper and godmother – you’ll really enjoy their interpretations. So preorder it – it is so worth it! I’ve been foaming at the mouth to get my hands on the next book when I wasn’t even halfway through this one.

Cinder

Find: Amazon | BD | Goodreads

Follow: LiveJournal | Twitter 

Merry Christmas Friends!

Merry Christmas!

We hope all of you are having a fabulous holiday season – and hopefully getting some nice time off from school or work! Spending lots of time with family and friends, and making memories to last all year through. I know Bex celebrated her Christmas on our (in the USA’s) 24th, those Swedish :D I got some uber lovely Christmas candy and surprises in the mail from her as well, and I MIGHT make a video of that.. we’ll see.

Thank you for sticking it out with our little blog this year, we love all of you and can’t wait to see you in the new year – may it be amazingtastic for each and every one of us! Hugs to all of you, stay warm – or hawt whichever suits you :D

Here is one of my personal favorite songs, from a Wizard Rock band that Bex introduced me to, and now I’m completely in love with. Hope you love it too!

And this is another of my favorites from Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, it’s not QUITE as Christmasy as the other song, but it gets me in the spirit of the season as well!

Much Love From, April, Bex & Pabkins!