My Books in Colour (1): 3 months worth of it!!

The name and logo are still in the works, so it may change next fortnight. This will be a fortnightly post book haul feature, and is inspired by Kristi (The Story Siren) and Alea (Pop Culture Junkie). I love looking at book covers, and especially their colours, and that is where my idea came from. First, I'll show you my new books (by spine) in black & white, and then the full rainbow. Next, I'll break it down to what I've always done: Review books, books I bought, gifted, etc. 

I thought I'd take the time to explain why I'm moving away from In My Mailbox. While it was great for letting new readers visit my blog via the meme, I feel like I need to have something that sets my blog apart, even a little bit. Like I said, I love colours (I actually remember writing a mini-essay about it in an email to a teacher in high school!). This change doesn't have a direct link to the "recent" drama [1, 2, apology-clarification], though I do have my personal opinions on the matter.

This post is a bit pic-heavy.
If I stick to fortnightly though, this shouldn't be a problem in the future! :)

 
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30th of April 2012 ~ Notes

My last IMM was 3 months ago! Now, if I were a blogger situated in the States, probability dictates I would have a boatload of books to show you guys by now. Since that's not the case, I guess you'll have to settle for looking at my 30-40 books.

This is MINUS all the e-books and e-stuff I've been downloading lately. Hooray for Kindle and Amazon free e-books, and e-novellas! And of course, Netgalley.

Black and White

Click to enlarge! Low-res image.

It's a Rainbow!

Click to enlarge!

I pledge that next fortnight's rainbow will be more hue-accurate. It's almost embarrassing how inconsistent my ordering was! It's still pretty... :P

Note: All release dates are in the format (dd/mm/yyyy), click on images to zoom in, all book links go to Goodreads.

* = Up for swap

For Review:

Thanks to...

Allen & Unwin

• Holier Than Thou by Laura Buzo (30/04/2012)
• Love-shy by Lili Wilkinson (01/04/2012)
• Storm (#1) by Brigid Kemmerer (30/04/2012)

All of these just arrived. I've heard great things about each of these!

Just finished reading Storm. I was blown away! A review will be up... eventually!
I also recently read Good Oil, Laura Buzo's debut, and I'd easily consider it one of my new favourites; I have high expectations for Holier Than Thou! Look out for those May releases. ;)

Bloomsbury

• Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber (proof copy, 05/03/2012)
• In Darkness by Nick Lake (05/01/2012)
• Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey (17/01/2012)
• Your Voice In My Head by Emma Forrest *
• Steve Jobs: The man who thought different by Karen Blumenthal *

I'm not entirely sure if I requested any of these. Possibly Au Revoir and Stolen Away? Regardless, all others just arrived. Send me an email if you'd like to swap for any of the books marked with an asterisk!

 

Hachette

• Pandemonium (#2) by Lauren Oliver (08/03/2012)
• Night School by C.J. Daugherty (05/01/2012)
• 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad (05/04/2012)
• Bunheads by Sophie Flack (01/03/2012)
• The Outcast Blade (#2) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood *
• Out of Sight, Out of Time (#5) by Ally Carter (x2, proof * & finished copy)
• Crypt: Traitor's Revenge (#2) by Andrew Hammond *

LOTS of excitement here!!! I smiled massively when Pandemonium (requested) made its way to my door. Night School was a pleasant surprise, as was Bunheads - I've been wanting to read both of those! I think I requested 172 Hours on the Moon, possibly. All others just arrived. I really really want to get to reading those first four books listed!

 

Hardie Grant Egmont

• Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt (01/03/2012)
• Between by Jessica Warman (01/10/2011)
• Revived by Cat Patrick (01/04/2012)
• Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler & Maira Kalman (giveaway *) 

 I requested all of these, I'm pretty sure. I couldn't get into Why We Broke Up, and that's why I will be passing this on via giveaway. I love the look of all these soft covers! =D I think out of these I'll read Revived first, though it's a hard choice.

Harlequin Teen

• Legacy (#1, March 2012) & Allegiance (#2, May 2012) by Cayla Kluver
• Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins (proof copy, July 2012)
• The Immortal Rules (#1, May 2012) by Julie Kagawa

All of these just arrived, but I could not be happier that they did! I've read a preview of Legacy and I think that this series will be a real treat to read. Temptation is an Amish romance book. Our publicist at Harlequin loved this, so I cannot wait to get into it. And, of course, The Immortal Rules. Guys, I'll be reading this, like, next up!
 

Pan Macmillan

• Fated (#1) by Alyson Noel (proof copy, 24/05/2012)

Is this a spin-off series for her other series? I'm too lazy to look this up right now. It probably says on the ARC or something. :P

Penguin

• The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg (proof, 21/03/2012)
• The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams (22/02/2012)
• Losing It by Julia Lawrinson (21/03/2012)
• The Shiny Guys by Doug McLeod (22/02/2012) *
• Jessica Rules the Dark Side (#2, 25/01/2012) by Beth Fantaskey *

 Okay, other than The Catastrophic History (pitched/requested) and possibly Hallelujah, all others just arrived. I couldn't get stuck in The Catastrophic History, but that may have just been due to bad timing. I'll try again sometime in the next few weeks.

 Simon & Schuster

• Choker by Elizabeth Woods (April 2012)

I actually tried reading this on Netgalley when it was on there, but I had to put it down at 50 pages. This just arrived, and I'm hoping to try it again since lots of readers who have finished it seemed to like the ending and the twists.
 

Won:

Click to enlarge

From Jenny @ Dreaming of Books:

Enthralled anthology (signed by Armstrong, Marr, Stohl, and Barnes! :D), Goliath ARC (signed!) and swag (Once Every Never chapter sampler, The Hunger Games notebook and tattoo, The Gathering tattoo, Caster Chronicles bookmark, Losing Faith bookmark, Wicked Lovely series bookmark and CoFA button)

There's a possibility some swag may be included in various giveaways in the future. Cross those fingers, Aussie readers! Thanks so, so, so much for all this - it's all so glorious!! =D

Birthday Gifts:

Source: we♥it

Guys, my birthday was in February (14), and I totally didn't celebrate it here! I shall make a mental note to save up cash and make up for it next year. I'll try and get in both The Book Depository and Amazon in this! ;) Maybe even Fishpond Int'l, for Aussie titles. We shall see. Anyway, onto what I got!

• Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King - guys, HOW many reviewer Stars has this book gotten? :D I love King so much!
• Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken - I've heard so many people raving about this book!
• Variant by Robison Wells - was reading this a while back but put it down for now. I think it was just not the right time for me to be reading it...

I also got some other cool things, but nothing else book-related.

Bought:

• Stay by Deb Caletti
• A Killing Frost by John Marsden ~ #3 in the Tomorrow series!

Generally, I'll only buy pre-orders, and that in itself, I think, is a win. It's so exciting when you receive an email letting you know that your order is in and will be sent out shortly, and even more of a thrill when you finally get the parcel that you've been waiting on for months. Love it. Anyone else really enjoy pre-ordering?

And...I also bought some manga. Both series mentioned below I ADORE!

• Bunny Drop volume 2
• Yotsuba&! volume 4

Swapped:

• River of Time series by Lisa T. Bergren

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Q: Have you ever been convinced you weren't going to try a book, but then everyone started praising it like crazy so you gave it a shot and you ended up really liking it?

Only asking because this happens with me every so often. Half the time I'm disappointed by hype, but other times, I find myself pleasantly surprised. I might as well mention it directly: Storm by Brigid Kemmerer. Not going to lie, I'm amazed how much more realistic it feels, compared to many other YA paranormal-type books out there. But more of that when I type up a review.

- FOLLOW THE STORM BLOG TOUR! -

Happy Reading! Comment with your IMM links.

Since last IMM

(<-- most current)

Will be updated...
NEVERRRRRRRRRR.

That's because it would take forever for me to format it all.