[Review Bites #1] A Monster Calls, Virtuosity, Wood Angel & Where I Belong

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I don't write reviews for every single book I read, at least not here on the blog.

Review Bites is here to remedy that.
(This is not my own original idea.)

The books which I will be reviewing are all books I haven't received for review (I either bought them or was gifted them) but have been sitting in my to-review pile nonetheless. Why? Because I still felt the need to talk about them. So while these reviews are much, much shorter than my regular ones, I feel satisfied in knowing that my own words have been said about them.

PS. This is my last post for 2012. I really hope to post more next year! This new feature will definitely help keep me on top of reviews, at least! I'm really excited that I can finally get these books onto my read bookshelf. :)

Happy New Year and read on!

[Review] Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

(#1, Daughter of Smoke and Bone)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Days of Blood and Starlight

Author: Laini Taylor

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 01/07/2012

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Hachette)
Pages: 418 +extras

Source: For review (thanks Hachette!) & Bought

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity
<See more here>

My Rating:

Amazing!

My thoughts

Note: I tried. This review is severely disjointed... it's been too long since I read this book and it's just too hard to write what I feel for it.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone has been recommended to me time and time again and every review that I’ve seen for this book has been nothing but positive. So of course I was wary and my expectations were immeasurably high by the time I’d gotten to picking up a copy. Thankfully, I was not let down in the slightest. Laini Taylor’s debut novel has a deeply engaging and unique story, written in delicate prose that just blew me away. Too many times I’ve been let down by paranormal books (with some exceptions), and I’m so pleased to say that was not the case here.

My Books in Colour (8): Book Haul Time!

MBiC is a fortnightly (*ahem*) 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.

~~~~~

15th of December 2012 ~ Notes

In the two months I've been away from the blogging community (again) I've acquired 24 new books. I'm simultaneously proud, and disgusted, by my book-buying actions of late, because yet again the majority of my haul was gained by the use of my card, The Book Depository and Basement Books. This is my last book haul for 2012. I'll show the ones I'll be getting for Christmas next year (they're good ones too!)... Yes, I asked for more books for my Christmas... again. My family is sick of it.

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...

Bloomsbury, Hachette, Harlequin, HarperCollins, Pan Macmillan, Penguin and James Laidler (Hybrid Publishers)

• Burned (#12) - Sara Shepard - 11/12/2012 - unsolicited *
• Dance of Shadows - Yelena Black - 14/02/2013 - requested
• Days of Blood and Starlight (#2) - Laini Taylor - 13/11/2012 - unsolicited
• Falling Kingdoms (#1) - Morgan Rhodes - 11/11/2012 - unsolicited
• Far Rockaway - Charlie Fletcher - 30/01/2013 - unsolicited
• The Farm - Emily McKay - 21/11/2012 - unsolicited
• Pulling Down the Stars - James Laidler - accepted
• Reached (#3) - Ally Condie - 13/11/2012 - unsolicited
• Scent of Magic (#2) - Maria V. Snyder - 19/12/2012 - requested
• The Skeleton Key (#3) - Tara Moss - 01/12/2012 - unsoliticed *

Oh my God, I'm so happy about getting Dance of Shadows (also came with Jordana nail polish!), Days of Blood and Starlight, Falling Kingdoms and Scent of Magic! I have given up on the PLL series so Burned is up for swap. I reviewed James Laidler's debut interactive novel last year (The Taste of Apple) and I'm currently reading Pulling Down the Stars. Pretty good so far: Aussie, beachy and summery. Also currently reading Scent of Magic. It's finally picking up!

Bought

• A World Between Us by Lydia Syson
• Ask the Passengers by A.S. King 
• The Brontës Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson
• Cargo by Jessica Au
• Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
• It Takes a Village by Christine Stinson
• Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson
• Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara 
• Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
• The Time of my Life by Celia Ahern
• Torn by Cat Clarke 
• The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick 
• Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper 
• Poison Study (#1) by Maria V. Snyder
• Supernaturally (#2) by Kiersten White

Some of these were bought so that I could get free shipping (I did still want them) but I was ecstatic about some of these titles. I got Poison Study for just $2, the last one available at Basement Books. Also, Graffiti Moon. I felt it would have been an injustice had I just bought the US edition online for cheaper so I'm glad that I finally found the Aussie version. Ask the Passengers - how could I not pre-order this! It's *gorgeous* and I love King's writing. I just recently heard about A World Between Us. My love for historical fiction begged me to get this one. Seriously just take a look at that cover. It is one of the best I've seen in 2012. Also, I finally got a copy of Torn. I really enjoyed Entangled, Clarke's debut novel...

Q: What are your reading plans for the holidays?

I'm around 10 books behind my goal for 2012. I'll settle with getting at least 5 more in, especially if I can finish Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before this year is done. My reading list for the rest of the year:

1. HP:OoP (J.K. Rowling)
2. Scent of Magic (Maria V. Snyder)
3. Pulling Down the Stars (James Laidler - aussie author)
4. The Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew Quick)
5. What's Left of Me (Kat Zhang)
6. Falling Kingdoms (Morgan Rhodes)
7. Everybody Sees the Ants (A.S. King)
8. Crossed (Ally Condie)
9. A World Between Us (Lydia Syson)
10. A book I asked for for Christmas... it's a classic! ;)

Happy reading everybody! Comment below.

Share with me what books you got! :)

[Winners] Gratitude Giveaway Blog Hop 2012

33 Beatriz

&

407 Antonia

Congratulations to the winners!

There was a MASSIVE turn-out for the giveaway, which I should have expected because it was a part of a pretty big blog hop... 647 entries in total! But seriously, I don't care about any of that. I don't care about the new followers, I really only care about those people who take the time to read what I have typed up and even more, those who have left comments. I love every single comment I receive and I try and make an effort of replying to said comment as well as visiting the commenter's blog and having a look around.

Just a heads up, I will be holding a giveaway for when I do hit 1000 followers (which doesn't mean as much to me now since I'd been at the 690s for ages before this giveaway) but I want this one to really mean something. I don't really know how just yet, but I really want to make it exclusive to people who aren't just looking for giveaways and free stuff and therefore those who matter to me.

Um, so yeah. I'm going to go read something because I haven't been able to all week and I need an escape! I'll see how I go about writing a review over the weekend...