In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, and inspired by her friend, Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. It's a way to share the books that you've received over the past week. They could come from the bookstore, the library, a friend, your mailbox or wherever. It gives us all a chance to showcase the books that we've gotten, and maybe give others an idea for the book they want to read or buy next. :)

For Review:

 Dark Companion  by Marta Acosta (Sent by author)
All Hallows Moon (Seasons of the Moon #2) by S.M. Reine (Sent by author)


I'm really excited to read Dark Companion, it sounds amazing! :D And, I've already finished All Hallows Moon....and I loved it! I'll be reviewing it in a few weeks for All Hallows Moon's blog tour, I'll also be hosting a few other posts for the blog tour, so look out for those in upcoming weeks. :D


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From NetGalley:

Prized (Birthmarked Trilogy #2) by Caragh M. O'Brien
Crave (The Clann #1) by Melissa Darnell
Ladies in Waiting by Laura L. Sullivan
Heart of the Druid Laird by Barbara Longley

I didn't actually request too many NetGalley titles this week, but these ones were all approved this week, so I guess it amounts to pretty much the same thing....more awesome books I'll try to read. :P Sometimes I wish I had a time turner. lol

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 Bought:

 

The DUFF y Kody Keplinger (The Book Depository)
Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (The Book Depository)
Reckless ( #1) by Cornelia Funke (The Book Depository)
Supernaturally (Paranormalcy #2) by Kiersten White (The Book Depository)
The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies #2) by Pittacus Lore (The Book Depository)
Hourglass by Myra McEntire(The Book Depository)
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young(The Book Depository)
Love at First Click by Elizabeth Chandler (The Book Depository)
Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley (Indigo Books)
The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1) by Kelley Armstrong (Indigo Books)
Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #1 by L.J. Smith (Creator), Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec (Indigo Books)
Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay (Indigo Books)
In the Skin of a Lion by (For school/ From amazon)


I had lots of Book depository books show up this week, so yay for that! I'm so stoked for The Power of Six, I've been wanting it for forever! :D I've also already read a bunch of these, but I wanted finished copies. Shut Out, The DUFF, Supernaturally, and The Gathering, were all ones that I've loved and wanted to have nice pretty finished copies of, so I've been looking for deals with them, and I got lucky in the last little while. :D I'm also very excited for a few of these; Hourglass, A Need So Beautiful, and Juliet Immortal, are ones that I've been wanting to read super badly, so now I can! :D

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This weekend, my best friend and I also went on a road trip down to meet Zoë from In the Next Room. :D We did a book exchange, which was definitely one-sided! haha I gave her three books, and she gave me and my friend tonnes! I'm just going to list the ones that I got, and skip the Goodreads links because it'll seriously take me forever. :P

From Zoë: 


- Flyaway by Helen Landalf
- Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots
- Graveminder by Melissa Marr
- Sanctus by Simon Toyne
- Rotters by Daniel Kraus
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- Vesper by Jeff Sampson
- Dead Rules by Randy Russel
- The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
- Dead by Midnight by Carolyn Hart
- Dark Prince by Christine Feehan
- Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
- What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
- The Hunt of the Unicorn by C.C. Humphreys
- Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
- Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs
- Something Deadly This Way Comes by Kim Harrison
- The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
- Lark by Tracey Porter
- Blood and Flowers by Penny Blubaugh
- Insatiable by Meg Cabot
- Overbite by Meg Cabot
- Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
- Centuries of June by Keith Donohue
- What Language Is by John McWhorter
- Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner


My friend also took a bunch too, so as you can imagine, Zoë gave us tonnes and tonnes of books! Thank you so much Zoë, and it was fantastic getting to meet you! This was the first time that I've met a blogger that I met through blogging face to face. (I've actually stumbled across one before, yup, if you're reading this, I'm talking about you Nicole. :P lol) It was a fantastic experience, and I only wish we were closer than 5 hours away...then we could meet up more often! :D 
Well, I guess I should talk about these books too! haha I'm pretty excited for a lot of these, they've been on my list for a while! Now I just have to decide which to read first! haha


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Well as you can see, thanks to Zoë...and my own book buying tendencies, I got a hefty mailbox this week! I'd like to once again say thank you to Zoë, and also to NetGalley for the opportunity to get free egalleys. :D 


I hope everyone else had an awesome week, and I'd love to know what's in your mailbox. :D Feel free to leave a link to your IMM in the comments! :D

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Review: Rot and Ruin (Benny Imura #1) by Jonathan Maberry

Source: My own personal copy.

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Release Date: Already Released.
Number of Pages: 458 (Hardcover)

(Goodreads Link.)

Blurb from Goodreads:

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

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My name is Ambur, and I have a confession to make. I love zombies. I love the movies, the costume make up, the moaning, the sluggish walks, and...yes, sometimes I even love the gore. Oh, and I can't forget the fact that I love the books.

I believe my love of zombies started when I first watched Dawn of the Dead, the remake of course because it had just come out on DVD and my mom bought it. We all watched it, and from that moment on I've been hooked. I rewatched Dawn of the Dead, and when it came out Land of the Dead, too, and I even remember a friend and I practicing the "zombie dance" that they had as a special feature on the Land of the Dead DVD. So, why am I telling you all this? I'll telling you all of this so you know that I like zombies, and so that if you, too, like zombies, know that you are not alone...also it's a great segue into my review. :P

Rot and Ruin isn't your typical zombie book. For starters, the narrator isn't an adult, he's a teenage boy, born into a world where zombies exist, and the world we're used to is only a memory. Zombies outnumber the living by vast numbers, and there are even mentions of the authorities dropping atomic weaponry to try and get rid of the zoms, but of course, that only made everything worse.

Benny Imura's parents both died on First Night (the night that the dead started to come back as zoms), and all he has left is his big brother, Tom. To say that Benny and Tom's relationship is tense at the beginning of this book is a serious understatement. Benny basically hates his brother, and it takes a while for him to even want to get to know his brother, but as the story progresses, so does their relationship. I loved their relationship. It was tense, it was tumultuous, but most of all, it was real. What teenage boy is going to want to listen to his brother, even if his parents are dead? None, it's just the way teenagers are wired. They don't listen to people who aren't "adults" and for some reason, siblings just don't count. :P

I'm gonna make another confession, while Benny was the main character, I have a serious soft spot for Tom, and I'm definitely harboring a not-so-secret crush on him...and that samurai sword. *sigh* haha Okay, so yes, Tom Imura, very very tough. ;) haha I also really liked Benny's friends. Jonathan Maberry wrote an amazing cast of characters into this story. From the bounty hunters, Charlie Pink-eye and the Road-City Hammer, to Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny's friends. They all had amazing stories, as everyone who remembers First Night also has. Another awesome touch that I loved was that my hardcover copy of the book has pictures of the "Zombie Cards" inside of it on the inside of the cover. It was an awesome touch, and I loved that it helped me give the characters with the cards a face. I love picturing characters in my head,  but I'm never one to turn down a hint at what the author thinks they look like. :D

Along with fantastic characters, the action in this book is incredible, which I guess is to be expected, since it is a zombie book. From the zombies, to the training scenes, to Benny's attempts at finding a job, the descriptions are vivid, yet not overly descriptive, and they leave you with a clear image in your head. At the same time, they also aren't descriptive enough to leave you feeling nauseous when it comes to the parts with the zombies and the gore.

As I've already confessed my love for zombies, and I've doted on this book in my review, I'm going to make it clear. I loved this book, and it's definitely one of my favourite zombie books so far. Jonathan Maberry writes an awesome zombie story, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his stories. :)

How do you feel about zombies?
Yuck? / Woot! Woot! Zombies? / Meh?
Do you like to read zombie books, and does this sound like one you'd like?

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Random Acts of Kindness - September Edition!

 This is now my third month participating in RAK, and I have to say that I love it! And I love the idea of being able to buy someone else a book and maybe get one from someone else in return for no reason at all, just to be nice! :D
The lovely Vanessa and Isalys at Book Soulmates came up with the idea for Random Acts of Kindness.  Here are the rules for R.A.K.:

RULES RE-CAP:

• Sign up each month that you'd like to participate.

• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button :)

• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.

• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K!  Make a post saying 'Thank You' to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE!

Let's keep our International bloggers in mind and in our hearts.

Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!


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You can find out even more about R.A.K, and sign up for September HERE. -----------------------  I've got two wishlists now.  The Book Depository Wishlist:  Ambur's TBD WishlistAnd my Amazon/Kindle Wishlist: Ambur's Amazon Wishlist
Go ahead and check it out even if you aren't participating in R.A.K.! You might find a book you want for yourself. ;)   (If you want my address to send me something for R.A.K., you can email me at ambiepie_6(at)hotmail(dot)com.)  I definitely encourage everyone else to participate! I participated last month, and I received two books and gave two books. (I also ordered some for another person, and one of them arrived! Yay! :D) R.A.K. is a great thing to participate in. You get to introduce yourself to other participants, maybe get a book, and also you might find some books you'd never heard of before that you'll be dying to read. :D
Happy Reading!!!
♪♫ Ambur

My Perfect Day with Ash

Well...since this is staying G-rated...and Meghan has super scary fey magic, I'll tell you my perfect day with Ash if we were just friends. Although as you can imagine, I would definitely not want to be stuck in the friend zone with him! haha...am I perhaps hinting at what's to come on this perfect day, well yes, yes, I am.

First, we would go for a walk in my small town, and since it's a perfect day, the weather would be sunny and wind free for once. We might even bring my dachshund along for the walk, she'd love it. :)

Then, we'd play Scrabble®, because what perfect day isn't complete without a fierce and competitive game of Scrabble®? Ash would win, of course, because he's been around for a long...loooong time, so he knows way more words than I do...plus I tend to get bored of Scrabble® after a while and stop trying, I do it with Poker, too. I start with a bang and fizzle out...anyways, while we're playing Scrabble®, we'll be listening to music ("Ice" by Lights, and maybe some "Ice, Ice, Baby" by Vanilla Ice...are you sensing a theme with the music here?), and we'll be drinking some nice hot chocolate, although Ash's might need ice cubes so that he doesn't feel uncomfortable.

After Scrabble, and hot drinks, we'll settle on the couch and watch...you probably guessed it, Just Friends. It's the perfect movie. It's funny, it's sweet, and...it has Ryan Reynolds in it. And since this is the "perfect" day, Ash really likes the movie, too. :D

Finally, with the day drawing to an end, Ash has to say goodbye, but when he leaves Meghan shows up, and we have a sleepover. She gushes about Ash like crazy, so I'm okay with only being friends with him because Meghan is awesome, I'm happy for her (and him), and on this perfect day, she and Ash are my friends. :)

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If you're wondering why I'm posting about my perfect day with Ash, well it's because Julie's having a contest on her blog! This right here is my entry. :)

You can read the contest post on Julie's blog, here: Iron Knight arc contest: A day with Ash (or Puck)

Here are the details, copied from Julie's blog (in case you want a  peek before checking out her post): 

"One Ash winner and one Puck winner. I will choose my four favorites and let Random.org decide the rest. U.S. and Canada only this time, sorry. Contest will run to September 25th. "Inappropriate" posts will be disqualified. Don't forget to post your perfect day on your blog or other public forum. Thanks!"

So, I hope you liked my day with Ash...I amped up the silly just for you all. haha Good luck to everyone else who enters, and if you do enter, I'd love to read your entry, too, so don't be afraid to post a link. I'll definitely check them out. :D

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur

Release Day: Fated Encounter! Review and a Giveaway!

Last month, I reviewed a book called Darkness and Light by J.A. Belfield. If you want to read that review, you can find it here:My Review of Darkness and Light by J.A. Belfield. In short, I loved Darkness and Light, and once I heard that J.A. Belfield had decided to write a novella of a chapter from it in Sean's POV, I was so excited! I was desperate to read it, too, so when the author herself asked me to read it early, and review it...and then offer you all the chance to win a copy, well how could I say no??? Seriously! How?! I couldn't, that's how.

Today, that novella, Fated Encounter, comes out!
And you know what....it's free!
So, no, the giveaway, isn't of the novella, the giveaway is for Darkness and Light! The first book in J.A's Holloway Pack Series. Where you get to meet Jem, Sean, and so many amazing other characters, like Ethan...Sean's brother. ;)

Source: Received an ebook from the author and publisher for an honest review.

Publisher: J.Taylor Publishing

Release Date: Already Released. - FREE! :D

Visit its page on the publisher website: Fated Encounter

(Goodreads Link.)

Description:

One glimpse. That scent. There. Right there. Could it be … her?

The female within Sean Holloway’s dreams is real, and he intends to see her face even if it means hiding behind a women’s lingerie rack to do it.

With curiosity burning too hot for him to ignore, Sean turns an ordinary family errand into the chance of a lifetime only to be interrupted time and again.

In this companion piece to Darkness and Light, see Jem the way Sean saw her for the very first time.

Just how close is Sean willing to get before he’ll take fate into his own hands?

Enough to make the impossible come true … maybe.

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Bonus! Follow along from Jem’s perspective in Chapter 10 of Darkness and Light

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My Review:

As I stated in my review for Darkness and Light, I loved Sean, and I loved Jem, and I loved that book...so as you can imagine, I loved this novella, too. :)

I absolutely loved getting to read something from Sean's POV. :D Fated Encounter was short and sweet...and the only thing I could have wished for was for it to be longer! Of course...it could've been 500 pages long and I still probably wouldn't have gotten enough of Sean. :P haha

I loved how Sean's POV differed from Jem's, and I think that reading Chapter 10 of Darkness and Light simultaneously while reading Fated Encounter would be amazing! I didn't do it myself, but I think the next time I read Darkness and Light, I'm going to have to try it. :D

If you haven't read Darkness and Light yet, I think, you'll still be fine reading Fated Encounter first. It doesn't really give anything away, other than giving the name Sean a character to place it to, and it definitely wouldn't hurt to get to meet him early. ;) haha

I'd like to say thanks to J.A. Belfield, and J. Taylor Publishing for sending me an early copy of Fated Encounter, so that I could share my thoughts on it with you all. So, thank you. :)

You can get your free copy of FATED ENCOUNTER here:

For Kindle (.mobi file)
Epub File

(Those links will take you to direct downloads of Fated Encounter.)

*Once again, I'd like to remind everyone that you can download both Kindle and Nook for your PC/Mac, and other devices as well.You can also open the Epub file with other programs, like Adobe Digital Editions.

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GIVEAWAY!

This is my first time using Rafflecopter, so let's hope it goes smoothly. :P haha

Good luck to everyone entering the giveaway, and I hope that you all pick up your free copy of Fated Encounter, too, it's a fantastic series! :D

Happy Reading!!!

♪♫ Ambur