Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
Finished up a proofread this week (have to confess that this one felt like a LONG project – not my favorite). AND I welcomed my mom to the blog! We posted our first dual review. We still have to figure out the best way to make dual reviews flow well, but I think it was a pretty good first attempt. 🙂
Here’s what you may have missed this past week:
- BEA is Coming Soon! What You Need to Know. (BEA Tips) – I’ve added several more useful links to this, so check it out! (And keep checking because I plan to keep it updated!)
- Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto – Review
- Meet My Mom!
- Dual Review – Soundless by Richelle Mead
And, while this wasn’t technically on my blog, Kissin’ Blue Karen is hosting the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up Giveaway this month. This is your last chance to enter, so head over there and check it out!
Next week on FYFA:
- The April Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up
- Bite sized reviews of Burning Glass, A Daring Sacrifice and Ready Player One
- Let’s Discuss – Something bookish!
ARC April Update:
So far, I’ve read five books for ARC April: The Mirror King and Revenge and the Wild both have reviews posted here on the blog. I posted quickie reviews of the other three on Goodreads for now (though I might manage to get them up on the blog later this week)! Click on the links to see my Goodreads reviews: Salt to the Sea, A Daring Sacrifice, and Burning Glass. I plan to read at least one more ARC before the month is through!
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Just one birthday next week (today, actually!). I hope you’ll stop by Kaja’s blog and send her some cheer in honor of her special day! (And check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up.)
- Apr 24 – Kaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts’ Birthday
Won:
Thanks so much to Book Briefs and St. Martin’s Press for In Real Life by Jessica Love!!
(Doesn’t this make a cute book picture? My daughter’s headphones and a pretty fresh flower paired perfectly with the book!)
And thank you to Laura at 125 Pages for my Amazon gift card win!
For Review:
Bookish Items for Review:
Alicia over at Awesome Book Assessment has started a new shop called Alicia Craft and she’s graciously allowed me to be a rep. Once a month or so she’ll send me a product for review and I’ll tell you guys about it! She’s also giving my readers a discount if you want to buy from her shop – just use the coupon code: fyfa15 for your 15% discount! (And her prices are already really reasonable.) There’s no expiration, but you can only use the code once.
Those of you who read my blog regularly know that my all-time favorite series is The Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman. Alicia was kind enough to make a box set of the series just for me (but you can order one too – you can now find the Unwind Dystology in her shop!) I asked for the set without eye pins, but you can also order them with, so they could be charms.
The little books are made pretty much the same way as the Harry Potter book that I received, except that these have no little jacket covers (since Alicia couldn’t find artwork for them for this series). But, just like the Harry Potter book, each one of these has little pages and you can actually open the book! Very cute. I absolutely adore them and I can’t wait to display them on my bookshelf right by the real series!
A couple of minor imperfections that I did notice – If you look at the last picture, you’ll see that the back of the first book is very slightly scuffed. I think this happened because the books stuck together just a little bit (I actually originally thought they were glued together, but I was happy to see they weren’t). It’s not really noticeable unless you look really closely (or take a close-up picture, like I did), but it is there. Also, I thought it was a teensy bit odd that three of the books had red on the inside and one had dark blue. Both colors go nicely with the series, though!
Overall, I’m extremely pleased with the set and I LOVE having my favorite series in tiny form!! Like I said, if you’re interested in the Unwind set for yourself, it’s now available in Alicia’s shop – make sure you use the discount code (shown above)!
***Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
The discussion challenge is still going strong – it amazes me how many new discussions get posted every single day! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight talks about the possibility of Revamping and Reposting Book Reviews
- Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts talks about how bookish characters never get lost on their quests in Why I’d Be A Terrible Protagonist: What Is a Map? and he also gives some great book buying advice in 5 Tips to Book Outlet Like a Boss.
Octavia @ Read. Sleep. Repeat. and Whitley @ Reading With a Vengeance are hosting a BEA Blogger Dinner. If you’re planning on being at BEA, make sure you head over there and sign up. I want to meet all of you!!!
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed above)
- April Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your April discussion posts and enter to win a book of your choice!
Pre-Order Deals:
- Pre-order THE DARKEST TORMENT by Gena Showalter and get an e-copy of The Darkest Day, a short Lords of the Underworld scene, or an e-copy of Kat in Zombieland, an AiZ short story. Plus, you’ll be entered to win more prizes!
- Pre-order IVORY & BONE by Julie Eshbaugh and get a swag pack – you’ll also be entered to win other prizes!
- Pre-order RUINED by Amy Tintera and get a swag pack!
- Pre-Order THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN and receive 1 of 500 sets of flash tattoos!
- Pre-Order LET THE WIND RISE by Shannon Messenger and get a swag pack (with chances for more swag packs if you order the earlier books in the series as well).
- Pre-order the paperback of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT by Adam Silvera (or buy it during release week) and receive a Leteo Institute Brochure.
- Pre-order THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER by Jennifer L. Armentrout and get immediate access to an extended excerpt from the book and a swag pack.
- Pre-order GIRL AGAINST THE UNIVERSE by Paula Stokes and receive a swag pack, plus you’ll be entered to win a bigger prize!
- Pre-order Renee Ahdieh’s THE ROSE AND THE DAGGER and receive a deluxe art print featuring a quote and scene from THE WRATH AND THE DAWN, beautifully illustrated by Helen Yoon.
- Pre-order Evelyn Skye’s THE CROWN’S GAME and receive some special goodies! So far, it’s a bookmark, a sticker and three trading cards, but as more books are pre-ordered, more swag will be unlocked!
- Pre-order A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, the second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas, to receive a series tote bag!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
There are tons of giveaways going on around the blogosphere!
- Kaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts is celebrating her birthday and blogoversary with a giveaway!
- Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books is running the Meet the Newbies event where you can win 1 Pre-Order or Finished Copy of Any Debut Novel Featured on Meet the Newbies (INT) – Several of the tour stops also have individual giveaways as well!
- A Thousand Words, A Million Books is celebrating its second blogoversary with TONS of giveaways – I can’t possibly name them all here!
- Head over to Chasing Faerytales for the Nefarious Villains event and enter to win A mystery villain inspired gift pack!
- Head over to The Irish Banana for a chance to win a set of TALON, ROGUE & SOLDIER by Julie Kagawa (US Only)
- Head over to Lisa Loves Literature for a chance to win Signed Paperback Copy of One of Michelle Madow’s Titles
- Head over to It Starts at Midnight for a chance to win A Paperback Copy & 2 ebook copies of Water’s Wrath (INT) and Your Name in Crystal Crowned
- Lauren over at Shooting Stars Mag is giving away a signed, personalized copy of Illuminae and a Signed ARC of The Raven Boys OR A Signed HC of The Raven King!
- Cilla over at Paved With Books is celebrating her first blogoversary by giving away a book of your choice!
- Laura at 125 Pages is also celebrating her first blogoversary and she has a few giveaways including a $50 Amazon gift card going on to celebrate it! Check them all out! (Plus, make sure you head over to her blog on the 29th to read my guest post.)
- Head over to Second Run reviews for a chance to win a Kindle copy of The Undays of Aralias Lyons. I proofread this book, and really enjoyed it, so I was very excited to see that Terri loved it too!
- Terri is also celebrating the one year anniversary of her In the Spotlight feature with a giveaway! There are several prizes, including copies of books she’s spotlighted, swag, and a $25 Amazon gift card!
- Lots of blogs participating in the Showers of Books Giveaway Hop.
- Clean Teen Publishing has a new giveaway with $120 worth of audiobook prizes!
- Zeee at I Heart Romance and YA is celebrating her birthday by giving away a Box of Books!
- Chapter Break is celebrating its two year blogoversary with a GIANT giveaway!
- Lori over at Writing My Own Fairy Tale does a Friday Grab Bag where she gives away an ARC from her ARC list.
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
I love the baby Unwinds. Those are so cute.
I know – they’re adorable, right? 🙂
Lovely presentation of In Real Life…I love the look of your blog, too. Enjoy your week, and here are
MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Such a great post, you’ve taken a lot of effort to show us many interesting posts and giveaways. Enjoy your new books!
What an unusual idea – shrinking your favourite series:). I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for an extraordinarily thorough round-up of the various giveaways and freebies floating around blogland, it’s very impressive. I’m looking forward to hearing your reaction to Down With the Shine, which seemed a really interesting premise. Hope you have a great week and happy reading.
Loved your picture of In Real Life and I also really enjoyed that book so I hope you do too! Have a great week!
Nice haul. I think that’s awesome you are going to be a rep for your friends company. You got some great books.
Grace @ Books of Love
OOooh awesome haul!! I can’t wait to read Down with the Shine! It sounds like a fun read! Hope you enjoy it and all your other awesome goodies!!
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
I think it’s great you and your mom did a joint review. How fun! And Down for the Shine looks good- I’m really curious about that one. I’ve seen a few good reviews.
I love all the good discussion posts I’ve been finding, love this challenge! Have a great week. 🙂
Oh I’ve always wanted to read that series by Shusterman. I think I have them all. They look awesome!
Those mini books are so cute; I like that it has real pages inside and you can open them. Thanks for sharing!!
Also, thanks for posting about my two giveaways! I appreciate it. 🙂
-Lauren
p.s. check out my latest post. EEEEK!!!!
The mini books are so cute. I’ve gotten two from different makers (one being Cait @ Paper Fury) through giveaways. Cute! This is different and has actual pages, which is nice.
Congrats on your win! And I am so jealous you got Down with the Shine! Can’t wait to see your review 🙂 Also, those little mini books are adorable.
Thanks for sharing my discussion, and have a great week 🙂
The Little Books are cute. Congrats on your wins this week. So awesome your Mom is blogging with you. I love keeping bookish love in the family 🙂 Have an awesome week!
Looks like you had some wonderful wins this week! I love the picture with the headphones. 🙂
Have a great week, Nicole.
I love your book picture with the headphones! That is so great! Looks like you have a lot going on around your blog and the rest of the blogosphere, so thanks for sharing all of that! Hope our upcoming week is a good one, and you can check out my Sunday Post in the link below!
Ah, those are cute! I could total use those for my bookmarks and key chains!
Oh I love that Unwind series! They look really cool! Nice score! And I enjoyed your joint review with your mom. 🙂 It was a great way to see two views on the same book.
A dual review with your mom, that sounds fun! Will have to check it out next. And you got a nice haul. Down with the Shine sounds so interesting! It’s on my to-read list. Those mini Unwind books are so cute! I hope you’ll have a great week!
You’re doing so great with ARC April! Way to go! Love that pic of In Real Life… so adorable. 🙂