Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
I’ve been running super behind since I’ve been working on this newest editing project, unfortunately. I just checked and saw that I have 77 comments that haven’t yet been replied to! Yikes!!
I have to confess that I never managed to get to all the March wrap-up posts either. I know this is probably weird, but I have this compulsion when it comes to link-ups that I host—I have to read and comment on every post linked up or I end up feeling guilty (I’m 99.9% sure that I’ve done this for every single discussion post that’s ever been linked up to the discussion challenge). I was tempted to start going through the March Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up even though I’m almost a month late, but then I realized that not only is this incredibly unrealistic time-wise, but it’s also kind of silly to put this pressure on myself. Don’t worry, though, I’m still planning on reading them all under normal circumstances—I just need to learn to cut myself some slack when I’m under a deadline.
In other news, I’m still watching 13 Reasons Why during my workouts and I’m still enjoying it overall (though there have been moments where I’ve scratched my head a bit at the characters’ actions—some of the supposedly realistic elements don’t seem completely realistic to me).
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog last week:
- Letters to the Lost Review (AKA My Admiration for Brigid Kemmerer)
- April Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up – Link up your April Wrap-Up posts here
- Bite-Sized Manga Reviews: Library Wars, Love*Com, A Silent Voice, and Death Note
Next week on FYFA:
- It Started with Goodbye by Christina June – Review, Giveaway & June’s Top Ten Addictions
- Kill All Happies by Rachel Cohn – Review
- April Wrap-Up
- May Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
- Let’s Discuss: Something bookish! 🙂
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
A couple of birthdays and blogoversaries this week! I hope you’ll go wish these bloggers well on their special days! Make sure you check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up. (If you want to be added to the calendar, you can always fill out the birthday/blogoversary form.)
- May – Bunnita @ Worth Reading It?’s Birthday
- May 3rd – Cat on the Bookshelf‘s Blogoversary
- May 3rd – Cynthia @ Bingeing On Books‘ Birthday
- May 4th – Kaitlin Michelle @ Vivacious Hobo‘s Birthday
- May 5th – Latte Nights Reviews‘ Blogoversary
- May 5th – Of Dragons and Hearts‘ Blogoversary
Won:
I won Nemesis from the YA Scavenger Hunt! Thanks so much, Brendan Reichs!
For Review:
All three of these books are by authors I’ve loved in the past! Girl on the Verge, Violet Grenade and All New Things!
Free:
I’ll admit it, when I was offered these, the covers are what made me click. The Moorigad Dragon and Reap the Dragon have gorgeous covers, am I right?
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
Here are a few posts (or industry news articles) I loved this week:
- Apparently There’s a New Shatter Me Book Coming in 2018 (and then two more)!
- Get Free YA audiobooks this summer with SYNC, which started up this week!
- Jenni over at Rurouni Jenni Reads tells us about a great way to promote books we love through listicles.
Pre-Order Deals:
I’m now putting these in order of release date to make it easier on myself (and you, I think). Any new deals that I just added to the list this week will be denoted with a *** so you can easily find them!
- Pre-order THE BATTLEMAGE by Taran Matharu to receive annotated chapters from the book! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order DRAGONS LOVE TACOS 2 by Adam Rubin and receive a bumper sticker and a chance to win the Ultimate Taco Party Book Basket! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order SPILL ZONE by Scott Westerfield and receive a set of Spill Zone tattoos! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order THIS IS JUST MY FACE by Gabourey Sidibe and receive a set of buttons! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order ALWAYS AND FOREVER, LARA JEAN by Jenny Han and get custom Lara Jean nail decals, a signed bookplate, and more! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas and receive an exclusive color poster of the official map! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order GIRL OUT OF WATER by Laura Silverman and receive a signed postcard and playlist. You will also be entered to win one of two prize packs and one grand prize prize pack containing a $25 B&N gift card. (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE by Christina June and get a bonus chapter from before ISWG begins! (ends 5/8)
- Pre-order THE NAMES THEY GAVE US by Emery Lord to receive an exclusive set of buttons! (ends 5/15)
- Pre-order THE CROWN’S FATE by Evelyn Skye, and you can get a limited edition bookmark and a set of 3 stickers–Team Vika, Team Nikolai, and Team Pasha! Plus, there’s an additional giveaway if you order from Kepler’s. (ends 5/15)
- Pre-order FLAME IN THE MIST by Renee Ahdieh and receive an exclusive button pack and a chance to win a trip to Book Con in NYC!! (ends 5/15)
- Pre-order BRANDED by Eric Smith and you’ll get a set of signed postcards of the covers, an Inked and Branded quote postcard set designed by author and illustrator Ashley Poston, and a handful of temporary tattoos! (ends 5/22)
- Pre-order DARK BREAKS THE DAWN by Sara B. Larson and get a signed bookmark (and you’ll be entered to win LOTS of other great prizes!!) (ends 5/29)
- Pre-order FOLLOW ME BACK by A.V. Geiger and receive a signed bookplate! You will also be entered to win a grand prize #EricThornObsessed backpack filled with fangirl themed goodies. (ends 6/5)
- ***Pre-order DIVIDING EDEN by Joelle Charbonneau and receive a signed postcard, a set of 4 stickers and a flashing LED ring. If you enter from a tour stop store, you’ll also be entered into a drawing to win 1 of 10 t-shirts. (ends 6/5)
- ***Pre-order ONCE AND FOR ALL by Sarah Dessen and receive a pocket planner and you’ll also be entered to win a trip for two to Emerald Isle, the beachside town that inspires the setting in Sarah’s books! (ends 6/6)
- ***Pre-order ROAR by Cora Carmack and receive a Skyfire pendant and Stormheart Chart in a cloth bag! (ends 6/12)
- ***Pre-order MIDNIGHT JEWEL by Richelle Mead and receive nail decals inspired by The Glittering Court and a chance to win a basket of Richelle Mead’s favorite things. (ends 6/26)
- Pre-order ENIGMA by Tonya Kuper receive an Enigma swag pack, including a signed book plate, plus the possibility of lots of other goodies as well! (ends 6/30)
- Pre-order WASTE OF SPACE by Gina Damico and receive a bookmark, a magnet, and a 4″x6″ print of Damico’s original hand-drawn sketch of the spaceship’s schematics. (ends 7/11)
- Pre-order WARCROSS by Marie Lu and receive “Life After Legend” an exclusive short story set after the events of the Legend Series (ends 9/11)
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed with this week’s posts)
- Little Fun Club Blog Tour & $50 Giveaway: A Lit Box for Kids 0-12! – Still time to enter to win the $50 giveaway!
- March Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway – Still time to enter to win a book from my giveaway/trade list.
- April Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your discussions here and enter the giveaway!
Latest FYFA Giveaway Winners!!:
- Nothing new this week!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
- Head over to With Love for Books for a chance to win a Dating the It Guy necklace and a $25 Amazon gift card
- RivetedLit is giving away a YALLWEST Gift Basket for those of us not lucky enough to attend.
- Head over to XPresso Book Tours for a chance to win a Copy of Defy The Stars, Nebula Ear Studs & Constellation Ear Cuffs
- Find your YA Hero over at Sweethearts of YA and enter to win 6 books and swag!
- Head over to Fiktshun for another Defy the Stars Prize Pack
- Head over to Pink Polka Dot Books for a chance to win a Complete Set of Sarah Dessen’s Books in Paperback!
- Michelle over @ Fit Kitty Mama is celebrating her 1st blogoversary and she’s giving away a Kindle Fire!
- Kelly @ Effortlessly Reading wants us to know she’s still alive and well and she’s giving away a 2017 release to prove it!
- Head over to Geybie’s Book Blog for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Code or Paypal Cash
- Lots of blogs participating in the April New Release Giveaway Hop!
- Head over to It Starts at Midnight for a chance to win a Signed ARC of First We Were IV.
- Another chance to win Defy the Stars here at YA Books Central!
- Enter to win the first two Harry Potter Illustrated Books!
- Enter to win a Pre-order of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, Dare Mighty Things, and Gray Wolf Island
- Tracy & MC @ Cornerfolds are celebrating the blog’s 3rd blogoversary with a giveaway of two of Tracy’s favorite books!
- XPresso Book Tours is giving away an Amazon Fire HD 8 and a $200 Amazon Gift Card!
- The Bookkeeper’s Secrets is doing a year-long giveaway!
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
Good luck with your editing project! Don’t worry about the comments. I think bloggers are pretty forgiving about those. I’m constantly behind with commenting back.
As you can see, I’m VERY behind. But, hey, sometimes that’s just the way life works!
Congrats on winning Nemesis. I’m happy someone “I know” won this exciting book. Can’t wait for your review. I read a sneak peek and this book seems like it would keep me up reading.
I can’t wait to read that one!
I get what you mean about commenting back – especially with your own challenge – but definitely don’t put pressure on your self. I think we all know that life gets in the way sometimes and it’s just not feasible!
Yay for winning Nemesis. That’s one I really want to read!
-Lauren
I just like to be on top of my challenges. I feel like, if I want other people to care enough to participate, I should definitely put forth the effort myself, right? But I’m learning to cut myself a little slack too.
OOh nice new reads! I enjoyed Violet Grenade! Hope you will too!
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
I’m really looking forward to that one!
Gah. I’ve pretty much dropped out of the blogging scene for a week or so now, so don’t feel bad about being behind. I’m inspired to get back on track, though.
Have a great May!
Yeah, there are times when I just can’t keep up with everything and something’s gotta give!
I love editing but it does eat up your time, doesn’t it. Good luck with yours. I’m spying some books I want to check out now:)
My Sunday Post
I love editing too—so if something’s going to take up my time, this is a great way to spend it!
13 Reasons definitely has some realism issues I think? I was definitely scratching my head at some of the stuff they did. Although I liked the show. Definitely thought provoking. And I had a blogger last week (wish I remembered who) say that Violet Grenade was really good.
I agree that the show is thought provoking. I’m not 100% sure about all the messages it sends, but I’m holding back on full judgment until I’ve seen the whole season. I’m guessing I’ll finish it this week—next at the latest—so we shall see!
Work does have a tendency to get in the way of blogging doesn’t it. I think it’s nice that you visit every linky on your wrap-ups etc. I don’t think most hosts do.
I definitely try! I love discussions and wrap-ups, so I really WANT to visit them all, but some months it’s very tough.
Definitely don’t put too much stress on yourself to get to those old posts! I’m sure that if you start fresh with April, everything will be okay. I’m not watching 13 Reasons Why yet and I’m not prepared to do so anytime soon. My school district sent out a note about it last week, so I’m paying attention to what’s going on, and that’s about it!
13 Reasons is really good from the perspective that I really want to unwind all the mysteries and find out the truth of everything that happened, but I’m a little nervous about some of the show’s messages. I guess I’m still waiting to see where it all goes, but I don’t know that it’s the healthiest outlet for kids who are actually hurting. I’m holding off on my final verdict.
Good luck with the editing project. I hope things smooth out in May for you. My daughter devoured 13 Reasons Why. I hope you enjoy it.
I did enjoy the show. Now I just need to pick up the book!
Alas and alack, so many giveaways are only open to US readers! Such sadness for this poor Canadian bookworm! 😉
Yes, unfortunately this is so often true. I’ll have to try harder to find some INT giveaways (and to let people know in the links if it’s US only).
I am in the same boat, Nicole. I also realized I need to stop checking in on my comments because then I don’t remember later where I started and where I left off. I am trying to get around to visiting and commenting each week, but it is taking its toll and completely zapping my reading time and time to write new content. I am the same way, and while it is hard to do, we have to give ourselves a little slack sometimes when we’ve got overly full plates. I hope the editing project is moving along!
Yeah, and I love the Comment Not Replied to feature, but I wish it had a feature where I could start fresh if I get WAY behind (Like I am right now!).