This past week on FYFA (and in my life):
I’m back from the WIFYR writing conference, and it was really fantastic! I plan to write a few posts to tell you guys what I learned, but for now I’ll just tell you that it was fabulous to spend so much time with other writers and compare notes. And I gained some really valuable insights along the way!
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog since my last Sunday Post:
- Bite-Sized Reviews of City of Bastards, Everless & Ice Wolves
- A Break in Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
- Some Changes Around Here
- Bite-Sized Reviews of Words in the Dust, If You’re Reading This and Never That Far
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Here are the birthdays and blogoversaries for last week AND next week! (Since I missed a Sunday Post.) 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, it’s easy! Just fill out the birthday/blogoversary form.)
- June 18th – Jenn Marie @ The Bibliofile Book Reviews‘ Birthday
- June 19th – April @ Between the Pages‘ Birthday
- June 28th – Falconer’s Library‘s Blogoversary
For Review:
The Color of Lies showed up in my mailbox a few days ago. Always fun to get surprise book mail! It’s about a girl with synesthesia, which fascinates me.
I also got a fun surprise box in the mail just before I left for my trip! Grim Lovelies looks absolutely breathtaking! Plus, the box came with lip balm and really cute pins, which I immediately put on my button bag (one of these days I’ll have to take pictures of that.
Won:
I won both Starry Eyes and three books from the Summoner Series from FFBC Blog Tours! (I was actually supposed to have won all four, but for some reason, the first book was missing. Oops!)
While I was at the WIFYR Conference, I also won Divided We Fall (which is in the pic with the books I purchased below).
(I’ve won 11 giveaways in 2018!)
Purchased:
At the WIFYR Conference, I bought Never That Far, You May Already Be a Winner, Blood Rose Rebellion and The Lost Crow Conspiracy. (I was sad that there weren’t more of Trent Reedy’s books there because I was planning to buy a few of them. 🙁 )
While I was gone, I also got A Thousand Perfect Notes in the mail (for once I understand how people outside of the US feel – I was dying that I couldn’t get it on release day!)
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
- AJ @ Read All the Things gives us A Brief List Of Oddities Discovered In My Email Account
- Sam @ Sharing Inspired Kreations asks Does When You Read the Sequel Matter
- Loved this post about the cover design on A Thousand Perfect Notes
- Dani @ Perspective of a Writer tells us about Pingbacks + Other Simple How-Tos to Improve Your Blog’s Traffic
Pre-Order Deals:
Listed in order of release date. Any new deals that I just added to the list this week will be denoted with a *** so you can easily find them!
Please note: Almost all pre-order giveaways run “while supplies last,” so I can’t guarantee that they’ll be open until the date listed. Pre-0rder early for your best chance to get all the goodies!
- Pre-order THE BRINK OF DARKNESS by Jeff Giles to receive an exclusive enamel pin! (Open to some INTL) (ends 7/9)
- Pre-order SPINNING SILVER by Naomi Novik to receive a special edition foil jacket cover. (US)(ends 7/10)
- Pre-order THE DARKEST LEGACY by Alexandra Bracken to receive an enamel pin. (INTL)(ends 7/11)
- ***Pre-order ARCHENEMIES by Marissa Meyer to get your name printed in the back of the Renegades paperback! You will also be added to the list to receive the Renegades Trilogy Character Art poster this fall. (US)(ends 7/13)
- Pre-order ALL YOUR PERFECTS by Colleen Hoover for a chance to win a signed bookplate! (US)(ends 7/14)
- Pre-order NYXIA UNLEASHED by Scott Reintgen to receive a signed postcard featuring one of four favorite characters from the Nyxia series. (US, CAN Only)(ends 7/16)
- Pre-order KILL THE FARM BOY by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne to receive a themed 4 button set! (US Only)(ends 7/16)
- Pre-order CONTAGION by Erin Bowman to receive a bookmark, signed bookplate, 2 stickers, an art print, and the Kate & Jesse e-novella. Plus a chance to win the grand prize. (INT)(ends 7/23)
- Pre-order ENDLESS WATER, STARLESS SKY by Rosamund Hodge to receive a signed bookplate, and a print of one a portrait of one of the four main characters. (INTL)(ends 7/24)
- Pre-order THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF US by Katy Upperman to receive a signed bookmark, a sticker with a quote from the story, and a signed, personalized bookplate. (INT)(ends 7/30)
- Pre-order VENGEFUL by V.E. Schwab to receive your choice of a VENGEFUL or VICIOUS tote. (US, District of Columbia, Canada)(ends 7/31)
- ***Pre-order THE LAND OF YESTERDAY by K.A. Reynolds to win one of several prizes. (INT)(ends 7/31)
- Pre-order DANCE OF THIEVES by Mary E. Pearson to receive a special, die-cut bookmark. And one grand prize winner (and a guest) will be able to attend Texas Teen Book Festival this October, where Mary is a featured author. (US)(ends 8/6)
- Pre-order CATWOMAN: SOULSTEALER by Sarah J. Maas to receive a cat-tastic PopSocket! (US Only)(ends 8/6)
- Pre-order CATWOMAN: SOULSTEALER by Sarah J. Maas to receive a limited edition cosmetic bag! (UK/ROI Only)(ends 8/8)
- Pre-order CITY OF GHOSTS by Victoria Schwab for a chance to win a signed copy of the book, a book themed necklace/pendant, and a secret treat from Edinburgh. (INT)(8/27)
- Pre-order MIRAGE by Somaiya Daud to receive a set of Mirage-inspired nail polishes and a signed bookplate. (US Only)(ends 8/27)
- ***Pre-order UNCHARTED by Erin Cashman to receive a bookmark, signed bookplate, 3 stickers and a card. Plus you’ll be entered to win even more! (INT)(ends 9/3)
- ***Pre-order LEADERSHIP IN TURBULENT TIMES by Doris Kearns Goodwin to receive a signed bookplate. (US Only)(ends 9/17)
- Pre-order ALL THE WANDERING LIGHT by Heather Fawcett to receive an exclusive world map, a signed bookplate, a bookmark and two stickers. (INTL)(ends 12/3)
- ***Pre-order THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon to receive an exclusive signed poster. (USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand)(ends 2/25)
More Awesome Giveaways:
- Lots of blogs are celebrating audiobook month by giving away 8 Audiobooks from Audiobook.com
- Head over to In The Bookcase to join in on the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge and giveaway, which goes till the end of the month!
- Head over to Chasing Faerytales for a chance to win an ARC of City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
- Head over to Pink Polka Dot Book Blog for a chance to win DIVE SMACK by Demetra Brodsky & a prize pack
- Lindsi at Do You Dog-Ear? is doing a birthday giveaway!
- Head over to Batch of Books for a chance to win a Drawn Together Prize Pack
- Head over to Bookish for a chance to win LITTLE DO WE KNOW, FRESHMEN, HOW WE ROLL or CITY OF BASTARDS.
- Head over to Book Slaying for a chance to win YOUR DESTINATION IS ON THE LEFT or LOVE ME, LOVE ME NOT
- Anne @ Books of My Heart is doing a Read-Along of the Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series and she’s giving away a Signed print copy of Magic Triumphs (US only) or an Amazon digital copy (INT). She also has several other giveaways going on with the event as well, so check them out in her sidebar!
- Head over to Wishful Endings for a chance to win a Book from Tressa’s June TBR on Amazon
- Teen Reads is giving away a Beach Bag of Books!
- Head over to the June 2018 Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
- Enter Read It Forward’s weekly giveaway! This one is: a Trio of Summer Reads
- Head over to Writer Writer Pants on Fire for her weekly giveaway! This week’s is a chance to win The Color of Lies by CJ Lyons
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’m glad you enjoyed the conference! I hope you like your new books. I got A Thousand Perfect Notes, too, and it took several weeks to get here. I definitely didn’t get it on release day.
I just finally got my copy from Amazon yesterday (I ordered in from two different places so I could be assured to get it from one of them sooner). 🙂
The writing conference sounds great, I’d love to attend one. I’m looking forward to hearing about what you learned. I love your photos, your rainbow shelves look great.
Thanks so much! I think the rainbow shelves make my pics look instantly 1000% better. I did post some tips I learned from the conference, so I hope you’ll check them out!
I can’t wait to read your feedback about the conference!!! Happy Sunday 😉
I posted some great tips I learned at the conference. Definitely check them out!
The Color of Lies is on my must read list. I’ve read books in which characters have synesthesia and it is fascinating. I love your book pics on this post.
I agree that synesthesia is fascinating!
Glad you enjoyed the writers conference!! Enjoy your book haul too!
Thank you!
Glad to hear the conference was good! And that Grim Lovelies box is kind of awesome.
Starry Eyes is one I want to read, it sounds really good.
Hope you have a great week Nicole!
I’ve heard great things about Starry Eyes!
Once upon a time, I have never heard of synesthesia, and now I am seeing it in a bunch of books. Sounds interesting, though. I really hope you are playing the lottery, because you have been on a winning streak this year. Congratulations on all your wins!
Yeah, I don’t think I’d heard about it before reading either, but I’ve read about it in a few different books now.
Nicole! You have such beautiful book mail this week! How cool is the cover for Grim Lovelies? I cannot wait to see what it’s about. By the way, can you explain more on how blog tours and winning copies work within a blog’s posts? Like, do you have to post within a time limit? Do you have to use certain keywords or tags?
By the way, I have the first three books in the Summoner series. Maybe we can read a book together if you’re interested.
I love these Sunday posts. They seem really difficult to work on, though. Any tips for a newbie?
Hugs,
Dina
Most of the giveaways I’ve won are just Rafflecopter giveaways. Since I round them all up for my Sunday Post, I enter most of them once a week, and I’ve just been weirdly lucky this year! If that doesn’t explain it well enough, feel free to ask me again — I’m not sure I understand your question perfectly.
Wow some great books you got this week. It’s cool the way you list the pre-order info and giveaways, thanks for including me. I also have an audiobook giveaway for June is Audiobook month which goes for the rest of the month. There’s another one which will post on Wednesday which goes into July. Anne – Books of My Heart
Thanks! I’ll add those giveaways to my list.
Well, one thing’s for sure… Your new color arranged bookshelves make for pretty pictures!! 🙂
I agree!! All the work of reorganizing was worth it just for this reason.
I’m glad you had a great time at the conference – I can’t wait to hear all about it! Ooh I want to see your pin bag. I really need to start collecting pins; there are so many fun ones.
-Lauren
I’m not big on swag, but I love buttons and pins. 🙂
So happy to hear you had a good time at the conference! Can’t wait to see your recap and advice posts 🙂 I saw the Grim Lovelies promotional packages on HMH Teen’s Instagram a few days ago and I am so jealous! It’s easily one of the coolest ARC packagings I’ve seen.
Yes, I was really impressed with the Grim Lovelies box. It’s fantastic!
I can’t wait to see your thoughts on Starry Eyes! I loved it! It’s also a bummer that you were supposed to win four books in a series, but only received three! Are you going to let them know, or just roll with it? It looks like you had a really great haul! <3
L @ Do You Dog-ear?
And thank you for including my birthday giveaway on your post! *hugs*
You’re very welcome!
I was really excited to win that one. I’ve heard great things!
Glad you had fun at the WIFYR writing conference and got some good insights! ^_^
(Also 11 giveaways?! Wow!)
I know, right? It’s a weird lucky streak.
Congrats on all your giveaway wins! 11 already is brilliant.
And I love the way you’ve got your bookshelves arranged by colour! If I’m ever in a position to accumulate lots of books again, that’s how I want to be surrounded!
Yes, I’ve been especially lucky for some reason this year. Not sure why, but I hope it keeps going. 🙂
ooooh Nicole you are such a sweetheart to include my pingback post this week! And I LOVE synesthesia and reading about it so now I need to hunt down that The Color of Lies! ❤️ I love surprise book mail and bookish goods!
I find synesthesia fascinating!
Hey Nicole! Great haul! I especially love the Grim Lovelies box! A shame you were missing one of the books in your win… bugger! Looking forward to your conference posts!
Yeah, I was a little disappointed to realize that. I should probably just contact them and let them know, but it feels sort of greedy when you win something, you know?
The Grim Lovelies cover is awesome!
I have to agree!
I’m so glad you had such a wonderful time at your conference and go you for winning so many books and the arcs! Grim Lovelies looks absolutely stunning and I’m definitely looking forward to your review of that book!
It does look gorgeous, right? I can’t wait to read it!