My Weekly Book Haul: 21/12/2013

Friday Finds is something that was started over on ShouldBeReading and Stacking the Shelves over at TyngaReviews, I am in love with all of these as I love finding other blogs to follow and books to read through these! So check them all out and see what you find, Stacking the Shelves has a lot of participants as well which is great. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week. All book covers and their summary come from back of book or Goodreads.

TWO WEEKS OFF WORK! 

That is all I can think about right now. I finally have loads of time off where I can try and get back on track with my reading. Plus I can't wait to see if the boyfriend has paid any attention to my numerous hints and gotten me books, books and more books for Christmas. Only time will tell.

Saw the Desolation of Smaug and was left utterly disappointed. Peter Jackson, what have you done? For more info, you can find my thoughts on it here.

The Physical Haul

This Week I Bought:

Vampire Academy & Frostbite by Richelle Mead

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn't just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

They have finally released less ugly covers,  though not by much, for the VA series. So I think I will finally give this series a go. 

This Week I Borrowed:

Between the Lines, Where You Are, Good For You & Here Without You by Tammara Webber

Young actress Emma is starring in her first ever major film role, opposite well-known teen heart-throb Reid. The exclusive clubs, snapping photographers and screaming fans are all a normal part of life for Reid but it's all new to Emma. The other actors befriend her - and Graham in particular seeks her out - but Emma isn't sure she's really comfortable in this scene. Reid is also experiencing something new - girls throwing themselves at him is an everyday occurrence but genuinely falling for his co-star? That's not what he expected to happen . . .

Looks promising and I have heard some good things. But the title and cover for the final book seems really depressing, and I hate depressing. The covers in general are also really awful. 

Unwind, Unwholly, Unsouled by Neal Shusterman 

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them.

Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

I've heard really great things about this series, very excited for this one! 

Missing Ellen by Natasha Mac a'Bhaird

Ellen and Maggie have been best friends for as long as they can remember - sharing clothes, passions and secrets. But now Ellen's now there and Maggie's left alone. Looking back over the events before Ellen's disappearance, Maggie tries to make sense of her friend's actions. At school and at home, she feels no one understands what she is going through - except maybe Liam, the boy next door who has always had feelings for Ellen.

Can Maggie get used to missing Ellen?

The Digital Haul

This Week I Received For Review:

16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler

Heart attacks happen to other people #thingsIthoughtweretrue

When Morgan's mom gets sick, it's hard not to panic. Without her mother, she would have no one—until she finds out the dad who walked out on her as a baby isn't as far away as she thought...

Adam is a stuck-up, uptight jerk #thingsIthoughtweretrue

Now that they have a summer job together, Morgan's getting to know the real Adam, and he's actually pretty sweet...in a nerdy-hot kind of way. He even offers to go with her to find her dad. Road trip, anyone?

5000 Twitter followers are all the friends I need #thingsIthoughtweretrue

With Adam in the back seat, a hyper chatterbox named Amy behind the wheel, and plenty of Cheetos to fuel their trip, Morgan feels ready for anything. She's not expecting a flat tire, a missed ferry, a fake girlfriend...and that these two people she barely knew before the summer started will become the people she can't imagine living without.

Released on 4th March 2014

The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik

Anna Eliot is tired of worrying about what other people think. After all, that was how she lost the only guy she ever really liked, Finn Westbrook.

Now, three years after she broke his heart, the one who got away is back in her life.

All Anna wants is a chance to relive their last kiss again (and again and again). But Finn obviously hasn’t forgotten how she treated him, and he’s made it clear he has no interest in having anything to do with her.

Anna keeps trying to persuade herself that she doesn’t care about Finn either, but even though they’ve both changed since they first met, deep down she knows he’s the guy for her. Now if only she can get him to believe that, too....

Released on 22nd April 2014

Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Laura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding—in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

Released on 18th February 2014

On Blog

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - My Thoughts

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout: Review

Feature & Follow Friday

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout: Review

Top Ten Tuesday: New To Me Authors of 2013

Weekly Review Roundup

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales: Review

Giveaway

I am helping Book Fever celebrate it's 2 year blogoversary and have donated a prize (a book of choice from TBD up to £15.) A ton of authors and publishers have also donated prizes, so make sure you check it out!

New Weekly Meme

I wanted a weekly roundup of my reviews, but short and sweet ones. For all the details please go here. Link up and join in.

There's also a giveaway, which you can get entries for every week you link up till the start of Jan.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks for following:

The White Unicorn, Smoking Hot Books, Christy's Book Addiction,
Ode to Jo and Katniss, The Obsessive Bookseller, The Book Maidens,
My Heart Hearts Books, Feisty Little Woman, Always YA At Heart,
Will Read For Coffee, Isabelle Astrid, She's Got Books On Her Mind,
YA Book Nerd & Story Envy