Stacking the Shelves #14 + Book Events Recap

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and every week bloggers post about books they’ve added to their bookshelves! This includes books bought through a physical store, online store, eBooks, books borrowed from the library/a friend and gifts.

I'm officially back to book blogging! I finished my last exam today yay so I can catch up on all my posts, reading and reviews! Checking my archives and I was like "are you kidding me I haven't done a STS in THAT long?!" The amount of books I've received since then... woah... Let's do this!

I'm going to start with the book events I went to (:

(All links lead to the relevant Goodreads pages for each book)

Event: Gayle Forman in Conversation with Melina Marchetta - Tuesday 28th May

Gayle Forman came to Sydney and it was absolutely amazing hearing her in conversation with Melina! They talked about their characters, the imperfections of their male MCs and the worlds they built for their stories. I was in awe at the way they thought and so, so honoured to meet them!

Highlights:

On the Jellicoe Road is being made into a movie and Melina is writing the screenplay!

Melina is working on a new adult book in the crime genre

If I Stay is being made into a movie

There won't be an If I Stay #3 - Gayle explained that if she were to write another book for them, she'd have to put them through more pain and heartbreak before she could give them a happily-ever-after (maybe) and honestly, haven't Mia and Adam gone through enough?

I didn't buy any books as I pretty much owned every book by Gayle and Melina (except for The Piper's Son which they didn't have D: ). I did however, bring all my Gayle books to get signed and 1 Melina book (I wanted to bring ALL the Melina books but they were way too heavy and I had work + uni that day *cries*)

Ta-da I present to you my signed books:

My copy of On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (Contemporary) is really old - I got it back in 2006 when it first came out so I've got the pretty original cover \*O*/. If you haven't heard of Melina Marchetta, then... well she is THE Goddess of Aussie YA!

All contemporary:

• If I Stay (If I Stay #1) - 5/5 stars
• Where She Went (If I Stay #2) - the companion novel to If I Stay, it's one of my fave books ever <3 (not enough stars)
• Just One Day (Just One Day #1) - 5/5 stars

Thanks to Melina and Gayle for signing these <3

And a little something...

Event: Abbi Glines signing - Sunday 9th June

The line was absolutely MASSIVE! I didn't know Abbi had so many fans in Australia so woah. I bought Fallen Too Far which I only had in e-book; I really wanted the new Breathe (I own the original) but they sold out :( everything else I owned previously

Abbi didn't do a talk or answer questions, it was just a signing, BUT stay tuned because I have a special post regarding said signing coming up soon on my blog (;

Thanks Abbi for signing all these lol!

All contemporary:

• Breathe (Sea Breeze #1) - 3/5 stars
• Because of Low (Sea Breeze #2) - 4/5 stars
• While It Lasts (Sea Breeze #3) 
• Just For Now (Sea Breeze #4) - 4/5 stars
• The Vincent Brothers (The Vincent Boys #2) - 3/5 stars
• Fallen Too Far (Too Far #1) - 5/5 stars

Event: Penguin Teen Australia Live (Sydney) - Monday 24th June

PTA came to Sydney to give a talk about their up and coming titles, answer questions about their books  and they had Aussie author Will Kostakis come and give a talk about his book, The First Third.

Highlights: 

• The Cinderella Moment by Jennifer Kloesters is the Penguin Teen Aus. title to look out for this year
• Highly anticipated releases include Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu, the conclusion to the Legend trilogy; The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead, ermagherd Sydrian Feels
• Will Kostaskis cracked everybody up with the way he talked

• The First Third by Will Kostakis (Contemporary) - thanks to Penguin Teen Australia for this copy and Will for signing it <3

My actual Stacking the Shelves

Physical Review Copies/ARCs:

• Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1) by Richelle Mead (Adult Dystopia) - finished copy which I requested coz gosh I hate reading on my iPad's Kindle app ;_;
• Belladonna (The Secrets of the Eternal Rose #2) by Fiona Paul (Historial Fiction) - finished copy, currently unreleased in Australia - look out for it on July 1st

Thanks to Penguin Books Australia and Harper Collins Australia for these review copies <3

• Kinslayer (The Lotus War #2) by Jay Kristoff (Steampunk/Fantasy) - so excited to read this!!!
• Crown of Midnight (Throne of Midnight #2) by Sarah J. Maas (Fantasy) - ARC. HOLY SMOKES GUYS THIS IS A 5/5 AND THE BEST BOOK OF 2013 SO FAR. Y'all are gonna go crazy and love it. My feels ermagherd!!! It was just so fucking fabulous I can't even.
• All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (Time travel) - unsolicited. I actually had never heard of this until I received it in the mail, but it sounds really good.
• Winter Damage by Natasha Carthew (Contemporary) - unsolicited. Interesting concept, also never heard of it lol.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia and Bloomsbury Australia for these ARCs <3

NetGalley:

• This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (Contemporary)
• Faking It (Losing It #2) by Cora Carmack (Contemporary)
• No Strings Attached (Falling for You #1) by Nicolette Day (Adult Romance) - really cute and sweet read, 4/5 stars
• The Bone Season (Scion #1) by Samantha Shannon (Dystopia)
• Time After Time (Time Between Us #2) by Tamara Ireland Stone (Time Travel)
• Banish by Nicola Marsh (Paranormal)

Thanks to Farrar,Straus and Giroux (BYR) (Macmillan Children's Publishing Group), Ebury Press (Random House UK), Entangled, Bloomsbury Australia, Disney Hyperion and Harlequin Teen Australia for these NetGalleys <3

Bought:

(E-books)

• Shadow (Paper Gods #0.5) by Amanda Sun (Paranormal/Fantasy)
• Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Adult Sci-Fi Romance)
• Secret by Nia Forrester (Adult Romance)
• Click to Subscribe by L.M. Augustine (Contemporary)
• Relentless (Shattered Hearts #1) by Cassia Leo (Contemporary)

• Wildlife by Fiona Wood (Contemporary)
• The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta (Contemporary)
• The Boys of Summer (Summer #1) by C.J. Duggan (Contemporary)
• Good Oil by Laura Buzo (Contemporary)
• On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street #1) by Samantha Young (Contemporary)
• Reason to Breathe (Breathing #1) by Rebecca Donovan (Contemporary)
• The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1) by Rick Yancey (Dystioia) - loved this! 4/5 stars
• Skylark (Skylark #1) by Meagan Spooner (Dystopia)
• Spirit (Elementals #3) by Brigid Kemmerer (Paranormal) - really gorgeous book, the MC is so conflicted I loved it - 4.5/5 stars, read my review here
• Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers (Historical Fiction)
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman (Fantasy)
• Reboot (Reboot #1) by Amy Tintera (Dystopia)

Whew and that's it!