February Owl Crate

I know this is super late but I though that I would show y’all what I got in January’s Owl Crate. The theme for this box was Circus, items inspired by, you guessed it, the circus.  If you would like to know more about the Owl Create subscription service then click the link here.

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First thing I pulled out of the box was this beautiful tote bag inspired by The Night Circus, created by Evie Bookish. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Next came this amazing smelling, candle called Le Cirque des Rêves by Frostbeard Studios. It came with a little book mark, something I always need, has a mix of “Carmel Popcorn, Roasted Chestnuts, and Bonfire fragrances”, and was made especially for Owl Crate. 

 

 

 

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Then I grabbed a lip balm by Geek Fire Labs in the flavor, Midway Mini Doughnuts which is delicious. 

 

 

 

 

 

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After that I got this awesome notepad made from recycled casino cards by Attic Journals. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Next I pulled out this adorable page flags by Girl of All Work. There are 5 different designs that I absolutely love. 

 

 

 

 

 

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There was also this little card to download samples of the Carival and Star-Touched audio books. 

 

 

 

 

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Finally I pulled out the book, Caraval by Stephanie Garber!! I don’t know exactly what this is about (I’m trying to avoid spoilers), but I did place it on my top five debuts of 2017. The book came with a letter from the author, a signed bookplate, and an exclusive quote card. 

 

 

 

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And here is the design on the spoiler card and the matching pin .

 

 

 

 

 

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Last but not least we have the spoiler for March’s box. The theme was Sailors and Ships, and Seas. The sneak peak reveals that there will be an item from BoyGirlParty in that box. 

 

 

 

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So here is everything in the February box. I hope you enjoyed this post. If you received an owl crate, which item do you think is the best? 

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood

4/5 stars

This is going to be a shorter post because it is hard for me to review a collection of stories without going by each story one by one and spoiling everything but I will try my hardest. Overall I thought that most of these stories were wonderful. They focuses on “badass girls” through out history. I absolutely loved this concept and thought that most of the authors captured this aspect through different types of women in different eras. Many of the stories I found myself looking for a whole book to continue the story. There were a couple that I did not like; however, you’re bond to get one of those out of 15 stories. I would recommend this book to anyone interested reading about badass women.

You can find a summery of this book on goodreads.

You can also purchase this book on amazon or book depository. 

Once again, sorry this post was so short!

Release Day Blast:Worth The Wait by A.J. Pine

Release Date: 1/16/17

 

About Worth the Wait:

 I like to think of myself as a man of pleasure…

I enjoy a good pint of ale, being in the arms of a beautiful woman, and living by my own rules. The only thing I try to avoid? Commitment. And I’ve got a three-year success rate to prove it.

I wasn’t planning on Grace—the beautiful, funny, totally off-limits massage therapist who keeps popping up in my life. She’s on a six-month mission to rid her life of toxins. No alcohol. No red meat. And, yeah, no men. I’m talking full-on man cleanse.

I know I should walk away, but I can’t…and the only way to keep her in my life is to live by her rules. I’ll need to prove to a woman who’s lost all trust in men that I’m worthy of her love. And do it all without so much as a single kiss.

The only problem? If I win, I’ll lose the one thing I swore I’d never give up. My heart.

 

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Goodreads

 

About A.J. Pine:

 

AJ Pine writes stories to break readers’ hearts, but don’t worry—she’ll mend them with a happily ever after. As an English teacher and a librarian, AJ has always surrounded herself with books. All her favorites have one big commonality–romance. Naturally, the books she writes have the same. When she’s not writing, she’s of course reading. Then there’s online shopping (everything from groceries to shoes). And a tiny bit of TV where she nourishes her undying love of vampires, superheroes, and a certain high-functioning sociopath detective. You’ll also find her hanging with her family in the Chicago ‘burbs. AJ is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary.

 

Connect with A.J.: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Newsletter

 

Book Traveling Thursdays

Hey Bookends,

It is time for another Book Traveling Thursday. This is a meme in which you pick a book based off of a theme. After that you pick that you look through all of the different editions and show the original cover, the cover from your home country, your favorite cover, and your least favorite cover. You can go to the goodreads group to find out the weekly themes.

This weeks theme is: New Beginnings

For this theme we have to choose a book we would like to read for the first time again. For this topic I picked This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. This is one of the fist adult books I ever picked up and absolutely loved. Check out it’s goodreads page if you’re interested.

This is the original hardback cover and from what I can tell it is also the edition for my home country, the USA. It is also my favorite cover. I really love the simplicity of it and because the background is white the different colored letters really pop.

I would say that this is my least favorite cover. I don’t like any of the colors and it I just don’t think it fits the book.

So that is all I have for this post. I would love to know your thoughts on either of these covers for this book and what book you would choose for this topic. You can follow me on goodreads to see what I am reading. Thanks for reading.

Top 5 Wednesday- 2017 Goals

It’s Wednesday so you know what that means! Another Top 5. This is a weekly meme created by Gingerreadslainey  and you can find out all the information on the goodreads page. This week we are talking about our goals for 2017, not just our reading goals, any goals. I am the person who will set a new goal, work on it for a week, and then completely quit. This year I am hoping to actually complete these goals.

5. Read Outside My Comfort Zone

I feel like this goal is important in order for me to grow as a person. I feel like I mostly read YA novels and I want to branch out more. The few times I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone I have found different genres that I enjoy and others that I don’t.

4. Blog More without Overloading Myself

This is what happened over the past couple of months that made me stop blogging. When I made myself write too many posts I just thought of blogging as a job or task that needed to be finished. I was just writing posts to check them off my lists. I want to enjoy blogging and that is what I’m hoping to accomplish with this goal.

3. Don’t be Afraid to Try New Things

I like to schedule my days in very specific ways and when I do that, I leave no room for spontaneous activities which sometimes makes me miss things. I don’t want to do that anymore. Sure, I still want to have a schedule, just not one so harsh.

2.Get Out More

This one is like a sub-goal of the last one. I want to get out of the house more. Even if I bring a book to a coffee shop and just read for a while. I think this will help me to meeting new people too.

1. Stay Organized

This is going to be my biggest challenge. Currently, most of my recent school papers are in my computer bag instead of all the binders that I have for them. This leads to some serious problems when I need to pull something out for class. This year I want to organize all that stuff and keep it organized.

So that is all I have for this Top 5 Wednesday. I would love to know your thoughts on this topic and what goals you have for the new year. If you enjoyed this post please let me know and follow me on goodreads to see what I am reading. Thanks for reading.

I am Back

Hey Bookends,

It has been a crazy couple of months. I just wanted to let you guys know that I am going to start blogging again. I kind of stopped because I am currently a senior in high school and I was applying to colleges and just couldn’t blog while doing that. In fact I stopped reading almost all together for a while there. Anyway I just wanted to let you guys know that I am back and planning on becoming a bigger part of the community than before. Wish me luck!!

Weekly Update

Hey Bookends,

How has life been? I had a crazy week last week because my laptop got a virus right when I needed it for school. But don’t worry, everything is back up and running! Anyway let me tell you guys about what I have read over the past week.

For Fun:

• I finished Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephine Perkins
• 74 pages/ 14% through Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
• 252 pages/ 63% through Jet by Jay Crownover
• 147 pages/ 77% through Fabulous Terrible by Sophie Talbot
• 14 pages/ 4% through The Archived by Victoria Schwab
• 50 pages/ 7% through The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• 125 pages/ 40% through Ordinary Grace by William Kruegar
• 50% through Six Days by David Levithan
• 228 pages/ 50% through The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
• 336 pages/ 82% through Panic by Lauren Oliver
• and 86 pages/ 31% through Bossypants by Tina Fey

For School:

• 434 pages/ 67% through The Once and Future King by T.H.White
• I am 46 pages/ 12% through Napoleon’s Buttons by Penny Le Couteur

I hope you enjoyed reading this, also I would love to know what you are currently reading. I am getting back into the reading mood so hopefully this list will be shortened.  Friend me on goodreads and Instagram to see what I am reading daily.

Blog Tour- Under The Hood by Sally Clemons

Hey Bookends,

I am really excited to tell you guys that I have an amazing opportunity to be apart of a blog tour and share a book with you guys today. I am going to give y’all a little excerpt for the book Under The Hood by Sally Clemons which is a  really cute contemporary.

Here is a small synopsis:

When Alice Starr mistakenly believes attorney Mark Jameson needs her help, he discovers he

likes being rescued for a change. Smitten by her confidence, he hides his expertise so he has

an excuse to see her again. Alice doesn’t have time for a man. But with one kiss, she and Mark

have advanced into water so deep she’s in danger of drowning…

Purchase the book:

Amazon/ Barnes and Nobel / iTunes/ Kobo/ Goodreads

About the Author:

Sally Clements writes fun, sexy and real contemporary romance, partnering hot heroes with heroines who know what they want, and go for it! She is a full-time author, who lives in the Irish countryside, and when she isn’t writing can usually be found in traffic, driving ‘Mum’s taxi’. Always a voracious reader, she considers writing for a living the perfect job—the only downside is saying goodbye to her characters at book’s end!

Contact the author at:

Website: http://sallyclements.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SallyClementsAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sallywriter

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4209647.Sally_Clements

Newsletter: http://blogspot.us2.list-

manage2.com/subscribe?u=dcc4dd08f2e9493823b234b2c&id=9b33572a56

Here is the excerpt:

So this was his mysterious new neighbor.

3B had been empty for a while. When he’d made it back last night after a few

days away finalizing the pre-nup for a new client in New York, Mark had noticed the

light on from the street outside and the battered pickup next to his parking space.

He took advantage of the fact that she was busy searching her truck for jumper

cables to check her out without being noticed. Alice. The name suited her. Long,

platinum-blond hair pulled up in a ponytail looked natural—her skin was Nordic pale too,

and the eyes he’d caught a glimpse of were ice blue, like aquamarines. She barely came

up to his shoulder, and even the ugly overalls weren’t able to totally hide the hint of

curves he’d noticed when checking out the image of a woman holding the spanner on her

uniform.

Mark frowned. He really shouldn’t be noticing his new neighbor that way. If she

was a mechanic, she probably had men hitting on her all day. Besides, he wasn’t in the

market for a new relationship. Extricating people from ill-judged romantic follies all day

had taught him to be cautious where attraction was concerned.

He pushed back his shirtsleeve and looked at his watch. Luckily, he’d left himself

plenty of time to make the meeting at his client’s office, and if a dead battery was all that

was wrong with the MG, he’d be on his way quickly.

His gaze lingered on Alice for a long moment as she popped the hood and then

grabbed red and black leads, attached one set to her battery terminals, and handed the

others to him.

Her hand brushed his, and a jolt of electricity raced up his arm.

Mark stared. What on earth?

Alice looked pointedly at the engine as he stood still, fixed to the spot by the

unexpected reaction to her touch.

Then her eyes softened. A small, sympathetic smile tilted the corners of her lips

upward. She stepped close, and took the leads from his unresisting fingers. “This one

goes here,” she said, fastening the clip in place, “and this one goes here.”

Mark nodded, still stunned. She thought he was so clueless about engines he

didn’t even know how to attach jumper cables.

You can see other excerpts, reviews, and guest post at other tour stops:

9/5/16

Hike2Forty and beyond – excerpt spotlight

Lucia’s Book Reviews – review

The Starred Review – excerpt spotlight and review

Booksfordaysonend – excerpt spotlight

Jen’s Reading Obsession – excerpt spotlight

9/6/16

Nicole’s Book Musings – excerpt spotlight

What Is That Book About – excerpt spotlight

Lynn’s Romance Enthusiasm – excerpt spotlight

9/7/16

Book briefs – review

Books Eater – review

Diana’s Book Reviews – review

9/8/16

Splashes Into Books – excerpt spotlight, review

Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – excerpt spotlight

Written Love Reviews – excerpt spotlight

9/9/16

Em & M Books – excerpt spotlight, review

The Young Girl Who Loved Books – excerpt spotlight

In Between The Pages – excerpt spotlight, review

The Lusty Literate – excerpt spotlight

Becky on Books – excerpt spotlight

OMGReads – excerpt spotlight, review

 

 

 

Weekly Update

Hey Bookends,

I am being a horrible book blogger. Not only did I forget to post a weekend update and another post I was planning for the weekend. I also did not read anything in the past week. I’m sorry guys. I’m being so inconsistent but that is because it is my senior year and I am starting college applications. I promise I am going to work on posting regularly more. Anyway here is where I am in all the books I’m reading.

For Fun:

• 211 pages/ 52% through Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephine Perkins
• 147 pages/ 77% through Fabulous Terrible by Sophie Talbot
• 14 pages/ 4% through The Archived by Victoria Schwab
• 50 pages/ 7% through The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• 125 pages/ 40% through Ordinary Grace by William Kruegar
• 50% through Six Days by David Levithan
• 228 pages/ 50% through The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
• 336 pages/ 82% through Panic by Lauren Oliver
• and 86 pages/ 31% through Bossypants by Tina Fey

For School:

• 434 pages/ 67% through The Once and Future King by T.H.White
• I am 46 pages/ 12% through Napoleon’s Buttons by Penny Le Couteur

I hope you enjoyed reading this, also I would love to know what you are currently reading. Wish me luck on reading as many books as I can before the end of the month.  Friend me on goodreads and Instagram to see what I am reading daily.

 

Bout of Books 17 TBR

Hey Bookends,

The Bout of Books read-a-thon starts tonight and I am really excited to focus on something other than school! I have participated in this read-a-thon a lot and love it. If you haven’t participated in the read-a-thon here is the blurb from the site:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Because of school I am only going to try and finish a total of 5 books this week. Here’s my TBR.

• The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
• Jet by Jay Crownover
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

So those are my plans for this read-a-thon. I would love to know if you are planning on participating, and if so what books you are reading. Follow me on goodreads and Instagram to see what I am reading daily. Thanks for reading!!