In My Mailbox (19): Weak-willed

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Tina

So this week was a little crazy as far as I was concerned. Monday to Tuesday had us cowering in the midst of Typhoon Nesat, the strongest typhoon we’ve had this year. Wednesday to Saturday had me running on 12 hours of sleep all in all, with shift adjustments and reunion dinners and friend’s weddings…no wonder I feel so tired until now.

But anyway, there shouldn’t have been any reason to make an In My Mailbox post today, but then I realized that I was kind of a weakling when it comes to new and well-reviewed books by several friends and trusted bloggers. So, when I had the chance to visit Fully Booked this week to look for a wedding gift for my friend, I chanced upon this:

Daugther of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor...and a new bag behind it. :D

It was a lone hardcover copy in the branch near my office. And I’ve been curious about his book after all the glowing reviews around me. I debated for about five minutes before finally picking it up, and walking straight to the cashier and making my purchase.

*hangs head* I know, I am weak. But…I just couldn’t leave without it!

Okay, I don’t regret it at all. :P I scanned the first page and I almost didn’t want to put it down…but I promised myself I’ll start reading this once I finish reading my first Required Reading book for October. I hope I find it as good as everyone else did. :)

P.S. The new bag behind the book was a purchase from Paris that only got to me last Friday. Hello new bag. :)

In My Mailbox (18): MIBF (or, okay, not really)

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Tina

It’s been a very bookish week since I arrived from Europe, and I am definitely not complaining. This week was special for Filipino readers because The First Filipino Reader Conference happened last Wednesday, and it was also the 32nd Manila International Book Fair (it’s still happening at SMX now, so if you haven’t been there, you still have time!). If you missed the ReaderCon, you can read what happened at the @PinoyReaderCon twitter (tweeted by yours truly :) ).

However, despite my two-day attendance at the Book Fair (the most I’ve did since I started attending), I did not get any book from the fair itself! I was supposed to, but I was terribly late yesterday and I was just too tired to look for a book (or beads for jewelry making), and most of what I wanted was gone. So this week’s (and last week, actually) stash includes some books I got from Book Depository, a book I borrowed and a book I bought during but outside the Book Fair. :P

The loot

Oh, and a lot of bookmarks, too, from the ReaderCon.

Anyway, the books:

The books

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – yes, I’m jumping into the bandwagon. I got this from National Bookstore in Mall of Asia. I wanted to get the boxed set, but I ran out of them in the Book Fair. I was supposed to get all four books, but man, they’re thick. So I decided to get just the first book for now and I’ll decide later on if I want the others. Again: man, this book is thick. 835 pages!
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood – borrowed from Chachic! And her personal Aussie library book tour continues. :)
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner – yay paperback! And thanks, Book Depository. :) I had this pre-ordered a few weeks back.
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta – pre-ordered this from Book Depository a few months back, too. :) Thanks to Nomes for the heads up of the paperback edition. Plus, I heard its sequel is coming out soon, so I should bump this up my TBR. :)

Oh, and I also got my blog business cards, which I had printed in a rush just for the ReaderCon. Features Steve Emond‘s drawing, and designed by my lovely friend Jana from Jana Styles. :)

Blog business card!

Talk about taking all the book blogging thing seriously. But hey, this is good for networking, and making friends. :)

I remember those days when I’d go crazy during Book Fair season, but I think I’ve mellowed out. That, and after paying for some Europe bills, I need to be more prudent with my book spending. That, and I really still have too many books in my TBR pile, and I really want to whittle it down further. Is this me maturing as a book hoarder? Gasp.

What did you get in your mailbox this week? :)

In My Mailbox (17): Goodreads Meet-Up

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Tina

A day and a year ago, I met some of my now favorite people, the Filipino Group from Goodreads. Back then, we were just 12 in the meet-up:

Yesterday was the 5th meet-up of the group, and it was…well, monumental. I mean, compare the number last year to this year (thanks to Book Elf for the photo):

Class picture? :P

It was loads of fun, as usual, and like all other meet-ups, we were all crazy talking to each other and grabbing books everywhere. I was a zombie that day because I just came from night shift, but that didn’t mean it was less fun. I was just a ~~bit~~ lot loopy while it was all happening. :P We ended up staying until closing time in SM Megamall, and then some more walking after that before I finally crashed at my brother’s place to sleep and prepare for the 10k race the next day. See why I’m so sleepy now? :D

But I digress. As with all Goodreads meet-ups I’ve been to, there is always a rainshower of books. I don’t have a picture of the stash, but it was huge, to the point that some people don’t want to take the remaining ones anymore. And to those who got so many were all complaining of heavy baggage. :P

Anyway, I really liked my book stash yesterday. All of them were books that I really wanted to read:

What is Goodbye by Nikki Grimes – thanks Kuya Doni!
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell – I don’t know who put this in the book pile, but thank you! I was already eying this one during the interview with the guests, and when our team won in the literary quiz, this was the first book I grabbed. :D
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro – I don’t know who put this in the pile either, but I didn’t see it. Monique saw it, though, and she was kind enough to grab it for me. :)
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock – thanks again to Monique! :) She saw this in Book Sale just as I put it on my wish list and got it for me.
The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty – from Aaron. He was putting this up for swap, I think? I used my “charms” to get it from him instead. LOL.
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley – borrowed from Chachic. I cannot wait to read this. :)
Pink by Lili Wilkinson – borrowed from Celina. Yay Aussie YA. :)

I also finally got to meet Mina V. Esguerra in person, as well as Samantha Sotto, who will launch her debut, Before Ever After, this week. I got my copy of My Imaginary Ex signed by Mina (someone has a picture of us somewhere, so I’ll get that when they post it :D), and while I wasn’t able to get a book signed by Samantha, I’m definitely picking it up soon. :)

Oh, I also got some ebooks this week, and again, they’re books I am really excited about:

Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee
Saving June by Hannah Harrington

I still badly need sleep now, but this weekend is definitely one for the books — literally, and figuratively. ;)

I hope you all had an awesome weekend! Have a great week everybody! :)

In My Mailbox (16): Free and Awesome Stuff

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Tina

I got a bunch of books a few weeks ago, but I was too lazy to make an IMM post. I was at home, but I was just plain lazy — sorry about that. :) I got some pretty awesome stuff the past weeks, some of them free, so I figure it’s time to write one. But better late than never, right? :)

Bought:

Deadline by Mira Grant (Fully Booked) – I also got the Kindle copy of this one first, but I can’t pass the print one up of course. Like my print copy of Feed, this is mainly for borrowing. :D
The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan (Book Depository) – I ordered this about three weeks ago as a reward for finishing an article. It took a while to get here, and I dropped everything else to read this when I received it. Talk about excited. :) I have a line of people waiting to borrow this already.
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews (Fully Booked) – I got this at the same time as Deadline but I only got to read it during the rainy weekend. So much Kate + Curran goodness! :)

Won:

Audiobook of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (won from Helen’s Book Blog) – this is my first audio book ever, which I won during the Twitter party during Armchair BEA. Thankyou so much, Helen! :)

For review:

Last Friday, Blooey invited some local book bloggers for a dinner with some people from Scholastic. It was such a fun night eating and talking about books and blogs and travel and everything else in between. :) It was also the first time I had dinner with publishers and received books for review too! Yay free books (almost as exciting as cool grad gifts). :D

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater – now I’m not a paranormal romance person anymore and truth be told, I have no plans of reading these books. But Chachic and Tarie told me it’s good, so I’m hoping I will like it well enough too. :)
The Cry of the Icemark, Blade of Fire and Last Battle of the Icemark by Stuart Hill – I have no idea what this is about, except that Blooey blogged about it recently. I’m glad they gave us the entire set, though, because at least I won’t have to scramble for the copies. :)

The fun thing is, not all book packages were the same. While I think all of us got all the Icemark books, everyone else got different stuff, depending on what we’ve read. Case in point: Chachic and Tarie got Linger because they’ve already read Shiver, while Aaron didn’t get any of Stiefvater’s books because they’re not his type. Thanks again to Blooey for inviting us and to Joyce and Roselle from Scholastic for the dinner and the books. :)

Photo c/o Tarie

And that’s all for the past weeks’ haul. I have another book buying fast happening now to prepare myself for my big trip this August, so no additions to my TBR unless they’re gifts. Not to worry, anyway since I still have a very big reading mountain to conquer. :D I’ll be back tomorrow for my mid-year recap, so for the meantime, do share in the comment section what you got this week. :)

Newsflesh: Feed and Deadline Trailer

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Tina

It’s no secret that I love zombies and I am a big fan of Mira Grant‘s zombie novels. If you’ve been a reader of my blog for a while, you know how many times I’ve raved about Feed, the first book of the Newsflesh trilogy, and how much I am waiting for Deadline, the next book. I love my zombies, and I think Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) does it best.

I’m about 2/3 done with Deadline (I would have finished earlier but I decided to reread Feed to refresh myself), and I honestly don’t want the book to end yet. I’m at that point where I know anything can happen, and I can’t help but hold my breath and wait for everything to just explode in my face. So far this book has broken my heart twice, and I bet there’s more coming. But I will reserve that for a proper review after I’m done and finished processing the book.

On the upside, someone made a really cool trailer for Feed and Deadline:

It’s not exactly how I thought Shaun’s voice sounded like, but the tone is definitely his. Very far from what a Defective Product Attorney would sound like, I think. No spoilers on the trailer, but I think it’s enough to make people curious about the series. And look, the cover of Blackout, the third book, is shown at the end!

I love this series. And I’m kind of sad that I’m almost at the end of the book because it’s going to take another whole year before the next one comes out. Ah, the wait! :o

So if you haven’t read this series, I urge you: read it. It’s not just a zombie novel, I promise. Rise up while you can.

In My Mailbox (15): Where I Go “Squee!”

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Tina

It’s still a pretty slow blog week and reading week, too. No slumps, I hope, just terribly slow reading because I always find something else to do whenever I find some free time. Next week seems to be a very exciting week in the book world (hee, Thursday Next reference!) since it’s time for Book Expo America, and about half of the bloggers I follow are going there. Unfortunately, I’m all the way on the other side of the world, so I can only “watch” people squee for the entire event and all. Don’t worry, one day, I’ll be there, too.

I did have my own squeeing moments the past week because of the good books I got. It’s was very good mailbox week. :)

SQUEE-WORTHY. :)

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Fully Booked). I got this one last week, really, and I know this is a splurge because it’s a debut, but enough good reviews around tell me I may like it. Plus it was sale in Fully Booked Eastwood last week, so I decided to make use of that to get 20% off on a hardcover. I love how fiery the cover is, don’t you think? :)
The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta (Book Depository). Okay let me squee! I wasn’t expecting this to arrive until next week, so seeing this package really excited me! I cannot wait to read this.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Book Depository). And another squee! This one I wasn’t expecting to arrive until first week of June, so I was even more surprised when I got it this week. It is very pretty in person, and again, I can’t believe I got this for less than $10. :) I love that the pages are glossy, and you should see the illustrations:
Now, I should probably read the two other books in the Chaos Walking trilogy soon. Hee.

My Book Depository package also arrived with cute bookmarks! The Piper’s Son came with a music-themed bookmark, one side showing basic piano chords (some I still vaguely remember, LOL) and the other side showing basic guitar chords. A Monster Calls came with a colorful calendar bookmark. I don’t know how that fits the theme of the book, but who cares? A reader can never have too many bookmarks. :)

Bookmarks from Book Depository

I also got some ebooks, which arrived last week:

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen (Amazon Kindle store). Apparently, the print copy of this book won’t be here until June, so an ebook sufficed for now. I don’t mind buying a print copy since it is Sarah Dessen anyway. I’ve finished this book last week, but I’m kind of having a hard time writing a review.
Love Story by Jennifer Echols(Simon and Schuster Galley Grab). I wouldn’t have seen this if Kai hadn’t tweeted about it. It was hidden in the adult e-galleys in the Galley grab newsletter, so easy to miss. :) I have no idea when I’ll be able to read this, though.

See, pretty squee-worthy, right? I’ll be reserving some of these books for possible slump days — nothing like an awesome book to snap you out of a slump.

Oh, and there should be more posts in this blog next week. I just remembered — I’m participating in Armchair BEA! :) Now I just hope I don’t forget about it…

Have a great Sunday, everyone! :)

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