In My Mailbox (10): Hodge-Podge

It’s been a while since I did an In My Mailbox post, and I’ve been meaning to do one for the past weeks but life has been a little bit hectic lately. So I apologize. Like I mentioned in one of my last posts, we moved to an apartment down the street because our house is being renovated. Moving is a pain when you have so many books, and I realized as I was packing that I do have a lot of books. More than I thought I owned!

This next picture is rather depressing, but I promised my books they’d have a better home once the house is finished by early next year (my parents promised me a bigger shelf in my room). I am planning to let go of some of my books though, but I’ll sort them out soon, probably after NaNoWriMo.

So, my books. In 9 huge plastic bags:

I’m pretty sure my favorite ones won’t be dented in those plastics.

Anyway, so the moving thing kind of stopped me from acquiring books since I really have no place to put it. But…does that stop me? Of course not. Especially when there are ebooks to get and read! And I’m using books as a reward for me to get to certain word counts in NaNoWriMo!

But now you also know why my word count is way behind. Shiny books = procrastination. :P

Anyway, here are the books I got for the past few weeks for today’s In My Mailbox post! In My Mailbox is a weekly book meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren, where bloggers post about what books received that week, be it via  mailbox, library or store.

I guess I should start with the books in picture, first. :)

  1. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Fully Booked). I gave in to curiosity because I know a lot of people like this and recommend this. The only reason I’m hesitant to jump in this series is because it has 11 books — too much investment, IMHO. But let’s see. Got this as a reward for myself in reaching 12,000 words last week. :P
  2. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (Libreria). I’ve been eying Robin McKinley books in Fully Booked ever since I’ve heard praises about her from Chachic, so I was really planning to buy Sunshine first (the sparkly vampire book LOL). But I never got around to it, then Chachic reviewed her latest book, Pegasus, and she said that she recommends reading other McKinleys first before reading that, especially Beauty and The Blue Sword. Just my luck, I got to visit Libreria earlier with some Filipino Book Bloggers (more detailed accounts of that in Jason‘s and Blooey‘s blogs), there was a copy of The Blue Sword. :) I call that fate. :P
  3. Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly (Fully Booked). This one is an impulse buy, really. I don’t know why I got it, except I know it’s really a reprint of a YA book published in 1942. I guess I was feeling the need to read some contemporary books, and this one just jumped out at me. I know Chris from Ficsation liked this one, so I thought it was worth a try. :)
  4. Skin by Ted Dekker (Book Sale). I’ve been wanting to buy more Dekker books, but some of them are just too expensive. I saw the hardcover of Skin in Booksale, and well…I didn’t let it go. :)

Not in picture:

  • The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell (Book Depository). My first Book Depository order is a zombie book. Not surprising, of course. I’ve been looking for this book for ages but I can’t find it here, so I got it online. And I think I love Book Depository already, especially for hard to find books. :) There’s a more detailed post on how to order in Book Depository in Ariel’s blog if you’re curious.

Ebooks (no more background stories for this one, since I’m a bit tired of writing…plus I don’t think I should explain why I got free ebooks, right? :P):

  • Awaken by Kate Kacvinsky (NetGalley)
  • Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann (Simon and Schuster Galley Grab)
  • The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell (NetGalley)
  • Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish (NetGalley)
  • Deceit by Brandilyn Collins (Amazon)

Pretty hefty mailbox. Of course, I have no idea when I’ll be able to read this, but I think that’s a given already. Mt. TBR, hello!

So, what’s in your mailbox this week? :)

In My Mailbox (4)

I meant to write an In My Mailbox post last week, but I was too tired from my second 10-km race that I just fell into bed the moment I got home. So this week’s In My Mailbox will cover a two-week period, because I actually have a lot to post about since the last.

You know what that meant, right? I know I said I won’t buy books anymore…but I. Can’t. Resist. Somebody stop me.

In My Mailbox is a weekly book meme hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren, where bloggers post about what books received that week, be it via  mailbox, library or store. I’ve separated the photos on the stash per week, and excuse the slightly crappy quality of the images — used my camera phone and it doesn’t have that good lighting, as compared to if I use proper ones, like Kichler lighting. I’ll make it up next week. :)

So, here’s last week’s stash:

  1. The God Box by Alex Sanchez
    (Powerbooks, P339, less 20%) I’ve been seeing Alex Sanchez’s books for a while now, but I have never picked any up because I think most of his works fall under LGBT. It’s just not really my thing. I got this one because this is a book that dealt with LGBT and religion. This is a very sensitive topic, one that I don’t think I always fully understand, so I thought this book should be an informative one, at least as far as my faith would be concerned.
  2. The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
    (Fully Booked, P399, less 10%) I remember seeing another version of this book at National Bookstore, but I passed it up. Then I saw a lot of good reviews and I couldn’t find the copy! It wasn’t until I was browsing in Fully Booked Eastwood when I saw it again, but I opted to get the other books first before this. I knew I would absolutely regret it if I don’t get it, so I finally caved in. I wanted to get it at the same time I got The Book Thief, but then I remembered I have a discount at Fully Booked, so I just got it there. Yay.
  3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
    (Powerbooks, P339, less 20%) I think I heard about this first during the Goodreads meet up, but I didn’t know what it was until I saw the book. Should I even ask why I got it? It was highly recommended. Thank God for the sale.
  4. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
    (National Bookstore, P315, less 20%) So I wasn’t really planning on getting anything that Sunday, but when I got to National Bookstore, I remembered that it was also sale time! When I saw a paperback copy of this book, I just grabbed it. I’ve read so many good reviews about this that I was curious, and the hardbound is just a bit too expensive to splurge on. The best part is, I used my Laking National card (a loyalty points card in one of the bookstores in the Philippines) and used my accumulated points to get the book. In short, I sort of got this book for free. :)

And here’s this week’s stash!

  1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
    (National Bookstore, P99) I already have a copy of this book, but when I saw the hardcover of this book for less than a hundred, I knew I had to get it. I don’t think I’ll be keeping it, though — I think I’ll put it up for giveaway on our next meet up. :)
  2. Press release pack for Table for Two by Marla Miniano from Summit Media
    I think it was Tuesday when I suddenly got called to the reception area at work. Turns out I have something from Summit Media, the press release pack for their newest novel, Table for Two. If I had known I’d be getting a free copy of this book, I would not have bought it! But then it’s okay. This means I can give away my extra copy, too. :)I have a feeling why I got a press package, though. Maybe it’s connected to some belated presents? I think so. Thanks, Ro! :)
  3. Catch a Falling Star by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo
    (National Bookstore, P150) I wanted to get this other anthology, Stories When We Were Little (Women), I think, by the same author, but it was a bit too expensive for my budget. I wanted to get something local, and this was the cheapest one I found. I’ve heard so much about this author thanks to Sam. :)
  4. The Dead Of Night by John Marsden
    (National Bookstore, P339, less 75%) This isn’t really my kind of book. But I read Aaron‘s review for the first book, and thought I’d give it a try. But this isn’t the first book, so why did I get it? Aside from it being sale (got it for P84! How could I pass that up?), the Mighty Evil Overlord told me he would give me a copy of the first book as a gift. Getting ready for the series, I guess? :)

And that was the past two weeks for me in terms of books. Next week will be a bigger week because of the following: (1) a new toy is coming; and (2) Grace and Jana and I are planning to do a bookstore hopping day on Saturday, since it’s book sale season and it’s payday this week. Watch out for that. :)

What’s in your mailbox this week? I’d love to see your stash — leave a comment with the link so I can drop by. :)