Hey everyone! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. Since it’s been so long since I’ve posted, and even longer since I’ve posted a Stacking the Shelves (since July — whaaaaat?!), I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share the books I got as Christmas gifts. My friends and family know me well. 🙂 Bookworms are easy to buy for, after all.
SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys: Salt to the Sea ranks as my #1 favorite book I read this year. Ruta Sepetys books just get better and better. This book follows four European teenagers in 1945, as they all vie for passage aboard a ship that helps refugees escape. (I read the book through the first time while I was on a cruise. You could say the experience really came alive for me, haha!) Prepare to have your heart shredded to pieces and stomped all over. I already had a copy, but my mom got me a new *signed* copy. Be still my beating bookworm heart. Here’s hoping one day I can meet Ruta in person and have it personalized. 🙂 (Read my review here.)
PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG by Anne Blankman: AHHHHH this book. I read this last month, and can’t rave about it enough. This is a 1930’s murder mystery following Hitler’s “golden girl,” a fictional character named Gretchen who is one of Adolf Hitler (or as she calls him, “Uncle Dolf”)’s inner circle. Of course, once she falls in love with a Jewish reporter, her whole world flips upside down. The character development was flawless, plot twists were gut-wrenching, and character development was beautiful. READ IT. (Read my review here.)
THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE by Diane Ackerman: I first heard of this one when I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie. If you haven’t seen the previews, watch it and then go get your copy. I can’t wait to start reading it. The Zookeeper’s Wife is the true story of a woman who hid Jews in – you guessed it, a zoo – during WWII. Every time I re-watch the trailer I get more excited for it.
WOLF BY WOLF by Ryan Graudin: If you haven’t caught onto a pattern in these books yet, here’s a secret: this is another WWII book. Well, sort of. Wolf by Wolf begs the question: what if the Nazis had won the war? I read this last spring and was blown away. Yael is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, part of a secret society in a 1950s alternate universe wherein Hitler still lives. This story (which is the first in a series) follows Yael as she uses her shape shifting abilities (thanks to Nazi experimentation) to get close enough to Adolf Hitler to kill him. Are you dying to read it yet? I’m itching to get the next book, which was just published last month, but went ahead and bought a paper back copy of the first one to look pretty on my shelf! (Read my review here.)
BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott: Okay, okay, this is not another WWII one. If you’re a writer and haven’t heard of Bird by Bird, you’re probably living under a large rock. I’ve been wanting to read it for years, but always wanted my own copy so I could make notes in the margins. (What’s a how-to/guide book if it doesn’t have notes? I’m addicted to my highlighters.) I’ve been reading the first few chapters, and I have mixed feelings about Lamott’s bluntness. Bird by Bird is different than other writing books I’ve read because it’s kind of dry and cynical about writing. I still want to write down every other sentence to remember though!
READER’S DIGEST CONDENSED BOOKS, VOLUME 4 (1981): My cousin bought me a gorgeous 1981 edition of Reader’s Digest stories. Mostly it’s just to look pretty on my shelf (I mean, LOOK AT IT, ahh), but hopefully I’ll get around to reading the short stories inside soon.
JANE AUSTEN: FOUR CLASSIC NOVELS: I asked my mom for this copy, not because I didn’t already have individual copies of the four Jane Austen books in this edition, but because… again, LOOK AT IT. I was pretty much drooling in Barnes & Noble when I saw it. My bookshelf looks ten times prettier now, honest.
CHALLENGER DEEP by Neal Shusterman: To be honest, I really have no clue what this is about. But since Izel and Brooke picked it out for me, I’m positive it’s good. A few reviews I’ve read have told me that the book is about a boy with a mental illness, so half the book is the character’s real life and the other half is his imagination. The premise sounds extremely fascinating. The cover alone (which was designed by the author’s son – cool!) is enough to have my interest piqued.
Now, as I’m sure you’re all eagerly anticipating, it’s time for a GIVEAWAY! In celebration of the end of the year, and in thanks to all of you for sticking with my blog (seriously, talking to you readers makes my day. Even when I don’t post for weeks, I get messages from you guys all the time and appreciate every word you send me!), I’m giving away a hardback of my favorite book I read in 2016: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
1. You may enter the giveaway from December 27 2016 – January 10 2017.
2. I will email the winner to notify them that they have won. If they do not respond to the email within 48 hours, I will choose a different winner.
3. The giveaway is open to US residents only.
4. I reserve the right to disqualify any entry if I find that anyone is not following the rules accordingly or is cheating the system (rafflecopter.)
5. I am not responsible for stolen or lost packages.
6. I will require the winner’s address so I can ship the book.
Enter below! Go, go, go!
Good luck in the giveaway! Love you guys,
