Weekly wrap-up: February 9-15

This week, I made a decision to change the way I do these weekly wrap-ups. It's not a big change; I just decided I will no longer share arcs and digital review copies that I receive. As of late, there has been a lot of blogger drama, and I think much of that stems from jealousy and some bad feelings. I am endlessly grateful to every publisher and author who sends me a book of any format for review, and I want to thank them for that. I just feel like I will do a better job of that by reading and reviewing those books instead of just posting them as a list for people to marvel at/be jealous over.

When I started my wrap-up posts, I was ignorant of the Stacking the Shelves/In My Mailbox meme (let's face it: when I started blogging, I was absurdly ignorant of a LOT of things) so I didn't realize for a while that it was A Thing to publicly share books received. My WWU posts eventually evolved to posting my review copies, but now, I think it's time for me to bow out. Book blogging isn't about getting tons of books for free, and many of these posts, including my own, have become increasingly braggy, which isn't flattering for anyone. Publishers see their books splashed across blogs as a matter of pride for bloggers, but I'm not sure that's what they're aiming for when they send them or grant access digitally. Anyway, I didn't intend for this to become a mini-rant. I just wanted to explain why those sections will no longer be featured in my posts. I have no problem, however, featuring books I purchase or borrow from the library. :)

So, what have you been reading this week?

Completed:

Perfect Lies (Mind Games #2) - Kiersten White: 3.5 stars. An improvement over Mind Games, but this series is not for me overall. Cole was a surprisingly awesome character; I wish he had been in MG a bit more, but I understand why he wasn't. Annie was amazing; she really seemed to shine in this one. In contrast, Fia, who is not a character I will ever fully understand, was so fractured and...messy.
Uninvited (Uninvited #1) - Sophie Jordan: 5 stars. WOW. This book was SO GOOD! Full review coming.
Shadow Kiss graphic novel - Richelle Mead & Emma Vieceli: 3 stars. Apologies to Emma, but I just don't really like her style. The characters' faces are inconsistent from frame to frame, which means sometimes the art is amazing and sometimes it's pretty terrible. There are two absolutely breathtaking frames of Dimitri during the card reading scene. Dimitri, Adrian, and Eddie have the best art, Rose is middling, and Lissa and Christian are pretty terrible. I love VA to be successful in all aspects, but these graphic novels are just not where I'd like them to be. I will never buy one, but I'll always request my library get copies for me to borrow.

Reread:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green, David Levithan, MacLeod Andrews & Nick Podehl: 4 stars. So very many lolz were had; however, just like with the book, I often had difficulty getting into Will Grayson #2's voice. I'm also not a fan of the musical fade-out/fade-in at the end of one disc and beginning of the next. Nor am I a fan of the random woman saying, "THIS IS THE END OF DISC X. PLEASE CONTINUE WITH DISC X." Uh, I can read the disc numbers, thanks. Still, I really enjoyed this audiobook overall. Tiny especially was magnificent with both narrators. Listening to their vocal inflections with each line made the writing come to life.You see a line like, "baste me like a Thanksgiving turkey," and you're like, "wtf?!" But then you hear MacLeod SAY it, and you suddenly understand how ridiculous and hilarious it is. Also, the music was BRILLIANT.

Currently Reading:

Eleanor & Park audiobook - Rainbow Rowell. I loved the book, but I have a feeling this audiobook won't be anything close to being my favorite. The male narrator has a delicious Park voice (sooooo good), but he lacks distinct inflections for all the other characters. Rebecca Lowman is a spectacular narrator, but because she was the narrator for Fangirl as well, to me she will always be Cath, not Eleanor.
Synchrony (Destiny #2) - Cindy Ray Hale

Tiger Lily - Jodi Lynn Anderson. There's not a lot of doing right now, just a whole lotta telling, and that annoys me.

New to my bookshelf this week:

Library:

Nothing yet, but I think my sister picked up a couple of audiobooks for me.

Bought:

Vampire Academy series - Richelle Mead. Yes. I bought all 6. They were on sale for Kindle!
The Archived - Victoria Schwab. Also on sale for Kindle.

This is a mix of Half Price Books, Book Outlet, and Barnes & Noble, and I'm going to have some Amazon books come in this next week. My poor, poor wallet! ;)

Giveaways & Contests:

I was one of the winner's for Fierce Reads's #ReadScarlet campaign. I knew I'd get a copy of the book, but I was super surprised and excited opening the package because I got a special edition Scarlet hoodie too! Thanks, Fierce Reads!

Events Attended:
2/13: Neal Shusterman & Eric Elfman, Tesla's Attic signing @ Frisco, TX.
2/14: Marissa Meyer's Cress tour @ Lewisville, TX.