Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It gives us a chance to share with readers what we bought, borrowed, swapped, won or got for review each week. Because I love books, and you love books, so let’s see the books!

The Books

I literally just noticed that seriously half of these are by Jennifer Donnelly. Strange coincidence!

IMG_6004

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly and Unforgiven by Lauren Kate Thanks to Random House Delacorte!

The Yearbook by Carol Masciola Thanks to Merit Press

Half in Love with Death by Emily Ross Won, thanks to YA Books Central & Merit Press

Deep Blue, Rogue Wave, and Dark Tide by Jennifer Donnelly + insanely pretty nail polish Won, thanks to Leanna @ Daisy Chain Reviews and Disney 

Our Brothers at the Bottom of the Sea by Jonathan David Kranz & If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch Thanks to Gabrielle @ The Mod Podge Bookshelf!  

 235466342346662619254725

via Edelweiss & Netgalley, thanks to Margaret K. McElderry Books, HarperTeen, and Chronicle Books!


Weekly Shenanigans

I read three books, which kind of surprised me because I am currently reading three at a time, to get my 10th Hunger Games re-read started! And I am almost done with another book that Holly made me read. I like it, but it is slow. I’ll tell you about it next week 😉

24872560233107422767052

1st-place Bwhahahah. Really? You need to ask? Fine, outside of The Hunger Games, which wins life, I guess I’d give the edge to Young Widows Club

Giveaways:

Posts this Week:

(Yeah, I brought it back. I felt bad for not considering my mobile-using friends.)


Blogosphere Bulletin

Random Musings:

Well. I haven’t done a very good job at keeping up this week. I blame NaNo. Somehow, I am actually not failing at it so far, but it has meant that my blogging is a mess. I haven’t even caught up on last week’s weekly recap comments. I am trying, I really am. It has been a rough week. The children have been replaced with some sort of demon spawns. I haven’t slept more than two hours on any given night. Things have just been rough. Bear with me, for I promise I will catch up! Oh, and a promised small human/demon Halloween picture!

IMG_5994A Tiger baby, me, and Rainbow Dash. Or three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse?

Things we need to talk about this week:

    • I was going to not talk about The Hunger Games because it is making me sad. BUT. THEME PARK. I die of happy.
    • BEA is in SIX MONTHS. Are you going? If you are, are you planning like mad? I wish I could book all the things already.
    • How do you prioritize posting? For example, I had a fun post that I tried to get up by last night. It didn’t work, and by 2am, I called it quits and scheduled it for Monday. When do you know it’s just not going to happen on time?
    • NaNo. Are you participating? If so, how goes it? I am at… I don’t know 12,311 words. A vast improvement over last year’s 400.  I am here, if you want to follow along/be pals.

Have a fabulous week, loves!

Posted November 7, 2015 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Blog Recaps / 81 Comments

Divider

81 responses to “This Week At Midnight (86)

  1. It looks like you have had a busy week. I hope you enjoy BEA, as I’m not going to go next year. Hoping to do ALA MW which happens in January. Looks like you and the kids are enjoying the holidays. Interesting selection of books this week.

    Grace @ Books of Love

  2. All those really good books, Shannon! I hope you enjoy them all! I really want to read These Shallow Graves because I’ve been seeing them a lot nowadays 🙂 Your kids are soooo adorable!!! And you look great in the photo, Shannon 🙂 I have two little sisters — one is 7 years old and the other is 5 — and they both dressed up as Elsa and Anna from Frozen haha <3 Have a great week! 🙂

  3. OMG DREAMOLOGY AND THE WAY I USED TO BE. MY JEALOUSY RUNNETH OVER. (I just got Gena/Finn, too, btw! :D)

    I still need to read Young Widow’s Club, too! And I promise to do so (along with a billion others) before the year ends! hahah My never-ending TBR, really. I’ll be looking forward to your review!

    WAIT. THERE’S GONNA BE A HUNGER GAMES THEME PARK? *malfunctions* I’ve been seeing the Mockingjay Part 2 trailer so often lately, it’s becoming a bit of a bummer. I wish I could go to BEA 2016! 🙁 I’m definitely planning on 2017, though, because I live so close! I’m tempted to read The Hunger Games trilogy, but I wonder if I can handle Mockingjay again.

    Have a great week, Shannon! 🙂

    • I understand the struggle of the never ending TBR for sure! I hope you enjoy Gena/Finn too 🙂

      And YESSSS! I seriously cry now when I see Mockingjay stuff. I CAN’T. The theme park is the only thing keeping me from a breakdown, I fear. Ohhh I will definitely do 2017! I live quite close too- just a 2 hour bus ride last year!!

      I am reading Catching Fire right now and basically DYING. Mockingjay may kill us.

  4. First of all, oh my god have your kids been replaced with changelings??? =D

    More importantly, what’s this about a Hunger Games THEME PARK?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    YAY on keeping up with NaNo! I’m so excited for you, your first REAL NaNo (we won’t count last year, everyone has a failed attempt!). I NEEDS details! I’m doing pretty good NaNo wise and not sleeping much because I’m trying to finish by mid-November. I’m super jealous that you had time to reread Hunger Games, I’ve barely had time to read anything and I wanted to reread Hunger Games SO Bad! Oh, well, something to look forward to after Mockingjay!

    Hope you have an awesome week! (Also, super excited for this fun post!)

    • They have! Hahahha. And YES- The Hunger Games theme park is a real thing!

      And good call, we’ll forget last year- OR we can use it as like, a comparison about how awesome this time is?

      I am actually running pretty low on time to reread the books. I am not even halfway through CF! But I almost don’t want to reread MJ yet- I might wait until after the movie? I might want to go in fresh. Hahha so weird!

  5. Enjoy all you pretty books, I hope the lovely looking demon spawns will give you a break ! A Hunger Games theme park ?!! Ha ha, I need to see this !!

  6. Oh lots of great books this week. Congrats on all the wins. I can’t wait to read Dreamology and I just went off to request Gene/Finn 🙂 Your kids are adorable! Mine haven’t been replaced with demon spawns but are sick little humans which in turn got me sick. THE WORST. Glad Nano is going well!! I wish I could go to BEA – one because it is BEA two because I love Chicago. But I have to wait until it is in NYC again. Have a great week!!

    • Aw thanks so much!! I hope your kids feel better, and you too! Nothing is worse than trying to take care of kids when you just want to curl up and go to sleep yourself 🙁

      And I will hopefully be at BEA in NYC too- I love Chicago also, but it is definitely going to be a lot harder for me to get there!

  7. SQUEEE THESE SHALLOW GRAVES IS AMAZING! Probably one of my new favorites! The mystery was quite easy to guess but there was still so much suspense. The characters were amazing and the romance – BE STILL MY HEART. I HOPE YOU LOVE IT. I have yet to read her mermaid series but I have the first two books on my bookshelf, so hopefully I can get to those soon!

    Enjoy your new books!
    Kyra @ Blog of a Bookaholic
    My Book Haul!

  8. And here I am complaining about insomnia and yOU ONLY SLEEP FOR LIKE 2 HOURS, OMG HOW ARE YOU ALIVE, SHANNON?!!??!? Don’t forget to sleep soon okay? I like it when you are an alive person. *nods* Although those little demon spawn are SO CUTE, so at least they have that going for them. :’)

    And you’re happy about the Hunger Games themepark?!?!? I love the series more than anything but I’m kind of angry about it…awk. 0_0 I feel like they’re missing the point of the books by commercialising them like this and somewhere Suzanne Collins is howling and despairing of humanity. bUT MAYBE I’M WRONG AND OVER REACTING SO I’LL SHUSH NOW.

    Also how do you read books AND do NaNo!?!? I would literally die. XD I cannot multitask!! Don’t burn yourself out, okay?!?! *sends you encouraging chocolate*

    • I don’t KNOW how I am alive. Sometimes I seriously wonder. Sometimes Sammy will nap, and I will get an hour or two in there too.

      Yes, I am happy about ANYTHING Hunger Games. I don’t even care. I think it’s because the movies are over and I feel like I need to go sob in the corner. I mean, will it be ridiculous to like, ride on the death cart in District 12? HELL YES. Do I care? HELL NO.

      I am actually reading THREE books while doing NaNo! BUT I also didn’t write 60K words in like, 3 hours like you did either, so I guess it’s a bit of give and take 😉 I will take some of that chocolate encouragement though!! YUM, thanks!

  9. Great haul this week, Shannon! I hope you’ll enjoy all your new books.

    I’m going to BEA next year, I booked my hotel and plane ticket in August, and I have signed up as a blogger, and for some breakfasts already. I can’t wait to meet all the bloggers! And, of course, all the authors 🙂

    Have a wonderful weekend and happy reading.

  10. Everyone has been getting These Shallow Graves! So jealous. I hope you enjoy it 🙂 Omg Shannon you need vacations!! I had a rough night on Thursday due to an investigation I’m doing for Psychology and I’m still recovering haha I hope you get to sleep better this week! Happy reading hun.

  11. I was excited to get These Shallow Graves in the mail, it sounds wonderful. The Hunger Games is always a yes and the theme park will be a half hour from where I live so that just makes me all excited and I CANNOT WAIT!

    I hope you keep kicking butt in NaNo, you’re doing a lot better than I am. I am at the 400 mark where you were last year. I really wanted to write, but when I started it all kind of fell apart, oh well. Always next year.

    Happy reading, love 🙂

    • Oh yay, I hope you love it! And WOW that is awesome about being so close to the park! I will be moving into the park, so maybe I will see you there 😉

      Aw thank you SO much! It’s hard- if you’re not in the right frame of mind, it is just so, so hard. You’re right- next year, or one of the camps, or whatever. No reason to stress over it, that’s for sure!

  12. Oh my gosh, a Hunger Games theme park!! Let’s be honest, I get all my THG news from you 😉 Ooh how was Young Widows Club? I got These Shallow Graves and Unforgiven in the mail too, and I have no idea how Random House has my addy xD Whoa, 10th reread of THG? That sure is committed.

    • Bwhaha I am so glad that I can be everyone’s unofficial source of Hunger Games news 😀 I shall keep it up!

      Young Widows Club was decent- kind of a good story, but also some problems. And I am super excited for These Shallow Graves but I don’t even know anything about the series that Unforgiven is from. Oopsie. 😉

  13. 12,000+ WORDS HOLY POOPSICLE. You already know where I’m at (cough 29). Anyways, YOU HAVE A LOT OF BOOKS BY JENNIFER DONNELLY NOW. I’ve always wanted to read her mermaid series, but then I just ended up not. ALSO I KNOW I HAVE ALREADY SAID THIS, BUT CHILDRENNNNN. So squishers. Crossing my fingers for Gena/Finn, even though it won’t work well on my kindle 🙁

    THANKS FOR POSTING OUR WWII EVENT. 🙂 🙂 We are excited because some people have signed up already which we weren’t expecting ahaha…..

    • One of those people was MEEEE! 😀 Sorry about Gena/Finn 🙁 Maybe I will hate it and then you can laugh at me! And you will see the children soon. You can watch them while I take a nap. 😀 Also, I am sucking at NaNo right now- I just typed a little paragraph about how I hate my character right now but her bullshit is staying because of NaNo 😛

  14. Congrats on NaNo!! I failed spectacularly, again. Cute costumes! I hope they let you sleep again soon. No surprise, I’m not going to BEA, because I’m a hermit who’s afraid of people. And it costs money, which I do not have. Because I got a new computer!! And yet I’m typing this on my phone… Good luck with your writing! Will you be posting about your story?

    • Thanks! I was doing really well, but I think I hit a wall yesterday. I just couldn’t do it. And today either. I am just SO TIRED. And I really wish you were going 🙁 You could be a hermit, and we could just shield you from crowds! But YAY for new computer! I wish I could do commenting on my phone, but like the old lady that I am, I just can’t do it easily at all!

      As for my story… maybe. I did start a new blog for writing but I have been too busy to write anything! It’s called itwritesatmidnight.blogspot.com 😀 Hopefully after NaNo, I can get it up and running!

  15. gah lacking sleep, tell me about it. My little one has been sleeping badly for the past 3 months 🙁 the worse part is the night seems to be the only time i can really read and well, the lack of sleep is kicking me.
    I hope you have a better luck with These Shallow Graves, I seem to be a black sheep on this one.

  16. I try and have my posts scheduled for midnight, so if I’m trying to aim for the next day, if I can’t get it around that time …then I schedule it later. If I don’t have anything posted for a day and I’m posting it DURING the day, then I just aim for early afternoon. It all depends! haha

    Good job with Nano! You’re doing awesome. I need my semester of school to end please and then I’d really like to start on my new book idea! I hope it goes well.

    -lauren

    • Hahah I am just a mess with posting- I wish I could get my act together and NOT need to rush at the last minute. But I am not procrastinating, it’s just that math and time are getting in my way 😉

      And thank you so much!! I have hit a bit of a… bump. I am just so tired I can’t right now. But I need to get back to it ASAP! Hope you can start on your new idea ASAP too!!

  17. Oh, my goodness. I applaud you immensely for juggling all of this! I mean, children! And blogging! And NaNoWriMo! HAahaha, 12,000 words seems like a lot to me, I’m still only at 10,000. Good luck on completing the novel, and YES I’ll be sure to add you up. Take care!

  18. I’m participating in NaNo in my own way. I’m trying to write a blog post a day. I thought I might kill someone last week because I was so tired by like Wednesday (I was getting up “early” to write). I think I’m going to switch it up this week and vary the schedule a bit based on when I go to bed.

  19. Whoa, I hope you enjoy Donnelly’s books! I’ve never read them, but the covers are absolutely gorgeous. Yay for your word count for NaNoWriMo! I’m not doing it myself, but I have friends who are and it seems a little stressful at times. I hope you have a great week too!

  20. That mermaid series by Jennifer Donnelly looks really good and the covers are so pretty! I am looking forward to see what you think of them. I would like to re-read the Hunger Games series eventually, although I am really bad at making time for re-reads.
    Thanks for linking to my post about love triangles! Good luck with NaNo, it sounds like you’re doing well. Although the two hours of sleep doesn’t sound good. That Halloween picture of you and your kids is adorable! Have a great week!

  21. Congratulations with your NaNoing, even with the three horsemen of the apocolypse in your home. (Because that’s the choice I made. It sounds better than “you and your children”, in my mind.) I decided to take off this year, simply because I have so much on and am already editing something else and want it to be awesome for when I put it online next month, and I thought I’d be so cut up about it (because when I look back next year I won’t have the shiny ’15 badge), but I’m happy. So that’s awesome.
    HUNGER GAMES THEME PARK WHAT THE HECK. This sounds terrifying and amazing. Oh yes.
    x

    • Aww thank you! I agree that the Three Horsemen sound better, I am going with that 😀 I think it’s good to take off when you just don’t have it in you at the moment. I told myself that same thing the past two days when I physically couldn’t force myself to write 😉

      And can you even imagine the attractions at this park? Like, “ride the District 12 death cart!” or “see Johanna Mason strip in the Capitol elevator!” “Take your own tour in the Museum of Mahogany with Effie!” BWHAHA.

  22. Thanks for sharing a link to my romance post, Shannon! 🙂 You’re awesome!
    I got These Shallow Graves too and I’m excited to read it. It looks good. And I didn’t notice the same author wrote that other series! I’ll be on the look out for your thoughts on that since I don’t connect well with mermaid books.
    I considered requesting The Way I Used to Be but it sounds like it would be a difficult read. The cover is so lovely though!
    I hope things calm down and you get some rest, Shannon! You seem like you’re exhausted. You need a break, girl!
    I have to know, why is the Tiger Baby crying?
    Happy reading and hope this coming week is awesome for you!

    • Aww of course! I am so excited about TSG! I have heard such good things! I didn’t notice that she wrote them both either- until I was linking the books on Goodreads and was like “ooooooh, same lady!”

      I mostly requested The Way I Used to Be because I needed a good sob. Or, maybe I will when I read it, I don’t know. I AM exhausted. Like, beyond. I need time, but I don’t have any!

      OH and the Tiger Baby (Sammy) isn’t crying, he is trying to run away from me and is laughing because he knows he will win. And he did. 😀

  23. Congrats on your NaNoWriMo progress! You are doing great. I am at 21,000 words right now, but I can already tell it needed editing BADLY. It is taking everything I have not to edit yet. That will come later . . . after a much needed writing break anyway. I will take a break from my characters when I am finished and then edit. But get some rest and take care of yourself!

    • True story: Every time I look you are like, JUST ahead of me. Like if I have a really good day, so did you… but a little better 😉 We really are twinsies!

      I have the editing bug too- I don’t like to leave things. I actually wrote in the middle of my thing today “Character is pissing me off, but I am leaving it alone, because NaNo. But she needs to get her act together in December.” I will probably take some time away from it too- I am just too overloaded to do much more!

  24. Ahh Shannon don’t be too hard on yourself when it comes to blogging, you are doing fantastically when it comes to NaNo! You’re super productive! Thanks for sharing my blog here as well. I hope the kiddies settle down this week! I wish I could go to BEA to meet you all some day <3 3 books in a week is amazing! I'm reading only 1 a week these days, but I don't mind too much!

    • Aw thank you Jeann! That means a lot 🙂 I feel so bad that I am getting so behind on returning comments- like, it’s a week later, and here I am returning yours! And I have made too many commitments for November too, oopsie.

      I wish you could come to BEA too! Hopefully you will one day. They could have it in Australia and we could all just come there- sounds way better anyway- and they could still call it BEA! Done and done. 😀

  25. Did I seriously read this post on Saturday first thing and then not leave a comment? Yea, I did. Sorry about that.
    First, I wanna say that my princess has the exact same costume. Crazy how popular those ponies are, again. Congrats on winning all the Jennifer Donnelly books and swag. I need These Shallow Graves. That cover is so awesome. What is YABookCentral? I feel so behind on the times all of a sudden. Congratulations on your NaNo progress! I hope you accomplish your goal.

    • Bwhaha that is pretty much something I would do and HAVE done. You are not alone 😉

      AWW that is so sweet! Did you get it at Sam’s? That’s where I found it hahah. I LOVE the ponies- I mean, I loved them as a kid, but now they are even better- they’re like, girl power ponies.

      And thank you SO much! I hope I do too.. fingers crossed! (And eyes, from staring at the screen 😉 )

  26. I will also be getting Half in Love With Death and The Yearbook! I’m super excited to read them they both sound interesting! Unfortunately though, I’m failing NaNo ugh. The kids look really cute too!

    • Oh yay! I liked The Yearbook. There were some issues, but even so, it was entertaining, IMO. And I am reading HILWD right now, I am liking it so far- hope you do too! And NaNo is just HARD, so try to cut yourself some slack. Thanks so much 😀

  27. You have some great books here, because they not just look good but they also sound amazing. Now imagine my TBR growing even more :)) I need a second life just for reading all the books I want. Can’t wait to see what you think of them!

    Uuu, books that look amazing and mysterious and creepy. I haven’t heard of them but maybe I’ll check them out.

    Happy reading!

Leave a Reply