ARC August - Final Update

Hey there, everyone! I hope you enjoyed your last few days of August. Can you believe that September is literally right on our heels? With that, it's time for another ARC August update! Sadly, this is my last ARC August update for the year, but I still have quite a few ARCs to read over the next few months. I'll definitely be reading them and reviewing them.

Now, in case you missed out on all of the ARC August posts, I'll fill you in before I give you my final update:

• It's an annual event hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read.Sleep.Repeat 
• Participants try to read as many ARCs (advance reader copies) as they can during the month 

You can find my sign-up post with my TBR here, and you'll be able to tell that I didn't have the most successful ARC August. (Oh well... it was my first one, and there's always next year!) You'll also be able to find my weekly updates in my blog archive.

ARC Review: Dumplin'

Title: Dumplin'

Author: Julie Murphy

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: September 15, 2015

Source: Books for Trade from Ashley

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour: Wrap Up Post

The 2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour is hosted by Amber and Jessica at The Book Bratz. The purpose of the summer-long tour is to get to know other book bloggers while promoting their blogs so that others can discover the many great bloggers in the book blogosphere.

Throwback Thursday: Lessons from a Past Erin (1)

Today, I'm trying something new out on the blog. I'm not sure if this has been done before, so if it has, I take no claim for it at all. I just thought it would be cool to share some of what I learned in college. What you're going to find in these Throwback Thursday lessons are notes that I took during my Young Adult Literature class. Some of what I use will be notes that I took during class, and other times, I'll share the thoughts that I came up with while learning.

Keep in mind that I don't really have a lot of notes from this class. It was only a fifteen week course, but I'll share as much as I can, and if it proves to be a much loved feature, I'll keep this format and share some of my own lessons.

So I give you Throwback Thursday: Lessons from a Past Erin. In this feature, I'll be sharing some of my old notes and thoughts that I had when I first started to really read YA. It's kind of hard for me to even believe that before that class, I hadn't read many YA novels, especially considering where I am now.

Waiting on Wednesday (38)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly, bookish meme created and hosted by Jill. You can find out more information on her blog, Breaking the Spine.

The meme helps book bloggers and readers shine a spotlight om some of the many upcoming releases that we are all patiently (but most likely impatiently) waiting on. Get it?

It's pretty simple to participate in Waiting on Wednesday:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles)
• Be sure to credit Jill in your post
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog

ARC Review: Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle

Title: Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle

Series: Vivian Apple

Author: Katie Coyle

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Source: HMH for Review Purposes

Add it to Goodreads 

“GET ANGRY. We should all be so pissed at the Church of America that we’re willing to break our hands in the metaphorical punching of its metaphorical face.”  —Harpreet Janda, fugitive   

The predicted Rapture by Pastor Frick’s Church of America has come and gone, and three thousand Believers are now missing or dead. Seventeen-year-old Vivian Apple and her best friend, Harpreet, are revolutionaries, determined to expose the Church’s diabolical power grab . . . and to locate Viv’s missing heartthrob, Peter Ivey. This fast-paced, entertaining sequel to Vivian Apple at the End of the World challenges readers to consider how to live with integrity in a disintegrating world. 

Top Ten Tuesday (25)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by the awesome ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. They created this particular feature because they love making and sharing bookish lists with their readers. Every week, there is a new topic, and bloggers are encouraged to share their own lists with everyone in the book community.

It's really easy to join:

• Go to The Broke and the Bookish to check this week's topic
• Come up with a top ten list of your own and post it
• Share your link on The Broke and Bookish

ARC Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between

Title: A Curious Tale of the In-Between

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Source: ARC from Bloomsbury

Add it to Goodreads

Pram Bellamy is special—she can talk to ghosts. She doesn’t have too many friends amongst the living, but that’s all right. She has her books, she has her aunts, and she has her best friend, the ghostly Felix.

Then Pram meets Clarence, a boy from school who has also lost a parent and is looking for answers. Together they arrive at the door of the mysterious Lady Savant, who promises to help. But this spiritualist knows the true nature of Pram’s power, and what she has planned is more terrifying than any ghost.

Lauren DeStefano is beloved by critics and readers alike, and her middle grade debut is lyrical, evocative and not to be missed.

2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour: Bibliosmiles

The 2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour is hosted by the wonderful bloggers at The Book Bratz, Amber and Jessica. It works like a summer-long blog tour, but instead of promoting books and authors, we're promoting other bloggers!

This week, I'm featuring Danielle from Bibliosmiles, and she's here today to tell you all about her favorite books from when she was a student.

Soundtrack Saturday (33)

Happy Saturday, little Hardcover Lovers! It's been a long, long time since my last Soundtrack Saturday post, and I'm sorry about that. I've been really busy with working and job applications, and I felt like I was behind on reading. But I'm caught up now, and I hope that I can bring you a few more of these before things get busy again.

In case you're new to The Hardcover Lover, Soundtrack Saturday is a weekly feature that I started to share playlists with my readers. There's a catch, though. All of my playlists are based on books that I've read!

As with all bookish memes, there are a few easy steps to follow to help you create your own perfect Soundtrack Saturday post:

• Choose a book that you've read or are currently reading - any book is fine!
• Create a mini (four songs) or full soundtrack (ten-fifteen songs) for that book based on characters and plot details
  
  • For more detailed instructions, please visit the meme's homepage.
• Please credit me somewhere in your post
  
  • It can be as simple as "Soundtrack Saturday was created by Erin at The Hardcover Lover."
• Leave a comment on my blog post if you enjoy the feature
• Add your name to the link-up tool at the bottom of the post

ARC August Update: Week Three

Hey there, everyone! It's time for another ARC August update! I kind of forgot about a week two post, but today, I'm filling you in on how I've been doing since my first ARC August update post, which can be found here.

In case you don't remember or if you haven't heard of ARC August, here's the key information that you need:

• It's an annual event hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read.Sleep.Repeat 
• Participants try to read as many ARCs (advance reader copies) as they can during the month 

You can find my sign-up post with my TBR here, and see how I'm doing with my reading progress.

Book Review: That Summer

Title: That Summer

Author: Sarah Dessen
Format: Paperback (reissue)

Publisher: Speak 
Publication Date: June 2012 (originally published on January 1, 1996)

Source: Purchased

Goodreads | Amazon

The more things change...

As far as Haven is concerned, there's just too much going on.

Everything is changing, and she's not sure where she fits in.

Then her sister's old boyfriend shows up, sparking memories of the summer when they were all happy and everything was perfect...

But along the way, Haven realizes that sometimes change is a good thing.

ARC Review: The Boy Most Likely To

Title: The Boy Most Likely To

Companion To: My Life Next Door

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: August 18, 2015

Source: Penguin Teen for Review
Add it to Goodreads

Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
- find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
- need a liver transplant
- drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
- well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more. 

2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour: The Writing Duo

The 2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour is hosted by Amber and Jessica from the wonderful blog, The Book Bratz. It's a blog tour, but instead of promoting authors and books, we're promoting our fellow book bloggers!

ARC Review: Twisted Fate

Title: Twisted Fate

Author: Norah Olson

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: January 20, 2015

Source: ARC gifted from Sarah

When Alyson meets Graham Copeland, the new boy next door, she instantly feels like he’s a kindred spirit—shy and awkward like her, someone who has trouble making friends. It’s impossible to resist having a crush on him.

As usual, her sister, Sydney, sees things differently. In Sydney's mind, Graham's odd personality and secretive past scream psychopath, not sweetheart. Her gut is telling her to stay away from him, and to protect a love-struck Alyson from her own naïveté. But despite her instincts, Sydney is surprised to realize that a part of her is drawn to Graham, too.

And the more Sydney gets to know him, the more she realizes just how right—and wrong—she is about everything.

Perfect for fans of Michelle Hodkin, and E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars, Twisted Fate is an unputdownable novel, teeming with suspense.

Movie Review: Insurgent

Title: The Divergent Series: Insurgent  

Based on the Novel by Veronica Roth

Directed By: Robert Schwntke 

Written By: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback 

Produced By: Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shabazian 

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet

Genre: Action, Dystopia

Distributed By: Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate

Now on the run from Jeanine (Kate Winslet) and the rest of the power-hungry Erudites, Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) search for allies and answers in the ruins of Chicago. They must find out what Tris' family sacrificed their lives to protect and why the Erudites will do anything to stop them. Side by side, Tris and Four face one seemingly insurmountable challenge after another, as they unravel the secrets of the past and -- ultimately -- the future of their world.

ARC August Update - Week One

Hey, you with the pretty face! Did you remember when I said I'd be participating in ARC August? No?! Well I am, and today, I'm bringing you my first update of the month. Albeit, it's kind of a short update, but I've managed to read one ARC with my busy life right now. (Seriously... it's been so busy... I had a birthday, I've been applying for teaching jobs like crazy, and I've got a few personal things going on. It's insane!)

In case you don't remember or if you haven't heard of ARC August, here's the key information that you need:

• It's an annual event hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read.Sleep.Repeat 
• Participants try to read as many ARCs (advance reader copies) as they can during the month

Waiting on Wednesday (37)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly, bookish meme created and hosted by Jill. You can find out more information on her blog, Breaking the Spine.

The meme helps book bloggers and readers shine a spotlight om some of the many upcoming releases that we are all patiently (but most likely impatiently) waiting on. Get it?

It's pretty simple to participate in Waiting on Wednesday:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles)
• Be sure to credit Jill in your post
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog

The YA Novels on Oyster Unlimited is Seriously Insane! + GIVEAWAY

Hey there, everyone! Today is a pretty exciting day here at The Hardcover Lover because I have some amazing news for you, especially if you are an E-book lover!

Oyster and I are teaming up today so that everyone can see all of the amazing YA books that are available to you right now through Oyster Unlimited!

And... there's a special offer for everyone who reads this post... You'll be able to try Oyster for yourself for only $0.99! Yes... you read that right! You'll be able to try out Oyster for three months for less than one dollar!

ARC Review: Never Always Sometimes

Title: Never Always Sometimes

Author: Adi Alsaid

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Source: Harlequin Teen

Goodreads

Never date your best friend

Always be original

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour: The Tattooed Biblio

The 2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour is hosted by The Book Bratz, Amber and Jessica. The eight-week tour works like a blog tour, but instead of promoting books, we're promoting other bloggers. Everyone has had a different blogger each week, so look back at those posts to discover some new and fabulous bloggers.

This week, I'm featuring Lauren from The Tattooed Biblio, but you might also recognize her as one of the bloggers behind The Broke and Bookish. Today, she'll be sharing her story about her blogging journey.

Cover Reveal: Falling for Shakespeare by Erin Butler

Hey, there everyone! It's been a while since I've done a cover reveal because I'm kind of picky about them. But this book's synopsis really grabbed me, so I knew that I would have to jump on the opportunity to share it with you!

I hope you are all ready for some excitement today because after the jump, you'll be able to see the Xpresso Book Tours exclusive cover reveal for Erin Butler's upcoming YA novel, Falling for Shakespeare!

Waiting on Wednesday (36)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly, bookish meme created and hosted by Jill. You can find out more information on her blog, Breaking the Spine.

The meme helps book bloggers and readers shine a spotlight om some of the many upcoming releases that we are all patiently (but most likely impatiently) waiting on. Get it?

It's pretty simple to participate in Waiting on Wednesday:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles)
• Be sure to credit Jill in your post
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog

ARC August TBR

Hey, everyone! I've been really busy lately, and because of that, I'm probably one of the last ones to let you know, but I'm participating in my first ever ARC August this year! And this event couldn't have come at a better time because I have a pile of ARCs waiting for me to read them.

You may remember that at this point last year, I'd only been blogging for a few weeks, and I'd already read the few ARCs that I had in my possession. So that means that I am extremely excited to be able to join in on all of the ARC August fun.

2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour: ReadWriteLove28

The 2015 Summer Blogger Promo Tour is hosted by Amber and Jessica at The Book Bratz. It's a blog tour that promotes and showcases many different bloggers from the book blogging world.