Liebster Award (5)

Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like The Hardcover Lover is starting September off with a bang! Why's that? I've been nominated for a seventh Liebster Award.

I really can't thank you enough. And I mean all seven of you who nominated me. I never thought I'd get so much recognition in such a short amount of time.

Liebster Award Number Seven is all because of Nikki at Love at First Write. Okay... can we all just take a moment to let that blog name sink in. Okay... It's adorable!

Anyway. Thank you very much, Nikki. I am very grateful that you nominated me.

Answer's to Nikki's Questions:

1. Q: Favorite Book Format?
   A: Oh. Just one. Hmmm. This is a hard one because I like so many different types of books, and because I'm not exactly sure if this question is referring to point of view, genre, or binding. I'll just give an answer for all of them just to make sure. I really enjoy omniscient books like the Harry Potter series or The Lunar Chronicles. There's just something about reading the book from an all-knowing point of view that drives me wildly insane... but in a very good way. My favorite genre is YA, and I enjoy many of the YA sub-genres. And for binding... Well you should all know the answer to that one. It's in my blog's name.
2. Q: Why did you start this Blog?
   A: I really missed blogging, and I just love books. I wanted to take my love of writing and reading to a new level. I also wanted to share my thoughts with the world.
3. Q: Favorite Childhood Book?
   A: A Little Princess
4. Q:Four Top books on you To-Read list?
   A: Lola and the Boy Next Door, Isla and the Happily Ever After, Open Road Summer, and Emma
5. Q: What do you think is your most under-appreciated post?
   A: Right now... I'm going to go with my meme, Soundtrack Saturday. I was hoping it would get a little more love on its launch day, but there's always next Saturday. You can find the information for it here if I've piqued your interest.
6. Q: Who is your favorite author and why?
   A: I have a lot of favorite authors, but I'm going to go with J.K. Rowling. Here's why: About two years ago, I was a very lost young adult. I had no friends. I had just graduated from college, and I couldn't even afford to get my teaching certificate to sub. While I worked at a pizza shop one night a week to earn the money, I started reading the Harry Potter books. Suddenly, I wasn't so lost anymore, and I redeemed myself for being too cool to finish Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when I was eleven. I could have grown up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I found them when I needed them most. Because of that, Rowling is my favorite. She gave me hope when I thought that it was lost.
7. Q: Most prized book that you own?
   A: My autographed copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower
8. Q: If you had a magic lamp, what would you wish for?
   A: Leather bound copies of all the classic books, a beautiful cottage, and lifetime season tickets for my favorite hockey team
9. Q: Describe your blog with a phrase.
   A: The Hardcover Lover is like no other.
10. Q: Favorite season?
    A: Winter. I love cold and snow.
11. Q:Share your favorite quote.
    A: I answered this the other day, too, but I love this quote so much.
    

    “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.”

It's Monday! What Are You Reading (5)

Alright, everyone. It's Monday, so it's time for another edition of "It's Monday! What Are You Reading?" The meme is hosted by BookJourney. Each Monday, you get to share the book or books that you are today and during the rest of the week.


It's a holiday in the United States, so it's been a pretty laid back day here, and I've read just a little bit so far, but I plan on doing more reading as the day turns into the evening.

Last week, I was reading Cress by Marissa Meyer, and I'm still working on reading it. It's a pretty long book, and I've just been so busy that I haven't had a chance to finish it. It'll actually be the longest book I've read this year until I finish another one that I'm reading. I really hope I'll finish it by the end of the night. Right now, I only have about two hundred pages to go. So it's very possible that I wind up finishing it before the day is over.

I'm also reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I have a hardcover of it, and it's just so big that I don't take it from place to place, so I read a little bit before bed. I've kind of been neglecting it for a few days, but I'm going to make it a point to keep reading it because I'm enjoying it.

This week, I'm also going to start reading Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. I just got it in the mail last week, and I've been dying to get my fingers between the pages. I need to know what happens with these two new characters. And I need to finish it so I can move on to Isla and the Happily Ever After. 

So that's what I'm reading this week. What are you reading this week? As always, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll be sure to reply. And feel more than welcome to leave a link to your post for the week so I can drop by and check it out.

Happy reading!

August 2014 Wrap-Up

Okay, so August is officially over, and September is here. It's Labor Day here in the United States, so it's the unofficial end to summer. The pools close, and everyone is back to school. But to remember the true meaning behind the holiday... Labor Day is really about the celebration of the American Labor Movement. I'm a firm believer in labor unions. They built this country that I love, and I'm very proud that they protect their workers. I'm also very proud to have grown up in a family with many ties to many labor unions in the area.

This is the start of one of the most beautiful parts of the year. The sun casts a certain kind of light in the mornings and evenings that I just find to be so completely beautiful. The leaves will begin to change. The air is crisp and has a cool bite to it, and the scents of fall are amazing! Apples, pumpkins, cinnamon. I just can't get over it, and so much of it really begins to change in September.

Late August and September also mean that it is back to school time, and for me (at the moment), it is back to work time. As a sub, more and more work days will become available at the end of September.

But before I say hello to September, I need to say goodbye to August. A lot of good things happened this August for me both personally and for my reading and the blog.

I turned twenty-five. I still don't know how I feel about this because I feel like I should be married or at least in a serious relationship by now. Oh well. I also babysat a lot, and made some money that I wouldn't have made, so that was fun. Exhausting, but fun.

I was asked to review quite a few books. I won quite a few books, and my blog really started to pick up this month, so I want to thank each and every one of you who reads my posts and takes the time to comment. It means the world to me. Also, the six Liebster Awards that I've won make me extremely happy. An extra special thanks goes to all who nominated me. I also bought a lot of books in August. Check the book haul and Stacking the Shelves posts if you're interested in seeing what I bought.

Now for my August Wrap-Up

Books that I read:

• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - I didn't really enjoy this book, despite all of the praise I've seen for it. You can view my full review if you haven't seen it yet.
• Mister Teacher Person by J.M. Varner - Jason and I had a few college classes together, and we recently found one another on Goodreads. He asked me to read and review an ARC of his book, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. My review is spoiler-free for those of you who would like to read it. P.S. It is for free this week for Kindle. You should go check it out.
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer - I think everyone who reads my blog knows that I am binge-reading the released books in this series. My full review can be found here.
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - Shortly after finishing my ARCs and Cinder, I read Scarlet. I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Cinder, but it was very cute and adventurous. My review can be seen here if you'd like to read it.
• The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson - Surprisingly, this is the only book the twins have asked me to read to them while I've been babysitting them this month. When I worked as an after-school care assistant at their preschool, they were always asking me to read to them. Anyways, the book is completely adorable, and it's written in poem form. I'll buy this if I ever have kids.

Looking Forward

• Susan Srikant is sending me three of her books. I'll be reading and reviewing them this month and in October.
• I am participating in an ARC Tour for Damsel Distressed, so you'll be seeing an advanced review for the book on my blog soon. I'll pass along more information when I get it so you can follow the other reviewers involved with the tour.
• I'm anxiously waiting on some September releases, so keep your eyes peeled for "Stacking the Shelves." I'll probably be buying a lot of books this month. 
• Books I plan on reading in September include:
  • Cress by Marissa Meyer
  • Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
  • The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
  • The Disappearance of Lars Wellingsworth by Susan Srikant
  • The Remedy by Susan Srikant
  • The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Stacking the Shelves (2)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly book meme created and hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you've added to your shelves throughout the week. Books can be either physical books or e-books. The books can be books that you've purchased, borrowed, or received for review or as a gift. Basically, it's just a summary of the books you're adding to your shelf during the week.


Okay. I know I promised myself that I was in the middle of a book buying ban because I have way too many books on my TBR pile right now, but I broke it today.

I went to Half Price Books with my sister to get Isla and the Happily Ever After, and I noticed that Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2) was on clearance for $2. I've been there so much recently that I knew there were a ton of the Pretty Little Liars books in the YA section. So what did I do? I grabbed them all!

 

Books I Purchased Today:

• Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
• Flawless by Sara Shepard
• Perfect by Sara Shepard
• Unbelievable by Sara Shepard
• Wicked by Sara Shepard
• Killer by Sara Shepard
• Heartless by Sara Shepard
• Twisted by Sara Shepard
• Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

I feel pretty lucky to have been able to find books two through seven in the Pretty Little Liars series. It gives me some time to find book nine in hardcover before moving on to book nine. I also bought my first Sarah Dessen book. My sister is probably going to take it because she loves Sarah Dessen, but I'll probably read it.

Update

So you might be seeing a few new changes on the blog this week.

• I just launched my book meme, Soundtrack Saturday. You should check it out, and participate.
• I've also added the "You Might Also Like" feature. There are some third-party ads, but I am not profiting from them. If you click on one of the third-party ads, the proceeds go to Make-A-Wish.
• I'm still working on my labels. It annoyed me that when I changed themes, they weren't all in the same case. I hope they will all be in uppercase soon, but it is a very tedious process to change them all, so I only change a few a day.

Soundtrack Saturday (1)

Alright, ladies and gentlemen... I've been at this whole book blogging thing for a little over a month now, and I've really been enjoying the book memes. I enjoy them so much, that I've decided to create my own!

This meme is called Soundtrack Saturday. It features both books and music. I haven't seen a meme like it, so I figured I'd give it a shot.


Guidelines:

• You can use my image or make one of your own
• Please link me somewhere in your post
• Create a soundtrack for your chosen book
• Add your name to the link-up tool so others can find and read your post
• If you add your name to the link-up, please leave a comment

Okay, so what do you have to do, right?

• Include a song that you think goes well with the beginning of your chosen book
• Include a song you think fits a character in your chosen book
• Include a song that represents a relationship in your chosen book
• Include a song that fits the ending of the book