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My Ever-Expanding Bookshelf,or Random Books I've Recently Acquired

5/12/2013

23 Comments

 
I know there are a several book blogging memes about acquiring books. In My Mailbox, Showcase Sunday, and Stacking the Shelves are a few that readily come to mind. Here at The Readventurer, we are way, way too lazy to commit to a weekly post on anything. I do, however, want to post a few times a year about a few acquisitions I make to my ever expanding bookshelves so I am going to call the series…wait for it…My Ever Expanding Bookshelf. I know, original, right? Maybe I can harass the other two into doing the same, though my powers of persuasion seem to be minimal these days. Also, I am going to leave a lot of books I purchased for myself and many I received as advanced reader copies out of this post. Why? Because it’s my post and I can do whatever I want!

I am kind of addicted to entering giveaways. I usually go through phases where I will completely binge on giveaways and spend about a half hour per day entering things. Don’t worry too much about my sanity, it is usually while I am catching up on the DVR. I try to enter all the giveaways my friends are hosting, not only because I can be snarky (some might even say annoying) in the giveaway forms, (My name, you ask? ‘IT’S ME, YOUR FRIEND FLANN! PICK ME RAFFLECOPTER, PICK ME!’) but also because I like to support them in everything they do. And boy am I lucky. From blogger giveaways, I recently won All This Could End by Steph Bowe, signed copies of Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover, The Kassa Gambit by M.C. Planck, arcs of TransAtlantic by Colum McCann and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag, a signed copy of The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph by R.L. LaFevers. From publisher giveaways I won School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, and an arc of Our Song by Jordana Friebourg.
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Won from the Dark Triumph blog tour
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Won from Maree's Musings
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Won from Layers of Thought
Won from Kelly @ Effortlessly Reading
Won from Kelly @ Effortlessly Reading
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Won from publisher giveaways.
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Won from Bonnie's Sweet Tidbits
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Won from The Reader's Den
My coup de grace was when I happened to be on Twitter and saw people tweeting about Epic Reads’ Wednesday Tea Time, which I’d never heard of. I clicked over to watch it and they were having an “arc party” and one lucky winner would win every arc they were talking about. I think you see where this is going. Here are the ones I received in my box of awesome:
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Won from @EpicReads' Wednesday Tea Time. (watch every Wed. afternoon at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/epic-reads)
I know, right? I am one lucky lady. I mailed three of the arcs off to blogger buddies of mine after I took the picture because I am not caught up on some series and they were very excited to read and review them. It would be jerky of me not to help my friends out! Because I sent a Twitter friend of mine the Kasie West arc, she kindly mailed me her arc of Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier, which I have been looking forward to since I read Shadowfall last…fall.

Here are ways I find giveaways, in case you are wondering:

1)      On Twitter, I search “signed copy,” “win a copy,” “book giveaway,” “blog tour,” “blog hop” etc.
2)      I read through all the post headings in my Google Reader/Bloglovin’ and find ones that might have a giveaway. (Listen, I also read regular posts, I'm not a jerk, but I'm specifically talking about how I find giveaways to enter. I don't unfollow people after giveaways are over, either, unless they clog up my Twitter feeds.)
3)      I go through the giveaways lists on I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and often make my way through the giveaway hop lists. (this is huge time suck, though)
4)      I sometimes google the Twitter search terms I mentioned and add a filter for the past few days
5)      I ‘liked’ most of the publishers I read on Facebook and Twitter, as often they will run promotions through their websites and Facebooks and mention them on those platforms.
6)      I subscribed to Shelf Awareness (for Readers and Pro), Publishers Weekly, and Tor.com e-newsletters, which sometimes have giveaways in them.
7)      I attend many, many book events and often, if there is a publishing rep there (and sometimes even where there isn’t!), there is a giveaway or a few, especially if it is a multi-author tour.
8)      I regularly check publisher websites, which often run giveaways.
9)      I can’t think of any more line items at this moment.
10)   Which is a shame because everyone knows you need 10 line items to make a list.
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Gifts (and one swap) from the last week.
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Purchased in the last week.

The biggest time investment in obtaining books is making friends and maintaining friendships. Barf. Who needs friends, amiright? All those months (years!) of feigning interest netted me two books this week: Bronze Gods by A.A. Aguirre (from Maja!) and Wildlife by Fiona Wood (from Nomes, with candy!). Huzzah! And though I know most of you know I am kidding, just let it be known that I am joking about feigning interest. It is probably a little sick how interested I am in the lives of my friends. The only other books I want to mention are Blackout by Mira Grant, which I found in perfect condition at Half Price Books for $4 the other day, The Witness by Nora Roberts, which I undercover bought at Costco when my mom asked me to go there to pick up some stuff for her (Muahahaha!), and a remaindered copy of Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt that I found at Third Place Books when I went to see R.L. LaFevers. That one made me insanely happy as I read an e-arc and did not have a hardcover copy.

So what about you? Do you enter giveaways? Have any tips or tricks for me? Have you acquired any great books lately?
Readventurer F Signature
23 Comments
Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings link
5/12/2013 03:38:07 am

Flann, go enter a lottery woman! You're on a roll! I'm really excited to see what you think of Bronze Gods (sitting on my shelf too), Wildlife (I STILL need to read Six Impossible Things!), Raven Flight (NetGalley is taking forever to get back to me and the initial reviews have been kinda lame, but I hope it isn't as boring as they say it is!), All This Could End, and The Burning Sky. Also, I cannot thank you enough for sending me The Bitter Kingdom! I devoured it already, despite its release date months away, and LOVED it, so thank you so much!<33 Enjoy all your new reads, dear! :D

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2013 08:22:58 am

I bought 20 dollars worth of Powerball tickets today lol. There's no way my ridiculous luck can translate to anything "real." I did, however, win a 100 movie collection today:)

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Kara link
5/12/2013 05:20:44 am

Flannery, I am impressed. I used to do the giveaway thing a lot when I first started blogging and I rarely won. I don't have your luck! And I felt like it was such a waste of time when I only won once in a blue moon. But I don't think I would feel that way if I won a lot like you did. That's amazing!

I remember you winning that Tea Time arc pile. I was so happy when someone I knew won. And that was your first time going too? WOWWWW.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing your reviews for many of these. And once again, CONGRATS!

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2013 08:26:05 am

I stopped entering anything for a while. I mostly don't enter anything for arcs unless I am super excited about it and KNOW I will read it. Now I am kind of addicted to entering ones for finished copies and signed copies that I can keep as part of my permanent collection.

I couldn't believe it when I won that Tea Time giveaway but there are several there that I am so excited about. Let me know if there's anything you want to read in there:)

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Bonnie link
5/12/2013 06:25:32 am

Oh... Life After Life was amazing. One of my favorite reads of the year. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Bronze Gods, it sounds like a fantastic steampunk (that I might actually enjoy. Steampunk and I don't usually get along.) Have you not read Blackout yet?? *GASP* I hope you love it. :) Can't wait to see what you think of 'Hope Street' too.

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2013 08:27:55 am

Bonnie, you have no idea how excited you made me for Life After Life and The Silver Girls (?) by Lauren Beukes. I read your review of the latter yesterday and I'm still thinking about how much you liked it and how interesting it sounded.

And I KNOW I need to finish Blackout:) I listened to Deadline last month so I am all caught up before reading the last one.

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Lucy link
5/12/2013 09:38:19 am

That is so cool that you won the epicreads contest! I haven't had a chance to check out tea time but it sounds like a blast.

I had to check to see if you read The Distance Between Us yet because that book looks awesome to me. And yay, you rated it 4 stars!

Thanks for the giveaway tips. When I think of it I list my giveaways and check the listings on Pure Imagination's Saturday Situation.

I got my copies of the Colleen Hoover books signed recently too. Maybe your books were signed at the same event! Love her books.

Happy reading and stay lucky!

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2013 11:45:52 am

I bet they were! I think Rachel got them signed at an event in LA:)

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Chachic link
5/12/2013 01:14:24 pm

You have a copy of Wildlife! I'm so jealous. It's not even out in Australia yet, right? So Nomes probably sent you an early review copy. Feighning interest does pay off. :P Other than that, Not A Drop to Drink also looks interesting - I've seen it mentioned on Twitter. Another title that I've been hearing about on Twitter is Wild Awake, but I don't think that's included in your stash.

Haha it's so funny that you join so many giveaways, you're so productive even when you're catching up on watching shows. I don't know if I can multi-task like that. I remember you said that you also comment on blogs while watching shows.

This is actually inspiring, I should join more giveaways. But it really is sad that there aren't as many international giveaways as US ones.

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2013 01:47:30 pm

There are quite a few international ones, though. All the Book Depository ones! If I didn't multitask, I doubt I'd get much done in the evenings. Right now, I am watching the new Game of Thrones episode:)

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Chachic link
5/12/2013 03:03:32 pm

Oooh the Book Depository giveaways sound interesting. Do they usually require that you follow their blogs? What do you use to follow now that Google Reader is gone? Sigh, I haven't even been able to start on the latest season of Game of Thrones, I wonder when I'll get the chance to do that.

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2013 04:14:14 am

There are usually a bunch of international ones on Iamareader.com's giveaway hop lists. I'd say at least half of them. Sometimes they require following but usually there is a free entry or you can follow on ANY platform--Bloglovin, GFC, email, facebook, Twitter, etc. Also, I remember reading something the other day that it is against FTC regulations to require following on giveaways now. The only mandatory entry can be leaving a comment, I guess. But we'll see if that ever catches on:)

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Chachic link
5/13/2013 03:36:30 pm

Okay, thanks for the heads up! I should check out some of those giveaways. I hope that particular FTC regulation catches on but we'll see. Whenever I do a giveaway, I never require people to follow. Although I do giveaways so rarely. LOL.

Jasprit link
5/12/2013 06:56:42 pm

Flann you are an awesome run lately, that is one amazing haul! I can't stop looking at the books from the Epic Reads Tea party! You have a copy of Deception!! Eeeee! I normally stumble across giveaways either through my bloglovin feed or whenever Kathy from I am a Readers hosts all these great hops, there's always a great bunch of international ones thrown in there. I can't wait to see what you make of all of these books especially Wildlife and Deception! Happy reading! :)

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Flannery (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2013 05:09:36 am

Thanks, Jasprit! I still need to read Defiance, which I hear mixed things about but lots of bloggers/readers seem to love it so I am still really excited about it. Wildlife I almost peed myself in excitement over when I picked it up at the post office. I love Fiona Wood.

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reynje link
5/12/2013 08:57:14 pm

Whoa.. I'm kind of amazed by your powers of persistence with giveaway entries :) I'm so lazy.. I see giveaways and comps and I think 'that would be awesome! I should enter' and then I think 'ehh.. i might go over to tumblr instead'. And see what happens? No books for me!! Wah!

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Sam (Realm of Fiction) link
5/13/2013 07:51:06 am

You have a scary amount luck on your side! I don't win giveaways very often myself, so it's always REALLY exciting when it does happen. ;) Though, now that I think about it, I don't enter nearly as many contests as I used to. Most of the time it's just giveaways that I stumble across when visiting friends' blog.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your tips! I will put them to use eventually, I'm sure. And I'm glad that there is somebody else in this world who appreciates the 10-for-a-list rule.

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Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
5/13/2013 05:23:16 pm

I am cracking up at this post. Any tips or tricks for you?! My strategy is to hope you win a book I want to read! BTW, thanks for sharing your loot. :)

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Cassi Haggard link
5/13/2013 08:40:15 pm

WHOA. I've not won a giveaway in AGES. Luck is apparently smiling on you though. Thoroughly impressed.

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molly @ wrapped up in books link
5/14/2013 12:03:25 am

You won all those books?! I swear, I enter giveaways a lot too (sometimes even if I am not interested in the title personally, because I give away a signed book at teen book club each month) and I NEVER win. I won a book on Goodreads (supposedly), and it never even came!

Haha, oh well. It's not like I'm running out of things to read :)

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elena link
6/5/2013 07:38:11 am

WHOA to all those books! Belated congrats! It must be so exciting winning all those books esp that Epic Reads box. Thanks for sharing your tips too. Maybe your luck will rub off on me if I do enter to win anything. <3

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Alyssa link
6/8/2013 02:04:10 am

It's so funny that you talk about how you binge on giveaways because I do the same thing and I have been super lucky lately! I was specifically searching for my new favorite authors and I have won all kinds of awesome things! I am so jelly of your physical copy of Raven Flight, I got it on NG and I will of course be buying but I kinda wanna pet the pretties, ya know?

I hope your luck keeps up, my friend!!

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