Stacking the Shelves #74

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which we feature all the book goodness that we received, borrowed or purchased during the previous week. All links are to Goodreads.

Hi there gorgeous people!  I didn't do a STS last week because I only got one book :( I didn't do much better this week, but I have big news to share with you. 

Reading with ABC is moving to WordPress! Yes, the wonderful Ashley from Nosegraze and Creative Whim now also has open her Book Host and decided to take the plunge.  She will be moving my blog next week for its new home and I'm really excited about it!  Hopefully this move will be seamless to most of you. Please be patient while I learn my way around WordPress.  

Are you in WordPress already?  Do you love it? Do you have any advice for a rookie?  Any wonderful plugins that I must have?

Here are some posts you might have missed in the past two weeks:

Audiobook review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Guest post and Giveaway: Searching for Beautiful by Nyrae Dawn

Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Discussion: Love Triangles in YA

Review: Stracrossed by Josephine Angelini 

The Beauty Edition

Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver 

Discussion: New Trends in YA

Here is what's stacking my shelves this week:

Purchased (physical books)

Shadow of the Mark by Leigh Fallon - I really enjoyed Carrier of the Mark, the first book in the series. Besides, who can resist this beautiful cover?

Kindle

Lumiére by Jackeline Garlick - Not sure how I came to get this one, but it looks awesome :)

When Lighting Strikes by Brenda Novak - Romance *sigh*

Gilded by Christina L. Farley - I've seen some pretty good reviews about this book and I got it for Kindle with the audio as well (see below)

Audible

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen - This is another book that seems to be liked by many.

Gilded by Christina L. Farley - See above

For Review

Get Happy by Mary Amato - I loved Amato's Guitar Notes and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

What's stacking your shelves this week?

Blog Tour, Guest Post and Giveaway: Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

Hi there gorgeous people!  I'm excited to be part of the Landry Park blog tour and to have author Bethany Hagen as a guest in the blog today.  You can find more information and the rest of the tour at the Merp Squad website, here. 

About the Book

Title: Landry Park 
Author: Bethany Hagen (Landry Park #1)
Published by: Dial
Release date: February 4th, 2014
Pages: 374

In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire.

Find it here: Goodreads | Amazon 

Guest Post

Does Love Really Conquer All?

I think we live in kind of a cynical time, which is the natural outcome of decades of highly commercialized romance: Valentine's Days and formulaic rom coms and seventeen different wedding dress shows and the like.  We tend to be suspicious of anything that smacks of the saccharine, and we tend to embrace things that underscore the dark or ironic elements of romance.  But love isn't the same thing as romance, and I think it's good not to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to narratives of love and romance.

In Landry Park, there are many different kinds of love at work.  Firstly, Madeline Landry loves her house and her land.  Her estate is her anchor and her center, and all of her decisions about the future are made with the estate in the front of her mind.  We have the love that Alexander Landry bears for his daughter--a stern, demanding kind of love--and the love that Madeline bears for her father, which is riddled with doubt and confusion and distance.  And then Madeline meets David Dana, a person who challenges her, who puzzles her, who seems to adore and scorn her, and a romantic love blossoms.  

All these different kinds of love push Madeline to step outside of her normal bounds of behavior and thinking, they all exert pressure on her to act, and to that end, it's love that compels her to make a decision about where she stands.  Not necessarily romantic love, but the deep love she feels for her family and for her house, and for the promise of deep love with David, is the force that eventually leads her to conquer.  

So does love conquer all?  Yes and no.  Love isn't an all-consuming force that takes over our bodies and make us do the hard things.  Love urges us, nudges us, to make difficult decisions, and it's up to us whether or not we choose to.  And some of the most wonderful books out there right now--Code Name Verity, The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, the Divergent series--they demonstrate this principle beautifully.  

Love can help us conquer all.

About the Author

Librarian by day, Bethany Hagen is the author of the forthcoming LANDRY PARK, set to be released from Dial February 4th, 2014. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and two children.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway

The giveaway is for one finished copy, bookmarks, & stickers. US Only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Merp Squad Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Mero Squad Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*