Stacking the Shelves #49

I've only had one Stacking the Shelves posted in the past... 6 months or so! I haven't made it a priority to go out looking for books like I used to. I do miss making these posts though. I have just a couple of books to share with you all this week so here they are! 

For Review

From Netgalley:

The Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn by Sam Gayton

From the Library

This is the 3rd and final book in the Books of Beginning series, a middle grade time travel adventure that I really loved. So glad to finally be finishing this! 

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What have you added to your shelves this week?

Book Review: The Map to Everywhere by Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis

Title: The Map to Everywhere
Authors: Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis
Series: Map to Everywhere #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 4, 2014
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy Adventure
Length: 448 pages

Source: borrowed

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N 

Synopsis:

Wherever you need to go--the Map to Everywhere can take you there.

To Master Thief Fin, an orphan from the murky pirate world of the Khaznot Quay, the Map is the key to finding his mother. To suburban schoolgirl Marrill, it's her only way home after getting stranded on the Pirate Stream, the magical waterway that connects every world in creation. With the help of a bumbling wizard and his crew, they must scour the many worlds of the Pirate Stream to gather the pieces of the Map to Everywhere--but they aren't the only ones looking. A sinister figure is hot on their tail, and if they can't beat his ghostly ship to find the Map, it could mean the destruction of everything they hold dear!

In New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis's first installment of a fantastical new series, adventure, magic, and hilarity collide in the treacherous skies and dangerous waters of the Pirate Stream. Heart-pounding escapades and a colorful cast of characters will have readers setting sail through the wholly original and unforgettable tale.

My Thoughts:

Every once in a while I will find a cover that immediately makes me want to read the book. Sometimes it is a big disappointment when the cover is better but in this case, the cover really epitomizes the story. The illustrator did an amazing job of capturing these characters and the adventurous world they are in, not only on the cover but throughout the book. This book screams adventure and that is exactly what you get! 

Master Thief Fin is an orphan that no one remembers. Literally. He doesn't know why but no one can remember him for more than a few seconds. Until he meets Marrill that is. Marrill accidentally ended up on the wizard Ardent's ship, the Kraken, when the Pirate Stream appeared in a parking lot near her home in Arizona and whisks her away to Khaznot Quay where she runs into Fin. Fin is looking for his mother and Marrill is looking for a way to get back to her own mother. What can help them find their way? A map of course! The Map to Everywhere, to be exact! But the map is in pieces and they must find them all before the evil Oracle, Serth, gets to them first and destroys all the worlds that the Pirate Stream brings together.

This is a masterful adventure woven by husband and wife. Davis and Ryan have created a world of worlds that I am eager to continue exploring. I'm not sure if there are any more parts to this story after City of Thirst but I sincerely hope so! With the Pirate Stream being a magical waterway that connects different worlds, I can see how they could take this series pretty far! 

This book has everything I hoped for in an adventure. Magic, pirate ships, talking trees, skysailing!!! I really want to skysail now! I would recommend it to anyone who loves adventures, pirates, and magic!

This was just soo good! I think this is my favorite book of the year! Even my husband enjoyed it! I read a few chapters out loud to him and my daughter every day. I plan on adding this book to my personal library so I can read it to her again when she is old enough to be interested or so she can read it herself! 

My Rating:

5 stars

Flights of Fantasy Challenge Sign Up & Goals

The Flights of Fantasy Challenge is hosted by Alexa Loves Books and Hello Chellly.

The challenge will run from January 1 - December 31st, 2016

If you'd like to learn more about this challenge and/or sign up, you can do so HERE. 

This will be my first time participating in this challenge. I'm a fantasy addict so I know I can join in on this challenge without any pressure to read more fantasy. I will challenge myself to read at least 10 if not more fantasy novels this year. I know that it seems like a low goal but considering all of my other goals and how little I have time to read these days, 10 is better for me than 20 or more.
I like that there are no levels for this challenge. I can read however many fantasy novels as I please without giving myself a label and that is perfect because I just like to read fantasy. I don't want there to be any pressure to do so but I want to participate and join in on conversations and such that revolve around my favorite genre. 

A few books that I already planned on reading this year:

Top Ten Tuesday #60 {2016 Resolutions}

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Top Ten 2016 Bookish Goals & Resolutions

1. Read 30+ books - I keep this goal low because it is hard to find the time to read with a one year old!

2. Read at least 5 Book to Movie Adaptations - There are so many every year it is really hard to keep up!

3. Finish at least 3 Series - I plan on finishing at least 5 but in case I can't find the time, 3 is fine.

4. Start no more than 10 new series - This is probably going to be a big fail. It's really hard not to read that shiny new book that turns out to be the first in a series. 

5. Read at least 10 books from the '1001 Books To Read Before You Grow Up' list - I will probably read more than 10 since I read books to my daughter every single day and would like to tackle a lot of books on this list.

6. Read at least 2 classics - I LOVE classics but they are long and time consuming.

7.  Participate in at least 1 read-a-thon - This depends on how much time I can pull together to read. I will most likely join in on the first Bout of Books of the year while I'm still super eager to work on my goals.

8. Have at least 100 blog posts by the end of the year - I couldn't find the time to blog very much in 2015. I'd like to remedy that, even if I have to write a ton of posts in the middle of the night.

9. Record that I have read at least 100 books with my daughter - I read anywhere from 1 to 5 picture books with my daughter every day but they are usually re-reads or I forget to record that I read them on Goodreads.

10. Keep up with my challenges on my Goodreads 'The Book Challenge' Group. 

What are YOUR goals for 2016?

2016 Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge

Hosted by Emily @ Falling For YA

• The Challenge will run from Jan 1, 2016 - Dec 31, 2016
• Anyone is welcome to join. You do not need to be a blogger, just post your reviews and come back every month to link them up.
• Any genre, release date, request date, length, etc. counts so long as it came from Edelweiss or Netgalley.
• At the beginning of each month there will be a roundup post for you to add your reviews.
• If you forget to link up one month it's not a problem. Add your reviews next month or go back to the month your review was posted and link to that list.
• If you would like to move up or down levels that is completely fine and at your discretion.
• If you have any questions, tweet Emily @FallingForYA or emailEmisbookblog@aol.com

LEVELS

BRONZE - 10 Books

SILVER - 25 Books

GOLD - 50 Books

PLATINUM - 75 Books

DIAMOND - 100 Books

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I currently have a rating of 53% on Netgalley. I requested a bunch of books when I first found out about Netgalley a few years ago before I had an ereader. My computer crashed, I moved, and when I got it all set back up, the books were no longer available to read. Sooo, there went my rating! I've spent the past 6 months reading a book here and there to get that rating back up and now that I have a tablet to read on I plan on getting that up to 80% by the end of 2016. Hopefully.
I am on Edelweiss as well (very recently) but I find it a little difficult to find something I'd love to read on there. Any tips?

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Want to join in on this challenge?
Sign Up Here

Around the World Challenge 2016

Hosted by All About Books

AROUND THE WORLD 2016 CHALLENGE

I participated in this last year and quite enjoyed it though I forgot to add a few locations from a few books. It's a lot of fun to see where all you have been throughout the world in your imagination.

This challenge is just for fun and can be used as motivation to read more books with diverse settings. 

There are mini challenges that seem like a lot of fun to attempt such as reading a book for each continent and reading a book for each state in the US but I'm not going to make any of them a priority. I will go back at the end of the year and see if I've completed any of them, though.

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Locations I Have Visited in 2016 Via Literature:

January

And a close up of that cluster:

(Pride and Prejudice and Zombies)
England

(The House of Hades)
Apenine Mountains, Italy
Bologna, Italy
Venice, Italy
Adriatic Sea
Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croatia
Valletta,  Malta
Ionian Sea
Epirus, Greece

(The Blood of Olympus)
Ithaca, Greece
Mount Vesuvius, Italy
Pompeii, Italy
Kladeos River
Evora, Portugal
Olympia, Greece
Pylos, Greece
Sparta, Greece
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Buford, South Carolina
Mykonos, Greece
Delos, Greece
Epidaurus, Greece
Pireaus, Greece
Athens, Greece
Long Island, New York

(City of Thirst)
Arizona

(Madam Bovary)
Rouen, France
Tostes, France
Vassonville, France

February

(The Inn Between)
Denver, Colorado
Nevada

(The Mouse and the Motorcycle)
Sierra Nevada, California

(The Sword of Summer)
Boston, Massachusetts 

March

(The Great Gilly Hopkins)
Thompson Park, Maryland
Jackson, Virginia

(The Girl On The Train)
London, England
Ashbury, England
Witney, England

(The Trumpet of the Swan)
Ontario, Canada
Billings, Montana
Red Rock Lakes
Boston, Massachussetts
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(The Westing Game)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Lake Michigan

(Me Before You)
Central London
Stortford, Hertfordshire, England
Mauritius
Zurich, Switzerland
Paris, France

(The Slave Dancer)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Bight of Benin, off the coast of Africa
Sao Tome

(Ready Player One)
Oklahoma City
Boston
Oregon
(From memory. Forgot to keep track)

(The Girl With All the Gifts)
London, England
Stotfold, England
Stevenage, England

APRIL

(Wonder)
North River Heights, (top of Manhattan), NY

(Ink and Bone)
London, England
Takes train from London to France to Spain to Morocco to 
Alexandria, Egypt
Oxford, England

(The Dark Days Club)
Mayfair, England

MAY

(Cress)
Sahara Desert
Farafrah, Egypt
Kufra, Egypt
Siberian Tundra (Russia)
Beijing (China)

(Tru & Nelle)
Monroeville, Alabama

(On Your Mark: The Adventure Begins)
Delaware, US

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(The Light Between Oceans)
Sydney, Australia
Janus Rock
Byron's Bay

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Mini Challenge Progress

*Continents Visited*
Europe
North America
Africa
Asia
(Eurasia - since Russia spans both Europe & Asia)

*Countries Visited*
England
Italy
Croatia
Malta
Greece
Portugal
Puerto Rico
France
United States
Canada
Sao Tome 
Mauritius
Spain
Morocco
Egypt
Russia
China


*United States Visited*
Arizona
New York
South Carolina
Colorado
California
Massachusetts
Nevada
Virginia
Maryland
Montana
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
Louisiana
Oregon
Oklahoma
Alabama
Delaware

(Mini challenges for reference)

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Bout of Books 15 Read-a-thon Sign Up & Goals

The Bout of Books Read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On A Book Bender and  Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins at 12:01 am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -The Bout of Books Team

Another year, another Bout of Books Read-a-thon!

I try to participate in this at least once a year, no matter how much or how little time I have to read. Lately I haven't done too great with the goals and I probably won't get to read much this week either, but I am going to try.
I JUST started reading a book that is almost 600 pages so that will probably take me a while to get through. Hopefully I can read at least 2-3 books though.

Currently Reading:

OTHER TBR CHOICES:

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Want to participate?
SIGN UP HERE