7 February 2010

In My Mailbox #29 + A BLOG MAKEOVER!

Hello, kids - today we'll be discussing my shiny new books & my super duper new layout, how exciting is that?! :)

Firstly, I got some amazing books this week and here they are in all their glory:



PLAYING THE FIELD by Zoë Foster - Having adored Air Kisses, I've been wanting to read this one soooo badly, but since it has just been published in Australia, it isn't available on Amazon or Book Depository, boo. :( Thus I'd like to thank (like, a million times) the awesome Zoë and her publicist Kim for very kindly sending me this book and making me a veeeery happy bunny!

SWEET LITTLE LIES by Lauren Conrad - I bought the first book ages ago and still haven't read it, but I pre-ordered the second one nonetheless because it was so cheap that I just couldn't resist. Cute cover too!

PRINCESS FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt - Another book that I pre-ordered a while ago! I went with the UK cover because it was three times cheaper than the US one and I have to admit I wasn't too sure about the UK cover at first, but it looks lovely in person and it's really growing on me!

Secondly, my blog has just received AN EXTREME MAKEOVER!!!
I've been wanting a three column layout for a while now and I had a general idea what I wanted my layout to look like so I contacted Rachel @ Parajunkee Design to help me out - and here's the result! Click here to see what my layout looked like before - yeah, talk about an upgrade of the year, huh? :) I think Rachel did an amazing, amazing job and I couldn't be more pleased with the final result - it's a million times better than I expected!
Rachel is so creative and I really can't recommend her enough! She's a book blogger herself and she offers 25 % discount for book bloggers and authors so she's really affordable and worth every single dime!
I contacted her saying I'd like to have a banner with three girls reading on a couch and each sort of personifying three genres I read most often: chick lit, historical and YA. She did the first draft incredibly fast and it was amazing, but then I still had like a million suggestions and ideas what could be changed and tweaked and whatnot. Trust me, I'm not the kind of person to say, "Just make my layout look pretty!", I pretty much commented on every colour and shape and came up with neverending ideas and suggestions, which probably drove poor Rachel crazy, lol. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I bet I was the customer from hell, but Rachel seriously did the most awesome job - not only did she carry out my ideas, she made them look even better! So I really just want to thank her for putting up with me and creating my favourite layout ever!
Phew, that was long and rambly as always, lol!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that Parajunkee is amazing and that I simply adore my new layout and I hope you like it too! :)

ps: Oh and I'm also in the process of creating my Goodreads account (it's nowhere near done and it's taking ages, I still have many more books to add and no time), but still feel free to have a look and follow me there or whatever: click here to visit my profile. I'm really new to it so excuse all the mess, I'll sort everything out soon! :)

31 comments:

Little Miss Becky :) said...

Great books this week---and I love the new layout!

Laura Hartness said...

I LOVE your new layout! Parajunkee has done it again! Congratulations!

Laura Hartness
The Calico Critic

Unknown said...

I love your layout. Your header is amazing! Congrats! Can't wait to hear what you think of Sweet Little Lies. I nearly bought L.A.Candy yesterday. The cover is just soooo good.

Wings said...

yeay!!! i reckon Parajunkee will have probably done all our layouts by the end of the year lol..

i love it!!!!

and excellent haul aswell very interesting :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on the new layout I think it looks great! :)

Rebecca said...

Great books you got this week. I love your new layout. Hope you enjoy reading all your books.

Vicki said...

I love the new look, it's gorgeous! Some cute looking books too.

Tales of Whimsy said...

A. Sweet stack!
B. OMG! I LOVE it! The makeover is truly beautiful!

The Sweet Bonjour said...

The layout is amazing! Great books :)

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Books and blog looks great. I go with a three column layout too and I really like it a lot.

Anonymous said...

I love your new layout! So jealous of Playing The Field. I adore books about WAGs! I'm reading her first so will see what I think. I got Sweet Little Lies this week too - go us! x

Anonymous said...

These books all look like a lot of fun! The covers are super pretty as well. I really like your new layout. I love the colours and all the flowers.

Enjoy your books! :D

Emily said...

Great books this week and congrats on the new layout- it looks awesome! Rachel is amazing. :D

I also wanted to tell you that I'm really enjoying your posts and am now a follower. Keep up the great work!

Emily
What Book is That?

Luisa at Chicklish said...

I love the new look - it's gorgeous! Yay - congratulations!

Lovely books, too. I have a copy of Princess for Hire on its way too (also UK cover!) and I can't wait to read it!

Ashley said...

Love the layout!

Kathy Martin said...

What a gorgeous layout. And great books too. Happy reading!

YA Book Queen said...

Incredible layout, and a cute set of books! :)

Kirsty said...

Fantastic new layout - looks absolutley gorgeous :) xx

in which a girl reads said...

Love the makeover! I just redid my blog layout yesterday too, new header and everything. Princess for Hire looks fab!

Happy Reading :D

Chioma said...

I am 100% in love with the new look. Parajunkee is an absolute genius when it comes to layouts!!! I love it!!!

Emidy @ Une Parole said...

Very, very pretty layout! I'm so jealous! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on those new books.

Emidy
Une Parole

Jenny N. said...

I love the new look and I really have to start saving up for a makeover on my blog.

prophecygirl said...

I love your new layout too! :) And great book week!

Justine said...

LOVELY NEW LAYOUT! It's so gorgeous!

And ooh, Lauren Conrad...and Princess For Hire! Wow, lucky you! Hope you enjoy them both! :)

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

Wow! I loooove your header, it is so adorable!! The whole layout looks awesome! Great books, I really want to read Princess for Hire!

Monster of Books said...

LOVE THE NEW LAYOUT :)

Great books as well, enjoy !!

Shweta said...

Awesome layout. I love your new header. Specially YA and historical fic girls.. Cute very cute :)

Dot said...

The new layout is gorgeous!!

Lori said...

Nice selection of books and congrats on your new layout. It is very puurty! Here's Mine

YellowBanana said...

It's so pretty (the new layout and header)!! Oooh I saw stacks of Sweet Little Lies in Waterstones, but I haven't read the first one yet...Princess for Hire looks really interesting though! Happy reading!

Unknown said...

I would love to hear your review on Sweet Little Lies. I used to watch the Hills but now that Lauren is gone,its just not the same : {

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