Showing posts with label Letterbox Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letterbox Love. Show all posts

21 October 2012

LETTERBOX LOVE

Letterbox Love is a new meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

Recently the books I've got have been ones I've bought or downloaded free onto the kindle. I've also been very tempted by some philosophical classics which I may not even by able to read and understand but I have always wanted to give them a go.


Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (bought).

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?


Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (free on Kindle).
(Inspired by Maureen Johnson's Devilish, I decided to give this a try first on kindle to see if I can actually understand it before buying a proper copy.)

Here indeed is a monumental Faust, an audacious man boldly wagering with the devil, Mephistopheles, that no magic, sensuality, experience, or knowledge can lead him to a moment he would wish to last forever.


Pantomime by Laura Lam (kindly given by Strange Chemistry).

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide. Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.


Darkness Falls by Jessica Sorensen (free on kindle).

When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across.
Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow:

Rule #1—Never go out after dark.
Rule #2—Always carry a weapon.
Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten.

But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply? 
The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires. 
No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure.


Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (bought)
Having read some good reviews on this one, I'm really looking forward to reading it (when I get the time!).

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story...

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.


What's arrived in your post this week?

12 August 2012

LETTERBOX LOVE

Letterbox Love is a new meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.
This week my mailbox has seen more books I've kindly received from publishers. I have to admit, I spent ages in the bookshop looking for some books to buy, but I was so befuddled and overwhelmed by the great choices, I didn't end up getting any. :( Recommendations more than welcome to help me make up my mind!

 



Breathe by Sarah Crossan (kindly given by Bloomsbury).
The world is dead. The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air. And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Debutantes by Cora Harrison (kindly given by Macmillan Children's Books).
It’s 1923 and London is a whirl of jazz, dancing and parties. Violet, Daisy, Poppy and Rose Derrington are desperate to be part of it, but stuck in an enormous crumbling house in the country, with no money and no fashionable dresses, the excitement seems a lifetime away. But a house as big and old as Beech Grove Manor hides many secrets, and Daisy is about to uncover one so huge it could ruin all their plans—ruin everything—forever.

Tempest by Julie Cross (kindly given by Macmillan Children's Books).
The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Fated by Alyson Noel (kindly given by Macmillan Children's Books).
Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter’s sanity, Daire’s mother sends her to live with the grandmother she’s never met. A woman who recognizes the visions for what they truly are—the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker—one who can navigate the worlds between the living and dead.

15 July 2012

LETTERBOX LOVE & SUMMER SCREAM

Letterbox Love is a new meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

This week my mailbox has been filled half and half with books I've bought and books I've kindly received from publishers. I have to admit, the books I bought on the left are to prepare for the Foyles' Summer Scream event (see below). I really want to make sure I've read books by most of the authors if I'm going to go to it!

 

Unrest by Michelle Harrison (bought).

The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney (bought).
I met Karen at a writers event a few years back, before she was published. She was so lovely, and it was her talk that persuaded me to set up my own blog. Thanks Karen!

The Corpse-Rat King by Lee Battersby (kindly given by Angry Robot).

Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig (kindly given by Angry Robot).
This is the second in the Miriam Black series. I loved Blackbirds, and would absolutely recommend reading it!

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs (kindly given by Templar).

*****


Roll up! Roll up! Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, for one day only Foyles will once again be hosting a circus of literary delights to spook even the bravest amongst you. Come and meet authors Michelle Harrison, Zoe Marriott, L.A.Weatherly, Karen Mahoney, Laura Powell, Ruth Warburton plus many more.

4th August 2012, 2pm - 6pm, Foyles Charing Cross Road - Free Event

2-3pm: Panel - Michelle Harrison, Zoe Marriott, L.A.Weatherly and Karen Mahoney
4:30-5:30: Panel - Laura Powell, Ruth Warburton and authors TBC