Book Haul #53

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews and Letterbox Love is a UK edition hosted by Narratively Speaking. Here we can share what new books we've picked up this past week. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

A real mixed bag this week! The only books I bought were two classics that I wanted needed coveted because they have gorgeous covers. I'm trying to collect various editions of my favorites in both hardcover and paperback so if anyone comes across a pretty hardcover copy of A Room With A View please let me know! Apart from that it was library week where I picked up a mixture of YA and adult horror, sci-fi and fantasy - the Poul Anderson covers for the Operation books make me laugh :) Nothing for my Kindle, not even freebies! I'm definitely practicing for next year and my intention not to get any new books unless I pick up a review copy or two...

Bought

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

A Room with a View - E M Forster

Library

Operation Chaos - Poul Anderson

Operation Luna - Poul Anderson

The Ghost Hunters - Neil Spring

Isabel's Skin - Peter Benson

Sharp Teeth - Toby Barlow

The Orphan Choir - Sophie Hannah

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror - Chris Priestley

The Dead Men Stood Together - Chris Priestley

Last Kiss Goodnight - Gena Showalter

vN - Madeline Ashby

The Black Prism - Brent Weeks

Constable & Toop - Gareth P Jones

 What did you get this week?

Netgalley November Update #4

The fantastic Netgalley November challenge hosted by the lovely Faye at A Daydreamer's Thoughts, Kayleigh at K Books and Laura at Bookish Treasures is nearly over! I can't believe that November is all but finished, this month has gone incredibly quickly! Netgalley November has certainly been a huge hit at least on my part except for this last week where I've started seven different books, written no reviews and generally lost my oomph :( I shall do a final roundup of what I've read (or not) next week as I'm off to London tomorrow for four days, in the meantime here's a list of what I've started, if I finish four of them by tomorrow(!) I'll have met my goal minimum of sixteen books. What I'll probably do is continue to read NG titles for another couple of weeks and pretend I'm still doing the challenge...

Goals

Difficult Level - Read (And Review) 16 to 20 Netgalley titles 

Started but not finished

Tainted - A E Rought

The Drowned Forest - Kristopher Reisz

Heartwood - Freya Robertson

Angel City - Jon Steele

The Troop - Nick Cutter

Silent Saturday - Helen Grant

ACID - Emma Pass

Week One/Two/Three Reads

After Eden - Helen Douglas (Review)

Book of Secrets - Elizabeth Joy Arnold - (Review)

Fortunately, the Milk - Neil Gaiman - (Review)

Seven Forges - James A Moore (Review)

Slumber - Tamara Blake

When The World Was Flat - Ingrid Jonach (Review)

Woken Gods - Gwenda Bond

After the Ending - Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue

Autumn - Sierra Dean

Lives of Magic - Lucy Leiderman

Pawn - Aimee Carter

The Devil's Apprentice - Jan Siegel

Read Previously But Not Reviewed

Full Blooded - Amanda Carlson

Ink - Amanda Sun

Scion of the Sun - Blog Tour, Interview & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the amazing blog tour for Scion of the Sun by Nicola Marsh! Find the rest of the tour stops here! Read on for my bookish inquisition (a.k.a. an interview), find out more about Nicola and enter a giveaway (US and International prizes) to win copies of both Scion of the Sun, reviewed here and Endless by Amanda Gray which I reviewed here.

Bookish Interview with Nicola Marsh

 What books inspire you?    

 Thrillers. The more complex the better. I’m always in awe of authors who can write them.

What authors inspire you?    

Barbara O’Neal, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben

What's your favorite childhood book?    

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

Do you like to listen to music whilst writing? If so, what sort of music?    

No, I prefer silence. My day is filled with noise, usually from my kids, so to write at night in silence is bliss.

 
Where's your favorite writing spot?   

 My cosy, crammed, windowless office. It feels like home to me.

 What are your essentials whilst writing?     

Keyboard, PC, gorgeous hardcover notebooks, colored pens, my ideas.

Do you have any writing tips for someone who is just starting out?    

Write, write, then write some more. Writing is a craft honed by doing. And read widely in the genre you’re targeting.

What's the last book you read?    

In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind (Barbara O’Neal’s older pen name.) I love all her books. Lush and evocative and truly wonderful.

What's the last book you bought?    

Out of Line by Jen McLaughlin

Apart from being an author, what's your dream job?    

Travel agent.

What's the one question you'd love to be asked but never have?  

‘Can I offer you a five million dollar advance?’

 Thanks for answering my Bookish questions Nicola, always love to hear that other people write in gorgeous hardcover notebooks as I have a collection that will last me years!

Scion of the Sun (Soul Snatchers #1) - Nicola Marsh
ISBN - 9780988340923
Publisher - Month9Books
Release date - November 5th 2013

'When she least expects it, sixteen-year-old Holly Burton’s unremarkable life is shaken to the core. A vision of the mother Holly never knew leaves her questioning everything she believes.

Eager for answers, Holly enrolls at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire. But Holly's complicated life worsens when she accidentally transports to a parallel existence where she's confronted by a dark and ancient evil.

With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and an unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could’ve possibly imagined …'

 Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iBooks

USA TODAY bestselling author Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flair for adults and riveting, spooky stories for teens.

She has published 43 contemporary romances with Harlequin, Entangled Publishing and indie, and sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Her first mainstream romance BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD was nominated for Romantic Book of the Year 2012. Her first indie romance, CRAZY LOVE, was a 2012 ARRA finalist.

Her debut young adult novel, a supernatural thriller BANISH, released with Harlequin Teen August 2013, and her YA urban fantasy series kicks off with SCION OF THE SUN, November 2013, with Month9Books.

She’s also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a 2013 RBY (Romantic Book of the Year) and National Readers’ Choice Award winner, and a multi-finalist for a number of awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has also won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

A physiotherapist for thirteen years, she now adores writing full time, raising her two little heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, and her favorite, curling up with a good book!

 Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway Information

One (1) Print copy of both Scion of the Sun by Nicola Marsh and Endless by Amanda Gray and one (1) $15 Starbucks Gift Card (US only)

One (1) ebook copy of both Scion of the Sun by Nicola Marsh and Endless by Amanda Gray (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting On Wednesday #53 - First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North
ISBN - 9780356502571 (UK)
          - 9780316399616 (US)
Publisher - Orbit (UK)
               - Redhook (US)
Expected release date - April 8th 2014
Find - Goodreads/Book Depository

'Harry August is on his deathbed. Again.
 
Every time Harry dies, he is reborn in exactly the same time and place, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, and nothing ever changes. Until now.
 
As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears by his bedside. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message back with you. It has come down from child to adult, child to adult, passed back down the generations from a thousand years forward in time. The message is that the world is ending, and we cannot prevent it. So it's now up to you."
 
This is the story of what Harry August does next -- and what he did before -- and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow. It is a story of friendship and betrayal, of love and loneliness, loyalty and redemption, and the inevitable march of time.' - Goodreads

This sounds absolutely fascinating! I'm so intrigued by the idea of living your life over and over, each time exactly the same, not being able to change a single thing. I'll definitely be picking up a copy of this one just as soon as possible! I also want to know who Claire North is, this is a pseudonym for a well-known author and apparently Harry August is completely different to anything they've written before! Who is it?!

Scion of the Sun - Nicola Marsh

Scion of the Sun (Solar Snatchers #1) - Nicola Marsh
ISBN - 9780988340923
Publisher - Month9Books
Release date - November 5th 2013
Find - Goodreads/AmazonUS/AmazonUK/Barnes & Noble/Kobo

'When she least expects it, sixteen-year-old Holly Burton’s unremarkable life is shaken to the core. A vision of the mother Holly never knew leaves her questioning everything she believes.

Eager for answers, Holly enrolls at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire. But Holly's complicated life worsens when she accidentally transports to a parallel existence where she's confronted by a dark and ancient evil.

With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and an unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could’ve possibly imagined …' 

Two things made me want to read Scion of the Sun - the beautiful cover and the chance to read a story using mythology involving druidry, rarely, if ever seen! Most books involving a mythological slant tend to stick to the same pantheons (Greek, Roman, Egyptian and, more recently, Norse) so I was intrigued from the start. Our main character is Holly who has what can only be called visions and is about to start at a new school after her gran has a stroke, brought on by something Holly tells her about what she saw. This isn't just any school though. This is the Clique of of Unique Luminary Telepathies or C.U.L.T. for short, for students who have abilities that would necessarily be found in a regular school program and for those who have an in interest in this area. Holly has spent most of her life feeling like an outsider, not helped by the fact that her mother abandoned her when she was a baby and that she's never really had any close friends. Once there Holly discovers that she's not as unimportant as she'd like to believe and that she has a very important role to fulfil. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Scion of the Sun, not least because Holly was by far one of the better teenage main characters I've read in a while. She was funny, sarcastic and not willing to put up with any rubbish but still finding it difficult to believe that she was actually worth other people's time and attention. Going from no friends to finding both Quinn and Raven at C.U.L.T. and then the people she meets in Eiros (members of the Sorority of the Sun), including Joss, a warrior sworn to protect her she suddenly finds herself surrounded by an amazing array of supporting characters. My main worries once Joss and Quinn were introduced were the inevitable love triangle and even worse, insta-love, both of which are quite major non-no's for me. On the love triangle front though it wasn't quite a triangle. Although Holly has feelings for both boys she's drawn to them in different ways, Joss for being her sworn protector but still allowing her to do things and Quinn for being completely normal. The only downside I could see was that he is related to the school principal, Brigit, who seems to be far too interested in what Holly is going through. By the end of the book I still couldn't work out whether this interest was for good or bad reasons, I want to think good as Brigit is a friend of Holly's gran. 

I loved all the detail of the Celtic/Druidic mythology, such as the Solstices and other pagan holidays like Beltane which is apparently a big deal in Eiros. Ms Marsh has done some fantastic research and there was so much information throughout the book which helped to lend a really authentic touch to the storyline. I liked having the story split between the two settings as well, getting to know Holly at school in familiar surroundings and then being transported to Eiros which appeared to be both familiar and alien at the same time. All of these elements kept me turning the pages until an indecent time in the early morning, between the writing and the actual story it was hard to put down until you actually knew how the book ended. There were a couple of minor blips, in my opinion anyway, which knocked Scion of the Sun down from five clocks to four clocks. The first was that I guessed almost at the beginning what one of the twists was going to be and I had to stop myself from checking out the last few pages to see if I was correct, another was that whilst the storyline moved along at a really good pace the ending felt kind of odd to me. Having been introduced to the bad guy Cadifor and having him built up as this terrifying character out to murder anyone who gets in his way it seemed almost as if he gave up, and where I thought everything was leading up to a fight between good and evil, resolving a situation with Holly's mother, I felt like the book just stopped. It's the first book in a series so I know it had to end somewhere, I was just expecting a bit more action. However I'm sufficiently fascinated by the story to ignore that and start the wait for book two which I'm hoping isn't too long in coming.

A great read if you have any interest in fantasy and/or mythology (Druidic/Celtic or otherwise) and definitely worth picking up if you want to read something a little bit different.

Many thanks to Month9Books for providing me with a copy of  Scion of the Sun and to Chapter by Chapter for hosting this fabulous blog tour!

Book Haul #52

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews and Letterbox Love is a UK edition hosted by Narratively Speaking. Here we can share what new books we've picked up this past week. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

I didn't think I'd be posting a book haul this week as I was sure I wasn't buying anything before I went away but I forgot about my pre-order of The Fiery Heart, then I thought I'd pick up a copy of Curtsies & Conspiracies so I can finally read Etiquette & Espionage and the icing on the cake? Going to see Susan Ee at Waterstones Piccadilly on Thursday! Although I have Angelfall on my Kindle I picked up a paperback copy and obviously couldn't leave without buying a copy of World After. My one high point of the week is that I requested nothing from Netgalley or Edelweiss therefore not destroying all my hard work during Netgalley November :) I also had a lovely email from Livia Blackburne, author of Midnight Thief (due out from Disney-Hyperion in July 2014), asking if I'd like to review the prequel Poison Dance. Naturally I said yes...

Bought

Angelfall - Susan Ee

World After - Susan Ee

The Windvale Sprites - Mackenzie Crook

The Fiery Heart - Richelle Mead

Curtsies & Conspiracies - Gail Carriger

 Kindle

Ember - Kristen Callihan

 From the author

Poison Dance - Livia Blackburne

What did you get this week?

Netgalley November Update #3

Week three of Netgalley November is over, scarily fast. I can't believe we're nearly at the end of November, mostly because I don't want to think about what I've got to do in December! I've had another good week reading but let's not talk about the reviewing... Before I go into what I read this week I just want to mention A Wounded Name which I started last Friday as part of the challenge. I've had to put it down, not because it's awful but because I felt I couldn't read it properly during the challenge, the writing is beautiful and it's oh so depressing but I think I need to read this one slowly. Plus I have a hankering to read Hamlet again so I may well read them together next month! Please, please don't let this put you off reading A Wounded Name in any way whatsoever as it's a great book and I've loved what I've read so far but I need to devour this one rather than just read :)

Goals

Difficult Level - Read (And Review) 16 to 20 Netgalley titles

Week Three Reads

The Devil's Apprentice - Jan Siegel

Pawn - Aimee Carter

Lives of Magic - Lucy Leiderman

Autumn - Sierra Dean

After the Ending - Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue

Started

Tainted - A E Rought

Week One/Week Two Reads

After Eden - Helen Douglas (Review)

Book of Secrets - Elizabeth Joy Arnold - (Review)

Fortunately, the Milk - Neil Gaiman - (Review)

Seven Forges - James A Moore (Review)

Slumber - Tamara Blake

When The World Was Flat - Ingrid Jonach

Woken Gods - Gwenda Bond

Read Previously But Not Reviewed

Full Blooded - Amanda Carlson

Ink - Amanda Sun

When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) - Ingrid Jonach

When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) - Ingrid Jonach
ISBN -
Publisher - Strange Chemistry
Release date -
Find - Goodreads/Book Depository/AmazonUK/AmazonUS

'Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.' - Goodreads

When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) tells the story of Lillie and Tom, a somewhat unorthodox love story. Lillis is plagued by dreams & nightmares that feel too real at times and always seem to involve her death at the hands of the same unknown assailant.When she meets Tom this feeling of deja vu only increases, certain that she knows him and that somehow, somewhere the two of them were close.  What only adds to her confusion is the knowledge that Tom seems to be doing everything possible to avoid talking to her or spending time with her for reasons we can only begin to guess at until further into the story.

When I first read about When The World Was Flat I was intrigued by the fact that it was described as a sci-fi romance influenced by Albert Einstein's unfinished Theory of Everything, not exactly a concept you come across every day. I don't have a scientific bone in my body but I do love reading sci-fi so thought why not, it does sound like it could be an amazing read and I was right. Tom & Lillie's story was written so wonderfully and so clearly that even though I did get a bit stuck in places where the more detailed explanations of how the worlds worked I fell in love with Ingrid Jonach's writing almost straightaway.

At first, I wasn't sure whether I liked Lillie, she seemed to be very judgmental about her best friends Jo & Sylv, one for being overweight and one for being a teenage man-eater and without being too spoiler-y further on in the book she does appear to abandon both of them at times when they needed her support. Tom was the same, didn't know if I liked him or not. Ignoring Lillie to the point of rudeness but still seeking her out and being jealous of her relationship with Jackson (an old friend) didn't make much sense until you read about his situation and understand what's happened to him, it's a heartbreaking situation for both of them.

Although I assume Lille & Tom's story is finished it would so easy to set more stories in the world that Jonach has created. The theories of merging and sliding could be applied to so many storylines and thanks to the parallel worlds idea could be set in any number of different worlds, not necessarily the one used in WTWWF. One other thing I loved but people might find slightly schmaltzy was the idea behind soulmates, that your soulmate is someone you've loved before, in one of the parallel worlds. I thought this was such a plausible explanation, just a shame it couldn't actually happen! Between a beautifully simple but significant cover and beautiful writing WTWWF is far different from your usual YA/romance/sci-fi novel but one definitely worth reading and I look forward to seeing what Ingrid Jonach comes up with next.

Thanks to Strange Chemistry for providing with an electronic copy of WTWWF via Netgalley!

Waiting On Wednesday #52 - Hexed

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Hexed - Michelle Krys
ISBN - 9780857533494 (UK)
          - 9780385743372
Publisher - Doubleday (UK)
              - Delacorte Press (US)
Expected release date - June 12th 2014 (UK)
                                  - June 10th 2014 (US)
Find - Goodreads/AmazonUK/AmazonUS/Book Depository

'If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.' - Goodreads

This sounds fabulous! Witches and missing books combined with a cheerleader must be fun, reading good things about Hexed already and cannot wait! It's also the first book in a series, The Witch Hunter, and a short prequel called Blackwood will be available in electronic form also in June 2014.

What are you waiting for this week?