Top Ten Tuesday #67 - Books I Found Hard To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous gals cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Books I Found Hard To Read

I was never one for crying over a book until my beloved mama died nearly 2 years ago. Ever since then I seem to have developed a talent for choosing books I know I'm going to struggle to read purely because I know they will turn me into a sobbing mess. Here are the books that have done exactly that.

The First Last Kiss - Ali Harris

Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson

Killing Sound - Paul Southern

Killing Sound - Paul Southern

ISBN - 9781909489080

Publisher - Chicken House

Release date - September 4 2014

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Jodie is cursed with a terrible gift. She just doesn't know it yet. When she stumbles across one of her dead father's old papers on sound waves in the attic, it sets her on a terrifying journey to find out more, leading her across the streets of London to the dark, untrodden tunnels of the Underground, where she is forced to face the truth. Her worst nightmare is about to become real. Worse, she can hear it coming.

When I was contacted about reviewing Killing Sound I didn't know anything about it apart from the fact that I vaguely recognised the author's name. Turns out I did but not because I'd read something he'd written! Paul Southern used to be in a band back in the 1990's so I've obviously come across his name somewhere before.

Killing Sound might just be my favorite book of the year, it's a YA paranormal horror thriller which combined together have led to some fantastic books over the years and this is definitely up there with them. Jodie' s parents died a grisly, gruesome death in the family home - Jodie was there and is quite possibly the only person who knows what happened that night. Fast forward 12 years later and Jodie is living with her Aunt Gene, has a sort-of boyfriend and friends, living a well adjusted life considering the traumas of her early life. All this changes though when she discovers her father's old papers and nothing is going to be the same again. Jodie's father was working on a link between sound and the paranormal. Jodie knows she can't leave this alone as it's a link to the parents she never really knew. She enlists the help of Luca and Kamran and together they try to decipher what happened all those years ago. Jodie's Aunt Gene is none too happy about this discovery and goes to William Habborlain whose work her father was trying to disprove. She finds herself coerced into a seance and contact with Habborlain's peculiar son, John.

Throw in a gang of Goth bullies including a girl, Laura, who appears to want her best friend Luca and Trent, her dark & Gothly boyfriend, strange dreams that might not actually be dreams, demons and strange happenings involving the tube and Killing Sound becomes a rollercoaster of a book. Although written as a YA novel Southern doesn't hold back, there is plenty of scares & gore and he is not afraid to kill quite prominent characters. Between the gripping storyline and the wonderful writing I devoured Killing Sound in just one night - I wouldn't recommend doing this if you scare easily or are alone in the house and definitely don't read it on the Tube! Having read Killing Sound I don't think I will ever use the Tube without wondering 'what if' again.

To quote Barry Cunningham from Chicken House, Killing Sound is 'one of the most brilliantly scary stories I have ever read'.

Huge thanks to Chicken House for providing me with a copy of the book and letting me participate in the blog tour! Here's all the other stops!

Waiting On Wednesday #91 - Prince Lestat

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 -

UK Cover | US Cover

Prince Lestat (Vampire Chronicles #11) - Anne Rice 
ISBN - UK
            US
Publisher - UK Chatto & Windus
                 US Knopf Publishing
Expected release date - UK October 30 2014
                                     US October 28 2014
Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

 From Anne Rice, perennial best seller, single-handed reinventor of the vampire universe beginning with the now iconic INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED—a stunning departure, a surprising and compelling return . . . a new, exhilarating novel that deepens Rice's vampire mythology, and gives us a chillingly hypnotic, rich mystery-thriller.

"What can we do but reach for the embrace that must now contain both heaven and hell: our doom again and again and again..."  - from The Vampire Lestat

Rice once again summons up the irresistible spirit-world of the oldest and most powerful forces of the night, invisible beings unleashed on an unsuspecting world able to take blood from humans, in a long-awaited return to the extraordinary world of the Vampire Chronicles and the uniquely seductive Queen of the Damned ("mesmerizing" —SF Chronicle), a long-awaited novel that picks up where The Vampire Lestat ("brilliant...its undead characters are utterly alive" - New York Times) left off more than a quarter of a century ago to create an extraordinary new world of spirits and forces - the characters, legend, and lore of all the Vampire Chronicles.

The novel opens with the vampire world in crisis...vampires have been proliferating out of control; burnings have commenced all over the world, huge massacres similar to those carried out by Akasha in The Queen of the Damned... Old vampires, roused from slumber in the earth are doing the bidding of a Voice commanding that they indiscriminately burn vampire-mavericks in cities from Paris and Mumbai to Hong Kong, Kyoto, and San Francisco. As the novel moves from present-day New York and the West Coast to ancient Egypt, fourth century Carthage, 14th-century Rome, the Venice of the Renaissance, the worlds and beings of all the Vampire Chronicles—Louis de Pointe du Lac; the eternally young Armand, whose face is that of a Boticelli angel; Mekare and Maharet, Pandora and Flavius; David Talbot, vampire and ultimate fixer from the secret Talamasca; and Marius, the true Child of the Millennia; along with all the other new seductive, supernatural creatures—come together in this large, luxuriant, fiercely ambitious novel to ultimately rise up and seek out who—or what—the Voice is, and to discover the secret of what it desires and why...
 
And, at the book's center, the seemingly absent, curiously missing hero-wanderer, the dazzling, dangerous rebel-outlaw - the great hope of the Undead, the dazzling Prince Lestat..

I used to read everything Rice wrote, I loved her Vampire Chronicles and read all of them as they came out. The last couple weren't as good but I stuck with them - and her, until she started writing books that really weren't my cup of tea.But this is great news, she's going back (hopefully) to a series I loved (mostly) and it's about Lestat!

Top Ten Tuesday #66 - Books On My Fall To-Be-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is -  

Top Ten Books On My Fall To-Be-Read List

I really don't know how you're meant to narrow this week's topic down to just ten books - so I didn't... I have about 100 books I'd like to read over the next couple of months. Theses are the books that I will probably get to first, a mix of both old & new titles.

Book Haul #87

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

So, I'm not a in a reading slump. Well, I am but there's a reason! My thyroid has gone supernova again and so I'm experiencing all the side effects again - including exhaustion, insomnia and chronic laziness! I'm hoping to get it under control soon so I actually feel like reading & blogging again properly, stay tuned for updates!

I've been doing quite well with the not buying books, now I just need to get my Netgalley/Edelweiss requesting under control too! This is what's arrived in my house over the last two weeks, huge thanks to Titan for a book by one of my favorite teenage authors and for book four in a series that I've been meaning to start for quite some time!

Bought

Academic Exercises | Angel's Ink | The Caller

For Review

Catch Me When I Fall | Hidden | Trust Me I'm Lying

The Wolves of London | Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard | J

The Heart Does Not Grow Back | The Silver Pear

Stuck In A Good Book Giveaway!

Welcome to the Stuck In A Good Book Giveaway Hop, hosted by Stuck in Books and I Am a Reader, Not a Writer!The prize for this giveaway is a book that's so good you're stuck to the pages until it's finished! I've chosen nine of the books I have absolutely loved this year and you get to choose one of the following titles. The giveaway is open internationally as long as you live in a country that the Book Depository ships to, check out this list to see if your country is there.However, if you don't trust my amazing taste in books you may choose a title yourself up to the value of $12.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out all of the other blogs taking part for more chances to win! Thanks for entering and good luck!

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: I Heart Robot

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

I Heart Robot by Suzanne van Rooyen

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

I HEART ROBOT Cover Art from Suzanne van Rooyen

I'm not the most artistically inclined. While I do love art and have been known to bust out the pencils and paints myself, it's not an area where I'd consider myself particularly talented. In short, I knew that cover design was something best left to the professional and I had every confidence in Month9Books.

I am so grateful to Georgia McBride for allowing me to have the amount of input I did when it came to cover creation for I Heart Robot. This is a novel that is as much about a civil rights struggle in a futuristic, post-war city as it is about romance, and we wanted a cover that reflected both elements. Finding the right balance between romance and science fiction was a tall order, but Month9Books delivered in spades by presenting me with two stylistically different covers. I loved elements of both, and by working closely with the cover artist and with Georgia we managed to combine all the best parts of both original covers into what we have today: a cover that reflects the gritty world my characters live in while emphasizing the fact that this is above all, a love story.

Sixteen-year-old Tyri wants to be a musician and wants to be with someone who won't belittle her musical aspirations.

Q-I-99 aka 'Quinn' lives in a scrap metal sanctuary with other rogue droids. While some use violence to make their voices heard, demanding equal rights for AI enhanced robots, Quinn just wants a moment on stage with his violin to show the humans that androids like him have more to offer than their processing power.

Tyri and Quinn's worlds collide when they're accepted by the Baldur Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. As the rift between robots and humans deepens, Tyri and Quinn's love of music brings them closer together, making Tyri question where her loyalties lie and Quinn question his place in the world. With the city on the brink of civil war, Tyri and Quinn make a shocking discovery that turns their world inside out. Will their passion for music be enough to hold them together while everything else crumbles down around them, or will the truth of who they are tear them apart?

Title: I Heart Robot
Publication date: March 31, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Suzanne van Rooyen

Suzanne is a tattooed storyteller from South Africa. She currently lives in Finland and finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When not writing, she teaches dance and music to middle schoolers and entertains her shiba inu, Lego. Suzanne is represented by Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Agency.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

(Winners will receive their book on release day)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting On Wednesday #90 - Uprooted

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 -

Uprooted - Naomi Novik

ISBN - 9780804179034

Publisher - Del Rey

Expected release date - June 30 2015

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”
 
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows - everyone knows - that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose. 

I cannot wait to read this, I adore Naomi Novik's Temeraire books and Uprooted sounds like it was written just for me. But look at that release date, almost another year to wait...

Top Ten Tuesday #65 - Authors I've Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is - 

Top Ten Authors I've Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More

This one was difficult. I'm one of those readers who, when they discover a new author they love, binge read just about everything they've written. Quite a few of these authors are ones who had only written one book at the time so I'm desperate to get my hands on their next one!

Andrew Smith

I read Winger on Simon & Schuster's site PulseIt and ended up loving it. His book, The Marbury Lens, has actually been on my wishlist for quite some time and I've heard a lot about his new book, Grasshopper Jungle. Will definitely be reading more.

Karen Foxlee

Karen is an Australian author and I picked up The Midnight Dress because I liked the cover. I seem to have a thing for choosing books that are going to burrow under my skin, loved it! Can't wait to read A Most Magical Girl, due out in 2016.

e. lockhart

I think just about everybody read We Were Liars this year! I was lucky enough to win an ARC and I devoured it. One of my favorite books this year I will definitely be reading something else by Ms Lockhart.

Louisa Reid

I've read Black Heart Blue twice, it's broken my heart both times and and I'm impatiently waiting for Lies Like Love to come in at my library.

Emma Haughton

Another of my favorite books this year! I seem to be enjoying mystery and thriller books more this year than my usual staple of fantasy... Can't wait to read Better Left Buried, out next year!

Alex Bell

I have owned Jasmyn and The Ninth Gate for a while but have only just got round to reading Jasmyn this year. I could kick myself! Fairy tales, murder & mystery equal my perfect book. Can't wait for Frozen Charlotte, her YA effort, coming out in January 2015.

Jonathan Auxier

 I absolutely adored Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, it's almost the perfect MG book. I have his next book, The Night Gardener, to read but I can't bring myself to start it in case it's not as good as Peter Nimble...

Liliana Bodoc

I don't know how I came across Days of the Deer but it turned out to be one the few fantasy novels I've really enjoyed this year. It's written by Argentinian Liliana Bodoc, translated and published by Corvus but unfortunately it doesn't look like a translation of the next book in the trilogy is coming any time soon and my Spanish is way too rusty to even attempt the original!

Emma Carroll

Loved this historical mystery with ghosts so much I bought a copy after I had to return the library copy! Emma's next book, The Girl Who Walked On Air, is about the circus!!! Patiently waiting for my turn in the reservation queue...

Nigel McDowell

A really good (and quite creepy) children's fantasy book, this is another one that I've bought a copy after borrowing from the library. Next up is The Black North, a book twins, witches and a magical jackdaw!