Stacking The Shelves #3

Stacking The Shelves - hosted by the lovely Tynga's Reviews - is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Not as exciting as last week but still pretty good! The book buying ban is going well, I only bought 7 books this week so an improvement on the week before!

Bought

Boundless - Cynthia Hand

Sweet Evil - Wendy Higgins

Coraline - Neil Gaiman (10th Anniversary edition, signed!!!)

Sister Assassin - Kiersten White (Mind Games for those of you outside the UK)

White Horse - Alex Adams

Won

ARC - Under The Light by Laura Whitcomb (thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Kindle Books

Scarlet - Marissa Meyer

So, I bought my first Kindle book! I really didn't know what to get but I decided on this as I couldn't be bothered waiting for the hardcover I ordered to arrive. Ooops! A winner was chosen for the giveaway of The Gathering Dark and they've been contacted. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions!

Waiting On Wednesday #13 - Dead Ever After

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 I've chosen 

 UK Cover

 US Cover

'Sookie Stackhouse has one last adventure in store.

Life has taken her from a waitress in Merlotte’s Bar, Bon Temps, to part owner; from social outcast to the heart of her community; from a vampire’s girlfriend to the wife of one of the most powerful vampires in the state. She has survived earthquakes, revolutions and attempts on her life. Sookie has endured betrayal, heartbreak and grief . . . and she has emerged a little stronger, and little wiser, every time.

But with life comes new trials . . .

The question is, in the end: who will love, who will live, and who will be dead ever after?' - Goodreads

I don't want this series to end but I am desperate to know who ends up Dead Ever After! And who Mr Sookie will finally be...

Dead Ever After - Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #13)

ISBN (UK) - 978-0575096615

Expected publication: May 7th 2013 by Victor Gollancz

Review: The Key - Marianne Curley

The Key - Marianne Curley (Guardians Of Time #3)
ISBN - 9780747573340
Published - Bloomsbury, February 7 2005 

If you haven't read this or, the first two titles and want to, then read no further as I can't guarantee there will be no spoilers!

'In the thrilling, final instalment of the Guardians of Time trilogy, tentative guard members Matt and Rochelle have emerged as crucial players in fulfilling the prophecy of the Named. Matt has learned that he is the son of an immortal, while Rochelle is struggling with her newfound powers and her fear that the group doesn't trust her. In fact, their leader is certain that someone in the close-knit circle is a traitor - but who? As suspicions mount, friction threatens to tear apart the Guard. Will the members of the Named be able to overcome their fears and unite the Guardians of Time in their last stand against evil and chaos?' - Goodreads

I read The Named and The Dark when they first came out in 2002 and 2003 respectively but when The Key came out in 2005 it passed me by. It has been on my wishlist ever since so was the natural first choice for my wishlist challenge. Luckily the library because, as we all know how well that ban's going, I'm trying not to buy books this year. 

I probably could have reread the first two books but the library didn't have them and my copies were lost in the Great Moving Debacle of 2008 so I just leapt in and after a couple of chapters I remembered most of what happened in the two previous books. The Key turned out to be a 'love it and hate it' book for me - there were some parts I loved and others I hated.

Loved -

• Matt and Neriah's developing relationship
• Arkarian and Isabel's developing relationship
• The gradual acceptance of Rochelle, especially towards the end
• Ethan and Rochelle's 'friendship', for want of a better word, as they discovered that they were meant to be together too late
• Matt discovering who his true father was

Hated -

• Dillon, whiny self-centred boy whose fixation on Neriah could probably have been seen as creepy
• No viewpoint from Ethan, Arkarian or Isabel - although I loved Rochelle's viewpoint and it was good to see her try to come to terms with not being readily accepted by the rest of the Guardians I missed hearing the story from especially Ethan's point of view
• The ending!
• Ethan being left alone after realising that Rochelle was his 'other half'
• The unveiling of the traitor - looking back now it's so obvious who it had to be because of Ethan's gut feeling and all the other little pointers
• That the so-called Immortals were killed so easily, Lorian died just a little too easily for me, same with Lathenia but she was the bad guy after all!
• Matt's sudden dislike of his sister's relationship with Arkarian, it seemed out of place given that he was alright with it previously 
• Matt's sudden elevation from boy with no powers to being the leader with superpowers

Hmm, the dislike list ended up being significantly longer than I thought it would be! I did enjoy the book, I'm glad I've finished the trilogy but it just feels like there was something missing at the end and I wish we could have had a 'a few months later' chapter so we could see how Ethan was coming to terms with everything and how Isabel & Arkarian's realtionship was growing alongside Matt dealing with whatever problem he had with their relationship being resolved. Mostly though I'd like to know more about Dillon, given that he was originally a traitor along with Rochelle and how he grew after the final battle, finding his place in the Guardians and overcoming his obsession with Neriah.

Stacking The Shelves #2

Stacking The Shelves - hosted by the lovely Tynga's Reviews - is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Obviously the biggest bookish thing this week was this

I still managed to buy plenty of books too, the book buying ban is working well :)

Bought

 

Prodigy - Marie Lu

The Hunt - Andrew Fukada

Stray Souls - Kate Griffin

Pantomime - Laura Lam

The People Next Door - Christopher Ransom

The Midas Code - Boyd Morrison

Possessed - Niki Valentine

The Salem Witch Society - K N Shields

Won

Trouble With Air And Magic - Patricia Rice

The Pure Cold Light - Gregory Frost

Echo - Alicia Wright Brewster

The Conjuring Glass - Brian Knight

Extras

A fabulous new book bag!

Waiting On Wednesday #12 - Dark Triumph

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 weeks choice is

"Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.

But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?"

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats. - From Goodreads


Dark Triumph - R.L. LaFevers
ISBN - 9780547628387 
Pub. -  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Release Date - April 2, 2013

Never in a million years!

I always swore blind that I would never buy any sort of e-reader, vehemently! I remember having long conversations about them with my mother about how much we loved books as well as reading, and that poking a bit of plastic just wasn't the same! I wavered a bit when authors started doing novellas only available online or as a Kindle book so I downloaded the Kindle app for PC whilst holding firm to my stance on never actually buying one.

Then Amazon did something that got to me... They released the Kindle Fire HD, where not only could you read but you could watch movies, check email, tweet, play games - just about anything you could do on the PC. I must have been brainwashed because yesterday morning this arrived!

And inside was this...

For the last 24 hours I have tweeted, played Mahjong and Hangman, downloaded Goodreads & LOVEfilm, watched Despicable Me and added film after film to my watchlist! The only thing I haven't done is read a book on it, I still haven't decided what's going to be the first 'proper' Kindle book I buy.

Leave a comment with what book you think I should buy and you could win a brand new copy of The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo (aka Shadow & Bone)

I'll ship internationally and choose a winner on February 6 so start leaving suggestions!

Stacking The Shelves #1

So, this week we're switching things up a bit and joining in with Stacking The Shelves hosted by the lovely Tynga's Reviews. This is a continuation of last weeks IMM where I forgot to take pictures of more than half the books I've received over the last 3 months!

Drawing Down The Moon: The Art Of Charles Vess

Gossip From The Forest - Sara Maitland

Shades Of Earth - Beth Revis

The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien (a nice shiny new edition to replace my old one)

The Firebird - Susanna Kearsley

Enshadowed - Kelly Creagh

The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken

The Brides Of Rollrock Island - Margo Lanagan

The Peculiars - Maureen Doyle McQuerry

The Unnaturalists - Tiffany Trent

Lovely, Dark And Deep - Amy McNamara

The Lost Prince - Julie Kagawa

The Hedgewitch Queen - Lilith Saintcrow

The Queen Is Dead - Kate Locke

Etiquette & Espionage - Gail Carriger

The Land Of Decoration - Grace McCleen

The Dark Heroine - Abigail Gibbs

Under The Never Sky - Veronica Rossi

Throne Of Glass - Sarah J Maas

The Sorrows Of Young Werther - Goethe

The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf

The Devil's Elixirs - E T A Hoffman

The Good Soldier - Ford Maddox Ford

The Haunted House - Charles Dickens

Last Day Of A Condemned Man - Victor Hugo

Peter Schlemihl - Adelbert Von Chamisso

A Strange Manuscript Found In a Copper Tube - James De Mille

The Monk And The Hangman's Daughter - Ambrose Bierce

Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Yes, I bought a lot of books recently. No, this doesn't include the 60 or so library books I've had since October. No, I haven't read the majority of them yet even though I've had some since October... This is why I'm on a book diet! Having said that, yesterday I bought something I thought I never would. More on that in the next couple of days though, and I'm fully prepared for all the "You hypocrite!" comments.