In My Mailbox (29)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week of incoming books!

So this week I bought just one book:

Linda Fairstein - Death Dance

Teaming up with longtime friends and colleagues, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, Alex Cooper investigates the disappearance of a world-famous dancer, who has vanished from the Metropolitan Opera House. Drawn behind the scenes of New York's theatrical community, the team is haunted by ghosts of the dramatic old theatres - and from their own pasts. At the same time, Alex and Mercer are trying to collar a doctor who's been using his extensive knowledge of and access to drugs to overpower women before assualting them.

In My Mailbox (28)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week of incoming books!

So this week I have received 2 ebooks for review:

Aaron Patterson & Chris White - Airel

All Airel ever wanted was to be normal, to disappear into the crowd. But bloodlines can produce surprises, like an incredible ability to heal. Then there's Michael Alexander, the new guy in school, who is impossibly gorgeous...and captivated by her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she can hear the sound of pages turning, and another, older story being written. It is the story of an ancient family, of great warriors, of the Sword of Light, and the struggle against an evil so terrible, so far-reaching, that it threatens everything. Airel knew change would be an inevitable part of life. But can she hold on when murder and darkness begin to close in and take away everything she loves? Will she have what it takes when the truth is finally revealed?

~~~~~

Emlyn Chand - Farsighted

Alex Kosmitoras’s life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead-broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind. Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, a new girl from India moves into town. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Yes, sophomore year might not be so bad after all.

Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to “see” the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they begin to suggest that Simmi is in danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and new friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex must embark on a journey to change his future.

In My Mailbox (27)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 1 book:

Daniel Hahn & Leonie Flynn - The Ultimate Teen Book Guide

Stuck for something to read? Whether you’re searching for a book to blow your mind and change your life, or just a light read for the beach, The Ultimate Teen Book Guide is the perfect place to start.

The book includes recommendations from teen reviewers and your favorite authors—over 700 books total—so prepare to be inspired! Whether you like fantasy, horror, chick lit, graphic novels, sci-fi, crime . . . From true classics to must-read cult fiction, from the top award-winners to up-to-the minute bestsellers, there’s something for everyone.

In My Mailbox (26)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I swapped 1 book:

Stephen King - Everything's Eventual

In this eerie, enchanting compilation, King takes readers down a road less travelled (for good reason) in the blockbuster e-book 'Riding the Bullet', terror becomes déjà vu all over again when you get 'That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It is in French' and LT has a theory about pets which will make you stop and think before giving one as a present to a loved one – along with eleven more stories that will keep you awake until dawn.

Nothing is quite as it seems. Expect the unexpected in this veritable treasure trove of enthralling, witty, dark tales that could only come from the imagination of the greatest storyteller of our time.

In My Mailbox (25)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 3 ebooks for my shiny new Kindle:

Sebastian Fitzek - Splinter

Marc Lucas had it all, and lost it all. He is only slowly putting his life back together after the car crash that killed his pregnant wife, when things start to go strangely wrong for him. Nothing too sinister to begin with: his credit cards stop working. But then his key no longer fits his door, and he discovers someone else working in his office. Much worse is to come: he returns home to find himself face to face with his once-dead wife, and she doesn’t have a clue who he is. The next day, there is no trace of her. Could this have anything to do with the clinic? They wanted to test their ability to remove traumatic memories from live subjects. Marc had met them, just once, but declined their experimental technology. He now fears they may have begun their tests illicitly... Can he discover just what is happening to him before the waking nightmare he finds himself living overwhelms his sanity?

~~~~~

S.L. Grey - The Mall

Dan is an angsty emo-kid who works in a deadly dull shopping mall. He hates his job.

Rhoda is a junkie whose babysitting charge ran off while she was scoring cocaine. She hates her life. Rhoda bullies Dan into helping her search, but as they explore the neon-lit corridors behind the mall, disturbing text messages lure them into the bowels of the building, where old mannequins are stored in grave-like piles and raw sewage drips off the ceiling. The only escape is down.

Plummeting into the earth in a disused service lift playing head-splitting Musak, Dan and Rhoda enter a sinister underworld that mirrors their worst fears. They finally escape, but something feels different. Why are the shoppers all pumped full of silicone? Why are the shop assistants chained to their counters? And why is a café called McColon’s selling lumps of bleeding meat?

Just when they think they’ve made it back to the mall, they realize the nightmare has only just begun...

~~~~~

Stephen Jones - The Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror 20

This title includes the year's best, and darkest, tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories and novellas by contemporary masters of the macabre, including the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Brian Keene, Tanith Lee, Elizabeth Massie, Kim Newman, Michael Marshall Smith, and Gene Wolfe. "The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror" also includes a comprehensive annual overview of horror around the world in all its incarnations; an impressively researched necrology; and, a list of indispensable contact addresses for the dedicated horror fan and aspiring writer alike. It is required reading for every fan of macabre fiction.

In My Mailbox (24)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 3 books:

P.C. Cast - The Fledgling Handbook

Merry meet, fledgling. I trust this guide will serve you well...Every vampyre fledgling who arrives at the House of Night receives a copy of The Fledgling Handbook 101, and now, fans can have one, too, with this gorgeous must-have edition. Inside you'll find original stories, the complete vampyre history, inside info into rituals, vamp biology, and the Change, and much more.

~~~~~

Rachel Caine - Ghost Town

The fragile peace between humans and vampires in Morganville is in trouble, and when Claire takes drastic action, she's put under serious pressure to re-establish the barriers that keep the town residents inside, and wipe the memories of those who leave. But working with her half-crazy vampire boss Myrnin means that things don't always turn out as planned ... and as the people of Morganville begin acting strangely, Claire and her friends must solve the mystery and try to put things right. But one by one, her allies are turning on her ... even the ones she trusts most.

~~~~~

Erica Spindler - Blood Vines

Alex Owens knows very little about her childhood or who she really is - her only family an absent, emotionally fragile mother. Alex has always felt something was missing and has spent most of her life searching for what that could be. When an infant's remains are unearthed, Alex realises she has a connection to the case. Suddenly long-lost memories start flooding in, leading her back to a small town in California and to dark and terrifying nightmares that haunt her every waking moment. Greeted with silence and suspicion, Alex is determined to get to the heart of a secret no one wants to see uncovered. As violent deaths and a series of pagan rituals terrify the tightly-knit community, Alex is forced to confront the terrible truth about a single night that changed her family's lives for ever...

~~~~~

I also swapped a book, and received:

Immaculee Ilibagiza - Left To Tell

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.

Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.

~~~~~

And I received a book for review as well:

Mitchell James Kaplan - By Fire, By Water

Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor GeneralTomás deTorquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands. But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him.

In My Mailbox (23)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought just 1 book:

Jill Mansell - Solo

When Tessa Duvall, a struggling artist, reluctantly agreed to accompany her best friend Holly to a party at the elegant Charrington Grange Hotel, she had every intention of sneaking off early. For parties full of strangers bored the knickers off Tessa and this one proved to be no exception - until she encountered Ross Monahan, whose wicked reputation was as high profile as the hotel he owned and ran with such panache. But whilst Holly set about ensnaring his reluctant brother Max, Tessa simply accepted Ross for what he was, a sensational one-night stand...until she realised, weeks later, that one-night stands can have far-reaching consequences...

In My Mailbox (22)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 2 books:

Jo Nesbo - The Snowman

The night the first snow falls a young boy wakes to find his mother gone. He walks through the silent house, but finds only wet footprints on the stairs. In the garden looms a solitary figure: a snowman bathed in cold moonlight, its black eyes glaring up at the bedroom windows. Round its neck is his mother’s pink scarf. Inspector Harry Hole is convinced there is a link between the disappearance and a menacing letter he received some months earlier. As Harry and his team delve into unsolved case files, they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years. When a second woman disappears Harry’s suspicions are confirmed: he is a pawn in a deadly game. For the first time in his career Harry finds himself confronted with a serial killer operating on his turf, a killer who will drive him to the brink of insanity.

~~~~~

Rosamund Lupton - Sister

Nothing can break the bond between sisters...

When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face.

The police, Beatrice's fiance and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.

In My Mailbox (21)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I didn't buy anything, but I did receive a book I won from I Was A Teenage Book Geek:

James Dashner - The Maze Runner

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade - a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there - or what's happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything - even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrols its corridors, to find out.

In My Mailbox (20)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 3 books:

John Vornholt/Nancy Golden/Diana G. Gallagher - Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus 2

In every generation, there is a Chosen One. A slayer destined to protect the human race. She alone must fight the demons of hell. She alone must risk her life to stop the spread of evil.

Buffy is the Chosen One.

In Halloween Rain, as if Halloween at the Hellmouth isn’t bad enough, a brewing storm threatens to bring new demons to life, just in time for a celebratory massacre.

A curse on the school’s rummage sale causes strange behavior in the halls of Sunnydale High in Bad Bargain.

Buffy and her friends are looking forward to the revival of the old drive-in theater, but when people start slipping into comas in Afterimage, this late show may be their last...

~~~~~

Cormac McCarthy - The Road

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

~~~~~

Helen Kennerley - Overcoming Childhood Trauma

Childhood abuse, whether emotional, physical, or sexual, can be the source of enduring difficulties in adulthood. Overcoming Childhood Trauma is a self-help manual for those who are struggling with the aftereffects of having suffered from abuse in childhood.

Based on clinically proven techniques of cognitive therapy, this book will help readers to understand the links between past trauma and present difficulties, and will offer methods of gaining control over these problems in order to deal with intrusive memories, manage mood swings, and build better relationships in adulthood.

~~~~~

And I also won a book:

Charlaine Harris - Dead And Gone (signed)

For Sookie Stackhouse, the day to day activities of the vampire and were communities in and around Bon Temps, Louisiana, are of vital interest. But for most of the humans in Bon Temps, the vamps are mysterious seductive creatures-and they don't even know about the weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to follow the lead of the undead and reveal their existence to the ordinary world...

In My Mailbox (19)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 2 books:

John Vornholt/Arthur Byron Cover/Alice Henderson - Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus 1

In every generation, there is a Chosen One. A slayer destined to protect the human race. She alone must fight the demons of hell. She alone must risk her life to stop the spread of evil.

Buffy is the Chosen One.

In Coyote Moon, a typical night at the carnival becomes deadly as shape shifters turn the amusement park into their own house of horrors.

Buffy starts having past-life nightmares in Night of the Living Rerun, and must face her historic counterpart before the events of the past repeat in the present.

In Portal through Time, Slayers over the centuries are in danger, and Buffy must protect them in order to save her own life and legacy.

~~~~~

Michael Connelly - Nine Dragons

Harry Bosch is assigned a homicide call in South L.A. that takes him to Fortune Liquors, where the Chinese owner has been shot to death behind the counter in an apparent robbery.

Joined by members of the department's Asian Crime Unit, Bosch relentlessly investigates the killing and soon identifies a suspect, a Los Angeles member of a Hong Kong triad. But before Harry can close in, he gets the word that his young daughter Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong with her mother, is missing.

Bosch drops everything to journey across the Pacific to find his daughter. Could her disappearance and the case be connected? With the stakes of the investigation so high and so personal, Bosch is up against the clock in a new city, where nothing is at it seems.

In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 6 books:

Rachel Vincent - Rogue / Prey / Shift

Okay, so cats don't always land on their feet. I know that better than most. Since rejoining the Pride, I've made big decisions and even bigger mistakes: the kind paid for with innocent lives. As the first and only female enforcer, I have plenty to prove to my father, the Pride, and myself.

~~~~~

Claudia Gray - Evernight

She's been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He's not the "Evernight type" either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

~~~~~

Meg Cabot/Stephenie Meyer et al - Prom Nights From Hell

In this exciting collection, bestselling authors Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer, and Lauren Myracle take bad prom nights to a whole new level—a paranormally bad level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper—and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.

From angels fighting demons to a creepy take on getting what you wish for, these five stories will entertain better than any DJ in a bad tux. No corsage or limo rental necessary. Just good, scary fun.

~~~~~

Dean Koontz - Relentless

Hostile reviews may have hastened the deaths of some writers, but Cubby Greenwich is made of sterner stuff. At least this is what he tells himself, meanwhile obsessing about the scathing review of his latest bestseller by Shearman Waxx in a national newspaper. A feared and therefore revered critic, Waxx has an aura of mystery about him that has carried him far as an arbiter of taste, but the mystery itself is about to break cover. In an unexpected encounter with Waxx, Cubby says one innocent word, but it is the wrong word, and it seems to trigger an inhuman fury in the critic, who becomes bent on destroying Cubby and everything he loves. For it soon becomes apparent that Waxx is not merely a ferocious literary enemy, but a ruthless sociopath. When Cubby finally learns the truth, can he save himself and his family from the appalling danger they are in?

~~~~~

And I also received 2 books from a friend as a gift:

Adam L G Nevill - Banquet For The Damned

Few believed Professor Coldwell was in touch with an unseen world and could commune with spirits. But in Scotland’s oldest university town something has passed from darkness into light, and now the students are being haunted by night terrors. And those who are visited mysteriously disappear. This is no place for outsiders, especially at night, so what chance do a rootless musician and burnt-out explorer have of surviving their entanglement with an ageless supernatural evil and the ruthless cult that worships it? This chilling occult thriller is both a homage to the great age of British ghost stories and a fast-paced modern tale of diabolism and witchcraft.

~~~~~

Adam Nevill - Apartment 16

Some doors are better left closed...In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it's been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever. A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago. Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying...

~~~~~

And I also received a book from Pump Up Your Book for review as part of a tour:

Christopher Stookey - Terminal Care

Phil Pescoe, the 37-year-old emergency physician at Deaconess Hospital in San Francisco, becomes alarmed by a dramatic increase in the number of deaths on the East Annex (the Alzheimer's Ward). The deaths coincide with the initiation of a new drug study on the annex where a team of neurologists have been administering "NAF"—an experimental and highly promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease—to half of the patients on the ward. Mysteriously, the hospital pushes forward with the study even though six patients have died since the start of the trial. Pescoe teams up with Clara Wong—a brilliant internist with a troubled past—to investigate the situation. Their inquiries lead them unwittingly into the cutthroat world of big-business pharmaceuticals, where they are threatened to be swept up and lost before they have the opportunity to discover the truth behind the elaborate cover-up.With the death count mounting, Pescoe and Wong race against time to save the patients on the ward and to stop the drug manufacturer from unleashing a dangerous new drug on the general populace.

In My Mailbox (17)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 5 books:

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge...

~~~~~

Rick Riordan - The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

~~~~~

Meg Cabot - Love You To Death & High Stakes

Meet Susannah Simon: she's a typical teenage girl, who just happens to be a ghost-hunter ...oh, and she's also dead-over-heels for Jesse - the sexiest spook ever! But can this girl get her ghost? In "Love You to Death", Suze arrives in California and has barely unpacked when her mediator skills are put to the test. A vicious spirit in her new school is hell-bent on making her life a complete nightmare, but Suze is more than ready to kick some serious ghost butt if she has to. In "High Stakes", Suze's new life is looking up - cool friends, pool parties and getting to know Jesse (swoon), but then a desperate spirit asks for her help. Suddenly she's on the trail of a creepy local businessman, who just might be a vampire. Life just got dead complicated. Again.

~~~~~

Tess Gerritsen - Presumed Guilty

Miranda's ex-lover is found murdered. She had a motive and the opportunity. After being arrested for the crime, Miranda is shocked to learn she's been released on bail--bail posted by someone determined to remain anonymous. Is someone trying to help Miranda? Or is someone trying to manipulate Miranda and draw her into the dark and secret world of a murdered man, where everybody's presumed guilty?

~~~~~

Tess Gerritsen - Whistleblower

The man emerged from the mist, right in front of Cathy Weaver's car--running from killers who were closing in on him. Victor Holland's story sounded like the ravings of a man on the brink of madness, but his claim to be a fugitive was confirmed by the haunted look in his eyes--and the bullet hole in his shoulder. As each hour brings pursuers ever closer, Cathy has to wonder, is she giving her trust to a man in danger or trusting her life to a dangerous man?

~~~~~

And I also received this as part of a book ring:

Sebastian Fitzek - Therapy

Dr. Viktor Larenz’ life ended the day his 12-year-old daughter, Josy, vanished without a trace. Now, with his marriage and his career as a TV psychiatrist in tatters, he retreats to a remote island cottage to work on an article marking the fourth anniversary of Josy’s disappearance.

Viktor’s solitude is shattered by the appearance of a mysterious woman named Anna Glass. A schizophrenic author who claims she meets characters from her stories in real life, Anna begs for Viktor’s help. Reluctantly, he agrees—but when he recognizes Josy in one of her delusions, it becomes clear that Anna is not what she seems.

In My Mailbox (16)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought just 1 book (although I did pre-order Mockingjay - so excited to read that series!):

Stephenie Meyer - Breaking Dawn

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life—first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse—seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

In My Mailbox (15)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 6 books:

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games

Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death.

In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

~~~~~

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

~~~~~

Carol Lynch Williams - The Chosen One

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in her isolated community without ever questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters; without ever questioning the strict rules imposed by 'the Prophet who leads them. But now Kyra has started keeping secrets. She reads books that are forbidden and sneaks away to meet Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself, instead of having a husband chosen for her. Kyra knows that it's only a matter of time before her two secret loves are discovered. And when the Prophet decrees that she is to become the seventh wife of her sixty-year-old uncle, Kyra is forced to make a desperate choice. But saving herself means endangering everyone she's ever cared for. How far should she go for freedom?

~~~~~

Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali.

~~~~~

Charlaine Harris/Maggie Shayne/Barbara Hambly - Night's Edge

Three new stories in one delicious volume of horror and romance.

Her Best Enemy by Maggie Shayne
Kiley Brigham refuses to believe there's a ghost in her house, but when an unseen hand leaves a bloody message on her bathroom mirror, she's forced to turn to local psychic Jack McCain. As the two work to uncover a long-buried secret, Kiley finds that she's haunted not by spirits, but by thoughts of Jack...

Someone Else's Shadow by Barbara Hambly
Maddie Laveau worries about her young roommate, Tessa, when she stays late to practice ballet in the old Glendower Building...and when Tessa goes missing, Maddie enlists mysterious tenant Phil Anderson to help. But is Phil the white knight she needs, or the predator she fears?

Dancers In The Dark by Charlaine Harris
Layla LaRue LeMay is no ordinary dancer - her partner, Sean McClendon, is a three-hundred-year-old redheaded vampire. So when Layla Rue acquires a stalker, she's forced to face the music...and wonder if this will finally be her last dance.

~~~~~

Rachel Vincent - Pride

The werecat council has three cardinal laws and headstrong Faythe stands accused of breaking two of them: infecting a human with her supernatural skills and killing him to cover her tracks. With the death penalty hanging over her head, Faythe has no escape route left. Until a shapeshifter informs the pride of a rash of rogue strays terrorising his land. Yet this threat is nothing like any they've seen before. Only Faythe has the knowledge to save the pride, but can she prove her worth? Or will the council's verdict condemn them all?

In My Mailbox (14)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 2 books:

Kelley Armstrong - Waking The Witch

The orphaned daughter of a sorcerer and a half-demon, Savannah is a terrifyingly powerful young witch who has never been able to resist the chance to ...more The orphaned daughter of a sorcerer and a half-demon, Savannah is a terrifyingly powerful young witch who has never been able to resist the chance to throw her magical weight around. But at 21 she knows she needs to grow up and prove to her guardians, Paige and Lucas, that she can be a responsible member of their supernatural detective agency. So she jumps at the chance to fly solo, investigating the mysterious deaths of three young women in a nearby factory town as a favor to one of the agency's associates. At first glance, the murders look garden-variety human, but on closer inspection signs point to otherworldly stakes.

~~~~~

Linwood Barclay - Fear The Worst

The worst day of Tim Blake's life started out with him making breakfast for his seventeen-year-old daughter Sydney. Syd was staying with him while she worked a summer job - even if he wasn't entirely sure what her job at the Just Inn Time motel actually was - and Tim hoped this quality father-daughter time would somehow help her deal with his divorce. When she didn't arrive home at her usual time, he thought she'd probably gone to the mall to hang with her friends. When she didn't answer her phone he began to worry. When she didn't come home at all, he began to panic. And when the people at the motel said they had no Sydney Blake working there, and never had, he began to see his life going into freefall. If she hadn't been working at the motel every day, what had she been doing? Something she couldn't - or wouldn't - tell her own father about? To find his daughter Tim doesn't need to simply track her down - he needs to know who she really was, and what could have made her step out of her own life without leaving a trace. Only one thing has him convinced the worst hasn't already happened: the fact that some very scary people seem just as eager as he is to find her. The question is: who's going to find her first?

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought only 1 book:

Maggie Stiefvater - Linger

In SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

In My Mailbox (12)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren, and sums up my past week in book purchases!

So this week I bought 3 books:

Brunonia Barry - The Lace Reader

Drawn by family. Driven by fear. Haunted by fate. Would knowing the future be a gift or a burden? Or even a curse? The Whitney women of Salem, Massachusetts are renowned for reading the future in the patterns of lace. But the future doesn't always bring good news -- as Towner Whitney knows all too well. When she was just fifteen her gift sent her whole world crashing to pieces. She predicted -- and then witnessed -- something so horrific that she vowed never to read lace again, and fled her home and family for good. Salem is a place of ghosts for Towner, and she swore she would never return. Yet family is a powerful tie. So it is that fifteen years later, Towner finds herself back in Salem. Her beloved Great Aunt Eva has suddenly disappeared -- and when you've lived a life like Eva's, that could mean real trouble. But Salem is wreathed in sickly shadows and whispered half-memories. It's fast becoming clear that the ghosts of Towner's fractured past have not been brought fully into the light. And with them comes the threat of terrifying new disaster.

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Darren Shan - Cirque Du Freak/The Vampire's Assistant/Tunnels Of Blood omnibus

Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy who loves to ride bikes and hang out with his three best friends. Then one day Darren and his friends stumble across an invitation to visit the Cirque Du Freak, a strange and mysterious freak show. Almost as if by destiny, Darren wins a ticket and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires.

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Miranda Dickinson - Fairytale Of New York

Florist Rosie Duncan's life couldn't be better, she has a flourishing business on New York's Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak ...For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie's resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret. But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after? A sparkling, romantic comedy about an English girl who finds herself in the city where dreams can come true - or so she thinks!

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And also received 3 books for review from Lisa Hayden @ Penguin UK:

Sarwat Chadda - Dark Goddess

Billi SanGreal is a Knight Templar and has thrown herself utterly into their brutal regime, shutting herself off from everyone and everything. But when Billi finds herself at the heart of a savage werewolf attack, she knows their target – a young girl – must be rescued at all costs. For this is no ordinary girl. Vasalisa is an avatar with an uncontrollable force within – and it’s not just the werewolves who want her.The Dark Goddess wants to sacrifice Vasalisa and use her powers to unleash unimaginable catastrophes and devastation. Can Billi protect Vasalisa from the ancient goddess – and at the same time stop her from destroying the world?

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Eve Edwards - The Other Countess

It's 1582 and eighteen-year-old Will Lacey's family is in trouble. After years of wasteful spending, his late father has run Lacey Hall to near ruin. Tasked with marrying his family back into fortune, the new Earl of Dorset is all set for a season at court to woo not just the Queen but potential brides with his jousting skills. But when Ellie – a strong-willed girl with nothing to her name but a worthless Spanish title – catches Will's eye, he faces a bigger battle than he could ever have anticipated.

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Alex Scarrow - TimeRiders: Day Of The Predator

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. But all three have been given a second chance – to work for an agency that no-one knows exists. Its purpose - to prevent time travel destroying history . . . When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window where and when she shouldn’t have, Liam is marooned sixty-five million years ago in the hunting ground of a deadly - and until now - undiscovered species of predator. Can Liam make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's torn to pieces by dinosaurs – and without endangering history so much that the world is overtaken by a terrifying new reality?