Tuesday Tidings: Letterbox Love 3

This British-themed meme came out of a Twitter conversation, is hosted by Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and allows us to discuss books arriving through our letterboxes (or Kindle whispernet of course ...) every week or so. All links will take you to Goodreads or the publisher's info page.

It's been a little while since I've done one of these, so there are a few books to tell you about (and sorry it's not on a Sunday, as everybody else seems to manage:)). Here's what I've received recently:

Review copies

From Bloomsbury

Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas
Velvet by Mary Hooper
A daredevil assassin in an epic fantasy and a Victorian laundress who takes a new job assisting a spirit medium. Two quite different heroines, two YA August releases that I'm keen to read.

From Indigo

Soul Fire by Kate Harrison
Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
Part two of the trilogy that started with Soul Beach where the young and recently dead hang out on a virtual beach, and the first in a new series that sounds amazing: gothic and suspenseful, riffing off the Edgar Allan Poe story. How cool do these sound?

From Strange Chemistry

Blackwood by Gwenda Bond
Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings
Contemporary fantasy constructed around the very real mystery of Roanoke Island's Lost Colony, Blackwood was amazing. I had a sneak peek and ended up reading the whole thing... I'll post a proper review nearer to the release in September.  And Poltergeeks, out in October, promises so much: poltergeists, witchcraft and mystery.

Purchased

A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton
More witchcraft! Again, it's a contemporary setting with witches. I'm a bit of a sucker for witches and could ignore all the great reviews I've been seeing for this no longer. The second in the series (I think it's going to be a trilogy) is out soon too, so I just might catch up in time to jump in - although sometimes I think it's better to wait until a whole series is out to start reading it. Resisting bookish temptation was never really my strength, though...

Gifts

Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Moondance at Stonewylde by Kit Berry
The vampire tales are so enticing, offering a variety of approaches to the mythology: Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr and Holly Black are among the contributors, and I was thrilled to get the second Stonewylde book. I read the first three of this excellent series several years ago when they were self-published, and I'm going to treat myself to a read of the newly edited Gollancz versions all together sometime soon. Thanks go to my lovely sister for these (and don't they look cool together!)

Won

Horribly Famous: Mary, Queen of Scots
I won this in a game of Book Battleships on Twitter. If you don't follow ScholasticUK on Twitter, this is a game they regularly play, with words for the x and y axes of a small battleships grid. I won on this occasion with 'unnecessary comma', which I chose because I see them so often in students' writing and they bug me. It's nice to get something positive from one :)

Letterbox Love 2

This British-themed meme came out of a Twitter conversation, is being hosted by Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and allows us to discuss books arriving through our letterboxes (or Kindle whispernet of course ...) every week or two. All links will take you to Goodreads or the publisher's info page.

So, here's what I've received recently:

Review copies

From Orchard Books

Emma Hearts LA by Keris Stainton. Having come late to the party and recently enjoyed Della Says: OMG!, I'm expecting to really enjoy this UKYA tale of Emma's family's move to LA.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, which is coming out in paperback in July. I saw some of the reviews for the hardback version and it sounded great - a creepy ghost story, centred on a boy who "kills the dead" and meets a challenge in the form of Anna Dressed in Blood.

From Hodder Children's Books

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. This is an Australian YA coming out this summer, which focuses on a girl's quest to find a graffiti artist. It sounds to me from the blurb like she effectively falls in love with him through his art - an intriguing idea.

The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher. Coming out later this year, this UKYA sounds like a great fantasy read full of magic and mystery, combined with time travel. An obsidian mirror, used for 'experiments', becomes central in a boy's search for his father, while others are also trying to get their hands on it.

From Orion Children's Books

The Case of the Good-Looking Corpse (Western Mysteries 2) by Caroline Lawrence. In the second P K Pinkerton mystery, the 12-yr-old detective takes on an official case: finding a girl's murderer before he can get to the girl's maid who witnessed the whole thing.
The Mystery of the Smugglers' Wreck (Adventure Island 9) by Helen Moss. In this adventure, the three children (and, of course, Drift the dog) find a smugglers' wreck to explore and figure out. Bound to be great fun!

The Mystery of the Invisible Spy (Adventure Island 10) by Helen Moss. Our intrepid investigators suspect  a new resident on Castle Key Island (aka Adventure Island) to be a spy.

Adventure Island news

To celebrate the tenth Adventure Island release, there is a fabulous competition running from tomorrow. You can win the chance to appear in a future Adventure Island book! Plus a full signed set of the stories, and another set for your school or library. It's a quest-type competition with clues to unravel and a code to crack, requiring you to visit different blogs on particular days.  For full details, check out the link above.

Purchased

The Writer's Treasury of Ideas by Linda Lewis. I bought this on recommendation from Womag Writer's blog and, having had a quick flick, am sure it will be helpful. The writer has had many stories published in the competitive women's magazine market, so she certainly knows a thing or two about effective short stories.

Letterbox Love 1

For those of you that aren't familiar with the goings-on of the book blogging world, this is a new UK-based meme to replace In My Mailbox, as there has been a lot of unpleasant drama associated with the latter meme. This British-themed alternative came out of a Twitter conversation, is being hosted by Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and it will allow us to discuss books arriving through our letterboxes (or Kindle whispernet of course ...) every week or two without the drama.

So, here's what I've received recently:

Review copies (care of the lovely Orion ladies):

The Treasure House by Linda Newbery

Nina's mother has disappeared.

She's left a message to say she'll be back, but nobody knows where she's gone or why.

Nina's father goes to look for her, leaving Nina with her aunts who run a charity shop. When Nina finds some of her mum's most treasured possessions on sale in the shop, she knows something must be wrong.

Soon she is caught up in an investigation of her own. But there are so many secrets to unravel. And once Nina knows the truth, will she wish she didn't?

A fascinating mystery, beautifully crafted by this award-winning author.

I am very keen to read this one, having greatly enjoyed Linda Newbery's Lob last year, written for a slightly younger readership.

Magic and Mayhem (The Raven Mysteries book 5) by Marcus Sedgwick

A bored bird is a dangerous bird.

Following a family outing to the circus, Minty falls under the spell of a dodgy fortune-teller, Castle Otherhand is overrun by furry white bunnies, a mucky duck and a hamster called Mr Whiskers, and Valevine creates a strangely lethal cabbage-counting contraption. Rark! 

The Castle is in mayhem. With Solstice's help, and a little magic, Edgar rescues his family from the greenest and fluffiest mayhem ever.

This series is hilarious! Light goth for kids, narrated by the family raven - how great is that?! I reviewed the first in this series last year.

Horrid Henry Meets the Queen (Early Reader) by Francesca Simon

Utterly wicked. Totally brilliant. The Queen is coming to Horrid Henry's school. The real live Queen! Henry can't believe it.

But when Miss Battle-Axe makes him stand at the back, Henry is furious. How on earth is he going to get himself noticed now?

'Horrid Henry Meets The Queen' was originally published in the collection of that title, but appears here for the first time in a single volume with brand-new full colour illustrations.

What could be a greater recipe for disaster than Horrid Henry meeting the Queen? It's nice to see this one given the 'early reader' treatment with new illustrations.

The Perfect Pet Shop (EARLY READER) by Vivian French

It's night-time at the Perfect Pet Shop and a naughty puppy is making lots of noise! Will the other animals EVER get to sleep?

These Early Readers are great for kids who haven't been reading long, and there is a good varied selection available. The last Vivian French one I read was lovely and this looks like another sweet, fun story.

Gifted:

Advent by James Treadwell from the lovely Sister Spooky

For centuries it has been locked away 
Lost beneath the sea
Warded from earth, air, water, fire, spirits, thought and sight.

But now magic is rising to the world once more.

And a boy called Gavin, who thinks only that he is a city kid with parents who hate him, and knows only that he sees things no one else will believe, is boarding a train, alone, to Cornwall.

No one will be there to meet him.

I've wanted to read this since I saw it compared to the fabulous Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and duly added it to my wish list. I was so chuffed to see this on Sister Spooky's giveaway list. Watch this space - I'm already pretty sure I'll love this one!

In My Mailbox 12

In My Mailbox is a meme run by The Story Siren, in which bloggers can share a peek at the lovely books they've acquired over the past week (or month, as the case may be ...)

In this instalment of IMM, the lovely ladies at Orion have sent me the following books for review:

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen, which sounds hilarious: reality TV, the Everglades and a TV star with an unrealistic self image.
The Queen by Richard Brassey - this was great fun and deceptively informative. The review is coming up on Friday.
Adventure Island 7: The Mystery of the Dinosaur Discovery by Helen Moss. I'm reading this with my 8 yr old at the moment, and we're loving it. Classic adventure-mystery for kids.
Adventure Island 8: The Mystery of the Drowning Man by Helen Moss
These all came from Orion Children's Books, are out now and are for under-12s. The Gathering Dark: The Grisha 1 by Leigh Bardugo is coming from Indigo at Orion in May and is a major US YA fantasy, published in the US as Shadow and Bone.

I've won:
Pendragon Legacy: Sword of Light by Katherine Roberts. This came from a contest at the fabulous Feeling Fictional blog and I was so excited to win it, as I've been watching the promo for this one for a while. It's an Arthurian fantasy, focused on the newly-invented Rhianna Pendragon (daughter of Arthur, who's been hidden away with the fairies). A grand fantasy adventure with a cool heroine - what's not to love?!

I've received (for Mother's Day)
The Retribution by Val McDermid (the latest Tony Hill novel)
The Calling of the Grave by Simon Beckett (the latest David Hunter)
Both of these are continuations of crime series that I enjoy (such well-trained children!) and I'm looking forward to curling up with these soon.

The Kindle Spring Sale was rather  helpful for enabling me to pick up some lovely YA novels that had come to my attention already. I was so excited to find these:
The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott
The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jenson
Mortal Chaos by Matt Dickinson
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I've purchased:

A Mystery for Megan (Buttercup Magic) by Abi Burlingham

and my daughter was thrilled to receive signed cover art from Abi (who is lovely. Follow her on Twitter: @AbiBurlingham)

I'll be reading and reviewing this too, once the little one's finished with it (which won't be long, I expect - she's loving it!)

In My Mailbox 11

In My Mailbox is a meme run by The Story Siren, in which bloggers can share a peek at the lovely books they've acquired over the past week (or month, as the case may be ...)

In this instalment of IMM, I've received the following books for review from the lovely ladies at Orion:

My Own Special Way by Mithaa alKhayyat (retold by Vivian French), a sweet little tale, which my 8 yr old enjoyed and I'll be reviewing soon. The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish, which promises tons of creepiness and Crossing Over by Anna Kendall - the first in a paranormal series about a boy who can visit the realm of the dead.



I've won:

The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis (signed!) from the lovely Abrams & Chronicle. I started this on the train yesterday and it's beautiful and enthralling so far - a lovely mix of realism and fairy tale.

Undiscovered Voices 2012 through the fabulous Tall Tales and Short Stories blog - a showcase of as-yet-unpublished British talent in children's books.

Loose Connections by Rosemary Hayes, A Waste of Good Paper by Sean Hayes and The Comic Cafe by Roger Stevens.  These 3 proofs came via a Twitter competition from Frances Lincoln. Loose Connections comes out in June and seems to be a realistic family story for older kids with a ghostly twist, while A Waste of Good Paper is a piece of teen realism which comes out in May. The Comic Cafe is a kids' novel out in May from comic poet Roger Stevens.

Drive By by Jim Carrington, kindly provided by Bloomsbury as an early bird prize on the British Books Challenge. I was really pleased to see this as a prize, as I'd just heard about the book and popped it on my wishlist. It's a realist YA novel exploring the idea of consequences and responsibility.

So, which lovely books have come your way recently?

In My Mailbox 10

In My Mailbox is a meme run by The Story Siren, in which bloggers can share a peek at the lovely books they've acquired over the past week (or month, as the case may be ...)

In this instalment of IMM, I've received the following lovely books for review:

Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale: a heartwarming YA story full of twists and turns. I enjoyed this one immensely - see my review for more detail.
The Mourning Emporium by Michelle Lovric: children's historical fantasy set in Venice. I loved Talina in the Tower and have high hopes for this.
Lolly Luck by Ellie Daines: a charming children's contemporary novel. This was a great read, which I'll be reviewing on Friday.
Hope Road by John Barlow: the first in a new crime series set in Leeds, which I'm looking forward to reading.
Road to London by Barbara Mitchelhill: this children's historical is coming out in April. Elizabethan London, Shakespeare, adventure - who could resist?

I've won:
Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
in a competition on Notes of Life, hosted by the lovely Nikki-Ann.
This is the first in a highly unusual crime series featuring Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Reviews for this series feature adjectives like "offbeat", "quirky" and "eccentric", so I'm betting this will be fun!

and made the following purchases:

Medal Mayhem by Tamsyn Murray: the fourth Stunt Bunny book, linking classic SB madness to this year's Olympic excitement. My 8 yr old was so excited when this arrived and promptly made off with it.
How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity edited by Michael Cart. These short stories explore a range of LGBT experience, in this collection for teens. I'll be reviewing this for Portrait of a Woman's LGBT week next week.
Writing for Children by Linda Strachan: unsurprisingly, a book about writing for children! Surprisingly comprehensive though, covering non-fiction as well as fiction, and explaining a lot of the business side of writing - contracts, royalties, ALCS, PLR etc.

In My Mailbox 9

In My Mailbox is a meme run by The Story Siren, in which bloggers can share a peek at the lovely books they've acquired over the past week (or month, as the case may be ...)


In this instalment of IMM, I've received the following lovely books for review:

Don't they look great together?

Hollow Pike by James Dawson is coming out on 2 February and has already caused a lot of online excitement. This is the spookiest book I've received lately: a creepy combo of witches, woods and ominous birds. The trailer is gorgeously chilling (see the end of the post).  James Dawson's website says:

She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams that someone is trying to kill her.

Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all, who would want to murder her? She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you?

Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps...

Welcome to Hollow Pike.

See - spooky! I do love witches though, and James Dawson's countdown on his site has been whetting my appetite with hints of historical reference to witch trials and burnings contributing to a local legend.


Opal Moonbaby by Maudie Smith was launched on 5 January and is a fabulous debut novel for the 7+ age group. It features a crazy alien trying to understand Earth, with the help of Martha, who's decided she doesn't need friends anymore, and her brother Robbie. I reviewed this one last week and Maudie Smith stopped in on her blog tour to talk about the fantasy genre and her writing.

Talina in the Tower by Michelle Lovric is coming out on 2 February in gorgeous hardcover and is another supernatural mystery, but with a younger target audience than Hollow Pike. The dustjacket flap tells us:

Magic is attracted to Talina, and Talina is attracted to magic, with startling results. When, in the dead of night, terrifying creatures start to prowl the waterways of Venice snatching men and women, not to mention children, cats and rats, Talina knows desperate measures are needed. But before she can do anything, her parents disappear and she and her loyal cat, Drusilla, are forced to live with her sinister Guardian in his gaunt and lonely twittering tower on the northernmost edge of the city. It's here her adventure begins . . .

I haven't read any of Michelle Lovric's books before (I've got my eye on The Mourning Emporium too, though) but I have high hopes of this historical fantasy set in Venice.

Venus Rocks by Fiona Dunbar was launched on 5 January and is the third Kitty Slade book. The back cover blurb says:

Hey, Kitty Slade here. Just hanging out, doing ordinary things. You know, like seeing ghosts. It's been happening for a while now, but this time - this time is different...

When Kitty sees a ghost ship, she knows her spooky powers are growing stronger. Plunged into a dark mystery from long a go, she soon encounters Beth, a lost soul who drowned on board. Kitty must uncover the secrets buried at the bottom of the sea - before it's too late...

I'm reading this at the moment and loving its great voice. Although Kitty sees ghosts, the tone so far is sassy rather than spooky - a great fun read for younger teens and older kids.

In My Mailbox 8: Kindle Special

Just like many others, I spent some of the lazy post-Christmas days adding to my Kindle books collection, with no small amount of help from the 12 Days of Kindle promotion. Since this is quite a list, I'm going to try to restrain myself from rambling on! All links go to Amazon.

Crime (adult books)

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
Devil-Devil by G W Kent

The Skeleton in the Closet by M C Beaton

There's an 'interesting setting' vibe going on with these three (for me at least) - East Anglia ('back home' to me - gotta love the combination of familiar and shocking!); exotic island; English country house (and I love Beaton's Agatha Raisin series for light and cosy crime - like an endless sitcom where all the characters end up back where they started every time).

Women's (adult books)

Miracle at the Museum of Broken Hearts (Novella) by Talli Roland

Results Not Typical by Catherine Howard
Both of these were free when I downloaded them, and both are currently the grand sum of 77p! I read Talli Roland's over New Year and really enjoyed it. It's the first of hers I've read, as I haven't really got into chick lit before. It was a fun read, and Results Not Typical sounds like a great satire on the slimming industry.

Non-Fiction (adult books)

Tweeting the Universe: Tiny Explanations of Very Big Ideas by Marcus Chown and Govert Schilling

21st Century Dodos: A Collection of Endangered Objects (and Other Stuff) by Steve Stack

Writing a Novel with Scrivener by David Hewson
This is quite a mix of stuff I thought I could do with (a bit of Scrivener clarity - there's so much to get your head around) and stuff that sounded intriguing. So far, both of the others are great examples of dip-into non-fiction, which is brilliant on the Kindle when you've got a few spare minutes.

Children's and YA - Fantasy (including Urban and Dystopia) 

Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes

Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Unique by Alison Allen-Gray

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

There are some titles in here that I've had on my wishlist for ages, and others that I've only recently heard of. Quite a range though, from classic fantasy (albeit with a kick-ass female flavour) like Daughter of the Flames, to the intriguing The Future of Us where 1990s kids somehow get sight of their Facebook statuses from the future and can influence them. And how intriguing does Delirium's world where love is outlawed as craziness sound?

Children's and YA - Realism

This Is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees

Fifteen Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins

Della says: OMG! by Keris Stainton

The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne

Almost True by Keren David
Again, this is a mix of new titles and some that I've been after for a while, as well as being a mixture of 'gritty' realism and contemporary humour - sometimes in the same book.

I know this is a load at once, but hey, that's what Amazon vouchers are for, right? :) I'm bound to be reviewing at least some of these over the next few months.

In My Mailbox 7

It's been about five weeks since I last did one of these, as it all went a bit quiet over the holidays. That is until the strike of the deadly 12 Days of Kindle. Since that promotion is still ongoing and I just might possibly buy some more ebooks during it, I'll save the wrap-up from that for another day.


My exciting win, arriving just before Christmas was Troubadour by Mary Hoffman. I won this in a giveaway on the brilliant History Girls blog, which features daily posts from a crew of historical novelists writing for a range of age groups. I didn't know what I'd won (it was a pot luck thing), so I was thrilled to receive this, having had several of Hoffman's books on my wishlist for a while. I'm sure this will be the start of something!

Before Christmas, I downloaded several Kindle books by people I follow on Twitter or whose blogs I read. I'm looking forward to reading these, and all have been receiving rave reviews:


Mel Sherratt (who blogs at High Heels and Book Deals) has made her debut crime thriller, Taunting the Dead, available on Kindle. I really like the sound of this one and am excited at the possibility of beginning a new crime series.

Find it at Amazon UK

Gillian Philips has released a prequel to her Rebel Angels series, Frost Child, dealing with Seth's parents relationship. It's a novella rather than a full length novel and is therefore currently only available on Kindle. Just look at this gorgeous cover!

Find it at Amazon UK

Finally, Mondays Are Red by Nicola Morgan is now available under her Crabbit Publishing imprint. This was her first novel and centres on the theme of the power of words.

Find it at Amazon UK

In My Mailbox 6

In My Mailbox is a meme started by the Story Siren. It's available weekly, but you can also do it less often (as I do).  It's been about a month since my last one. A month in which I have:

• received two books I'm looking forward to reviewing
• won a bundle books on Twitter

First up, my review reads are as follows:

New Beginnings was sent to me for review by the lovely Rebecca Emin, who I met online via her blog during the Writers' Platform Challenge. She saw that I like to review children's books and sent me a charming email inviting me to review her debut novel for older children on the theme of bullying. The book is due to be published in late January. I'm looking forward to reading it and probably sharing it with one of my girls.

My other review read for this month's post came from the Transworld Book Group and is Liza Marklund's The Bomber. Publishing next week on the 24th November, this seems like an exciting winter read: a thriller with a smart female lead, set in December. Look out for my review in the next couple of months.

And finally, my exciting win this month comes from the generous team at Scholastic. I won via a Twitter promotion for National Non-Fiction Day and the prize was an amazing set of non-fiction books.  Just look at this:

The parcel contained the following titles:
Horrible History Annual 2012
Horrible Science Annual 2012
Both kids (aged 8 and 13) have been flicking through these and muttering 'cool!' and giggling. Job done, I think!
How to Draw Horrible Science
The 8 yr old dived straight into this and has been practising drawing people and all sorts of creatures. She's particularly impressed with this one, and we're all impressed with her results. Maybe when we review these, she'll let me scan in a picture.
How to Change the World with a Ball of String
This is a quirky volume, showing how coincidences and mistakes have made history. Again, both kids have dipped in and declared their findings 'cool'.
The Murderous Maths of Everything
This was less attractive to the girls to begin with (both are a little maths-shy), but the younger one recognised the author name, since Kjartan Poskitt also wrote Agatha Parrott (which we enjoyed in the summer).

Big thanks to Rebecca Emin, Transworld and Scholastic for enhancing our household with these lovely titles!