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.