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
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
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 :)
What I love about your Letterbox Love posts is that you say a bit about the titles in your own words. That makes such a difference for me. I like the look of Velvet too. And the battleships game looks like fun. Enjoy :)
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