In My Mailbox (48)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books received this week and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. What books did you get this week?

For Review (from publisher unless stated)

The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe (Amazon Vine)
Turkey - Leanne Kitchen (Amazon Vine)

For Kindle

My Soul to Take - Rachel Vincent
Lady in the Tower - Marie-Louise Jensen
New Moan: The First Book in The Twishite Saga: A Parody - Stephordy Mayo
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman


  

Friday Finds

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share your FRIDAY FINDS! Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should be Reading

Once a Witch - Carolyn MacCullough

Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search—and the stranger—will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all. This is a spellbinding display of storytelling that will exhilarate, enthrall, and thoroughly enchant.

Hereafter - Tara Hudson

Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Turned - Morgan Rice

Eighteen year old Caitlin Paine finds herself uprooted from her nice suburb and forced to attend a dangerous New York City high school when her Mom moves again. The one ray of light in her new surroundings is Jonah, a new classmate who takes an instant liking to her.

But before their romance can blossom, Caitlin suddenly finds herself changing. She is overcome by a superhuman strength, a sensitivity to light, a desire to feed--by feelings she does not understand. She seeks answers to what’s happening to her, and her cravings lead her to the wrong place at the wrong time. Her eyes are opened to a hidden world, right beneath her feet, thriving underground in New York City. She finds herself caught between two dangerous covens, right in the middle of a vampire war.

It is at this moment that Caitlin meets Caleb, a mysterious and powerful vampire who rescues her from the dark forces. He needs her to help lead him to the legendary lost artifact. And she needs him for answers, and for protection. Together, they will need to answer one crucial question: who was her real father?

But Caitlin finds herself caught between two men as something else arises between them: a forbidden love. A love between the races that will risk both of their lives, and will force them to decide whether to risk it all for each other…

Royal Wedding Friday Fun

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer @ Crazy for Books. It's a chance for book bloggers to connect and share the book love. Check out Crazy for Books (click on the button) for more details and to find the links of some awesome blogs.

This week's question is:
Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?


 

The first one's that come to mind are Haunting Violet and All You Desire but there's a whole bunch of books I can't wait to read.

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee. Just click on the banner below to see the rules and to join in.

This week's question is:
If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?


   

Obviously I'd plan to actually have my Kindle but that's not really the point of the question so, in no particular order:
* Harry Potter 3 and 7 (I would have them all but that would take up 7 of my 10 so I picked my 2 favourites)
* Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Complete Edition (5 books in one - no, that's not cheating)
* The Hunger Games (3 books)
* The Time Traveler's Wife
* 1984
* To Kill a Mocking bird
* Anna Karenina

Yes, I chose some of them for length, not necessarily my ten favourite books lol

Read My Review is a chance for book bloggers to share new and old reviews, related to a theme. It is hosted here at A Trillian Books. Make sure you leave your BRITISH reviews on the current linky and also visit some of the awesome reviews already there.

Alyxandra Harvey in the UK!

Alyxandra Harvey, author of The Drake Chronicles and soon to be released Haunting Violet, will be touring the UK this May.

7pm Tuesday 24th May
Alyxandra will be talking about Haunting Violet in the Simpson Room at Waterstone’s Piccadilly, 203 / 206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
Tickets priced £2 redeemable against a copy of Haunting Violet on the night
Tel: +44 (0)20 7851 2400

4:30pm Wednesday 25th May
Alyxandra will be signing copies of the Drake Chronicles and Haunting Violet at Waterstone’s Bath, 4 / 5 Milsom Street, Bath BA1 1DA
Tel: +44 (0)1225 448 515

11:30am Saturday 28th May
Alyxandra will be appearing at the world famous Hay Festival with Marcus Sedgwick, author of Revolver and White Crow
Tickets priced £4

Review: Divergent - Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496
Genre: Dyslit, Young Adult
Published: 3 May 2011 (HarperCollins)

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior has a decision to make: should she stay in the faction she grew up in, where she can stay with her family and everything she knows, or should she accept that she's not selfless enough to be Abnegation and move to another faction, where she will no longer see her family but can live more like her true self. Needless to say, Beatrice opts to move to a new faction (otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story). She changes her name to Tris and tries to settle in as a Dauntless initiate. She has new friends and a new way of life but as in any dystopian story, things aren't quite what they seem.

Divergent is an amazing story, set in a brilliantly crafted world. The plot is full of action, emotion and excitement with fantastically developed characters. Tris is a tough cookie but there's an edge of vulnerability to her as well which makes things interesting. She'll stand up for what she believes in but she also feels scared and alone at times. There's some good secondary characters as well, some nice, some not so much and for a lot of the book, we're not really sure about some of them. The Dauntless initiates spend a lot of time in competition with each other so at any point it feels like even Tris's new friends could turn on her. As with most books of this kind, there's the love interest. Four is a mysterious character. It's clear there's a whole lot of Four's background hidden (even his real name isn't revealed until late in the book) and the author does an excellent job throughout the book of giving just enough away to make you want to know more.

For me, this book was right up there with The Hunger Games and I'm hoping that the rest of the series (a trilogy I believe) will be just as good. Do not miss this book.