In My Mailbox/Letterbox Love #2

In My Mailbox & Letterbox Love

 

 IMM is something that was started on TheStorySiren so click on the link and check out her blog if you want to find out more about it and how to participate. Letterbox Love was started over at NarrativelySpeaking and is a more UK based version of IMM. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week.

 

Also check out Friday Finds over on ShouldBeReading and Stacking the Shelves over at TyngaReviews, I am in love with all of these as I love finding other blogs to follow and books to read through these! So check them all out and see what you find, Stacking the Shelves has a lot of participants as well which is great.

Warning: This weeks haul was huge!

This week  I bought:

All adult fiction surprisingly!

 

Dark Places

by 

Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars. Since then, she had been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother's? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm, or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?

 She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find out.

I was interested in this since I had heard a lot of good things about it. Plus it is also being made into a movie and I am a sucker for movie adaptions of books (even though most of the time they disappoint). I have read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and it was okay, but a little weird at times and I wasn't 100% sold on it. So let's hope this is really good as I am really intrigued by this one.

Snow White Must Die
by
Nele Neuhaus

In a small town in Germany a boy is accused of murdering his beautiful girlfriend.
On a September evening eleven years ago, two 17-year old girls vanished without a trace from the tiny village of Altenhain, just outside Frankfurt. In a trial based on circumstantial evidence, 20-year-old Tobias Sartorius was convicted and imprisoned for the murder of his childhood friend Laura and his beautiful girlfriend Stefanie - otherwise known as Snow White.
After serving his sentence, Tobias returns home. His presence in the little German village stirs up the events of the past. Events that the locals would prefer to remain hidden. When the Sartorius family is subjected to a number of attacks, Detective Inspector Pia Kirchhoff and DS Oliver von Bodenstein are tasked with monitoring the tense atmosphere in the tight-knit community. As the village's inhabitants close ranks it becomes apparent that the disappearance of Snow White and her friend was far more complex than was first imagined. 


I saw this on the Richard and Judy Book Club website. I don't read a lot of crime fiction, but I do enjoy them and this had some really great reviews.

The Husband's Secret
by
Liane Moriarty

Mother or three and wife of John-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband's hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death. 
Curious she opens it - and time stops.
John-Paul's letter confesses to a terrible mistake which, if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of others.
Cecilia wants to do the right thing, but right for who? If she protects her family by staying silent, the truth will worm through her heart. But if she reveals her husband's secret, she will hurt those she loves most...

I saw this in a book store and then realised it is also on the Richard and Judy Book Group list. I read What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and really enjoyed it so I am looking forward to this one. Loved the blurb as I immediately wanted to know what the secret was!

 Never Coming Back
by
Tim Weaver
 
It was supposed to be the start of a big night out. But when Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carrie's house, she finds the front door unlocked and no one inside. Dinner's cooking, the TV's on, Carrie, her husband and their two daughters are gone.
When the police draw a blank, Emily turns to investigator David Raker. He's made a career out of finding missing people. He knows how they think. But it's clear someone doesn't want this family found.
As he gets closer to the truth, Raker begins to unravel a sinister cover-up, spanning decades and costing countless lives. And worse, in trying to find the missing family, he might just have made himself the next target...


It will be no big shocker for me to reveal that is is also a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. I can't help myself, I read the blurbs on them and I instantly think: I need to read this book! But the worst thing is that it will probably sit on my bookshelf for months before I manage to get to it.


 

 The Shining Girls
by
Lauren Beukes

The girl who wouldn't die...
Kirby is lucky she survived the attack. She is sure there were other victims less fortunate, but the evidence she finds is... impossible.
Hunting a killer who shouldn't exist 
Harper stalks his shining girls through the years - and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came back for him?


I actually saw this for the first time in, the amazing, Forbidden Planet in London. It had an amazing looking cover and I immediately picked it up to see what it was about. The blurb of the hardback was different from the one above, off of the paperback. It seemed clear from the other blurb that this was going to be a science fiction meets crime thriller  book and I was really excited. But again it's probably going to be sitting, abandoned, on my shelf for quite some time.



This week I borrowed: 

All teenage fiction and most new in this week!

 

Time Between Us

by

Tamara Ireland Stone

Chicago, 1995

Anna is sixteen, and fiercely determined to travel the world.

San Fransisco, 2012

Bennett is seventeen... and desperately tying to stay in one place.

Their paths are never supposed to cross. But Bennett has the incredible ability to travel through time and space, and suddenly finds himself in Anna's world.

They are inescapably drawn together - but it can never last. For no matter how hard Bennett tries to stay with Anna, his unpredictable gift will inevitably knock him right back to where he belongs - and Anna will be left alone to pick up the pieces.

I really, and I mean really, lucked out on this one. I was doing extra time at a different library when I saw this on the new books display there. I had seen this in the giant Waterstones(if you ever go London make sure you go there) at Piccadilly during a London Day but hadn't picked it up at the time. I lucked out because I had requested a title on Netgalley called Time After Time, which, it turns out, is the sequel to this book. I'm starting it straight aways as I am really intrigued. Since I read the amazing Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger and absolutely loved it, I have been really trying to find another time travel based romance that I can love as much as that. So here's hoping this is it!

All Our Yesterdays
by
Cristin Terrill

Yesterday - Lover
Today - Tormentor
Tomorrow - Liberator
Yesterday - Eliminator

Yesterday Marina was safe, privileged, wealthy. She was falling for James - the super-brainy youngest son of a very powerful family. Yesterday ended badly.
Today Em is in a cell she may never get out of alive. There's a flicker of hope when she talks to the boy in the cell next to hers - and when she remembers who she used to be... Yesterday.
Tomorrow Em has a mission. She must escape and travel back in time. She must kill the boy Marina loved - to save her future.

Another book with time travel in, I am so excited to read all of them that it really sucks that I will have to wait so long before I get to them all!!! I never look up extra information about a book other than what it says on the back; so this one is keeping me guessing for the minute.

Briar Rose
by
Jana Oliver

Briar Rose believes in fairy tales.
And now because of a family curse, she's living one. Doomed to fall asleep for one hundred years on her sixteenth birthday, Briar has woken up in the darkest, most twisted fairy tale she could ever  dream of - miles away from the safe, boring small-town life that she has left behind.
Briar must fight her way out of the story, but she can't do it alone. She always believed in handsome princes, and now she's met one her only chance is to put her life in his hands, or there will be no happy ever after and no waking up...

 I am not so sure about this one, I can't really make up my mind if I want to read it or not. But the idea of a reworking of Sleeping Beauty seems like such a cool idea. Who knows, maybe it'll end up just going back to the library. If anyone has read it and loved it, let me know!

 The Elites
by
Natasha Ngan

'You might be an Elite, Silver, but remember that in the end you're nothing more than a dirty Red.'

Hundreds of years into the future, only one city has survived: Neo-Babel, a melting pot of cultures and peoples - and fear and discrimination. As a 'Red'- an ethnic Chinese - Silver could never have dreamed of becoming an elite, a guard of the city's council, yet she is now on the brink of her first major covert assignment.
But when Silver's parents go missing, she is forced to confront the Outside - life beyond the walls of Neo-Babel. Silver is plunged into a strange new world of slums and dissidents, of secret splinter groups and deeply guarded secrets. And as the dirty truths about Neo-Babel begin to reveal themselves, Silver has to search deep within herself for the strength to fight against all she has ever known.

I hate when new books are delivered as I immediately grab anything that I like the look of an borrow it. Regardless of the fact I don't actually have the time to read even half of them. I borrowed this as I loved the cover, I didn't even really read the back of it to find out what it was about.

 Ender's Game
by
Orson Scott Card

To save mankind
they need a hero
but are they creating
a monster?

 That is literally all the back of this book says about what the book is about. But this comes highly recommended by one of the people I work with, who adores it. So let's hope it's good because the movies coming out and I want to be able to go see it and sit there being all judgemental going "That's wrong!" "They left that out!".

This Is What Happy Looks Like

by

Jennifer E. Smith

If fate sent an email, would you answer?

It's June - seventeen-year-old Ellie O'Neill's least favourite time of year. Her tiny hometown is annually invaded by tourists, and this year there's the added inconvenience of a film crew. Even the arrival of Hollywood heart-throb Graham Larkin can't lift her mood.

But there is something making Ellie very happy. Ever since an email was accidentally sent to her a few months ago, she's been corresponding with a mysterious stranger, the two of them sharing  their hopes and fears. Their developing relationship is not without its secrets though - there's the truth about Ellie's past... and her pen pal's real identity. When they finally meet in person, things are destined to get more complicated. Can two people, worlds apart but brought together by chance, make it against all odds?

I read Jennifer E. Smith's other novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and really enjoyed it. I thought it was one of the best purely romance novels I had read in a long time. So I am hoping this is god as well. Although her pen pal's identity is quite obviously Graham Larkin!

Picture Me Gone

by

Meg Rosoff

Mila has a gift.

She can read a room,

a person,

a situation - 

and tell if you're happy,

or pregnant,

or having an affair.

When her father's best friend, Matthew, goes missing, Mila joins in the search. She sees clues no one else notices, facts everyone else overlooks.

But the answers refuse to line up and Matthew refuses to be found.

Is there something Mila has missed?

Something closer to home than she ever imagined?

Love the cover. Love the premise. Love everything. I wish I had time to read all of these; I wish I could book time off work just to sit at home and read constantly so I could get through most of these! 

 

Projection

by

Risa Green

In ancient Rome, it was whispered that the great philosopher Plotinus could project his soul into another human in a ritual that hinged on a kiss.

In present-day Delphi, California, the sole remaining guardians of the Plotinus Ability hide in plain sight as members of the exclusive Oculus Society - until their leader, Octavia Harris, is killed in her own home. With no leads in the case, Octavia's daughter, Gretchen, vows to find her mother's murderer at any cost.

One piece of the puzzle falls into place when Gretchen's best friend, Jessica Shaw, discovered the Plotinus Ability. Skeptical but curious, the two can't resist trying the ritual, but they're not alone. Ariel Miller, an outsider with a well-known hatred of all things Occulus Society, films the friends exchanging their first kiss, and it isn't long before the YouTube video ("Popular Girls = Secret Lovers") goes viral. As Ariel's guilt and the girl's suspicions of her mount, the three must forget the past and trust one another if they are to find the murderer still in their midst.

Another new book which I picked up because of the cover. After reading the blurb it does seem kind of weird and I am not so sure about it. The whole ancient secret society meets viral YouTube videos just seems so funny to me. Loved to hear if someone has read it and if it is actually any good.

This week I received for review:

 Time After Time
by
Tamara Ireland Stone


Calling Anna and Bennett's romance long distance is an understatement: she's from 1995 Chicago and he's a time traveller from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds.
It's not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they'll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?
Told from Bennett's point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what's next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.


Sometimes I really hate sequels that are essentially the first book from a different character's point of view. But I have just started Time Between Us and am already hooked so I am actually really looking forward to this one. Especially in a book where one of the characters time travels I believe it is really useful to have both points of view. EXCITED! Got this for review from the wonderful Netgalley.

 Alienated
by
Melissa Landers

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 
Handpicked to host the first-ever L'eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she'll have inside information about the mysterious L'eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara's blog following is about to skyrocket.
Still, Cara isn't sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L'eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn't seem more alien. She's certain about one thing though: no human boy is this good-looking.
But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realises that Aelyx isn't just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life-not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet. 

I really can't help myself. I read the descriptions and I just have to read it even if I don't have the time. Another Netgalley ARC.

The Naturals
by
Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie. What Cassie doesn’t realise is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive. 

Sounds intriguing. Thanks again Netgalley, I adore thee. 



And...
DONE.



So sorry there are so many but I really went book crazy this week. So many new books were delivered at work and I just can't help myself. I have to take them! Please leave a comment if you have read any of the above and tell me what you thought about it. Could use some ideas as to where to start after I have finished Time Between Us and Time After Time.


Please leave links to your own IMM or LL as I always love checking them out & am always looking for new blogs to follow so I can share the love!