My Weekly Book Haul: 31/05/2014

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Friday Finds is something that was started 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. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week. All book covers and their summary come from back of book or Goodreads.


I've had quite an up and down week this week. Book wise I am struggling to get through the Lunar Chronicles at the mo, am about halfway through Scarlet. I'm not struggling because they're bad but just because I can't seem to concentrate on reading. I think I'm just having a strange week, feeling very run down at the moment. Looking forward to some time off work as I have been working a lot and I think that's getting to me. I am requiring a few good days of sleep and relaxing with a good book.
I have been spending a lot of time with the family, can't put my new second cousin down. She's absolutely adorable and just the cutest little thing. My cousin makes me laugh though, the only new mother I know who would actually complain that their baby sleeps. She wants the baby awake more so they can spend time together, I keep telling her she'll appreciate it when she stops sleeping as much.
A new Costa machine was installed at my work and it's AMAZING! I am constantly buying hot chocolate now and it's becoming a problem. It stopped giving out hot chocolate for no reason for a day and I almost went completely insane! 






The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

I have borrowed this a million times, each time I am determined I am going to binge read the whole series and then I just don't. But, I will get there blogosphere, I WILL!

The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran, #1) The Lord of Opium (Matteo Alacran #2)

Newbery Honor author Nancy Farmer wows us with this riveting sci-fi thriller about a young clone struggling for acceptance in his tumultuous, sheltered world.
Matt is six years old when he discovers that he is different from other children and other people. To most, Matt isn't considered a boy at all, but a beast, dirty and disgusting. But to El Patron, lord of a country called Opium, Matt is the guarantee of eternal life. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself - for Matt is himself. They share the exact same DNA. 
As Matt struggles to understand his existence and what that existence truly means, he is threatened by a host of sinister and manipulating characters, from El Patron's power-hungry family to the brain-deadened eejits and mindless slaves that toil Opium's poppy fields. Surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards, escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But even escape is no guarantee of freedom… because Matt is marked by his difference in ways that he doesn't even suspect.

Have heard some great things about this one, really intrigued by this one.

Earth Girl (Earth Girl, #1) Earth Star (Earth Girl, #2)
Earth Girl & Earth Star by Janet Edwards

A sensational YA science fiction debut from an exciting new British author. Jarra is stuck on Earth while the rest of humanity portals around the universe. But can she prove to the norms that she’s more than just an Earth Girl?
2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds, 18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an ‘ape’, a ‘throwback’, but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.
Jarra invents a fake background for herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra’s role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow, she has to keep the deception going.
A freak solar storm strikes the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety – no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra. The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And one is on collision course with their shelter.

Damn it! I just realised that all my talk about how I need to control the amount of series I start clearly hasn't worked. I've just borrowed a bunch of new series. 

Sapphire Blue (Precious Stone Trilogy, #2) Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy, #3)
Sapphire Blue & Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean.
At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.

Hoping to start this series soon now that I have all three of them. 



The Jewel
The Jewel by Amy Ewing

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.
Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

I really LOVE the look of this one. And yes, a part of that is because of the gorgeous cover. I'm sorry, I am a cover whore.

Anatomy of a Misfit
Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes

This emotional, hilarious, devastating, and ultimately triumphant YA debut, based on actual events, recounts one girl’s rejection of her high school’s hierarchy—and her discovery of her true self in the face of tragedy.
Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite. Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?

This one sounds like it's going to be amazing, I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

Falling into Place
Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. 
Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

I feel like this book is going to make me cry.


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Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: Review
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch
Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Godzilla 
Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Popular Books

42 comments:

  1. I need to pick up Earth Star! I enjoyed Earth Girl, despite its dorky name. Hope you like them! I thought they weren't your stereotypical YA dystopia.

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    1. That's good to hear, I am excited to see what I make of them.

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  2. YEAH! Percy Jackson! I love that series and hope you end up enjoying it as much as I did! <3
    And so jealous you got Falling Into Place...I've heard such great things about it! I'll definitely be on the lookout for your review!
    Thanks for sharing & happy reading! <3
    ~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf

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    1. Thanks, I am really excited to get to that one as it sounds like a book I could end up falling in love with!

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  3. I keep meaning to start Percy Jackson too, but I'm just not too sure yet, I mean, I do want to, there's just others I want to read first, you get me? Starting new series isn't a bad thing though, your opening your mind and doors to others, and a good new series might help with your slump at the moment, never know ;) I finished Scarlet and thought it was good, but not as good as Cinder, personally, and gave it a 4 stars, but I think my review in, pff- July(?!) will highlight that, so here's hoping. Earth Girl and Earth Star look and sound interesting though, might have a nosey. Hope next week is better hun, and I'm always here to talk should you want to :)

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    1. I want to start it but I worry about how similar it may be to Harry Potter. I know they seem so completely different but I have heard that there are a LOT of similarities.

      I am excited to see your review of Scarlet, even if I have to wait till July haha.

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  4. Hoorray for Percy Jackson!! <3 Same with Scarlet! I started it last January; I am not even halfway but I already put it on hold :(( You have a number of books! Happy Reading ;)

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    1. I hope I love the Percy Jackson series, I keep seeing it on so many blogs and I am totally intrigued.

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  5. Oh I want to read Falling into Place!
    Yay for Percy Jackson <3 I love love that series. Enjoy your new reads :)
    My StS

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  6. Falling Into Place looks so good. I hope you enjoy it and the rest of your books. I hope you feel less run down soon too. :-)

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  7. Looks like a good haul. I have to get round to reading Percy Jackson, too, or my best friend will... well, she won't kill me, but she'll be cross, haha.

    My StS.

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    1. Haha, I get what you mean. That series has so many fans, want to see what all the fuss is about.

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  8. Great haul!

    I have the whole Percy Jackson and the Olympians boxed set but only read the first book so far. I LOVE the covers of Saphire Blue and Emerald Green. So pretty! I must have them! And I just finished The Jewel the other night. Not a bad but but not amazing either.

    Happy Reading!

    My STS!

    ~Stephanie @ Bookfever

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    1. I am interested to see what I make of The Jewel, I hope I end up loving it. I'm worried the first PJ book will seem to young to me. I don't know, we'll see.

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  9. OOh nice haul! Seeing lots of The Jewel today! I still need to start the Ruby Red books! I have 1 & 3 in ARC format to read still. No 2, so I'll have to buy that one eventually!

    Sorry to hear about your reading funk! That's always a drag. And omg, your cousin doesn't want to wish her baby awake! That's insane! It's good that she's a sleeper! My niece was sort of like that. I even remember my sister saying she can't wait til her daughter could start walking/talking, just you know doing something other than sitting in her cute little chair. And that was definitely a mistake! She's a real wild child now and she's only 5! Yikes! ;)

    Happy Reading!

    My STS will be up tomorrow, so be sure to stop by then!

    Have a GREAT weekend!

    Old Follower :)

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    1. I hope to get to The Jewel soon but have a lot of ARCs to get through before that.

      Slumps are just the worst, especially when it comes to reading. I know, she is mental. She's also complaining because she has a 17 day old baby and weighs LESS than she did before she got pregnant. Not natural. I am going to hate her when I get pregnant, I can tell.

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  10. I truly do understand about needing a break once in awhile, and how important family is to have. I love that you got Sapphire Blue & Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier, 2 books I've been meaning to read, but keep hesitating. Hope you have a great weekend!

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  11. I love seeing the books everyone gets from their libraries and you guys have some pretty awesome libraries with all those great books. Enjoy

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    1. I know, I work there so I do get a say in what we have in stock which helps ;)

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  12. I really love "Percy Jackson". I really want to re-read the series at some point. Happy reading!

    Tsuki’s STS

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    1. Happy to hear, I am a little nervous but hope I love it :)

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  13. I think it has just been one of those weeks because I have been super run down as well and of course those are always the weeks you are busiest.

    I hope you are able to get some sleep and feel rejuvenated! I love that you are getting hot chocolate every day, I think I would be as well, sound yummy!

    Congrats on all the books. I love the Percy Jackson series, so good and there is a lot of humor in them surprising .

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    1. It sucked, but thankfully I am feeling a ton better this week. It is so yummy, so bad for me and soooo good.

      I hope I love that series too :)

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  14. That gorgeous cover makes me want to read The Jewel too. :) I'm so excited for Falling into Place! It looks like my kind of book. I hope you get some good reading and relaxing time in this weekend.

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    1. I know, that cover is a large part of the reason I downloaded that book. I am such a cover snob.

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  15. Great haul! I'm the same with series...I say I'm not going to start so many but I do. I feel like I've always got a million on the go lol. I hope you get the rest you need and have a better week next week. :-)

    New follow via BlogLovin
    ~Marie @ Ramblings of a Daydreamer
    My Book Haul

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    1. I did have a better week, thank god! I love starting series, I can't stop myself.

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  16. I adore the Percy Jackson series, and I can't wait to read The Jewel. Enjoy them all :) My STS

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    1. I really hope I end up loving that series, have heard such great things.

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  17. So many books! I really enjoyed the Ruby Red trilogy and it's so great you get to binge-read them because it's really one long book split into three. Hope you enjoy! ~Pam

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    1. Good to know. Glad I managed to get all three together then :)

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  18. I've never actually read the Percy Jackson series either! I've read part of the first one... like two years ago. I'm hoping to maybe possibly read the entire series this summer. There's just so much hype surrounding it that I feel like I really need to get on it and read it. I hope you enjoy your books. :)

    Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian

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    1. I hope I end up loving that series, I have quite high expectations of it if I am honest.

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  19. I can't wait to read Falling Into Place! You have some great books this week, I hope you enjoy them :)

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  20. It's been a stupid week for me too. I didn't realize how busy May was until it was over. I'm also really needing a break from blogging for a week or so. I hate that I'm feeling like blogging is a chore right now. I don't like the mood I'm in.
    Anyhow, bookwise. PERCY!!! You definitely need to get on it, girl. It's a super fast series to binge read through. I love them so much. I actually just did a re-read of them but on audio. And I thoroughly enjoyed the guy who did that voices. I'd suggest it if you want to get the series started but are having a hard time finding the time. :)
    Happy reading!

    Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life

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    1. I know, this month has flown by because so much has been going on. Me either, blogging is taking up a lot of energy I just don't have atm.

      I really need to read that, have heard so many good things. I really hope I love it.

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  21. The theme for the June Yearathon challenge is Rick Riordan and I am binge reading the PJ series right now. It's been very enjoyable!

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