My Weekly Book Haul: 18/10/2014

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.

This week started well, went bad once I had to work and then the last two days have been really good. Books wise I have actually read some really disappointing reads. I didn't enjoy The Maze Runner at all, it's really poorly written and had some really big plot holes that were hard to get past. I also read Love, Rosie because I wanted to see the film and that was bad too, it was really unromantic and entirely frustrating. Thankfully I ended this week reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, which is due out in January, and it was an amazing book. It was beautiful, raw and heartbreaking and just so good.

I also joined Instagram and I've become a little addicted, it's just so much fun and simple to use. I actually think I prefer it to Twitter or Facebook. If you've got Instagram and want to add me then you can find me here:  .

My family and I are going to the Harry Potter Studio Tour at Christmas. It's my second time going and I am more prepared this time. I have asked my parents and boyfriend to hold off on the Christmas gift buying because I want to get stuff at the tour. There's eight of us going and it's going to be a lot of fun. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Seeing the movie has made me really want to reread the book.

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

I haven't started the first book yet, so I am not going to put the synopsis down in case it spoils anything for me. I seem certain that I am going to love this one because I have bought all three of the books. 

   

   

Skulduggery Pleasant #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #7.5, #8 & #8.5 by Derek Landy

Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source - the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.

I got to go on relief to another library branch on Monday and finally found the first book in this series. Seeing as Amanda (from Book Badger) loves this series, I thought it was time I give it a go. I have the last book in the series waiting for me at work when I go back. Now let's hope I enjoy the first book, otherwise I carried them all home for nothing. 

  

Heist Society, Uncommon Criminals and Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

I've read the first two and enjoyed them both, I think they each got 3/5 stars from me. I want to continue it but will definitely need a reread of it. I plan to have a big Ally Carter binge at some point, including the Gallagher Girls series. 

I entered a Bloomsbury giveaway on Facebook and was really surprised when I won. I was even more surprised when the package was delivered the next day. It's a mix of different books released from their children's books this October. Some of these will be used as Christmas gifts for my baby second cousin, some are going to work and there are a few that I am excited to read myself. The main two being the following:

 

A Breath of Frost and Whisper the Dead by Alyxandra Harvey

Emma Day and her two cousins, Gretchen and Penelope, are uninterested in their debutante lives. All the boring balls, tiresome curtsying and polite conversation leave much to be desired. Then a girl is found dead, frost clinging to her lifeless body, and the murder is traced to Emma. As their world is turned upside down, Emma discovers more about herself and her cousins, from her connection to the murders to the secrets of her family legacy. Now the girls must embrace their true Lovegrove inheritance in order to stop the chaos, even if that means risking their lives. Dangerously handsome Cormac Fairfax wants to help Emma – but, with secrets of his own to hide, can she trust him?

Clariel by Garth Nix

Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilip. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating.

With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her - and it is herself she must question most of all.

I won an ARC from Books and Books. I can't even remember entering it, seeing as I have an ARC from YALC. I'll probably just end up giving it away myself. 

Captive by Aimee Carter

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark more than ever. 

But in the midst of discovering that her role in the Hart family may not be as coincidental as she thought, she's accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape. 
As one shocking revelation leads to the next, Kitty learns the hard way that she can trust no one, not even the people she thought were on her side. With her back against the wall, Kitty wants to believe she'll do whatever it takes to support the rebellion she believes in—but is she prepared to pay the ultimate price?

I enjoyed the first book in this series, despite my issues with it. I saw the sequel on Netgalley and decided I wanted to see what happens next in the series.

Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

She fell in love with him in the books - now she has the chance to star opposite him in the film . . .

Paige doesn't think she's particularly special, but after getting the starring role in a massive film adaptation of the bestselling Locked trilogy, the rest of the world would disagree. Now she's thrown into the spotlight, and into a world of gossip, rumour and deceit. The only people who know what she's going through are her two male co-stars, and they can't stand the sight of each other. Paige knows it's a mistake to fall in love on the set of a movie, but days of on-screen romance and intensity start to change her mind. The question is, can she keep what happens behind the scenes a secret when the world is watching her every move?

I don't even know why I downloaded this one, I can already tell I'm probably going to hate it. 

In my blogoversary post I posted my giveaway to celebrate 1 year of blogging. I am giving one winner the chance to win up to £40 worth of books of their choice from Book Depository. I am also giving one runner up a book of their choice, worth up to £10 from Book Depository.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five Friday Favourites: Favourite Finale
My Weekly Book Haul: 11/10/2014
In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis: 4/5 Review
Timebomb by Scott K. Andrews: 3/5 Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: The Riot Club
Five Friday Favourites: Favourite Book Cover Typography