My Weekly Book Haul: 13/12/2014

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.

I'M FREE!

I am finally free of work, except for one shift next Thursday, for three whole weeks and I am so excited! The last week at work had been so absolutely rubbish as well, so I am so unbelievably excited that I don't need to go near the place for a whole three weeks. It's making me even more excited for Christmas to hurry up and get here!

We have fun at work!

         I'm also getting even more excited for the 27th December, which is the day that my family and I are all going on the Harry Potter Studio Tour! It's my second time going, but this time it will be all done up for Christmas. I got myself a robe to dress in for it, but got in the spirit by dressing up for work one day along with one of the guys I work with - possibly the only good thing to happen at work all month!
         I've also decided to reread all the books and rewatch all the movies before the tour. I started last week and have so far got through the first four books and films. Currently reading The Order of the Phoenix, which is a beast of a book, so may take me a little while to get through!

Lobsters by Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison

Sam and Hannah only have the holidays to find 'The One'. Their lobster. But instead of being epic, their summer is looking awkward. They must navigate social misunderstandings, the plotting of well-meaning friends, and their own fears of being virgins for ever to find happiness. But fate is at work to bring them together. And in the end, it all boils down to love.

I just think this one looks so adorable, so I couldn't say no when I saw it for £1. 

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just...disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list.
On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?
Apple picking at night?
Okay, easy enough.
Dance until dawn?
Sure. Why not?
Kiss a stranger?
Um...
Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane's list. Who knows what she'll find?
Go skinny-dipping?
Wait...what?

Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind. But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves. Even if the wrong guy did accidentally turn her into one of “them” and doom her to attending the weirdest high school ever, Tessa can’t help her growing attraction to the mysterious Dastien Laurent.When vampires attack St. Alibe’s and her visions pinpoint an enemy in their midst, Tessa realizes that boy drama and her newfound canine tendencies might just be the least of her problems.

I won this signed beauty from Amanda over on Book Badger. She loved it, so I am pretty excited to try this one myself.

Angelbound by Christina Bauer

Eighteen year old Myla Lewis is a girl who loves two things: kicking ass and kicking ass. She’s not your every day quasi-demon, half-demon and half-human, girl. For the past five years, Myla has lived for the days she gets to fight in Purgatory’s arena. When souls want a trial by combat for their right to enter heaven or hell, they go up against her, and she hasn’t lost a battle yet.But as she starts her senior year at Purgatory High, the arena fights aren’t enough to keep her spirits up anymore. When the demons start to act weird, even for demons, and the King of the Demons, Armageddon, shows up at Myla’s school, she knows that things are changing and it’s not looking good for the quasi-demons. Myla starts to question everything, and doesn’t like the answers she finds. What happened seventeen years ago that turned the quasi-demons into slave labor? Why was her mom always so sad? And why won’t anyone tell her who her father is? Things heat up when Myla meets Lincoln, the High Prince of the Thrax, a super sexy half-human and half-angel demon hunter. But what’s a quasi-demon girl to do when she falls for a demon hunter? It’s a good thing that Myla’s not afraid of breaking a few rules. With a love worth fighting for, Myla’s going to shake up Purgatory.

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life - which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness.

This is one of the few books where I watched the film before reading the book. But that was a long time ago now and I didn't realise at the time that it was based on a book. 

My True Love Gave to Me

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays.

One of the prettiest books I have ever seen!

 

The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

I'm planning to binge read the first three books soon because I need to know what all the fuss is about. I already own book one, so thought I'd grab the next two when I saw them at work the other day.

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Lady Kestrel's engagement to Valoria's crown prince calls for great celebration: balls and performances, fireworks and revelry. But to Kestrel it means a cage of her own making. Embedded in the imperial court as a spy, she lives and breathes deceit and cannot confide in the one person she really longs to trust ...While Arin fights to keep his country's freedom from the hands of his enemy, he suspects that Kestrel knows more than she shows. As Kestrel comes closer to uncovering a shocking secret, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth.Lies will come undone, and Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them in this second book in the breathtaking Winner'strilogy.

I could literally cry right now, I am so excited to have this one in my possession! Thank you, Bloomsbury, you know I love you guys!

Invaded by Melissa Landers

The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe...until a threat to both their worlds reunites them. Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life.The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!!!! Alienated was one of my favourite books of 2013, the romance is one of my favourites of all time.... And just OMG! THANK YOU Disney Hyperion!

The Door That Led To Where by Sally Gardner

AJ Flynn has just failed all but one of his GCSEs, and his future is looking far from rosy. So when he is offered a junior position at a London law firm he hopes his life is about to change - but he could never have imagined by how much.Tidying up the archive one day, AJ finds an old key, mysteriously labelled with his name and date of birth - and he becomes determined to find the door that fits the key. And so begins an amazing journey to a very real and tangible past - 1830, to be precise - where the streets of modern Clerkenwell are replaced with cobbles and carts, and the law can be twisted to suit a villain's means. Although life in 1830 is cheap, AJ and his friends quickly find that their own lives have much more value. They've gone from sad youth statistics to young men with purpose - and at the heart of everything lies a crime that only they can solve. But with enemies all around, can they unravel the mysteries of the past, before it unravels them?

Thank you so much Hot Key Books, so excited to read this one!

The Life I Left Behind by Colette McBeth

I'm the only one who knows the secrets her friends have hidden, the mistakes the police have made.I'm the only one who can warn her she's still in danger.I know exactly who attacked her.He's the same man who killed me.

I am beyond thrilled with this one! Thank you to Headline! Not only did it come with a cute birdcage bookmark, but it sounds similar to The Lovely Bones, which I love so much.

Now That I've Found You by Ciara Geraghty

Honest and wise, poignant and warm, this is completely absorbing storytelling for fans of Jojo Moyes and Marian Keyes.Vinnie is an ordinary man. Ellen is an ordinary woman.Ellen is unable to move on after a terrible accident that left her mentally and physically scarred.Taxi driver Vinnie is struggling to cope with bringing up two children on his own.Everyone deserves to find that one person who's meant for them, don't they?Fall in love with the story of Vinnie and Ellen. Because ordinary lives can be extraordinary. 

Love how cute this one looks! I need a cute, fluffy read in my life right now. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for this one!

Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot
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