In My Mailbox/ My Book Haul

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to!

While this is my first book Haul posting of the new year, all these books were actually purchased in 2010 as I took full advantage of my time off, the sales and book tokens I was given for Christmas!

Room - Emma Donoghue

Publisher: UK - Picador (December 2010)

Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don’t have the key.

Jack and Ma are prisoners.

This book has had a  lot of press coverage and has been described as similar to The Lovely Bones - taking a tragedy and making it into an affirmation of life. It may not be genre but I can't wait to read it! :)

Second Foundation - Isaac Asimov

Publisher: UK - HarperCollins

When the First Foundation was conquered by a force Seldon had not foreseen - the overwhelming power of a single individual, a mutant called the Mule - the second Foundation was forced to reveal its existence and, infinitely worse, a portion of its power

One of my challenges for 2011 was to read the Foundation series - but no-one mentioned it had to be in order! :) I found in the bargain bin of my local book shop and couldn't resist making a start to one of my challenges for this year!

Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts 1) - Stacia Kane

Publisher: UK - Harper Voyager

Chess owes a murderous drug lord named Bump a lot of money. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust with a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump's ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.

Have read so many positive reviews about this series that I final gave in a purchased the first one - just hope the series is worth the two quid the book cost me! :)

Ice Hunt - James Rollins

Publisher: UK - Orion

Despite the submarine cover art and the rather awkward title, Ice Hunt is no by-the-numbers military thriller: rather, it's a full-blooded, multidimensional adventure story set in the frozen wilds of Alaska, both atop the ice and underneath it. And it's one heck of a fun ride. Matthew Pike is a Fish and Game Officer cataloguing bear populations in the remote Brooks Range--but he's also an ex-Green Beret, which comes in handy when trouble drops out of the sky in the form of a crashed bush plane, a cryptic survivor and some very nasty and well-equipped pursuers. Meanwhile, an American submarine stumbles on an abandoned research station buried under the Arctic ice cap, unleashing a race to conceal the horrors that took place there and to capture the priceless scientific secret still locked within.

I always James Rollins books - fun adventures around the world and considering the amount of snow and ice London's had in the last month this seemed like an appropriate read!

Captivate - Carrie Jones

Publisher: UK - Bloomsbury Publishing

Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people becomes weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town. A turf war is imminent. The new pixie king is moving in quickly. He swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Zara isn't so sure. Despite herself, she wants to trust the new king, but there's a lot more than her relationship with boyfriend Nick at stake. It's her life - and his.

This was a bit of an impulse purchase - I've seen the third of the pixie series Entice has just been published and I fancied seeing what all the fuss was about. It may not be the first in the series but I thought I'd take a risk!

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Publisher: UK - Headline

After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the time until his release ticks away, he can feel a storm brewing. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But the storm is about to break...

After years of eying this book I finally purchased it so I could read it in January! It's a big book so will help me work off some of the Christmas excess as I carry it to and from work.

Goddess of Legend - PC Cast

Publisher: UK - Piatkus

Isabel, a world-weary photojournalist, is grounded back home in Oklahoma, when her car plummets off a bridge into a lake. Struggling on the edge between life and death, she's miraculously saved by the Water Goddess, but with one tiny caveat: Isabel must travel to another time to seduce the legendary Lancelot du Lac away from Queen Guinevere. Simple. After all, the handsome knight is a dream for any woman in any century. Unfortunately Isabel is the one who's seduced - by the soulful eyes of the wise and soft-spoken King Arthur. But for Isabel, a deal is a deal. Now, the King watches as fate takes from him the mysterious beauty he has come to worship, knowing all too well that any interference on his part could destroy the kingdom he loves.

I love a good romance and add in time travel and supernatural all by an author I like - a no-brainer purchase!

Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: UK Scholastic

Grace is fascinated by the wolves in the woods behind her house; one yellow-eyed wolf in particular. Every winter, she watches him but every summer, he disappears. Sam leads two lives. In winter he stays in the frozen woods, with the protection of the pack.n summer, he has a few precious months to be human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. When Grace and Sam finally meet they realize they can't bear to be apart. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human - or risk losing himself, and Grace, for ever

Another book that's been on my wishlist for a long time - heard so much good buzz online so I couldn't resist when I saw it at a low cost in my local music store. And I had no idea there were good book bargains to have in music stores! :)

So that's some of my sale purchases this week. In addition I also recieved a book won from The Slowest Bookworm which looks fab!

Past Continuous - Tony Bayliss

Publisher: Sparkling Books

The sensitive, gifted but troubled young Matthew cannot get to grips with everyday life.  He turns agaist his parents, whose separation leaves him shuttling back and forth between homes.  Estranged from his peers and clumsy with girls, he has difficulty in making friends and achingly yearns for a girl with whom to share his body and mind. After Matthew's suicide, events take a turn Matthew would have wanted during his life.  His estranged parents are brought together by the devastating pain of losing their son and Matthew mysteriously starts to communicate with the bright and beautiful Sophie. Could these hereafter contacts with Sophie be linked to the top secret research in robotics Matthew carried out for the British Government?

And a late Christmas present brought three more books of my wishlist my way...

The Spirit Thief (The Legend of Eli Moonpress 1)- Rachel Aaron

Publisher: UK - Orbit

Eli Moonpress is talented. He's charming. And he's a thief.

But not just any thief. He's the greatest thief of the age - and he's also a wizard. And with the help of his partners - a swordsman with the most powerful magic sword in the world but no magical ability of his own, and a demonseed who can step through shadows and punch trough walls - he's going to put his plan into effect.

The first step is to increase the size of the bounty on his head, so he'll steal some big things. But he'll start small for now. He'll just steal something that no one will miss - at least for a while.

Like a king.

One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress 2) - Jeaniene Frost

Publisher : UK - Gollancz

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She's still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind. Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps together, side by side, to the reckless passion that consumed them. But having a price on her head - wanted: dead or half-alive - means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she'll find that desire lasts forever . . . and Bones won't let her get away again.

At Grave's End (Night Huntress 3) - Jeaniene Frost

Publisher : UK - Gollancz

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover has finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger. And if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones' past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learnt as a special agent won't help her here. She's going to have to fully embrace her vampire instincts if she's going to save herself - and Bones - from a fate worse than the grave.

So quite a bumper haul week - and a challenge to my New Years Resolution to shorten my TBR pile!

What have you picked up this week? :)

*And check back tomorrow for my first giveaway of 2011!*