My Book Haul / Showcase Sundays

This is Books, Biscuits and Tea's Showcase Sunday where I share my lovely book hauls each week. Have a look back at Vicki's link up to see what everyone is up too!

This week was another week where all the books were good! I finished Tempest's Fury by Nicole Peeler - Jane comes to the UK! - and The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde - mind-bending, time defying fun! I also finished Like This, For Ever by SJ Bolton - atmospheric, tense and bloody brilliant!

So three books down this week. Not bad but as Amazon had a sale on kindle I cracked and bought a few! These were cheap - that's my only excuse and kindle books don't take up much space although they are dangerous as I already have a lot of books on my kindle I've not read!

Bought

The Man From Primrose Lane  -  James Renner

Publisher: Corsair

Rewind: Once upon a time in Ohio there lived an elderly recluse, 'the man from Primrose Lane'. He had no friends or family. He wore mittens all year round. And one summers day, he was murdered.
Fast-Forward: Bestselling author David Neff is a broken man, lonely, desolate and lost ever since his wife's suicide. But something about the man from Primrose Lane grabs his attention and he decides to investigate the mystery - only to be dragged back into a world he thought he had left behind forever.Replay: As David gets closer to uncovering the true identity of the man from Primrose Lane, he begins to understand the terrible power of his own obsessions and how they may be connected to the deaths of both the hermit and his beloved wife.

I bought this on the Amazon Kindle spring sale as it captured my interest and some of the reviews said it makes a twist half way through and I enjoy twisty-turny stories!

The Silent Stars Go By -  Dan Abnett

Publisher: BBC Books

The winter festival is approaching for the hardy colony of Morphans, but no one is in the mood to celebrate. They're trying to build a new life on a cold new world, but each year gets harder and harder. It's almost as if some dark force is working against them. Then three mysterious travelers arrive out of the midwinter night, one of them claiming to be a doctor. Are they bringing the gift of salvation or doom? And what else might be lurking out there, about to wake up?

This was the definition of an impulse purchase. I saw the new episode of Doctor Who last week and got caught up in one of my favourite TV series. So I went online and picked this up on my kindle. I've never read any of the novels before - not too sure what to expect, but I am liking the cover and looking forward to meeting up with Amy & Rory again!

Seven Kinds of Hell - Dana Cameron

Publisher: 47North

Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself. Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She's a werewolf and a daughter of the Fangborn, a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil. To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.

I spotted this on Kindle for 99p and seeing as I liked the short stories I've read in the Fangborn world, thought I would give the full length novel a twirl! 

Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton

Publisher: Cosair

A tale of love, money and family conflict - and everyone in the tale is a dragon, red in tooth and claw. 
A family of dragons gathers on the occasion of the death of their father, the elder Bon Agornin. As is custom, they must eat the body. But even as Bon's last remains are polished off, his sons and daughters must all jostle for a position in the new hierarchy. While the youngest son seeks greedy remuneration through the courts of law, the eldest son - a dragon of the cloth - agonises over his father's deathbed confession. While one daughter is caught between loyalty to her family by blood and her family by marriage, another daughter follows her heart - only to discover the great cost of true love...

This was a daily deal during the week and I've heard some good reviews of her most recent book Among Others, so it was a no brainer! 

So what have you picked up this week...?

Book Confessions: Impact of Dyslexia!

So I didn't have anything planned for today's post. I'm a little bit behind with my review writing (I will have to get scribbling in order for any posts to be ready this week!), I couldn't think of anything interesting to write about and I didn't want to just publish anything. So today was going to be a rare silent day from me. 

But then I read a post by my friend, Kris which touched on reading, blogging and the impact dyslexia on his life. I was moved. Dyslexia is harder to diagnose than you'd think and it is something that you have to live with for the rest of your life - not just at school. He explains it better than I could. Go read it and let me know if dyslexia has had an impact on your life. 

   

Right, I'm off to drag Kris into some book shops! :-)

The Revenge of Eli Monpress Review

The Revenge of Eli Monpress (Spirit’s War & Spirit’s End – Eli Monpress #4 & #5)

Rachel Aaron

Publisher: Orbit

Eli Monpress is vain. He's cocky. And he's a thief.
But he's a thief who has just seen his bounty topped and he's not happy about it. The bounty topper, as it turns out, is his best friend and master swordsman, Josef. He's been keeping secrets from Eli. Apparently, he's the only prince of a rather feisty country, and he's been ordered to come home to do his duty. This means throwing over personal ambitions like proving he's the greatest swordsman who ever lived.Family drama aside, Eli and Josef have their hands full. The Spirit Court has been usurped by the Council of Thrones and someone calling herself the Immortal Empress is staging a massive invasion. But it's not just politics - the Immortal Empress has a specific target in mind: Eli Monpress, the greatest thief in the world.

*Sigh* I have a massive crush on Eli Monpress. He just charms me with every adventure, every outrageous scheme, every wink. I adore Miranda’s stubbornness to stick to her morals no matter what. I love Josef and Nicco’s loyalty to each other and Eli. I love the idea of objects and elements having spirits, thoughts and opinions. I just love this series and I’m so sad that it has come to an end. That one of the reasons I’ve been holding off reading this for so long as I didn’t want it to end. But what an end! Wow! I already read and reviewed Spirit’s War when that came out on kindle last year (read it here) so this review is just for the final book – Spirit’s End.

Spirit’s End is how all fantasy series should end – with the stakes higher than ever before, with each character getting a chance to shine, with each subplot and question answered and the world never being the same as it was before! After the devastation and upheavals of Spirit’s War, things don’t get any easier here with the Shepherdess finally getting her hands on Eli, the Demons outside still scratching their way into the world and the Spirit Court divided. Some of the book is taken up with tying the loose ends from Spirit’s War, with Josef’s island still devastated and in need of recovery and the Spirit’s Court’s refusal to go to war for the Council of Thrones also has consequences. Nothing is forgotten and there are consequences for everyone from their actions.

While the stakes are higher than ever before, Rachel Aaron has retained the joyful banter between characters and Eli can always raise a smile or two no matter what is happening. With the world altering events, these light touches enable the story to balance the dark and light. The characters are all true to themselves – and for most of the final 250 pages I could barely breathe as it felt like there was one climax after another. I kept thinking it couldn’t get any more tense – and then it did! This has been one of my favourite Fantasy series I’ve ever read with a delightful balance of character, plot and world-building that manages to hit all the right notes for frantic fun and deadly consequences.

While I will miss Eli and co and can see the possibility for more adventures in this world, I’m happy with where we end. Plus I’m really looking forward to Rachel Aaron’s next story! I think this series gets stronger with every book and only having five books means it’s not as overwhelming a fantasy series such as The Wheel of Time. Go on, give it a go! The books get better and better as you get to know the characters and the wider world is explored. But remember Eli is mine! J

Recommended for fans of Patricia Briggs and Scott Lynch. 10 out of 10 

What Shall I Read This April?? + GIVEAWAY

Last month you picked Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and managed to keep up the run of good choices of books for me to read! It was well written and fun - but I think after quite a few YA books in March I fancy something a little adult this month...

So what is this all about? I realised the other day that I've been doing these Throwback Thursday posts inspired by Melissa at My World...in words and pictures for nearly year now - I have posted about over 100 books I own but I have hardly read any yet. So on the first Thursday of each month I will post a poll highlighting all the Throwback Thursday books I've highlighted in the last month plus one of the older Throwbacks and ask you to pick which book I should read. The most popular book after 5 days or so, will be picked up by me and actually read and (hopefully!) reviewed by the end of the month. However, in thanks I will also offer anyone who enters a copy of any book from my TBR Shelf. This way older books get a lot of love from both of us!


So to summarise -
- Pick a book you want me to read from my Throwback Thursday's posts and be in with a chance to win a book for yourself from my TBR pile for your own - check my TBR Shelf at the top for some other books that I need to get round to reading!
- I'll ship it out to from the Book Depository or fishpond so it will be open internationally.
- Leave a comment for an extra entry telling my why I should read your choice!
- Open to followers only (Sorry, but I want to reward those who stop by regularly! Also I'm not advertising or publicising this giveaway so it's just for those who read my blog regularly!)
- Poll closes midnight on Tuesday 9th April - I will try to announce the winning book and lucky follower, by next Thursday.This month I was feeling in the mood for some mystery stories but thought I'd pick a wide selection of different types of mysteries and crime stories for you to choose from. You can go to the original posts to see what I said about them if you click on them.

White Corridor - Christopher Fowler

 

The Red Tree - Caitlin R Kiernan

 

Bad Day For Sorry - Sophie Littlefield

 

Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris

Fragments (Partials #2) Review

Fragments (Partials #2)

Dan Wells

Publisher: HarperCollins

E-Arc Courtesy of Netgalley and HarperCollins

Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence--it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?
Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

This is the sequel to Partials released last year (read my review here). In Partials I liked the story and the intriguing world, but was less keen on the main character Kira. Luckily this time around some of the elements that anooyed me with Kira before didn’t annoy me as much!

After the revelations at the end of Partials, Kira is in Manhattan on her own, looking for answers from ParaGen about the origin of RM, the Partials and her own past. Meanwhile the leaders of the last humans, still on Long Island are struggling to replicate the cure to RM that Kira found and Samm, the Partial Kira freed is also looking for solutions to their expiration date. The need for answers for all involved becomes more and more tense as the story progresses and slowly some answers are revealed. I loved that we aren’t made to wait too long before we have some major revelations and the drip feeding of answers does keep you turning pages in order to find out what will happen.

The beginning and ending of the book are very strong with plenty of action, moral quandaries and tense scenes. The action scenes are fast, exciting and with some real danger. However, I found the middle dragged a little for me become a slow travelogue that made sense for Kira and her companions but not back at Long Island where time seemed to of the essence. Kira is now determined to save as many as she can despite personal risks and it felt like she has grown up a lot. Her relationships with Sam, Heron and Afa are very different and I liked they each brought out a different side of her. Her friends back on Long Island are an interesting bunch and I would have liked to spend more time with them and how they were coping with the situation. However, Kira’s friend, Marcus has some thrilling adventures in his own search for solutions and he is also very lucky at surviving impossible situations considering he’s only a medic!

The ending does make you want to read the third book as soon as possible – and I am hoping that the answers will be worth the wait!

Recommended for fans of Julie Kagawa and Kristen Simmons. 8 out of 10

The Time Machine Review

The Time Machine

H.G. Wells

Kindle Book

When the Time Traveller courageously stepped out of his machine for the first time, he found himself in the year 802,700--and everything has changed.  In another, more utopian age, creatures seemed to dwell together in perfect harmony.  The Time Traveller thought he could study these marvelous beings--unearth their secret and then retum to his own time--until he discovered that his invention, his only avenue of escape, had been stolen.  

I picked this book up on a whim – I had been reading a lot of YA books and still had one more to read and review, but I really fancied something in a different genre and seeing as this book is only 120-odd pages I thought I could slip it in easily enough. Long term followers will be aware that I don’t tend to read many classics (Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice are still books I might get around too at some point), but I’ve quite enjoyed dipping into HG Wells back catalogue in the past plus I just love time travel stories. I blame Marty McFly and Doc Brown for that particular love!

The story is told by a friend of the Time Traveller who first of all hears his theories of time travel and then his extraordinary story of his first travel through time. One of the things that I noticed almost straight away is the lack of names given characters in this story. The Time Traveller is always referred to as the Time Traveller, his dinner companions are usually referred to by their jobs – the Journalist, the Editor, the Doctor (no, not The Doctor...at least I don’t think!). This allows them to almost be caricatures in your own head rather than actual personalities.

As to the adventure, it is both similar and completely different to the numerous films based on the book. He does travel to the far future and meet the child-like Eloi (his words) and the dark dwelling Morlocks. Overall, there is less action in the story than you’d expect with most of it based on thoughts and a lot of walking around rather than much positive action. The Traveller has numerous theories as to how the Eloi and Morlocks evolved – so at times it almost feels like a subtle lecture from HG Wells on the ills of the class system in Victorian times.

That said, there are some fascinating ideas that are played with and the Travellers experience both with the Eloi and the Morlock and his other adventures in time are never less than interesting. It is easy to understand how this has become the template for most time travel stories. Well’s writing is both challenging and encouraging. This is a classic for a reason and one I think is worth reading for any fan of time travel stories.

Recommended for fans of Alexander Dumas and Lewis Carroll. 8 out of 10

Early Review: Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations

Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations

Edited by Paula Guran

Publisher: Prime Books - Released on 4th April

Review Copy Courtesy of Netgalley and Prime Books

Paranormal investigators. Occult detectives. Ghost hunters. Monster fighters. Humans who unravel uncanny crimes and solve psychic puzzles; sleuths with supernatural powers of their own who provide services far beyond those normal gumshoes, shamuses, and Sherlocks can. When vampires, werewolves, and things that go "bump" in the night are part of your world, criminals can be as inhuman as the crimes they commit, and magic can seep into the mundane - those who solve the mysteries, bring justice, or even save the world itself, might utter spells, wield wands as well as firearms, or simply use their powers of deduction. Some of the best tales of the last decade from top authors of the 21st century's most popular genres take you down mean streets and into strange crime scenes in this fantastic compilation.

First things first: all these short stories have been published elsewhere previously so if you are after a particular author’s stories just check that you haven’t read it before. I admit I had already read a few of the stories before which dented my enjoyment of this anthology but doesn’t impact the quality and strengths of the stories themselves. Overall, this is a very strong anthology with easy story focusing on a detective encountering the strange, weird and supernatural so works perfect for fans of Urban Fantasy like me!

As with all anthologies there are a couple that stick in your head after you finish. For me one of the strongest stories was “Deal Breaker” by Justin Gustainis which looked in on his hero, Quincy Morris when the devil comes to collect on a deal. I’ve not read any of this series before but I liked Quincy’s quick thinking and the simplicity of the story – one series I will have to explore later, especially as I’m already a fan of his Occult Scene Investigations series. Patricia Brigg’s “Star of David” was also a stand out. Set in the in same world as Mercy Thompson but with complete new characters, I loved the emotional core of a father reconnecting with his daughter after years of estrangement. Plus werewolves in a hospital! J

There was another Fangborn story from Dana Cameron as well, called “Swing Shift”. I was really intrigued by the world she’s set up in another short story and now there is a full length novel set up in the same world, Seven Kinds of Hell – I really need to check it out! Carrie Vaughn also gives us a short story looking at Detective Jess Hardin who appears in some of the Kitty books. Personally I think there could be a great spin-off series starring the Detective with the first investigations into creature of the night. Finally, although I had read it before I have to highlight Jim Butcher’s “Love Hurts” as it’s a wonderful relationship piece for Harry Dresden and Karrin Murphy. Set just before Changes, it deals with some questions fans might have been asking for years.

The list of authors contributing here is very strong with very few weak links in this chain. If you like Urban Fantasy and anthologies, you’ll like this. If you aren’t keen on either then this probably isn’t for you.

Recommended for fans of Patricia Briggs and Carrie Vaughn. 8 out of 10