In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. I LOVE seeing what everybody else got and adding new books to my to-read list because of it!

So, this is not as massive as the last time (but that was due to multiple book sales), I got some amazing books over the last 3 weeks.

BOUGHT
The one I'm most excited about, as I've waited a year and half for it to come out, I'm already reading it:


The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss: isn't it PRETTY!! I absolutely love the cover and did happy dances when it got here. It's also huge. I'm still weighing the merit of taking it with me everywhere against shoulder/back troubles. Seriously, my purse would probably tear if I put it in there.



Dutch version of The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco: this is supposed to be a must-read, so I picked it up on sale at my grocery store (I so love it when they have books on sale there).
Entangled by Cat Clarke: I fell in love with the cover, hope the book lives up to it!


WON
OH MY GOSH, I WON BOOKS!!! Seriously, I never win stuff, so I was SOOO excited when I got these!


Hard Times by Charles Dickens: I got this one from Sarah at The Book Bee, thank you so, so much!
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: got it from Liz at Midnight Bloom, THANK YOU!! I've heard great things about this book and I'm gonna read it soon! Also, this one is SIGNED:


YAY! I've never owned a signed book before, I'm so excited!


eGalleys FOR REVIEW:



Die For Me by Amy Plum: I absolutely love the new cover!!
Mercy by Rebecca Lim
The Devil's Temptress by Laura Navarre: I've actually already read this, the review will be up soon.



Guarding a Notorious Lady by Olivia Parker
Bumped by Megan McCafferty: OMG, I got approved for Bumped!! I'm so excited, I've been pining for this book for months.
The Royal Treatment by Linsey Leavitt: sequel to Princess for Hire, which I haven't read yet, but have been trying to get my hands on desperately.



Hereafter by Tara Hudson
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini: I've been pining for this one for months as well, really excited to get to it!



A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin
The Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett

A huge THANK YOU to all publishers!

So this is my 3 weeks worth of books, I'm actually really proud of myself for not buying more than 3 books :) Don't you think YA as a group has the best covers?? They're all so pretty.
What did you get in your mailbox?

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

Title/Author: The Vespertine (Vespertine #1) by Saundra Mitchell
Publisher/Date published: March 7th 2011, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset — visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own — still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.
When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause."

I had never read anything by this author before and the whole blogosphere has been raving about this book. Which kinda makes me glad I read it before all the hype, cause I don't know if I would have been disappointed otherwise.

Let me first say that I really liked Amelia (oh, and I love that she has a Dutch last name, I can be patriotic when I want to and I love little things like this). She's a lovely girl and I really enjoyed reading about her friendship with Zora, her cousin, who is a great character as well.

Amelia only gets her preminitions at sunset and while I'm all for characters discovering their abilities on their own, I thought it was a bit soon. After just one she knew she only had them at sunset, which is weird, cause just once could have just been a coincidence. I would have thought she'd struggle a bit more with this before getting the hang of it.

I also had a bit of a hard time believing the 'love' between her and Nathaniel. While he is such an interesting character and I'm sure I would have fallen for him, had it been me instead of Amelia, it was all a bit sudden. I'm not really a big fan of the meant-to-be-at-first-sight that's been showing up a lot in YA. I did think they had wonderful chemistry though, so that redeems this somewhat.

At the beginning of the book, we find Amelia after the major happenings in the story and after and see what happened through flasbacks. I thought it was brilliant and you get a sense of doom because you know what'll happen. Even though I was wishing so hard for it not to. Reading it, I hadn't realized it was the first in a series, so that was a relief after finishing it! I really want to know what'll happen next with Amelia!

All in all, this was an engaging read, I really liked the MC and felt connected to her.
My rating: 4 stars

TGIF at GReads (1)

TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads!. And since I loved her question this week, I decided to participate :)

This Friday's Question:
Book Mourning: does this happen to you?
When you finish an amazing book, do you find yourself at a loss to pick up another one? What was the last book that left you feeling so bewildered? & what did you do to overcome it?

In one word: YES!!! Oh my gosh, I sometimes think it's unfair to other books when I've read one I was absolutely going crazy over before I read them. I haven't really checked, but it is likely that it affects the rating they get.
As in book mourning: I MOURNED the Harry Potter series. Seriously, I was so sad for a week after finishing the last one. That was bad. Oh, and the Hunger Games, I mourned the ending of that series as well. And His Dark Materials, that was pretty bad as well. Also, if I love a book, I always hate it when it ends. But I feel the sense of loss more when it's a series and I've invested so much and feel like these characters are my friends/family.

On a side note: I've mourned the ending of TV series as well. I LOVED Ugly Betty and was just staring at the screen in horror when I realised I'd just watched the last ever episode.

So what about you? Any books/series that you mourned after finishing them?

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

Title/Author: These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
Publisher/Date published: March 1st 2011, MIRA (Harlequin)
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "When teenager Allison Glenn is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls' golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces whispered rumors every day in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It's Brynn — shy, quiet Brynn — who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her.
But then Allison is released to a halfway house, and is more determined than ever to speak with her estranged sister.
Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden."

I think this book will haunt me for some time.

At first, I had a hard time getting into the story. It switches point of view constantly and therefore I didn't connect to the characters like I would have wanted to. After finishing it, I totally get why the author did this, but at the time it was a bit much for me.

We follow 4 different women, all with their own struggles to face. It was a bit hard to see the big picture with these alternate tellings of the story, but I got used to it and enjoyed this slowly unraveling tale.

I was ready to yell at the book (yes, I do that some time), to hurry up and tell me what happened already! Which means I got engaged in the end, which is what matters in my opinion.

I don't want to give anything away, but what really happened that night? It's horrifying and Oh my gosh, I did not see that ending coming! I did have a nagging feeling that there was something I was missing throughout a huge part of the book, props to the author for not giving it away until the last minute! I am horribly accurate at guessing what the plot point will be.

This is far darker than the books I usually read, but I really enjoyed it and like I said at the beginning: it will haunt me for some time to come.

My rating: 4 stars

White Cat by Holly Black

Title/Author: White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black
Publisher/Date published: Listening Library (audiobook), first published May 4th 2010.
How I got this book: borrowed it from a friend who had the audiobook.
Why I read this book: I'd been meaning to and since I have the next one as an egalley, I bumped it up.

Goodreads summary: "Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen."

I'd never read anything by Holly Black before, but I'd heard really good things about her. I also really liked the covers for both this one and Red Glove (the second book, soon to be out).

This is the first time I tried an audiobook and while it didn't bother me as much as I had thought, the experience was slightly different from reading a book yourself. I got the names mixed up more often and not being able to check back on something was a bit annoying. Other than that, I did really enjoy being read to. It takes longer to 'read' a book this way, but that's not such a bad thing.

Anyway, on to the book itself: LOVED the magic system! "Working" your magic by touching someone with your bare hands has so many implications. Society is changed by it. People are horrified by the idea of shaking hands without gloves on. You don't let someone touch your bare skin, because they just might be Curse Workers and working you without your knowledge. Everyone can only do one thing: you might be a luck worker, memory worker, death worker, dream worker, emotion worker.. The list goes on, but you only have one thing you can do and you're born with it. Working is actually illegal and Cassel's mother was sent to prison for it.

Cassel is troubled by two things: he is the only one in family who's not a worker and he killed his friend Lila 3 years ago. He remembers doing it and doesn't know why he did it, which makes him afraid to be alone with the girl he likes. He's afraid he might do it again. I believe that deep inside Cassel is a good person, he just likes breaking the rules/law a lot while being that person. His whole family has major issues and I think I'm going to love meeting his mother in person in the next book.

I saw a lot of the twists coming pretty early on, but I don't mind that so much. The story flowed really nicely, there weren't dead parts in it and I kept wanting to find out what would happen next.
Let me just say one thing spoilerfree: OMG, that ending! It's horrible! I can't wait to start Red Glove and find out Cassel will figure this one out!

My rating: 5 stars

Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

Title/Author: Outside In (Inside Out #2) by Maria V. Snyder
Publisher/Date published: February 22nd by Harlequin Teen
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Why I read this book: I really enjoyed the first book in the series.

***SPOILERS LIKELY FOR BOOK 1***

Goodreads summary: "Me? A Leader? Okay, I did prove that there's more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion - between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we're free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again - while still touching base with Riley, of course. He's the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there's outside and then there is Outside. And something from Outside wants in."

I'm not really into aliens and space and everything (which is why I haven't added a recent popular debut book to my to-read list, I can't get past the thing being set in space) and usually I don't try it. But Maria V. Snyder is one of my auto-read authors, as I've loved 2 of her series before, which is why I decided to read Inside Out (the first book in the series). And it didn't creep me out or trigger space-alerts (red flashing lights and all). I really, really enjoyed it.

This one follows Trella after she managed to bring down the 'government' of Inside. Trella hadn't counted on everyone looking to her for guidance after it and doesn't really want the responsibility. She'd rather explore just how much of Inside they haven't seen yet and spend the rest of her free time kissing Riley. Of course the new board has got this down.
It shouldn't be much of a shock that putting people in charge without resolving issues between the uppers and scrubs in any way doesn't really work out. So many books end after the rebellion, or shortly after it succeeded and we never get to find out what happens after. Well, this is what happens: there needs to be done something more than just overthrow the powers that be.

Against the background of this struggle in the community, we also see Trella struggling with the knowledge of who her mother is and her relationship with Riley. She has a really hard time letting people in and that includes him, which of course frustrates him.

And then there's the fact that someone from Outside hacked into the computer system and someone is sabotaging Inside from the inside (yes, I know). But who is it, and what do they want? Trella is desperate to find out before they shut down Inside through the network and has to crawl through the pipes yet again in order to do this.

I enjoyed this one less than I did Inside Out. Which probably has to do with the creepy Outsiders that enter into this one. And the fact that there wasn't a lot of Riley in it. I love that guy, he's sweet and he's mostly right. He truly stands for what he believes in and I just adore him.
Trella herself experiences a lot of character growth and I really enjoyed reading about her journey. She's a good person and a very loyal friend if you manage to actually befriend her.

Towards the ending, the story felt a bit rushed, I was wondering how she would be able to wrap all of it up in the few pages that were left. It wasn't a bad ending, it was just a bit fast and I would have liked it to be a bit longer. It was pretty fast paced all around and while I do enjoy an action packed novel, I could have also used some time to catch my breath for a while.
I must say that I was really glad there wasn't a real love triangle in this book, while it can really work, it seems to turn up in so many stories these days that I'm growing a bit weary of it. Especially if I've fallen in love with the first guy someone dates and feel invested into that relationship, only to be told she may prefer shiny new guy. So yay for that! :)

I do hope that for her next series Snyder returns to the fantasy genre, cause she does that so well. I've actually already added her newest project: Touch of Power, which sounds really interesting, to my to-read list. Goodreads says it will be released January 2012, so it's a long wait, but I bet it'll totally be worth it!

My rating: 4 stars

Top Ten Books I Just HAD To Buy.. But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the other blog I participate in: The Broke and the Bookish. We are particularly fond of lists, so hop on over and show us yours!

This week's Top Ten:
Books I just HAD to buy... but are still sitting on my shelf aka: the books that stare at me accusingly.

Oh my gosh, I don't even want to make this list. Ok, let's start the meeting:
Hi, I'm Daisy and I am a book-buying-aholic.

1. Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel: or rather the whole series up to book 5.. I went to the store specifically to buy it and it's still sitting on my shelf. Which is pretty embarassing.

2. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger: I really enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing, so when I spotted this one, I immediately bought it. Only to stop about 15 pages in and I haven't picked it up ever since.

3. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: seriously, one of my friends got this for her birthday and I thought I wouldn't be able to wait for her to finish it and got a copy myself. It's been 2,5 years and I STILL haven't read it. I don't know if my friend has actually, so I may beat her yet!

4. My Sister's Keeper by Jody Picoult: my boyfriend stared at me funny while I loaded up on books on our trip to London. Yes, I said, I NEED to buy all these books now.

5. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier: I heard it was out and stopped at the bookstore at the train station to get it. Of course I planned to read it first thing.

6. The Fool's Girl by Celia Rees: the cover looked so pretty and I couldn't resist.

7. All the classics I own: I want to get to them, they're just a bit intimidating is all.

8. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: I watched the movie, I HAD to read this. I think I've owned it for over 3 years.

9. The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon: I'd been looking everywhere for this one and The Rose of Sebastopol and when I found both at a book sale, I just put them on my shelves and haven't really put an effort into reading them yet.

10. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss: yes, I've read it, but that one I borrowed, after that I HAD to own it myself. Haven't reread it since. Oh, and I'm just excited that the second book in the series The Wise Man's Fear is out today and it's on its way here as we speak!! :) I'm seriously promising that one won't make this list in the future.

You know what I feel even more guilty about? Those books I got as presents and haven't read yet. I always try and read them within a year. With the galleys I request from publishers, it's sometimes hard to squeeze in books I actually own. Which is totally my fault, I can't help clicking the button REQUEST when something interesting comes along...

So, what would you recommend I'd get to soonest?