Top Ten Tuesday (33)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They’d love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

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This weeks Top Ten topic is …

Top Ten Books On My Fall Autumn 2013 TBR List

I’m going to split this list I think between books I want to read this autumn and books that are released this autumn (September 1st – November 30th). All blurbs are taken from Goodreads.com and all release dates are taken from Amazon.co.uk. Please be aware that THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS as quite a few of ths books are sequels/part of a series so the blurbs may spoil earlier books.

First, books that are released this autumn I want to get hold of…

1. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (released September 3rd)

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

2. The Dream Thieves (The Ravenboys #2) by Maggie Stiefvater (released September 18th)

The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

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3. Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth (released October 22nd)

One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

4. The Iron Traitor (Call of the Forgotten #2) by Julie Kagawa (released November 1st)

In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.

After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as “normal” as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he’s forbidden to see her again.

But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, “normal” simply isn’t to be. For Ethan’s nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan’s and Keirran’s fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan’s next choice may decide the fate of them all.

5. Deadly Thorns (Hemlock #2) by Kathleen Peacock (released November 7th)

The second in the gripping crime trilogy with a hint of supernatural from Kathleen Peacock has the same great mix of page-turning action scenes and heady romance.

Kyle is still on the run, despite Mac’s best efforts to track him down and bring him home. But when they finally find themselves back together, it’s not in the best of circumstances. Trapped in a werewolf prison camp where inmates keep disappearing and not returning, Mac knows that something sinister is happening, but can they find out the truth? And with Jason still sure of his own feelings for Mac, will she start to doubt her own for Kyle?

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6. The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead (released November 19th)

In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her. . . .

But the struggle isn’t over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there’s still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure—and re-education—looms larger than ever.

Pulses will race throughout this thrilling fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where no secret is safe.

Second, books I want to read this autumn that are already on my shelf…

1. Omens (Cainsville #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.

But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.

Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.

Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home, and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.

2. The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa

In Allison Sekemoto’s world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood

She has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie’s birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever-and possibly end human and vampire existence.

There’s a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago-and this strain is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries, if Allie can get to him in time.

Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to make.

3. Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi

Aria has struggled to build a life for herself outside Reverie. It hasn’t been easy adjusting to life in the wilderness but that struggle has been worth it with Perry by her side.

But Perry has other challenges. His people are looking to him for answers. Answers about what happened to his nephew and what’s happening to their world. And they don’t trust the privileged Aria, one of the enemy, in their midst.

Soon he’ll be forced to choose between the tribe that looks to him for leadership and the girl that looks to him for love.

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4. Tiger’s Quest (The Tiger Saga #2) by Colleen Houck

Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest–this time with Ren’s dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger’s Curse. Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, TIGER’S QUEST brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them.

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I’m really looking forward to reading all ten books on this list, fingers crossed I will manage to read all of them before the end of autumn – although I’m not holding my breath 😉 Only two of my choices are the first books in a series, so I guess that makes autumn my sequel season.

Those were my Top Ten Books On My Autmun 2013 TBR List. What books would are you looking forward to this autumn? Let me know in the comments below, or link back to your Top Ten post so I can see what makes your list.

Review: Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

Title: Tiger’s Curse (The Tiger Saga #1)
Author: Colleen Houck
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (26th May 2011)
Blurb:

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world.

But that’s exactly what happened.

Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mysterious worlds where nothing is as it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

TIGER’S CURSE is the first book in THE TIGER SAGA by Colleen Houck. It tells the story of Kelsey a seventeen, almost eighteen, year-old who just graduated from high school and is looking for a summer job in order to save some money for college. She ends up getting a circus job where she meets a white tiger named Ren.

Continue reading

Top Ten Tuesday (32)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They’d love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

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This weeks Top Ten topic is …

Top Ten Six Books I Would Love To See As A Movie/TV Show

Hmm… this has never occurred to me before. I have seen a couple of films/tv programmes that started out as books and some have worked and some have not. I know this is supposed to be set in an “ideal world” so here goes…

1. The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa (YA)

A film…possibly a mini-series. I’m not really sure.

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2. The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (YA)

This I think could work as a film.

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3. The Curse Workers by Holly Black (YA)

This could be a tv mini-series I think. There’s a lot of potential with the magic and the mob tones.

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4. The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce (MG/YA)

I think that this quartet has the potential to be a great film. It would be really amazing to see it on the big screen – to watch the epic battles and the magic.

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5. The Hollows by Kim Harrison

Harrison’s world building is amazing. It would be kinda cool to see this as a tv series. There are so many brilliant characters and the plots are awesome and I think could be adapted well for the tv.

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6. Any of the historical novels by Julia Quinn

These would, no doubt, make either an awesome mini-series. Quite a lot of her novels are interlocking, at least the characters are, so I think it would kinda work as a tv programme.

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I’m sure there are more that could be converted into brilliant tv programmes/films BUT I cannot think of any more right now. To be honest, I’m not that keen on turning any of them into anything but books in real life but hypothetically those would be my choices.

Those were my Top Six Books I Would Love To See As A Movie/TV Show. What books would you like to see as films/tv programmes? Let me know in the comments below, or link back to your Top Ten post so I can see what makes your list.

Sunday Post (18) & Showcase Sunday (9)

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It was inspired in part by the In My Mailbox meme. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

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This week has been a good week. Lucky had to go to the vets for his injections and we discovered he’s got arthritis in both front legs and one back one. Today is my cousin’s twenty-first birthday, so I won’t be around much today – sorry in advance for my delayed response to your comment.

This Week on The Flutterby Room

Next Week on The Flutterby Room

  • 12th September – Tiger’s Curse (The Tiger Saga #1) by Colleen Houck

Any New Books?

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits, and Tea. Its aim is to showcase our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders each week.

This week I got some surprise books…

  • Coco’s Secret by Niamh Greene [Goodreads]
  • I Wished For You by Amy Huberman [Goodreads]

I’d just like to say a huge thank you to Penguin Ireland for both of these books. I wasn’t expecting either book, but I think they both sound really interesting and I’m looking forward to reading them.

That’s it from me this week. I hope you’ve had a good week; let me know how your week went in the comments below.

Review: The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond

The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond

Title: The Woken Gods
Author: Gwenda Bond
Genre: Mythology, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Strange Chemistry (3rd September 2013)
Source: Strange Chemistry via NetGalley
Format: eARC
Blurb:

Five years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke around the world.

This morning, Kyra Locke is late for school.

Seventeen-year-old Kyra lives in a transformed Washington, D.C., home to the embassies of divine pantheons and the mysterious Society of the Sun. But when rebellious Kyra encounters two trickster gods on her way back from school, one offering a threat and the other a warning, it turns out her life isn’t what it seems. She escapes with the aid of Osborne “Oz” Spencer, an intriguing Society field operative, only to discover that her scholar father has disappeared with a dangerous relic. The Society needs it, and they don’t care that she knows nothing about her father’s secrets.

Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the suspect help of scary gods, her estranged oracle mother, and, of course, Oz–whose first allegiance is to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to recover the missing relic and save her father. And if she doesn’t? Well, that may just mean the end of the world as she knows it.

From the author of Blackwood comes a fresh, thrilling urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Rick Riordan.

(blurb taken from NetGalley)

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

THE WOKEN GODS is a stand-alone novel from Gwenda Bond, author of BLACKWOOD. It tells the story of Kyra, who sees herself as an average seventeen-year-old. She lives in a Washington D.C. where the old gods go to visit the embassies. She herself has very little to do with the gods, until one day everything changes.

Continue reading

Top Ten Tuesday (31)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They’d love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

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This weeks Top Ten topic is …

Top 10 Contemporary Books That Would Be Great Paired With A Required Reading Book (like Perks of Being A Wallflower with Catcher in the Rye) OR Top Ten Books That You Wish Were Taught In Schools

Hmm… This week’s topic is a really interesting one which ever one you pick but it’s been a while since I was in school. The only required reading I had between 11 and 18 either involved Shakespeare or a contemporary, poetry, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry or reading around WWI poetry. I honestly cannot remember reading anything else. So I don’t think I could give a good answer to this week’s topic. Instead, I am going to do:

Six Books which I think should be on a Required Reading List for the topic of Vampires.

1. DRACULA by Brahm Stoker.

It is, after all, with this book that everything started.

2. INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice.

I would of course encourage you to read the first four books in THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES, but this book is a must read for any vampire fan. It is, I think, the book that made many people fall in love with the vampire character.

3. GUILTY PLEASURES by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Okay, I know a lot of people will groan at this. BUT I think Hamilton does some interesting things to the genre of the vampire with this book. For a start, the main character is a vampire hunter. Yes, there was Buffy on the TV but I think that this was one of the first books that did this. I also liked the fact that it’s pretty clear what vampires hunt and how dangerous they are.

4. VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead.

The first YA on the list. This book is interesting because the vampires have more Eastern European roots than either Rice or Hamilton’s vampires. It also puts vampires in a high school setting, and whilst it isn’t the first to do so I think Mead does it well. Then there’s the fact that there are two different types of vampire in this world.

5. THE IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa.

This is a slightly different take on the vampire to any of the above books, and I think it explores the genre in a unique and interesting way. It could be really interesting to compare the vampires in this book to the ones in the others.

6. MINION by L. A. Banks.

This is the only series that I have come across that features vampires who are PoC. It links with THE IMMORTAL RULES in that they both have non-white leads, which seems to be pretty rare in the genre – it might be interesting to explore this.

So there’s my list. I would have loved to include vampire books that explored vampires who are LBGT (which doesn’t include everything, and I hope is right) and if anyone has any recs they would be much appreciated. The idea behind this list was basically I wanted to treat it like a particular topic in a Lit degree. I’ve only included brief thoughts on why I would include them in a list. I would love to hear what you think about my picks, and if I’ve missed something you think should be on the list.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday Post (17)

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The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It was inspired in part by the In My Mailbox meme. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

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This week was a little quiet. I got to meet up with my Aunt and Cousin for lunch, and I totally lost the momentum I’d gathered from Bout of Books – oops!

This Week on The Flutterby Room

Next Week on The Flutterby Room

  • 5th September – The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond (ARC review!)

That’s it from me this week. I hope you’ve had a good week; let me know how your week went in the comments below.

Review: The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

Title: The Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)
Author: Robert Galbraith
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Publisher: Sphere (18th April 2013)
Blurb:

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Cormoran Strike is a war veteran – wounded both physically and psychologically – and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model’s complex world, the darker things get and the closer he gets to a terrible danger . . .

A gripping, elegent mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London – from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho – The Cuckoo’s Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J. K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

THE CUCKOO’S CALLING introduces us to Cormoran Strike, a private investigator who is experiencing some bad luck, until the brother of Lula Landry arrives at his office and asks Strike to investigate her death, which he believes to have been murder.

Continue reading

Waiting on Wednesday (29)

Yesterday (Tuesday) was not a good day, and as Monday was a Bank Holiday which I spent with my parents, no post ended up being written yesterday – sorry. It didn’t occur to me until it was too late (which was today) that I probably should have scheduled it. Instead I’m doing my second WoW of 2013. This is  a book I am really looking forward to, and have ever since I heard that the author was expanding their short story into a whole book.

Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. The book’s blurb has been taken from Goodreads.com All publish dates are according to Amazon.co.uk

This week I am “Waiting On”…

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
by Holly Black

Published: 3rd September 2013

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

I thought this was a really neat concept when I read the short story, so I cannot wait to see how it has been translated into a whole book.

So that is the book I am looking forward to this week. Please let me know in the comments if you’re looking forward to it too, and what book you’re looking for to this week.

Bout of Books 8.0 – Day Seven & Wrap-up

Day 7 – Sunday August 25th 2013.

After yesterday I have a LOT of reading to do if I am to complete my goal of reading three books this read-a-thon, which in the end I didn’t manage – although I did get some reading done 🙂

Number of Books Read Today:  1 – (continued) CROWN OF MIDNIGHT
Number of Books Read in Total: 2
Total Pages Read Today: 49

Wrap-Up

So, Bout of Books is now over 😦

I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, only completing one of my goals. But I did have a lot of fun, and it did help me to get back into reading – hopefully I’ll manage to keep it up. Apparently Bout of Books 9.0 will be in January, and I definitely plan to take part. I hope everyone had fun with this one, and I look forward to seeing everyone in Jan.

Number of Books Read: 2 – Biting Bad by Chloe Neill & The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond
Total Pages Read: 749