Saturday, January 23, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - 1.23.16

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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Bought:

Passenger
(Passenger #1)
by Alexandra Bracken
-Fantasy, SciFi, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever


=====> So thrilled to finally get this. It was one of my most anticipated books for 2016 :-)


=====> Books Inc. of San Francisco presented both Alexandra Bracken and Susan Dennard along with their latest books!

Things related to both authors…
- latest books involve sea, sailors and ships
- love research
- online gamers

To everyone's delight, Susan sang a sea shanty which appears in her book, Truthwitch (see below for details on book).


For Review:

Losing the Light
by Andrea Dunlop
-Contemporary, France
courtesy of tour, BookSparks -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads -giveaway offer, ends Feb 6

A smart, obsessive debut novel about a young woman studying abroad who becomes caught up in a seductive French world—and a complex web of love and lust.

When thirty-year-old Brooke Thompson unexpectedly runs into a man from her past, she’s plunged headlong into memories she’s long tried to forget about the year she spent in France following a disastrous affair with a professor.

As a newly arrived exchange student in the picturesque city of Nantes, young Brooke develops a deep and complicated friendship with Sophie, a fellow American and stunning blonde, whose golden girl façade hides a precarious emotional fragility. Sophie and Brooke soon become inseparable and find themselves intoxicated by their new surroundings—and each other.

But their lives are forever changed when they meet a sly, stylish French student, Veronique, and her impossibly sexy older cousin, Alex. The cousins draw Sophie and Brooke into an irresistible world of art, money, decadence, and ultimately, a disastrous love triangle that consumes them both. And of the two of them, only one will make it home.


=====> I am looking forward to dipping into this one as it takes place in one of my favorite locations - France!


UNBOXING:

From Uppercase package (details & signup):
A hand-selected young adult book & fun bookish item, delivered monthly #UppercaseBox


JANUARY Box includes:
- Truthwitch by Susan Dennard - signed
- Truthwitch poster (map)
- Truthwitch related bookmark (with interactive links)
- Sup Nerd? socks from Blue Q
- Childlike Wonder Coloring Book from Emma Margaret (Uppercase exclusive)

Truthwitch
(Witchlands #1)
by Susan Dennard
-Fantasy, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.


=====> LOVE this month's selection and socks are always a favorite. Nice touch with the coloring book as that is definitely the most IN thing to do these days ;-)

I must say that the exclusive bookish items created for Uppercase make the box quite special and unique.

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

Tournament of Books 2016
Short List - now available
Details | Powells | Goodreads

=====> I was lurking in the last two years of tournament play. This year, I plan on reading as many as I can in this before the March discussions begin.


AND binge watching: online

Kill Me, Heal Me (2015)
tv series, season one
Director: Dae-jin Kim, Jin-man Kim
Writer: Soo Wan Jin
Starring: Seong Ji, Jung Eum Hwang
-Korean, Comedy, Drama, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5

A love story between the son from a wealthy family who has 7 personalities Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) and Oh Ri Jin (Hwang Jung Eum) who becomes his secret psychiatrist.

=====> Still enjoying Kdrama. This series has an interesting premise that makes for interesting situations that hit extremes of wacky to violent.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

 
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