In My Mailbox (65)

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. Sadly the only books I order are those that are hard to find. The following books are from the library and bookstores.

Used bookstore:

Peeled by Joan Bauer, 2008.

Hildy Biddle dreams of being a journalist. A reporter for her high school newspaper, The Core, she's just waiting for a chance to prove herself. Not content to just cover school issues, Hildy's drawn to the town's big story— the haunted old Ludlow house. On the surface, Banesville, USA, seems like such a happy place, but lately, eerie happenings and ghostly sightings are making Hildy take a deeper look. And she suspects the editor of The Bee, the town newspaper, is more interested in selling papers than he is in reporting the facts to a frightened public.

Hildy's efforts to find out who is really haunting Banesville isn't making her popular, and she starts wondering if she's cut out to be a journalist, after all. But she refuses to give up, because, hopefully, the truth will set a few ghosts free.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I found another Joan Bauer book in one of my many used bookstore trips last week. I haven’t read this one before, but it sounds like a great read.

Titans of Chaos by John C. Wright, 2007.

The students have been kidnapped, robbed of their powers, and raised in ignorance by super-beings. The five have made incredible discoveries about themselves. Amelia is apparently a fourth-dimensional being; Victor is a synthetic man who can control the molecular arrangement of matter; Vanity can find secret passageways through solid walls; Colin is a psychic; Quentin is a warlock. Each power comes from a different paradigm or view of the universe. They have learned to control their strange abilities and have escaped into our world: now their true battle for survival begins.

I very nearly squealed for joy when I ran across a copy of Titans of Chaos at the used bookstore. I have been looking for this book for three years. I’m so excited to finally be able to know how the series ends; first I’m going to have to re-read the previous two books.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (The Mysterious Benedict Society, 2) by Trenton Lee Stewart, 2009.

The fabulous foursome readers embraced as The Mysterious Benedict Society is back with a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search--a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids' adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain.

I really enjoyed reading The Mysterious Benedict Society, so when I saw the sequel, for only $3, I had to buy it. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

Contest:

Crusade *signed* (Crusade, 1) by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie, 2010.

The ultimate battle. The ultimate love.

For the past two years, Jenn has lived and trained at Spain's Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones. She is among the few who have pledged to defend humanity or die trying. But the vampires are gaining power, and the battle has only just begun.

Forced to return home after death takes a member of her family, Jenn discovers that San Francisco is now a vampire strong-hold. As a lone hunter apart from her team, Jenn is isolated—and at risk.

Can I just say that this book sounds incredible; so cannot wait to start reading.

A huge thanks goes out to Lisa (A Life Bound By Books) and Jessica (Confessions of a Bookaholic) for Crusade, which I won during their Haunted Halloween Twitter party.

Hearts at Stake (The Drake Chronicles, 1) by Alyxandra Harvey, 2010.

The Blakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas.

So happy to have won Hearts at Stake, I’ve been wanting to read it for quite some time. The girl on the cover kind of looks like, to me, a goth Reba McEntire.

Blood Feud (The Drake Chronicles, 2) by Alyxnanadra Harvey, 2010.

The action and romance continue as the Drakes face a new vampire with a 200-year-old grudge. It’s been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she’s made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That’s if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks.

Now if I love Hearts at Stake, I don’t have to wait to read the second one.

The Hanging Tree ARC (A Starvation Lake Mystery, 2) by Bryan Gruley, 2010.

WHEN GRACIE McBRIDE, the wild girl who had left town eighteen years earlier, is found dead in an apparent suicide shortly after her homecoming, it sends shock waves through her native Starvation Lake. Gus Carpenter, executive editor of the Pine County Pilot, sets out to solve the mystery with the help of his old flame and now girlfriend, Pine County sheriff deputy Darlene Esper. As Gus and Darlene investigate, they can’t help but question if Gracie’s troubled life really ended in suicide or if the suspicious crime-scene evidence adds up to murder.  

I haven’t read anything by this author before, but The Hanging Tree sounds like an interesting read.

Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, 7) by Rachel Caine, 2009.

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected.

I am trying very hard not to read about this book, I’ve only read two books in the series so far. I really to need to borrow the rest of the series from the library so that I can read this one.

Total Eclipse *signed* (A Weather Warden Novel, 9) by Rachel Caine, 2010.

Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin has defeated her longtime enemy and saved the world—again. But at what cost? Standing at the ground zero for the last attack, Joanne, the Djinn David, and the Earth herself have been poisoned by a substance that is destroying the magic that keeps the world alive.

Joanne and David have already lost their powers, but that's just the beginning. The poison that has seeped into the planet is destablizing the entire balance of power, bestowing magic on those who have never had it and taking it at critical moments from those who need it. It's just a matter of time before the delicate balance of nature explodes into chaos, destroying mankind—and every living thing on Earth—with it.

Looks like I’ve got a new series to start reading.

Dark Road to Darjeeling ARC (A Lady Julia Grey Novel, 4) by Deanna Raybourn, 2010.

After eight idyllic months in the Mediterranean, Lady Julia Grey and her detective husband are ready to put their investigative talents to work once more. At the urging of Julia’s eccentric family, they hurry to India to aid an old friend, the newly-widowed Jane Cavendish. Living on the Cavendish tea plantation with the remnants of her husband’s family, Jane is consumed with the impending birth of her child—and with discovering the truth about her husband’s death. Was he murdered for his estate? And if he was, could Jane and her unborn child be next?

Amid the lush foothills of the Himalayas, dark deeds are buried and malicious thoughts flourish. The Brisbanes uncover secrets and scandal, illicit affairs and twisted legacies. In this remote and exotic place, exploration is perilous and discovery, deadly. The danger is palpable and, if they are not careful, Julia and Nicholas will not live to celebrate their first anniversary.

Sounds like an interesting series; again another one that I have yet to read.

Bullet *signed* (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, 19) by Laurell K. Hamilton, 2010.

The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children...

Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.

The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can..."

Eek, book nineteen! I guess I have my work cut out for me if I’m ever to read Bullet.

A huge thanks goes out to the lovelies at Paperback Dolls for this awesome prize pack.

Hope y'all had a great week in books too.