A Peek in the Biblio-Bin - #6

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This week Nat gives you a peek into the Biblio-Bin.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,

To storm or fire the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa tol him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring and bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem - when the Voice took over he mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for and evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery - although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely - enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes od Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life

Share with us the books you acquired this past week!

Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink by Stephanie Kate Strohm

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Available May 8, 2012

"Libby Kelting had always felt born out of time.  No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-round history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum.

But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset.  Her cat-loving coworker hates her, the geeky local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, the sailor she’s dating is more shipwreck than dreamboat, and Camden Harbor might be haunted.

Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem."

It's been a while since I’ve read something that’s pure silliness and Pilgrims fits into this category very nicely. 

Libby is your typical high school student from Minnesota who’s heading off to her dream internship on the East Coast at a small town history museum.  The book is quick with some apparent stereotypes – she’s blonde, she’s popular and she has a gay best friend, Dev who’s absolutely flummoxed about why she won’t be joining him at his fabulous internship at a magazine in New York.  I admit, the book didn't quite grab me at first and I think the initial stereotypes bothered me a little.  

It was Libby who thankfully reminded me not to be too quick to judge.  When she arrives at Camden Harbour, she’s fully aware that people perceive her as a blonde airhead incapable of grasping the importance and purpose of the history museum.  She finds herself on the receiving end of some serious animosity from her nightmare of a roommate, Ashling.  Libby may be guilty of having shoes for every occasion and not being able to live without blush but she knows her historical facts and she's serious about her work.  She proves herself to be smart though slightly awkward when thrown into the spotlight.

She meets two guys who couldn’t be more different from each other.  Naturally, she finds herself drawn to the hot guy, Cam the sailor with the killer smile.  I had to shake my head when she couldn’t even see what an obvious chump he was.  Then there’s Garrett, the geeky reporter who’s into all things sci-fi and researching a story about ghost sightings on one of the museum's prized ships, Lettie Mae.  By a stroke of luck (sort of), Libby and Garrett are thrown together as roommates on the ship and these two polar opposites have to learn to tolerate each other. 

Pilgrims is for the most part predictable though admittedly it didn’t end where I thought it would.  My only problem with it was the Libby/Ashling dynamic.  There was just no reasonable explanation for why Ashling was so hostile towards her.  Though Ashling on her own provided a few "roll your eyes" moments of humor.


What I did like were all the random historical facts and trivia that Libby would throw out because I myself love history. She displays her history geek flag proudly and that aspect of her personality nicely balanced Garrett's tendency to rattle of random things like Lord of the Rings trivia.  The two of them together were a treat.  And as much as she loves her modern comforts, she's not a whiner and shows how much a team player she can be.  


Overall this is a fun book.  It's perfect when you want an escape or just something that's quick and easy. There’s plenty to giggle about and in the end it’s just what you need when you want something to smile about.

~ Bel

We received Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink as an ARC from NetGalley.  It will be released May 8, 2012. 
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt    Imprint: Graphia

Divergent by Veronica Roth

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In Beatrice’s Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue – Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).  On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives.  For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is – she can’t have both.  So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are – and where, exactly a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen,  But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death.  And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves … or it might destroy her. 

Divergent is a powerful novel that will please fans of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner Trilogies.  There’s plenty to keep your head spinning.  The creation of a society that is so drastically separated from one another is mind-boggling.   No matter how much I liked the book, I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of society being divided into factions based on one main characteristic.  It seemed so one-dimensional and inconceivable to me.  Despite that I was plenty able to go with it.

Tris is a formidable presence.  Having lived her whole life under severe constraints, she relishes her new freedom.  Her acceptance of herself as someone who can’t fit neatly into one category echoes my feeling about factions as a whole.  As a member of a new faction she has to learn to fight for herself.  And for the first time in her life she also has to learn to think of herself  – a concept so alien to her strict upbringing as a member of Abnegation where she was always expected to put others before herself.  However, she doesn’t easily abandon her Abnegation roots.  She silently works to balance her new experiences with her previous beliefs. 

The initiation process is grueling and if it were a reality show it would be a mix of Survivor, Amazing Race, The Apprentice (when it was cool which was forever ago) and Big Brother – but with weapons … used by sixteen year-olds.  As I plowed through the story, I’d seriously pause to ask, “Who was the genius who thought this was a good idea?”  It makes you wonder what could have happened before to create this world. Even though Divergent is pretty heavy, there are a few lighthearted moments as Tris learns to not take herself so seriously.  And she also finds a like-minded soul in Four, her love interest as they both struggle with the changes they're facing.

Divergent is a definite must-read.  There’s so much action to keep you turning the pages as fast as you can.  It’s very hard to put down.  And since I, like the author also live just outside of Chicago, viewing the city through this book was a wild ride!  It was a trip recognizing famous landmarks but unnerving to witness them as part of an unrecognizable bleak, rigid society. The messages in this book are very obvious – can society as a whole really function, and function effectively, when people are divided into factions and expected to perform based on one virtue?  Can this set-up truly erase problematic characteristics of basic human nature?  And what happens when you can’t fit yourself into just one neat little category?  What does that make you?

~Bel

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

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Some summers are just destined to be pretty

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer – they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up the way it should have been all along.


I think the best way to describe The Summer I Turned Pretty is that it’s a coming-of-age story. I was expecting some great summer high jinx with plenty of laughs but it’s rather the opposite.


Belly, her brother Steven and their mom, go to this beach house every summer that belongs to her mother’s best friend, Susannah. It’s been a long-lasting friendship, one that’s been through ups and downs and Belly and Steven have pretty much grown up with Susannah’s boys Jeremiah and Conrad.


When Belly arrives at the beach house, the other two boys immediately notice that she’s no longer a little girl. Belly has had a crush on Conrad for as long as she can remember but she’s always been the “little sister” to the boys. And unfortunately because she’s a girl, she’s also felt like the odd one out at times. Belly’s maturing isn’t the only change happening. Steven will be going off to college when the summer is over and Conrad has been acting strange and Susannah has been spending more time in her room. The only one who pays any attention to her and treats her normally is Jeremiah.


The story goes back and forth between present day and previous events that happened at the beach house. Belly does eventually meet another boy, Cam at a party and the two begin to hang out together. As that happens, Conrad and Belly’s relationship becomes tense and Jeremiah is left to be both the buffer and peacemaker.


The book pretty much centers on Belly and her hang up over Conrad. I found it aggravating as the reader that she didn’t pick up on some serious stuff that was hinted at that was happening with other people at the beach house. At the same time, it wasn’t her fault as everyone else felt that they had to protect Belly from what was going on – treating her like a little child, something she was anxiously trying to change.


I was able to finish The Summer I Turned Pretty in one night but at the end I felt solemn.  While it turned out to be completely different from what I thought it would be, it's still a well written story.  It’s not lighthearted because every one has to grow up really fast and face some harsh truths. In the end, it’s more than just a love story but also a story about enduring friendships and growing up.


~ Bel

The Death Cure Book Trailer

Happy Release Day to The Death Cure by James Dashner!

I've raved about the first 2 books - The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials and finally we're here at the end.  Thomas and company are back!  Oh and there's that pesky WICKED too.  Check out the trailer below.

It's a short clip but doesn't it get your adrenaline going? I can't wait to get my hands on it and see what Thomas is up against now!  Excuse me, I'll just hit the replay button on this a few more times ...


~ Bel

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

* * * * *

"I'd expected to die that day.  I was ready.  Being ordered by my True Name to walk away, leaving Meghan to die alone in the Iron Kingdom, nearly shattered me a second time.  If it wasn't for my oath to be with her again, I might've done something suicidal, like challenge Oberon to a battle before the entire Summer Court.  But now that I've made my promise, there is no turning back.  Abandoning my vow will unravel me, bit by bit, until there is nothing left.  Even if I wasn't determined to find a way to survive in the Iron Realm, I'd have no choice but to continue. 

I will be with her again, or I will die.  There aren't any other options."

I’ve only recently come to enjoy Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series.  I’m so glad I finally did!  The series has been so much fun so far and The Iron Knight will not disappoint.  This time the story is told from Ash’s perspective, which I’m certain will delight legions of Team Ash fans. 

When we last saw Ash and Meghan, she had released him from his duty as her knight and banished him from the Iron Realm for his own safety.  Ash made a solemn promise that he’d find a way to be with her again.  The Iron Knight follows him, accompanied by Puck on his journey to become human in order to reunite with Meghan.  Of course, Grimalkin is there as their trusted guide and to provide a cool head and quick wit.  As with the previous books, Kagawa has created a world so rich in detail that it’s easy to get immersed in it and not want to leave. I was so transfixed by the story that every time I was away from the book, I’d think, “I have to get back to Ash.”

Throughout his journey several things happen to Ash that make him question his motives.  I had never doubted his devotion to Meghan but it was an eye opener to watch him come to terms with his decision with who he is.  Is he following through on his promise because he’s a man of his word or is it because he is truly in love?  The trials along the way strengthen his resolve as he learns what it means to be “human”.  There are uncomfortable, gut-wrenching moments particularly when Ash is forced to face the horrendous actions of his past.  It's remarkable to see his once cruel and heartless side and still feel compassion for him.  And there are other moments when I admit I shed a tear or two.  Through it all Ash learns about friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, love and discovers his own humanity.

Among the many highlights of the book is the interaction between Ash and Puck.  We’re all already familiar with the animosity between them and how their once unlikely friendship turned to hatred.  The Iron Knight delves deeper into their estrangement by going beyond Puck’s non-stop banter and Ash’s cold shoulder treatment until they’re ultimately forced to confront each other. It's a tense moment where you're left holding your breath.

Coming to the end of The Iron Knight reminded me of the first time I read The Hobbit.  By the time it was all over and done, I felt like I had gone through everything that had happened in that span of time.  The story this time is less about Faery politics and more about the struggle to find redemption and the opportunity to reinvent oneself.  And the incredible descriptions have left fantastic images in my head that I wish I could see this world as a movie right now.  The Iron Knight easily deserves 5 stars.

~ Bel

Greek Week Winners!

Phew!  That was a long, fun week!  I woke up this morning and tallied the entries for our two contests and we have winners - Woohoo! 

Our first contest is sponsored by Jennifer Estep for a copy of her book Touch of Frost.  And the winner is:

Nicole from The More the Merrier! 


Our second contest is for a hardcover of The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan.  And the winner is:

eclairre!

Congratulations ladies!  I have sent emails to the addresses provided.  If we do not receive mailing information within 48 hours, we will pick new winners.  Thanks to Jennifer Estep for sponsoring the giveaway of Touch of Frost - I really hope you all read it and enjoy it as much as I did! 

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and participating and if you didn't win, never fear, we will be participating in the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not a Writer and The Diary of a Bookworm October 24-31.  Check back to see what spooky prizes we have to offer!

~Shel