New books

Finding Soutbek, by Karen Jennings
The focal point of the novel is the small town of Soutbek. Its troubles, hardships and corruption, but also its kindness, strong community and friendships, are introduced to us in a series of stories about intriguingly interlinked relationships.

Tempest, by Julie Cross
The Time Traveller's Wife meets The Matrix - an action-packed romance and a mind-blowing debut novel that will keep you guessing at every turn.

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
During winter, Sam lives in the frozen woods and the silent company of a fearless girl named Grace. In summer, he lives a few precious months as a human. Soon, Grace and Sam find themselves risking everything to remain together.

Banned books week: A celebration of the freedom to think

It's time to rebel - by reading.

New book: Kind of Cruel, by Sophie Hannah

Described as having "perfected the psychological thriller" (Bookseller), Sophie Hannah deserves plenty of praise forKind Of Cruel, a chilling novel which takes fear and suspense to a whole new level.

When Amber Hewerdine consults a hypnotherapist as a last resort, she doesn't expect that anything much will change. She doesn't expect it to help with her chronic insomnia ... or to hear herself, under hypnosis, saying words that mean nothing to her: "Kind, cruel, kind of cruel". Words she has seen somewhere before, if only she could remember where ...
She also doesn't expect to be arrested two hours later in connection with the brutal murder of Katharine Allen, a woman she's never heard of

Found here.

New book: Glow, by Amy Kathleen Ryan

16 years ago, Waverly and Kieran were the first children born in space. Now a perfect couple, they are the pride and joy of the whole spaceship. They represent the future. The ship is their entire world. They have never seen a stranger before. Old Earth is crumbling, and the crew is hoping to reach (and colonise) New Earth within fifty years. Along with their allies on the second spaceship - who set off a year before them and whom they have never met. One day, Kieran proposes to Waverly. That same morning, the 'allies' attack - and Kieran and Waverly are separated in the cruellest way possible. Will they ever see each other again?

Found here.

New book: Chime, by Franny Billingsley

Briony has a secret. It is a secret that killed her stepmother, ruined her sister's mind, and will end her life, if anyone were to know. She has powers. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and a great mane of tawny hair. He is as natural as the sun, and he treats her as if she is extraordinary. And everything starts to change... Chime is a haunting, brilliantly written novel that will stay with you - its magic, its romance, its world like none other.

Found here.

Featured book: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Found here.

Which fictional character shares your birthday?

Found here.

Top ten most read books in the world

Books will always be better

New book: Ghost Flower, by Michele Jaffe

Eve, a runaway, finds a new job at a coffee shop on the outskirts of Tuscon. When she's approached by two   wealthy teens who claim she bears an uncanny resemblance to their missing cousin Aurora, her life takes a turn for the dark and mysterious. Drawn into a scheme to win Aurora's inheritance, Eve finds herself impersonating the girl, who disappeared three years ago on the night her best friend Elizabeth died. But when Liza's ghost begins to haunt Eve, doing harm to the people close to her under the guise of "protecting" her, Eve finds herself in a nightmare maze of lies and deception that leads her to question even her own identity. She realizes her only chance is to uncover the truth about what happened the night Liza died, and to find Liza's killer - before she's next.

This teen thriller by Michele Jaffe will keep readers turning pages well into the night.

Found here.

New book: Wood Angel, by Erin Bow

This book features what I believe to be the best feline character in modern literature.  Taggle stole my heart and used his power to make me laugh and cry.  If only for the cat, you should read this book. 

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver’s daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans are so fine that some even call her “witch-blade”: a dangerous nickname in a country where witches are hunted and burned in the square. A mysterious fog ruins crops and spreads hunger and sickness. The townspeople blame Kate.
The stranger Linay will exchange her shadow for escape and her heart’s wish. It’s a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes she can’t live shadowless forever — and that Linay’s anger and grief (like the bereaved author) can "level a city".

Found here. 

Laura's Holiday Reads (2)

So I know I haven't said much these past two weeks, but it's been a really busy yet exciting holiday for me, and I've even managed to squeeze in a few books ;) Unfortunately I got the kindle app on my ipad set up, and so I've been reading a series that I don't think we have (I'll check when school opens) by Tom Holt.

Pictures above are in order, so start with The Portable Door and end with You Don't Have To Be Evil To Work Here But It Helps. I'm only starting the last one now, but the first three are a hilarious mix of sarcastic wit, science fiction and pure magic. You follow Paul Carpenter who is approximately 25 but has a mental maturity of about 10 as he applies for a job at the firm JW Wells & Co. Things get increasingly weird as nothing is what it seems at the firm, and both he and his coworker Sophie don't know what the firm actually does to earn money. As they slowly find out, goblins, sorcerers, cars that were once German women, dwarves, giants and modern day Excaliburs all feature in the series, and Paul is forced to save the world a number of times just to prolong the life of his true-love, Sophie. Holt's way of describing things is refreshing, original and downright clever - I've had to read a number of passages aloud to anyone within ten metres of where I was at the time. All in all, they get a little confusing at times but the prose flows effortlessly and you'll be sniggering your way through all of them.
On an unrelated note, I'm definitely going to try and get my way through at least two more of the library books I took out - and on top of that inform all of you of what I thought about them on Monday. Rain is perfect weather to curl up with a book, so enjoy the last weekend of the holidays while it lasts.

Laura's Holiday Reads (1)

Just so you're aware, it's Irvine, not Hulme. Laura has contributed waaaaay too much for us to be co-hosts of this site, but since I'm on holiday and there isn't much to do, I'd like to let you know what I'm reading from our library. I have absolutely no time to read during term, which is terrible since I eat books like cake, which is to say with great appreciation and in huge quantities. We're giving cake a rest these holidays, and trying to satiate the hunger of reading instead. So.

I went away this past weekend to a wonderful place in the middle of nowhere fifteen kilometers or so from Dassiesfontein which is quite near Caledon. As people who are deprived of their great love and find it again overdose just a little, I read for three straight days, and managed to read the entire Hunger Games Trilogy. I know there's been lots of hoo-haa about the series and movie (no, I haven't watched it yet) but to tell the truth I enjoyed everything until the end of the third book - I think it had the most unsatisfying ending out of the past hundred books I've read. I won't ruin the story for anyone, because they really are worth reading if you enjoy books that don't really need any brain-power to read (my favourite to veg out to) but please, fellow bibliophiles, make up your own ending. Collins writes with a wonderful cliff-hanger approach at the end of every chapter that makes you want to carry on, and makes her characters very real as you can empathize with them as well as get frustrated with the choices they make. They really aren't bad teen-reading, and although the writing isn't the most beautiful I've read, it certainly is a good story for those who like science-fiction / futuristic books.  

I'm now reading something completely different: David, by Mary Hoffman. One of the newest books in the library, this is also a teen read but takes place when Michelangelo was alive in Florence, Italy and is narrated by the 'milk-brother' of Michelangelo, and is supposedly the model of his famous sculpture, David. I haven't read that much yet so can't really give you a clear idea of what it's about, but the word 'mystery' is written on the cover so it should be good. Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone, and happy holiday reading!

It's that time of year again...

Featured book: Knife, by R.J. Anderson

Once upon a time, a fairy is born. She lives in an old oak tree at the bottom of a garden with the rest of the fairy folk. Never has she known a time when life hasn't been hard, with many dangers and much adversity. But when she becomes the Hunter of the group and learns to do battle in the outside world, her adventures really take off...Don't read this book if you're expecting fairy dust - the last thing Knife is likely to wield is a magic wand...
Found here.

Featured book: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1), by Cassandra Clare

 When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Found here. 

New book: Rosebush, by Michele Jaffe

Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.

Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface-not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.

Found here.

New book: Divine Justice, by Joanne Hichens

 In the aftermath of a vicious attack and near rape, addiction counsellor Rae Valentine - feisty, sexy, flesh and blood gorgeous and vital - begins to rebuild her life, emerging as resourceful woman in charge of their destiny. Not only does she give motivational talks, is commissioned to write a memoir and has more facebook fans than she can handle, but as a newly badged investigator Rae keeps the floundering Mendes, Saldana and Valentine Private Investigation business in rent money while the men in her life sort out their troubles. In Divine Justice, Rae catches a break from the small-time clientele who have her hopping after cheaters and fraudsters, to hunt the stolen jewellery of a new client. Little does she realise she will soon be caught up in a web of lies and deceit as the shenanigans of a deranged Evangelist and his followers keep her on her toes....so to speak...

Found here.

Competition: Win R5000!

Like the Facebook page The Wall, Get to know the Mall Rats from Lily Herne's books Deadlands and Death of a Saint and you could win R5000. Details here. 

Book of the week: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Reves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire. Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems almost to cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the reveurs - the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter's daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer's apprentice. At the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of the imagination, and of their love...A fabulous, fin-de-siecle feast for the senses and a life-affirming love story, "The Night Circus" is a captivating novel that will make the real world seem fantastical and a fantasy world real.

Found here.

Upcoming book: The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling

 J. K. Rowling has written a new book, but this time it's for adults and there's no fantasy.  But all die-hard Potter fans are planning to read it anyway.  

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

The book is expected to be released on 27 September 2012 and will be approximately 480 pages long.

New book: Switched, by Amanda Hocking

Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of having been switched at birth. Although certain she's not the monster her mother claimed she is she does feel that she doesn't quite fit in ...The new girl in High School, she's bored and frustrated by her small town life and then there's the secret that she can't tell anyone. Her mysterious ability she can influence people's decisions, without knowing how, or why ...When the intense and darkly handsome newcomer Finn suddenly turns up at her bedroom window one night her world is turned upside down. He holds the key to her past, the answers to her strange powers and is the doorway to a place she never imagined could exist. Forening, the home of the Trylle. Everything begins to make sense to Wendy. Among the Trylle, she is not just different, but special. But what marks her out as chosen for greatness in this world also places her in grave danger. With everything around her changing, Finn is the only person she can trust. But dark forces are conspiring not only to separate them, but to see the downfall everything that Wendy cares about. The fate of Forening rests in Wendy's hands, and the decisions she and Finn make could change all their lives forever ...

Found here.

New book: Gallows Hill, by Margie Orford

In Gallows Hill, Dr Clare Hart investigates a cold case - the skeleton of a young woman murdered twenty years earlier - with Riedwaan Faizal. At the same time, she is helping a troubled young artist, Sophie Brown, identify a malignant stalker. The two are linked, and both Clare and Sophie are in grave danger. Clare discovers that the young woman whose remains are uncovered in the burial grounds near Gallows Hill is Astrid Brown, Sophie's mother, who has been missing for two decades. Her murderer is now stalking Sophie, and if needs be he will kill again. And again. In fact, he will kill as often as it takes to hide the secret he so neatly buried with Sophie's mother these last twenty years.

Found here.

New book: An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
Found here.

New book: 3,096 Days, by Natascha Kampusch

On 2 March 1998 ten-year-old Natascha Kampusch was snatched off the street by a stranger and bundled into a white van. Hours later she found herself in a dark cellar, wrapped in a blanket. When she emerged eight years later, her childhood had gone. In "3,096 Days" Natascha tells her incredible story for the first time: her difficult childhood, what exactly happened on the day of her abduction, her imprisonment in a five-square-metre dungeon, and the mental and physical abuse she suffered from her abductor, Wolfgang Priklopil. "3,096 Days" is ultimately a story about the triumph of the human spirit. It describes how, in a situation of almost unbearable hopelessness, she slowly learned how to manipulate her captor. And how, against inconceivable odds, she managed to escape unbroken.

Found here.