Library Loot (August 29th–September 4th)

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

 

Soooooo, it has been an awfully long time since I took part in Library Loot, I’ve picked up a couple of books since I last participated, but I’ve been trying to reduce the number of books I’ve had on loan from the library. Literally I gave up hope and took two of them back un-read because I never thought I’d read them. It always makes me sad when I do that, but hopefully at some point in the future, I’ll take them out again.

For my Library Loot, I’ve only picked up one book. A classic. Now I don’t usually tend to enjoy Classics, but I’ve heard lots and lots of positive opinions on this book. So that and it being part of the “Gothic” literature genre, which is creeping up to be one I’m liking more and more, I just had to pick the book up.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”,

With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

I got this one a while ago from the library, but I’ve never had the opportunity to highlight it. I love Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter’s series and Nick always makes a quirky and interesting character, so I’m looking forward to the take on his own story. Whilst I’m still making my way through the Dark-Hunter series, I thought it might be enjoyable to take a look at it from a different angle for the moment to keep some refreshment in the series.

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.
But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Library Loot: June 27th–July 3rd

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I have an awful lot to read from the library at the moment, so I haven’t really picked up anything new because I want to get through the books I have to read. Otherwise I may fall into Library Overwhelm Mode because of lots of books I have to read. I’m sure that wouldn’t be fun and it would probably put me in a reading funk. I have NINE, yes NINE other books to read from the library, so I’m falling behind a little. Another reason why I am not currently accepting review requests.

However, I do have one book from the library that I ordered months and months ago to take part in a Group Read, but it never came until now, so I’ll be reading it still, at some point.

1. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (Study #1)

Plot?  

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…

Why?

I’ve heard quite a lot of good and bad about this book and it looked like the type of book I’d really like to read, so when it came up as a Group read I was really excited to read it. However after the delay it means I’ll be reading it on my own, but I don’t mind. I still get to read it. Hopefully it will be an enjoyable read and look out for my review soon!

Library Loot (June 20th–26th)

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

 

 

I’m quite excited this week because although I still have about 5 or 6 other books to read from the library, I picked up two books published this year from the library. This is a rare thing for me because my library rarely stocks them, so I’m a very happy girl!

1. Imitation in Death by J.D. Robb (In Death #17)

Plot: Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas encounters one of her most difficult cases in this latest offering from J. D. Robb, alter ego of bestselling author Nora Roberts. With the very first victim, Eve realizes that the killer stalking the streets of New York City isn’t a run-of-the-mill serial murderer. The copycat executions are imitating the methods and victim choices of an ominous list of notorious serial killers, beginning with Jack the Ripper. And when the killer leaves a distinctive note at the crime scene, it’s clear that he’s targeting Eve personally–a fact that worries Roarke, Eve’s shrewd husband.

Assisted by her aide, Peabody, Eve compiles a list of suspects that includes several high-profile possibilities. Their very prominence, however, complicates the investigation, for they have the power and influence to make the search difficult. All of the suspects are reluctant to cooperate but one of them is playing with Eve like a cat with a mouse by tempting her with crime scene notes and challenging her to find him. Can Eve stop him before he slaughters again? Or will his next victim be Eve herself?

2. The Sultan’s Wife by Jane Johnson

Plot: 1677, Morocco. Behind the magnificent walls and towering arches of the Palace of Meknes, captive chieftain’s son and now a lowly scribe, Nus Nus is framed for murder. As he attempts to evade punishment for the bloody crime, Nus Nus finds himself trapped in a vicious plot, caught between the three most powerful figures in the court: the cruel and arbitrary sultan, Moulay Ismail, one of the most tyrannical rulers in history; his monstrous wife Zidana, famed for her use of poison and black magic; and the conniving Grand Vizier.
Meanwhile, a young Englishwoman named Alys Swann has been taken prisoner by Barbary corsairs and brought to the court. She faces a simple choice: renounce her faith and join the Sultan’s harem; or die. As they battle for survival, Alys and Nus Nus find themselves thrust into an unlikely alliance–an alliance that will become a deep and moving relationship in which these two outsiders will find sustenance and courage in the most perilous of circumstances.
From the danger and majesty of Meknes to the stinking streets of London and the decadent court of Charles II, The Sultan’s Wife brings to life some of the most remarkable characters of history through a captivating tale of intrigue, loyalty and desire.

3. Rise of the Wolf (Wereworld #1) by Curtis Jobling

Plot: ‘You’re the last of the werewolves son. Don’t fight it…Conquer it’. When the air is clear, sixteen year-old Drew Ferran can pick up the scent of a predator. When the moon breaks through the clouds, a terrifying fever grips him. And when a vicious beast invades his home, his gums begin to tear, his fingers become claws, and Drew transforms …Forced to flee the family he loves, Drew seeks refuge in the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia. But when he is captured by Lord Bergan’s men, Drew must prove he is not the enemy. Can Drew battle the werecreatures determined to destroy him – and master the animal within?

Old Library Books:

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

2. Sebastian by Anne Bishop

3. Books Burn Badly by Manuel Rivas

4. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

5. Killing Me Softly by Nicci French

6. The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson

Library Loot: June 13 to 19

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

 

 

I’ve only got three books this week from my library, but I do have a stack of five more upstairs to read, so I’m limiting myself. Posting these might actually encourage me to read the books too because sometimes I never get around to reading the odd one (but don’t tell, haha.)

1. Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb (In Death #16)

Plot: After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn’t a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered. Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who’s a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim’s every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman’s innocence, to capture her youth and vitality—in one fateful shot…

I’ve fallen in love with the “In Death” series and I’m just slowly making my way through them, so I’m onto number 16. So it’s just the next one chronologically to read!

2. Sebastian by Anne Bishop (Ephemera)

Plot: Long ago, Ephemera was split into a dizzying number of magical lands-connected only by bridges that may take you where you truly belong, rather than where you had intended to go. In one such land, where night reigns and demons dwell, the half-incubus Sebastian revels in dark delights. But in dreams she calls to him: a woman who wants only to be safe and loved-a woman he hungers for while knowing he may destroy her.And an even more devastating destiny awaits him, for an ancient evil is stirring-and Sebastian’s realm may be the first to fall.

My librarian saw that nothing was really catching my eye today, so she decided to recommend this to me as one of her favourite paranormal-romance books, so we’ll see how this goes.

3. Killing Me Softly by Nicci French

Plot: Alice Loudon has a devoted boyfriend and a challenging job as a research scientist. Then one morning, on her way to work, she exchanges a lingering look with a devastatingly attractive man. As a lover, Adam Tallis is more passionate than Alice’s wildest imaginings. Soon, there isn’t anything or anyone she wouldn’t give up to stay by his side.

I was just drifting around my library (sadly it’s rather small) and I saw this sticking out, picked it up and it sounded quite good. Hopefully it will live up to some thrilling expectations. I haven’t really looked at reviews, so I’ll just hope it’s good!