Sunday, April 28, 2013

Showcase Sunday (#24)

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Vicki at Books, Biscuits and Tea. Its aim is to showcase our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders this week.

For Review: 
Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
I've heard a lot of amazing things about this book, particularly that it is intensely psychological, so I cannot wait to delve into this one.
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Although I'm not one of those die-hard Ockler fans, I have really enjoyed her work in the past and the immigrant nature of the characters in this one have me dying to tear into it at once. I can't wait!

Gifted: 
Mandee at Vegan YA Nerds and I did a book swap - my very first! - and she thoroughly spoiled me. Not only did she indulge me in three books, a notebook, card, pen, and eraser, but CHOCOLATE! *dies* 
You've probably heard Silvey's name in concurrence with Jasper Jones, the novel by him that everyone seems to love but I haven't read yet. Although I will eventually get around to it, I really wanted to start with this one, mostly because the MC is named Eleanor Rigby - which happens to be my favorite Beatles song. I can't wait to delve into this!
I've had this on my wishlist for nearly a year now and I cannot WAIT to read this one. It has such a vivid and bright cover and the story itself is New Adult, but the kind I like which is more self-discovery and less romance. I'm very excited to read this one (and probably will very soon)!
I first heard about this book on Mandee's blog and ever since have been eyeing it with envy. I loved the blog tour for this debut and the thought of a unique dystopian is simply too lovely to bear and Mandee must've seen me lusting for this from over the sea for she sent me her copy of it. 
Thank you, Mands, for such a lovely parcel! :)

Borrowed:
I can't believe I'm actually DONE with this series. Although the last book didn't live up to my expectations, I absolutely LOVED all the other installments in this, particularly Fourth Comings. You can read my review for Charmed Thirds HERE if you missed it this past week.
I found about these two delightful romances through Angie's blog, Angieville, and I am so glad I took a chance on them. The Chocolate Thief was the perfect blend of depth and sensual romance and I suspect The Chocolate Kiss will be too! (Also, I ate the majority of Mandee's chocolate while reading this!)
I've finished this entire series already and I loved it, for different reasons than I love Mercy Thompson but with the same level of ardor. If you haven't already read MT or A&O, go hunt them down now!
I don't think this book actually has anything to do with wolves, but I've heard incredible things about it and snagged it this week. 
I haven't read anything by Scott in the past, but I've been told this book is just wonderful. It seems to be full of the depth and achy substance I love in my books, so I am really looking forward to this. 
I've had my eye on this ever since I finished Hold Still by LaCour last year and I'm really looking forward to this book, which is also on the cusp of New Adult. 

Bought: 
To the surprise of many, I haven't read this yet. In fact, the only Tamora Pierce Series I read was The Immortals, which I loved at the time but am told is not one of her best works, so I wonder how I'd find it today. Either way, I cannot wait to read this series - reputed to be her best by far. I find The Circle of Magic daunting because of all the sequel quartets of The Circle Re-Opens and The Circle Closes or whatever the else there may be. And Beka Cooper never appealed to me, maybe because of the covers, but I am very excited to read this quartet! (Not so much the sequels, though...)

I also borrowed a few romance novels this week, from two terrible historical romance titles to Julie James' latest to the first and third book of Lisa Kleypas' Wallflowers Series which didn't impress me too much. Frankly, I was too disappointed by them to take the trouble to post them along with the list of other books I borrowed this week, but you'll most likely see their reviews soon enough. (If you're interested in my snarky reviews, that are never posted, you'll have to check out GoodReads.) 

Anyway, that's my haul for this week...er...two? three? weeks. I can't wait to see what you've all received, so link me up!

19 comments:

  1. OK, I'll admit straight up that I am a huge Tamora Pierce fangirl. With that said, READ ALL HER BOOKS. Seriously. Especially once you've read Alanna, it's a lot of fun to see how Pierce grows the Tortall universe and builds on each series as she goes. I agree that the covers for the Beka Cooper books are relatively terrible, but that's a series that actually surprised me. The third book is one of Pierce's best overall.

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  2. As much as I loved the Mercy series, I think Alpha and Omega is my favorite series by Patricia Briggs.

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  3. I really want to read Live Through This! I read and excerpt and can't wait to get my hands on it! Also The Book of Broken Hearts was great, but not amazing.

    hope you enjoy all your books!
    - Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf

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  4. You've got some great books this week. I'm really curious about Tell The Wolves I'm Home as it sounds so good! I can't wait to see your reviews :)

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  5. i got the chocolate thief too. can't wait to read it (need to finish my library books first!)

    also i ABSOLUTELY love raincheck on timbuktu. it's one of my all time fave books as i just really connected with it. and al the anne of green gables references. it's not NA though.

    cant wait to see what you think of charm and strange. it doesnt particularly sound like my kind of book but i kinda really want to read it

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  6. Yay, so glad the parcel arrived :) I hope you love the books!

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  7. Wow! What an amazing haul! I loved The Disenchantments so I hope you will too. :) enjoy your new reads!

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  8. Nice haul! I have many books by Briggs as well but haven't started them yet.
    Happy reading!

    My haul!

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  9. AMazing haul!!! Love that you got so spoilt as well with chocolate :).
    My Showcase Sunday :)

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  10. Ohhh a book swap sounds so fantastic:). So do you send each other some of the books you own? I'm sorry I don't exactly know how they work and I do hope the question isn't stupid!

    The Chocolate Thief and The Chocolate Kiss sound really awesome! the covers are so cute. They remind me a bit of Sophie Kinsella's covers.

    Lovely Haul Keertana!

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  11. First, YAY to the Alanna books! I absolutely loved them and I can't wait to see what you think!

    Second, YAY for Live Through This. I absolutely loved it in a heartbreaking, so-hard-to-read-but-I-can't-stop-reading sort of way and I hope you do too!

    Third, darn you. I just requested the first Mercy Thompson based on your review. My TBR pile is SO big because of you...

    Fourth, great haul!

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  12. Oh my God, Aussie chocolate is the best! Nomes sent some a while back and I still haven't recovered. My kid was saying, 'Mom, can we please go get some more?!' And I was like, 'Well, it's kind of a long trip...' But I was tempted. Just for that.

    I've been meaing to read Tamora Pierce ever since Flann recommended it to me, but I do think I'll get the audio. It'll work better that way.
    Enjoy them all!

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  13. Woah Keertana this haul is epic! Yay for your Aussie swaps, I've been meaning to read Raincheck on Timbuktu for sometime now, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how you get on with it! I added The Chocolate Thief after I read your lovely review, and I'm hoping to tackle the Jessica Darling series for my read-athon soon. I can't wait to dive into The Book of Broken Hearts, the reviews have been amazing so far! Happy reading hun! :)

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  14. Ummm WHOA on the haul.

    I have Charm and Strange for review too and I can't wait to read it. It sounds amazing.

    I hope that I can do a book swap with Mandee at some point because they look like a lot of fun! :D

    I've heard A LOT about Tell the Wolves I'm Home and I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

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  15. Impressive book haul, Keertana! I loved, LOVED the Song of the Lioness series with all my heart! It's my favorite series by her though I have yet to read the Immortal Series or Beka Cooper series (though I don't really intend to read the Beka Cooper one, considering the bad reviews I've seen). I look forward to hearing what you think! You are in for a treat! And I'm almost done Charmed Thirds, and I cannot wait to dig into the rest. Jessica is growing up so fast, and I feel so attached to her, that I might cry at the end. lol

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  16. I seriously have no idea how you get so much read. You're already finished with all of the A&O books?! I just brought home the novella, but who knows when I'll actually sit down and read it. I'm so scared to pick up the last 3 Jessica Darling novels, but your review of Charmed Thirds has swayed me. I haven't read ANY Tamora Pierce! But when I do I want to start with Alanna. Also I really want to read Rhubarb, largely because I love rhubarb itself, but I'll probably get to Jasper Jones first as my library has it on audio.

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  17. Ashala Wolf sounds fantastic! I've been itching to read it after all the Aussie bloggers sung it praises. I can't wait to see what you think. Charm & Strange has been getting some good early buzz too. I hope it's good! Enjoy your new books, sweet.

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  18. I just read The Book of Broken Hearts and really enjoyed it. Curious about your thoughts. I really want to read those chocolate books too!

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  19. I just read The Book of Broken Hearts and really enjoyed it. Curious about your thoughts. I really want to read those chocolate books too!

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