In My Mailbox is a weekly book-meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and features books that we’ve gotten in our mailboxes.

The 1-Click button that Amazon has is lethal and it constantly makes me buy books despite the fact that I’ve already told myself off multiple times this year. Couple this with the fact that I dropped by my local geeky-bookstore (or Sci-Fi & Fantasy bookstore known as Outland) AND had a few things ordered from the Book Depository and you can probably imagine the was amount of books I have lying around. It’s a good thing I’ve got a job, otherwise I’d be really broke by now, although given the current state of my bookshelves, desk, bed and floor it probably wouldn’t be too much of a bad thing as I’d save some space at least.

Anyhow, this isn’t a post meant to bemoan my lack of space at the moment, it’s a post to show you exactly WHY I have no space at the moment. So let’s go!

Alright, the books I actually went out and bought at the store are (I would’ve taken a picture of them, but alas I can’t find the charger for my camera right now, next time, promise!):

The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell [amazon] – I read Jasmyn and LOVED it so when I walked by the shelf and saw this one it made complete sense to grab it as I passed by.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi [amazon] – I’ve heard quite a bit about it around the web, not sure whether it’s my thing or not, but there’s only one way to find out, right?

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi [amazon] – This one I’ve definitely heard a LOT about and it’s been on my to-read list for ages so I figured it was about time I picked it up.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick [amazon] – Not sure if I’ll like this one or not, but there’s been so much talk about it and I figured I should at least give it a try. And besides, I can always donate it later (even if I do like it, like I said, space!) and it’ll make someone happy either way.

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder [amazon] – I have Poison Study sitting on my shelf already (need to get around to reading that) but I was really excited about Inside Out when it came out but only just got around to buying it, I’ve heard some mixed reviews about it now, but I’m still looking forward to reading this one!

The Duff by Kody Keplinger [amazon] – I’ve wanted to read this FOREVER and now that I have I know exactly why. LOVED it. Will get a review up soon-ish, AWESOME book!

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Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly book meme that’s hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. The purpose is to spotlight releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

I know there’s a similar-ish spotlight of sorts in the “Monday Madness” posts I have, but those only spotlight books that are already out or that are releasing within the next two weeks. Waiting on Wednesday will spotlight books that are releasing months from now.

For the record, I did try to add some non-debut author books as well =P

And simply to repeat what I said on Twitter: 2010 – my official shapeshifter + werewolves/animals year, looking at my shelf + wishlist, I have lots to read!

I stand by that, because, as you may have noticed, I have a whole lot of shapeshifting/werewolves/skinwalkers/etc books that I want (you should see the full wishlist!), and a small (okay, large) part of my mind wants to do a shapeshifters/werewolves month. We’re still arguing on that though.

But, for now, to the books!
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Monday Madness is a weekly newsletter of sorts – only – it’s not a newsletter of what’s happening at The Nightowl, rather, it’s a short newsletter about books that have recently caught my eye, books that are releasing soon, authors I think you should keep an eye on and other bookly news that I find important and/or interesting. There’s “Caught My Eye” where I show you some books I’ve stumbled over that look interesting and “See You Tomorrow” which shows off some books that are releasing soon.

News:

This time around the news might be a bit on the short side, I have an exam on Friday you see, so I haven’t had too much time to search the web or anything. Next time there’ll hopefully be more to look at!

The Class of 2010 Debut Authors website launched recently which led to the additon of Party by Tom Leveen to my list, the plan is to try and get to 28 books, as that’s my favourite number, but we’ll see how it goes.

Kiersten White is currently having a giveaway at her blog, which ends on Wednesday, so go, now! She’ll be giving out books!

Speaking of Kiersten White, you really should keep an eye on her Twitter, she’s a very funny woman! Shannon Delany (another debut author of 2010) gave out some wonderful NaNoWriMo advice and is a very nice person, you should watch her too! (She also has a nice list of Christmas ideas for you to give (books, of course!) which you should check out, and not only because I commented on it ) If you don’t already read Sarah Rees Brennan’s blog, do so now! If you follow Maureen Johnson for her humour, you should defineatley add Sarah Rees Brennan to your twitter as well *serious nod*, though, in both Maureen and Sarah’s case it might be best not to read their twittering while sitting in public.

I’ll be doing a larger spotlight feature on the Debut Authors on my list later (as in, later this week or early next week depending on how exam-studying goes). So look out for that!

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Sunday Series is a book-meme of sorts were I pick out a series (it may be completed, it may not) and look at it as a whole. Telling you how I feel about it, whether or not I would suggest you read it and in a way giving a series-review. This will always be spoiler free, I’ll never give away endings, important moments etc. that might ruin the experience for you and I expect anyone who comments to follow the same rule. At the end, the series will be rated and will be given an overall grade by me.

This Sunday Series is Cassandra Clares’ The Mortal Instruments which consists of three books, namely; City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass respectively. The books main character is Clary Fray begins her journey into a mysterious world when she and her friend, Simon Lewis, go to a club where Clary sees a young teen being murdered. However, when she asks Simon and the security guard about it, none of them have seen anything and so she goes to look for the culprit (perhaps not the wisest move…) and finds a boy named Jace Wayland who turns out to be just as shocked that she can see him as she is that no one else saw what happened in the club. However, smart enough to not stick around for too long, Clary goes with Simon and heads back home.
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Debut Author Challenge 2010 is a challenge hosted by Kirsti over at The Story Siren. The aim is to read at least 12 books from YA and MG authors debuting in 2010. If you’re interested in joining the challenge, you can sign up at The Story Siren by clicking here.

Beneath you’ll find my (current) list of authors I plan to read in 2010, I’ve added links to either Amazon, The Book Depository or the author’s website so you can read up on the book should it interest you.

Okay then, my list of Debut Authors 2010 are;

1. Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis
2. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
3. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
4. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
5. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
6. Everlasting by Angie Frazier
7. Birthmarked by Caragh M. O’Brien
8. Other by Karen Kincy
9. Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
10. Sea by Heidi R. Kling
11. Freefall by Mindi Scott
12. Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
13. Split by Swati Avasthi
14. Under My Skin by Judith Graves
15. 13 to Life: A Werewolf’s Tale by Shannon Delany
16. Mistwood by Lisa Cypess
17. Freaksville by Kitty Keswick
18. The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
19. Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White
20. Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn
21. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
22. The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade
23. Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson
24. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
25. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
26. Party by Tom Leveen
27. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
28. Firespell by Chloe Neill
29. The Beautiful Between by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
30. Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
31. Anna and the Boy Masterpiece by Stephanie Perkins
32. Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson
33. Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala
34. Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu
35. The Deathday Letter by Shaun Hutchinson
36. Faithful by Janet Fox
37. The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Yxta Maya Murray
38. Angel Star by Jennifer Muriga
39. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: The Summoning

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Young Adult; Urban Fantasy

Published: 3rd of July 2008

Pages: 390 (U.K. edition)

How did I get it? Picked it up while staying in Dublin last year.

Plot (From the back of the book):

All Chloe Saunders wants is a life like any other normal teenager – the chance to get through school, make friends, and maybe meet a boy. But when she starts seeing ghosts, she knows that life will never be normal again.

Soon the ghosts are everywhere, demanding her attention. When Chloe finally breaks down, she’s admitted to a group home for disturbed kids. At first Lyle House seems okay, but as she gets to know the other patients – charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek; obnoxious Tori; and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire – Chloe begins to realise that something strange and sinister binds them all together and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour.

And they are about to discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home, either…

As you may, or may not, have noticed I got this book quite awhile ago. And I also read it quite awhile ago, however I’m not actually writing a review of a book I read awhile ago, in fact, I wrote a review of the book on Goodreads just a day after I got it from the bookstore and read it the summer when me and my father travelled through Ireland. I was thinking about which book I was going to choose as the first book to review to kick this blog off, and then I remembered; I’d written one review on Goodreads, my first review there in fact, about a book while I really loved. Why not start off with that? Especially if I planned to review it’s sequel at any rate?
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