Saturday, November 27, 2010

IMM 16

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Kristi at The Story Siren which highlights the books that have been arrived into our houses each week. Each of the books listed below have been bought new, from charity shops, have been sent via publishers or authors, acquired via a book swapping website or borrowed from friends or the library.


Being Billy by Phil Earle - Faces flashed before my eyes. And for every face there was a time that they had let me down. Each punch that landed was revenge, my chance to tell them I hadn’t forgotten what they did. Eight years in a care home makes Billy Finn a professional lifer. And Billy’s angry – with the system, the social workers, and the mother that gave him away. As far as Billy’s concerned, he’s on his own. His little brother and sister keep him going, though they can’t keep him out of trouble. But he isn’t being difficult on purpose. Billy’s just being Billy. He can’t be anything else. Can he?

This one sounds heartbreaking. I've heard good things about it though and am really looking forward.

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The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney - Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

This will be the next book I read. I hope that the subject matter isn't too heavy :( I seem to be reading a fair amount of grim books lately.

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Weight by Jeannette Winterson - In ancient Greek mythology Atlas, a member of the original race of gods called Titans, leads a rebellion against the new deities, the Olympians. For this he incurs divine wrath: the victorious Olympians force Atlas, guardian of the Garden of Hesperides and its golden apples of life, to bear the weight of the earth and the heavens for eternity. When the hero Heracles, as one of his famous twelve labors, is tasked with stealing these apples he seeks out Atlas, offering to shoulder the world temporarily if the Titan will bring him the fruit. Knowing that Heracles is the only person with the strength to take his burden, and enticed by the prospect of even a short-lived freedom, Atlas agrees and an uneasy partnership is born.

I've immensely enjoyed the Canongate Myths books and I've enjoyed Jeannette Winterson's book in the past, so I'm hoping this one will be a good fit for me, even though I know next to nothing about Atlas or this particular Greek myth.

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Firespell by Chloe Neill - As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…

When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.

Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…


I don't know much about this book and I couldn't get to grips with another book by Chloe Neill that I tried, but I'm all about second chances! I'll give this one a go.

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My So Called Haunting by Tamsyn Murray - How many times do I have to ask you to knock?' I yelled at Mary as she drifted through the door of my room and looked me up and down.
'Thou resemblest a strumpet,' she said, staring pointedly at my thigh-skimming skirt.
Sometimes I had trouble understanding Mary’s weird babbling, but in this case I was getting her loud and clear. Suddenly, my mood was blacker than a vampire’s soul.

Skye, a fourteen-year-old psychic, is stressed out. Not only is the ghost of a sixteenth-century witch giving her fashion tips, but she’s struggling to settle into life with her aunt, and is developing a crush on the most unattainable boy in the school, Nico.

When her aunt asks for her help with a troubled teen ghost called Dontay, she's glad of the distraction. But then Nico starts paying her attention, and she's soon facing a battle to keep her love life and her psychic life separate.

As things get ever more complicated, it looks as though Dontay’s past might cost Skye her future.


And WOOHOO for this boook. SO looking forward to it. I *loved* My So-Called Afterlife (though I've been nervous to review it for some reason?) and I'm sure I'll love this one too. I think it has an absolutely gorgeous cover.

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And that's it for me this week. I'm off to do exciting things with the rest of my afternoon. Probably won't get the chance to read my book OR any of these, but I hope you get that chance. Happy reading!

Also, which books arrived into your house this week?

6 comments:

  1. I'm really looking forward to Being Billy - I love that cover!
    Firespell is one I've been meaning to get for a while, hope you enjoy it!

    Happy reading! x

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  2. the mockingbird and firespell are both awesome books!

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  3. My So-Called Haunting is brilliant and The Mockingbirds looks SO good. Happy reading!

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  4. I am so coveting this weeks mailbox.
    Happy reading :D

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  5. Oh, awesome selection of books. I'm especially looking forward to hearing what you have to say about Mockingbirds. I've heard some excellent things about that book in particular. Happy reading as always. :)

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  6. Iffath - I'm looking forward to Being Billy too! Though it sounds sad.

    Kirsty - Glad to hear it :)

    Sophie - thank you :)

    Emma - I think I already talked to you about this.

    Tammy - I have Mockingbirds on my pile to read next. I really hope it's as good as I've been hearing.

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