The Book Lode (22): Christmas Book Haul!

It's time for my Christmas book haul! I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews.



Books received:

Lies Like Love by Louisa Reid

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

Clover's Luck by Kallie George

Jane by the Sea by Carolyn V. Murray

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Are You My Boyfriend? by C. B. Bryza

Much Ado About Loving by Jack Murnighan and Maura Kelly 

Thanks very much to my parents for all of these books!

All I Want for Christmas Is... (6)

I'm counting down the weeks to Christmas by sharing some of the books that made it onto my wishlist (and maybe helping some of you guys add to your lists...?)!

The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter

From Goodreads:

"In the hallowed halls of Oxford’s Merlin College, the most talented—and highest born—sons of the Kingdom of Britain are taught the intricacies of magickal theory. But what dazzles can also destroy, as Gray Marshall is about to discover…

Gray’s deep talent for magick has won him a place at Merlin College. But when he accompanies four fellow students on a mysterious midnight errand that ends in disaster and death, he is sent away in disgrace—and without a trace of his power. He must spend the summer under the watchful eye of his domineering professor, Appius Callender, working in the gardens of Callender’s country estate and hoping to recover his abilities. And it is there, toiling away on a summer afternoon, that he meets the professor’s daughter.

Even though she has no talent of her own, Sophie Callender longs to be educated in the lore of magick. Her father has kept her isolated at the estate and forbidden her interest; everyone knows that teaching arcane magickal theory to women is the height of impropriety. But against her father’s wishes, Sophie has studied his ancient volumes on the subject. And in the tall, stammering, yet oddly charming Gray, she finally finds someone who encourages her interest and awakens new ideas and feelings.

Sophie and Gray’s meeting touches off a series of events that begins to unravel secrets about each of them. And after the king’s closest advisor pays the professor a closed-door visit, they begin to wonder if what Gray witnessed in Oxford might be even more sinister than it seemed. They are determined to find out, no matter the cost…"

I'm a big fan of historical fantasy, so this premise is right up my alley. Danya at Fine Print (hello fellow book blogger Danya! *waves*) described it as "what a Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer novel would have looked like with magic," which sounds like it was written for me. A college for magick-learning? Adorkable romance? A mysterious midnight errand resulting in death? YES PLEASE.

What books are you hoping Santa brings this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post!

All I Want for Christmas Is... (5)

I'm counting down the weeks to Christmas by sharing some of the books that made it onto my wishlist (and maybe helping some of you guys add to your lists...?)!

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
 

From Goodreads:

"Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love."

"Beauty and the Beast" is one of my favourite fairy tales, so of course I always perk up whenever I find a new retelling of it. This particular one seems to be kinda love-it-or-hate-it among the book blogosphere, so I've been a little wary of getting it, but in the end it made its way onto my wishlist. (The votes were resoundingly in favour of "get it!" in my Get it or Forget It? poll, with plenty of convincing arguments!)
 
What books are you hoping to find under the tree this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post!

All I Want For Christmas Is... (4)

I'm counting down the weeks to Christmas by sharing some of the books that made it onto my wishlist (and maybe helping some of you guys add to your lists...?)!

Mad Miss Mimic by Sarah Henstra

From Goodreads:

"London, 1872. Seventeen-year-old heiress Leonora Somerville is preparing to be presented to society -- again. She's strikingly beautiful and going to be very rich, but Leo has a problem money can't solve. A curious speech disorder causes her to stutter but also allows her to imitate other people's voices flawlessly. Servants and ladies alike call her "Mad Miss Mimic" behind her back...and watch as Leo unintentionally scares off one potential husband after another.

London in 1872 is also a city gripped by opium fever. Leo's brother-in-law Dr. Dewhurst and his new business partner Francis Thornfax are frontrunners in the race to patent an injectable formula of the drug. Friendly, forthright, and as a bonus devastatingly handsome, Thornfax seems immune to the gossip about Leo's "madness." But their courtship is endangered from the start. The mysterious Black Glove opium gang is setting off explosions across the city. The street urchins Dr. Dewhurst treats are dying of overdose. And then there is Tom Rampling, the working-class boy Leo can't seem to get off her mind.

As the violence closes in around her Leo must find the links between the Black Glove's attacks, Tom's criminal past, the doctor's dangerous cure, and Thornfax's political ambitions. But first she must find her voice."

I'm ordinarily interested in YA mysteries set in Victorian England, but add in a character with a speech disorder? Icing on the cake for me (since I'm a speech-language pathologist)! I'm interested to see how Leonora's stutter is portrayed, and the reactions to it given the time period.

Plus, bonus: Sarah Henstra is Canadian! :)

What books are you hoping to find under the tree this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post!
 

All I Want For Christmas Is... (3)

I'm counting down the weeks to Christmas by sharing some of the books that made it onto my wishlist (and maybe helping some of you guys add to your lists...?)!

A pre-order of Remembrance by Meg Cabot

  From Goodreads:

"In REMEMBRANCE, the seventh installment of the Mediator series, all Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva).

But when she stumbles across an ancient murder, old ghosts—and ex-boyfriends—aren’t all that come back to haunt her.

REMEMBRANCE will be the first ever adult installment of the Mediator, published by William Morrow, the adult division of HarperCollins, the company that brought you the YA books in the series."

This one won't have been released by Christmas, but it does come out early next year... and it is the first *adult* book following Suze from Meg Cabot's YA Mediator series! I loved the Mediator series (seriously, how can you not adore Jesse?!) and so I had to put this one on my list, for the nostalgic value if nothing else. Although I am totally here for some more ghost-y shenanigans, ex-boyfriends (don't tell me Paul is back! please, no!) and, of course, the Jesse/Suze chemistry.

What books are you hoping to find under the tree this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post!
 

All I Want For Christmas Is... (2)

I'm counting down the weeks to Christmas by sharing some of the books that made it onto my wishlist (and maybe helping some of you guys add to your lists...?)!

  Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

From Goodreads:

"Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive."

I've read her books What Alice Forgot and The Husband's Secret. What Liane Moriarty does really well is create fantastically flawed characters and put them in complicated situations. I have no doubt there will be more of that in Big Little Lies!

What books are you hoping Santa delivers this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post!

All I Want For Christmas Is... (1)

Yes, it's my yearly Christmas book wishlist countdown! What better way to spend the next few weeks before Christmas than by sharing some of the books that made it onto my wishlist (and maybe helping some of you guys add to your lists...?)

First up is:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

From Goodreads:

"'Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.'

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose."

I've been seeing so many positive reviews for this adult fantasy read, right across the board. It's been a while since I've been swept up in an epic fantasy, so I'm hoping this will be the one. Plus, that cover!

What books are you hoping to find under the tree this year? Feel free to let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own blog post!