Title: The Coldest Girl In Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Published: September, 2013 by Little, Brown Books
Pages: 419
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

Final Thoughts:
With my interest waning in Holly’s Curse Workers series, I was reluctant to start Coldtown. Borrowing it from my local library, I’d renewed it twice before I had actually started reading it. Within the first few pages, I was bored. I wondered to myself whether I’d have to give up on it, but by page ten things had taken a turn and I couldn’t stop. It became really engrossing, with characters you could care about, ones you really wanted to win—or to lose—and a lead girl that didn’t irritate me one bit. Tana was fully of worry, but incredibly strong willed and at times, morally conflicted. It all added together making her someone I really wanted to read about.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• Black Dawn by Rachel Caine (purchased)
• Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine (purchased)
• Fall of Night by Rachel Caine (purchased)
• Daylighters by Rachel Caine (purchased)
• Forsaken by Thomas E. Sniegoski (purchased)
• Armageddon by Thomas E. Sniegoski (purchased)
• Fractured by Teri Terry (purchased)
• Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas (library)
• Unremembered by Jessica Brody (library)
• Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (library)
• The Coldest Girl In Coldtown by Holly Black (library)

I started buying the Morganville series a few years ago when those 2-book bind ups were being released. It’s such a long series, that I figured it would be the best way to buy them. They released up to book 8, but fast-forward three years and the rest look like they’ll never be made to match. Spotting these four on eBay for $20, I gave in and snapped hold of them. Now I’m just left looking for books 9, 10 and 11. Perhaps at the big, upcoming Lifeline sale if I go along.

The other three I bought were (The Fallen books and Fractured) only to fill up holes in the series I’ve started collecting, but haven’t actually started reading. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. I’m only hoping that I’ll actually enjoy them, perhaps when I reach retirement age and find the time to catch up on my endless tbr list 😉 For now, they’re going on the shelf to collect dust for me.

I also got to the library this week. I love going there, but have to keep forcing restraint on myself. The month goes by so quickly and I’m still sitting here with books due back because I’ve either gone and bought something, or a book I’d pre-ordered has arrived and the library ones get forgotten as I dive into something else. Joey’s helping me with that at the moment. He’s reading Dangerous Girls while I plow through the 700 or more pages of City of Heavenly Fire. (It turned up after I’d taken this week’s photos and couldn’t be bothered re-staging our little photoshoot for one extra book).

Missed these posts? Here’s what we’ve been reading:
Brody, Jessica Unremembered – Thanks for getting me onto this, Kelly. Loved it.
Carter, Ally Perfect Scoundrels – Joey took another stab at the series, getting himself up-to-date.
Perkins, Stephanie Anna and the French Kiss – WHY DID I NOT READ THIS SOONER?

So, what books have you gotten lately? Which books would you recommend I read first? Let me know in the comments.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson (purchased)
• Silence by Rodney Hall (purchased)
• Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann (purchased)
• Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings (purchased)
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer (purchased)
• Witches Of The East by Melissa De La Cruz (purchased)
• The Prey by Andrew Fukuda (thanks to Publisher)
• Boundless by Cynthia Hand (purchased)
• Gone by Michael Grant (library)
• Black Heart by Holly Black (library)
• Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor (purchased)
• The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman (purchased)

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these–six months, I think. I’ve been meaning to post one sooner, but the weekends come and go too quickly and before I know it, it’s mid week and I think, oh, I’ll wait for the next one. Anyway, as you can see, I’ve gotten a few books. The stickered ones were a bargain at only $2 each. Impulse buying at its finest. I haven’t started Unearthly, but I thought I’d pick up Boundless while Big W have it readily available and round out my collection. It took a bit of work tracking down a movie cover copy of The Host, though. I’d expected it to be everywhere at the moment, but no, this one was hidden off on the bottom row, down by itself, in the adult fiction section. Now that I’ve finally got it, I plan on reading it very soon so I can see the movie after it. I’m about to go visit my family for the long weekend, so I’ll make sure I pop it in my bag with me.

What books have you gotten lately? And better yet, which ones are you tempted to pick up next?

Title: Red Glove (Curse Workers #2)
Author: Holly Black
Published: April, 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 263
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

The cons get craftier and the stakes rise ever higher in the riveting sequel to White Cat. After rescuing his brothers from Zacharov’s retribution and finding out that Lila, the girl he has loved his whole life, will never, ever be his, Cassel is trying to reestablish some kind of normalcy in his life. That was never going to be easy for someone from a worker family that’s tied to one of the big crime families–and whose mother’s cons get more reckless by the day.

But Cassel is coming to terms with what it means to be a transformation worker, and he’s figuring out how to have friends.Except normal doesn’t last very long. Soon Cassel is being courted by both sides of the law and is forced to confront his past–a past he remembers only in scattered fragments, and one that could destroy his family and his future. Cassel will have to decide whose side he wants to be on, because neutrality is not an option. And then he will have to pull off his biggest con ever to survive….

Final Thoughts:
Over a month. I spent over a month picking up and putting this one back down. It just didn’t hook me the same way that White Cat did. While continuing directly on from the previous cliffhanger, a lot of the intrigue had deflated from the plot. I couldn’t find myself interested enough to really want to read this one. I enjoyed all of the characters, Cassel’s sneaky ways, and especially getting to learn more about the side characters—but in a way, that was also what brought things down for me. The mystery, the mob, and the paranormal aspects of the curse working became ancillary to the Lila/Cassel, Sam/Deneca drama.

Touch Jus Accardo	Warm Bodies Isaac Marion	Dawn Of Darkness Daniel A. Kaine
If I Die Rachel Vincent	Stick Andrew Smith	Burn Bright Marianne de Pierres
Forever Maggie Stiefvater	Black Swan Rising Lee Carroll	All These Things I’ve Done Gabrielle Zevin
Raised By Wolves Jennifer Lynn Barnes	The Demon’s Surrender Sarah Rees Brennan	White Cat Holly Black
Alpha Rachel Vincent	City Of Fallen Angels* Cassandra Clare	Unraveled* Gena Showalter

* Review not available

Title: White Cat (The Curse Workers #1)
Author: Holly Black
Published: May, 2010 by Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 310
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Final Thoughts:
Insight into the workings of a teenage boy: One who killed his girlfriend, scams his schoolmates, and shies from his crime-driven, magic-infused family. Basically an addictive read.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Wake by Lisa McMann (purchased)
• Gone by Lisa McMann (purchased)
• Die For Me by Amy Plum (purchased)
• Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (purchased)
• The Devouring by Simon Holt (purchased)
• Soulstice by Simon Holt (purchased)
• The Girl In The Steel Corset by Kady Cross (purchased)
• My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent (purchased)
• Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (purchased)
• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (purchased)
• Intertwined by Gena Showalter (purchased)
• Unraveled by Gena Showalter (purchased)
• Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (purchased)
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (purchased)
• Fallen by Lauren Kate (purchased)
• Torment by Lauren Kate (purchased)
• Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon (purchased)
• Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon (purchased)
• White Cat by Holly Black (library)
• The Secret To Lying by Todd Mitchell (library)
• Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (library)
• Frostbite by Richelle Mead (library)
• Captivate by Carrie Jones (library)
• My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey (library)
• Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward (library)

As you can see, my mailbox went into overload this week. Lots of my bookdepository orders arrived (every single book packaged individually), but I still have a couple more I’m waiting on. I went to the city this week with my friend Brittany from Nice Girls Read Books and we stalked all the bookstores we could find. We nearly got stuck in a back alley tow away zone trying to find a park for one of the little independent bookshops. City driving, not fun… On top of the 12 books that arrived in the mail, I grabbed 6 at the shops on impulse and picked up 7 more from the big library in the city. Out of all of these, I’d read six already (Wake, My Soul To Take, Intertwined, Unraveled, Clockwork Angel and Infinity) but I needed them for my collection. I especially love the shiny foil coverslip on Clockwork Angel, it looks great sitting beside my TMI hardbacks.

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!