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.

Title: Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3)
Author: Rachel Caine
Published: January, 2011 by Razorbill
Pages: 372
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Morganville is such a nice place to live… And die. If you don’t mind that sort of thing.

When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but that garlic may come in handy.

Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden, people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire’s past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

Final Thoughts:
Stepping back into this series almost two years after finishing The Dead Girls’ Dance I have to wonder why I left it for so long. I could barely put it down over the past day. It was like catching up with an old friend, slipping right back into conversation like no time had passed. The main character, Claire, and her three housemates, are such a likeably unique bunch. Each of them smart—most of the time—and able to steer well enough clear eye-roll-inducing mush that some other books have led me to recently.

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!

• Touching Darkness by Scott Westerfeld (purchased)
• The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld (purchased)
• Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld (purchased)
• Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (purchased)
• The Morganville Vampires: Vol 4 (Fade Out & Kiss Of Death) by Rachel Caine (purchased)
• The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (purchased)

A heap of my AmazonUK purchases turned up this week. I got the complete Midnighters trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. I borrowed these from the library a couple months ago and really enjoyed them. I’ve seen a heap of different covers for this series, but I settled on these ones. My Hex Hall hardback finally turned up, I think it took four weeks to get to me from the UK, lucky I’ve already read it, otherwise I would have been stressing. Volume 4 of The Morganville Vampires bind-ups was just released, I had it pre-ordered so mine shipped early (thanks book depository). I still haven’t caught up on reading these, I’ve only read the first two in the series. Lastly, is The Demon’s Surrender. I can’t help but smile at it. I’ve been waiting on this new release for so long. I’m absolutely in LOVE with this series. If you haven’t read book 1: The Demon’s Lexicon, go out and get it now.

Don’t forget to enter my INTERNATIONAL Giveaway for a chance to win one of Sarah Rees Brennan’s books.

My reviews from the past week:
Jones, Carrie Need #2, Captivate
Ward, J.R. Black Dagger Brotherhood #2, Lover Eternal

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

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!

• The Twilight Saga: Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer (purchased)
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (purchased)
• Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (purchased)
• Oliver Nocturne: Blood Ties by Kevin Emerson (library)
• Conspiracy 365: February by Gabrielle Lord (library)
• Unnatural by Michael Griffo (purchased)
• The Morganville Vampires Vol III: Lord of Misrule & Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine (purchased)

So these are the books I’ve bought & borrowed out this week. I read Hush, Hush a few weeks ago from my local library and loved it but they didn’t have Crescendo so I decided to get them both online. I found the shiny hardbacks cheap on AmazonUK so I quickly snapped them up. My copy of Unnatural arrived looking like the front corner had gotten wet in the post (it was dry when it arrived, but warped), but I couldn’t be bothered sending it back to the UK and waiting for a replacement to get to me so I guess I’ll just live with it (plus I’ve read it now. see my review). Another Morganville bind-up arrived this week as well, I really have to get back to reading them soon. If only I didn’t have university textbooks to read as well.

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

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!

• Stefan’s Diaries Vol III: The Craving by Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec (purchased)
• Defiance by Lili St. Crow (purchased)
• Agent 21 by Chris Ryan (purchased)
• Forsaken by Jana Oliver (purchased)
• Mercy by Rebecca Lim (purchased)
• Exile by Rebecca Lim (purchased)
• The Morganville Vampires Vol II: Midnight Alley & Feast Of Fools by Rachel Caine (purchased)

So these are the books I’ve bought in my first week of blogging. I finally received my copy of the second Morganville bind-up, so I’m going to be reading that soon. Firstly, I have to finish my last two library books (Shift and Alpha by Rachel Vincent) as they’re due back very soon. I really love the colours and design on the covers of Mercy and Exile by Australian author Rebecca Lim, they looked so good in store that I had to get them both straight away, hopefully the story stacks up.

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

Today was a long day. Starting with maybe three hours sleep, I got up at 3am and left at 4am for the early morning drive to Brisbane. I was lucky enough that Penguin Australia allowed me to attend the Rachel Caine breakfast (author of The Morganville Vampires and Weather Warden series’) with my friend Brittany (Nice Girls Read Books) since I was driving her. Rainstorms, roadworks, strange coloured lightning and impossible to see through fog pursued, yet we managed to make it there in one piece.

After a little sightseeing up wrong streets and a painfully steep climb up a hill we panted our way into the lobby at the hotel. We spotted Rachel getting her morning cup of coffee while we regained our breath. Not long after Melissa from Spellbound by Books arrived we grouped in the hotel’s dining hall, plated ourselves a breakfast and sat around a cosy table while Rachel told us of her little mishap with the elaborate yet painfully slow toasting machine. A messy breakfast was destined for whoever was behind her in the queue.

Once Lisa from Badass Bookie got there our little breakfast group was complete. After today I have to say, Rachel Caine has to be one of the most amazingly friendly authors around (albeit this is my first author meet and greet). She took on any and all questions with ease. Being in such a small group I thought it would be daunting, but to my surprise it was very easy going and a whole lot of fun.

Me, Brittany (Nice Girls Read Books), Rachel Caine,
Lisa (Badass Bookie) and Melissa (Spellbound by Books)

She even took the time to sign our books during breakfast rather than lining up later in the day at the public signing. I only had my bind-up edition of Glass Houses and The Dead Girls’ Dance with me (still waiting on the other bind-ups to arrive in the mail).

Before we said our goodbyes we all got to take some photos with her by the couches. I’m so happy and thankful to Felicity from Penguin and Rachel Caine herself that I got to take part in this extremely fun event. As a special treat, she gave us each a shiny purple ‘Bite Club’ lenticular bookmark and a little Morganville Resident ID Card which she gladly signed on as my ‘Protector’.

On top of that we got to go on a tour of the Brisbane CBD with fellow blogger, Melissa, before she had to get to work. We scooped all of the bookstores we could find and each came away with our own heavy bag of goodies and lighter wallets.

By midday, I was running on empty, but we managed to make our way across to Dymocks (Bookstore) again and say another hello to Felicity and Rachel while she signed a load of books for her fans. One woman actually did have a load, a backpack with about twenty books from across her different series I think, and Rachel happily signed them all for her.

After the signing we made our way for the long trek home loaded with energy drinks and iced donuts. All in all it was a fantastic day.