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
• Phantom Eyes by Scott Tracey (purchased)
• Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer (purchased)
• Broken Dream by Eden Maguire (purchased)
• Agent 21: Codebreaker by Chris Ryan (purchased)
• Agent 21: Reloaded by Chris Ryan (purchased)
• The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton (purchased)

These books were all $5 or less each, except for Spirit, but it was only $8.50. One of my local bookstores was having a 50% off sale in preparation for their eventual closing down once their lease ends. The shopping centre it’s in is being refurbished, so all the stores have to go. It’s sad, and I’m hoping they reopen once it’s done, but in the meantime–cheap books!

I haven’t started the Agent 21 series, and don’t know if I will anytime soon, but it’s good to have the books here if I get the urge to read a spy book. Likewise, I haven’t started Eden Maguire’s series, but if I start buying a series, I want to have them all, just in case I can’t find them later. I’m up to date with the Witch Eyes series, but after a big disappointment with how book two went down, I’m in no rush to get back into it. It’s another ‘one day’ book. I am looking forward to The Blood Keeper though. It’s been a while since I read the first one, but I have a feeling I enjoyed it. I’m always up for a good witch story–hard as they are to find. If you know of any that blew you away, let me know.

That’s it for this time. So, what books have you gotten lately? Let me know in the comments.

Title: Blood Magic (The Blood Journals #1)
Author: Tessa Gratton
Published: May, 2011 by Random House
Pages: 405
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

It starts off simply.

Draw a circle… place a dead leaf in the center… sprinkle some salt… recite a little Latin… add a drop of blood…

Maybe that last part isn’t exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents’ horrific deaths. She’s willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep … and spill some blood.

The book isn’t the only recent arrival in Silla’s life. There’s Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She’s not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick’s first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can’t deny their attraction. And they can’t ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power.

Final Thoughts:
There’s just something about witches, magic, it’s just so much fun to read. I mean, who hasn’t grown up imagining they had their own powers, flinging their hands about, casting spells. It’s fun. Blood Magic throws us into a world full of secrets, yet does it in a way that doesn’t try and choke you with information up front. It allows you to grow with the main character, Silla, as she discovers the magic an actually care about the people in her life. Yes, it’s another ‘dead parents’ book, but their deaths play a strong part in building Silla, rather than it done just to let her roam free for the span of the book.

Read Full Review?

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!

• Evernight by Claudia Gray (purchased)
• Raised By Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (purchased)
• Born At Midnight by C.C. Hunter (purchased)
• Winter’s Shadows by M.J. Hearle (won) Thanks Lisa @ Badass Bookie
• Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz (purchased)
• Nevermore by Kelly Creagh (purchased)
• Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton (purchased)

I borrowed Evernight and Raised By Wolves from my library last month, and I enjoyed them both so I snapped them up cheap on AmazonUK. I also order the following books from both series, but Amazon decided to split my order and send me the ones I’ve already read first so I’m still waiting on them. Thanks to Lisa from Badass Bookie for my copy of Winter’s Shadow. It’s another one I library’d and really loved, so I’m happy to have my own copy now. She also sent me all of those bookmarks, badges and even a little Possession bottle opener. That tiny booklet also has the first chapter of Divergent in it. The rest of my books here, I haven’t read. If you read my IMM last week, you’d see I now have two copies of Blood Magic, one US hardcover and one UK paperback. I actually like both covers, I just hope I enjoy the book once I get around to it.

Here are my reviews from the past week:
Vincent, Rachel Soul Screamers #2, My Soul To Save
Weatherly, L.A. Angel #1, Angel

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!

• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (won)
• Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton (won)
• Hammered by Kevin Hearne (purchased)
• Angel by L.A. Weatherly (purchased)
• Fearscape by Simon Holt (purchased)
• Forgotten by Cat Patrick (purchased)

And because I felt like it:
I tipped out every box and satchel I’d been accumulating in my cupboard since I started doing my shopping online. My room sat like this for six days, making it an expedition to get to my bookshelves without tripping over. It’s clean now finally, we backed the ute (truck – for my US readers) up to my window and threw it all out into the tray. I think this made me rethink my hoarding habits.

Thanks to O’Dell from BookTwirps for Warm Bodies and Blood Magic, which I won in a giveaway hop a few weeks ago. I hadn’t heard of the first one, but it sounds really good. I’m looking forward to getting into some zombie romance. Blood Magic, of course, I can’t wait to read. As you can see, my bookmark is sticking out of Angel, it’s good so far, but I’m only a chapter or so in. I’ve had Hammered and the paperback of Fearscape pre-ordered from Book Depository for a while and they finally turned up. I haven’t started either series, but I’ve got them all now, so I’ll get to them eventually. I read a sample of Forgotten on iBooks and I’ve seen good reviews, so I got myself a copy. There are so many different covers for this one, but I like this one better than the US one.

I didn’t do an IMM last week so here are my reviews from the past two weeks:
Barnes, Jennifer Lynn Raised By Wolves #1, Raised By Wolves
Carriger, Gail Parasol Protectorate #1, Soulless
Carroll, Lee Black Swan Rising #1, Black Swan Rising
Curley, Marianne Old Magic
Gray, Claudia Evernight #1, Evernight
Harvey, Alyxandra Drake Chronicles #2, Blood Feud
Hatfield, Meagan Shadow Of The Vampire
Jones, Carrie Need #3, Entice
Soule, Sherry Spellbound #1, Beautifully Broken
Westerfeld, Scott Peeps #1, Peeps
Williamson & Plec, Kevin & Julie Stefan’s Diaries #3, The Craving

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