Stacking the Shelves #45

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Review

Bought:

Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky

I have been living with this constant fear of exile now for two days. So far I have heard nothing. Plans seem to proceed as normal for our move to Ashridge. This palace, too, is becoming quite filthy, what with all the banqueting and people and gaming between Michaelmas Feast and the feast of All Saints' Day. The roses bloom in our garden with such vigor, but the stench from the courtyard over the wall outside the kitchens is unbearable.

Kat is mumbling something about baths again. The woman is becoming a fanatic. I think we have had half a dozen baths since summer. . . .

When Will This Cruel War Be Over? by Barry Denenberg

Sometimes I try to remember what our lives used to be like, but it has been so long I have difficulty conjuring up the images. I can, at times, picture the house when it was alive and full of activity - everyone getting ready for a carriage ride into town or perhaps an excursion into the countryside. Mother giving the servants last minute instructions, Father and Brother Cole seeing to the bags, and me sitting at my vanity for what I am sure must have seemed like endless hours . . . . Those days are gone forever - I am no longer young.

At times I feel like I am a thousand years old - that is what this cruel war has done to me.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

You have in your hands in the pivotal fourth novel in the seven-part tale of Harry Potter's training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards. And in his case, different can be deadly.

Night Letter by Meghan Nuttall Sayres

Kidnapped on the eve of her wedding, Anahita, a nomadic weaver living in early 20th-century Iran, is thrown into the world of slavery and the mystical realm of a Sufi brotherhood.

Her fiance and her tribe race across the snowy mountains of northern Persia, through the hot sands of Samarkand, and into Bukhara's adobe alleys to rescue her. Will Anahita be ransomed? Sold into slavery? Or become one of the Emir of Bukhara's wives?

The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison

She is the headstrong daughter of the hound and the bear, heir to all her royal parents' magic and able to transform at will into any animal she wishes.

He is an outcast, a boy without magic, determined to make his way in the forest beholden to no one.

Though Liva and Jens are as different as night and day, from the time their paths first cross they are irresistibly drawn to one another. Each wrestles with demons: Liva with the responsibility that comes with the vast magic she's inherited, Jens with the haunting memories he's left behind. Separately, they keep a lookout for each other and for the immense snowbird whose appearances signify a dark event on the horizon.

When a terrible threat surfaces, Liva and Jens set out in an attempt to protect all they hold dear. Much is at stake - for while their failure could spell an end to all magic, their success could bring them together at last.

The Book Without Words by Avi

In the ancient Northumbrian town of Fulwich, there is an old man whom nobody knows. This man, Thorston by name, has lived a secret life so that he may stay alive - forever. Call him an alchemist but his possession of The Book Without Words contains the secret of immortality. But to make this secret a reality, he must sacrifice his minion, Odo, a coal-black raven, and Sybil, his thirteen-year-old servant. Just as Thorton is on the brink of immortality, Sybil decides she wants to live her own life, and Odo wants the gold he believes Thorton has made. Who then will life, and who will die? And who will get the gold?

Nightrise by Anthony Horowitz

Scott and Jamie have always been different. Not only are they twins - they can read each other's minds. Their whole lives, people have taken advantage of this.

Now it's going to get much, much worse.

An evil group called Nightrise has taken an interest in Scott and Jamie . . . and want to imprison them and neutralize their abilities. When Nighrise attacks, one of the twins is taken and the other breaks free. The stakes are even higher than Scott or Jamie could imagine . . . because both of them are Gatekeepers, and the fate of the world hinges on their survival.

The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser

A mysterious witch lives on the mountain above the village of Brixen. Rudi's never seen her, and nothing much is ever said about her. It's bad luck to talk of such things.

One day Rudi finds a golden coin on the mountain and slips it into his pocket. Immediately the weather turns icy and a storm chases him home. Or is it the witch chasing him? The storm rages all night, and an eerie singing comes from the coin. His grandmother tells Rudi he must return the enchanted coin. But what he tries to bring it back, he loses it just as the snows come.

Rudi is plagued all winter by horrible dreams, and in the spring rats appear in the village: rats in the square, rats in the churchyard, rats everywhere. Nothing the villagers do will get rid of them. Is this the witch's revenge? Then a stranger arrives, promising to get rid of the rats. But what if his price is too terrible to bear?

Rudi will need to be very smart and very brave to turn all this bad luck around. Luckily, he gets a little help from his savvy grandmother and a bold young girl in this twisty tale full of mayhem and magic.

The Curse of the Romany Wolves by S. Jones Rogan

The creatures of Porthleven are sick with what looks like febra lupi, an illness better known as the Curse of the Romany Wolves. Wolf fever is deadly - and has no known cure.

But Penhaligon Brush is determined to find one. He simply must or everyone he holds dear may perish!

The one clue he has points him in the direction of the Howling Island - a much-feared and supposedly haunted land. But ghosts are the least of Penhaligon's worries after he sets sail on the Jagged Claw, a leaky ship under the command of Captain Elgato Furrari. Furrari may be a greedy double-dealing feline, but he's a pussycat next to the pirate captain Odiferous Dredge, a foul ferret who kidnaps Penhaligon. And even Dredge looks friendly next to the sea serpent chasing his ship!

Penhaligon is in a race against times as he tries to outwit the pirates, uncover the secrets of Howling Island, and sail home with a cure . . . before it's too late!

Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman

"Ye toads and vipers!" Thus says Meggy Swann, newly come to London from the country village where she was raised. She's not happy to be there, and why should she be? Her mother was glad to see the back of her. Her father, who sent for her, doesn't want her after all. The city is awash in dirt and muck, teeming with thieves and rogues, and very wearying to walk around in - especially for Meggy.

She is the alchemist's daughter, though. Just as her father seeks to transform base metal into gold, Meggy sets out to change her condition for the better. In doing so, she finds herself to be braver and stronger and friendlier than she ever thought possible, and a competent rhymer as well.

The Nequia by David Alan Berner II

Through the song of a darkened muse, the quest of a nameless adventurer that brings definiation to the land of the dead begins. In a realm bereft of all hope, a band of fallen brothers shall risk their existence to help this weary traveler rescue the last soul of forbidden light. A soul too strong to fade into darkness; a soul too inspiriting to let hope die. In the age of heroes, the greatest shall emerge.

Loamhedge by Brian Jacques

Loamhedge, the deserted Abbey, forgotten for countless seasons. What secrets do its ruins hold?

Martha Braebuck, a young hare-maid, wheelchair-bound since infancy, wonders about a mysterious old poem relating to the ancient Abbey. Could it really be the key to her cure? But how could she get to this Loamhedge? As fate has it, two old warriors, travelers returning to Redwall Abbey, are inspired by the spirit of Martin the Warrior to quest for the ancient place - and three young rebels are determined to go with them.

In another part of Mossflower Country, the giant badger Lonna Bowstripe thirsts for vengeance as he relentlessly hunts down the Searat Raga Bol and his murderous crew. He pursues them unto the very gates of Redwall - and finds valiant Abbeybeasts defending their home against the conniving band of marauding vermin!

The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

At only fourteen, Nathaniel is a rising star: a young magician who is quickly climbing the ranks of the government. There is seemingly nothing he cannot handle, until he is asked to deal with the growing Resistance movement, which is disrupting London life with its thefts and raids. It's no easy task: the ringleader Kitty and her friends remain elusive, and Nathaniel's job - and perhaps his life - are soon at risk. As the pressure mounts, he is distracted by a new series of terrifying attacks in the capital. But is it the Resistance again, or something more dangerous still? To uncover the perpetrators, Nathaniel must take desperate measures: a journey to the enemy city of Prague and - worse - summoning once again the troublesome, enigmatic, and quick-witted djinni Bartimaeus. Meanwhile, Kitty and her fellow rebels are planning their most daring exploit of all - one that will make their fortune and change the history of London forever.

Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud

Three years have passed since the magician Nathaniel helped prevent a cataclysmic attack on London. Now an important member of the British government, he grapples with numerous problems: foreign wars are going badly, Britain's enemies are mounting attacks close to London, and rebellion is growing among the commoners. Nathaniel is treating Bartimaeus worse than ever. The long-suffering djinni is growing weak and vulnerable from too much time in this world, and his patience is nearing its end.

Meanwhile, undercover in London, Nathaniel's longtime rival Kitty has been stealthily completing her research on magic, demons, and Bartimaeus's past. She has a daring plan that she hopes will break the endless cycle of conflict between djinn and humans. But will anyone listen to what she has to say?

Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer

Poor Princess Elizabeth: Her legendary father, King Henry VIII, is dead. Now at the mercy of those in power, Elizabeth is imprisoned by her own sister, Queen Mary; betrayed by the man who has captured her heart; and forced to practice a religion that defies her deepest beliefs. But through it all, the fair-haired princess is determined - determined to stay alive and do whatever is necessary to one day rule her beloved England.

Oh beware, Princess Elizabeth: No one can be trusted. Your sister, the queen, would have you killed. Your sister's husband would force you to marry against your will. Even your servants would spy on you.

Beware, all you who stand in her way: Princess Elizabeth Tudor will stop at nothing to get what she wants . . . and deserves. She will be queen.

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Follow the adventures of Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer as they try to make their school for boys a happy, comfortable, and stimulating place.

Legends of the Rhine by Wilhelm Ruland

The Truth Behind A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lois H. Gresh

For fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events comes the ultimate unauthorized companion guide to the facts behind Lemony Snicket's wild world. Digging deep beneath the surface, Lois H. Gresh uses science, history, and little-known tidbits to enter the world of A Series of Unfortunate Events and provide young readers everywhere with pathetic hints and tips, nasty anecdotes, horrifying quizzes, miserable facts, and insights on everything Lemony.

The ultimate renegade book report on A Series of Unfortunate Events, this unpleasant book will help fans enjoy their favorite series as they never have before. They will never look at Violet, Count Olaf, Klaus, Sunny, Mr. Poe, or the rest of the woeful cast (or their terrifying adventures) the same way again.

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Middlemarch is George Eliot's masterpiece, a Victorian novel on the grandest scale. Originally published in serial form in Blackwood's Magazine in 1871-1872, it was at once a critical and popular success. "No Victorian novel approaches Middlemarch in its width of reference, its intellectual power, or the imperturbable spaciousness of its narrative," V. S. Pritchett noted. Set in a fictional Midlands town, the novel chronicles nineteenth-century English provincial life through its precisely delineated characters, weaving many stories into one richly textured tapestry. Eliot renders her vast cast with cool irony and intelligence: Dorothea Brooke, the "latter-day St. Theresa," intense, impassioned, and frustrated; Tertius Lydgate, the idealistic young doctor who comes to Middlemarch fired with the desire to spread the new science of medicine; Fred Vincy and his spoiled, pretentious sister Rosamond; Casaubon, Dorothea's elderly husband, for whom she feels at first awe and finally pity; and the many lesser characters who people this epic in a small landscape. Unsurpassed in its depiction of human nature, Middlemarch is one of the great works of world literature.

Operation Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll

Shanghai, 1920: Onboard the research ship Expedient, two teens, Becca and Doug MacKenzie, anxiously await news of their missing parents . . . and stumble across their uncle's secrets and a mysterious organization.

England, 2002: Joshua Mowll inherits a remarkable archive of documents and painstakingly pieces together a series of extraordinary events that took place more than eighty years ago.

This is the story of an ancient order created to protect the world from evil and two young people who get caught up in an astonishing adventure . . . with far-reaching consequences for the whole world.

The Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison

When you're Gilda Joyce and your best friend, Wendy Choy, is chosen to participate in a piano competition in Oxford, England - the destination for any aspiring novelist and paranormal detective - well, you just have to find a way to go along. And an obscure clause in the competition rules allowing for a page-turner is just the ticket. So what's a stylish sleuth to do? Pack the pink umbrella, stiletto pumps, and cat's-eye sunglasses and jet off on a real English adventure.

Once there, the grueling practice schedule and stiff competition take a backseat to strange and spooky occurrences. There are the foreboding tarot cards that keep appearing to the participants, and ominous numbers etched in frosty windowpanes. But even more chilling are Wendy's ghostly nightmares of a young boy - and the haunting melody she can't shake from her mind. What does it all mean? Could there be a sinister connection to the piano competition? Gilda has a genuine haunting on her hands, and solving this one will take every ounce of psychic intuition she's got - especially when there are cute English boys to distract her.

River Secrets by Shannon Hale

Razo - short, funny, and not a great soldier - is sure it's out of pity that his captain asks him to join an elite mission escorting the ambassador into Tira, Bayern's great enemy.

But when the Bayern arrive in the strange southern country, it's Razo who discovers the first dead body. He's the only Bayern able to befriend both the high and low born, the people who can provide information about the ever-increasing murders. And he's the one who must embrace his own talents in order to get the Bayern soldiers home again, alive.

Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher

Mitra and her little brother, Babak, are beggars in the city of Rhagae, scratching out a living as best as they can with what they can beg for - or steal. But Mitra burns with hope and ambition, for she and Babak are not what they seem. They are of royal blood, but their father's ill-fated plot against the evil tyrant, King Phraates, has resulted in their father's death and their exile. Now disguised as a boy, Mitra has never given up believing they can rejoin what is left of their family and regain their rightful standing in the world.

Then they discover that Babak has a strange gift: If he sleeps with an item belonging to someone, he can know that person's dreams. Mitra believes that they can use this gift to find passage back to the city of Palmyra and their remaining kinsmen. But soon Babak and his abilities come to the attention of a powerful Magus - one who has read portents in the stars of the coming of a new king and the dawn of a new age. Soon Mitra and Babak find themselves on the road to Bethlehem. . . .

The Boy in the Box by Cary Fagan

Eleven-year-old juggling enthusiast Sullivan Mintz helps his family run the Stardust Home for Old People. It's not ideal - his best friend, Manny, is eighty-one years old. Then life as usual turns upside down the night Sullivan glimpses a strange horse-drawn caravan outside his window and decides to follow it. He is thrilled to find an old-fashioned medicine show, with performers who are his own age. But thrill quickly turns to dread when he steps onstage for the magic act only to wake up imprisoned inside the caravan.

As Sullivan meets the other kids and his fears subside, his questions multiply. Is his family better off without him? Would life as a performing juggler be worse than living in an old folks' home? Will he plot his escape and return to his safe but boring existence? Or could being kidnapped turn out to be the best thing that has ever happened to him?

The Witches' Kitchen by Allen Williams

When the toad awakens in the dark of the Witches' Kitchen, she has no idea how she got there, or even who she is. Determined to recover her memories, she sets out on a journey to escape. But in the Kitchen, nothing is as it seems. It is pitch-black, infinite, and impossible to navigate, a living maze: It's alive, and constantly rearranges itself. Worse yet are the Witches themselves, who have sent a procession of horrific, deadly monsters on her trail.

And though at first she finds that she can't tell friends from foes by the scales of their skin or the sharpness of their teeth, the Toad picks up a ragtag team of unlikely allies to help her on her quest: an iron-handed imp, a carnivorous fairy, and a few hairy locals. So with a little help from her friends, the Toad just might find herself - a her way out - yet.

Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman

Fifteen-year-old Vidya dreams of going to college, an unusual proposition for a girl living in British-occupied India during World War II. When tragedy strikes, Vidya and her brother, Kitta, are forced to move into a traditional household with their grandfather and their extended family, where men live separately upstairs and the women who live below are meant to be married, not educated.

Breaking the rules, Vidya finds refuge in her grandfather's second-floor library. There she meets Raman, a young man also living in the house. Surprisingly, he treats her like an equal and encourages her intellectual curiosity. But soon it's clear Raman wants more than just friendship, and when Kitta makes a shocking choice the family cannot condone, Vidya's life becomes a whirlwind of personal and political complications. Will she be strong enough to survive the storm?

Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel

Former cabin boy Matt Cruse, now a student at the prestigious Airship Academy, is first to identify the Hyperion, the private airship of a reclusive and fabulously wealthy inventor that disappeared forty years ago with its owner. Armed with the Hyperion's coordinates, which only he possesses, Matt, heiress Kate de Vries, and a mysterious young gypsy board the Sagarmatha, an airship fitted with the new skybreaker engines that will allow them to reach the Hyperion, 20,000 feet above the earth's surface. Pursued by others who want the Hyperion and will stop at nothing to get it, and surrounded by dangerous high-altitude life forms, Matt and his companions are soon fighting not only for the Hyperion but for their very lives.

Aria of the Sea by Dia Calhoun

On the island of Normost in the kingdom of Windward, thirteen-year-old Cerinthe Gale is a folk healer who dreams of being a dancer. When her mother falls ill, Cerinthe fights to save her - but fails. She blames herself for her mother's death and gives up healing.

Following her dream to dance, Cerinthe sails across Windward to audition at the School of the Royal Dancers, which accepts her even though she's a commoner. It should be the beginning of a brilliant future for Cerinthe, but problems mount. A misunderstanding with a young man, a conflict with a cruel teacher, a rivalry with an aristocratic student named Elliana, and a meeting with a mederi - a skilled healer said to have magical powers - create another crisis.

When the rivalry between Cerinthe and Elliana causes a terrible accident, Elliana's life hangs in the balance. Cerinthe faces the same awful choice she had faced with her mother. Should she try to heal Elliana and risk accidentally killing her - or wait and hope that the mederi arrives in time? Only the song of the Sea Maid holds the answer.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The Names Upon the Harp by Marie Heaney

Roger the Jolly Pirate by Brett Helquist

A City in Winter by Mark Helprin

Driven to avenge the murder of her royal parents and reclaim their lost kingdom, the daring young heroine and would-be queen journeys to the besieged city on the plain to seek its evil conqueror, the Usurper.

This Week, On The Reading Hedgehog.....

April 21, 2014 - Monday

Review: The Book of Lost Things - Cynthia Voigt

April 22, 2014 - Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday #42: Top 10 Characters Who Are Excellent Villains

Teaser Tuesday #3

April 23, 2014 - Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday #45 + WWW Wednesday #15

April 24, 2014 - Thursday

Review: Sunrise - Mike Mullin

April 25, 2014 - Friday

ARC Review: West of the Moon - Margi Preus

April 26, 2014 - Saturday

Guest Post: Book Opposites!

Next Week, On The Reading Hedghog.......

April 28, 2014 - Monday

Review: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes - Jonathan Auxier

April 29, 2014 - Tuesday

April Book Haul

April 30, 2014 - Wednesday

Hedgie's Must Reads: April 2014

May 1, 2014 - Thursday

ARC Review: The Falconer - Elizabeth May

May 2, 2014 - Friday

Review: The Testing - Joelle Charbonneau

May 3, 2014 - Saturday

Weekend Recommendations #35