Sunday, July 20, 2014

Stacking the Shelves #56

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


BOUGHT

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough
The Princess:
Locked in a caravan on her way to marry a prince of Baghdad, Zayele will do anything to escape.

The Jinni:
Trained as a spy in the war against the humans, Najwa knows there's something about Zayele that the other jinn are hiding.

The Wish:
Zayele captures Najwa and makes a wish. With a rush of smoke and fire, they fall apart, then re-form - as each other. A jinni and a human, trading lives.

Both girls must play their parts among enemies who would kill them if the deception were ever discovered - enemies including the fascinating young men Najwa and Zayele are just discovering they might love.

Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
When fifteen-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in Barcelona, no one knows his whereabouts for seven days and seven nights.

His story begins when he meets the strange Marina while he's exploring an old quarter of the city. She leads Oscar to a cemetery, where they watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the last Sunday of each month. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, a woman shrouded in a black velvet cloak descends from her carriage to place a single rose on an unmarked grave.

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her, they begin a journey that transports them to a forgotten postwar Barcelona - a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons - and reveals a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downwolders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go - especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil - and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings - and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

Seconds Away by Harlan Coben
When tragedy strikes close to home, Mickey Bolitar and his loyal new friends - sharp-witted Ema and the adorkably charming Spoon - find themselves at the center of a murder mystery involving their friend Rachel. Now, not only does Mickey have to continue his quest to uncover the truth about the Abeona Shelter and the Butcher of Lodz, he needs to figure out what happened to Rachel - no matter what it takes.

Mickey has always been ready to sacrifice everything to help the people he loves. But how can he protect them when he's not even sure who - or what - he's protecting them from?

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the bright young things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star. . . .

Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined - and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for. . . .and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.

Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
Life will never be the same for Ananka Fishbein after she ventures into an enormous sinkhole near her New York City apartment. Climbing down a filthy rope ladder deeper and deeper into the ground to find a mysterious underground room, Ananka knows she has stumbled upon a big secret, but she has no idea exactly how big.

Not only does she discover the long-forgotten Shadow City beneath Manhattan's bustling streets, she meets the mysterious Kiki Strike, a black-clad, Vespa-riding, cafe-au-lait-drinking girl who seems to appear and vanish like magic.

Skylark by Meagan Spooner
For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley waited for the day when her Resource would be harvested and she would finally be an adult.

After the harvest she expected a small role in the regular, orderly operation of the city within the Wall. She expected to do her part to maintain the refuge for the last survivors of the wars. She expected to be a tiny cog in the larger clockwork of the city.

Lark did not expect to become the city's power supply.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she's ever known. . . .or face a fate more unimaginable than death.

The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore by Kate Maddison
Queen Victoria's court knows Charlotte Sycamore as the mild-mannered sixteen-year-old daughter of Her Majesty's royal surgeon. Yet Charlotte has a price on her head. A daring duelist called the Robin Hood Surgeon for stealing medicine from the rich to treat the poor, she's wanted for high treason and, if caught, will be sent to the gallows. When she and her best friends are mauled by rabid mechanical dogs, Charlotte must discover who is unleashing these vicious beasts, find the antidote for their poison, and ultimately save the Queen's life.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar, Pantalaimon, always by her side. When her uncle, Lord Asriel, returns from the North with tales of mystery and danger, it seems to have little to do with her - even the rumor of the severed child. But his visit sets off a chain of events that draws Lyra into the heart of a terrible struggle - a struggle that involves scientists performing hideous experiments on children, alliances with gyptians and witch clans, battles with trained mercenaries, and armored bears. And through it all, there dawns in Lyra a sense that her success or failure may mean even more than simply life or death.

Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
Rownie is the youngest in a hodgepodge household of stray children collected by Graba the witch. His older brother, Rowan, has vanished after performing in a secret play, and Rownie feels lost without him. Acting is illegal in the city of Zombay. No one may wear a mask and pretend to be someone else. Only goblins may legally perform, for they are the Changed - neither human nor other, belonging nowhere.

Rownie meets a traveling troupe of goblins who promise to teach him the secrets of mask-craft and entice him with the hope of finding Rowan. But Graba does not give up her own easily and hunts for them both. As Rownie searches for his brother, the true power of masks - and those who wear them - is revealed. Are the goblins what they seem to be? What fateful magic lies hidden in the heart of Zombay?

Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz
All his life, Daniel has been hiding. He just doesn't know it. Until the spring of 1933, he's enjoyed a comfortable German boyhood with his well-to-do family, in school, at soccer. Daniel's even enjoyed jail - for one exciting night - with his best friend, Armin, after they've been caught painting a swastika on a wall in the hated Communist section of Hamburg. In their cell, the boys cut their wrists, mingle blood, and swear lasting brotherhood.

Then, a thunderclap: Daniel learns to his horror that his mother is Jewish, that he is therefore half-Jewish and, in Aryan eyes, half-human. Daniel keeps the truth a secret. He and Armin still talk of joining the Hitler Youth. But Armin's father, an out-of-work longshoreman and a Socialist, forbids it. Armin joins anyway, with fateful consequences for Daniel's family.

The Long Patrol by Brian Jacques
The murderous Rapscallion army is on the move. Dealt a humiliating defeat by Lady Cregga Rose Eyes, the Badger Lady of Salamandastron, who still pursues them, the Rapscallions are heading inland to take an even greater prize: the peaceful Abbey of Redwall.

The Long Patrol, that fighting unit of perilous hares, is called out to draw them off - and fight them to the death if need be!

It is young hare Tammo, who has always dreamt of being a member of the Long Patrol, who gets his chance, and who, by fate and happenstance, takes up the lead sword in one of the most ferocious battles Redwall has ever faced. Eulallllllllllllia! is his cry.

Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile by Kristiana Gregory
I could feel my insides shaking. Would this sister try to poison me? Yes, I believe so. As for my other older sister, Berenice - never! She and I adore each other even though I am eight years younger.

I took the cup and raised it toward Tryphaena as if toasting her, but really I was watching the liquid, looking for oil floating on its surface, or powder sticking to the sides of the cup. If I suspected poison and tossed it into the pool, she would have her guards behead me on the spot. If it was indeed poison, one sip and I could die. . . .

My eyes closed as I took the first sip, as if savoring such an excellent taste, but really my thought was, O Isis, I am afraid. . . .My stomach turned with nervousness, or was it from a fearsome death beginning in me?

The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman
Twelve-year-old Alexa Daley is spending another summer in Bridewell with her father. She looks forward to exploring the old lodge where she stays each year, with its cozy library and maze of passages and rooms. She's also eager to finally solve the mystery of what lies beyond the immense walls that were built to keep out an unnamed evil that lurks in the forests and The Dark Hills - an evil the townspeople are still afraid of.

As Alexa begins to unravel the truth about what lies outside the protective barrier she's lived behind all her life, she discovers a strange and ancient enchantment. Armed with an unexpected new power, Alexa exposes a danger that could destroy everything she holds dear - and change The Land of Elyon forever.

Beyond the Valley of Thorns by Patrick Carmen
Alexa Daley thought her troubles were over when she defeated the man who had threatened to bring down Bridewell from within. But now that the walls around her land have fallen, a new, unexpected threat has risen from outside. Suddenly, Alexa is involved in a battle much, much larger than her own life. . . .a battle in which she is destined to play a key role.

Sinister forces are gathering in strange and vile forms, all with the goal of bringing darkness to the land. In order to help good defeat evil, Alexa and her friends must venture father than they've gone before - confronting giants, bats, ravenous dogs, and a particularly ghoulish mastermind in order to bring back peace.

Daughter of the Centaurs by Kate Klimo
Malora has always wanted to be a master horseman, like her father. To ride and hunt as he does, wheeling about and charging off, bow and arrows strapped to her back - she can't imagine anything better. It is no matter to her that for the People this is considered a man's job, or that she is gently discouraged by her parents at every turn. Malora feels, she knows, that this is what she was meant to do.

But destiny has its own plans for Malora when the People and their horses are taken by bloodthirsty creatures known as Leatherwings. In an agonizingly short time, only Malora is left - with Sky, the majestic stallion that was the leader of the People's great herd of horses. Together, girl and stallion find a wild herd and forge a new life in the plains.

In a way, Malora is now the master horsewoman she dreamed of becoming, but she is lonely for conversation and companionship and family. She cannot help hoping in her few quiet moments that there are more People somewhere and that she will find them. And then she meets the centaurs, and her world is opened up yet again, this time into a life she never could have imagined. . . .

The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter
Kallik is a young polar bear, happy to travel with her mother and brother across the ice toward the land and eager to arrive before burn-sky, when the ice will melt.

At the same time, grizzly bear cub Toklo and his family journey over a mountain toward the salmon river, searching desperately for food. Toklo's brother, Tobi, is sick, and their mother presses Toklo to travel farther and faster to bring Tobi to safety.

And, in the Bear Bowl of a zoo, young black bear Lusa plays, eats the sweet fruit tossed to her by keepers, and dreams of a life in the forest, where a small black bear can be quick and clever enough to outwit even the biggest enemy.

Fate is about the change these three bears' lives forever, bringing them amazing adventures and unexpected suffering, and finally setting their paws on a path toward a future they cannot yet imagine. . . .

Starlight by Erin Hunter
The Clans have finally arrived in their new home, following the prophecies of their warrior ancestors. The journey was difficult enough, but now they must struggle to establish territories and learn the hidden dangers of this unfamiliar world. Most importantly, Leafpaw knows they must find a replacement for the Moonstone - a place to communicate with StarClan. Otherwise there will be no way to choose new leaders, no way to share medicine cat secrets, and no way to know whether the Clans are on the right path.

The future seems uncertain, and more than one cat is harboring sinister plans that could lead to violence and darkness. As all the warriors wait for a sign, some of them begin to realize that the threats they face in the forest may not be as perilous as the threats they face from within. . . .

Sunset by Erin Hunter
Soon after the cats reached their new home by the lake, ThunderClan's medicine cat Leafpool received an ominous warning from StarClan: Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red. As the Clan slowly recovers from a devastating badger attack, Leafpool can't help but wonder. . . .do her prophetic dreams mean there are even worse dangers still in store for the warrior cats?

At the same time, shadows of the past continue to haunt the forest as some old friends struggle to find their place, others appear to be lost forever, and an old enemy finds a new way to resurface in a quest for dark revenge. A sinister path is unfolding, and the time is coming for certain warriors to make the choices that will determine their destiny. . . .and the destiny of all the Clans.

The Sight by Erin Hunter
The wild cats have flourished in their new home on the banks of the lake for several seasons, and the Clans are growing strong and healthy with new kits. The time has come for three kits of ThunderClan to become apprentices.

Hollypaw, Jawpaw, and Lionpaw spring from a strong legacy: children of Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, two of the noblest ThunderClan warriors, and grandchildren of the great leader Firestar himself. All three young cats possess unusual power and talent and seem certain to provide strength to the Clan for the next generation.

But there are dark secrets around the three, and a mysterious prophecy hints at trouble to come. An undercurrent of rage is rising against those who are not Clanborn, and the warrior code is in danger of being washed away by a river of blood. All the young cats' strength will be needed if the Clans are to survive.

Dark River by Erin Hunter
The three children of Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, grandchildren of the great leader Firestar, have thrived in their apprenticeships: Lionpaw's strength and energy serve him well as a warrior in training, Hollypaw hones her understanding of the warrior code, and Jawpaw explores his mysterious powers and connection to StarClan as the medicine cat apprentice.

With more experience comes both power and danger: Lionpaw makes a friendship - and a discovery - that must be kept hidden; Jawpaw learns a secret that could benefit ThunderClan by damaging others; and Hollypaw knows something that could avert a battle, if she could convince the rest of her Clan.

The three are torn apart as each discovers darkness: in themselves, in the Clans, and in the past. And, as conflict begins over what it means to be a warrior, rising tensions threaten to overflow, washing away the peace that has existed for many moons.

Long Shadows by Erin Hunter
The Clans are in turmoil. ShadowClan has turned its back on StarClan and pledged to follow the dark predictions of Sol, the strange cat who foretold the solar eclipse. But not all the cats have lost faith in their warrior ancestors. . . .

Jaypaw is convinced that StarClan still holds an important place in the warrior code, and his search for answers leads him far back into the past, farther back than even StarClan can remember. Lionblaze, tortured by violent dreams and bloody visions, wishes he had never been prophesied to be one of the three but to turn his back on his littermates would be the ultimate betrayal. And Hollyleaf is terrified that once the Clans lose their faith, the warrior code will fall apart. She's willing to fight tooth and nail to preserve it - whatever the cost.

And when murder stalks into the heart of ThunderClan, the cats realize that the darkest shadows don't always lie outside the territory.

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly is getting married. When she discovers that the husband her parents have chosen for her is a sickly boy with wicked parents, Koly wishes she could flee. According to tradition, though, she has no choice. On her wedding day, Koly's fate is sealed.

In the wake of her marriage, however, Koly's life takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself alone in a strange city of white-sari-clad widows. Her only choice seems to be to shed her name and her future and join the hopeless hordes who chant for food.

Even then, cast out into a current of time-worn tradition, this rare young woman sets out to forge her own exceptional future. And a life, like a beautiful tapestry, comes together for Koly - one stitch at a time.

The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick
The days between Christmas and New Year's Eve are dead days, when spirits roam and magic shifts restlessly just beneath the surface of our lives. A lot can happen in the dead days.

There is a magician called Valerian who must save his own life or pay the price for the pact he made with evil so many years ago. But alchemy and sorcery are no match for the demonic power pursuing him. Helping him is his servant Boy, a child with no name and no past. And the quick-witted Willow is with them as they dig in death-fields at midnight and are swept into the sprawling blackness of a subterranean city on a journey from which there is no escape. Unknown to any of them, it is Boy who holds the key to all their destinies. His revelations will be shocking.

The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle
The child who will become Heathcliff is already a savage little creature when Tabby Aykroyd arrives at Seldom House to be his nursemaid. But the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse. The ghost of the last maid will not leave Tabby in peace, yet this spirit is only one of many.

As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces that surround the house, she tries to befriend her uncouth young charge, but her kindness cannot alter his fate. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff has already doomed himself and any who try to befriend him.

Larklight by Philip Reeve
It was just another normal morning in space when disaster struck. My sister Myrtle (who is quite irritating, as girls generally are) and I faced the most awful peril, and we hadn't even had breakfast.

A Mr. Webster was coming to visit. Visitors to our house were rare and so a frenzy of preparation ensued, but it was entirely the wrong sort of preparation, as we discovered when we opened the door. This is the story of what happened next, and our Dreadful and Terrifying adventure to save each other and the known Universe.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce new-children, who are assigned to appropriate family units: one male, one female, to each. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. The community is a precisely choreographed world without conflict, inequality, divorce, unemployment, injustice. . . .or choice.

Everyone is the same.

Except Jonas.

At the Ceremony of Twelve, the community's twelve-year-olds eagerly accept their predetermined life Assignments. But Jonas is chosen for something special. He begins instruction in his life's work with a mysterious old man known only as the Giver. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test - when he must try to save someone he loves - he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?

Candide by Voltaire

ARCs

Juliet's Nurse by Lois Leveen
In death-ravaged Verona, Angelica, a mother mourning the passing of her day-old infant, enters the household of the powerful Cappelletti family to become the wet nurse to their newborn daughter, Juliet. Over the next fourteen years, Angelica becomes caught up in the Cappellettis' darkest secrets. But when those secrets erupt across five momentous days of love and loss, Angelica must confront her own deepest grief to find the strength to survive.

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

July 14, 2014 - Monday
July 15, 2014 - Tuesday
July 16, 2014 - Wednesday
July 17, 2014 - Thursday
July 18, 2014 - Friday
July 19, 2014 - Saturday

Next Week, On The Reading Hedgehog..........

July 21, 2014 - Monday
Review: Jackie - John Tammela
July 22, 2014 - Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday #54: Top 10 Characters I Would Want With Me On a Deserted Island
Teaser Tuesday #15
July 23, 2014 - Wednesday
Waiting on Wednesday #56 + WWW Wednesday #26
July 24, 2014 - Thursday
Review: Diamonds & Deceit - Leila Rasheed
July 25, 2014 - Friday
Review: High Stakes - Brandy Schillace
July 26, 2014 - Saturday
Guest Post: On Your Shelf

2 comments:

  1. Awesome haul! I've read City of Bones and City of Ashes, though I haven't read the rest of the Mortal Instruments series. I really enjoyed the second one way better than the first. I hope you enjoy your books! :)
    Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Krystianna! :) I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series.

      Delete

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