28 February, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday: All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by several authors


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. Today we are waiting for All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by several authors!

We're going all out today (get the pun?) and we're bringing you a collection of queer stories! Just came out yesterday. Waiting who?

Publication date: February 27th, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

26 February, 2018

25 February, 2018

COVER OF THE MONTH


We are always told to not judge a book by its cover but... this is exactly what we will be doing! Cover art should also be appreciated. Am I right? ;)

In this meme we will be choosing 5 covers every month from books published on said month
e.g. for january we will choose a cover from a book published in january


24 February, 2018

REVIEW: CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens

Title: Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Series: -
Genres: Classics, Fairytales
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release: 1843
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 104


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BLURB:
In October 1843, Charles Dickens ― heavily in debt and obligated to his publisher ― began work on a book to help supplement his family's meagre income. That volume, A Christmas Carol, has long since become one of the most beloved stories in the English language. As much a part of the holiday season as holly, mistletoe, and evergreen wreaths, this perennial favourite continues to delight new readers and rekindle thoughts of charity and goodwill.

With its characters exhibiting many qualities ― as well as failures ― often ascribed to Dickens himself, the imaginative and entertaining tale relates Ebenezer Scrooge's eerie encounters with a series of spectral visitors. Journeying with them through Christmases past, present, and future, he is ultimately transformed from an arrogant, obstinate, and insensitive miser to a generous, warm-hearted, and caring human being. Written by one of England's greatest and most popular novelists, A Christmas Carol has come to epitomize the true meaning of Christmas.

23 February, 2018

REVIEW: THE UNBOUND by Victoria Schwab


Title: The Unbound
Author:  Victoria Schwab
Series: The Archived #2
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release: January 6th, 2015
Source: Paperback
Pages: 357

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BLURB: Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she's struggling to get her life back. But moving on isn't easy-not when her dreams are haunted by what happened. She knows the past is past, knows it cannot hurt her, but it feels so real, and when her nightmares begin to creep into her waking hours, she starts to wonder if she's really safe.

Meanwhile, people are vanishing without a trace, and the only thing they seem to have in common is Mackenzie. She's sure the Archive knows more than they are letting on, but before she can prove it, she becomes the prime suspect. And unless Mac can track down the real culprit, she'll lose everything, not only her role as Keeper, but her memories, and even her life. Can Mackenzie untangle the mystery before she herself unravels?

With stunning prose and a captivating mixture of action, romance, and horror, The Unbound delves into a richly imagined world where no choice is easy and love and loss feel like two sides of the same coin.

22 February, 2018

REVIEW: THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL by Anne Brontë


Title: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Author:  Anne Brontë
Series: -
Genres: Classics, Romance
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release: 1848
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 542

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BLURB:
Note: Editions of The Tenant that start with: "You must go back with me..." are incomplete. Actual opening line of the novel is: "To J. Halford, Esq. Dear Halford, when we were together last..."

Helen Graham moves to Wildfell Hall in a shroud of mystery: where has she come from, and who exactly is she?

Anne's novel is the story of the beautiful and mysterious Helen Graham, who arrives at Wildfell Hall suddenly one day. No-one knows who she is or where she has come from, and Gilbert Markham, a young farmer who has fallen in love with her, sets out to find some answers. This is an ambitious and successful work that is a real pleasure to listen to.

21 February, 2018

Waiting on Wednesday: The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro & Daniel Kraus


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. Today we are waiting for The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro & Daniel Kraus!

Today we have the novel of a movie! Apparently has been nominated for many awards and it's del Toro's best work since Pan's labyrinth.

Publication date: February 27th, 2018
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

19 February, 2018

18 February, 2018

SUNDAY PORTRAIT: Genevieve Dieudonne


Happy Sunday, friends! Welcome to Sunday Portraits, where we give a face to our beloved book friends!

 Today we have: ANNO DRACULA by Kim Newman:

GENEVIEVE DIEUDONNE
Her fictional background is gradually revealed throughout the series. She was born in 1416 Brittany. Her father was a doctor, and she learned much from his trade. Disguised as a boy, she fought for Joan of Arc; in 1432, after her death, she was given the Dark Kiss by Chandagnac. In the following years, she had a variety of occupations, including nurse, courtesan, slave, and soldier, once more disguising herself as a male to fight under both Francis Drake against the Spanish Armada and Napoleon during the French invasion of Russia. She was a good friend and implied lover of Carmilla Karnstein.

In 1888 (during the events of Anno Dracula), several years after Count Dracula takes over Britain, Geneviève helps Diogenes Club agent Charles Beauregard hunt down the vampire-killer known as "Silver Knife"

17 February, 2018

REVIEW: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME by Andre Aciman


Title: Call Me By Your Name
Author: Andre Aciman
Series: -
Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Picador/Farrar Straus and Giroux
Release: October 3rd, 2017
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 248

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BLURB:

Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

 

16 February, 2018

REVIEW: THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield


Title: The Thirteenth Tale
Author: Diane Setterfield
Series: -
Genres:Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Gothic
Publisher: Atria Books
Release: September 12th, 2006
Source: Paperback
Pages: 406

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BLURB:

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

 

15 February, 2018

REVIEW: JOHNNY ALUCARD by Kim Newman


Title: Johnny Alucard
Author:  Kim Newman
Series: Anno Dracula
Genres: Vampires, Horror, Historical fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release: September 17th 2013
Source: Hardback
Pages: 400

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BLURB:

DRACULA COMES TO NEW YORK: Kim Newman returns to one of the great bestselling vampire tales of the modern era. Considered alongside I Am Legend and Interview with theVampire as one of the stand-out vampire stories of the last century - this brand-new novel is the first in over a decade from the remarkable and influential Anno Dracula series.

Newman’s dark and impish tale begins with a single question: What if Dracula had survived his encounters with Bram Stoker’s Dr. John Seward and enslaved Victorian England?

Fallen from grace and driven from the British Empire in previous instalments, Dracula seems long gone. A relic of the past. Yet, when vampire boy Johnny Alucard descends upon America, stalking the streets of New York and Hollywood, haunting the lives of the rich and famous, from Sid and Nancy to Andy Warhol, Orson Welles, and Francis Ford Coppola, sinking his fangs ever deeper into the zeitgeist of 1980s America, it seems the past might not be dead after all.

 

14 February, 2018

13 February, 2018

REVIEW: WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins


Title: Woman in White
Author:  Wilkie Collins
Series: -
Genres: Classics, Romance, Crime
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Release: 1859
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 672

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BLURB:
'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth, stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'

The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter becomes embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.

Matthew Sweet's introduction explores the phenomenon of Victorian 'sensation' fiction, and discusses Wilkie Collins's biographical and societal influences. Included in this edition are appendices on theatrical adaptations of the novel and its serialisation history. 

12 February, 2018

11 February, 2018

REVIEW: ORIGIN by Dan Brown


Title: Origin
Author:  Dan Brown
Series: Robert Langdon #5
Genres: Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Release: October 3rd, 2017
Source: Hardcover (Spanish Edition)
Pages: 461

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BLURB: Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to attend a major announcement—the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist whose dazzling high-tech inventions and audacious predictions have made him a renowned global figure. Kirsch, who was one of Langdon’s first students at Harvard two decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough . . . one that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence.

As the event begins, Langdon and several hundred guests find themselves captivated by an utterly original presentation, which Langdon realizes will be far more controversial than he ever imagined. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Reeling and facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch to stage the provocative event. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade a tormented enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain’s Royal Palace itself... and who will stop at nothing to silence Edmond Kirsch. On a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols, Langdon and Vidal uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch’s shocking discovery... and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.

10 February, 2018

REVIEW: DRACULA CHA CHA CHA by Kim Newman


Title: Dracula Cha Cha Cha
Author:  Kim Newman
Series: Anno Dracula
Genres: Vampires, Horror, Historical fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release: October 9th 2012
Source: Paperback
Pages: 480

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BLURB:

Written by award-winning novelist Kim Newman, this is a brand-new edition, with additional 40,000 word never-before-seen novella, of the popular third installment of the Anno Dracula series, Dracula Cha Cha Cha.

Rome. 1959. Count Dracula is about to marry the Moldavian Princess Asa Vajda - his sixth wife. Journalist Kate Reed flies into the city to visit the ailing Charles Beauregard and his vampire companion Geneviève. Finding herself caught up in the mystery of the Crimson Executioner who is bloodily dispatching vampire elders in the city, Kate discovers that she is not the only one on his trail...

 

09 February, 2018

REVIEW: THE BLOODY RED BARON by Kim Newman


Title: The Bloody Red Baron
Author:  Kim Newman
Series: Anno Dracula
Genres: Vampires, Horror, Historical fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release: April 10th 2012
Source: Paperback
Pages: 587

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BLURB:

WAR IS HELL...

It is 1918 and Graf von Dracula is commander-in-chief of the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The War of the Great Powers in Europe is also a war between the living and the undead. Caught up in the conflict, Charles Beauregard, an old enemy of Dracula, his protegé Edwin Winthrop, and intrepid vampire reporter Kate Reed go head-to-head with the lethal vampire flying machine that is the Bloody Red Baron... In the brand-new novella Vampire Romance, Geneviève Dieudonné, newly returned to England, infiltrates a singular vampire gathering in the service of the Diogenes Club.

A brand-new edition, with additional novella, of the critically acclaimed, bestselling sequel to Anno Dracula. Written by popular novelist and movie critic Kim Newman, The Bloody Red Baron takes the story into the 20th century.

 

08 February, 2018

REVIEW: REAL MURDERS by Charlaine Harris


Title: Real Murders
Author:  Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden #1
Genres: Mystery, Crime
Publisher: Walker & Company
Release: 1990
Source: Paperback
Pages: 175

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BLURB:
Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime—until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims. 

07 February, 2018

06 February, 2018

REVIEW: ANNO DRACULA by Kim Newman


Title: Anno Dracula
Author:  Kim Newman
Series: Anno Dracula
Genres: Vampires, Horror, Historical fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release: May 24th 2011
Source: Paperback
Pages: 547

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BLURB:

It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.

Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London.

This brand-new edition of the bestselling novel contains unique bonus material, including a new afterword from Kim Newman, annotations, articles and alternate endings to the original novel.

05 February, 2018

04 February, 2018

03 February, 2018

REVIEW: LADY MIDNIGHT by Cassandra Clare


Title: Lady Midnight
Author:  Cassandra Clare
Series: The Dark Artifices #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release: 2016
Source: Audiobook/Paperback
Pages: 698

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BLURB:
In a kingdom by the sea…

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.

A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?

The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.

02 February, 2018

REVIEW: THIS DARKNESS MINE by Mindy McGinnis


Title: This Darkness Mine
Author:  Mindy McGinnis
Series: -
Genres: YA, Mystery, Contemporary
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release: October 10th 2017
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 352

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BLURB:
Sasha Stone knows her place—first-chair clarinet, top of her class, and at the side of her oxford-wearing boyfriend. She’s worked her entire life to ensure that her path to Oberlin Conservatory as a star musician is perfectly paved.

But suddenly there’s a fork in the road, in the shape of Isaac Harver. Her body shifts toward him when he walks by, her skin misses his touch even though she’s never known it, and she relishes the smell of him—smoke, beer, and trouble—all the things she’s avoided to get where she is. Even worse, every time he’s near Sasha, her heart stops, literally. Why does he know her so well—too well—and she doesn’t know him at all?

Sasha discovers that her by-the-book life began by ending another’s: the twin sister she absorbed in the womb. But that doesn’t explain the gaps of missing time in her practice schedule or the memories she has of things she certainly never did with Isaac. As Sasha loses her much-cherished control, her life—and heart—become more entangled with Isaac. Armed with the knowledge that her heart might not be hers alone, Sasha must decide what she’s willing to do—and who she’s willing to hurt—to take it back.

Edgar Award–winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a dark and gripping psychological thriller about a girl at war with herself, and what it really means to be good or bad.

01 February, 2018

WE TURN THREE GIVEAWAY


Yes it is official, in April we turn 3 years old! It has been such a crazy journey and we want to say a very very big thank you to all of you by hosting a birthday giveaway!


The giveaway will end on 4th of April, 2018 and it is both INTERNATIONAL and EUROPE ONLY. Random winners will be drawn and will be able to choose the gift they want most! Click on the 'Read More' to ENTER and see the rules!