Spellbound Bookshelves (7)

Welcome to my new feature Spellbound Bookshelves! Each week I'll be posting up pictures of Readers Bookshelves. As this is just starting out, I'll need to ask you help in spreading the word and hopefully sending in pictures of your bookshelves. I'll also be including awesome bookshelves to store your books in for a bit of variety.

Thanks to Jo from Fluidity of Time I have a very cute pic of one of her library bookshelves from her Summer Reading programs with an 'ocean theme'

Thanks again.  You can send any bookshelf pics to melissa@spellboundbybooks.com



IN My Mailbox (51)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren.

For Review

Forgotten by Cat Patrick (Proof Copy)

Release Date: 7th June 2011

Thanks to Jenny from Hardie Grant Egmont!!

Also, just a quick note. Today is your last day to enter any of the giveaways for my blogoversary. You can find the links here!

So, what did you get in your IMM?

Sticky Beak (46)

Sticky Beak is all about sharing. Sometimes we can't all get around to every single blog and website available so that's where Sticky Beak comes in. By word of mouth (well you get what I mean) we are more likely to get to those blogs that we wouldn't have normally seen without someone pointing them out to us.

The links could be to your own post, a favourite blog post you would love to share, an authors blog/website, book/writing contests, reviews you really enjoyed, tour info or anything you would love to share with others. Just use the comments below to add your link!

Here's Mine:

For Writers:
Deadline Dames: When the Writing Isn't Working
Marianne Delacourt: Crime Writing with Meg Vann
Acorn Independant Press.Ltd: 5 Aside Story

Cool Stuff To Check Out:
Randomhouse Publishing: Read Chapter one of Burn Bright!!
Good Choice Reading: Saturday Sayings, a new meme worth checking out!
Guardian.co.uk: The Dog's who listen to Children Reading.  I thought this was really cute
Better Read than Dead: Worth checking out.

Somewhere Over the Sun by Adi Alsaid

Title: Somewhere Over the Sun

Author: Adi Alsaid

Genre: Fiction

Publisher:  Dog Ear Publishing

Publication Date: 15th November 2010

ISBN: 9781608448319

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Pages: 208 pages

Book Received from: Author

First Lines: It started inside of an MRI machine.  I felt like gunpowder inside of an eight-foot bullet as I waited to be shot out into the ER, or maybe into Maternity, lying as perfectly still as I could remember to.

Synopsis:

Alan, a spirited young writer with a wandering imagination has discovered that the stories he writes are suddenly coming to life. At the suggestion of his loving father, Alan embarks on a quixotic journey to visit friends and use his new found gift to write them all happier lives. There are a few limitations to his power; he can't cure diseases, he can't summon pots of gold, and headaches accompany each reality-infused story he lives out, but the appreciative and optimistic Alan is not deterred from creating fantastical characters and storylines to give his friends more literary lives.


My Thoughts:

Just reading the synopsis alone had me intrigued about Alan.  I loved the idea of a young writer going on a journey to write his friends happier lives, but I sure wasn't prepared for what was contained within these pages.  And being a recreational writer, I'm oddly drawn to characters who are creative.  So this book was definitely a winner!

Right from the start I knew this was going to be an enjoyable read.  From the MRI scene, to the lonely room I was drawn in by the writing, and the style.  It's amazing how Adi just breathes life into his characters and those inanimate objects we pass by every day, not taking a second glance at. 

The story is told mostly from Alan's point of view, with a scattering of chapters from his father and the friends we visits.  Changing from one character to the next was easy, they were all so different and lovable in their own way. 

Somewhere Over the Sun for me gives hope when life seems mundane and takes what little joys we all take for granted and creates magical experiences from them.  Alan is one Author I will be keeping tabs on in future.  His style of writing is unique and one I enjoyed reading immensely. 

For those of you who enjoy creative characters and a witty and heartfelt read I suggest you get your hands on a copy of this. 

P.S Adi, the sex scene was brilliant!


Fave Line:  Too many!   - Here's one ;)  "It's kind of like what we go through in the washing machine.  Lots of spinning and bubbles, and then heat at the end." Hopefully not too spoilery.

A lovely Surprise in the Mail - Once Upon A Time

Very Pretty Front Cover!!

And heres the back.

These are my proof copies/ finished product, although one of the books I've already started going through with the red pen picking up errors and things that I have missed.  There aren't too many thank god!  My only issue with this is the toss up of justifying the text inside.  I did attempt this twice with disastrous results eg. words gone off the page etc so it didn't really like it.

In the next few days I'll be correcting any errors before printing the bulk load and sending it off to all of you!!

For the Winners and runners up, I will need you to send me your address so I can get them in the mail for you as soon as the final copy is printed.

Send me a line at melissa@spellboundbybooks.com

The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Title: The Dead Girls' Dance

Author: Rachel Caine

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Publisher:  Penguin Australia (Imprint: Razor Print)

Publication Date: 4th January 2011

ISBN: 9781921880025

Stand alone or series: Series (2nd Book)

Pages: 384 pages

Book Received from: Penguin Australia

First Lines: It didn't happen, Claire told herself.  It's a bad dream.  You'll wake up and it'll be gone like fog...

Possible Spoilers if you haven't read Glass Houses

Synopsis:

Good news, girls: your dates are here!
Claire Danvers has had her share of challenges - like being a genius in a school that favours beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm and, above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with blood-sucking fiends. On the plus side, so far Claire and her friends have managed to survive getting on the wrong side of some Morganville VIPs . . . Vampire Important Persons. But their temporary peace is in danger of collapsing, thanks to the arrival of her new boyfriend's scary father and his vampire-fighting supporters.
Bad news, girls: they're dead.
My Thoughts:

 I have to say this.  I'm absolutely loving these new covers!  They're eyecatching to say the very least.

Okay, so The Dead Girls Dance picks up right where the Glass Houses finished.  Shane's Biker Dad and his mates have shown up, ready to let all hell loose and end the vampires once and for all!  This definitely puts Shane right smack bang in the middle of all the trouble too. 

If Claire thought things were going to get better she had another thing coming.  Everyone in Michael's place will have to sacrifice someting or another to get protection but is it worth it in the end.  The Stakes are higher and things are heating up for Claire and her friends.  But will she make the right choices or dig herself an even bigger hole? 

I really enjoyed getting to know Claire more.  While she is supposedly a genius, she does make a couple of silly choices throughout the book.  I have noticed others comment about this also.  The one thing I want to point out really is, yeah she does get herself into the trouble but she is also a teenager!  As you can tell, I think I've grown quite attached to the main character lol.  I also really love Eve.  In this book we get to see another side of her too.  While bits and pieces of her nature come out in Glass Houses, the second book shows a softer side, as well as a "let's go out guns'a blazing' and that's what I admire about her.

The Dead Girls' Dance is a fantastic gripping novel laced with humour, action, and scary as anything vampires.  I must say this, Rachel knows how to pull off an awesome cliffhanger.  Just sayin! ;)

Pandora's Succession by Russell Brooks

Title: Pandora's Succession

Author: Russell Brooks

Genre: Bio Thriller

Publisher: Russell Brooks

Publication Date: 

ISBN: 9780986751301

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Pages: 267 pages

Book Received from:  Author

First Lines: The blow to the side of his head dropped Ridley Fox to the floor. The cold surface against the side of his face, the jarring pain, and the spinning were the last things he remembered before he blacked out.

Synopsis:

Where would you hide if you learned the CDC and a major pharmaceutical company unleashed a hyperdeadly microbe on the human race?
CIA operative, Ridley Fox, never stopped hunting his fiancé’s killers — a weapons consortium called The Arms of Ares. When an informant leads him to an old bunker outside of Groznyy, Chechnya, Fox is captured and left for dead. When the informant rescues him, Fox learns that his capture was no coincidence: someone had set him up—possibly another government agent. Fox barely escapes after learning that Ares has acquired a hyperdeadly microbe—called Pandora—that is believed to have wiped out ancient civilizations. The trail leads Fox to Tokyo where he discovers that other forces —including agents within Japanese Intelligence—want Pandora for themselves. The only ally Fox turns to is a woman from his past who he nearly got killed.

My Thoughts:

Pandora's Succession starts right in the middle of action with Ridley Fox being captured and dragged to a room to die a paralysing and slow death. He has never stopped hunting for the murderers of his fiance and it has led up to the point where Chapter One starts and he is lying in the room. Thankfully someone comes to his aid. She is part of the reason he is there in the first place and reveals vital information when come in contact with Ridley. A bio weapon of mass destruction (I've always wanted to say that lol)

The story is complex with multiple viewpoints (the main being Ridley) and I found it helped to fill in alot of the blanks when a previous chapter ends and a new one starts. Ridley is a very likable character. Unlike some books where the main hero in the story seems arrogant and hard, Ridley has a soft spot for the underdog and steps in to help even though it could jeopardize his mission.

I did find a few times that the story's pace lagged in places where there was a heavy amount of description. I think if it were cut down a little the story would have flowed better. But in saying that, there were only a few parts through the book where I actually sat back and took notice.


All in all, a well plotted book full of action, where you don't know who can be trusted and will have you second guessing up until the end. Fantastic read.

Originally posted on Book Lovers Inc