Stacking the Shelves 41

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, every Weekend. This is to share books I have acquired from various sources. Physical books & ebooks both are welcome. If its something being sent to me by mail, I will not mention it until I actually receive it. 

 I am working some major changes for my books right now.  My soon-to-be-husband and I bought a shed that we will be turning into a personal library/quiet space room!  Very excited but lots of work ahead once we get it.  We are building it ourselves so its build, roof, paint, insulate, paint inside, build shelves...you get the idea.  So lots ahead over the next few months but once it is done, expect some awesome pics or even a video walk through sometime this summer.

 With getting  my bookroom means sorting the books I have.  So I started that and started lots of swaps on bookmooch.  Lots of older books going out and filling in some holes in series' I have started to collect.  Fun stuff!  So overall a very busy book week.   I also won a few books on Goodreads recently so I have fun books to review.  Here is some of what I got this week:

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  For Review

 

A stolen child.
An ancient evil.
A father’s descent.
And the literary masterpiece that holds the key to his daughter’s salvation.

Professor David Ullman is among the world’s leading authorities on demonic literature, with special expertise in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Not that David is a believer—he sees what he teaches as a branch of the imagination and nothing more. So when the mysterious Thin Woman arrives at his office and invites him to travel to Venice and witness a “phenomenon,” he turns her down. She leaves plane tickets and an address on his desk, advising David that her employer is not often disappointed.

That evening, David’s wife announces she is leaving him. With his life suddenly in shambles, he impulsively whisks his beloved twelve-year-old daughter, Tess, off to Venice after all. The girl has recently been stricken by the same melancholy moods David knows so well, and he hopes to cheer her up and distract them both from the troubles at home.

But what happens in Venice will change everything.

First, in a tiny attic room at the address provided by the Thin Woman, David sees a man restrained in a chair, muttering, clearly insane . . . but could he truly be possessed? Then the man speaks clearly, in the voice of David’s dead father, repeating the last words he ever spoke to his son. Words that have left scars—and a mystery—behind.

When David rushes back to the hotel, he discovers Tess perched on the roof’s edge, high above the waters of the Grand Canal. Before she falls, she manages to utter a final plea: Find me.

What follows is an unimaginable journey for David Ullman from skeptic to true believer. In a terrifying quest guided by symbols and riddles from the pages of Paradise Lost, David must track the demon that has captured his daughter and discover its name. If he fails, he will lose Tess forever.

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Only by Letting Go of Yourself Will You Become Who You Are

New York, 2050: Daniel is enmeshed in a world in which he does not belong, which he finds loathsome, intolerable. Orphaned as a young child, he has in his 23 years never known family or friendship. The City lies in the secure grip of the IDSC, a draconian organization charged with the security and stability of the United States. This fact, ever present, undeniable, seems far removed from a man who lacks not just a sense of community but a sense of self as well. And he is plagued by nightmares, which he cannot understand yet nonetheless push him toward the unknown, the darkness of all that may be.
After meeting a beautiful woman named Alena and her father Thorin, he and Thorin leave The City, set on a mysterious destination known simply as The Centre. The journey traces not only Daniel's path away from New York but also the incremental revelation of his past and true self, bringing closer the actuality of where he has come from, what he is, and what he is destined to become.
24 years earlier, Peter, Andrew, and a younger Thorin leave The Bay, set on a historic gathering in Philadelphia, which unbeknownst to them will initiate events that will change their lives, alter the very reality to which they've been accustomed, forever.

Along the way they are joined by Edith, a thoughtful, Kind girl from Salt Lake City, and meet Jonathan, a mysterious man with a taste for good cognac and good times with Friends.

The situation in Philadelphia, however, is not what they expect, and soon all turns to chaos, from which the friends emerge changed, each set on different ends. Andrew enlists with a man called Michael, chairman of an enigmatic organization known simply as IDSC. Thorin leaves to stay with his fiancée in Washington D.C. Edith returns to her now seemingly boring life in Salt Lake. Peter... Peter returns to San Francisco, alone and disillusioned.

What none of them realize, what they would never suspect, is that they are already being moved by an intricate plan, a device of Fate and the vision of one who would change the nature of the U.S. and the world itself. When they are at last brought back together, the results are catastrophic, shaking their world to the core.

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From the remarkable imagination of acclaimed artist Jim Di Bartolo and the exquisite pen of bestselling author Kiersten White comes a spellbinding story of love, mystery, and dark conspiracy, told in an alternating narrative of words and pictures.

Cora and Minnie are sisters living in a small, stifling town where strange and mysterious things occur. Their mother runs the local boarding house. Their father is gone. The woman up the hill may or may not be a witch.

Thomas and Charles are brothers who’ve been exiled to the boarding house so Thomas can tame his ways and Charles can fight an illness that is killing him with increasing speed. Their family history is one of sorrow and guilt. They think they can escape from it . . . but they can’t.

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Our world is no longer our own. We engineered a race of superior fighters -- the Manti, mutant humans with insect-like abilities. Twenty-five years ago they all but destroyed us. In Sanctuary, some of us survive. Eking out our existence. Clinging to the past.

Some of us intend to do more than survive.
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Asha and Pax -- strangers and enemies -- find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there.

Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity’s most valuable resource -- information -- viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society.

Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check.

Neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie.

With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past.

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For years, the door has stayed closed. Hannah Silver hardly notices it as she goes about her strange life in an isolated lighthouse. But when a pair of mysterious strangers -- a boy and his guardian -- show up at the lighthouse, things start to go very wrong. Hannah's life is shattered. And the door is now wide open.

In order to save herself and her family, Hannah must walk through this door.

Into another world.

A world where she doesn't belong.

A world that wants to capture her and make sure she never makes it back home.

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After following a mysterious map into the woods and then under the woods, eleven-year-old Albert Flynn learns he’s a Balance Keeper—someone with special magical skills for fixing problems in three underground Realms at the Core of the earth. His new job is important; if the realms fall out of balance, the world above could be in great danger.

Albert and his Balance Keeper teammates Birdie and Leroy arrive in the Core not a moment too soon. There’s an Imbalance in the Calderon Realm and it’s threatening to bury Albert’s hometown of New York City in a mountain of ash.

The three must train hard completing mental and physical challenges, but above all, they must harness the power of their Tiles—unique superpowers given to each Balance Keeper. So far, Albert’s mastered the art of not mastering his Tile....

With the situation in Calderon growing worse every day, can Albert, Leroy, and Birdie restore balance before New York is destroyed forever? Will Albert master his Tile before it’s too late?

Perfect for fans of Percy Jackson, The Unwanteds, and the classic Journey to the Center of the Earth.

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When Lucy wakes up in a frozen forest, she isn't sure why she's there, until she sees Colin.

Colin has captivated half the girls at Saint Osanna's, but no one has ever snared his fascination the way Lucy does. Even as Lucy begins to remember the details of her life–and her death–neither of them is willing to give up what they have, no matter how impossible it seems.

An adrenaline junkie, Colin begins taking himself to the brink of death, where their realities overlap–and discovers that he can physically be with Lucy. But maybe some lines shouldn't be crossed.

 

 

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Bookmooch Nabs- 

I actually got more that what was shown but after sharing some, I realized I had to many to list here.  Busy swap week!

 

 

The author of the New York Times bestseller Dragonlance Heroes: The Legend of Huma takes readers to an explosive new world of dragons, intrigue and magic. In the ultimate war between humans and fiery, shape-shifting beings, a young boy dares to challenge the supremacy of the dragon kings.

 

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The dragon emperor has fallen and the remaining drake lords now vie for control. Yet, when Duke Toma, the emperor's son, turns to one for aid in revenge against the wizard Cabe Bedlam and his companions, the drake little understands what he unleashes. Unknown to all, the Ice Dragon has other plans for the land...cold, bitter plans that may spell the end for both drake and man.

 

 

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 Shipwrecked long ago on the Dragonrealm, the half-human Gryphon rose to free part of the land from the tyranny of the drake lords,yet his own past remained a forgotten mystery. Now, haunted by the dark words of an old foe, he crosses the sea, journeying to the domain of the ebony-armored wolf raiders. However, in discovering his origins, the Gryphon will awaken the power

 

 

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Tony Giodone made his living as an assassin--until one of his marks ripped his throat out and turned him into a werewolf. Now he's the best hired killer there is.

When a curvy woman in an expensive suit tries to hire him to kill her, his wolf senses insist that she is his mate. One kidnapping, a plethora of gunfights, a psychic coma, and two faked deaths later, Tony and Sue have new identities and are hiding in a community of Sazi shapeshifters. All seems well, until Sue begins to pull away from Tony and he realizes that if he can't be more open with her, he's going to lose her.

To add to his problems, Tony is getting flashes of other peoples' lives. He doesn't know if they're memories or fantasies--but he wants it to stop, because he's learning things he shouldn't about his friends and neighbors.

What's more dangerous than a psychic-powered werewolf assassin? Whatever it is, it's kidnapping and killing female Sazi . . . after it sucks out their powers. Its latest captive is the girlfriend of Carmine, the Mafia don who used to be Tony's boss. To get her back, Carmine will make war on all the Sazi--and while the Sazi would win, they can't afford to be exposed to humans.

Now it's up to Tony to save Carmine's girlfriend--and all of the Sazi.

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In the mind of Xanth's precious shapeshifting Prince Dolph, the perfect way to see the world is to search for the missing sorcerer, Humfrey. Setting off with his faithful companion, Marrow, an enchanted skeleton, Dolph will penetrate an island of illusion, escape a goblin kingdom, outwit a husband-hungry mermaid, save Marrow from bone-starved harpies, and find romance with a slinky snake princess--all on his way to discovering a magic coin with all the answers!

 

 

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When Molly Wells showed up at Jake Coulter's ranch, she had nothing but some extra clothes, a stolen horse, and a fear of her ex-husband that threatened to rule her life. She'd heard Jake was a real-life horse whisperer-and perhaps the only man alive who could help the beautiful stallion that her ex-husband had so bitterly abused. But she had no idea that Jake's talents would work their magic on her, with the same power to gain her trust, give her strength, and whisper away her deepest fears.

 

 

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When it reigns, it pours all over well-meaning magician Skeeve. Romance, that is. He's a drowning man, fending off a relentless array of suitors. What to do? Should he hop away with Bunny, his beautiful assistant? Drink all night with Cassandra, the nubile vampire? Or give in and marry Queen Hemlock—the sensible thing that will assure his future, and maybe keep him alive..

 

 

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Amazon Freebies

Mira Ipswich couldn't have ever known the startling difference that separates her from the rest of humanity. But when she discovers a strange anomaly in the midst of her seclusion, her parents are forced to reveal she exists in a world where everyone is imbued with a wondrous natural gift. Everyone except herself that is. Accompany Mira as her attempts to fit in among peers and understand her inconceivable condition embroil her with the dangerous forces threatening her homeland. Protected by nothing more than her imagination and ingenuity, you'll never find a superhero more like you.

The first book in the Powerless series is the tale of Mira’s turbulent and perilous entry into the world around her. And once she’s a part of it, nothing will ever be the same again.

Edited by Chuck Wightman, the story is already raking in the awards. It's won the Webb Weaver 2010 Writer's Competition, the judges proclaiming they were "entranced by the writer's ability to bring together this unlikely group of kids," and that the book could "be a hit in the YA book world." The story is a roller coaster ride, filled with diverse characters, lots to discover in an ever-expanding world, and a story full of hopes and aspirations. If you like stories with plenty of dramatic twists and spirited intensity, it'll have you falling in love with a brand new series and begging for more!

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In the sand-covered queendom of Cavan, the goddess once saved a young Kaliope’s life, preventing the mercury her father attempted to hide in her blood from reaching her heart. Now, a cybernetic clamp filters it, but the silver streaks swirling faintly beneath her skin are a constant reminder that she’s different.

When nineteen-year-old Kaliope is chosen as head of the Nactue Guard, she becomes the sworn protector to her empress. In the midst of an invasion on a neighboring land, Kaliope is placed in charge of guarding Prince Caben, the last heir to his kingdom. But when they’re attacked by the feared Otherworlders, Caben and Kaliope are abducted and taken below to a realm where they must fight for their life in a caged arena.

Kaliope struggles to protect her princely charge, keeping him and herself alive while battling inhumanly opponents, and trying to save the stolen, sacred relic that will restore her empress’s life force and all of Cavan. And if she can somehow awaken the goddess within her, she may save what’s most important.  

So which of these sound interesting?  Have you read any of them and if so what did you think?  

Also I have a new poll up on the right.  Help me pick my May reads!