Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book they can all be shared!
Because I want to read the fantastic selection of books I bought last week I decided to ban myself from NetGalley until I’ve caught up with the reading that has mounted up. That went well until I heard that Angela Marsons latest book, Evil Games had been added. I’d really enjoyed Silent Scream earlier this year featuring Kim Stone so I couldn’t let that one pass me by!
Blurb
The greater the evil, the more deadly the game …
When a rapist is found mutilated in a brutal attack, Detective Kim Stone and her team are called in to bring a swift resolution. But, as more vengeful killings come to light, it soon becomes clear that there is someone far more sinister at work.
With the investigation quickly gathering momentum, Kim soon finds herself exposed to great danger and in the sights of a lethal individual undertaking their own twisted experiment.
Up against a sociopath who seems to know her every weakness, for Detective Stone, each move she makes could be deadly. As the body count starts to mount, Kim will have to dig deeper than ever before to stop the killing. And this time – it’s personal Netgalley
The publishers Harlequin sent me a copy of Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica as I’d enjoyed this author’s debut novel The Good Girl
Blurb
A chance encounter
She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can’t get the girl out of her head…
An act of kindness
Heidi has always been charitable but her family are horrified when she returns home with a young woman named Willow and her baby in tow. Dishevelled and homeless, this girl could be a criminal – or worse. But despite the family’s objections, Heidi offers them refuge.
A tangled web of lies
As Willow begins to get back on her feet, disturbing clues into her past starts to emerge. Now Heidi must question if her motives for helping the stranger are unselfish or rooted in her own failures. Goodreads
And then it all went wrong! Having seen many reviews of Letters to the Lost, particularly that featured by The Book Trail, and having failed to secure a review copy, I decided I had to buy myself a copy. Like last week I fell into the trap of needing to spend £10 to get the free postage. So in addition to Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey
A beautifully written and evocative novel—the story of an impossible, unstoppable love affair set in London during World War II and the present day,
An accomplished novel from a talented writer, Letters to the Lost is the kind of love story that will sweep you away from the very first page. Iona Grey’s prose is warm, evocative, and immediately engaging; her characters become so real you can’t bear to let them go.
Late on a frozen February evening, a young woman is running through the streets of London. Having fled from her abusive boyfriend and with nowhere to go, Jess stumbles onto a forgotten lane where a small, clearly unlived in old house offers her best chance of shelter for the night. The next morning, a mysterious letter arrives and when she can’t help but open it, she finds herself drawn inexorably into the story of two lovers from another time.
In London 1942, Stella meets Dan, a US airman, quite by accident, but there is no denying the impossible, unstoppable love that draws them together. Dan is a B-17 pilot flying his bomber into Europe from a British airbase; his odds of survival at one in five. The odds are stacked against the pair; the one thing they hold onto is the letters they write to each other. Fate is unkind and they are separated by decades and continents. In the present, Jess becomes determined to find out what happened to them. Her hope—inspired by a love so powerful it spans a lifetime—will lead her to find a startling redemption in her own life in a powerfully moving novel perfect for fans of Sarah Jio and Kate Morton. Goodreads
I went through my extensive wishlist and got a copy of Boy A by Jonathan Trigell, a story which covers the same subject matter as my recent read Humber Boy A by Ruth Dugdall
Blurb
A is for Apple. A bad apple.? Jack has spent most of his life in juvenile institutions, to be released with a new name, new job, new life. At 24, he is utterly innocent of the world, yet guilty of a monstrous childhood crime. To his new friends, he is a good guy with occasional flashes of unexpected violence. To his new girlfriend, he is strangely inexperienced and unreachable. To his case worker, he?s a victim of the system and of media-driven hysteria. And to himself, Jack is on permanent trial: can he really start from scratch, forget the past, become someone else? Is a new name enough? Can Jack ever truly connect with his new friends while hiding a monstrous secret? This searing and heartfelt novel is a devastating indictment of society?s inability to reconcile childhood innocence with reality. Goodreads
Coincidently as Ruth Rendell sadly died just three days after I placed my order I also have a copy of No Man’s Nightingale the last Inspector Wexford book, published in 2013.
Blurb
Sarah Hussain was not popular with many people in the community of Kingsmarkham. She was born of mixed parentage – a white Irishwoman and an immigrant Indian Hindu. She was also the Reverend of St Peter’s Church.
But it comes as a profound shock to everyone when she is found strangled in the Vicarage.
A garrulous cleaner, Maxine, also shared by the Wexfords, discovers the body. In his comparatively recent retirement, the former Detective Chief Inspector is devoting much time to reading, and is deep into Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He has little patience with Maxine’s prattle.
But when his old friend Mike Burden asks if he might like to assist on this case as Crime Solutions Adviser (unpaid), Wexford is obliged to pay more precise attention to all available information.
The old instincts have not been blunted by a life where he and Dora divide their time between London and Kingsmarkham. Wexford retains a relish for solving puzzles and a curiosity about people which is invaluable in detective work.
For all his experience and sophistication, Burden tends to jump to conclusions. But he is wise enough to listen to the man whose office he inherited, and whose experience makes him a most formidable ally. Goodreads
and as on that very day I came across a wonderful review on Rebecca Book Review, Girls of Tender Age by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith
With beauty, power, and remarkable wit, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith interweaves a bittersweet portrait of growing up among the working stiffs of 1950s Hartford, Connecticut, with the chilling progress of a serial pedophile who threatens to shatter her small town’s innocence. In Girls of Tender Age, Smith lovingly evokes the jubilance and chaos of life in her extended French-Italian family and the challenges of living with her brother Tyler, an autistic at a time before anyone knew what that meant. Hanging over Smith’s rough-and-tumble youth is the shadow of the approaching killer who forever alters the landscape of her childhood. Goodreads
Any of these take your fancy or perhaps you’ve already read them?
What have you found to read this week? Please do share in the comments below
These all look so enticing…I really want Pretty Baby. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
Did you read The Good Girl Laurel? It was a very impressive debut so I’m really looking forward to this one.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing! And then it all went wrong… could be the epitaph to every single one of my weeks of book buying/borrowing/adding to the TBR, pretty much.
LikeLike
Haha – it does seem to go wrong fairly frequently and I have this lovely selection of books to read and no time 😦 A nice problem to have though
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, these look really interesting, Cleo! I like the variety there, too. I didn’t know Kubica had a new book out (shows how alert I’m not!). I look forward to your reviews.
LikeLike
I think I got contacted about the Kubica farily early and of course I couldn’t resist after enjoying The Good Girl – It is due to be published in July.
LikeLike
So you needed to buy three for free postage, but bought four instead?! I’ve got to say I buy I lot less new books from Amazon since that irritating change, and I suspect I’m not the only one. Usually I’m mortified opening your Stacking The Shelves as mine are so similar – but not bad this week! The first was a shoo-in though!
LikeLike
Well you know how it is? The postage annoys me as it is now compulsory to buy more in one go and I don’t need encouragement! Two of my selection had been on my wishlist since 2012/2013 and of course it is such a treat that we get the second of Angela Marsons so soon after the first – I’m really looking forward to that although I’m not looking at NG for at least another month/week/day!!
LikeLike
All of these call out to me, esp Pretty Baby. I loved Letters to the Lost, hope you do too.
And I’ve got to stop picking up Netgalley books and read the other books waiting to be read too 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So many people praised Letters to the Lost that I am really looking forward to reading it 🙂
LikeLike
Great additions to your shelf Cleo. I hope you’ll enjoy them all. Happy reading!
LikeLike
Thank you Stefani 🙂
LikeLike
Pretty Baby looks really intriguing! I hope you enjoy it and the rest of your books. Happy Reading!
LikeLike
I was really impressed with Mary Kubica’s debut and the blurb for this one sounds so intriguing.
LikeLike
I’m relieved to know that others are just as unable to resist temptation as I am. I think out of these my choice would be Rendell.
LikeLike
I need to do better! I am pleased with the Rendell although the reviews were mixed it wouldn’t seem right to miss it.
LikeLike
Great selection as always! I think i’ll have to add Boy A to my wishlist!
LikeLike
Thank you Lipsyy – I do hope you enjoy Boy A if you ever get a copy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I start every week with good intentions and then I just lose restraint and by the end of the week I have a pile of books and I sit wondering how it happened! Enjoy your books!
LikeLike
I keep telling my OH that some of the books that arrive do so by magic; he doesn’t seem to believe me 😆
LikeLike
Laughed at your phrase – and then it all went wrong – I’ve stepped into that ‘wrong’ path myself. But, honestly, you are saving the postage! LOL
These all look good. I haven’t read Mary Kubica’s first book yet, but it’s on my list. And same goes for the Kim Stone book – have not read first, but now there will be a second. Yay!
LikeLike
Sorry I helped it all go wrong for you too! I was saving on the postage, it all makes perfect sense, well until I’m lost under a mountain of books 😉
LikeLike
Well. if you’re saving postage you’re practically earning money by placing the order, right??? 🙂
Boy A sounds very good. . . I’m going to have to look for that one. Is “Boy A” a term commonly used? It jumped out at me as you mention it’s in the title of two books–and it’s not a term used in the US.
LikeLike
I’m glad you follow my logic!! There was a murder of a young child in the UK,carried out by two 10 year olds and the boys were referred to as Child A and Child B until they had been sentenced and the judge lifted the anonymity order banning them from being named. This was back in the 1990s and fortunately that type of thing doesn’t happen too often. Boy A was made into a film in 2007.
LikeLike
Thank you–I had a feeling it was something like that. I can’t think of an equivalent for thAt situation in the U.S. but I’m sure we do have something similar.
LikeLike
Pretty Baby sounds like an amazing book!
Stacking the Shelves
LikeLike
Thank you – it is due to be published at the end of July. Thank you for visiting and leaving your link 🙂
LikeLike
I think you’d be a perfect candidate for one of the courses I’m thinking of organising – ‘How to Bolster your Willpower’ or ‘How to Read Two Books and Listen to Another at the Same Time’…
LikeLike
Well I’d clearly never pass the first course so I’ll have to sign up for the second 😆
LikeLike
It’ll be interesting to see how Boy A compares to Humber Boy A.
LikeLike
I have read a few books that cover this subject and as Boy A won a prize and was made into a film it seemed remiss not to add it to my collection.
LikeLike
Acquiring books is irresistible! and I think I should enrol for those course FictionFan mentioned – preferably the one on reading two books at once etc would be best – although maybe reading multiple books at once would be even better.
Here’s what I acquired this week – http://www.booksplease.org/2015/05/09/stacking-the-shelves-3/
LikeLike
Yes I need that course with so many excellent books vying for my attention. Thank you so much for visiting and leaving your link 🙂
LikeLike
haha Ah well, you tried! Netgalley really can be deadly. Boy A sounds really good.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com
LikeLike
Very nice haul, Cleo. It’s impossible to stay away from new books, and there are so many interesting ones on your list, too. Pretty Baby is the one that intrigues me the most, it sounds complex!
Have a spectacular Sunday 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you Lexxie – I think Pretty Baby sounds like it is going to be a great read too – I get so much pleasure from my book post – here’s wishing you a fab Sunday too.
LikeLike
I’ve heard great things about Mary Kubica’s books, I still need to read The Good Girl! Enjoy!
-Jon from Bookish Antics
**Check out my giveaway for The Novice by Taran Matharu!
LikeLike
Mary Kubica’s The Good Girl really was a very impressive debut – thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike
I have to confess I have not yet read any by Rendell. Which one would you recommend, to give me a good idea of her style?
LikeLike
The series for Evil Games sounds quite interesting. Gotta love when one book breaks our collecting bans. Then I rarely stop at just one. I end up with several. I hope you enjoy all these. Happy Reading!
Here are my newest additions.
LikeLike
Thanks I’m glad someone sympathises – to stop adding more books I’d have to go around with my eyes closed 😉
LikeLike