Stacking the Shelves (February 6)

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.

My resolve not to acquire too many new books is going so well, here is the latest batch to make their way onto the TBR!

Firstly, after joining BOOKERTALK in her Read into 2016 post, I was lucky enough to be the winner and have a beautiful copy of The Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies, a collection of short stories.

Blurb

In a remote Australian settlement a young wife with an untellable secret reluctantly invites her neighbour into her home. A Quaker spinster offers companionship to a condemned man in a Colorado jail. In the ice and snows of Siberia an office employee from Birmingham witnesses a scene that will change her life. At a jubilee celebration in a northern English town a middle-aged alderman opens his heart to Queen Victoria. A teenage daughter leaves home in search of adventure. High in the Cumbrian fells a woman seeks help from her father’s enemy…… Goodreads

Another collection of short stories caught my eye on the excellent blog written by Marina Finding Time to Write, The Blink that Killed the Eye by Anthony Anaxagorou. She made it sound so appealing with her statement:
We come back to the grey shores of Great Britain, except there is nothing ‘great’ about it. It is perceived as a diminished, impoverished island, with fearful people and dysfunctional families, in this collection of loosely related short stories.
How’s a girl supposed to resist?

Blurb

The Blink That Killed the Eye is a stunningly crafted debut short story collection, taking a poetic torch to the shadows of daily life – illuminating the characters, situations, emotions and dilemmas that pour into even the most ordinary existences. From building sites to prison cells; from the birth of love to the last moments of breath – Anthony Anaxagorou navigates expertly through the tangled nets of invisibility, desperation and power to bring us time-defining tales of tragedy and hope; commenting on the irony of our shrinking capacity to really see ourselves or each other in a world increasingly defined by appearances and dangerous preconceptions. Goodreads

I have been approved of some good looking books on NetGalley too – of course I have, I can’t stay away!

Thin Ice by Irene Hannon was published on 5 January 2016 by Revell

Blurb

After losing her parents in a car accident and her sister to a house fire, Christy Reed has been mired in grief. Life is finally starting to feel normal again when an envelope arrives in the mail–addressed in her sister’s handwriting. And the note inside claims she is still alive.
FBI Special Agent Lance McGregor, a former Delta Force operator, is assigned to reopen the case, but he’s coming up with more questions than answers. If Ginny Reed is still alive–who is the woman buried in her grave? Where is Ginny? And is Christy a pawn in a twisted cat-and-mouse game–or the target of a sinister plot? As he digs deeper, one thing becomes clear: whoever is behind the bizarre ruse has a deadly agenda.
Bestselling author and two-time Christy Award finalist Irene Hannon warms readers’ hearts as they root for a romance between Lance and Christy, but she pulls out all the stops as this high-stakes thriller chills to the bone in a race to the finish. NetGalley

One of my favourite authors, Helen FitzGerald has written a new book, Viral which also made it’s way onto my pile:

Blurb

So far, twenty-three thousand and ninety six people have seen me online. They include my mother, my father, my little sister, my grandmother, my other grandmother, my grandfather, my boss, my sixth year Biology teacher and my boyfriend James.
When Leah Oliphant-Brotheridge and her adopted sister Su go on holiday together to Magaluf to celebrate their A-levels, only Leah returns home. Her successful, swotty sister remains abroad, humiliated and afraid: there is an online video of her, drunkenly performing a sex act in a nightclub. And everyone has seen it.
Ruth Oliphant-Brotheridge, mother of the girls, successful court judge, is furious. How could this have happened? How can she bring justice to these men who took advantage of her dutiful, virginal daughter? What role has Leah played in all this? And can Ruth find Su and bring her back home when Su doesn’t want to be found? NetGalley

and Debbie Howells, author of The Bones of You, also has a new book; The Beauty of the End and for the second time this year, my wish on NetGalley was granted!

Blurb

“I was fourteen when I fell in love with a goddess. . .”
So begins the testimony of Noah Calaway, an ex-lawyer with a sideline in armchair criminal psychology. Now living an aimless life in an inherited cottage in the English countryside, Noah is haunted by the memory of the beguiling young woman who left him at the altar sixteen years earlier. Then one day he receives a troubling phone call. April, the woman he once loved, lies in a coma, the victim of an apparent overdose–and the lead suspect in a brutal murder. Deep in his bones, Noah believes that April is innocent. Then again, he also believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.
While Noah searches for evidence that will clear April’s name, a teenager named Ella begins to sift through the secrets of her own painful family history. The same age as April was when Noah first met her, Ella harbors a revelation that could be the key to solving the murder. As the two stories converge, there are shocking consequences when at last, the truth emerges.
Or so everyone believes. . .
Set in a borderland where the past casts its shadow on the present, with a time-shifting narrative that will mesmerize and surprise, The Beauty of the End is both a masterpiece of suspense and a powerful rumination on lost love. NetGalley

Lastly, Channel Islander, Rachel Abbott has a new book out on 17 February 2016, Kill Me Again and she has kindly passed me a copy to my absolute delight.

Blurb

When Maggie Taylor accepts a new job in Manchester, she is sure it is the right move for her family. The children have settled well although her husband, Duncan, doesn’t appear to be so convinced.
But nothing prepares her for the shock of coming home from work one night to find that Duncan has disappeared, leaving their young children alone. His phone is dead, and she has no idea where he has gone, or why. And then she discovers she’s not the only one looking for him.
When a woman who looks just like Maggie is brutally murdered and DCI Tom Douglas is brought in to investigate, Maggie realises how little she knows about Duncan’s past. Is he the man she loves? Who is he running from?
She doesn’t have long to decide whether to trust him or betray him. Because one thing has been made clear to Maggie – another woman will die soon, and it might be her. Amazon

TBR WATCH
Since my last count I have read 6 books, and gained, it yes, 6, so the total stands at 174 books!
85 physical books
75 e-books
14 books on NetGalley

What have you found to read this week?

 

You can check out the books I have read  and reviewed in 2016 on my new page in shades of green!