Mailbox Monday - 8/23

Mailbox Monday can be found at: The Printed Page 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  

I got a lot of books this week; 10 to be exact.  It was one of those weeks that I was excited to get so many books, but wondering when I am ever going to read them all.

I actually bought two books that I have been waiting forever to get when I found them at Half Price Books.  The first was Deadtown by Nancy Holzner and the second was Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe. 

Then I got two books from paperbackswap.com that were on my wishlist.  They were The Battle Sylph by L. J. McDonald and Web of Lies (Elemental Assassin, Book 2) by Jennifer Estep.  I have heard wonderful things about The Battle Sylph and am eager to start reading the Elemental Assassin series as it is getting excellent reviews and sounds right up my alley!

Then I got a slew of books for review.  I got Hero by Mike Lupica through LibraryThings Early Reviewer Program.  I got Pegasus by Robin McKinley from the publisher, I wrote them a note confessing my undying love for McKinley and was surprised when they actually responded by sending me a review copy, I am so excited to read this one!  The I got The Discovery of Socket Greeny by Tony Bertauski from the author, who contacted me and asked me if I would review it.  From netgalley.com I got the e-book Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner, this one looks excellent and I am excited to read it.

Lastly I picked up two more books from the library: Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer and Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson.

So I have a ton of books for review and a lot of other fun books.  See below for more info on them!


Deadtown by Nancy Holzner
 
First Sentence: "Two rules I live by: never admit to being a shapeshifter on a first, second, or third date with a human.  And never, ever bring along a zombie apprentice wannabe on a demon kill."
From Amazon.com: "If you were undead, you'd be home by now...
They call it Deadtown: the city's quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders-but Victory Vaughn, Boston's only professional demon slayer, isn't exactly human."

Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe
 
First Sentence: "No believed it at first."
From Amazon.com: "A young boy finds his destiny in a world of fantasy. L to R (Western Style). The Bravest Story Ever Told Young Wataru Mitani's life is a mess. His father has abandoned him, and his mother has been hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Desperately he searches for some way to change his life--a way to alter his fate.To achieve his goal, he must navigate the magical world of Vision, a land filled with creatures both fierce and friendly. And to complicate matters, he must outwit a merciless rival from the real world.Wataru's ultimate destination is the Tower of Destiny where a goddess of fate awaits. Only when he has finished his journey and collected five elusive gemstones will he possess the Demon's Bane--the key that will unlock the future.Charity, bravery, faith, grace and the power of darkness and light: these are the provinces of each gemstone. Brought together, they have the immeasurable power to bring Wataru's family back together again. Young Wataru Mitani's life is a mess. His father has abandoned him, and his mother has been hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Desperately he searches for some way to change his life--a way to alter his fate.To achieve his goal, he must navigate the magical world of Vision, a land filled with creatures both fierce and friendly. And to complicate matters, he must outwit a merciless rival from the real world.Wataru's ultimate destination is the Tower of Destiny where a goddess of fate awaits. Only when he has finished his journey and collected five elusive gemstones will he possess the Demon's Bane--the key that will unlock the future.Charity, bravery, faith, grace and the power of darkness and light: these are the provinces of each gemstone. Brought together, they have the immeasurable power to bring Wataru's family back together again."

The Battle Sylph by L. J. McDonald
 
First Sentence: "They brought the sacrifice in before dawn, while the streets were mostly empty and the roads still dark."
From Amazon.com: "Solie finds herself kidnapped as bait for a dangerous Battle Sylph named Heyou, but she fights back and takes control of him, an immensely powerful shapeshifter. Solie & Heyou flee death to seek sanctuary, and Heyou begins to fill Solie with desires that threaten to change the world. "

Web of Lies (Elemental Assasin, Book 2) by Jennifer Estep
 
First Sentence: "Freeze! Nobody move!  This is a robbery!"
From Amazon.com: "Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.  I'm Gin Blanco.  You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive."

Hero by Mike Lupa
 
First Sentence: "There were four thugs, total gangsters, in front of the house with their rifles and their night-vision goggles."
From Amazon.com: "Fourteen-year-old Zach Harriman can feel the changes. The sharpening of his senses. The incredible strength. The speed, as though he can text message himself across miles. The confidence and the strange need to patrol Central Park at night. His dad had been a hero, a savior to America and a confidante of the president. Then he died, and the changes began in Zach. What Zach never knew was that his father was no ordinary man--he was a superhero, battling the world's evil. This is a battle that has been waged for generations and that knows no boundaries.

And now it's Zach's turn to take on the fight. It's Zach's turn to become a hero."


Pegasus by Robin McKinley
 
First Sentence: "Because she was a princess she had a pegasus."
From Amazon.com: "A gorgeously written fantasy about the friendship between a princess and her Pegasus.

Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pagasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own Pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.

But its different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close-so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo-and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.

New York Times bestselling Robin McKinley weaves an unforgettable tale of unbreakable friendship, mythical creatures and courtly drama destined to become a classic."


The Discovery of Socket Greeny by Tony Bertauski
 
First Sentence: "Chute was reclined with her eyes closed and the transplanter discs behind her ears."
From Amazon.com: "The Discovery of Socket Greeny is the first book in a young-adult scifi trilogy that explores love, angst and Zen-like acceptance of true nature in kick ass fashion. Reluctant readers, especially boys, will find this story compelling, enlightening, entertaining, and, yes, even emotional. Work has always come first for 16-year old Socket Greeny's mother, especially since his father died. But when she shows him the inner workings of the Paladin Agency, he discovers why it's so important. It's an underground world of technological wonder including bat-like grimmets, spherical servy-mechs and humanoid butlers with brightly lit faceplates. They traverse the planet through wormholes to keep the world safe, but from what, they won't say. Although his mother is not actually a Paladin, and neither was his father, both have worked for them for most their lives. Socket, however, is different than his parents. He somehow is a Paladin and soon finds himself in the center of controversy and betrayal when he's anointed the agency's prodigy. He didn't ask for the "blessing" of psychic powers and the ability to timeslice and he doesn't want to be responsible for the world. He just wants to go home and back to school and be normal again. But, sometimes, life doesn't give us that privilege, his mother tells him. And when the world is soon threatened and the Paladins are forced into the public eye, Socket discovers what his mother means. If he doesn't embrace his true nature, life as we know it will change forever."

eBook:
Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner
 
First Sentence: "Grocery stores always give me a bag when I don't need one, when I've bought just a pack of gum or a banana or some potato chips that are in a bag already, and then I feel guilty about their wasting the plastic, but the bag is on before I've noticed them reaching for it so I don't say anything."
From Amazon.com: "Teen Genius (and Hermit) Carrie Pilby's To-Do List:
1. List 10 things you love (and DO THEM!)
2. Join a club (and TALK TO PEOPLE!)
3. Go on a date (with someone you actually LIKE!)
4. Tell someone you care (your therapist DOESN'T COUNT!)
5. Celebrate New Year's (with OTHER PEOPLE!)
Seriously? Carrie would rather stay in bed than deal with the immoral, sex-obsessed hypocrites who seem to overrun her hometown, New York City. She's sick of trying to be like everybody else. She isn't! But when her own therapist gives her a five-point plan to change her social-outcast status, Carrie takes a hard look at herself—and agrees to try.
Suddenly the world doesn't seem so bad. But is prodigy Carrie really going to dumb things down just to fit in"

From Library:
Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
 
First Sentence: "Artemis was once an Irish boy who longed to know everything there was to know, so he read book after book until his brain swelled with astronomy, calculus, quantum physics, romantic poets, forensic science, and anthropology, among a hundred other subjects."
From Amazon.com: "
Artemis has committed his entire fortune to a project he believes will save the planet and its inhabitants, both human and fairy. Can it be true? Has goodness taken hold of the world’s greatest teenage criminal mastermind?

Captain Holly Short is unconvinced, and discovers that Artemis is suffering from Atlantis Complex, a psychosis common among guilt-ridden fairies - not humans - and most likely triggered by Artemis’s dabbling with fairy magic. Symptoms include obsessive-compulsive behavior, paranoia, multiple personality disorder and, in extreme cases, embarrassing professions of love to a certain feisty LEPrecon fairy.

Unfortunately, Atlantis Complex has struck at the worst possible time. A deadly foe from Holly’s past is intent on destroying the actual city of Atlantis. Can Artemis escape the confines of his mind – and the grips of a giant squid – in time to save the underwater metropolis and its fairy inhabitants?"

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson
 
First Sentence: "I only want to go out for a little, little while," the faery child pleaded.
From Amazon.com: "

Forget everything you think you know about faeries. . . .
Creatures full of magic and whimsy?
Not in the Oakenwyld. Not anymore.

Deep inside the great Oak lies a dying faery realm, bursting with secrets instead of magic. Long ago the faeries mysteriously lost their magic. Robbed of their powers, they have become selfish and dull-witted. Now their numbers are dwindling and their very survival is at stake.
Only one young faery—Knife—is determined to find out where her people's magic has gone and try to get it back. Unlike her sisters, Knife is fierce and independent. She's not afraid of anything—not the vicious crows, the strict Faery Queen, or the fascinating humans living nearby. But when Knife disobeys the Faery Queen and befriends a human named Paul, her quest becomes more dangerous than she realizes. Can Knife trust Paul to help, or has she brought the faeries even closer to the brink of destruction?
Talented newcomer R. J. Anderson creates an extraordinary new fantasy world and weaves a gripping tale of lost magic, high adventure, and surprising friendship in which the fate of an entire realm rests on the shoulders of one brave faery rebel."