In My Mailbox (26)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

Quite a haul for me this week! The titles I ordered online haven't arrived yet, but some unexpected review books did. And, I got presents! (Yes, my birthday is approaching, and no, I don't want to talk about it. Let's just pretend it's normal to get random presents and be done with it.)

For review:

Nearly Departed - Rook Hastings

From book cover: Woodsville is not like other towns. Night falls a little earlier there, the shadows are darker and denser, and everyone knows it's a place where strange things happen. Even if they won't admit it.

Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but here. Jay has his theories, but isn't ready to share. Hashim sees more than he'll say, while Kelly's demons are all too flesh and blood. But Emily's freak-out brings them out of denial and face to face with the supernatural.

Anywhere else, Friday night would be date night. But not in Weirdsville...

Sounds seriously good, right? The press release likens this one to a supernatural version of the show 'Skins' - and that would have to be amazing. Thanks to HarperCollins for sending me this one, and thanks to the awesome Jo at Once Upon A Bookcase for letting HarperCollins know about my blog in the first place.

If I Grow Up - Todd Strasser

From book cover: DeShawn lives in the Frederick Douglas Project where dropping out of school to join a gang is the norm. Gunshots ring out on a regular basis and every kid knows someone who's died.

DeShawn is smart enough not to want to join up - he knows that the cost of gang life is jail or an early death. But when some of his closest friends join and have money to buy whatever they want, while his family goes hungry, DeShawn starts to rethink his options. Could joining up be the end to all of his family's problems, even if it's just the start of his?

This one is pretty far out of my comfort zone... but then I'm finding some of my best reads are these days.

Dark Secrets: Legacy of Love and Don't Tell - Elizabeth Chandler

From book cover: In Legacy of Lies, Megan has to stay with the uptight grandmother she wants nothing to do with. She's determined to get through the visit without any drama, but when she falls into a twisted love triangle with potentially fatal consequences, Megan may be caught up in her family's legacy in more ways than she realises.

In Don't Tell, Lauren knows that by returning to the town where her mother drowned seven years ago, she'll be reliving one of her most haunting memories. When she arrives, she is propelled into a series of mysterious events that mimic the days leading up to her mother's death. Maybe her mother's drowning wasn't an accident after all... and maybe Lauren is next.

Oooh, these sound fab. Definitely some in-my-comfort-zone reading ahead!

The Diary of A Dr Who Addict - Paul Magrs

From book cover: It's the 1980s and David has just started secondary school. He's becoming a teenager, while still hanging onto the rituals of childhood, particularly his addiction to Doctor Who: sharing the books with his best friend and neighbour, Robert, and watching the TV show.

But adolescence is as strange and alien to David as anything the good Doctor encountered, so he's mystified when Robert begins to reject his hero in favour of girls, free weights and new music. Is it time for David to make a choice and move on too?

I love Doctor Who, I love the eighties, and I love books... so I'm thinking this combination will equal win.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for sending If I Grow Up, Dark Secrets and The Diary of A Dr. Who Addict. You guys rock!

Gifts:

I got presents! Behold...

Now Is The Hour - Tom Spanbauer

Summary from book cover: 1967. Rigby John Kluesener stands in the moonlight, a flower in his hair, his thumb out, trying to hitch a ride on the road to San Francisco. The story of how he came to be there - of an adolescence spent on his parents' farm in Nowheresville, Idaho, of his father's misanthopy, his mother's strict Catholocism - is utterly real and totally unforgettable.

The summary doesn't give that much away, but the cover says this one is funny and heartbreaking - which tends to be a winning combination with me.

Little Hands Clapping - Dan Rhodes

Summary from book cover: In a room above a bizarre German museum, and far from the prying eyes of strangers, lives the Old Man. Caretaker by day, by night he enjoys the sound of silence, broken only by the occasional crunch of a spider between his teeth.

Little Hands Clapping brings the Old Man together with the respectable Doctor Ernst Frohlicher, his dog Hans and a cast of grotesque and hilarous townsfolk who find themselves involved in a crime so outrageous it will shock the world.

Sounds intriguing. Who doesn't dig all things macabre? Plus, the author has dedicated this novel to 'Wife-features', which cracks me up. Good sign.

What's in your mailbox, on your doormat or in your shopping bag this week?