Stacking the Shelves/Letterbox Love

To try and reach more people and find new blogs, I'm now doing Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga) as well as continuing Letterbox Love (hosted by Kirsty).

I only got two books this week, but they are both awesome. I was lucky enough to get to go to the tour stop for Maureen Johnson & Stephanie Perkins last night, and it was absolutely hilarious! I'll put up a post about it tomorrow, with pictures, which trust me you're going to want to see. It was just so funny!

So I picked up a copy of Steph's "Anna and the French Kiss", as well as Maureen's new book, the one she's touring for, "The Madness Underneath". I loved the first book in the series, and I had a sneaky read of the first couple of chapters while we were waiting for them to arrive.

Pretty books!

I have no idea what this says after my name.

Aww, this is cute :)

It's been a quiet week on the blog because I've had college midterms and papers to deal with, but things will be better next week! 

Remember to check out my 200 followers giveaway, too, which is open internationally! Click here to enter

Leave your links in the comments, and I'll check out your StS/Letterbox Love posts :)

~Ailsa

Feature & Follow

Welcome to this week's Feature & Follow post! FF is hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. If you're stopping by from the hop for the first time, please take a look around, and feel free to follow on GFC or by email. It's been a quiet week because I haven't had reading time, but next week we should be back on track with reviews being posted during the week.

Any followers should also check out the 200 Followers Giveaway, which is open through March 16.

~Ailsa

Where are all the reviews?

I just wanted to let you all know that reviews will be back very soon - I have midterms and papers due this week and next, so I just haven't had any reading time recently. After next week we get in to spring break though, and I have a whole bunch of books that I'm almost finished reading that I want to talk about here. So, hang tight, there will still be Feature & Follow tomorrow, and a Letterbox Love/Stacking the Shelves post over the weekend and next week, and the reviews will be back very soon!

~Ailsa

200 followers giveaway!

Something cool happened last week, bookworms - we passed 200 followers! To celebrate, I'm doing a little giveaway!

One winner (open internationally) can choose their preference of one of the following books:

    

(Links to goodreads summaries)
Nightshifted, by Cassie Alexander
Timeless, by Gail Carriger
Sins of the Angels, by Linda Poitevin
Unholy Magic, by Stacia Kane
Barefoot in the Rain, by Roxanne St Claire

To enter, just leave a comment saying which book you would choose and why. I'll pick a winner using random.org.

Rules:

• Open to followers only - you can follow by GFC or email.
• Closing date is March 17, winner will be announced on the blog on March 18.
• YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS - winner will be announced here on the blog.
• Winner will have 1 week to contact me, then I will pick someone else.

~Ailsa

Stacking The Shelves/Letterbox Love

  

In an attempt to discover some new blogs, I'm now doing both Letterbox Love and Tynga's Stacking The Shelves. These are both ways of sharing the books you received during the week, whether bought, borrowed from the library, or sent for review. It's a great way to see what books are out there!

This week I only have one book to talk about, which is good because uni work has stopped me having much reading time recently :( I did get:

Temping Is Hell, by Cathy Yardley.
Goodreads description:
WORST. JOB. EVER.
Kate O'Hara can't wait until this temp assignment is over. The woman who hired her is a psychotic pageant queen, her coworkers are convicts-turned-clerks, and it's so boringly corporate it makes her skin crawl. Even her sexy-as-sin boss, famed billionaire Thomas Kestrel, isn't enticement enough to keep her there. Once she makes enough to pay off her bills, she's out. Or so she thinks...
WHAT THE HELL?
Next thing she knows, she's accidentally signed over her soul. Literally. And she's discovered Thomas's real mission: to kill thirteen bad guys in one year, in order to get his—now his and Kate’s—souls back.
IT'S NOT JUST A JOB. IT'S A MISADVENTURE.
From learning to boost the morale of some paper-pushing demons to navigating her way through blood-red tape, Kate has to work closely with her super-hot supervisor and get her flaky act together, before somebody clocks her out—permanently! 

This sounds like fun, and I'm hoping to get to reading it soon :)

What about you? What books did you get this week? If you leave a link in the comments, I'll check out your post!

~Ailsa

Feature & Follow

Hi, welcome to this week's 'Feature & Follow' post! F&F is hosted by Parjunkee & Alison Can Read.

The question today was, What are some books you have given to others recently? 
For Christmas I gave my Dad a fantasy novel, but I've forgotten the title! He was the one who got me interested in fantasy, and it was a book I'm planning to borrow from him sometime! One of my friends back home just turned 18, and I sent her a couple of books - Soulless, by Gail Carriger, and Rosemary & Rue, by Seanan McGuire, two great books which I think start great series. 

If you've stopped by from one of the sites, welcome to the blog! We review a mix of genres, but lean towards varieties of fantasy and romance. Leave me a link to your blog and I'll come & visit :)

~Ailsa

Review: The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle

Title: The Alchemist of Souls (Night's Masque #1)
Author: Anne Lyle
Publisher: Angry Robot
Publication date: April 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Source: won (from Book Chick City)

Description: When Tudor explorers returned from the New World, they brought back a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend: skraylings. Red-sailed ships followed in the explorers’ wake, bringing Native American goods – and a skrayling ambassador – to London. But what do these seemingly magical beings really want in Elizabeth I’s capital?
Mal Catlyn, a down-at-heel swordsman, is seconded to the ambassador’s bodyguard, but assassination attempts are the least of his problems. What he learns about the skraylings and their unholy powers could cost England her new ally – and Mal Catlyn his soul.

My thoughts: I won & read this book over the summer, and loved it a lot. I noticed it on a shelf in a local bookstore today, and realised I never reviewed it. Anne Lyle's 'The Alchemist of Souls' is a rich alternate history set in Tudor London. These strange creatures, skraylings, live in an encampment in London somewhat separated from the rest of the population. Many people are afraid of them, and sometimes they are hunted. Through an unfortunate series of circumstances, Mal becomes bodyguard to the skrayling ambassador. Also involved is Coby, a girl disguising herself as a boy so she can work with a theatre troupe, and becomes tangled with Mal when he asks her to teach him about the skrayling customs she's familiar with.

This is a proper fantasy novel with the stories of a variety of characters intersecting and tangling with each other. I really enjoyed reading about the various threads coming together. I also like how Ms Lyle incorporated the Catholic vs Protestant conflict into the story alongside the politics with the skraylings. There were so many interesting bits that it's hard to describe the story much more without giving away bits that are much more fun to find out by yourself. It got me back into reading epic fantasy, which I'd had a bit of a break from, and I loved the intricacies of the plot and the world building. There were one or two scenes that I had to scan over because they were a little icky, a little too graphic for me, but I don't think they were unnecessary - they were important to get across the strong emotions of the characters who witnessed/experienced those things.

An intricate story of political intrigue in an alternate Tudor London, Anne Lyle's "The Alchemist Of Souls" is an engaging fantasy novel. I give it 8 stars.

~Ailsa