In My Mailbox #3

In My Mailbox is a book meme hosted by The Story Siren. Click here to read more and participate!

I think this will stay put as my last IMM post for a short while, now. No doubt I can walk back into the store or click around online, but I just shook off the effects of a disordered bookshelf again. It’s a frustrating thing, not knowing where to place which book without creating messy stacks that mingle with disorganized school and general paperwork. Last weekend I managed to clean the entire place, and it feels rejuvenating to live in organized space.

My bookshelves and mind alike have once again found sanity. (Or rather: While the above is true, this is mostly what I say to make myself feel less compulsive, because finances dwindle quickly when splurges occur…? Oops.)

So what happiness did I buy this time?

• Monster of Men (Chaos Walking #3) by Patrick Ness
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Finally, Monster of Men came in! I originally planned to buy this whenever the moment comes where I begin the series, but I enjoy complete sets nonetheless. The first time I tried to read this series also happens to be my last attempt, but I don’t intend to keep it that way. Detractors included school and a dead brain, and if memory serves correctly, I accomplished a skim-reading of two entire pages. In any case, the Ness-hype and compliment-pool were enough to persuade me into buying all three Chaos Walking books. (I want to consume them all like I do with Dashner’s Maze Runner series. Right now.)

I can’t begin to try and remember the number of times Laini Taylor’s book has been recommended to me, but every time I see it reviewed or added to another’s TBR list — aha! I remember that Daughter of Smoke & Bone is sitting on my list and it wants to be read. I’ve tossed a coin between this and Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star for months, and now we all know which I decided to grab. All it took to convince me was spotting Rachel Hartman’s four-star rating on GoodReads. In the end, that is what helped me choose. It ended the never-ending coin toss. Why? Because I have carefully placed Rachel Hartman on a pedestal that can only level with gods, and I trust her ratings.

And, really, I think I made the right choice. Of course, I can’t know until I read Taylor’s book, but I must say: I made a quick stop to the library on Friday just to pick up The Name of the Star, and I feel relief that didn’t buy it. Just maybe, I might reach for the sequel, but Johnson’s writing didn’t live up to my hopeful expectations. That said, I sincerely hope to enjoy Daughter of Smoke & Bone.

• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

(I thought bookstores might already be out of the hardback cover, as I haven’t seen it for several weeks. Of course, I see the hardback edition once again the day after I bought the paperback. It’s all right; I like this cover as well, but I have a thing for pretty hardbacks.)

Yes, I bought my own copy of Sepetys’ book (which I still thrust at people as a must-read), but what is that sticking out of the pages?

A very sweet and thoughtful letter arrived this week from Savindi (The Streetlight Reader), and she included The Unfailing Light (Katerina #2)   sticker! I’m certain her letter arrived before I started The Gathering Storm, but I had no idea a sticker was in there. (The backing camouflaged extremely well to the white envelope. That, and my eyesight is very poor.) So: A thank you to Savindi! She is the nicest blogger you can meet and a great person to know. The fact that she also has lots of great recommendations does nothing but add to her awesome quality.

Although I took a short break to plow through Maureen’s book in roughly a day, I’m returning to where I left in The Gathering Storm, as well as a few other books I said I’d read…

In the mean time: I take this opportunity to recommend (yet again) Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. This book had me hooked and sniffling well into early-morning hours. Hours which birds begin to chirp and sun rays invade my bedroom through window blinds. Hours which normal people are just waking up and not going to sleep. This book is an addicting tear-jerker, and I hope you all give it a chance.

Bis später!