Letterbox Love [3]

Letterbox Love is hosted by Lynsey at Narratively Speaking. Letterbox Love is intended for us Brits with a focus on the books that are coming though our letterboxes.

Bought:

Yoluma and the King by James Norton

The story of Yoluma, a boy who chooses to take part in his village’s annual competition to make a special lantern for the King.

The challenge enables him to forge a mysterious unbreakable bond with the Lantern, another boy tries to copy his Lantern but which one will the village elders choose?

Told as a traditional fable the book takes the reader on a journey of self discovery and the beauty of honestly creating something new with integrity.

I was at the book shop yesterday and this one was sitting on the counter, and I immediately fell in love with the artwork, I’ve read it already and it was well worth picking up.

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

In this exhilarating companion to Printz Award winner and National Book Award finalist Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi brilliantly captures a dark future America that has devolved into unending civil wars, driven by demagogues who recruit children to become soulless killing machines.

Two refugees of these wars, Mahlia and Mouse, are known as ‘war maggots’: survivors who have barely managed to escape the unspeakable violence plaguing the war-torn lands of the Drowned Cities. But their fragile safety is threatened when they discover a wounded half-man–a bioengineered war beast named Tool, who is hunted by a vengeful band of soldiers.

When tragedy strikes, Mahlia is faced with an impossible decision: risk everything to save the boy who once saved her, or flee to her own safety. Drawing upon the brutal truths of current events, The Drowned Cities is a powerful story of loyalty, survival, and heart-pounding adventure.

Ship Breaker was one of my favourite books, back in 2010, and been looking forward to this sequel ever since.

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine

When Miko moves temporarily to live and study in New York she leaves behind Ben, a confused, obsessive, 30-year-old theatre manager who finds himself desperately trying to answer the big questions. But aided only by his promiscuous friend Alice, and spending increasing time with his new employee Autumn, things only seem to get more confusing.

Does he know what he wants? Is he everything Miko accuses him of? Should he follow her to New York?

A painful, charming and stunningly illustrated look at the realities of modern relationships, “Shortcomings” is one of the most brilliantly subtle, witty and moving graphic novels around.

Always one to enjoy a great looking graphic novel, I picked this one yesterday as well.

Jamilia by Chingiz Aïtmatov

Jamilia’s husband is off fighting at the front. She spends her days hauling sacks of grain from the threshing floor to the train station in their small village in the Caucasus, accompanied by Seit, her young brother-in-law, and Daniyar, a sullen newcomer to the village who has been wounded on the battlefield.

Seit observes the beautiful, spirited Jamilia spurn men’s advances, and wince at the dispassionate letters she receives from her husband. Meanwhile, undeterred by Jamilia’s teasing, Daniyar sings as they return each evening from the fields.

Soon Jamilia is in love, and she and Daniyar elope just as her husband returns.

I’ve bought this one last week, and have read and reviewed this already.

The Apartment by Greg Baxter

‘She was always in many places at once, invested deeply in a hundred different notions, and of all the things I liked about Saskia that was the thing I liked most’.

One snowy morning in an old European capital, a man wakes in a hotel room. A young local woman he has befriended calls to the hotel, and the two of them head out into the snow to find the man an apartment to rent.

Greg Baxter’s astonishing first novel tells the story of these two people on this day – and the old stories that brought them to where they are. Its magically subtle and intense narrative takes them across the frozen city and into the past that the man is hoping to escape, and leaves them at the doorstep of an uncertain future.

“The Apartment” is a book about war, the relationship between America and the rest of the world, and the brittle foundations of Western culture; but above all it is a book about the mysteries and alchemies of friendship – truthful, moving and brilliant.

Another one I bought last week, and another book I’ve read already. I really enjoyed it. Look out for a review this week.

Review

The Bad Tuesdays: The Spiral Horizon by Benjamin J Myers

The time when the twelve suns become one is drawing closer and it could mark the end of all things. Only Chess Tuesday can prevent destruction – or make it happen.

She has a choice to make, but there are powerful forces trying to influence her decision and Chess isn’t sure who the enemy is any more. Is it Splinter, who betrayed her, and who is now falling for ever through time and space? Or could he hold the key to everyone’s salvation?

I’d heard so many good things about The Bad Tuesday series, so when I was asked if Benjamin J Myers could stop by with a guest post I jumped at the chance. Orion also sent me this one for review.

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite.

Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures–if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live. All Mallory knows of The City is that her father–and every other witch there–fled it for a life in exile in the human world.

Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it’s only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable.

While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.

Many thanks to HarperCollins for sending this to me for review.

Invisible Fiends: The Darkest Corners by Barry Hutchison

Kyle is a bit of a problem child.

He won’t do what his dad tells him.

But that’s because his dad wants Kyle to unleash the scuttling, screaming, killer creatures of the Darkest Corners and bring about the end of the world.

Now might be a good time to rebel…

I can’t wait to start this conclusion to the brilliant Invisible Fiends series. Thanks to HarperCollins for sending me a copy.