In My Mailbox 44

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. If you want more information check out their blogs. All summaries are from the book jackets.

For review:
Beautiful Creatures - Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia

In Ethan Wate’s hometown there lies the darkest of secrets…
There is a girl.

Slowly, she pulled the hood from her head…green eyes, black hair.
Lena Duchannes

There is a curse.
On the sixteenth moon, of the sixteenth year, the Book will take what it’s been promised.
And no one can stop it.

In the end, there is a grave.

Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and, on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided.
Ethan never even saw it coming.

!!! I don’t even really have to say anything, do I?

Bought:

Fade Out: The Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedom, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again…

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve’s cast mates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realise that this film project, featuring the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger - and way more dangerous - than anyone suspected…

It’s no secret that I love this series so when this was delivered on Tuesday, over two weeks before it’s publication date, I remembered why I love Amazon UK pre-orders so much.

Splendour: A Luxe Novel - Anna Godbersen

New York City, 1900

While the once revered Holland family recovers from scandal, the spirited Miss Diana Holland is seeking adventure abroad. But then a surprising clue about her father’s death is revealed and everything is thrown into question.

Meanwhile, the delectable Henry Schoonmaker has also left the city and bravely gone to war while his wife relishes her role as Manhattan royalty - until a real prince pays a visit and turns her fickle head.

As New York’s most dazzling stars chase dreams, cling to promises and tempt fate, society wonders: at exactly what price does a life of splendour come?

Another reason why I love pre-orders. I’m so excited the read this!

For Christmas:

Succubus Blues - Richelle Mead

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.
Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything for just a touch. Granted, they can often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid’s life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

I love the Vampire Academy series so I’m really looking forward to starting her adult books.

How to Make a Tornado - New Scientist

Who on earth would:
- Burn off their beard with a laser?
- Produce a fireproof umbrella that doubles as a parachute?
- Use ‘glow-in-the-dark’ toothpaste - to reflect the headlights of oncoming cars?
- Celebrate Mozart’s bicentenary by inventing a musical bra?
- Replace police sniffer dogs with gerbils?

Drawn from the archives of New Scientist magazine, How to Make a Tornado is about the weird and wonderful margins of science - not the well-trodden routes of research, but its outrageous, outlandish and just occasionally brilliant by-ways. This extraordinary collection of scientific endeavour is a brilliant reminder that even as its most misguided, science is insanely creative, often hilarious, and can fire the imagination like nothing else.

More Heath Robinson that Albert Einstein, this astonishing collection follows the previous New Scientist bestsellers.

My mum gets me the new New Scientist every Christmas because they are really good fun and, well, I’m a nerd!

Can Reindeer Fly? The Science of Christmas - Roger Highfield

What are the thermodynamics involved in cooking turkey? Is the concept of a virgin birth scientifically feasible? How does snow form? How does Santa manage to deliver all those presents in one night? (He has, in fact, little over two ten-thousandths of a second to get between each of the 842 million households he must visit.)

Fully revised and updated, Can Reindeer Fly? is a hilarious romp through the science of Christmas. Highlights include information on teleporting Santa, gravy science, the healthy aspects of eating chocolate and the latest research on a cure for hangovers…

Another sign of my nerdiness…

Sophie