I have received a lot of books in the post in the last few weeks. Some of these have been delayed apparently thanks to the days of postal people striking or maybe just a backlog at my local sorting office. In general I tend to get books a day or few later than many people, I think it’s due to living in a sort of cul-de-sac at the end of another cul-de-sac, but either way sometimes I get post on time and sometimes there’s been a delay, with the worst delay being two months (though this only happened once)! 😮 Anyway, I wanted to share with you some more books I’ve received, several from various publishers and authors, some recently and others a few weeks ago but all of which I have still yet to show off on the blog and I want to get this post out before Christmas so I’m going to do a big book haul post here. This is going to be a long post as some of the books came with little extras, so let’s go! 🙂 …
The first book: A middle grade/young ya fiction
The first book is from the author himself and it’s a sequel to a children’s middle grade/younger ya book which I really enjoyed reading last year and I can’t wait to find out what happens now in this next book in the series! 😀 A huge thank you to the author for a copy of this book and the lovely bookmark that came with it. 🙂 This was published in November, which is the month of the anniversary of the great fire which burned down the Crystal Palace which was on the 30th November 1936. I’ve written a post about this devastating event last year which you can read if you like by clicking here. Why am I telling you about the Crystal Palace fire? Let’s find out by seeing what came in the post…
Here is the second book in the Crystal Palace Chronicles series! It’s a time traveling series and here you can see the amazing artwork on the front cover and matching bookmark! 🙂 Let’s take a closer look at the book…
The Crystal Palace Chronicles II: Palace of Shadows by Graham Whitlock – What can a teenage time traveller do when the past comes back to haunt him?
Joe just wants an easy life travelling back in time to hang out with his Victorian friends whenever he wants. But his family’s past keeps on catching up with him.
In a race against time to save those he loves, can Joe keep his two worlds apart? Does he even get to decide his own destiny?
A timeless adventure boasting a cast of unforgettable characters from Crystal Palace past, fusing history, mystery, fantasy and science fiction into page-turning escapism that will grip young readers and the young at heart.
And now let’s check out that bookmark too…
I just love the artwork on this, the book’s own artwork, the flames, that sphinx, it’s just brilliant and very eye-catching! 🙂 And here’s the other side of the bookmark…
In case you can’t read it it says ‘continue your journey through the maze along with the author’s website. This is makes sense if you’ve read the first book in the series as going into the maze is how Joe ends up time travelling into the past! 🙂 I can’t wait to start reading this and will be doing very soon though you can check out my review of book one right now or the post about the history of Crystal Palace, I promise it’s not boring. 🙂
The second book: A YA fiction
The second book to come in the post came in a very special wrapping, black tissue paper and a beautiful wax seal. I actually think the wax seal might be real! 😍 Here is how this came in the delivery box…
What book could it be? Let’s take a closer look at the wax seal…
This symbol is actually relevant to the book inside. Let’s see what was inside this paper…
As you can see the book is here with a bookmark that says ‘Magick is within’ and a sort of business card of the author. The card has a different image on the other side and here you can see the bookmark clearer which also has the authors handle and the name of the first book of the series for which this is the sequel…
The card says ‘Ray Star Books’ in case you are wondering. 🙂 And now let’s take a clsoer look at the book and I have already read the first book in the series, Earthlings, and you can read my review of that by clicking here, so I’m excited for this sequel…
Dominion (Earthlings book #2) by Ray Star – Peridot has fallen, taken to the one place a magick-born does not want to end up: The Descendant’s headquarters. Alone, she must learn to embrace her magick and bond with the ancient being inside of her to break free from captivity.
With the treaty unsalvageable, the descendant’s plans hold dire consequences for all who remain loyal to humans. The odds are stacked against them and with the threat of new arrivals from overseas, Euan and the resistance have no choice other than to prepare to make a stand and fight. If Peridot can only reach them in time, she could be the saviour the resistance so desperately needs.
Elsewhere on the mainland: Vallaeartha searches in vain for her daughter, desperate to reach her before what she fears most comes to pass, if Periodot should fall into the wrong clutches and fail to control her magick, her powers could seal the fate of the earthlings world, once and for all.
As I already mentioned the wax seal had an image of a star on it in a circle, and indeed this copy of the book is signed by the author and you might notice something…
Yes the author signed it with the star symbol and this star even appears on the spine of the book…
As I said I can’t wait to read this and have already checked out the first pages and will be reading this and reviewing very soon. A huge thank you to the author and Eden Green PR for a copy of this book and remember you can read my review of the first book in the meantime if you haven’t read Earthlings yet. 🙂
Books from Barrington Stoke: Children’s and young adult fiction
Now here are two books from publisher Barrington Stoke, a publisher which specialises in books for dyslexic children and teens. All of their books are made to be dyslexia friendly and I have two recent releases below. A huge thank you to Kirstin for both of these books which actually came last month but which I’ve been behind in reading and reviewing…
Carnival of the Clocks by Nick Sharratt – Heart-shaped clocks and star-shaped clocks. Clocks of every shape and size!
What’s going on?
Lessons finished long ago, so why are there lots of children still at school, and why are they all carrying…clocks?
Join the children on the shortest day of the year and find out as they march through the town in the Carnival of the Clocks!
The Knight’s Kiss by Sally Nicholls & Nadiyah Suyatna – There’s not much company for a young lady in Elinor’s fathers castle. Ellinor has her maid, Alice, and her horse, Moonlight. But Moonlight can’t talk and Alice can’t join in with Elinor’s favourite game of chess.
So when Dan comes to the castle to train as a knight, Elinor is delighted. And it’s not long before they fall in love.
But Elinor’s father has plans for her. Plans that involve a marriage. To one of her father’s oldest friends…
Can Elinor and Dan’s love survive?
Apparently The Knight’s Kiss is a re-release of a title that came out some years ago but this is the new cover and I am obsessed with anything medieval so I really wanted to read this one especially! 😀
Books from Literally PR: Children’s fiction and adult non-ficiton
And now onto the final few books I got most recently and these are from Literally PR. I would usually do a separate book haul for so many books but these came last minute and I wanted to show them off quickly as there aren’t many days until Christmas and indeed these are supposed to be for a Christmas gift guide/recommendations post which I’m trying to get done but am quite late with. First to three books for children all from the same author (and apologies that I have the two last books in the wrong order in the image…
Tammy and Willow by Gillian Young – Hannah Taylor and her border collie, Tammy, have a special bond. They have grown up together and are so close they practically know each other’s thoughts. But when Tammy suddenly falls ill and dies, Hannah is devastated and wonders how she will ever cope with life without her beloved friend.
Despite the help of her family and friends Hannah misses Tammy so much she loses interest in everything, even the famous summer fayre which occurs every year in the village.
Meanwhile Tammy is also struggling to work out what is happening. After being desperatelly ill and falling into a deep sleep, she is now feeling better than ever. But Hannah no longer seems able to see or hear her. She can do nothing to help her friend through the great sadness she seems to be experiencing.
Then a cute fluffy collie pop called Willow comes into their lives. Hannah cannot help but grow fond of this little ball of flluff. And even better this pup is no ordinary dog, she can actually see Tammy.
Poppy on Safari by Gillian Young – Poppy is a crazy cream golden retriever – greedy and a bit spoilt, but oh-so loveable! When her family head off for a fun-filled day out, Poppy unexpectedly finds herself running free in the safari park. Can she and her new friend Harley make their way out safely? And will they manage to avoid Cain, the king of the safari, who’s also on the loose?
Poppy Loves Devon by Gillian Young – Poppy the retriever returns for another Crazy Cream Adventure.
Poppy goes on holiday with her family to Devon. Miles of sandy beaches, delicious doggo ice cream and – best of all – seven days with her family all to herself. No school or work to take them away. That’s why Poppy howles: I love Devon!
Yet, this holiday is different. Poppy is big, clumsy and pampered. She loves everyone and just wants to make friends, but no one seems to want to be friends with her. Then a puppy comes to stay and things get even worse. Poppy sudden finds herself ignored and alone.
These books all sound so lovely and all feature beautiful illustrations by the author too. 🙂 And finally a non-fiction book which has an insanely long blurb but I’ll put it here anyway!…
N-4 Down by Mark Piesing – Triumphantly returning from the North Pole on May 24, 1928, the world-famous exploring airship Italia – code named N-4 – was struck by a terrible storm and crashed somewhere over the Arctic ice, triggering the largest polar rescue mission in history. Helping lead the search was Roald Amundsen, the poles’ greatest explorer who himself soon went mmissing in the frozen wastes. Amundsen’s body has never been found, the last victim of one of the Arctic’s most enduring mysteries…
During the Roaring Twenties, zepplin travel embodied the exuberant spirit of the age. Germany’s luxurious Graf Zepplin would run passenger service from Germany to Brazil; Britain’s Imperial Airship Scheme was launched to connect an empire; in America, the iconic spire of the rising Empire State Building was designated as a docking tower for airships.
But the novel mode of transport offered something else, too: a new frontier of exploration. Whereas previous Arctic and Antarctic explorers had subjected themselves to horrific – often deadly – conditions in their attempts to reach uncharted lands, airships held out the possibility of speedily souring over the hazards.
In 1926, the famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen – the first man to reach the South Pole – partnered with the Italian airship designer General Umberto Nobile to pioneer flight over the North Pole. As Mark Piesing uncovers in this masterful account, while that mision was thought of as a great success, it was in fact riddled with near disasters and political pitfalls.
In May 1928, his relationsip with Amundsen coroded beyond the point of collaboration, Nobile, his dog, and a crew of fourteen Italians, one Swede, and one Czech, set off on their own in the airship Italia to discover new lands in the arctic Circle and to bcome the first airship to land men on the pole. But near the North Pole they hit a terrible storm and crashed onto the ice. Six crew members were never seen again; the injured (including Nobile) took reguge on the ice flows, unprepared for the wretched conditions and with little hope for survival.
Coincidentally, in Oslo a gathering of famous Arctic explorers had asembled for a celebration of the first successful flight from Alaska to Norway. Hearing of the accident, Amundsen set off on his own desperate attempt to find Nobile and his men. As the weeks passed and the largest international polar rescue expedition mobilized, the survivors engaged in a last-ditch struggle against weather, polar bears, and despair. When they were spotted at last, the search plane landed – but the pilot announced that there was room for only one passanger…
Braiding together the gripping accounts of the survivors and their heroic recurers, N-4 Down tells the unforgettable true story of what happened when the glamour and restless daring of the zepping age colided with the harsh reality of earth’s extremes.
So, I know this was a very long book haul post but I wanted to get it done so there will be time to share as many reviews as possible in the remaining spaces on my blog up until Christmas. 🙂 Let me know if any of these pique your interest or what books you are looking forward to diving into in December and the New Year. 🙂
Do you like the look or sound of these books? What books are you reading this month? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
The Strawberry Post 
Gillian Young’s books sound lovely, I’m a sucker for a dog story!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They do sound good, I see they are illustrated too! 🙂 I know, it’s why I requested them as I love anything with dogs and animals too 😀
LikeLike