Weekly Highlights: the 'Christmas' edition

Weekly Highlights is a feature borrowed from Faye of A Daydreamer's Thoughts, where I get to highlight my posts of the week, show you my new books and talk about bookish things! 

I might have unexpectedly taken the week off, because it's Christmas and I couldn't be bothered to write! But I'm returning next week but until then, here's my haul from Christmas - surprisingly I got quite a few books considering my family doesn't buy them for me anymore because "you've got too many". Pfft!

Currently Reading

Imposter by Susanne Winnacker - my first book for 2014! Very intriguing so far, all drama and super powers.

On My Bookshelf, or Under The Tree

Tales from the Dead of Night
From a beautiful antique that gives its owner a show he'd rather forget, to 'ghost detective' whose exorcism goes horribly wrong and a sinister masked ball which seems to have one too many guests, these classic tales of supernatural terror are guaranteed to make you shiver, thrill and look under the bed tonight. From rural England to colonial India, in murky haunted mansions and under modern electric lighting, these master storytellers - some of the best writers in the English language - unfold spinetinglers which pull back the veil of everyday life to reveal the nightmares which lurk just out of sight. They are lessons in ingenuity and surprise, sometimes building slowly to a chilling climax, sometimes springing horror on you from the utterly banal. And as you'd expect from these writers, the stories are more than simply frightening - they're also disquieting exposures of mortality, loneliness and the human capacity for both evil and remorse.We wish you pleasant dreams.

A beautiful hardback from my bestie Sarah.

Dracula and Other Horror Stories by Bram Stoker


Dracula and Other Horror Classics collects the most memorable tales of horror by Bram Stoker. In addition to Dracula--the landmark vampire novel that set the pattern for virtually all vampire fiction written after its publication in 1897--this omnibus collects the novels The Jewel of Seven Stars and The Lair of the White Worm. In also includes a dozen of Stoker's short tales of the macabre, including "Dracula's Guest," a sidebar to his famous novel.

I've already got a copy of Dracula, but it is such a great book and my boyfriend knows me so well, that he knows I just love the cover! I can't wait to curl up and read the other stories.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

I also got A Spot of Bother and The Red House, in matching covers, because my boyfriend is the best!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Soulmates by Holly Bourne

Every so often, two people are born who are the perfect matches for each other. Soulmates. But while the odds of this happening are about as likely as being struck by lightning, when these people do meet and fall in love…thunderstorms, lightning strikes and lashings of rain are only the beginning of their problems.

Enter Poppy, the 17-year-old cynic with a serious addiction to banana milk, and Noah, the heart-throb guitarist; residents of mediocre Middletown, sometime students, and…soulmates. 

After a chance meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. But with a secret international agency preparing to separate them, a trail of destruction rumbling in their wake, (and a looming psychology coursework deadline), they are left with an impossible choice between the end of the world, or a life without love…

These two are from my Blogger Secret Santa, which happened to be best friend Sophie. She knows me too well, plus I think she just really wants me to read The Infernal Devices! Thank you Sophie!