In My Mailbox (34)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

OS order that arrived this week: Teach Me (for a reread, I adore this book) and Breathe My Name by R. A. Nelson. Nelson is becoming one of those gotta-read-everything-he's-ever-done authors. Plus Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, some newish fantasy that I'm dying to get stuck into. Couldn't resist the pretty American hardback edition.



Happy Caturday!

Waiting on Wednesday: Throat, R. A. Nelson

One of my favourite reads last year was Teach Me by R. A. Nelson. He has a paranormal offering, Days of Little Texas, featuring a ghost which has been in my TBR for too long. I was thrilled to discover that his next novel is paranormal too and features vampires, the aptly named Throat.


From Goodreads:

R. A. Nelson takes us on a supernatural thrill ride, a modern-day vampire story set on a NASA base and filled with space-and-science intrigue. Seventeen-year-old Emma feels cursed by her epilepsy—until the lost night. She's shocked to wake up in the hospital one morning, weak from blood loss. When her memories begin to return, she pieces together that it was a man—a monster—who attacked her: a vampire named Wirtz. And it was her very condition that saved her: a grand mal seizure interrupted Wirtz and left Emma with all the amazing powers of a vampire—heightened senses, rapid speed—but no need to drink blood. Is Emma now a half-vampire girl? One thing soon becomes clear: the vampire Wirtz is fierce and merciless, feared even by his own kind, and won't leave a job undone.

A vampire novel set on a NASA base with space and science! This isn't going to be your typical vampire novel, methinks. Being a psych major I'm also intrigued about how the seizures are going to feature. Throat is available in the US January 25, 2011.

Review: Teach Me by R. A. Nelson

Carolina "Nine" Livingstone, an apt name for the daughter of a physicist, takes a poetry unit for her last semester of high school thinking it will give her a broader scope on life. It does that all right. For while Nine has plenty of smarts, she's not so accomplished when it comes to relationships. Nine falls for the new poetry teacher hard and fast, and it isn't long until Mr Mann begins to respond to Nine's hankering to be taught.

What surprised me when I picked this book up from the library shelf was the number of glowing reviews it received in its year of publication (2005), not only from bloggers and authors, but from librarians. With its provocative title and subject matter, I expected titillation from Teach Me, perhaps even smut. But how smutty can a book be if the Iowa City School District gives it the Best Young Adult Literature Award?

The writing in Teach Me is exquisite. Incomparable. Utterly original. I'm finding it hard to write anything but platitudes right now. The writing is razor-sharp but never miserly; stuffed full of science and historical anecdotes but never tedious; emotional but never, ever cliched; extreme but never cringe-worthy.

I think my emotional response to this book can be best summed-up by Nine herself:

There is not a name for what I'm feeling. There is no description for it. To call it yearning would be like calling the ocean water. Whatever this thing is, it shoves you inside itself and you can't measure its boundaries because they go too far and you don't have enough time. Or you move toward the boundaries and they move away. There has been an earthquake in my life. Catastrophic, civilization-ending.

This book is shocking, haunting, erotic, beautiful. It will make your throat ache with its sheer perfection.

My Library Haul

We're twelve days into winter and Melbourne is officially colder than a witch's titty. To get myself through the next four freezing wet days (I love you part-time work, let's elope before my bf gets home) I picked up the most awesome haul of books at two of my libraries. (I'm a member of three separate library services, and considering a fourth. One is not enough.)

Expect reviews of the following over the next week. Now follow me and try not to drool...


I've heard good things about this Frankie Banks. I have no idea what it's about. Love the cover.


From 1983. I've heard the movie is awesome. Hope this is too.


THIS book, The Death of Grass from 1956, is tipped to be one of the best post-apocalyptic books of all time. It's just been re-released and I managed to snare it first at my lib. I'm nearly wetting my pants with excitement.


I haven't read enough pupil-and-teacher-have-affair books. I just haven't.


This is speculative/dystopian I believe. Don't know about the cover. Excessively girlie with barbed wire. Hmmm.


Larbalestier is an Aussie and she's all over the web--two decent reasons for reading her books. I really don't fancy the look of How to Ditch Your Fairy, but this magic trilogy looks promising.

So whaddya think? What fabulous books will you be filling your weekend with?

I'm putting the finishing touches on a post exploring the relationship between Humbert Humbert and Lolita so look out for it later this weekend.