(Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews, which is all about sharing the books that you’ve acquired in the past week – ebooks or physical books, and books you’ve bought or borrowed or received an ARC of.)

 

It’s been quite a long while since I last took part in this meme but it’s a new year now and I want to get back to joining in.

This week I’ve bought some new books:

I know I really don’t need anymore books after my amazing Christmas book haul but I couldn’t resist a quick look at the 12 Days of Kindle sale on Amazon earlier this week. I did discover a few books that were on my wishlist so I bought those but I managed to resist any other impulse buys.

 

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

I’ve had this book on my wishlist for a while and am really looking forward to reading it now I own it. Also, isn’t it a gorgeous cover?

Synopsis:

Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, ‘Sensei’, in a bar. He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass – from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms – Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love. Perfectly constructed, funny, and moving, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.

Speak by Lousia Hall

This book has been on my wishlist ever since I first heard about it. It’s not really a genre that I read but the concept has me very intrigued and I can’t wait to read it.

Synopsis:

She cannot run. She cannot walk. She cannot even blink. As her batteries run down for the final time, all she can do is speak. Will you listen?

From a pilgrim girl’s diary, to a traumatised child talking to a software program; from Alan Turing’s conviction in the 1950s, to a genius imprisoned in 2040 for creating illegally lifelike dolls: all these lives have shaped and changed a single artificial intelligence – MARY3. In Speak she tells you their story, and her own. It is the last story she will ever tell, spoken both in celebration and in warning.

When machines learn to speak, who decides what it means to be human?

One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore

I’ve never read anything by this author but his name always jumps out at me whenever I see his books (his brother is a doctor who treated my mum). The synopsis of this book drew me to it and I’ve been wanting to read it for a while. 

Synopsis:

If your children were forced to testify against you, what terrible secrets would they reveal?

Moscow 1945. As Stalin and his courtiers celebrate victory over Hitler, shots ring out. On a nearby bridge, a teenage boy and girl lie dead.

But this is no ordinary tragedy and these are no ordinary teenagers, but the children of Russia’s most important leaders who attend the most exclusive school in Moscow.

Is it murder? A suicide pact? Or a conspiracy against the state?

Directed by Stalin himself, an investigation begins as children are arrested and forced to testify against their friends – and their parents. This terrifying witch-hunt soon unveils illicit love affairs and family secrets in a hidden world where the smallest mistakes will be punished with death.

The Lost Swimmer by Ann Turner

The synopsis of the book just makes me want to read it as soon as possible. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to read it in the coming months.

Synopsis:

Sometimes a marriage can be a lonely place …

Rebecca Wilding, an archaeology professor, traces the past for a living. But suddenly, truth and certainty are turning against her. Rebecca is accused of serious fraud, and worse, she suspects – she knows – that her husband, Stephen, is having an affair.

Desperate to find answers, Rebecca leaves with Stephen for Greece, Italy and Paris, where she can uncover the conspiracy against her, and hopefully win Stephen back to her side, where he belongs. There’s too much at stake – her love, her work, her family.

But on the idyllic Amalfi Coast, Stephen goes swimming and doesn’t come back.

In a swirling daze of panic and fear, Rebecca is dealt with fresh allegations. And with time against her, she must uncover the dark secrets that stand between her and Stephen, and the deceit that has chased her halfway around the world.

4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie

I read every Agatha Christie novel that I could get my hands on when I was a very young teenager and I adored them. I’d never read one as an adult until Christmas when I picked up a Christmas Poirot novel and I loved it. I then went on to read And Then There Were None, which I’d somehow never read before, and I loved that too. So, I couldn’t resist picking this one up in the Kindle sale – I’m sure I’ve read this one before but it’s so long ago that I can’t remember whodunnit so I’m sure I’ll enjoy reading it and finding out!

Synopsis:

Agatha Christie’s audacious mystery thriller, reissued with a striking cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away.

But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses… and no corpse.

 

Books I received for review:

 

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engels

I’ve been so excited about this book ever since I first heard about it on social media towards the end of last year. So when a book-shaped parcel arrived in the post yesterday and I opened it to discover a surprise copy of this in it, you can imagine how thrilled I was! I actually squealed (which my husband found very amusing)! I’ll be starting this book very, very soon and I can hardly wait! *Squee!*

Synopsis:

Beautiful. Rich. Mysterious.

The Roanoke girls seem to have it all. But there’s a dark truth about them which is never spoken. Every girl either runs away, or dies.

Lane is one of the lucky ones. When she was fifteen, over one long, hot summer at her grandparents’ estate in rural Kansas, she found out what it really means to be a Roanoke girl. Lane ran, far and fast. Until eleven years later, when her cousin Allegra goes missing – and Lane has no choice but to go back.

She is a Roanoke girl.

Is she strong enough to escape a second time?

 

---

 

So, that’s all of my new books from the past week. Have you bought any new books recently? Tell me all in the comments below, or if you have a stacking the shelves post on your blog feel free to post the link below too.

My weekly wrap up post will be on my blog tomorrow so please look out for that.