No More Grumpy Bookseller

New releases 1/31/12

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly

The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (pb)

Dread by Gail Z. Martin (Fallen Kings Cycle #2)

The Lost Goddess by Tom Knox

Before She Dies by Mary Burton

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux

Helpless by Daniel Palmer

Bloodline by Alan Glynn

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

Austentatious by Alyssa Goodnight

Heir of Novron by Michael J. Sullivan

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Fear Index by Robert Harris

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Obedience by Jacqueline Yallop

A Little Night Magic by Lucy March

Three Weeks in December by Audrey Schulman

Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox

A Wrinkle in Time 50th Anniversary Edition by Madeleine L'Engle

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Destiny and Deception by Shannon Delany (13 to Life #4)

The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestly

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Lenobia's Vow by PC Cast & Kristin Cast (House of Night Novella)

New on DVD:

Texas Killing Fields

Drive

Dream House

In Time

The Double

The Big Year

The Thing

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

The Starlite Drive-In by Marjorie Reynolds

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Dark Rose by Erin Kelly

2012-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

Like any other reader out there, I love it when an author wows me so much that I just have to have more. Erin Kelly's fabulous and dark debut, The Poison Tree, was one of those books. In fact, in finding the original post to link up here, I realized I even called it a WOW read. Haha. Didn't remember that.

Anywho, when I saw that Kelly's second book was releasing soon, I immediately put it on the wishlist/must buy list. I was lucky enough to get a copy for review and am taking a brief break from it to put up a pre-pub post. The Dark Rose is due out on Thursday, Feb 2, so if you like deliciously dark psychological thrillers/mysteries, mark your calendar! (And The Poison Tree is due out in paperback Tuesday, Jan 31.)

Here's the description from Kelly's website (note the UK title is The Sick Rose):

Paul has been led into a life of crime by his schoolyard protector, Daniel – but one night, what started as petty theft escalates fatally. Now, at nineteen, Paul must bear witness against his friend to avoid prison.

Louisa has her own dark secrets. Having fled from them many years ago, she now spends her days steeped in history, renovating the grounds of a crumbling Elizabethan garden. Her fragile peace is shattered when she meets Paul; he's the spitting image of the one person she never thought she'd see again.

A relationship develops between these two scarred people, and Louisa starts to believe she can again find the happiness she had given up on... but neither of them can outrun their violent pasts.

A story of secrets and guilt, The Sick Rose explores the extremes of obsessive love and loyalty, devotion and desperation.

And here's an interesting piece wherein Kelly talks about the upcoming book and some of her inspiration:

The Starlite Drive-In by Marjorie Reynolds

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

A bit of a change in reading pace, moving from high and epic fantasy to Marjorie Reynolds reissued Starlite Drive-In. It was such an easy and enjoyable read, though, that slipping out of the fantasy mindset and into Reynolds's own created world was no problem at all.

In the summer of 1956, a drifter arrived at the Starlite Drive-In. Callie Anne Benton's father manages and runs the theater, taking care of the day-to-day maintenance and obligations. But a recent injury has left him bitter and crippled. Nothing much changes in Callie Anne's daily routine. Not until Charlie Memphis arrives. The owner of the drive-in brings him in to help out, a general handyman if you will. Young Callie Anne is smitten by the stranger. And for Callie Anne's mother, who hasn't left their house for years, Charlie Memphis offers something new as well. Years later, bones are found on the grounds of the old drive-in and Callie Anne is forced to face that summer once again.

Within just a few pages, Reynolds sends readers on a trip back in time to a summer seen through the eyes of a pre-teen on the cusp of great change. It's easy to fall in love with Callie Anne. Her observations will strike a chord with readers of all ages.

I also enjoyed that fact that many of the other characters evoke mixed emotions. No one is a static, one-sided caricature of the standard good guy or bad guy. Each character has different sides to them and Reynolds does a good job of showing those through her writing.

Starlite was originally publishing in 1997 and has been recently rereleased by Harper.

Winter is here so read A Game of Thrones!

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

My reading ebbs and flows throughout the year. I've yet to find a real pattern to it, which makes it all that much more frustrating. Sometimes I can read an average book in a day. Other times, that same book will take me all week.

Historically, I've had pretty bad luck with vacation reads. At some point, I completely lost my ability to tune out what's going on around me, which means that I now get highly distracted on planes, in airports, anywhere in general. Which also means that my bag full of books usually goes untouched in spite of my best efforts.

I happen to be in a slow reading period at the moment and that coupled with the fear that I wouldn't actually read anything on my trip led me to finally, finally begin reading A Game of Thrones. Again.

It was much easier this second time around. I'd abandoned it early on back in 2005. If you've seen the show (and I highly recommend that you see it or read the book), it does follow the book very closely. The differences between the two were so minor, it's one case where you definitely get a very good representation of the entire story through the adaptation. And the casting! The casting is spot on. Maybe if I'd read the book before seeing the show, my thoughts might be different, but Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage were especially fantastic as Ned Stark and Tyrion Lannister.

It's a whopper of a read at 835 pages (with the appendices) and it took me all of a week in my current reading slump. Course I was poolside and the warm weather was so nice for afternoon napping...

For a synopsis of the show and book, hit the link above (see it) to read my show post. I can't wait for a chance to dive into book number two. No way am I waiting until the second season starts to find out what comes next!

Where's My Bookmark: Fires of Eden by Dan Simmons

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

I put off the vacation book hunt until the last minute, so Friday before last found me swapping out possible selections literally until our shuttle arrived. One thing was for sure, I would be taking along George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, but I envisioned a week of beachside reading and even that 800 page tome couldn't possibly fill it all (plus airport delays and plane reading...).

I did limit myself to mass markets, so that made it a bit easier. And for the sake of variety, I tried to cover all of the major subgenres. I had horror down to Peter Straub or Dan Simmons when I realized that the obvious choice was staring me in the face! In 1994, Dan Simmons released a book called Fires of Eden, in which a series of missing persons occurs at a new Hawaiian luxury resort. Perfect!

Well, Game of Thrones lasted me through the majority of the trip and I finally cracked open Eden the day before we were set to leave. I have to say, it's a fun vacation/plane/beach/anytime read.

Hawaii is in the midst of a historic volcanic eruption. The new Mauna Pele luxury resort should be packed full of tourists, but a series of murders and disappearances plagues the location. Byron Trumbo would like to unload the money pit as soon as possible, but bad publicity and a growing number of bodies may hamper his efforts. Things only get worse as he tries desperately to cover up the events. Meanwhile, Eleanor Perry has just arrived, set on following the path laid out in her great aunt's journal. Aunt Kidder visited the same spot back in 1866 and experienced something similar to the events of today. Along with Cordie Stumpf (nee Cooke -- of Summer of Night) and a local with more than a passing knowledge of Hawaiian folklore, Eleanor will do everything in her power to stop the inevitable disaster at Mauna Pele.

Amongst the ever growing list of Simmons's accomplished novels, Eden no doubt earns its fair share of criticism. It's a fun story, though, packed with Hawaiian lore that many are probably not familiar with. Simmons also ties in Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain) writings on the area, making him a main character in the 1866 flashbacks of Kidder's journal.

One review referred to the book as a sort of environmental horror story, which is kind of appropriate. Hawaiian gods and goddesses wreaking havoc on a greedy developer's golf resort sure makes for great entertainment and a really quick read.

Fires of Eden is unfortunately out of print at the moment.

New Releases 01/24/12

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

Taken by Robert Crais

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

Horizon by Sophie Littlefield (Aftertime #3)

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

Shatter by Michael Robotham (reissue)

Pineapple Grenade by Tim Dorsey

Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly

Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

New on DVD:

Real Steel

50/50

The Whistleblower

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

I'm back!

2012-01-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Goodness, I go away for a week and there's so much to catch up on!

We made it home from The Bahamas. I was sad to say goodbye to that lovely place, even sadder when we arrived home to 30 degree weather :(

It was gorgeous there! Back to real life now, I guess.

New Releases 01/17/12

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

First You Try Everything by Jane McCafferty

The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb

The Rope by Nevada Barr (Anna Pigeon #17)

Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card (Ender's Shadow #6)

Raylan by Elmore Leonard

The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark

The Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connell

The Silent Oligarch by Chris Morgan Jones

The Odds by Stewart O'Nan

Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess by Simon Brett

Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell

Another Woman by Penny Vincenzi

Gone West by Carola Dunn (Daisy Dalrymple #20)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: 50th Anniversary Edition by Ken Kesey

Tempest by Julie Cross

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

New on DVD:

Abduction

The Ides of March

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

2012-01-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Oh, I love Jane Eyre. I really, really love it. As soon as I saw that Margot Livesey's The Flight of Gemma Hardy was an homage to Bronte's classic, I did a happy dance. It's a fine line, don't get me wrong. Gemma Hardy could be a wonderful read reminiscent of that tasty gothic tale, or it could be a let down because the expectations are so high. Either way, I'm excited to find out!

Here's some info from the publisher:

Fate has not been kind to Gemma Hardy. Orphaned by the age of ten, neglected by a bitter and cruel aunt, sent to a boarding school where she is both servant and student, young Gemma seems destined for a life of hardship and loneliness. Yet her bright spirit burns strong. Fiercely intelligent, singularly determined, Gemma overcomes each challenge and setback, growing stronger and more certain of her path. Now an independent young woman with dreams of the future, she accepts a position as an au pair on the remote and beautiful Orkney Islands. But Gemma’s biggest trial is about to begin . . . a journey of passion and betrayal, secrets and lies, redemption and discovery that will lead her to a life she’s never dreamed. The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a captivating tale that is both an homage and a modern variation on the enduring classic, Jane Eyre.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy hits shelves on January 24. Check out Goodreads for some early reviews.

Where's My Bookmark: The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

"Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine."

In the list of intriguing first lines, Daniel O'Malley's opening line from The Rook is definitely tops. And from there forward, the tale gets profoundly more intriguing and amusing.

Myfanwy Thomas opens her eyes to see a ring of bodies surrounding her and finds a letter in her pocket explaining what must be done next. She has no memory of who she is, what she does, or how she ended up in this place. The letter leads her to a safe place where she is given a choice, adopt the life she seems to have taken over, or run. Though her choice might be clear, extenuating circumstances force her to become Rook Thomas. As she reads the old Thomas's notes, explaining the organization she works for (The Checquy), what a Rook does, and all manner of strange things, the new Myfanwy takes to her life and position in a way that the old Thomas never seemed comfortable with.

This is another one of those amazingly fun books that's hard to pin down but is an absolute must read. The narrative is funny, at times laugh out loud so, the story is quirky, and I imagine the mind behind it (O'Malley) is brilliant.

The structure is interesting as well. The character has no knowledge of these things, and so the story unfolds as two tales, that of the new Myfanwy and that of the old. The new Myfanwy is our narrator and the old tells her tale through letters and notes written for her "replacement."

I have to say, as my first official 2012 read (started and finished in the new year) The Rook will go down as my first favorite of the new year as well!

The Rook officially hits shelves on Jan 11. For more on O'Malley and The Rook, visit: http://www.rookfiles.com/

New Releases 01/09/12

2012-01-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George (Lynley #16)

The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Vulture Peak by John Burdett

The Jaguar by T. Jefferson Parker (Charlie Hood #5)

The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen by Thomas Caplan

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Jessica Rules the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

New on DVD:

Moneyball

Killer Elite

What's Your Number?

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Kill Switch by Neal Baer and Jonathan Green

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Partials by Dan Wells

2012-01-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Another adult author is jumping into the teen pool and I can't wait! Dan Wells' (author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster, and I Don't Want to Kill You) new teen dystopian tale officially hits shelves on February 28. I so excited! Here's the description from Amazon:

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulsepounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question—one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

And if that's not enough to pique your interest, here's the brand new and very super cool book trailer:

I've said before that I am loving the dystopian trend - loving it! It's not going anywhere anytime soon!

And I also have to add that Wells' brother, Robison Wells, made his teen debut with his own teen dystopian thriller, Variant, last October.

As I mentioned, Partials isn't due out until Feb 28, but Variant IS out now, as are Wells' adult titles.

Wednesday already!

2012-01-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

I might have mentioned a few days ago that we finally sat down and watched ALL of Game of Thrones. I may also have mentioned that I've become a bit obsessed. It's true. I'm in fantasy mode! But I've got review books stacked sky high for the next couple of weeks. Amazingly, there are some fantasy books there. Here's the first one I've dived into to satisfy the Game craving:

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan is the first in a trilogy. Wait, that's not entirely true. Michael J. Sullivan initially self-publishing his Riyria Revelations as six individual installments. The books have since been picked up by the wonderful folks over at Orbit and combined into three volumes. So, this first volume actually includes the first two of Sullivan's stories -- The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha.

In Theft, we are introduced to Royce and Hadrian, a pair of talented thieves who call themselves Riyria. Tales of their exploits have spread across the realm and now they've been hired to break into the palace grounds to steal a sword. The job looks to be on the up and up, but the two soon find themselves the prime suspects in the King's murder.

Crown Conspiracy, the first half of Theft of Swords, serves as a setup for the rest of the book. Introducing the characters, the setting, the legends (which are pretty cool). It also makes the three volume approach really appealing since you get to move right on with the story immediately. Volume two, Rise of Empire, is out now (I've not gotten to it just yet), and volume three, Heir of Novron, is due out at the end of the month.

Orbit also recently released John R. Fultz's Seven Princes, currently warming my nightstand, and I'm doing the antsy pantsy dance in anticipation of Gail Z. Martin's Dread due out in February. I love, love, loved book one in her Fallen Kings Cycle and desperately need to read the Chronicles of the Necromancer books as well. And then there are those three honking George R. R. Martin books waiting in the wings! And in April, season 2 comes back.

Doing some genre bouncing this week as well with my bookmark currently resting in Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene's Kill Switch. So many books!

Holiday reading

2012-01-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Morning, folks! Believe it or not, I squandered my week off by not reading at all! Or at least not to the level I'd expected to. Putting a house in order is exhausting. No one room is finished at this point and it ate into my reading big time.

I think I literally read three and a half books and that was it. The first was a Christmas themed book. I usually avoid them (reading them anytime other than Christmas feels wrong, but there's never a guarantee I'll get to it in the right season). For Flavia de Luce, though, I decided to make an exception.

Then I read ahead a bit with Brodi Ashton's Everneath, which you may recall from this pre-pub post a while back. I have to say that I really enjoyed Everneath. It's an interesting twist on mythology. That one's due out officially on Jan 24.

My other read was Lynn Weingarten's The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers, a cute teen read with magic and heartache. Literally! It's the story of a girl who gets dumped on her first day of sophomore year. Her heart is so broken that she attracts the attention of three heartbreakers who promise that they can heal her. The twist is that in order to heal her own heart, she must break the heart of another.

It was a fun read. Very light and breezy. One that was great for such a tumultuous time (and by that I just mean the uncomfortable post move time when you can't find anything and just want to tear your hear out for all the boxes around).

But now it's time to get back on track for 2012. I was just shy of my 2011 goal at 145 books read out of 150. I'm going to aim for 150 again this year and see what happens. And the TBR grew with the wishlist gifts I received, so it's definitely time to get cracking!

Happy New Year! New releases 1/3/12

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Whew, where did the time go? It's already time to get used to writing '12 on everything :)

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

A Quiet Vendetta by RJ Ellory

Seven Princes by John R. Fultz

The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi

Blind Sight by Terri Persons (reissue)

Dust of the Damned by Peter Brandvold

Gun Games by Faye Kellerman (Decker/Lazarus #20)

The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R. Green (Nightside)

The Confession by Charles Todd (Inspector Ian Rutledge)

Scarecrow Returns by Matthew Reilly

Sins of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Wild Wild Death by Casey Daniels (Pepper Martin #8)

The Retribution by Val McDermid

Cell 8 by Roslund & Hellstrom

The Darkening Field by William Ryan

Need You Now by James Grippando

Breakdown by Sara Paretsky (VI Warshawski)

The Hunter by John Lescroart

The Broken Land by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear

Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer (Nightshade book 3)

Switched by Amanda Hocking (Trylle #1)

Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

New on DVD:

Contagion

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Justified Season 2

I Don't Know How She Does It

Puncture

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynne Weingarten

2011 favorites and such

2011-12-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

I keep a running list of favorite reads throughout the year so that I can do a list for Bookbitch.com. I cut a few just for the sake of keeping the list varied, but here is my complete list of 2011 favorites (all released in 2011), in order of having read them:

The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (mystery/thriller)
The Sworn by Gail Z. Martin (fantasy)
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (urban fantasy)
Learning the Swim by Sara J. Henry (mystery/thriller)
Summer of Night by Dan Simmons (reissue) (horror)
The Restorer by Amanda Stevens (paranormal thriller)
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward (comedic mystery/thriller)
The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth (paranormal thriller)
Hanging Hill by Mo Hayder (dark thriller)
Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon (mystery/thriller)
Graveminder by Melissa Marr (paranormal)
The White Devil by Justin Evans (mystery/thriller)
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (sci-fi/thriller)
Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson (mystery/thriller)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (teen/paranormal)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (sci-fi/thriller)
The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver (teen/urban fantasy)
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (mystery/thriller)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (teen/urban fantasy)
11/22/63 by Stephen King (sci-fi/thriller)

And the books I wish I'd gotten to in 2011 because I'm sure they would have made the list:

Lev Grossman's The Magician King (the first is in my TBR now)
Alma Katsu's The Taker
Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus
Hillary Jordan's When She Woke
Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood
Michelle Hodkin's The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Christopher Buehlman's Those Across the River
Rosamund Lupton's The Sister
Daniel Polansky's Low Town
David Liss's The Twelfth Enchantment
Felix J. Palma's The Map of Time
Thomas Mullen's The Revisionists

And here's to more fabulous reads in 2012!

As 2011 winds down

2011-12-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

As we get closer and closer to the New Year, I can't help but hope that 2012 will be a year for relaxing. We bought a house, which came with a whole slew of minor issues (added up = lots of unwanted stress), and I'm trying to get the place set up in spite of the fact that I have plenty of time to get things where I want them. I'm not comfortable in clutter nor am I too pleased when a project takes me longer than I think it should.

I am happy to announce that all of the books are on shelves (yay!). But no one room is complete.

We did take some much needed chill time this weekend. We started watching Breaking Bad and we watched all of the first season of Game of Thrones, which I have to say is totally freaking awesome (gratuitous and plentiful raunchy sex aside). Shame on me for having started the first book ages ago and never getting beyond the prelude!

So I hear that each season of the show should follow one book. This means that season one should, in theory, be the actual book A Game of Thrones. I'm thinking at least a skim of the book may be in order so that I can move on to book two immediately -- I'm not sure when season two will actually start (April, I hear) and the show definitely ended with things up in the air for everyone in the story.

Political intrigue set in a middle ages world with talk of dragons, white walkers, and a coming winter that everyone fears. Are you intrigued?

There are a lot of players, first there are the Starks -- Ned (played by Sean Bean), his wife, Catelyn, their four children, and Jon Snow, Ned's child from another woman. They seem to be the only stand up family in the show! Then you have the Lannisters, the villains (uber villains, 'cause there are others), Cersei Lannister (played by Lena Headey) who is also the King's wife, her slimy brother Jamie and their younger brother, Tyrion, the imp (I love his character). Ned is the King's hand, his best friend, and his protector. So when Ned discovers some complicated secrets about the King and the Lannisters, he puts himself, his family, and the crown at risk.

Meanwhile, the two remaining Targaryen children are planning their return, which would involve overthrowing the current king and taking back the throne that once belonged to their father. Confused? Only because there are so many intricate strings of plot going on.

I predict lots of back stabbing, unexpected alliances, more raunchy sex, and hopefully some creepy winter stuff in season two!

I've actually got the first three books on hand and this week would be a perfect time to begin them (or continue with a couple of other epic fantasy series I've started). If you're interested in reading them, there are currently five titles in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (and it looks like two additional titles forthcoming):

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings

A Storm of Swords

A Feast For Crows

A Dance With Dragons

For more on the author and the books, visit George R. R. Martin's website here. Note, Martin is a producer on the show and seems to have quite a bit of creative input. From what I hear, he's pleased with the outcome so far and given that the show has been wildly popular, I hope we'll get to see all seven books on screen eventually.

Sadly, if you don't have HBO or one of the OnDemand/Watch Instantly features, and you have to wait for the dvd, which looks to be slated for release in May. But the first four books are all in paperback!

Settling in for the holidays

2011-12-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

These past few weeks -- and this weekend in particular -- have been utter madness!

I'm a total homebody. I like building my nest and I don't like moving it. Seriously, moving brings out the absolute worst in me and I'm sorry for all those poor folks who had to be on the receiving end.

But it looks as though we're finished cleaning the old place and everything seems to be in the new place, though lots of things have gotten lost in the midst of all the boxes (tv remote). Now to get the house in order and enjoy the coming holiday and New Year!

Not a whole lot of reading done, though I did squeeze in Alan Bradley's latest, which happens to be a Christmas book. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows is the fourth Flavia de Luce book and my introduction to the series.

In this installment, Flavia, a precocious eleven-year-old with a talent for chemistry, has decided to set a trap for Santa. Her plans are complicated when a film crew arrives at the family estate and a charity event is planned at Buckshaw. No worries, though, Flavia comes out pretty unruffled even when they find themselves snowed in with a dead body. With the vast majority of Bishop's Lacey camped out in her home, the list of suspects is ridiculously long, but Flavia is sure she can solve the murder.

I've seen folks describe this series as whimsical and charming and honestly can't think of more appropriate words myself. Flavia is so adorably fun! A wonderful mystery heroine paired with a keep you guessing plot, and an easy enough read that I could fit in short sit downs amongst all the moving craziness.

New Releases 12/20/11

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Once Upon a Time: A Collection of Classic Fairy Tales

Silence by Jan Costin Wagner

Covert Warriors by W.E.B. Griffin

The Devil's Elixer by Raymond Khoury

DC Dead by Stuart Woods (Stone Barrington)

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane

New on DVD:

Straw Dogs

Colombiana

Midnight in Paris

Warrior

Dolphin Tale

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Micro by Michael Crichton

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

2011-12-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

The teen market is just bursting with new stuff! I have to say, I would have stuck to teen much longer had there been this kind of selection back then! It's really pretty awesome and there's so much crossover appeal these days as well. Any number of adult readers, myself included, have expanded their TBR stacks to include teen titles -- and many of our favorite adult authors are writing YA titles and vice versa.

Jodi Meadows's Incarnate is one I've seen popping up on other blogs. It sounds like a super cool concept and is one I'm anxious to dive into. Here's some info from the publisher's site:

New soul

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul

Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart

Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

This is Meadows's debut series and Incarnate hits shelves Jan 31 (so nuts that we're looking at 2012 releases already).

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories and HitRecord

2011-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

A quick post here. It's Friday! Woohoo! And we're just over a week away from Christmas. If you're looking for any last minute gifts or just want something super fun for yourself, check out HitRecord and their Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. This would be the first volume from !t books.

I was curious about this one when I heard about it. It's a collaborative effort and Joseph Gordon-Levitt heading up the HitRecord movement. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories is a cute little hardcover book with tiny stories and accompanying art. It's fun. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you smile. It'll make you think. And who knows, it might inspire you as well. If so, you can join in on the HitRecord collaboration and maybe you can make it into vol 2!

Here's the prerelease video (though the book is out now):

And a sample of what you will see inside:

I love that one! One of my favorites from the book.

Moving and Micro

2011-12-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's almost time! And you know that that means? The best part of moving -- reorganizing the bookshelves!!! (I am well aware of the dorkiness of that statement.) Even cooler, my husband is promising new bookshelves (eventually). Not pre-fab store bought ones. Nice, tall, room-filling bookshelves!

I mentioned the other day that I was reading Michael Crichton's latest (and last), Micro. While I'll admit right off the bat that some of the situations, dialogue, and characters made me giggle more than just a little in their simplicity, the rest of me had a lot of fun reading it.

Seven grad students are offered the chance of a lifetime when employment opportunities open up at Nanigen. A shocking discovery puts them all in grave danger, though, when they find themselves shrunk down to "micro" size. As they battle giant bugs and make their way across the Hawaiian wilderness, each of them draws on their own specialties to help the group survive. But can they make it back to Nanigen in one piece?

I think overall that it's hard for me to be too critical. Heck, I'm not overly critical most of the time anyway. I haven't written a book! I like to read and I like to read for entertainment. Obviously some books are more well written than others. Usually I just avoid the ones I know will be too cheeseball. But, sometimes you need a little cheese in your life. And the weekend of a last-minute inspection, plumbing inspection, and imminent move-in at a new place is definitely a time for cheese. (And by Hawaiian wilderness above, I mean Hawaii through the eyes of tiny people.)

Micro brought to mind many things. First off, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I was eight when that movie came out. I saw it a million times. They played it in school (wonder if they still do?). It also brought to mind the whole radioactive giant bugs, Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman, Incredible Shrinking Man movie era. Like I said, it was fun.

World Book Night USA

2011-12-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

So not only are we (meaning the US of A) participating in World Book Night 2012, but you can get involved. World Book Night is looking for givers nationwide. They've narrowed their list of titles (you can see that here) and you can now apply to be a giver in your area.

I have no idea if I'll get picked, but it would be super cool! There are some requirements (here), but if you meet those, I'd definitely encourage you to head over and throw you name in the ring, too.

And, if World Book Night wasn't cool enough, one of the folks involved with the Denver Publishing Institute is in charge. Yay!

Where's My Bookmark: And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander

2011-12-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's very rare that I re-read. It's not a preference thing and my memory has certainly suffered so that the ending wouldn't be spoiled in a mystery I've already read (terrible! I'm only 30!), but with so many new books on my radar, it's hard to go back to an oldie from the shelves. But it does happen.

In this case, I was introduced to Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily series back in 2005 when And Only To Deceive was originally released. Since that time, there have been five new installments. Yikes! So And Only to Deceive went back into the TBR stack so that I could refresh my memory and read the series through.

And that time has come! Here's my brief nutshell review of the book:

This first in the Lady Emily Ashton series finds the widowed Emily attempting to learn more about recently departed husband. The two were married just a short period of time and Emily knew little about his activities. As she digs deeper into his interests, she learns of a conspiracy involving stolen antiquities and the British Museum.

A lush Victorian mystery.

2005 was a long time ago! So here's more from the author's page:

Emily's desire to learn more about her late husband takes her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, where, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. To complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. Her search to solve the crime leads to surprising discoveries about the man she married and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated.

Even in the midst of moving, I've kept a box of immediate must finds close (you know, so the ones I need to get to quickest in the TBR don't get misplaced). The one good thing about moving is that I get the chance to reorganize my bookshelves. The bad thing, those straggling boxes that disappear only to reappear much, much later after many, many searches!

Happenings

2011-12-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

It's been a rocky few weeks. I've been alluding to the mess, but reluctant to go into it here -- out of superstition mostly. We've been house hunting. We're more than likely moving at the end of this week, or thereabouts. More than likely. There's still an eensy bit of possibility it won't happen, which has pretty much been the process all along. Everything has hinged on one thing or another, we've been prepared for it all to fall through (through no fault of our own actually -- we've jumped through all of the hoops in a timely fashion).

It has been stressful, to say the least. If all goes well, and nothing's gone without hiccups so far, I can be set up and hopefully relaxing in our first house of our very own by Christmas. One can hope.

Anywho. I'll keep you posted on that front. Obviously, being the stressed out in need of escapism person I am, I've been reading all along. Possibly at a slower pace. Not this weekend, though. I'll say this about the new Crichton (you can read Susan Tunis's insightful review here until I get my own up), it's moving along quickly. It's unfortunate that it's not a very cerebral read, but I don't need cerebral right now. I need exactly what Preston and Crichton offer up in Micro.

New Releases 12/13/11

2011-12-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Kill Switch by Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene

Too Much Stuff by Don Bruns

Pilgrim of the Sky by Natania Barron

Locked On by Tom Clancy

The Drowning River by Christobel Kent (Felony & Mayhem ed)

The Leopard by Jo Nesbo (Harry Hole)

The Drop by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch)

Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan

New on DVD:

Fright Night

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Kung Fu Panda 2

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

2011-12-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ooh, I can't wait for this one! The Demi-Monde: Winter is the first in a series of four steampunk thrillers by Rod Rees. We're a bit behind the UK, who released this first installment a while ago. I believe book two, Spring, is already out there as well. At any rate, Winter hits shelves stateside on Tuesday, December 27 (just in time for those holiday gift cards!).

Here's what the publisher is saying:

In the Demi-Monde, author Rod Rees has conjured up a terrifying virtual reality, a world dominated by history’s most ruthless and bloodthirsty psychopaths—from Holocaust architect Reinhard Heydrich to Torquemada, the Spanish Inquisition’s pitiless torturer, to Josef Stalin’s bloodthirsty right-hand man/monster, the infamous Beria. The Demi-Monde: Winter kicks off a brilliant, high concept series that blends science fiction and thriller, steampunk and dystopian vision. If Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, James Rollins, and Clive Cussler participated in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, the result might be something akin to the dark and ingenious madness of Rees’s The Demi-Monde: Winter.

And here's more:

The Demi-Monde:

1. A subclass of society whose members embrace a decadent lifestyle and evince loose morals.

2. A shadow world where the norms of civilized behavior have been abandoned.

3. A massive multiple-player simulation technology that re-creates in a wholly realistic cyber-milieu the threat-ambiance and no-warning aspects of a hi-intensity, deep-density, urban Asymmetric Warfare Environment.

4. Hell.

Welcome to the Demi-Monde, the ultimate in virtual reality—a military training ground and vivid, simulated world of cruelty and chaos run by psychopaths, madmen and fanatics.

If you die here, you die in the Real World . . .

In the year 2018, the Demi-Monde is the most sophisticated, complex and unpredictable computer simulation ever created, devised specifically to train soldiers for the nightmarish reality of urban warfare. A virtual world of eternal civil conflict, its thirty million inhabitants—“Dupes”—are ruled by cyber-duplicates of some of history’s cruelest tyrants: the fanatical Nazi butcher Reinhard Heydrich; Stalin’s arch executioner Lavrentii Beria; the torture-loving Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada; the Reign of Terror’s bloodthirsty mastermind Maximilien Robespierre.

But something has gone horribly wrong inside the Demi-Monde, and the U.S. president’s daughter, Norma, has been lured into this terrifying shadow world, only to be trapped there. Her last hope of rescue is Ella Thomas, an eighteen-year-old jazz singer and very reluctant heroine. But when Ella infiltrates the Demi-Monde and begins her hunt for Norma, she soon discovers the walls containing the evils of this simulated environment are dissolving—and the Real World is in far more danger than anyone knows. With the help of resistors determined to understand their world, Ella must race to save Norma and stop an apocalypse . . . but the clock is ticking.

Blending fact and fantasy, history and religion, military and existential themes, epic adventure and dark wit, dystopia and steampunk in a wholly original and driving narrative stream, The Demi-Monde: Winter is inventive fiction at its finest.

I'm totally stoked! I think this looks like one of the coolest books of the season!

You can visit the official site at the link above. Or you can visit Harper Collins's book page here and you can read a sample of the book here on Scribd.

I'm hitting the books. Hope you enjoy your Saturday!

More great news from Angry Robot!

2011-12-08T06:32:00.000-08:00

ANGRY ROBOT SIGNS DEBUT NOVELIST IN TWO-BOOK DEAL

Angry Robot has signed debut novelist, Lee Battersby for two books in a new fantasy series. The first title - The Corpse-Rat King - will be published in autumn 2012, with the second to follow in 2013. The deal included world English rights in physical and electronic formats.

In the highly imaginative The Corpse-Rat King, readers are introduced to Marius Helles as he plunders the bodies of the dead after a major battle - a crime punishable by death. The dead tell Marius that they need a King - the King is God's representative, and they need someone to speak to God and remind him where they are, thank you very much! He doesn’t actually want the job, but when the alternative is to deny a legion of angry corpses, it’s that or find a suitable compromise - and quickly: the dead aren’t known for their patience...

The deal was negotiated by Angry Robot editor Lee Harris, and Battersby’s agent Richard Henshaw of the Richard Henshaw Group, after The Corpse-Rat King came to Angry Robot’s attention during their first Open Door Month open submission period, earlier this year.

British-born Battersby, who now lives in Australia, said: "To publish a novel has been a long-held dream. To achieve it with such a progressive and forward-thinking publisher, based in the town of my birth, just makes it all the more special. Angry Robot think about speculative fiction the same way I do - that it is a warped and twisted fabric that should be used to pervert the minds of the young and the innocent."

Editor, Lee Harris stated: "Lee’s twisted worldview is ideal for Angry Robot’s many followers. The Corpse-Rat King is a great read - funny, exciting and very, very addictive - and I can’t wait for people to read this!"

------------

Check out www.leebattersby.com for the low-down on Lee's work to-date and if you're Tweet-inclined, he's @LeeBattersby - give him a follow and make him feel welcome!

A perfect winter ghost story

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

What's up world? I've not been hiding under a rock. I'll have an explanation for my frequent absences and brain farts next week, I promise.

In the meantime, I dove into Kate Mosse's The Winter Ghosts this weekend. I needed an escape and love ghost stories. This one's a bit shorter than Mosse's other titles, Labyrinth and Sepulchre, but is still set in France and concerns a little piece of lesser known (lesser known to me anyway) history.

In the book, Freddie is taking a jaunt through the Pyrenees. It's a much needed trip for a man who's had a hard time dealing with the loss of his brother. In truth, it's been years since his brother went missing in the war, and Freddie muddled through as best as he could. Eventually, though, his mind could take it no more. Now both his parents are dead and Freddie is taking small steps to regain his life. When his car goes off the road on a winding mountain pass, he seeks shelter in a nearby village. That night he meets an intriguing woman with a sad story. When he wakes, Freddie is in the throes of a raging fever. All those around him assume that his ramblings are that of a sick man, but Freddie knows differently.

The book is based on the fourteenth century massacre of the Cathars, something I know next to nothing about. It's a fascinating piece of history, though, and one that Mosse has touched on enough to pique my interest.

I think one of my favorite things about Mosse's work is the way she incorporates history into her stories. I enjoyed Labyrinth and Sepulchre very much and was glad that The Winter Ghosts kept up that tradition. I also love this book is, for the most part, a Victorian style ghost story.

New Releases 12/6/11

2011-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Egypt: Book of Chaos by Nick Drake

Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James

Pharmacology by Christopher Herz

Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta)

Dragon Fate by EE Knight (Age of Fire #6)

A Perilous Conception by Larry Karp

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith (Isabel Dalhousie #8)

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Vol 1 ed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Vigilante by Stephen Cannell

Immortalists by Kyle Mills

Left Hand Magic by Nancy A. Collins

The Bishop by Steven James

The Unninocent: Stories by Bradford Morrow

The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (Infernal Devices #2)

Deadly Little Voices by Laure Faria Stolarz (Touch)

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

New on DVD:

The Help

Cowboys & Aliens

The Debt

Point Blank

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomon

2011-12-03T08:06:00.001-08:00

You may not have heard of this week's pre-pub, but if you're like me, you're going to want it. Bad.

So a while back, I zoomed through Downton Abbey on watch instantly and I loved it. I mean really loved it. And I finished right around the time the trailer for season 2 was released, so I immediately watched that as well and now I can't wait until it airs. I'm so excited!

And some of you probably aren't familiar with the show, but it's an Upstairs, Downstairs meets Gosford Park BBC show (literally, Julian Fellowes, the writer of Gosford Park was also writer/creator of Downton Abbey).

But this post isn't about Downton, it's about how excited I am for the US release of Natasha Solomons's The House at Tyneford. I snagged a copy at the trade show (note to attend every year now!) after seeing Kristin Hannah's blurb, "Fans of Downton Abbey and Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden will absolutely adore The House at Tyneford."

And you know what I'd done right after finishing Downton and watching the trailer for season 2, looked for books like Downton. So of course I had to have Tyneford!

Here's the short synopsis from the publisher's page:

It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford's young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford-and Elise-forever.

Note the book appears to have a different title overseas, A Novel in the Viola. The House at Tyneford is set for release on Dec 27. For more on Natasha and her work, you can visit her site here.

I'm still working out the best way to do contests here, but in the meantime I do have two copies of Tyneford. If you're interested in a copy (and have read this far), leave me a comment below. If more than one person says they want it, I'll draw a name randomly.

Happy reading!

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

2011-12-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

So I finished The Iron Knight last evening. Guess I needed a little reading break after whizzing through that new King. Iron Knight took me just as long to read at about a third of the length!

Ash, the Winter Prince, has vowed that he will be with his love no matter what the cost. As queen of the Iron Realm, Meghan has ordered Ash to leave, knowing full and well that Ash cannot withstand the exposure to iron. And so Ash begins his quest to become human, the only solution to the problem and the only scenario that will allow him to stand by Meghan's side. With Grim and Puck, our hero sets off on his adventure. They are joined by two unexpected companions: the Big Bad Wolf, and a seer who will lead them to the End of the World. Along the way, they will face obstacles that will test their friendship, honor, and loyalties. But can Ash survive? And will Meghan be waiting on the other side?

I love Kagawa's Iron Fey world. The creatures, the various parts of the Nevernever, and the characters all come to life in the pages of these books. The Iron Knight continued in that same vein. My one complaint, though, and it's more that I guess I didn't realize it at the outset, is that this is a trilogy with a fourth title. The trilogy follows Meghan's arc (this is something that's obvious to the reader and also something that Kagawa points out in the interview at the end of Iron Knight). Iron Knight is Ash's tale. So while you do have to read them all in order, this fourth is not a true continuation of those first three in that Meghan is not a prominent character at all. The Iron Fey themselves aren't really featured in the book either. Ash is the lead, the story is told from his perspective, and it is his tale.

I'm not sure why I expected any different, but it led me to feel a bit off in the beginning of the story. Possibly also because I'm not a self-identified "Team Ash" member. Sure, he's the broody and handsome Winter Prince. And I like him. But realistically, I'm a Puck girl at heart. Sorry. It made the book no less enjoyable!

I have to say that I especially loved The River of Dreams and Phaed. Oh, if Kagawa would write an entire series about those two parts of the Nevernever (and more Puck, and more Grim), I would be a happy, happy girl!

Next up for Kagawa is a futuristic series with vampires.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

2011-11-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Back in August, the teen book world was all abuzz about Lauren Oliver's Delirium, a dystopian title in which love has been cured. I thought it sounded super cool and made one of the Junior Junkies buy it on a bookstore trip. And have been waiting to borrow it. So when I had the opportunity to review Oliver's debut, Before I Fall, I jumped!

Samantha Kingston and her friends are popular. They can get away with just about anything. It's Cupid Day, a day they've all been waiting for. A day when popularity can be measured by the number of roses received. It's also the day Sam will die. But then Sam wakes up on Cupid Day again. The day starts the same as before, but as Sam's reactions change, the day begins to change as well. For Sam, every day will be Cupid Day until she gets it right. Save herself? Save her friends? Prevent the accident altogether? The options are endless and Sam's actions are the key.

I liked this book. I thought it had a lot of depth to the story. I've seen this sort of "what if" scenario in part before (and Sam even mentions Groundhog Day in the book), but this was a case where the author got it right.

One of the things I liked most was the way Oliver touches on sensitive subjects -- topics that are around us everyday and can easily become overwhelming or overly preachy. She handles them with ease and in a way that teen readers should appreciate.

As for Sam and her friends, it would be easy to paint the popular girls as the bad guys. And they aren't. They're teens and they're friends and they each have problems of their own. Oliver portrays them as whole characters rather than caricatures of Mean Girls, appropriate since they're the main characters of the book. Those kinds of flat stereotypes work fine with peripherals, but in this case they carry the story. The reader gets a chance to know them and connect with them, making them more real.

Lauren Oliver is definitely an author I'd like to see more of. You can bet I'll be snagging my sister's copy of Delirium as soon as I can, especially with its sequel, Pandemonium, due out next March.

Time travel Stephen King style

2011-11-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

When Jake Epping is given the chance to go back to 1958, he sets his sites on changing a few things in hopes that they'll create a better future. His biggest goal is to prevent the Kennedy assassination in 1963. In order to do so, he'll have to live in the past, studying the facts known through history, and planning the best way to stop the president's death with the least ramifications. And his particular worm hole (or rabbit hole, as he refers to it), only comes out in 1958. Each entry is a complete reset, so if he fails, he'll have to start all over again in 1958.

This is somewhat the story behind Stephen King's latest, 11/22/63. I say somewhat because I'm not sure how to do it justice.

First off, this is an 849 page whopper. But, as has been my experience with King all along, size doesn't mean an intimidating read. I knew going in that I would want to set aside a fair chunk of time and this past holiday weekend was the perfect opportunity. Even with the Thanksgiving day feast preparations (for two, but a feast nonetheless), a little bit of holiday shopping (NOT on Black Friday), and a couple of movies, all in all it took me just four days to finish the book. And actually, my preference would have been even less time than that -- there were a couple of long sitdowns with the book, and that's what it really begged for. This is my way of saying that it looks long, but it doesn't take long -- even so, you're going to want to read it through once you start.

I am always in awe of King. I'm sure that his process is by no means effortless, but the finished product certainly seems so. He's a storyteller that I really think compares to no other (*fangirl*).

I will also say that this latest is definitely less horror than a non King reader would expect. If you think that you're not a fan of his typical work, this would be a great one to try. For longtime fans, there's a return to Derry and some great It references.

In other King news, the Bag of Bones tv movie premieres Dec 11 on A&E, Spring 2012 sees a new Dark Tower installment (DT world, but not part of the actual series to my understanding), and King's working on a Shining sequel as well. I also hear that King's son Owen has a novel in the works (he has a short story collection already out). And not to leave out Joe Hill, he seems to have a newly released Locke & Key out on shelves now.

New Releases 11/29/11

2011-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are (and it's pretty slim pickings):

The Scottish Prisoner: A Lord John Novel by Diana Gabaldon

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards (pb)

The Drop by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch)

Within the Flames by Marjorie M. Liu (Dirk & Steele)

Legend by Marie Lu

New on DVD:

Tucker & Dale vs Evil

5 Days of War

The Smurfs

One Day

30 Minutes or Less

Friends With Benefits

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Bliss by Lauren Myracle

The Lost Book of Mala R. by Rose MacDowell

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

2011-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've got another teen title for you in this week's pre-pub post. Everneath is another one my sister has her eye on and I think it looks super fun. Here's some info from Brodi Ashton's site:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

It sounds so Persephone! Everneath is the first in a trilogy and is due out January 24.

To add to your TBR: Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

2011-11-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Whew. I got this one for my birthday this year. It's on my bedside table. Here's the description from Amazon:

Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.

Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.

I love anything based in folklore and I really love folklore that goes beyond the standards that I'm readily familiar with. Plus, I'm not seeing a whole lot of stuff delving deeply into Russian folklore, so Catherynne Valente's latest was a super cool one to come across.

So that's a peek at my TBR stack and hopefully some intriguing reads to add to your own.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

Morning, all! It's Turkey Day! Hope yours is fantastic and food and family filled!

To add to your TBR: A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've raved about Sarah Pinborough before, and it was with great anticipation that I ordered A Matter of Blood from the UK. Unfortunately, I brought the book on vacation and didn't get to it. And then it sat in my unpacked carry-on bag for a ridiculous amount of time. Ridiculous.

Sadly, in my lapse, the book is still only available via UK ordering sites. On a positive note, ordering from the UK is really pretty easy these days and there's a second book out. OHMYGOD, this is a 2010 release! I'm getting new bookshelves.

The recession has left the world exhausted. Crime is rising; financial institutions across the world have collapsed, and most governments are now in debt to The Bank, a company created by the world's wealthiest men. But Detective Inspector Cass Jones has enough on his plate without worrying about the world at large. His marriage is crumbling, he's haunted by the deeds of his past, and he's got the high-profile shooting of two schoolboys to solve - not to mention tracking down a serial killer who calls himself the Man of Flies. Then Cass Jones' personal world is thrown into disarray when his brother shoots his own wife and child before committing suicide - leaving Cass implicated in their deaths. And when he starts seeing silent visions of his dead brother, it's time for the suspended DI to go on the hunt himself - only to discover that all three cases are linked . . . As Jones is forced to examine his own family history, three questions keep reappearing: what disturbed his brother so badly in his final few weeks? Who are the shadowy people behind The Bank? And, most importantly, what do they want with DI Cass Jones?

These aren't the worst crimes in my TBR stack. Not by far. Jane Austen -- yeah. I have read 133 books so far this year and I'm not the only one with an ambitious and growing reading goal :) Lordy, I hope no one holds this week against me.

To add to your TBR: Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis

2011-11-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ian Tregillis's debut is actually a 2010 release that I discovered in a search for more steampunk reads. The cover art alone is enough to pique interest, but the synopsis is to die for:

It’s 1939. The Nazis have supermen, the British have demons, and one perfectly normal man gets caught in between

Raybould Marsh is a British secret agent in the early days of the Second World War, haunted by something strange he saw on a mission during the Spanish Civil War: a German woman with wires going into her head who looked at him as if she knew him.

When the Nazis start running missions with people who have unnatural abilities—a woman who can turn invisible, a man who can walk through walls, and the woman Marsh saw in Spain who can use her knowledge of the future to twist the present—Marsh is the man who has to face them. He rallies the secret warlocks of Britain to hold the impending invasion at bay. But magic always exacts a price. Eventually, the sacrifice necessary to defeat the enemy will be as terrible as outright loss would be.

PW gave it a good review and George R. R. Martin blurbed it. This is one of those cases where I feel guilty for not having come across the book sooner. I'm not certain what the hold up has been, but book two in the series was delayed, hopefully not due to lack of attention, so it's kind of a situation where waiting has paid off a bit: Bitter Seeds is due out in paperback in April 2012 and book two is set for release in July (hopefully). Tregillis did post this back in March, which sort of piles on more reader's guilt, and this earlier this month (note -- I didn't receive this book for review. I've not been sitting on promised promotion. I bought it and... my inner bookseller is cringing right now.)

To add to your TBR: Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist

2011-11-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Like most book junkies, my TBR stack grows exponentially with the release of so many enticing new books. This week I'm going to do some promotional posts on a few books in my TBR that, for various reasons, I haven't had a chance to start.

First up is Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I had this one in my "must have" list as soon as I heard about it. Lindqvist is the author of Let Me In and Handling the Undead and is being hailed as the Swedish Stephen King -- in other words, a must read for any horror fan.

Here's the description from the publisher:

One ordinary winter afternoon on a snowy island, Anders and Cecilia take their six-year-old daughter Maja across the ice to visit the lighthouse in the middle of the frozen channel. While the couple explores the lighthouse, Maja disappearseither into thin air or under thin iceleaving not even a footprint in the snow. Two years later, alone and more or less permanently drunk, Anders returns to the island to regroup. He slowly realizes that people are not telling him all they know; even his own mother, it seems, is keeping secrets. What is happening in their town, and what power does the sea have over the town's inhabitants?

Harbor hit shelves on October 11 and has been languishing in my TBR for over a month now. At 500 pages, it's not the most intimidating book I've come across this year, but due to a sharp cut in free time, it's been waiting patiently until I can devote my full attention to it.

Lindqvist's English website is still under construction, but here's his brief bio from online:

John Ajvide Lindqvist was born in 1968 in Sweden. After a career as magician and stand up comedian he finally became an author of horror stories. His books are published in 29 countries – among them China, USA, United Kingdom, Brasil, Denmark and, of course, Sweden.

Where's My Bookmark: Bliss by Lauren Myracle

2011-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

I won't go into the whole mess, but I really thought the whole National Book Award debacle this year was in poor taste. I bought Lauren Myracle's Bliss quite some time ago. I'd intended to read it and pass it along to my sisters, and though I'm sure they would have read it long before now and returned it to me to spend time in my TBR stack, I couldn't part with it. Then with the whole Shine/Chime incident, I finally bumped Bliss up the stack (you may recall that Chime has been bumped up as well thanks to the alpha TBR Tackle, and is still waiting). When Danny Marks (aka adult urban fantasy author I read and find super hilarious!) mentioned Bliss in his October horror reading plans and then gave it a great review, it got bumped up to the top.

As I write, I also have to admit that the new Stephen King is burning a hole through my bedside table -- but I plan on tackling the 800+ page beast Wednesday since I'll have a few days off of work. And I've got a massive migraine. And I just finished reading another teen Lauren book, Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, so in my round about, twisty turny (wibbly, wobbly, timey, wimey) brain, that meant a teen horror was a good compromise.

Here's a bit about the book from the publisher's site:

When Bliss’s hippie parents leave the commune and dump her at the home of her aloof grandmother in a tony Atlanta neighborhood, it’s like being set down on an alien planet. The only guide naive Bliss has to her new environment is what she’s seen on The Andy Griffith Show. But Mayberry is poor preparation for Crestview Academy, an elite school where the tensions of the present and the dark secrets of the past threaten to simmer into violence. Openhearted Bliss desperately wants new friends, making her the perfect prey of a troubled girl whose obsession with a long-ago death puts Bliss, and anyone she’s kind to, in mortal danger.

I foresee Bliss being a super quick read. I'm pretty much entranced by Bliss's world. I love the fact that it takes place in 1969, which sets a great stage for some of the social issues that are part of the setting. The chapters are short and sweet and the story is moving along at a really quick pace.

Alrighty, readers. I'm going to do some TBR posts this week to give myself a chance to catch up on some reading, catch up on some work, and make sure the blog isn't idle while I'm doing so. Plus, with the year coming to a close I still wanted to give some face time to some books I haven't had a chance to get to just yet (maybe it'll give you some gift ideas).

Happy reading and happy turkey day planning!

New Releases 11/22/11

2011-11-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Agatha Christie's Notebooks by John Curran

Agatha Christie An Autobiography by Agatha Christie (reissue)

Once Bitten by Stephen Leather

The Basement by Stephen Leather

Bad Blood by Kristen Painter (House of Comarre #3)

Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey

Autumn: Disintegration by David Moody

Explosive Eighteenby Janet Evanovich

Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston

Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron

Dead Man's Grip by Peter James

Swift Edge by Laura DiSolverio

If I Should Die by Allison Brennan

The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

New on DVD:

Super 8

Devil's Double

Sarah's Key

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Unleashed

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

2011-11-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

I snagged a copy of Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie's debut installment in their new Wolf Springs Chronicles while working Mountains and Plains this year. It had actually been on my radar, so it was pretty cool to come across it at the Random House table.

The premise reminded me a bit of that old Lou Diamond Phillips show, Wolf Lake, which sadly got canned pretty early on. I thought it was a cool show. It probably would get a fair shot these days. Ah well.

Anyway, in the book, Katelyn McBride is sent to live in Wolf Springs after her mother is killed in a fire. Her father has been dead for a few years and her paternal grandfather is her last living relative. For the California girl, the tiny Arkansas town is a nightmare. What's worse, her grandfather lives out in the woods, miles from town. Her new home comes with warnings never to go out alone at night and Kat soon learns why. A girl from the local high school was mauled to death not long before Kat arrived. Then another girl is killed.

Of course it's werewolves. But, the build up to the big reveal in this one is perfect. The right blend of suspense and backstory, and enough to leave you hanging (at a very unfair point in the story, I might add) in agonizing anticipation of the second installment.

Agh! Talk about keep you coming back for more. I am dying to know what happens next. I loved the menacing tone of this story. The air of the town and the secrets that it harbors (many of which the reader still doesn't know by the end of this first in the series).

Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that the teens seemed real. That might be my adult perspective -- obviously the real test is a teen's opinion -- but I definitely put this one up there with other teen titles I've enjoyed in my beyond teen years. And it still reminds me of Wolf Lake :)

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for funk buster books! Whew! I was starting to get worried after last week's terrible reading debacle, traveling aside. I'm not sure that November will recover, but at least the end of the month should be better than the beginning if Kristen Painter's Blood Rights is any indication (and since there are two follow up books, I take it as a given that they'll be just as good as this first in the series and not return me to the blahness.)

The series takes place in the future -- 2067 -- the various paranormals that fill the series include shifters, fae, and of course, vampires. Descended from some of the most famous mad men and women throughout history (Bathory, Tepes, even Rasputin), each house has a specific powers and a hierarchy of power. The vampires are served by comarre, an exclusive group of highly trained people whose blood rights are sold to those in power.

Blood Rights: House of Comarre book 1 begins with the death of the House of Tepes Elder, Lord Algernon. His comarre, Chrysabelle, is suspected of the murder and has disappeared. Tatiana, a power hungry Tepes with her own agenda, must find Chrysabelle or be accused of the murder herself. Unbeknownst to Tatiana, Chrysabelle has fled to New Florida and sought the protection of her aunt, a comarre who won her freedom in a battle to the death. But when Chrysabelle's aunt is kidnapped, she'll need the help of a cursed vampire, a ghost, and a shifter to get her back.

Worldbuilding! Worldbuilding aplenty! Painter even says that it's an aspect about urban fantasy that she loves, and that's clear in the intricate and carefully put together world she's built for the House of Comarre series. The beings and their backgrounds, the characters and their individual stories, the plot that's the driving force of the book and the subplots that are weaved around it, Painter has done it all so very well!

I have to say that I do love all the characters, but Fi is by far my favorite. And the various beings, the whyspers, the comarre, the shadeaux, etc, are completely intriguing. I look forward to finishing out the trilogy and learning more about them as well as seeing where the entire arc of the story is headed.

Blood Rights and Flesh and Blood are both available now. Book three, Bad Blood, officially hits shelves 11/22. And they're Orbit, so you know they're good!

Don't miss Miss Peregrine's!

2011-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Can I set some New Year's resolutions this early? My first would be to get a little better about keeping the blog current with my actual reading.

One of my bday wishlist items this summer was Ransom Riggs's fabulous debut, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. This is by far the most original book I've read in a long, long time. Riggs collected vintage images and built his odd tale around a selection that appear within the pages of the book.

Sixteen-year-old Jacob Portman used to believe all the amazing stories his grandfather told him. Tales of an island in Wales and a strange group of children who lived in a home run by Miss Peregrine. Jacob's own grandfather was sent to the home to be kept safe during the war. Jacob knows the stories can't be real and now that he's a teen, he's much too old for his grandfather's peculiar stories. But when his grandfather is killed, Jacob witnesses the unimaginable. For him, the only possible way to explain what he's seen is to travel to Wales and see Miss Peregrine's for himself.

I loved everything about this book! Riggs's chosen images work incredibly well integrated into the story. The characters are wonderful and the story is wholly original -- quite unlike anything I've ever come across to be totally honest.

If you've read it, or plan to read it (you must, you must!), be forewarned the end will leave you wanting more. The good news is that there IS more to come! Riggs confirmed in August that there is a sequel in the works (happy dance!).

Ransom Riggs falls firmly in the category of super cool in my book. If you have time, check out his blog and his various videos and pics. He's got a wonderful eye for the eerie.

Abandoning Reads

2011-11-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

I'm back! I took a trip last week to visit the family. As usual, I packed more than I could realistically read. Unfortunately, this particular time I seem to have packed some stinkers. It's hard to tell.

I used to be able to read through anything. I was the master at ignoring everything around me. I'm not sure when that began to change, but it has -- significantly. Airports and airplanes should be two of the best places to read. You spend so much time tied to one spot that the distraction of fiction (or non, depending on your taste) is a relief. I can't tune things out anymore, though. Walking traffic, unintelligible and garbled announcements, random pieces of conversations all around me... all of it invades my reading space.

I've had to seriously consider certain things in choosing traveling reads. Nothing too heavy or cerebral will do. Nothing that requires more than the absolute minimum concentration, in other words. And I did take this very seriously in choosing the four books I took along.

After zero progress reading en route, I arrived home. Now, normally we're spending time running around busy, busy, busy, but this trip was a little different. We're in the midst of the school year so all of my sisters were gone during the day. And my mom ended up having day surgery while I was in. I had hours in which to read all on my own. But... yeah.

I'm well aware that choosing the wrong book at the wrong time will heavily affect how I feel about the book. My sister had a couple of things I wanted to borrow that I refused to read because of this very thing. I set aside two books without even hitting the hundred page hurdle. One was a very popular book that I decided I just couldn't focus on at the time. The second was interesting, but the writing was a bit off and I couldn't see sticking with it for 400 pages.

Agh! I know plenty of readers out there who have come to terms with abandoning reads. I haven't gotten to that point. I have definitely been burned, expecting a book to redeem itself after sticking through to the end and finding that not to be the case. It's just so frustrating to devote any amount of time only to decide to give it up.

Oh well. I'm back. I'm reading a good one (actually the fourth book I brought along and never cracked open because of time spent on the others).

So what's up with you, fellow readers? What did I miss? Are you still hanging around after such a rambling post? I was disappointed to find that my few prepped posts for while I was gone never went up. I knew I was forgetting something :)

News from Angry Robot

2011-11-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

I got this email notification today from the folks at Angry Robot (in case you haven't checked them out, they publish some fantastic fiction! I highly recommend doing some browsing and buying of their titles.)

** ANGRY ROBOT SIGNS TWO NEW "OPEN DOOR MONTH" AUTHORS **

Like most successful publishers, Angry Robot generally only accepts submissions through literary agencies. Earlier this year, however, the company ran a pilot programme to see how many unpublished - but talented - authors there were without representation. During March, Angry Robot invited all un-agented authors to submit completed manuscripts as part of an "Open Door Month". Over 990 novels were submitted during that period.

Today, Angry Robot are delighted to announce the first acquisitions from the first Open Door Month. Two new authors, each with a minimum two book deal, have now joined the Angry Robot family.

Cassandra Rose Clarke was the first signing to come through this process. Her two novels for Angry Robot show the versatility of this important new talent.

'The Mad Scientist's Daughter' is the heartbreaking story of the journey from childhood to adulthood, with an intriguing science fictional twist. And 'The Assassin's Curse' is a fantastical romp, starring Ananna, a no-nonsense lady pirate, born into pirate royalty.

Clarke said: "I'm beyond excited to have Angry Robot publishing my first-ever novel, and not only because of the delightful coincidence that my novel involves a robot who is, on occasion, angry. Angry Robot's reputation is stellar and their author list incredibly impressive - I'm humbled to be included amongst their ranks!"

We take a somewhat darker turn with a pair of books from Lee Collins - 'The Dead of Winter' and 'She Returns From War'. Both novels follow Cora Oglesby, a bounty hunter with a reputation for working supernatural cases.

Collins said: "As excited as I am at the prospect of rubbing shoulders with Angry Robot's outstanding authors, publication was really a secondary goal of my submitting to them. My primary reason was the hope, however slim, of cybernetic augmentation."

Both deals were negotiated by Angry Robot's editor, Lee Harris, who stated: "There is an enormous amount of talent out there, waiting to be discovered, and I am thrilled we have found two great new talents as part of our search."

Both authors' debut novels will be published by Angry Robot in autumn 2012, with their second books scheduled for spring 2013.

Following the success of the project, Angry Robot expects to run a similar Open Door period in spring 2013, details of which are to be confirmed at a later date.

New Releases 11/15/11

2011-11-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week:

V Is For Vengeance by Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone #22)

The Lover by Laura Wilson

The Feng Shui Detective Goes West by Nuri Vittachi

Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson

Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

New on DVD:

Larry Crowne

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Frail by Joan Frances Turner

Running Away To Home by Jennifer Wilson

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Lover by Laura Wilson

2011-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate enough not only to be able to attend the Denver Publishing Institute, but to attend while the fabulous Gladys Topkis was still part of the program. As a total book junkie and a mystery fanatic, I was thrilled to learn that Topkis's daughter had started a company focused on bringing overseas and out of print mysteries to the US.

I love Felony & Mayhem's mission and I especially love being able to promote their titles, which is why it was super cool to receive a review copy of Laura Wilson's The Lover. Wilson has a few books available here in the States, but this is her first to be released from F&M.

Here's the synopsis from the back of the book:

It's the fall of 1940, and London is being destroyed by the Blitz. Every night, its citizens cram into shelters, basements, subway stations -- anything to avoid the bombs. And every morning, they awake to scenes of fresh devestation. But some of those citizens don't wake up. In many cases, it's the bombs that are to blame. But for a handful of the dead, there seems to have been a more immediate cause. The victims were all prostitutes, like the victims of another notorious serial killer. Jack the Ripper may be long gone, but it's clear that someone is following in his footsteps. Based on the true story of the "Blackout Ripper."

There are many cool things about Felony & Mayhem, but two of my favorites are their classification icon system and their recommendations. Each book is categorized according to an icon: British, Espionage, Foreign, Vintage, etc. Wilson's The Lover is classified Historical. And on the back of the books is a little recommendation. For Wilson's, the rec reads -- Who's Likely to Like This? Fans of Barbara Vine, Daniel Silva, and Christopher Hyde.

The Lover was released in the UK in 2004. The F&M edition hits shelves November 16.

Where's My Bookmark? Undecided.

2011-11-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

Where's my bookmark today? It's in the last quarter of Sue Grafton's V is for Vengeance. I'll be out a few days on vacation and I haven't decided what books to bring! Agh, the agony of a book junkie!

I'm thinking Wicked to get me kicked off on the series finally. So far that's the only strong possibility. I keep waffling between some things that have been in the TBR for a while.

Oh well, I'm off to visit the junior junkies and I know they have some things I want to borrow!

See you when I'm back, and Happy Reading to you all!

New Releases 11/08/11

2011-11-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the titles hitting shelves this week are:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaarberbol

Fighting to Survive: As the World Dies, Book Two by Rhiannon Frater

Breaking Point by Dana Haynes

The Ionia Sanction by Gary Corby

Hot Water by CJ Lyons and Erin Brockovich

The Time In Between by Maria Duenas

A Corpse's Nightmare by Phillip DePoy

Them Or Us by David Moody

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #4)

The Strip by JJ Salem

The Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel (pb)

Chosen by Chandra Hoffman (pb)

The Brothers of Baker Street by Michael Robertson (pb)

The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill (Simon Serrailler #6)

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch

Coffin Man by James M. Doss

And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields

Past Continuous by K. Ryer Breese

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Cycle book 4)

Kill You Last by Todd Strasser

New on DVD:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:Part 2

The Change-Up

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: V Is For Vengeance by Sue Grafton

2011-11-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

Sweet! It's time for another Kinsey Millhone installment and I'm diving into the ARC as we speak. Happy dance! Happy Dance!

I started reading this series when I was a senior in high school, over a decade after Sue Grafton started writing the series to begin with. I'd start one at night and stay up until about 2 or 3 to finish and then bring it back and borrow the next in the series and do the same thing. That was back when I could function on just a few hours' sleep and still go to school, make decent grades, and work a part time job. Yeah.

I'm a bit addicted to these books. I love Kinsey. I love the 80's timewarp. I love Grafton's plotting.

If you haven't read them, you should start form the beginning, but it's actually not really necessary. I can't promise that you can jump in at any point without any confusion, but I can't think of any that are heavily reliant on the backstory in order to enjoy them.

So without further ado, I give you V Is For Vengeance (from Grafton's website):

A spiderweb of dangerous relationships lies at the heart of V is for Vengeance, Sue Grafton's daring new Kinsey Millhone novel.

A woman with a murky past who kills herself—or was it murder? A spoiled kid awash in gambling debt who thinks he can beat the system. A lovely woman whose life is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A private detective, Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth-birthday gift is a punch in the face that leaves her with two black eyes and a busted nose.

And an elegant and powerful businessman whose dealings are definitely outside the law: the magus at the center of the web.

V hits shelves November 14.

Back to basics?

2011-11-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

I won't even pretend to be totally with it today. I am well and truly on my way to complete exhaustion. I'm stressed over stuff: I'm traveling next week and trying to wrap things up before I'm gone. (No worries, folks, the man of the house and his trusty sidekick will be here guarding the books.) I slipped on some ice yesterday before yoga -- and then went to yoga -- and now am really sore. I don't think it's anything major, but I really wish I could crawl in bed and sleep through today.

I have some review titles to catch up on, one of which is a travel-ish memoir by travel writer Jennifer Wilson, Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters. That's a mouthful.

Basically, Wilson and her family wanted more. They live their day to day lives with a feeling that something is missing and decide that moving to Croatia for a year might be just what the doctor ordered. Their decision coincides with the massive economic problems that began in '08, which makes it a pretty timely decision as well. Cost of living in Croatia, even for two technically unemployed (I believe Wilson continued writing pieces and worked on the book) people with two kids is much, much less expensive than US living.

Of course, the goal was also to learn more about their heritage. Wilson's ancestors traveled to the States from the tiny village of Mrkopalj, which is where their twenty-first century family relocates back to. There are interesting tidbits about Croatia's history, but mostly it's a year in the life of this family and their experiences.

I'm loving it. Wilson and her family acclimating to life in another country, making new friends, experiencing a different way of living. I wouldn't do it. It would be too hard for me to cut ties for even a year, but that's why I'm reading about someone else doing it. So even if I personally won't be making the sacrifices and changes Wilson family made in picking up and relocating to their ancestral country, I am inspired by their trip and the stories that they share in this book. It makes me long for a time when I could have talked to my own grandparents and learned more about my family.

Sherrilyn Kenyon's The Guardian -- a trailer

2011-11-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is a short one today. As I mentioned, we've been so busy it's been nuts and I don't see it getting any better for a couple of months -- but it should get less stressful (should. Crossing fingers.) I'll tell you all what's up in just a few days. In the meantime, I got an email this week about Sherrilyn Kenyon's The Guardian, the latest in her Dream Hunter series. The book hit shelves this week and there's a nice new book trailer to tease you with:

And here's a bit about the book as well:

As a Dream-Hunter, Lydia has been charged with the most sacred and dangerous of missions. She’s to descend into the Nether Realm and find the missing god of dreams before he betrays the secrets that could kill all of them. What she never expects is to be taken prisoner by the Realm’s most vicious guardian.

Seth’s time is running out. If he can’t hand over the entrance to Olympus, his own life and those of his people will be forfeit. No matter the torture, Seth hasn’t been able to break the god in his custody. Then there’s the beautiful Dream-Hunter Lydia: She isn’t just guarding the gates of Olympus—she’s holding back one of the world’s darkest powers. If she fails, an ancient curse will haunt the earth once more and no one will be safe. But evil is always seductive...

For more on the series, visit the official site here http://www.officialsanctuary.com/. For more on Sherrilyn, visit her website at www.sherrilynkenyon.com

Now let's see if I can make it through today running on fumes and totally out of it. Work to do!

Where's My Bookmark: Frail by Joan Frances Turner

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

How are you this Halloween Monday? The weather is cooperating fabulously over here, though I do have tree trimmers next door, so lots of noise at the moment.

It's also my anniversary! 1 year (married -- we've been together for 7 years now). I've got dinner planned and we have anniversary cake! It's fresh, not frozen. The bakery where we got our wedding cake did a free anniversary cake for us. Yay! The fridge is full of milk, too. An absolute necessary when you consider cake, candy, Halloween...

I didn't get a whole lot of reading in this weekend. Mike and I have been busy, busy, busy. I also got a little sick and was somewhat out of it. So, I've still got one good sit down to go with Frail.

I read Joan Frances Turner's Dust two weeks back and knew that I would have to move on to book two shortly after. Frail takes place after Dust in the trilogy, but features a human protagonist.

Amy is one of the last living humans from Lepingville (same town Jessie is from in Dust) and she's decided it's time to move on. Traveling through the wasteland of neighboring towns on her way anywhere, she meets Lisa, an ex -- Lisa was human before the outbreak that turned everyone, human and zombie, into something other. Everyone but a handful of frails, those like Amy who were unaffected by the infection. Then Lisa and Amy are taken to a small town where exes are masters and frails have become all but slaves. The order of the world has been permanently swayed and Amy will have to cope if she is to survive. At least with an ex on her side, things are looking up a bit. But Amy is trailed by her own guilt and a creature that could be her imagination or something worse.

It's hard to tell at this point just where the trilogy is headed. Like Jessie in Dust, Amy is kind of losing her mind and the narrative reflects this. There are some return characters from Dust as well. Lisa, of course, but some of Jessie's old gang, too. And it's unclear just why Lisa is keeping secrets from Jessie's old pals.

As zombie reads (and reads in general) go, this series is original and well thought out. There are some really great aspects in terms of the zombie lore and the experiments that caused the outbreak in the first place. The conflict between zombies and humans and then ex humans and ex zombies is interesting, obviously paralleling common us vs them themes. It'll be interesting to see who will return in book three and where the story will end.

New Releases 11/01/11

2011-10-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Zero Day by David Baldacci

Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

Until Thy Wrath Be Past by Asa Larsson

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Allan Bradley (Flavia de Luce #4)

My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by John Besh

Courting Darkness by Yasmine Galenorn (Sisters of the Moon #10)

Angel Town by Lilith Saintcrow (Jill Kismet #6)

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht (pb)

The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz

Hell and Gone by Duane Swierczynski

Angel Condemned by Mary Stanton

Crossed by Ally Condie

Last Breath by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampire #11)

Reckoning by Lili St. Crow (Strange Angels #5)

Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul by Leanna Renee Hieber

New on DVD:

Water For Elephants

Crazy Stupid Love

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Time In Between by Maria Duenas

2011-10-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Maria Duenas's The Time In Between has some big shoes to fill based on the marketing info making its way around. The info I received begins:

Discover what 2 million readers already know

The Time In Between is a word-of-mouth phenomenon that catapulted Maria Deunas, a debut author, to the top of Spain's bestseller lists, and has been sold in twenty-five countries.

This breathtaking novel, which combines the storytelling powers of The Shadow of the Wind with the irresistible romance of Casablanca...

Really!? I have to say, I sincerely hope so! Here's more from the publisher's site:

Between Youth and Adulthood . . .

At age twelve, Sira Quiroga sweeps the atelier floors where her single mother works as a seamstress. At fourteen, she quietly begins her own apprenticeship. By her early twenties she has learned the ropes of the business and is engaged to a modest government clerk. But everything changes when two charismatic men burst unexpectedly into her neatly mapped-out life: an attractive salesman and the father she never knew.

Between War and Peace . . .

With the Spanish Civil War brewing in Madrid, Sira leaves her mother and her fiance, impetuously following her handsome lover to Morocco. However, she soon finds herself abandoned, penniless, and heartbroken in an exotic land. Among the odd collection of European expatriates trapped there by the worsening political situation back on the Continent, Sira reinvents herself by turning to the one skill that can save her: her gift for creating beautiful clothes.

Between Love and Duty . . .

As England, Germany, and the other great powers launch into the dire conflict of World War II, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid, where she takes on a new identity to embark upon the most dangerous undertaking of her career. As the preeminent couturier for an eager clientele of Nazi officers' wives, Sira becomes embroiled in the half-lit world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.

The book's official release date is Nov 8. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC and have it at the top of my TBR stack for post Halloween reading. You can read an excerpt here. It's been a busy, busy couple of weeks around here, but I'm getting some reading time in. And it's my anniversary weekend. One year on Monday!

Where's My Bookmark: The Fall by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

2011-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Let me kick off today's post by telling you that I am in desperate need of more sleep. Last night was rough -- I was up every few hours and definitely considered throwing in the towel and getting up at 4am. Bleh! Although, it would have been a chance to get in more reading time.

Still on the Halloween horror kick -- trying to get to as many this week as I can (considering the stack of potentials has kept growing even though the amount of time left is shrinking -- leftovers will stay in the TBR stack. Horror is good for any time of year!).

I did have the chance to read The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan before it was released. Which means that now that I'm cracking open book two, The Fall, it's been over two years since I was introduced to the story and the characters. Hmm. Could lead to some disastrous confusion.

Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case thus far. The Fall does pick up right where The Strain leaves off, with the team of oddly matched vampire hunters hiding out in Manhattan anticipating attack from The Master, or, as it turns out, one of his minions (trying not to give too much away for those who have yet to read The Strain, which reminds me -- Get on it! Book three comes out Tuesday, so you can read straight through!). The vampire plague has taken over and the government is only just starting to come up with a plan. It may be too late, though.

Here's a bit more about the book (from the HarperCollins page):

The vampiric virus unleashed in The Strain has taken over New York City. It is spreading and soon will envelop the globe. Amid the chaos, Eph Goodweather—head of the Centers for Disease Control's team—leads a band out to stop these bloodthirsty monsters. But it may be too late.

Ignited by the Master's horrific plan, a war erupts between Old and New World vampires, each vying for control. At the center of the conflict lies a book, an ancient text that contains the vampires' entire history . . . and their darkest secrets. Whoever finds the book can control the outcome of the war and, ultimately, the fate of us all. And it is between these warring forces that humans—powerless and vulnerable—find themselves no longer the consumers but the consumed. Though Eph understands the vampiric plague better than anyone, even he cannot protect those he loves. His ex-wife, Kelly, has been transformed into a bloodcrazed creature of the night, and now she stalks the city looking for her chance to reclaim her Dear One: Zack, Eph's young son.

With the future of humankind in the balance, Eph and his team, guided by the brilliant former professor and Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian and exterminator Vasiliy Fet and joined by a crew of ragtag gangsters, must combat a terror whose ultimate plan is more terrible than anyone has imagined—a fate worse than annihilation.

One of the things that does strike me about this series is the seemingly various incarnations of subtly reused scenes and situations from del Toro's Cronos. It could be my imagination, but it's definitely at the forefront while I'm reading. I'd have to rewatch Cronos to be sure, but must admit that I don't particularly care all that much if some of the imagery is repeated. It's just something I've noticed. If you've seen the film and read the books, you'll have to let me know if you had the same impression at any point.

I love the grittiness of this series. If you need to be told, the vampires in this series are truly horrific creatures -- there's nothing sweet or remotely romantic about them at all. The Strain trilogy is 100% horror and I love it. Paranormals and romance have their place in my particular mood reading, but straight up horror is on order for this week and these guys hit the spot.

Fortunately, the folks at HC have been kind enough to send along a copy of The Night Eternal, so I won't have to worry about keeping up with the final installment!

Happy reading!

New Releases 10/25/11

2011-10-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander

The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Tor and Chuck Hogan

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by

The Litigators by John Grisham

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry

Master of the House of Darts by Aliette de Bodard (Obsidian and Blood #3)

The Devil's Ribbon by D.E. Meredith

The Visitant by Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear (reprint -- this book is awesome!)

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Destined by PC Cast (House of Night #9)

Another Pan by Daniel & Dina Nayeri

New on DVD:

Attack the Block

Captain America

Pearl Jam Twenty

Faces in the Crowd

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Dust by Joan Frances Turner

The Guardians by Andrew Pyper

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Crossed by Ally Condie

2011-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

There are so many fabulous books hitting shelves in the coming month. Agh! Ally Condie's second in the Matched series is on my Must-Have List (along with a ton of others). I was completely blown away by Matched and am dying to know what comes next for the characters.

If you're a fan of dystopians (teen or otherwise) you need to read these. Parts of the plot reminded me a bit of old sci-fi classics like Logan's Run (yet another I hear they have plans to remake) and even--to a small extent--of George Lucas's THX, one that's way too trippy for my taste, but totally creepy in the big brother controls you manner of dystopian tales in general.

I featured Matched in its own Pre-Pub post here. As always, you can read my review at Bookbitch.com in the review archives--I lurved it completely!

Warning, I'm posting the synopsis of Crossed now and it does have spoilers if you haven't read Matched:

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

I can't do excerpts or else I'll die of anticipation waiting until November 1 to get my hands on the book, but if you're one of those folks who likes to sample, Entertainment Weekly has a trailer and the first two chapters of the book.

The Guardians by Andrew Pyper

2011-10-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

More horror reading fun! I've decided that amongst all the various types of horror tales out there, a really well-done ghost story is probably my favorite. It's a slim lead, trust me. I have room for lots of favorite story types, but it's definitely the ghosts that get me most. And I find there are fewer of them for some reason.

Andrew Pyper isn't completely new to me. He's a Canadian author who's last book, The Killing Circle, was released here by Minotaur back in 2008. His latest, The Guardians, was limited to Canada and the UK when I originally came across it in some similar title searches. I was combing the internet for new, must-have horror reads for my TBR. So not only was I familiar with him, he kept popping up in the "people who like this might also like..." links, and came with some pretty great praise from John Connolly, Dennis Lehane, and Joanne Harris. You can see why I had to have it!

Ben, Trevor, Carl, and Randy have been friends for ages. They grew up together in the small town of Grimshaw, saw each other through their teens, played hockey together, and are permanently linked by what they saw and experienced in the old Thurman house. For them, the Thurman house was always a place to avoid. Empty and menacing, the house faced Ben's childhood home. Every once in a while, the kids saw something strange and inexplicable. But one day, something truly terrible happened and the four friends were the only witnesses. Ben never left Grimshaw. He watched the Thurman house tirelessly, serving as guardian and protector of the neighborhood, making sure that whatever lurked inside was never able to leave. But now Ben is dead and the Thurman house is awake again.

The Guardians is a great haunted house story that alternates between present and past. A spooky story for any time of year and a great one to add to your horror TBR. I did want a little more of the back story, to be honest. My only complaint. I could have spent a lot more time with Trevor and his friends, past or present.

As with my favorite haunted horror reads, atmosphere is a key component in The Guardians. You have to build the suspense and get the creepy hair-raising tension just right to make it a good ghost read. Pyper definitely got this right. I found myself getting chills in the middle of the afternoon and it was definitely due to more than our recent cold snap!

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

2011-10-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Richard Kadrey has a new book out. Aloha From Hell, the third in the Sandman Slim series hit shelves yesterday -- just in time to make in on your Halloween reading lists (or anytime reading lists -- but it should be on your Must Buy list!).

I realize, though, that not only am I behind on the series, I've never done a Sandman Slim post before now. I think in my efforts to write two reviews (one for BB and a separate one for the blog), I get a bit bogged down. I will admit that EVERYTHING I read gets reviewed for the Bookbitch site. And I don't like to copy those. That way if you read both, you get something a little different on each site.

I'm not through my current read yet, and my Halloween stack is growing everyday! So, Sandman Slim. Can I just say that I was a bit blown away by this book? Because I was. I put Kadrey in the category with Mike Carey in the brilliantly dark urban fantasy series list.

James Stark spent eleven years living in hell. As the only human, he was tortured and enslaved, eventually becoming one of hell's assassins. But when Starks girlfriend is murdered in the land of the living, Stark kills his master and returns, hellbent on revenge. With Vidocq and magic on his side (yes, the French detective, Vidocq), Stark plans to track down those responsible and make them pay.

I love Stark. As a hero/anti-hero, he's really pretty fantastic. I'm also a big fan of Kadrey's use of the heaven/hell/fallen angel plot.

Dark -- dark, dark, dark. And funny. I have to say, if you like black comedy and urban fantasy, this is definitely a series you'll want to check out. And of course I've added Kill the Dead and Aloha From Hell to the top of the TBR stack now as well.

Where's My Bookmark: Dust by Joan Frances Turner

2011-10-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, Monday! To come at the end of such a great weekend, I hope you don't turn out to be a real bummer.

We hit up Frightmare on Saturday night, something I've been saying we needed to do since last Halloween. It's huge -- it's a permanent building but the haunted house is only open in October (to the best of my knowledge). It's super elaborate with a ton of actors throughout -- and three separate sections.

We came home and watched part of the Stephen King marathon on AMC. Sunday, we picked pumpkins at Rock Creek Farms and went to see The Thing and then last night was the premiere of The Walking Dead. It was a super fantastic October weekend, if I do say so myself.

My read for the weekend was (is -- I've got less than 60 pages left) Joan Frances Turner's Dust, which I believe was the author's debut title. It caught attention for being from the zombie's perspective and it was only a matter of time before I got around to it. The sequel, Frail, hit shelves just recently.

In the book, Jessica was reborn the walking dead after a car accident that killed herself, her mother, and her father. Zombies are normal occurrences in Jessie's world, though no one knows exactly what started it. Rumor has it, and later evidence supports, that zombies have always been around, but that certain times saw increases in their appearance. This is one of those upswing times. Jessie gets in with a gang and life is a-ok until hoos (humans) start popping up in their territory, stinking like death and chemicals, but obviously still alive. When Jessie learns why, she realizes only the strongest can survive.

I struggled a bit with the beginning of the book. I can't lie. But it wasn't anything to do with Dust itself. I wasn't entirely sure I was in the mood to read a zombie book at the moment (was thinking maybe ghosts instead) and was considering setting it aside for later, until the whole NEW outbreak starts -- the chemical stench and human zombies. It only got better from there. I won't tell you any more about the plot, but if you like to make your own spoilers you can read the synopsis of Frail for a bit more info.

Be warned, Dust can be a little gross. Another reader had said that she couldn't eat while reading it, she was so grossed out. It's true, the story from a zombie's perspective does leave lots of room for icky and colorful descriptions. And it starts on page 1.

With about an hour left of reading to go on this one, I have to decide whether to move directly into Frail or hit the horror stack for another read. I usually like to space installments a bit, a quirk of mine, but I want to know where this one is headed. The temptation might be a little too big to overcome. We'll see!

Dust is book one of the Resurgam Trilogy. Frail, book two, is out now. Book three is in the works.

New Releases 10/18/11

2011-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay (#6)

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Geek Girls Unite by Leslie Simon

Mercury Rises by Robert Kroese

Bonnie by Iris Johansen

I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words ed by George Beahm

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie (pb)

The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill (reissue)

Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia

Seizure by Kathy Reichs (Virals #2)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

New on DVD:

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Bad Teacher

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

2011-10-15T08:56:00.001-07:00

Just in time for Halloween horror reading, the third book in The Strain series! Yay! I'm pretty much a fan of anything del Toro puts his mind to. And this is not the first time he's tackled vampires (Cronos) but as his first novel foray (with Hogan), I'd say the trilogy has been a pretty big success. I hope he considers another project of this kind in the future. I'm kind of in awe of his creative genius! (fangirl)

Here's the synopsis of The Night Eternal from the publisher's site (the book hits shelves Oct 25):

It’s been two years since the vampiric virus was unleashed in The Strain, and the entire world now lies on the brink of annihilation. There is only night as nuclear winter blankets the land, the sun filtering through the poisoned atmosphere for two hours each day—the perfect environment for the propagation of vampires.

There has been a mass extermination of humans, the best and the brightest, the wealthy and the influential, orchestrated by the Master—an ancient vampire possessed of unparalleled powers—who selects survivors based on compliance. Those humans who remain are entirely subjugated, interred in camps, and separated by status: those who breed more humans, and those who are bled for the sustenance of the Master’s vast army.

The future of humankind lies in the hands of a ragtag band of freedom fighters—Dr. Eph Goodweather, former head of the Centers for Disease Control’s biological threats team; Dr. Nora Martinez, a fellow doctor with a talent for dispatching the undead; Vasiliy Fet, the colorful Russian exterminator; and Mr. Quinlan, the half-breed offspring of the Master who is bent on revenge. It’s their job to rescue Eph’s son, Zack, and overturn this devastating new world order. But good and evil are malleable terms now, and the Master is most skilled at preying on the weaknesses of humans.

Now, at this critical hour, there is evidence of a traitor in their midst. . . . And only one man holds the answer to the Master’s demise, but is he one who can be trusted with the fate of the world? And who among them will pay the ultimate sacrifice—so that others may be saved?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

2011-10-14T10:33:00.001-07:00

Now I know what all the fuss was about! Let me start by saying that I love how careful folks have been in penning the reviews that I've come across. Everyone has been keeping the spoilers in check for this book (and for a number of titles I've been hearing about lately -- Unbecoming of Mara Dyer for example). And I'm definitely not going to ruin the fun by posting any spoilers here!

Karou is a blue-haired, seventeen-year-old girl living in Prague. She's an art student by day with a secret she keeps from even her best friend. She's a whiz at languages and travels the world -- all thanks to the monsters who raised her. Brimstone, a ram-horned chimaera, and Karou's adopted dad, runs a shop with doors around the world. He collects teeth and pays in wishes and sometimes sends Karou out to do the dealing for him. But an unknown person has been watching the doors and leaving marks. And before long, everything Karou knows will change.

Whew! This is just an utterly fabulous read in every way. Taylor's fairy-tale fantasy is highly original, well-built, and will leave you completely breathless with anticipation of what will come next.

I have to say, this is one that lives up to the hype completely! Taylor is a fiction force to be reckoned with, folks, and you should all go out and find out for yourselves why.

What the man of the house reads

2011-10-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

It's nice having a husband who reads, having such a large collection of books, and being a former bookseller. It means that when he's bored, I can ask him what he might be in the mood to read and then comb the bookshelves for something appropriate.

So you know, he's a big fan of Terry Pratchett, loved the Dark Tower series, and raves about Christopher Moore.

I'd bought a new-ish trilogy at the Borders going out of business sale and slipped them onto hubby's bedside table. Lo and behold, he's been reading them for the past few weeks and really enjoying them. I know how to pick 'em!

The series is Simon Morden's Metrozone trilogy, released by Orbit earlier this year: Equations of Life, Theories of Flight, and Degrees of Freedom. There are excerpts on the author's page, but here's a bit about Equations to whet your appetite:

Samuil Petrovitch is a survivor. He survived the nuclear fallout in St. Petersburg and hid in the London Metrozone – the last city in England. He’s lived this long because he’s a man of rules and logic. For example: GETTING INVOLVED = A BAD IDEA.

But when he stumbles into a kidnapping in progress, he acts without even thinking. Before he can stop himself, he’s saved the daughter of the most dangerous man in London. And clearly: SAVING THE GIRL = GETTING INVOLVED.

Now, the equation of Petrovitch’s life is looking increasingly complex:

RUSSIAN MOBSTERS + YAKUZA + SOMETHING CALLED THE NEW MACHINE JIHAD = ONE DEAD PETROVITCH.

But Petrovitch has a plan – he always has a plan – he’s just not sure it’s a good one.

Apparently, there's lots of Russian cursing in the book :) Now, what I'll find for my SO to read when he's finished with these is the question! (Actually, that's in the bag. It's a surprise, though.)

Laini Taylor signing

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

Laini Taylor was in town this week and I headed over to the Boulder Bookstore for her signing Monday night. (She was at Tattered Cover's Highlands Ranch location last night as well.)

I have to admit that I'm new to Laini Taylor. A lot of the blogs I read have been raving about The Daughter of Smoke and Bone and I had a chance to snag a copy at the trade show (and then do the happy dance). I've only just had a chance to start reading the book (and am loving it! I wish I could tap into the kind of creativity Laini Taylor has!). Stay tuned for a review on that one later.

The event was great. Taylor talked about her process, traveling (and inspiration), and mentioned a series of essays she wrote about the writing craft, which can be found here: http://notforrobots.blogspot.com/

And in addition to getting my copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone signed, I also picked up a copy of her National Book Award nominated title, Lips Touch: Three Times, three novellas illustrated by Taylor's husband.

Resistance by Owen Sheers

2011-10-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Look what I found! Owen Sheers's Resistance has been on my must-read list for quite some time now. When I saw the trailer headline on IMDB last week, I knew it had to be one and the same.

This is a UK trailer, so I'm assuming the release date is also the UK date. Not sure when/if it will play in US theaters, but I do know I'll be putting it in my rental queue as soon as I have the option!

Here's a bit about the book if you aren't familiar with it (I don't think it made a big splash when it was released, but, like I said, it was on my radar and it did earn a starred review in PW):

1944. After the fall of Russia and the failed D-Day landings, a German counter-attack lands on British soil. Within a month, half of Britain is occupied.

Sarah Lewis, a 26-year-old farmer’s wife, wakes to find her husband Tom has disappeared. She is not alone. All the other women in the isolated Welsh border valley of Olchon also wake to find their husbands gone. With this sudden and unexplained absence the women regroup as an isolated, all-female community and wait, hoping for news.

A German patrol arrives in the valley, the purpose of their mission a mystery. When a severe winter forces the two groups into co-operation, a fragile mutual dependency develops. Sarah begins a faltering acquaintance with the patrol’s commanding officer, Albrecht Wolfram. But as the pressure of the war beyond presses in on them, the valley’s delicate state of harmony is increasingly threatened, before being broken completely, with devastating consequences.

I didn't realize it had been out for quite this long. Hopefully the film will get the book a bit more attention. I'm going to have to read it before I see the movie, but I have to say I'm very much looking forward to the flick now as well.

Where's My Bookmark: Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

One of the junior junkies has been RAVING about Kate Elliott's Cold Magic for weeks now. I did a little bookshelf reorganizing (and have Cold Magic on my TBR tackle list) so I pulled it down to crack open this weekend. The JJ is pleased.

At the moment, I'm only about 1/3 to 1/2 through -- I also hit up yoga so I'd have a little warmth over the COLD weekend, which did affect the amount of reading I got in. I can't help it! The cold makes me want to curl up and sleep until the warm weather comes back. Plus I was a little beat after class.

Here's a bit about the book from Kate Elliott's site (psst, if you follow the link, you can read an excerpt!):

Young Cat Barahal thinks she understands the world she lives in and her place in it. She lives with her aunt and uncle and cousins, and is best of friends with her beloved cousin Beatrice (Bee). The two young women attend the local academy in the city of Adurnam.

Unexpectedly drawn into a labyrinth of politics involving blood, betrayal, and old feuds, she’s about to find out that most of what she thinks she knows is very, very wrong.

And she’s going to have to make a run for her life if she wants to discover the truth, not just about her own family but about an ancient secret lying at the heart of her world.

Cold Magic is the first in the Spiritwalker trilogy. Book two, Cold Fire, was released just a few weeks ago.

I'm loving the set up in this story so far. Cat is feisty and strong-willed. Her parents both died under somewhat mysterious circumstances -- in fact, Cat's own parentage is somewhat mysterious considering she has access to all her father's journals from before she was born and there's no real mention of his relationship with her mother. Story there? We'll have to see.

My only complaint is the COLD SETTING! Agh. Could I have picked a worse weekend to read a book set in a world of ice or what!? Good thing my tea order from MODesTEA arrived Saturday! (Lavender Chamomile and a bright blue mug to drink it in.)

New Releases 10/11/11

2011-10-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist

The Dark at the End by F. Paul Wilson

Resuscitation by D.M. Annechino

Practical Jean by Trevor Cole

Wishes and Stitches by Rachael Herron

Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Snuff by Terry Pratchett (Discworld)

As the Pig Turns by M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin series)

Phobos: Mayan Fear by Steve Alten

Devoted by Hillary Duff

The Death Cure by James Dashner

Awake at Dawn by C.C. Hunter

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Unforsaken by Sophie Littlefield (Hailey Tarbell #2)

New on DVD:

Horrible Bosses

Green Lantern

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Death Cure

The Monster's Corner ed by Christopher Golden

Cemetery Girl by David Bell

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Practical Jean by Trevor Cole

2011-10-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

I got an email from HarperCollins last week about Trevor Cole's Practical Jean (due out Oct 11) and I was dying to get my sticky little hands on it after reading the title info:

Jean Vale Horemarsh, the protagonist of award-winning Canadian writer Trevor Cole’s PRACTICAL JEAN is a small-town woman with the usual challenges of middle age. She’s content, mostly, with the life she’s built: a semi-successful career as a ceramics artist, a close collection of women friends (if you ignore the terrible falling out she had with Cheryl all those years ago), a comfortable marriage with a kind if unextraordinary man. There’s just one thing that makes Jean different from other women her age: She’s on a Dr. Kevorkian streak. Well, a version of it anyway.

After Jean saw her mother through the final devastating months of cancer, she realized her fondest wish was to protect her dearest friends from the indignities of aging and illness. That’s when her practical side kicked in. She decided she would arrange for each one of them to have one last amazing moment, whether a sexual tryst or a good fight (for a lover of conflict), and then…WHACK! It’s dirty job, Jean figures, but someone’s got to do it.

Jean’s mordant humor and skewed sense of compassion gives her fuddy-duddy character an edge and endears her to readers, as well as makes for a highly entertaining read. Part social satire, part dark comedy, PRACTICAL JEANis a hilarious mash-up of Arsenic and Old Lace and the Stepford Wives that will appeal to book club readers and lovers of offbeat fiction alike. It has already made a huge splash in Canada, garnering critical acclaim, two national award nominations, and hitting the Maclean’s bestseller list...

Seriously!? Arsenic and Old Lace and The Stepford Wives! That comparison alone is enough to interest me. I'm a big fan of dark comedy as well, so this is one that I'm definitely looking forward to.

Can I just say, I'm also a little in love with this cover treatment here! At least I was, until I saw the cover on the author's page. I still love the PS version, but I really like the twisted lady with all the knives, too. (I am absolutely in awe of designers when I come across a great cover treatment.) I never judge by cover alone, but who doesn't like a good cover?

I'll keep it short and sweet today. I'm pre-posting this, so it's late Friday night on my end and I have a book to get to :) Plus I'm super tired, so I know I'm really random and babble-y at the moment.

Happy reading!

Keeper of Lost Causes Rocks!

2011-10-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

I used a very scientific method for choosing my current read: I took a picture of a stack of books and told my sister to pick one. Sure the one she chose was simply because it was the one she wanted me to send her next, but her pick has turned out to be pretty good. I made it just past the hundred page hurdle last night. It's a teen read. It doesn't come out until November. I'll post about it further down the line.

But... I always have past reads to post about and this is one that I should have put up the same week that I read it. (In my defense, it's only been two weeks and I did review it for the BB.) It was pretty freaking fabulous!

Jussi Adler-Olsen's The Keeper of Lost Causes is yet another of the hugely popular Scandinavian mystery/thrillers to be released on this side of the pond. I'd not actually heard anything about this one until about a week before it's release, and then it was everywhere! Shelf Awareness even did a devoted installment of their newsletter all about it. Of course my curiosity was thoroughly piqued and I had to have it.

Carl Morck has only been back on the job for a week after being shot in the line of duty. His attitude stinks and his patience is thin. The department has a great idea about getting him out of their hair, though. Local politicians are pushing for a measure that would add a new department devoted to cold cases: Department Q. And with the new department comes more funding. Morck is chosen to head up the new arm, relegated to an out-of-the-way office in the basement, and given a stack of case files and an assistant. The first case they begin working is a five-year-old missing person's involving a local politician who disappeared while on a day trip with her brother. No witnesses were ever found and the case was eventually unofficially deemed a suicide. As Morck and Assad unravel the clues and uncover new leads, they don't know that the woman in question is still very much alive. How much longer she can hold out is another thing entirely.

Not only was this a fantastic mystery, it's one of the best translations I've read in years! I can't wait for more from this series. Morck is yet another character recently added to my favorites list. He's kind of an ass, to be honest. Thing is, he's a bit brilliant in a not-so-bumbling-as-Columbo way. The kicker is that it's when he puts his mind to it, and often to show up a fellow officer. Much of Dept Q's early discoveries are thanks to Assad, who has way more of a backstory to be covered in subsequent books.

And it's dark. The crime in question is completely twisted and the lead up to the end is intense. Amazingly, the reader knows the missing woman is alive, which gives the book something of an urgent pacing. Consider yourself warned -- you will be up late with this one!

(Note: pubbed as Mercy in the UK)

Indecisive? Horror suggestions for October

2011-10-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

I am having a massive attack of can't make up my mind and it's killing me! There are so many fabulous books to read and I'm in total Halloween/horror mode at the moment, but think I might want something lighter as an interlude. Agh!

If you're like me, horror season is pretty much year round. But something about October and Halloween makes me crave it even more. Here are some suggestions to help you out:

The Exorcist 40th Anniversary Edition by William Peter Blatty -- can't go wrong with a classic, and it's newly polished and released for a fresh audience

Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's Strain trilogy -- books one and two (The Strain and The Fall) are out now. Book three, The Night Eternal, is due out October 25

John Ajvide Lindqvist's latest (author of Let Me In and Handling the Undead), Harbor, is due out in hardcover 10/11

If you haven't read Max Brooks's World War Z yet, now is the time. With the feature film in production, you can read it before it's released on the big screen.

Rhiannon Frater's second As the World Dies installment isn't due out until Nov 8, but book one, The First Days is out now.

Everyone's all about Chris Bohjalian's The Night Strangers and if you're in the mood for the apocalypse, Colson Whitehead's Zone One is due out 10/18.

Jonathan Maberry also has a new one out in time for Halloween: Dead of Night hits shelves on 10/25

Now would also be a good time to tackle Joan Frances Turner's debut, Dust. The sequel, Frail, is new out this week

Two others on my radar this season are Christopher Buehlman's Those Across the River and Alma Katsu's The Taker (not sure that one's technically horror, but I want it)

And the Saw folks take a stab at the literary scene with Black Light, also out this week

David Moody has new installments to both his Hater and Autumn series due out in November, so this month would be a good time to catch up on prior installments.

Are you on total overload yet? How about one more. You know I'm dying to see The Woman in Black (the new film starring Daniel Radcliffe) and Vintage has put out a new edition of the book it's based on! That's due out 10/18 (the book, the movie is due out in Jan)

Whew! I know there's a ton more. What are you guys reading this month?

Hi, Monday!

2011-10-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hey, readers. Hope you had a fabulous weekend. I did :)

I was at Mountains and Plains working work's exhibitor's table and I had a fantastic time. From a work standpoint, talking to indie booksellers and such was really awesome. I think I got some really useful feedback I can put to good use, too.

From a reading standpoint -- tradeshows are book heaven! Holy moly! And so many book people in one place. It was freaking awesome!

I saw some really exciting upcoming releases and did the happy dance more than once considering the ones I was able to snag. I'll be sure to tell you all about them.

On that note, I happen to know where you can get a copy of Alice Hoffman's upcoming book (officially released tomorrow), The Dovekeepers. Fellow blogger Susan Tunis over at In One Eye, Out the Other... is giving away a copy and has extended the entry deadline. Head over and enter your name. She's raved about the book and I saw it again at M&P this weekend as a rep pick from that publisher.

Anywho, I'm going start a new book now. Happy reading!

New releases 10/4/11

2011-10-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Cemetery Girl by David Bell

Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir

Black Light by Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan, and Stephan Romano

Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi

The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Ed by William Peter Blatty

The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Falling Together by Maria De los Santos

Cell 8 by Anders and Hellstrom

Variant by Ross Wells

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush #3)

Shock Wave by John Sandford

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Cook Like a Rockstar by Anne Burrell

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day

The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright

Down These Strange Streets ed George R. R. Martin

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell

Crashers by Dana Haynes (pb)

New on DVD:

Scream 4

Fast Five

Phase 7

New Reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Exorcist

The Carrier of the Mark

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Soul Thief by Jana Oliver

The Monster's Corner

2011-09-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

We'll see how much reading I get in these next few days. I'm helping man work's exhibitor's booth at Mountain & Plains this weekend. Should be super fun and interesting -- my first official trade show. I'm interested to see if the ABA folks will be talking about next year's World Book Night efforts.

Anywho. Tomorrow's October 1! You know what that means? I'll be amping up the horror reads (because they all seem to come out right about now). I kick started it this week with The Exorcist, which I am happy to say that either age or reading rather than watching made much more appealing than my first go around with the flick.

I also dove into The Monster's Corner, which reminded me just how much I've come to love short stories. Anthologies like this give you a taste of so many different authors and styles. You may love some, you may hate some, and you may say, "Hey. I haven't read him/her before and now I want more!"

The contributors in this one surprised me a bit. Sharyn McCrumb, whose Ballad series is in my TBR list, Dana Stabenow, and Chelsea Cain (who writes about monsters anyway, so I'm not sure why I was surprised) are all well known mystery/suspense authors I didn't expect to see is a horror anthology.

Some might be surprised to see David Liss on the list since he's known for historical mysteries. Fans of these kinds of collections, though, will remember his story "What Maisie Knew" from in last year's The New Dead -- also ed by Christopher Golden. (It and was one of my favorites in that anthology!)

I should mention that while Monster's Corner features "monsters" exclusively, Golden points out that there are no zombies in this book. Instead, Liss's story features an unexpected teen creature that made for a fun and twisted tale. Lauren Groff's fairy tale-like dystopian set story, "Rue," was another of my favorites here.

I admit that I was super excited to see Sarah Pinborough as a contributor -- I love her work and have two of her books in my TBR right now. David Moody and Michael Marshall Smith are two more authors I've read that I was pleased to see took part.

Here's the complete author list (and bonus comments -- I haven't read all of the stories just yet, though):

David Liss

Jonathan Maberry -- always a favorite

Lauren Groff

John McIlveen -- "Succumb" was a highly, highly disturbing introduction to this author for me

Kevin J. Anderson -- I've actually read his X-Files books, so he's not totally new to me, but I was pleasantly surprised by his story

Sharyn McCrumb

David Moody

Kelley Armstrong -- I've come to her work recently and love her

Nate Kenyon -- a new horror great that everyone should read

Dana Stabenow

Chelsea Cain

Tom Piccirilli -- Golden and Piccirilli both contributed to a novella collection called Four Dark Nights, which I read AGES ago.

Sarah Pinborough

Heather Graham -- I think this will be my first short by her

Jeff Strand -- this will be my intro to Strand's work

Tanarive Due -- another one I'm discovering here

Michael Marshall Smith

Gary A. Braunbeck -- another author I love whose backlist titles are in the TBR

Simon R. Green -- I'm actually familiar with Green, but haven't read any of his series yet

Soul Thief - Jana Oliver

2011-09-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

I gave myself a week. One week. I made myself wait seven days to read the sequel to The Demon Trapper's Daughter and it was hard. I LOVED Demon Trapper's Daughter and every book I read after that, I was pretty much consumed by getting back to the series. I know. Now I have to wait until next spring to find out what happens next!

Soul Thief picks up right where Demon Trapper leaves off (beware of spoilers if you haven't read Demon Trapper yet). Riley made a deal with heaven to save her boyfriend who is now on the way to recovery, but not quite himself. And now, Riley has to find out who raised her father. With the help of Mort, a necro with morals, she's on a mission to track down the illegal summoner and free her father. Meanwhile, the Vatican is none too happy with the events at The Tabernacle. The demon hunters have made it their mission to clean up Atlanta and they don't care which trappers they step on in the process.

Some big stuff happens in this one and I can't tell you or I'd ruin the surprise :) We wouldn't want that, would we? I can tell that I'll be first in line to buy the new installment when it's released. Agh!

Riley is one of my favorite new characters. She's stubborn and smart, and of course there's something more to her that we've yet to learn. I also love Beck. And Mort. And the little klepto demon! In fact, all the little details that Oliver has thrown in here are fantastic. The depth of the setting is amazing and another big draw for me with this series.

It's easy to forget that this is a teen read while in the midst of the story. Saying that, and not being a parent, I'd assume the audience is on the older teen range given that Riley is 17 herself. All I know is that it reads fine from this adult's perspective!

One Down in the TBR Tackle!

2011-09-27T10:29:00.001-07:00

Woohoo! I got to one book in the TBR Tackle stack this weekend: Sarah Addison Allen's The Peach Keeper officially knocks out the A picks for this part of the Tackle. (Course there's plenty more As left for later, including yet another Sarah Addison Allen title that I bought before my self imposed ban on buying.)

So The Peach Keeper, or let's back up a sec and look at The Girl Who Chased the Moon, which was my official introduction to this author (though Garden Spells was on my radar for a while). The Girl Who Chased the Moon was such a sweet read. Just an overall pleasure to dive into and one that set the bar high as far as my expectations in reading other books by this author. Not surprisingly, The Peach Keeper delivered on all counts and may even have surpassed Girl.

In The Peach Keeper, thirty-year-old Willa Jackson has settled into life in Walls of Water, North Carolina. She's the last in what was once a rich and well-respected family that brought industry and prosperity to their little town. All that changed in the 1930s when the family lost their home and Willa's pregnant (but single) grandmother was no longer the talk of the town in any way that folks desire. Willa made a name for herself as a prankster in high school, but fled the town in search of something new, only returning after her father's death. When Paxton Osgood sends Willa an invite to the unveiling of the newly restored Blue Ridge Madam (the Jackson family manse), Willa is definitely not planning to attend. But when the big peach tree out front is removed and a body is found, Willa and Paxton come together to uncover a secret that's been hidden for over seventy years.

A peachy keen southern read that's as delicious as the title implies! Sarah Addison Allen's particular style and use of magical realism make her books truly delightful and appealing to readers across the board. Whether you like the warm, sunny feel of a good southern read, a little element of mystery, fairy tales, or romance, The Peach Keeper has all that and more.

One For the Money trailer:

2011-09-27T06:42:00.001-07:00

Well, we knew it was coming. I'll reserve my opinion until I see the whole thing:

Where's My Bookmark: The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

2011-09-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's another anniversary. This time, it's the 40th anniversary of William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist and HarperCollins has released a special hardcover edition to commemorate the special occasion.

Now, this is a new one for me. I've actually never read The Exorcist, though I have seen the movie. I was a little ambitious and thought that I would compare this new edition to an old copy I snagged back when I was a bookseller, but I'm not sure. Apparently, this new edition does have some additions to it. Here's the info from the publisher's site:

Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist, one of the most controversial novels ever written, went on to become a literary phenomenon: It spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one. Inspired by a true story of a child’s demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying.

Two years after its publication, The Exorcist was, of course, turned into a wildly popular motion picture, garnering ten Academy Award nominations. On opening day of the film, lines of the novel’s fans stretched around city blocks. In Chicago, frustrated moviegoers used a battering ram to gain entry through the double side doors of a theater. In Kansas City, police used tear gas to disperse an impatient crowd who tried to force their way into a cinema. The three major television networks carried footage of these events; CBS’s Walter Cronkite devoted almost ten minutes to the story. The Exorcist was, and is, more than just a novel and a film: it is a true landmark.

Purposefully raw and profane, The Exorcist still has the extraordinary ability to disturb readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story.” Published here in this beautiful fortieth anniversary edition, it remains an unforgettable reading experience and will continue to shock and frighten a new generation of readers.

I was in college before I actually saw the movie and I really wasn't a big fan. I know, I know. It's horror movie fan blasphemy to say such a thing. One of the things that drove me absolutely bonkers was the fact that there was no explanation where I wanted one. But, I also heartily admit that coming to a book or movie at the wrong time can deeply affect how you walk away from it. I saw Gone With the Wind as a teenager and hated it. The open ending drove me bananas.

So here I am, reading the anniversary edition of Blatty's The Exorcist and I plan to rewatch the film after. We'll see if my tastes have changed. I will say this, though, even if I disliked the movie, there's just as much of a chance I'll actually like the book. I made it past the hundred page hurdle last night without any real issue. And the action's just beginning to happen.

The Exorcist 40th Anniversary edition is due out October 4, just in time for Halloween horror reading!

New Releases 9/27/11

2011-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Darkness Falling by Peter Crowther

L.A. Mental by Steve McMahon

The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter (10/1)

The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina

Theodora by Stella Duffy

The Monster's Corner ed by Christopher Golden

Red Phoenix by Kylie Chan (Dark Heavens #2)

Drama: An Actor's Education by John Lithgow

The Lost Book of Mala R by Rose MacDowell

The Affair by Lee Child (Reacher #16)

Miracle Cure by Harlan Coben (pb reprint)

Feast Day For Fools by James Lee Burke (Hackberry Holland)

The Immortality Engine by George Mann

The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson

Ganymede by Cherie Priest (Clockwork Century #4)

Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason

The Countess by Rebecca Johns (pb)

The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman

Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi (10/1)

Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Alyson Noel (rerelease)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz (Blue Bloods)

New on DVD:

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: Cemetery Girl by David Bell

2011-09-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

I love to see what authors are reading and am very prone to picking up their recs on a regular basis. Course, I pick up recs from all over the place, but there are some authors out there who definitely share my taste in books and have turned me on to things I would have probably missed otherwise. I have to thank Doug Clegg for this one, it was his mention that popped up on facebook and caught my attention. Cemetery Girl by David Bell is due out officially on October 4.

Here's a bit about the book from the author's website:

Tom and Abby Stuart had everything: a perfect marriage, successful careers, and a beautiful twelve-year-old daughter, Caitlin. Then one day Caitlin vanished without a trace. For a while they grasped at every false hope and followed every empty lead, but the tragedy ended up changing their lives, overwhelming them with guilt and dread, and shattering their marriage.

Four years later, Caitlin is found alive—dirty and disheveled yet preternaturally calm. She won’t discuss where she was or what happened. Then the police arrest a suspect connected to the disappearance, but Caitlin refuses to testify, leaving the Stuarts with a choice: Let the man who may be responsible for destroying their lives walk away, or take matters into their own hands. And when Tom decides to try to uncover the truth for himself, he finds that nothing that has happened yet can prepare him for what he is about to discover.

And this one comes with blurbs from the likes of Lisa Unger, Will Lavender, and Jonathan Maberry, amongst others. I have to say, I can't wait to dive into this one! I snagged a copy for review and will keep you posted. As an aside, Bell is hosting a really awesome giveaway on his site: a free ereader to one winner each week and all you have to do is preorder the book. Dets on his site, but if you decide to take my rec for it, preorder and maybe you'll win!

TBR Tackle

2011-09-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

WAY back in June, I mentioned I was going to be making an effort to whittle down the TBR stacks a bit. My first idea was to take on a sort of alphabetical challenge and I had made some A-G picks to start off. I did get to two of my As but then started reading out of order. Ha.

It's back on. I've made some adjustments to suit my current reading mood and will be injecting TBR reads throughout the review schedule (yes, I keep a review calendar with release dates and read by dates). I've also promised (after three Borders closeout trips) that I will not buy any more books until the new Stephen King comes out in November (and have succeeded even though I did preorder said Stephen King along with the fourth Iron Fey book).

To recap, here's what I have gotten out of the TBR stack of late (and reviewed here):

Non-Official Personal Alphabetical Challenge:

The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Books That Have Languished 6 Mos or More:

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Haunting of James Hastings by Christopher Ransom

Think of a Number by John Verdon

The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman

Fragile by Lisa Unger

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

And I haven't been posting as regularly as I should, so there are actually a few more that got knocked out and haven't been featured on the blog.

To date, in 2011, I've read a total of 112 books. 42 of those were from June forward (most were new).

So, here are the books I've picked right now (A is almost done):

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

World War Z by Max Brooks

Sidney Sheldon's After the Darkness by Tilly Bagshawe

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett

Chime by Franny Billingsly

The Ambassador's Mission by Trudi Canavan

Blameless by Gail Carriger

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox

Tombs of Endearment by Casey Daniels

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

Mary Modern by Camille DeAngelis

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep

Bloody Right by Georgia Evans

Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek

The Other Side of the Door by Nicci French

China Lake by Meg Gardiner

Even by Andrew Grant

There's no doubt they'll all get read at some point. There's also no doubt that I'll be reading other things from the TBR stack as well as the new review books along with these. I'll probably be on a big horror kick in the next month as well. These just happen to be the ones I've put on my official Shelfari Planning to Read shelf and I've noticed that that classification sometimes becomes the kiss of death for my older books. Not this time!

The Demon Trapper's Daughter - Jana Oliver

2011-09-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Holy moly! I spent my Saturday with Riley Blackthorne, heroine of The Demon Trapper's Daughter, the first book in Jana Oliver's Demon Trappers series. It was fantastic! I really loved this book!

Riley Blackthorne is an apprentice demon trapper. Her father, Paul Blackthorne, is well-known in the industry and Riley plans to follow in his footsteps. But when Paul is killed while trying to trap a Three, Riley finds herself suddenly alone and fending for herself. First thing she has to do is protect her father's body from the necros. Second is figure out how she's going to pay the rent. Third is how she's going to survive.

I was hooked on the very first page! 2018: Atlanta, Georgia. Really? A near-future teen read with demons? That's enough of a premise to spark my curiosity. And it only gets better. In the opening chapter, Riley, a stubborn seventeen year old, chases down a Biblio-fiend and wrecks a library. This book totally comes together in an incredible way. Everything -- from the setting and characters, to the plot and the writing -- everything worked for me!

And one of my biggest likes is that Oliver doesn't talk down to her audience. There's nothing overly kiddy about Riley or about the writing, something I think some authors struggle with in writing teen fiction. It seems to have come to Oliver naturally.

I can't wait to read the second in this series. In fact, I was tempted to begin Soul Thief immediately after finishing The Demon Trapper's Daughter. I think I'll save it for next weekend, but it's going to be hard to wait!

Where's My Bookmark: The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley

2011-09-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Morning, readers. Happy Monday to you (though it's Sunday as I write this). Just got back from seeing Contagion and thought it was a worthy pic. Mike said it's just Outbreak, and while there are certainly similarities in plot, I still enjoyed it.

As we speak, I'm reading in 19th century Edinburgh courtesy of author Brian Ruckley, the author of the Godless World trilogy (Winterbirth, Bloodheir, and Fall of Thrones). His latest, The Edinburgh Dead is a cross-genre historical that caught my eye as an upcoming release earlier this year.

Here's a bit about the book from the author's website:

Edinburgh 1828: it’s a city populated by mad alchemists who treat Frankenstein as textbook rather than novel and by a criminal underclass prepared to treat with the darkest of powers. And one officer, from the recently formed Edinburgh City Police, must follow the trail of undead hounds, emptied graves, brutal murders and mob violence into the deepest and darkest corners of Edinburgh’s underworld – both literal and magical – and back again to the highest reaches of elegant, intellectual Edinburgh society.

The Edinburgh Dead was released last month (trade paperback). I might ask you, what could possibly be better than a gothic historical mystery set in 1828 Scotland? It's intriguing, to be sure and now that I've had a chance to dive in, I can tell you that the book delivers.

One of the things I love about historicals (and by this, I mean any book with a historical setting) is the effort a good author makes in accuracy on all levels. Sure, this is a book about zombie dogs and graverobbers and crazy experiments, but it's all set in 1828 and Ruckley seems to have paid all the appropriate attention to detail here, making it so easy to be transported by the story. I'm enjoying it quite a bit and am about halfway through at the moment.

Oh, btw, if you happen to be taking public transportation soon, take along The Edinburgh Dead. Ruckley mentioned his recent observations of folks reading (and not reading) on trains and I'm sure the thought of some American reading one of his books in transit would be good news. I don't have a train to offer, but I do have my back porch and patio chairs.