Where's My Bookmark: Wide Open by Deborah Coates

Hello, all, and a happy Monday to you!

I've still got a massive head cold (yes, they are marathon events in my case, lasting much longer than with any normal person). The good news is that having sprung forward, the days are getting longer and the sun is finally coming out, which means that I'm starting to defrost from winter. Yay! It also means that I don't feel like I should be in bed by 5pm. And this translates into getting more done, including reading!

Deborah Coates's Wide Open made its way into my TBR stack this weekend and I was able to dive in last night (post Walking Dead). It's an intriguing beginning to a new trilogy.

In the book, Hallie Michaels has returned home on ten days' leave for her sister's funeral. While Dell's death is still under investigation, preliminary thoughts are that it must be a suicide. Hallie knows there's no way her sister killed herself and is determined to find out the truth.

Did I mention Hallie sees ghosts? Coates's heroine died herself just prior to when the book begins and has been able to see ghosts ever since. Course her ability is new and she still isn't sure what the ghosts actually want from her.

Like I said, intriguing. I've had my eye on this one for a while and was lucky enough to get a finished copy for review. I'm at the halfway mark as we speak and hope to finish this evening. Wide Open is proving to be a quick read though there are a few parts where the flow of the narrative hangs up a bit. I really like Hallie as a character and I'm kind of dying to find out what's up with Boyd Davies (he's a local cop on the case).

Wide Open officially on shelves tomorrow from Tor.

New Releases 3/13/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond

The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green

Play Nice by Gemma Halliday

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith

Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers

How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue

Being Lara by Lola Jaye

Autumn: Aftermath by David Moody

The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker

Wide Open by Deborah Coates

The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits

Sail of Stone by Ake Edwardson

The Affair by Alicia Clifford

Rizzo's Daughter by Lou Manfredo

Helsinki White by James Thompson

An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer

Starters by Lissa Price

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter (Gallagher Girls)

Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Chronicles of Nick)

The Savage Grace by Bree Despain (Dark Divine)

Crysanthe by Yves Meynard

New on DVD:

The Descendants

The Adventures of Tintin

The Three Musketeers

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Autumn: Purification by David Moody

Hard Target by Howard Gordon

Blue Monday by Nicci French

The Man From Primrose Lane by James Renner

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose

I'm giving you a double dose of pre-pub posts today since I missed last week. This Tuesday marks the release of MJ Rose's latest, The Book of Lost Fragrances. I'm lucky enough to be participating in the blog tour for the book and am dying to dive in!

Here's what the publicity info says:

Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America.

Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with its financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream-infused perfume?

THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

M.J. Rose is a skilled writer and a remarkable storyteller. Using Cleopatra’s lost book of fragrance formulas as a stepping stone, Rose spins a tale replete with stunning twists and compelling characters that will keep readers turning the pages late into the night.

The Book of Lost Fragrances is due out in bookstores on Tuesday, March 13.

Be sure to stop by here on March 18 for a guest post by Rose and a piece of the excerpt scavenger hunt.

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker

I lust over books. I'll admit it. I have a massive TBR stack but there are so many new releases that I'm just dying to get my hands on and Tiffany Baker's The Gilly Salt Sisters is just one of many. The book hits shelves on March 14 and is first release since her debut, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, back in 2009.

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

In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family's salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn't stop Whit Turner, the town's wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It's Jo who first steals Whit's heart, but it is Claire--heartbroken over her high school sweetheart--who marries him.

Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have chosen: her husband's pregnant mistress. Suddenly, alliances change, old loves return, and new battle lines are drawn. What the Gilly sisters learn about each other, the land around them, and the power of the salt, will not only change each of their lives forever, it will also alter Gilly history for good.

Now, Little Giant of Aberdeen County, was a sweet book with quirky characters and a hint of magic. I expect Gilly Salt to be similar in that regard -- and hope that's the case.

Happy reading!

(Don't forget to set your clocks forward!)

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

How freaking awesome is Cinder!? For everyone who's read it, I know you all know. For anyone who hasn't, you are seriously missing out. Seriously.

A futuristic, cyborg retelling of Cinderella in a post-outbreak world where there are people living on the moon!

Society views cyborgs as lesser humans. In fact, they're lucky that science has been able to give them new life. And so it is cyborgs that are singled out for experimentation in the search for a cure against the virus that has plagued human kind. Cinder has been raised in a household that doesn't want her. As a cyborg, she is little more than her ward's possession. When she is volunteered for testing, Cinder believes it's the end. But it's only the beginning.

Cinder is yet another of those spectacularly original teen debuts causing even adult readers to salivate and beg for more. I mean it. I read almost the whole thing in one sitting (on an airplane -- and it made the otherwise miserable ride oh, so bearable). I'm nagging the Junior Junkies almost daily to get after reading it themselves.

Nevermind the fact that it's a completely original new spin on a classic fairy tale. Nevermind the fact that it's a futuristic dystopian (of which I certainly can't get enough). And nevermind the fact that it's freaking cyborgs! Marissa Meyer has some real writing talent.

I know "gripping" is overused, but sometimes you have to use it. And "entrancing" may prompt many to go searching for their thesaurus, but it's true. If I can be fangirl and gush over this book any more than I already am, tell me how. I seriously loved it.

There have always been fine writers and there have always been great books, but the teen market right now is flourishing in a way that I could never imagine 15 years ago. I'd say it's not fair -- as a teen, I catapulted straight to adult books thanks to the severe lack of variety. I wish we'd had this much passion over YA when I was technically in that reading bracket. But hey, I think all of us readers chomping at the bit for any great book -- teen, adult, or otherwise -- are benefitting just as much as the target market. A good book is a good book no matter who it's aimed at, and Cinder is quite a good book.

Cinder is also available in audiobook from Macmillan Audio. The folks there were kind enough to send me a sample for you guys, check it out!

Live Chat With MJ Rose

Morning, all. In a couple of weeks I'll be participating in the blog tour to promote MR Rose's latest, The Book of Lost Fragrances. There will be a review, a guest post, and an excerpt as part of a scavenger hunt.

Today, Rose fans have a chance to participate in a Live Chat taking place over at BookTrib at 3pm EST.

You'll need to hit the BookTrib link for more info and to get to the RSVP (sorry, the image link doesn't work here).

Be sure to check back here on March 18 for lots of MJ Rose fun!

New Releases 3/6/12

I was back on Sunday but took the day off from blogging. So here's my usual Sunday post -- one day late.

Some of the titles hitting shelves this week are:

Emperor Mollusk versus the Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez

Expats by Chris Pavone

Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream

Cruising Altitude by Heather Poole

When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris

Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James

Murder at the Lanterne Rouge by Cara Black

The O'Briens by Peter Behrens

The Hope Vendetta by Scott Mariani

Clair de Lune by Jetta Carleton

Point and Shoot by Duane Swierczynski

Doubletake by Rob Thurman (Cal and Niko)

Deep Fathom by James Rollins (reissue)

A Searing Wind by W. Michael and Kathleen O'Neal Gear

The Last Good Man by A.J. Kazinski

Carry the One by Carol Anshaw

Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Soul Bound by Mari Mancusi (Blood Coven)

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall)

Balthazar by Claudia Gray (Evernight)

Where it Began by Anne Redisch Stampler

New on DVD:

Hugo