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Friday, April 30, 2010

Book Blogger Hop April 30-May 6

It's Friday! Time for another Book Blogger HOP!!
And, tomorrow is her birthday, so let's party a little extra hard today, ok?!

This is for ALL BOOK BLOGGERS (NEW AND OLD) and READERS! Let's make some new friends and have fun! It's FRIDAY!!!
ABOUT THE HOP:
In the spirit of the Friday Follow, Jen @ Crazy-For-Books thought it would be cool to do a Book Blogger Hop to give all us book bloggers and readers a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! So, she created this weekly BOOK PARTY where book bloggers and readers can connect to find new blogs to read, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start PARTYING!!

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know! Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added! And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!

OPTIONAL TWIST:
On your blog hop post, tell us about some of the other great blogs you've found while Hopping around!

DISCLAIMER:
The Hop isn't just for you to throw your link in there and not visit any other blogs. It's all about networking and finding new blogs that are of interest. So, in the spirit of the Hop, try to make some time to visit other blogs and don't post your link if you are not planning on visiting other blogs in the Hop that week. This is a weekly event, so if you don't have time this week, that's fine! We'll see you next week!

If you sign MckLinky, please share the love and POST ABOUT THE HOP ON YOUR BLOG! How else will anyone else find out about it and come join the party?

Please use the following format when entering your link below (be careful - She doesn't have time to go in and edit your link!!):

NAME OF BLOG (How long you've been blogging; what genres you PRIMARILY review*)
*I know a lot of us read all different genres, but if you had to choose ONE OR TWO genres that you review more often than others, what would they be??

Example:
Crazy-for-Books (21 months; contemporary fiction/mystery)

So, let's do the Hop!

P.S. BEFORE YOU ENTER YOUR LINK - DID YOU READ ALL OF THE RULES AT CRAZY-FOR-BOOKS?? DON'T FORGET TO LIST THE REQUESTED INFORMATION IN YOUR LINK!!!!!


Thursday, April 29, 2010

Some Recommended UK Psychological Suspense

Last November, on a random trip to the bookstore, I came across Sophie Hannah's Little Face on the shelves. Strangely enough, I hadn't planned on completing a then incomplete series in my TBR stack, but it coincidentally ended up that way.

See, a couple of years ago I stumbled across Hannah's Hurting Distance, which is actually the book that follows Little Face. I'm kind of a stickler for reading series books in order (which is why I try to point out which books can be read as stand alones in existing series). But when I realized that it was second in a series, Hurting Distance got buried in the stack and I forgot about the reminder to myself to buy book one.

And so, a year later, there I was. My memory is not so good that I initially realized what it was, but at least my taste is consistent enough to make up for the gaps in my memory!

I ended up bringing Little Face to Charleston with me for my training and read it in the hotel after work that week. It struck me, not for the first time, that the Brits completely excel at psychological suspense.

Not to say that there aren't great authors in the genre everywhere, but I find that very often I come back to Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters as two of the best. Since reading Little Face, I've added Sophie Hannah to that list and with Lullaby, Claire Seeber joined the ranks of my favorites as well -- all UK authors.

For fans of this genre, I definitely recommend trying any of the authors I've listed, but I want to tell you a little about Sophie Hannah's Little Face since I'm gearing up to read more in the series myself.

When Alice Fancourt returns from a much-needed spa day, she becomes convinced that the baby in her home is not her own. Of course no one believes her, but when Alice and the baby both go missing a week later, people do start to wonder. Detective Simon Waterhouse is one of those people. He was assigned the case, but even he believed initially that Alice was suffering from some psychosis. His suspicions turn to Alice’s husband, though, when she disappears.

The story shifts between Alice and Simon, which provides a unique twist to the narrative. Alice’s pieces are from the time of the alleged baby swap and Simon’s sections begin with the investigation into Alice’s disappearance.

Hannah's fifth book in this series has just been release in the UK and the fourth book is due out here in the States in June. The titles vary so here's the list (in order) if you'd like to check them out yourself:

Little Face
Hurting Distance
The Wrong Mother (UK title: The Point of Rescue)
The Dead Lie Down (UK title: The Other Half Lives) -- due out June 1
A Room Swept White (UK only)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Wan Goes to Minotaur -- And a Book Giveaway to Celebrate

Remember my lament back in '08 about imported books? It was in regards to Michelle Wan's latest (back then) entry of her Dordogne series, A Twist of Orchids.

I did get my copy back then, imported from Canada courtesy of High Crimes, but I have great news. Michelle Wan has been picked up by Minotaur and the official US release of Twist of Orchids was earlier this month.

It's been quite a while coming and I couldn't be more happy. I think Wan is going to have a great home at Minotaur and I hope this means more of Mara Dunn and Julian Wood in the future.

To celebrate, I have one copy of A Twist of Orchids for a lucky commenter here. That's right. I'm giving away a copy of Michelle Wan's A Twist of Orchids, and all you have to do is leave me a comment here with your email addy. Couldn't be simpler. Let's put the deadline at midnight, Monday, May 3. And since I'm broke as dirt, let's do US only for this one.

And since it's been almost two years since I read it, here's my review from Bookbitch.com to tell you a little more about the book:

Third in Wan’s Dordogne based mystery series finds designer Mara Dunn and boyfriend Julian Wood poking into local mysteries once again. Julian, an orchidologist, is still searching for the elusive orchid photographed by Mara’s dead sister. As a side project, however, he ends up trying to help a Turkish couple find their missing son. Julian first approaches the couple to confront them about a product they are selling in their shop that contains ground up orchid root as a main ingredient. The production of the item in question has caused Turkish orchids to be put on the endangered list and Julian is determined to do what he can to at least prevent it from being sold in his area. The couple thinks that Julian may be able to talk some sense into their son, as he is enamored with “western” culture and rebelling against his more traditional parents. Meanwhile, Mara is concerned that their recently widowed and ailing neighbor may be in danger, not from himself, but from someone with sinister motives. Wan just keeps getting better and better. I’m so invested in these characters and the tight-knit community that surrounds them, that I just can’t get enough of this series.

The fourth installment of the series, Kill for an Orchid, is now out in Canada. I'm hoping this means it'll be out next spring here in the US.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

When Readers Get Together

It's the funniest thing when readers get together. And no, I'm not talking about book clubs.

I'm a total book junkie. In a post on Murder She Writes this morning, that was exactly the topic of discussion: Bookaholics. One of Jennifer Lyons's clues that you might share this addiction is whether you can meet your friends for lunch and not talk about books.

I have a lot of reading peers. I'm not sure any of the local ones are as addicted as I am, but I certainly have no shortage of folks I can talk books with. And I have a hard time, a really hard time, not talking books.

It's always funny to meet a new bookaholic, though. Our friend had a friend visiting from out of town, so we all got together at their house for dinner one evening. Three of us ended up in the kitchen talking about books when the topic of romance came up. The girl mentioned a funny romance that she'd read recently, but couldn't remember the author's name. After talking a bit, we discovered that I had recently read the same book! Of course our other friend then had to check it out herself. What was it? Rachel Gibson's Not Another Bad Date.

Small world.

And that reminds me, Avon's Romance Blog is running a "Here's to Hockey Hunks" sweepstakes to go along with Gibson's most recent release Nothing But Trouble. For details on how to enter, check here.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn

I finished my fourth read for Literary Escapism's Battle Royale Mini-Challenge for April. Yay! Progress. And the best thing about it is that even in the middle of this sleep nonsense, I managed to finish it in just a day. Woohoo! I'm trying to see if I can make some good headway with a second book this weekend (not for the challenge) and then see if I can squeeze in my planned book five before the week is out.

Anyway, the fourth book from my list was Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn, first in her Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon series. It's paranormal romance/urban fantasy and I really wasn't totally sure if I was in the mood for the romance part. Fortunately, Witchling is packed full of great characters and a super fun plot. Totally hit the spot after all!

The Otherworld series is about three sisters who are half human/half fae. They've settled in the human realm and work for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. Camille, Delilah, and Menolly each have their own different powers and suffer a bit of side-effects from their human half. Camille is a witch whose spells don't always work out quite right, Delilah is a shapeshifter (an orange tabby) who has a tendency to shift when she gets too stressed, and Menolly is a vampire.

When a fellow otherworlder is murdered, the sisters are set to the task of investigating. They learn that there is a new leader in the Subterranean Realm who would like nothing more than to break through the natural barriers and rule all three realms. Not good. There are nine spirit seals that protect the realms. If the seals are destroyed, chaos would ensue.

I love the fairy tale feel to this book. The different realms and the creatures that are introduced in Witchling make this one a bit different from others in the genre -- always a good thing. It also seems that each book follows a different sister, so it'll be interesting to continue and learn more about them.

Another new-to-me author to add to the "Must Read" list!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Secret Speech Winners!

By random number generator, our winners this time are:

Wendy

and

Vickie

I'll be emailed each of them to let them know that they've won. Thanks to everyone who entered. I do have some more contests coming up, so keep an eye out here!

New Releases 4/27/10

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week (big book release week) are:

Feed by Mira Grant -- zombie futuristic awesomeness!

Marked by Elisabeth Naughton

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

Half Life by Roopa Farooki

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

Miss You Most of All by Elizabeth Bass

Song of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy

Secrets of the Tudor Court by D.L. Bogdan

Into the Dark by Gena Showalter

Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael

Shoot to Thrill by P.J. Tracy -- latest Monkeewrench book

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming

Reckless by Andrew Gross

Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson

Canaan's Gate by Kathryn R. Wall -- latest Bay Tanner mystery

The Tulip Virus by Danielle Hermans

The End Game by Gerrie Ferris Finger

Burned by P.C. Cast -- 7th in the House of Night series

Getting the Pretty Back: Friendships, Family and Finding the Perfect Lipstick by Molly Ringwald

Hannah's List by Debbit Macomber

New on DVD:
Survivors - seasons 1 & 2
It's Complicated
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Descent: Part 2

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
Song of Scarabaeus
Feed
Shoot to Thrill

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Pre Pub Book Buzz -- Play Dead by Ryan Brown

I love zombie books. Lurve them! Can't get enough of them. So when I read about Ryan Brown's debut, Play Dead, of course it immediately went on the "Must Have" list.

Play Dead isn't due out until May 4, but here's the Starred Review from PW:

Two cultural obsessions collide head-on in this fast-paced, thrilling, and terribly funny debut by former actor Brown. In the sleepy town of Killington, Tex., the local high school's football team is having its best season in decades thanks to the efforts of quarterback Cole Logan. Afraid of losing the district championship, the rival Elmwood team sends the Killington bus into a river, drowning everyone on the team except Cole and the coach. Only local witch and football fan Black Mona can raise the players from the dead in time for the game, but if they keep stopping to eat people, they might miss it. Brown handily mixes elements of horror, coming-of-age sweetness, and gore-soaked comedy into a tale that satisfies the same fascination with sports and bloodlust that it cleverly and thoughtfully critiques.

Erm, is that not enticing enough for you? It was for me, but if you still need some convincing, you should head over to Ryan Brown's website to take a look at the trailer.

Brad Thor calls this a combination of Friday Night Lights and Dawn of the Dead. And Jonathan Maberry says it's "...everything a 21st century zombie novel should be...." C'mon folks. You know you're dying to read it!

Enter to Win Tom Rob Smith's The Secret Speech

Just a quick reminder that tonight is the deadline to get your name in as entry for one of two copies of Tom Rob Smith's The Secret Speech. Here's the link to the post with dets.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

When to Catch Up?

I find myself in a position where I feel like things are sort of beginning to pile up. Sleep is partially to blame. Or lack there of, to be exact. I've been on Ambien for the past eleven months and lately it's beginning to not work quite as well. So I'm entering a sleep study. Entering. Not entering. It's an overnight visit hooked up to machines where I sleep in a fake hotel room.

We'll see what turns up.

I'm running on fumes, not for the first time in the life of this blog. I'm sure you readers can recall at least a dozen times in which I stated the same thing.

I've also come to realize that though I'm great at finding debut stuff (and new to me authors), I've been neglecting some of my favorite series. Is this simply a change in reading taste? I hope not. I mean, for years these have been some of my favorite series and all of the sudden, I'm lagging. I'm two three books behind with new ones set for release any day. Agh!

But when do I squeeze them in? I go through cycles in reading and times like this, when I'm just totally beat, I read less during the week than I would like. For example, I'm not yet done with my second book this week.

So again, when do I find time? Not just for reading, but for everything? Bums me out, man!

One of the series I've fallen behind (big time) on is Lee Child's Reacher series. I mean, c'mon! It's Reacher! And I'm becoming consumed with finding time to get back on track. Part of that is my near-obsession with the idea that Max Beesley of BBC's Survivors is Reacher. I mean Reacher as I've come to imagine him. (If you haven't seen Beesley in Survivors, it's due out on DVD next week -- check it out.)

Who else am I neglecting? Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs, and now Kathryn Dance. I'm one book behind in each of Jeffery Deaver's series and haven't had a chance to read his latest stand alone either.

Temperance Brennan has been feeling it, too. I'm two books off with Kathy Reichs and even a season behind on the show.

Perhaps worst of all is my neglect of Stephanie Plum. Janet E's Lean Mean Thirteen has been languishing on my TBR for far too long. This is practically blasphemy! And these are pretty solid one-day reads, too. Shame on me!

The way I figure it, a week of Sundays will get me solidly caught up. Until that happens, maybe I can use my insomniac nights to get in some of this reading. Course by now I'm pretty delirious in the middle of the night, so I doubt that's truly practical right now either.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Beg For Mercy by Toni Andrews

My third book for Literary Escapism's Battle Royale Mini-Challenge is Toni Andrews's Beg for Mercy, the first book in the Mercy Hollings series.

To be totally honest, this was actually my second book of the challenge, but the book turned out to be something of an, erm, challenge.

I'm a mood reader. The things going on around me and in my life greatly affect my perception of everything I take in -- books, movies, music, everything. I have read books that I have enjoyed immensely, only to come back to them later and scratch my head wondering what I was thinking. On the flip side, I've had a bad day and been discouraged from books, only to return years later and find that it's become a favorite.

The cover copy for Beg for Mercy sort of led me to believe that it was going to be a much darker book than it actually turned out to be. Seeing as how I was actually in the mood for darker, the book ended up being a bit too cutesy for me at the time that I read it.

Mercy Hollings has a gift she calls "the press." By using her mind, she can press people to do her bidding. As a child, she unknowingly sent a young boy to his death. As an adult, she has learned to keep her ability secret and to use it under a very strict code of self-imposed guidelines. By using it only to encourage people to change themselves for the better, and under the guise of hypnotherapy, Mercy has been able to help those around her. But when her friend Sukey is left recovering from an accidental overdose, Mercy uses the press to send a drug dealer running. Now, his superiors want to know where he, and their drugs, have gone. Unfortunately, someone also knows about Mercy's ability. If she can't track down the drugs before it's too late, all of her friends could be in danger. But can Mercy save everyone and still keep her power secret from the ones she holds close? And just what does this gangster know about her?

If you're looking for a lighter, almost cozyish, paranormal mystery with a dash of romance, then the Mercy Hollings series is going to hit the spot. If you're looking for a dark paranormal read about an uncontrollable power that's unleashed when the heroine is pissed, keep looking.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Some cool news from world of books

According to PW, sales of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights have increased dramatically thanks to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga. Personally, I am totally loving this! Anyone trash talking the fact that teens are eating it up as a result of Twilight, well, I just don't know what to say to you other than you suck.

Random House is offering free audiobooks to big city carpools. The offer is for specific carpools, but this is pretty darn cool! The program starts on Earth Day and Boulder/Denver carshares are participating -- too bad I work from home : ) Here's a link for more info.

Rumor has it that Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan may be making the jump to TV.

Speaking of adaptations, if you haven't heard the news, Stephanie Plum is coming to the big screen! Katherine Heigl is said to have won the role. I saw a trailer for her new movie Killers and I have to say the character seems like a test run for Plum.

Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy is set for American big screen adaptation, but if you were like me and really wanted to see the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo that just came out in limited release, it's due out on dvd on July 6 (day before my b-day!).

Have you seen Kick-Ass yet? You should. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

And because I feel like it, some upcoming zombie book fun:

Feed by Mira Grant -- due out 4/27 (just finished it this weekend and it's FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC, folks!)
Play Dead by Ryan Brown -- due out 5/4 -- this one got a great review in PW
Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen -- due out 9/1 -- and another joins the Orbit ranks. No doubt this will be as great as I expect it to be.
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry -- due out in October -- YA zombie fun!

That's all I've got right now. I'm beat. Remember to sign up to win a copy of Tom Rob Smith's The Secret Speech. I'll be drawing two names on Sunday, April 25 (got the date right that time). Details here. More contests to come soon.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Andrew Gross Winners!

We have two winners!

By random number generator (random.org), entrants 2 and 5 have won. That's:

Tetewa

and

Christyjan

Congrats, you two! I'll be sending you emails so you can get me your mailing info for the publishing company. Have a great day!

Remember, everyone. We still have another contest running for two copies of The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith. Deadline to enter for one of two copies is April 24. For details and to enter, visit here.

I'll have some other giveaways coming up soon, so be sure to check back. Thanks to all of you guys!

Becky

New Releases 4/20/10

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Eight Days to Live by Iris Johansen

Everything Hurts by Bill Scheft

The Leopard's Wife by Paul Pickering

The Third Rail by Michael Harvey

This Body of Death by Elizabeth George -- Inspector Lynley #15

Lucid Intervals by Stuart Woods -- Stone Barrington #18

Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci

New on DVD:
Avatar
The Lovely Bones
Crazy Heart
The Young Victoria

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson
The Language of Secrets by Dianne Dixon
Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Battling Brontes - A Double Pre-Pub Post

In February I posted this Pre-Pub post and talked about two Hawthorne-inspired sequels. Now it's the Brontes turn! On April 27, Jude Morgan's Charlotte and Emily: A Novel of the Brontes, and Juliet Gael's Romancing Miss Bronte: A Novel both hit shelves.

I was lucky enough to receive both of these for review from their respective publishers. Here's info I received on each of them:

Charlotte and Emily, from St. Martins Griffin:

...a haunting, brilliant novel about the Brontë sisters. Jude Morgan, the critically-acclaimed author of Passion, brings the lives of the entire Brontë clan and the wild moors of Victorian England to vivid life in this spellbinding novel. In beautiful prose Morgan portrays each character’s imagination, creative spark, and passion.

Charlotte and Emily begins in an obscure country parsonage, where the Brontë patriarch, a widowed curate, tries his best to raise four children with help from his sister-in-law Elizabeth and no fortune. Their lives are filled with flights of imagination and bleak suffering, fertile ground for the masterpieces the daughters would later write.

The narrative voice alternates among the family members, including Emily, the solitary sister who turns from the world to the greater temptations of the imagination; Anne, gentle and loyal, quietly aware of the stifling life forced upon her; Branwell, the mercurial and self-destructive brother; and the talented, uncompromising, tormented Charlotte, who longs for both love and independence.

Romancing Miss Bronte, from Ballantine Books:

Gael’s fascination with Charlotte Brontë began over eighteen years ago when she took a graduate-level seminar devoted to the lives of the Brontë sisters. Since that time, Gael made several pilgrimages to the small English village of Haworth where Charlotte Brontë and her sisters lived out their dizzying literary triumphs and terrible sorrows. Already called a “must-read” by Kirkus Reviews and “accurate and intriguing” by Publishers Weekly and “a moving view of a literary giant and the emotion that fueled her work by Booklist, Gael has crafted a sweeping and meticulously researched historical novel about Charlotte Brontë’s passions and hopes, dreams and sorrows that imagines the answer to the intriguing question: Did the romantic heroes in her fiction spring from Charlotte’s imagination or were they drawn from her real life?

Some of you might know that, along with du Maurier's Rebecca, Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. They're the examples by which I judge anything labeled gothic literature. And true gothic lit is one of my favorite genres - one I wish was more prevalent these days.

It's also appropriate that both of these have come my way because I've never read Wuthering Heights. Jen, the oldest Junior Junkie, is a senior this year and about to graduate. The last book on her required list is none other than Wuthering Heights. I had been planning to read it along with her and she started it this week!

I'll keep you posted on them all. I cracked open both Charlotte and Emily and Wuthering Heights Wednesday night. It'll be some heavy double reading, but we'll see what I can do.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Ill Wind - Rachel Caine

As I mentioned on April 1, Jackie over at Literary Escapism has a new mini-challenge going this month. I'm 2 1/2 books in so far (Kessler/Kittredge's Black and White was my first).

So book two in the Battle Royale mini-challenge for me is: Rachel Caine's first in her Weather Warden series, Ill Wind, is my second.

Ill Wind introduces urban fantasy/paranormal fans to an all new, original concept in the genre. It's magic, but elemental based magic. And there are genies -- Djinn to be exact. Joanna Baldwin is a Weather Warden, able to control air and water. Aside from her, there are Fire Wardens and Earth Wardens. When a Warden reaches a certain level of experience, they can be awarded a Djinn. Joanna was just months away from receiving hers, but that's months too late. After an incident with a fellow Warden leaves her on the run and carrying a demon mark, Joanna's only hope is to track down a missing friend who was rumored to have stolen three Djinn from the Wardens before he left. No one can live with a demon mark. It eats them from the inside out. The mark would kill a Djinn, but until now, Joanna has had no reason to believe that this is anything but her only option.

Excellent start to the series! I love the end. I won't give it away, but let's just say that I'm pretty excited about running off and grabbing the next one. This is one case where being totally broke is a bad thing!

There are currently eight books in the Weather Warden series, with book nine due out in August. And considering Caine writes like a madwoman (multiple Morganville Vampire books out each year as well), she's thankfully showing no signs of slowing down! Lots of backlist to get my hands on and plenty of time to catch up!

The Weather Warden series, in order:
Ill Wind
Heat Stroke
Chill Factor
Windfall
Firestorm
Thin Air
Gale Force
Cape Storm
Total Eclipse

For more on Rachel Caine and her various series, visit her official site here.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Another Giveaway!

Hachette is letting me host a giveaway for the trade release of Tom Rob Smith's second book, The Secret Speech.

Contest Details:
It's another two copy giveaway and since the book is not due out until May 3, I'll give you until midnight, Saturday, April 24 to get your entry in to win. Be sure to leave a comment here with your email address (so I can get in touch with you if you win). Contest open to US and Canada, no PO Boxes, please.

I'm so excited about this giveaway! I read The Secret Speech last year when it was released in hardcover. It's the follow up to Smith's amazing (and I mean super amazing) debut, Child 44, which was released in April 2008.

You can, in my opinion, read The Secret Speech without having read Child 44, but since I highly recommend reading them both, you should have plenty of time to run out and get Child 44 in paperback (or at the library) before Secret Speech comes out and then you'll be psyched and ready for it -- which'll be even cooler if you win one, right?!

Way back in 2008, I did a post on Child 44 here on my blog. Here's the link to that. I've also reviewed Secret Speech for Bookbitch.com and will post a little something else here closer to the book's release.

Until then, you can see more about Tom Rob Smith on his official website and the book even has it's very own official Secret Speech website here.

Good luck!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

New Releases 4/13/10

Some of the new titles coming out this week are:

Neverland by Douglas Clegg -- illustrated collectible reprint

The Burying Place by Brian Freeman -- latest Jonathan Stride thriller

The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien

Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch

Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Henderson -- third in the Kisses and Lies series (teen mysteries)

The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones -- YA fantasy

The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark

Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran

The Eye of the Mountain God by Penny Rudolph

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

The Host by Stephenie Meyer -- pb release (and it's fantastic if you've been leery about trying it!)

New on DVD:
Pirate Radio

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
Neverland
The Burying Place
Black and White by Caitlin Kittredge and Jackie Kessler

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Pre Pub Book Buzz -- Feed by Mira Grant

Mira Grant's "debut" Feed is a book that I've been looking forward to ever since stumbling across the cover art on Orbit's website. I didn't even need to know what it was about with this cover. It was enough all by itself to get me salivating and on the edge of my seat until the release date, which is coming soon!

Feed hits shelves April 27.

Now, why is "debut" in "quotes?" Because Mira Grant is also Seanan McGuire, author of the October Daye series that began with Rosemary and Rue last September (A Local Habitation, book two, was released in March). They're two different series, though. Feed, first in the Newsflesh series is zombie horror while Rosemary and Rue is paranormal/urban fantasy.

So, if the cover is not enough to entice you, I guess I should go ahead and include a synopsis. Kidding, I was going to anyway. Here's the description from Grant's website (Psst. PW gave it a Starred Review!):

When Senator Peter Ryman of Wisconsin decides to take a team of bloggers along on his run for the White House, Georgia and Shaun Mason are quick to submit their application. They, along with their friend Georgette "Buffy" M. are selected, and view this as the chance to launch their careers to a whole new level...that is, if they can survive the campaign trail.

Called "a soul-shredding examination of what's true and what's reported" by Publisher's Weekly, Feed follows the Masons and their crew into a world filled with the living dead—and the much more dangerous living.

Friday, April 9, 2010

A Giveaway and a Pre-Pub Post -- Reckless by Andrew Gross

Bestselling thriller author Andrew Gross's latest release, Reckless, hits shelves soon and I've got two copies to give away courtesy of the publisher.

Gross, whose solo debut, The Blue Zone, hit shelves in 2007, followed that release with The Dark Tide, the book that introduced readers to Ty Hauck. Hauck reappeared in the follow-up thriller, Don't Look Twice. (For more on Andrew Gross and his books, visit Gross's official website here.)

Now Hauck is back in Reckless. Here's some info from the press material:

“Reckless is a sexy-as-hell thriller and Andrew Gross’s best.” —James Patterson


“Fantastic….An automatic must read for lovers of fast, topical, can’t-put-it-down thrillers.” —Lee Child


“Bold, brainy and chilling, you won’t be able to put this book down.” —Linda Fairstein


An idyllic, suburban community is rocked when a beloved young, picture-book family-- a successful financial trader, his pretty wife and teenage daughter, are brutally murdered in their home in the dead of night.


Private security investigator Ty Hauck returns in RECKLESS (on-sale 4/27/10). He is completely shattered by the death of this family - the wife a close friend from his past - and will risk everything he loves to avenge her death. But he has no idea that he's about to step into the crosshairs of a sinister conspiracy...


Ty Hauck, along with Naomi Blum, a tenacious agent from the U.S. Department of Treasury, unravels evidence that reveals a reckless scheme that stretches from New York to London to Central Europe and gives new meaning to the phrase ‘too big to fail.’ What began with a tragedy that opened a door to Hauck’s past—a door that he thought was long closed—ends with a frantic race to avert a disaster that could shake the very security of our country—and even the world.


RECKLESS, the new high-concept thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Andrew Gross, launches readers into the grip of a staggering global conspiracy, part fact, part fiction, part worst-case scenario dread.


Now for contest details: the books are coming direct from the publisher, so the contest is open to US only and no PO Boxes. Leave a comment here (please include your email addy so I can get in touch with the winner) to enter before MIDNIGHT, SATURDAY APRIL 17. I'll announce the winners the following morning here on the blog and contact them individually for mailing info.


Good luck and happy reading!