It's Been a Dystopian Holiday!

Wow, I'm on a total roll with the dystopian reads of late. First it was Ally Condie's Matched, then Andrea Cremer's Nightshade (not dystopian, but with enough elements in common that I'll lump it in here anyway) and then Hunger Games. Whew!

I know Hunger Games is everywhere right now. My fellow blogger friend Vickie just listed to it on audio this past week as well. The only reason it took me this long is because the Junior Junkies got to it first. I'm usually the one lending books to them.

Unfortunately, they only sent me the first two. Grrr. This means I'll have to wait to finish the trilogy and find out what happens. Til then I have a massive TBR stack to tackle and I can hold more books hostage for them until they send over Mockingjay :)

Hunger Games begins in a future where society has been reduced to thirteen districts and the Capitol. Seventy-four years ago, the districts attempted a rebellion and they've been paying the price ever since. District Thirteen was decimated and the remaining twelve must give up two children each year to compete in The Hunger Games. It's a fight to the death and only one can survive.

For those of you who haven't jumped on the Hunger Gamesbandwagon, track down the books now, before the movie comes out. (You have time, it's slated for 2013.) It's like Running Manmeets Survivor meets Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" -- a totally wild and addicting intense ride.

BTW, I keep ragging on my sister for not sending me the whole trilogy, but I guess I can hold out till Christmas to read it. The curiosity is going to kill me until then, though. I'm dying to know how it'll all end!

Spreading the Word About An Upcoming Author Event

Hey, folks! I just got word about a great author event that will be both live (if you're in Cincinnati) and virtual (for those of us who aren't). Here's the dets:

A Booklover’s Fantasy:

Romance & Fantasy Fans Worldwide Can Attend

Virtual/Live Book Signing Event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers

With New York Times Bestselling Authors Marjorie M. Liu & C.L. Wilson

WHAT:

The Book Signing. Revolutionized.

Marjorie M. Liu and C.L. Wilson headline an innovative live/virtual book signing, powered by Vivo (http://www.vivolive.com/harpercollins/majorieliuandclwilson). Both authors will be reading, answering questions, and signing copies for anyone who attends the event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati--in-person or online.

“We recently had our first experiment with a virtual event, featuring New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn…not only did we have a packed house in-store, but we had more than 500 virtual attendees from around the globe. With the powerhouse duo of Marjorie M. Liu and C.L. Wilson, we expect to have a dynamic audience and record-setting online attendance for their Joseph Beth event – whether fans attend in flesh or in virtual reality, they can interact with these beloved authors and get signed copies of their newest books,” says Pam Jaffee, director of publicity for Avon Books.

WHO:

New York Times bestselling author Marjorie M. Liu is known for her paranormal romance novels and comic books. She recently gained national renown with her video game, Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box. Marjorie is also an attorney, and divides her time between China and Indiana.

New York Times bestselling author C.L. Wilson wrote her first novel at age six…but it wasn’t until 2006 that she sold her first book, an epic fantasy then entitled Tairen Soul, at auction. This debut novel was an instant bestseller – as has been every other novel in the series. The author lives in Florida.

WHEN:

Thursday, December 2^nd, 2010. 6:00pm EST

WHERE:

Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati (2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati OH 45208, 513.396.8960)

Online at www.vivolive.com, www.josephbeth.com, www.avonromance.com and www.rtbookreviews.com.

WHY:

To celebrate the release of two of the most anticipated books of the season—

IN THE DARK OF DREAMS (9780062020161, on sale 11/30 from Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins), which has already been nominated for the 2010 RT Book Reviews “Best Shapeshifter Romance”, and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, who called it “a satisfying adventure of intense emotion and compelling characters.”

CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME (9780062018960, on sale 10/26 from Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins), the conclusion of New York Timesbestselling author C.L. Wilson’s sweeping Tairen Soul saga, has been called, “Epic in scope and scale yet emotionally intimate…a truly stellar achievement” by RT Book Reviews.

NOTE: Readers can log onto Joseph-Beth Booksellers web site to pre-order a signed copies of IN THE DARK OF DREAMS HERE(http://www.josephbeth.com/Products/56281-in-the-dark-of-dreams-a-dirk-steele-novel-author-signed.aspx) and CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME HERE (http://www.josephbeth.com/Products/56287-crown-of-crystal-flame-author-signed.aspx)

New Releases 11/30/10

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Critical Condition by CJ Lyons -- fourth in the Angels of Mercy series

Matched by Ally Condie

Bitter Legacy by H. Terrell Griffin

Set the Night on Fire by Libby Fischer Hellmann

Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello

In the Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu

Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell

Of Love and Evil by Anne Rice

Rescue by Anita Shreve

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

New On DVD

Eclipse

Knight and Day

Sorcerer's Apprentice

Going the Distance

New Reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Matched

Critical Condition

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer

The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde

Another Mini Challenge From Literary Escapism!

Yay! Another Mini-Challenge from Jackie over at Literary Escapism. This time around, the goal is to read up to five new male oriented urban fantasy titles. But, this means they can be written by or star a man. I'm going to peruse my TBR and see what I've got that applies.

My goal for the next few months is to really tackle my backlist collection and knock out some reads! Jackie's challenges always help since I've been hoarding books for the apocalypse!

My projected so far (subject to change):

Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner

Child of Fire by Harry Connolly

Dead to Me by Anton Strout

Kill the Rain by Tony Richards

for my fifth, I have some seconds in series that I'm considering. The goal is to do new to you authors, but it's been a while since I've tackled Mike Carey and I've also got Richard Kadry's Kill the Dead. Or I could go F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack, possibly. I've been meaning the reread The Keep, which is first in the Adversary Cycle, book two is The Tomb, which happens to be the first Repairman Jack. We'll see! Challenge begins Dec 1, so I have some time to decide.

"Breathless" Teen Read!

So I've mentioned the Breathless Reads promotion here a few times now. Five fabulous teen reads released between August and December, including Brenna Yovanoff's debut, The Replacement, Kirsten Miller's teen reincarnation romance, The Eternal Ones, last week's pre-pub post, Matched by Ally Condie, the sequel to Catherine Fisher's Incarceron (Sapphique), and Andrea Cremer's debut, Nightshade.

I've got Incarceron on my wish list, so Sapphique will have to wait, but I finished both Matched and Nightshade this weekend. Both were fabulous!

In Andrea Cremer's Nightshade, alpha Calla Tor has always followed the laws of the Keepers and the Guardians. She's to be paired with fellow alpha, Ren Laroche, in an official union ceremony on Samhain, uniting their two packs and creating a new, young pack of Guardians with a very special purpose. But when Calla saves a mortal boy from a bear one afternoon, everything changes. Shay is no normal human. His uncle is very important to the Keepers and wants to ensure that his nephew is protected at all cost, especially after he and Calla are attacked one evening. Calla again saves Shay and is assigned as his unofficial bodyguard. But, Calla is to reveal nothing about her world to Shay. As they spend more time together, Calla is unable to keep her promise of secrecy. Shay begins digging on his own as well, and the two make some startling discoveries about the history of the Keepers and the Guardians.

With Nightshade, Cremer has created a unique and vivid world of mythology and alternate history. It's an excellent debut and first in the series. I really can't wait to see what will happen next (and won't give anything away for you!).

I'll admit, the first few chapters are little confusing. The reader is literally thrown into this world and bits of information are revealed along the way. It becomes a more comfortable read after just a few chapters, though, once some of the backstory has begun to unfold.

These are not your typical werewolves! Definitely a highly recommended one. I think you're going to love it!

New Releases 11/23/10

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift

Social Lives by Wendy Walker

The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Barry

The Athena Project by Brad Thor

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear

Knot Gneiss by Piers Anthony

Third Degree by Maggie Barbieri -- fifth in the Murder 101 series

New on DVD:

The Expendables

Eat Pray Love

The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Pre Pub Book Buzz -- Matched by Ally Condie

Whew. This has been a long week. Slow reading on my part, but I'm taking a break to dive into Ally Condie's new teen release, Matched. I read about half last night before falling asleep and it's fabulous. It's a good thing my sisters haven't heard of it yet, or they'd be nagging me already!

Matched had been getting huge buzz this year. BEA folks were all over it, so of course I've been keeping an eye out for it as well. Then it was offered up as part of the Breathless Reads promotion, so I lucked out with an early copy.

Matched is set for release on November 30. I'd recommend preordering it if you're a fan of YA dystopian fiction -- or if you have a voracious teen reader like the Junior Junkies in your house!

Here's the description from the official web site:

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

Check out Ally Condie's page and the official Matched page for and excerpt and more. And what's on my plate for this holiday week? I'm hoping to jump into The Hunger Games and some other teen reads that have been hanging around on my TBR stack!