Where's My Bookmark: Frail by Joan Frances Turner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!