Sunday, February 27, 2011

Book of the Week 3/1

Here is the YA book you should be paying attention to, due in bookstores on Tuesday...


The Chaos (Numbers) (Rachel Ward) - This sequel follows up on the critically-acclaimed Numbers, where we were introduced to Jem, who could see the date of people's death when she looked in their eyes.  This new novel follows Adam, who has the same ability as Jem, and who is seeing the same date in the eyes of many people he encounters, causing him to wonder just what tragedy is about to occur.

Other Noteworthy Releases


Demonglass (A Hex Hall novel) (Rachel Hawkins)
There's No Place Like Home (Jen Calonita)
Strings Attached (Judy Blundell)
The Chaos (Rachel Ward)
Clarity (Kim Harrington)
Blood and Flowers (Penny Blubaugh)
Lost In the River of Grass (Ginny Rorby)
Sean Griswold's Head (Lindsey Leavitt)
Sense & Sensibility (Jane Austen)
Recovery Road (Blake Nelson)
Unlocked (Ryan G. Van Cleave)
The Liar Society (Lisa Roecker)
May (Daughters of the Sea) (Kathryn Lasky)

Saturday, February 19, 2011

More Christopher Pike

There are more reprints of Christopher Pike books on the way, and very soon.


First up is Chain Letter, which includes two previously published novels, Chain Letter and Bury Me Deep.  Interesting choice to include Bury Me Deep in this collection when there's a sequel to Chain Letter that would have been more appropriate.  Below are the original covers for the books.


I don't remember much about the original Chain Letter, but I remember Bury Me Deep as being a really good thriller.  According to Amazon, it was scheduled for release in early February, but it's not available through their site yet, and Barnes & Noble doesn't even have a listing for it yet.  However, a few other titles are slated for release through all sites on March 8th, although covers aren't available yet: Die Softly and Road To Nowhere (original covers below).


I would assume that these titles will be paired with other books to make them about the page length of current young adult books, but the descriptions don't really give any indication.


Coming March 29th are two of Pike's adult books.  Sati is about a woman who is perhaps a modern day messiah, while The Season of Passage is about astronauts who encounter something strange on the moon, returning to Earth and kind of turning into a vampire book.  Right now, Barnes & Noble lists Sati as a young adult book, which would be odd since the characters in these books are adults, but I'm assuming the classification will change before it's released.  Original covers below.


Finally, another volume of Thirst is arriving with more brand-new material, as well as another reprint, collecting a trilogy that Pike wrote early in his career, originally called Final Friends, renamed in an omnibus volume as Until the End.


Until the End is being released on September 6th, while Thirst (Volume 4) will be coming out August 9th.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Book of the Week 2/22

Here is the YA book you should be paying attention to, due in bookstores on Tuesday...


Darkest Mercy (Melissa Marr) - The fifth and final volume of the best-selling Wicked Lovely series has arrived and sees the tension in the Fairy Courts come to a head.

Other Noteworthy Releases


Orchards (Holly Thompson)
Haven (Kristi Cook)
Darkness Becomes Her (Kelly Keaton)
The Iron Thorn (Caitlin Kittredge)
Ominous (A Private novel) (Kate Brian)
Exposed (Kimberly Marcus)
Wonderland (Joanna Nadin)
Skatefate (Juan Felipe Herrera)
Upgrade U (Ni Simone)
Unnatural (An Archangel Academy novel) (Michael Griffo)
Deadly (Julie Chibbaro)
A Touch Mortal (Leah Clifford)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Book of the Week 2/15

Here is the YA book you should be paying attention to, due in bookstores on Tuesday...


Desires of the Dead (A Body Finder novel) (Kimberly Derting) - The sequel to last year's The Body Finder sees Violet Ambrose drawn into an FBI investigation, threatening to make public the gift that she would rather keep secret, at the same time putting her powers to the test.

Other Noteworthy Releases


Angel (A Maximum Ride novel) (James Patterson) (2/14)
Alice In Time (Penelope Bush)
Angelfire (Courtney Allison Moulton)
Glamour (Melody Carlson)
A Royal Match (Tyne O'Connell)
Mind Gap (Marina Cohen)
Rival (Sara Bennett Wealer)
Glee: Foreign Exchange
A Tale of Two Pretties (A Clique novel) (Lisi Harrison)
Secrets and Shadows (A 13 To Life novel) (Shannon Delany)
Leverage (Joshua Cohen)
Babe In Boyland (Jody Gehrman)

Friday, February 4, 2011

Book of the Week 2/8

Here is the YA book you should be paying attention to, due in bookstores on Tuesday...


Cloaked (Alex Flinn) - With the Beastly movie upcoming, based on the book by Alex Flinn, this new novel from the author featuring yet another mash-up of a classic fairy tale and a modern romance, is sure to garner quite a bit of attention.

Other Noteworthy Selections


Where I Belong (Gillian Cross)
Cryer's Cross (Lisa McMann)
So Shelly (Ty Roth)
Father of Lies (Ann Turner)
Where I Belong (Gwendolyn Heasley)
Kindred (Tammar Stein)
The Iron Witch (Karen Mahoney)
Red Moon Rising (Peter Moore)
Angry Young Man (Chris Lynch)
Shadow Walkers (Brent Hartinger)
The Floating Islands (Rachel Neumeier)
Pink (Lili Wilkinson)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Water Wars

Cameron Stracher

I won't lie and say that that great cover wasn't the deciding factor on buying this book (well, that and the fact that it was only $2.99 to purchase on my nookcolor).  But really, this is a great book.  Those who enjoyed The Hunger Games, pay attention.

In the future, there is a water shortage and the world has changed significantly.  Nations war with one another for water, governments hoarding it, damming rivers and sucking moisture from clouds.  In a reorganized United States, Vera lives with her brother Will, her father and ailing mother, just scraping by, until she meets a mysterious boy Kai, whom she grows very close to.  Kai's family has access to water, and it turns out that he's a very important figure in the water wars, as he has some natural abilities to locate water.  When Kai is kidnapped, Vera and Will vow to track him down, thus embarking on a journey that will take them face-to-face with many sides of this immense war being fought over the world's water supply, making new friends along the way.

The romance between Vera and Kai is admittedly a little lackluster, but this story more than makes up for that shortcoming with its fast-paced action.  And I mean fast-paced.  This book hardly lets up for a moment, things constantly happening to bring the main characters from one scene to another.  Sometimes events occur perhaps a little too conveniently, but it's hard not to get swept away with the thrilling narrative that Stracher unfolds.  Like in The Hunger Games, there are similar themes of rebellion and the government watching people closely, trying to control them, but if you're up for yet another post-apocalyptic novel, this will entertain and delight from beginning to end.