Waiting On Wednesday: Unraveling Isobel

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Unraveling Isobel
by Eileen Cook
Releases on January 3, 2012

A darkly comic novel that blends paranormal mystery and romance with humor, from the author of The Eductation of Hailey Kendrick and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood. Isobel's life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn't only her life that's unraveling-her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she's seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel's fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

Oooh, a contemporary YA with a splash of paranormal and a hint of romance. Sounds like fun!  I'm on a world-building dystopian kick right now and I like to throw in a contemporary YA every so often.  Unraveling Isobel seems like a cute contribution to the contemporary paranormal genre.  Plus, it's releasing in two weeks so it's not too long of a wait!

Read the first chapter on Eileen Cook's website.

I have two early favorite quotes already (and from the same paragraph): 

"I looked at my mom for confirmation. I hoped it was a joke, but instead of laughing, she was looking at Dick like a slice of chocolate cheesecake after an extended sugar-free diet."   

"The wings on both sides were covered in ivy. Not in a nice Big Ten-campus sort of way, but more like a wild-jungle-vine-gone-rabid kind of way."  (As an alum for a Big Ten school...love it!)

Enter the book giveaway on Goodreads.  Unraveling Isobel on Amazon and GoodReads.

What book are you waiting on? 

WOW: Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

It's been a while since I featured a WOW book.  And there's one that I can't get out of my head.

My pick this week is...

Enshadowed
(Nevermore, bk. 2)
by Kelly Creagh

I absolutely LOVED Nevermore!  It was fun and suspenseful and romantic...I loved the characters and the storyline...everything!  I can't wait until Enshadowed comes out.

The weird thing is the release date was slated for January 17, 2012, but now GoodReads and Amazon also say August 28, 2012.  I don't get it.  I already can't stand the wait until 2012 and now August.  Hopefully, we'll get it earlier in the year rather than later.

Author Kelly Creagh explained the long wait on this blog post. Thanks for sharing Kelly, but I'm still an impatient fan.

Waiting On Wednesday: Darke

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Septimus Heap, Book Six: Darke

by Angie Sage

Releases on June 7, 2011

We're just a week away from the return of Septimus Heap.  Darke is the 6th book of Angie Sage's Magykal series. 

Septimus has a special place in my heart.  Check out my thoughts of the series on my About Me page.

Description from Amazon:

In the sixth book of the Magykal series, Alther Mella has been Banished, a Darke Domaine engulfs the Castle, and a Darke dragon is on the loose. Septimus Heap must use all of his skills to save the Castle and the Wizard Tower from destruction: He must enter the Darke. But he cannot do this alone. With the help of Jenna, Alther Mella, Marcellus Pye, and Septimus's estranged brother, Simon Heap, Septimus and Marcia Overstrand battle the spreading Darkenesse. Will Septimus succeed in protecting his Magykal world?

Written with Angie Sage's characteristic humor, Septimus Heap, Book Six: Darke is a compelling fantasy adventure filled with surprises, thrills, and laugh-out-loud moments. Readers will revel in the action-packed story as they realize the wisdom of Magyk—that all things are meant to be part of a living whole.

Check out the Official Septimus Heap Blog for updates and some awesome illustrations from Darke.

Waiting On Wednesday: Silence

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Silence (Hush, Hush bk.3)
by Becca Fitzpatrick
Releases on October 4, 2011.

Last month, I power-read the first two books (Hush, Hush and Crescendo) of this series.  By power-reading I mean: two days, stay-up-as-late-as-possible, all plot events run into each other, don't-bother-me-I'm-reading!!! power-reading sessions.

I didn't write reviews for these books yet. Maybe I will when I re-read them before Silence comes out. 

I must admit this series had a sort of "Twilight" effect on me.  I fell in love with the storyline (despite it's flaws).  I was completely and utterly enveloped in it
...to the point where I can't really remember what minor stuff happened in which book,
...to the point when you're willing to skip a meal or cancel plans because you don't want to stop reading. 

Still, the more I considered the characters and plot, the more flaws I saw. Some characters can be overly whiny and completely unbelieveable.  Some of the situations Nora puts herself in are absolutely ridiculous. I understand the poor book reviews. I get it.  But despite it all, I'm completely in love with this story (and Patch).  Hopefully, the final phase of my Twilight effect* doesn't break the Silence for me (sorry for the terrible pun...couldn't help myself). 

Love the cover!  Finally one with both characters on it. Can't wait until October!


*I hated Breaking Dawn with a passion and it ruined the entire series for me.  But that's a rant for another day.

Waiting On Wednesday: The Watchers

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

It's been months since I last participated in this meme.  The book that brought me back which I desperately want to read now is...

The Watchers
(Delcroix Academy, Bk. 2)
by Inara Scott

Releases in August 2011.

I just finished the first book of the Delcroix Academy series, The Candidates (a review coming soon).  I'm excited to read what happens next.  I don't want to post the summary of book two because it would completely ruin the first book for new readers of the series. Let me leave the series premise at...girl with a secret power is recruited to attend an elite academy that holds it's own mysteries, and of course there are two hot guys in the picture.  Ok, maybe that's a complete oversimplification because the plot felt deeper than other books with the "supernatural chick at new school" storyline.

The cover is gorgeous!  It's dark and mysterious.  Love it!  I agree with author Inara Scott when she says it looks even better than the cool orange cover of The Candidates. Alas, this is not the final version yet but I'm hoping it will be.

Do I really have to wait until August?!?  Inara, can you hook a girl up with a copy now...please?

Waiting on Wednesday: Cold Magic

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


My pick this week is...
Cold Magic (The Spiritwalker Trilogy, Bk. 1)
by Kate Elliott
Releases on September 9, 2010

Description from Amazon:

From one of the genre's finest writers comes a bold new epic fantasy in which science and magic are locked in a deadly struggle. 

It is the dawn of a new age... The Industrial Revolution has begun, factories are springing up across the country, and new technologies are transforming in the cities. But the old ways do not die easy.

Cat and Bee are part of this revolution. Young women at college, learning of the science that will shape their future and ignorant of the magics that rule their families. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for Cat. New dangers lurk around every corner and hidden threats menace her every move. If blood can't be trusted, who can you trust?

I love how Kate Elliott (and her publisher) explain the book's setting:

It’s a brand new series set in a brand new world, although a fair bit of this steampunk world may look familiar because it is set in an alternate Earth. My publisher has described the book as "a Victorian fantasy set in an alternate world of trolls, dragons, and darker magic, this is a combination of steampunk and adventure fantasy at its most fast, and furious." I also call this book my Afro-Celtic post-Roman icepunk Regency fantasy with Bonus! airship, Phoenician spies, and the intelligent descendants of troodons.  (from her website)

How awesome does that sound!?!  Check out Kate Elliott's website and blog for more info.

What book are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday: I Am Number Four

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...
 
I Am Number Four
by Pittacus Lore
Releases August 3, 2010
 

I think this book is the next big series.  It hasn't been released yet and the movie version is already being filmed starring Jake Abel (Luke from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians The Lightning Thief movie), Dianna Agron (Quinn from GLEE) and Alex Pettyfer (from the upcoming movie Beastly).  The movie's scheduled to release in February 2011. 

 

Oh yeah, Pittacus Lore is the alien character pseudonym for authors James Frey and Jobie Hughes. I've avoided reading anything by James Frey as a result of his fictional "memoir" A Million Little Pieces (ugh...just be truthful and call it fiction!), so I'm going to try to put my bias aside and give this book a shot.

 

Check out the book's website and facebook page.

 

Here's the description from Amazon:

 

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

 

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Familiars

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pick was inspired by Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century.  Last week she posted a review AND author interviews for the upcoming release The Familiars.  Check out both posts.  I can't wait to read it now...thanks Kristen!  Plus it's going to be made into a movie, directed by Sam Raimi.  How cool is that!?!

For more info on the book:

The Familiars - Official website (excerpt and trailer coming soon)

The Familiars - Blog

The Familiars

by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

Releases on September 7, 2010

Description from Amazon:

THE FAMILIARS are the magical animal companions to a wizard or witch. When three young wizards-in-training get kidnapped by the evil queen of the land, it is up to their familiars to go a dangerous journey to rescue them. You'll meet Aldwyn, an orphan alley cat pretending to have telekinesis; Skylar, a know-it-all blue jay who can cast illusions; and Gilbert, a hapless tree frog with the ability to see visions of the future in pools of water. See what happens when these three animal assistants -- typically relegated to the background or found sitting quietly on their wizard's shoulders -- go on a heroic adventure of their own!

Waiting on Wednesday: Delcroix Academy

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Delcroix Academy: The Candidates
 by Inara Scott
Releases on August 24, 2010

Summary from Amazon:

Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that's not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia's mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to anyone, belieiving this way she can supress her powers and keep them hidden.

But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over. Only, Delcroix is a school for diplomats' kids and child geniuses--not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. So why are they treating Dancia like she's special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make Dancia feel welcome.

And then there's her mysterious new friend Jack, who can't stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at the Academy and wants Dancia to help him figure out what. But Dancia isn't convinced. She hopes that maybe the recruiters know more about her "gift" than they're letting on. Maybe they can help her understand how to use it...But not even Dancia could have imagined what awaits her behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

*****************

This is Inara Scott's debut novel and I'm dying to read it. I've been on a "special teenager starts a new school" kick lately...as you might be able to tell from some of my past WoW picks (Thresholds, Infinite Days, etc.). I love this cover!  You can feel the gravity of her powers and the mysterious (possibly evil?) secrets that the exclusive school harbors.  The author loves it too...check out the cover reveal entry on her blog. Go to Inara's website for a short teaser. Plus, it looks like this might be book 1 of a series...yay!

Waiting on Wednesday: Thresholds

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Thresholds

by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Releases on August 5, 2010.

Summary from Amazon:

Maya’s family has just moved from Idaho to Spores Ferry, Oregon. She’s nervous about starting middle school and making new friends, but soon that’s the last thing on her mind. First, a fairy flies into her room. Then it turns out that the kids in the apartment building next door do magic, and their basement is full of portals to other worlds. She’s bursting with new experiences and delight . . . and secrets, because she can’t breathe a word to her family, not even when she winds up taking care of an alien!

Imagine the family in Ingrid Law’s Savvy seen through the eyes of a young Ray Bradbury. Cross the Threshold!

Waiting on Wednesday: Fairies and the Quest for Never Land

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Fairies and the Quest for Never Land

by Gail Carson Levine

Releases on June 1, 2010.

Sometimes I love to devour cute, whimsical stories.  Even though I haven't read the other books in this series, this one looks adorable and fits the bill for my whimsical moments.  Plus, it's written by Gail Carson Levine (author of Ella Enchanted, Ever, Fairest etc) so you know it's gonna be good! 

Summary from Amazon:

Gwendolyn Carlisle loves fairies, perhaps too much. On her birthday, she receives the precious “kiss” necklace which has been passed down from mother to daughter ever since Peter Pan gave it to Wendy Darling. That night, Gwendolyn has the first of her visions—tantalizing, lifelike visions, almost as if she were actually in Fairy Haven. She sees animal talent fairy Beck give a pie to wise Mother Dove and hears the voices of water-talent Rani and even Tinker Bell herself.

More than anything, Gwendolyn wishes she could be there. When she is just about to lose hope, Peter Pan comes at last and blows fairy dust on her. The instant they reach Never Land, she sets out to find fairies. But the fairies are not eager to meet her.

Then the evil Kyto, a dragon the fairies once helped to capture, escapes. He intends to destroy Never Land, starting with Fairy Haven. The fairies have but one choice: they must stop Kyto. As they set out on their desperate quest—a quest that could be their very last—the fairies must decide if Gwendolyn can help or hinder. . . .

Infused with magic and feeling, and bursting with excitement, this thrilling tale is the third in the celebrated series of illustrated novels from Newbery Honor winning author Gail Carson Levine and renowned illustrator David Christiana.

Waiting on Wednesday: Infinite Days

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

Infinite Days

by Rebecca Maizel

Releases on August 3, 2010

Summary on Amazon: She longs to be like everybody else. But her history is written in blood...

Lenah Beaudonte is in many ways your average sixteen-year-old: the “new girl,” she struggles to fit in enough to survive at school, and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy captain of the lacrosse team. But her challenges are beyond what anyone could have expected. Lenah just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire turned human…

She’s just awakened from a century-long hibernation and each passing hour hears another tick of the time-bomb, counting down to the moment when her abandoned vampire coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping, and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as the passing moments allow. But, to do so, she must first answer the ominous questions at hand: Can an ex-vampire survive in a time and place so alien to her? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?

This sounds like a fun new twist on the tiring girl-meets-boy vampire story. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Everlasting

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick this week is...

 
Everlasting

by Angie Frazier

Releases on June 1, 2010

Summary from Amazon:  Sailing aboard her father's ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a lady in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn't love in order to preserve her social standing. On her last voyage before the wedding, Camille learns the mother she has always believed dead is in fact alive and in Australia. When their Sydney-bound ship goes down in a gale, and her father dies, Camille sets out to find her mother and a map in her possession - a map believed to lead to a stone that once belonged to the legendary civilization of the immortals. The stone can do exactly what Camille wants most: bring someone back from the dead. Unfortunately, her father's adversary is also on the hunt for the stone, and she must race him to it. The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar - a handsome young sailor and her father's first mate - who is in love with Camille and whom she is inexplicably drawn to despite his low social standing and her pending wedding vows. 

With an Australian card shark acting as their guide, Camille eludes murderous bushrangers, traverses dangerous highlands, evades a curse placed on the stone, and unravels the mystery behind her mother's disappearance sixteen years earlier. But when another death shakes her conviction to resurrect her father, Camille must choose what - and who - matters most.

I've seen this book on upcoming release lists on Amazon and around the blogosphere lately.  Can't wait until it comes out. 

Visit Angie Frazier's website and blog. 

Waiting On Wednesday: The Books of Elsewhere, Vol. 1: The Shadows

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Books of Elsewhere, Vol. 1: The Shadows
by Jacqueline West
Releases on June 15, 2010
 
This sounds like a fun new series! Here's the description from The Books of Elsewhere website:
 

Old Ms. McMartin is definitely dead. Now her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant. When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, she knows there's something odd about the place - not the least the walls covered in strange antique paintings. But when Olive finds a pair of old spectacles in a drawer, she discovers the most peculiar thing yet: She can travel inside these paintings to a world that's strangely quiet... and eerily like her own. Yet Elsewhere harbors dark secrets - and Morton, an undersize boy with an outsize temper.
 
As she and Morton form an uneasy alliance, Olive finds herself ensnared in a plan darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. It's up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.

Jacqueline West weaves a tale at turns haunting, moving, and darkly funny, full of characters you won't soon forget.

A two-time Pushcart nominee for poetry, Jacqueline West lives in Red Wing, Minnesota. This is her first novel. 

For more information, see Jacqueline West's website

Waiting On Wednesday: Mockingjay

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This is my first Waiting on Wednesday meme, so I want to feature the release I am anticipating most this year...the final book of The Hunger Games series:

Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins
Release Date: August 24, 2010

I won't post a summary description for this book because it would completely spoil the endings of the first two books of The Hunger Games series.  So instead I'll gush a little bit about why I'm obsessed with The Hunger Games.

If you're a fan of YA dystopian tales and haven't read the first book yet, don't wait another day.  The Hunger Games series takes place in a post-war North American society called Panem.  Panem is split into isolated districts, completely controlled by the Capitol.  Every year, the Capitol makes the districts draw the names of 24 teenage contestants (one boy and girl from each district) to participate in the Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death competition that's on live TV.  It's gruesome and terrifying, but the last person standing gets to live and return to their district as a hero with riches. 

The story revolves around sixteen-year-old Katniss, who volunteers to take her younger sister's place in the games.  I love Katniss' character.  She's strong, knowledgeable of survival skills, somewhat cynical but still compassionate.  Sometimes I find teenage female protagonists in YA books can get really annoying, whiny, or self-centered.  Katniss is not and it's refreshing to read.  The two other important characters are Gale (her close guy friend and confidant) and Peeta (the boy from her district to compete in the games).  They are so different from one another, yet I love them both.  I don't want to give anything else away.  Suzanne Collins created a vivid, enthralling series that's up there on my list of favorites with Harry Potter and Twilight (pre-Breaking Dawn...but that's another rant entirely).

Read the first two books and let me know what you think. 
The Hunger Games (Bk. 1)
Catching Fire (Bk. 2)
**Don't read the description of Bk. 2 until you finish Bk. 1. It'll spoil the Bk. 1 ending!**