Waiting on Wednesday (13): Fiona Paul - Venom

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

Title: Venom
Author: Fiona Paul
Series: Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1
Publisher: Philomel
Release Date: October 30th, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

Love, lust, murder, mayhem and high society converge in one thrilling debut

Cassandra Caravello has everything a girl could desire: elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, invitations to the best parties, and a handsome, wealthy fiancé—yet she longs for something more. Ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.

When Cass stumbles upon the body of a murdered woman—with a bloody X carved across her heart—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of secret societies, courtesans, and killers. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a poor artist with a mischievous grin . . . and a habit of getting into trouble. Will Cassandra find the murderer before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancé or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?

Beauty, romance, and mystery weave together in a novel that’s as seductive and stunning as the city of Venice itself.

Why I Look Forward to This: I've seen the cover around before, but I finally got to reading the synopsis last night and it sounds like a fun read. I'm a sucker for books about high-class societies with a dark underbelly, and when I read this -- "she’s drawn into a dangerous world of secret societies, courtesans, and killers" -- I was immediately sold.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday (12): Sarah Crossan - Breathe

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

Title: Breathe
Author: Sarah Crossan
Series: Breathe, #1
Publisher: Greenwillow
Release Date: October 2nd, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . .

The world is dead.
The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

ALINA
has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful.

QUINN
should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

BEA
wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Why I Look Forward to This: This sounds like a fabulous dystopia. A YA novel tackling life under an all-encompassing corporation sounds right up my alley. Here's hoping the world-building is good!

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday (11): Michelle Paver - Gods and Warriors

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

Title: Gods and Warriors
Author: Michelle Paver
Series: Gods and Warriors, #1
Publisher: Dial
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

In the turbulent world of the Mediterranean Bronze Age, long before the Greek myths, a boy and a girl battle for survival. With the help of three animal allies - a dolphin, a falcon and a lion cub - they defeat the forces of tyranny and withstand the elemental powers of the gods of land and sea.

Why I Look Forward to This: That summary really doesn't give much away, does it? :p Anyway, I first heard of this via Claire Legrand's #ARCAPALOOZA, and it's apparently recommended for fans of Percy Jackson -- which I am! I have a soft spot for anything that deals with mythology, and I'm interested in how the author will be dealing with the Bronze Age setting. :D This sounds like it's going to be a fun, light, adventurous read.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday (10): Sylvia Day - Reflected in You (Crossfire, #2)

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

Title: Reflected in You
Author: Sylvia Day
Series: Crossfire, #2
Publisher: Penguin Group
Release Date: October 2nd, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn't stay away. I didn't want to. He was my addiction... my every desire... mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We'd never work. It was too hard, too painful... except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession...

Why I Look Forward to This: I recently read Bared to You and it stuck with me. Gideon and Eva are both very flawed characters with dark histories, but they're committed to making their relationship healthy and functional -- it's so refreshing to see fictional couples working together instead of one person calling all the shots. The first book is pretty self-containing, but I really want to see where they eventually end up.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Showcase Sunday (6)

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea that lets bloggers highlight any books or book-related swag they received this week, whether they're from bookstores, libraries, received for review, etc.

WELL. This week has been... interesting.

Via Mara Shapiro and Penguin Canada, I received Bared to You by Sylvia Day. I just finished this yesterday, and I really, really liked it.

Title: Bared to You
Author: Sylvia Day
Series: Crossfire, #1
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Summary (via Goodreads):

Our journey began in fire... Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness-beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily... Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds... and desires. The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart...

 Gollancz UK was having a week-long giveaway of this, and I won a copy! Woot:

Title: Rivers of London (Special London Edition)
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Series: Peter Grant, #1
Publisher: Gollancz 
Summary (via Goodreads):

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

There is a wonderful place in Niantic, CT known as the Book Barn. There's a huge section consisting of barns, as well as two shops downtown. They claim to have over 500,000 books, and I believe it.

Paperbacks are $1.00 and hardcovers range from $4-5. I shouldn't have gone, but I needed to get out of the house.

You ready?

I'm ready.

...

(apologies for the blurriness)

I'm just going to link to the Goodreads pages for each book:

Grimspace
Vampire Academy
Linger
Witches of East End
Un Lun Dun
Kraken
Elantris
The Terrorists of Irustan
Daggerspell
Acacia: The War with the Mein
American Vampire

And even though this'll keep me occupied for quite a while? After I left, I remembered, "Wait, I forgot to look for ____ ...!"

So, yes. The Niantic Book Barn. Spiffy place. :D If you're ever in the area, I HIGHLY recommend going.

Waiting on Wednesday (9): Meagan Spooner - Skylark

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

Title: Skylark
Author: Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Release Date: August 1, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

Sixteen year-old Lark Ainsley has never seen the sky.

Her world ends at the edge of the vast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that’s left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children's innate magical energy when they reach adolescence. When it’s Lark’s turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend itself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it’s been stripped.

Forced to flee the only home she knows to avoid life as a human battery, Lark must fight her way through the terrible wilderness beyond the edge of the world. With the city’s clockwork creations close on her heels and a strange wild boy stalking her in the countryside, she must move quickly if she is to have any hope of survival. She’s heard the stories that somewhere to the west are others like her, hidden in secret – but can she stay alive long enough to find them?

Why I Look Forward to This: So I'm not sure if this is technically a "waiting on" since it's out today, but I had to post about it because AAAAHHHHHHHH THAT SUMMARY. -flailflail- Look at that! IT'S ABOUT HUMANS. AS ENERGY SOURCES. As someone who loves reading about environmental science and sustainable living, this sounds awesome. And the "harvesting" thing reminds me heavily of some themes from His Dark Materials, which is one of my favorite series ever. I'm generally skeptical about YA dystopia, but this sounds very, very promising.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Showcase Sunday (5)

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea that lets bloggers highlight any books or book-related swag they received this week, whether they're from bookstores, libraries, received for review, etc.

I haven't done this in a while because I haven't been accumulating too many books, so this'll be a review of things I got in the last few weeks. Yay!

I got this lovely in the mail via a contest -- thanks, Meljean!

Title: The Iron Duke
Author: Meljean Brook
Series: The Iron Seas, #1
Publisher: Berkley UK
Summary (via Goodreads):

Steampunk adventure and seductive danger abound in the gritty world of the Iron Seas.

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power - and fear - of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship on to his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

Mina can't afford his interest, however, Horde blood runs through her veins, and becoming Rhys's lover would destroy both her career and her family, yet the investigation prevents her from avoiding him . . .

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and perilous oceans - and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

Then, I ventured out into the world of e-ARCs! I received this via Angry Robot's Robot Army program, and it is positively grotesque so far. Reminds me somewhat of Joe Abercrombie:

Title: The Corpse-Rat King
Author: Lee Battersby
Publisher: Angry Robot
Release date: August 28th, 2012 (US/CAN)
Summary (via Goodreads):  

Marius dos Hellespont and his apprentice, Gerd, are professional looters of battlefields. When they stumble upon the corpse of the King of Scorby and Gerd is killed, Marius is mistaken for the monarch by one of the dead soldiers, is transported down to the Kingdom of the Dead. The dead need a King--the King is God's representative, and someone needs to remind God where they are.

Marius is banished to the surface with one message: if he wants to recover his life he must find the dead a King. Which he fully intends to do. Just as soon as he stops running.

And since this was "Read Now," I got this on NetGalley. Yes... the highly controversial...

Title: Beautiful Disaster
Author: Jamie McGuire
Series: Beautiful, #1
Publisher: Atria
Release date: August 14th, 2012
Summary (via Goodreads):

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

 Thoughts? What's new on your shelves/readers this week? :)

Waiting on Wednesday (8): Malinda Lo - Adaptation

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

Title: Adaptation
Author: Malinda Lo
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 18th, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

Reese and David don’t remember what happened to them after a bird flew into their headlights on the Extraterrestrial Highway--not the resulting car accident and certainly not a bit of the 21 days of care at the military hospital in Nevada. It’s a good thing, the doctors and colonels tell them, that they crashed on a military base, but they won’t tell Reese and David what the extent of their injuries were, or how they were healed. They do tell them they’re not going home, though, until they sign a confidentiality agreement.

When they get home, Reese can’t help but find everything a little weird. Worldwide bird strikes resulting in plane crashes have grounded air travel, David won’t talk to her, and she could swear she’s seen her military doctors around the neighborhood. It’s only when she meets Amber Grey that things in her life begin to really fall apart, and the mysteries of the bird strikes, the military, and her own treatment come together. Reese realizes that she must find out what they did to her in that hospital, but her search for the truth threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

What if we aren’t alone in the universe? What if the alien is inside us?

Why I Look Forward to This: Isn't that cover freaky? This sounds like a fantastically weird sci-fi novel -- I think I read somewhere that this was written as a tribute to the X-Files. I haven't read Malinda Lo's other works yet, but Ash and Huntress have been in my TBR list for ages, and I'm really pleased with her inclusion of LGBT characters. All in all, this sounds like a great read.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday (7): Meljean Brook - Riveted

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

Title: Riveted
Author: Meljean Brook
Series: Iron Seas, #3
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: September 4th, 2012
Summary (from Goodreads): 

A century after a devastating volcanic eruption forced Iceland’s inhabitants to abandon its shores, the island has become enshrouded in legend. But the truth behind the legends is mechanical, not magical—and the mystery of the island a matter of life and death for a community of women who once spilled noble blood to secure their freedom.

Five years ago, Annika unwittingly endangered that secret, but her sister Källa took the blame and was exiled. Now Annika serves on an airship, searching for her sister and longing to return home. But that home is threatened when scientific expedition leader David Kentewess comes aboard, looking to expose Annika’s secrets. Then disaster strikes, leaving David and Annika stranded on a glacier and pursued by a madman, with their very survival depending on keeping the heat rising between them—and generating lots of steam

Why I Look Forward to This: LET'S SEE.

a) Iceland.
b) A mysterious, powerful sisterhood.
c) The love interest is a vulcanologist.

I need this in my hands, like, yesterday. I haven't read anything by Meljean Brook -- people seem to either love or hate the hero in The Iron Duke -- but that's going to change VERY soon. And even if I'm not fond of that one, she's said that this works as a stand-alone. Very excited for this!

If you're curious, there's an excerpt at Meljean's website. :)

Showcase Sunday (4)

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea that lets bloggers highlight any books or book-related swag they received this week, whether they're from bookstores, libraries, received for review, etc.

I got this in the mail this week! I'm about 2/3rds through it and I really like it so far.

Title: Enchanted
Author: Alethea Kontis
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Summary (via Goodreads):

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

And I got this from the library:

Title: The Killing Moon
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Series: Dreamblood, #1
Publisher: Orbit
Summary (via Goodreads):  

The city burned beneath the Dreaming Moon.

In the city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Along its ancient stone streets, where time is marked by the river’s floods, there is no crime or violence. Within the city’s colored shadows, priests of the dream-goddess harvest the wild power of the sleeping mind as magic, using it to heal, soothe... and kill.

But when corruption blooms at the heart of Gujaareh’s great temple, Ehiru—most famous of the city’s Gatherers—cannot defeat it alone. With the aid of his cold-eyed apprentice and a beautiful foreign spy, he must thwart a conspiracy whose roots lie in his own past. And to prevent the unleashing of deadly forbidden magic, he must somehow defeat a Gatherer’s most terrifying nemesis: the Reaper.

Thoughts? :D

Waiting on Wednesday (6): A. G. Howard - Splintered

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

Title: Splintered
Author: A. G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: January 2013
Summary (from Goodreads):

For sixteen years, Alyssa Gardner has lived with the stigma of being descended from Alice Liddell -- the real life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's famed novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But cruel jokes about dormice and tea parties can’t compare to the fact that Alyssa hears the whispers of bugs and flowers ... the same quirk which sent her mother to a mental institution years before.

When her mother takes a turn for the worse and the whispers grow too strong for Alyssa to bear, she seeks the origins of their family curse. A set of heirlooms and a moth tied to an unusual website lead Alyssa and her gorgeous best friend / secret crush, Jeb, down the rabbit hole into the real Wonderland, a place more twisted and eerie than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, creepy counterparts of the original fairytale crew reveal the purpose for Alyssa’s journey, and unless she fixes the things her great-great-great grandmother Alice put wrong, Wonderland will have her head.

Why I Look Forward to This: Oh my gosh, just... everything about this. The slightly-insane cover! The summary! And Melissa Marr posted her "first ever detailed" review on Goodreads for this book, in which she praises it HIGHLY. And I trust her taste. Booo on the release date, though; I'd love to see it out sooner!

Showcase Sunday (3)

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea that lets bloggers highlight any books or book-related swag they received this week, whether they're from bookstores, libraries, received for review, etc.

I didn't do this last week because there wasn't much new, but this week was fairly awesome!

For book-related swag, I got a signed bookplate from Thea Harrison -- she was doing a giveaway on her blog for her birthday wherein if you donated books to her library and e-mailed her, she'd send you some swag. One lucky winner got hand-made soap. I didn't get the soap, but the bookplate was super-awesome and I stuck it into my copy of Dragon Bound.

I won a copy of Arise from @HarperTeen on Twitter, so I purchased the $0.99 version of Hereafter for my e-reader to prepare myself. I was hesitant about checking this series out, but Melissa Marr gave it a positive recommendation on Goodreads, and I trust her taste.

Title: Hereafter
Author: Tara Hudson
Series: Hereafter, #1
Publisher: HarperCollins
Summary (via Goodreads):

Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life--or her actual death--she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but "will" him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, "Hereafter" is a sensation you won't want to miss.

Yesterday, I went to Barnes & Noble -- my membership card is expiring at the end of the month, and I wanted to use the discount before it goes. Because I really appreciated the bookplate, I bought the next book in the Elder Races series, Storm's Heart:

Title: Storm's Heart
Author: Thea Harrison
Series: Elder Races, #2
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Summary (via Goodreads):
 
He's a Wyr warrior, a god of storms. She's the heir to the Dark Fae throne. But desire will bring both to their knees in this all-new Novel of the Elder Races.

During the rule of her murderous Dark Fae uncle, Thistle "Tricks" Periwinkle found sanctuary among the Wyr in New York. Her ethereal beauty and sparkling personality won the hearts of the public, but after her uncle's death, there are those who don't want to see her ascend to the throne.

Able to wield thunder and lightning, Wyr sentinel Tiago Black Eagle has ruled the skies for centuries. His massive build and thunderous power make him one of the Wyr's best weapons. And he's sent to protect Tricks when she's almost assassinated in Chicago.

Soon, both Tiago and Tricks will fall prey to the stormy hunger that engulfs them—a passion that will shake the very foundation of all the worlds.

I've been looking for this next book for AGES in stores, and finally found it yesterday, so I got it while I could. Loved the first one in the series, heard this one was even better, so I'm looking forward to it:

Title: The Broken Kingdoms
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Series: Inheritance, #2
Publisher: Orbit
Summary (via Goodreads):  

In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a strange homeless man on an impulse. This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy. Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city. And Oree's guest is at the heart of it...

 What do you think? What's new on your shelves this week? :)

Waiting on Wednesday (5): Laini Taylor - Days of Blood and Starlight

Woo! I had a crazy weekend (in a good way!) and I'm still winding down from it.  Review of Dreamless by Josephine Angelini is in the works. In the meantime, here's my WoW:

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

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co
Release Date: November 6th, 2012 
Summary (from Goodreads):

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was declared a "must read" by Entertainment Weekly, was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, and The New York Times called it "a breath-catching romantic fantasy."

Why I Look Forward to This: Daughter of Smoke and Bone was absolutely fantastic, and its ending left me wanting more more more. I really need to see what's happening between Karou and Akiva, whether her family's alive and what she's going to do next. Taylor's prose and imagery are amazing. Cannot WAIT.

Showcase Sunday (2)

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea that lets bloggers highlight any books or book-related swag they received this week, whether they're from bookstores, libraries, received for review, etc.

I got a few books this week! :D To start things off, I received an ARC via a Goodreads giveaway I won last week, which I'm almost finished with:

Title: Dreamless
Author: Josephine Angelini
Series: Starcrossed, #2
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: May 29th, 2012
Summary (via Goodreads):

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies’ cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen’s sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling STARCROSSED delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds expectation.

I received this in the mail yesterday via a recent giveaway hosted by the author (signed + personalized, too!):

Title: The Thief-Taker's Apprentice
Author: Stephen Deas
Series: The Thief-Taker's Apprentice, #1
Publisher: Gollancz
Summary (via Goodreads):

When Berren makes the mistake of stealing a purse from a thief-taker, it should have condemned him to a short and brutal life in the slave-mines. So when the thief-taker offers to train him as an apprentice instead, he can’t believe his luck. But Berren’s new master has secrets of his own, and thief-takers and their apprentices are wont to make enemies far more readily than friends.

And I went down to the library and picked up these books:

Title: Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: Books of Faerie, #1
Publisher: Flux
Summary (via Goodreads):

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey.

Title: Out of Oz
Author: Gregory Maguire
Series: The Wicked Years, #4
Publisher: William Morrow
Summary (via Goodreads):

The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy.

Amid all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now, Rain will take up her broom in an Oz wracked by war.

The stirring, long-awaited conclusion to the extraordinary bestselling series begun with Wicked, Out of Oz is a magical journey rife with revelations and reversals, reprisals and surprises — the hallmarks of the brilliant and unique imagination of Gregory Maguire.

Should be fun reading!

From the Review Pile (2): Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliott - The Golden Key

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.
The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

Title: The Golden Key 
Authors: Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliott

Publisher: DAW

Released: June 2011 (first published 1996)
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository

Summary (via Goodreads):  

In Tira Virte, art is prized for its beauty and as a binding legal record of everything from marriages to treaties. Yet not even the Grand Duke knows how extraordinary the Grijalva family's art is, for certain Grijalva males are born with the ability to alter events and influence people in the real world through that they paint. Always, their power has been used for Tira Virte. But now Sario Grijalva has learned to use his Gift in a whole new way. And when he begins to work his magic both the Grijalvas and Tira Virte may pay the price.

I picked this up sometime last year because it looked interesting -- I haven't read anything by the authors before, but this seems right up my alley. I think the length's been putting me off (it's over 800 pages in MMP format), but one of these days I'll get to it. The world-building sounds too cool to pass over.

Waiting on Wednesday (4): Melissa Marr - Carnival of Souls

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

Title: Carnival of Souls
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: September 4th, 2012 
Summary (from Goodreads):

In a city of daimons, the Carnival of Souls hosts a deadly competition. Once in a generation, every citizen can fight to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

In our own world, Mallory knows that her father—and every other witch—fled the daimons’ city long ago. She trains to be lethal because it’s only a matter of time until the daimons catch up with them.

While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans there for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence that is the Carnival of Souls. 

From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, comes a brand-new tale of secrets, love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny.

Why I Look Forward to This: I love Melissa Marr. LOVE. I thought the Wicked Lovely series was great, and Graveminder even moreso; I adore her characters and themes. She seems to be a fantastic person as well as a great author -- I follow her on Twitter and always appreciate what she has to say. This sounds really dark and fantastic, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. :D

Showcase Sunday (1)

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea that lets bloggers highlight any books or book-related swag they received this week, whether they're from bookstores, libraries, received for review, etc. 

I went to Books-A-Million today. I really, REALLY shouldn't have, but...

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Author(s): Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Series: Caster Chronicles, #1

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary (via Goodreads):

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.

We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Title: The City & the City

Author: China Miéville

Publisher: Del Rey

Summary (via Goodreads):
New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other–real or imagined.
 
When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.  

Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.  

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities. 

Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights

Title: Railsea 
Author: China Miéville
Publisher: Random House
Summary (from Goodreads):

On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible—leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

From China Miéville comes a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping and brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms his status as "the most original and talented voice to appear in several years." (Science Fiction Chronicle)

One of my friends raves over Beautiful Creatures, and I'm curious about it because of the mixed reactions among reviewers -- it was only $3.97, so I couldn't pass it up. The City & the City was only $5. Railsea was full price, but I'm SO curious about it that I decided to buy it. :D

And for review, I received:

Title: Envious of the Clouds
Author: Amy Michelle Mosier
Summary (via Lulu): 

A small collection of sonnets, triolets, rondeaux and haiku, as well as free verse poetry. In the style of Dickinson and Longfellow, it's an attempt to resurrect Victorian era poetry.

The author described it to me as poetry for people who don't normally read poetry. I do like poetry, but I haven't read it for pleasure in a while, so I look forward to getting to this. :)

From the Review Pile (1): Kate Quinn - Empress of the Seven Hills

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.
The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

Title: Empress of the Seven Hills

Author: Kate Quinn

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Released: April 2012
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository

Summary (via Goodreads):  

From the national bestselling author of Daughters of Rome and Mistress of Rome comes a tale of love, power, and intrigue spanning the wilds of the Empire to the seven hills of Rome.

Powerful, prosperous, and expanding ever farther into the untamed world, the Roman Empire has reached its zenith under the rule of the beloved Emperor Trajan. But neither Trajan nor his reign can last forever . . .

Brash and headstrong, Vix is a celebrated ex-gladiator returned to Rome to make his fortune. The sinuous, elusive Sabina is a senator’s daughter who craves adventure. Sometimes lovers, sometimes enemies, Vix and Sabina are united by their devotion to Trajan. But others are already maneuvering in the shadows. Trajan’s ambitious Empress has her own plans for Sabina. And the aristocratic Hadrian — the Empress’s ruthless protégé and Vix’s mortal enemy — has ambitions he confesses to no one, ambitions rooted in a secret prophecy.

When Trajan falls, the hardened soldier, the enigmatic empress, the adventurous girl, and the scheming politician will all be caught in a deadly whirlwind of desire and death that may seal their fates, and that of the entire Roman Empire . . .

I won this recently from The Maiden's Court, but haven't had the chance to crack it open yet. Historical fiction is usually not my favored genre, but I loved Daughters of Rome and keep up with everything Kate Quinn does now. I read Mistress after Daughters and didn't like it as much, but I think her writing's improved and can't wait to revisit Vix and Sabina.

This meme is perfect for me -- I have so many books I need to get to. Props to Stephanie for starting this!

(Also, the formatting's wonky in this post -- sorry! I'll see if I can fix it.)