Waiting on Wednesday - Christy

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Expected publication: May 17th 2011
Publisher: William Morrow & Company

Summary (via Goodreads) Melissa Mar is known to young adult readers as the author of the popular faery series Wicked Lovely. Her debut leap into adult fiction lands her in the small community of Claysville, a town where the dead walk free unless there their graves are not properly tended. Into this eerie maelstrom, Rebekkah Barrow descends as she returns to a place that she once believed she knew. Kelley Armstrong justly described Graveminder as "a deliciously creepy tale that is as skillfully wrought as it is spellbindingly imagined." A new genre author to watch.

I've read and enjoyed Wicked Lovely by this author (though I haven't gotten around to reading past the first book). Graveminder looks interesting, and I love the cover (run-down house/barn in sepia tones never fails to be creepy). I have to wonder what kind of care these graves require... I will be checking it out when it's released in a couple weeks.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

WoW - Christy

11/22/63 by Stephen King
Pub Date: Nov 8, 2011

Summary (from Goodreads): On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed.

If you had the chance to change history, would you?
Would the consequences be worth it?



Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

First, how awesome is the cover? JFK's assassination is a big what-if, and I know it's been discussed before, so I'm interested to see how King handles this. The book sounds like it has potential to be really cool, if done right.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - Christy

Leaving Van Gogh by Carol Wallace
Pub Date: April 19, 2011
Random House Digital, Inc.

Summary from Goodreads: In the summer of 1890, in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died two days later, at the age of thirty-seven, largely unknown despite having completed over two thousand works of art that would go on to become some of the most important and valued in the world.

In this riveting novel, Carol Wallace brilliantly navigates the mysteries surrounding the master artist’s death, relying on meticulous research to paint an indelible portrait of Van Gogh’s final days—and the friendship that may or may not have destroyed him. Telling Van Gogh’s story from an utterly new perspective—that of his personal physician, Dr. Gachet, specialist in mental illness and great lover of the arts—Wallace allows us to view the legendary painter as we’ve never seen him before. In our narrator’s eyes, Van Gogh is an irresistible puzzle, a man whose mind, plagued by demons, poses the most potentially rewarding challenge of Gachet’s career.

Wallace’s narrative brims with suspense and rich psychological insight as it tackles haunting questions about Van Gogh’s fate. A masterly, gripping novel that explores the price of creativity, Leaving Van Gogh is a luminous story about what it means to live authentically, and the power and limits of friendship.

I love Vincent Van Gogh's art, and I've always found it sad that his fame only came after his death. (I will also admit to a bit of boost in interest in what he was really like after the Doctor Who episode that featured Van Gogh.) I'm not familiar with this author, but the description sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to checking it out!

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

WoW - Some long waits

This Waiting on Wednesday* I'm dedicating to all a few titles we've been waiting on FOREVER for a conclusion, a few series with years since the last release.

Earth's Children Series

Book 1, The Clan of the Cavebear, was published in 1980, and it's been nine years since the second-to-last book was published in 2002. Earth's Children's final book will be released ... drumroll please ... on March 29, 2011

I haven't read any of the Earth's Children books (though I know people who have), so I was hestitant to read more than the summary of the first book. But I do know that it takes place in the ice age (how many books can you say that about?), and features a girl named Ayla who we meet in the first book. At five years old, she is orphaned by an earthquake and taken in by a tribe who call themselves the Clan of the Cavebear.

The Night World Series

Books 1 through 9 of this 10-book series were released within a span of a few years ('96-'98), each story featuring a new set of characters all leading up to a great battle between good and evil promised to the reader for the final book in the series.

The final book, Strange Fate, will be release on April 6 2010... July 6 2010... April 26 2011... July 26 2011... July 10 2012(???)

I read these books when they first came out and loved them. The rules of the Night World are clear: 1) Never allow humans to gain knowledge of the Night World's existence and, 2) Never fall in love with one of them. Of course, these stories were all about what happens when the rules get broken, when Night Worlders (vampires, witches and the occasional werewolf) start finding their soulmates in humans.

While the title and plot of the final book has been public knowledge for years, I'm begining to wonder if this last book will ever come out ... and if it does, if I'll still care. The over-arching plot of the series centered around the millennium, but the world survived Y2K unscathed and might now find a world-ending-in-2000 story unimpressive.

Hopefully Strange Fate will be published while there still interested readers left!

A Song of Ice and Fire Series (A Game of Thrones)

This is another series on my to-read list. It began with A Game of Thrones released in '96. Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros, a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime.

Now a show based on the series will start up in April. It's been 6 years since the last book came out, but fans will have to wait until December of next year for A Dance with Dragons to be released (unless maybe the popularity of the show bumps up the release date...?)


What about you? Which series have you waited the longest for its conclusion? What are you still waiting for?

*Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Waiting on Wednesday — Erin

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Pub date: June 21, 2011



Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

When I saw the cover reveal last week for Ally Carter's second Heist Society book I immediately knew what my WoW pick would be.  I adored Heist Society.  I mean, come on, Ocean's 11 for teens?  Yes please!  While I am a fan of her Gallagher Girls series, I'm completely in love with the characters she's created in this series.  The dialogue is so snappy and witty and has such great energy.  It really feels like a heist film come to life.  I absolutely can't wait to get my hands on this one.


What are you waiting on this week?


*Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Waiting on Wednesday - Abandon

Waiting On Wednesday: Abandon by Meg Cabot
Scholastic Inc.
Release date: April 26, 2011

Synopsis: New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

When Pierce first sees him, she thinks he is a murderer. She's right about one thing -- he does take lives. But not in the way she ever imagined. Pierce is drawn to the dark stranger even as she tries to uncover the mystery surrounding the tragic death of someone close to her. As she gets closer to the truth -- and the stranger -- unexpected secrets are revealed, even in her own heart.

This book has a few things going for it: first, it's by Meg Cabot. This fact alone is enough to get me to pick it up. It's also, according to her website, a retelling of the myth of Persephone. Yay!!!

I know the Persephone myth is a tad anti-feminist and creepy, especially the closer you get to the original story (an innocent maiden, dark and brooding god of the underworld, abduction and rape and a grieving mother), but it still makes for good source material for retellings. (Did anyone else read L J Smith's Forbidden Games trilogy? This was also a Persephone retelling)

And check out the full jacket cover!



April seems sooo far away!

**Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Waiting on Wednesday — Erin

The Tiger's Wife
by Tea Obreht
Pub date: March 8, 2011

Synopsis (via Goodreads): The time: the present. The place: a Balkan country ravaged by years of conflict. Natalia, a young doctor, is on a mission of mercy to an orphanage when she receives word of her beloved grandfather’s death far from their home under circumstances shrouded in confusion. Remembering childhood stories her grandfather once told her, Natalia becomes convinced that he spent his last days searching for "the deathless man," a vagabond who claimed to be immortal. As Natalia struggles to understand why her grandfather, a deeply rational man, who go on such a farfetched journey, she stumbles across a clue that leads her to the extraordinary story of the tiger’s wife.

I heard people talking about this book a few months ago and it was nothing but praise.  For some reason the summary Tiger's Wife reminds me of Elizabeth's Kostova's The Historian, which, okay I never got around to finishing (but I still intend to), but really liked the feel of, especially it's "epic-ness" and can see this debut novel.  I can't wait to see what's in store for us in The Tiger's Wife!  

*Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by the lovely Jill over at Breaking the Spine

Waiting on Wednesday...Plus a Brand New Lit Snit-er!

Lots to talk about today.   

First and foremost I want to introduce our newest Lit Snit-er, Christy!   Christy, of course, is a big reader (like us) and she’s been listening to my literary snits since college (actually, I believe the first inclination that we’d be longtime friends was that we bonded over our junior high love of L.J. Smith while waiting in line for many sorority rush parties.  Some girls were primping...we were talking YA.  Clearly we were the only ones that had our priorities straight).  She’s got an eclectic reading tastes and loves all things book-related so I know she’ll be a great addition to Lit Snit.

She’ll be posting her review for Juliet by Anne Fortier tomorrow so be sure to stop by and welcome her!

In other news, we’ve been known to read our share of YA here at Lit Snit so I thought I’d take a second to mention TeenReads’ book awards.  They’re currently taking nominations for your favorite books of 2010.  I know I’m going to stop by to nominate Courtney Summers’ Some Girls Are, Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere, and my latest fave Antony John’s Five Flavors of Dumb.  Be sure to nominate your favorite YAs of 2010 as well!

Last, but not least, the return of Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine!


Beauty Queens
Release date: May 24, 2011

Synopsis: From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island. 

Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

I was a huge fan of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy so when you mix an awesome author like her, a "'Lost-like island,'" beauty queens gone savage, plus that incredible cover, I'm so totally in. 

Waiting on Wednesday - Daniela

From Notting Hill with Love...Actually
by: Ali McNamara
release date: November 25, 2010

Summary: (via Goodreads) Scarlett O'Brien is in love . . . with the movies. Utterly hooked on Hugh Grant, crazy about Richard Curtis, dying with lust for Johnny Depp, Scarlett spends her days with her head in the clouds and her nights with her hand in a huge tub of popcorn. Which is not exactly what her sensible, DIY-obsessed fiance David has in mind for their future. So when Scarlett has the chance to house-sit an impossibly grand mansion in Notting Hill, the setting of one of her all-time favorite movies, she jumps at the chance to live out her film fantasies one last time. It's just a shame that her new neighbor Sean is so irritating and so irritatingly handsome, too. As a chaotic comedy of her very own erupts around Scarlett, she begins to realize there's more to life than seating plans and putting up shelves. What sort of happy ending does she really want? Will it be a case of Runaway Bride or Happily Ever After? The big white wedding looms, and Scarlett is running out of time to decide.

This book has one catchy (or maybe cheesy?) title and I’m intrigued. I feel like I haven’t seen very many of those really enjoyable sappy romantic comedies like Notting Hill and Love...Actually lately and I miss them a little...now that it’s getting progressively colder outside and staying indoors on the weekend watching something light-hearted is becoming more and more appealing. Hopefully,  Ali McNamara has something good in store for me (for all of us) with “From Notting Hill with Love...Actually.” It comes out on November 25.

Waiting on Wednesday -- Janelle



Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin

Delacorte Books

Publish Date: December 14, 2010

Summary: Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . . Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes

I love books set in Chicago and I love books set in the Roaring Twenties, so I was sold immediately. 

I'm not familiar with Jillian Larkin but I look forward to checking this out as it has been compared to the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen, which I've enjoyed. Here's crossing my fingers to what I hope will be a great series!

Waiting on Wednesday — Erin

Synopsis:  Following his bestselling 2006 debut, Before I Wake, Wiersema returns to his exquisitely plotted blend of supernatural thriller and domestic drama.

Novelist Christopher Knox began his writing career with a bang. The echo of that success still rings in his ears as he sets to work every morning on his second novel, ten years later. His wife feels like a single parent, and with Chris living in exile in a studio above their garage, it won't be long before she is.

Chris discovers a fantasy novel by an obscure author he loved as a child and gives it to his son, David. Father reads to son nightly, and To the Four Directions soon enthralls him. Until one night, when young David is reading alone, an inexplicable seizure leaves him in a mysterious state of unconsciousness. As his seizure recurs every night, his father learns that only one thing will calm it, a bedtime story from his strange new book.

Convinced that the secret of David's collapse is within its pages, Chris traverses the continent in search of the truth. Meanwhile, David wakes up within the story he has been reading, and as his father struggles to free him David struggles to survive, facing perils unimaginable in a world created to capture the hearts and souls of children like him. Both father and son are headed toward a fateful collision of worlds, and a showdown with ancient evils, both fictional and very real. 

This apparently just came out yesterday (I think.  All they show on Amazon is the Canadian version that was published in October, but  Robert Wiersema's website says it is on sale 11/2), but I wanted to mention Bedtime Story this week because it's been a while since reading a synopsis has hooked me like this one did.  It reminded me a bit of The Book of Lost Things, only perhaps from the father's perspective.  I really love that idea of getting literally sucked into a book.  It sounds like both a dream and nightmare to most book lovers.

I can't wait to get my hands on this one!  What are you guys looking forward to reading?


**Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Waiting on Wednesday - Daniela

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

Release Date: November 9, 2010

Summary: (via Goodreads) Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. Sage has been homeschooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won’t tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she’s actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.

Just like Erin, I’ve been feeling a little meh about the books I’ve been seeing on the upcoming releases lists. And so, I’ve decided to give some attention to a book that’s already out in hardback, but won’t hit the market in its paperback form till November 9, 2010. The book is Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher. I’m currently reading Katcher’s earlier novel called Playing with Matches, which is about a high school boy falling in love with a badly disfigured girl. And if you read the summary of Almost Perfect that I’ve provided above, you’ll see that this author picks very difficult subjects to write about. Can you imagine the limited market among young adults for books dealing with being disfigured or transgenrered? I’m betting it’s not great…but, Katcher writes about it anyway and rightly so. These are issues that need attention.

I’m really enjoying Playing with Matches and will grab a copy of Almost Perfect just as soon as it comes out next month.

Note: Waiting on Wednesday is an ingenious idea hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday?

I'll be honest. I've spent the better part of the last 24 hours trying to find something for my Waiting on Wednesday post, but haven't come up with anything. There are a lot of great YAs coming out, but everyone's talking about them so they're really nothing new. I've been looking for some good chick lit/women's fiction or just some good fiction in the next few months but nothing's really jumped out at me.


Am I getting tougher to please? Have I hit the reading wall? Am I just feeling a little blase this week? Possibly. In any case I'm putting my Waiting on Wednesday post in your hands. What are you excited to read that's coming out in the next few months? What do you have on pre-order, on your Christmas wish list, or just can't freaking wait to get your hands on?

As always, Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - Janelle

I Love the 80s by Megan Crane

Release Date: March 17, 2011
Published by Quercus Publishing
THIS IS NOT THE COVER

Summary (via Megan Crane’s website): Jenna Jenkins has always loved 80s pop legend Tommy Seer, and in her heart she knows that they were meant to be together - despite the fact that he died when she was 12.


For a while it looked like her fiancé Adam might take his place in her heart, but when he dumps her for a 23 year old Jenna resigns herself to a life of yearning for the man she can never have.


When a freak accident sends her back to 1987 and into Tommy’s world, Jenna realizes she might have a chance after all. Unfortunately, fashion crimes are at an all time high: everyone has big shoulder pads and even bigger hair. More upsetting than the lack of Starbucks and mobiles is that Tommy does not recognize Jenna as his soul mate. Even worse, Jenna knows that in just a few weeks Tommy is going die in a terrible accident. At least, everyone will assume it’s an accident. But was it really?


Can Jenna save Tommy from his fate? Can she survive the horrors of 1987—for the second time around? And is Tommy Seer really the guy for her after all?"

I love, love, love Megan Crane. LOVE her. (Although, that profession may come off as slightly stalkerish...) I don’t think I can eloquently state why… I guess it’s because her characters, her stories are realistic.

I tell Erin quite often that the hero in romance novels must be based off SOMETHING. I refuse to believe, no matter how ridiculous/convoluted the story is, there must be a man out there like these characters. They aren't just pulled out of thin air. After I go on about this for several minutes, Erin just gives me this look (and Erin, you know which look!) and tells me, basically, that it is fantasy.

The point of that tangent is that Megan Crane’s books aren’t about these dreamy, perfect characters. Her characters are flawed and the romance is genuine. No one is swept off their feet and you experience the awkward, beginning stages. There isn’t some dream ending. It’s something that everyone, at some point, has experienced. ( I hope this makes sense…).

I do need to clarify that her novels aren’t necessarily about romance. The journey her characters take are grounded and genuine with a great deal of emotional depth. (Seriously, I feel like Gus of Frenemies right now…)

With that being said, while I’m looking forward to her new book (COME. ON. ALREADY), I’m a bit scared. Freak accidents causing time travel doesn’t exactly scream realistic to me, but I trust Megan Crane to do what she always does—to simply tell a good story.

Note: Waiting on Wednesday is an ingenious idea hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday--Daniela

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Release Date: May 10, 2011

"What Happened to Goodbye" is about a high school senior who, after her parents’ divorce, has taken up the practice of assuming a new identity in each of the four towns she’s lived in (blurb provided by Goodreads).

Choosing What Happened to Goodbye* as my WoW selection this week might seem a bit stranger after the review I wrote about Just Listen (the only Sarah Dessen book I’ve read to date). But I did promise to give her another go…eventually…and it seems her newest novel might just be tempting enough.

I’ll admit that I’m a bit apprehensive, however the brief and rather vague synopsis of What Happened to Goodbye does have some appeal and I’m biting. There’s intrigue in reading about a teen morphing into new personas as she moves from town to town. Can't you feel the promise of adventure and inner conflict already?

Sadly, this book doesn’t have an official cover yet. Looking at Dessen’s last few releases, I think we can safely assume that her publisher will put together some lovely composition of limbs against a placid background to entice readers into purchasing What Happened to Goodbye...not that Dessen's name isn't an incentive enough.

*What Happened to Goodbye a title change. When Dessen first announced her intentions of releasing a book in 2011, the project was called Cut and Run.

Update: What Happened to Goodbye cover is revealed.

Note: Waiting on Wednesday is an ingenious idea hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday — Erin

Morning Glory by Diana Peterfreund

Ballantine Books

Pub Date: October 19, 2010

Summary (via Goodreads):  BREAKING NEWS: Plucky young TV producer is fired from her gig at a local morning show in New Jersey-but vows to land on her feet. With an unfinished college education and suddenly out of a job, Becky Fuller finds herself at Daybreak, a floundering network morning news program in New York City that's sinking faster than the Titanic. Abysmal ratings are only the tip of the iceberg: The outdated cameras belong in the Smithsonian, and executive producers never stay beyond the next commercial break. To reverse the downward spiral, Becky hires legendary newscaster Mike Pomeroy as co-anchor—or rather, she makes him an offer he can't contractually refuse. Mike abhors Daybreak's fluff pieces (pet psychics?) and takes an instant dislike to Colleen, his equally vain co-anchor. The only bright side of Becky's career is Adam Bennett, the gorgeous producer of an actual hard news show, but Daybreak's dysfunction spells trouble for their blossoming relationship. As Mike and Colleen's on-air chemistry proves explosive, Becky must scramble to save her love life, her reputation, and Daybreak itself before the network pulls the plug

  

So here’s the thing.  I don’t do novelizations of movies for the most part.  Even I, who will read pretty much anything, kind of turn up my nose at them, thinking “what’s the point? Just watch the movie for Pete’s sake.”  But this is Diana Peterfreund, people, so it automatically gets a pass.

Her YA killer unicorn series got a similar pass (killer unicorns took a bit getting used to at first) because I loved her Secret Society Girl series so much and I ended up really enjoying Rampant.  So I’m pretty excited to see what Peterfreund will do with this movie novelization.  I was already excited for the movie version of Morning Glory because of Rachel McAdams and JJ Abrams (who’s directing), but now that Diana Peterfreund is in the mix it’s like a trifecta of awesome.  

Can I say though that I hate that she's referred to as a "plucky" young TV producer.  Plucky?  Really??  I hate that word.  It makes me think she's a duck.

Edit: And it looks like Diana Peterfreund just posted some info about Morning Glory at her blog!  Check it out!

*Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. 

Waiting on Wednesday--Janelle

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers
St. Martin’s Griffin
Release Date: December 21, 2010

 Summary (via Goodreads): When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. He seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on… but some questions should be left unanswered.

About 4 or 5 months ago, I was in Borders with Erin trying to decide which Sarah Dessen book I should buy (It was an intense internal discussion!) when Erin plucked Courtney Summers’ Some Girls Are off the shelf and said “You should buy this one instead.” I’m not going to lie…I hadn’t read a whole lot of YA and, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly excited to read what I thought would be another version of Mean Girls. Still, I bought it because she told me “If you don’t like it, I’ll reimburse you.” (Later on, she clarified she would reimburse me in friendship…ha! :D )

Erin, as usual, was spot on.

I loved Some Girls Are. It was an honest, raw depiction of what girls in high school can really be like—she didn’t sugarcoat anything. This is why I’m excited about Fall for Anything. I know I can expect a genuine, edgy, and slightly uncomfortable but entertaining read.

*Waiting on Wednesday is an ingenious idea hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday — Erin

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
Release date: April 12, 2011

Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students—for every grade from kindergarten to twelve.

Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret—and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.

Any new Kelley Armstrong book automatically goes on my to-read list.  While some installments of her Otherworld series are hit or miss for me (her first novel Bitten is still my all-time favorite) she always has kick-ass heroines that are smart, fun, and a pleasure to read.  Armstrong just finished her first YA trilogy, The Darkest Powers, which I really enjoyed.  She creates a good cast of characters you can't help but love, so I can’t wait for her new YA series, Darkness Rising to begin.  It looks intriguing and maybe a little darker than her Darkest Powers. 

Unfortunately, with a release date of next Spring I’ll be waiting a while.  To tide myself over I just finished Kelley’s latest in her Otherworld series, Waking the Witch, so check back Monday for my review!

*Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday--Janelle

Just One Taste by Louisa Edwards
Release Date: August 31, 2010

Courtesy of Goodreads: Bad-boy chef Wes Murphy is dreading his final-semester cooking class, Food Chemistry 101, until he meets the new substitute teacher. Dr. Rosemary Wilkins is a feast for the eyes, though her approach to food is strictly academic. So Wes decides to rattle her Bunsen burner by asking for her hands-on advice on aphrodisiacs.…

Rosemary is a little wary about working with Wes, whose casual flirtations make her hot under the collar. But once they begin testing the love-enhancing power of chocolate, oysters, and strawberries, it becomes scientifically evident that the brainy science nerd and the boyish chef have some major chemistry together and it’s delicious….

 I know, I know...how cheesy is that description?? "Rattle her Bunsen burner"? Give me a break.

With that being said, I love romance novels more than I should. WAY more than I should. I've got a few hundred stashed back at my parents' house from when I was young and Harlequin was my crack. (Seriously. My favorite? Plain Jane Gets Her Man. I adored that book when I was in my junior year. I'm not proud.)

I first discovered Louisa Edwards when, on a whim, I picked up Can't Stand the Heat. I finished it in two hours. It was a easy, flirty, sexy read. The characters were realistic, there were no over the top romantic gestures (I mean, he didn't lay her down in a field of grass and worship her...and thank God, because what's sexy about THAT? All I can think is insects. Dirt and insects.). I was completely engrossed.

The icing on the cake. The attention to food. Can't Stand the Heat and her second book, On the Steamy Side, are both set in kitchens and involve chefs but Edwards knows what she's talking about. She gives just as much attention to the preparation of food and the inner workings of a restaurant as she does to the romance itself. That's awesome.

So, despite the cheesy description, I am eagerly anticipating her third book. I look forward to swooning hungrily.

*Waiting on Wednesday is an ingenious idea hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Waiting on Wednesday - Daniela

Elixir by Hilary Duff

Release Date: October 12, 2010

Summary: As the daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington D.C. politician, Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. And though she dreads the paparazzi who track her every move, she herself is a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world.

But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful young man begin to appear in Clea’s photos—a man she has never seen in her life.

When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond.

Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives. (Summary provided by Goodreads)

So I was randomly browsing upcoming YA releases and spotted this item of interest. My jaw dropped a little when I saw it, but not in an excited type of way. I don’t dislike Hilary Duff. She’s alright, but I do dislike when celebrities try and have their finger on every pie: singling, acting, designing...and now writing fiction? What? Okay, that’s not a completely novel concept but I don’t want it to become a trend or anything. Lauren Conrad, thanks a lot!

Anyway, my reaction to the story’s synapse is that it sounds decent enough. And with a name like Hilary Duff adorning the cover as the author, I suspects copies of Elixir should fly off the bookstore shelves quickly enough. I don’t know if I’ll purchase it, but I’ll definitely keep my ears perked up for any of the book’s reviews. Who knows, maybe Hilary can write.

*Waiting on Wednesday is an ingenious idea hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.