Top Ten Tuesday: Wishlist Lust (2)

Books I'm lusting over that didn't make it onto my previous 2 lists (sequels and stand-alones). It has nothing to do with how much I'm lusting, it has to do with short lists and new amazing books I'm discovering and adding to my wishlist every day.

1.  Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso (August 14th 2012)

I love a good contemporary YA novel, and this one takes place in a juvenile correction facility– a location just begging for an exciting story and it looks like Lascarso is going to deliver one in what I hope will be an angry and powerful debut novel.

2.  Every Day by David Levithan (August 28th 2012)

I've read quite a few books by Levithan but I seem to like him more when he writes with a co-author than his solo books. Still, they are always unique and easy to read and this one has an intriguing premise with a genderless main character who wakes up in a new body every day. I'll definitely be giving it a try when it's published. 

3.  Blind Spot by Laura Ellen (October 23rd 2012)

I actually have a short story I never quite finished writing about a girl with degenerative blindness and when I heard about this novel dealing with the same issue, but combining it with a murder mystery, I was instantly intrigued. I love the cover, the premise, the fact that the author herself has the same disease as the main character, and I am incredibly excited to read this unique debut. 

4.  Promised by Caragh M. O'Brien (October 2nd 2012)

One of my very favourite dystopian series is coming to an end this fall, and I can't wait to see how O'Brien connects the themes from the first two novels in this final book.

5. Live Through This by Mindi Scott (October 2nd 2012)

What a dark and secretive story! I haven't read Scott's debut Freefall yet but I don't really remember it catching my attention like her followup has. I already want to know more about this relationship that crossed the line, and what it means for the main character's future and the crush she's getting closer to.

6. Break my Heart 1,000 Times by Daniel Waters (October 16th 2012)

Creepy cover, creepy story. It's about a future where ghosts don't move on, but one man's daughter never came back as a ghost. Another girl is trying to investigate why these ghosts exists and she's the perfect host for his dead daughter. A paranormal dark and twisty mystery, I hope the writing lives up to the strong premise of this novel.

7. Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio (September 25th 2012)

I have no idea how Jio can write this fast, but here's her third novel in less than 2 years and it sounds just as good as her first two which I loved. They're adult books that mix genres, combining a historical and contemporary storyline with romance and mystery.

8. The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli (September 4th 2012)

I absolutely adored Soli's debut The Lotus Eaters and it still sticks in my mind over a year later as one of the most beautifully written books I've read. I was incredibly excited that just because she writes so thoughtfully, doesn't mean that I have to wait a decade for her second novel, and I'll definitely be picking this one up in September.

9. Something Like Normal by Trish Doller (June 19th 2012)

I pre-ordered this one ages ago and have been eagerly awaiting it ever since. It's told from the perspective of a marine that has just come home from Afghanistan where his best friend was killed and is trying to pick up the pieces of his life. Doller's writing is incredibly beautiful from the snippets I've read and I can't wait to dive into a full length story from her.

10. All These Lives by Sarah Wylie (June 5th 2012)

I always love a good twin story since I am one myself. This one is about a girl who thinks she has nine lives and sets out to get rid of them, hoping her twin sister who has cancer will end up with one. It sounds like a really emotional story. 

What's on your wishlist?

Top Ten Tuesday: Wishlist Lust

I like the idea of Top Ten Tuesday, because I like lists. But I rarely feel like sticking to the one proposed. This week, I instead present a top ten list of upcoming standalone YA novels that I'm lusting over. I did a post awhile ago on sequels I'm excited about, and I'm sure I'll have more posts on more amazing books I want to read in the future. But here are some I'm particularly excited about at the moment! The books are in no particular order.

1. Splintered by A.G. Howard (January 1st 2013)

There are a few Alice in Wonderland inspired titles coming out in the near future, but Splintered caught my eye– even when there was no creepy wonderful cover– because of the scary and unique twist. The Wonderland curse means that sixteen year old Alyssa hears whispers that she shouldn't, and if she can't solve the mystery, she's doomed for the same descent into madness that plagued generations before her.

2. Never Let You Go by Emma Carlson Berne (December 4th 2012)

Even though this is released in December, it sounds like the perfect summer read, a mix of betrayals and romance and just a hint of dark secrecy.

3.  Tilt by Ellen Hopkins (September 11th 2012)

I most certainly should not be adding more Hopkins books to my wishlist since I still have a few of hers I haven't read (I even have copies of Triangles and Impulse just waiting for me!) but of course I'm excited about this new release. The storyline of falling in love with somebody who is HIV positive sounds instantly heartbreaking, but Hopkins always excels when taking on difficult topics, so I'm sure this will be no exception.

4. Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean (October 2nd 2012)

Sounds like a really emotional and compelling YA novel, and I love how it's tackling such a crucial contemporary issue through a central conflict that involves texting. It's also got a paranormal twist, involving a boy who can see ghosts and an MC that is already half-dead, so I'll be curious how that plays into the story. 

5. The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver (October 2nd 2012)

Well, for one thing, I've previously claimed I'd read anything Oliver ever wrote including "restaurant menu or instructions for installing a television", as quoted from my review of her first middle grade novel Liesl and Po, which I adored. But even if I hadn't this sounds like the perfect kind of middle grade novel, great storytelling, adventure, and magic. I'm confident it'll be another ageless story to keep on my bookshelf.

6. My Life in Black & White by Natasha Friend (June 28th 2012)

This novel about a girl who is used to being the pretty one, only to have a car accident, go head first through a windshield, and not be so pretty anymore, sounds instantly powerful. It's a complicated subject matter, but if Friend does it well, I feel like the story could be absolutely breath-taking.

7. Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield (July 5th 2012)

This debut novel grabbed me from the first time I read the blurb, and everything I've seen since has only further convinced me. Two dark and twisted stories: one girl alive, one girl dead. All I can say is I can't wait to read and experience it firsthand.

8. The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee (July 17th 2012)

Like Forget Me Not this is another book which takes on an important contemporary issue, bipolar illness, but with a fantastical twist. I wonder if it's a new trend, and I'm curious to see how Garsee combines the two. I hope it has the dark and creepy, yet emotional, storytelling that I'm looking for.

9. One Moment by Kristina McBride (June 26th 2012)

Admittedly, sometimes the "memory returning in snatches" concept can be overdone, but mystery and hidden beneath the surface darkness that this novel promises has me anxiously excited to give it a try.

10. Anything by Ordinary by Lara Avery (September 11th 2012)

I've always wondered about what it would be like to wake up from a coma years later and find out your whole life has changed, and that's exactly what happens in this novel. It sounds like it'll be really interesting to watch the MC pick up the pieces from the life she remembers and put them together with the life she now has.

Well, that's my current wishlist, is there any standalone YAs I should be adding to it? Are any of these titles on yours? If not, what is?

Waiting on Wednesday: Slide

There are plenty of exciting YA debuts happening in 2012, but one in particular caught my eye and that is Slide by Jill Hathaway. The premise of Slide just sounds so intense and original, plus standalones are always refreshing in a sea of series. Slide will be published March 27th 2012 by Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins.

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Pandemonium

I loved Delirium when I read it earlier this year (see my review here) so of course I am very excited for the sequel, Pandemonium. Although 2012 is definitely going to be a year of many sequels, this is one I particularly looking forward to! Unfortunately I'll have to wait til March 6th 2012. The ending of Delirium was just so intense! Also Alex better be okay or Lauren Oliver is going to have some explaining to do!

Blame my excitement for all the exclamation points, I just can't wait for this book.

Lauren Oliver captivated readers with Delirium, the first book in a thrilling dystopian trilogy in which Lena Haloway dared to fall in love with Alex and escape the cure, the government-mandated procedure that renders a person immune to the disease of love. Lena and Alex staked their lives on leaving their oppressive society, but only Lena broke free.

Pandemonium continues Lena’s gripping story. After escaping from Portland, Maine, Lena makes it to the Wilds and becomes part of an Invalid community, where she transforms herself into a warrior for the resistance. A future without Alex is unimaginable, but Lena pushes forward and fights, both for him and for a world in which love is no longer considered a disease. Swept up in a volatile mix of revolutionaries and counterinsurgents, Lena struggles to survive—and wonders if she may be falling in love again.

Full of danger, forbidden romance, and exquisite writing, Lauren Oliver’s sequel to Delirium races forward at a breathtaking pace and is sure to appeal to fans who crave the high-stakes action of The Hunger Games and the bittersweet love story of Romeo & Juliet. 

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Feel As Though Everyone Has Read But Me

Hosted at The Broke and the Bookish

I'm procrastinating and I decided to use it as an excuse to do my first Top Ten Tuesday. I've only included books that I actually want to read- there are plenty that it feels like everyone else has read (*cough* vampires *cough*) that don't interest me. But these do, and I've heard great things about them, so why are they still on my TBR list? Who knows...

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Trilogy)
   I've purchased all of them... but haven't even read a single page yet. I keep meaning to on one of these vacations I don't have where I have hours to devour page after page of thriller. Sigh. Someday, hopefully before the Fincher films are released since I love him so much and will end up watching them and spoiling the books.
2. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
   I'm about halfway done this one and have been for over a year. I'm not sure what my excuse is, I've read Krauss' other two books and wasn't blown away but this is supposed to be her best, and I loved what I did read. I just need to pick it up again from page one and give it my full attention.
3. Anything by Jonathan Safran Foer (especially Everything Is Illuminated)
   Since Krauss is on this list I figured her husband should be as well, considering I haven't read anything at all by him! He's been recommended to me more times than I can count, and I even borrowed Everything Is Illuminated for about a year from my stepmom, and yet other than ten or fifteen pages I haven't read anything by Foer.
4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
   This is one of those books I have no idea really what it's about (and please don't tell me!) but I really want to read and even my non-reading friends have told me how great it is. Not sure what my excuse is on this one either.
5. Anything by Jonathan Franzen (especially The Corrections and Freedom)
   Maybe this is so last year since Freedom has been out quite awhile now but with all the hype and rave reviews it feels like everyone else in the world is more familiar with Franzen than I am... someday....
   
   and the YA:
   
6. Matched by Ally Condie
   It seemed as if every book blogger and their mother was raving about Matched last winter, but I only gave it a short try before getting distracted elsewhere (maybe I should call this list "books I want to read but have been distracted from" instead?) Monday an ARC of it's sequel Crossed arrived in my mailbox, so I really have no excuse not to pick this dystopia back up soon.
7. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
   The fact that this one shows up on so many banned books list might be why I feel like everyone else must have read it, but I finally purchased my own copy (and shipped it to be stored for the next eight months... but progress still!) and I am definitely intrigued to try it eventually.
8. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
   Who doesn't love this book? Nobody, that's who I thought. Recently, Ambur raved to me about it and that triggered me actually purchasing the book (and again shipping it far away for the next eight months) so that I am one step closer to actually reading it.
9. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
   Another universally loved contemporary novel, I'm at least as intrigued by the premise of the book as I am by the author's awesome blue hair. But seriously, I want to read this, I really do. And I should have a copy coming my way soon... so hopefully I'll get a chance before 2011 is over. That way I can find out if it really is that adorable.
10. Anything by Holly Black
    An author with plenty to choose from, all of her books sounds interesting, as do the anthologies she's edited (I recently bought Geektastic but Zombies Vs. Unicorns sounds great as well) but somehow I haven't read any of them. I plan to start with Tithe as I prefer completed series, and I even took it out from the library (at least once...) but so far she's still an author I'm completely unacquainted with.

What books does it feel like everyone else has read but you? Are there any of these you feel I should move to a particularly high place in my TBR pile? Also, how do you feel about Top Ten Tuesday? Too many memes, or something you'd like to see more of?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Apothecary

While I am completely not justified in adding another Maile Meloy book to my TBR list, considering I own three of her four books, and the only one I've read is the fourth (which I borrowed from the library and loved and then promptly bought all the others), this one sounds so different from her previous books it is almost like adding a separate author to my stack of books to read. Right? Anyway, here's my review of her most recent book, the short story collection, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It. That said, I was very intrigued and excited when I learned she had a middle grade novel coming out and hopefully I'll have finished a couple more of her adult books in time to read her children's debut, The Apothecary.

It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows--a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies--Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.

Together with Ian Schoenherr's breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Prized

I lovedlovedloved O'Brien's debut, Birthmarked (click here for review), so of course I'm counting down the days til the release of her sequel to the novel and second book in the Birthmarked Trilogy, Prized. The novel sounds quite different but still awesome.

In the thrilling follow up to Birthmarked, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone has fled from the Enclave and now must fight for her baby sister’s survival in the matriarchal society of Sylum.

Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, 16-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?

Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien will be released on November 8th 2011 by Roaring Brook Press.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Survival Kit

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas (click for review) was a wonderful book I read earlier this year so when I heard about her upcoming release, The Survival Kit, I knew I'd have to pick that one up as well. The premise reminds me of a few other books but hopefully the execution is what makes The Survival Kit stand out.

A romantic and heartfelt celebration of both memories and new beginnings.

When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go.

As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas will be released October 11th 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR).

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Clean

Amy Reed's debut, Beautiful, has also caught my eye although I haven't read it yet so when I learned of her upcoming release, Clean, on the important topic of teenage addiction I knew I had a second book by her to add to my "to read" pile. Hopefully I'll get a chance to pick both of them up soon.

Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves and one another if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down.

Clean by Amy Read will be published August 9th 2011 by Simon Pulse.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Every You, Every Me

I've read a couple books by David Levithan and loved all of them, but Every You, Every Me definitely seems like a departure for the normally cheerful writer. I am very curious to read it but unfortunately I still have a few more months to wait.

In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absenc...moreIn this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author.

Every You, Every Me by David Levithan will be released September 13th 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Smuggled

Smuggled sounds like an extremely powerful and interesting book, I guess I will find out when it is released. This is also a book where the cover definitely caught my eye, the image is very intriguing.

Sweeping from post–WWII rural Romania to the cosmopolitan Budapest of 1990, Christina Shea’s Smuggled is the story of Eva Farkas, who loses her identity, quite literally, as a young child when she is smuggled in a flour sack across the Hungarian border to escape the Nazis.

Five-year-old Eva is trafficked from Hungary to Romania at the end of the war, arriving in the fictional border town of Crisu, given the name Anca Balaj by her aunt and uncle and instructed never to speak another word of Hungarian again. “Eva is dead,” she is told. As the years pass, Anca proves an unquenchable spirit, with a lust for life even when political forces threaten to derail her at every turn. Time is layered in this quest for self, culminating in the end of the Iron Curtain and Anca’s reclaiming of the name her mother gave her. When Eva returns to Hungary in 1990, a country changing as fast as the price of bread, she meets Martin, an American teacher, and Eva’s lifelong search for family and identity comes full circle as her cross-cultural relationship with Martin deepens through their endeavor to rescue the boy downstairs from abuse.

An intimate look at the effects of history on an individual life, Smuggled is a raw and fearless account of transformation, and a viscerally reflective tale about the basic need for love without claims.

Smuggled by Christina Shea on July 5th 2011 by Grove Press, Black Cat.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Forgotten

Forgotten has already been getting a lot of hype and I admit it's definitely got me interested. I think there is a movie in the work already. The premise is really interesting and hopefully the book lives up to it. I guess I'll find out when it's released this summer.

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies.

Forgotten by Cat Patrick will be released June 7th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Blood Wounds

I hadn't heard of Susan Beth Pfeffer before Blood Wounds but she's definitely caught my interest with this title. It sounds like a creepy mysterious book, and the cover just adds to the thrill. Looking forward to reading it when it is released. 

Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.

Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? As Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear her family apart.

Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer will be published September 12th 2011 by Harcourt Children's Books.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Bitter End

I haven't read Hate List by Jennifer Brown yet but I've heard it's incredible so I was excited to learn about her upcoming release. Bitter End looks like a gritty real book dealing with an incredibly important issue.

When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole, a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her, she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate-someone who truly understands her and loves her for who she really is.

At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her best friends, Zack and Bethany, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all of her time with another boy? But as the months pass, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats. As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose - between her "true love" and herself.

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown will be published May 10th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Tighter

When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Brilliantly plotted, with startling twists, here is a thrilling page-turner from the award-winning Adele Griffin.

Tighter by Adele Griffin will be published May 10th 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers.

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday? Let me know if you are a new follower so I can make sure to check out your site.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Violets of March

A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

A mesmerizing debut with an idyllic setting and intriguing dual story line, The Violets of March announces Sarah Jio as a writer to watch.

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio will be published April 26th 2011 by Plume.

Waiting on Wednesday: Alone in the Classroom

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I've been trying to read more Canadian literature over the last year and one upcoming Canadian novel I am very much looking forward to is Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay.

In 1930, a school principal in Saskatchewan is suspected of abusing a student. Seven years later, on the other side of the country, a girl picking wild cherries meets a violent end. These are only two of the mysteries in the life of the narrator's charismatic aunt, Connie Flood. As the narrator Anne pieces together her aunt's lifelong attachment to her former student Michael Graves, and her obsession with Parley Burns, the inscrutable principal implicated in the assault of Michael's younger sister. Her own story becomes connected with that of the past, and the triangle of principal, teacher, student opens out into other emotional triangles -- aunt, niece, lover; mother, daughter, granddaughter -- until a sudden, capsizing love changes Anne's life. Alone in the Classroom is Hay's most tense, intricate, and seductive novel yet.

Alone in the Classroom will be published on April 26th 2011 by McClelland & Stewart.

Do you try to read books written by authors from your native country? Any other Canadian author recommendations? What are you waiting on this Wednesday? 

Waiting on Wednesday: Compulsion

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I'm particularly interested in books which deal with different forms of mental illness, or "issue" books. One of my favourite young adult novels is definitely Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe seems to take on obsessive compulsive disorder, which I also found interesting to read about in Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann.

Saturday will be the third state soccer championship in a row for Jake Martin. Three. A good number. Prime. Carson High can’t lose because Jake has the magic: a self-created protection generated by his obsession with prime numbers. It’s the magic that has every top soccer university recruiting Jake, the magic that keeps his family safe, and the magic that suppresses his anxiety attacks. But the magic is Jake’s prison, because sustaining it means his compulsions take over nearly every aspect of his life.

Jake’s convinced the magic will be permanent after Saturday, the perfect day, when every prime has converged. Once the game is over, he won’t have to rely on his sister, Kasey, to concoct excuses for his odd rituals. His dad will stop treating him like he is some freak. Maybe he’ll even make a friend other than Luc.

But what if the magic doesn’t stay? What if the numbers never leave?

Compulsion will be published May 1st 2011 by Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins).

How do you feel about novels that deal with mental illness, or other "issue" books? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: 1Q84

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

I'm still a novice when it comes to Haruki Murakami, having only read four of his books and none of his most famous ones. However I was still excited to learn that an English translation of 1Q84 will be released later this year, as Murakami has quickly become one of my favourite authors. I don't know much about this book but that's the way Murakami wanted it so I'm going to stick to a blurb which explains the title of the novel.

Prior to the 1Q84's publication, Murakami stated that he would not reveal anything about the book, following criticism that leaks had diminished his previous books' novelty. 1Q84 was noted for heavy advance orders despite this secrecy. The title is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the year 1984. The letter Q and the Japanese number 9 (typically romanized as "kyū," but as "kew" on the book's Japanese cover) are homophones, which are often used in Japanese wordplay. This is a reference to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

This book originally was published in 2008 in Japanese, so the translation has been awhile in progress. Unlike in Japan where 1Q84 was released in three volumes, in North America the novel will be published by Knopf in a single volume, released on October 25th, 2011. The book will be approximately 1,000 pages, so it will definitely be enough Murakami to dig into for awhile!

Have you ever had to deal with a long wait for a book you're anticipating to come out in your language? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: Perfect

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases.

So I haven't read Impulse by Ellen Hopkins yet, which Perfect is actually the follow up to, but I did pick up a secondhand copy over Christmas, I'm just trying to pace myself. After discovering Hopkins last year and devouring four of her books, I'm trying to save the remaining three (Impulse, Tricks, and Fallout) to make them last. When I learned that 2011 was going to result in a new release by Hopkins I was incredibly excited to add one more title by her to my "to read" list.

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they'd rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.

Cara's parents' unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body - no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run - on the field and off - Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he'll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.

Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?

A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

Perfect will be published September 13th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry (Simon and Schuster)

Do you find yourself adding new books by an author to your TBR list even before you've finished all their old ones? What are you waiting on this Wednesday?