Preview of 2013

Happy New Year, everyone! Diana and I hope that all of you had a great start of the year and that it will treat you kindly. And, of course, that we will all discover great books this year. As a sort of attunement we have compiled a little preview of what we are looking forward to in the coming months.

Have you set yourself a challenge of how many books you want to read this year? And which titles are on your “definite read” list?

Diana’s picks:

The Nightmare Affair
– Mindee Arnett

I probably have said this before somewhere, but the idea of this book is totally new to me and I’m so excited about its realisation. The girl named Dusty is a Nightmare – personified, not metaphorical (I hope) – and she’s got to find a murderer in the dreams of a human boy and outside them. A murder mystery with an exceptional magical background and a love story – just the right combination for me. :) Expected publication: March 5th.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane
– Neil Gaiman

By now I have read a bit of Gaiman’s work – including some of his comics – and I can say for certain that I never know what to expect of the books before reading. I read them nonetheless because I like the way Neil Gaiman creates his magical worlds, intertwining them with reality, and the way he tells his stories. This is exactly how I feel about The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The synopsis doesn’t tell me much, but I’m sure there’s magic somewhere and maybe one or three mystical creatures. That’s a good start. Expected publication: June 18th.


I read Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan in nearly one sitting and it was fabulous - until the end, which I just couldn’t get along with. So I wish for Untold, which doesn’t have a cover or a synopsis yet, to at least explain a bit of the ending and maybe start to mend what is broken. I have no certain idea in which direction the story might go now, but that makes it more exciting. Expected publication: August 29th.

Julika’s picks:

The Madness Underneath
– Maureen Johnson

The Name of the Star was one of my favourite books in 2011. Back then, the sequel was still announced for 2012. Then it got pushed to January, then February 2013 ... The Waiting Game is not one I enjoy, but I’m fairly certain that this one is worth waiting for. And now it is not too long. Barring unexpected circumstances, which you probably have to take into consideration ... seeing that it is Maureen Johnson. Expected publication: February 26th.

Clockwork Princess
– Cassandra Clare

This souldn’t come as a surprise for you. Both, Diana and I are waiting for this very much. (She got Untold for her list and I got this one for mine, fair sharing and all ;) .) As this is the last book in the series, I’m having mixed feelings about it. Theories that we have speculated about since book one are going to be proven or disproven and I’m sure that Cassie has quite a few surprises in store for us as well. Still, I don’t want to say goodbye to the Shadowhunters of Victorian London, even if we get to keep Magnus. Expected publication: March 19th.

The Eternity Cure
– Julie Kagawa

If there is one thing I’m a little put off about, it’s that the publisher changed the cover design of this series after the first book. Even if I understand the explanation why they did it ... and don’t get me wrong, I really like the new design. And after all, it’s still the content that counts. I’m very curious about the direction is sequel is going to take. I have a few theories and hopes, but I certainly don’t want to jinx them. Expected publication: April 23rd.

Favourites of 2012

As the year draws to a close, it seems like a worthwhile endeavour to reflect upon the books we read and loved this year. We really couldn’t narrow it down to a top 10 and why not present 12 favourites of 2012 (and even that was hard enough)? However, this list is not a ranking among these books, because that would have been impossible ... and Diana and I wanted to avoid a Christmas quarrel. So we each picked six and present them in order of their publication. Click on the covers to get to the books’ GoodReads pages.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Have a few peaceful days, lots of bookish presents, and we hope to see you in 2013. And if you like, share a few of your favourites in the comments.

Diana’s picks:

Incarnate – Jodie Meadows

As book one in a trilogy, Incarnate concentrates on character development. Main character Ana stands out differently, because she is new in a society where everyone knows each other. New, imperfect, afraid - and she brings change. What I liked most was the tender love story between Ana and Sam, which builds upon literature, music, and art.

Scarlet – A.C. Gaughen

A Robin Hood story from the point of view of Scarlet, a young woman with a secret past that only Robin knows about. This change in perspective was what made the novel so fascinating for me. Even though it’s written in first person, the mystery around Scarlet was unravelled step by step, like a puzzle. I would have loved a sequel to this book, because there’s so much potential which could not be met just with one book.

Black Heart – Holly Black

Black Heart is the final book in the Curse Workers trilogy and it is the best last book of a series I’ve read so far. The main character, Cassel Sharpe, comes to a conclusion about his life that seems very natural to me, but I was even fonder of the little twist at the end. Wonderfully unexpected.

The Book of Blood and Shadow
– Robin Wassermann

Here is a mystery about a book, which is paid in blood. The story shocked me a few times with unexpected twists and turns and became unpredictable to me, which I liked a lot. Also, a large part of the story takes place in the old city of Prague - a favourite city of mine concerning history and mystery.

Pushing the Limits – Katie McGarry

 It’s not often that I like books where there’s nothing supernatural to the story, but Pushing the Limits got to me. The romance between the two very different main characters is very delicate. There are pain and fear to deal with and a lot of lines to be crossed for them to trust each other. Beautifully written, it was an amazing read.

The Diviners – Libba Bray

New York in the Golden Twenties, plus a magic murder mystery to be solved. When I got over the fact that it’s really playing in the 1920s, I absolutely fell into the story and only came back out again after the last page was turned.

Julika’s picks:

The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

There isn’t much that can be said about this book that hasn’t been said already. The possibly most frequently used phrase: A book about cancer that is not a cancer book, because cancer books suck. And this book definitely doesn’t.

The Immortal Rules – Julie Kagawa

Just when I thought that everything that could possibly be written about vampires has been written (and then some), Julie Kagawa proved me wrong. I love Alison (and Zeke) and will only wait patiently for book two for a lack of other options.

City of Lost Souls – Cassandra Clare

There are a few authors that will make me drop everything and vanish into my reading cave once I get my hands on their books. Cassandra Clare is one of them and everyone who dares to disturb me during my reading does so at their own peril. City of Lost Souls was one of my most anticipated books of 2012 and it didn’t let me down. It’s only fault is that the final book is still so far off.

Shadow of Night – Deborah Harkness

Vampires, witches, and Victorian London (and other places)! A Discovery of Witches was one of my surprise favourite books of 2011 and even though I found the beginning of this second book difficult to get into, it definitely makes my list of favourite books of this year. If you have only one bone in your body that appreciates well-researched historical novels, you are missing something amazing if you don’t read Deborah Harkness.

Unspoken – Sarah Rees Brennan

I’ll confess that I only picked up Unspoken because Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson were talking about it so highly. And am I ever glad that I did! Even if the end made me want to hurt the author. I mean that as an absolute compliment, because apparently I prefer authors who like to feast on their readers’ despair.

Beautiful Redemption
– Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

 
The Caster Chronicles is probably one of those series that has to grow on its readers. At least I can’t imagine that it would cause quite the frenzy that other series do, but maybe I’m going to be surprised once the first movie hits the cinemas. As the final book in the series, I thought it was a great conclusion to a wonderful storyline. I am very much looking forward to the authors’ future projects as well.

Teaser Tuesday: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!  

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab.

The Near Witch - Disney Hyperion Books

I feel like there should be a mark in the air where he was wiped away. But there is no trace.
-- Chapter 1

“I was there,” Dreska snaps, and I wince for the recipient. The stones of the house seem to grind together. “You were not, Tomas. You were not even a thought in your parents’ minds, and your parents were not thoughts, and their parents were not thoughts. But I was there …”
-- Chapter 11

I fleetingly considered teasing two sentences from the dissertation handbook that is my best friend at the moment, but I really didn’t want to scar any of you permanently with that ... unless you are interested in such a thing? (It’s a really helpful book but I wouldn’t recommend it as leisure reading.) So The Near Witch is a book I had on my list for quite a while and never really got around to reading it. That is until I picked it up and only set it down to eat and then when it was finished. I would describe it as a quiet book in the sense that it has a very soft style that I can imagine isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I really admired the clandestine way of building up tension until you are suddenly racing along the words to see how everything plays out. If you want, you can have a look at the companion short story, The Ash-Born Boy, by clicking here, which I can highly recommend.

Also: We have been tagged for a Liebster Award (twice!) and Diana and I will have to talk about how we want to respond to such a thing in the future. We will, I think, respond to these two, but maybe not others ... in the meantime I am finishing aforementioned dissertation and Diana is busy as well so please bear with us for the moment. And let us know what you are reading.

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