Book Haul~HUGE!! Sept. & October

 

 

Due to an illness in this last month, I let my book haul notices slip.  I'm better and feeling well, again.  As you can see in my reviews this past week, I'm back on top.  The situation in no way has to do or has affected my ability to read or write or think, so I'm most grateful for that!!  It had to do with my hearing, and has gotten better; especially the headaches from it.

 

So, I'm now off to tell you about my book hauls which have stacked up over the past 4 weeks.

Some of them are my own purchases as you will see.  I'm so psyched to get to the reviews.

I've not shown you these below:

 

"Rasputin's Shadow"

"The Shogun's Daughter"

"Havisham"

 

because I have just reviewed or will be reviewing them in this next week.

 

 

On with the books, then....

 

The first really wonderful one which I'm a quarter the way through already is:

 

Summary:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A page-turning thriller for readers of Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and Stieg Larsson, Night Film tells the haunting story of a journalist who becomes obsessed with the mysterious death of a troubled prodigy—the daughter of an iconic, reclusive filmmaker.

This one takes a bit of patience getting into, but the illustrations/news clippings inside make it interesting to follow.  I'm loving it.
Thank you Random House for this book!!


Next Book:

Almost ten years have passed since Julia Win came back from Burma, her father’s native country. Though she is a successful Manhattan lawyer, her private life is at a crossroads; her boyfriend recently left her, she has suffered a miscarriage, and she is, despite her wealth, unhappy with her professional life. Julia is lost and exhausted.

I don't know much about this sequel to "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" but I think it may be a good book.  I'm looking forward to seeing if it is...    I appreciate this copy from Other Press.

Next book:

Overview:          

From the ballrooms and mansions of Denver’s newly wealthy, to the seamy life of desperate women, Fallen Women illuminates the darkest places of the human heart.

It is the spring of 1885 and wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen has been estranged from her younger sister, Lillie, for a year when she gets word from her aunt and uncle that Lillie has died suddenly in Denver.  What they do not tell her is that Lillie had become a prostitute and was brutally murdered...

I love this type of historical fiction.  Look for this to be read soon!  Many thanks to St. Martin's Press...


A book I purchased last night:

         

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing...

By now everyone knows how I die for dystopians!  This one has been all over the bookish world as a great book.  So, I had to buy it for myself.  Love the cover and can't wait to get into it...   This book is published by Bloomsbury.

The end of the world was only the beginning.

In his internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed novel The Passage, Justin Cronin constructed an unforgettable world transformed by a government experiment gone horribly wrong. Now the scope widens and the intensity deepens as the epic story surges forward with . . .

THE TWELVE

In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society dissolves around her. Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,” has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned—and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.

One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind’s salvation . . . unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.

A heart-stopping thriller rendered with masterful literary skill, The Twelve is a grand and gripping tale of sacrifice and survival.

Just had to give you the whole blurb here because this is my very favorite apocalyptic novel of the year's sequel...Please see my review of "The Passage" here in the last month.   I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book.  So, I bought it and keep staring at it as I read others I've had in line to read first!    It's published by Ballantine Books/Random House.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a powerful and moving novel about Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary I

When young Catherine of Aragon, proud daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, is sent to England to marry the weak Prince Arthur, she is unprepared for all that awaits her: early widowhood, the challenge of warfare with the invading Scots, and the ultimately futile attempt to provide the realm with a prince to secure the succession. She marries Arthur's energetic, athletic brother Henry, only to encounter fresh obstacles, chief among them Henry's infatuation with the alluring but wayward Anne Boleyn.

Beautiful cover on this historical fiction.  I have enjoyed Carolly Erickson's novels in the past and look forward to this one.  Published by St. Martin's Press, and many thanks for the copy!

A deeply touching Southern story filled with struggle and hope.

     Emmalee Bullard and her new baby are on their own. Or so she thinks, until Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat by her side at the local shirt factory where both women worked as collar makers, insists Emmalee come and live with her.  Just as Emmalee prepares to escape her hardscrabble life in Red Chert holler, Leona dies tragically.  Grief-stricken, Emmalee decides she’ll make Leona’s burying dress...

I've been looking to read this book for a while, but it's in my stacks coming up.  Can hardly wait to get to it.  I'm so appreciative to Broadway Books/Crown Publishing for sending it to me, along with a darling packet of tissues to dry my tears!!

This is a book available also in paperback, which I received a copy of from the kind author.  Here's a summary:

William Darcy is obsessed with his ancestors. So much so that he intends to rebuild Pemberley (destroyed during the Uprising) stone by stone, and he wants to employ reconstruction expert Seraphene Grant to help him.

Or does he? Seraphene wasn’t born yesterday. She can smell a rat, particularly when it stinks all the way up to her airship. She knows Darcy is hiding something. But with the Authorities after her and her other options dwindling by the moment, the temptation of genuine English tea and a gorgeous Steampunk gentleman are very difficult to resist.

But what if Darcy’s mystery job courts nothing but trouble? What if Darcy is harboring a secret to kill for? When kiss comes to shove, will Darcy’s secret destroy Seraphene, or will it be her salvation?

Join us on a romantic adventure like no other in this whimsical Pride and Prejudice-inspired tribute, featuring Wickham, Georgiana, dirigibles, funky fish, and swash-buckling pirates.

 

 

Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty years ago, and the darkest—and most hopeful—places in the human heart

After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm.  As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give...

Oh, boy...another good one from Diane Chamberlain.  I've loved her books in the past.  With much appreciation from St. Martin's Press.


NOW here's a book I nearly fell on my knees begging for!!

 

The author of the classic bestsellers The Secret History and The Little Friend returns with a brilliant, highly acclaimed new novel.

Composed with the skills of a master, The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity.

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

This summary doesn't really do justice to the genius writing skills of Donna Tartt.  She is an author of our Age.  I'm already well into the book and can hardly put it down.  Seriously, I could carry this book with me everywhere!   I'm thrilled that Little, Brown & Co. sent me a copy.  Just couldn't be more thrilled...

 

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From the acclaimed author of The Rehearsal comes a novel about a young woman on trial for murder in nineteenth-century New Zealand.

On a blustery January day, a prostitute is arrested. In the midst of the 1866 gold rush on the coast of New Zealand, this might have gone unnoticed. But three notable events occur on that same day: a luckless drunk dies, a wealthy man vanishes, and a ship's captain of ill repute cancels all of his business and weighs anchor, as if making an escape. Anna Wetherell, the prostitute in question, is connected to all three men.

Oooo, doesn't this one sound good!?  The cover is gorgeous in reality. Huge book:  830 pages.  Many thanks to Little, Brown and Co. for the copy.

Overview

For fans of Tana French and The Silent Wife, THE LAST WINTER OF DANI LANCING is a chilling debut thriller hailed by Sophie Hannah as “brilliant” about one murder’s devastating ripple effects.

Twenty years ago, college student Dani Lancing was kidnapped and brutally murdered. The killer was never found. Dani’s family never found peace.

This is one I was waiting to read.  Have heard good things about it, and I started it only to be interrupted by a review I had to get out early.  I'm anxious to get back to it.  Kindly sent by the people at Crown Publishing.


I have a few more, but think I will break this Haul up a little and will save the rest for next week.  This post is getting too long.

I hope you enjoy reading about the new books, and hope you'll see some you'd like to pick up yourself.

Please let me know if anything appeals, and keep well...

Always,   Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Naturals" by Tiffany Truitt ~ Spotlight/ Cover Reveal

About NATURALS:

Tess is finally safe from the reach of the Council, now that she is living in the Middlelands with the rebel Isolationists. With James having returned to Templeton, she easily falls back into her friendship with Henry, though her newfound knowledge of Robert’s chosen one status still stings. Even surrounded by people, Tess has never felt more alone. So she’s thrilled when James returns to the settlement, demanding to see Tess — until she finds out that it’s because her sister, Louisa, has been recruited into Tess’s old position at Templeton, and that the dangerously sadistic chosen one George has taken an interest in her.

NATURALS is the second book in The Lost Souls trilogy, and follows the dystopian hit CHOSEN ONES.

 

Cover Rating !

These natural symbols of earth, iron and fire displayed by her hair, the cracked ground and the metallic lettering aren't lost on the discerning reader.  I've always found an upside-down head disconcerting, however!  I like the font and text placement very much, although I think Tiffany's name should have been given more space and importance..Very pretty cover which is a grabber!  I'm rating it A-

 

Genre:  YA/dystopian

 

 

 

About Tiffany: Tiffany Truitt was born in Peoria, Illinois. A self-proclaimed Navy brat, Tiffany spent most of her childhood living in Virginia, but don’t call her a Southerner. She also spent a few years living in Cuba. Since her time on the island of one McDonald's and Banana Rats (don't ask) she has been obsessed with traveling. Tiffany recently added China to her list of travels (hello inspiration for a new book).

Besides traveling, Tiffany has always been an avid reader. The earliest books she remembers reading belong to The Little House on the Prairie Series. First book she read in one day? Little Woman(5th grade). First author she fell in love with? Jane Austen in middle school. Tiffany spent most of her high school and college career as a literary snob. She refused to read anything considered “low brow” or outside the “classics.”

Tiffany began teaching middle school in 2006. Her students introduced her to the wide, wonderful world of Young Adult literature. Today, Tiffany embraces popular Young Adult literature and uses it in her classroom. She currently teaches the following novels: The Outsiders, Speak, Night, Dystopian Literature Circles: The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Uglies, and Matched.

 

Find out more about Naturals Here:

 

NATURALS on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811135-naturals

 

Tiffany's website: http://tiffanytruitt.wordpress.com/

 

Tiffany on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tiffanytruitt

 

And please use this pre-order link on Amazon for NATURALS:  http://www.amazon.com/Naturals-Lost-Souls-Tiffany-Truitt/dp/1620611473/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345929106&sr=8-1&keywords=naturals+tiffany+truitt

 

GIVEAWAY "Circus Summer..Circus of Curiosities" by Kailin Gow

Circus Summer (Circus of Curiosities Book #1) by Kailin Gow is a YA Dystopian Fantasy -

Releases July 2, 2012  

In post-apocalypse America, every season, the Circus of Curiosities visits the city, bringing with it the most fantastic circus acts that are beautiful, majestic, curious, and death-defying. Every season performers for these acts are chosen from the young men and women in each town, trained, and sent to perform in a live grand performance, performed literally to the death. Two performers from Sea Cliff, a beach town at the outskirts of The Center find themselves chosen to be in this Summer's Circus Act. Both must win at any cost, but could they ignore their feelings for each other? Leela Sinclair needs to win in order to get to The Center where she can get medical help from the best physicians for her ailing mother, plague with a condition no one have heard of. For Zachary Nile, his reasons for becoming a performer at the Circus is more mysterious.  Only the ringmaster and the Circus of Curiosities owner Dex Hightower (Dr. Dex) knows what the touring Circus is really about amidst the magic and splendor.  Despite the Great War and the poverty surrounding the land except for the towns fortunate enough to be near the Center, Dr. Dex and the Circus performers all know, "The show must go on."

About Kailin Gow:  

Kailin Gow is the author of over 100 books, with the majority of them for young adults. Her most popular series are:  The Frost Series, PULSE Series, Desire Series, Wicked Woods, Steampunk Scarlett Novels, and more.  A full-time author, she is also a producer, having worked in radio, television, and film.  She grew up in Southern California, lived in Texas and England, and has

traveled extensively around the world.  

You May Find Kailin Here :

Website: www.KailinGowBooks.com

Blog: http://KailinGow.Wordpress.com

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/KailinGow

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/KailinGowBooks

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/KailinGow

You May Find Her Books Here : 

All books on Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AKailin+Gow&keywords=Kailin+Gow&ie=UTF8&qid=1337442917&sr=8-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B002BMAEH4

All books on B&N : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/kailin-gow?keyword=kailin+gow&store=allproducts

The Dame's Review :

I was put off when I first saw Kailin Gow's book, wondering what on earth I would find in its pages. The cover isn't one of those "beautiful girl face" ones we've come to expect from YA fiction!  It was a book I had asked to read...just curious...and then wasn't sure I'd find it palatable once I got into it.  Boy, was I surprised!  The writing hit me right from the start!  Ms Gow may be targeting the YA crowd with her book, but it swept me up with curiosity as soon as I read the Prologue.  I think adults will enjoy her writing, as well.

Kailin Gow is particularly adept at dialog.  Her characters are imaginative, but live in their certain and casual communication.  It lends an easy realism to this dystopian novel that isn't experienced in many YA books of this genre.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I loved her protagonist, Leela's strength and determination throughout the book.  A strong and worthy female role model for young women.  The character of her "best friend" Thomas was balanced and a great symbiosis of male who was worthy of respect and love.  The circus itself took on a menacing persona from the out-start.

It is easy to see that Ms Gow is an accomplished writer.  This is no first, debut novel.  Her writing is strong and mature.  The plot is well-developed and interesting in every aspect.  Characters are engaging and mature as the story builds.  There is a learning curve for all concerned, even the reader.  Many of the incidents remind me of "The Hunger Games."

While the novel is not perfect in all its aspects, I think "Circus Summer...Circus of Curiosities:  Book One" is certainly good enough to warrant my wanting to read Book Two!  I'll be looking for it when it comes out.

I recommend this book as a definite buy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  Ms Gow can only get better with time.  She's a real "find," and an author whose star I can see rising this year!

GIVEAWAY!!!

I'm giving away a copy of "Circus Summer...." to someone in the US or Canada!

Just join my blog on GFC or Facebook

and

leave your emal address on the comments section

Giveaway ends  July 31st

4 stars                         Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Immortal Rules" by Julie Kagawa~Awesome!

Of all the books I read this weekend (3), this one really had me mesmerized.  Julie Kagawa has outdone herself with "The Immortal Rules: Blood of Eden."  Richness of plot, gripping development of her dystopian world, and characters to absolutely adore, this is one of Kagawa's best books of all.  I highly recommend it.  Don't let it get past you because you don't want to be behind the 8 ball when the second in the series comes out, or the movie hits! 
Allie Sekemoto is the consummate feminist heroine caught up in what seems to be a no-win situation, but conquering it with panache, courage and inner strength despite the odds.  Her mentor and maker, Kanin is a dream of an older vampire whom I fell for harder than her young love interest, Zeke.  Which just makes "The Immortal Rules" the perfect cross over fiction!  Julie Kagawa is at the top of her form in writing with this book.  5 stars

Summary : (Taken from Goodreads)

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Particulars of the book:

Published by:  Harlequin Teen
Pages:  485 and Questions for Book Discussions
Genre:  YA Fiction/Dystopian/Vampire

Read more about Julie Kagawa: www.juliekagawa.com
Read more about this series at:  http://www.BloodofEdenBooks.com

You may wish to purchase this book on:  Amazon   or Barnes & Noble


FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE POST:
See my post here for more on this book:  http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/2012/04/immortal-by-julie-kagawais-it-all-its.html

"The Immortal Rules"~ by Julie Kagawa~Is it all it's cracked up to be?

"Meet 17-year-old Allie Sekemoto, a reluctant vampire struggling to hold on to her humanity and stave off the demon that lies in wait, thinly veiled beneath the surface of her undead skin. Over a half century after a plague has decimated the human race, vampires reign, and humans are little more than "blood bags" to serve their masters. Rabids, vicious hybrid creatures born of the plague, prowl the land beyond the walled vampire cities, eager for human prey. When Allie is savagely attacked by a rabid while scavenging for food, a mysterious vampire offers her the choice of a human death or "life" as a vampire. Ultimately forced to flee both the only city she's ever known and her maker, Allie's determination to remain more human than monster is put to the test, particularly when she joins a band of humans on a desperate journey to safety on the island of Eden. Particularly when she falls in love. Kagawa has done the seemingly impossible and written a vampire book, the first in a planned series, that feels fresh in an otherwise crowded genre. She mixes paranormal and dystopian tropes to good effect, creating a world that will appeal across audiences. Allie's a smart, strong and compelling heroine, and readers will gladly join her for this adrenaline-rich ride."(Paranormal/dystopian romance) KirkusReview



The Dame's Word On It :

By now we all know Julie Kagawa for her Iron Fey series the "Iron King," the "Iron Queen," etc. which has a tremendous following, but which is a far cry from this newest series on vampires that Julie's embarking upon.  See blurb below:  

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—On her 16th birthday, Meghan Chase's four-year-old half brother is exchanged for a changeling and she discovers that her best friend, Robbie, is actually Robin Greenfellow, aka Puck, from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is her guardian and will lead her into the faery world to rescue her brother. Once there, Meghan learns that she is a princess, daughter of Oberon, king of the Seelie Court. With a mortal mother and a faery king for a father, she is very powerful, and Oberon and Queen Mab, queen of the Unseelie Court, are both fighting to keep her. With help from Puck and a talking cat, Meghan sneaks into the Unseelie Court to rescue Ethan, only to discover that he is held captive by more powerful forces that could destroy the entire fey world. Meghan is a likable heroine and her quest is fraught with danger and adventure. The action never stops, and Meghan's romance with Ash, the handsome prince of the Unseelie Court, provides some romance that is sure to continue in the sequel. Faery books are in high demand now, and this is one of the better ones. Expect it to be popular with teens who liked Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely (HarperTeen, 2007).—Ginny Collier, Dekalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA

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"The Immortal Rules" has screams of movie rights!  YA's are just chomping at the bit to cast the movie.  See YouTube and Harlequin's official trailer below:

Read More

I just know YA's are going to be "casting" this one on YouTube within the next few weeks.  They just need time to read it.  Since it's only been released this week, we'll have to wait a few weeks to see who's going to get top billing in their minds!  LOL

Here Is A Quick Excerpt for You :

"Not our problem." I felt bad for saying it, but it was true. In the Fringe, you looked out for yourself and your immediate family, no one else. My concern didn't extend beyond myself, Stick and the rest of our small gang. This was my family, screwed up as it was. I couldn't worry about the trials of everyone in the Fringe. I had plenty of my own, thanks.

"Maybe…" Stick began, and hesitated. "Maybe she's…hap-pier now," he continued. "Maybe being Taken into the Inner City is a good thing. The vampires will take better care of her, don't you think?"

I resisted the urge to snort. Stick, they're vampires, I wanted to say. Monsters. They only see us as two things: slaves and food. Nothing good comes from a bloodsucker, you know that.

But telling Stick that would only upset him more, so I pretended not to hear. "Where are the others?" I asked as we walked down the hall, picking our way over rubble and broken glass. Stick trailed morosely, dragging his feet, kicking bits of rock and plaster with every step. I resisted the urge to smack him. Marc was a decent guy; even though he was Registered, he didn't treat us Unregistereds like vermin, and even spoke to us on occasion when he was making his rounds at the Wall. I also knew Stick had feelings for Gracie, though he would never act on them. But I was the one who shared most of my food with him, since he was usually too scared to go scavenging by himself. Ungrateful little snot. I couldn't watch out for everyone; he knew that.

"Lucas isn't back yet," Stick finally mumbled as we came to my room, one of the many empty spaces along the hall. In the years I had been here, I'd fixed it up the best I could. Plastic bags covered the shattered windows, keeping out the rain and damp. An old mattress lay in one corner with my blanket and pillow. I'd even managed to find a folding table, a couple chairs and a plastic shelf for various clutter, little things I wanted to keep. I'd built a nice little lair for myself, and the best part was my door still locked from the inside, so I could get some privacy if I wanted.

"What about Rat?" I asked, pushing on my door.

As the door squeaked open, a wiry boy with lank brown hair jerked around, beady eyes widening. He was older than me and Stick, with sharp features and a front tooth that stuck out like a fang, giving him a permanent sneer.

Rat swore when he saw me, and my blood boiled. This was my space, my territory. He had no right to be here. "Rat," I snarled, bursting through the doorway. "Why are you snooping around my room? Looking for things to steal?"

You can visit Julie's site here:  Julie Kagawa
Buy her book at these locations:
Amazon ,  Barnes & Noble ,  and  your local bookshops

Here's Julie's Bio. :

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn�t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon puppy.

Okay, now I'm off to read "The Immortal Rules" so I can review it for you!  I'll be checking back tomorrow to let you know what I thought about it...stay tuned, please!!

Deborah/YourBookishDame  :]

"Starters" by Lissa Price ~ YA/Adult Post-Apocalyptic Novel Cross-over

A highly imaginative novel about children left in a post-apocalyptic world with aged adults who want their bodies!

Published by:  Random House Children's

Pages:  352

Author's website: http://www.lissaprice.com/

Summary :

By: Kirkus Reviews

In a future in which the elderly hold all of the power, the only things left for them to take are the bodies of the young. After a germ-warfare attack, America was only able to vaccinate high-risk groups--medically vulnerable children and senior citizens--in time, creating an age gulf and an orphaned generation. Those without guardians, like Callie and her baby brother, scavenge and sneak to survive, lest marshals catch and throw them in institutions much like prisons. Desperation leads Callie to Prime Destinations, a body-bank that circumvents laws that prohibit minors from working by allowing them to donate their bodies (to be controlled by an elderly renter through neurochips and a brain-to-computer connection) for a stipend. Only one rental away from having the money to care for her ailing brother, Callie finds her chip drastically malfunctioning during a rental, enabling her to take partial control of her body back from a renter who plans on using her for murder. In between living the high life as a socialite grandniece and ward of her wealthy renter, Callie learns of plots more dangerous than the renter's and that only she can stop them. Some exposition is clumsily dropped in through dialogue, and some plot aspects don't hold up to scrutiny, but the twists and turns come so fast that readers will stay hooked. Constantly rising stakes keep this debut intense. (Science fiction. 12 & up)

Where the Dame's Mind Went :

My mind went horrified as I thought of a world where senior citizens would turn on the young and use them for vehicles of personal gain.  Ugh!  What a jaded-eyed look at the elderly!!  This is a book that will scare the pants off everyone who reads it.  A world gone so desperate that the children left behind after a viral catastrophe wipes out their parents, are scuttling through the streets to survive like rats in broken down tenements and abandoned warehouses.  I couldn't stop being glued to the pages of the book. I took offense to being called away from it.  Horrified and hungry to know more!

The "haves" in this "have nots" world are the elderly over 60's who were able to receive a vaccine for the virus that wiped out the US because they were deemed most likely not to survive. Young people/children received the vaccine also, being considered too weak to survive. Since parents and middleagers died off, the wealthy elders that survived now have everything they want, except the beautiful, supple bodies they need to enjoy all the sports and activities of their past young lives.  Hence, they "rent" the bodies of teens through computer/science by the day, week and month.  The teen in question here, Callie, is caught in this web of transactions and terrors because she's desperate to keep her little brother alive.

Suspense and terror are built up masterfully by Lissa Price as she develops her world and her creepy elder-care characters.  Additionally, the young adult characters you'll come to love; Callie, her friend Michael, and Callie's 7 year old brother, Tyler tear at your heart while they struggle alone to cull out a way to survive in a hostile environment fraught with attacks such as military-like marshalls that seek out straggling children, and destroy tenement buildings in which they may be hiding.  When these squads burn out and block them from refuge in such a place, leaving Tyler without the only thing he has left of his before life; a toy and the picture of his mother and dad, I was really choked. 

Price knows how to bring out the emotions and cause us to champion these children.  Her ability to make us visualize is stellar.  Her ability to put terror in our hearts with the threat of an unknown is the sign of a very talented writer.  I was scared half the time! Price put me in the body of Callie!

I found this book engaging and suspenseful on a gut level.  I loved how the story developed, how Price used her characters to engender different emotions and careful messages; even warnings.  Not all of the elders were monsters, thankfully, and I liked that she made that evident from the start.  The concept of losing one's self to a mechanism/computer for a space and time seems plausible and; therefore, all the more frightening to me!  What a perfectly nightmarish theme! 

As a young adult novel, this book soars.  As a crossover into adult fiction; i.e., for lovers of YA fiction, I think it will be a satisfying and thought-provoking read.  Absolutely book group reading material; including mother/daughter book groups.  What the outcome of the novel is is neither here nor there, especially in light of the whole concept ... it should be enough to have you grabbing this one off the shelves!  Can't wait for Lissa Price's next book...

I had a great trip within the body of this book.  Please try it on for yourself!  And, for God's sake, get your flu shot!!

5 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

My Week In Book Buying ~ Or~ What's Now in My Stacks

I didn't spend half this week in one book store or another, but I did spend most of the time there! I just felt I needed a refreshing of the stacks.  Just some books I had to have right now... Please, don't frown...

Seriously couldn't wait to get my hands on this one.  A woman with

chronic amnesia after an injury

 whose husband tells her who she is and

that she loves him.  She finds a note in her

diary to herself not to trust him...

OMGosh, I would be so freaked!

I was nothing short of sickened when I found out

that I hadn't received an early review copy

of my very favorite author's new book!

Joshilyn Jackson is a writer I live to read.

Simple as that.

Any words that come from her are like delicious green apples.

Note the cover of this book.

Had to own this newest in the dystopian

YA fiction variety for my library.

I'm actually in the middle of the ebook and it's a

not-to-be-missed read.

Cool  cover...lots of pages.

What's a year's read without Jodi?

I wait patiently for her next book wondering

if it's going to be controversial.

It nearly always is.

I love to be in the thick of things, gettin' down & dirty with Jodi. LOL

This one is starting out really well!

Okay.  Here's a "caught you with the cover" book,

and a "caught you with Meg Cabot" book, at the same time.

I've heard a good deal about Ms Cabot in YA circles,

and thought I would try her out with this one.

It's had such mixed reviews...

have to see what I think.

A "pollster" at the sidebar requested a review! Yay!!

I'll let you know!  vv

I loved Amy Hatvany's "Outside the Lines"

which I reviewed last month.

This one deals with a divorced mother who drinks

so much she leaves her small son alone one

night while she runs to the

liquor store...Her ex-husband comes by

and finds him there alone, and her subsequently drunk.

Amy Hatvany is a chillingly frank writer who can move you to serious tears.

Had to have this paperback.

Have you been waiting like I've been waiting for this one?

I had to have it.  Enough said.

These books found their way to my house somehow, as well:

Reviews coming soon ~

"The Orchid House" by Lucinda Riley

"Shatter" by Michael Robotham

"A Promise of Safekeeping" by Lisa Dale

"Replication: The Jason Experiment" by Jill Williamson

"Invisible Boy" by Cornelia Read

"The Anatomist's Apprentice" by Tessa Harris

"The Jasmine Trade" by Denise Hamilton

"Lifeboat" by Charlotte Rogan

"The Book of Madness and Cures" by Regina O'Melveny

"Gone with a Handsomer Man" by Michael Lee West

So, what did you find at the bookstore this past week?   Any comments on these books?  I'm dying to know if you've read any of them, yet.

Deb/TheBookishDame