Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post hosted by Breaking the Spine, and it spotlights upcoming books that we as readers are anxiously awaiting...

Black Dawn by Rachel Caine
Genre:  YA Urban Fantasy
Morganville Vampire Series, Book 12
Rachel Caine's website
Expected publication date:  May 1, 2012
Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

In Last Breath, the rain brought a new and dire threat to Morganville and its vampires... their ancient enemies, the draug. Now, the vampires are fighting a losing war, and it will fall to the residents of the Glass House: Michael, Eve, Shane and Claire, to take the fight to an enemy who threatens to destroy the town, forever.

Lovers of Morganville, rejoice: Black Dawn takes the intrigue, romance and nail-biting suspense of the series to its highest level yet!

So I know I'm jumping the gun just a little considering I still need to read the eleventh book.  But I will read it within the next month, and then I will be dying to read the next one.  If you like vampires and you haven't picked up this series, then add it to your list!

Top Ten Favorite Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's post is the Top Ten Favorite Covers.

Do I only get to list 10?  This is definitely one that I could list about 50 and still have more to show.  So, I think I'm just going to work backwards through the books I've read and point out which covers I adore...

Beautiful covers from books I've read:

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Die for Me by Amy Plum

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

Switched by Amanda Hocking

Beautiful covers from books that I need to read:

Dark Storm by Sarah Singleton

The Essence by Kimberly Derting

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

What covers do you think are gorgeous?

Life is But a Dream By Brian James

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Brian James' website

Expected publication date:  March 27, 2012

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

Sabrina, an artist, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and her parents check her into the Wellness Center. There she meets Alec, who is convinced that it's the world that's crazy, not them. But when Alec starts to convince Sabrina that her treatment will wipe out everything that makes her creative, she worries she'll lose hold of her dreams and herself.

Let me start by saying if you haven't read a book regarding schizophrenia, I wouldn't suggest you start with this one.  Unless maybe you've read Brian James' other books, however this was my first Brian James book (not my first on schizophrenia though).  Also, if you're looking for a big climax and resolution, you're not going to find it in this book (other than the usual resolution to take the medications). So why read these books?  They give a different view of the world and of life.  It lets you see how people deal with difficult things in life.

We see Sabrina in a clinical setting being treated for schizophrenia.  However, she sees the small, insignificant parts of life as beautiful (like the sky, the trees, or the birds).  She doesn't have the best grasp on reality because she's stuck in the details of the world (at least that's how I saw it).  Then Alec comes along and convinces her that the doctors are trying to change her into a mindless, complier like everyone else in the world.  Let's just say, things eventually spiral out of control.

I really loved the descriptions in this book.  They make the world seem beautiful.  The flashbacks in Sabrina's life helped explain a little about how sick Sabrina was and how she dealt with things that would normally traumatize people.  It certainly makes you question whether the basic belief that 'you're either right or wrong and there's no in between' is an accurate assessment.

I felt there were a few spots in the book where I could relate with the character.  However, there wasn't enough flashbacks or descriptions to explain the schizophrenia.  I know Sabrina was sick, but it was hard to be able to put myself in her shoes without jumping through gaps that I wanted more explanations on.  And that is why I can't recommend this book to people who have never read a schizophrenia novel.  This book is a good read, but it's super slow and I feel there are holes that never get addressed.

Thanks goes to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me a review copy of this book.

Challenges:  Young Adult Reading Challenge

In My Mailbox

The "In My Mailbox" post consists of which books we bought during the past week, hosted by The Story Siren.

For Review:

• Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
• Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
• I've heard so many great things about this book.  And a book regarding reincarnation?  Yeah, I'm interested.  Thanks goes to Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads for setting up this ARC tour.

From the Library:

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
• Too many people listed this as their favorite book of the year for me to not take notice.  I decided I needed to look into this to figure out why everyone loves it so much...

For Review (e-edition):

Shadow of the Flags by Beverly C Gray

Amazon | Goodreads

A historical fiction series that follows an army family through the various American wars?  I need to check this out and what better way than to start with the first book which is set in the Civil War.  Thanks goes to Beverly Gray for pointing this book out to me.

The White Oak by Kim White

Goodreads

Underworld...  If your immediate reaction was, "Wait, what?  Like the mythological underworld?  Hell?  Can I read it?"  Then our minds think alike.  Thanks goes to Story Machine Studio and Netgalley.






Purchased (e-edition):

The Wild's Call by Jeri Smith-Ready

Amazon | Goodreads

I believe this is the prequel to the Shadows of Crow series.  And since I like Jeri Smith-Ready's other books, I thought I should start this series one day.

Hot Six by Janet Evanovich

Genre:  Detective

Stephanie Plum Series, Book 6

Janet Evanovich's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Janet Evanovich's website):

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and Trenton vice cop Joe Morelli join forces to find the madman killer who shot and barbecued the youngest son of international black-market arms dealer Alexander Ramos.

Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, is caught on video just minutes before the crime occurs. He’s at the scene, he’s with the victim, and he’s the number one suspect. Manoso is former Special Forces turned soldier of fortune. He has a blue-chip stock portfolio and no known address. He moves in mysterious circles. He’s Stephanie’s mentor– the man who taught her everything she knows about fugitive apprehension. And he’s more than her friend.
Now he’s the hunted and Stephanie’s the hunter, and it’s time for Stephanie to test her skills against the master. But if she does catch him… what then? Can she bring herself to turn him in?

Plus there are other things keeping Stephanie awake at night. Her maternal grandmother has set up housekeeping in Stephanie’s apartment, a homicidal maniac has selected Stephanie as his next victim, her love life is in the toilet, she’s adopted a dog with an eating disorder, and she can’t button the top snap on her Levis.

I honestly love these books!  Seriously, if you've ever fantasized about taking on a dangerous job and then wondering how on earth you'd ever pull it off, then you should read these books.  These books will make you laugh!

There's a lot of humor in these books.  There's action.  And there's mystery that ties up nicely at the end.  And there's a bit of romance, but it's not overwhelming like some other books can be.  Who would I recommend this to?  Any girl/woman out there who needs a good laugh...

Now I need to read the next one...

Challenges:  TBR Pile Challenge