Yesterday, by C.K. Kelly Martin
C. K. Kelly Martin's novel Yesterday opens with a prologue set in a dystopian version of 2063, but after six drama-stuffed pages the action shifts to Ontario, 1985, a (possibly even weirder) world full of New Wave music, enormous shoulder pads, and MacGyver. Martin's protagonist is Freya Kallas, a 16-year-old girl whose diplomat father recently died in an explosion. When her mother moves the family back to Canada after years of living abroad, Freya assumes...
Jane Austen and Lifetime
I am straight-up appalled by this idea: Jennifer Love Hewitt is teaming up with Lifetime to develop Darcy's Town, a "modern retelling of Jane Austen's literary classic Pride and Prejudice set in a small Virginia town". I was much less horrified by the article's mention of another Austen-inspired TV project...
Shadowfell, by Juliet Marillier
New Zealand author Juliet Marillier's Shadowfell, the first book in a projected trilogy, takes several done-to-death fairytale tropes—a girl on a solitary journey, an evil king, helpful magical creatures—and transforms them into an entertaining and thoughtful YA fantasy novel...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman
Today's Weekly Book Giveaway pick is Robin Wasserman's The Book of Blood and Shadow, which we reviewed here. Just a reminder: entries for this drawing are due by the end of the day on Friday, December 21st, and entries for last week's Fairy Tale drawing are due by...
The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman
Robin Wasserman's novel The Book of Blood and Shadow is ambitious in a way that few YA novels attempt. Everything from the somber cover art to the sheer heft of the book (a solid 432 pages) clearly indicates that this is a novel that wants to be taken seriously, despite its melodramatic tag line: "One Girl. One Night. Centuries of Secrets."...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Fairy Tale, by Cyn Balog
Our second Book Giveaway of the week is Cyn Balog's Fairy Tale, which we reviewed here. Again, while entries for Monday's giveaway (C.J. Skuse's Rockoholic) are due by 5 o'clock today, entries for Fairy Tale aren't due until next Wednesday...
Starstruck, Sleepless, and Fairy Tale, by Cyn Balog
For a genre that should be all about creativity, most YA paranormal romance is actually pretty standardized. Wearing Converse is proof positive of an artistic nature. It's not at all creepy for a zillion-year-old magical being to continue attending high school. And in any given love triangle, the heroine is always better off choosing the more emotionally constipated option...
Not a total waste, then.
Wow. According to The New York Times, all of the employees of Random House, "from top editors to warehouse workers", will be receiving a $5,000 bonus this year, thanks largely to the success of the Fifty Shades of Grey series...
Don't Expect Magic, by Kathy McCullough
Kathy McCullough's debut novel Don't Expect Magic has a lot going for it: it's suitable for a wide variety of ages, it manages to be inspirational without being cloying, and—best of all—it's a standalone! (You guys know how I love those...
Rockoholic, by C.J. Skuse
C.J. Skuse's YA novel Rockoholic centers around Jody, a British teenager totally obsessed with rock star Jackson Gatlin. Jody is convinced the meaning of life can be found in Jackson's music, but when she kidnaps him from one of his concerts (accidentally!), she discovers her idol has feet of clay. Actually, he's practically made of clay...
Wordcandy's 2012 Holiday Gift List
It's time for our annual Holiday gift suggestions, dear readers, and we're totally proud of ourselves for A) choosing reasonably affordable stuff, and B) getting this list out before December 20th. (We aim high.) Anyway, here you go...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Rockoholic, by C.J. Skuse
This Monday's pick for our Weekly Book Giveaway is C.J. Skuse's novel Rockoholic, which we're planning to review tomorrow. Just as a reminder: entries for this drawing are due by the end of the day on Friday (December 14th), and entries for whichever book we announce at the end of the week are due the following Wednesday (December 19th)...
Intentions, by Deborah Heiligman
Deborah Heiligman is the author of nearly 30 books for children, but it wasn't until 2008's Charles and Emma—an award-winning YA biography about Charles Darwin and his wife—that she leapt to wider literary acclaim. Her most recent book, and her first aimed at older teens, is the coming-of-age novel Intentions...
Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero, by Larry Tye
If you're a classic comics junkie, pop culture aficionado, or fan of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, you're definitely going to want to check out Larry Tye's nonfiction book Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Uglies: Cutters, by Scott Westerfeld
Here's our second Book Giveaway of the week: Uglies: Cutters, which we reviewed here. While entries for last Monday's book (Adele Griffin's All You Never Wanted; review here) are still due by Monday, December 10th, you can submit your entries for Cutters until Wednesday the 12th...
Uglies: Cutters, by Scott Westerfeld and Devin Grayson
When I reviewed Scott Westerfeld's Uglies: Shay's Story last spring, I wondered if Westerfeld's original series (which had already expanded from a trilogy to a quartet) really merited a graphic novel tie-in. I still have my doubts, frankly, but Shay's Story obviously sold well enough to justify a sequel, because Westerfeld has just released Uglies: Cutters...
"Experience the saga"... for upwards of three grand
I'm not sure whether to snicker at this news or roll my eyes like a slot machine, so I'll probably settle for doing both. If you're looking for a replica of the staggeringly tacky Twilight engagement ring: today's your lucky day. Bed Bath & Beyond is now selling a line of fine jewelry "honoring the Twilight love story"...
The Project, by Brian Falkner
If you're in the market for a book for a ten- to twelve-year-old boy who finds even the tiny smidgen of romance featured in the 39 Clues series too embarrassing, Brian Falkner's novels may be the answer to your holiday gift-giving prayers...
The Casual Vacancy to hit the small screen
According to The Hollywood Reporter, J. K. Rowling's novel The Casual Vacancy is going to be turned into a television series for the BBC. As with the Harry Potter movies, Rowling will be keeping a careful (read: obsessively controlling) eye on the project...
Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy, Book One, by Sarah Rees Brennan
I can already see a problem with my review-a-day plan: my feelings about one book are going to bleed into another. I'm certain I would have enjoyed Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken regardless, but a little additional love may have been generated by the sharp contrast it presented to the story I read yesterday...
Weekly Book Giveaway: All You Never Wanted, by Adele Griffin
In an effort to get our "To Be Read" pile down to less terrifying heights, during the month of December we are planning to post one review per day, Monday through Friday. In addition, we'll be increasing our Weekly Book Giveaway to two books per week. (Gotta get rid of the reviewed books somehow, right?) Our first giveaway title of the week is Adele Griffin's All You Never Wanted...
All You Never Wanted, by Adele Griffin
My only previous experience with popular YA author Adele Griffin was Tighter, her modern-day retelling of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. I was underwhelmed by Tighter, but I've always loved James's novella, so I had some residual goodwill for Griffin's story despite its disappointingly weak ending...
A Christmas gift... that will cost you four dollars.
If, like us, you're a fan of the children's adventure series The 39 Clues, you're in luck: Scholastic is releasing an e-book called The 39 Clues: Cahill Files: Silent Night on Christmas Day. (So... many... hyphens...) The publisher did something similar last season, releasing The 39 Clues: Rapid Fire...
So pretty!
Speaking of less-ludicrously-overpriced items from Anthropologie, the store recently trotted out a collection of six novels from the Penguin Classics line featuring absolutely gorgeous cover art designed by stationer Mr. Boddingtion's Studio...
Mostly ridiculous, a little bit sublime
I love these bookends from Anthropologie, but, like so many of things sold at that store, they are ridiculously overpriced. They're priced between $168 and $228, because adding fake snow apparently adds sixty bucks to the already inflated cost. However, I'm pretty sure this is one of the rare craft projects I could actually duplicate...
The Unfailing Light, by Robin Bridges
The Unfailing Light is the second book in Robin Bridges's Katerina trilogy, following rapidly on the heels of last winter's The Gathering Storm. This installment is less ambitious than its predecessor, but the series as a whole has a lot to offer fans of historical YA fantasy, including an appealingly intelligent heroine and an unusual late-19th century Russian setting...
Signs of life
NPR has a surprisingly encouraging article up about the current state of independent bookstores. Despite the popularity of e-books, the holiday season apparently guarantees the sale of a lot of expensive coffee-table-style hardcovers, which is great news for indie bookshops. Cookbooks are doing exceptionally well this season, too—including $60 tomes...
Bad teachers
I read this article about Tennessee preacher Michael Pearl's book To Train Up a Child with horrified fascination. Pearl apparently believes that children should be treated like "stubborn mules", and argues with the right (read: abusive) persuasion, parents can have the little whippersnappers potty-trained by the time they're two weeks old...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Unfailing Light, by Robin Bridges
This week's Book Giveaway pick is The Unfailing Light, by Robin Bridges. It's the second book in the "Katerina" trilogy (you can find our review of her first book, The Gathering Storm, here). Our review of The Unfailing Light will be posted Wednesday, and will include my thoughts on what I hope was a hardcore Photoshop job on the girl featured on the book cover...
Cyber Monday book deals (such as they are)
I'm always irritated by its unfortunate name and definitely-not-a-real-holiday status, but I'm told you can pick up some decent deals on Cyber Monday. (Check out Barnes and Noble's offers here, and...