Posts tagged with weekly-book-giveaway
Weekly Book Giveaway: Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher
This week's Book Giveaway is the first book in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, Furies of Calderon. I'm only a few chapters in, but so far this appears to be straight fantasy, not the more tongue-in-cheek style featured in his Harry Dresden books. Who knows, though? Maybe he's just holding off on introducing a perverted, hard-to-shut-up skull sidekick until a later chapter...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Mirk and Midnight Hour, by Jane Nickerson
This week's Book Giveaway title is The Mirk and Midnight Hour, the second YA novel from Jane Nickerson. Like her first book Strands of Bronze and Gold (which we reviewed here), The Mirk and Midnight Hour is inspired by a not-exactly-Disney-friendly fairytale: the Scottish ballad Tam Lin...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Season of the Witch, by Mariah Fredericks
This week's Book Giveaway is Mariah Fredericks's Season of the Witch, which I'm told is a psychological thriller set in an exclusive New York prep school, not a supernatural romance. (I enjoy the way the cover art is purposefully vague, presumably in an effort to attract both audiences.) Our review will go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Kill Order by James Dashner
This week's Book Giveaway is James Dashner's The Kill Order, the prequel to his bestselling Maze Runner series. I've never read the Maze Runner books, but I'm choosing to believe that makes me the ideal person to review a prequel (no preconceptions!), rather than, y'know, totally unprepared. My review should go up this evening...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Chasing Shadows, by Swati Avasthi
This week's Book Giveaway title is Swati Avasthi's novel Chasing Shadows. Featuring graphic novel-style illustrations by Craig Phillips, this book uses elements of Hindu myth to "create a gripping portrait of two girls teetering on the edge of grief and insanity." Admittedly, gripping portraits of grief and insanity are usually something I do my best to avoid, but the reviews for this sucker glow like a 100-watt bulb, so I've decided to give it a shot...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Paladin Prophecy and The Paladin Prophecy: Alliance, by Mark Frost
We're offering two books for this week's Book Giveaway: Mark Frost's The Paladin Prophecy and its sequel, The Paladin Prophecy: Alliance. Our full review will go up later today, but here's a mini-take: Anthony Horowitz and Richard Paul Evans should watch their backs, but Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Glass Casket, by McCormick Templeman
This week's Book Giveaway pick is McCormick Templeman's The Glass Casket. We wrote a positive review of Ms. Templeman's first book The Little Woods a few years ago—we described it as "sufficiently entertaining to read in a single sitting," but complained about its weak love triangle and the implausible number of SAT words the author sprinkled throughout the text—so my expectations are high...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Fates, by Lanie Bross
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Lanie Bross's debut novel Fate. According to its official overview, it is both the first installment of a two-book series "inspired by the ancient Greeks' paradoxical view of fate" and "perfect... for girls who love all things pretty, romantic and inspirational". Ambitious! But also confusing...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black
This week's Book Giveaway is Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. Our full review will be posted later today, but here's a quick take: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown reminded me of my all-time favorite vampire story, Vivian Vande Velde's Companions of the Night, and I can give no higher compliment than that...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Tell Me Lies and Crazy For You, by Jennifer Crusie
This week's Book Giveaway is a two-pack: Jennifer Crusie's Tell Me Lies and Crazy for You, which we reviewed here a few years ago. I'm trying to make some space on our bookshelves, and we were lucky enough to be sent multiple copies of Ms. Crusie's books, so you can expect one more Crusie-themed giveaway in the next few weeks. I have accepted (grudgingly) that...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Foretold, edited by Carrie Ryan
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Foretold, a collection of short stories edited by Carrie Ryan, all of which deal (although some of them pretty distantly) with predictions and prophecies. The cover art looks totally gloomy, but the stories in this collection run the gamut from goofy to romantic to creepy, offering something for a wide variety of readers. I'll post our full review later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass. I am told I can expect tremendous things from this story, but I keep getting distracted by the shirt the heroine appears to be wearing on the cover. Is that... ribbon? How does it even work? I will ponder this, and post my review later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Palace of Spies, by Sarah Zettel
This week's Book Giveaway title is Palace of Spies, the first book in a historical YA series by Dust Girl author Sarah Zettel. Our review will go up tomorrow morning, seeing as we still have to post our thoughts on the Book Giveaway title we featured over our winter break: Lauren Kate's Teardrop...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Teardrop, by Lauren Kate
Our current Weekly Book Giveaway pick is Teardrop, the first book in a new trilogy from popular YA author Lauren Kate. Her Fallen series was hit-or-miss, but here's hoping she's learned something along the way...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Tomorrow, by C.K. Kelly Martin
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Tomorrow, the sequel to C.K. Kelly Martin's Yesterday, which we reviewed here. Sadly, her publisher still has not granted us the insanely lurid 80s-inspired cover art of our dreams, but (spoiler!) Tomorrow is pretty good anyway. Our review will go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Red, by Alison Cherry
This week's Weekly Book Giveaway pick is Alison Cherry's Red, which is either an entertaining satire about superficial beauty standards or a questionable (at best) metaphor about racial inequality. I haven't decided which one I think the author was aiming for yet, but I'm hoping to make up my mind before I post our review this afternoon...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Living, by Matt de la Pena
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Matt de la Pena's The Living, which looks, uh, intense. There's a glowing quote on the front from James Dashner (not really a recommendation, to my mind), but NPR describes the book as "...at once a disaster epic, a survival story and a coming of age novel, told through the life of a young man who is becoming aware of class, prejudice and romance", and...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Premeditated, by Josin McQuein
Our current Weekly Book Giveaway pick is Josin McQuein's Premeditated, which appears to be a mystery/revenge story that I'm pretty sure will go horribly wrong. So, uh, just the thing to get us all into the holiday spirit...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Dark Witch, by Nora Roberts
This week's Book Giveaway is Dark Witch, the latest effort from Nora Roberts. And no, despite that title and cover art, it's not actually a Halloween story. Our review will go up tonight...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Loud Awake and Lost, by Adele Griffin
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Adele Griffin's Loud Awake and Lost. I keep complaining about Ms. Griffin's books, but something keeps me reading them, too. (Likeliest culprits: her eye-catching cover art and my severe a lack of willpower.) My review should go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Tandem, by Anna Jarzab
Our current Weekly Book Giveaway pick is Anna Jarzab's Tandem, the first installment in a projected trilogy. Early reviews are mixed, but I've really enjoyed Jarzab's previous two books, so my hopes remain high...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Dark Between, by Sonia Gensler
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Sonia Gensler's gothic romance The Dark Between, which I'm hoping (based entirely upon its title and cover art, as I haven't actually read the official description yet) is a Halloween-appropriate choice. Our review should go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Across A Star-Swept Sea, by Diana Peterfreund
This week's Book Giveaway pick is Diana Peterfreund's Across A Star-Swept Sea, a "companion novel" (in this case, that means "not a sequel, but set in the same world") to 2012's For Darkness Shows the Stars. Both books have enjoyably weird literary ambitions: For Darkness Shows the Stars is a post-apocalyptic YA retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, while Across A Star-Swept Sea is an equally bizarre re-working of the Baroness Orczy's...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Eye of Minds, by James Dashner
The first order of business after our unscheduled break: a book giveaway. This week's pick is James Dashner's The Eye of Minds, described as "the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares". I wasn't a fan of Dashner's earlier series, but maybe this will knock my socks off. Our review should go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Getting In, by Karen Stabiner
This week's Book Giveaway title is Karen Stabiner's Getting In, a novel about five Los Angeles families obsessed (to varying degrees) with getting their children into good colleges. I'm fascinated by the modern college application process—when I was applying, roughly fifteen years ago, it seemed like they took anyone with a B+ average and a pulse—but things are obviously verrrrry different now, and this novel explores those changes...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Blood Keeper, by Tessa Gratton
This week's Book Giveaway title is Tessa Gratton's The Blood Keeper, the standalone "companion novel" to her 2011 novel Blood Magic, which we reviewed here. It's... not a sequel, I guess, but set in the same world? And maybe the pair from the first book will make a cameo? Who knows? Anyway, our review should go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Hanging By a Thread, by Sophie Littlefield
This week's Book Giveaway title is Sophie Littlefield's Hanging By a Thread. One of the reviews from BN.com describes it as a "tension-filled mystery with an extrasensory twist", which concerns me, because I tend to read that as "a mystery whose resolution hinges on a magical cop-out", but who knows? Maybe it will be brilliant. Our review will go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: A Plague Year, by Edward Bloor
Rarely do we describe books about meth as "wordcandy", but we're giving this one a shot: this week's Book Giveaway pick is Edward Bloor's A Plague Year. (Apparently, the title comes from another cheery text, Daniel Defoe's 1722 novel A Journal of the Plague Year, about the Great Plague hitting London in 1665.) Our review should go up later today...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Dragon's Keep, by Janet Lee Carey
Our Book Giveaway pick of the week is Janet Lee Carey's 2008 historical fantasy novel Dragon's Keep, which we're planning on reviewing later this afternoon. I don't care for the cover art, but I was amused to note that the interior hardcover has been textured to look vaguely like snakeskin. I always approve of people trying to get the little details right...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Of Beast and Beauty, by Stacey Jay
We weren't impressed by her earlier two books, but we're giving Stacey Jay another chance: her novel Of Beast and Beauty is our current Book Giveaway pick. Our hopes are not high, frankly, but if you're curious about the story at least the price would be right...