Waiting on Wednesday: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

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Let me just say: there are so many good interesting books coming out. Ahh, if only I have all the time and money in the world to read and buy them all.

This week’s Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine) is something ghostly — from the title to the blurb itself! “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten WhiteParanormalcy by Kiersten White
Release date: September 21, 2010
Published by: Harper Collins

Sixteen-year-old Evie’s job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. But when someone–or something–starts taking out the vamps, werewolves, and other odd beasties she’s worked hard to help become productive members of society, she’s got to figure it out before they all disappear and the world becomes utterly normal.

Normal is so overrated.

Don’t you just love that last line of the blurb (that’s from Goodreads, by the way). This seemed very interesting, and there’s nothing like a book that combines all sorts of creatures in it instead of just focusing on one (or two). It seems very, very interesting. :)

I…am not too crazy about the cover, though. It gives off a dark vibe, which makes me think of an old type of novel, one that’s too scary that I totally skip it. I am assuming there’s some kind of humor in this novel, given the blurb, right? Or maybe I’m just assuming too much.

Or maybe, the girl on the cover is kind of giving me the creeps.

Nevertheless, this is going in my wish list. :)

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Teaser Tuesday: Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

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I’ve been seeing this book for a while, but I never really picked it up until I finally read the blurb last weekend. I didn’t think this is interesting since…well, I didn’t really know the author (yeah, I judge books unfairly sometimes), but this book had me at these two words:

KILLER UNICORNS.

I got the same feeling right whenever I read zombies.

Seriously, read this:

Rampant by Diana PeterfreundRampantby Diana Peterfreund

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns…

The sparkly, innocent creatures of lore are a myth. Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. And they can only be killed by virgin descendants of Alexander the Great.

Fortunately, unicorns have been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.

Or not.

Astrid Llewelyn has always scoffed ather eccentric mother’s stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend in the woods – thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to prom – Astrid learns that unicorns are real and dangerous, and she has a family legacy to uphold. Her mother packs her off to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.

However, at the cloisters, all is not what is seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to – perhaps most dangerously of all – her growing attraction to a handsome art student… and a relationship that could jeopardize everything.

How awesome is that? Killer unicorns! :D Here’s a teaser:

Now I wished I’d paid attentioned to Lilith all those years. Of course, if I had, I’d simply think that unicorns didn’t exist anymore, rather than that Mom was nuts and they’d never existed at all.

I can’t wait to know more about these unicorns. Killer unicorns, wohoo! :)

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Have Soul, Will Scream

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My Soul to Take by Rachel VincentMy Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

She doesn’t see dead people, but…

She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next…

What would you do if you knew the exact date and time of your death? What would do as you approached your last few minutes of being alive?

A morbid question, right? A premonition of death is something that scares most people, myself included. They say one shouldn’t be afraid of death since everyone will eventually leave this earth, but that’s tough advice to take when you feel like you still have so much unfinished businesses in this life, and when you think of all the people you will be leaving behind. I once tried to imagine that it was my last day alive, and while theoretically that should help you “seize the day”,  I just ended up becoming depressed. What’s terrifying about death is that we are absolutely powerless against it: it comes, and when it does, we can’t stop it.

But what if you had advance warning–but for someone else? Let’s push it further: what if you could see and feel if a person was nearing his or her death, but you couldn’t warn them about it? What if all you could do was scream?

Kaylee Cavanaugh deals with this dilemma in Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series. Click here to read the rest of the review.

Rating: [rating=4]

2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 35 out of 100 for 2010
* Book # 18 out of 20 Fantasy books for 2010

→ Get My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent from Amazon.com
→ Rachel Vincent’s website

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Sample Fridays (1)

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NOTE: I’ve been thinking on how to organize this blog and add more content in this blog, so for the past week, I’ve been looking and reading about book blogging and taking note at what people do to their own blogs. So here’s something I thought of doing weekly, just to add more content in the blog. Yay. :)

I’ve mentioned it before here: I love sampling. Ever since Mina told me about sampling in Amazon‘s Kindle store, I’ve been sampling like crazy. I love that I can read the first few pages of the books to help me decide if I really want to read the whole thing. Sometimes blurbs can be misleading, and reviews, too. Sometimes we need to read the first few pages of the book to know if it’s worth reading, and we can’t always read them in a bookstore. What better way than in the convenience of an ebook reader? (Okay, wait, I’m not sure if that made sense :p)

Oh and did I mention? Samples are free. :D

So presenting…Sample Fridays! Every Friday, I’m going to post about five to seven samples I got from Amazon’s Kindle Store this week, to share what I’m eyeing and contemplating to get. Note that these aren’t unreleased books, since you can’t sample those yet, but books that I just spotted while jumping around in Amazon. :D All blurbs are from Goodreads. :)

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

I liked Tera Lynn Childs’ Oh. My. Gods. (review coming soon), and I just finished reading the sample earlier, and I kind of have a feeling how this would turn out, but I’m still curious, nonetheless. :) Plus, mermaids? That’s something I haven’t read before. I’m curious. :)

Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguié

When a storm brings the dashing Prince Richard to her family’s farm, Violet falls in love at first sight. Richard also gives Violet his heart, but he knows his marriage is destined to be an affair of state, not of passion. For the king and queen have devised a contest to determine who will win their son’s hand in marriage.

To be reunited with her prince, Violet must compete against princesses from across the land. It will take all of her wits – and a little help from an unexpected source – if Violet is to demonstrate the depth of her character and become Richard’s bride.

This is a retelling of the Princess and the Pea. I love retellings, and The Princess and the Pea is one of my favorite fairy tales. I’m curious at how this would fare. It seems like something I’d find in local bookstores though…maybe I should search around Fully Booked again. Reminds me a bit of Gail Carson Levine…don’t you think?

Donut Days by Lara Zielin

Emma has a lot going on. Her best friend’s not speaking to her, a boy she’s known all her life is suddenly smokin’ hot and in love with her, and oh yes, her evangelical minister parents may lose their church, especially if her mother keeps giving sermons saying Adam was a hermaphrodite.But this weekend Emma’s only focused on Crispy Dream, a hot new donut franchise opening in town, where Harley bikers and Frodo wannabes camp out waiting to be the first ones served. Writing the best feature story on the camp for the local paper might just win Emma a scholarship to attend a non- Christian college. But soon enough Emma finds the donut camp isn’t quite the perfect escape from all her troubles at Living Word Redeemer.

In a fresh, funny voice, newcomer Lara Zielin offers up a mesmerizing, fast-paced narrative full of wit and insight.

I saw this on one of the Teaser Tuesdays this week, and the title got me curious immediately. Plus isn’t that just the cutest cover? I read the sample this week, and I think it’s very interesting. I’m curious at how they’ll discuss the religion aspect here, especially with the female minister. I hope they tackled religion well here. Aaaand I think I’ll stay away from Krispy Kreme when I get to read this. :P Too tempting.

After the Kiss by Terra Elan McAvoy

This moment changes everything.Becca has been head-over-heels for Alec from the instant they met. He’s a brainy jock with a poet’s heart—in other words, perfect for her.

Camille is careful with her words and protective of her heart, especially since Chicago. Then a new boy in her new town catches her off guard with a surprise kiss.

Too bad that new boy is Becca’s boyfriend, Alec.

Camille and Becca have never met, but their lives will unravel and intertwine in surprising ways as they deal with what happens after the kiss.

Ah, good old contemporary YA. This sounds like those friends falling for their best friend’s boyfriend and stuff, but only, the two parties don’t know each other. Very, very interesting, and I hope the sample doesn’t disappoint.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris– the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She’s determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax– but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they’ve worked for.

Thanks to my friend Grace for telling me about Jackson Pearce (who is only two years older than I am, wow). I think this is also a retelling? I remember reading a story about Snow White and Rose Red…or is that a different one? Anyway, I’m curious about this, and I have a feeling that there’s a werewolf in this store. I’m reading Jackson’s As You Wish right now, and it’s been very enjoyable so far, and I think this will be a good one as well. Plus the cover’s really pretty. :)

So that’s it for this week’s samples. Have you read any of the books above? What do you think about them? Do you have any books you’d like to recommend for me to sample (and drool for? Haha).

Happy weekend, everyone!

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The Song of the Lioness (Tamora Pierce)

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The Song of the Lioness

The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce

I wasn’t much of a fantasy reader when I was young. My love affair with reading started with one of the Sweet Valley Kids books. Early on, I never strayed from the Sweet Valley, Nancy Drew and Babysitters Club shelves during bookstore visits, ignoring all the other books and genres in the process. When I grew up, I was more likely to pick up “fluffy” books than fantasy or scifi. I can answer a question about high school cliques in a heartbeat, but anything about magic or supernatural creatures or lands that only exist in the imagination, and my brain shuts down. It wasn’t until last year, when I set a personal goal to read more fantasy books, that I wandered over to other shelves. However, given the great variety of fantasy titles, it’s easy for a fantasy newbie like me to be overwhelmed.

Enter Tamora Pierce and The Song of the Lioness series. Spoiler Warning from here on out.

Published from 1983 to 1988, The Song of the Lioness was originally written as a single book for adults, but was rejected by the publisher. Pierce cut up the manuscript and revised it into four books for teenagers. These four books feature Alanna of Trebond, and chronicle her journey into knighthood and her adventures as a knight. In Alanna: The First Adventure, we meet Alanna and her twin brother Thom, who switches places with her to go to the City of the Gods so Alanna could fulfill her dream to be a lady knight. She disguises herself as a boy, names herself Alan, and starts her knight training at the royal court.  Alanna makes friends along the way like Crown Prince Jonathan, King of Thieves George Cooper, and her teacher, Sir Myles of Olau, as well as enemies like Ralon of Malven and the man who becomes Alanna’s nemesis, Duke Roger of Conte. In the next book, In the Hands of the Goddess, Alanna continues her training, now as Jonathan’s squire and good friend, and adopts a strange purple-eyed cat she named Faithful. She joins her first war and tries to find proof that Roger is responsible for the mess that the kingdom finds itself in. Alanna becomes known as The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, which is also the title of the third book, where she leaves Tortall after revealing her identity, killing Roger and becoming a knight. She finds herself joining a Bahzir tribe where she becomes a shaman, and learns how to use and be less afraid of her power. The quartet ends with Lioness Rampant, where Alanna searches for the legendary Dominion Jewel, and returns home to help her friends to fight a war and protect both the soon-to-be-crowned King Jonathan and all of Tortall. Click here to read the rest of the review.

Rating:
Alanna: The First Adventure [rating=4]
In the Hand of the Goddess [rating=4]
Woman Who Rides Like a Man [rating=3]
Lioness Rampant [rating=5]

2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 30-33 out of 100 for 2010
* Book # 14-17 out of 20 Fantasy books for 2010

→ Tamora Piece’s website

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