Future Reads (7)

Future Reads is a feature on Book Labyrinth where I sporadically post about books coming out in the near (or not so near!) future and explain why I want to read them. This feature is inspired by memes and features like Waiting on Wednesday and Books to Pine For. I hope you'll discover something you want to read as well! (All title links will take you to Goodreads.)

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Release Date: July 12, 2011

I mean, just look at the title. How cool does that sound? Amy is a reluctant witch ranch-sitting for her sister. Ghosts, bodies discovered, AND a hot cowboy.





The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines
Release Date: July 19, 2011

So, this book is described as a "YA novel for fans of Veronica Mars." Me? Sold! Plus it's a historical novel, set during WWII. A teen girl helping out at her Dad's detective agency. And there's a boy! And dancing!



Lie by Caroline Bock
Release Date: August 30, 2011

This one is a more serious read, about a town torn apart by a hate crime. Skylar has to deal with whether to testify against her boyfriend as well as figure out why she would be with him in the first place.




Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
Release Date: September 6, 2011

The series is called "Medusa Girls": do you really need more than that? But seriously, TLC writes some very fun mythology based books, and I'm sure this one will be great.






Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Release Date: October 18, 2011

I've actually read this one already through GalleyGrab, but I wanted to spotlight it before its October release. It's good, you guys! Music, forbidden romance, addiction, & an overbearing mother. Are you intrigued yet?




I hope you've enjoyed these future reads! What not yet released books are you looking forward to?

Top Ten Book Settings

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Settings in Books
All those real or imagined locations/worlds you loved reading about.

1. Hogwarts (Harry Potter, obviously) -- I bet this will be on most people's lists, because if you've read about Hogwarts (and Hogsmeade, and Diagon Alley, etc.) how could you not love it?

2. Cousins Beach (Jenny Han's Summer Trilogy) -- Cousins Beach, especially the beach house, just seems like this idyllic childhood place. I wish I had a cottage to go to every summer like the Conklins and the Fishers.

3. Pembrook Park (Austenland by Shannon Hale) -- This place just sticks out to me as a really fun and unique book setting. How insane would it be to go to this place that relives the setting of your favourite book(s)?

4. Gallagher Academy (Gallagher Girls books) -- It's a boarding school for spies in training. Need I say more? I will, though, because this place is amazingly cool. Secret levels depending on your clearance, all kinds of secret passageways... it reminds me of the X-Mansion.

5. Paris in Anna and the French Kiss -- I've always been more of a London girl than a Paris fan, but the way Stephanie Perkins wrote about the city made me fall in love with it.

6. Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson series) -- I'm not a half-blood (that I know of), but this place seems awesome. I love how each of the gods/goddesses gets their own house, and how the building represents their characteristics.

7. New York City in The Mortal Instruments books -- I love the idea of there being a "secret" side to our normal cities, and these books are a great example of that. Faeries living under Central Park, vampires holing up in abandoned buildings, and all these places that look entirely different to mortals? Very cool.

8. Colby in Sarah Dessen's books (Keeping the Moon, Along for the Ride) -- Colby, to me, represents the perfect beach town. I could just imagine spending a whole summer there, visiting the Last Chance Cafe and hanging out at the beach.

9. Carmel, California (Mediator series) -- Carmel just seems like a beautiful place with all the massive old houses and the historic buildings like the Mission.

10. Victorian London (The Agency books) -- Y.S. Lee knows her stuff, so it's no wonder that the London she writes about comes to life so vividly in her books. As mentioned above, I love London itself, but imagining  it in the past just gives me the shivers (I was a history major, okay? give me a break ;)).

Which book settings are your favourites? I can't wait to read all about them.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Release Date: June 7, 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pages: 512
Series: Dustlands #1
Review Source: S & S GalleyGrab

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.
Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

My Thoughts:
You should know that I put this one off for a long time. "It's written in dialect?" I thought, wrinkling my nose. "It doesn't even have quotation marks?" I didn't think I could get past the writing style, even though the idea sounded interesting. Plus there's been a zillion dystopian books lately that, frankly, have disappointed me. Well, thankfully I started seeing some very positive reviews (Melissa and Lucy's stand out most in my mind) for 'Blood Red Road' and I thought "Heck with it, I'm going to read this one!" Well, I am super thankful that I did, because I was quite blown away.

First of all, this book is an epic adventure story. There's lots of traveling in it, and the whole book is based on Saba's quest to rescue her brother Lugh. This book contains so many elements. There's the rescue, fighting, themes of family, a bit of romance, and even the tiniest bit of the fantastical. The story drew me in right from the beginning, and the language is actually quite wonderful and easy to get used to. Sure, there were a few parts that were a bit tough, and I found that it took me a few pages to get back into the style every time I picked the book back up, but once I was into it? I was totally lost in the story and Saba's narrative voice just added to its awesomeness.

This book has an incredible cast of characters. There are a good number of them, but they're all so unique and interesting. Nero the crow was an incredible character, if you can believe it. I'm actually scared of birds in "real life", but I guess I can handle book characters. ;) But really, Nero was incredible. He has human qualities and, even considering the fact that he doesn't say a word, he's so funny and awesome and loving. Saba was also quite the riot. She's so selfish at times, and she's incredibly stubborn and driven. At times she does whatever she wants with little regard for other people, especially for her little sister Emmi, but thankfully she begins to change through the influence of Jack and some of the Free Hawks. Even so, the love Saba has for her brother shines throughout the whole book, and even when she was being idiotic, I somehow had a soft spot for Saba.

'Blood Red Road' reminded me a bit of 'Graceling' and Maria V. Snyder's 'Study' books. There's less magic in this one, but the tone was similar somehow. The books also share similar appeal factors, with the journey and the tough but flawed heroine. I just really fell into this story and I didn't want to stop reading it. Despite devouring the lengthy book over a couple of days I didn't want the book to be over with, either. Thankfully there will be two more books in the trilogy, and, for me, they can't come soon enough. This one is a perfect combination of all the book elements I adore, including a romance that's incredibly steamy despite the fact that the book contains only a few kisses.

Rating:
[5/5]

Find Blood Red Road by Moira Young on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca