Stacking the Shelves (November 2)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews! It's a way to highlight the books that everyone got throughout the week.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

 Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

 Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani


This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

Published by HarperCollins

 
Doon by Carey Corp & Larie Langdon

Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months.

But the Scottish countryside holds other plans.

Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

Published by Zondervan

 

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay




In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

Published by Delacorte Press

 

The Program by Suzanne Young


Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

Published by Simon Pulse

 

Book Review:Geektastic Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci

Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside)and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on! (From Goodreads)

I'm going to attempt to keep this review short and to the point. As a nerd girl, I grabbed this when I saw it at my local library. I knew that I'd enjoy most of the short stories within the book because the collection of authors was great, and I understood majority of the references (I'd say about 90%).

Perhaps my favorite part of the book were the comics that came after each short story. Illustrated by Bryan Lee O'Malley (of Scott Pilgrim), and Hope Larson, each had me laughing. I have to say that the first short story in the book was my favorite, probably because the entire anthology was developed around it. Written by Black and Castellucci, it was a hilarious look at the shenanigans of cons, and what happens when fandoms attack. I also really enjoyed Nix's story, The Quiet Knight, and wish it had been longer!

There were a couple stories that didn't hold my interest at all. I didn't feel bad skimming through them, which is why the book didn't get a higher rating. It wasn't that I didn't understand the references, it was just that they didn't have characters I found interesting. I've found that I need compelling characters to make me enjoy a short story.

So, if you're a bit of a nerd (and proud of it), this one is worth a read. Plus, I loved all of the references to Doctor Who!

Geektastic
Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
403 Pages
Rating: C

In My Mailbox (December 19)

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. All of the synopses you see below were found on Goodreads. Here are the books I got this week...

For Review:
Will Work For Prom Dress by Aimee Ferris

Planning for prom’s supposed to be fun—the dress, the accessories, the devastatingly handsome date—but Quigley Johnson never thought that agreeing to her best friend Ann’s Betterment Plan would ruin her life!

After a series of bizarre part-time jobs, the prospect of being a live model for a fashion-design class has Quigley ready to throw in the towel, until she meets Zander. He may not be able to sketch, but he’s smoking hot, cool and funny, and every outfit he creates might as well be made for her. But is he too good to be true? Then there’s David, the self-professed “Art King” whose competitiveness has always meant cutting Quigley down, until he sets his sights on making her his prom date and “Art Queen.” And this preparation for the formal was supposed to make Quigley and Ann even closer, but it’s tearing them apart! How will Quigley make it to prom, when she’s barely making it through high school?

Thanks to EgmontUSA for this one!

Solid by Shelley Workinger

Eighteen years ago, a rogue Army doctor secretly experimented with a chromosomal drug on unknowing pregnant women. When he was killed not long after the children were born, any knowledge and evidence seemed to die with him - except the living, breathing, human products of his work.

Almost two decades later, the newly self-proclaimed “open-book” military unearths the truth about the experiment, bringing Clio Kaid and the other affected teens to a state-of-the-art, isolated campus where they soon discover that C9x did indeed alter their chromosomes, its mutations presenting as super-human abilities. The military kids, who come from across the nation and all walks of life, come into their own as lighter-than-air ‘athletes’; ‘indies’ as solid as stone walls; teens who can make themselves invisible and others who can blind with their brilliance.

As Clio comes into her remarkable ability, embraces new friendships and embarks on first love, she also can’t shake the suspicion that the government has not been as forthcoming with their attentions as they claimed…

Thanks Shelley!

Library:
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons.

A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists.

But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born

White Cat by Holly Black

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Emily Benedict has come to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew, she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor, Julia Winterson, bakes hope in the form of cakes, not only wishing to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth but also dreaming of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily’s backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in.

Book Review: Zombies vs Unicorns Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? (From Goodreads)

Part of Around the World Tours

I had quite a bit of fun reading Zombies vs. Unicorns. I snickered, I l laughed, and I regretted reading a few of the creepier stories late at night (I scare easily). In the end, I decided which team to pledge my allegiance to, but I'll discuss that later.

Zombies VS Unicorns is an anthology of short stories featuring, you guessed it, unicorns and zombies. Sadly, however, they only interact in one story. Team Zombie includes stories by Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Maureen Johnson, Carrie Ryan, and Scott Westerfeld. Team Unicorn includes Meg Cabot, Kathleen Duey, Margo Lanagan, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, and Diana Peterfreund. Honestly, the authors alone made me eager to read this book. There are quite a few of my favorite authors, like Meg Cabot. The anthology includes stories that are comedic, and dramatic. I'll admit that some stories are stronger than others, but I still couldn't set it down. My personal favorites were written by Meg Cabot (two words: Princess Prettypants), Carrie Ryan, Diana Peterfreund, and Garth Nix.

I really enjoyed the banter between Black and Larbalestier as they introduced the book, and each story. They left me laughing, and attempting to get other people to read certain passages. I also loved that Ryan and Peterfreund wrote stories that actually tied into their other stories. Of course, I love both The Killer Unicorn series, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth . So, it was nice to read different perspectives from those two universes.

Overall, it was great read. I really enjoyed all the zombie/unicorn lore that was included, and that author list is a huge plus in and of itself. There's something in here for every zombie/unicorn fan. So, if you're looking for a dramatic story, you'll find one. If comedy is your thing, there's quite a few stories in here that you'll enjoy.

My favorite quote: ""Probably he's trying to make himself immortal, which never works, except wizards never listen when you tell them that, and we would really prefer if he got stopped before he cuts off the babies' horns trying."

"Let me guess," Alison said. "Is his name Voldemort?"

"No, what freakish kind of name is Voldemort?"

-pg 53 (ARC edition, page number is subject to change)

Zombies Vs. Unicorns
Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Published by Simon & Schuster
432 Pages
Release Date: September 21, 2010
Rating: A

Why I'm Team Unicorn:
1. Unicorns are majestic creatures, not all gooey and drippy
2. If you get gored by a unicorn, you die. Zombies either eat your brains, or turn you into a zombie. Neither of those options is pleasant.
3. Unicorns have magical healing powers. So, if you accidentally get gored, or hurt in battle, the unicorn could heal you.

In My Mailbox (August 15)

In my mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. Here are the books I got this week...

For Review:
Zombies Vs. Unicorns Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? (From Goodreads)

Part of Around the World Tours




Bought:

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

What if all your wishes really came true?

Kayla McHenry’s sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left,
her grades dropped, and her BFF is dati ...more What if all your wishes really came true?

Kayla McHenry’s sweet sixteen sucks! Her dad left, her grades dropped, and her BFF is dating the boy Kayla’s secretly loved for years. Blowing out her candles, Kayla thinks: I wish my birthday wishes actually came true. Because they never freakin’ do.

Kayla wakes the next day to a life-sized, bright pink My Little Pony outside her window. Then a year’s supply of gumballs arrives. A boy named Ken with a disturbing resemblance to the doll of the same name stalks her. As the ghosts of Kayla’s wishes-past appear, they take her on a wild ride . . . but they
MUST STOP. Because when she was fifteen? She wished Ben Mackenzie would kiss her. And Ben is her best friend’s boyfriend. (From Goodreads)

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex traffick ...more Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all. (From Goodreads)

What did you get this week?