New Releases: November 8-14, 2010

 Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York’s glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star…

Cordelia is searching for the father she’s never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined—and more dangerous. It’s a life anyone would kill for . . . and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is …

All YA Love: Why the more mature crowd still loves YA.

First of all, let me admit I’m a big fan of YA novels. For my second confession, I personally haven’t been considered a “young adult” for quite sometime…ok, decades, but who’s counting? I have not let my age deter what I read; I never have. When I was about ten years old, I had a crazy thing for Agatha Christie novels. Now that I’m more *coughs* mature, I have become a bigger fan of the YA genre.

I know I’m not alone in this, which does give me some comfort. I was at a restaurant one day and was looking around while waiting for my meal. Being a bookish person, I often notice others of my ilk more than anyone else (excepting super hot guys, of course). There was a man across the aisle, also waiting for his meal, killing his …

Explore This! Portland, Maine

I’ve just finished reading Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick and wanted to feature the town in her novel: Coldwater, Maine. It turns out that this is a fictional town. It would have been nice to feature the boardwalks, beaches and amusements parks as described by Becca but no such luck. So we move on to the next closest, real town that is mentioned throughout: Portland, Maine.

It’s often been a thought of mine to hit the road, travelling down through the Canadian East Coast, then hopping the board and trekking down the coastline of the States. A stop in Maine would be a must for me to get that authentic Maine lobster dinner. Yum!

I’m also a sucker for lighthouses, so you’ll find a few in our travels this week. The funny thing is that in doing my research, I found the picture showing the crash of the Annie Maguire, as commemorated on …

New Release: Oct. 25-31, 2010

Ecstasy in Darkness by Gena Showalter

New York Times bestselling sensation Gena Showalter enthralls with a dark, tantalizing world of humans, otherworlders, powers beyond imagining, and a seductive vampire undone by his insatiable hunger for one woman. . . .Growing up poor on New Chicago’s meanest streets, Ava Sans had two options: be the predator or be the prey. No contest. Now, working for Alien Investigation and Removal, she’s been ordered to capture the biggest, baddest warrior of all—a vampire too beautiful to be real, with the abilityto manipulate time. Once the leader of the entire vampire army, McKell has been deemed savage and unstable, spurned even by his own kind.To McKell, humans should be nothing more than sustenance. Yet the petite, golden-skinned Ava is a fascinating contradiction—vicious yet witty, strong yet vulnerable, lethal but fiercely …

Explore This! Versailles, The Tuileries and Vaux-le-Vicomte

This week, I’ve drawn inspiration for our destination from Lila DiPasqua. Her latest novel, The Princess in His Bed, releases on November 2, 2010, so I thought it fitting to travel her way. Which way is that? Well, France, of course. I haven’t read DiPasqua yet myself but seeing the ratings for her books has convinced me to give them a try. With Princes and castles and romance (did I mention “Fiery” romance?), how can you go wrong?!

So, grab your walking shoes and let’s head to Versailles Palace, The Tuileries and Vaux Le Vicomte…or should I say: Allons-y!!

Our first stop is the Palace of Versailles.

Versailles at night…so pretty!

New Release: October 11-17, 2010

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin …

Explore This! Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

This week, we travel back to the United States to visit Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is the capital city of the state and lies on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Other claims to fame for the city include it playing large roles in the American Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. It is also only 10 miles away from Hershey, Pennsylvania, home of the chocolate makers…..yum!

How does it relate to books? Well, it’s a frequent haunt for the characters in Megan Hart’s novels, which I’m sure alot of you are aware of. I wasn’t, until The Geeky Lover suggested it. Now, I’ve started reading Megan Hart’s Dirty in an attempt to get some background information 😉 I will admit being disappointed to discover that The Slaughtered Lamb is not an actual pub in Harrisburg, though I found one in NYC.

Review: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Format Read: HardcoverNumber of Pages: Pages: 288 pagesRelease Date: September 7th 2010 Publisher:  Little Brown/PoppyFormat Available: Hardcover, Ebook, Audio BookPurchasing Info: Goodreads, Book Depository UK, Book Depository US, Amazon, Chapters Indigo

Book Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley …

New Releases Sept. 27-Oct 2, 2010

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life. William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed … and survive.

Explore This! Castles of Wales and England

I dislike being redundant, but all of the other books I’ve read lately gave me no inspiration for this post, so it seems we remain in Great Britain for this weeks post. But I am heading in a different direction, so hopefully you enjoy 🙂

I have just finished reading The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory, a master of historical fiction. In her most recent novel, we follow the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort/Tudor/Stafford/Stanley, which may not mean anything to those of you not big on historical fiction, but she may be better known to you as Henry VII’s mother and Henry VIII’s grandmother. How’s that for lineage?

I’ve included here what I’m sure is a small portion of castles to be found within Wales, where Lady Margaret lived for a short time during her marriage to Edmund Tudor …