Separated at Birth

Books, Comics, Environment, Espionage, Fantasy, Horror, New, Sci Fi, Separated at Birth, Simon
New Books
05.11.10 | Permalink | Comment?

As promised, here are some more new books. Maybe all of them. There are many! If there was an earthquake right now they would fall on me, perhaps injuring me slightly.

Nevermore, by Kelly Creagh (543 pages) – Isobel falls in lurve with the aloof and sarky (and gorgeous) Varen, whose dream world – based on the not-at-all-jolly stories of Edgar Allan Poe – have come to life. She must rescue him before his nightmares devour him!

First line: ‘By the end of fourth period, Isobel’s espresso buzz from that morning’s venti latte had long since worn off.‘

Annexed, by Sharon Dogar (329 pages) – Peter van Pels and his family went into hiding with Anne Frank, and there, in this (imagined) story, he finds himself falling in love with her. As history documents, it’s not a happy love story, and Peter’s experience continues into and beyond the Nazi death camps.

First lines: ‘I think I’m still alive. But I’m not sure.‘

The FitzOsbornes in Exile : The Montmaray Journals Book Two, by Michelle Cooper (451 pages) – Diary-writer Sophie and her family’s home, an island kingdom!, has been overrun by the Nazis, and they all find themselves trying to navigate the English aristocracy while pretty much penniless and/or mad. A sequel (obviously!) to this book.

First line: ‘I write this sitting at an exquisite little Louis the Fifteenth secretaire in the White Drawing Room, using a gold fountain pen borrowed from the King of Montmaray and a bottle of ink provided by one of the footmen.‘

Demon Princess : Reign Check, by Michelle Rowan (292 pages) – Nikki is half human, and half demon, and ‘has had a lot to deal with’. A faery king enrols at her high school to investigate her potential for destroying the world, and Nikki is summoned to the Underworld to appear before a demon council for some reason. And! She’s also madly in love with her Shadow Creature servant, Michael, but it’s forbidden.

First line: ‘Act normal, I told myself as I pushed through the front doors of Erin Heights High School.‘

The Hunt : A Dark Touch Novel, by Amy Meredith (262 pages) – Another supernatural romance, the genre du jour. Demons are on the hunt and Eve must use her powers to fight them. She’s also mad keen on ‘gorgeous’ Luke, who may or may not be something more as well. Do they have a future together? Do they have a future at all? Will anyone have a future?

First line: ‘“Dude, have you decided to give up showering?” Dave Perry called after practice on Monday.‘

Trash, by Andy Mulligan (215 pages) – Everyone seems to be reserving this book! It’s about three friends who live in a dumpsite somewhere in the third world,, making a living from trash. They find something – a deady secret – and shortly afterwards they are ‘hunted without mercy.’ But it has a happy ending; it is ‘utterly original and universal, it will touch the world.’

First line: ‘My name is Raphael Fernandez and I am a dumpsite boy.‘

Kiss Me Deadly : Tales of Paranormal Romance, edited by Trisha Telep (430 pages) -Thirteen stories of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, shapeshifters, fallen angels, zombies (ugh) and other instances of supernatural love. Actually really good even if you’re no fan of supernatural romance; Maggie Stiefvater’s The Hounds of Ulster is a cracking story.

Beautiful Darkness, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (503 pages) – Going to copy and paste this synopsis; ‘In a small southern town with a secret world hidden in plain sight, sixteen-year-old Lena, who possesses supernatural powers and faces a life-altering decision, draws away from her true love, Ethan, a mortal with frightening visions.’

First line: ‘I used to think our town, buried in the South Carolina back woods, stuck in the muddy bottom of the Santee River valley, was the middle of nowhere.‘

Yes, I Know the Monkey Man, by Dori Hillestad Butler (196 pages) – When T. J.’s dad is injured she discovers that she was kidnapped by her father 10 years ago. Not only does she have a mother and a step-father, but also a twin sister. This book also arguably has the best title of any book, ever.

First line: ‘The little red light on our answering machine was blinking on and off when I wandered into the kitchen.‘

Mutation : The Phoenix Files, by Chris Morphew (311 pages) – This is the third book in the Phoenix Files series. We reviewed the first book a while ago. There were 100 days left before the world ends; now there are only 63 days left and (in addition to the whole major catastrophe thing) something weird is happening to the people of Phoenix.

First line: ‘My fists clenched in my lap as Shackletone approached the podium, a hint of his sick, grandfatherly smile still pulling at his lips.‘

Love Sucks!, by Melissa Francis (285 pages) – a sequel to Bite Me!, and if there’s a third book what do you think it will be called? Stake Out! maybe. Pass The Grave-y! probably not. Love at First Bite! Jack reckons. Vampire teen A. J. still suffers being in love with her gorgeous step-brother, and maybe her vampire trainer, who is also gorgeous, and her father wants to take over the world, AND she has to plan the prom.

First line: ‘My mother’s baby shower.‘

The Body Finder, by Kimberly Derting (329 pages) – Violet has the cheery ability to psychically detect dead bodies, as well as the imprint that remains on their killers. So now that a serial killer is stalking her small town, she realises that she’s the only one who can find the killer (and she’s being haunted quite a bit). She teams up with best friend Jay, who she’s developing feelings for (he is gorgeous).

First line: ‘Violet Ambrose wandered away from the safety of her father as she listened to the harmony of sounds weaving delicately around her.‘

The Secret To Lying, by Todd Mitchell (328 pages) – James was a nerd at his old school, but now that he’s been enrolled in an exclusive academy for mathletes he can easily be the ‘cool guy’ – he makes up a tough background for himself and soon is lying about everything. Unfortunately there are consequences, and in his case they are quite destructive.

First line: ‘I was the guy no one noticed.‘

Once Dead, Twice Shy, by Kim Harrison (232 pages) – More supernatural romance. This one’s particular hook is dead teen Madison, who, with the help of a magic amulet, affects the illusion of a live body, and is involved in the battle between light and dark reapers. There’s also her cute crush, and a guardian angel. A sequel is in the works!

First lines: ‘Everyone does it. Dies, I mean.‘

The Project, by Brian Falkner (343 pages) – Falkner’s last book, Brainjack, won this year’s NZ Post Children’s Book Award in the YA fiction category. So this book should be quite good! It’s about a book (the ‘most boring book in the world’) that hides a terrible secret; when it’s revealed the world may never be the same again.

First line: ‘“I reckon we would have got away with it if it wasn’t for that drunken chipmunk.”‘

Before We Say Goodbye, by Gabriella Ambrosio (144 pages) – Two cousins – Dima and Myriam – are Palestinians living in Jerusalem. Myriam is hopeful of visiting America with Dima, but Dima has no dreams of the future; she has ‘already accepted her destiny: today she will die.’

First line: ‘It was technically springtime on the day that Dima got up from her mattress after a long yet strangely brief and confused night.‘

Girl Saves Boy, by Steph Bowe (280 pages) – A romance, but not supernatural (refreshingly!). Sacha has a terminal disease, his mother has died, and his father is seeing his art teacher. He attempts to drown himself! But luckily is rescued by Jewel Valentine, and it’s all uphill from there.

First line: ‘My brother’s last word was: “Polo.”‘

The Runaway Dragon, by Kate Coombs (292 pages) – The sequel to The Runaway Princess, in which Princess Meg finds a baby dragon. Laddy, the dragon, runs away from home, so the Princess, her friends, and a group of guardsmen go on a quest to find him.

First line: ‘At first Meg visited Laddy a lot, riding her horse from the castle through the Witch’s Wood to Hookhorn Farm, where her friend Cam’s sister lived.‘

Token of Darkness, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (197 pages) – Gorgeous football hero, Cooper, has a car accident, and when he awakens he starts seeing a ghost. Samantha (the ghost) is attractive but is, you know, a ghost, so their relationship is going to be a bit out of the ordinary. Delilah, a clairvoyant cheerleader, and telepathic Brent realise that Cooper’s in trouble. Awoooh.

First line: ‘The darkness was a alive, and it was hungry.‘

There is also a new book about Glee, called 100% Gleek : The Unofficial Guide to Glee!, and a comic version of Anthony Horowitz’s Raven’s Gate called, well, The Power of Five. Book One, Raven’s Gate : The Graphic Novel.
Grimm, Separated at Birth
Book Covers: Carpet of Grass
23.07.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Here are four book covers illustrating how nice a good patch of grass is to lie on (although not in mid winter). It’s all very chilled out and relaxed and happy, or is it? (Read them and find out.)

Footfree and Fancyloose, Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain – carrying on from Bass Ackwards and Belly Up, Harper and her three BFFs are half way through a year in which they pursue their dreams rather than going to college. Good for people with withdrawal from the Pants Sisterhood?

Front and Center, Catherine Gilbert Murdock – the final in the trilogy about the fabulous DJ Shwenk (the first being Dairy Queen – which the central library staff selected as a Librarian’s Choice). DJ has to decide on her future, which is quite complex and political when top line College basketball programmes are involved (did anyone see the movie The Blind Side, which is football but still sort of the same saga?).

The Loser’s Guide to Life and Love, A E Cannon – “Four teens fumble the ball of love in this entertaining romantic comedy based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream” says the Booklist review. Snappy dialogue.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary, Nick Burd – while his parents’ marriage fall apart, Dade comes out of the closet. Rites of passage and coming of age: it’s got good reviews too.
Grimm, Separated at Birth
Separated at Birth: More Title Twins
17.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Spud, John van de Ruit. Hilarity at an exclusive boarding school with Nelson Mandella’s release from prison in 1990 as a backdrop. A runaway bestseller in South Africa (and now consequently being made into a film). Spud’s real (fictitious) name is John.

Sprout, Dale Peck. More hilarity. A coming of age story about a teenage boy whose real (fictitious) name is Daniel and whose hair is green thanks to a dyeing episode. People rave about the memorable characters.

Spray, Harry Edge. Less hilarity (the black sheep of the family). Five teenagers sign up for an assassination, street-fighting game organised by a mysterious “gamekeeper” whose intentions seem a bit dodgy.
Grimm, Separated at Birth
Separated at Birth: Title Twins
08.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?

In order to prove that Wellington City Libraries has rather a lot of books, CDs and things for you to borrow here’s the “Separated at Birth: Title Twins” game. Hopefully to be accompanied by the “Separated at Birth: Cover Twins” game.

So, it goes a little something like this: some books have rather similar titles. If they do (and the title is unusual-ish) they’ll appear on this here blog. If you’ve come across interestingly similar book titles then let us know (leave a comment or something).

(Two recent new arrivals gave me the idea.)

Twin One

Listen Taylor is a relatively normal girl whose relatively normal (apart from the name) life is upturned by her father dating someone from the wacky Zing family. Lotus Lowenstein, on the other hand, has a slightly less normal fixation on all things French in general and existentialism in particular.

The Spell Book of Listen Taylor, Jaclyn Moriarty

The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein, Libby Schmais

Twin Two

The first type of finding has to do with working out who you are; the second type has to do with stumbling across an urn in the back of a taxi.

Finding Freia Lockhart, Aimee Said

Finding Violet Park, Jenny Valentine

Twin Three

John Green’s first novel is arranged in a “before” and “after” structure, with everything hinging on one life-defining moment in a high school student’s life. Melina Marchetta’s first novel follows Josie Alibrandi through her final year of high school, and was made into a very successful movie in 2000 (which the library has). Interestingly, Looking for Alaska looks like it’s going to be made into a movie too (take your hankie when you go).

Looking for Alaska, John Green

Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta

Twin Four

These are quite different. A Northern Light is the story of Mattie Gokey, who gets caught up in the Big Moose Lake murder case (an actual event in 1906). Big Moose Lake is in upstate New York. Northern Lights follows Lyra as she travels north in search of her friend Roger Parslow and Lord Asriel. Northern Lights is known as The Golden Compass in the United States and won the Carnegie Medal in 1995; A Northern Light is known as A Gathering Light in the United Kingdom and won the Carnegie Medal in 2003. Huh.

Northern Lights, Philip Pullman

A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly

Am in connect the dots heaven.