Countdown: 2012 Releases (11)

Can you guys believe that there's only a few more days until The Hunger Games comes out in theaters? Are you guys excited? Nervous? Anxious? I'm all of the above and just crossing my fingers desperately that the movie turns out to be all that I hoped it would. At the very least I'm hoping they don't completely disregard the book and all the Collins' greatness. I know the movies are never as good as the books, I mean how can they be between the authors' incredible writing and our own imaginations creating pictures and images that go along with the words, but a girl can still hope.

I have been checking out the sites on the Internet, reading all the entertainment magazines and early reviews and it's only increased my anxiety level over the whole thing. Luckily with me moving last weekend and finishing that process up this weekend has kept me busy, but not nearly enough to distract me from keeping the countdown in the back of my mind the entire time. How are you guys keeping yourselves busy? Does everyone have their movie tickets already? For me, these countdowns have been a nice way to pass the time and check out other things to look forward to beyond this weekend.

Countdown Pick #1: This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers (06/19/2012)

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

So like I said I'm trying to branch out a little bit more in 2012 with the types of books I'm reading. I'm still going to read all my favorite genres and authors, etc...but I want to make sure I throw in some other books that fall outside of my normal, every day go to types so I can see what else is out there for me. Zombies have NEVER been my cup of tea, but this one didn't seem like the others I've come across in the past. While they're still at large and the reason for the end of the world, it sounds to me like it's what is going on in this high school hideout that will be the central focus and not necessarily what is banging down their doors. Make sure to stop by Goodreads and enter yourself in their giveaway for a chance to win your own copy.

Countdown Pick #2: Defiance (Defiance, #1) by C.J. Redwine (08/28/2012)

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Yes! There are some books that I get excited about on a normal level, and then there are others that I create a craziness in me that I can't contain. This sounds like one of those very books. There's nothing about this book that doesn't sound exciting. We've got good vs. evil in the case of the servants vs. the man in control. We've got romance and forbidden or unrequited love as it would have it, and we've got adventure galore. I'm going to be anxiously awaiting this release for sure and the fact that it's the first installment in a series is icing on the cake. More books to come, and hopefully I'll be just as excited for those release dates as well. It's look likely. Check out the Goodreads giveaway to possibly win yourself a copy.

Countdown Pick #3: What's Left of Me (Hybrid, #1) by Kat Zhang (09/18/2012)

NEVER LET ME GO meets HIS DARK MATERIALS in a beautiful, haunting YA debut, the first book in The Hybrid Trilogy.

Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart?

When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…

This one definitely gets the award for most unique so far for the countdown today. Dual souls that share one body, and that's not allowed? I drive myself crazy sometimes because when I hear about a book like this, I catch myself trying to figure out what will happen and how things came to be the way they are in a book that hasn't even hit the shelves yet. Why I think I'll be able to solve mysteries and figure out clues before I've even gotten the chance to get myself a copy is beyond me, but here I am again. Doing the exact same thing. I wonder....

Countdown Pick #4: Revived by Cat Patrick (05/08/2012)

As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life.

A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency’s true goals, she realizes she’s at the center of something much larger — and more sinister — than she ever imagined.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this one the first time I came across it and decided to hold off on adding it to my list originally. But now I've seen and heard about this one several times since then and the idea behind the novel has grown on me. So I've added it to my list and the more I think about it, the more curious and excited I'm getting over the whole idea. I can't really imagine knowing full well that no matter what happened, I'd be able to be brought back to life as if nothing took place. What kind of darker conspiracy is at work here I'm not sure, but I've got plenty of time to think on it before the book comes out this summer.

Countdown Pick # 5: Silver by Talia Vance (09/08/2012)

Beauty is pointless when no one's looking.

Brianna Paxton has been invisible to guys since the eighth grade. She’s pretty enough, it’s just that no one bothers to look. There’s almost nothing that can’t be explained with science, and Brianna has a theory: she’s missing the pheromone that attracts people to one another. Brianna’s theory is shot to hell in one frozen, silver moment, when time stops and Blake Williams not only sees her, he recognizes something inside her that she’s been hiding from even herself.

Before Brianna fully understands who and what she is, she accidentally binds her soul to Blake. Forced to find a way to reconcile forbidden love and her bloody heritage, Brianna discovers that there's nothing pointless about her, and Blake may be in the most danger of all.

I'm already on Brianna's side, aren't you? I think it's plain to see that she's been given a bad break as far as being practically invisible to anyone else and now she's thinking its so bad that it could be genetics...ouch. So I'm not sure how crazy this tale will get with her being able to bind souls together and their being a "heritage" that she's worried about, but I'm sure excited to find out.