Countdown: 2012 Releases (8)

There are just so many to chose from and I never know which to include and which to leave out. But it's so much fun to decide...and to continue to hunt for more of course. I am just still so overwhelmed with all the new titles coming out in 2012 that I have a hard time processing it all. My bank account will surely suffer this year with all of these titles hitting the shelves, and I can only say that I'm glad I have a kindle so I can at least hope to save some money through the sometimes discounted prices. Otherwise I'd be broke for sure! Who's with me?

And although I try to make a point of personally thanking all my friends on Goodreads, my blogger buddies, etc...each and every time I receive a recommendation from these individuals I have to say it again. I can't thank you guys enough...I have found that some of my utmost favorite novels have not been found randomly or by any personal trick of the trade but by the super sweet recommendations I get from you guys. Whether in the form of comments here on the blog, emails, or the feature of Goodreads that allows everyone to send the recommendations out to your friends, I cannot thank you all enough!

Countdown Pick #1: Breathless by Cole Gibsen (03/27/2012)

Obituary-reading emo girl Edith Small is broken - the end result of forcing herself inside a mold that doesn't fit. All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day.

But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep. After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school.

Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her. But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget.

After meeting Bastin - a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes - on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning.

In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.

I'll tell you what...Ariel and the Little Mermaid fooled us all! I can't tell you how excited I was last year after hearing about some new and exciting titles featuring mermaids and mer people within their pages...but I wasn't prepared for them to be so vicious! I mean after seeing what some people paint them to be capable of in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, I think the idea took off and we can all say good bye to the fun loving, singing under the sea variety, and say hello to the scary, murdering and conniving version that we're being presented with all around. While this title might give me nightmares about going anywhere near the water for a while, I'm going to torture myself and step it up to read this one, because let's be honest....the not knowing what happens...it would be too much!

Countdown Pick #2: Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson (06/12/2012)

Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!

It's about an English girl who goes to Italy for a long hot summer, on a secret mission to solve a family mystery -- and meets some wild American girls and some very hot Italian boys on Vespas!

There are two places I've always wanted to visit if given the chance, one being Ireland and the other being Italy. My sister went last year and ever since I'm still hanging on her every word when she tells a story about her trip, or drooling over the beautiful pictures she took while there. So when I hear about a book like this, I can't help but get excited for another taste of Italy. I figure that until I make the trip over there myself, I can soak up as much Italian-esqe information as possible to tide me over. Plus this book just sounds like a light, fun and easy read, and we all need a few of those to unwind with everyone once in a while.

Countdown Pick #3: While He Was Away by Karen Schreck (05/01/2012)

"This is just something I have to do, okay?" I hear David say. "The right thing."

He cradles my face in his hands. He kisses me hard. Then he lets go of me. His eyes dart from me to whatever's next.

When Penna Weaver's boyfriend goes off to Iraq, she's left facing life without him. As summer sets in, Penna tries to distract herself with work and her art, but the not knowing is slowly driving her crazy. Especially when David stops writing. She knows in her heart he will come home- but will he be the same boy she fell in love with?

As someone how has a friend in the military I think this book is just something I have to read. While I think it's inevitable that war changes everyone, but specifically the soldiers who are in the thick of things, I think most times people expect soldiers to come back changed in one way or another. While the changes are not necessarily always a bad thing, they can be hard on more than just the individual in question. Families and friends experience these changes from the sidelines and are often unsure what to do in these types of situations. So I'm curious to see where Schreck will take this story and what things will look like for her characters when all is said and done.

Countdown Pick #4: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson (07/03/2012)

15 year old Tiger Lily, proud and fierce, wild and misunderstood, doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland, and immediately falls under his spell. Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, big-hearted but hard to reach, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything - her family, her future - to be with the haunted, hunted, courageous boy who loves her. When - as a punishment for her rebellious ways - she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter. With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

From the New York Times bestselling author of PEACHES comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

Yes, yes, yes! I have always been a Peter Pan fan, and always thought that Tiger Lily was never really given as much of a back story as I thought she deserved and would have personally enjoyed learning. So when I came across this future release I couldn't help but smile. It seems that I was not alone in thinking he story would be an interesting and fun one to explore after all. The idea of Peter Pan and what he would really be like within Neverland with his Lost Boys and the Darling children put me to sleep with wonderful dreams as a child and even to this day now that I'm grown and hoping to one day read those same stories to kids of my own, I can't help but think how timeless his story really is. Hopefully the further delving into Tiger Lily's identity will prove to be just as timeless and moving. Head on over to Goodreads to enter the giveaway for your chance to win your own copy.

Countdown Pick #5: Lucid by Ron Bass (10/02/2012)

What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn’t be more different—except for one thing. They share a secret that they can’t tell a soul. At night, they dream that they’re each other.

The deeper they’re pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.

This is a dazzling debut that will still readers’ hearts.

Dreamlike realities are picking up speed in the popularity contest lately don't you think? When I came across this future release I immediately thought about the new show on NBC, Awake about the man who can't tell which is reality and which is a dream world, and in some ways, he doesn't want to know the answer. After watching the first episode I couldn't help but become hooked and eager to see what would happen next for this character. The same can be said for this book. I'm very curious to see what these girls seem to find so hard to give up in their dream worlds that they aren't content with in their own realities. It's an intriguing thought since most of us are always thinking of something else we want, somewhere else we want to be, and some other way we wish things had turned out to be.