Countdown: 2012 Releases (14)

I still can't get over how quickly this year is already flying by. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was counting down the days until Summer finally got here, and look at that...here it is. My Summer is already looking jam packed with friends getting married and all the festivities that go along with that. But also exciting is all the great books that are scheduled to hit the shelves.

I can't believe how many great titles are coming out and how badly I want to read them all. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage to fit everything in, but I'm crossing my fingers I'll find a way and at least if I have some traveling to do for these weddings I'll be sure to have plenty of great reads to take a long with me to pass the time, right?

That's the plan anyways and hopefully I'll have some down time as well in between all the fun festivities lined up to squeeze in a book or two on a night in, curled up on my couch unwinding from all the craziness!

Countdown Pick #1: Snow White and the Huntsman by Lily Blake (06/05/2012)

A breathtaking new vision of a legendary tale. Snow White is the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen who is out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman who was dispatched to kill her.

Most of us have been read the tale of Snow White as kids by our parents. If you weren't read the story, I would be shocked if you haven't seen the Disney version! It was never one of my favorites when I was little, mainly because it scared me. Snow White running through the forest, the trees coming to life and grabbing at her, etc... It was all too much for me, and don't even get me started on the evil queen and tempting people with poisonous apples...it's probably still why I'm not a huge fan of the fruit. But now that I'm older and less inclined to let a Disney movie scare me, I'm really looking forward to both the new movie version, as well as the adapted book. Charlize Theron is going to blow me away with her evil queen, I've got no doubt!

Countdown Pick #2: Arise (Hereafter, #2) by Tara Hudson (06/05/2012)

Amelia—still caught between life and death—must fight for every moment of her relationship with the human boy Joshua. They can hardly even kiss without Amelia accidentally dematerializing. Looking for answers, they go to visit some of Joshua’s Seer relatives in New Orleans. But even in a city so famously steeped in the supernatural, Amelia ends up with more questions than answers…and becomes increasingly convinced that she and Joshua can never have a future together.Wandering through the French Quarter, Amelia meets other in-between ghosts, and begins to seriously consider joining them. And then she meets Gabrielle. Somehow, against impossible odds, Gaby has found a way to live a sort of half-life...a half-life for which Amelia would pay any price. Torn between two worlds, Amelia must choose carefully, before the evil spirits of the netherworld choose for her.

This is a series that I've been really excited to check out. Of course with the second installment in the series now just around the corner, I think it just might be a good time to dive right in. It's always nice when you find a great book and then realize the other installments in the series are already on the shelves, and there's no long wait to see what will happen next. Have you guys read the series opener for this one? Did you enjoy it? The whole idea behind the novels sounds interesting and intriguing to say the least, so I can't wait to check both the series opener and this one out, and soon! And be sure to head over to Goodreads if you haven't already and enter the contest for your chance to win a copy of this title!

Countdown Pick #3: Tempest Unleashed (Tempest, #2) by Tracy Deebs (06/05/2012)

Tempest Maguire is happy with her decision to embrace her mermaid nature and live among her mother’s clan within the ocean’s depths. Even though training to one day ascend the throne for the aging mermaid queen is rigorous, she finds refuge in the arms of Kona, the selkie who first opened her up to her mermaid side. But when word comes that one of her brothers has been gravely injured on land, Tempest immediately rushes to his side—which also brings her back to her old flame, Mark. And in her absence, a deadly battle begins raging at the hands of Tempest’s old nemesis, the sea witch Tiamat. As the dangerous war erupts, Tempest’s two loves—Kona and Mark, sea and land—will collide for the first time, both to protect her and to force her to choose.

Yet another series that I need to get started on. If the second book is going to hit the shelves in less than a month, I will hopefully have time to dive into the series opener, just in time to finish up and head straight to the store to pick this baby up. I've always been a fan of mermaids and the underwater worlds that authors create, and I'm sure this one will be no different. Fun to be had by all, and from the sounds of it some intense action as well. I'm not sure how I feel about this cover at the moment, but maybe it'll grow on me.

Countdown Pick #4: Monument 14 (Monument 14, #1) by Emmy Laybourne (06/05/2012)

Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

Slightly terrifying to think about, but it also sounds like a wild ride that I wouldn't want to miss. I can't seem to get enough of the dystopian like novels lately, and I've already added this one to my list. Just the description on the back got to me. I think we're all guilty of taking things for granted and forgetting to let people know how we feel especially simply because we all think we have all the time in the world, when we know that's just not true. So this one's been added the list, and if you guys decide to check it out, let me know what you think! If you are interested, Goodreads has a contest up for the chance to win yourself a copy of this title, so head on over and give it a shot.

Countdown Pick #5: Vicious Little Darlings by Katherine Easer (06/05/2012)

Sarah Weaver wasn't looking forward to starting at an all-girls school. But that was before she met Maddy. Maddy and her best friend, Agnes, are fun and rich and interesting-and for some reason, they seem to really like Sarah. Before long, Maddy and Agnes have moved Sarah into a big house off campus, where they cook together, buy each other presents, and share each other's secrets. So why does Sarah feel like something's bizarrely wrong? As more and more cracks start to show in Maddy's and Agnes's perfect veneers, Sarah notices some strange and disturbing things: Maddy's compulsive lying, Agnes's obsession with Maddy, and the deterioration of their friendship. And just when Sarah begins to question her own sanity, things turns deadly. Fans of Pretty Little Liars will devour this juicy debut novel.

We've got a debut here everyone! I can't wait to see what kind of writer Easer is and where she decides to take her readers. There's a contest at Goodreads for this title as well for a chance to win a copy for yourself if you're interested, you can head on over there and sign up. I'm anxious to see what these girls have in mind for their plans of revenge, and to see if the punishment so to speak meets the crime. I can't help being a fan of this kind of thing, the whole concept of payback...in the fiction sense of course. Looking forward to checking this one out one hundred percent!