Countdown: January 2013 (2)

January is one of my very months out of the year.  It always feels like a fresh start.  The crazy holiday season has drawn to a close, it's possible (depending on where you live) that the weather is still holding steady and not causing too many problems for those of us a with a commute to work, and there's just something about curling up with a good book during this month that makes me very happy.  I've usually got a few titles to choose from during this month due to my wonderful friends and family gifting me with something they know I love and hold dear to my heart.  The hardest part is usually deciding what to read first and how to stop myself from trying to read them all at once!  So with all these great titles coming out in this January I think us readers will have our work cut out for us.  How we'll find the time to get through all of these amazing titles is beyond me, but I'm certainly going to do my best!

Countdown Pick #1:  The Wrap-Up List by Steven Arnston (01/08/2013)

In this modern-day suburban town, one percent of all fatalities come about in the most peculiar way. Deaths—eight-foot-tall, silver-gray creatures—send a letter (“Dear So-and-So, your days are numbered”) to whomever is chosen for a departure, telling them to wrap up their lives and do the things they always wanted to do before they have to “depart.” When sixteen-year-old Gabriela receives her notice, she is, of course devastated. Will she kiss her crush Sylvester before it’s too late?

Friendship, first love, and fantasy artfully mesh in this magically realistic world that ultimately celebrates life.

Crazy, unique, and totally an idea that already has my head spinning.  It's the ultimate question don't you think?  What would you do if you knew you were running out of time?  Would you say goodbye to anyone in particular or no one at all?  Is there anything on your "bucket list" so to speak that you absolutely would want to do before it was too late?  Like I said my head is already spinning and this book hasn't even hit the shelves yet.

Countdown Pick #2:  Then You Were Gone by Lauren Strasnick (01/08/2013)

In the tradition of 13 Reasons Why, a suspenseful and heart-wrenching novel from the author of Nothing Like You and Her and Me and You.Two years ago, Adrienne’s best friend walked out of her life. One week ago, she left Adrienne a desperate, muffled voicemail. Adrienne never called back.

Now Dakota is missing. She left behind a string of broken hearts, a flurry of rumors, and a suicide note.

Adrienne can’t stop obsessing over what might have happened if she’d answered Dakota’s call. And she’s increasingly convinced that Dakota must still be alive.

Maybe finding and saving Dakota is the only way Adrienne can save herself.

Or maybe it’s too late for them both.

If what this description says is true and this title will be reminiscent of Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why, I am in all the way!  As one of my favorite books on my shelves, it was one of those reads that will resonate with you long after you've finished the last page.  So if Strasnick brings something like that to the table I can't wait for my chance to get myself my very own copy.

Countdown Pick #3:  Delusion by Laura L. Sullivan (01/08/2013)

When two beautiful teenage stage magicians in World War II England meet a pair of handsome men who can do real magic, sparks fly. But is it illusion, or delusion? Opening-night jitters are nothing new for Phil and Fee Albion, who come from a long line of stage illusionists. The girls love to dazzle London audiences, but in the aftermath of the Blitz they're bundled off to the countryside, where they're safe from bombs and Nazis--and bored to pieces. Phil, always the passionate one, discovers a hidden college of real magicians led by the devastatingly handsome Arden. If only Phil can persuade these unworldly magicians to help England win the war! Daredevil that she is, she'll risk anything to give her country a fighting chance, even if it means losing her heart . . . or her life.

I honestly have no idea what this title is really about but I'm still looking forward to checking it out when it hits bookstores in January.  I have always loved magic and while I might wonder how certain tricks or illusions are carried out, I'd truly never really want to know the secrets.  There's something magical (for lack of a better word) about this book's premise and I'm really looking forward to discovering what Sullivan will bring to the table.

Countdown Pick #4:  Doomed by Tracey Deebs (01/08/2013)

Beat the Game, Save the World.
One Stuxnet type worm,
One Greek-themed MMO,
One real world scavenger hunt,
Three teenagers on the run,
And a ten-day countdown to total nuclear annihilation.

Pandora’s Box isn’t just a myth anymore …

When seventeen-year-old Pandora Walker opens an email attachment, she uploads the most frightening worm ever invented—and in doing so, brings about total technological Armageddon. Everything from the Internet to communications to utilities collapses and suddenly Pandora finds herself on the run from Homeland Security, the FBI and every police department in the country, all of whom blame her for the technological wasteland sweeping across the U.S.. With the help of stepbrothers Eli and Theo, her neighbors and the two hottest guys in school-- plus codes encrypted in a world famous MMO-- she sets out on a real life scavenger hunt that only she can solve. A scavenger hunt that pits her against one of the most brilliant men in the world—the maker of the Pandora worm. Her father. Only by unraveling the clues left by him in the MMO, and in real-world places around the U.S., can they hope to beat the clock ticking the days off until the entire planet is Doomed.

After reading Ernest Cline's, Ready Player One, I can't help but get excited all over again at the chance to read a title that focuses on a technological type of scavenger hunt.  I love the action and adventure that sounds like it'll go hand in hand with this type of title and I'm excited to get started.  Pandora sounds like a heroine readers will be able to get behind and root for the whole way from beginning to end.

Countdown Pick #5:  Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway (01/15/2013)

Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendants of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

Ok so from what I'm reading this title has it all.  We're talking action and suspense, a touch of Greek/Roman mythology, romance and passion, and mystery and danger on overload.  I can't wait and I know I'm not alone.  When this cover was revealed online, readers, bloggers, etc...went wild.  Everyone is waiting to get their hands on this title and getting the chance to see for themselves if it's really as great as it sounds!