Countdown: September 2013

Fall is officially (almost) here, and it's my favorite time of year!  No matter where I live or where I get the chance to visit, the Fall months are always the best wherever you land.  I love pulling out a favorite pair of jeans and a super comfortable and slimming black turtleneck sweater with a pair of great boots.  That's my idea of a perfect outfit, and a great book always goes great with that.  And now that Summer is wrapping up, I'm winding down on the quick and fun reads that I feel goes hand in hand with the weather, and instead will venture into reading just about anything that comes across my path and sounds intriguing.  Here are a few that fit that bill.

Countdown Pick #1:  Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis (09/24/2013)

Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water.
Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own.

 

I know without a doubt this read is going to give me anxiety.  I was anxious and stressed out just reading the synopsis and can't imagine with McGinnis will have in store for readers throughout this adventure.

 

Countdown Pick #2:  All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (09/03/2013)

 

"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.

 

I love these kinds of stories.  It's got the potential to be thought provoking and deeply emotional, and I am certainly anxious to find out more about what will become of Marina and James and how Em will manage her own destiny as well as anyone else who is affected by the time travel it sounds like she'll have to accomplish.

 

Countdown Pick #3:  A Wounded Name by Dot Hutchison (09/01/2013)

 

There's a girl who could throw herself head first into life and forge an unbreakable name, an identity that stands on its own without fathers or brothers or lovers who devour and shatter.

I'VE NEVER BEEN THAT GIRL.

Sixteen-year-old Ophelia Castellan will never be just another girl at Elsinore Academy. Seeing ghosts is not a skill prized in future society wives. Even when she takes her pills, the bean sidhe beckon, reminding her of a promise to her dead mother.

Now, in the wake of the Headmaster's sudden death, the whole academy is in turmoil, and Ophelia can no longer ignore the fae. Especially once she starts seeing the Headmaster's ghosts- two of them- on the school grounds.

At the center of her crumbling world is Dane, the Headmaster's grieving son. He, too, understands the power of a promise to a parent- even a dead one. To him, Ophelia is the only person not tainted by deceit and hypocrisy, a mirror of his own broken soul. And to Ophelia, Dane quickly becomes everything. Yet even as she gives more of herself to him, Dane slips away. Consumed by suspicion, rage, and madness, he spirals towards his tragic fate- dragging Ophelia, and the rest of Elsinore, with him.

YOU KNOW HOW THIS STORY ENDS.

Yet even in the face of certain death, Ophelia has a choice to make- and a promise to keep. She is not the girl others want her to be. But in Dot Hutchison's dark and sensuous debut novel, the name "Ophelia" is as deeply, painfully, tragically real as "Hamlet".

I've taken plenty of Shakespeare classes over the years, especially while I was majoring in English at college, and for whatever reason it never gets old.  Everyone interprets the work differently, and there's never a shortage of different ways to spin the different plays.  While Hamlet was never one of my favorites, I'm eager to see how Ophelia will fair in Hutchison's upcoming release.

 

Countdown Pick #4:  Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair (09/03/2013)

 

Can true love be built on lies? A teen on the run seeks relief and redemption in this gripping, romantic read.  Leah Kurtz has finally found a place to call home, a town where she and baby Addy can live in peace, far from the drug-infested place she grew up. Chris is one of the best parts of her new life, the only person who’s ever made her feel safe. And now that she’s found him, there’s no way she can tell the truth:

Her real name is Faith, not Leah. She’s seventeen, not nineteen. And the baby isn’t hers—Faith kidnapped her.

Faith’s history catches up with her when a cop starts asking questions and Chris’s aunt spots her picture in the newspaper. She knows it’s time to run again, but if Faith leaves, she’ll lose Chris. If Chris is in love with a lie, though, did Faith ever really have him in the first place?

I came across this one a while back and was unsure of what I thought.  I'm still kind of on the fence as to whether or not this will be the kind of read for me, but wanted to include it on the countdown just in case.  I guess my main problem is, I"m unsure if I'll be able to be on board with a main character that so far, I just can't see myself rooting for when she's kidnapped a child.  Now I know there's probably going to be a perfectly good explanation as to why she did this, but at this point, I just don't know.

 

Countdown Pick #5:  The 100 (The Hundred, #1) by Kass Morgan (09/03/2013)

 

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

Now don't quote me on this, but I've heard through the blog grapevine that this will be made into a TV show on the CW this Fall.  So while I'm not sure if that's true since this is the first I've actually heard about the book, let alone a televised version, I'm all for it.  After reading the synopsis I was on board to read this 2013 debut (make sure to add it to your debut author challenge list) and with the possibility of it being on TV in a short time, I'm going to make sure to get through it quickly.  If I don't read it before it hits the air, I know I'll never get around to it.