The Broke and the Bookish, a brilliant book blog,
hosts a weekly top ten list meme.
Top Ten Books I Want to Receive for the Holidays
1. The Next Always (Inn Boonsboro Trilogy, Book 1)
by Nora Roberts
9780425243213, Berkeley (Penguin), $16
My favorite romantic fiction author's new book. I can't wait to curl up with this and read it in one sitting.
The historic hotel in BoonsBoro, Maryland, has endured war and peace,
changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major
facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As
the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of
talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got
his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen...
2. Saints Astray (Santa Olivia, Book 2)
by Jacqueline Carey
9780446571425, Grand Central Publishing (Hachette), $14.99
I fell in love with Jacqueline Carey's writing in high school. She seems to be fearless in terms of the tremendous scope of her work, covering time, space, topics, and creating worlds like few others before her.
Fellow orphans, amateur vigilantes, and members of the Santitos, Loup
Garron-the fugitive daughter of a genetically engineered "wolf man"-and
Pilar Ecchevarria grew up in the military zone of Outpost 12, formerly
known as Santa Olivia. But now they're free, and they want to help the
rest of the Santitos escape. During a series of escapades, they discover
that Miguel, Loup's former sparring partner and reprobate surrogate
brother, has escaped from Outpost 12 and is testifying on behalf of its
forgotten citizens-at least until he disappears from protective custody.
Honor drives Loup to rescue Miguel, even though entering the U.S could
mean losing her liberty. Pilar vows to help her. It will take a
daring and absurd caper to extricate Miguel from the mess he's created
but Loup is prepared to risk everything... and this time she has help.
by Chris Riddell
9781405050593, Macmillan
I'm not sure what happened to this book. The first two books in the Ottoline series (Ottoline and the Yellow Cat and Ottoline Goes to School were both brilliantly illustrated, well-written, and overall darling books to hand to anyone, but girls especially, age 4-8. Though my sources say this was published by Macmillan in 2010, that may have only been in the UK as I've never seen this one a bookstore shelf and it's not available from Indiebound. But somehow, some way, I will get a copy.
Ottoline and Mr. Munroe
do everything and go everywhere together. That is, until the day Mr.
Munroe mysteriously disappears leaving a strange clue written in
string...Armed with her Amateur Roving Collectors' travel pass Ottoline
sets off on a journey over, under and on top of the sea to find her
hairy best friend - and bring him back home.
4. The Outcasts (Brotherband Chronicles, Book 1)
by John Flanagan
9780399256196, Philomel Books (Penguin), $18.99
Oh John Flanagan - I loved your Ranger's Apprentice series, perfect for boy and girl readers age 10-14, and now, now you've begun another.
They are outcasts. Hal, Stig, and the others - they are the boys the
others want no part of. Skandians, as any reader of Ranger's Apprentice
could tell you, are known for their size and strength. Not these boys.
Yet that doesn't mean they don't have skills. And courage - which they
will need every ounce of to do battle at sea against the other bands,
the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race. The icy waters make for
a treacherous playing field . . . especially when not everyone thinks
of it as playing.
by Taylor Stevens
9780307717108, Broadway Books (Random House), $14
A female Jason Bourne? (-ish.) Yes, please!
Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive
information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients,
and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to
missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an
infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As
his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle's most dangerous men,
cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her
running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career
from her home base in Dallas, she's never looked back.
Until now.
A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget. Gripping, ingenious, and impeccably paced, The Informationist marks the arrival or a thrilling new talent.
Until now.
A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget. Gripping, ingenious, and impeccably paced, The Informationist marks the arrival or a thrilling new talent.
by Maggie Stiefvater
9780545224901, Scholastic, $17.99
This would be my first Maggie Stiefvater, and considering her reputation, I think it's about time.
Some race to win. Others race to survive.
It happens at the
start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold
of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Some riders live.
Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
Some riders live.
Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
by David Levithan
9780375860980, Knopf (Random House), $16.99
Dear David Levithan, you make my heart sing and hurt with every one of your books. Thank you. Love, me.
In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan
starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which
feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . .
threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone,
he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself
for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting
to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the
more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and
insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively
told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the
reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author.
by Kelly Milner Halls
9781452102641, Chronicle Books, $16.99
What do guys and girls really think? Twelve of the most dynamic and
engaging YA authors writing today team up for this one-of-a-kind
collection of "he said/she said" stories-he tells it from the guy's
point of view, she tells it from the girl's. These are stories of love
and heartbreak. There's the good-looking jock who falls for a dangerous
girl, and the flipside, the toxic girl who never learned to be loved;
the basketball star and the artistic (and shorter) boy she never knew
she wanted; the gay boy looking for love online and the girl who could
help make it happen. Each story in this unforgettable collection teaches
us that relationships are complicated-because there are two sides to
every story.
by Joseph Gordon-Levitt
9780062121660, It Books (HarperCollins), $14.99
Because this sounds wonderful and looks adorable.
HitRECord’s collaborative coalition of artists and writers are making history with The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1,
a collection of innovative crowd-sourced creative projects that pushes
the limits of originality, cooperation, imagination, and inspiration.
HitRECord, a grassroots creative collective founded by actor Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, known worldwide for his performances in (500) Days of Summer and Inception,
is a forum where thousands of artists worldwide share work and
contribute to their peers’ projects in writing, music, videos,
illustration, and beyond. Alongside Dean Haspiel’s ACT-I-VATE, a
groundbreaking comics collective, and the photographer JR’s Inside Out
Project, hitRECord is a haven for budding creatives. Now, the collective
has edited together its most promising stories and illustrations to
serve as its face in introducing the world to a new generation of
talent, in The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories.
10. I'm leaving this one open-ended and hoping that someone actually does give me a book for the holidays this year, as that rarely happens, for some very odd and unknown reason. Keeping my fingers crossed!
