Fun fact

Well, that inspired me to ask this multi-talented man to a virtual tea party and told him he could bring three guests: an artist, a musician, and an author. Then I asked what shenanigans are likely to ensue, you know, so I can be prepared. Here’s what Isaac had to say about that…

This is an interesting question because you didn’t specify living artists, which means there are so many opportunities here beyond just meeting artists I admire, which let’s face it, is always underwhelming. For instance, I could meet Beethoven and force him at gunpoint to compose an original symphony with my name in the copyright. Can you imagine how much I’d make in royalties with a brand new release from the legendary Ludwig Van Beethoven? And I could meet Da Vinci and force him to tell me where he hid the secret map that leads to the secret vault that holds Jesus Christ’s secret sex tape, or whatever The Da Vinci Code is about. (Haven’t read it.) And speaking of Jesus, God is generally believed to be the author of the Bible, right? So I could meet God, and maybe slip some kind of magical drug into His tea that would make Him lose consciousness for a few hours, during which I could steal the Divine Battery that powers all His powers and use it to become God. This is going to be the best tea party ever!

It raises the question, though, how did you, gentle blogger, gain the power to raise dead historical figures and summon the Almighty to tea? Does this involve time travel, or the kind of dark, dead-raising magic I launched my career writing about? Because if these are zombie artists we’re talking about, that changes things. A lot. Would Zombie Beethoven still have the musical chops to compose a hit single? Or would he write me some kind of dull, plodding adagio that wouldn’t make it anywhere near the classical charts, much less dominate them? Would Zombie Da Vinci even remember where he hid Jesus’ sex tape, much less be able to teach me how to fly an ornithopter? And I don’t even want to think about Zombie God. That just sounds like bad news for everybody.

I hope I’ve answered all your questions.

Yes, Isaac. Yes, it did. A very big thank-you to Isaac and his wonderful publicists for allowing this post to happen. If you haven’t already, check out the Warm Bodies giveaway–you still have a few hours to enter. And if you can’t wait that long, then visit Amazon (or your favorite ebook retailer) and download yourself a copy because that book rocks. It’s filled with zombies.

Marion uses excellent, sometimes poetic and often hilarious, prose to tell the story of ‘R’, a zombie trying to make sense of his existence. When he eats the brain of a man named Perry, he begins to experience Perry’s memories. Part of those memories include Perry’s girlfriend Julie. ‘R’ subsequently saves Julie and what happens next is an inexplicable connection that will have you glued to the pages.

Well, enough gushing about the book, on to the giveaway details. Rather than have the standard “leave a comment” to enter, I’m mixing things up a bit. For this giveaway, I’d like you to write a zombie haiku!

Yep. You read right. A zombie haiku. To enter, leave a comment with your haiku below.

In case you aren’t sure what a haiku is, it’s a short poem consisting of 3 lines. The first line contains 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables, and the final 5 syllables. Your haiku can be poignant or funny, gross or silly, just have fun with it. No profanity, please. Or, if you absolutely must include a profane word for effect, euphemize it. (Example: s**t.) Thanks.

This giveaway will run until 11:59PM EST April 26, 2011. You can enter as many haikus as you can write (however, duplicate or obviously spam haikus will not be eligible). For extra entries, you can also tweet about this giveaway or blog about it—just make sure to come back and leave a comment with a link to your tweet or blog post.

All entrants must use a legitimate email address (otherwise they’ll be no way to contact you if you win). If you do not have a website or blog, leave the space for a URL blank.

To finish up, there are a couple stipulations: You must be at least 13 years old to enter and the giveaway is open to those with a U.S. mailing address. And if you have any questions, just ask.

Last year I read, and reviewed, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. Although I didn’t care too much for Mary’s character, I did enjoy the intrigue and the world created.

When I was in my local Borders wishing them a heartrending farewell (sniff, sniff) I found The Dead-Tossed Waves on sale and I couldn’t resist. The reason I even waited so long was because I knew this book probably wouldn’t tell me anything I wanted to know about the Sisterhood.

Then I got to thinking, hey, I could be wrong. Maybe it’s going to be connected somehow and it will be like a slow reveal of how the zombie apocalypse in their world came to be. So I grabbed it and it’s officially in my TBR stack.

Then there are the wonderful elves as Scholastic who somehow seem to read my mind and send me books I start drooling over the moment I open up the package. Animorphs!! With lenticular covers! (Yes, I’m easily amused.) I remember reading K. A. Applegate way back in the day, so receiving these books made me smile–okay, I also did a snoopy dance, too.

I also received a promising dystopian urban sci-fi novel called Behind the Gates (Tomorrow Girls Book 1) by Eva Gray. When I read the back cover, I was curious, but shrugged. Then I read the actual release and thought, hey, this could be good.  And then I read the first chapter and thought, I need to move this up the TBR pile.

But let us not forget about the Simon & Schuster elves who also seem to have these amazing mind-reading powers and sent me books that made me pause and say, hmmm.

Deb Caletti is a brand-new-to-me author, but when I read the back cover for Stay, I knew I’d be in for an emotional ride. It may even hit a little close to home. Must start mental preparations now.

The other book was Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott. This will be my third official Elizabeth Scott book.

The first one I read was The Unwritten Rule, which was fun and light and touching. It was filled with teen angst and drama and discovering oneself. Basically, I enjoyed it and it’s a great way to pass a lazy afternoon.

Then I just recently finished Living Dead Girl and…words…I don’t have any. I was not prepared at all for what laid between the virtual covers of that book (I read the ebook*). When I realized how jarring a read it was, I wanted to stop so I could set my head on straight, but I couldn’t because if I did and went to sleep, I would have nightmares. Finishing wasn’t any better. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad big, the subject matter is just…again, words fail me.)

The differences between those two books was vast, but it gave me a whole new respect for Ms. Scott. She’s an automatic must-read author for me now and having finished the first chapter of Between Here and Forever, I know to be prepared for a roller-coaster of emotions.

So, to sum up, here’s what I received this week laid out in a neat list:

• The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
• The Invasion (Animorphs Book 1) by K. A. Applegate
• The Visitor (Animorphs Book 2) by K. A. Applegate
• Behind the Gates (Tomorrow Girls Book 1) by Eva Gray
• Stay by Deb Caletti
• Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

I can’t believe it’s almost the end of March and I haven’t done a single giveaway yet. I must rectify that. In fact, I think I’m going to overcompensate for my lack of contests.

Coming up next month I’ll be holding a giveaway for Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (oh my goodness am I excited about this one–and crossing my fingers that Mr. Marion will do a guest blog) thanks to the wonderful Mellony at Simon & Schuster.

I’ll also be giving away my soft cover copy of Radiance by Alyson Noel. One thing I love about this book is the deckle edge paper. Definitely a nice touch, not to mention a good read.

On the list of books up for giveaway is my ARC for Abandon by Meg Cabot. I have so much to talk about with that book, but I’m holding off until the official release next month. Until then, you can check out my scant book notes on the recent arrivals post.

Finally, I’ll officially be announcing my comment rewards. What are comment rewards? Well, a while ago I mentioned an idea of rewarding those who visit my blog by selecting a random commenter whenever comment milestones are reached. The commenter can then select a book from the comment rewards bookshelf.

Any comment, past or present, is game. Commenters just need to use a valid email address when commenting (no, I will not spam you or subscribe you to any mailing list and such) and are over the age of 13 (privacy thing–in case you win). Comment rewards will be open internationally.

To close up, since this post is now becoming rather unwieldy, after watching a recent preview for the movie Beastly, and seeing that it was based on a book by Alex Flinn, I trotted my happy behind over to the library website and (thank goodness a copy was available) downloaded the ebook. I’m just over halfway finished and have mixed feelings.

On one hand, I love the tweak on the classic story, but on the other I’m not loving the lack of a nod to Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, or even Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, though a number of other fairytale creators (Hans Christian Andersen, The Brothers Grimm) and fairytale characters receive such nods (unless, of course, the Madames’ nods are through all the discussion of French literature–but maybe there will be a more discernable one in later chapters).

Also I’m not entirely thrilled with some of the character development and prose—sometimes it feels as though she’s talking down to her audience. But I’ll save that for an actual review though.

For now, I shall leave you to enjoy your weekend. Have fun, be safe, and don’t forget to read a book or two.

Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• You also need to share the title of the book where you get your teaser from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given
• Please avoid spoilers

This week’s teaser:

“The warbled strumming of a broken guitar, the swelling of an orchestra, the oohs and ahhs of a studio choir, and John Lennon’s weary, woozy voice, singing limitless undying love. Everyone playing this song is now bones in a grave, but here they are anyway, exciting and inviting me, calling me on and on.” pg. 63 Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

First of all, and this is so superficial of me, but I adore this cover. The color, the formatting, even the image of the man with his leg crooked just so, and the red cloth streaming from his head (which could mean so many things). Whoever designed the cover did a fantastic job of painting the desolation, and in a strange way, hope.

Enough about the cover, this book made me laugh from the first page. There is something wonderful about the narrative so far and I think I’m going to like R, the protagonist who also happens to be a zombie, quite a bit. He has this casual style of imparting his views that’s incongruous in the best possible way with what he’s describing, like how he and his friends are rotting away. I’m probably going to gobble this one up in a day or two.

As I mentioned in my last update post, I decided to move onto Soulless by Christopher Golden as my next read. It’s not a long novel, but doesn’t truly count as a short one either. And I wish I could say that it’s as engrossing as my previous read, but don’t get me wrong, it is a good read so far.

It started off with a mass seance. Basically, three mediums go on a morning news show to demonstrate their gifts and to allow the deceased, on a grand scale, to communicate with their loved ones. Unfortunately, something they didn’t plan for happened: all those ghosts wanting to communicate with their loved ones are technically soulless (hence the title) and therefore cannot control their rampant urges and the mediums, along with the two news hosts, are locked together (hand to hand) and no one can seem to wake them up or pry them apart.

Dead bodies are now animated by spirits (which are different from souls, by the way) all over the Northeast and it’s spreading fast. There’s chaos and carnage and people are panicking left and right. There’s all kinds of zombie goodness going on while the people trapped inside the news studio try to figure out how to separate the three mediums, and the two poor news hosts, and praying that doing so will fix everything. Exciting stuff I tell ya.

Now, why is it not as engrossing? There’s some character development going on admist the zombie uprising and some of it just seems wildly unnecessary and only serves to quell the awesomeness of people getting their cheeks eaten off and whatnot. But, it’s not enough to get me to set aside the read because sure enough, when I’m ready to throw in the towel, another zombie comes out of nowhere and I’m giddy with fear again.

On an almost related note, I just had a glance outside and at this time of the morning, it seems much darker than I’d expect it. I’m not scared or anything, but I was hearing a couple strange noises coming from the back patio and erm…uh…yeah.

It’s been a fair while since my last Sunday Salon post and I’m writing this one late at night rather than in the morning, but I say it’s better late than never.

Raaaawwwwr! Scary Psychologically Abnormal Monsters Abound

My current reading pleasure is The Night Monster by James Swain. I’m rounding the last fifty or so pages and will most likely finish it up tonight.

The story so far is about an ex-cop (detective) turned private investigator Jack Carpenter who’s on the hunt for a missing college basketball star, who also happens to be one of his daughter’s friends and teammates.

The case is personal to Jack because he discovers it’s connected to a case that he’d been investigating for sixteen years—a case involving an abduction that he hadn’t been able to stop.

So far, the book is great reading, though I’ll admit the first three-quarters of the book was fast-paced and even left me a little breathless and now that I’m nearing the end, and the action should be picking up, it seems to be trundling along at almost half-speed. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily a good thing either.

Even if the book’s pacing never picks up again, I still think it’s a great read. I hope to have my full review up some time this week.

And speaking of reviews I hope to have up this week…

It’s Twilight, with Zombies and Better Writing (and Only Marginally Better Editing)

I’ve finished reading Generation Dead by Daniel Waters and absolutely loved it. There were some laugh out loud funny moments and the characters are all highly well developed. The writing is tight and flows well.

What I found highly interesting is that it’s Twilight, with zombies. The pacing of the book is similar to Twilight in that it meanders for the first three-quarters of the book and then for the last quarter, the action suddenly picks up. The difference with this book and Twilight is that the action is built from the beginning. We see the villain and watch him ramp up his campaign of evil.

Tommy Williams is described as having pale skin, and despite being dead, it’s not decaying or foul-smelling—he smells rather earthy actually. He’s also good-looking, strong, and feels stone-hard and cold when he’s touched. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s a zombified version of Edward Cullen.

Phoebe Kendall is described as being very pale, doesn’t realize her own physical beauty, can’t seem to sort out her romantic feelings and is inexplicably drawn to the new zombie in town despite knowing next to nothing about him. Bella Swan anyone?

Finally there is Adam Layman who is a living, breathing, hot-blooded teenage boy who happens to be one of Phoebe’s best friends. Despite his feelings for Phoebe, which he chews down and swallows, he helps her get closer to Tommy simply so he can be near her. Sounds vaguely familiar…oh that’s right, Jacob Black.

I also spotted similarities to Alice and Rosalie Cullen, and a few other characters from Twilight sprinkled throughout. There were even a couple references to vampires that made me do a double-take and giggle.

At the end of the day, I could probably dissect both books and write an essay, but I’ll save that for some other time. Instead, I’ll share my Sunday sketch (yay! I finally did one…and on a Sunday) of the Generation Dead love triangle.

It originally had a bit of color to it (Phoebe’s eyes and lips), but since I didn’t scan it—took a picture with my digital camera because I’m lazy—I decided it looked better in black and white. Also, it shouldn’t be too difficult to see who I hope Phoebe ends up with—*cough*Adam*cough*

Smokin’ Hot Angel, Oh My!

I’ve started reading Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, but had to put the title aside and read a few other things. Why? I’m entirely too excited to read it. I’m worried that I’ll breeze through it and I would like to savor it.

When I finish the Night Monster, I believe I’ll take a few days to write reviews of all the books awaiting reviews (sad to say, quite a few) and then I’ll be picking up Hush, Hush again.

And…I may have a surprise in store for Today, I Read… newsletter subscribers coming up. That’s the only hint I’ll give.

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters

First line: Phoebe.

Beautiful Phoebe.

Through the glass watch Phoebe leave bus walk to house phoebe green skirt green eyes skirt trailing hair flowing black and shiny in the sun.

Initial thoughts: OK, so reading the first line (or few lines really) to create this post nearly made me cry. For those of you who haven’t read Generation Dead, this is a spoiler.

Adam died at the end of that book and came back as a differently biotic person (aka zombie). This book, obviously, opens with what’s actually going through his mind and seeing his loose, choppy train of thought hit me like a sledgehammer.

In Generation Dead, the characters were so well developed that I actually cared what happened to them and I was a bit distraught when Adam died, especially under the circumstances and before he could say the three little words that he carried around in his heart for the special girl next door.

I can’t deny that I’m looking forward to reading Kiss of Life, even if it’s bittersweet.

Book description:

The phenomenon that’s been sweeping the country seems to be here to stay. Not only are the teenagers who have come back from their graves still here, but newlydeads are being unearthed all the time. While scientists look for answers and politicians take their stands, the undead population of Oakvale have banded together in a group they’re calling the Sons of Romero, hoping to find solidarity in segregation.

Phoebe Kendall may be alive, but she feels just as lost and alone as her dead friends. Just when she reconciled herself to having feelings for a zombie — her Homecoming date Tommy Williams — her friend Adam is murdered taking a bullet that was meant for her. Things get even more confusing when Adam comes back from the grave. Now she has romantic interest in two dead boys; one who saved her life, and one she can’t seem to live without.

From the back cover:

"You didn’t move, Tommy! He pointed the gun right at me, and you didn’t do anything!"

"I…"

"All you had…had to do was…move," she said; "it wouldn’t have hurt if he shot you. But you just stood there, and…and Adam’s dead! He’s dead, Tommy!"

She looked at him, her eyes blurry with tears. He’d stopped trying to talk, and the mask of concern had fallen away from his face as he stood there.

Just stood there.

"He’d be alive if it wasn’t for you, Tommy," she said, whispering so all of the gawkers wouldn’t hear.

He’d be alive, she thought, and you and I would be together.

Book Details: 416 pages; Hyperion Book CH; Pub. May 12, 2009

Learn more:

• Daniel Waters’s Website
• Thomas Williams’s blog
• Reviews
  • Karin Librarian
  • Readergirl Reviews
  • {Insert Book Title Here}

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

First line: Phoebe and her friends held their breath as the dead girl in the plaid skirt walked past their table in the lunchroom.

Initial thoughts: I learned about Generation Dead when I found Karin Librarian’s Say It Again Saturday post. After going back to read her review, I fell in love with the idea and simply had to have the book. With phrases like “differently biotic” or “living impaired”, how could I not? The description alone promised this book would be a hoot.

Book description:

Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He’s strong and silent…and dead.

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren’t staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn’t want them.

The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the “differently biotic.” But the students don’t want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn’t breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the “living impaired” from the people who want them to disappear–for good.

When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

Book Details: 416 pages; Hyperion Book CH; Pub. May 2008

Learn more:

• Daniel Waters’s website
• Tommy Williams’s blog
• Read an excerpt
• Reviews
  • Karin Librarian
  • Teen Book Review
  • Confessions of a Bibliovore
  • The Compulsive Reader

Back Cover of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

Three Quick Points About The Forest of Hands and Teeth

• Point 1: Love square surrounded by zombies. You’d think there would be plenty of drama when you have two guys in love with the same girl and another girl being in love with those two guys without throwing zombies into the mix, but you’d be surprised.
• Point 2: Storytelling lost to the ages. One thread throughout the book was the stories Mary’s mother told her, yet we the readers aren’t told these stories, only their synopses.
• Point 3: So many unanswered questions. Such is life. You’re presented with a question, but you become sidetracked and you don’t realize you never received an answer until it’s too late.

Full Review of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Before reading the full review, please note that there may be some spoilers. I tried to keep it vague enough not to spoil the entire story, but be warned. If you’d rather not take any chances, skip the synopsis and go straight to the final thoughts.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth Synopsis

Mary lives in a gated community surrounded by The Forest of Hands and Teeth and in that forest live the Unconsecrated (flesh eating zombies, in other words). It’s the only life she’s ever known.

When her father is bitten by one of the Unconsecrated, Mary and her brother Jed decide to start keeping a closer eye on their mother because they’re not certain she can be trusted to remain sane in the wake of losing her husband.

It doesn’t work, however, because Mary is distracted by a childhood friend, Harry, who declares his desire to court her and lingers with him a little too long allowing her mother to get too close to the fence.

As Mary watches her mother turn and sent out into the forest to join the other zombies, her world comes crashing down around her. She loses her faith in God. She’s being courted by a boy she does not love and the one she does love (his brother) is courting her best friend. Her brother Jed is angry about their mother and refuses to allow Mary back into their home, so she’s forced to live with and join the Sisterhood and that means good-bye freedom.

While in the Sisterhood’s charge, Mary discovers they’ve been keeping secrets, but becomes distracted when her true love, Travis, is brought in with a badly broken leg. Each night she visits with him and tells him stories of the ocean and eventually, their love for one another grows.

By some miracle, Harry decides to go to the Sisterhood and claim Mary. In doing so, she’s no longer required to join the Sisterhood. Unfortunately, Mary’s heart belongs to another and to make things worse, that other belongs to Cassandra, her best friend. Let’s just say things get extremely muddled from there and will not properly render in a synopsis.

Then there’s a breach of the fence. The village is overrun by slow moving zombies and a fast one, which they aptly call The Fast One. Before leaving the Sisterhood, Mary had a brief interaction with The Fast One and discovered her name was Gabrielle and the Sisters had something to do with her turning.

In all the chaos, Mary, Harry, Travis, Cassandra, Jacob, a young boy, Jed, and Beth, his wife and Harry and Travis’s sister, are all forced into the maze of fences that lead into the unknown.

Final Thoughts On The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I have to start off by saying I truly didn’t care for Mary. I didn’t connect to her emotionally and had no idea why she thought the things she thought or did the things she did half the time.

Her mother’s Return was a pivotal time in her life because it seemed as though she was close to her mother, however, we’re not shown the extent of that closeness. Told? Yes. Shown? No.

For instance, Mary’s mother always told her stories of a time before the Return, but we’re not drawn into the stories. Instead, we’re offered synopses of these stories and as a result, we don’t get to see that bonding between mother and daughter. It would have simply been nice to hear the words coming from Mary’s mother’s mouth as a beautiful memory.

Since I didn’t get that emotional bonding, I had to go on blind faith how guilty Mary truly felt about not getting to her mother before she wandered too close to the fence.

As the book progressed, I began wondering what was so captivating about Mary that would make two guys strive for her love as Harry and Travis, two brothers, did. From my point of view, she seemed a little too flighty and a bit whiney for my liking. Of course, that doesn’t make Mary a bad person, just someone I didn’t connect with.

Another area of contention was Cassandra. We’re told how she is, or how she was, by Mary, but never shown this. No flashbacks of moments where she and Cass were being carefree or laughing over Mary’s stories or anything of that nature. All we’re shown is the current Cass who seems somewhat unreasonable and selfish, until the end when my respect for her grew.

All of that notwithstanding, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. The narrative was smartly written. It was the story and the mystery surrounding the Sisterhood, the forest, and the fences that made the book compelling. Frankly, I would have been just as fine if the whole love square thing were hacked right out of it and we were left with five people, a child, and a dog trying to figure out the puzzle.

Their society, in light of events, became ultra-religious and honoured constancy above love. Marriage was one of convenience and survival rather than for love. It was about keeping the bloodlines clean (I assume, of inbreeding) and elaborate binding rituals were created to see that traditions were upheld.

The Sisterhood controlled their secrets and they apparently had many, even from the Guardians and The Guild who were tasked with keeping the village safe and the fences strong.

It’s hinted at multiple times that The Sisterhood has some knowledge of where the Unconsecrated came from and what lied beyond the forest, but in their lust for power and domination, those secrets were fiercely guarded. Mary’s desire to figure it all out is the driving force behind the book.

At the end, Mary does get her answer, but we readers are still left with plenty of unanswered questions. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And though it may sound a little masochistic, I actually like the not knowing. It gave me some hope.

Rating: Get It Used [B-/C+] (?)

Get the Forest of Hands and Teeth at Amazon

*On a completely unrelated note, I have to warn you that the word scrabble is used at least one too many times in this book. Every time my eyes landed on it, I had to sigh and wonder why.

Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday where I regale you with the books I received during the previous week.

I’ve actually had a huge haul Monday, but I’m going to postpone it because of one title I’m very excited about. It’s a book I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get and was lusting after since I found out about it in December.

And the day finally came…

Last Monday, the very nice UPS lady knocked on my door and delivered my shiny new ARC for The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.

From the back cover…

In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

I finished reading it last week, but I’ve had to wait to write the review. You can expect that to be published first thing tomorrow morning. But for those of you who are a little anxious, here’s a one sentence sneak-peek: I didn’t connect emotionally with the main character, but still found myself being entertained. There’s a lot more to my review than that though. In fact, it’s a book that’s really causing me to slightly modify my rating system. Oh, I can’t wait.