Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a weakly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  They love lists as much as I do, so it's only fair to tip my hat.


It's my inaugural Top Ten Tuesday people!  I love this meme.  I can't say that I'll be participating every week, but this one's a given...so without further ado, here are my top 10 most anticipated releases of 2012:

 #10: Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
Release Date: July 3rd, 2012

When a vampire shows up at Mel's high school, it's up to Mel to keep her best friend from falling in love with him. Add a mysterious disappearance, a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and poignant.

Um...yeah...need I comment?  It may end up being gimicky, but the prospect of awesomeness is too promising to resist...and I've heard nothing but good so far!

#9: The Diviners by Libba Bray 
Release Date: November 1st, 2012

A supernatural series set in Manhattan during the 1920s that follows a teen heroine reminiscent of two of the era's most famous literary women—Zelda Fitzgerald and Dorothy Parker. The story will be a wild new ride full of dames and dapper dons, jazz babies and Prohibition-defying parties, conspiracy and prophecy—and all manner of things that go bump in the neon-drenched night.

Last year I read four books by Libba Bray - Going Bovine and the Gemma Doyle trilogy.  I really wanted to love them.  All of the elements were there, but there was always something that held me back from really falling for them.  I'm determined to keep trying though, as Bray is a solid author with creative stories, and an amazing ability to diversify her writing style from book to book.


#8: The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan 
Release Date: September 11th, 2012

I'm just completing the first draft of a novel called The Brides of Rollrock Island, which is about selkies - that is, seals that come up out of the sea and transform into humans, and live among people. It's a very sad, strange story; a lot of people in it make themselves wretched with magic. But of course it's beautiful and atmospheric too - the selkies themselves are beautiful, but so is the landscape, the seascape, the weather, and some of the humans. This novel is also less violent than Tender Morsels, so a lot more readers will find it easier to stomach, I hope. I believe it'll come out as YA here in Australia and in the US, but as a crossover, in adult and YA editions, in the UK, as Tender Morsels did.

I am sad to say, I haven't read any Margo Lanagan yet, but if this is the first I could do much worse!  I have been waiting for a good selkie novel since seeing The Secret of Roan Inish as a kid.  Who wants mermaids when they could have selkies?!

#7: Envy by Elizabeth Miles
Release Date: October 1st, 2012

No blurb or cover yet for this one, but Fury was awesome enough to to render Envy, the second in the trilogy, a spot on this list.  Fury was one of the most surprisingly tense reads of 2011, that left me slightly terrified and wanting more...I'll be posting my review of it tomorrow!


#6: Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen
Release Date: February 14th, 2012

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

So not only am I all about the retelling, but I love a good masquerade story.  Particularly badass chicks masquerading as males due to some social necessity.  Also possibly one of my favorite covers of the year (so far).  I've already read some great reviews, so this one's more or less inevitable. 

#5: Matched #3 by Ally Condie
Release Date: November, 2012

No cover, no blurb, no title: no problem.  I loved the first two installments of this trilogy, Matched, and Crossed, so the conclusion to this dystopian romance easily makes the list.

#4: Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr
Release Date: February 21st, 2012

Faery Tales and Nightmares is a collection of short stories.

Current Table of Contents:
"Where Nightmares Walk"
"Winter's Kiss" (Fairy Tales)
"Transition" (Vampires)
"Love Struck" (Selchies)
"Stopping Time" (WL World)
"Old Habits" (WL World)
"The Art of Waiting"
"Flesh for Comfort"
"The Sleeping Girl and the Sumer King" (WL World-ish, the short story that started the series)
"Cotton Candy Skies" (WL World)
"Unexpected Family" (WL World)
"Merely Mortal" (WL World)

In 2011 I fell in love with Melissa Marr's work.  I read the entire Wicked Lovely  series, and Graveminder.  So a collection of short stories including six set in the Wicked Lovely universe?  Yes please.  I've already read "Stopping Time" and "Old Habits" which have been released as e-books and take place between book two, Ink Exchange, and book three, Fragile Eternity.  I loved them and cannot wait to read the rest!  

#3: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2 by Laini Taylor
Release Date: September, 2012

Lining up with the aforementioned, Matched #3, the as of yet unnamed sequel to the amazing Daughter of Smoke and Bone promises to be both beautiful and chilling.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone (which I promise to review at some point) made my favorites shelf, and while I'm waiting for more I plan to devour Laini Taylor's backlog.

#2: A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook to A Game of Thrones by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, Sariann Lehrer, and George R. R. Martin
Release Date: July 31st 2012

From Sister’s Stew to lemon cakes to the seventy-seven course feast for Prince Joffrey, food and its presentation is integral to A Game of Thrones and the world of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Now, A Feast of Ice and Fire offers readers the chance to cook and sample some of the enticing meals from George R. R. Martin’s world for themselves. These extensively researched and adapted traditional medieval recipes replicate the dishes featured in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Gorgeously organized and presented in full color, with each recipe being introduced with a passage from the book in which it first appears—as well as a map of the region from which it originates—this is the official, must-have cookbook for fans of A Game of Thrones and its sequels. Stocked with over one hundred recipes and organized by region—including The Wall, the North, the South, King’s Landing, Dorne, and Across the Narrow Sea—the book is meant to be readily accessible and achievable by modern cooks. So now, even amateur chefs can feast like a Lannister, or grab a meat pie like a Black Brother on the Wall.


Includes a foreword by George R. R. Martin.

Okay people, if you enjoy George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series and you enjoy food and you don't read the fabulous blog Inn at the Crossroads shame on you!  And go do it.  Now.  These ladies are awesome!  They will make your mouth water, and make you cringe (the jellied calf brains were the worst).  They basically take a sentence out of one of the books describing food, and then make it!  They'll often include both a modern day and a medieval recipe, I've been brave enough to try a few myself and loved them all.  ANYWAY they got a book deal out of the gig and I am so in.


#1: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: March 13th, 2012

Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

Yep.  That's right.  Spell Bound is the final installment in the Hex Hall trilogy, and the number one book I'm looking forward to this year.  If you are curious about this series, do it.  I was hesitant about the concept, but picked it up anyway (in no small part due to my slight boarding school obsession) and am so glad I did.  Rachel Hawkins writes with a humorous ease that I have rarely seen outside of the actual humor genre.  Her characters talk like real people (can I express my happiness at Sophie saying "screw that noise!"?), and she somehow makes that same old story of love triangles, witches, and boarding school completely fresh and fun.