Fantastic Covers Friday (10): The House of Power by Patrick Carman

Fantastic Covers Friday is a weekly meme over here at Brave New Shelf where I highlight beautiful covers that I find, both old and new, from young adult books.

This Week:

The House of Power (Atherton #1) by Patrick Carman

Design by Kirk Benshoff

Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Squire Broel

Cover artwork copyright © 2007 by Phillip Straub

Jacket artwork by Bernard Garcia, © 2007 by Little, Brown and Company

Logo Design by Blacksheep, © 2007 by Little, Brown and Company

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You really have to see this cover in real life to get the full effect. The tan part with the sketch is a partial dust jacket, with the cliff setting (which is flat-out gorgeous) being the cover of the book itself. The pencil drawings are exquisite, and contrast nicely with the full color scenery picture above it. This is totally a book that I would pick up just from seeing its cover.

Waiting on Wednesday (12): On Fire: A Teen Wolf Novel by Nancy Holder

From Goodreads: 

Based on the hit MTV series Teen Wolf—a teenage boy’s life changes forever after he’s bitten by a werewolf. Scott was just a regular guy until one bite changed his life. Now he struggles to understand who he is and what he might become. Is he more wolf than human—or is it the other way around? Whichever it is, it’s not going to be easy. Scott tries to control his urges, but mostly he’s scared that it’s his urges that could end up controlling him. On Fire is the story of what happens when you to walk the line between what you want and what you can’t help from wanting. Will the bite end up being a gift? Or will it be a curse? And what will it all mean for Scott’s relationship with Allison—the girl he can’t get enough of? Only time will tell if he should embrace his newfound powers, or if he should fear them.

Publisher: MTV Books
Publication Date: July 17th, 2012 (?)
Amazon, Goodreads, Author's Website

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Okay, was I the only one who didn't know that MTV also published books? No? Good. Well, now that we've gotten past that I guess it's alright to come out of the closet as a big fan of MTV's Teen Wolf! I've never been a major fan of mushy paranormal romance, so it's a fun little mix-up every week for me, a break from my norm.

I don't have any experience with Holder's work, but it looks from her website and bibliography that she must know what she's doing. I can't wait to sink my teeth (har har) into this novelization!

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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted over at Breaking the Spine.

Review: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned

From Goodreads:

"Y" is none other than unemployed escape artist Yorick Brown (his father was a Shakespeare buff), and he's seemingly the only male human left alive after a mysterious plague kills all Y-chromosome carriers on earth. But why are he and his faithful companion, the often testy male monkey Ampersand, still alive? He sets out to find the answer (and his girlfriend), while running from angry female Republicans (now running the government), Amazon wannabes that include his own sister (seemingly brainwashed), and other threats. The Vertigo team of Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan Jr. have given us a great read!

I've talked before about my newfound love for comics and my desire to get more of them into my life, so I requested Y: The Last Man, Vol 1: Unmanned from my public library and sat down with the intention to just read a few pages. Less than an hour later I was finished and eager for the second.

Y: The Last Man is refreshing in that it can be interpreted as post-apocalyptic (with half of the world's popular dead in a matter of minutes), dystopian (as society crumbles with the workforce halved), utopian (to the extremist militia groups who see an all-woman world as a blessing), and/ or inspiring (as the remaining society is forced to rebuild while facing imminent extinction of the human race) at the same time. Most books nowadays seem to only fit into one category, with authors not knowing how to juggle different themes without pigeonholing or spreading too thin. Nothing here felt campy or forced; emotions come off as genuine and true despite the otherworldly and at times unimaginable circumstances.

I'm only about knee-deep in the series at this point, but I can't wait to go completely under with the next nine books. Vaughan, with the help of the impressive artistic skills of Guerra and Marzán, is well into molding a world that is confusing and unknown with emotions and characters that feel all too real.

Goodreads, Amazon
Title: Y: The Last Man: Unmanned
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrators: Pia Guerra and José Marzán, Jr.
Publisher: Vertigo
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2003
ISBN: 1-56389-980-9

Fantastic Covers Friday (9): Banished by Sofie Littlefield

Fantastic Covers Friday is a weekly meme over here at Brave New Shelf where I highlight beautiful covers that I find, both old and new, from young adult books.

This Week:

Banished by Sophie Littlefield

Jacket photograph © 2010 by Lara Jade

Jacket illustration © 2010 by Shutterstock

Jacket design by Stephanie Moss

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The combinations of blues and blacks on this cover is very powerful. I love that the girl is not only hiding behind her hair, but the print of the cover of the book as well. All-caps in the title fits in well with the chilling blue theme, and I knew the moment that I looked at this book that it had some serious themes in it. 

It also looks to me as though the model on the cover was intended to be a bit racially ambiguous. I thought when I had first seen the cover that she was Asian, but now I'm not so certain. Seeing as there's certainly a shortage of non-white models on book covers, I think it's refreshing.

New Excitingness!

Less than a week and a half since school let out for me and already so many exciting things have been going on!

Source

1) I graduated today from high school! It was over 90°F , and we were all smooshed together in our polyester robes, but it was amazing! Everything turned out so perfect, and I got an iPhone as a grad gift (a huge upgrade from my TracFone.)  Her name is Hero, like the character from Much Ado About Nothing.

2) Divergent Fans has announced that Lionsgate and Summit have plans to begin the filming of a Divergent movie later this year! I'm hoping for nothing less than a pre-Hunger Games-esque blowout with everyone on the edge of their chairs to find out who plays Tris. I will accept nothing less! They are also the new owners of Insugent's rights as well, so presuming all goes well (and I just know that it well) we should be expecting that a few years down the road as well. You can read the story here.

Source

So, the major questions here are, who do you want to play Tris? Ever since I watched True Grit my go-to girl for book role hopefuls has been Hailee Steinfeld. She has definitely proven herself to have a calm and mature acting style, and can (hopefully will!) bring nothing but greatness to Divergent, whatever role may she take.

Do you have any actresses you'd love to see as Tris? Actors as Four?

Waiting on Wednesday 11: The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

From Goodreads:

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.
The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 10th, 2012
Amazon, Goodreads, Author's Twitter

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I really can't have enough dystopian novels in my life. I've toyed around with the idea of combining Mexico, the U.S. and Canada for one of my own stories in the past, but it never came to light so I'm glad that someone else did it! The island prison idea sounds interesting too.

I love survival stories, and I'm glad that this book doesn't have an apparent love interest yet. I'm pretty sure if most people were stuck on a prison island with a life expectancy of two years they'd be more interested in escaping than hooking up, too.

And that cover? It's gorgeous! It's what caught my eye in the first place. I'm certainly excited!

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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted over at Breaking the Spine.

Review: The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide by Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor

From Goodreads:

A guide to the emerging subculture of literary tattoos — a collection of 100 full-color photographs of human skin indelibly adorned with quotations and images from Pynchon to Dickinson to Shakespeare to Plath. Packed with beloved lines of verse, literary portraits, and illustrations — and statements from the bearers on their tattoos’ history and the personal significance of the chosen literary work — The Word Made Flesh is part photo collection, part literary anthology written on skin.

I've written before about my desire for a literary tattoo and my admiration for those who go through with getting one. I think that they're beautiful, inspiring, and always have great stories behind them.

The book itself includes dozens of color and black and white photos of different literary tattoos, some of them with their accompanying stories. Each picture also has the line rewritten and the book/ poem/ play that it came from written underneath, for those who didn't get the reference.

Honestly, I didn't know a lot of the books/ poems/ etc. that made up the tattoos, but it was nice to see what was important to other people. The book is concise, meaning that depending on how long you stop to gaze at the pictures you can probably get through it in an afternoon (of an insomnia-fueled night, if you're me.)

The Word Made Flesh is a great book for artists, readers, and those who too dream about honoring the written word in the most personal way possible.

Goodreads, Amazon, The Word Made Flesh (authors' website)

Title: The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide
Authors: Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: October 12th, 2010
Page #: 196
ISBN: 9780061997402

Fantastic Covers Friday (8): Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Fantastic Covers Friday is a weekly meme over here at Brave New Shelf where I highlight beautiful covers that I find, from both old books and new, from young adult books.

This Week:

The Japanese covers for the three books of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. (NOT graphic novels!)

[Cover information unknown. Please leave a comment if you know the artist/ designer!]

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I've been having a lot of mixed feelings brought on by the Twilight books recently, so expect some themed posts coming up. The one thing that I like about Meyer's website is that she's collected some of the covers of her books from around the world, and ever since I read the first book in seventh grade I've been in love with the illustrations from the Japanese editions. Each book is divided into three, and they're on a very, very short list of mine of covers I like with drawn humans.

I like that they're frank: the books are about Edward and Bella. Bella and Edward. You don't need any unnecessary images, those would just clog up the cover. I also think that they're a nice change from the red, black, and white theme of the American covers, though those are lovely too. The second one is my favorite, I love Bella's sweet smile and calm pose.

If you do an Internet search you can find some of the other images from the book series, I highly recommend it!

Waiting on Wednesday (10): Artemis Fowl: (and) The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer

From Goodreads:

Seemingly nothing in this world daunts the young criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl. In the fairy world, however, there is a small thing that has gotten under his skin on more than one occasion: Opal Koboi. In The Last Guardian, the evil pixie is wreaking havoc yet again. This time his arch rival has somehow reanimated dead fairy warriors who were buried in the grounds of Fowl Manor. Their spirits have possessed Artemis’s little brothers, making his siblings even more annoying than usual. The warriors don’t seem to realize that the battle they were fighting when they died—a battle against Artemis—is long over. Artemis has until sunrise to get the spirits to vacate his brothers and go back into the earth where they belong. Can he count on a certain LEPrecon fairy to join him in what could well be his last stand? 

New York Times best-selling author and comic genius Eoin Colfer will leave Artemis Fowl fans gasping up to the very end of this thrilling finale to the blockbuster series.

Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Publication Date: July 10th, 2012
Amazon, Goodreads, Author's Website

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Excuse me as I sob into my pillow. I've been reading the Artemis Fowl books for about five years now,and the fact that it's coming to an end makes me proud to have been a part of such a great series and sad that it's all over. The fact that it's coming out only a month away is really bittersweet, but I'm excited to finally get it in my hands. 

It's been a great run, Arty.

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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted over at Breaking the Spine.

Fantastic Covers Friday (7): The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Fantastic Covers Friday is a weekly meme over here at Brave New Shelf where I highlight beautiful covers that I find, from both old books and new, from young adult books.

This Week:

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

By: E. Lockhart

Cover design by Elizabeth H. Clark

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The neatness and organization of this cover is what drew me in: the clean lettering, the clear layout, and the crisp blue envelope photo make this cover very appealing in an era where a lot of Photoshop collages are slapped to the front of books and sent to press. With that mouthful of a title, a crazy cover is the last thing  this book needs. I only wish that Ms. Clark wasn't so bashful about sharing her work online (I can't find a website), I'd love to see more of it!

Waiting on Wednesday (9): The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee

From Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother.

After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home, undaunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom. At school, her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists.

With the help of Nate Brenner, the hunky “farmer boy” she’s rapidly falling for, Rinn devises a dangerous plan to uncover the truth. Soon reality and fantasy meld into one, till Rinn finds it nearly impossible to tell the difference. When a malevolent force threatens the lives of everyone she cares about--not to mention her own--she can't help wondering: who should she really be afraid of?
Annaliese? Or herself?

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: July 17th, 2012
Amazon, Goodreads, Author's website

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I know that young adult fiction probably isn't the most accurate reading material when it comes to psychiatric issues, but ever since the incorporation of mental illness with mysteries into The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer I've wanted to read more. The great reviews coming out of Goodreads don't make it look half-bad either.

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Waiting on Wednesday is hosted over at Breaking the Spine.

Armchair BEA Day 1: Personal Interview

I couldn't even do Armchair BEA last year, much less go to the actual BEA, so I'm excited to be a part of the party this year! If you're visiting for the first time, welcome! All comments are appreciated, and I'm so excited to get to know some of my fellow book bloggers.

Here we go!

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? 

My name is Emily :) I'd say that I'm a high school senior but I finished all of my AP tests and will be graduating June 21st, so calling myself that doesn't feel accurate anymore. I've been blogging since March 2011, and what got me started was that I had been invited to write reviews for the teen writing website Figment, and I thought that book blogging would be a great way to keep them organized!

2. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

I am currently reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman for a final AP English project, Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride for fun, and Book 1 of the Seven Soldiers of Victory series by Grant Morrison because I want to get more comics into my life this year. 

My favorite books so far have been either I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga or Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

3. If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

Probably Aziraphale from Good Omens, because he's really cool and owns a bookshop, which is always excellent in my book.He's been around for a while too, so he probably has some great stories.

4. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

Ireland, ever since I read the first Artemis Fowl book. From the pictures that I've seen it's a beautiful place, and I've got to get to Europe eventually! So, why not start there?

5. Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

They haven't been changed so much as realized. I realized that I like books that deal with complex issues, male main characters, good sarcasm and wit, comics and graphic novels, dystopians with a base in real life (as opposed to just slapping the label on a crappy society). I've found it's okay that I don't like paranormal romance like a lot of other people, including bloggers I look up to, do.

No matter what, there are always books being published, or have been published, that I can read and enjoy, and that the love of the majority doesn't have to be my love. I don't have to read a book that doesn't sound interesting to me just because Book Blogger A, who I love, gave it five stars. 

So, I hope that I'm a halfway interesting person and that you liked reading my responses to the questions. I love and respond to all comments, so feel free to leave a few!

Ta-ta!

Congrats, Presenting Lenore!!!

Presenting Lenore was the first book blog that I started following regularly, and I'm so happy to see that her project Level 2 has come to light! She revealed the cover this week, and everything has just been going so fantastic for her you should definitely head over and give her a little love :)

Presenting Lenore

Once again, congratulation!