Fall 2014 Anticipated Releases: Top Ten Tuesday (13)

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish that I do arbitrarily when I like the topic. This week's one was one that I HAD to do, because if I participate in one Top Ten Tuesday per season, it will be my most anticipated releases. I am only listing releases that come out today and after, because if I include all of the earlier September releases.... we will be here all day.

*These are in order of release, not anticipation, because we all know what would be #1*

 Release Date: September 23, 2014

Backstory: I first heard about this book when everyone was hauling books from BEA, and while I wasn't the biggest fan of Uglies, I am looking forward to checking this one out.

Premise: This book alternates from a young debut novelist and the novel she is writing, so we get to see the events in her real life that impact the novel.

 Release Date: September 23, 2014 

Backstory: I had been eyeing this book on Netgalley, but was sadly not approved. That did not hinder my anticipation for it, and I would just like to say, "Happy Book Birthday Kendall!"

Premise: Witches and a Historical Romance, what more could a reader ask for? The plot sounds so intriguing, and I would practically pick up the book for the cover alone.

Release Date: September 30, 2014 

Backstory: I had been eyeing this since May and was fortunate enough to get an ARC copy which is actually next on my September TBR. 

Premise: In 1959, Sara Dunbar is the first African-American to be admitted to an all-white school where she will be bullied and ostracized for her race. When she is forced to work with Linda Hairston, the two must make up their minds about their personal morals and that their present realities aren't all that meets the eye.

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Backstory: I saw the interesting premise, requested it on Netgalley, and was approved.

Premise: This is a "what if" novel about how the world would be NOW if Hitler had won World War II, and if that doesn't sound like a gripping enough plot, I don't know what will.

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Backstory: Marie Lu is one of those authors who I would read grocery lists of.... if I could, and I am psyched to see how she does with the new genre and too see if I will fall in love with the characters as much as I did with Legend.

Premise: Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever which left her with mysterious and powerful abilities, so she must come to terms with who she is and what she can do. This will be a lot darker of a book, especially because Adelina is a villain, and I am dying to read it.

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Backstory: I have been reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians series since 3rd grade, this is the 10th book about Percy, as well as the end of the most epic book saga of my lifetime (in terms of length), and I cannot wait to see how the series ends. 

Premise: This is the 5th and last book in the Heroes of Olympus series so any synopsizing will be spoilery but the main idea is that it will be epic and a feels-full adventure. 

 Release Date: October 8, 2014

Backstory: This was another Netgalley approval, and I must say that I it was an impulse-request because of that mysterious cover.

Premise: This sounds like a fascinating psychological thriller/romance/mystery mashup that will be perfect to get me in the mood for Halloween. 

 Release Date: October 14, 2014

Backstory: I read the first book in the Unwind Quartet almost a year ago and was enraptured with the premise and fast-paced plot. While I wasn't the biggest fan of the third book, the cliffhanger is what is drawing me in.

Premise: This the 4th and last book in the Unwind Quartet which is centered around this dystopian society where kids (between 12 and 18) are "unwound" which means that 99% of their body is divided up so it can go to people that need the parts. As you can see, there a lot of moral and ethical questions, so chaos and rebellion ensue.

 Release Date: October 14, 2014

Backstory: I first heard about this book in JANUARY from Fiction_TheNewReality's New Year, New Books celebration and have been in rapt anticipation ever since because of the fantastical premise and breathtaking cover.

Premise: The Winter Kingdom's magic and ruler was stolen, and its fate depends on 8 survivors, and Meira -the protagonist- goes on a quest of her own to save her kingdom.

 Release Date: November 4, 2014

Backstory: I have only recently heard about this novel, but the pitch (it involves parallel universes) and the cover is simply stunning.

Premise: Marguerite's parents invented Firebird, which allows them to jump from parallel universe, but in our's her father is murdered, and she must use Firebird to track him down.

Authors I NEED to Read More Books From: Top 10 Tuesday (12)

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish that I do arbitrarily when I like the topic. This week's one sounded really fun because of how many books that are on my TBR (Over 1,000) and the large fraction of those that are written by these authors.

Cassandra Clare: I FINALLY read Clockwork Angel in the beginning of September and can't wait to read the rest of The Infernal Devices as well as start reading The Mortal Instruments. It seems like everyone and their second cousin is in love with Jace, Will, and Cassandra's amazing world.

Maya Van Wagenen: I read Maya's debut novel Popular, in August, and I think it may be one of the best debuts I have read this year. I normally am not the biggest fan of memoirs, but Maya just had such a strong, humorous voice and a gift for telling stories that kept her reader (me) captivated in the entire duration of the book.

Matthew Quick: I read Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock over a year ago and the novel still resonates with me every time I need to recommend a gritty, inspirational contemporary to anybody. The writing style was unlike any I had ever seen before (half-page annotations), and the main character had a brutally honest teenage voice that couldn't help but speak the painful truth.

Megan Shepherd: The Madman's Daughter was my first ever gothic thriller, and I loved every moment of the creepiness and pure insanity of the premise. The pacing was incredibly fast and the ending left me wanting a heck of a lot more from this author.

E. Lockhart: As you may know, Lockhart's latest novel -We Were Liars- was one of the most buzzed-about summer books for the mysterious outrageousness and plot twist. I really want to see if her other books are just as lyrical, with other unreliable narrators.

Amy Zhang: This teenager's debut novel Falling Into Place just hit shelves last week and was my most anticipated contemporary read of 2014. The prose was beautiful, the narrator.... a puzzle, and the plot.... a multi-layered onion. I can't wait to see what Zhang does with her talent with her standalones which are to be published in 2015 and 2016.

Winter Page: This is ironically another high schooler who had her debut novel come out this year. Breaking Free was about a Lesbian Transgender person and the struggles she went through in high school as well as her romantic life. If this premise could have been imagined and executed by a 15 year old, then I am dying to see what Winter can do as she gets older.

Helene Dunbar: This author's debut novel These Gentle Wounds came out May 2014, and was one of the most memorable and unique books I have ever read. The story is told from the perspective of Gordie, a teenage boy who has a serious case of PTSD because of a terrifying event that happened when he was little. The story was inspirational and thought-provoking, and I most definitely want to read more from Helene.

Leila Sales: In 2013, EVERYONE had gone crazy for This Song Will Save Your Life, and when I read the book in January.... my reaction was no different. Elise was such a neat character that I would die to be BFFs with in real life. The premise and musical aspect was interesting, and I just want to read more of Leila's dry humor and enjoyable prose.

A.S. King: The BookTuber Ariel Bisset is always raving about King, and the amount of passion Ariel has for this author makes me want to read more books by her. I wasn't the biggest fan of Everybody See the Ants, but reading only one book is subjective in terms of your opinion of the author, and I really want to read more by her.

Keep in' It Real with Philip Siegel ~ Top 10 Contemporary Novels Narrated by Boys

Keepin' It Real is a wonderful two week long event -hosted by Eli @ Reality Lapse and Kaitlin @ Reading is My Treasure- meant to highlight Contemporary Young Adult Fiction. The two of them have put in countless hours of effort to make this event a reality, making sure we (blog readers) had new, exciting content from all of these awesome authors such as Interviews, Top Tens Lists, and more. Today, I am happy to share my stop which is a Top Ten list from debut author of The Break-Up Artist - Philip Siegel. 

When I found out I would get the chance to participate in this event, I was ecstatic, and I was even more ecstatic to learn the the YA Contemporary author would be Philip Siegel. While I have not read his book yet (I am very ashamed of this fact and intend to remedy it ASAP), the concept sounded like so much fun. While reading through the list of Top 10 ideas, today's topic, in particular, stood out to me. This is because 85% of the time, YA contemporary novels are from a girl's perspective. And even though I'm someone who thinks that girls rule, it is always fascinating for myself as a reader to see things from the male species perspective. So you can think of me choosing this Top 10 Topic as a way for me to get recommendations without having to do the work, PLUS getting to hear from Philip. It's a win-win for all of us!

I love contemporaries, and not just because I write them. It seems as if editors and readers are forever on the hunt for contemporaries with a male protagonist. Well, good news, book people! There are lots of great realistic YA books with male main characters. We all know about the big ones (13 Reasons Why, all pre-TFIOS John Green, Perks of Being a Wallflower). Here is a list of some boy POV contemporaries that may not be on your radar…but should!

 

1) Boot Camp by Todd Strasser

Garrett is sent to a disciplinary boot camp that is a hundred times worse than your regular time out. He’s beaten and humiliated, and soon conspires with fellow inmates on an escape. The story is all the more harrowing since these places exist in real life. Boot Camp is a tense, perfectly-plotted thriller that kept me up until 4 a.m. reading.

 

2) Stupid Fast by Geoff Harbach

Felton can run stupid fast, which gets him on the football team and helps him avoid his falling-apart family. Fantastic voice here.

 

3) FML by Shaun David Hutchinson

This is Sliding Doors meets Can’t Hardly Wait. We get to see two scenarios for lovable everyboy Simon at the end of year rager. A fast and funny read. Read my full reviewhere.

 

4) Exiled to Iowa. Send Help. And Couture. by ChrisO’Guinn

First off, that title is perfection and made me buy the book. Luckily, the book is just as hilarious. Collin’s family moves from L.A. to Iowa, and he thinks that means he’ll have to stay in the closet. But soon he finds friends, a hip clothing boutique stocked with the titular couture, a cute bad boy, and a ragtag team of students who can help him put on a school play adaption of Moulin Rouge. Exiled to Iowa is a great addition to the LGBT canon, and a total gem.

 

5) Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner

One of the rare books that made me laugh out loud multiple times. Shakespeare Shapiro muddles through his senior year of high school and writes his memoir for a class project. It’s a low concept story, but filled with painfully true (and hysterical) writing. You’ll breeze through this and chuckle the whole way.

 

6) 33 Minutes by Todd Hasak-Lowy

Technically, this book is middle grade, but the writing is so sharp and insightful that teens and adults will enjoy it, too. Sam gets a note from his former best friend Morgan saying that he’s going to beat him up in 33 minutes. As Sam tries to figure out a way to save his skin, he looks back at how they went from friends to mortal enemies. The story is surprisingly poignant. Anybody who’s ever drifted apart from a friend will relate to this book.

 

7) Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini

It’s like The Matrix meets John Green. Jeremy takes a pill that puts a supercomputer into his head, which teaches him how to be cool and score with girls. Yes, this may strain the definition of realistic fiction, but Vizzini does a great job of grounding the outlandish concept.

 

8) Catch by Will Leitch

Tim debates whether he wants to go off to college in the fall or stay in his small town that he loves, especially when he begins a relationship with his 22-year-old boss.

 

9) Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

Fat and friendless Troy is about to commit suicide when he meets the ultracool musician Curt. Curt recruits him into his not-yet-existent band, even though Troy has no musical ability. Touching, heartwarming, and for the fat kid inside all of us.

 

10) Geography Club by Brett Hartinger

Closeted student Russel Middlebrook starts a clandestine gay/straight alliance at his school called Geography Club. Because who would openly choose to join a Geography Club? A light and fun coming out story that I could read over and over again.

Amazon | Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Philip Siegel grew up in New Jersey, which he insists is much nicer than certain TV shows would have you believe. He graduated from Northwestern University and promptly moved out to Los Angeles, where he became an NBC Page (proof below). He likes to think that the character of Kenneth on 30 Rock is loosely based on his life rights. Currently, he lives in Chicago and does his best writing sandwiched in between colorful characters on the El.

Amazon | Goodreads | Barnes & Nobles 

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Some sixteen-year-olds babysit for extra cash. 

Some work at the mall. 

Becca Williamson breaks up couples. Becca knows from experience the damage that love can do. After all, it was so-called love that turned Huxley from her childhood best friend into a social-world dictator, and love that left Becca's older sister devastated at the altar. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Becca strikes back—for just one hundred dollars via PayPal, she will trick and manipulate any couple's relationship into smithereens. And with relationship zombies overrunning her school and treating single girls as if they're second-class citizens, business is unfortunately booming. Even Becca's best friend, Val, has resorted to outright lies to snag a boyfriend. 

 One night, Becca receives a mysterious offer to break up the most popular couple in school: Huxley and raw football team's star player, Steve. To succeed, she'll have to plan her most elaborate scheme to date—starting rumors, sabotaging cell phones, breaking into cars...not to mention sneaking back into Huxley's good graces. All while fending off the inappropriate feelings she may or may not be having for Val's new boyfriend. 

 No one said being the Break-Up Artist would be easy.