Friday 30 December 2011

Top 10 of 2011 - Top 10 Books I'm looking forward to in 2012


The last day of the week of the Top 10 of 2011, hosted by Confessions of a Bookaholic, A Life Bound By Books, Fiktshun and Two Chicks on Books. Today we look forward and see what books I am waiting for in 2012.

Only there is a slight problem. It won't be only books coming out in 2012, because I tend to read oldies, and obscure series that have been published for a while. There are just a few books that make me rush to the bookstore (ie. Bookdepository). But here they are, the books I want to read in 2012



Top 10 Books I'm looking forward to in 2012
Books coming out in 2012:

1 - Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.
I have been waiting for so long for this book! I loved Graceling and Fire, so I really want Bitterblue to be published!

Expected to be out: May 2012


2 - Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier
The series is set in Alban, an imagined version of ancient Scotland. Until recent times, a wary tolerance has existed between the human residents of Alban and the uncanny Good Folk. Then Keldec ascends the throne, and the kingdom becomes a place of fear where magic is shunned, neighbour turns on neighbour and no secret is safe. When fifteen-year-old Nevyn suffers an unthinkable betrayal of trust, she finds herself all alone in a world turned hostile. The secret she guards so closely could be her doom. It could also be the key to Alban's future.

Shadowfell is a story of tyranny and rebellion; of magic and of human courage.
Another series by Juliet Marillier! Squee! Set in Scotland! Double Squee!

Expected to be out: Fall 2012


3 - Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
There is no proper description for this one (it's not like I need it - it's Juliet Marillier and Sevenwaters, I'll read it no matter what the backcover says). But I found this, posted by the author:
"I am pleased with Return to Sevenwaters [Previous, temporary title - it has changed to Flame of Sevenwaters] so far. Maeve is an interesting narrator. Her character has been shaped by the traumatic accident in her childhood and her resulting injury, and also by the fact that she has spent ten years living at Harrowfield as a foster daughter of Bran and Liadan before returning home at the age of 20. Young Finbar, aged 7, also has a major part to play in the story."

Expected to be out: November 2012


4 - Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow
In the world of Sorrow’s Knot, the dead do not rest easy. Every patch of shadow might be home to something hungry and nearly invisible, something deadly. The dead can only be repelled or destroyed with magically knotted cords and yarns. The women who tie these knots are called binders.

Otter is the daughter of Willow, a binder of great power. She’s a proud and privileged girl who takes it for granted that she will be a binder some day herself. But when Willow’s power begins to turn inward and tear her apart, Otter finds herself trapped with a responsibility she’s not ready for, and a power she no longer wants.

Plain Kate surprised me so much that I really want to keep reading this author!

Expected to be out: Sometime 2012


Already Published - Not Owned/Still waiting for them

5 - The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
For two thousand years the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now the gods are free, and the Arameri’s ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war.

Shahar, last scion of the family, must choose her loyalties. She yearns to trust Sieh, the godling she loves. Yet her duty as Arameri heir is to uphold the family’s interests, even if that means using and destroying everyone she cares for.

As long-suppressed rage and terrible new magics consume the world, the Maelstrom — which even gods fear — is summoned forth. Shahar and Sieh: mortal and god, lovers and enemies. Can they stand together against the chaos that threatens the Kingdom of the Gods?
The final book in the Inheritance Trilogy, and it features Sieh! Of course I want it!

Status: Still on the wishlist.


6 - The Poison Eaters: and Other Stories by Holly Black
Poisonous girls whose kisses will kill. A fateful eating contest with the devil. Faeries who return to Ironside, searching for love. A junior prom turned bacchanalia. In twelve short stories, eerie and brimming with suspense and unexpected humor, Holly Black twists the fantastical creatures you thought you knew in ways you’ll never expect.

A collection of short stories by Holly Black, and one of the stories has spinned of as a new book (still to be published, sometime in 2013).

Status: Still on the wishlist.


7 - I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Meet Ed Kennedy — underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger...
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

Good reviews left me curious, and after reading the Book Thief, I know I'll keep reading this author.

Status: Still on the wishlist.


8 - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
Everyone is saying this book is great, and I'm not a girl to say no to a great book!

Status: On its way!


9 - The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
Another book everyone is singing it's praises, and I want to know what all the fuss is about!

Status: On its way!


Already Owned - New Year's Resolution (I needed a 10th book!)

10 - The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Set in modern day Moscow, Night Watch is a world as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov. Living among us are the "Others," an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. A thousand-year treaty has maintained the balance of power, and the two sides coexist in an uneasy truce. But an ancient prophecy decrees that one supreme "Other" will rise up and tip the balance, plunging the world into a catastrophic war between the Dark and the Light. When a young boy with extraordinary powers emerges, fulfilling the first half of the prophecy, will the forces of the Light be able to keep the Dark from corrupting the boy and destroying the world?
Not the book that has been on my TBR longest, but it has been there for a long, long time. I keep saying I'll read it, but I never do. So here is my New Year's Resolution. I'll finally read The Night Watch!



Extra:
Any book published by Megan Whalen Turner will make me run to the bookshop, and although there are two more books planned in the Queen's Thief series, they will not be coming any time soon. But if they do, I'll buy them! And then read them! And then read them again, and again, and again.





No comments:

Post a Comment