Angieville

The moral of this story is that it has been far too long since I read a Gail Carriger book. I discovered her back when her debut novel Soulless first came out and thought it was perfectly delightful. I read the next couple of Parasol Protectorate novels and then sort of lost my way a bit. I've always rather wanted to return and, my word, has she been prolific in the intervening years. When I began hearing happy rumblings about this first installment in a new series of novellas set in the same familiar world, it felt like the perfect time to jump back in and test the waters. Faith Wigglesworth (I know) has been exiled to London and ordered to find herself a werewolf husband posthaste. Her family appears to view such a fate as merely her just desserts for the scandal she caused them back home in Boston. Faith remembers the story a trifle differently. But she is nothing if not relieved to be an ocean away from her less-than-loving family and not at all opposed to a werewolf spou...

I have been on pins and needles ever since finishing Jackaby for news of the sequel, and now it's finally here! I love this cover, you guys. I love the colors, I especially love that it's Abigail's silhouette, and I can't wait to hold it and admire it on the shelf rubbing shoulders with its predecessor. I'm very much looking forward to finding out what beasties Abigail and Jackaby (and Charlie!) will be tracking this time around. I will confess to having been hoping the next one would be titled simply Rook . But, alas, it was a meager hope at best.  Beastly Bones is due out September 22nd. Until then, we shall have to make do with dreaming.

First of all, that cover . I love everything about that cover. And, as such, deciding whether or not to read Jackaby involved me sitting on my hands, dithering about whether or not the insides would match the outsides. As I am wont to do. But the truth is the mash-up of historical fantasy and the Doctor Who-meets-Sherlock Holmes teaser made it no kind of question at all as to whether or not I'd be picking it up. This is William Ritter 's debut novel and the first in a series (happy day) as the ending clearly indicates. I picked it up a few weeks back on vacation and read it through in one big swallow. And while my body may have been sitting on the beach, my mind was far away tramping down a cold, winter street in New Fiddleham. The whole experience was deliciously dark and dreary. Of course, it was also ineluctably charming and smart. Which is to say I didn't stand a chance and cannot wait for the next one to come out. The year is 1892. The place: New England. Abigail ...

I can't help it. Juliet Marillier has a new book coming out and I start experiencing all the feelings. The fact that this one is the first in a brand new adult fantasy series just ratchets it all up. I've read and enjoyed her YA offerings, but I discovered her through Daughter of the Forest , and so at heart (for me) it will always be about her beautiful adult fantasy novels. I love this cover so because it reminds me of Trina Schart Hyman's work, which I adore. Due out November 4th,  Dreamer's Pool is the first in the Blackthorn & Grim series. Set in medieval Ireland, it follows two main characters who Marillier describes as "older, more flawed protagonists." Good heavens, bring it to me now .

I really don't often love photos of actual people on my covers, thank you very much. But I make an exception for Robin LaFevers ' His Fair Assassin series , because it was the cover of Grave Mercy that lured me in to begin with. Well, that and the word "assassin" in the series title. And nuns. Assassin nuns. Genius, people. In any event, here is the cover for the third and final (I believe) book in the trilogy— Mortal Heart . It is Annith's story and, really, she deserves one. I have loved each of these covers, but this one might actually be my favorite because bow and arrows. And her dress. I covet it. Cannot wait to read this one. Your thoughts?

Come on! How am I supposed to sit around and ignore these upcoming releases when they feature such pretty, pretty covers? You've likely seen them floating around before, but they go so well together I had to throw out a mention. I like to think their dust jackets will be thick and matte, with that slightl pebbly feel to them that makes my bibliophilic heart sing. Well done, Bloomsbury and Allison & Busby cover peeps. I mean, really. Well done. Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst Okay. A supernatural librarian in the witness protection program. A magical serial killer on the loose. I feel fairly confident I can just stop there. Yes? But, oh dear, all the pins in that heart . . . Due out September 3rd. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth This one's got all sorts of potential. A retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale told (partially) from the perspective of a woman at the court of Louis XIV. I ask you. Need I go on? The early word from across the pond (and Oz) is very good. C...

I fell hard and fast last year for Robin LaFevers ' first novel in the His Fair Assassin trilogy. Historical fiction with a touch of fantasy to spice things up, this series reads like a breath of fresh air (to me) amid so many contemporaries and paranormals. Not that I don't love many of those. I absolutely do. But give me some top-notch court intrigue and I am one sated readergirl. I loved everything about Grave Mercy , and so it went without saying that Dark Triumph would occupy one of the top spots on my most anticipated reads of 2013 list. I will say that I worried just a bit about spending all of my time with Sybella. I loved her scenes in Grave Mercy , but I definitely resonated more with Ismae and her desperate mission. But I am always up for a sequel, and I had a number of questions about Sybella's past and future that I looked forward to having answered. I also held onto fond memories of Beast from the previous book. More of him was nothing but fine in my book...

When I first moved to Utah from California, it felt in many ways as though I was moving away from the "action," if you will. For better or worse, so many events take place in southern California. I only lived there for a few years, but in that time period there really was never a dull moment. And I worried that I would be cut off from my favorite author tours, concerts, etc. And for awhile that felt true. Happily, in recent years, my local libraries and my local indie bookstore,  The King's English , have been coming through for me big time, reeling in fabulous authors for signings, presentations, and other various and sundry gatherings. In a few days, I get to attend one such shindig sponsored by The King's English, featuring Robin LaFevers , author of the crazy good His Fair Asssassin series. Superbly written historical fantasy is my kryptonite (okay, one of them ), and I loved Grave Mercy something fierce. It's probably worth mentioning that I am in t...

I would seriously shelve these three together just for how pretty they look side by side. And I'd do it in this order so as to be able to admire the light as it moves into darkness. I have only read one of these authors before, but I look forward to checking out all three. Two historical fantasies and one young adult fantasy, this summer is looking better and better. The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley I am a huge fan of  The Winter Sea , and so it is with great pleasure that I anticipate this sequel of sorts. The matching covers will also look so nice together (that's right, I really am that shallow). Kearsley is the best when it comes to time traveling historical fantasies (and, really, when does it not?) I have implicit faith in her and in this adventure that spans the courts of Jacobite Scotland and Czarist Russia. Due out June 4th Indelible by Dawn Metcalf How about that cover? I mean, really. Well done, Harlequin Teen. This sophomore novel from Ms. Metcalf is set...

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a Shakespeare Festival in a small town down south. DH and I have gone three times in the last few years, as children and time off work permitted, and each time it's been an utter delight. This year we went with some good friends so it was twice as fun. One afternoon we were in between plays, and I was determined to get back to this little used bookstore we'd visited the last time we made it down. For many years now, I have been involved in a prolonged and illustrious love affair with used bookstores. This one is my latest crush. I walked in the door, wandered over to the YA section, and lo and behold the exact edition of Lloyd Alexander's The Bl...

My first reaction to hearing about Grave Mercy  was that I liked the cover and its mixture of historical figure and modern font. At the same time, I dismissed it somewhat in my mind, sort of preemptively lowering expectations. I adore historical fiction. We have a long history together (pardon the pun). However, I sometimes wind up feeling as though the YA historicals I read have been watered down, so to speak. But the hype surrounding this one has been so adamant (check out all those stars rolling in), that I went ahead with the huddled masses yearning to read free and requested in on NetGalley . Author Robin LaFevers has quite a few middle grade books under her belt, including two separate series.  Grave Mercy   seems to be her first full-fledged YA novel, and it is the first in the His Fair Assassin trilogy. If you're not currently in the mood for a trilogy, it does look as though this one will follow different characters in each installment. Having read i...

This cover. This cover remains one of my favorite covers ever! I had never heard of Paula Volsky before or read much historical fantasy at all when a copy of Illusion arrived at my house. I was fifteen and my Aunt Claudia sent it to me for my birthday. She's a great reader, my aunt, and she has flawless taste. When they were kids, she and my dad would ride their bikes to the library and each check out a stack of Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys, go home, read them, switch, read, return, and repeat. She loves Dickens and Georgette Heyer and all manner of good ones. So I knew this one would be good. And I loved how reassuringly thick the mass market copy was. Slick gray pages and 674 of them in all--absolute bliss. I ended up reading the majority of it during a couple of late night babysitting stints. After the kids brushed their teeth and went to bed, I curled up in an oversize chair in the living room and lost myself in the crazy elaborate world Ms. Volsky created. I had honestly...

I've seen Susanna Kearsley 's name pop up hither and yon around the blogosphere for going on a year now. I added her name to my list of authors to check out awhile back and I've spent the intervening time idly wondered whether the enticing comparisons to the likes of Mary Stewart had some merit. Not long ago I decided The Winter Sea would be the perfect maiden voyage with Kearsley. Published a couple of years ago in the UK, the U.S. edition was slated to come out December 1st and I added it to my Christmas list in the hopes it might find its way inside my stocking this year. Happily, I was not disappointed and I have my mother to thank for that--another die-hard Mary Stewart fan herself. So I picked it up the night after Christmas and settled in to see what all the fuss was about. Well, it quickly became crystal clear to me why people love her work. The Winter Sea is the perfectly captivating kind of historical fiction that casts its spell over you from page one and doesn...

I know I'm a little late on this one, but it's been that kind of month and the nasty reading slump in the middle of it did not help things in the slightest. I didn't want to ruin this read with my foul mood, so I started it, put it down again, and waited until things had picked up some before giving it a go.   The Poison Throne --the first book in Celine Kiernan 's Moorehawke Trilogy--is the book Missy suggested I read for the first round of Tell Me What to Read and I eagerly anticipated picking it up. I was especially excited as Missy likened it to Megan Whalen Turner 's Attolia books as far as the quality of intrigue and political fantasy go. And as anyone familiar with me knows, this is very high praise indeed. So I picked up a copy at my local bookstore and took it home that night. I have to say I love the covers Orbit has designed for this trilogy's U.S. debut. Previously published in Ireland and Australia, all three books have already seen a handful of l...

After finishing The Dead Travel Fast I'm in the mood for more things Gothic. So it's the perfect time to watch the trailer for The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker --the upcoming second novel in Leanna Renee Hieber 's Strangely Beautiful saga. Nice, isn't it? I love the Chopin and the lovely yet disturbing images. I truly enjoyed the first book and have been very interested to see where the sequel took Percy, Alexi, and all the Guard. Leanna has posted four excerpts from the new book to tide you over until the April 27th release date. Enjoy !

And so ends the trilogy that began with A Great and Terrible Beauty , continued with Rebel Angels , and concludes in this final volume, The Sweet Far Thing . I liked the first one well enough because of its unique blend of a wild, magical, mythical realm barely constrained behind stiff Victorian curtains. I really got into the second one as the plot became more complex, Gemma came into her own powers, Felicity and Ann's stories became more layered, and poor beautiful Pippa was relegated to the Realms indefinitely. When I saw how thick the third one was, my eagerness ratcheted up a notch. After all, I have been sitting around lately asking for longer books. Suddenly, here one is. Unfortunately, 800 pages later, the best thing about it remains the first four words, it's lovely title, taken from a poem by W.B. Yeats. And it does capture the extremely bittersweet feel of the last portion of the book. But somehow this installment failed to capture my imagination. It frustrated me mo...