Angieville

It's February and the color red is everywhere, in windows, on cookies, and threading through the most lovely of upcoming book covers. These three. They are so beautiful, they would grace any shelf. Two of these authors are new to me, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know their work. The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore This one sounds almost like a magical realism take on Romeo & Juliet , and I am down with that, people. The two families are the Palomas and the Corbeaus. They operate rival traveling performance troupes. There's a touch of black magic. Then a Corbeau boy saves a Paloma girl's life, and well . . . Due out September 15th Sword by Amy Bai Thanks to Li for the heads up on this one! Kyali is the only sword-wielding girl in the realm. Charged with the care of the heir to the throne, her life falls apart when the ancient nursery rhymes of her people begin to manifest themselves in reality. It sounds all epic and doomed and ...

How long has it been since I read a really good horror novel? And how did I not realize going in that that's exactly what Sorrow's Knot was? I read Erin Bow 's debut novel Plain Kate when it came out and was suitably impressed with her writing, even though the book as a whole didn't work for me perfectly. But as soon as I heard that her sophomore novel was to be an indigenous tale of ghosts and the generations of women who bind them, I felt certain I would be reading it as soon as I got the chance. It just sounded too intriguing to miss. I wasn't entirely sold on the cover, and now after having read it I kind of wish they'd gone with something darker (less mystic blue) to more accurately match the chilling content hidden within its pages. Because make no mistake— Sorrow's Knot is an unapologetically terrifying gem of a tale. In fact, it rather resists classification. It's fantasy, but oh, it's horror. It's young adult, but it's really ver...

I'm a bit behind due to jet lag and other post-vacation woes, but I definitely wanted to mention the Old School Middle Grade Roundtable I participated in last week over @ the Book Smugglers . Ana and Thea took one of their weekly Old School Wednesdays (happily inspired by our very own Retro Fridays ) and made it a special edition post, inviting five bloggers to sit down and discuss their top five old school middle grade books. I was there, along with Heidi @ Bunbury in the Stacks , Charlotte @ Charlotte's Library , Liz @ A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy , and Ana @ Things Mean a Lot . So basically the stellarest of stellar company. As Liz points out, no titles overlap! Which was completely unplanned and which makes the whole thing sort of that much more awesome. I went with two historicals, two contemporaries, and one high fantasy. Stop in and see which ones I chose and check out the whole fabulous list .

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here @ Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, and under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! Goodness, I love old covers. What I wouldn't give to own that glorious, garish killer unicorn cover in the middle. It must be the original. I happen to own the cover on the left, with the boy and girl talking on a New York City park bench. I love it so. And it probably gets to the heart of the book best of each of these. But I adore the Square Fish reissue because it features the cathedral, and I long to have the entire Austin Family Chronicles in those editions as well. I gifted them to my niece not long back, and they are as lovely in person as they are on the screen. So. I am a longtime Madeleine L'Engle devotee. It started back when I was 10 with A Wrinkle in Time and it has stretched out over the y...

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! I include roundups from participating bloggers in my weekly post. You'll forgive me for indulging in what is essentially pure nostalgia this week and reviewing a book I hadn't thought of in years, but which had a profound impact on me as a young girl. I was remembering the school I attended in fifth grade the other night and mentally wandering the halls and rooms. I remembered the wonderful library it had and the kind librarian there who listened to me talk about how much I loved Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper and, smiling, led me over to wonderful, new authors such as Madeleine L'Engle. It was in this library that I was perusing one day when I came across Good-bye Pink Pig by C.S. Adler . I know. Can...

And now for your creepy, Victorian fix--I bring to the table these three pretties. Two upcoming books and one reissue of a classic. But, man, don't those covers just call out to you to be stroked? Just me? Hmm.... Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury I'm loving the graphic novel feel of this cover. I know very little about it but what I know sounds wildly intriguing. A young girl's debut season. A collection of valuable Egyptian artifacts. A dashing Napoleonic spy. True love. Honestly! I can't imagine being able to turn that combination down. It's topped off with the tagline, "Keep your wits and trust your heart." Awesome. Thanks to the Book Smugglers for the heads up on this one. Due out May 24th. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett I ran across this lovely reissue while browsing Barnes & Noble's site the other day and wow. I am in love with this new design. It's just perfect somehow, with the bright orange and green and the way Mary'...

I don't generally review many middle grade novels, but I had read several lovely reviews of Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter -- a debut middle grade fantasy novel by R.J. Anderson --and then was lucky enough to receive a copy from the lovely Ms. Anderson herself. Interestingly enough, the same book has been published in the UK under the title Knife , with dramatically different cover art. The changes in title and artwork make it clear they're marketing it to a slightly older young adult audience over the pond, while the U.S. cover and series-friendly title are distinctly more middle grade. As a result, I wasn't sure what to expect going in--a state I honestly quite like being in when starting a new book by a new author. Bryony is a faery who has spent her short life longing to leave the Oak tree that forms the boundary of her people's world. The only faeries allowed out in the wild at all are the Gatherers who are sent out to forage for food and the Queen's own hunter--a ...