Angieville

For the last several years I've been experiencing a more-than-passing longing to attend the legendary Book Expo America . It all started back when I used to frequent a lovely place known as Readerville . I met so many wonderful people there and a few of them used to regale us youngsters with tales of floors of bookish sorts, rows of publisher booths, stacks of free galleys, and line after line leading to authors willing to talk to you and smile at you and nod patiently while you tell them you love them. My longing grew. Soon I began plotting how to get around the minor obstacles of lack of funding and a location nowhere near New York City. Well, this year everything just fell into place. It should be noted that it helps to have a husband willing to keep the kids and garden alive while you go off gallivanting with a few thousand other hopeless bibliophiles. And every time you call to check in he tells you everything's under control, everyone's happy, and go back to enjoyin...

Aren't these three just sort of striking and atmospheric? First up, Scott Westerfeld 's Leviathan is due out October 6th. As you can tell by the awesome cover, it's all kinds of steampunk and is the first in a new series. Yay! Longtime favorite of mine Sharon Shinn has a new YA out also in October, the 15th to be exact. Gateway is about an adopted Chinese girl and is set in an alternate St. Louis modeled after 19th century China. Ever since getting lost in The Historian , I've been wondering what Elizabeth Kostova would write next. The Swan Thieves is due out the same day as Leviathan and follows a solitary psychiatrist treating a tormented artist. I'll take it.