Today I'm having a Star Wars marathon with my friends (we do this every year, it's a tradition for us), and I'm also sharing the books I'm excited for that are coming out in January!
Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler (Hardcover or Kindle)
Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother -- whose name her dad won't even say out loud. That's why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her...and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she's everything Emma is not.
And it may be more than Emma can handle.
Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It's more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop...
This explosive, sexy, and harrowing follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler's spectacular teen debut, Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.
Why Am I So Excited: First, I want to say I know this book technically comes out Dec 31st, but I missed it on my last list, and it's pretty darn close to January! Second, it just sounds really interesting! Lies, debauchery, confrontation? Sign me up!
Other Books I've Read by this Author: None, she is a new find for me!
Release Date: December 31st, 2013
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (Hardcover or Kindle)
For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.
Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.
Why Am I So Excited?: This gets great reviews, and it just sounds like it should be a good book.
Other Books I've Read by this Author: Speak and Wintergirls. I really loved Speak, and I also liked Wintergirls, so I'm hoping this will be another one I enjoy!
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Hardcover and Kindle)
From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women
Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.
Hetty "Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.
Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.
Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.
This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved.
Why Am I So Excited?: Well, it's an Oprah Book Club 2.0 book. I haven't read an Oprah book club book in awhile, but this one seems like something I would like. I have it requested from the library, and I'm glad I did- it jumped up over 100 from the day I requested it to the next! CRAZY! The description reads like it should have some strong female characters and provide a powerful story. I can't wait!
Other Books I've Read by this Author: None. Though I do still want to read The Secret Life of Bees, I just keep forgetting about it and then watch the movie instead.
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
Smitten Book Club by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter, and Diann Hunt (Paperback and Kindle)
""Consider that your beau is like a coveted novel whose compelling first lines you've just begun to read." --A Gentlewoman's Guide to Love and Courtship"
At a rummage sale, Heather, a member of the Fireside Book Club, discovers a turn-of-the-century romantic advice book written by a once-famous Smitten, Vermont, resident. When she shares the precious volume with her friends in the club, they find clues about a hidden treasure rumored to be buried in their tiny town.
As Heather, Abby, Lia, and Molly take turns reading the book, each projects onto it her own literary tastes. Heather sees it as a mystery. Abby discovers delicious dashes of Jane Austen. Lia sees in it the idealism of a bygone day. And Molly just wishes they'd made the book into a movie!
One by one, each of the women finds romantic love--often in spite of the historic book's advice. And in searching for the legendary gold, the friends discover the best kind of treasure. The kind that brings hope and healing to each of their hearts.
Why Am I So Excited?: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley. It seemed like it would be a cute, light read.
Other Books I've Read by this Author: I have not read anything by any of these authors.
Release Date: January 14th, 2014
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller (Hardcover and Kindle)
Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.
After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?
Why Am I So Excited?: I've never been one to like a historical fiction, or romance, but something about it involving suffrage and class issues just makes me want to dive in!
Other Books I've Read by this Author: None- she is also a new author for me!
Release Date: January 23rd, 2014
The Art of Falling by Kathryn Craft (Paperback and Kindle)
One wrong step could send her over the edge.
All Penny has ever wanted to do is dance—and when that chance is taken from her, it pushes her to the brink of despair, from which she might never return. When she wakes up after a traumatic fall, bruised and battered but miraculously alive, Penny must confront the memories that have haunted her for years, using her love of movement to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.
Kathryn Craft’s lyrical debut novel is a masterful portrayal of a young woman trying to come to terms with her body and the artistic world that has repeatedly rejected her. The Art of Falling expresses the beauty of movement, the stasis of despair, and the unlimited possibilities that come with a new beginning.
Why Am I So Excited?: It sounds so interesting and dramatic! I love reading about dancers (the focus and determination!), so this will be right up my alley!
Other Books I've Read by this Author: This is a debut novel by this author!
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (Hardcover and Kindle)
Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.
Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
Why Am I So Excited?: It's based on Beauty and the Beast, which is one of my favorites! Ever since I started reading the Lunar Chronicles novels by Marissa Meyer, I've been intrigued by either "retellings" or books that are based on other fairy tales. This seems in line with that, so I thought I would check it out!
Other Books I've Read by this Author: I have not read anything else by this author.
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
There are so many more books that are coming out in January, but these are some of the ones I saw that I am really excited to read. My favorite place to see what's coming out is the Most Popular page on Goodreads- I highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for new books to read!
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