3 S.R. Johannes: Bookanistas - Harcourt Winners

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bookanistas - Harcourt Winners


I've been reading that I wanted to mention. These books are from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt which has got some great stuff coming out.

Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton (Nov 2010)


I saw this book back at BEA but didnt get a copy (BOO!). This book is backdropped against Celtic myths about goblins and the Travelers who fight them. Teagan's life is perfect until Finn shows up. He talks about goblins and about being born to fight all goblin-kind. And it's a good thing because the goblins are coming.

Teagan is a strong character with real aspirations. She works at a zoo in Chicago (so did I!). Her BFF Abby is adoreable and gives a glimpse into the life of a real Italian family. And then there's Finn: a cue boy, a fighter, and yes, has a sexy Irish accent. Kind of a modern day Lord of the Rings .

Always a Witch (Sequel to Once a Witch) by Carolyn MacCullough


The adventures continue in the sequel. More time
travel, talents, spy work, and evil Knights. The plot centers on two family of witches, and every witch has their own talent. Tamsin power is that she's immune to all other talents and can take other peoples talents. Nice!

Tamsin is back to prevent her family from being destroyed by Alistair Knight. Tamsin has no choice but to travel back to the 19th century and infiltrate the Knight's ranks. She must rely on her Talent and New York City smarts to defeat the Knight's once and for all. I love that this story does not revolve around Tasmin's relationship with Gabriel.

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell (Mar 2011)

The Vespertine is set in 1889 Baltimore where Amelia is sent to find a suitable husband. There, meets Zora and develops her power to foresee the future. When one of her darkest premonitions comes to pass, people start to wonder if Amelia see the events or cause them.
This is a beautiful Victorian era story - haunting yet romantic. A perfect mix of supernatural and historical fiction. I adored Amelia and Nathaniel. And I must say, I never saw the twists coming. The setting is it's own complicated character. 

For those of you who read Saundra's first novel, Shadowed Summer, will not be disappointed!


Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky (May 2011)



There is no reason for Maddie to leave her home. She can go to school online. Talk to her friends online. Watch tv shows, the news, and even read books online. Maddie has been content living her life in the digital world. Until, she meets Justin.

Justin likes being with people and shows Maddie that the best things in life aren't behind a computer screen. Maddie falls in love with Justin, even though her father, the founder of Digital School, forbids it. The book ended in action.

I can tell the author is not fond of the computer era based on Justin's dialogue. And I can see the fear of computers taking over. We are definitely moving towards a world where computers become an interface between everything and human contact is slowly extinguished. That is scary after reading this book.

Check out the other Bookanista reviews this week:

14 comments:

Tere Kirkland said...

Wow, lots of these sound great! Adding to my already long tbr list.

Thanks, Shelli!

Christine Fonseca said...

What a FABULOUS list!

~Jamie said...

AHH! Look at that last cover! I love things in jars...

... I think my crazy is showing a little bit. :)

Shari said...

You have some good ones here. I'll have to check them out!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I LOVED Tyger, Tyger and I enjoyed Awaken. I'll have to read the other two. :-)

Natalie Aguirre said...

Great list. I have Tyger Tyger on reserve at the library. Can't wait to read it. And I didn't realize Once a Witch had a sequel. I'll have to add it to my list. Thanks.

Carrie Harris said...

You're killing me! My to-read list is already overflowing!!!! ;)

Riv Re said...

Nice list. Tyger, Tyger is a favorite of mine. I reviewed it a few months back. http://rivreads.blogspot.com/2010/07/catchup-week-tyger-tyger-review.html

Colene Murphy said...

Ooo. It all sounds great!! Awesome list.

Elana Johnson said...

Great list! I have all of these as ARCs. I really need to get some reading done!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Thanks for bringing these to attention. I hadn't heard of them, all except for Tyger Tyger, but I didn't know what it was about. That one sounds particularly fascinating to me. Modern day LOTR? I'm in!

Susan R. Mills said...

I'll be adding them to my list!

Catherine Denton said...

Ohhh, those all sound good. Yummy!

Jemi Fraser said...

Wow - these all sound great - they're going on my wish list :)