Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!


When it rains, it pours. Sometimes when I work the Reference Desk, it is rather slow, so I find myself reading reviews and placing books on hold (sshh!) Never fails that they come in at the same time! Here is what I have from the library for this week:

 



This is the third and final book in the Rot and Ruin Series by Jonathan Mayberry (Rot and Ruin; Dust and Decay) Can't wait to start this one!






This is also a third book in a series. The series is Hater (Hater, Dog Blood) by David Moody. It is violent and scary but so good.





This is the follow-up to the best seller by Sylvia Day called Bared to You. *Hangs head in shame*


 

I loved Gone Girl and am curious to see if this is just as awesome!






This book has been on my list for a long time and I heard that the movie is coming out in 2013.




Loved Shiver, Linger and Forever. Excellent writer. First in a trilogy.

What are you reading to start the New Year?

Oh, and if you received a Kindle for Christmas you might want to check out http://the-cheap.net/. I have found some decent free books or books that have recently been reduced to $3.99 or lower. Yeah for free books!

What is New Adult?

School Library Journal's Blogger Elizabeth Burns (A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy) wrote some interesting posts about a genre labeled New Adult:

What is New Adult

New Adult and Where Does it Go?

Books that May or May Not Be New Adult


I read a few things in 2012 that I would consider New Adult:

The Perfect Game by J. Sterling
Easy by Tammara Webber
On Raven's Wings by Isobel Lucas
 
What do you think about this new genre? Have you read anything this year that would be considered New Adult?

Book Review: Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

 

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.
But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.
From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming. (Description from http://www.amazon.com)

My thoughts:

Unraveling was published in April and it took me until December to get this book from interlibrary loan. Most libraries in our system do not lend "New" books and it will take them 6 months to a year to take it off "New" status. So I was happy that I finally received it and happy that C-Car (CT's book transport service) was not removed from the State budget, as it has been threatened to be in the past few years. It is a great service!

Generally I am not a sci-fi fan. I was not a Star Trek Fan and went to see Star Wars because everyone else did. I did enjoy The Host by Stephenie Meyer and can't wait for the third book in the Sky Chasers series by Amy Kathleen Ryan. That being said, when I read that Unraveling had a sci-fi twist, I thought I would give it a try.  Unraveling can best be described as an adventure-mystery-sci-fi-love story. It was a real page turner. Difficult to put down. But not too difficult to understand. Maybe that is why I shy away from this genre. If I need to do read and re-read to understand the plot line, I am likely to put it down. I also enjoyed Unraveling because it was different from a lot of the other YA books that I have read lately, not dystopian! 

If you were a fan of the X-Files or a fan of Fringe which is on Fox currently, you may be a fan of this book.  It had a lot of X-Files references, but more than that, it had an X-Files feel. Janelle was involved in a freakish accident, her father is an FBI agent and he is investigating a case where they are finding burned, melted people in random places.  Sounds like something Mulder and Scully would investigate, right?

I really liked Janelle as a character. She started off as a typical high school student, but one with a lot of responsibility (her father is always working and her mother is bipolar) so she is responsible for her younger brother and will do just about anything for him. She is strong, smart and fearless. You don't want to change anything about her.

The writing was wonderful and the pacing was perfect.  There were a lot of twists and turns and just when you thought you had it figured out, the author added another surprising element.  Although the book does not end with a total cliffhanger that begs for a sequel, there are still some plot elements that I would like to find out more about and I am hoping that the story is not finished.

Just googled it and yes a sequel will be published in 2013 and it will be called Unbreakable. Can't wait!

 

Highly recommended!

Book Review: Dust and Decay by John Maberry

 

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also been six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

But before they even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town, and as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers, and the horrors of Gameland—where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

 In the great Rot & Ruin, everything wants to kill you. And not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will survive…. (description from amazon.com)

My thoughts:

I loved John Maberry's first book in the series, Rot and Ruin. It happens to be a 2013 Connecticut Nutmeg nominee! I would love for it to win, but I suspect that Matched by Ally Condie will. I loved Matched, but Rot and Ruin is a great book that deserves some recognition. The fact that it is a zombie story will keep it from winning. The subject matter isn't for everyone. Can't compete with a dystopian love story. 

I waited and waited for Dust and Decay to come back to the library (someone took their own sweet time). Ugh. Finally came in and I loved it.  Just as much as I did the first. Yeah!  Sometimes the second book in a trilogy is just a set up for the third book and the story remains stagnant and so do the characters.  Not this one.

Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong actually grew a lot in this book. A lot. Benny is learning more about what happened First Night and therefore gains a lot of respect for his brother Tom. Nix is healing from the loss of her mother, Lilah is learning to live with and interact with people, and Chong, he learns what the Rot and Ruin is really about, and ends up surprising himself.  A relationship or two might have developed, and I like the fact that the author was able to keep it awkward and teenage-like while they are killing zombies in the middle of the apocalypse.

As for the story itself, Mr. Maberry does a decent job of reintroducing you to what happened in Book One. I did not feel the need to even skim Rot and Ruin, even though I had it right by my side. We see the introduction of a lot of new characters; many of them the bounty hunters that were introduced in the first book. Loved Sally Two-Knives and the Greenman. We see the return of a major problem character from the first book. Without spoiling the story, it was filled with action, gore and surprisingly for a zombie book, a lot of emotion. I was not prepared for the ending.  I have the third book in the series, Flesh and Bone, on reserve from the library and hope to read it soon.