Waiting on Wednesday: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.

Maybe I am just going through Darkest Powers withdrawal, but I absolutely love the idea behind this book.  A girl with an affinity with dead bodies?   Awesome.  Add a little romance, and I have a feeling I am going to love this book!

The Body Finder (The Body Finder #1) by Kimberly DertingThe Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

March 16th, 2010 (I am so jealous of everyone who already has an ARC!)  
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.
I have been looking for more YA reads to add to my TBR list, and have found quite a few that will be blogging about in the weeks to come.  It seems to me that YA has been getting a lot of attention from publishers as of late – especially books with a paranormal aspect.  While we all know it is the result of the “Twilight Effect” – I can’t help but be grateful!  I was reading Cassandra Clare and Sara Rees Brennan years ago when they were writing fanfiction – and even though they are brilliant writers, I don’t think they would have had as easy a time getting published had it not been for Twilight.  Same thing for a number of YA writers out there at the moment.
Anyways, my point is that Twilight – love it or hate it – has brought new life to the YA section of the bookstore.  Hell, I didn’t use to read YA when I was a YA – but Twilight brought me over with its’ sparkly addictiveness.

 

Musing Mondays – Series-ly!

Musing Mondays is held by Rebecca over at Just One More Page

Do you prefer to read stand-alone books, or books in series? Do you stick with a series the whole way through or stop after the first installment? Are there any particular series you enjoy?

I have always been a fan of series and firmly believe in sticking them out. Even when they start to run dry. However, I do prefer to know when the end is in sight. If there are going to be 13 books in the series, I would hope to know that by book 6. At least then I know that the author really does have an end in sight, and isn’t just screwing with my emotions for the fun of it.

But because so few authors actually have the ability (aka permission from their publishers/guarantee that X number of books will published), they are bound to either drag a series out or cut it off too short. So, I keep a policy of forgetfulness. If there is a book in a series I hated – I just block it from my mind, and move on to the next. Writing a series is just not the same as writing a single novel, and a bit of leeway should be given because of it.

As for series I am reading, I have a whole list – along with my list of series TBR.

Friday Finds – Sea Witch by Virginia Kantra

Friday Finds is hosted over at Should be Reading where bloggers are asked to explain the growing pile of books on their TBR list by answering “What great books did you hear about / discover this past week?”

I found what looks like a really fun paranormal romance series this week – the Children of the Sea series by Virginia Kantra. It has had some awesomely favorable reviews on-line and is successfully glaring at me from my ever-growing wishlist! Here are the details of the first book in the series, Sea Witch.

Sea Witch by Virginia Kantra
(Book 1 of the Children of the Sea series)


Summary:
For years, Margred has gone without the touch of another. Now, her need has driven her beyond her world to sate her desire. For she is a Selkie-a legendary being of the sea, able to shapeshift into seductive human form. Finally, she has found the one man she wants…

From the land… A burned out veteran of big city streets, Caleb Hunter was only too happy to take a job as police chief on the peaceful Maine island of World’s End. Nothing ever happens in this tiny community bounded by the sea. Until he meets a woman who’s everything he’s ever dreamed of. And more…

To each other… Their passion is undeniable. Irresistible. But when a murderer begins targeting women in World’s End, Caleb must face the terrible possibility that the killings are somehow connected to the mysterious Margred – and that the power of their love may change the fate of human kind.

It looks like a great paranormal alternative to the vamps that have taken over the genre – not to say I am through with vamps quite yet, though!

Booking Through Thursday: Reading Preferences

booking through thursday

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–more detail at some later date)

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious?
Serious.

Paperbacks? Or hardcovers?
Paperbacks.

Fiction? Or Nonfiction?
Fiction

Poetry? Or Prose?
Prose.

Biographies? Or Autobiographies?
Biographies.

History? Or Historical Fiction?
History.

Series? Or Stand-alones?
Hmmm… Series.

Classics? Or best-sellers?
Classics.

Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose?
Lurid and fruity.

Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness?
Plots.

Long books? Or Short?
LONG. EPIC IF POSSIBLE.

Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated?
Non-illustrated.

Borrowed? Or Owned?
OWNED.

New? Or Used?
Used

Booking Through Thursday: TBR

booking through thursday

Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

My TBR books are all over the place – mostly because I am a compulsive book buyer and own far more books than I have actually read. Because I generally get my books from second-hand shops and charity stores, I tend to buy almost anything. It is a great way of discovering authors I haven’t heard of but it also means I have a lot of books that sit on my selves waiting for the day I will be interested in them. Stacy D’Erasmos’s Tea, which I got for 50p btw, sat on my shelf over a year before I opened it – and ended up adoring it to ickle pieces.

Anyhow, all these books means that I have no choice but to mix them with books I have already read. I do, however, keep a pile of books that I am reading next to my bed. I am not consistent about how many books I read at once, but at the moment there are ten next to my bed that I am half way through! I guess that is almost like a TBR pile…?