A Few of My Favourite… YA Books

I’ve been horribly remiss at not mentioning The Book Smugglers’ YA Appreciation Month previously, but hey, I’m guessing you all know about it already (and if not, there is still a week to go!).

Anyway, today, they have invited all and sundry to join the party – if you’ve a YA-related post, just go over to their site and add your link.

I don’t really blog a lot about YA (you could argue I don’t blog a lot, full stop), but YA makes up a good proportion of my reading diet. 

So in honour of YA Appreciation Month, here are a few YA books / series that have been on my mind recently:

 

The “why did I take so long to read this” YA series: Megan Whalen Turner’s Thief books

Megan Whalen Turner (warning: reviews on her website have spoilers for the previous books) has created an incredible series.  I think fans of The Thief may be hitting critical mass – certainly I have noticed more and more mentions of these books in the blogosphere recently.  Ana did a fantastic spoiler-free review of the series and pretty much echoed my thoughts.

I always read the copyright page before plunging into the book (I’m surely not the only one out there), and “The King of Attolia” had these as library keywords:

1. Kings, queens, rulers, etc–Fiction  2. Soldiers–Fiction  3. Loyalty–Fiction  4. Robbers and outlaws–Fiction  5. Adventures and adventurers–Fiction

How could you not be excited about a book with those keywords?

This is very definitely a standout series, YA or otherwise (and expect a separate post coming up!).

 

Next up, the “YA book that needs more love” book: Sharon Shinn’s “Summers at Castle Auburn”

Coriel, the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat, spends most of her life learning herbal medicine from her grandmother, but she spends her summers with her half-sister, Elisandra, at the royal castle where Prince Bryan resides. Corie has always been secretly in love with Bryan, but she is slowly realizing that he is a spoiled, selfish, dangerous man—and that Elisandra dreads her upcoming marriage to the prince. Corie hopes that the prince’s cousin Kent will save Elisandra, while she wonders if the taciturn guard Roderick might play a bigger part in her own life.

I adore Sharon Shinn’s writing.  No matter what she writes.  And she has a trick of closing her books with the most magical lines ever.  Her Samaria and Twelve Houses series get quite a few mentions (and they sit on my keepers shelf), but I don’t hear a lot about this standalone YA of hers.

“Summers at Castle Auburn” is one of my favourite Shinns, a perfect coming-of-age story.  It is very much a comfort read for me, and it never fails to satisfy.  Here’s a review from Jennie – seeing that she read it on my rec, I’m really glad she enjoyed it!

 

And finally, the “I’ll never outgrow this YA series” books: Tamora Pierce’s “Song of the Lioness” quartet

Call it fate, call it intuition, or just call it common sense, but somehow young Alanna knows she isn’t meant to become some proper lady cloistered in a convent. Instead, she wants to be a great warrior maiden–a female knight. But in the land of Tortall, women aren’t allowed to train as warriors. So Alanna finds a way to switch places with her twin, Thom, and take his place as a knight in training at the palace of King Roald. Disguising herself as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page in the royal court. Soon, she is garnering the admiration of all around her, including the crown prince, with her strong work ethic and her thirst for knowledge. But all the while, she is haunted by the recurring vision of a black stone city that emanates evil… somehow she knows it is her fate to purge that place of its wickedness. But how will she find it? And can she fulfill her destiny while keeping her gender a secret?

Tamora Pierce has written many books since her first Alanna series, but the Alanna books are the ones I always end up re-reading (and there are some scenes that always end up with me sniffling, even though I know exactly what is going to happen).

Angie included Alanna in her recent post on “Stubborn Girls (and Why I Love Them)” and I have to agree whole-heartedly.

 

Interestingly, all these three are straight fantasy – something that I wasn’t actively thinking about when I was thinking about the YA books I wanted to highlight.  All three are also pretty much coming-of-age stories, which is much less of a rarity in the YA genre.

I could have chosen many other YA books – LM Montgomery’s Emily trilogy is amongst my all-time favourites, I was addicted to LJ Smith’s books, including her “Secret Circle” and “Dark Visions” trilogies, I buy Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books as soon as they hit the shelf, and I’m on a mission to complete my Eva Ibbotson collection… however, I think I’ll stop here and head off to check out everyone else’s YA posts! 

Books for February

The big release this month for me is Patricia Briggs’ “Bone Crossed” (urban fantasy, Book 4 of the Mercy series).  After the events of the previous book, I can’t wait to see how things unfold in this one. Oh, and can I just say how jealous I am of everyone who has already read it?

After weighing up the chances of me stumbling across a copy in the bookstore in the week or so that Amazon will take to deliver, I’ve gone with the Amazon option.  Which probably means I should avoid the bookstore next weekend, because if I do see it, I’m not quite sure I’ll win the struggle against temptation. 

And as for the UK v. US cover debate?  The US one is incredibly striking, but I’ve been pragmatic and gone for the UK paperback version (which is also obviously a lot easier to obtain).  It’s actually not that bad if you don’t compare it against the US version!  Very similar in style to the previous three, and it’s very easy to tell they’re part of the same series.  Too easy perhaps?

Excerpt here (out Feb 3)

 

On to other February releases, Eileen Wilks’ “Mortal Sins” (urban fantasy, Book 5 of the Lupi series) is also out.  Ms Wilks is another of my favourite UF authors, so February is obviously a good book month for me. 

Blurb here:

FBI agent Lily Yu is in North Carolina with her lover and mate Rule Turner, lu nuncio of the Nokolai werewolf clan, where he is to take custody of his son from the boy’s grandmother. It’s a purely personal trip until Rule, in wolf form, finds three bodies in a shallow grave. They carry the stench of death magic, which makes the murders a federal crime. Lily takes charge of the investigation, and soon realizes that nothing adds up—not the motives, not even the accused killer, who’s behind bars when death strikes again.

But murder, however bizarre, is an everyday affair for Lily, who was a homicide cop before being recruited into the FBI’s Magical Crimes Division. A more personal shock arrives in the person of Rule’s son’s mother. Why is she challenging Rule’s long standing plan to bring his son to live among the Nokolai?

As much as I enjoyed Cynna and Cullen, we’re back to Lily and Rule’s POVs, and I’m thinking the introduction of Rule’s son opens up quite a few possibilities!

Excerpt here (out Feb 3)

 

Kelley Armstrong’s “Made to be Broken” (suspense, Book 2 of the Nadia Stafford series) is finally released as well.  This has been a long time in coming, since the first Nadia book was published back in June 2007 – or have we just been spoiled by prolific authors?  Seeing that Ms Armstrong released quite a few books during 2008, I’m not really complaining.

Anyway, the first book “Exit Strategy” introduced us to hitwoman Nadia Stafford, and while I was slightly dubious about having a killer-for-hire as the main protagonist, I ended up really liking it, IIRC.  Ms Armstrong makes it work – no surprise there!

Excerpt here (out Feb 24)

 

“The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance” (anthology, edited by Trisha Telep) is also released this month in the UK.  Despite the cover (who on earth signed off on it??!), I’m getting it because contributors include Mary Jo Putney, Kelley Armstrong, Ilona Andrews, amongst many others.  I’ve the related anthology “The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance”, which I’ve dipped into now and again – “mammoth” is a rather good description for these books.

Out Feb 26 in the UK, April 13 for the US peeps

 

Also out is Nalini Singh’s e-novella “Angels’ Pawn” (released Feb 24).  This is an interesting one because it’s almost like a teaser for her first Guild Hunter novel “Angel’s Blood” (out March 2009) – a new publicity tactic?  Anyway, not sure if this is paranormal romance or urban fantasy – or sits on the borderline between the two.  I’ve enjoyed her Psy-Changeling books, and from what I’ve heard, this is shaping up to be an exciting new series.  Angels and vampires, what’s not to like?

Another February ebook release is Josh Lanyon and Laura Baumbach’s “Mexican Heat” (m/m romantic suspense, out Feb 6) – this is the first in the Crimes & Cocktails series.  I’ve loved his Adrien English series, so this is definitely on my must-get list.

 

As for the maybes:

LJ Smith’s new book “The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall” (YA urban fantasy, out Feb 19) is a return to her Vampire Diaries series and the start of a new trilogy, as evidenced by the number of colons in that title    I’m tempted, but it’s been a while since I read the original series.  I actually bought the re-released versions, but they’re sitting in the depths of my TBR pile, and I’m thinking I should really re-read them before getting the latest.

 

 

Jacqueline Winspear’s “Among the Mad” (historical mystery, Book 6 of the Maisie Dobbs series) is the latest in her series set in 1930s London, and will be released Feb 17 in the US.  I read the previous book, “An Incomplete Revenge”, in December, and like the other books, really enjoyed the period feel and setting.  However, it’s only released in the UK in June, and I’m not sure if I like it enough to get the US version (though I love the cover).  I’ll probably wait for this one.  Excerpt here.

 

Hmm… that is probably it for me this month – more than enough, I would say!

Around the Web

A Sharon Shinn interview at Word Wenches, where she talks a bit about potential future projects.  I vote for more Donnal and Kirra myself!

A free download (PDF) of LJ Smith’s “Secret Vampire”, the first Night World novel (limited time download, not sure how long it will be up for).  Also, Ms Smith has finished a new Vampire Diaries book – I loved this series way back then, and I bought the re-released versions, though they’re still sitting in my TBR pile.  I also can’t wait for “Strange Fate”, the last Night World book, to be released.  It sounds as though it will be a thick one.