Book Swag!

Here are the latest books I've received from various publishers, listed in no particular order.

Blood Bargain is Maria Lima's followup to Matters of the Blood. Raven is going to read Blood Bargain for me. I'm having a hard time getting past the . . . well, the blood, so I figure that it would be a fairer review if I sent it to someone who was a true fan of the vampire subgenre. I was supposed to send it to her last week, but I wanted to do this picture first, and it took me forever to get it done. I'd apologize to Raven, but I arranged for some other books to go her way as well, so I think she'll forgive me. But I STILL haven't gotten over giving her my copy of Clockwork Heart . . . that's one I still intend to read.

Lamentation is an intriguing novel sent by Tor, set to release in February. The author is Ken Scholes. It looks interesting because it appears from the opening pages that a nuclear blast goes off in a fantasy world. I received this book well before the release date, and it is probably one that I will read  very soon.

Slathbog's Gold by M. L. Forman is set to release in February as well. It's a middle grade novel that arrived in the same envelope as the second novel in The 13th Reality series. It's part of a series called Adventurers Wanted. It has a lot of fantasy tropes like elves, dwarves and portals, but such is forgivable in kidlit. It looks like a lot of fun. 

The Birthing House arrived from London. According to the press release that accompanied it, it came out on the 8th of January through Sphere. Here in the United States, it comes out on August 4th through St. Martin's Press. It's a creepy ghost story. I like horror as long as gore is not involved, so ghost stories are just my thing. Unless there's creepy ghost sex--I don't go for that (I'll generally wince my way past such passages). It came with a very cool bit of swag--a 3D postcard! It went on my Author Swag wall.

The Foundling by D. M. Cornish is a YA debut from 2006, but an advance reading copy arrived in the mail a few weeks ago. It's a very nicely put-together trade paperback with cover flaps--the first I've ever seen. There are a bunch of maps and over a hundred pages of appendices. It has a lot of those sort of special touches that we rarely see outside of children's fiction, including illustrations. It looks like it will be a real treat to read.

The Hunt for Dark Infinity, which is the second volume in The 13th Reality, comes out in March, giving me a little breathing room. I really REALLY enjoyed the first novel, The Journal of Curious Letters, and I'm looking forward to going back into Tick, Paul and Sophia's world.  

This was the only novel I requested. Zombie Queen of Newbury High is Amanda Ashby's second novel, and her first YA novel. At first I didn't think I'd like it, because I thought the protagonist would be a zombie. When I read the blurb I realized I had it all wrong, and I asked Amanda to send my info to the publicist. I was thrilled when my copy arrived the next day! Zombie Queen comes out in March.

Thank you to all the publishers who sent me these novels. When taking the release dates into consideration, I think I'll read Lamentation first.