In the interest of trying to keep these little thumbnails slightly more manageable, a reading update.
40 and 41. Astonishing X-Men (Volumes 1 and 2), Joss Whedon – Now this is the f-ing X-Men. Everything I loved about the book when I was a kid, only so’s I actually like it now. If you have any affinity for the history of these characters, it’s worth a look. Joss Whedon fans will appreciate the quips and zippy plots.
42. Manbug, George K. Ilsley – A love story with bugs. And sex. Sex and bugs. What more do you need? I’ll have more to say about this one later, so I’ll just say that I liked it a great deal and recommend it. There’s an excerpt here.
43. Tantalize, Cynthia Leitich Smith – I’m not going to say TOO much about this one either, since it’
s not out until next spring. Takes place in a world much like our own, but with werecreatures and vampires and culture clashes around them. Quincie Morris is the girl holding her family’s business together, by way of relaunching her dead parents’ restaurant as a vampire-themed Italian joint, all while lusting after her unavailable, half-werewolf, HOTT best friend Kieren. Only her chef gets murdered most foul in the first chapter… Simply put: FABULOUS. So good and dark. Best ending I’ve read in ages, and nicely feminist as well. If it reminds me of anything, perhaps a bit of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine, but with the focus and directness of the best YA. I loved this. It would make a great vampy triple bill with M.T. Anderson’s Thirsty and Scott Westerfeld’s Peeps (The Last Days is in the TBR stack, but perhaps it should be a foursome). And Cecil says it’s great too! And isn’t the (probable) cover pretty?
I must have TANTALIZE! How can I get it?!?
Oh man – if it didn’t sound good enough anyway the comparison to “Sunshine” makes it a must!!!! I am so all over this the first chance I get!
Candlewick’s the publisher and they had quite a few ARCs at BEA. The madness of BEA can be best explained by my admission that I didn’t even realize I had scored a copy of this until I was scouring some shelves for another book and realized four or five BEA Booty Books had somehow ended up on one of our reference shelves. Anyway, Jenny, it’s my turn to send you a book, so me copy is you copy.
Colleen: I bet Candlewick will mail you one straightaway. (You should try and get a copy of the new MT Anderson from them too, if you haven’t already got one.) Or Jenny can pass it your way next.
Oh, yes, if you send it to me, I will definitely send it on to Colleen immediately afterwards! You are good!