Despite the stacks of books and boxes of books and shelves of books I have ALL OVER my house, my head still turns for the shiny and new.  I'm always excited about the latest and greatest, so I love today's TTT topic:  My Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases During the Second Half of 2019.

Before we dive into that, though, I want to encourage you to join in the TTT fun.  It's a great way to spread the comment/follow love around the book blogosphere.  You can revisit favorite blogs, discover new ones, and, as always, pad your TBR list with even more amazing-sounding reads.  What's not to love?  All you have to do is click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for some brief instructions, make your own list, and start hopping around the book blogosphere.  Easy peasey.

My Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases During the Second Half of 2019 (in chronological order by release date):


1.  The Honeymoon by Rona Halsall (June 4, 2019):  When Chloe marries Dan, a man who's not only handsome but also fun and kind, she thinks she's finally hit the jackpot.  While on their honeymoon on a remote island, however, Chloe becomes alarmed when Dan insists they leave their lives behind and stay there.  Forever.  I love me a good psychological thriller and this one definitely sounds intriguing.  Bonus:  the Kindle version of this book is only 99 cents on Amazon right now.


2.  The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen (June 4, 2019):  I've enjoyed several of Sarah Dessen's YA novels and this us vs. them story sounds compelling.  It's about a young woman who goes to spend the summer with the family of her deceased mother and, in doing so, learns more about both her family and herself.


3.  The Birthday Girl by Melissa De la Cruz (August 6, 2019):  A woman who appears to have it all is throwing a glamorous party to celebrate her 40th birthday.  Much like her 16th birthday bash, this one will not go as planned.  In fact, it will reveal the truth behind the birthday girl's many convincing facades. 


4.  The Cold Way Home by Julia Keller (August 20, 2019):  This is the 8th volume in an Appalachian mystery series that I love.  In this installment, Bell Elkins makes a grisly discovery while searching for a missing teenager.  She finds a dead body with a wound that could only have come from murder on the grounds of an abandoned psychiatric hospital.  Bell vows to find out what happened.  Sounds like another compelling read in a series that keeps getting better and better!


5.  The Liars of Mariposa Island by Jennifer Matthieu (September 17, 2019):  This family drama, told from multiple points of view, sounds engrossing.


6.  The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (September 24, 2019):  This YA scare fest sounds fun.  It's about a teen gravedigger who's desperate to save both her family and their graveyard.  If only the dead would just stay dead!


7.  The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring (September 24, 2019):  This one had me at "gothic psychological thriller."  It concerns an Argentine finishing school in an isolated, mysterious place and a young teacher who goes there looking for a new start only to discover all the creepy rumors about the place are true.  Sounds like a great Halloween read.


8.  Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia (October 1, 2019):  Billed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Stranger Things, the newest novel by the author of Eliza and Her Monsters (which I've yet to read) sounds super fun.  It's about a teen who's trying to clear her name after being accused of a crime she didn't commit.


9.  I Know You Remember by Jennifer Donaldson (October 8, 2019):  Set in Anchorage, Alaska, this novel centers around a missing woman.  As her childhood best friend searches for answers, she comes to realize that the girl she once knew has vanished in more ways than one.

 
10.  The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (November 5, 2019):  I know I'm not the only one who's eagerly awaiting a new book by the author of The Night Circus.  Her latest concerns a man who finds a book filled with incredible stories—including, he's shocked to discover, one of his own.  His search for answers leads him into a strange, mysterious world.  Tantalizing premise, no?

How about you?  What new releases are you looking forward to?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!

So, you may have noticed that I've been on quite the YA dystopian kick lately.  What can I say?  It's been one of my favorite genres ever since it became a thing.  Still, a lot of the time, reading post-apocalyptic novels is kind of like watching re-runs of a show you once liked.  The concept continues to appeal, but the delivery gets old pretty darn fast.  And yet, a few recent discoveries (The Hallowed Ones and The Outside by Laura Bickle; Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis) give me hope that there's still some originality to be had in this very saturated genre.  We'll see.

It's Tuesday again and, although I'm feeling a little under the weather, I'm excited for this week's TTT.  Especially since we've got a nice, easy topic this time around.  Sometimes, I can't think of one item that fits the weekly prompt, let alone ten, but when it comes to books I'm planning to read, that's easy as pie (although I don't even attempt to make pie because it's way too hard, so that's probably a crap analogy ... whatever).  So, without further ado (Wait! One quick ado—Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish), I give you Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR List:


1.  Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick—This is the final book in Bick's dystopian Ashes trilogy.  I adored the first installment in the series, was a little less impressed by the second, and can't wait for the third.  If you like zombie novels, definitely give these a try.


2.  More Than This by Patrick Ness—Ness' Chaos Walking series is one of my very favorites, so I was excited to learn that the author published TWO new books this year.  While The Crane Wife, an adult magical realism novel, sounds interesting, it's the YA novel that really interests me.  In it, a boy who's pretty sure he drowned wakes up in a strange, alternative world that vaguely resembles the place he lived as a child.  It's up to him to figure out what in the world is going on.  Sounds good, right?


3.  Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein—Like lots of other readers, I found Code Name Verity a unique and compelling read.  The author's much-anticipated new book is another WWII thriller that's supposed to be just as amazing as her debut novel.


4.  A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron—I just finished The Dark Unwinding, the first novel in Cameron's YA steampunk series about a girl who discovers the strange, but intriguing world her eccentric grandfather inhabits.  The next installment sounds just as entrancing.  I can't wait to read it!


5.  Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson—I enjoyed Donaldson's debut novel, Edenbrooke, and am glad to see that her newest is getting rave reviews.  Good, clean reads are difficult to find, so I'm excited about this one.


6.  SYLO by D.J. MacHale—This one's been out for a little while now, but I haven't gotten a chance to dive into it just yet.  It's about a boy living on an isolated island who witnesses several cold-blooded murders that lead him to try to escape.  It's supposed to be a "high-octane," apocalyptic thriller—how could I not be drawn to this one?


7.  The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason—Bram Stoker's sister and Sherlock Holmes' niece team up to solve the mystery of disappearing debutantes in this YA mystery/steampunk/romance.  Sounds fun, no?


8.  Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston—I just received an invitation to be on the blog tour for this one.  This dystopian thriller is about a young blackjack dealer who risks it all to flee post-apocalyptic Las Vegas for the mythical "Blue," a place where beauty still exists—if only she can survive to see it.  Sounds a little cliché, but still intriguing.                                                  


9.  Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf—I love novels about the terrible secrets that tear people apart (I'm just sadistic like that), so this one, about a girl who's trying to figure out how her friend really died, sounds like it will be right up my alley.


10.  Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller—Stories about kids raised in unique situations (cults, remote villages, etc.) trying to integrate into the "normal" world always intrigue me.  This one, about a girl who's been raised off-the-grid by the mother who kidnapped her and is released to her father after her mom is arrested, sounds super compelling.

What do you think?  Any of these sound good to you, too?  What's on your Fall TBR list?

* Book images from Barnes & Noble

So, I've seen features comparing book covers, but what about plots that are eerily similar? When I received an ARC for Tom Dolby's Secret Society (available 9/29/09) from Harper Teen, my first thought was, "This sounds just like Blue Bloods." At that point, I hadn't even started Melissa de la Cruz's vampire series, but, since I happen to have copies of all the books (Thanks, Disney!), I decided to delve into it first. After reading both books, I realized just how right my first impression was - the books are very similar. Not enough to be called copycats, but enough to be a little ... weird. I'm not accusing the authors of anything, I'm just saying ... well, you be the judge ...

The first book in de la Cruz's series - Blue Bloods - introduces us to the creme de la creme of New York society. Graced with wealth and privilege, it's a group whose family roots stretch back to the Mayflower. The new generation swaggers through the doors of the elite Duchesne School swathed in True Religion jeans, tottering on Manolo Blahnik heels, and swinging the newest Prada handbags. Chauffered Town Cars whisk them home to their Park Avenue penthouses or off to Neiman Marcus for a session with their personal shoppers. The Manhattan social scene cares less about their age than about the limitless funds on their credit cards - weekends sail by in a swirl of frothy drinks, glittery parties and celebrity companionship. With their trust funds, $500 highlights, and closets jammed with designer pieces, the new generation is just as rich, just as powerful, just as glamorous as its elders.

Although her blue-blooded ancestry makes her one of the elite, 15-year-old Schuyler van Alen hardly fits in with the snooty, moneyed crowd. Although her family's fortune made Manhattan what it is, the money's long gone. It's just as well - Schuyler's style has always been more vintage than Versace. She's content enough dressing like a bag lady, hanging out with her best friend Oliver, and watching the in-crowd from afar. There's only one problem: Schuyler's changing. Not only is she seeing weird things, but her blue veins seem to be popping out of her skin. Oddest of all, Duchesne god Jack Force is suddenly paying a lot of attention to her. Then comes the invitation that changes everything. A summons from The Committe reveals the secret of the Blue Bloods, the secret of what she and her friends really are - vampyres. Only Schuyler's not quite the same as the others, which makes her a very enticing target.



Secret Society begins with a familiar scene: wealthy teenagers lined up outside a trendy nightclub, waiting admission into an inner sanctum filled with drinks, drugs and pretty playboys. The kids come from the upper echelon of New York's high society - their parents are business tycoons, society ladies and politicians. Like their elders, the new generation sops up the designer labels, the Upper East Side prep schools, and the VVIP lounges in the city's glitziest clubs. The most promising of them are inducted into The Society, a group so hush-hush no one's sure if it really exists.
Phoebe Dowling, a 16-year-old transplant from L.A., hardly considers herself among the elite upperclass. Sure, she's attending the prestigious Chadwick School, but inclusion into its in-crowd hasn't been exactly forthcoming. A chance encounter with handsome Nick Bell changes all that. Suddenly, she's getting invitations to the most exclusive parties, one of which leaves her with a woozy head, an ankh tattoo on her neck, and a forced loyalty to The Society. Before she really knows what's happening, Phoebe's jumping at The Society's every command, attending a dizzying array of late-night parties, moving in circles approved by its leadership, and asking no questions. At first, it's incredible - she's finally experiencing the New York she's always dreamed about. By some miracle, she's even managed to land a show at an exclusive art gallery. Everything she's ever desired is now within her grasp. So, why is she so unhappy? Why does the silly little club terrify her? And why are her friends disappearing? It's becoming more and more obvious that The Society doesn't just give - it also takes. Everything.
Like I said, the plots of these two books diverge enough that they're not identical, but the similarities are many. The New York settings, the privileged cast members, the prestigious prep schools, the secret societies - it's all there. Both books feature teenagers with absent parents who don't notice or don't care that their underage children are parading all over the city drinking, smoking, snorting coke and cozying up with anyone who's willing. Speaking of parents (and grandparents), characters in both Blue Bloods and Secret Society discover theirs are harboring some serious - and similar - secrets of their own. There's also the issue of Schuyler Van Alen and Patchfield Evans - the former lives with her grandmother in a once stunning, now dillapidated palace, muses on her family's dwindling wealth, visits her comatose mother on the weekends, and wonders about the father who died when she was an infant; Patch (of Secret Society) also lives with his Gram in a crumbling dwelling with a prestigious address, ruminates that "he and his grandmother had the oldest kind of old money: the kind that didn't exist anymore" (17), spends time at the hospital where his mother has been institutionalized, and misses the father who died when he was a child. Uncanny, don't you think?
The other big similarity between Blue Bloods and Secret Society (note the matching 2-word, alliterative titles) is that I didn't love either one. None of the characters in either book develop much, the writing's similarly stiff, and both plots need work. That being said, I think Secret Society is the better book. It has more depth, more believable conflict, and more sympathetic characters. I still don't get all the whys and wherefores of it, but at least it didn't get as ridiculous as Blue Bloods did.
I know you're all dying for the answer to the big question: Will I be reading the sequels? Since Disney so kindly sent me the rest of the Blue Bloods series to review, I will be reading it. If I didn't have the books on hand, I wouldn't bother. As for Secret Society, the semi-cliffhanger ending makes it pretty obvious that a sequel is forthcoming. Yes, I will be reading it. Why? Because even though I didn't love the book, I liked it enough to care about what happens to the characters. So, yeah. Pretty ho-hum about these two.
Okay, here's how it all stacks up in my grade book:
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Grade: C-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language; some sexual content; scenes with underage drinking, smoking and drug use; and violence
Secret Society by Tom Dolby
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some language; some sexual content; scenes with underage drinking, somking and drug use; and violence
(Book images are from Barnes & Noble)