It's Tuesday again, which means it's time for another round of my favorite weekly meme on the Internet.  If you haven't participated in this bookish fun before, what are you waiting for?  Click on over to The Broke and the Bookish to see what all the buzz is about, make your own list, and hop all over the book blogosphere to find new blogs and get lots of great reading recommendations.  It's a good time, I promise!

This week's prompt is: Top Ten Most Anticipated Reads for the Rest of 2017.  It feels like I just did this topic since I used the "Cover Freebie" topic from a few weeks ago to talk about Top Ten Books I'm Excited to Read When They Come Out in Fall/Winter 2017.  Good thing there are so many awesome books still coming in 2017!  Here are ten that I'm looking forward to that I haven't highlighted yet this year:

Top Ten (oops—make that Eleven) Most Anticipated Reads for the Rest of 2017: 


 1. York by Laura Ruby—I'm in the middle of this MG steampunk adventure by the author of Bone Gap (one of my favorite books of 2014) and it's tons of fun.  It's about three kids who are trying to solve a 150+-year-old, world-famous cipher in order to save the home they love in an alternative NYC.  Available now.

 
 2.  Wishtree by Katherine Applegate—I adored both The One & Only Ivan and Crenshaw, so I can't wait to see what Applegate will do with her newest.  Told from the perspective of a tree that functions as the wishing well for a small town, the story should be interesting!  Coming September 26, 2017.

2.  The Agony of Bun O'Keefe by Heather T. Smith—Bun is the daughter of a hoarder.  When her mother tells her to leave, she does.  On the streets of Newfoundland, she meets a quirky cast of characters who become her makeshift family.  Sounds intriguing to me.  Coming September 5, 2017.


3.  Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss—This adult novel about a young novelist and an older lawyer, both searching for themselves, who end up in the same Israeli desert sounds engrossing.  The title makes the book sound like a horror novel, or at least a thriller, so I'll be interested to see how it comes into play in the story.  Coming September 12, 2017.


4.  My Brigadista Year by Katherine Paterson—This historical novel features a young Cuban teen who volunteers with Castro's national literary campaign.  As she travels the countryside teaching people to read, she learns important lessons about her country and herself.  Coming October 10, 2017.


 5.  Landscape With Invisible Hand by M.T. Anderson—I enjoyed Feed, Anderson's YA novel about the dangers of technology addiction.  His newest sounds similarly exciting and thought-provoking.  Coming September 12, 2017.


 6.  Slider by Pete Hautman—I don't think I've ever read a novel about competitive eating, so this MG sounds especially tantalizing.  Coming September 12, 2017.


 7.  The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott—This historical novel about an Irish immigrant's dramatic suicide and the way that it impacts his widow and unborn child sounds depressing but compelling.  Coming September 19, 2017.


 8.  Invictus by Ryan Graudin—I loved Graudin's The Walled City, although I haven't been as impressed with her subsequent books.  Still, I'm excited to check out the author's newest.  It's a time-traveling adventure that sounds fun.  The reviews seem a bit so-so, but I still want to see what Invictus is all about.  Coming September 26, 2017.


 9.  Red Dirt by Anna Jarzab—This gritty mystery set in small-town Oklahoma looks intriguing.  Coming August 29, 2017.


 10.  Auma's Long Run by Eucabeth Odhiambo—In this MG novel, a 13-year-old Kenyan girl in the 1980s must decide whether to keep pursuing her dream of becoming a track star as her village is invaded by AIDS.  Sounds sad, but inspiring.  Coming September 1, 2017.

So, what's on your list today?  What are your most anticipated reads for the rest of the year?  Do we have any in common?  Leave me a comment and I'll happily return the favor.

Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

In the alternate world of Ryan Graudin's newest novel, Wolf By Wolf, Adolf Hitler remains in power. The year is 1956 and the reclusive Führer rules Europe and half of Asia.  Despite nonagression pacts with other nations, he's eyeing the rest of the continents, discontent until the entire globe belongs to him.  For now, though, Hitler is celebrating.  The Axis Tour is an annual motorcycle race across Europe and Asia, an event that pits teens from Hitler Youth and the Great Japan Sincerity Association against each other in a televised spectacular that applauds the joint victories belonging to Hitler and the emperor of Imperial Japan.  The prize?  A meet-and-greet with the Führer himself.

Yael has one goal: kill Adolf Hitler.  The 17-year-old Jew blames the leader for the extermination of not just her family, but also her people.  A victim of death camp science experiments, she has evolved into a skinshifter.  Thanks to Nazi innovation, Yael can change at will almost everything about herself—height, weight, eye color, the timbre of her voice, etc.  With the blessing of the Resistance, she will use this power to impersonate the Tour's only female winner—Adele Wolfe.  She will use her comely disguise to win the race, lure an unguarded Hitler onto the dance floor, and kill the man who stole everything from her.  Failure is not an option.

As Yael begins the 20,780 kilometer race, which will take her from her home in Germania (formerly Berlin, the city is now the capital of the Third Reich) to the glittering metropolis of Tokyo, she begins to understand just how dangerous her mission really is.  Not only must she stay in character as Adele Wolfe at all times, but she must fend off the attention of her competitors (one of whom is Adele's twin brother), and survive the underhanded dealings of the other riders.  If Yael manages to emerge victorious, she still has to find the strength to murder the most powerful man in the world—and get away with the crime.  Does she truly have the cold-blooded conviction to do such a thing?  Will she even get a chance?  It all depends on a Jewish death camp survivor-in-disguise winning a grueling and vicious race ... does Yael have what it takes to fulfill the most daring mission in history?

I loved Ryan Graudin's last novel, The Walled City, for of its vivid setting, heart-pounding plot, and sympathetic characters.  This one, however, wasn't nearly as compelling.  Yael is most certainly sympathetic, but for some reason, I just didn't feel much connection with her.  Most of Wolf By Wolf's cast, in fact, seems underdeveloped to me.  I wanted more complexity from them, more depth.  Plot-wise, the novel is interesting and exciting.  Not thrilling enough for me to read in one sitting (which is how I devoured The Walled City), but still engrossing.  Overall, I liked Wolf By Wolf, didn't love it.  I don't know if I'll bother with the sequel (Blood for Blood comes out November 1, 2016) or not.  We'll see.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

It's been awhile since I've participated in Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by the lovelies over at The Broke and the Bookish), my favorite weekly bookish meme.  So, even though I should be catching up on reviews (not to mention folding laundry, cleaning house, writing Christmas cards, etc.), I'm going to join in the fun.  This week's topic is:  Top Ten New-To-Me-Authors I Read in 2014.  My list follows.  With the exception of #1, they are in no particular order:

Oh, wait!  Before you read on, check out the giveaway I'm hosting.  It's for one copy of The Halcyon Bird, the second installment in Kat Beyer's demon catchers series.  Since no one has entered it yet, you have an excellent chance of winning, so click over there right now and enter.



1.  Kate Morton—I read all four of this Australian author's novels this year.  Why?  Because I love her.  Her lush family sagas are filled with mystery, romance, drama, and history.  My only complaint about Morton is that she doesn't write fast enough!  (see my reviews of The Distant Hours; The Secret Keeper; The Forgotten Garden; and The House at Riverton)


2. M. D. Waters—I enjoyed both Archetype and Prototype.  The two-book series is action-packed and thought-provoking.  I'll be interested to see what this author does next.




3.  Ryan Graudin—If you haven't read Graudin's newest novel, The Walled City, then you're really missing out.  It's an exciting, provocative and compelling read, which easily became one of my favorite reads of 2014.  I haven't read All That Glows yet, but I definitely intend to.



4.  Dianne K. Salerni—I read all three of this author's novels this year and was impressed by the variety of her subject matter and the skill of her storytelling.  (see my reviews of The Eighth Day; The Caged Grave; and We Hear the Dead)


5.  Em Garner—Teen zombie novels are a dime a dozen these days, but Em Garner's struck me as different.  More sympathetic.  I enjoyed both Contaminated and Mercy Mode.



6.  Holly Black—Believe it or not, I'd never read anything by Black until a couple months ago.  Doll Bones intrigued me from the moment I heard about it.  The spooky middle grade novel did not disappoint.


7.  Liane Moriarty—Like lots of other readers, I adored Big Little Lies.  The warmth, the humor, the social commentary—I loved it all.  Her other novels are all on my TBR pile mountain mountain chain.



8.  Elizabeth Blackwell—I just finished While Beauty Slept, which I really enjoyed.  As its her first novel, I know we have much to look forward to from this promising author!



9.  Kate A. Boorman—Winterkill, Boorman's debut YA novel, is another one of my favorite reads from this year.  Two more books in the series will be coming out and I can't wait.



10.  Julie Berry—Berry's debut, All the Truth That's in Me, is a powerful, lyrical read.  I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the author's new middle grade novel, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Pickwillow Place.

There you have it.  I didn't read too many debut authors this year, but these are the ones that stuck out to me.  How about you?  Find any awesome authors this year?  I'd love to check out even more new-to-me writers in 2015, so, please, leave me any recommendations.


*All author photos from authors' websites.

**I can't think of anything more to say.  Does that mean I'm done procrastinating and have to do something productive now?  Aw, man!  Say it ain't so.