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3.  A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult (available October 2, 2018)—I'm a long-time Picoult fan, so I'm excited about this one.  It's about a desperate gunman who rushes into a women's health clinic and holds the people inside hostage.  I'm down for what sounds like another tense, thought-provoking story from one of my favorite authors.


4.  The newest from Kristin Hannah—Yeah, yeah, I know Hannah just barely published The Great Alone.  I loved that book and The Nightingale, so I'm anxiously waiting for her next big, immersive novel.  I snagged an early copy of The Great Alone, so I'll keep my fingers crossed ...


5.  Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko (available May 8, 2018)—I had no idea there was another book in this fun series coming out until I got an email offering me an early copy of it.  Score!  It's on its way to me as we speak and I'm super excited.  If you haven't read Choldenko's excellent middle grade series about life as a kid living on Alcatraz during the 1930s, you really should.


6.  A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs (available August 21, 2018?)—It feels like I've been waiting decades for this one to come out and it looks like the wait isn't over yet.  Reichs just announced that, because of health issues, she's going on sabbatical and won't be releasing the book when planned.  Bummer.  I have to see what happens next to Tempe Brennan, my favorite forensic anthropologist, so an early copy of this one would be especially awesome!


7.  In Her Bones by Kate Moretti (available September 4, 2018)—This one certainly sounds intriguing!  It's about Edie, a woman who becomes obsessed with the families of her serial killer mother's victims.  When Edie is accused of murdering one of them, she launches a desperate search for the truth in an (probably futile) effort to clear her name. 


8.  When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica (available September 4, 2018)—Kubica's latest is about a woman whose social security number raises some surprising red flags.  As she tries to figure out what's going on, insomnia plays with her mind making her wonder what is true and what is not.  ARC, please!


9.  The Second Life of Ava Rivers by Faith Gardner (available August 28, 2018)—I've read a few books with this premise, but I still find it fascinating: a person who disappeared as a child returns suddenly as a young adult, leaving their family with more questions than answers.  I'm in! 


10.  White Elephant by Emily Raymond (available December 4, 2018)—This one's a heartwarming holiday tale about an intense white elephant gift exchange in which an ugly vase, which was once used as a murder weapon by one of the participants, comes up for grabs.  Who added the vase to the exchange?  What do they know?  I was just kidding about the "heartwarming" part, but still, this one sounds compelling.  I'd be happy to find an early copy in my mailbox!

So, there you have it, ten books I would be stoked to receive early.  Which ARCs are you most coveting right now?  For which others should I be begging my contacts?  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor.

Happy TTT!

The War Between the States was in full-swing when the country got the shock of its young life—its dead soldiers were not remaining dead.  They were rising up, hungry and rabid.  With shamblers turning everyone in their paths, war was derailed and desperate Americans had to learn to fight the growing zombie menace.  An enterprising government came up with a brilliant solution.  To create an army of monster-slayers, it passed the Native and Negro Reeducation Act, which required every Native and Negro child to attend combat school starting at 12 years old.  While certain cities have since been declared shambler-free, these "throwaway" children still have plenty of fighting to do in order to keep their betters from being bitten.

At 17, Jane McKeene is in her third year at Miss Preston's School of Combat for Negro Girls in Baltimore.  Despite being the daughter of one of the wealthiest white women in Haller County, Kentucky, Jane's mixed-race ethnicity destines her for a life of servitude.  Although her fondest desire is to return home to check on her family—from whom she has heard nothing—she's making the best of  her situation.  She's training to be an Attendant, a combination chaperone/bodyguard for rich white girls.  While such a career will hardly give her the freedom she craves, it beats harvesting cotton or slaving away in a hot kitchen.  Besides, she's a skilled fighter.  If she can just manage to keep her mouth shut and her manners in check long enough, a secure future will be hers.

When local families start to vanish, Jane's skeptical of the official "shambler attack" explanation.  Something else is going on, something much more disturbing.  Not one for leaving well enough alone, she launches her own investigation into the strange disappearances.  Before she knows it, she's embroiled in a plan more sinister than she ever could have imagined.  With her bright future, not to mention her very life, on the line, she has to escape and find her way back to Kentucky.  The shamblers aren't the only monsters Jane encounters as she fights for survival in a grim, violent world that considers her—and others like her—very much expendable.

I've been dying to read Dread Nation, a debut novel by Justina Ireland, ever since I heard about it.  I was thrilled, then, when I won a copy of it from YA author Mindy McGinnis (if you like book giveaways, you have to check out her blog).  The story gripped me from the very first page with its intriguing blend of horror, adventure, alternate history, and humor.  Jane's impossible not to like.  She's tough and sassy, but also compassionate and loyal.  It's easy to root for her as she struggles to make her way in a grisly world where her life is valued only for its sacrificial power.  With plenty of action to keep readers turning pages, Dread Nation is an entertaining novel so engrossing you almost don't recognize its allegorical nature.  Ireland definitely has some messages—about race, about individual worth, about the value of all life—that she's trying to get across.  And she succeeds without breaking the story's stride in the least.  In short, I loved this book.  I can't wait to see what happens next to the intrepid Jane McKeene.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of the Ashes trilogy [Ashes; Shadows; Monsters] by Ilsa J. Bick)

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