Incoming Books: November 9th ~ 2011

Incoming Books ~ November 9, 2011.

Welcome to our listing of books that we’ve received for review.

It’s our fun feature where we ask a very important question for all those bibliophiles out there in internet land - since we have some incredibly wonderful books to share. All are listed with truncated blurbs and some book data all leading us to ask you the most fun question of the day: Which of these books would you choose to read first?

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Kafkaesque: Stories Inspired by Franz Kafka ~ edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel;  (Slip Stream); November 2011;    This anthology explores fiction from writers and artists who have drawn inspiration from Franz Kafka's writings. Including Philip Roth, Jorge Luis Borges, Carol Emshwiller, Paul Di Filippo and R. Crumb. Each author also responds to the question Why Kafka?

Endurance (Green Universe #2) ~ by Jay Lake;  (High Fantasy)  November 2011;            A stand alone second in a series novel - Green is back. Purchased from her father in sunny Selistan when she was four years old, she was harshly raised to be a courtesan, companion, and bedmate of the Immortal Duke of Copper Downs. Yet she is still claimed by the gods and goddesses of her world, and their demands are greater than any duke’s could have been.

Green (Green Universe #1)June 2009;     She does not remember her mother, she does not remember her own name. She calls herself Green. The world she inhabits is one of political power and magic, where Gods meddle in the affairs of mortals. At the center of it is Copper Downs, which controls all the trade on the Storm Sea where Green has made many enemies and has become a very dangerous woman indeed.

Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy #2) ~ by Rhiannon Frater;  (Horror/Apocalyptic) November 2011;        Picking up where The First Days ends, this sequel features the further zombie-killing, civilization-saving adventures of a pair of sexy, kick butt heroines and the men who love them. Now the hard work of survival begins—finding enough food; creating safe, weather-resistant shelter; establishing laws; and fighting off both the undead who want to eat them and the living bandits who want to rob and kill them.

Fighting to Survive won the Dead Letter Award for Best Novel from Mail Order Zombie. The First Days, the first book in the As the World Dies trilogy, was published by Tor Books in the Spring of 2011.

The Fallen Queen ~ by Jane Kindred; (High Romantic Fantasy)  December 2011;        Heaven can go to hell. Until her cousin slaughtered the supernal family, Anazakia’s father ruled the Heavens, governing noble Host and Fallen peasants alike. Now Anazakia is the last grand duchess of the House of Arkhangel’sk, and all she wants is to stay alive—even if it means saving the man who murdered everyone she loved.

The Hermetica of Elysium ~ by Annmarie Banks;  (Historical Fantasy)  December 2011;      1494 Barcelona - as fires of religious fervor spread throughout the cities of Spain, accused heretics are not the only victims. Thousands of books and manuscripts are lost to the flames. Nadira lives a dreary life as servant to a wealthy spice merchant until the night a dying scholar is brought to the merchant’s stable, beaten by mercenaries who are on the hunt for The Hermetica of Elysium. Will she escape the fires of the Inquisition, the clutches of the Borgia pope, Alexander VI and the French king, Charles VIII?

Cloudburst (Storms #2) ~ by V.C. Andrews; (Horror/Urban Fantasy) October 2011;    High school senior Sasha Porter is in search of her sister—but instead she learns secrets that could tear her family apart.

Family Storms (Storm #1) February 2011;     Living on the streets with her destitute mother, selling knickknacks and trinkets just to survive, Sasha Porter dreams of someday having a normal life, with a real house and family. But she never dreamed a devastating tragedy would bring her those very things.

Three Weeks in December ~ by Audrey Schulman;  (Literary Fiction) February 2011;     Told in alternating perspectives that interweave the two characters and their fates.

In 1899 Jeremy, a young engineer, leaves a small town in Maine to oversee the construction of a railroad across British East Africa. He becomes the reluctant hunter of two lions that are killing his men in nightly attacks on their camp and he takes increasing solace in the company of an African man who scouts for him.

In 2000 Max, an American ethnobotonist, travels to Rwanda in search of an obscure vine that could become a lifesaving pharmaceutical. Stationed in the mountains, she shadows a family of gorillas. But soon both are threatened as a violent rebel group from the nearby Congo draws close.

The Conference of the Birds ~ by Peter Sis;  (Literary Fiction); October 2011;       Based upon a foundational Sufi poem, it is the story of an epic flight of birds in search of the true king. Drawn from all species, the band of birds is led by the hoopoe.

The voyage to the mountain of Kaf, where the king lives, will be perilous and many birds resist, afraid of what they might encounter. Others perish during the passage through the seven valleys – which are named quest, love, understanding, friendship, unity, amazement, and death.

The Whisperer ~ by Donato Carrisi; (Literary Thriller); January 2012;     The severed arms of five girls who vanished in broad daylight are discovered buried in a clearing in the woods. Alive or dead, the remainder of the girls' bodies are nowhere to be found. At first, the case seems simple. A series of clues leads investigators Mila Vasquez and Goran Gavila, but when they begin to follow the leads for the second missing child, it points in a vastly different direction.

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So dear friends and readers:  Which of these books would you choose to read first?

Happy reading!