Incoming Books ~ December 22, 2011

It’s our incoming book section ~ December 22, 2011.

It’s the last batch for the year of 2011. We can’t  believe it’s almost 2012. Can you? I hope you all are working on those new year reading resolutions?

Included here are new and recently republished books with their “truncated” descriptions, some book stats, and fun covers so that you can better choose. So let us know in the comments since we just love it when you - our friends and readers tell us:  

Which of these intriguing, fun, heart-pounding, thought expanding books, listed below - would you like Santa to bring you the most?

picture credit - carbonated

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 Macmillan | Tor

Territory ~ by Emma Bull;  320 pages | Tor Books | December 2011 ( first published in July 2007) | World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (2008);  

Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 is the site of one of the richest mineral strikes in American history, where veins of silver run like ley lines under the earth, a network of power that belongs to anyone who knows how to claim and defend it.

When a failed stage holdup results in two dead, Tombstone explodes with speculation about who attempted the robbery. The truth could destroy Earp's plans for wealth and glory, and he'll do anything to bury it. Meanwhile, outlaw leader John Ringo wants the same turf as Earp. Each courts Jesse James as an ally, and tries to isolate him by endangering his friends, as they struggle for magical dominance of the territory.

A Bridge of Years ~ by Robert Charles Wilson;  384 pages | Orb Books | December 2011 (originally published | Hugo Award – Nominee | John W. Campbell Memorial Award – Winner;     

Tom Winter thought the secluded cottage in the Pacific Northwest would be the perfect refuge—a place to nurse the wounds of lost love and happiness. But Tom soon discovers that his safe haven is the portal of a tunnel through time. At one end is the present. At the other end—New York City, 1963.

 

Mindscan ~ by Robert J. Sawyer;  304 pages | Tor Books | December 2011 (originally published April 2005) | John W. Campbell Memorial Award – Winner;

Jake Sullivan has cheated death: he's discarded his doomed biological body and copied his consciousness into an android form. The new Jake soon finds love, something that eluded him when he was encased in flesh: he falls for the android version of Karen, a woman rediscovering all the joys of life now that she too is no longer constrained by a worn-out body. Karen's son sues her, claiming that by uploading into an immortal body, she has done him out of his inheritance. Even worse, the original version of Jake, consigned to die on the far side of the moon, has taken hostages there, demanding the return of his rights of personhood. In the courtroom and on the lunar surface, the future of uploaded humanity hangs in the balance.

Cinder ~ by Marissa Meyer; 400 pages | Feiwel & Friends | Age 12 and up | January 2012 | (ARC)

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Paranormal Thriller

The Book of Lost Fragrances ~ by M.J. Rose;  416 pages | expected pub date March 2012 | Atria Books | (ARC)

Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances—and of her mother’s suicide—she moves to America, leaving the company in the hands of her brother Robbie. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac discovers a secret the House of L’Etoile has been hiding since 1799: a scent that unlocks the mysteries of reincarnation.

General Fiction

The Legacy of Eden ~ by Nelle Davy;  400 pages | MIRABooks | February 2012 (ARC);

For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name - no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways - and the once prosperous farm.

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died - alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land, or the memories.

A Good American ~ by Alex George;  400 pages | February 2012 | Penguin Group USA, Inc (ARC);

It is 1904. When Frederick and Jette must flee her disapproving mother, where better to go than America, the land of the new? Originally set to board a boat to New York, at the last minute, they take one destined for New Orleans instead (What's the difference? They're both new"), and later find themselves, more by chance than by design, in the small town of Beatrice, Missouri. Not speaking a word of English, they embark on their new life together.

Beatrice is populated with unforgettable characters: a jazz trumpeter from the Big Easy who cooks a mean gumbo, a teenage boy trapped in the body of a giant, a pretty schoolteacher who helps the young men in town learn about a lot more than just music, a minister who believes he has witnessed the Second Coming of Christ, and a malevolent, bicycle-riding dwarf.

Our Man in the Dark ~ by Rashad Harrison | 320 pages | Atria Books | November 2011; 

Feeling underappreciated and overlooked, John Estem, a bookkeeper for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), steals ten thousand dollars from the organization. Originally planning to use the money to seed a new civil rights initiative in Chicago, he squanders the stolen funds.

To the bookkeeper’s dismay, the FBI has been keeping close tabs on Dr. King and his fellow activists—including Estem—for years. FBI agents tell Estem that it is his duty, as an American and as a civil rights supporter, to protect the SCLC from communist infiltration. The FBI offers Estem a stipend, but in case he has any thoughts about refusing the assignment, they also warn him that they know about the stolen money.

Playing informant empowers Estem, but he soon learns that his job is not simply to relay information on the organization. Once the FBI discovers evidence of King’s sexual infidelities, they set out to confirm the facts to undermine King’s credibility as a moral leader and bring down the movement.

Tyrus Books

Hurt Machine ~ by Reed Farrel Coleman; 300 pages | Tyrus Books | October 2011 | Moe Prager #7;

At a pre-wedding party for his daughter Sarah, Moe Prager is approached by his ex-wife and former PI partner Carmella Melendez. It seems Carmella's estranged sister Alta has been murdered, but no one in New York City seems to care. Why? Alta, a FDNY EMT, and her partner had months earlier refused to give assistance to a dying man at a fancy downtown eatery. Moe decides to help Carmella as a means to distract himself from his own life and death struggle. Making headway on the case is no mean feat as no one, including Alta's partner Maya Watson, wants to cooperate. Moe chips away until he discovers a cancer roiling just below the surface, a cancer whose symptoms include bureaucratic greed, sexual harassment, and blackmail. But is any of it connected to Alta's brutal murder?

El Gavilan ~ by Craig McDonald;  432 pages | Tyrus Books | December 2011 (first published November 18th 2011);

The news is full of it; escalating tensions from illegal immigration, headless bodies hanging off bridges, and bounties placed on lawmen on both sides of the border. New Austin, Ohio, is a town grappling with waves of undocumented workers who exert tremendous pressure on schools, police, and city services. In the midst of the turmoil, three very different kinds of cops scramble to maintain control and impose order.

But the rape and murder of a Mexican American woman triggers a brutal chain of events that threatens to leave no survivors.El Gavilan is a novel of shifting alliances and whiplash switchbacks. Families are divided and careers and lives threatened. Friendships and ideals are tested and budding love affairs challenged. With its topical themes, shades-of- gray characters, and dark canvas, El Gavilan is a novel for our charged times.

Getting Lucky ~ by D.C. Brod; 336 pages | Tyrus Books | December 2011 (first published November 18th 2011;

When a young reporter is killed in a hit and run accident, freelance writer Robyn Guthrie agrees to finish one of the stories the reporter had been writing for the local newspaper. But nothing is as simple as it seems when she finds out about shady land deals, an old high school nemesis, and Robyn's aging mother.

 

Indie

Ancient Canada ~ by Clinton Festa; SynergEbooks | October 2011:

Ancient Canada sweeps through the alternate Arctic as Lavender and Marigold visit Svalbard, Jan Mayen Island, Thule (Greenland), and the Siberian peninsula.

Marigold serves as the lead narrator, opening and closing the story.  Between are chapters written by a revolving narrator, each sharing their personal backgrounds, beliefs, and wisdom as they see fit.  Not all are human, precisely.  You may not agree with what each of them has to say.  In fact, Marigold herself detested one of them, and another tried to kill her.

Love Sick ~ by Spencer Seidel;  pages 272 Publishing Works | ebook October 2011 | paperback estimated pub date February 2012 | (ARC)

Late one night out on the Eastern Promenade Trail in Portland, Maine, the police discover an incoherent teenager sitting in a pool of blood, holding the body of his best friend and the murder weapon. The girl
they both love has been missing for weeks.

The kid’s jealousy clearly drove him to murder. He says the missing girl is the love of his life. She also happens to be the girlfriend of the murder victim.
It’s an open and shut case, or so most of Portland thinks. 

52 Small Changes: one year to a happier healthier you ~ by Brett Blumenthal; 380 pages | AmazonEncore | January 2012

Whether as New Year’s resolutions, birthday wishes, or daily promises, most everyone vows at some point to make a major life change. But change is easier said than done, especially when it comes to better managing our wellness amidst the chaos of everyday living. Fortunately, wellness coach and award-winning writer Brett Blumenthal has devised a way to inspire and motivate her readers to live healthier and make positive changes in their lives.

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That’s all folk for the year of 2011. So tell us we all love to know: Which of these wonderful books would you like to get from Santa? (that is only if you have been really good!)

Happy Almost Holidays!