But now I'm back - yay! - and I bring you new blog things!!
So I keep discovering all kinds of books that I'm so excited about, and that I really want to share with people. Also, I have recently become aware of SO MANY ways to read samples of books, which is so great because I love getting a taste of the plot and an author's writing style ahead of time. And so I thought to myself, why not just make a weekly post about what I've spotted and added to my TBR list, and also what I've come across in the way of samples over the past week?
So here we are! Spotted & Sampled! LET'S DO THIS.
{ Spotted }
When We Were Lost
by Kevin Wignall
Available as: unknown
Pages: unknown
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Expected publication date: 2019
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 12-18), survival, thriller
From Goodreads:
"When a plane bound for Costa Rica crashes in deep jungle, the tail section breaks free and nineteen teenagers miraculously survive. Joel Aspinall, son of a local politician and student rep on the school’s council, is quick to take on the mantle of leadership, to organize everyone until a rescue party arrives. But the plane was crashed on purpose, no one knows where they are and no rescuers are coming. To make things worse, Joel’s decisions lead to more people dying, and he’s determined to wait it out.
Tom Calloway didn’t want to be on this trip. Tom doesn’t want to bond with his classmates – he isn’t the bonding type. He’d rather they just left him alone, and he’s always been unfriendly enough that they’ve been happy to oblige. But that was before the crash. Now he finds himself building the friendships he’s always tried to avoid. And despite his determined efforts to be left alone, he begins to see that he might be the one to challenge Joel and pull off another miracle, by getting all the survivors to safety.
When We Were Lost, featuring elements of Lost and Lord of the Flies, is a novel of survival, of teenagers thrust into a hostile environment. It’s a novel of life and death and the razor-thin dividing line between them. And it’s a novel about finding a place for yourself in a world that’s infinitely complex."
Lost + Lord of the Flies + YA = YES. Survival stories are so my thing. I'm already lining up for this one.
The Race to Chimney Rockby Jesse Wiley
Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 160
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 4, 2018
Suggested tags: chapter book (ages 7-10), historical fiction, choose your own adventure
From Goodreads:
"Go west, young pioneer—your journey begins here! In this first leg of your trek on the Oregon Trail, you need to find your way to Chimney Rock—but not without unpredictable challenges ahead. This is the first installment of four books that will take you all the way to Oregon Territory—if you make the right choices.
In book one of this exciting choose-your-own-adventure series, it's 1850 and your first goal is to get your family, covered wagon full of supplies, and oxen to Chimney Rock on time. But hurry—you'll need to make it through the rugged mountains before winter snow hits. Plus, there are wild animals, natural disasters, unpredictable weather, fast-flowing rivers, strangers, and sickness that will be sure to stand between you and your destination!
Which path will get you safely across the prairie? With twenty-two possible endings, choose wrong and you'll never make it to Chimney Rock on time. Choose right and blaze a trail that gets you closer to Oregon City!"
IT'S AN OREGON TRAIL CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOK OMG THIS IS MY '90s CHILDHOOD IN BOOK FORM
Ahem. ... I'm fine. Everything's fine. ... But yeah, as soon as I saw this it was IMMEEEEEDIATELY on my to-read list. And you better believe I'm gonna read until I find all 22 possible endings.
{ Sampled }
Four Dead Queens
by Astrid Scholte
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook
Pages: 432
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Expected publication date: February 26, 2019
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy
From Goodreads:
"Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she's, in fact, one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.
With no other choices and on the run from Keralie's former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation's four dead queens.
An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent."
Sampled from: Bookish First (If you haven't heard of Bookish First, go check them out! You can read samples of upcoming books every week, and reviewing books earns you entries into weekly drawings and points towards FREE BOOKS. Yes please!! ... P.s. I'm not affiliated, just a big fan.)
Ok, so... YA fantasies are like THE THING right now. There are soooo many of them. And I'm starting to feel like they're all kind of... the same? I feel like I haven't read a new YA fantasy in a while that's really unique. So I'm a little hard to please when it comes to this type of book.
And after reading this sample, I'm kind of torn on this one. Parts of it I liked, and parts of it I didn't. I wasn't wowed by Keralie's story at the beginning - she's basically a pickpocket, working for an Oliver Twist-esque Fagin character, and the hints of her backstory (she left home apparently, after some kind of situation with her father) didn't really make me all that interested to know more, I hate to say.
Then we move over to a scene at the palace, where there are four queens of four different areas of this world called Quadara. I mean... again, I'm torn. Quad, four - clever, I get it. There are four distinct areas, but I wasn't really all that interested in any one of them. And I didn't really get into the queens' story line until (SPOILER! ... Well, not really, since it's in the title...) one of them is murdered.
Both Keralie's and the queens' story lines end in cliffhangers, and I *did* find myself wanting to read more to find out what happens from there. So I give this a solid "meh". I do want to keep reading, but I'm not going to be first in line when it comes out.
That's all for this week! Did you like it? I hope so. I liked doing it! So I'll hope to see you next week for more spottings & samples!
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