Monday Morning Book Buzz

Welcome to the Monday Morning Book Buzz, a preview of notable books being released this week. Some of them will be added to the Academy Library collection; if you read about a title that you would like added to the collection, let me know by either commenting on this post or by contacting me directly at the Library.

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This week’s releases are listed by category: Young Adult Fiction, General Fiction and Nonfiction. On-sale dates are indicated in parentheses.

Notable New Releases for the week of June 11th:

Young Adult Fiction

Rapture (Lauren Kate’s Fallen Series #4) by Lauren Kate (6/12/2012) — While searching for the place where the angels fell to earth to stop Lucifer from erasing the past, Luce and Daniel make a startling discovery about their love.

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines Series #2) by Richelle Mead (6/12/2012) — At a boarding school in glamorous Palm Springs, California, alchemist Sydney must protect the vampires-in-hiding from the threat of other humans, a task made harder by forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer.

Timepiece (Hourglass Series #2) by Myra McEntire (6/12/2012) — When vital research about the time gene is stolen, Kaleb must join Emerson and the Hourglass team to find the criminal, who could be anywhere in time.

The Fear (Enemy Series #3) by Charlie Higson (6/12/2012) — In London, after a worldwide sickness infects adults, turning them into zombie-like creatures, DogNut and his crew embark on a deadly mission to find missing friends, as hungry, bloodthirsty grownups lie in wait.

Stronger: A Super Human Clash by Michael Carroll (6/14/2012) — The critically acclaimed Super Human series reaches its shocking conclusion. All Gethin Rao wants is to be like every other boy his age. But normal twelve-year-olds aren’t blue. And they certainly aren’t thirteen feet tall. That’s what happens when his superpowers kick in. And from that moment on, his life is never the same. “A thoughtful narrative about individual choices and their consequences connects with plenty of wham-bang action sequences for an engaging superhero adventure.” — Booklist

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund (6/12/2012) — It’s been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology. Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, this is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it. “A perfectly pleasant read on its own, this could send readers to investigate the source–a happy outcome indeed.” — Kirkus Reviews

Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt (6/12/2012) — In the not-too-distant future, the world was irrevocably changed when women mysteriously lost the ability to reproduce. Faced with humanity’s extinction, the Council of Creators was begun to find alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly. When sixteen-year-old Tess begins work at Templeton, a Chosen Ones training facility, and she meets James, the attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity — and overwhelming in its danger.

Crazy by Amy Reed (6/12/2012) — Connor and Izzy, two teens who met at a summer art camp in the Pacific Northwest where they were counsellors, share a series of emails in which they confide in one another, eventally causing Connor to become worried when he realizes that Izzy’s emotional highs and lows are too extreme.

The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren by Wendy Toliver (6/15/2012) — On her sixteenth birthday, Roxy is transformed from a nerdy band geek into a beautiful Siren, able to attract any boy she wants, as long as she never reveals her powers and never falls in love. Bbut when she begins dating Zach, she wonders if her powers are worth it if she can never feel true love.

General Fiction

Mission to Paris by Alan Furst (6/12/2012) — From the New York Times-bestselling author and “modern-day master of the genre” (Newsday) comes a gripping novel of espionage and deception in pre-World War II Paris. During the summer of 1938, Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl, having traveled to Paris to make a movie, becomes part of an informal spy service against the Nazi party as the Nazis try to make him an agent of influence. “The novel recalls a time when black and white applied to both movies and moral choices. It’s a tale with wide appeal.” — Kirkus starred review

The Third Gate by Lincoln Child (6/12/2012) — Professor Jeremy Logan is brought onto famed explorer Porter Stone’s archaeological team to investigate a series of harrowing and inexplicable occurrences that are causing people on the expedition to fear a centuries-old curse behind Pharoah Narmer’s elusive “double” crown of the two Egypts. “A master of spine-chilling suspense, Child creates a tension-filled, fast-paced adventure sure to please fans of the supernatural thriller.” — Library Journal

Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead (6/12/2012) — Winn Van Meter, spending three days on the New England island of Waskeke for the wedding of his daughter to the affable young scion Greyson Duff, finds the occasion disrupted by the best man’s seduction of his other daughter, who was recently left broken-hearted by the son of his rival, and his long-standing crush on bridesmaid Agatha. “Shipstead’s adroit escapade artfully delivers a poignant reflection on the enduring if frustrating nature of love, hope, and family.” — Booklist

Inner Circle: The Wives Association by Evelyn Lozada (6/12/2012) — Evelyn Lozada is the star of VH1’s hit reality show Basketball Wives; this is the first novel in the new series The Wives Association.

Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank (6/12/2012) — Jackie, having returned to her childhood home in South Carolina with her ten-year-old son after her husband, an NYFD firefighter, died in the line of duty, tries to overcome her grief and help her son heal while staying with her mother, with whom she has had a rocky relationship.

XO (Kathryn Dance Series #3) by Jeffery Deaver (6/12/2012) — Country pop singer Kayleigh Towne, having had an innocent exchange signed XO with fan Edwin Sharp, finds herself the target of his obsession. When a member of her road crew is murdered, California Bureau of Investigation agent Kathryn Dance, who is also Kayleigh’s friend, investigates using her body-language analysis skills to catch the killer. “This may be the most compelling of the Dance books.” — Booklist

The Red House by Mark Haddon (6/12/2012) — Physician Richard invites his estranged sister and her family on a week-long vacation in the English countryside, and as long-held grudges, hopes, secrets, and desires are revealed, the families try to forgive and reach out to one another. “Haddon takes the risk of making the ordinary extraordinary and succeeds; each character is poignantly real and each small trauma a revelation…highly recommended.” Library Journal

Serpent’s Kiss (Beauchamp Family Series #2) by Melissa de la Cruz (6/12/2012) — The powerful Beauchamp family, introduced in Witches of East End, returns. Just as things have settled down in the Long Island town of North Hampton, everything gets turned upside down when Freya’s twin brother Fryr returns from Limbo with shocking news.

The Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (6/12/2012) — On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. “The pop-culture references and wistful tone will please Nick Hornby fans and build Walter’s following. Not to be missed.” — Library Journal

Invisible Monsters Remix by Chuck Palahniuk (6/11/2012) — Injected with new material and special design elements, Invisible Monsters Remix fulfills Palahniuk’s original vision for his 1999 novel, turning a daring satire on beauty and the fashion industry into an even more wildly unique reading experience. When a car accident leaves a successful fashion model disfigured and incapable of speech, she learns how to reinvent herself by erasing her past and making up something better. “A must read for fans of the author or the original version of the book.” — Library Journal

General Nonfiction