May Wishlist

Divergent by Veronica Roth is one of many YA books I am currently craving. Over at Steph Su Reads, Steph writes that the hype for the book is legit: "At long last I do think I may have found the book that I will truly encourage fans in Hunger Games deprivation to pick up. DIVERGENT is fast-paced, with a thoroughly developed dystopian world, engaging plot, and an admirable protagonist. In a word, it is excellent." I am ready for a YA dystopian that rocks my world.

Swapna over at S. Krishna's Books featured The Intuitionist by Taylor Stevens, and for the first time in awhile, I am interested in a new series. Swapna writes: "The mystery in The Informationist is complicated, and at times, it seems like nothing makes sense, or will ever make sense.  But if readers just go with it, they will realize there is a larger story unfolding.  Stevens does a wonderful job tying everything together, making sure everything is clearly explained for the reader by the end of the novel.  Even if it seems as though the plot is leading to a place where no explanation will serve, if you have faith and keep reading, you will be rewarded." That idea of delayed gratification intrigues me.

Pam over at Bookalicio.us talked about Melissa de la Cruz's adult novel, Witches of East End, and I'm sold. Pam writes that "the world building is perfection. The town that the Beauchamp women live in just feels like a place where magic can truly happen". I love me some good world building; actually, next to characterization, that is the most important element of fantasy based stories. And it certainly looks like the story has some unique characters: "Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret–they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there’s Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache."

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby is a collection about reading. How can this not be wonderful? Stephanie over at Reviews by Lola has nothing but positive things to say, including this amazing recommendation: "I tore through this book so fast, it’d make your head spin.  And then I immediately ordered the other two books of his columns, which will hopefully get here in time for my vacation!"

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins has been on my wish list for a long time, but Aarti's review over at BookLust has me moving it up the list by leaps and bounds: "It's a collection of information on what it as like to be a woman at various points in time, and also a lot of short, tantalizing biographies of women who were awesome.  Seriously, I had no idea American history was chock full of amazing females, none of whom get the attention they deserve."

I knew I would pick up A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness because I so very much adore his Chaos Walking series. But Ana's review over at things mean a lot has me determined to run out and buy it tomorrow: "This is an extraordinarily moving story, and not in the easy tearjerker sort of way that a story about grief in clumsier hands has the potential to become. What makes it so affecting is exactly how unsentimental it is, how restrained, and most of all how perceptive and emotionally genuine."

It is not often that I read author interviews, and it is even less likely for one to inspire me to read the author's work. But Eden Unger Bowditch's guest post over at Steph Su Reads really had me craving her book The Atomic Weight of Secrets or the Arrival of the Men in Black. First off, the title is just awesome. The cover's pretty awesome as well. But this is what attracted me most: "At a time when every story had a magic wand or wizard holding one as its core element—not that I don’t love wizards and magic wands—I discovered a kind of disappointment. The magic we were all embracing must forever live in our imaginations, out of reach, out of reality. But magic is real! Look around at this amazing world with giant trees growing from tiny seeds and inventions that can make us fly or spin or float or stand on the moon. Magic is something within reach. And suddenly, like out of a weird haze, the children of The Young Inventors Guild began to appear . . . and then the whole story with it." Couple that with the synopsis, and I was hooked.

Over at Ready When You Are C.B., James consistently reviews books which I have never heard of and immediately want. Mamaw by Susan Dodd is no exception to that rule. The cover really creeps me out, and as the subject is Jesse James's mother, I am hooked: "how does one approach a book about the woman who raised him, who loved him more than any of her other children and protected him when she could even though she knew her protection made more crimes possible, including murder?   To her credit, Ms. Dodd doesn't whitewash her story, as far as I can tell.  Her heroine loves her son, admires him, pushes him to action, protects him and his reputation as much as she can.  But even she reaches a point where she must simply refuse to look too closely at what her son has done.  In order to remain the mother she has always been she must make herself willfully ignorant of her son's crimes."

Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury is the first recommendation I have from a new-to-me blog, Book Labyrinth. The plot revolves around an (un)debutante's debut season, a mummy, and a mystery. Ashley writes: "Basically this is a super cool historical mystery. The characters are fun (it's lovely when a heroine can be super smart, brave, and sassy without being annoying or over the top), the writing is engaging, and the mystery kept me guessing until the end."

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens sounds like a book which will strike my fancy. Rebecca over at Rebecca Reads calls it "a character book. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and I found myself well engaged in their story by the end of the book. I wanted to know their fates. As for their adventures, I frequently laughed out loud at the jokes, ridiculous situations, and amusing happens. Dickens obviously loved these invented friends of his, and his joy at writing about them made the book a fun romp." Couple that with the Victorian setting and the Don Quixote-style adventuring and I'm ready to read.