Waiting on Wednesday #6

Waiting on Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases to be excited about! (Created by Jill at Breaking the Spine)

Broken by Elizabeth Pulford (Illustrated by Angus Gomes)

Published June 1st 2012 by Walker Books Australia

(This is GoodReads:)

Critically injured in a motorbike accident, Zara Wilson lies in a coma. She is caught between the world of her hospital room and that of her memories and a dream-like fantasy where she searches for her elusive brother Jem. 

Zara's adventures in her subconscious unlock dark secrets and she must face up to her past in order to accept her future. 

Broken has graphic novel elements in a hard-edged graphic style reminiscent of a 1950s' comic book. 

(This is Alex:)

I'll admit that I've not heard much about this book so far - but what I have heard has made me very excited to get my hands on this little gem. Elizabeth is a Ukrainian born author who now resides in New Zealand - you can find the link to her website here. She's had a truly amazing life!

Broken gives me the feeling that it would be something like a combination of MirrorMask, Entangled and Hugo Cabret all in one. This is one I'll definitely be reviewing once it's out! 

Waiting on Wednesday #5

Waiting on Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases to be excited about! (Created by Jill at Breaking the Spine)

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
Published June 21st, 2012 by Gollancz 
(This is Goodreads:)

For twenty years after Tara Martin disappeared from her small English town, her parents and her brother, Peter, have lived in denial of the grim fact that she was gone for good. And then, suddenly, on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings at her parents' home and there, disheveled and slightly peculiar looking, Tara stands. It's a miracle, but alarm bells are ringing for Peter. Tara's story just does not add up. And, incredibly, she barely looks a day older than when she vanished. 

Award-winning author Graham Joyce is a master of exploring new realms of understanding that exist between dreams and reality, between the known and unknown. Some Kind of Fairy Tale is a unique journey every bit as magical as its title implies, and as real and unsentimental as the world around us. 

(This is Alex:)

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Graham Joyce. I've even reviewed a couple of his books on this blog. So understandably I am quite excited by his latest novel. The description here sounds rather whimsical; but knowing Mr Joyce and his themes, I reckon Some Kind of Fairy Tale will be taking on a slightly more sinister tone, a la Tooth Fairy. Yay!

Waiting on Wednesday #4

Waiting on Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases to be excited about! (Created by Jill at Breaking the Spine)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Published September 13th, 2011 by Doubleday

(This is GoodReads:)

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Reves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

(This is Alex:)
I really don't have much more to say about this book except - WOW! I cannot wait to get my hands on this one *grins* At least there's not much longer to wait!

Waiting on Wednesday #2

Waiting on Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases to be excited about! (Created by Jill at Breaking the Spine)

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Published October 17, 2011 by Harvill Secker

(This is Amazon:)

The year is 1984. Aomame sits in a taxi on the expressway in Tokyo.

Her work is not the kind which can be discussed in public but she is in a hurry to carry out an assignment and, with the traffic at a stand-still, the driver proposes a solution. She agrees, but as a result of her actions starts to feel increasingly detached from the real world. She has been on a top-secret mission, and her next job will lead her to encounter the apparently superhuman founder of a religious cult.

Meanwhile, Tengo is leading a nondescript life but wishes to become a writer. He inadvertently becomes involved in a strange affair surrounding a literary prize to which a mysterious seventeen-year-old girl has submitted her remarkable first novel. It seems to be based on her own experiences and moves readers in unusual ways. Can her story really be true?

Both Aomame and Tengo notice that the world has grown strange; both realise that they are indispensable to each other. While their stories influence one another, at times by accident and at times intentionally, the two come closer and closer to intertwining.

(This is Alex:)
I am really not sure I can describe just how excited I am about this book. Ever since I heard that it was being published in Japan two years ago I had been waiting and waiting for the news that it would be translated into English. It has been a very LONG two years, let me tell you. But it's almost time and I am getting jittery all over again. And really, if you've not read any Murakami by now - you're really missing out!

Waiting on Wednesday #1

Waiting on Wednesday spotlights upcoming releases to be excited about! (Created by Jill at Breaking the Spine)

Naked by Kevin Brooks
Published: October 6th, 2011 by Puffin
(This is Amazon:)
London 1976: a summer of chaos, punk, love... and a boy they called Billy the Kid.

It was the summer of so many things. Heat and violence, love and hate, heaven and hell. It was the time I met William Bonney - the boy from Belfast known as Billy the Kid.
I've kept William's secrets for a long time, but now things have changed and I have to tell the truth. But I can't begin until I've told you about Curtis Ray. Hip, cool, rebellious Curtis Ray. Without Curtis, there wouldn't be a story to tell.
It's a story of our band, of life and death... and everything in between.

(This is Alex:)
I'm really excited for this. I had no idea who Kevin Brooks was until I was living in England and kids would come into the bookstore asking after him. The first book of his I read was Killing God which was a great book to start with and immediately drew me in. He has a fantastic ability to write about very serious and dark issues that kids deal with today, and iBoy is by far my absolute favourite read of 2010.
I simply cannot recommend him enough. So GO! Experience him now if you haven't already! *grins*