• The Maze Runner by James Dashner, October 6th (first in a trilogy)
• Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, September 29th (Loved The Time Traveler’s Wife, hoping this is as good!)
• Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, October 6th (droolworthy excited)
• Fire (prequel to Graceling) by Kristin Cashore, October 5th (really regretting that I loaned a friend Graceling because I am dying to read it again!)
• ArchEnemy (The Looking Glass Wars) by Frank Beddor, October 15th (great series on an alternate view of Alice in Wonderland)
• The Van Alen Legacy (4th book in the Blue Bloods series) by Melissa De La Cruz (like Gossip Girl but everyone is a vampire – fantastic!)

I’m not sure how I’m going to keep up with all of these great books, plus the ones I currently have, but I will try! I definitely have some catching up to do, and a lot of discussing to begin!

A few months ago, the cover for Liar was released, and the ensuing blogosphere reaction was intense and amazing! Liar is told from the point of view of an African American teen that lies about everything, literally, but yet the cover of this soon-to-be-released novel featured a white teen. People were upset. The author was upset. Word spread like wildfire and people spoke out. Everyone talked about the publishing business and how this was not the first in a long line of atrocities it had committed against people of color.

Thankfully, the publisher decided to change the cover, which now features a young African American woman. But this isn’t the end of the debate–many people in publishing and outside still feel that covers with white people on them sell better. Is that true? Maybe so, but that doesn’t make it right. And this is definitely not the fault of just people in the business. We readers are at fault as well, if we just judge a book by its cover.

I definitely encourage everyone to read outside of their race, their gender, their age, and really–read outside everything you have ever known. Isn’t that the point of fiction and being able to read? To imagine new things, to become a new person, to feel what it’s like in another person’s shoes?

Later this month, Book Divas will be hosting an online discussion about Liar, and I encourage everyone to check it out, whether or not you have read the book yet. And definitely look for my review of it in the next month!

I’m very excited to have been able to get Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey, which has just been released! This is definitely one of my most anticipated sequels for this year.

I also After by Amy Efaw and Kendra by Coe Booth, both of which I have heard a lot about on the blogosphere. Look for my reviews on those and many more books this next month.

Next week I’ll also share with you my experiences in my first week of library school!

I think I’m going to enjoy the rest of these. The fantasy aspects are great, and I’m finding the plot very different from other fantasy novels I’ve read lately, so it’s refreshing. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated as I continue on with the series!

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart; I just finished the first book (The Mysterious Benedict Society) and absolutely loved it. The tone of the books and the style of his writing reminded me a lot of the Series of Unfortunate Events, minus quite a bit of that misery! I adored the 4 children in this novel: each had a distinct, unique presence and character that grew more and more developed as the story went on. For slightly younger readers than what I usually read, I’d recommend this one for anyone looking for something with a bit of adventure, mystery, humor, and suspense.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen; Love, love, love this, even though it takes my most favorite novel and chops it into tiny pieces, inserting much more humor, snarkiness, and zombies throughout. I’ve been reading this one for quite awhile, and slowly, mostly because I’m making it my “read-at-lunch” novel. But I do recommend it for any fan of Jane Austen OR zombies.

Oh, and I am still in the middle of so many more books (I read many books at the same time, a weird habit of mine) including: Need by Carrie Jones, Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey, I So Don’t Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy, and on and on. Will keep you updated, my faithful readers, on what I think of those next! I’m also going to be hitting up the library soon to catch up on some of the latest graphic novels.