Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: The Chaos by Rachel Ward

First line: The knock on the door comes early in the morning, just as it’s getting light.

Book description:

When he was a little boy, Adam learned about the numbers.

The first ones he saw were Jem’s. That was how he knew she was going to die.

Adam inherited his mother’s curse. With a vengeance. When he stares into someone’s eyes, he doesn’t just see the date of their death, he feels the searing, shocking pain of it.

Orphaned, Adam has grown up by the sea with his great-grandmother, Val. But as rising tides flood the coast, they flee to London. The city is an alien, anarchic place. Most disturbing of all, Adam can’t help but clock how many people’s numbers are in January 2027; how many are on New Year’s Day.

What chaos awaits the world?

Can Adam and his damaged friend Sarah stop a catastrophe?

Or are they, too, counted among the "twenty-sevens"?

Book Details: 352 pages; Chicken House; Pub. March 2011

I’ve had a special rating system to categorize books based on my personal experiences (i.e. whether I deemed it required reading, worth every penny, or whether I’d buy it used, borrow it, or wish I hadn’t wasted my time on it).

While it still applies, I want to revamp the system to reach a wider audience, basically put it in familiar terms. To that end, I’ve decided to use a Netflix/Amazon style star rating system: 5 stars (loved it/required reading); 4 stars (really liked it/worth every penny); 3 stars (liked it/buy used); 2 stars (didn’t like it/save your money); 1 star (hated it/save your time).

I’ll be updating the legend and links around the site, to include re-filing my existing reviews, so my apologies if you run into a “page not found” error here or there.

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

First (two) sentence(s): I couldn’t think. My chest hurt from running, and I wasn’t even sure I was in the right place.

Initial thoughts: The first chapter paints this book as an intriguing read, but I can tell straight away that another round of edits for minor errors was needed, but I’m hoping it won’t detract from the reading. It starts in media res with Digger, a thief, having just escaped some guards, leaving behind her boyfriend. (I assume it’s her boyfriend since they were kissing.) And there’s a mystery swirling around the letters she and her boyfriend were commissioned to steal. So far, this looks like it will be action-packed fantasy and I want to know more.

Book description:

High in the snow-covered mountains of Llyvraneth, in a castle full of the country’s elite, Celyn Contrare serves as a lady-in-waiting to shy young Merista Nemair. Her days are spent dressing in velvet and brocade, attending Lady Merista, navigating court gossip, and charming noblemen over lavish feasts.

And at night, she picks locks, steals jewels, forges documents, and collects secrets. Because Celyn isn’t really a lady-in-waiting; she’s not even really Celyn Contrare. She’s Digger, a sneak-thief on the run from the king’s Inquisition, desperate to escape its cruel instruments and hatred of magic. If she’s discovered, it will mean her certain death…

…But life as a lady-in-waiting isn’t safe either. The devious Lord Daul knows her secret, and he’d blackmailing her to serve as his personal spy in the castle. What she discovers–about Daul, about the Nemair, even about her own Lady Merista–could signal civil war in Llyvraneth. And for a thief trained never to get involved, taking sides could be the most dangerous job yet.

Book Details: 400 pages pages; Arthur A. Levine Books; Pub. October 1, 2010.

After writing an expose-esque post on Amos Lassen, a former Amazon Top 50 reviewer who habitually plagiarised his reviews, Lassen offered a response, sort of. Continue reading »

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Trapped by Michael Northrop

First sentence: We were the last seven kids waiting around to get picked up from Tattawa Regional High School.

Initial thoughts: Oh, goodness. I’ve read the first chapter, and now I’m anxious to read the rest. This book sounds like it’s right up my alley, indeed. Seven kids trapped in a school while the snow outside has consumed everything. That means there’s no help coming. It almost seems like it could be one of those "what would you do?" types of stories–you know, the kind where they end up eating each other when all the food runs out–but who knows. The description hints at something more sinister, though. It isn’t due out until February 2011, but I’ve bumped it up on my TBR list.

Book description:

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn’t seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision….

Book Details: 240 pages pages; Scholastic Press; Pub. February 2011