January 2018 Releases

Done with December 2017 Releases? Here are January 2018 Releases. Even though it’s already February. I didn’t get around to catching up on doing the monthly release compilation properly, so here’s an “express” edition: author, title, and purchase links. Click on them to find out about the books. And for future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

Marta Acosta: The Dog Thief: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide)

V. C. Andrews: House of Secrets: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Kelley Armstrong: This Fallen Prey: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Keri Arthur: Hell’s Bell: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide)

Chris Beckett: Spring Tide: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Alexandra Blogier: The Last Girl on Earth: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide)

Steven Brust & Skyler White: The Skill of Our Hands: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Megan Hart: Dangerous Promise: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

Rhiannon Held: Mistaken Captives: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

Meg Howrey: The Wanderers: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff: Gemina: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner: Unearthed: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Marissa Meyer: Winter: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide Hardcover) Buy (Worldwide Paperback)

Michelle Rowen: Bloodlust: Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)

Rachel Vincent: Wild Card: Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Now Available for US Pre-Order

Kelley Armstrong: THIS FALLEN PREY: 6th February 2018: Buy (US)
Rhoda Belleza: EMPRESS OF A THOUSAND SKIES (paperback): 9th January 2018: Buy (US)
Steven Brust & Skyler White: THE SKILL OF OUR HANDS (paperback): 2nd January 2018: Buy (US)
Melissa Landers: STARFALL (paperback): 9th January 2018: Buy (US)
Katie McGarry: SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME: 30th January 2018: Buy (US)
An Na: THE PLACE BETWEEN BREATHS: 6th March 2018: Buy (US)
Natasha Preston: YOU WILL BE MINE: 1st February 2018: Buy (US)
Tiffany Reisz: THE LUCKY ONES: 6th February 2018: Buy (US)
Kristen Simmons: PACIFICA: 6th March 2018: Buy (US)
Andy Weir: ARTEMIS: 14th November 2017: Buy (US)

Free 60-Day Trial of Kindle Unlimited, and the Books Available

On Facebook, a friend shared a Groupon for a Free 60-Day Kindle Unlimited Membership (US $19.98 Value). I know nothing about Kindle Unlimited. I’m hoping that “borrowing” books through is like the way my libraries work – download books, and they get automatically deleted after a certain number of days, or you return them earlier. I’m hoping it’s not the “read for free” thing that publishers sometimes do on their websites where you can only read web-based – no downloads.

You’ll need an Amazon account, and will need to make sure the settings have your location as the United States. You’ll also need a Groupon account, for which I used my Facebook, and make sure that you’re not signed up to any of their newsletters if you’re treating this Groupon as a one-off deal.

Group will ask you for “payment”, but I clicked the PayPal button, so I wasn’t charged – because the deal is free, after all. There’s also an option for credit card info.

Once you’ve got your Amazon organised, click here and input the code from your email, to activate the deal.

And now comes the part for why you’re here – borrowing books for free. I don’t know if there are expiry dates or what kind of borrowing system it is (see above about publishers vs. libraries). I’m on the wrong machine right now, but tomorrow on my laptop, I plan to investigate the following links. I systematically checked my reading wishlist, and here are the Kindle Unlimited-eligible books I’m interested in. Some are “pre-orders”, so I doubt you’ll be able to borrow them now. Be sure to check that the ones you’re interested in have Kindle Unlimited on the page, just in case I included a non-eligible title or if the authors/publishers decide to take them off the programme.

Vicki Hendricks: Miami Purity
Cyn Balog: Drowned
Chris Beckett: The Peacock Cloak
Jenna Black: Sealed with a Curse
Rachel Caine: Stillhouse Lake (pre-order)
Amy Rose Capetta: Entangled
Naomi Clark: The Ungrateful Dead; Wild; Gone to the Dogs; Ice Ice Baby; Stakeout
Liz Coley: The Captain’s Kid
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games; Catching Fire; Mockingjay
Megan Crewe: Earth & Sky; A Clouded Sky; A Sky Unbroken
Deborah Halverson: Writing New Adult Fiction
Jen Estes: Fifteen; Sixteen
Christina Farley: Gilded; Silvern; Brazen
Megan Hart: The Resurrected Compendium; Clearwater; The Lies We Tell (pre-order); The Secrets We Keep (pre-order)
Erica Hayes: Hunter’s Heart
Anthology: Tick Tock
Karen Ann Hopkins: Lamb to the Slaughter; Embers; Whispers from the Dead; Rachel’s Deception; Gaia; Secrets from the Grave; Tempest; Hidden in Plain Sight
Lydia Kang: A Beautiful Poison (pre-order)
PD Martin: Coming Home; When Justice Fails; Missing; The Wanderer; Grounded Spirits
Liz Maverick: The Transporter (pre-order)
Seanan McGuire: Indexing; Reflections
Will McIntosh: Futures Near & Far
Tracey O’Hara: Once Upon a Moonlit Night
Jackson Pearce: Turn Here
Cheryl Rainfield: Stained; Parallel Visions
Dia Reeves: Rhymes with Vampire
Leah Rhyne: In the Land of the Blind
Carrie Ryan: A Game of Firsts
Holly Schindler: Fifth Avenue Fidos; Play It Again; Forever Finley
Jeri Smith-Ready: Bridge
Lila Veen: Burning for You
Jessica Verday: Flesh Which Is Not Flesh
M.D. Waters: Gemini’s Edge
Skyler White: Offerings
Susanne Winnacker: Between the Shadow & the Soul

24th January 2017 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Steven Brust & Skyler White
The Skill of Our Hands (Incrementalists, Book 2)
Macmillan Tor (US: 24th January 2017)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
The Incrementalists are a secret society of two hundred people – an unbroken lineage reaching back forty thousand years. They cheat death, share lives and memories, and communicate with one another across nations and time. They have an epic history, an almost magical memory, and a very modest mission: to make the world better, a little bit at a time. Now Phil, the Incrementalist whose personality has stayed stable through more incarnations than anyone else’s, has been shot dead. They’ll bring him back – but first they need to know what happened. Their investigation will lead down unexpected paths in Arizona, and bring them up against corruption, racism, and brutality in high and low places alike. But the key may lay in one of Phil’s previous lives, in “Bleeding Kansas” in the late 1850s – and the fate of the passionate abolitionist we remember as John Brown.

Darynda Jones
Eleventh Grave in Moonlight (Charley Davidson, Book 11)
Macmillan St. Martin’s (US: 24th January 2017); Hachette Little, Brown Piatkus (UK & AU: 24th January 2017)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
A typical day in the life of Charley Davidson involves cheating husbands, errant wives, missing people, philandering business owners, and, oh yeah…demons, hell hounds, evil gods, and dead people. Lots and lots of dead people. As a part time Private Investigator and full-time Grim Reaper, Charley has to balance the good, the bad, the undead, and those who want her dead. Now, Charley is learning to make peace with the fact that she is a goddess with all kinds of power and that her own daughter has been born to save the world from total destruction. But the forces of hell are determined to see Charley banished forever to the darkest corners of another dimension. With the son of Satan himself as her husband and world-rocking lover, will Charley be able to defeat the ultimate evil and find a way to have her happily ever after all?

January 2017 Releases

Done with December 2016 Releases? Here are January 2017 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

4 New Covers (Brust & White, Landers, Liggett, Vincent)

Now Available for US Pre-Order

Kelley Armstrong: DOUBLE PLAY: 5th April 2016: Buy (US)
Kelley Armstrong: A DARKNESS ABSOLUTE: 7th February 2017: Buy (US)
Steven Brust & Skyler White: THE SKILL OF OUR HANDS: 24th January 2017: Buy (US)
Kylie Chan: THE BRIDE WITH RED HAIR: 21st April 2016: Buy (US)
Merrie Destefano: LOST GIRLS: 3rd January 2017: Buy (US)
Darynda Jones: ELEVENTH GRAVE IN MOONLIGHT: 24th January 2017: Buy (US)
Jennifer Longo: UP TO THIS POINTE (paperback): 3rd January 2017: Buy (US)
Katie McGarry: CHASING IMPOSSIBLE: 1st July 2016: Buy (US)
Kim Savage: AFTER THE WOODS (paperback): 21st February 2017: Buy (US)
Kim Savage: BEAUTIFUL BROKEN GIRLS: 21st February 2017: Buy (US)

27th August 2014 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Skyler White
Strongest Conjuration (Incrementalists, Book 1.5) [short story]
Tor (US: 27th August 2014)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA)
The Incrementalists – a secret society of two hundred people, with an unbroken lineage reaching back forty thousand years. They cheat death, share lives and memories, and communicate with one another across nations and time. They have an epic history, an almost magical memory, and a very modest mission: to make the world better, a little bit at a time. Their ongoing argument about just how to accomplish this is older than most of their individual memories.

Now Available for US Pre-Order

Madeline Ashby: reV: 5th May 2015: Buy (US)
Chris Beckett: MARCHER: 15th August 2014: Buy (US)
Chris Beckett: MOTHER OF EDEN: 12th May 2015: Buy (US)
Laura Bickle: THE RAVEN KING: 24th March 2015: Buy (US)
Jillian Cantor: SEARCHING FOR SKY (paperback): 5th May 2015: Buy (US)
Naomi Clark: THE BEAST OF BIRCH HILL: 21st August 2014: Buy (US)
Kady Cross: THE GIRL WITH THE WINDUP HEART (paperback): 31st March 2015: Buy (US)
Kady Cross: SISTERS OF BLOOD AND SPIRIT: 31st March 2015: Buy (US)
Sean Cummings: THE NORTH: 6th October 2014: Buy (US)
Bree Despain: THE ETERNITY KEY: 12th May 2015: Buy (US)
Kat Falls: INHUMAN (paperback): 31st March 2015: Buy (US)
Tracey Garvis Graves: CHERISH (paperback): 28th October 2014: Buy (US)
Megan Hart: VANILLA: 28th April 2015: Buy (US)
Lisa Heathfield: SEED: 10th March 2015: Buy (US)
Kristi Helvig: BURN OUT (paperback): 12th May 2015: Buy (US)
Darynda Jones: SEVENTH GRAVE AND NO BODY (paperback): 5th May 2015: Buy (US)
Darynda Jones: EIGHTH GRAVE AFTER DARK: 19th May 2015: Buy (US)
Karen Kincy: STORMS OF LAZARUS (paperback): 12th August 2014): Buy (US)
Beth Revis: THE BODY ELECTRIC (standard edition only): 6th October 2014: Buy (US)
Jennifer Rush: BETRAYED: 26th August 2014: Buy (AU)
Carrie Ryan: A GAME OF FIRSTS: 19th August 2014: Buy (US)
Tiffany Schmidt: HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH: 19th May 2015: Buy (US)
Eve Silver: PUSH (paperback): 12th May 2015: Buy (US)
Paul G. Tremblay: A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS: 12th May 2015: Buy (US)
Skyler White: STRONGEST CONJURATION: 27th August 2014: Buy (US)

[REVIEW] The Incrementalists – Steven Brust & Skyler White

Steven Brust & Skyler White
The Incrementalists
Macmillan Tor (US: 24th September 2013)
Buy (US Hardcover) Buy (US Mass Market Paperback) Buy (UK Hardcover) Buy (UK Mass Market Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Hardcover) Buy (CA Mass Market Paperback) Buy (AU) Buy (Worldwide)

As a left-brainer, my thoughts often stop me from fully enjoying stories. I don’t need every little thing explained in extensive detail, but something more than vagueness. For a novel filled with symbols and analogies, my experience was less than optimal.

Logic-fail kept me from falling under The Incrementalists‘s spell. When even immortality sounds more believable than the concept herein, it’s a sign the world-building is somewhat flawed. An incrementalist’s memories can be implanted into someone else via A BURNING SPIKE TO THE FOREHEAD. Only because there’s no mention of seared flesh or brain damage, the burning memory-spike may be symbolic/analogous and therefore not real. And that kind of stuff really gets my goat.

The whole novel takes place over a week, so there’s insta-love. That could be explained due to meddlework, but the two parties seem relatively cool with the fact they were basically pimped, minds meddled with so they’d fall in love with one another. That’s hella creepy, and yet our characters seem nonplussed. Huh.

And for a secret society dedicated to making the world a better place, a little bit at a time, they do no such thing in the main storyline – they just focus on themselves. Sure, they may have done some bettering in the past (though the references to real life events really irk me – YOU BROKE THE FOURTH WALL, BOOK!), but apparently nothing in connection to the major plot.

P.S. Early on a character checks their Google Reader, and I immediately thought, “Ha! You just dated yourself, book!” Then I realised the email above the reference is dated…2011. Yep, listing the year in the emails dates the book even more than Google Reader. We really only need to see the messages, and the to/from section. Dates are irrelevant. (Unless there’s a particular reason the novel’s set in 2011, other than that’s when the authors wrote it. If there is a story-based reason, I missed it.)