Books To Look Out For In May
Cutting it a bit fine for May new titles... way too many for me to keep up to date with!
Any list I make wouldn't be complete without a graphic novel on it. This month I've picked this Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. one, mainly because every girl wants Agent Coulson in her life! This one features Tony Stark joining the team for a top secret mission.
You all know I'm a Star Trek nut so of course this was going to get into the listing... but I have to object to the first line of this one's description. "The Autobiography of James T. Kirk chronicles the greatest Starfleet captain's life"... Erm no, Jean-Luc has that title. But I'm not going to turn my nose up at this one because of that inaccuracy!
After the execution of the serial killer, Bonebreaker, his son Kyle has a new name, new school and a new life. His life is finally getting better, until he recognised someone in his class. Her name is Naomi, and his father killed her mother. Elsewhere on campus the death toll is rising as someone is keen to finish the work of the Bonebreaker.
I always enjoy a good serial killer novel and this one seems to have a nice twist to it. The story changes viewpoints which I always find makes for a fast paced storyline.
The Crab of Hate is the personification of Calman's depression and her version of the notorious Black Dog. The Crab of Hate has provided her with the best and worst of times in her life. This is a memoir of how she embraced the dark side and realised she could be the most joyous sad person you'll ever meet.
I first came across Susan Calman on The News Quiz on Radio 4 and have since actively watched her in things when I find them. She's one of my favourite comedians and I'm looking forward to reading her insight into depression.
'You haven't said a single word since you've been here. Is it on purpose?' I tried to answer David but I couldn't ...my brain wanted to speak but my throat wouldn't cooperate...Adam blames himself for his best friend's death. After attempting suicide, he is put in the care of a local mental health facility. There, too traumatized to speak, he begins to write notebooks detailing the events leading up to Jake's murder, trying to understand who is really responsible and cope with how needless it was as a petty argument spiralled out of control and peer pressure took hold.
Some books sound very similar to other ones on the market, but this is new to me (admittedly I haven't read every book out there). There are many young adult books tackling difficult topics and this ones seems like an interesting take on a new topic.
The year is AD 94. Emperor Domitian sends soldiers to seize Juba's family's home in the middle of the night. He must escape with his brother and sisters and make the journey to distant Britannia on the edge of the known world.
Caroline Lawrence has made many an appearance on children's bookshelves with her Roman Mysteries series and I see no reason why this wouldn't be the same. This new series will make great links with key stage 2 topics.
James' Cuban holiday has become a nightmare mission to save an old friend from a villain who has perfected 1,000 ways to kill. Corrupt cops and hired assassins are hot on his heels. Fates will be decided with the flip of a coin . Heads or tails. Live or die.
Steve Cole takes over the Young Bond crown from Charlie Higson. Another popular series to come back around this month, lets hope Cole has the same magic touch to with the Bond legacy.
David Thomson guides the reader through each element of the film viewing experience. Making you consider the significance of everything from what you see and hear, actors, shots, cuts, dialogue and music. From classics to the contemporary, Thomson analyses the artistry of films.
Now I've always been the sort of person who watches a film without thinking about it. It's much easier to enjoy a film when you're not worrying about the continuity errors, daft acting and racy background music. I don't know if I could enjoy a film if I ended up analysing the whole thing, but this book sounds like the best way to give it a go.
Hidden under a small suburban town, the Inventory is a collection of the most incredible technology the world has NEVER seen: invisible camouflage, HoverBoots, indestructible metals, and the deadly war robot Iron Fist. Dev's uncle, Charlie Parker, is the Inventory's mild-mannered curator, with security provided by Eema, a beyond-state-of-the-art artificial intelligence system. But security is catastrophically breached when Lot and Mason from school turn up unexpectedly and, hot on their heels, a ruthless gang of thieves working for the Collector and the Shadow Helix organization. If the thieves succeed in their goal to seize the Iron Fist, Dev, his friends, and the world are in a whole heap of trouble.
This month sees a lot of returning authors and series, and Andy Briggs did two of my favourite one... Hero.com and Villain.net. I love anything that's a little nerdy... and I'd really like a pair of HoverBoots
Calypso's mum died a few years ago and her emotionally incompetent Dad can't, or won't, talk about Mum at all. Instead he throws himself into writing his book A History of the Lemon. Meanwhile the house is dusty, there's never any food in the fridge, and Calypso retreats into her own world of books and fiction. When a new girl, Mae, arrives at school, the girls' shared love of reading and writing stories draws them together. Mae's friendship and her lively and chaotic home - where people argue and hug each other - make Calypso feel more normal than she has for a long time. But when Calypso finally plucks up the courage to invite Mae over to her own house, the girls discover the truth about her dad and his magnum opus - and Calypso's happiness starts to unravel.
I'm not sure that the description of this one does justice to the enthusiasm of the rep for this one... and I'm not just saying that because he brought me a personalised signed copy.
Skye is looking for an escape from the reality of last summer when her sister died in a tragic accident. Her parents think that a camp for troubled teenagers might help her process her grief. All of the kids at the summer camp have lost someone close, but is bringing them together such a good idea? And can everyone at camp be trusted? When Skye starts receiving text messages from someone pretending to be her dead sister, she knows it's time to confront the past. But what if the danger is right in front of her?
Another one that I'm not sure why it intrigues me but it does.
Descended from a long line of monster hunters, Max Helsing does a pretty good job of being an eighth grader by day and keeping his town safe from demons, ghouls and the occasional mummy by night. That is, until he turns thriteen and discovers he's been cursed by an ancient vampire who wants him dead - at any cost. To save the world - and his life - Max must rely on his wise-cracking best friend, cantankerous monster, computer genius neighbour, and brand-new puppy. He'll need all their help and more to break the Thirteenth Curse!
Well what can I say? I like a twist on an existing tale and this one screams classic vampire mixed with Buffy.
Meet Hel, an ordinary teenager - and goddess of the Underworld. Why is life so unfair? Hel tries to make the best of it, creating gleaming halls in her dark kingdom and welcoming the dead who she is forced to host for eternity. Until eternity itself is threatened.
I can't wait to see how Francesca Simon's leap into young adult fiction goes, it's a massive change from Horrid Henry but should be a good one.
Twelve mysteries. Twelve authors. One challenge: can YOU solve the crimes before the heroes of the stories? These creepy, hilarious, brain-boggling, heart-pounding mysteries feature daring, brilliant young detectives.
There are some wonderful authors collected in this book, and everyone enjoys a good mystery to solve.
Oliver Coggin lives with his chaotic family in Dizzy Perch, a crazy house on top of a mountain somewhere remote in Scotland. With Pa away - on mysterious but exciting scientific research - Oliver keeps the household going. Not that everyone always listens to what he has to say. Or appreciates him. But what does Oliver want himself? He'd like to escape the house sometimes. He'd like a friend, like the new boy he sees in the village. Most of all, he'd like to understand why his father went away. And where's he's gone. So Oliver sets out on a long journey to get Pa back.
I picked this one purely for the author... Diana Hendry wrote one of my favourite childhood books, Harvey Angell. I don't remember many books from back then, in fact only two spring to mind easily, and those tatty copies are still with me to this day.
They’ll get inside your head… Imagine if you could see inside the minds of everyone around you – your best friend, your boyfriend, your enemies…?
Imagine how valuable you’d be… Imagine how much danger you’d be in… Imagine being an Outlier.
It all starts with a text:
Please Wylie, I need your help.
Wylie hasn't heard from her one time best friend, Cassie, in over a week. Not since their last fight. But that doesn't matter. Cassie's in trouble, and it’s up to Wylie to do what she does best, save her best friend from herself. This time it's different though – Cassie's texts are increasingly cryptic and scary. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie asked him to help. Trusting the super-hot boy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn't feel right, but Wylie has no choice. But as Wylie and Jasper follow Cassie’s bizarre trail, Wylie has a growing sense that something is REALLY wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? Who is she with and what do they want from her? And could finding her be just the beginning…?
Come on... who wouldn't want to read minds?!
An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong. A seaside pier collapses. A thirty-stone man is confined to his living room. One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Another woman is saved from drowning. Two boys discover a gun in a shoebox. A group of explorers find a cave of unimaginable size deep in the Amazon jungle. A man shoots a stranger in the chest on Christmas Eve.
I know right, how have I got so many new from the old books in this list? I love short stories, so with this top author and some interesting quick topics above, this sounds like a winner.
Dinah is a princess, the future Queen of Hearts. Unaware of the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and to reign with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, Dinah is launched into the dangers of Wonderland. She must stay one step ahead of her enemies or she’ll lose not just the crown, it will be off with her head!
This is the first in a series dubbed Dorothy Must Die meets Alice In Wonderland. A quick look into the life of the Queen of Hearts.
What if you weren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend might just be the God of mountain lions.
Patrick Ness is just massive, and this one is in my TBR. Now I love a superpower or two, but this one the flip-side, and I'm interested to see where it goes.
The human head remains in a state of consciousness for one and a half minutes after decapitation. In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at a rate of 160 words per minute. Inspired by this, Robert Olen Butler wrote Severance, sixty-two vignettes each exactly 240 words in length, that capture the flow of thoughts that go through a person's mind after their head has been severed. Here are the imagined ultimate words of famous and invented figures - Medusa, Sir Walter Raleigh, Anne Boleyn, Jayne Mansfield, and a chicken, beheaded for Sunday dinner.
Following on from this, Butler addressed the question of: what goes through the mind of a person while having sex? Turning his daring imagination to the intimate, Butler lays bare the most flagrant, personal thoughts and feelings of fifty, often surprising, couples in Intercourse.
I love the sounds of these little snippet stories, can't wait to see how this pans out.
I know who killed my sister. I wrote this novel for him.
Linda's sister, Anna, was murdered. The crime went unsolved. But Linda knows who did it, and twelve years later she sees him again... on TV. Linda knows no one would believe her if she says this well known reporter murdered her sister, so she does the only thing she knows. As a novelist she can write what she wants, and she writes a thriller about a woman who is murdered, and her killer never caught. After its publication she agrees to one interview... with him, the only person who knows more about it than she does.
Crime fiction... love it. Writing... love it. This book... going to love it.
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. Warlock Holmes is an idiot. A font of arcane power, certainly. But hes brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn't deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart companion. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.
Crossover here we come again. This just screams me all over really.
So there's my run down on some of the new titles for May. This one has taken me a long time to get through so I might have to cut down to a top ten next time... it'll probably still take me an age to post it but the odds are better that it gets done!
Happy reading.
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. by Marc Guggenheim & Mike Norton 9781846537226
Any list I make wouldn't be complete without a graphic novel on it. This month I've picked this Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. one, mainly because every girl wants Agent Coulson in her life! This one features Tony Stark joining the team for a top secret mission.
The Autobiography Of James T Kirk by David A Goodman 9781783297481
You all know I'm a Star Trek nut so of course this was going to get into the listing... but I have to object to the first line of this one's description. "The Autobiography of James T. Kirk chronicles the greatest Starfleet captain's life"... Erm no, Jean-Luc has that title. But I'm not going to turn my nose up at this one because of that inaccuracy!
Breaker by Kat Ellis 9780762459087
After the execution of the serial killer, Bonebreaker, his son Kyle has a new name, new school and a new life. His life is finally getting better, until he recognised someone in his class. Her name is Naomi, and his father killed her mother. Elsewhere on campus the death toll is rising as someone is keen to finish the work of the Bonebreaker.
I always enjoy a good serial killer novel and this one seems to have a nice twist to it. The story changes viewpoints which I always find makes for a fast paced storyline.
Cheer Up, Love by Susan Calman 9781473632004
The Crab of Hate is the personification of Calman's depression and her version of the notorious Black Dog. The Crab of Hate has provided her with the best and worst of times in her life. This is a memoir of how she embraced the dark side and realised she could be the most joyous sad person you'll ever meet.
I first came across Susan Calman on The News Quiz on Radio 4 and have since actively watched her in things when I find them. She's one of my favourite comedians and I'm looking forward to reading her insight into depression.
The Deepest Cut by Natalie Flynn 9781786151063
'You haven't said a single word since you've been here. Is it on purpose?' I tried to answer David but I couldn't ...my brain wanted to speak but my throat wouldn't cooperate...Adam blames himself for his best friend's death. After attempting suicide, he is put in the care of a local mental health facility. There, too traumatized to speak, he begins to write notebooks detailing the events leading up to Jake's murder, trying to understand who is really responsible and cope with how needless it was as a petty argument spiralled out of control and peer pressure took hold.
Some books sound very similar to other ones on the market, but this is new to me (admittedly I haven't read every book out there). There are many young adult books tackling difficult topics and this ones seems like an interesting take on a new topic.
Escape From Rome by Caroline Lawrence 9781510100237
The year is AD 94. Emperor Domitian sends soldiers to seize Juba's family's home in the middle of the night. He must escape with his brother and sisters and make the journey to distant Britannia on the edge of the known world.
Caroline Lawrence has made many an appearance on children's bookshelves with her Roman Mysteries series and I see no reason why this wouldn't be the same. This new series will make great links with key stage 2 topics.
Heads You Die by Steve Cole 9781782952411
James' Cuban holiday has become a nightmare mission to save an old friend from a villain who has perfected 1,000 ways to kill. Corrupt cops and hired assassins are hot on his heels. Fates will be decided with the flip of a coin . Heads or tails. Live or die.
Steve Cole takes over the Young Bond crown from Charlie Higson. Another popular series to come back around this month, lets hope Cole has the same magic touch to with the Bond legacy.
How To Watch A Movie by David Thomson 9781781250440
David Thomson guides the reader through each element of the film viewing experience. Making you consider the significance of everything from what you see and hear, actors, shots, cuts, dialogue and music. From classics to the contemporary, Thomson analyses the artistry of films.
Now I've always been the sort of person who watches a film without thinking about it. It's much easier to enjoy a film when you're not worrying about the continuity errors, daft acting and racy background music. I don't know if I could enjoy a film if I ended up analysing the whole thing, but this book sounds like the best way to give it a go.
Iron Fist by Andy Briggs 9781407161792
Hidden under a small suburban town, the Inventory is a collection of the most incredible technology the world has NEVER seen: invisible camouflage, HoverBoots, indestructible metals, and the deadly war robot Iron Fist. Dev's uncle, Charlie Parker, is the Inventory's mild-mannered curator, with security provided by Eema, a beyond-state-of-the-art artificial intelligence system. But security is catastrophically breached when Lot and Mason from school turn up unexpectedly and, hot on their heels, a ruthless gang of thieves working for the Collector and the Shadow Helix organization. If the thieves succeed in their goal to seize the Iron Fist, Dev, his friends, and the world are in a whole heap of trouble.
This month sees a lot of returning authors and series, and Andy Briggs did two of my favourite one... Hero.com and Villain.net. I love anything that's a little nerdy... and I'd really like a pair of HoverBoots
A Library Of Lemons by Jo Cotterill 9781848125117
Calypso's mum died a few years ago and her emotionally incompetent Dad can't, or won't, talk about Mum at all. Instead he throws himself into writing his book A History of the Lemon. Meanwhile the house is dusty, there's never any food in the fridge, and Calypso retreats into her own world of books and fiction. When a new girl, Mae, arrives at school, the girls' shared love of reading and writing stories draws them together. Mae's friendship and her lively and chaotic home - where people argue and hug each other - make Calypso feel more normal than she has for a long time. But when Calypso finally plucks up the courage to invite Mae over to her own house, the girls discover the truth about her dad and his magnum opus - and Calypso's happiness starts to unravel.
I'm not sure that the description of this one does justice to the enthusiasm of the rep for this one... and I'm not just saying that because he brought me a personalised signed copy.
Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman 9781407165363
Skye is looking for an escape from the reality of last summer when her sister died in a tragic accident. Her parents think that a camp for troubled teenagers might help her process her grief. All of the kids at the summer camp have lost someone close, but is bringing them together such a good idea? And can everyone at camp be trusted? When Skye starts receiving text messages from someone pretending to be her dead sister, she knows it's time to confront the past. But what if the danger is right in front of her?
Another one that I'm not sure why it intrigues me but it does.
Max Helsing Monster Hunter by Curtis Jobling 9781408341780
Descended from a long line of monster hunters, Max Helsing does a pretty good job of being an eighth grader by day and keeping his town safe from demons, ghouls and the occasional mummy by night. That is, until he turns thriteen and discovers he's been cursed by an ancient vampire who wants him dead - at any cost. To save the world - and his life - Max must rely on his wise-cracking best friend, cantankerous monster, computer genius neighbour, and brand-new puppy. He'll need all their help and more to break the Thirteenth Curse!
Well what can I say? I like a twist on an existing tale and this one screams classic vampire mixed with Buffy.
The Monsterous Child by Francesca Simon 9780571330263
Meet Hel, an ordinary teenager - and goddess of the Underworld. Why is life so unfair? Hel tries to make the best of it, creating gleaming halls in her dark kingdom and welcoming the dead who she is forced to host for eternity. Until eternity itself is threatened.
I can't wait to see how Francesca Simon's leap into young adult fiction goes, it's a massive change from Horrid Henry but should be a good one.
Mystery & Mayhem by The Crime Club 9781405282642
Twelve mysteries. Twelve authors. One challenge: can YOU solve the crimes before the heroes of the stories? These creepy, hilarious, brain-boggling, heart-pounding mysteries feature daring, brilliant young detectives.
There are some wonderful authors collected in this book, and everyone enjoys a good mystery to solve.
Out Of The Clouds by Diana Hendry 9781444924770
Oliver Coggin lives with his chaotic family in Dizzy Perch, a crazy house on top of a mountain somewhere remote in Scotland. With Pa away - on mysterious but exciting scientific research - Oliver keeps the household going. Not that everyone always listens to what he has to say. Or appreciates him. But what does Oliver want himself? He'd like to escape the house sometimes. He'd like a friend, like the new boy he sees in the village. Most of all, he'd like to understand why his father went away. And where's he's gone. So Oliver sets out on a long journey to get Pa back.
I picked this one purely for the author... Diana Hendry wrote one of my favourite childhood books, Harvey Angell. I don't remember many books from back then, in fact only two spring to mind easily, and those tatty copies are still with me to this day.
The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight 9780008115067
They’ll get inside your head… Imagine if you could see inside the minds of everyone around you – your best friend, your boyfriend, your enemies…?
Imagine how valuable you’d be… Imagine how much danger you’d be in… Imagine being an Outlier.
It all starts with a text:
Please Wylie, I need your help.
Wylie hasn't heard from her one time best friend, Cassie, in over a week. Not since their last fight. But that doesn't matter. Cassie's in trouble, and it’s up to Wylie to do what she does best, save her best friend from herself. This time it's different though – Cassie's texts are increasingly cryptic and scary. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie asked him to help. Trusting the super-hot boy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn't feel right, but Wylie has no choice. But as Wylie and Jasper follow Cassie’s bizarre trail, Wylie has a growing sense that something is REALLY wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? Who is she with and what do they want from her? And could finding her be just the beginning…?
Come on... who wouldn't want to read minds?!
The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon 9781910702161
An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong. A seaside pier collapses. A thirty-stone man is confined to his living room. One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Another woman is saved from drowning. Two boys discover a gun in a shoebox. A group of explorers find a cave of unimaginable size deep in the Amazon jungle. A man shoots a stranger in the chest on Christmas Eve.
I know right, how have I got so many new from the old books in this list? I love short stories, so with this top author and some interesting quick topics above, this sounds like a winner.
Queen Of Hearts by Colleen Oakes 9780008175399
Dinah is a princess, the future Queen of Hearts. Unaware of the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and to reign with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, Dinah is launched into the dangers of Wonderland. She must stay one step ahead of her enemies or she’ll lose not just the crown, it will be off with her head!
This is the first in a series dubbed Dorothy Must Die meets Alice In Wonderland. A quick look into the life of the Queen of Hearts.
The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness 9781406365566
What if you weren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend might just be the God of mountain lions.
Patrick Ness is just massive, and this one is in my TBR. Now I love a superpower or two, but this one the flip-side, and I'm interested to see where it goes.
Severance/Intercourse by Robert Olen Butler 9781843447597
The human head remains in a state of consciousness for one and a half minutes after decapitation. In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at a rate of 160 words per minute. Inspired by this, Robert Olen Butler wrote Severance, sixty-two vignettes each exactly 240 words in length, that capture the flow of thoughts that go through a person's mind after their head has been severed. Here are the imagined ultimate words of famous and invented figures - Medusa, Sir Walter Raleigh, Anne Boleyn, Jayne Mansfield, and a chicken, beheaded for Sunday dinner.
Following on from this, Butler addressed the question of: what goes through the mind of a person while having sex? Turning his daring imagination to the intimate, Butler lays bare the most flagrant, personal thoughts and feelings of fifty, often surprising, couples in Intercourse.
I love the sounds of these little snippet stories, can't wait to see how this pans out.
The Trap by Melanie Raabe 9781509810666
I know who killed my sister. I wrote this novel for him.
Linda's sister, Anna, was murdered. The crime went unsolved. But Linda knows who did it, and twelve years later she sees him again... on TV. Linda knows no one would believe her if she says this well known reporter murdered her sister, so she does the only thing she knows. As a novelist she can write what she wants, and she writes a thriller about a woman who is murdered, and her killer never caught. After its publication she agrees to one interview... with him, the only person who knows more about it than she does.
Crime fiction... love it. Writing... love it. This book... going to love it.
Warlock Holmes A Study In Brimstone by GS Denning 9781783299713
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. Warlock Holmes is an idiot. A font of arcane power, certainly. But hes brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn't deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart companion. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.
Crossover here we come again. This just screams me all over really.
So there's my run down on some of the new titles for May. This one has taken me a long time to get through so I might have to cut down to a top ten next time... it'll probably still take me an age to post it but the odds are better that it gets done!
Happy reading.
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