Publisher Spotlight: Bloomsbury - January - March 2012

I thought it would be fun to start spotlighting new releases that different publishers have coming up over the next few months for us to look forward to.  I'm constantly looking for new books to add to my wish list and thought it would be a nice way of spreading the bookish love with other bloggers.  I'm not sure how regular the posts will be yet but I have quite a few lined up already and we'll see how things go over the next few months.  So in the spotlight today we have . . .

Bloomsbury always seem to have exciting titles coming out and the beginning of next year is no exception.  They have some fabulous YA books that I can't wait to get my hands on!  Check out the Bloomsbury website for more information.

January 2012:

First up we have debut novel Fracture by Megan Miranda which will be available on the 5th of January.  As a huge fan of anything supernatural I love the sound of this one, it sounds very different from anything else I've read & I'm looking forward to reading it.  For more information visit Megan Miranda's website.

If you had one day left to live, what would you do?

Eleven minutes might as well be eternity underwater. It only takes three minutes without air for loss of consciousness. Permanent brain damage begins at four minutes. And then, when the oxygen runs out, full cardiac arrest occurs. Death is possible at five minutes. Probable at seven. Definite at ten. Delaney Maxwell was underwater for eleven minutes. And she’s alive.

By the time seventeen-year-old Delaney is pulled out of the icy waters of a frozen lake, her heart has stopped beating. She is in a coma and officially dead. But Delaney pulls through. How? Doctors are mystified. Outwardly she has completely recovered. But Delaney knows something is very wrong. Pulled by sensations she can’t control, she finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her brain predicting death or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who lost his whole family in a car accident and emerged from a coma with the same powers as Delaney. At last she’s found someone who’ll understand what she’s going through. But Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature – or something much more frightening?

Also released on the 5th of January is Alyxandra Harvey's new novel Stolen Away.  I have to admit I don't have the best track record when it comes to books about faeries but I'm a massive fan of Alyxandra's so if anyone can write a faerie book that I enjoy it will be her and I definitely want to try this one.  For more information visit Alyxandra Harvey's website.

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed.  Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won’t comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife, Eloise’s aunt, Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, Eloise must place her trust in Lucas, her handsome protector, and Strahan’s mysterious son, Eldric, and forge alliances with other Fae in a dangerous attempt to free Antonia for ever.

Next we have another 2012 debut The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan which will also be released on the 5th of January.  I've not read many verse novels so I'm really looking forward to this one, it sounds like it will be a beautifully written story.  Visit Sarah Crossan's website for more information.

Armed with a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother head for England. Life is lonely for Kasienka. At home her mother’s heart is breaking and at school friends are scarce. But when someone special swims into her life, Kasienka learns that there might be more than one way for her to stay afloat.

First love, friendship and quiet courage combine in this spare and beautiful story. The Weight of Water can be devoured in one sitting or dipped in and out of as a set of poems. Crossan’s style is as lyrical as Sharon Creech and will appeal to fans of Love That Dog. The intelligence and naivety of Kasienka’s voice is reminiscent of Christopher’s voice in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Harrison’s in Stephen Kelman’s Pigeon English. This remarkable debut is thought-provoking, heartbreaking and uplifting. Sarah Crossan is an author to watch in 2012 and beyond.

The final January the 5th release I'm going to mention is In Darkness by Nick Lake.  This looks like it is going to be a fantastic read, I've never come across anything set in Haiti before and know practically nothing about the country so I'm really looking forward to reading it.  I couldn't find a website for Nick but you can find out more about his books at his author page on Goodreads here.

Shorty is given a choice.  But is he man enough to make it?

In darkness, I count my blessings like Manman taught me.
One: I am alive.
Two: there is no two.

In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital, thirsty, terrified and alone.

Shorty is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soley; men who dole out money with one hand and death with the other.

But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost seven years ago.  And he is marked.  Marked in a way that links him to Toussaint L'Overture, the Haitian rebel who led the slave revolt and faced down Napoleon to force the French out of Haiti two hundred years ago.

As he grows weaker, Shorty relives the journey that took him to the hospital, with a bullet wound in his arm.  In his visions and memories he hopes to find the strength to survive - perhaps then Shorty and Toussaint can find a way to be free . . .

February 2012:

On the 2nd of February we can look forward to This is not Forgiveness by Celia Rees.  I've been wanting to pick up a copy of her book Witch Child ever since Mary Hooper mentioned it at the Bloomsbury event a few months ago so although this is definitely very different to her historical novels I'm still really curious about it.  You can find out more at Celia Rees' website.

Everyone says that Caro is bad news, but Jamie can’t help himself. He thinks of her night and day and can’t believe that she wants to be his girlfriend. Gorgeous, impulsive and unconventional, she is totally different to all the other girls he knows. His sister, Martha, hates her. Jamie doesn’t know why, but there’s no way he’s going to take any notice of her warnings to stay away from Caro.

As Jamie falls deeper and deeper under her spell, he realises there is much more to Caro than he first thought. She disappears for days on end, she has small scars on her wrists, she talks about revolutions and taking action, and then there are the rumours he hears about the other men in her life.

Always in the background is Rob, Jamie’s older brother, back from Afghanistan and traumatised after having his leg smashed to bits there. Jamie wants to help him, but Rob seems to be living in a world of his own and is increasingly difficult to reach. With Caro, the summer should have been perfect . . . but that isn’t how things work out in real life and Jamie is going to find out the hard way.

March 2012:

On the 1st of March you'll be able to pick up a copy of Drive By by Jim Carrington.  Although this isn't the kind of book I would usually pick up I like the sound of the themes of the story - guilt and facing up to the decisions you have made - it sounds like this is a book that will really get you thinking.  Visit Jim Carrington's website for more information.

Johnny and his friends have finished school for the summer. One sweltering day, on their way back from a water fight at the park, they spot an old lady who has wound them up by bursting their football. They make a bad decision. The boys pedal up to the old lady’s parked car and commit a drive-by soaking, before pedalling away as quickly as they can.

Revenge isn’t all that’s on Johnny’s mind, however, as he spots an impossibly cool, black-clad, pale-skinned girl on the bus. He can’t stop thinking about her, but has she even registered his existence?

When Johnny discovers that the old lady suffered a heart attack after the drive-by and subsequently died, he is totally guilt-stricken. And when Johnny wakes up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, feeling a presence in his room, he believes that he’s being haunted and the strain starts to show . . .

An incredibly dramatic, pacy novel about getting in over your head, guilt and facing up to your decisions.

Finally I thought I'd mention that the paperback version of Mister Creecher by Chris Priestley will also be released on the 1st of March.  The hardback version was released back in October and I've heard really good things about it so it's one I'm looking forward to reading.  You can find out more at Chris Priestley's website.


Please note that this is the hardback cover, the
final paperback cover is currently unavailable.

Billy is a street urchin, pickpocket and petty thief. Mister Creecher is a monstrous giant of a man who terrifies all he meets. Their relationship begins as pure convenience. But a bond swiftly develops between these two misfits as their bloody journey takes them ever northwards on the trail of their target ...Victor Frankenstein.

Friendship, trust and betrayal combine to form a dangerous liaison in this moving and frightening new book from Chris Priestley.








So what do you think of the books Bloomsbury has lined up for us in the new year? Which of these are you most looking forward to?