Tuesday 22 November 2011

Most Anticipated Books of 2012 by Debut Authors

Christmas is nearly upon us and the New Year won't be far behind it which leads me to ponder the books coming out next year. I am extremely excited by a lot of new books coming out and I wanted to share the ones that have got me in a tizzy. As I began compiling my list I knew I would be struggling to fit them into one list, so I have decided to make three lists which I will post over the next couple of weeks.

This week - Most Anticipated Books by Debut Authors
Next week - Most Anticipated Books in a Series
The following week - Most Anticipated Books by Established Authors.

Now I have cheated a bit in this week's category as I have already read two books that are due out next year, that I would have been drooling over. So I thought I would give them a mention here and a link to my reviews so you can how wonderful they are.



I really enjoyed both of these books and I would definitely recommend them.
Now as to the other books I can't wait to read in this category, hold on to your seats as we have an exciting ride ahead of us.


Hollow Pike by James Dawson is being published on the 2nd February and never have I waited so patiently for a book before! I know I have mentioned this book a few times, but I am soooo excited by it. James described it as having similarities to Twin Peaks which I used to love. 

Goodreads Summary
Something wicked this way comes... She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps... Hollow Pike - where witchcraft never sleeps.

Pure by Julianna Baggot is being published by Headline in February. How I have managed to control myself and not read this book in advance, I have no idea! Dystopian at its best. 

Amazon Summary
We know you are here, our brothers and sisters. We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace. For now, we watch from afar.

Pressia Belze has lived outside of the Dome ever since the detonations. Struggling for survival she dreams of life inside the safety of the Dome with the 'Pure'.

Partridge, himself a Pure, knows that life inside the Dome, under the strict control of the leaders' regime, isn't as perfect as others think. 

Bound by a history that neither can clearly remember, Pressia and Partridge are destined to forge a new world. 


 

Tempest By Julie CrossThis book has been described as  a cross between Twilight and The Time Traveller's Wife. So intriguing! This book is published by Macmillan Children's Books in January.

Goodreads Summary
The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

Fracture by Megan Miranda - the cover alone should have you racing to spend your pennies!  If you loved Before I Fall, then you will love this one too. 

Goodreads Summary
Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?
Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, 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?
 Advent by James Treadwell is the first in a trilogy that appears to take us back to good old fashioned story telling. I personally can't wait for this book. Published by Hodder & Stoughton in February.

Goodreads Summary
For centuries it has been locked away Lost beneath the sea Warded from earth, air, water, fire, spirits, thought and sight. But now magic is rising to the world once more. And a boy called Gavin, who thinks only that he is a city kid with parents who hate him, and knows only that he sees things no one else will believe, is boarding a train, alone, to Cornwall. When he arrives, there is no one there to meet him.
A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warbuton - I know a couple of people who have already read this book and loved it, so I really can't wait to read it. Witches are definitely one of my favourite topics to read about. This is published in February by Hodder and Stoughton.
Goodreads Summary
Anna Winterson doesn't know she's a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that's controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain. 
Although a perfect fit for the paranormal romance genre, A WITCH IN WINTER avoids fangs, excessive body hair and submissive female leads, and tells the heart-wrenching story of a couple meant to be together, but being forced apart. Seth is utterly irresistible and Anna is an empowered, proactive young woman with unimaginable magic inside her. This is fast-paced, sensuous writing with believable incantations inspired by Warburton's research into witchcraft legend and old English
Struck by Jennifer BosworthThis is another book that I feel I have been raving about forever! I have spoken to Jennifer quite a few times on Twitter and she is lovely. This book is meant to be spookily familiar after recent events. 
Goodreads Summary
Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.
Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities, populated by millions of homeless. Downtown is a wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the attendees drawn to the destruction by a magnetic force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power in the wake of the disaster, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing prophecies. They know she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the worse storm that is yet to come.
Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but he’s hiding a more sinister truth. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must unleash the full horror of her strength to save them all.

Oliver Twisted by J.D Sharpe Another book that I have been raving about, especially on Twitter. I love retellings that are twisted out of shape.  Ooh who  would have thought of vampyres in Oliver Twist? This is published in February by Electric Monkey, the new imprint from Egmont.
Goodreads Summary
“FLESH, the woe-begotten moaned at Oliver, baring teeth which were ragged and black.
 “FLESH,” came another moan, and he turned to see two more woe-begottens behind. They began to shuffle towards him, barefoot – toes blue from cold, arms outstretched. 

The world according to Oliver Twisted is simple. Vampyres feed on the defenceless. Orphans are sacrificed to hungry gods. And if a woe-begotten catches your scent it will hunt you for ever. When a talking corpse reveals that Oliver will find his destiny in London, he sets out to seek the truth. Even if it means losing his soul.

Someone Else's Life by Katie DaleI have been waiting for this one since the summer, when Katie came on the blog to do an interview. Katie is one of The Edge authors who are writing hard hitting on the edge contemporary fiction. This is published by Simon and Schuster in February. 
Goodreads Summary
When seventeen-year-old Rosie’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington’s Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty-per-cent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when she tells her mum’s best friend, ‘Aunt Sarah’ that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie was not her biological mother after all... Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, hitching along on her ex-boyfriend’s GAP year to follow her to Los Angeles. But all does not go to plan, and as Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply-buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonising decision of her own - one which will be the most heart-breaking and far-reaching of all...
Hitler's Angler by William Osborne  - I am so pleased to see a rise in books that d eal with WW2 and this one really excites me. This will be published by Chicken House in May next year. 
Goodreads Summary
Otto and Leni have escaped to England from Nazi Germany. They thought they were safe, but now the British want them to go back. Dropped behind enemy lines, they embark on a secret operation codenamed Wolfsangel. Their mission is to find and kidnap a girl who could bring down Hitler And so begins their bravest journey yet.
Freaks by Kieran Larwood really appeals to me. Not only is it set in Victorian London, it also has a host of unusually talented characters. Described as a cross between Oliver Twist and X-Men with a hint of Lemony Snickett.  This will be published by Chicken House in April. 
Goodreads Summary
The Freaks are a band of misfits, trapped in a nightly Victorian sideshow. There's Wolf-girl, Sheba, with her amazing sense of smell; Sister Moon, who can move at the speed of light; and Monkey Boy, ace climber and human stink bomb. But during the day, the Freaks decide to put their extraordinary talents to use. And in a world of child-snatchers, grave robbers and dastardly doctors, they solve the mysteries no one else cares about including why London's poorest children are being snatched from the banks of the Thames.
Wonder by R. J. Palacio -This book is fast becoming one of the most talked about books for 2012. All I know is I need to keep my hankies close by! Published by Bodley Head in March.
Goodreads Summary
WONDER is the funny, sweet and incredibly moving story of Auggie Pullman. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, this shy, bright ten-year-old has been home-schooled by his parents for his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the stares and cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, Auggie is being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. The thing is, Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?
Through the voices of Auggie, his big sister Via, and his new friends Jack and Summer, WONDER follows Auggie's journey through his first year at Beecher Prep. Frank, powerful, warm and often heart-breaking, WONDER is a book you'll read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey As soon as I heard about this book I wanted it. It is set in Alaska in the 1920's and given the thumbs up by Ali Shaw ( The Girl With The Glass Feet), what more do you need to know. 
Goodreads Summary
A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska.
Jack and Mabel hope that a fresh start in 'Alaska, our newest homeland' will enable them to put the strain of their childless marriage behind them. But the northern wilderness proves as unforgiving as it is beautiful: Jack fears that he will collapse under the strain of creating a farm, and the lonely winter eats its way into Mabel's soul. When the first snow falls, the couple find themselves building a small figure - a snow girl. The next morning, their creation has gone, and they see a child running through the spruce trees. Gradually this child - an elusive, untameable little girl who hunts with a fox and is more at ease in the savage landscape than in the homestead - comes into their lives. But as their love for the snow child and for the land she opens up to them grows, so too does their awareness that it, and she, may break their hearts

Whilst delving through the Little Brown catalogue, I came across this one Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi being published by Atom. Described as an ideal book for fans of The Hunger Games series. 
Goodreads Summary
Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its protected space, she's never thought to dream of what lay beyond its doors. Perry and his tribe have always struggled to survive on the outside. Though their lives are simple they are increasingly under threat from an unknown - and unhuman - enemy. But when Perry saves Aria after one of these attacks she realizes that she might just be able to survive in the outside after all. And that this one sheltered girl might be the only one that can save ? or destroy ? his people.
Well I think that is it for debuts that I am going mad over. I do hope I haven't missed any out that I will kick myself when I see as I know I would have wanted them on my list. What debut books are you excited about for 2012?

21 comments:

  1. So many wonderful debut novels coming out next year. Some of these were all new discoveries to me so thank you so much for sharing :D

    I LOVELOVELOVE the cover on 'Someone Else's Life'. I got 'Pure' here as well, saving it to a bit closer to the release date.

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  2. Mari - my pleasure. I have Pure too. I have waitied for ages to read it.

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  3. Thanks for the mention, Viv – there are some great books on here. Looks like my Christmas list is going to get even longer …

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  4. Already you are leading me into temptation, a great collection Vivienne, it looks as if 2012 is going to be a great year.

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  5. I'm looking forward to so many of these books! Especially 15 Days Without A Head & Hollow Pike though :o)

    Has the release date for Dark Parties changed? I thought that one was out in December making it a 2011 debut?

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  6. I've got a couple of these books on my TBR pile, and a few on my wishlist already. Think that list is going to be getting longer, there are so many exciting books here!

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  7. I've been following the author of Hollow Pike on twitter - I'm looking forward to the book, it sounds cool! (And british, which is a plus at the moment I think - I want to support more 'local' authors rather than so many american books.)

    I've seen Tempest on so many blogs recently, which I think people are excited about - I'm looking forward to when we get reviews of it.

    ~Ailsa

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  8. Dave - well I couldn't have a list like this without you! LOL, it was a shame I had already read it!

    Petty Witter - I am well known for leading others into temptation....

    Krazzyme - Me too!

    Sarah - it got rescheduled and is now coming out in January.

    Jenni - I know I am a bad influence.

    Bermudaonion - thank you.

    Ailsa - James Dawson is absolutely adorable. I can't wait for Hollow Pike. I am so excited.

    Emma - do I need to pick you up from the floor?

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  9. I am desperate to read Someone Else's Life. LOVE me some edgy contemporary.

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  10. If Ali Shaw gave a thumbs up then i want that snow book :D

    Debut..hm, dunno if I got any..that book with the dresses on, lol, yes ;)

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  11. How cool! Thanks for putting all of these up for us to see!

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  12. How lovely of you to mention Oliver Twisted as well as some other corkers like 15 Days Without a Head and Dark Parties. Roll on 2012 - I can hardly wait!

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  13. Lauren - me too!

    Blodeuedd - if he has recommended it, you know it is going to be fabulous!

    Jo - no worrie.

    JD Sharpe - how could I not. I can't wait to read it.

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  14. A Witch in Winter is top of my list that I'm desperate to read. I have Snow Child too looking forward to that. x

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  15. Fab picks here! I'm especially excited for Hollow Pike. I remember putting it on my wish list after first reading about it on this very blog. The Twin Peaks reference got me! LOVE Twin Peaks!!

    I'm excited for A Witch in Winter too. Sounds like a good one! :)

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  16. Are you in Amazon Vine? I remember seeing The Snow Child on there earlier tonight, I know there were copies left.

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  17. I'm really looking forward to Pure, Fracture and Under the Never Sky. So many good books are coming out next year!

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  18. I can't wait for most of these! They're all either already on my wishlist or winging their way onto it now! You are terrible Viv! ;)

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Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.