Monday, July 14, 2008

The 13th Reality Giveaway!

Okay, I don't have time to post much except the subject of the giveaway; I've been called off to family business in California and I will be here till Saturday. Thus the time parameters for my contest! You can enter from now until Midnight (MST) on Saturday (July 19th) and here's how you do it: in the comments I want you to tell me your favorite book (any genre) that you have read that was published in about the last year. (I know, Pride and Prejudice is everyone's favorite book, but I've already read that! So give me something moderne!;))

Okay, so on to the book! Our giveaway this month is the very talented James Dashner's The 13th Reality. James is a good friend of mine and has a really great success story. He was originally published by a small niche press, then was published by a new publisher with national distribution, and just last week he announced that he recently sold his newest book to Delacorte press, and imprint of Random House. So niche, to national, to big time New York Publisher. Go James!

Here's a bit about 13th Reality, shamelessly stoles form Amazon.:)

What if every time you made a choice that had a significant consequence, a new, alternate reality was created--the life that would've been had you made the other choice? What if those new realities were in danger? What if it fell to you to save all the realities? Atticus Higginbottom, a.k.a. Tick, is an average thirteen-year-old boy until the day a strange letter arrives in his mailbox. Postmarked from Alaska and cryptically signed with the initials "M.G.," the letter informs Tick that dangerous--perhaps even deadly--events have been set in motion that could result in the destruction of reality itself. M.G. promises to send Tick twelve riddles that will reveal on a certain day, at a certain time, at a certain place, something extraordinary will happen. Will Tick have the courage to follow the twelve clues M.G. sends to him? Will he be able to solve the riddles in time? Will Tick discover the life he was meant to live? The first volume of an outstanding new children's fantasy series, The Journal of Curious Letters is filled with adventure, humor, riddles, and, oh, yes--danger... As M.G. warns Tick, Very frightening things are coming your way.

So if you want a piece of Atticus Higginbottom, leave me your book recommendation!

Ciao!

16 comments:

Jewel Allen said...

Mmm...I'd have to say Neal Shusterman's "Unwind".

Sheryl Scarborough said...

I recently read "How To Be Bad" by e. lockhart, L. Myrcle, S. Mylnowski... it wasn't the greatest, most amazing book I've read this year, but it was an amazing accomplishment in that the three authors alternated characters/paragraphs.

marcie said...

A favorite YA this year would be "The Sweet Far Thing". I could go on, but you only asked for one:)

James Dashner said...

Um, my name is, um, Antonio, and my favoritest book in the whole world is called The 13th...

I know, I'm hilarious.

Aprilynne, I'm so honored! Thank you for the nice words. We could make it a bonus and have me sign it, too. That would give us another excuse to have lunch.

Anonymous said...

I just finished "Uprising" by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and I thought it was an amazing YA historical fiction about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

Cheryl said...

INTO THE DARK by Peter Abrahams is a great addition to his YA mystery series about a girl who solves mysteries in her hometown. In each book, she stars in a play that parallels the crime she investigates.

Elizabeth Byler Younts said...

this is hard b/c the recently published books i've read lately i haven't been insanely excited about...

of course, harry potter #7...

...well, i go with a series that i've started reading in the past year from a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW WRITER. She's great.

The Gardella Chronicles

It's like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Pride & prejudice. :-) very clever, well, written, and entertaining. :-)

Anonymous said...

Okay, book suggestions would be (of course) Harry Potter 7 but since that is sort of, well to me a 'duh' I'd also say Cassandra Clare's City of Bones.

A Ramble in Aphasia said...

Hi Aprilynne, I read The Indian Clerk and found it a great read. Check it out at
Amazon and here's
the review

Anonymous said...

I've read a lot of books in the past year but not all of them have been released in the past year. Some of my favorites (but I know you've read them all): City of Bones, Ink Exchange (which I didn't like as much as Wicked Lovely but it was still good), Harry Potter VII, and OF COURSE Eclipse (eagerly awaiting BD!!!). I'm also excited for the third of Christopher Paolini's, coming in September.

I thought I'd leave you with a few of my very favorites, that weren't published in the last year, but which also aren't Pride and Prejudice. First, Gerald Lund, before he became famous (at least in Utah), wrote a SF novel called The Guardian that's really pretty good. Second, LM Montgomery (you know, Anne of GG) wrote a more adult romance called The Blue Castle, which I love. It starts a little slow but I just love the story. Finally, anything by Georgette Heyer. She died in 1974 but her books (regency romance done the clean, right way) have been comapred to Jane Austen. If you love Austen, you'll love Heyer. Some of my favorites are Arabella, Venetia, Devil's Cub, The Grand Sophy...I could go on forever.

Anonymous said...

Definitely The Thirteenth Tale. A great book for book lovers, and totally captivating.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm . . . well I think most of the books I've read that have been recently published are on your bookshelf or you have talked about them on the blog - Eclipse, The Host, City of Bones, City of Ashes, Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Book of A Thousand Days and the Gemma Doyle books by Libba Bray.

Other books that I've read in the past few months that I've enjoyed (if you are looking for something new) would include anything by Shannon Hale, Eva Ibbottson (A Countess Below Stairs, A Song for Summer, The Morning Gift), The Inheritance books (Eragon, Eldest) by Christopher Paolini, The Luxe books by Anna Godbersen (The Luxe, Rumors), The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, The Uglies books by Scott Westerfeld, oh and the Blue Bloods and Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz.

Some of those books are better than others, but at the rate I read (generally 4-5 books a week) I'm bound to have quite a variety of quality in the books I encounter.

Books I'm waiting to be released include Breaking Dawn, Brisingr, Revelations (the last of the Blue Bloods triology), City of Glass, and the new Melissa Marr book that is supposed to be out in the spring. Oh, and then there is the book my friend is currently querying that is probably my all-time favorite YA book right now and I can't wait for others to get to read it, too!

I'm ALWAYS looking for new books so it's fun to see so many recommendations here!

tomdg said...

My top tip would be the one I mentioned on your post of 14th June (Addition by Toni Jordan - which does now have a publishing date in the US). But another current book I read and quite enjoyed was My Favourite Wife by Tony Parsons. Not so much for the story but for the picture it paints of modern-day China.

The best not-new book I read this year was One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn, which I can't recommend highly enough. I found it really easy to read (I know, I'm such a lightweight) and incredibly uplifting.

Ronald L. Smith said...

Runemarks by Joanne Harris was very good: Norse mythology meets the world of Faerie.

I also liked Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks, although it did get a little confusing toward the end.

Also finally read War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. Good stuff.

Jamie Ford said...

For me it's gotta be The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

I LOVE Sherman Alexie and was looking forward to his foray into YA, but this book just blew me away. So funny, fresh, poignant, and painfully honest. The illustrations are hilarious and spot on.

I also loved the Neil Gaiman blurb: “I have no doubt that in a year or so it’ll both be winning awards and being banned.”

marcie said...

I mentioned a book that I think you already read ("Sweet Far Thing" by Libba Bray), so I'm going to give another title! I just read "Frozen Fire" by Tim Bowler. It's a YA psychologial thriller with a fascinating heroine. I definitely recommend it:)