Gossip Girl: The Carlyles; Cecily Von Ziegesar

About five years ago I discovered Cecily Von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl books in an independent bookstore in Little Rock. I was immediately drawn to the fantastic cover art and catchy titles. The books themselves are full of fashion, preppy bitches, and scandals the TV show has become notorious for. (I've only seen the first season and like most book to tv/film adaptations, the show adverted from the original plot shortly after the first episode.)

After ten books, Von Ziegesar's original cast of characters headed off to college, Hollywood, and into the sunset. In October 2007, Von Ziegesar released a prequel It Had to be You. In November 2009 Von Ziegesar will release I Will Always Love, which will check in on the original cast as they return to Manhattan for winter break.

In May 2008, Von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl returned to the Upper East Side, focusing her attention on the Carlyle triplets: Avery, Owen, and Baby. The new series has all the drama, love triangles, and passive aggressive cat fights worthy of the original. They are quick, addictive reads and published about every six months. The original cast's spin off series, The It Girl is also on a six month publishing schedule. This means there is a new Cecily Von Ziegesar book approximately every three months. I wish more of my favorite authors were this efficient.

For more on everything Gossip Girl or Von Ziegesar's other projects visit her website at www.GossipGirl.net

I must admit, I judge books by their covers.
-Sahara

but wait, there's more... cover lust.

The Looking Glass Wars; Frank Beddor

except from website:
"The Looking Glass Wars unabashedly challenges the world’s Carrollian Wonderland assumptions of tea parties, dormice and a curious little blonde girl to reveal an epic, cross dimensional saga of love, murder, betrayal, revenge and the endless war for Imagination. Meet the heroic, passionate, monstrous, vengeful denizens of this parallel world as they battle each other with AD-52’s and orb generators, navigate the Crystal Continuum, bet on jabberwock fights and slip each other the poisonous pink mushroom. Finally, someone got it right. This ain’t no fairytale.

Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, was forced to flee through the Pool of Tears after a bloody palace coup staged by the murderous Redd shattered her world. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the surreal, violent, heartbreaking story of her young life only to see it published as the nonsensical children’s sojourn Alice in Wonderland. Alyss had trusted Lewis Carroll to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere would find her and bring her home.

But Carroll had got it all wrong. He even misspelled her name! If not for the intrepid Hatter Madigan, a member of the Millinery (Wonderland’s security force) who after a 13 year search eventually tracked Alyss to London, she may have become just another society woman sipping tea in a too-tight bodice instead of returning to Wonderland to battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts."

This exciting twist on Lewis Carrol's classic is a must read. Beddor fills his stories with suspense, romance, and an extensive vocabulary of sound effects. Looking Glass Wars, Hatter M (the graphic novel that overlaps events in the first book), and Seeing Redd are currently all being adapted for film. The final book in the Looking Glass Wars Trilogy, Arch Enemy will be available October 15, 2009.

For more information on Frank Beddor's books, movie updates, or to try your luck in the online card soldiers game to defend the queendom check out Frank Beddor's website at www.LookingGlassWars.com

I must admit, I judge books by their covers.
-Sahara

Tap and Gown; Diana Peterfreund

I hereby confess: I'm a little sad to see it end...

except from back cover:
"For Amy the countdown to graduation has begun, and suddenly the perfect ending to a perfectly iconoclastic Eli career is slipping from her grasp. Her new boyfriend's been made an offer he just can't refuse. Her fellowship applications haven't been filed. And the student she's choose to take her place in Rose & Grave - the country's most powerful and notorious secret society - seems to come complete with a secret life already intact.

Lunging toward the finish line, Amy finds trouble around every corner, from society intrigues and unlikely stalkers to former flames and mandatory science credits. Surely it couldn't get worse... until Initiation Night explodes into a terrifying scene and into a last test of wits for a young woman just trying to make it out of the Ivy League in one piece."

Tap and Gown is the exciting conclusion to Diana Peterfreud's Secret Society Girl novels. Peterfreud never fails to disappoint with this series. With a healthy dose of sarcastic humor (example, "I hereby confess: If you're in a dysfunctional relationship and you know it, clap your hands") and an unpredictable string of events its nearly impossible to put these books down.

I HIGHLY recommend this series. For more on Secret Society Girl Novels and Diana Peterfreund check out her website at www.DianaPeterfreund.com

I must admit, I judge books by their covers.
-Sahara

Skinned; Robin Wasserman

The latest from the awesome Robin Wasserman (writing a series titled after the seven deadly sins earns you the title of awesome), Skinned is the story of Lia Kahn ... who is dead. Except she's not. Lia lives in a futuristic world where cars drive themselves and genetic engineering allows prospective parents to choose everything from gender to intelligence level of their children (if you have enough credits).

Lia is killed in a car accident and thanks to new technology her brain is sliced into tissue thin pieces and scanned into a computer. "Lia" is then uploaded into a new body with a computer brain.

The majority of the book Lia whines about her new existence as she alienates friends and family. Lia just can't help being a bitch to anyone that tries to help her and her decisions end up ruining the lives of those around her. Not that Lia seems to see it that way. She selfishly blames everybody else for her problems.

There is very little to like about Lia Kahn, but I'm intrigued by Lia's world and I can't wait to see what happens next. The next book, Crashed, will be available September 2009. I'll let you know more then.

For more about Skinned, Crashed or other books by Robin Wasserman, check out her website at www.RobinWasserman.com

I must admit, I judge books by their covers.
-Sahara