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Are you ready for your first look at one of this year’s most-anticipated books? Jay Kristoff is a longtime friend and favorite of the blog, and he’s launching a new series in August 2016 that should definitely be on your radar. Nevernight is a fantasy set on a planet in which it’s almost always daytime, and our heroine is hell-bent on seeking revenge for her shattered family. This author specializes in positively epic world-building and characterization, so I’m super excited to see this new world he’s created. Today we’re pleased to give you a peek at the new book! Here’s the official cover reveal, along with a synopsis and some words from Jay on a few things you should know about Nevernight. Drum roll, please… Just look at that beauty! Such a badass cover, and one that offers the promise of so many awesome things. I’m curious about Mia’s mask... Read more »

The post Cover Reveal: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff appeared first on The Midnight Garden.

Our hand-picked list from the Best Selling Young Adult list from The New York Times includes a revisit of Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard.

Our hand-picked list from the Best Selling Young Adult list from The New York Times remains the same this month. The best selling young adult titles include books by super-talents Rainbow Rowell and Marie Lu.

We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending Oct. 25, 2015–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Fiction) Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham: “Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. He works out of a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge, fine leather chairs, a hidden gun compartment, and a heavily armed driver. He has no firm, no partners, no associates, and only one employee, his driver, who’s also his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant, and golf caddy.” (Oct. 2015)

(Debuted at #3 in Hardcover Fiction) Career of Evil by J.K.Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith: “When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible–and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.” (Oct. 2015)

(Debuted at #15 in Young Adult) Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: “This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.” (Oct. 2015)

Illuminae

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra–who are barely even talking to each other–are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents–including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Happiest of book birthdays to Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff! You guys, there are NO WORDS for how awesome this book is. Literally. No words. A collection of digital ephemera in book form? House of Leaves meets Battlestar Galactica? WE CAN’T DO THIS BOOK JUSTICE. Trust us; this is a book that must be experienced, not just read.

But don’t take our word for it! Here’s what others had to say about Illuminae!

★ Ambitious, heartbreaking, and out-of-this-world awesome.

—Kirkus Reviews starred review

★ Hints of romance and references to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey interweave with the text, itself an arresting visual experience that weds form with expression and content. . . . Kaufman and Kristoff have created a fast-paced, quasi-political sci-fi thriller that is completely unique.

—Booklist starred review

★ …a stylistically mesmerizing tale, where story and art are interchangeable, and words act as pictures.

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

The characters are immediately real and with harrowing accounts, unexpected twists, and gut-wrenching selflessness, they become even more endearing over the course of the book. While reminiscent of the works of Isaac Asimov and Orson Scott Card, this work is a distinct piece that stands alone.

—School Library Journal

Alternately humorous, charming, horrifying and electrifying, Illuminae is unforgettable and a game-changer for its genre.

—Shelf Awareness

You’ll cheer, you’ll gasp, you’ll hang on for all 600 pages.

—Romantic Times Book Reviews, Top Pick Gold

Alternately humorous, charming, horrifying and electrifying, Illuminae is unforgettable and a game-changer for its genre.

—VOYA

Prepare yourselves for Illuminae.

—EW.com

One look at a hard copy of Illuminae and you know you’re not in for an ordinary novel experience. . . . Illuminae is a wholly ambitious work that never sacrifices emotion or story for its unique form.

—Bustle.com

A truly interactive experience for the reader. . . . A fantastically fun ride.

—MTV.com

Brace yourself. You’re about to be immersed in a mindscape that you’ll never want to leave.

—Marie Lu, bestselling author of the Legend trilogy

Nervy chicks, cute fighter pilots, lots of heart, lots of heartbreak, a mentally unstable battleship, and even pink hair! This book is ****ing awesome.

—Laini Taylor, bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone

An edge of your seat thrill ride that left me breathless. Genre: Undefinable. Novel: Unforgettable.

—Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of Unbreakable

Not only is Illuminae a twisting, heart-pounding story moving at the speed of light, but it is a truly beautiful novel that redefines the form. I have never read anything like it. And it certainly filled the Battlestar Galactica shaped hole in my heart.

—Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of Red Queen

An exuberant mix of space opera, romance, zombies, hackers, and political thrills, told with eccentric aplomb. Illuminae is both the weirdest and most heartfelt thing you’ll read this year.

—Scott Westerfeld, bestselling author of Uglies and Zeroes

Stunningly creative. Smart, funny, and romantic. This is the book I’ve been waiting for.

—Veronica Rossi, bestselling author of Under the Never Sky

You guys. YOU GUYS. Just…go grab yourself a copy. We promise your minds will be BLOWN.

Buy a copy here today! And to celebrate, we are giving away ONE HARDCOVER COPY OF ILLUMINAE TO ONE LUCKY WINNER! (Sorry, US only!)

Comment, tweet, add to your Goodreads page! Giveaway ends October 28, 2015.

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Hello, readers! Once again, we’ve brought out the Upcoming Titles feature. This month we’re focusing a bit on spooky reads as October is HALLOWEEN MONTH! (Or at least that’s what all the stores tell us.) As always, this is by no means a comprehensive list of forthcoming releases, just a compilation of titles we think our readers (and our contributors!) would enjoy.

Without further ado:

October 6th

• Through the Dark (A Darkest Minds novella compilation) by Alexandra Bracken**
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
• Happy! by Pharrell Williams
• The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
• Against a Brightening Sky by Jaime Lee Moyer
• Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
• The White Rose by Amy Ewing
• We’ll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean
• A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
• A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston

October 13th

• The Rose Society by Marie Lu**
• First & Then by Emma Mills

October 20th

• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman** and Jay Kristoff
• Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith¹

October 27th

• Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke
• What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

** Distinguished PubCrawl alumni

Hot New Releases & Popular Kids Stories We think our list of the best new kids books for October is sensational! It highlights some amazing books from many different genres: non-fiction, reality fiction, and fantasy. Take a gander and let us know which titles and covers catch your eye ... Read the rest of this post

Hello again! This is my first blog post in a bit as I have been busier than George R R Martin avoiding questions on when he’s finally going to finish the Game of Thrones series.

I spent most of last month working on a conference, getting married in Fiji and taking a short honeymoon on a boat in the Whitsundays, all of which were blessed with stunning weather and incredibly slow internet connections. (You try getting your email while anchored off the glorious blue and white of Whitehaven Beach. Or caring about getting your email when you have urgent swimming, snorkeling and reading in the boom-net to do.)

In the interest of my (and my new husband’s) sanity, I decided to take a month off blogging about books. But taking a month off blogging is not the same thing as taking a month off reading. I was well prepared and equipped. I loaded my e-reader with endless awesome texts, packed a few hard-copies into my luggage in case of power failure, and then came back from vacation to discover that Australia Post had been holding on to enough posted book parcels to necessitate thinking about purchasing (yet another) bookshelf. My to-read list doth runneth over, frankly, as does my “books I must post about” list.

Also running over is my poor credit card bill which, in addition to the cost of the honeymoon and reading material for it, has also just soaked up a bill for a book launch. And not just any booklaunch. Melbourne’s tallest man*, Jay Kristoff, will release his debut novel, Stormdancer, on Friday September 7. It’s a Japanese-inspired steampunk fantasy (Jay once described as “‘Free Willy’ meets ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ in Steampunk feudal Japan with a Rage Against the Machine soundtrack), the first installment of what will be the Lotus War trilogy and, as I was one of the lucky advance reviewers I can tell you, it’s very very good.

It’s got a glowing review from Patrick Rothfuss (who wrote the excellent Wise Man’s Fear). It’s garnered a hard-to-earn Kirkus Star and got a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, and was also their PW Pick of the Week. Most importantly, it kept me sane and happily entertained over a period of three days before getting married when fretting over details and guest-mishaps was causing most of my brain run “what-if” disaster videos on a loop and for that, I can not recommend it enough.**

According to Jay, everyone is welcome to come on the launch night but don’t expect much standing on ceremony.

“I’ll mumble my way through a half-assed speech and then will be totally happy to sign your books. We’ll have books on sale there on the night, but if you want to bring copies bought elsewhere, all good too.”

If you’d like to get your mitts on a signed copy, Jay will be signing books on Friday September 7th from 7.00 – 8.30pm at the Dymocks City Store on 234 Collins St in Melbourne. Everyone is welcome but I have it on good authority that people who feel like coming to the Afterparty following the launch will be particularly welcomed and even more so if they buy Jay a drink.

* I may be making this up.

**Also he’s absurdly tall and if you don’t buy his book he will come in the night, dr