Released Today: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die? 
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. 
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

Lauren Destefano's début novel Wither hit the shelves today. I'm super excited about this new addition to the world of dystopian fiction. I'll be launching a new segment in the next few weeks about YA dystopian novels and look forward to including Wither in my reading. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

2010 Aurealis Awards Nominees

2010 Aurealis Awards sponsored by Harper Voyager

The finalists for the 2010 Aurealis Awards were announced this week. The Aurealis Awards are for works of speculative fiction by Australian authors (Australian citizens or permanent citizens) published between November 1 2009 and 31 December 2010.

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and best of luck. The Aurealise Awards Gala Awards Ceremony will be presented by HarperVoyager on May 21.

Tick Tock Tuesday (3)

Tick Tock Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Book Bell. We tell you what we've been anxious to read, and give you a tantalising glimpse into the story.

Eve by Anna Carey
expected release date: October 4th 2011

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her. 
Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life

 Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance

In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover the plot that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness. 
Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to claim for herself the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul. 
Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends.