Monday, December 31, 2012

Books Read in 2012

This year I challenged myself to read 80 books and I won! In the end I managed to read 82 books; that's 10 books more than last year!
And here are my 2012 books:

The Elements of Style - William Strunk (non-fic)
Whispers of the Dead - Simon Beckett ( Adult Thriller)
Jacob - Simon Beckett (Adult Thriller)
Cinder - Marissa Meyer (YA sci-fi)
Written in Bone - Simon Beckett (Adult Thriller)
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown ( Adult Thriller)
Truth - Julia Karr (YA dystopian)
Krabat - Ottfried Preußler ( MG)
Born Wicked - Jessica Spotswood ( YA historical fantasy)
Rodrick Rules - Jeff Kinney ( MG)
After the Snow - S.D. Crockett ( YA dystopian)
I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you - Ally Carter (YA mystery)
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (Adult Historical)
The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater (YA fantasy)
Insurgent - Veronica Roth (YA dystopian)
Catching Jordan - Miranda Kenneally (YA contemporary)
Chopsticks - Jessica Anthony ( YA contemporary/Graphic novel)
Garou - Leonie Swann (Adult mystery)
Masque of the Red Death - Bethany Griffin (YA dystopian)
The Space Between - Brenna Yovanoff (YA fantasy)
Crossed - Ally Condie (YA dystopian)
Leaving Paradise - Simone Elkeles (YA contemporary)
Return to Paradise - Simone Elkeles (YA contemporary)
Skellig - David Almond ( MG)
Plain Kate - Erin Bow (MG)
Nightshade - Andrea Cremer (YA paranormal)
Wolfsbane - Andrea Cremer (YA paranormal)
The Last Straw - Jeff Kinney (MG)
Spells - Aprilynne Pike (YA paranormal)
Dog Days - Jeff Kinney (MG)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie (YA contemporary)
I Am Number Four - Pittacus Lore (YA sci-fi)
Surrender - Elana Johnson ( YA dystopian)
Glitch - Heather Anastasiu (YA dystopian)
The Future of Us - Jay Asher ( YA contemporary)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson ( YA fantasy)
Fateful - Claudia Gray ( YA historical)
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (Adult Fantasy)
Prophecy of the Sisters - Michelle Zink (YA fantasy)
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin (YA mystery)
The Body at the Tower - Y.S. Lee  (YA historical mystery)
Fracture - Megan Miranda (YA Thriller)
Ghostgirl - Tonya Hurley (YA paranormal)
Ashes - Ilsa J. Bick (YA dystopian)
Dead Time - Anne Cassidy (YA mystery)
Slated - Teri Terry (YA dystopian)
The Fury - Alexander Gordon Smith (YA post-apoc)
Paper Valentine - Brenna Yovanoff (YA mystery)
The Innocents - Lili Peloquin (YA contemporary)
Origin - Jessica Khoury ( YA sci-fi)
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephenie Meyer (YA paranormal)
Saubande - Arne Blum (Adult mystery)
Beat the Reaper - Josh Bazell (Adult mystery)
Wild Thing - Josh Bazell ( Adult mystery)
The Ruining - Anna Collomore ( YA mystery)
Crewel - Genn Albin (YA dystopian)
Rampensau - Arne Blum (Adult mystery)
Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo (YA fantasy)
Blood Red Road - Moira Young (YA post-apoc)
The Calling of the Grave - Simon Beckett ( Adult Thriller)
15 Days without a Head - Dave Cousins (YA contemporary)
Schändung - Jussi Adler Olsen ( Adult Thriller)
Starters - Lissa Price (YA sci-fi)
Under the Never Sky - Veronica Rossi (YA dystopian)
A Million Suns - Beth Revis ( YA sci-fi)
Whispering to Witches - Anna Dale ( MG)
Until I Die - Amy Plum (YA paranormal)
Mortlock - Jon Mayhew (MG)
The Red Pyramid - Rick Riordan (MG)
A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Whitcomb (Adult fantasy)
Wildwood - Colin Meloy (MG)
Zoe Letting Go - Nora Price (YA contemporary)
Pink - Lili Wilkinson ( YA contemporary)
Feed - Mira Grant (Adult post-apoc)
Everneath - Brodi Ashton (YA paranormal)
Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan (YA sci-fi)
Nevermore - Kelly Creagh (Ya gothic)
Lucid - Adrienne Stoltz (YA)
The Scorch Trials - James Dashner (YA dystopian)
Room - Emma Donoghue (Adult contemporary)
Tiger's Curse - Colleen Houck (YA paranormal)
The Tension of Opposite - Kristina McBride (YA contemporary)
(my favorites are in bold)

16 Adult Books
1 Non-fic
10 Middle Grade
55 YA (11 contemporary)

Happy New Year!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Giveaway winner!

I hope you had wonderful holidays! I can't believe 2012 is almost over, but I'm very excited about 2013!
But that's not the reason for this post! You want to know who won the very first IMPOSTOR ARC that I'm giving away, right?
And the lucky winner is:
Bailey (IB Book Blogging)!
Could you please email me (books@susannewinnacker.com)?

To all those who didn't win: don't worry, you'll get another chance in the new year!


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

IMPOSTOR ARC giveaway + news!

Impostor has a new - an earlier pub date! Razorbill will publish it on May 23, 2013! Less than 6 months to go!
This is wonderful and exciting and terrifying news! (and there's more news I can't talk about yet!)

To celebrate my new pub date, I'm having a Christmas giveaway and you can win a signed ARC of IMPOSTOR (and some swag like stickers and postcards!)!
CAN TESSA POSE AS MADISON . . . AND STOP A KILLER BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE?

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI.

When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.

Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep.

Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

(X-men meets The Silence of the Lambs)

- May 23, 2013 from Razorbill/Penguin!

This is the very first ARC I'm giving away on my blog! 
The giveaway is international and ends on December 27th. I'll announce the winner on the 28th. All you have to do to win is post a comment! 
But you can earn extra entries:
Spread the word about the contest (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Blog) + 2 entries (each - so if you post about the contest everywhere, you'll get 10 extra entries)
Add Impostor on goodreads + 1 entry
Follow me on twitter + 1 entry

Monday, December 3, 2012

The Next Big Thing


Fellow Apocalypsie Hilary Weisman Graham, author of REUNITED, tagged me to be part of The Next Big Thing bloghop! Here's her post about her current WIP!
And now I'll be talking about my own work-in-progress!

What is your working title of your book?
My current WIP is the sequel to my YA thriller Impostor. Sadly I don't have a title yet. If the book proves as stubborn as Impostor, it'll probably take forever to find a great title. Right now, I just call it Impostor 2...Creative, I know. ;)

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Well, the idea for this book came to me after I was done with Impostor. I had other plans for its sequel but then I had new inspiration and decided to take Impostor 2 in a slightly different direction.

What genre does your book fall under?
It's a thriller with supernatural elements. 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It'll be represented by my agent Jill Grinberg!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
It took me about 8 weeks to write the first draft. A bit longer than it took me to write Impostor (6 weeks). I'm a fast drafter!

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
That's tough. Maybe Mind Games from Kiersten White or Starters from Lissa Price? 

Now it's my turn to tag other writers. Here they are: