Monstrous Discoveries is a feature that mentions books that we have discovered through our sidetracking excursions around the web. While our bookshelves really are not never ending, it is always exciting to share the books we would add if it was.
The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbit
Releases: January 3, 2012
All Maya really wants is for her mother to be well again. But when her baby brother James goes missing, 12-year-old Maya has to take on the magical underworld of Paris, in which houses have bronze salamanders for door handles, the most beautiful people are all hooked on the sweet-smelling “anbar,” and a shimmering glass Cabinet of Earths has chosen Maya to be its next keeper. With the Cabinet’s help, Maya may be able to do for her mother what doctors cannot: save her from death, once and for all. But now that the clock is ticking for James, the price the Cabinet demands may be too high.
Courtship and Curses (Leland Sisters #3) by Marissa Doyle 
Releases: August 7, 2012
Two years ago, illness left Lady Sophie Rosier unable to walk except with a cane…and also killed both her mother and her magical powers. Now it’s 1815 and time for her first London season, and a girl who once loved to dance is forced to watch while others waltz on strong, untwisted legs and flirt with boys who don't even seem to see her.
On the night of her first party Sophie’s father is nearly crushed by a falling statue, and only she knows that a magic spell was behind the “accident”. When other members of government suffer similar magical attacks, Sophie and her new best friend Parthenope decide to investigate. It’s not an easy task when she can’t rely on her slowly-returning magic to help—or keep her thoughts off Parthenope’s handsome cousin, the Earl of Woodbridge…except that the safety of England may very well be at stake.
In the glittering ballrooms of Regency London and Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo you’ll meet a sketchy fortune hunter, a magic-sensing parakeet, a long-lost love, a plant-obsessed aunt, and the Duke of Wellington…and a courageous young girl trying to find her balance in a difficult world.
The Obsidian Blade (Klaatu Diskos #1) by Pete Hautman
Releases: April 10, 2012
Kicking off a riveting sci-fi trilogy, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman plunges us into a world where time is a tool – and the question is, who will control it?
The first time his father disappeared, Tucker Feye had just turned thirteen. The Reverend Feye simply climbed on the roof to fix a shingle, let out a scream, and vanished — only to walk up the driveway an hour later, looking older and worn, with a strange girl named Lahlia in tow. In the months that followed, Tucker watched his father grow distant and his once loving mother slide into madness. But then both of his parents disappear. Now in the care of his wild Uncle Kosh, Tucker begins to suspect that the disks of shimmering air he keeps seeing — one right on top of the roof—hold the answer to restoring his family. And when he dares to step into one, he's launched on a time-twisting journey — from a small Midwestern town to a futuristic hospital run by digitally augmented healers, from the death of an ancient prophet to a forest at the end of time. Inevitably, Tucker's actions inevitably alter the past and future, changing his world forever.
Elemental by Emily White
Releases: May 1, 2012
Just because Ella can burn someone to the ground with her mind doesn't mean she should.
But she wants to.
For ten years—ever since she was a small child—Ella has been held prisoner. Now that she has escaped, she needs answers.
Who is she? Why was she taken? And who is the boy with the beautiful green eyes who haunts her memories?
Is Ella the prophesied Destructor… or will she be the one who's destroyed?
Storm (Elemental #1) by Brigid Kemmerer
Releases: April 24, 2012
Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.
Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn’t want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.
And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.
Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.
The storm is coming . . .
Disenchanted by Sherry Soule
Releases: February 2012
Elizabeth Blackburn, an intelligent and sassy New Yorker, doesn’t believe in the supernatural until she moves into Summerwind Mansion and begins having nightmares about a young woman murdered in the house. She suspects there’s something strange about this place and it’s not just the bad dreams.
Determined to unlock secrets that have remained hidden for centuries, Elizabeth is plunged into an otherworldly mystery that not even she can explain away. Not to mention, her uncontrollable attraction to the former owner, Dorian Knight. But soon after meeting Dorian, all of her beliefs are tested. He seems so familiar, and as close to Mr. Darcy as she’ll ever get—but Jane Austen never wrote a hero like him–someone who both excites and frightens her.
As the dark history of the Knight family begins to unravel, tensions heighten and old resentments turn deadly. Even though Dorian warns her about a terrible curse–she doesn’t know what to believe anymore.
And Elizabeth starts to wonder which she would rather hold onto—her sanity…or her life…
That's it for us, monsters. Got any great discoveries that you wanna share?
Brigid Kemmerer
Thank you so much for including Storm! I’m honored! I wish my bookshelves were never-ending, too…
GABY
Elemental by Emily White sounds good!
Sarah E.
Going to check out The Obsidian Blade & Disenchanted!!