The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff


When Deshi Li’s irresponsible older brother Wei is killed in a tragic accident, his parents charge Deshi with finding him a corpse bride, a dead female body to accompany him into the afterlife. Stricken with grief and guilt, Deshi complies, hiring a black market body dealer named Song to help him secure a girl who’s not too long gone in her grave. But when the two men are startled at the graveyard and become separated, Deshi runs into Lily, a rural girl desperate to escape an arranged marriage who’s looking for a free ride to Beijing. The two team up on the road, and Deshi finds his thoughts going to dark places. Should he just murder Lily and take her body home to his parents? But how can he, when each day he delays killing her in sleep he falls deeper in love with her? Meanwhile, Lily’s father and crooked Song are hot on their trail, each hoping to exact their own special brand of revenge. This beautifully illustrated modern fable of love and death hooked me from the very first sentence with an original plot grown from the rich soil of Chinese folklore. Author illustrator Danica Novgorodoff (Refresh, Refresh) tells Deshi and Lily’s story through sparkling, darkly humorous dialogue and lavish watercolor panels that take your breath away with each turn of the page. You’ll want to hightail it to a library or bookstore near you ASAP in order to experience this fantastic journey for yourself.

Mortal Heart: His Fair Assassins, bk. 3 by Robin LaFevers



Annith is tired of waiting. It seems like her whole life has been an exercise in patience as she has watched the head Abbess of the Convent of St. Mortain, god of Death, send out her sisters on dangerous assignments while she tends the home fires and trains endlessly. Her fellow assassin nuns Ismae and Sybella have already been sent out on dangerous missions and Annith is dying to join them. But then the Abbess informs her that she is destined to take over the role of convent Seeress, a role that demands she remain confined forever in a tiny room where she will use tools of prophecy to foretell the exciting lives of others while never experiencing any of it for herself. Furious, Annith rejects the Abbess’s command and sets out to find her sisters and avenge the death of a young novice who the Abbess sent out too soon. Along the way she becomes entangled with the terrifying Hellequins, “tasked with collecting the souls of the wicked” and delivering them to the underworld; befriends the Arduinnites, a group of warrior women sworn to protect the young and the weak; and finally even meets and attends the young duchess of Brittany herself, who is readying for a war with the French that looks utterly un-winnable. But now that Annith has tasted freedom, she is determined to do whatever she can to serve her sisters, her country and her god–except a troubling love affair with an unexpected suitor has her questioning her every move. Can Annith set aside her confusing feelings in order to join her sister nuns and their allies in one last desperate plot to save Brittany? While this third volume of His Fair Assassins trilogy follows a pattern that has become familiar to fans of the series, it is still an immensely satisfying read that concludes in a deeply gratifying manner. Though the publication date isn’t until November 2014, this is one title that will make you thankful winter is coming!

TFiOS Super-Sized, Movie/Book Special DFTBA Post

It’s finally here! The long-awaited movie version of John Green’s bittersweet novel about life, love and cancer comes out this week–June 6 to be exact. Just like all the rest of you Nerdfighters and raving fans, my butt will be in the stadium seat of the closest theater that is playing TFiOS this weekend. I have been a John Green fan since WAAAAAYYY back and am thrilled to see some of his whip smart teen characters come to life on the big screen. To keep your excitement levels high (like you even need any help with that) check out the links below to all things John Green and TFiOS related.

“The Teen Whisperer” by Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker

“Intro to Nerdfighters 101: A John Green Primer” by Anna Fitzpatrick, Rolling Stone

“Reviving the Coming-of-Age Movie: The Screenwriting Team Behind ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by Brooks Barnes, NYTimes

“The Fault in Our Stars by the Numbers: Just How Huge is this Movie Going to Be?” by Emily Yahr, Washington Post

‘The Fault in Our Stars’: John Green reveals the novel’s ‘epically terrible’ original ending” by Molly Driscoll, Christian Science Monitor