Agent Barbara Poelle Asks: What Titles Are You Looking Forward to in 2011?

Ah! The New Year! Where the slate is wiped clean and the spines of the first new releases for 2011 are just about to be cracked, and I have yet to publicly embarrass myself or my good family name. All bet are off by noon today, but until then, 2011 has seen me dignified and refined.

I of course am pumped for all of my titles that will be hitting the shelves this year, but there are others I am eager to see as well. And thanks to all of the lovely bookstore gift cards I received this year I am going to go kid-in-a-candy-store nuts. Here are a few pre-orders I am getting in today:

1. Ghost Country by Patrick Lee (January 1, thriller).

I am a huge Travis Chase fan but an even bigger Patrick Lee fan after meeting him at Bouchercon last October. Just about the most charming, humble New York Times bestselling dude you will ever meet. Ghost Countryis the second book in the series, but you don't have to read The Breach first to dive into this one ... although you would be insane not to.

2. Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (March, young adult)

The second book in the series after Hex Hall, it follows Sophie Mercer after she discovers a family secret and leaves Hex Hall, a school for the delinquent prodigium (shapeshifters, witches and faeries), and heads to London to get the real story from her absentee father—one of only two demons in the known world. The debut had a fabulous, robust launch and I am assured by those “in the know” that the second book is even better. Can’t wait!

3. Nowhere Near Normal by Traci Foust (April, nonfiction)

A sometimes heartbreaking all times candid nonfiction work exploring a life with OCD. In a time where psychological disorders are just beginning to be talked about out from behind closed doors, I am eager to read such an evocative work.

What titles have you been anticipating in 2011? (AND I wouldn't kick you if you said Wither by Lauren DeStefano.)

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