Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Dystopian February Kick-off

So...after Dystopian February 2010 and Dystopian August 2010, I am embarking on my 3rd month here at Presenting Lenore dedicated solely to dystopian and post apocalyptic fiction.  And perhaps appropriately, I am stuck in Philadelphia due to the monster storm that is raging throughout the US.  Imagine me in a crowded hotel lobby (no wireless available in the room).

Anyway, I do hope you'll join me in celebrating dystopian lit this month.  Pull out those books in your TBR and get reading! Grab the button below for your sidebar if you plan to participate




Here's what I have on tap:


Reviews of over 20 dystopian novels, past, present and future - complete with my infamous Zombie Chicken Ratings. (Refer to my index of dystopian reviews for latest updates and past reads)


Interviews with authors of dystopian fiction.


Dystopian Mash-ups - These are fun posts where readers imagine their favorite characters dropped into other books.  Could Elizabeth Bennett survive THE HUNGER GAMES?  Would Katniss be best buds with Frankie from THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU BANKS? You tell me! I'm accepting reader contributions to this feature at lenoreva at hotmail dot com.  Just put Dystopian Mash-up in the subject line.


Previews of dystopian fiction coming out later this year and beyond.


Contests and book giveaways and more!


Speaking of contests, I've put together a fun one to start us off! 

You could win (one winner takes all):
1 signed copy of THE GIVER by Lois Lowry.  I just got this signed last weekend at SCBWI NY conference and it is very special!
1 hardcover copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis
1 arc of DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth
1 surprise book in the dystopian genre
1 magnet featuring the classic cover of BRAVE NEW WORLD
Assorted dystopian related swag including signed bookmarks

 All you have to do to enter to win is read and review at least one dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel during the month of February and then link to your review via Mr. Linky (if you review it on your blog) or via the comments (if you review it on a review site such as GoodReads because you don't have a blog). Challenge and contest is open worldwide, so get reading! Please only post one link per review. And make sure to mention in your review that you read it as part of Dystopian February.






52 comments:

Mrs. DeRaps said...

Yay! I am reading a dystopian book right now. And, I have a whole pile of books that I've been saving for this month. I'm so happy it's finally here!

Amanda said...

Looking forward to reading all your posts! Hopefully Delirium will come in for me at the library sometime this month! :D

Melissa said...

Oh, so close and yet so far! If I wasn't ice-bound an hour south of you, I would definitely come keep you company in the hotel lobby.

Hope you find a little way to enjoy our fine city while you're here. :)

Elizabeth Briggs said...

Woo - really excited for this! I am reading Wither right now. I'm sure I have a few other dystopian books in my TBR pile to read too...

Steph Su said...

Ooooh the zombie chickens are back!!!

SarahEm said...

So excited about this! I'm really looking forward to seeing all the dystopian awesomeness you have in store for us.

no said...

ooo! I am totally joining! Plus I love the zombie chickens. And I had a quick question. I just finished Delirium and posted a review. I started it in January though. Could that still count for dystopian February since I finishe it in February? thanks!

Emy Shin said...

I'll definitely read and review a Dystopian novel to enter the contest -- and I'm very much looking forward to reading all of your posts. :)

Unknown said...

i love dystopian and post apocalyptic books! can't wait to see your reviews and the new books coming up.

Zibilee said...

Woohoo! Dystopian Month is here again! I will be avidly following these posts, and can't wait to read your thoughts!

Amanda said...

Love this! I am such a dystopian nerd. Question: does it have to be YA dystopian or can it be an adult novel?

Lenore Appelhans said...

Amanda - YA, adult, middle grade, anything!

no said...

Well, I linked my review so here I am to comment like it said to.

I thinkI am going to read Matched next or maybe my ARC of Bumped.

melissa @ 1lbr said...

Yeah! I love these dystopian celebrations. And a signed copy of The Giver? *sigh*

Sandy Nawrot said...

Just out of sheer dumb luck, I can help out on this one. My review for Delirium will be published on the 18th, so I will throw that one in the hat! Hey wait, maybe Angelology counts too?

Tammy said...

Yay! I have three in mind to read this month for this event- Gone by Michael Grant, The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Bring on the zombie chickens!!

molly (a dazzling distraction) said...

I'm super excited for Distopian February! I had hoped to participate in August, but life got crazy...so this may be my month!
Good luck with the storm. I'm in Indiana, and just shoveled waist deep snow out of my driveway (and I'm almost 6 feet tall!)

Carina L. Tai said...

Dystopian is my absolute FAVORITE genre, and also the inspiration of my blog http://dystopiandesserts.blogspot.com/

I'm so excited about this contest!

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story said...

I'm so excited! It would be lovely to have a Dystopian month each year. I love the genre!

I didn't put the image button in a side bar. Instead, I made a post just about Dystopian February and posted about it for everyone to see. (http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/2011/02/dystopian-february.html if you need to see.)

I reviewed Delirium yesterday, so good timing! Too bad I didn't wait a day for XVI. I did it at, like, 11:30 pm on the 31st, lol. The Water Wars is one of the next books on my list, and yay, it's Dystopian!

Thanks for the awesome idea :)

Lisa Schensted said...

oh yes please! i just got "life as we knew it" yesterday. methinks fate is telling me something...

thanks for hosting this contest! i look forward to seeing some unknown dystopians out there from all the ya lurvers.

lulilut said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Awesome! I'm excited to participate. I have a few dystopian books all set to read. Looking forward to your posts for Dystopian February!

Okie said...

woo-hoo! welcome back Dystopian February. :)

Kulsuma said...

Woot!

The1stdaughter said...

Sweet! I can't wait to see all of your posts this month! I always look forward to it. Glad to see you brought it back again this year!

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

I am going to sign up for this... at first I thought what could I be reading that is Dystopian and then I looked at your post of Dystopian books and seen that I am currently finishing Water Wars, I have just purchased Matched, and Delirium is on my Nook waiting for me...
Guess I read more of this then I knew! :)

Little Wonder Lauren said...

I've been thinking about starting a Dystopian Challenge myself, but I'm glad that I found yours! My site doesn't get enough traffic yet to really pull people in to a challenge. This will be fun... I'm reading Ship Breaker right now, and have a bunch of other Dystopian on my TBR list.

Rhiannon said...

Super excited, just recently realizing I love Dystopian!
And snowed in, in TO right now seems like the perfect conditions to start it in!

Kasey said...

Yay for Dystopian February! This is my favorite genre of literature. I just reviewed Delirium on my blog and I'm reading 1984 and Brave New World next.

Michelle said...

YAY! I can't believe it's that time already....it flies by doesn't it?

Michaela MacColl said...

And Water Wars by Cameron Stracher is a must-read for Dystopia February!

The Erudite Ogre said...

Signed up! I am reading two anthologies of dystopian short fiction for a column I am writing for the SFSignal website: Brave New Worlds and Dark Futures. Also reading some non-fiction about the idea of dystopia, so February is certainly Dystopian for me!

Elle said...

Dang I wish I had found you week or so ago. I'm not gonna make that contest because I just started rereading the Wheel of Time series. I'm only on book 4 right now. I suppose I could read something else in there but I prefer to finish one at a time. Unless one is fiction and the other non fiction. Anyway I like your site and am now following.

Marie said...

Thanks for the awesome contest! Here's the link to my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/132578668

carma_bee said...

Hi, I posted my review on LibraryThing. :)

http://www.librarything.com/work/10043010/reviews/69904010

Kasey said...

I hope I can post multiple times! I just reviewed the ARC I received of Megan McCafferty's new dystopian novel Bumped, due out April 26th. Here's the link again in case it didn't work up above. http://kaydotsidot.blogspot.com/2011/02/bumped-arc-megan-mccafferty.html

lulilut said...

:facepalm:
Please ignore Mr Linky #4 - I messed up the link.
I hope this time (#24) proves to be a better attempt.
My review: XVI by Julia Karr

Betty: Reflections with Coffee said...

Discovered this challenge today -- I'm such a late-comer. On second thought, I read dystopian before most of you were even born!
My review is of Across the Universe.

Jenn (Books At Midnight) said...

Woo, going off to add this to my sidebar now because IT IS AWESOME. I've loved dystopian novels for a looong time, and now it's become quite the vogue. :D

Mrs. DeRaps said...

This is so fun, but I wish I could ONLY read dystopian books for the entire month...Darned that Valentine's Day for making me crave love and chocolate and for pulling me away from the tales of zombie apocalypse!

G Blechman said...

Since my latest novel is dystopian, I'm currently trying to read at least one dystopian novel a week to get more acquainted with what's out there.

Stacey said...

I hope I'm not too late? How exciting :) My review is for Delirium. I've not read The Giver or Brave New World!

Kasey said...

I just posted my review for Incarceron! Can't wait to read the sequel now.

Amanda said...

Just linked my review for Julia Karr's XVI. Have more coming soon! :)

Stephanie said...

My review for Matched:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/120684773

lulilut said...

Hopefully, I linked correctly this time...
My post is for "Delirium".

Thanks for hosting Dystopian February, it's a great way to find new books for my TBR list.

Ladytink_534 said...

You talked me into it!

Little Wonder Lauren said...

I hope you're planning to do another dystopian reading challenge in a few months... February got kind of busy and I didn't get to participate nearly as much as I would have liked to!

Sylvia said...

Here's my review for two dystopia books! The first is Delirium and the other is The Maze Runner! It's been a great month full of dystopian books, I love it! Keep it up:)

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/120912419

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/120449236

sylvia_uy4(at)yahoo(dot)com

Jenny said...

Linked both my reviews (Delirium and Matched), but the first time I messed up by just putting my name, didn't know I had to put the blog's name and book title there :\

Stacey said...

Linked back to Oryx and Crake. I definitely recommend it!

Krystal said...

Great idea! Thanks for the contest :)