Tripping Over Books

In My Mailbox (3)

Nov 20

November 20, 2011

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

I can’t lie, guys. This week’s IMM is thin, but I still got some great books to read. Some are new, some are a little old, but I’m psyched for all of them. Let’s get down to business!

FROM NETGALLEY

Sisters of Glass, by Stephanie Hemphill (May 8, 2012 from Knopf). I actually have another of Stephanie Hemphill’s books on my currently reading pile, WICKED GIRLS, which is a story in verse about the Salem witch trials. THIS book, though, is a historical fiction set in Italy among Venetian glassblowers. Sounds great! Plus I think the cover is pretty!

BOUGHT

Torn: Torn Trilogy, book 1, by Erica O’Rourke (June 28, 2011 from Kensington). This one sounds great. The murder of a best friend reveals dangerous secrets and magic and two–count ’em, TWO–yummy boys!

Brightest Kind of Darkness: Brightest Kind of Darkness, book 1, by P.T. Michelle (June 27, 2011 from Patrice Michelle). This book sounds fantastic. It’s about a 16-year-old girl who dreams every night of what will happen the following day. Obviously, this leads to problems. Problems that I want to read about, please!

Deadly Little Secret: Touch, book 1 (December 23, 2008 from Hyperion). So, I’m behind the times with this one, I know. (This series currently has four books out already, and the fifth one is out next year.) But it sounds right up my alley, so I nabbed an ebook for my Kindle and am ready to get started!

Amber Frost: The Lost Magic, book 1, by Suzi Davis. The second book in this series, SILVER DEW, is coming out next month, and the books sound so intriguing that I had to get on ’em. This one, AMBER FROST, is about a young girl who moves to a new city and meets a mysterious boy. There seem to be hints at past lives and forgotten pasts and other awesomeness. Also, strange tattoos. I can’t even!

That’s it for me this time around! Any oldies but goodies in your mailboxes this week?

Filed Under: In My Mailbox Tagged With: books, IMM, oldies but goodies, upcoming releases

Book Review | The Future of Us | Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Nov 18

I received this book for free from BookExpo in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Future of Us | Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

The Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler, Jay Asher
Published by Razorbill on November 21, 2011
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Relationships, Young Adult
Pages: 356
Format: ARC
Source: BookExpo
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
three-stars

It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long – at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh’s family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn’t been invented yet. And they’re looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they’re forced to confront what they’re doing right – and wrong – in the present.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | East | Edith Pattou

Nov 16

East by Edith Pattou
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on September 1, 2003
Genres: Fairy tales, Fantasy YA, Retelling, Young Adult
Pages: 498
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Rose has always felt out of place in her family, a wanderer in a bunch of homebodies. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him—in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family—she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she loses her heart, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun.

As familiar and moving as “Beauty and the Beast” and yet as fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a novel retelling of the classic tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” a sweeping romantic epic in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Waiting on Wednesday (1)

Nov 16

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1)

by Robin LaFevers

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

___________________________________________________________

Wowza. This book sounds so amazing, I almost don’t even know how to put my excitement into words. The God of Death? A convent of pagan nuns? Intrigue and treason? An assassin and HANDMAIDEN OF DEATH?!?! Bananas. Plus, look at that ridiculous crossbow on the cover! It’s huge! She looks like such a bad ass. I can. Not. Wait to get my hands on this one. Ahh, I just got the shivers of anticipation! Love it!

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday Tagged With: anticipation!, awesome cover, new releases, waiting on wednesday, WANT

Top Ten Tuesday | Top Ten Books That Have Been on My Shelf the Longest

Nov 15

Top Ten Books That Have Been On My Shelf For The Longest But I’ve Never Read

So, I know that you guys can’t actually see me, but trust me right now: I’m cowering in a corner in mild fear of your disbelief and disdain. This is because–gulp–I have a particularly large pile of really well-known, popular (mostly) YA books that I haven’t read yet, and it just so happens that this week’s Top Ten Tuesday meme addresses this very issue! Don’t misinterpret that exclamation point, though: It’s an embarrassing pile, it’s way bigger than ten books, and I’m not proud of it. I keep it off to the side to further prevent my tripping over it and thus renewing my shame. But listen! I have a really good reason for this pile, and in my defense, it’s not that I haven’t tried to tackle these books before. It’s just that something always comes up, whether that’s life or just another book. Because I trust you guys, though, I’m going to share the ten most egregious items in my shame pile in the hopes that we can talk about it and move forward. Be gentle, though, ok? Ohmygod, I’m sooooo nervous.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Top Ten Tuesday Tagged With: books, pile of shame, top ten tuesday

In My Mailbox (2)

Nov 13

November 13, 2011

You guys. I’m SO EXCITED about this week’s In My Mailbox. Major, huge, sloppy thank you kisses to Random House Children’s for a killer NetGalley haul this week. I actually squealed when I got these books. Out loud. Oh man, I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to these books! Woo Hoo!! *doing an embarrassing happy dance, which is VERY embarrassing because I have no rhythm!* Let’s get down to business!

FROM NETGALLEY

Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman. Coming on July 10, 2012 from Random House Children’s (Dragons, you guys. DRAGONS).

Don’t You Wish, by Roxanne St. Claire. Coming on July 10, 2012 from Delacorte (sounds kind of Freaky Friday-ish. Definitely looking forward to this one).

The Gathering Storm: The Katerina Trilogy, book 1, by Robin Bridges. Coming on January 10, 2012 from Delacorte (SUPER excited about this one! It’s like a historical paranormal AND it features the Russian Imperial family?!? Somebody grab the smelling salts! I’m going down!)

The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, by John Claude Bemis. Coming on May 22, 2012 from Random House Children’s
(This is a middle grade title that sounds AMAZING. Dystopian Jungle Book?!? WORD).

Wanderlove, by Kirsten Hubbard. Coming March 13, 2012 from Delacorte (ROAD TRIP! I LOVE road trips).

Fury’s Fire: Siren’s Storm, book 2, by Lisa Papademetriou. Coming July 10, 2012 from Random House Children’s (I haven’t read the first book in this series yet, but they sound good).

Cross My Heart, by Sasha Gould. Coming March 13, 2012 from Delacorte (Historical Fiction! Italy! Betrayal! Secret societies! Yay!).

The Book of Blood and Shadow, by Robin Wasserman. Coming January 10, 2012 from Random House Children’s
(The Goodreads synopsis mentions murder, Prince Charming, blood trails, secret societies, the divine, Prague, and controlling the world. Sounds bananas. Can’t wait to get to this one).

BORROWED

Tempest: Tempest, book 1, by Julie Cross. Coming January 17, 2012 from St. Martin’s Griffin (Time travel fugitive. Yes!)

BOUGHT

Darker Still: Magic Most Foul, book 1, by Leanne Renee Hieber. Published on November 1, 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire (I’m hoping to read and review this one soon)

I’m so excited about the books I got this week! What book did YOU add to your piles this week that you’re most excited about?

Filed Under: In My Mailbox Tagged With: books, IMM, new releases

Five-Star Friday | The Scorpio Races | Maggie Stiefvater

Nov 11

Five-Star Friday is a periodically regular (say what?!) feature that I’m planning on running on Fridays (but not every Friday) in which I talk about (or verbally drool over) a book that I’ve read and ADORED (sometimes they’ll be recent releases and other times they might be older…my piles are tall and the bottoms are old). Yay! I always feel so happy and light and wonderful when I am beside myself with delight over a book, and I want to share the love with you all in the hopes that we can all get together and have an embarrassing, squeal-filled love-fest full of lots of high-pitched “Ohmygod, I KNOW!s” and chest-clutching sighs of contentedness. Huzzah!^*

First up, Maggie Stiefvater’s THE SCORPIO RACES

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Five-Star Friday, Reviews Tagged With: fantasy YA, favorites, five stars, Maggie Stiefvater, reviews, Scholastic

Book Review | Shatter Me | Tahereh Mafi

Nov 10

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
on November 15, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Relationships, Superheroes, Young Adult
Pages: 338
Format: ARC
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | Crossed | Ally Condie

Nov 8

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Crossed by Ally Condie
Series: Matched #2
Published by Dutton Juvenile on November 1, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 367
Format: ARC
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
two-stars

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky – taken by the Society to his certain death – only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander – who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart – change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Tripping Over November

Nov 7

New books that are out or on their way this month! I know that this one is a *little* late, and in the future it is definitely my intent to get this post up much closer to the first of each month, but there’s still TONS of great books coming out in November! So, better late than never! As much as I would love to include all of the books coming out each month, though, I’m going to keep it to highly anticipated, buzzy, awesome-sounding titles, at least for now.

So, with the business of this post out of the way, let’s get to the books! There are truly some good ones coming your way soon (if they’re not out there already)!