I love books. And I love cupcakes. I spend alot of time reading blogs about both. Then I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fun to have it all in one? So here's the plan. Here on my little blog, you're going to find book reviews (mostly YA, because I'm absolutely addicted to them) and once in while I'll show you what I'm cooking up in my little vintage aprons, recipes and all. It's gonna be fun---visit often!! :)
To contact me regarding this blog or if you are a publisher/author with a book you'd like reviewed, send an email to:
storiesandsweetiesblog@gmail.com
See Review Policy
I am currently accepting YA books for review, but I am not accepting ebooks.
This year at ALA, while strolling past the Goosebottom Books booth, we
discovered the Most Amazing Halloween Book Ever! Yes, that is the official
title that I bestow upon this one! :) Horrible Hauntings is something
so special. Yes, it's a picture book, but one that I think readers of
all ages will find creepy and amazing, especially those of us that love a good ghost story! It's earned a special place on
my haunted mantle:
The book features several haunting legends like the Headless Horseman, Bloody Mary, Abraham Lincoln in the oval office,...and gives the historical background of each one. My personal favorite is The Haunted Gallery:
Want to see why?
Horrible Hauntings is a really cool interactive experience! You just scan the QR code in the front of the book, aim your device at the pages, and the ghosts literally jump off the pages at you! Even on the cover, Bloody Mary glares out of the mirror at you even leaning out to follow you if you move. It's quite creepy! Augmented reality is such an incredibly cool technology to use in books and it's one that I hope they use more of in the future! Can you image---wildlife books, space books, dinosaur books??
"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.
Born of Illusion by Teri Brown hitting shelves June 11th, 2012 from Balzer & Bray
description: Anna Van Housen is
thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen
she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium
Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily
navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in
1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have
never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her
true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at
nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever
lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat
downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with
gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so
hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the
stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the
illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?
Born of
Illusion is the first book in a new series. Each book in the series will
introduce a new historical figure, whose legend is shrouded in magic,
along with the young woman whose fate is irrevocably tied to his. The
through line in each of the books will be The Ghost Club, the real life
secret society that was founded in 1862 by the likes of Charles Dickens,
Sir Conan Doyle, and W. B. Yeats to advance mankind’s knowledge of the
paranormal. The first three books in the series will deal with Houdini,
Aleister Crowley and Rasputin.
My thoughts: I could not be more excited about this book!! A historical story set in the 20s about Houdini's supposed daughter?? Secret gifts and strange societies?? This may very well be one of my top 5 books that I'm anticipating in 2013! I'm even more excited to hear that it will be a series tied to the The Ghost Club!! The whole concept just sounds so amazing!
Here by Denise Grover Swank ♦self published ♦released: November 11, 2011 ♦paperback, 350 pages ♦intended audience: Young adult ♦source: from author for honest review
Sixteen year old Julia
Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in
a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new
talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies
and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no
one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the
scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.
Classmate
Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone
after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive
her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his
two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been
drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan,
he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still
alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.
Review: Here is a great read. Period. It's a quick read that I tore through in 2 days. The writing is tight and emotionally charged. Main character Julia's personality and insecurities and dilemmas ring true. And the story compels the reader to turn page after page out of compassion and an undeniable curiosity to find out what the heck is going on. I can't say too much about where the story goes without giving away the incredible twist, but Here unfolds in two main parts. In the beginning, you get to know Julia. She is suffering from some major survivors guilt after a car accident where she was the driver and her best friend, Monica, didn't survive. She has bizarre dreams where she is the one who died. Her family is falling apart and questioning her sanity, and her academic life is quickly spiraling out of control. Then Evan steps into her life. While there is definitely a bit
of cliche with the popular boy suddenly having eyes for the outcast, and
the cruel popular mean girl who tortures her, I don't think it took
away from the story. When Evan suddenly takes an interest in her, you know something weird is up without the whole situation feeling unbelievable. I like how Julia doesn't immediately fall in love with him---she remains completely suspicious of why he's helping her. The foreshadowing was perfectly done---the author drops these perfect little hints that something is really off with Evan, but still leaves you wondering what is gong on with him---is he an alien? Is he a ghost? Body snatcher, maybe? :) I literally never saw the truth coming. His interest in her actually starts to tip a little onto the side of obsessive, which bothered me at first, but his intensity made perfect sense in the end. Like I said, I can't say much more without giving it all away, but I will say that the second half of the book hits you with a shock, then twists into a fast-paced tale full of discovery, danger, excitement, and heartbreak. It ends with a bang and left me ready to take on book 2. I'm actually thankful I read it now, with the sequel's release just around the corner in December! Whether you normally read self-pub books or not, I definitely recommend giving this a try.
For
New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I
acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or
from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie's This Week in Books & Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts) Note: This is not a meme, but I'll be hopping around to any other book haul-sharing posts I come across!
This is a cool set. The novel, not really my cup of tea so I'll probably be giving this away, but I love the beauty book and don't know think my 17-year-old and I can part with it!
Many thanks to Penguin and HarperTeen for these wonderful books!
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted
with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the
Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a
Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal
beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the
power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what
people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price
of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now
she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to
listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid
jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.
Review: Crewel first draws you in with this incredible cover---which, by the way, gets extra points for being so significant to the story and concept. Those gorgeous multicolored swirls and threads that you see perfectly depict the strands that Adelice sees and can pull from thin air. Crewel is an incredibly unique idea. The world Albin builds is like nothing else I've ever read or imagined. The way the Spinsters work the looms to bring food and health and everything else, including death, to the people of Arras was such a creative concept. The whole dynamic of the society was a little hard to follow at first, the "rebounding", and the importance of cosmetics (still a bit baffled by that!), and just how it all worked, but as far as the spinning goes, the author does a great job helping the reader visualize pulling these "threads" and working them into the looms that control the lives of the people of the land. But really, I felt that the story was less about this and more about the politics and corruption of the people running both the Spinster's Guild and Arras itself. In that way, I felt it really lost some of it's uniqueness and became just another "protagonist raging against the cruel government" dystopian. It wasn't what I expected (I guess I wanted more mystical, not so political), so I admit to being a little let down, but it was still a gripping and heart-wrenching story. Adelice certainly does rage, too. From day one, she fights them with everything she's got. She is certainly not perfect, as a matter of fact she makes a deadly error in judgement before she's even dragged off to the Spinster Guild. Once there, she deals with some pretty despicable characters, including Cormac and Maela---two that are as cruel and corrupt as they come. Some of the things that happen are so heartless and harsh, that it just hurt to read about them. I found myself gripping the book and trying not to cry several times---a good sign of how invested I was in the story and some of its characters. I really enjoyed reading about Jost, he was such a good person who'd been through such terrible things. Erik was also an intriguing character, not one to easily be trusted; you never can be quite sure where his loyalty lies. There's a bit of a romance triangle going on, but it didn't bother me as much as the fact that it seemed every male character in the story wanted Adelice. Still, a very compelling story right to the end. The ending is quite a cliffhanger and I can't wait to hear more about where they've ended up (not telling where...no spoilers!). Now that I've got a feel for the story, I think I will enjoy the second even better.
"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.
Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn hitting shelves June 11, 2013 from HarperTeen
description: A reckless wish taken from the darkest desires of the heart…
A bloody razor engraved with the names of the girls who turned to dust…
An endless cycle that feeds of loneliness and craves destruction…
Together,
these pieces form a twisted puzzle that Annaliese Rose Gordon has to
solve. Trapped in a body that isn’t hers – with no memory of how she got
there – she must unlock the secrets of her past in order to escape the
horrors of her future.
My thoughts: This sounds amazing. Love the cryptic synopsis...it sounds creepy and mysterious, with a whole lot of "something strange" going on!! It's going to be a long wait to June!
For my fantastically spooky prize, I have for you:
A Very Haunted Harper Halloween!
One lucky winner will win this stack of spooky HarperCollins titles!
Fang Girl by Helen Keeble
Dark Eden & Dark Eden: Eve of Destruction by Patrick Corman
The Turning by Francine Prose (ARC)
Ten by Gretchen McNeil (ARC)
Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
Feedback by Robison Wells
And I did promise an international giveaway (and I'm sorry, but I'm not rich enough to send these around the world! Don't I wish!!;D), so I'm also giving away $15 at Book Depository to one international reader!
Enter below!!
(must be 13 or older)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to enter the rest of the giveaways in the
Spooktacular Giveaway Hop listed below!! Good Luck!
Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield ♦publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers ♦released: September 11, 2012 ♦hardcover, 288 pages ♦intended audience: Young adult ♦source: from publisher for honest review
Summer is the best part
of the year in Winston, California, and the Fourth of July is the
highlight of the season. But the perfect town Clare remembers has
changed, and everyone is praying that this summer will be different from
the last two—that this year's Fourth of July festival won't see one of
their own vanish without a trace, leaving no leads and no suspects. The
media are in a frenzy predicting a third disappearance, but the town
depends on tourist dollars, so the residents of Winston are trying
desperately to pretend nothing's wrong.
And they're not the only ones hiding something.
Clare,
a seamstress who redesigns vintage clothing, has been blessed—or
perhaps cursed—with a gift: she can see people's pasts when she touches
their clothes. When she stumbles across a denim jacket that once
belonged to Amanda Stavros, last year's Fourth of July victim, Clare
sees her perfect town begin to come apart at the seams.
In a town where appearance means everything, how deep beneath the surface will Clare dig to uncover a murderer?
Review: This is one of those books that has a cover that instantly draws you in. A pink cover with blood splayed across the top. This was an instant grab for me.
Clare is a cute eccentric character that loves all things vintage (Becky and I can totally relate) and spends every free second re-designing her vintage finds into wearable art. But the ironic thing is her gift of spinning old clothes into something new is also her curse. Clare carries a family secret passed down from generations; she can see people’s pasts just by touching their clothes.
This causes major problems. Not only does she see things in clothing that she wishes she never did but she also gets involved in solving the town’s murders. Having a serial killer that kills on the same week every year has the town and Clare on high alert and has Clare’s special ability finally helping her gain answers instead of trouble.
As much as I was excited to read this book I found myself a little let down. The story line is great, the characters were well-developed and the ending was a real eye opener (which in fact completely saved this book). Sophie Littlefield is a great writer, however I could tell throughout the whole book that she is foremost an adult fiction writer and almost over-developed the characters. I found some of the characters actions a little unbelievable for a “normal teenager.” But in the authors defense, I guess Clare is anything but normal. Headstrong, independent and out to find the truth using her family’s’ curse to aide her along the way.
Overall a decent mystery and a refreshing change in paranormal abilities.
For
New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I
acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or
from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie's This Week in Books & Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts) Note: This is not a meme, but I'll be hopping around to any other book haul-sharing posts I come across!
Here's what I got this week:
For Review: Ask the Passengers by A.S. King Very excited for this one! King always brings something so unique to all her work. Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine I never did get to start this series and this is #13, so be on the lookout for a giveaway of this one soon!
Thanks so much to Little Brown and NAL/Penguin for both of these!
WOW. I actually was not a huge fan of the cover of book 2, but this is STUNNING. Might help that plumerias are one of my favorite flowers. :) The swirling flame is perfect and the dark detail of all the lava rock.
I can't WAIT to see this in person. It looks awesome on the screen, but I know those sheer cliffs are going to look super dramatic in person. Plus, I'm a total font geek. Love cool fonts and this one is fantastic.
If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin
You just know from one look at this that its going to require tissue. Her position and the rain just convey heartbreak to me.
Time again for another round of Old Books, New Looks,
where I feature the covers of books that have already been released and
their redesigned paperback counterpart! :) Sometimes I like the new
better, sometimes I like the old. Here's a few that I've come across
lately:
The OLDIES vs. The NEWBIES
Here's what I think: Born Wicked: NOOOOO! I ♥♥♥ the original cover! Sad to see this one changed to something so ordinary. Catastrophic History of You and Me: I like the original. I haven't read this so I'm not sure if the new cover fits the story better or what...but it just looks a little "90s music video" to me. The Future of Us: Hm...not sure. I like the pixelated look of the original. And I think the UK cover has them both beat lol. Unraveling Isobel: I actually loved the original cover (purple!) and thought it fit the character really well, even if it didn't convey how creepy this story was. The new one..well, it's sweet, but I think I've seen this stock photo (or variations of it, at least) a few too many times for it to stand out to me.
What do you think? Like the Oldies or the Newbies??
Beyond by Graham McNamee ♦publisher: Wendy Lamb Books ♦released: September 11, 2012 ♦hardcover, 240 pages ♦intended audience: Young adult ♦source: from publisher for honest review
Jane is not your
typical teen. She and her best friend Lexi call themselves the Creep
Sisters. Only Lexi knows why Jane is different from anyone else: Her own
shadow seems to pull her into near-fatal accidents. Jane is determined
to find out why these terrifying things happen, and to overcome her
shadow enemy. Her sleuthing with Lexi connects her own horrors to the
secret history of a serial killer.
Review: Beyond can only be described as Steven King for YA. Graham McNamee drives the nail straight into thecoffin on this YA thriller. A wonderful fast paced read. Just in time for Halloween! Jane is a strong girl character who finds herself plagued by her life threatening tragedies. Starting frombirth Jane has found herself at deaths door on a repeated basis making her teenage life miserable aswell as the talk of the town. Not to mention making life as a typical teenage girl torture especially at highschool. But the truth is Jane is hiding a paranormal secret. It’s not the suicide attempts that everyone thinksare her secrets. It’s the dark secret Jane tries to gain control of. One that is trying to kill her, literally. With thehelp of her best friend (and the only one who knows the truth) Clare must find out who is trying to killher or deal with the fact that her visions really are responsible for all her suicide attempts. And if that wasn’t enough Clare discovers a skull leading to an old murder. Soon the mystery of whose skull it isand how that person got killed is almost too much for her. Leaving Clare with two choices , give into herdark secret and let it overtake her or fight to solve a murder hoping to solve the real reason she is beingtortured. Only by reading this book will you truly find out the answers to the many questions this booklashes out to you. Murder, dangerous paranormal entities, friendship and a budding romance what elsedoes a good book need?
I absolutely love Graham’s use of short chapters making me feel like an accomplished reader as I flewthrough the book. As for the ending??? No worries the ending doesn’t disappoint it just leaves youshocked and satisfied. But a word of caution: do not start this book unless you have time to sit and finishit. There is no pause in the twist and turns that weave you through this book.
Trust me this book has it all from ghost stories to skulls, strong female characters and a cute guy, a paranormal thriller and even a murder mystery to be solved.And a little side note… the author's picture is FAB! That’s a 5 out of 5 in portrait genius. Graham I can’twait for your next book. You’ve made me a follower.
"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.
hitting shelves October 30, 2012 from Omnific Publishing
description: Ever since a
near-death-experience on the operating table, seventeen-year-old Arianne
Wilson can see dead people. Just as she’s learned to accept her
new-found talents, she discovers that the boy she’s had a crush on since
freshman year, Niko Clark, is a Reaper.
At last they have
something in common, but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier.
All while facing merciless bullying from the most powerful girl in
school, Arianne’s world is turned upside down after Niko accidentally
reaps the soul of someone she loves. This sends them both into a spiral
that threatens to end Arianne’s life. But will Niko break his own
Reaper’s code to save her? And what would the consequences be if he did?
My thoughts: This looks so amazing. I love reaper stories and WOOOOW is that cover just so beautiful. Aside from that, I hear nothing but amazing things about Kate Evangelista's first book, Taste. Need to pick up that one soon, too. :)
Adaptation by Malinda Lo ♦publisher: Little, Brown BYR ♦released: September 18th, 2012 ♦hardcover: 400 pages ♦intended audience: Young adult ♦source: from publisher for honest review
Reese can’t remember
anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up
almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now.
Across
North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing
at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism,
the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of
travelers are stranded.
Reese and her debate team partner and
longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the
world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco,
along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a
bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up
in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where
they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed.
Things become
even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a
different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting
dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When
Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search
for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction—and threatens to
expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for
decades to keep secret.
Review: Despite not being a huge sci-fi fan, I couldn't help having really high expectations for Adaptation. If you refer to exhibit A and exhibit B, you'll know I am a HUGE fan of Malinda Lo's work. Her writing in Ash and Huntress is absolutely flawless and lush, her handling of all manner of love stories is so beautiful done, her intricate story-telling completely blows me away. So, yes---high expectations for Adaptation.
Well, I wouldn't say that I was disappointed. I did really enjoy Adaptation. I just didn't completely fall in love with it. The story was mind-boggling, intense, and extremely fast-paced through most of the book. While government conspiracy and men-in-black are usually two things that leave me bored, this was so well written that even these subjects kept me glued to the page.
Reese was really likeable and fun character to read. She was smart and head-strong, but still unsure in some aspects of her life. She's terrified of relationships because of her parents' divorce, so after a few years of warring with herself over feelings for her debate partner, David, she is knocked sideways (quite literally at first!) by her sudden intense feelings for Amber. Their relationship was a whirlwind to read. Very intriguing to see Reese grapple with this first experience and try to figure out what is happening inside her from the treatment she received in the military hospital. Amber is open and uninhibited and fun and Reese just kind of gets swept up. Still, the main theme of the story, being the mystery and conspiracy of what was happening with the birds and the military secrets kind of got thrown by the wayside while Reese went through all this. It almost started to feel like two different stories, a bit disjointed. We do get back to it, though and the secrets and lies and excitement start again. I loved Amber's character, but I have to admit I saw her part in the story coming a mile away. David, the other main player in this story, felt just a bit flat. I didn't feel a lot of connection between him and Reese, so when things were meant to be heating up between them, it felt a bit forced to me. The main storyline goes along in a somewhat predictable fashion, but it's still great fun watching it all unfold.
Adaptaion is a really interesting and entertaining story. Though I felt a few problems here and there and definitely wasn't blown out of my seat like with Lo's two previous stories, I appreciate the fact that she really went a complete 180 with her storytelling style and gave us something new. The ending left me excited to know what happens next, so I'll definitely be anticipating the next in the series when it comes out.
This week I'm happy to be participating in the TEEN READ WEEK Giveaway hop hosted by The Authoress! Here's a bit of info about Teen Read Week:
It Came from the Library! This Teen Read Week™ (Oct. 14-20), YALSA
dares you to read for the fun of it! Teen Read Week is a time to
celebrate reading for fun and encourage teens to take advantage of
reading in all its forms —books and magazines, e-books, audiobooks and
more — and become regular library users.
As a lover of YA fiction and a library assistant at my local public library, one of the best parts of my job is watching teens walk out with a stack of yummy books to read. I love checking them out to them, telling them how much a loved certain ones and asking them to get back to me on what they thought about books I have yet to read. Anything to encourage their love of reading!!
To celebrate Teen Read Week, I have a giveaway for you!! The four titles below are going to find a new home with one lucky reader! Enter to win them below!
For
New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I
acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or
from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie's This Week in Books & Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts) Note: This is not a meme, but I'll be hopping around to any other book haul-sharing posts I come across!
This week, I got an awesome box of spooky happiness from Harper Teen! Some of these are duplicates for me, so I'll be putting up a Halloween giveaway sometime in the next few days! Keep an eye out for it!
Also, this past Friday, I went to the NCIBA trade show in San Francisco and it was amazing. I'll be posting about that in detail later this week, but for now I'll show you some of my favorite finds at the show!
That whole bottom row is signed :D GAH I got to meet Lisa McMann, Lauren Oliver, and Gail Carriger!! Fangirl *squeee*!
Basically I could have put the (!!) next to all of these---I am so excited to read each and every one, and this whole list are ones that I literally "ooohed" and "aaaahhhed" over like it was the 4th of July. But the ones I did mark are those that I nearly fell over backwards when I saw them sitting there! lol
