What's New: October YA Release List & Giveaway!

Tomorrow is OCTOBER!! Hurray! :D  So many reason I am cheering the arrival of this month, my friends.  Partly because September was just awful all the way around. From beginning to end. I have no idea why but September just decided it was going to not be my friend this year. But mostly, I just love October---it's always been my favorite with the Fall weather starting to creep in, the spooky decor going up, costumes to be planned, and then the big day itself---Halloween! :D Yea, I love October. 

So if you're new to Stories & Sweeties, here's a little run-down of this feature: at the start of each month, I do a little thing called the "What's New List & Giveaway" where you'll find a full list of the new releases in YA for the month, and entry to the giveaway. At the end of each month, one lucky winner will get to choose any new release as their prize!

First things first! The winner of September giveaway was: Sarah! Congratulations!!

September 2014 Releases:

Just like previous months, I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I am really anticipating!

{1}
Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond ♥
Lark Ascending by Meagan Spooner 
Perfectly Good White Boy by Carrie Mesrobian
Second Thoughts by Cara Bertrand

{6}
Confessions: The Paris Mystery by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro 
Polly and the One and Only World by Don Bredes  

{7}
Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick
Bleed Like Me by C. Desir
The Calling by James Frey & Nils Johnson-Shelton
Camp Forget-Me-Not by J.K. Rock
Chaos by Sarah Fine
Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe
Emergent by Rachel Cohn
Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios ♥
The Fall by Bethany Griffin ♥
The Good Sister by Jamie Kain ♥
Hit by Lorie Ann Grover
The Invisible by Amelia Kahaney
Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez
Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander
Mojave Green by The Brothers Washburn ♥
Night Sky by Suzanne & Melanie Brockmann 
Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan
The Perfectionists by Sara Shephard 
Pink & Green is the New Black by Lisa Greenwald
Queen of Someday by Sherry Ficklin
Sharkman by Steve Alten 
Stray by Elissa Sussman ♥
Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan 
This is How it Ends by Jen Nadol ♥
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray ♥
Unraveled by Gennifer Albin
Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross
Whisper the Dead by Alyxandra Harvey ♥
Whispers from the Past by Elizabeth Langston
The Young Elites by Marie Lu ♥
Zom-B Family by Darren Shan

{8}
Althea & Oliver by Cristina Moracho 
Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell ♥
Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah ♥

{14}
The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp 
BZRK Apocalypse by Michael Grant
Chasing Power by Sarah Beth Durst ♥
Clariel by Garth Nix 
The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters ♥
Damaged by Amy Reed 
The Doubt Factory by Paolo Baciagalupi
Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot
Every Breath by Ellie Marney
Fire Artist by Daisy Whitney 
Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A. S. King ♥
Hero Complex by Margaux Froley
The Intern by Gabrielle Tozer
Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake
My True Love Gave To Me (anthology edited by Stephanie Perkins)
Pig Park by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez
Playing for the Commandant by Suzy Zail
Redeemed by PC & Kristin Cast
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch ♥
Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis ♥
Strike by D. J. MacHale
Sublime by Christina Lauren ♥
The Terminals by Royce Scott Buckingham
They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire ♥
Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer
Undivided by Neal Shusterman  
Very Bad Things by Susan McBride ♥

{21}
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Steifvater
Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf 
Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle
Follow Me Through Darkess by Danielle Ellison
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
Snakebite by Andrew Lane
The Sorcerer Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
Throwaway Girl by Kristine Scarrow
Time's Edge by Rysa Walker
Trading Secrets by Melody Carlson 

 {28}
Atlantia by Ally Condie 
Beau, Lee, The Bomb & Me by Mary McKinley
Catalyst by S. J. Kincaid
Compulsion by Martina Boone ♥
Diamonds in the Rough by Michelle Madow
Earth & Sky by Megan Crewe ♥
Get Happy by Mary Amato
In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken
Martyr by A.R. Kahler  
The Opal Crown by Jenny Lundquist ♥
Resisting Ruby Rose by Jessie Humphries
Talon by Julie Kagawa
Waterfall by Lauren Kate

 (All links go to Goodreads)
Please feel free to email me if you notice any YA titles missing! :)


Giveaway Details:
One winner will win a YA October release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends October 31st, 2014 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on September or October reviews, and can be done once per review. Come back throughout October whenever you comment on my reviews and get your extra points!     
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {104}

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 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)

Got some stuff that I'm really excited about this week!! :D 

 Purchased: 

House of Sand and Secrets by Cat Hellison

 I don't know how this one flew under my radar, because I loved When the Sea is Rising Red. Such a bizarre but absolutely stunning story.  I was so glad to find this sequel! :)

For Review: 

Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond

 Teenage Lois Lane solving her first mystery as a reporter?? YES.

True Fire by Gary Meehan

Looks so good! A high fantasy about a pregnant young woman on a mission to rescue her kidnapped twin sisters and a prophecy linked to her unborn child. 

Many thanks to Switch Press & Quercus for the review copies!!

The Weekly Nutshell: 
{Wednesday} Waiting on Wednesday: Miss Mayhem
{Thursday} Review: Stray by Elissa Sussman

It was a slow week here at Stories & Sweeties, and in non-bookish life I'm SO ready for October...September just kind of knocked me on my butt.  Luckily we're getting a little bit of Fall here to lift my spirits...we had thunderstorms and a little rain yesterday, two of my favorite things :) Keep it coming, weather fairies. ;)
I finished Trial by Fire, SO GOOD and somehow exactly what I was in the mood for. Now I'm halfway through Illusions of Fate---I haven't read any of Kiersten White's books since the Paranormalcy series and I completely forgot how much I enjoy reading her fun, always humorous writing style. Reviews on both of those to come!

I wish everyone hours and hours of uninterrupted reading time this week (including myself! LOL)

Stray by Elissa Sussman {review}

Stray
♦by Elissa Sussman
♦publisher: Greenwillow
♦release date: October 7, 2014
♦hardcover, 384 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Four Sisters, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

“I am grateful for my father, who keeps me good and sweet. I am grateful for my mother, who keeps her own heart guarded and safe. I am grateful for my adviser, who keeps me protected. I am grateful for the Path, which keeps me pure. Ever after.”

Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.

When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.

But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.

After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?

Review: Stray is a darkly imagined world full of magic and mislaid power.  There are kingdoms and royalty, guardians and fairy godmothers, but all answer to a group of men called Advisors. The Advisors control the society with a belief system called The Path and by playing on the people’s fear of the Wicked Queen of a neighboring kingdom named Josetta, who is said to be building a dark army of her own. 

Our heroine Aislynn is a young woman studying at an academy that shapes the highest society girls into good little women and wives, but her uncontrolled magic lands her in trouble and she finds herself demoted to a life of serving as a fairy godmother.  She is shipped off to a different school and placed with a princess. In this new place, she crosses paths with several new characters, and with a few new friends by her side, she starts to discover that there are dark plots brewing in unexpected places.   

A strong feeling of hopelessness runs through the first part of Aislynn’s journey and I was very glad to see her progression from self-depreciating to finding her confidence and strength.  From the very beginning, we see her betrayed by someone she thought she could trust and her own parents are too scared to stand up for her.  At her new school, she’s always been taught that her magic is evil, and using it is what gets her punished in the first place, so it’s easy to feel why she struggles with the sudden expectation to use it as a fairy godmother. 

There is a subtle and sweet romance that grows in the course of the story, but I like that this tale focuses more on Aislynn’s other relationships and the guidance that comes from a mother, a guardian, a teacher, or a friend.  It’s a dark and twisting fairy tale with a few grim nods to the classics.  The ending is exhilarating and nicely sets up for a sequel, but also left me with more than a few unanswered questions.  I definitely plan to stick with this series, though, as I suspect the danger and adventure is just getting started!

Find Elissa Sussman online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Stray:  BN.com  •  Bookdepository  •  Indiebound

                    

Waiting on Wednesday

"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.

Miss Mayhem
by Rachel Hawkins

hitting shelves April 7, 2015
from Putnam Juvenile

description:
Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and best friend Bee has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can return her focus to the important things in life: school, canoodling with David, her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie, and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or connect her to David for life.

My thoughts:  Nothing can keep me away from the continuing story of Harper, David, and Bee, the fun crew from Rebel Belle---not even this slightly silly cover. LOL Maybe it will grow on me. Rebel Belle was such a fun read, definitely one of my favorites this year and that ending was quite a cliffhanger, so I can't wait for this second installment. 

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {103}

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 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)

New on my bookshelves the past two weeks:

The Swap by Megan Shull

Messanger of Fear by Michael Grant (with playing cards)

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan

Lark Rising by Sandra Waugh

The Bodies We Wear by Jeyn Roberts

Many thanks to Harper and Random House for these lovely finished copies!

The Weekly Nutshell: 

{Wednesday} Jackaby Book Birthday Giveaway!
{Thursday} Guest Review: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

{Friday}  Cover Story

I was away from the blog for some family time these past few weeks, because I lost my lovely grandpa.  He was 96 years old, such an amazing wonderful man, and I will miss him so incredibly much.   Now I seem to be coming down with a cold, so I'm not sure how much I'll be around this coming week, either. 
Last week I finished Gates of Thread and Stone so review coming up on that one.  I started Firebug and with all that was going on, just couldn't get into it so I've put it aside for now.  I do plan to give it a try another time. Yesterday I started Trial by Fire and I literally have NOT wanted to put it down.  I should be done with it tomorrow so review to come on that one, too! 

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! 
 

Cover Story

Quite a few covers have been revealed recently! Here's a few that caught my eye:

All the Rage

by Courtney Summers

St. Martin's Griffin

April 14, 2015

The Conspiracy of Us
by Maggie Hall
Putnam Juvenile
January 15, 2015

Seriously Wicked

by Tina Connolly
Tor 

May 5, 2015

Court of Fives
by Kate Elliott
Little Brown BYR
August 18, 2015

Conviction

by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Disney-Hyperion

May 19, 2015

No Parking at the End Times
by Bryan Bliss
Greenwillow Books
February 24, 2015

Immaculate

by Katelyn Detweiler

Viking Children's

May 2015

What You Left Behind
by Jessica Verdi
Sourcebooks
April 2015

All Fall Down

by Ally Carter

Scholastic

January 27, 2015

The Novice
by Taran Matharu
Fiewel & Friends
May 5, 2015








Pretty much loving all of these! Especially The Novice---looks like the same amazing artist as the Throne of Glass books. Conspiracy of Us is stunning in color and composition, and ALL of these have great font work, something I happen to be  a completely sucker for.  :)  The current trend of using fairly clean photographic images is also starting to grow on me, especially with Seriously Wicked, which is just such a cute cover!

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang {guest review}

Falling Into Place
by Amy Zhang
♦publisher: Greenwillow Books
♦release date:September 9, 2014
♦hardcover, 304 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review
♦reviewer: Amy

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

Review: When Liz Emerson crashed her car into a tree, she thought that would be the end. The end of having to look at herself in the mirror, seeing all the damage that she has caused in her life, as well as the lives of those around her. What she didn’t expect, was to live, if you call dangling on the edge living.  As Liz fights for her life, follow the days, hours, minutes and even years, before she crashes her Mercedes. Recounting her life in every last detail …3 years before Liz crashes her car… 8 hours before Liz crashes her car… 17 minutes before … Snapshots of her life’s memories, as well as the events that impacted Liz’s life and those who surround her.

Visions of Liz Emerson’s life: popular, pretty, the homecoming queen, she is everything everyone wants to be. Yet, popularity comes at a cost, a cost Liz is unsure if she is willing to pay. A mean girl to the core and almost naturally cruel, Liz knows that she was responsible for starting the cracks in everyone’s lives, lives that are all now in ruins. If only her classmates knew the real Liz, a girl, tormented with secrets, trying to discover the real place in which she gains her determination to live.

Written in a universal language of love, loss, fear and most of all hope, “Falling into Place,” calls out to be read and understood, highlighting the cause and effect that we have on one another.

Narrated in a unique and surprising voice, I am in awe with the beauty in which Amy Zhang writes. Her honest portrayal of high school and the pitfalls of popularity, exposes the face behind the mask, as well as a side that is rarely seen. Within the chapters of her book, she opens readers to a world of loneliness and loss, with both intensity and realism. Poetic and heartfelt, Amy writes in a fresh new voice that captivates readers, pulling you into a tale that is as fast paced as it is addicting. Forcing readers to explore the world inside Liz Emerson, it leaves your mind to trying to discover why she really crashed her car.

Find Amy Zhang online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Falling Into Place: BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Jackaby Book Birthday Giveaway!

Hi all! :)  I've been away a few weeks, but I wanted to come back with a fun celebration of the release of Jackaby, one of my recent favorites!  Jackaby was released into the world yesterday, so I hope you all get a chance to check it out!

“Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.”

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.

Here's a link to my review if you missed it: Jackaby by William Ritter

I gave it a well-earned 5 cupcakes!

To spread the love, I'm giving away one finished copy of Jackaby!

•Open internationally!

•must be 13 or older or have parent permission

•Ends 9/27/14

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {102}

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 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)

This week, one lovely finished copy and one book from a trade:

 Made for You by Melissa Marr

Servants of the Storm by Delilah Dawson 

The Weekly Nutshell: 
{Monday} What's New YA September Releases & Giveaway
{Tuesday}  Waiting on Wednesday: Burning Kingdoms
{Wednesday} Six Feet Over It blog tour giveaway
{Friday} Review : Stega by Karen Monahan Fernandes 

This week I finished The Fall and though my review won't be out until October 1st when the blog tour rolls through, I will say that I really enjoyed this dark, eerie, completely bizarre book. I also listened to the inspiration story, Poe's Fall of the House of Usher and was intrigued by the close parallels of the two stories.  Currently, I'm reading Gates of Thread and Stone, which after seeing some "meh" reviews I went into with much more subdued expectations. So far I'm enjoying it---I'm about 160 pages in and the story is at a pretty big turning point so we'll see where it goes from here! 
Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :D

Strega by Karen Monahan Fernandes {review}

Strega
by Karen Monahan Fernandes
♦publisher: Mink Publishing
♦release date: December 5th, 2013
♦paperback 278 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Strega, book 1
♦source:

When high school senior Jay Bonifacio finds her grandmother brutally murdered in their small-town home, the scar left by the death of her parents years earlier is ripped open. She is devastated, but she is not nearly as terrified as she should be.

Jay is a Strega. Like her mother and grandmother, she is a descendant of the original Strega of ancient Etruria—gifted women of the woods bestowed with godly power, and the world’s first witches. With the truth withheld from her all her life, Jay is blindsided when her power is unbound. Demons are coming for her. They killed the people she loved most to get to her, and they won’t rest until she is dead.

Forced to embrace her identity if only to survive, Jay uncovers a past life when her ruthless enemy’s hatred for her was born, she rediscovers an eternal love that has burned throughout lifetimes, and she is drawn back into an ancient battle between the virtuous and the wicked that threatens to destroy all of humankind.

 
Review: Jay is alone. Her parents were taken from her when she was just a child, and now the only family she had left, her Gram, is gone in a violent flash. She’s taken in by her Gram’s best friends; she has only them, her boyfriend Shaun, and her best friend Rena, who is there for her every moment. As the vivid dreams that once plagued her as a child resurface and start to bleed into her real life, and a strange knife with ancient runic symbols on it mysteriously falls into her possession, Jay’s past, and true identity, are slowly revealed to her in a bloody and perilous string of encounters.

The writing and storytelling in Strega are gorgeous, though at some moments it misses the mark of a realistic teen voice. Fluid and descriptive phrasing gives the whole story a lyrical, ethereal feel and makes its imaginative spin on ancient Etruscan mythology and witchcraft come alive. Each chapter is short and tightly written. It alternates between giving the reader tidbits about Jay’s past and unfolding the increasingly terrifying events of the present, making each chapter feel like a quick burst of excitement and moving the story along at a lightning-quick pace. This format also nudges the reader on, making it easy to talk yourself into reading just one more chapter. Thanks to this, I found myself reading the book well into the night, being drawn back to devour another chapter in my every free moment.

As Jay uncovers the truth, each intense scene tingles the spine as you feel the danger creeping closer to her. She is a smart, resourceful character; sometimes she makes a foolish decision or two, but it just makes her more real. Despite a few pacing hiccups toward the end, as a huge amount of backstory comes to light, Strega is an outstanding start to a clever fantasy trilogy and one that I plan to continue reading; the story comes to a thrilling head at the end, and I definitely need to know what happens to these characters next!

Find Karen Monahan Fernandez online: Website  •  Twitter

Purchase Strega: BN.com  • BookDepository  •  Indiebound

(review originally featured in San Francisco Book Review. Book provided to me for honest review.)

Six Feet Over It Blog Tour Giveaway!

Today the SIX FEET OVER IT blog tour is stopping by!

Home is where the bodies are buried.

Darkly humorous and heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Jennifer Longo’s YA debut about a girl stuck living in a cemetery will change the way you look at life, death, and love.

Leigh sells graves for her family-owned cemetery because her father is too lazy to look farther than the dinner table when searching for employees. Working the literal graveyard shift, she meets two kinds of customers:

Pre-Need: They know what’s up. They bought their graves a long time ago, before they needed them.

At Need: They are in shock, mourning a loved one’s unexpected death. Leigh avoids sponging their agony by focusing on things like guessing the headstone choice (mostly granite).

Sarcastic and smart, Leigh should be able to stand up to her family and quit. But her world’s been turned upside down by the sudden loss of her best friend and the appearance of Dario, the slightly-too-old-for-her grave digger. Surrounded by death, can Leigh move on, if moving on means it’s time to get a life?

JENNIFER LONGO holds an M.F.A. in Writing for Theater from Humboldt State University. She credits her lifelong flair for drama to parents who did things like buy the town graveyard and put their kids to work in it-because how hilarious would that be? Turns out, pretty hilarious. Jennifer lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and daughter and writes about writing at taotejen.com.

   WEBSITE  •  TWITTER

Win a copy of SIX FEET OVER IT!

•US mailing addresses only

•must be 13 or older, or have parent permission

•Ends 9/17/14

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit the rest of the stops on the tour! 

Happy Indulgence Books                              8/26      

Confessions of a Readaholic                         8/27      

Christy's Book Addiction                               8/28      

Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club           8/29      

The Hiding Spot                                              8/29      

YA Reads                                                           9/1        

Candace's Book Blog                                       9/2        

Stories & Sweeties                                           9/3        

Live to Read                                                      9/3        

A Dream Within a Dream                              9/4        

Rather be Reading YA                                    9/5        

Pandora’s Books                                              9/8        

Evie Bookish                                                     9/9        

Winter Haven Books                                       9/10      

Wondrous Reads                                             9/10

Bumbles and Fairy-Tales                               9/12      

Bundle of Books                                               9/17      

The Children’s Book Review                         9/19      

Waiting on Wednesday

"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.

Burning Kingdoms
by Lauren DeStefano

hitting shelves March 10, 2015
from Simon & Schuster

description:
After escaping through the bottom of Internment, Morgan and her fellow fugitives aboard the great mechanical bird land on the ground to finally learn what has lived beneath their floating island home all these eons.

The ground is a strange place where water falls from the sky as snow, and customers watch moving pictures and visit speakeasies. A place where families can have as many children as they want, their dead are buried in vast gardens of bodies, and Internment is the feature of an amusement park.

It is also a land at war.

Everyone who fled Internment had their own reasons to escape their corrupt haven. But caught under the watchful eye of another king that wants to dominate his world, they wonder if coming to the ground will drag Internment down with them.

My thoughts:  Even after a somewhat rocky start with the very beginning (as in, I very nearly DNFed it), I ended up really loving Perfect Ruin. And with that crazy and exciting ending, I can't wait to see where the story leads in Burning Kingdoms.

What's New: September YA Release List & Giveaway

Summer is almost officially over---and as a big fan of Fall and cooler whether, I can't say I'm too sad about that.  Another thing that Fall brings is a crazy amount of book releases. This list is eye-popping, amazing, so chock full of bookish goodness. And look at all those hearts down there---so many that I personally am so excited for. So lets get on with the list!

So if you're new to Stories & Sweeties, here's a little run-down of this feature: at the start of each month, I do a little thing called the "What's New List & Giveaway" where you'll find a full list of the new releases in YA for the month, and entry to the giveaway. At the end of each month, one lucky winner will get to choose any new release as their prize!

First things first! The winner of August giveaway was: Jasmyn!  Congratulations!!

September 2014 Releases:

Just like previous months, I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I am really anticipating!

{1}
Beetle Boy by Margaret Willey
A Different Me by Deborah Blumenthal 
The Opposite of Love by Sarah Lynn Scheerger
Stronger Than You Know by Jolene Perry

{2}
100 Miles Sideways by Andrew Smith
Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes
Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis ♥
The Boy I Love by Nina de Gramont
Destined for Doon by Carey Corp and Lori Langdon
Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson ♥
The Dolls by Kiki Sullivan
Feuds by Avery Hastings
Girl Defective by Simmone Howell and Henry Beer ♥
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper by Elizabeth Kiem
The Jewel by  Amy Ewing
Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan ♥
A New Darkness by Joseph Delaney
Puppy Love by A. Destiny and Catherine Hapka
The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi
Shattered by Mari Mancusi
Starry Night by Isabel Gillies 
Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini ♥
The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy
Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts

{4}
Always a Catch by Peter Richmond

 {8}
All Those Broken Angels by Peter Adam Salomon
The Lonely by Ainslie Hogarth
No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace
Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett

{9}
Blood of my Blood by Barry Lyga
The Caller by Juliet Marillier
Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire ♥
Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen
Exo by Steven Gould
Falling into Place by Amy Zhang
Found by Harlan Coben 
Forest of Whispers by Jennifer Murgia
Hunt for the Bamboo Rat by Graham Salisbury
Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White ♥
Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick 
Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday ♥
Paper Airplanes by Dawn O'Porter
Playing with Matches by Suri  Rosen
Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley
Vision by Lisa Amowitz
Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman ♥

{16}
Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Being Audrey Hepburn by Mitchell Kriegman
Blackbird by Anna Carey ♥
Color Song by Victoria Strauss
Day 21 by Kass Morgan
Evidence of Things Not Seen by Lindsey Lane ♥
Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither 
Get Even by Gretchen McNeil
I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson ♥
Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey 
Jackaby by William Ritter ♥
Made for You by Melissa Marr ♥
Michael Vey 4: Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans 
Ouija by Katharine Turner
Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas
Sway by Kat Spears
The Vault of Dreams by Caragh M. O'Brien ♥
Wildlife by Fiona Wood ♥

{18}
Who R U Really? by Margo Kelly

{23}
Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld ♥
Black Moon by Teri Harman ♥
The Bodies We Wear by Jeyn Roberts
Firebug by Lish McBride ♥
Lark Rising by Sandra Waugh ♥
Messenger of Fear by Micheal Grant
On a Clear Day by Walter Dean Myers
Poison Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty  by Christine Hepperman ♥
Remember Me by Romily Bernard 
Salt & Storm by Kendal Kulper ♥
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry ♥
Skink--No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen
Silvern by Christina Farley 
Splinters by Matt Carter & F.J.R. Titchenell ♥
Survival Colony 9 by Joshua David Bellin
Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin  
Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan ♥
Zodiac Collector by Laura Diamond

{25}
Unfriended by Rachel Vail

{30} 
Beauty of the Broken by Tawni Waters ♥
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer ♥
Complete Nothing by Kieran Scott
Dead Zone by Robinson Wells
Famous Last Words by Katie Alender ♥ 
The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris
Invisible by Dawn Metcalf
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson
My Brother's Keeper by Tom Bradman
The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond
Perfect Harmony by Michele Scott
Pig Park by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez
Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter
Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer
Schizo by Nic Sheff
The Summers by Iva-Marie Palmer
Unmarked by Kami Garcia ♥
Winterspell by Claire Legrand ♥
Witchrise by Victoria Lamb


(All links go to Goodreads)
Please feel free to email me if you notice any YA titles missing! :)


Giveaway Details:
One winner will win a YA September release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends September 30st, 2014 at 11:59 PM
• Must be 13 or older.
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com.
•Extra entries can be earned by commenting on August or September reviews, and can be done once per review. Come back throughout September whenever you comment on my reviews and get your extra points!      a Rafflecopter giveaway