In My Mailbox {61}

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we all share what we got during the week!

Got 2 for review and a ton of great stuff at the local library book sale!!! I love those. It never ceases to amaze me that the books I get are all withdrawn library book, but once you take the plastic cover off, they look brand new like no one's ever even cracked them open!

For Review:
The Time Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky
I've heard mixed reviews for this one, but as a vintage dress collector, I am absolutely in love with the beautiful illustrations of vintage ensembles inside. I hope I love the story as well!!

Supernaturally by Kiersten White (!!!)
And here we have my happy dance book of the week! SO excited to get this one, loved, loved, loved the first book!!

Library Books Sale:
Fire by Kristin Cashore
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Billie Standish Was Here by Nancy Crocker

Library sale books, continued...

And library sale books, continued some more!
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
One Trick Pony by Daniella Brodsky
At the Sign of the Sugar Plum by Mary Hooper
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
The Dark Flight Down by Marcus Sedgwick
The Silver Child by Cliff McNish
Seredipity Market by Penny Blubaugh

Ok so now I have two question for everyone!! :)

~Aside from Audrey, Wait, Silver Phoenix, and Fire (all of which I'm super excited to have found for a $1!) , I haven't heard of many of these wonderful goodies I found at the book sale. I picked them up because, by the description on the jacket flap, they all sounded really great! Have you read any of them? Recommend them? I wanna know!

~I get so many books at library book sales for such a great deal (I paid $9 bucks for this whole haul), and I'll love to share them once I've read them. They are literally like new, including the covers, except for a discard stamp and barcode right on the first blank cover page. So my second question is this---would you want to see these in a giveaway? Or find them acceptable in a trade? I would disclose that they were ex-library books, of course!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Book Blogger Hop & Follow Friday

It's time to hop around and make some new blog friends!! If it's your first visit to Stories & Sweeties, WELCOME!!! Please feel free to link in the comments so I can visit you, too! :)

First off, we have Follow Friday hosted by Parakjunkee's View! (click the logo to get there!)Here's the featured question of the week:
Do you judge a book by it's cover?

My answer: YES. Yes, I do. I love pretty books. I love them to look pretty on my shelves, I love them to feel pretty in my hands (I can't get enough of that lovely suedey-feeling paper that they are using for some book covers these days---like Fallen--- *goes to feel up Fallen & Torment covers*---Ok, I'm back. Seriously. YA book covers have become some of the most gorgeous and creative around and, yes, once in while I let a cover completely sell me on a book, which of course on occasion, lands me with a bit of disappointment. On the other hand, there have been a few that I wasn't in love with the cover and the book became one of my favorite books (for example, Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus---love that book with all my heart, but think the cover could have been better.)

Next up is the Book Blog Hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books! (click the logo to get there!)This week, she asks: (question to come!! Check back later!) (update: the book blogger hop has been postposted until friday afternoon, so check back then for the q & a!)

Winner Announcements!

Congrats to the following winners of my recent contests!!

Clarity Giveaway:

Crystal of Elegantly Bound Books
&
Carrie of In the Hammock

March "What's New?" Giveaway:

Meredith Miller

Happy dance for the winners! Enjoy your new books!

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.

Circle of Fire
by Michelle Zink

releasing August 1, 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Description: With time dwindling but her will to end the Prophecy stronger than ever, Lia sets out on a journey to find the remaining keys, locate the missing pages of the Prophecy, and convince her sister Alice to help--or risk her life trying. Lia has her beloved Dimitri by her side, but Alice has James, the man who once loved her sister--and maybe still does. James doesn't know the truth about either sister, or the prophecy that divides them. And Alice intends to keep it that way.

There are some secrets sisters aren't meant to share. Because when they do, it destroys them. This stunning conclusion to Michelle Zink's Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy will make saying good-bye bittersweet for readers.

My thoughts: I am SUPER excited for this book, but I know full well that when I turn that last page its going to leave a big gaping whole in my heart. I love this series. Its definitely up there on my list of favorites, and I am completely torn in half with sadness at seeing it end and pure excitement at seeing how the events will unfold for Lia, Alice, Dimitri, and the Prophecy!

Review: Huntress

Huntress by Malinda Lo

publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

release date: April 5th, 2011

hardcover, 384 pages

intended audience: Young adult

rating:




source: from publisher for honest review

description:
Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

The exciting adventure prequel to Malinda Lo's highly acclaimed novel Ash is overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by the I Ching, and is filled with action and romance.

Review: Stunning. Adventurous. Beautiful. Romantic. Lushly descriptive. Rich in culture and magic. High fantasy at it's very best. All of the above.

I could not wait to step back into the beautiful world that Malinda Lo built in her debut, Ash. In Huntress, we go back 200 years before the story of Aislynn and Kaisa, to see how the very first Huntress came about. Two students of the academy where sages are trained are called upon to make a perilous journey and meet with the Fairy Queen, hopefully to find out what she knows about the changes in the seasons that are destroying their lands. They are opposites, one is a devout student and a gifted seer who intends to become a sage. The other is a bit of wild child who will do anything to escape the fate her father has planned for her. Both of them were easily relatable, complicated characters. On this journey, they found bravery, adventure, strength, loss, friendship, and love.

The love story was perfect: tense and unsure, forbidden because all sages must take a vow of celibacy, they resist but dare to hope. They had this intense connection, each seemed to strengthen the other. As it played out, it was both heart-pounding and heart-breaking.

The language and flow and descriptions were just beautiful and completely effective in drawing up perfect visuals of what was happening in the story or the way something looked or sounded. One perfect example is this passage from the story:

The words were in another language---something brutal and dark, like a knuckle scraping against stone. She felt light-headed as her blood drained from her, making a slight hissing sounds when it struck the mixture in the clay pot. She couldn't look at the cut anymore, it was a mouth on her arm; it screamed at her.

One thing I did find slightly distracting was the quick changes in point of view. There were times when the POV would change so fast that I had to backtrack a few lines to be absolutely sure of who's head I was in, but it didn't take away from the story as a whole at all. I wouldn't have wanted it written any other way---all the different perspectives definitely added to the richness of the story.

This was another stunner from Malinda Lo---and I can only hope that she'll be writing these wonderful stories for a long time to come.

Visit Malinda Lo's site here.

Purchase Huntress at: Amazon • BN.com • BookDepository • Indiebound

In My Mailbox {60}

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we all share what we got during the week!

Got some great stuff this week: one tour book, one super gorgeous review book, and I happened upon an awesome sale at BN.com---buy 3 paperbacks, get a fourth free---so I did a little book-buying as well! (By the way, the fourth paperback was for a friend so it's not shown here, but it was Ruined by Paula Morris, which I read last year and loved!)

For Review:
Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison
Happy dance for this one! I'm very excited to read this modern day retelling of Tristan and Isolde. This cover is one of my favorites out there right now!

From Around the World ARC Tours:
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Been looking forward to this one for a long time, so when the tour opened, I happily jumped on board!

Bought:
A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper
I received the second book in the this series, so I grabbed this to read first. I opened it as soon it got here and I was immediately drawn into the story!

The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
I've always wanted to read this one and I'm really anticipating the authors upcoming book, Texas Gothic---thought it was the perfect time to try this one out!

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
I reluctantly handed this one back to the library unread recently, so when the B&N sale came along I ordered a copy of my own. :)

Hope everyone has a good week!

What's New: April Releases & Giveaway

Well another little bit of 2011 has slipped sneakily by...and what does that mean?? It's time for the April "What's New" New Reads List & Giveaway here at Stories & Sweeties! Here 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! So, without further ado...the book birthdays of April!


April Releases:

{1}
Betrayal by Mayandree Michel
Cinderella: Ninja Warrior by Maureen McGowen
Eclipse of the Jaguar by Richard Trout
In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane

{5}
7 Kinds of Ordinary Catastophes by Amber Kizer
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Faerie Winters by Janni Lee Simner
The Fitzosbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper
Flip by Martyn Bedford
The Ghoul Next Door (Monster High 2) by Lisi Harrison
Huntress by Malinda Lo
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Plague by Michael Grant
Red Glove by Holly Black
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
Teeth: Vampire Tales by Cassandra Clare, Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Melissa Marr, etc.
Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer
Viola in the Spotlight by Adriana Trigiani
Where She Went by Gayle Forman

{8}
Rage by Jackie Kessler

{12}
Enclave by Ann Aguirre
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap
My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison
Roadside Assistance by Amy Clipson
What Comes After by Steve Watkins

{14}
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Life on Mars: Tales from the New Frontier by Jonathan Strahan
On the Volcano by James Nelson
The Returning by Christine Hinwood

{15}
Shatter: A Daughter's Regret by Melody Carlson

{19}
Boyfriends with Girlfriends by Alex Sanchez
Coven's Daughter by Lucy Jago
Defiance by Lili St. Crow
Eona by Alison Goodman
Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
Rage of the Fallen by Joseph Delany and Patrick Arrasmith

{26}
Abandon by Meg Cabot
Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Carmen by Walter Dean Myer
Corsets and Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances by Lesley Livingston, Michael Scott, Maria V. Snyder, etc.
Family by Micol Ostow
Forever Summer by Alyson Noel
Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese
Gifted : Speak No Evil by Marilyn Kaye
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley
Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel by Candace Bushnell
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

{28}
Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith
Exile by Anne Osterlund

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

Giveaway Details: One winner will win a April Release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends at 11:59 PM, PST on April 30st, 2011.
• Must be 13 or older
• Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com.