Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. A spin-off of the meme called "Can't Wait Wednesday" is now hosted at Wishful Endings. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

A Room Away from the Wolves

by Nova Ren Suma

hitting shelves September 4th, 2018  

from Algonquin Young Readers

Bina has never forgotten the time she and her mother ran away from home. Her mother promised they would hitchhike to the city to escape Bina’s cruel father and start over. But before they could even leave town, Bina had a new stepfather and two new stepsisters, and a humming sense of betrayal pulling apart the bond with her mother—a bond Bina thought was unbreakable.Eight years later, after too many lies and with trouble on her heels, Bina finds herself on the side of the road again, the city of her dreams calling for her. She has an old suitcase, a fresh black eye, and a room waiting for her at Catherine House, a young women’s residence in Greenwich Village with a tragic history, a vow of confidentiality, and dark, magical secrets. There, Bina is drawn to her enigmatic downstairs neighbor Monet, a girl who is equal parts intriguing and dangerous. As Bina’s lease begins to run out, and nightmare and memory get tangled, she will be forced to face the terrible truth of why she’s come to Catherine House and what it will take for her to leave...  

My thoughts:  Since the moment I turned the last page of The Walls Around Us, I've been craving more of Nova Ren Suma's bold and stunning writing style. You can bet I'll be counting the days until I have this in my hands. 

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

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.

The Dire King
by William Ritter

hitting shelves August 22d, 2017

from Algonquin Young Readers

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England — like who’s created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around. At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby’s resistance to his feelings for 926 Augur Lane’s ghostly lady, Jenny, begins to give way. Before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.

The epic conclusion to the New York Times best-selling Jackaby series features sly humor and a quirky cast of unforgettable characters as they face off against their most dangerous, bone-chilling foe ever.

My thoughts:  Eeeee! We have a cover..we have an awesome synopsis...and..."epic conclusion??? Nooooo. I love this fun series and I would easily have welcomed 3 or 4 more. Not ready to reach the end. Still, very much looking forward to this book. Haven't read them yet? You can check out my previous reviews here, here, and here to convince you that YOU MUST. :)

What book are you eagerly anticipating this week?

Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter {review + full series giveaway!}

Ghostly Echoes
by William Ritter
♦publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
♦release date: August 23rd, 2016
♦hardcover, 352 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Jackaby, book 3
  review of book 1, Jackaby
  review of book 2, Beastly Bones
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, Detective R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all, and her killer may be far more dangerous than they suspected.

Fantasy and folklore mix with mad science as Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her across the cold cobblestones of nineteenth-century New England, down to the mythical underworld, and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced.

Review: Another fun adventure with Jackaby and Abigail!  I love that in this installment, Abigail really seems to take center stage, and I love even more that we finally get the story behind of of my favorite characters in these books, Jenny Cavanaugh.  She's the ghost who was the former lady of the house at Jackaby's office. At the end of Beastly Bones, we were definitely left with some burning questions about Jenny and her increasingly erratic behavior, plus I've just loved these stories in general so this read was highly anticipated and did not disappoint!

I really appreciate that each of these stories have felt so different from each other---in Ghostly Echoes, we get kind of a mad scientist, evil corporation thing going on.  They have to race to solve the mystery of Jenny's murder and bring her peace before she completely loses herself to the dark fits of outrage that seem to be taking her over.  The story takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, through fearing the worst, despairing over who might be guilty , terror as the characters brave the unknown, and triumph as Jenny gets to learn her strength and face down her past. Abigail also faces some great challenges as she has to step out on her own to face the Underworld itself with only her bravery and brains to guide her! Jenny's murder converges with another mystery Jackaby is tracking, and suddenly unraveling her past may be even more important than they thought. 

A fourth and final book was recently announced and this makes me very happy! I have my fingers crossed that it will finish out with a little closer look at another favorite character, Charlie Cane, and maybe a few more romantic moments with him and Abigail. :)  All of these books are fast-paced and filled with imaginative twists, interesting folklore, and great adventure. If you haven't picked these up yet, you really need to! 

•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•

Reports of William Ritter’s birthplace are unreliable and varied, placing his hometown either in a series of mysterious Catacombs in Malta or in a quiet town in Oregon. His parents, it can be confirmed, raised him to value intelligence, creativity, and individuality. When reading aloud, they always did the voices.

At the University of Oregon, William made questionable choices, including willfully selecting classes for the interesting stories they promised, rather than for any practical application. When he wasn’t frivolously playing with words, he earned credits in such meaningful courses as Trampoline, Juggling, and Seventeenth Century Italian Longsword. These dubious decisions notwithstanding, he regrets nothing and now holds degrees in English and education with certificates in creative writing and folklore.

He currently teaches high school language arts, including reading and writing, mythology and heroes. He is a proud husband and father. When reading aloud, he always does the voices.

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  GOODREADS

Purchase Ghostly Echoes: Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away the full series (so far) to one lucky reader!! Winner will get a paperback of Jackaby, a paperback of Beastly Bones, and an ARC of Ghostly Echoes! Good luck, everyone!

•US mailing addresses only (sorry!)

•Ends 10/7/16

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on...

"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.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison

by Samantha Mabry

hitting shelves April 12th, 2016

from Algonquin Young Readers

In this stunning debut, legends collide with reality when a boy is swept into the magical, dangerous world of a girl filled with poison.
 
Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the senoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison beautifully blends magical realism with a page-turning mystery and a dark,  starcrossed romance--all delivered in lush, urgent prose.

My thoughts: Legends and mysteries, magical realism and romance. Yup, sounds like my kind of thing.  Plus after Beastly Bones and The Walls Around Us, I trust Algonquin YR with my precious reading time! They don't put out much YA, but when they do it tends to be awesome!