New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {84}

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)

Here's my new goodies for the week:

For review:

Glamour by Andrea Janes

I'm doing a giveaway for this one, check my right sidebar if you want one, too! :)

The Summer I Saved the World in 65 Days

This looks super cute. MG, I think?

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer

Excited for this one, looks like a fun story about an art school that runs a reality TV show off their campus. 

What We Hide by Marte Jocelyn

Americans in an English boarding school, uncovering all manner of secrets. 

Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick

Sounds interesting, kind of a "Pocahontas" story but with the Inuit culture of Greenland. 

I also got a fantastic surprise package from Leigh Bardugo & Macmillan:

 I believe I've said this many times before, but I will say it again and again: Macmillan does the most remarkable promotional mailings and packaging designs for their books.  Love, Love LOVE.   On the other hand...I do feel kind of guilty getting this gorgeous thing, because I'm ashamed to say I haven't read this series yet!! 

Huge lovely thanks to Random House, Macmillan, and World Weaver Press for these!

The Weekly Nutshell: 

{Monday} Blog tour: Glamour by Andrea Janes Giveaway 
{Tuesday} "What's New" April Release List & Giveaway
{Wednesday} Waiting in Wednesday: Dream Boy
{Friday} Just a quick (slightly snarky) survey...

So that was my week.  Not much going on otherwise, but this coming Tuesday I am SUPER excited to go meet one of my fave authors, Rachel Hawkins!! Her Hex Hall series is a favorite of my daughters and mine! She seems to hardly ever visit the west coast so I'm very happy! :D

Have a great week, everyone! 

Just a quick (slightly snarky) survey...

SO just a quick survey, my friends.  Just because I'm curious.

Here's the scenario:

One day, you're in your local library when the fire alarms start blaring.  Library staff directs everyone, both over the intercom and makes the rounds personally, to evacuate the building through the front entrance.  At this point, you:

A: Smile at the nice librarian, but continue checking out your selected books and DVDs at the self-charge machine.

B: Continue up to the circulation desk to argue your 20 cent library fine. (And look around like you can't figure out why no one is at the desk.)

C: Plant yourself firmly in front of your laptop, waiting for whatever it is you were pulling up to finish downloading, until a usually very mild-mannered librarian has to yell at you to "Get Out Now!!"

Or D: Exit the building, because...well, duh. 

Again...just curious. Because YES, in my library yesterday, A, B, and C actually happened. 

Luckily for them, the building turned out NOT to be on fire. But still.

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.

Dream Boy

by Madelyn Rosenberg & Mary Crockett

hitting shelves July 1st, 2014 from Sourcebooks Fire

description:

Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class.

One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

My Thoughts:  So many reasons to want this---gorgeous cover, that tagline gives me the shivers, and I love stories that are centered around dreams.  Can't wait for this one!

"What's New": April New Releases & Giveaway

April already!  Well, dear readers, really nothing going on for me this month except a boat-load of awesome April releases (see the 1st and the 8th below! O_O). I was hoping to take a trip to TXLA, but that ended up not panning out money-wise. For all you lucky readers who are going, have a fantastic time rubbing elbows with lots of fantastic publishers and cool librarians!! 

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 March's giveaway was: Kelley! Congratulations!!

April 2014 Releases:
Just like previous months, I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I am really anticipating!


{1}
Cold Calls by Charles Benoit
Creators by Tiffany Truitt
Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell
Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose  by Legs McNeil
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige ♥
Going Over by Beth Kephart
Illusion by Sherrilyn Kenyon
The Last Forever by Deb Caletti
Learning Not to Drown by Anna Shinoda
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira ♥
Mad Dogs by Robert Muchamore
A Matter of Souls by Denise Lewis Patrick
The Ring and Crown by Melissa De La Cruz
The Rising King by Shea Berkeley
Salvage by Alexandra Duncan ♥
Sekret by Lindsay Smith ♥
Snitch by Olivia Samms
Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi
Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell
This Side of Salvation by Jeri Ready-Smith

{8}
Always Emily by Michaela MacColl ♥
Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley ♥
Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick
Breakfast Served Anytime by Sarah Combs
Burn Out by Kristi Helvig
Darkbound by Scott Tracey
Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft
Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
Ghost of a Chance by Lauren Barnholdt
Great by Sarah Benincasa ♥
The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
Incinerator by Niall Leonard
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Irresistible by Liz Bankes
The Klaatu Terminus by Pete Hautman
The Lonesome Young by Lucy Connors
Noggin by John Corey Whaley ♥
Plus One by Elizabeth Fama ♥
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins ♥
Remnants: Season of Wonder by Lisa Bergren
Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong ♥
Swim That Rock by John Rocco and Jay Primiano
Toxic Heart by Theo Lawrence
The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer ♥
What We Hide by Marthe Jocelyn
A Whisper in Time by Elizabeth Langston
The World Outside by Eva Wiseman
Zom-B Mission by Darren Shan

{10}
Mayday by Jonathan Friesen
The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder ♥
Pointe by Brandy Colbert ♥

{15}
Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout ♥
The Forever Song By Julie Kagawa
Frozen by Erin Bowman
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith ♥
High & Dry by Sarah Skilton
House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple
The Looking Glass by Jessica Arnold ♥
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Sunrise by Mike Mullin
There Will Come a Time by Carrie Arcos
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han ♥
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
You Only Live Once by Bridie Clark

{18}
Big Fat Disaster by Beth Fehlbaum

{22}
The Art of Secrets by James Klise
The Chance You Won’t Return by Annie Cardi
Deception’s Princess by Esther Friesner
Don’t Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley
How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love by Ken Baker
The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer ♥
The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik
Perennial by Ryan Potter
Project Paper Doll: The Hunt by Stacey Kade
She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Talker 25 by Joshua McCune

{29}
The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel
Camp Payback by J.K. Rock
Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson
The Drowning by Rachel Ward
Exile by Kevin Emerson
In the Shadows by Kiersten White & Jim Di Bartolo
Of Breakable Things by  A. Lynden Rolland ♥
Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike
Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins ♥
The Treatment by Suzanne Young


(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 April release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends April 30st, 2013 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 March or April reviews, and can be done once per review. Come back throughout March whenever you comment on my reviews and get your extra points! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Glamour by Andrea Janes: Blog Tour Stop & Giveaway!

Today the blog tour for

 Glamour by Andrea Janes

 is stopping at Stories & Sweeties!

Townie. That’s what eighteen-year-old Christina Sundy is. All year round she lives in a one-stoplight town on Cape Cod and when summer comes she spends her days scooping ice cream for rich tourists, who she hates. So when one of them takes a job in the ice cream shop alongside her, she’s pissed. Why does a blonde and perky Harvard-bound rich girl like Reese Manning want to scoop ice cream anyway?

Something else weird is happening to Christina: tiny blue sparks seem to be shooting off her fingers. It isn’t long before she realizes the truth about herself — she’s actually a powerful hereditary witch. But her newfound powers are too intense for her to handle and, in a moment of rage, she accidentally zaps Reese into another dimension.

So that no one will notice that the rich girl has disappeared, Christina casts a disguising spell, or “glamour,” and lives Reese’s life while she tries to find a retrieval spell. But as the retrieval spell proves harder than anticipated, and as she goes about living Reese’s life without anyone on the outside noticing the switch, Christina realizes that there’s nothing to stop her from making the glamour permanent… except, of course, her fellow witches, a 16th century demon, and, just maybe, her own conscience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andrea Janes writes horror, dark comedy, thrillers, and historical slapstick. She is the author of Boroughs of the Dead: New York City Ghost Stories. She is also a licensed NYC tour guide, and offers a variety of ghostly tours around the city. Her many obsessions include New York City history, old photographs, Mabel Normand, all things nautical, and beer. She maintains a personal blog over at Spinster Aunt, where she discusses these obsessions in more detail than is probably healthy.

TWITTER  •  WEBSITE  •  BLOG  •  GOODREADS 

World Weaver Press is generously allowing me to giveaway a copy of GLAMOUR! 

Enter below!

•US mailing address only

• must be 13 or older or have parent permission

•Ends  April 14th, 2014

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {83}

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 goodies for the week:

Bought:

Tempus by Holly Lauren 

This one came so highly recommended by Leanna of Daisy Chain Books, I just had to get myself a copy!

See Me by Wendy Higgins

 One of my favorite authors takes on Irish legend...this was a must-buy for me!

For review: 

Born of Deception by Teri Brown

Super-happy-dance!!  Born of Illusion was one of my faves of 2013, so excited for this sequel!

Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley

This looks really cool...about a girl who is an oracle!

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

This will be my first Morgan Matson book and I can't wait to read it!

Mouseheart by Lisa Fiedler

The cover of this makes me think of The Secret of Nimh. And the illustrations inside...this is going to be gorgeous as a finished copy!

Many thanks to Harper Teen, Soho Teen, and Simon Schuster for the review copies!

The Weekly Nutshell:
{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday: The Crystal Heart
{Wednesday} Review: The Taking by Kimberly Derting
{Thursday} MG Steampunk Giveaway: The Mark of the Dragonfly
{Friday} The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

Wow where did that week go?  This week I was reading After the End, and I haven't pinpointed what it is about this book, but I can't seem to put it down!  I got drawn away from Liv Forever because of a few deadlines, but I actually can't wait to get back to it.  And guys, the cupcake end of this blog has definitely gone neglected for a while, but there are a few flavors I have been dying to put together, so hopefully you'll see some yumminess on this blog again soon! 

Happy reading, everyone! :D

Becky's View: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer
♦publisher: Balzer & Bray
♦release date: May 13th, 2014
♦paperback, 304 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review (via SF book review)

Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.

But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.

So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.

As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.

Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves is a morbid but colorful murder mystery.  It’s told from the POV of a teen that has grown up surrounded by corpses in the family mortuary. Lily lives with and gets a daily dose of guidance from a very eccentric group of women; her mother, her grandmother, and especially her aunt.  Reflecting that upbringing, we get her skewed, slightly cold attitude toward death.  She’s a bit of a gothic outcast, and we know from the get-go that she and Erin, the girl who is found dead in her bathtub, were far from friends.  

The story itself is good, though nothing about it truly stood out to me. I did like the way Lily used her family’s insider info and knowledge from working at the mortuary to really help work the mystery out.   Lily was tutoring Erin’s boyfriend, and she suspected they were getting a little too close right before she winds up dead, so Lily must do everything she can to find the killer and keep the fingers from pointing at her and Michael.  

Many of the characters suffer from a bad dose of heavy cliché: here we have the goth girl who grew up in a mortuary, here’s the jock with questionable intentions, there’s the town stoner, and oh look, there are the mean girls that all the adults think are angels.  I also found the humor to be a little off-putting at times, and while it might not bother some, it took away slightly from my enjoyment of this book. 

 Still, there are a few really good surprises to keep the reader guessing and a shocking twist ending will leave your head spinning! It was, for the most part, a fun and fast read that kept me entertained. This may be a win for fans of Pretty Little Liars (I watch the show, but haven’t read the books, so don’t quote me on that!), it's definitely a similar vibe.

Find Sarah Strohmeyer online:  Website  •  Twitter 

Purchase The Secrets of Lily Graves:  Amazon  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound