Saturday, August 11, 2012

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {14}

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 my haul for this week!

For Review:
Amarok by Angela J. Townsend
Wolves! Can't wait to read this--think daughter will love this one, too!
Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight
Gah! So excited for book 2!!
The Rise of Nine/The Power of Six/I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
I haven't read these, though I've heard they're good. Amy's son looooooves this series, I'm sure he's going to be all *grabby hands* over Rise of Nine! :)

Huge thanks to Spencer Hill Press, Simon & Schuster, & HarperTeen for these!

New on my Nook:
Purchased:
Anew by Chelsea Fine
Came across this one by sheer chance this week, looked good, lots of great reviews...read the sample and was completely hooked!

The Weekly Nutshell:
{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday:The Dead & Buried by Kim Harrington
{Wednesday} BOOKS FOR TRADE! (still lots left!)
{Saturday} Cover Story: 7 New Cover Reveals!

SO as you can see, I wasn't around much this week! We're on our last few days of summer vacation and getting in a few last hurrahs! The kids start back Monday morning so I should be posting full force again--I have three reviews and lots of reading to catch up on! If you haven't checked out my Books For Trade list, be sure to take a look! Still lots of goodies left!

Have a great week, everyone!


Cover Story

Some fantastic covers have been revealed recently! Take a look:



Another sweet love story from the author
of Statistical Probablility of Love at First Sight!










Death, Doom, and Detention
Second book to the Darklight series
from Darynda Jones.




Pretty creepy cover! A girl seeks revenge on
the boy responsible for her cousin's death.








Over You
I've never read Amy Reed before, but
I've always loved the cool simplicity of
her books' covers!







Thieves, spies, and murder mystery in
Queen Elizabeth's court!









Impossibility of Tomorrow
The follow-up to Avery Williams' Incarnation series that started with
Alchemy of Forever.







Belle Epoque
I will definitely be checking this one out!
Friendship, intrigue, and deception in the
most decadent historical period of Paris.
I love this cover!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

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 Dead and Buried
by Kim Harrington

hitting shelves January 1st, 2012 from Scholastic Point

description:
A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.
Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . .
But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things.
Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.
Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house . . . is haunted.
Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school -- until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets.
But is one of them a murderer?

My thoughts: I love Kim Harrington's Clarity series and this looks like something I will enjoy as well!! A haunted house, a mysterious murder...and I love the creepy cover! It's too bad this one isn't coming out a few months earlier---seems like it would be a perfect Halloween read!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {13}

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!

Two new goodies this week for review:
For Review:
Something Red by Douglas Nicholas
Notice the wolf sneakily hidden in the treeline...cool.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I've been meaning to read this one before the movie came out---so I was happy when this showed up in my mailbox! Cool movie tie-in edition. :)

Many thanks to Atria Books & MTV Books for these!

* * * * * *

The Weekly Nutshell:
{Monday} Giveaway: Glow & Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan
{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday: Pretty Dark Nothing by Heather L. Reid
{Wednesday} What's New! YA August Release List & Giveaway
{Thursday} Our Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
{Friday} Book Trailers: Rift, Venom, & The Girl Who...

Have a great week, everyone and happy reading! :D

Friday, August 3, 2012

Book Trailers: Rift , Venom, & The Girl Who...

More cool trailers hit the web these past few days. Here's a few I came across:

Venom by Fiona Paul


Rift by Andrea Cremer


And last, but definitely not least,
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
by Catherynne M. Valente


Ah, love that last one. :)  So, will you be reading any of these?  To be perfectly honest, I didn't really have Venom on my must-read list until I saw this trailer for it...it got to the last part where he leans down to kiss her hand and my eyes bugged out!! Whaaaat the...?? Oh, I am definitely planning on reading it now.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Our Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Well, this is a first---Amy & I actually read the same book at the same time! :) We both LOVED this one, so we both wanted to share a few thoughts on it!

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
♦publisher: TorTeen
♦release date: August 7, 2012
♦hardcover: 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Anna, book 2
  Becky's review of Anna Dressed in Blood
It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live--not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

Review:
On Aquiring Girl of Nightmares:
 Amy: Anna Dressed in Blood was most likely one of my favorite reads last year, and one of the main reasons I went to ALA this year. I couldn't wait to meet the woman behind the amazing strong willed character, Anna. And I wasn't disappointed. Kendare Blake was a pleasure to meet and shake hands with. I asked her to sign the cover of my copy of Anna Dressed in Blood and she so obliged and did so with a red sharpie to boot.  I couldn't wait to bring the book home and front it on my shelf of favorites!
 Becky: Yes, after completely being blown away by Anna last year, Girl of Nightmares was one of those books that it didn't matter how long the line was, I would have waiting hours in line at ALA for the chance to meet Kendare and get the coveted second book! She was awesome---and she knew of Stories & Sweeties! I think my head spun a little at that. :) I was completely starstruck.

On the "GUTS" of the story ;)
Becky: Absolutely fantastic.  Every bit as good as the first, but so incredibly different.  Its been a few months since Anna saved them all, and Cas starts to see gory visions of her everywhere.  Is she in trouble? Has she crossed back over?  He knows he has to do something, but also knows everyone will think he's crazy.  So much more going on in this one emotionally, too---Thomas is an even more awesome character this time, always up for a challenge and always there to support Cas. Things get complicated with Carmel as she grapples with her part in all of it.  We get to see more of the mysterious Gideon and new characters come into the picture---one that I especially loved, Jestine.  She keeps us guessing where her loyalties lie (I don't think even she know for sure), but she is all spunk---her feistiness very nearly gets her killed in her very first appearance!  And the gore---OH, the GORE.  I have to say, there was way more gore this time around.  There are times when the ghosts are almost more like zombies.  Dark, dark, stuff happening all around.
Amy: EPIC!! That's all I can say about this book. I was almost trepidacious about cracking open the cover. Scared to start only because I didn't want it to end.  Girl of Nightmares doesn't disappoint, and is the perfect companion to the first book.  Anna winds herself back into Cas' life even though she always was present in his heart. Cas faces some tough choices throughout the book that only loving a dead girl can bring.  He leaves no stone unturned or detail unpolished, which keeps you captivated from cover to cover. And as Kendare Blake promised, there is no gore lost in this sequel. Horror and Gore abound in every last blood dripping detail. I don't know where she comes up with the story but it has fresh, new twists at every bend that almost leave you breathless. 

The End: 
Becky: I think this may be the end, my friends.  Sad as that makes me, this story definitely came to a complete, mind-blowingly exciting, but satisfying end.  I can't think of how the story might continue---but if anyone's imagination could do it, it's the brilliant Kendare Blake! I guess we'll have to wait and see!  If not, I'll definitely miss all of these amazing characters!

Amy's cupcake match: Dark chocolate for the color of Anna's hair, cherry pie filling in the center so it bleeds when you cut into it, with wild wispy chocolate dark frosting on top. Only a dark gooey chocolate cupcake can match the darkness of this book. 
 Visit Kendare Blake: Website  •  Facebook  •  Twitter

Purchase Girl of Nightmares:  Amazon  •  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Trailer: (watch it---it's awesome.)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

What's New: August YA Releases & Giveaway!!

Holy Moly, it's August already! Was it just me, or did July fly by way too fast. And now it's almost time for school to start again! We start a little early here...my kids go back in just two short weeks! Blows my mind how fast their summer vacation went by!

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 July's giveaway was: Melanie ! Congratulations! :D


August Releases:
Just like previous months, I've put a little lve by those books that I am really anticipating---whether I can't wait to read them or I just can't wait to have my own finished copy!

{1}
Book of Tormod #3: A Templar's Destiny by Kat Black
The Curiousities by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, & Brenna Yovanoff
Far West by Patricia C. Wrede
Four Secrets by Margaret Willey
The Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki

{2}
Debutantes by Cora Harrison
Survive by Alex Morel
The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

{6}
Nevermore: The Final Maximum Ride Adventure by James Patterson

{7}
Anastasia Forever by Joy Preble
Auracle by Gina Rosati
Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman
Between You & Me by Marisa Calin
Blood Fever by Veronica Wolff
Blood Ninja III: Betrayal of the Living by Nick Lake
Bound to You: Spellbound & See You Later by Christopher Pike
The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney
Capital Girls by Ella Monroe
Courtship and Curses by Marissa Doyle
Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia
Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
Glitch by Heather Anastasiu
One Shot Kill by Robert Muchamore
Rift by Andrea Cremer
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass
Wake by Amanda Hocking

{8}
Burn by Heath Gibson
Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear
Narc by Crissa-Jean Chappell

{14}
Blood Crave by Jennifer Knight
Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso
The Fallen #4: Forsaken by Thomas E. Sniegoski
False Memory by Dan Krokos
Intentions by Debrah Heiligman
The Kill Order by James Dashner
Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
Michael Vey #2: Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans
My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher
OMGQueer by Katherine E. Lynch and Radclyffe (anthology)
Suck It Up and Die by Brian Meehl
Touched by Cyn Balog
The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

{16}
The Rising by Will Hill
SpookyGirl by Jill Baguchinsky
The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long


{21}
Life Happens Next by Terry Trueman
Over You by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff that Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore
Smashed by Lisa Luedeke
Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

Two or Three Things I Forgot To Tell You by Joyce Carol Oates

{24}
Reaper by K.D. McEntire

{28}
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Ask Amy Green: Love and Other Drama-Ramas by Sarah Webb
Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton
A Certain October by Angela Johnson
Confessions of an Angry Girl by Loise Rozett
The Dark Light by Sarah Walsh
Defiance by C.J. Redwine

The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer
Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
Dragons of Winters by James A. Owen
Embers and Echoes by Karsten Knight

Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh
Erasing Time by C.J. Hill
Every Day by David Levithan

Fire in the Streets by Kekla Magoon
Foretold by Carrie Ryan, et al. (anthology)
If I Lie by Corinne Jackson
Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna
Since You Left Me by Allen Zadoff
Spark by Brigid Kemmerer
Speechless by Hannah Harrington
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

Starling by Lesley Livingston
The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron by Johnathan Strahan, et al. (anthology)
Unwholly by Neal Schusterman
Vanquished by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

{30}
Dangerous Boy by Mandy Hubbard

(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 August release of their choice! *see note below
• Contest ends August 31th, 2012 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.
a Rafflecopter giveaway