Monthly Archives:: October 2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Dusty Reads (5)

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Dusty Reads is a weekly meme, hosted here, featuring a book that has been sitting unread on our home shelf for some time. To participate, add your link at the bottom. 
If you wish, you can grab the button and find more information here.

My pick this week:
The Truth About Forever
Sarah Dessen
Released May 1st, 2004

Sixteen-year-old Macy Queen is looking forward to a long, boring summer. Her boyfriend is going away. She’s stuck with a dull-as-dishwater job at the library. And she’ll spend all of her free time studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father’s recent unexpected death. But everything changes when Macy is corralled into helping out at one of her mother’s open house events, and she meets the chaotic Wish Catering crew. Before long, Macy joins the Wish team. She loves everything about the work and the people. But the best thing about Wish is Wes—artistic, insightful, and understanding Wes—who gets Macy to look at life in a whole new way, and really start living it.

I received this for my birthday back in February and haven’t gotten into it yet. I haven’t actually read any books by Sarah Dessen. I have heard she was amazing and all her books have fantastic reviews – which is why I had this one and a few others on my wishlist. I should really pick it up I actually need a good pick-me-up book and this one could do the trick.
What do you think of Sarah Dessen?
 

Interview & Giveaway with Belle Whittington

Posted by on 10/24/2011 • 43 Comments

Belle Whittington, author of Cicada, is stopping by Xpresso Reads today to answer a few questions about her debut novel, the first in a planned trilogy. She has also generously offered an ecopy of her book for giveaway.

Before we get started on the interview, let’s take a look at Cicada: Cicada Belle Whittington Released July 14th, 2011Add to your Goodreads to-read shelf

Purchase: Amazon / Smashword / B&N

For 17-year-old Blair Reynolds and her friends, being the bearer of secrets is getting really old. But it’s something she learns to deal with, because there’s no other option. If the people in her small town ever found out what she and her friends discovered in the woods and hid in the storage room, the whole town…

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Spooktacular Giveaway Hop

Posted by on 10/24/2011 • 281 Comments

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & The Diary of A Bookworm are hosting a huge giveaway hop. Over 400 blogs are participating which gives you an extremely good chance of winning some books! Xpresso Reads is excited to be a part it. Thanks for hopping on by!Here’s what’s up for grabs. I have picked some great books that would be perfect for a Halloween read. The winner will be able to choose any one of the following books. I’m hoping there’s at least one in here that will suit everyone’s taste.

Giveaway details:Open Internationally (as long as The Book Depository ships to you)Must be a GFC followerLeave a comment with your GFC follower name and email address to enter.

Extra entries:+1 if you follow me on Twitter @Giselleco+1…

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In My Mailbox (6)

Posted by on 10/23/2011 • 129 Comments

“In My Mailbox” is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I’ve  received/ purchased/ borrowed during the current week. 

How are you all doing this week? I had a pretty uneventful one, really. It’s getting cold and steady rain is kind of boring, but great for reading (glass half full, right?). So this week I suddenly got a bunch of ARCs that I had requested as well as a few author review requests, so the list is a little crazy. I’m glad the release dates are scattered or I’d never be able to get them all posted in time.  What I got for review (click on cover for Goodreads synopsis):                            I want to thank…

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Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Posted by on 10/22/2011 • 21 Comments

Vampire Academy(Vampire Academy, #1)Richelle MeadReleased August 16th, 2007by Penguin Group

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s the very place where they’re most in danger. . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires make Lissa one of them forever.

This was actually better than I expected. When I read vampire or…

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Fresh Batch (Oct 23rd-29th)

Posted by on 10/22/2011 • 6 Comments

This week’s hot releases

Fresh Batch features some of the hottest releases this upcoming week. The books to feature are exclusively chosen by Giselle.

Flavour of the week:                 

     Amplified      Tara Kelly

When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she’s the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn’t think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . . . In…

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Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Posted by on 10/21/2011 • 16 Comments

The Name of the StarMaureen JohnsonReleased September 29th, 2011by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious…

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Review: Cicada by Belle Whittington

Posted by on 10/20/2011 • 16 Comments

CicadaBelle WhittingtonReleased July 14th, 2011Format: Ebook

For 17-year-old Blair Reynolds and her friends, being the bearer of secrets is getting really old. But it’s something she learns to deal with, because there’s no other option. If the people in her small town ever found out what she and her friends discovered in the woods and hid in the storage room, the whole town would be up in arms;literally. You see, folks here don’t believe in aliens from outer space. Besides, if they ever found out what two of those aliens did to one of their own, well, let’s just say what would follow would be all out war.

As the months unfold, their summer becomes consumed with secrets, puzzle pieces that don’t quite fit together, and a fight for their…

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