Monthly Archives:: February 2012

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Fresh Batch (Feb. 19th – 25th)

Posted by Giselle • 22 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavour of the week:

The Catastrophic History of You and Me

Jess Rothenberg

Goodreads / Purchase

BRIE’S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn’t love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she’s D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there’s Patrick, Brie’s mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick’s help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she’s ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

Catastrophic History of You and Me book trailer:

Jess’s Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Jess Rothenberg grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, graduated from Vassar College, and spent most of her twenties editing books for teens and middle grade readers (like the bestselling titles VAMPIRE ACADEMY, STRANGE ANGELS, and I AM A GENIUS OF UNSPEAKABLE EVIL & I WANT TO BE YOUR CLASS PRESIDENT, to name just a few). She lives in Brooklyn where she writes full-time, dances interpretively, and dreams of one day owning a sheepdog named Leo.

Other releases this week (click on cover for Goodreads):
*In no particular order* *Purchase links are for Book Depository*

From the gentle tones of a storyteller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favorite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with…or to fear.

Purchase

When the sixteen-year-old runaway Chap is mistaken for a missing boy named Cassiel, his life changes dramatically. Chap takes on Cassiel’s identity, gaining the family and friends he’s always dreamed of having. But becoming someone else isn’t as easy as he hoped–and Chap isn’t the only one hiding a secret.

Purchase

Ari, along with the superhot Sebastian, is doing everything she can to learn more about Athena and to get Violet back. But the battle of good and evil is bigger than she realizes, and she’s about to be pulled into a world more horrific than she could ever imagine….

Purchase

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago – surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

Purchase

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she’s had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic’s doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.

Purchase

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane. Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Purchase

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth–a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons.

Purchase

I think this is my shortest Fresh Batch post since Christmas! But it’s still filled with pretties!

What’s on your wishlist this week?

Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Posted by Giselle on 02/17/2012 • 28 Comments

FeverLauren DeStefanoSeries: Chemical Garden, #2 Release date: February 21st, 2012by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

Goodreads / Purchase

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago – surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous – and in a…

Miss World Tour Stop

Posted by Giselle on 02/16/2012 • 26 Comments

I’m part of the Miss World blog tour and today I’ve got Randi here for an interview to learn more about herself and her book. There’s also a chance to win so stick around! Never heard of Miss World? Here’s the lowdown:

Miss WorldRandi BlackRelease date: August 30th, 2011by Fire Spirit

Goodreads / Purchase

It’s 1993. Kim Ho wishes she were Courtney Love, instead of the chubby 16-year-old who clashes with her traditional Chinese parents. Her very own Kurt Cobain arrives in the form of Kevin, a 26-year-old failed musician. But Kevin uses Kim’s rock-star dreams to exploit her, and those dreams die along with the real Kurt Cobain.Too scared to tell anyone, Kim conjures up a cross-dressing imaginary friend and dates Walter Riordan, the cute boy from…

Giveaway: Starters by Lissa Price (CAN)

Posted by Giselle on 02/15/2012 • 25 Comments

StartersLissa PriceRelease date: March 13th, 2012by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in…

Review: The Dark and Hollow Places

Posted by Giselle on 02/15/2012 • 27 Comments

The Dark and Hollow Places (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #3)Carrie RyanRelease date: March 22nd, 2011by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister’s face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters. Annah’s world stopped that day, and she’s been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn’t feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she…

Guest post & Giveaway with Sean Page

Posted by Giselle on 02/15/2012 • 12 Comments

War Against the Walking DeadSean PageRelease date: August 31st, 2011by Severed Press

Goodreads / Purchase

More than 63% of people now believe that there will be a global zombie apocalypse before 2050…

So, you’ve got your survival guide, you’ve lived through the first chaotic months of the crisis, what next?

Employing real science and pioneering field work, War against the Walking Dead provides a complete blueprint for taking back your country from the rotting clutches of the dead after a zombie apocalypse.

This giveaway was made possible by Kat from The Aussie Zombie. See what she thought of War Against the Walking Dead. Click here for her review.

As part of Zombies vs Unicorns month, I asked Sean to tell us how zombies would reign in a…

Waiting on Wednesday (23)

Posted by Giselle on 02/15/2012 • 54 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. My pick this week:

The Little Woods McCormick Templeman Release date: July 10th, 2012 by Schwartz & Wade (Random House) Add it to your Goodreads

Unexplained disappearances. Suspicious deaths. There’s something wrong with the woods behind St. Bede’s Academy.

When Cally Wood starts at St. Bede’s halfway through her junior year, she’s suddenly thrust into a world of privilege and prestige, and in no time flat, she learns to navigate the complex social world of the upper echelon. But amid the illicit romances and weekend-long parties, Cally discovers that a brilliant but troubled girl named Iris disappeared from St. Bede’s just a few months ago. Most…

Guest post & Giveaway with Suz Korb

Posted by Giselle on 02/14/2012 • 21 Comments

As part of Zombies vs Unicorns month, Suz Korb, author of Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde is here today to educate us further on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. In particular, what NOT to do if you want to remain un-zombified. Oh and, there’s a giveaway too! Let’s first have a look at her book:

Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde (Bedeviled, # 1)Suz KorbRelease date: November 20th, 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

Kidnapped by a vampire, epically farted on by a pug and dragged through the pits of Hell. Welcome to Eve Eden’s world in the small and strange town of Twin Forest.

Eve has goals. She has dreams and ambitions that don’t involve staying in this weird, podunk town. When supernatural forces collide and drop her into…