Monthly Archives:: April 2012

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Fresh Batch (April 15th-21st)

Posted by 20 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

Glimmer

Phoebe Kitanidis
Release date: April 17th, 2012
by Balzer + Bray

Goodreads / Purchase 

What if you forgot your identity and had to rely on other people to tell you who you were?

And what if to discover your true self, you first had to unravel a mystery so big and terrifying you were not sure you’d survive solving it?

When Marshall and Elyse wake up in each other’s arms with zero memory of how they got there or who they are, it’s the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, the two make a pact to work together to find the answers that could jog their missing memories. As they piece together clues, they discover they’re in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls, where everyone seems mysteriously happy, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town’s perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything—not the death of Marshall’s mom, not the hidden shame in Elyse’s family, not even the day-to-day anguish of high school.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marsh and Elyse fall into an intense relationship…but the secrets they uncover could be the death of this growing love—and the death of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

Phoebe’s Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Phoebe Kitanidis is a West Coast writer. She is the author of the young adult novels WHISPER and GLIMMER, published by Harper Collins. Phoebe grew up in a variety of places, including Athens, Greece; the American Midwest; and the San Francisco Bay Area. After her graduation from U.C. Berkeley, she taught Language Arts, then worked in a few high-tech corporate offices. In 2004, she earned her M.A. in Communication from San Jose State University. A former contributor to Discovery Girls magazine, she also wrote THE FAB GIRLS GUIDE TO FRIENDSHIP HARDSHIP, published by Discovery Girls Inc. She lives with her family in Seattle.


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

It’s been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA’s unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space–and change their lives forever.

Purchase

It’s a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives.
Purchase 

Thirty-year-old Zoe leads an ordinary life until the end of the world arrives. She is cleaning cages and floors at Pope Pharmaceuticals when the President of the United States announces that human beings are no longer a viable species. When Zoe realizes that everyone she loves is disappearing, she starts running.

Sixteen-year-old Scotch struggles to fit in—at home she’s the perfect daughter, at school she’s provocatively sassy, and thanks to her mixed heritage, she doesn’t feel she belongs with the Caribbeans, whites, or blacks. And even more troubling, lately her skin is becoming covered in a sticky black substance that can’t be removed.

Sam never thought she would fall for the one mysterious guy she has been speaking to over the phone for months, the boy the counselors called Daggers. She wasn’t supposed to talk to him outside of their sessions. But as she began to peel the layers of Daggers and learn who he is, the one boy she is supposed to be saving, might just be the one who is saving her.

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet’s talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers.

When Ana, an immortal, meets the reincarnation of the boy she once loved, and inadvertently killed, she must fight to save him from her sister, the Norse goddess of the underworld. And from the curse that dooms any boy who loves her to a painful death.

Heartbroken over the tragic death of her fiancé, seventeen-year-old Zora Stewart leaves Baltimore for the frontier town of West Glory, Oklahoma, to help her young widowed aunt keep her homestead going. There she discovers that she possesses the astonishing ability to sense water under the parched earth.

Purchase 

Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.

In Frances’s mind, beautiful, successful, ecstatically married Emma Dunham is the height of female perfection. Frances, recently dumped with spectacular drama by her boyfriend, aspires to be just like Emma. So do her close friends and fellow teachers, Lisa and Jill. But Lisa’s too career-focused to find time for a family. And Jill’s recent unexpected pregnancy could have devastating consequences for her less-than-perfect marriage.

Anything catching your eye this week?

Review: Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Posted by on 04/13/2012 • 36 Comments

Deadly CoolGemma HallidaySeries: Deadly Cool, #1Release date: October 11th 2011by HarperTeen

Goodreads / Purchase

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name.

But as much as Hartley wouldn’t mind seeing him squirm, she knows he’s innocent, and she’s the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school’s resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins…

Review: Channeler’s Choice by Heather McCorkle

Posted by on 04/12/2012 • 18 Comments

Channeler’s ChoiceHeather McCorkleSeries: Channeler, #2Release date: February 27th 2012by Compass Press

Goodreads / Purchase

With her parents’ murderers dead, Eren can finally concentrate on fitting in at Spruce Knoll High, not to mention figuring out what it means to be a channeler. If only it were that easy. It turns out she isn’t normal even among channelers – she may be a legendary warrior meant to protect the earth in a last great battle.

But Mayan prophecies are the least of her worries as she involuntarily starts to gather her own Society, another girl moves in on Aiden, her powers rage out of control, and worst of all, someone is stalking her. To top it all off, Eren discovers she doesn’t have to be a channeler after all –…

Interview & Giveaway with Brigid Kemmerer

Posted by on 04/11/2012 • 26 Comments

Today is full of hotness at Xpresso Reads; I’m sure you’ve all heard of STORM by Brigid Kemmerer and most of you are probably highly anticipating it – for good reason! So I’m excited to have Brigid over today for a great interview, and guess what? She’s giving away a signed copy!

StormBrigid KemmererSeries: Elementals, #1Release date: April 24th, 2012by Kensington

Goodreads / Purchase

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they have more power than you dream.

Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her, Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys—all the ones she doesn’t want. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water—just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth….

Waiting on Wednesday (31)

Posted by on 04/11/2012 • 74 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:

Alice in Zombieland Gena Showalter Release date: September 25th, 2012 by Harlequin Teen Add it to your Goodreads

She won’t resist until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the…

Here Tour Stop

Posted by on 04/10/2012 • 21 Comments

Today is my stop on the Here Blog Tour, hosted by A Tale of Many Reviews, and I’ve got my review for you as well as a fun This ‘N That interview with Denise. You also have a chance to win a copy! How’s that for a great day!? 🙂

HereDenise Grover SwankSeries: On the Otherside, #1Release date: November 11th 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name…

Review: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Posted by on 04/09/2012 • 31 Comments

The CallingKelley ArmstrongSeries: Darkness Rising, #2Release date: April 10th, 2012by Doubleday Canada (US: HarperCollins)

Goodreads / Purchase

Maya Delaney’s paw-print birthmark is the mark of what she truly is–a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly everyone else. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows it’s only a matter of time before she’s able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents.

Now, Maya and her friends have been forced to flee from their homes during a forest fire they suspect was deliberately set. Then they’re kidnapped, and after a chilling helicopter crash, they find themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness with nothing but…

In My Mailbox (29)

Posted by on 04/08/2012 • 78 Comments

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

How is everyone this Easter weekend? I hope you’re having a great long weekend. I had a fantastic week, and even though we’re supposed to have a snow storm tonight, I’m definitely feeling the spring season! I love it! So this week on the blog I had a cover reveal on Monday with two fabulous new covers – here – you must check it out if you missed it! I also had the Pure Blog Tour drop by for a short excerpt here. And you can still enter my 2000 Followers Giveaway here for those who may have missed it.

I am really excited for…