Saturday, August 18, 2012

Fresh Batch (August 19th – 25th)

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

Flavor of the week:

Smashed
Lisa Luedke
Release date: August 21st 2012
by Margaret K. McElderry Books

 

A field hockey star grapples with addiction in this riveting debut that will appeal to fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.

Stay out of trouble for one more year, and Katie Martin can leave her small town loneliness behind forever. She is a field hockey star on the fast track to a college scholarship, but her relationship with alcohol has always been a little questionable. Then trouble finds her. Alec is the most popular guy in school, and also the biggest bully—with his sights set firmly on Katie. When Alec turns on the charm, Katie thinks she must have been wrong about him.

Except that she wasn’t. On a rain-soaked, alcohol-drenched night, one impulsive decision leaves Katie indebted to Alec in the worst possible way. This debut novel is a fast-paced and compelling story of addiction, heartbreak, and redemption.

 Lisa’s Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Lisa Luedeke grew up in rural Maine, where she fell in love with writing in high school. She is hard at work on her second novel, which is set in the same small Maine town as Smashed, but with an entirely different cast of characters. She lives in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire with her husband and young daughter, where they ski, swim, hike and hang out at their local bookstore, The Toadstool.

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

After the grand explosion of her relationship, seventeen-year-old Max Scott developed what every girl in the history of the world has been waiting for: a way to get over being dumped.

Bethany, an angel sent to Earth, and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier, have been to Hell and back. But now their love will be put to its highest test yet, as they defy Heavenly law and marry.

Silver has begun to accept that life isn’t going to turn out as he expected. The exwife he’s remained friends with is about to marry a terrific guy Silver can’t quite bring himself to hate. And his Princeton-bound teenage daughter has just confided in him that she’s pregnant

Purchase

When Lorelei’s old school mysteriously burns down, a new one appears practically overnight: Splendid Academy. Rock-climbing walls on the playground and golden bowls of candy on every desk? Gourmet meals in the cafeteria, served by waiters? Optional homework and two recess periods a day? It’s every kids’s dream.

As Rachel and Ethan are poised to move into their new home, safe behind the walls of the Kelly compound, Rachel wonders if she’ll finally be free of the ghosts that have haunted her for so long and if she’ll step into the sun after a past steeped in darkness.

Joyce Carol Oates masterfully captures the unique experience of being a teenage girl in this provocative and poignant new novel in the vein of Wintergirls and Thirteen Reasons Why.

Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I’d been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive. Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others. . . .

Purchase

“Stuck in Neutral,” a Printz Honor Book, introduced the world to Shawn McDaniel, a fourteen-year-old kid with cerebral palsy. But what happens next?

Purchase

And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.

When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting . . . until she learns that they have some frightening plans.
Purchase

One day I was a high school teacher on summer break, leading a relatively uneventful but happy life. Or so I told myself. Later, I’d question that, as I would question pretty much everything I knew about me, my relationships, and my desires.

Emmeline Thistle, a dirt-scratcher’s daughter, has escaped death twice-first, on the night she was born, and second, on the day her entire village was swept away by flood. Left with nothing and no one, Emmeline discovers her rare and mysterious ability-she can churn milk into chocolate, a delicacy more precious than gold.

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town.

Pepper is a rambunctious big man, minor-league troublemaker, working-class hero (in his own mind), and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York.

Can a spot on a teen reality show really lead to a scholarship at an elite cooking school AND a summer romance?

Purchase

When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again—just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother’s betrothed.

The Map of Lost Memories takes readers on a daring expedition to a remote land, where the search for an elusive treasure becomes a journey into the darkest recesses of the mind and heart.

Purchase

When the world was young, and its name was Faerie, the power of magic ruled—and the Elfstones warded the race of Elves and their lands, keeping evil at bay. But when an Elven girl fell hopelessly in love with a Darkling boy of the Void, he carried away more than her heart.
Purchase

Set in the untamed American West, a highly original and haunting debut novel about a makeshift family whose dramatic lives are shaped by violence, love, and an indelible connection to the land

Let me know what pretties you’ll be getting!

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buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery
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Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

Latest posts by Giselle (see all)

29 Responses to “Fresh Batch (August 19th – 25th)”

  4. Eileen

    So many great releases! 🙂 I already read Over You and it was okay but I’m really excited about some of these other ones! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  5. Leanne

    Wow, many awesome titles are being published this week. 🙂 I can’t wait for Smashed (that cover. is gorgeous) and The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy (I LOVE eccentric MG books). Thanks for sharing, Giselle!

  7. Leanne Yang

    I’m so excited for The Rise of Nine and Heaven… I don’t even have the first two books before Heaven, so I’ll probably borrow it from the library instead.

  12. Amy

    Ohh there’s some really good books coming out this week. Smashes sounds really good. I really need to read This Dark Endeavor and then get Such Wicked Intent. I have heard that the first one is amazing!! I have Two or Three Things I Forget to Tell You and The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy and they both sound good.

  13. Kristilyn (Reading In Winter)

    Great books! I think The Sweetest Spell and Pizza, Love and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous look awesome! They might be books that spur on CRAVINGS while reading!

    And Such Wicked Intent!!! I’m so happy that one is coming out … I cannot WAIT to read it!

  21. Faith

    LOVE your title and art for this post, fits with your blog perfectly!

    Some great books on this list, my TBR just keeps growing.

    I’ve read If I were you and did quite enjoy it – it’s similar to Fifty Shades of Grey, but I really enjoyed the mystery element!

    Faith

  24. Sam

    A week where I don’t want any books?! I must be coming down with something. 😉 I’m not sure why nothing is jumping out at me here… but at least my pockets will be full for next time. Thanks for sharing as always, Giselle! 🙂

  29. Addie R.

    I am soo excited for Smashed, Two or Three Things I Forgot to Tell You and The Raft! There’s not too many I’m overly excited for, but still a nice week. 🙂