Saturday, September 13, 2014

Fresh Batch (New Releases September 14th – 20th)

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Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

I’ll Give You the Sun
Jandy Nelson
Publication date: September 16th 2014
by Dial

Goodreads Purchase

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah’s story to tell. The later years are Jude’s. What the twins don’t realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.


Other releases this week:
* In no particular order *




The Certainty of Violet & Luke (The Coincidence #5) by Jessica Sorensen [Purchase]
Ashes to Ashes (Burn for Burn #3) by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian [Purchase]
Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither [Purchase]
What If by Rebecca Donovan [Purchase]


The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters [Purchase]
The Vault of Dreamers (Untitled #1) by Caragh M. O’Brien [Purchase]
Made for You by Melissa Marr [Purchase]
Echoes of Us (The Hybrid Chronicles #3) by Kat Zhang ([Purchase]


The Perilous Sea (The Elemental Trilogy #2) by Sherry Thomas [Purchase]
Get Even (Don’t Get Mad #1) by Gretchen McNeil [Purchase]
Jackaby by William Ritter [Purchase]
Day 21 (The Hundred #2) by Kass Morgan [Purchase]


Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle [Purchase]
Blackbird (Blackbird Duology #1) by Anna Carey [Purchase]
Sway by Kat Spears [Purchase]
The Anatomy of Dreams by Chloe Benjamin [Purchase]


The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co. #2) by Jonathan Stroud [Purchase]
Being Audrey Hepburn by Mitchell Kriegman [Purchase]
Hook’s Revenge (Hook’s Revenge #1) by Heidi Schulz [Purchase]
The Infinite Sea (The Fifth Wave #2) by Rick Yancey [Purchase]


Color Song (Passion Blue #2) by Victoria Strauss [Purchase]
Rewind To You by Laura Johnston [Purchase]
Evidence of Things Not Seen by Lindsey Lane [Purchase]
Predator by Janice Gable Bashman [Purchase]


Wildlife (Six Impossible Things/Wildlife #2) by Fiona Wood [Purchase]


What’s on your wishlist this week?

 

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Find previous Fresh Batch posts here!

Review: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Review: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Posted by on 09/12/2014 • 16 Comments

I didn’t love this, but it’s a very unique – I’d even say peculiar – story with some candid personalities and buried secrets. And of course, Lauren’s writing makes the storyline so intriguing that it compels you to read even if it’s not blowing your mind. This review will be short, because the whole of this (also short) book is one haunting secret after another being unearthed into a story full of tragedy.

Brought together in this house by the death and upcoming burial of a husband and father, this story encircles the lives of half a dozen people who make up our narrators of this novel. While we learn the ins and outs of what makes these people who they are, we also learn that, ultimately, this is the…

Review: Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Review: Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Posted by on 09/11/2014 • 20 Comments

Night Film is a book that I can say is unlike any other. And now I’m going to contradict that and say it reminded me a bit of The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Not in story or plot, but in its atmosphere and compelling nature. Night Film gives us a mystery like no other, following a horror movie director – Cordova – who has become a cult favorite and a huge enigma; his entire life is an endless puzzle. After his daughter commits suicide, Scott’s journalist nature can’t help but dig into this story. What he finds is at once fascinating and horrifying. But… what’s the real truth?

At 640 pages, this is one whopper of a book. Don’t let this intimidate you, though, it never has a chance…

Exclusive Sneak Peek at The Gifted Dead + Giveaway!

Exclusive Sneak Peek at The Gifted Dead + Giveaway!

Posted by on 09/10/2014 • 18 Comments

For fans of Urban Fantasy, I’ve got a treat for you today: an exclusive sneak peek at The Gifted Dead by Jenna Black as well as a chance to win!

Unique and Catchy Scene from The Gifted Dead!

Paris, France

Lynda Powell shut the bedroom door in her son’s face, turning the deadbolt despite Patrick’s Gift. If he wanted in, the lock would open for him, but at least she’d made her wishes clear.

“Mother, don’t be like this,” he said in the overly patient voice he’d been using with her ever since his father, her beloved Harry, had died.

Had it been only two months ago? The seemingly endless cycle of appeals had made it seem so much longer. Now word had come from the Abbey…

3 Year Blogoversary!

3 Year Blogoversary!

Posted by on 09/09/2014 • 69 Comments

Say what? Oh man! Has it been 3 years already? I feel like it was only a few months ago that I was brand new to this community, trying to figure out my way around blogging and finding out there was a whole community of book loving people out there. And these posts are really hard for me, because I feel like I can’t put into words what a wonderful experience blogging has been to me. It’s been an exciting and incredibly fun 3 years, and I plan to stick around for another lil while. 😉

 

A quick look-back!

First design (oh dear lord!): I’m not really sure why I chose pink. I don’t mind pink, but if you knew me you wouldn’t say I’m…

Jenni’s Goodbye!

Jenni’s Goodbye!

Posted by on 09/07/2014 • 27 Comments

Heya folks!

It feels like just yesterday I was helping to compose my welcome to Xpresso Reads post, ah the memories! With that fond statement I’m here to say that the times they are a changin’ once again here on the blog.  I haven’t been feeling blogging as of late and  I’ve been pursuing some other interests and tasks so I feel really pressed for time (see all the recently finished furniture on my Instagram!) So I am going to be saying goodbye to blogging, maybe for a while and maybe for good.  I will definitely still be reading and doing mini reviews on Goodreads but I won’t be doing it as frequently as before.

In my time blogging I not only made so many great friends,…

Fresh Batch (New Releases September 7th – 13th)

Fresh Batch (New Releases September 7th – 13th)

Posted by on 09/06/2014 • 7 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Blood Of My Blood Barry Lyga Series: Jasper Dent #3 Publication date: September 9th 2014by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Purchase

Jazz Dent has been shot and left to die in New York City. His girlfriend Connie is in the clutches of Jazz’s serial killer father, Billy. And his best friend Howie is bleeding to death on the floor of Jazz’s own home in tiny Lobo’s Nod. Somehow, these three must rise above the horrors their lives have become and find a way to come together in pursuit of Billy. But then Jazz crosses a line he’s never crossed…

Review: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Review: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Posted by on 09/05/2014 • 6 Comments

What a crazy ride. I love thrillers, and while YA thrillers can be a lot of fun and even sometimes pretty creepy, it never lives up to what an adult book can dish out. This is your hardcore serial killer novel involving a mentally unstable psycho who thinks he’s doing the world a favor.

This story is told with the help of several perspectives: from the killer himself, to the detective trying to find him; to her daughter, along with a few other key players. Beukes tackles multiple POVs with excellence. Even though each character is widely different – we go from a homeless man to teenage girls – every single one has a distinct, realistic voice that makes it easy to slip into their psyche, in addition to…