Xpresso Reads

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Giselle’s Stacking the Shelves [March 9]

Posted by Giselle • 35 Comments

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books we got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week.

Hey guys! How sucky is it to lose an hour this weekend? Boo to that! I’ve been keeping busy with getting our current house ready to go on the market – we’re starting the process of getting a house built this summer so that’s a bit scary and stressful. Ooh and I was finally able to register for BEA this week and I’m getting excited! Less than 3 months to go! Whoo! So this week I got some awesome packages in the mail. A few surprise ones and a belated birthday gift from the lovely Amy.

THIS WEEK’S BOOK HAUL:
(Click on covers for Goodreads)

I received for review:

Ebook haul:

Then I got some awesome packages from Macmillan (both top corners) and Disney Hyperion. The mask and Summer of Chills puzzle came with the Macmillan thriller/horror books which is really cool! The mask is kind of like those hot and cold packs -you know, to soothe my face from all the reading! 😉

–Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
–Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
– The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
–Far From You by Tess Sharpe
–Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

And this lovely pretty from Penguin Canada:

–Pointe by Brandy Colbert

*Big thanks to Macmillan Publishers, Harlequin Mira, EgmontUSA, Harper Collins, and Penguin Canada for these pretties!*

Gifted:
The lovely Amypie from Book Loving Mom sent me this for my birthday! Thanks, muffin! I loved Hunting Lila and I had been wanting to get this sequel for so long!

—

That’s all for me this week!
XOXO

Fresh Batch (New Releases March 9th – 15th)

Posted by Giselle on 03/08/2014 • 13 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

Ruins Dan Wells Series: Partials Sequence #3 Publication date: March 11th 2014by Balzer + Bray

Goodreads Purchase

Kira, Samm, and Marcus fight to prevent a final war between Partials and humans in the gripping final installment in the Partials Sequence, a series that combines the thrilling action of The Hunger Games with the provocative themes of Blade Runner and The Stand.

There is no avoiding it—the war to decide the fate of both humans and Partials is at hand. Both sides hold in their possession a weapon that could destroy the other, and Kira Walker has precious little time to prevent that…

DNF Round-up [2014: Part 1]

Posted by Giselle on 03/07/2014 • 47 Comments

This is our first DNF Round-up of 2014! We both have a couple of 2014 books that we didn’t finish and since we don’t post official reviews, we decided to at least list our reasons why these ended up as DNFs for us.

Jenni

Maybe One Day Melissa Kantor

Goodreads Purchase

Critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend’s life-threatening illness.

Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when…

Review: Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Posted by on 03/06/2014 • 25 Comments

Holy cuteness overload, Batman! I went into Liz Czukas’ debut novel, Ask Again Later, with some pretty high expectations after seeing some love for it from friends of mine. The novel delivered in every way I could have expected it to and then some. This is good ol’ teen drama, fluffy fun!

As soon as we meet our MC Heart her personality starts to bleed off the page. We meet her in a rant about how much she hates her name which leads her into some weird ramblings about talking fish and what it’s like to breathe air/water. I knew from page one that I loved this girl. She was snarky, honest and downright hilarious. Sure she could be a bit oblivious at times but that just made her…

Review: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Posted by Giselle on 03/05/2014 • 24 Comments

I loved parts of this book, while others irritated me. Or I should say Alice irritated me. However, the angle of getting a second chance at a life you were done and over with does give you food for thought for which I applaud. Cancer books are not stories I go into lightly; there’s so much cancer in real life already, why would I want to read about yet another victim of this monster? Still, there’s something about this one that called to me and I’m glad I read it. It brings up a different, highly thought-provoking side to a terminal illness. It’s a great story, but the characters made loving this book a stubbornly difficult task.

Alice had her whole life ahead of her. Sure she had a…

Review: Half Bad by Sally Green

Posted by Giselle on 03/03/2014 • 32 Comments

Half Blood started as a 5-star read for me. This lasted ’til about three quarters which is when I realized we really hadn’t gotten anywhere in the story. Boredom quickly followed, until I was unfortunately underwhelmed by the anticlimactic ending. Nevertheless, it’s an incredibly well written book that has a lot to offer if you have a bit of patience, although it’s unique in a way that may not adhere to all tastes.

When we meet our protagonist, Nathan, he’s naught but a young lad. Young and unfortunate to have been born the son of a notorious Black Witch; a fact that makes him a leper, someone to be hunted down and caged. We learn that, even though he’s highly intelligent in many ways, he’s not exactly book smart….

Jenni’s Stacking the Shelves [Mar 2]

Posted by on 03/02/2014 • 32 Comments

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring new additions to our bookshelves.

I didn’t have the most exciting two weeks but I did get one awesome package in the mail and I found a book that sounds AWESOME at Costco.

From my lovely co-blogger, Giselle, I got Me Before You and Jellicoe Road. I have had my eye on both of these for a while so I am so excited that I now have them both. Thank you Giselle! The Troop is one that I found at Costco and it sounds really good and creepy! I’m excited for it because I have heard absolutely nothing about it, I love going into books blind like that! Also, I think I see a…