Xpresso Reads

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

WoW (4)

Posted by Giselle • 63 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday

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.

With October upon us, my WoWs this month will feature books that would be perfect for a Halloween read.

My pick this week:

The Calling (Darkness Rising, #2)

Kelley Armstrong

Release date: April 10th, 2012

Maya Delaney’s paw-print birthmark is the sign of what she truly is—a skin-walker. She can run faster, climb higher, and see better than nearly anyone 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 their extraordinary abilities to help them get back home.

I loved The Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong and I was very excited when I heard she was writing a sister series starting with The Gathering, which I loved (read my review here), and I’m really looking forward to finding out how things play in book 2. I can always count on Kelley to dish out awesome books. I’ve enjoyed everything of hers. If you’ve never looked into her books go check it out. This is her YA stuff, but she also had a great adult series – Women of the Underworld that I recommend.

What are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Review: Touch by Jus Accardo

Posted by Giselle on 10/04/2011 • 16 Comments

Touch Jus Accardo Release date: November 1st, 2011 by Entangled PublishingFormat: Paperback/Ebook

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids…

Dusty Reads (2)

Posted by Giselle on 10/04/2011 • 10 Comments

Dusty Reads is a weekly post featuring a book that has been sitting unread on my home shelf for some time. This book is exclusively chosen by Giselle.

This week I picked:

My Soul to Take Rachel Vincent

She doesn’t see dead people, but…

She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next…

I’ve been seeing the 5th…

Review: Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Posted by Giselle on 10/03/2011 • 11 Comments

Raw Blue Kirsty Eagar Published June 29th, 2009 by Penguin Books Australia

Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing … and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago at schoolies week.

And then Carly meets Ryan, a local at the break, fresh out of jail. When Ryan learns the truth, Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy?

Well apparently I’m the only one in the world who didn’t absolutely love this book. It’s not bad by any…

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Posted by Giselle on 10/02/2011 • 20 Comments

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Laini Taylor Published September 27th, 2011 by Little, Brown & Company

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that…

In My Mailbox (3)

Posted by Giselle on 10/02/2011 • 96 Comments

“In My Mailbox” is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I’ve received/purchased/borrowed during the current week. (click on images for Goodreads synopsis) Hello my lovelies. Well will you look at that, October has showed her head. Summer is over 🙁 But that means Halloween is just around the bend – which sets the perfect mood for creepy books like Mara Dyer that I have finally received. I hope you’re all happy with your haul this week, I sure know that I am. Some of these I’ve waited a long time to get my hands on and I’m super excited to get into them. I have received for review:

I have won in giveaways:

I have bought:

I have…

Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Posted by Giselle on 10/01/2011 • 13 Comments

The Gathering (Darkness Rising, #1)Kelley ArmstrongFirst published April 12th, 2011by HarperCollins

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn’t know much about her background – the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip – but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town – from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend’s hidden talent for “feeling” out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that…

One Woman’s Trash Giveaway Winner

Posted by Giselle on 10/01/2011 • 0 Comments

Thank you to everyone who entered! I’ve selected a winner who has chosen Wake by Lisa McMann. Winner was picked by random number generator.

Congratulations to Sophia Chang of Sophia The Writer

Sophia’s choice:

WakeLisa McMann

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people’s dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie’s seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can’t tell anybody about what she does they’d never believe her, or worse, they’d think she’s a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn’t want and can’t control. Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness…