Check it Out: The Deep End of the Sea by Heather Lyons

I'll be honest: I'm not a New Adult reader. However, I'm trying to venture into more genres this year, and New Adult is one of them. So today I'm sharing an excerpt with you from a New Adult book I really want to read. (Okay, the truth? I am ENTICED by the pretty cover. And yeah, it sounds good, too.) Gods and goddesses, prepare to check out The Deep End of the Sea by Heather Lyons!

Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Title: Cruel Beauty

Author: Rosamund Hodge

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publishing Date: January 28, 2014

Pages/Format: 352, ARC

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Initial Reaction of Book in One Word: Hmph.

Waiting on Wednesday (68)

Waiting on Wednesday

is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 

that people are very much anticipating.

I will be reading (and probably buying) this book simply because of the cover. Okay, yeah, it sounds good too. But I have a thing for maps and THE COVER.

Top Ten Tuesday (69)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten Worlds I'd 
Never Want To Live In

Review: A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

Title: A Mad, Wicked Folly

Author: Sharon Biggs Waller

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Publishing Date: January 23, 2014

Pages/Format: 448, ARC

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.
            
After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

Initial Reaction of Book in One Word: MORE?!

Song As Old As Rhyme: Hardcore

I'm a fan of all kinds of music, so today I'm sharing some of the stuff I like that's a little more hardcore. Enjoy! (And rock on!)

Cover Reveal: Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell

Hello, my sweets! I have a totally awesome cover you today: Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell! Lisa's debut is out October 8, 2014 from Flux and features haunting dreams, Voodoo, and a New Orleans setting. This is a book you surely won't want to miss, so I'm going to tell you all about it, share a super cool giveaway, and, of course, show you the cover! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Sweet Unrest.

Waiting on Wednesday (67)

Waiting on Wednesday

is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 

that people are very much anticipating.

Here's the deal. Scary movies aren't my thing. They scare me. But for some reason, I want to read scary/horror/thriller/gory YA books. (Not adult, because that'd be too scary.) I haven't found much of that (or read much), but when I saw the cover of this book I was instantly interested. It looks scary good, but there's no way I'm saying her name...

Top Ten Tuesday (68)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist

Blog Tour: Escape from Eden by Elisa Nader

Hello, people of the bookish cult! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Escape from Eden by Elisa Nader, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours! I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book (a lot), and I'm super excited to share my review with you. And while you're here, don't forget to enter the super awesome giveaway that's part of the tour. If you can't wait to try to win the book, then no worries--Escape from Eden is only $1.99 on Kindle until the end of the month, and it's totally worth purchasing. (And I'm not just saying that for this post.) But in the meantime, be sure to check it out!

Sunday Spinetry (8)

Sunday Spinetry is a weekly meme hosted by, well, me! 

For all the details on Sunday Spinetry, just go here!

Blog Tour: Vision of Shadows by Vincent Morrone

Hello, readers! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Vision of Shadows by Vincent Morrone. I have all kinds of goodies to share with you today, like a fun top ten about shadows and a cool giveaway, so be sure to check it out!

Song As Old As Rhyme: Instrumentals, Part Two

Since one of my goals for 2014 is to have a wider variety of posts, last week I shared some instrumentals that I love. I only shared five, but that just wasn't enough, so this week I'm back with seven more. Enjoy!

Waiting on Wednesday (66)

Waiting on Wednesday

is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 

that people are very much anticipating.

JUST GIVE ME THIS NOW.

Top Ten Tuesday (67)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten 2014 Debuts I'm Excited For

Song As Old As Rhyme: Instrumentals, Part One

I said that one of my goals for 2014 was to have more posts besides memes, reviews, and blog tours, so here's me, doing that! Now don't get me wrong--I love books. They are my babies and my life and my emotions and my overreactions and my everything. But you know what else I love? (A lot of things.) MUSIC.

What's in the Snow?

Hello, my pretties! I'm super excited to finally be able to share my post for What's in the Snow?, a blog tour full of awesomeness that's hosted by Read Books and Live Green and Reviews Abound (now Fly To Fiction)! So, what is What's in the Snow? It's a blog tour of sorts where bloggers share wintery, holiday-esque posts throughout this fine season, and each post comes with a clue, the answer of which goes into a giveaway. It's going to be fun--and maybe a little steamy when you find out what's in my snow...

Review: Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Fracture Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publishing Date: December 17, 2013

Pages/Format: 72, eBook

In this electrifying sixty-page companion novella to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, discover the fate of the Omega Point rebels as they go up against The Reestablishment. Set during and soon after the final moments of Unravel Me, Fracture Me is told from Adam's perspective.

As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam's focus couldn't be further from the upcoming battle. He's reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend's life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James's safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It's time for war.

On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam's newly discovered half brother, won't be that easy. The Reestablishment can't tolerate a rebellion, and they'll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.

Fracture Me sets the stage for Ignite Me, the explosive finale in Tahereh Mafi's epic dystopian series. It's a novella not to be missed by fans who crave action-packed stories with tantalizing romance like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Legend by Marie Lu.

Initial Reaction of Book in One Word: Whaaaaat?

Waiting on Wednesday (65)

Waiting on Wednesday

is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 

that people are very much anticipating.

The following book just happens to be by one of my favorite authors, so I obviously need it.

Top Ten Tuesday (66)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Top Ten Goals For 2014

Cover Reveal: How To Outrun A Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating

Hello, reader bees! Now, I know I typically post YA things on this blog. But every once in a while I cheat and post something out of that zone because it's too awesome not to. That, my friends, is the case with today's cover reveal for Jess Keating's debut, the middle grade novel How To Outrun A Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied. I'm a sucker for things with animals, and this sounds so cute and fun, so I'm excited to be sharing the cover with you!

Review: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: The Impossible Knife of Memory

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Publishing Date: January 7, 2014

Pages/Format: 372, ARC

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Initial Reaction of Book in One Word: WOW.

Check it Out: The Spellbound Series by Sherry Soule

Hello, bookers! I have Sherry Soule on the blog today discussing her Spellbound series! Not only will she be sharing a super awesome playlist, but she'll also give some info on changes in the books, so check it out!

Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cress

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publishing Date: February 4, 2014

Pages/Format: 560, ARC

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Initial Reaction of Book in One Word: EXCELLENT.

2013 End of Year Book Survey

Jamie the Perpetual Page-Turner, who also happens to be one of my favorite bloggers, put together the totally awesome 2013 End of Year Book Survey, where us reader-folk can share all the best (and not-so-best) bookish things of the year!

Note that I've already shared the Top Ten Books I Read in 2013, and also participated in the Class of 2013 YA Superlative Blogfest, where I shared what books are the Head of the Class, who wins in a Popularity Contest, my favorite Elements of Fiction, and all the bookish components that make up the Best in Show.

And now, let the survey begin!

Waiting on Wednesday (64)

Waiting on Wednesday

is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine
 that showcases upcoming releases 

that people are very much anticipating.

Sigh, I guess I care what Aspen has to say...