Waiting on Wednesday (151)

is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking the Spine that 
showcases upcoming releases people are very much anticipating.

I heart fairy tale retellings. There's something about them that's just so fun and magical, and it's always interesting to see how an author will twist a tale you already knew. So it totally makes sense that I'm waiting on this Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retelling this week. I've already read this author's Peter Pan retelling, and oh my gosh, it was so good. So this book with a stunning cover, I want it.

Top Ten Tuesday (151)

is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Review: Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Title: Ice Like Fire

Author: Sara Raasch

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publishing Date: October 13, 2015

Pages/Format: 479, eARC
Add on Goodreads!

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

Book in One Word: WHAAAAAT.

Waiting on Wednesday (150)

is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking the Spine that 
showcases upcoming releases people are very much anticipating.

It's always nice when an author whose book(s) you've previously read and adored (and who you'd consider as one of your author friends!) releases a new book. This author's debut was a Middle Grade novel, and it was so, so magical and fantasmical, and you absolutely must read it (and oh my gosh, that cover). Her second novel is a YA--and a contemporary! And it's apparent that the Cover Gods are a fan of this author. I'm just hoping to be one of the lucky few to get their hands on a copy of this book sooner rather than later.

Top Ten Tuesday (150)

is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This Tuesday's theme is...

Blog Tour: How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue by Jess Keating

Hello, my foxy friends! I'm very excited for today's post, because Jess Keating has stopped by again! She's the author of the very adorkable My Life Is a Zoo series, which is one of my favorite Middle Grade series. It includes How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied, How to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel, and the latest installment, How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue. (Say all of those five times fast.) To celebrate the release of her latest funtastic book, Jess is here to talk about voice, which is something she does spectacularly well. I'll tell you about all three books--because you want them, trust me--and there's a giveaway of all three books, which you should so totally enter, and I promise you won't regret it.

Blog Tour: Daughters unto Devils by Amy Lukavics

Hello, bookish monsters! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Daughters unto Devils by Amy Lukavics! This book, which I've seen called "Little Hell House on the Prairie," looks hella creepy, which is grotesquely, fantastically excellent. And with Halloween around the corner, this is probably a terrifyingly perfect read. Amy is here talking about horror, and there's a giveaway for your very own copy of Daughters unto Devils! It's not haunted. I'm 99.9% positive.

For the Tote: Songs on Repeat

Hello, readerlies! Welcome to a new--and revised--feature here on Beauty and the Bookshelf. Every once in a while (and over a year ago, whoops!), I would recommend music in random posts called Song as Old as Rhyme. But that just seemed like a mouthful and not very discernible, so I decided to rename it. I was completely stumped as to what the new title should be, especially since I wanted to recommend more than just music: movies, online shops, Instagram accounts, and so on. And what's something that you fill up with things that you like (and that's somewhat bookish)? Totes! And so For the Tote, a sporadic feature filled with recommendations just for you, was created. I hope you like it!

Review: The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Masked Truth

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Publishing Date: October 13, 2015

Pages/Format: 320, ARC
Add on Goodreads!

In this heart-stopping suspense thriller, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong proves herself to be a master of terror and suspense.

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to discover that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.

Book in One Word: THRILLFECTION.

Review: Wendy Darling: Stars by Colleen Oakes

Title: Wendy Darling: Stars

Author: Colleen Oakes

Publisher: SparkPress

Publishing Date: October 13, 2015

Pages/Format: 256, eARC
Add on Goodreads!

From the best-selling author of Queen of Hearts comes a dark and mesmerizing twist on the beloved children's classic, Peter Pan.

Wendy Darling has a perfectly agreeable life with her parents and brothers in wealthy London, as well as a budding romance with Booth, the neighborhood bookseller’s son. But while their parents are at a ball, the charmingly beautiful Peter Pan comes to the Darling children’s nursery and—dazzled by this flying boy with god-like powers—they follow him out of the window and straight on to morning, to Neverland, a intoxicating island of feral freedom.

As time passes in Neverland, Wendy realizes that this Lost Boy’s paradise of turquoise seas, mermaids, and pirates holds terrible secrets rooted in blood and greed. As Peter’s grasp on her heart tightens, she struggles to remember where she came from—and begins to suspect that this island of dreams, and the boy who desires her—have the potential to transform into an everlasting nightmare. 

Book in One Word: Entrancing.

Recap: August and September to October

I had technical difficulties when I tried to post my August book haul, so that recap is late! (But better late than never, right?) And I'm quite proud of myself because I read quite a few books over the past couple months!

Review: How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue by Jess Keating

Title: How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue

Author: Jess Keating

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Publishing Date: October 6, 2015

Pages/Format: 320, eARC
Add on Goodreads!

What would middle school be like if you lived in a zoo? Just ask Ana Wright, star of the hilarious, award-nominated My Life is A Zoo series that combines first crushes, friendship fails...and pack dynamics.

Surprise! Ana's long distance BFF is finally coming back to visit. But with her purple hair and new attitude, Liv is barely the girl Ana remembers. This new Liv probably thinks a birthday party at the zoo is lame. Maybe if Ana has a super-secret sleepover instead, she'd never have to introduce Liv to Ashley, former enemy and now Ana's best-ish friend. What could go wrong?

Creature File for Liv:
Species Name: Best Frendicus
Kingdom: New Zealand
Phylum: girl who used to be Ana Wright's best friend, girl who used to like getting milkshakes at Shaken, Not Stirred
Feeds on: video chats with Leilani, attention from boys
Life span: undetermined, but if things keep going the way they are, the lifespan of Ana and Liv, BFFs isn't going to be the "forever" they thought...

Jess Keating combines the quirky humor and animal-centric plots of Carl Hiaasen with the awkward adolescent antics of Lauren Myracle in this fresh new middle grade series!

Book in One Word: Foxtastic!

Blog Tour: Minotaur by Phillip W. Simpson

Hello, creatures of the book world! Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Minotaur by Phillip W. Simpson. I've been looking forward to this book because it's about, well, a Minotaur! And I don't know about you, but that seems awfully interesting. Phillip is here today talking about myth and fiction, and you can enter to win a copy of his book, so be sure to check it all out!