Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: Blackbird

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

There’s nothing like a Wednesday for thinking about the books we want to read! My Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday post is linking up with two fabulous book memes, Wishlist Wednesday (hosted by Pen to Paper) and Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Breaking the Spine).

My pick for this week is:

Blackbird by Anna Carey
(to be released September 16, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

This twisty, breathless cat-and-mouse thrill ride, told in the second person, follows a girl with amnesia in present-day Los Angeles who is being pursued by mysterious and terrifying assailants.

A girl wakes up on the train tracks, a subway car barreling down on her. With only minutes to react, she hunches down and the train speeds over her. She doesn’t remember her name, where she is, or how she got there. She has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist of a blackbird inside a box, letters and numbers printed just below: FNV02198. There is only one thing she knows for sure: people are trying to kill her.

On the run for her life, she tries to untangle who she is and what happened to the girl she used to be. Nothing and no one are what they appear to be. But the truth is more disturbing than she ever imagined.

The Maze Runner series meets Code Name Verity, Blackbird is relentless and action-packed, filled with surprising twists

Sounds good and creepy, doesn’t it? Amnesia, subways, LA, on the run… I’d definitely like to find out what’s going on here! I’ve never read anything by this author, but I’m looking forward to giving this one a try.

Side note: I HATE when book blurbs compare new books to other books. Really, The Maze Runner meets Code Name Verity? I haven’t read The Maze Runner, but Code Name Verity is practically sacred to me, so I hope they’re not creating false expectations here! Do NOT invoke Code Name Verity lightly!

Okay, end of rant…

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

26May2014

The Monday Agenda 5/26/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Girls at the Kingfisher Club The Farm Trouble

The Girls At The Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine: Done! My review is here.

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith: Done! My review is here.

Trouble by Non Pratt: At about the 50% point, and liking it a lot so far.

13th child The kiddo and I are continuing on with Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede. Moving sloooooowly. Not the book’s fault; we just seem to have a hard time lately finding time to sit down and read.

Fresh Catch:

Bunches of new (but mostly used) books this week:

The Witch of Little Italy What Alice Forgot My Real Children Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, #2)

Elsewhere on the blog:

I shared my thoughts about stats, page views, and whether numbers matter — chime in here to share your input!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Girl with All the Gifts Bittersweet Empire Girls

First up, I need to read the rest of Trouble by Non Pratt, which I’m really enjoying.

After that, I’m looking forward to reading:

The Girl With All The Gifts by by M. R. Carey

Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Empire Girls by Susanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan

I have no idea if I’ll actually get to more than one or two books this week, but it’s nice to have a goal!

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 94 – 97 (no chapter on Memorial Day). The end is in sight!

Outlander love:

What do you think? Is it possible to have too many Outlander references? (Image via Starz)

And adding to the Outlander mania, here’s my Outlander-themed “shelfie”:

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

20May2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My pick for this week is:

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
(to be released July 8, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless girl living in an igloo made of garbage bags in Burlington. Nearly a year ago, a power plant in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont had a meltdown, and both of Emily’s parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault—was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to leave their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer’s house, inventing a new identity for herself, and befriending a young homeless kid named Cameron. But Emily can’t outrun her past, can’t escape her grief, can’t hide forever-and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.

I hadn’t heard anything about this upcoming new release from Chris Bohjalian until I started working on my Flashback Friday post last week about one of the author’s earliest bestsellers, Midwives. Over the years, he’s written books on a wide variety of subjects, and in genres including contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and even horror. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands sounds completely new and different — and absolutely fascinating. I can’t wait to read this story of a teen-aged girl living on her own after a nuclear disaster. I can’t even imagine how she survives and deals with her new reality, but I’m really looking forward to finding out.

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

19May2014

The Monday Agenda 5/19/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Then and Always: A Novel We Were Liars The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

Then and Always by Dani Atkins. Done! My review is here.

We Were Liars by by E. Lockhart: Done! My review is here.

The Girls At The Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine: I’m at about the 50% mark; reserving judgment until I see where the story goes.

13th child The kiddo and I are continuing on with Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede, although we didn’t make much progress this week.

Fresh Catch:

Bunches of new (but mostly used) books this week:

Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2) Secrets of the Sea House The Highland Witch The Bookstore The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls The Curiosity

Elsewhere on the blog:

I started obsessing about what to read on vacation, and whether my Kindle can survive a day at the beach.

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Farm The Girl with All the Gifts Bittersweet

This week, I’m looking forward to:

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith

The Girl With All The Gifts by by M. R. Carey

Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 89 – 93. It’s hard to believe we’re so close to the end!

And maybe I’ll just leave this here until August:

What do you think? Is it possible to have too many Outlander references? (Image via Starz)

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

13May2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: The Girl With All The Gifts

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My pick for this week is:

The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey
(to be released June 10, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her ‘our little genius’. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favourite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

Intriguing? Oh, yeah. Not to mention the fact that this author (writing as Mike Carey) writes The Unwritten graphic novels, which I’ve been wanting to get to as well.

Fortunately, I was just approved for an ARC of The Girl With All The Gifts, and I’m really looking forward to reading it.

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

12May2014

The Monday Agenda 5/12/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

IShallBeNear Last week, I continued with my spotlight focus on I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe. My friend Mary wrote a guest review (see it here), and then I chimed in with my list of five reasons that everyone should read this book — like, NOW. Stay tuned: An author Q&A will be coming up this week!

The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegal: Done! My review is here.

Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman: After reading 20%, I had to put this one on my DNF shelf. The concept seemed interesting… but nothing was happening, and I just couldn’t take any more. If anyone else has read it and wants to convince me to give it another go, be my guest!

13th child The kiddo and I are happily reading our way through Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede, and loving it!

Fresh Catch:

A variety of goodies arrived this week, some bought, some borrowed:

Covet

Mistborn Spike

Plus this, which isn’t a book, but which makes my geeky little heart happy:

Elsewhere on the blog:

I whined a bit about trilogies… and apparently, based on comments here and via Twitter, I guess I’m not alone!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Then and Always: A Novel We Were Liars The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

This week, I’m looking forward to:

Then and Always by Dani Atkins. I’ve read about half so far, and I’m really liking it!

Next up: We Were Liars by by E. Lockhart.

And if there’s time: The Girls At The Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine. A flapper-era retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale? Yes, please!

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 84 – 88. Want to join in? Contact me and I’ll provide all the details!

Oh, and this was announced:

Basically, I’ll take any excuse for posting an Outlander picture! Thank you, Starz, for announcing the premiere date. I know where I’ll be August 9th! (Image via Starz)

What a week!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

6May2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: Just One Night

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Try not to squeal too loudly over this one!:

Just One Night by Gayle Forman
(An e-novella, to be released May 29, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

After spending one life-changing day in Paris with laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, sheltered American good girl Allyson “Lulu” Healey discovered her new lover had disappeared without a trace. Just One Day followed Allyson’s quest to reunite with Willem; Just One Year chronicled the pair’s year apart from Willem’s perspective. Now, back together at last, this delectable e-novella reveals the couple’s final chapter.

Anyone who read Just One Day* and Just One Year* will need no convincing — we will finally (gasp!) find out what happened after that kiss! I may have jumped up and down just a teensy bit when I heard about this e-novella…

*If you want to read my reviews of the two novels mentioned here…

… click here for Just One Day
… click here for Just One Year

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

5May2014

The Monday Agenda 5/5/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Last week, I declared I Shall Be Near To You to be my spotlight book of the week — one that I wanted to read slowly and give myself time to savor.

So how did it go?

In short, I adored it.

I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe is a beautiful, powerful book about an unforgettable young woman.

I’ll be featuring this book a few times in the coming week, with a review, a guest post, and possibly more. Stay tuned!.

The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegal: I didn’t get a chance to start this YA novel until this past weekend. I’m about halfway through, and I’m thoroughly entertained at this point.

The kiddo and I started Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede this week, and so far, it rocks! Where has this author been all my life? Clearly, I’ve been missing out.

Fresh Catch:

Books, books, books galore! I treated myself to a few books this week, thanks to strategic use of Amazon credits and a gift card! My catch of the week includes two beautiful hardcover books that I’d previously read as ARCs, plus a couple of others I’d had a hankering for:

84, Charing Cross Road

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Savage Girl In the Age of Love and Chocolate (Birthright, #3) Then and Always: A Novel

I have two books that I’ve been wanting to get to for a couple of weeks now:

Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman

In The Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin

And if I have time after these two, my next choice will be Then and Always by Dani Atkins.

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 79 – 83. Want to join in? Contact me and I’ll provide all the details!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

29Apr2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: Season of Storms

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My pick this week is an upcoming reissue of a book by a favorite author:

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley
(Release date: September 2, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

In the early 1900s, in the elegant, isolated villa Il Piacere, the playwright Galeazzo D’Ascanio lived for Celia Sands. She was his muse and his mistress, his most enduring obsession. And she was the inspiration for his most stunning and original play. But the night before she was to take the stage in the leading role, Celia disappeared. Now, decades later, in a theatre on the grounds of Il Piacere, Alessandro D’Ascanio is preparing to stage the first performance of his grandfather’s masterpiece. A promising young actress – who shares Celia Sands’ name, but not her blood – has agreed to star. She is instantly drawn to the mysteries surrounding the play – and to her compelling, compassionate employer. And even though she knows she should let the past go, in the dark – in her dreams – it comes back.

Season of Storms was originally published in 2001, but will be reissued this year with a shiny new cover, thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark. I think this is one of the few remaining Susanna Kearsley books that I haven’t read, and with its new cover, will look perfect on my shelf next to all of her other gorgeous books. And lest anyone think I’m shallow and I’m basing this on looks alone… yes, I really do want to read the book!

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

28Apr2014

The Monday Agenda 4/28/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Burial Rites The Here and Now She Is Not Invisible

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: Done! My review is here.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares: Done! My review is here.

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick: Done! My review is here.

And don’t miss my review/blog tour post for The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore! If you enjoy Shakespeare with f-bombs, loads of hilarity, pirates, Marco Polo, and venomous sea serpents, then this is the book for you!

D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths My son and I are still having fun with D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths. Thor is kinda hilarious, to be honest. Always off fighting trolls and jotuns, that guy.

Fresh Catch:

Upon the recommendations of several BBFs who usually have impeccable taste in books, I picked this one up at the library this week:

Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon (Hawkeye (Marvel NOW!) #1)

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

I’m shifting my approach to upcoming reading for this week. There’s one book I especially want to focus on as my top priority, so I hereby declare that this week I have…

… a spotlight book!

Drumroll, please! My spotlight book for the week of April 28th will be:

I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe. I first wrote about this book several months ago in a wishlist post, and I finally have a copy! I’ve heard so many wonderful things about this book (thanks to a lovely BBF, once again!), and I’m so excited to “clear the decks”, so to speak, and just concentrate on enjoying it.

I intend to take my time, so I’m not going to hold myself to a planned reading agenda of another 3 – 4 books that MUST BE READ. But… if I do finish I Shall Be Near To You early enough in the week to move on to other reading, then here’s what I’ll be choosing from:

Savage Girl The Break-Up Artist In the Age of Love and Chocolate (Birthright, #3)

Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman

The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

In The Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 74 – 78. Want to join in? Contact me and I’ll provide all the details!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.