Category Archives: Waiting on Wednesday
Waiting On To Be Perfectly Honest and Covet
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
This week I’m waiting on a YA verse novel & a Women’s Fiction title. I was drawn to both of them for different reasons, but it’s interesting that they are both about deception.
To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones
Publication Date: August 27, 2013, Simon & Schuster
Book description (source: Goodreads):
Can honesty lead to heartbreak if the truth is subjective? A compelling novel in verse from Sonya Sones.
Colette is a compulsive liar. She considers it storytelling, a fun way to make a boring life more interesting. Because when you’re stuck playing backseat to your beautiful movie star mother, and your promised vacation in France is exchanged for a middle-of-nowhere summer babysitting your little brother on location for your mom’s new movie, you’ve got to do what you can to liven things up.
Then Colette meets Connor. He’s gorgeous, funny, and totally into her. So what if she lied about her age and a few other pertinent details? Nobody’s really interested in the truth, are they? But when some of the details of Connor’s stories don’t add up, Colette begins to suspect that she’s not the only one skilled in the art of deceit. And as the dishonesty deepens, Colette will have to decide what kind of stories she really wants to tell about her life—and who she wants to tell them to.
The fact that it’s a verse novel got my attention, but the mother/daughter dynamic and dishonesty topic also sounds intriguing.
Covet by Tracey Garvis Graves
Publication Date: September 17, 2013, Dutton Adult
Book Description (source: Goodreads):
What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else?
Chris and Claire Canton’s marriage is on life support. Downsized during the recession and out of work for a year, Chris copes by retreating to a dark place where no one can reach him, not even Claire. When he’s offered a position that will keep him away from home four nights a week, he dismisses Claire’s concern that time apart could be the one thing their fragile union can’t weather. Their suburban life may look idyllic on the outside, but Claire has never felt so disconnected from Chris, or so lonely.
Local police officer Daniel Rush used to have it all, but now he goes home to an empty house every night. He pulls Claire over during a routine traffic stop, and they run into each other again at the 4th of July parade. When Claire is hired to do some graphic design work for the police department, her friendship with Daniel grows, and soon they’re spending hours together.
Claire loves the way Daniel makes her feel, and the way his face lights up when she walks into the room. Daniel knows that Claire’s marital status means their relationship will never be anything other than platonic. But it doesn’t take long before Claire and Daniel are in way over their heads, and skating close to the line that Claire has sworn she’ll never cross.
I really liked On the Island, about another taboo relationship, and Covet sounds intense!
What books are you waiting on this week?
Waiting on: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Publication Date: September 17, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publisher’s summary :
Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.
Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, This Song Will Save Your Life is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.
Music + Humor? Sold. Everyone can relate to feeling like an outsider sometimes, and it sounds like Elise hits rock bottom. I like that she finds people to connect with, and bonds over music. There’s not too many books featuring DJ’s either – how fun!
That cover is a knockout too – can’t wait for this pretty to hit shelves!
Waiting On Wednesday: This Girl and Left Drowning
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
There were a couple New Adult covers revealed within the last few days and I’m quite excited to read both of them.
This Girl by Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: April 30, 2013, Atria Books
Book description (source: Maryse’s Book Blog):
There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.
Colleen Hoover’s New York Times bestselling Slammed series has brought countless readers to their knees with a whirlwind of love, passion, and heartache. Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.
In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.
I’m a big fan of Slammed, and I think it will be really interesting to read about the events of the book through Will’s eyes. The cover is cute, and in a different style than Slammed and Point of Retreat. But I love the stool and butterfly nod to those books on the cover of This Girl.
Left Drowning by Jessica Park
Publication Date: July 16, 2013, Amazon Children’s Publishing
Book Description (source: Goodreads):
What does it take to rise from life’s depths, swim against the current, and breathe?
Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. As their relationship deepens, Chris pulls Blythe out of the stupor she’s been in since the night a fire took half her family. She begins to heal, and even, haltingly, to love this guy who helps her find new paths to pleasure and self-discovery. But as Blythe moves into calmer waters, she realizes Chris is the one still strangled by his family’s traumatic history. As dark currents threaten to pull him under, Blythe may be the only person who can keep him from drowning.
I’ve been eager for Jessica Park’s next book since reading Flat-Out Love. Left Drowning sounds intense, and I’m interested in seeing how these two damaged characters get together and heal their wounds.
What books are you waiting on this week?
Waiting On: Taste Test and The Secret Ingredient
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
I’m highlighting a couple of cooking-themed YA books this week. Maybe I was hungry when I was searching for books to feature, or maybe there is a new food-centered book trend! Hoping to find some great recipes within the pages of these titles:
Taste Test by Kelly Fiore
Publication Date: August 27, 2013, Walker Childrens
Publisher’s summary:
Love is heating up in this Top Chef-inspired teen romance
Nora Henderson has been basting baby back ribs for as long as she could reach the counter of her dad’s famous barbecue joint. When she’s accepted to Taste Test, a teen reality cooking competition, Nora can’t wait to leave her humble hometown behind. On set, run-ins with the maddeningly handsome and talented son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, make Nora wonder if it’s him or the win she really wants, but as she and Christian emerge as front-runners for the final prize, Nora can’t ignore the mysterious accidents plaguing the kitchen arena. Someone is conducting eliminations of their own, and if Nora doesn’t stop them, she could be next to get chopped for good. With romance and intrigue as delectable as the winning recipes included in the story, this debut novel will be devoured by all.
OK- not only is Taste Test about a teen reality cooking competition, it has a blurb from Top Chef’s Fabio on the cover! I like cooking shows and don’t see why the concept wouldn’t translate well to books. Hope it’s as cute as it sounds.
The Secret Ingredient by Stewart Lewis
Publication Date: June 11, 2013, Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publisher’s summary:
Sixteen-year-old Olivia loves living in Silverlake, Los Angeles, with her dads, Bell and Enrique, and her brother, Jeremy. But when Olivia discovers that Bell’s restaurant, FOOD, is in trouble, she applies for a job at a casting agency. The day of her interview, Olivia meets a psychic in an elevator who tells her that this summer will be pivotal. Soon after, Olivia stumbles upon a vintage cookbook with handwritten notes in the margins and starts to date a gorgeous boy named Theo. As Olivia reads the notes in the cookbook and cooks the recipes, she forms a kinship with the previous owner and becomes increasingly aware of the emptiness she feels without a mother. When Olivia discovers her birthmother’s name and address, there’s nothing to stop Olivia from meeting her. But sometimes the things we search for are the things we’ve always known.
This book has a lot of things going for it, from the LA setting, interesting cast of characters, the vintage cookbook, and the self-discovery / missing mother angle. Plus, Daisy Whitney’s blurb makes it sound really lovely.
What are your book finds this week?
Waiting On: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Publication Date: July 2, HarperTeen
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.
So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she’s beginning to enjoy his company.
She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.
I was looking for a book cover with a romantic feel to it for valentine’s week, and isn’t this a pretty one? The synopsis reminds me a little of Pretty in Pink. And isn’t it unusual that the mom wants the daughter to go after the rocker dude? Wonder who else Caymen should be worried about besides Xander?
I really like the eye-catching type treatment, and the way the sun breaks through the cover. Looks like a perfect summer read to me.
What book are you waiting on this week?
Waiting on Wednesday: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
WHEN YOU WERE HERE by Daisy Whitney
Publication Date: June 4, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Synopsis from Amazon :
Danny’s mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.
Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn’t know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.
When he gets a letter from his mom’s property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother’s memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.
I’m a fan of Daisy Whitney’s Mockingbirds series, and this book looks like quite a departure. Nice to see her stretch her wings with a different kind of contemporary vibe. It hooked me at “Lost in Translation meets Where She Went.”
There’s a male protagonist, travel to Tokyo, a healing journey, and even a little dog! Wow, I can’t wait to read this one.
The cover is gorgeous too, and looks wistful and tone appropriate. The tag line on the cover says “How to live, how to die, and how to love with your whole heart.”
What book are you waiting on this week?
Waiting on Wednesday: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event brought to you by Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming books we can’t wait to read.
FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: Fall 2013, St. Martins Press
Synopsis from the Author’s book page :
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .
But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
Or will she just go on living inside somebody else’s fiction?
Oh my gosh, all the book covers for Rainbow Rowell’s books are so adorable I can’t stand it! Fangirl is Rowell’s second book release of 2013 after February’s Eleanor & Park.
I like how all her books have these cute romcom premises, and also give a nod to pop culture. Like in Fangirl, the main character Cath writes fan fiction, and uses it as an escape from her everyday troubles. I think it’s interesting to examine how a fangirl tries to move on from her obsession. I can relate to being a fan, I go to Comic-Con every year after all, and I can’t help but fangirl over Fangirl!
Noelle Stevenson illustrated the cover, and you can read more about it here.
