Waiting on Wednesday: Sisters of Glass and Never Enough

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's picks:

Sisters of Glass by Stephanie Hemphill

From Goodreads: "Maria is the younger daughter of an esteemed family on the island of Murano, the traditional home for Venetian glassmakers. Though she longs to be a glassblower herself, glassblowing is not for daughters—that is her brother's work. Maria has only one duty to perform for her family: before her father died, he insisted that she be married into the nobility, even though her older sister, Giovanna, should rightfully have that role. Not only is Giovanna older, she's prettier, more graceful, and everyone loves her.

Maria would like nothing more than to allow her beautiful sister, who is far more able and willing to attract a noble husband, to take over this role for her. But they cannot circumvent their father's wishes. And when a new young glassblower arrives to help the family business and Maria finds herself drawn to him, the web of conflicting emotions grows even more tangled."

Glassblown art is so beautiful so I'm looking forward to finding out more about the craft! Love the sound of the exploration of gender roles in here as well. And the cover is subtly charming without being overpowering like YA covers sometimes are.


Never Enough by Denise Jaden

From Goodreads: "Loann’s always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire’s ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that means betraying her sister.

But as Loann slips inside Claire’s world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire’s quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship—and her sister—before it’s too late?" 

I enjoyed Denise Jaden's debut, Losing Faith, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with her next book. This one also sounds like it delves into a complicated sister relationship (although both sisters are alive here!) and deals with a lot of psychology and interpersonal relations.

What books are you waiting for?

All I Want For Christmas (3)

This is a feature/meme where I choose a book each week leading up to Christmas and say why it's made it onto my wishlist. I'd love to see what books everyone else is hoping to get (maybe I'll add a few of them to my own list!) I'll be posting my pick each Monday, but feel free to link up and visit other people's posts all through the week.

This week's pick:


The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

  From Goodreads:

"The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.


As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget."

I've been wanting to read this one for a long time, and I've seen plenty of glowing responses from bloggers (although I have tried to avoid reading in-depth reviews of it, because it's one that I don't want to have spoiled). It sounds amazing!

In My Mailbox (42)

In this meme, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, we share the books we've received, bought or taken out from the library.

Bought:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I've heard great things about this one!)
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (I have the other 3 in the series and had a Groupon for a used bookstore, so I caved to complete my collection)
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (I was very impressed with Still Alice)

Swag:

Macmillan sent me a mirror with the Cinder cover on the back - thanks, Macmillan!

Kiss, Marry, Kill: The Hunger Games

Hey, it's been a while since one of these, eh? But Kiss, Marry, Kill is back! Here's how it works: you take a book, choose 3 guy characters from the book, and then the other person has to pick one to kiss, one to marry, and one to kill.

And this post is for...The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins! Now that we have an idea of what the characters in the movie will look like, I thought it would be a fine time for a Kiss, Marry, Kill post for this series. (Of course, feel free to visualize the characters however you would wish.)

And the choices are...

1.) Peeta

2.) Gale

3.) Cinna

So...who do you kiss, who do you marry, and who do you kill? And as always, if you'd like to join up and do your own, feel free to mention it in the comments or leave a link to your post there :)

Waiting on Wednesday: Intentions and Auracle

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's picks:

Intentions by Deborah Heiligman

From Goodreads: "Rachel thought she was grown up enough to accept that no one is perfect. Her parents argue, her grandmother has been acting strangely, and her best friend doesn’t want to talk to her. But none of that could have prepared her for what she overheard in her synagogue’s sanctuary.

Now Rachel’s trust in the people she loves is shattered, and her newfound cynicism leads to reckless rebellion. Her friends and family hardly recognize her, and worse, she can hardly recognize herself. But how can the adults in her life lecture her about acting with kevanah, intention, when they are constantly making such horribly wrong decisions themselves? This is a witty, honest account of navigating the daunting line between losing innocence and entering adulthood—all while figuring out who you really want to be."

I'm interested to know exactly what she hears in the synagogue and why it has such a profound effect on her behaviour! I'm hoping the Jewish aspect of this one will help to set it apart from other contemp YA reads.

 

From Goodreads: "On the surface, there’s nothing remarkable about Anna Rogan: She gets average grades, she’s not especially fashionable, she spends most of her time just hanging out with her best friend Rei. But Anna does have a remarkable secret: she has the ability to do astral projection. She uses her out-of-body experiences to explore the universe, until one day when there’s an accident at school and her classmate Taylor gets into her body. Now Taylor’s using her new identity to accuse an innocent boy of murder and she shows no signs of leaving Anna’s body. The only person who knows Anna’s secret is Rei, and as her feelings for Rei grow she must face a future where they can never touch...unless they can get find a way to get Taylor out of Anna’s body, stop the murder trial, and discover the true nature of Anna’s power."

I must admit, I'm a little wary of how the astral projection is handled...but I think it has a lot of potential to switch things up, and it hasn't been done much in YA! Also, beautiful cover alert here. 

What books are you waiting for?