Waiting on Wednesday: Shattered Souls and Wanderlove

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Hardbound: 336 pages

Release date: December 8th, 2011

Publisher: Philomel/Penguin

Goodreads Summary: 

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Love love love the cover! I smell a love triangle..

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard 

Hardcover: 352 pages

Release date: March 13th, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads summary: It all begins with a stupid question: 

Are you a Global Vagabond? No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path. Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.
But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back. 

What are you anxiously waiting on this week? Just leave a comment of the link to your WoW post!

Teaser Tuesday: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"The altar blazes with a spread of prayer candles. Behind it, Father Nicandro lifts a single rose toward the ceiling. It's the holy variety   I can see the thorns even at this distance   chosen and consecrated because of its blood-red sheen and sharp spikes"

- page 68

Review: Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Levitt

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Levitt

Hardcover: 288 pages

Release date: March 1st, 2011

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

Amazon ││The Book Depository ││ Barnes and Noble

Goodreads Summary: According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own. 

This book is adorable and hilarious. Sean Griswold’s Head was quite not what I expected in a good way. I thought it would just center around on Payton and Sean but it didn’t. I guess what makes it poignant and more likeable is the fact that it also deals with multiple sclerosis or MS. I learned so much about the disease and can relate to Payton’s situation. Sometimes I found it difficult to understand her but I think that what makes her like a real person. She’s smart and wise and a bit twisted but flawed like everyone else. Another person who I had fun reading was Payton’s best friend, Jac. These two best friends are total opposites, which made the story more enjoyable and entertaining to read. I loved their banters and even laughed hysterically at some parts. My favorite character was of course the male lead. Sean is a half-full-cup kind of person. He has killer calves and arms from cycling and a noticeable head. Thanks to it, Payton got her perfect Focus Object. Setting aside what’s superficial, Sean is a great guy. He’s joins cycling events and dedicates them to someone with MS. He doesn’t judge people and is full understanding. This book also taught me to disregard my first impressions to actually know people. There are ones who we’ve known by names all our lives but never really know them. I realized that they might even be my friends once I get to know them better.

Very light and fun to read, Sean Griswold’s Head will be enjoyed by anyone who loves contemporary reads. 

On My Wishlist (7)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It’s where we list all the books we desperately want but haven’t actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It’s also an event that you can join in with too – If you want to know more, click here.

Five Flavors of Dumb by Anthony John

Hardcover: 352 pages

Release date: November 11th, 2010

Publisher: Dial

Goodreads Summary: The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Supernaturally (Paranormalcy #2) by Kiersten White

 Hardcover: 336 pages

Release date: July 26th, 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Goodreads Summary: Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal. 

What's on your wishlist for this week? 

Review : Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Hardcover: 384 pages

Release date: April 6th 2006

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Source: e-book

Goodreads Summary: Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"—at least that's the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf's Department Store.This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. 

Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

 

My Thoughts

This is the last book that I've read in my folder of Sarah Dessen books, and I. Love. It! Not just because of the cameo role of Dexter and Remy (This Lullaby)*oops, spoiler*, but because of the story. The story was really ingenious, remarkable and other praises that I might spell out. Just Listen talks about friendship, acceptance, dilemmas that may come to our lives and love.  Annabel’s life is not perfect as it seems because she is a model and has a huge-exquisite-glass house. Her true life lies behind her glass house, her older sister became anorexic, her mother changed when their grandmother died and of course her own secrets that keeps haunting her everyday--the truth on the night, where she and her ex-best friend Sophie stopped being friends. I love her trait which she doesn’t give up on the obstacles that came on to her life and still manages to survive fine everyday. Of course Owen--the bad/music-lover/gorgeous boy who is the love interest of Annabel--made a huge part on the story to make it more spine-tingling and arousing. I love how their affection grows in the story and the roll music played. Owen helps Annabel to face her own secret and to put her downhill life back into pieces. The end of the story was really impressive and innovative.

Altogether I love the story and highly recommend this to those who doesn't know this book and who doesn't know the inventive author Sarah Dessen! :)