Waiting on Wednesday: Warcross and Whichwood

Waiting on Wednesday which is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which you show a book that will be releasing soon that you are excited for!

I have decided that every week I will start sharing Waiting on Wednesday posts including two books (maybe more) just to share some more upcoming releases. I feel like only sharing one can be a bit boring. 

Title: Warcross
Series: Warcross #1

Author: Marie Lu

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House)

Release Date: September 12th 2017
Goodreads Page

Synopsis: 

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation. Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I have yet to read any of Marie Lu's booksl. I know *hides away in shame* But this one sounds so good. I love the video game plot and the aesthetic of the story. I know some people have read and loved this already. I need to start reading Marie Lu's books asap. ( I picked this up at BEA so expect a review closer to release)

Title: Whichwood 

Series: Companion to Furthermore

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House)

Release Date: November 14th 2017

Goodreads Page

Synopsis: 

A new adventure about a girl who is fated to wash the bodies of the dead in this companion to Furthermore. Our story begins on a frosty night… Laylee can barely remember the happier times before her beloved mother died. Before her father, driven by grief, lost his wits (and his way). Before she was left as the sole remaining mordeshoor in the village of Whichwood, destined to spend her days washing the bodies of the dead and preparing their souls for the afterlife. It’s become easy to forget and easier still to ignore the way her hands are stiffening and turning silver, just like her hair, and her own ever-increasing loneliness and fear. But soon, a pair of familiar strangers appears, and Laylee’s world is turned upside down as she rediscovers color, magic, and the healing power of friendship.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I am a huge Tahereh Mafi fan. I loved her Shatter Me series and I loved Furthermore her middle grade debut. This companion sounds incredible. I was so excited to hear about at the launch for Furthermore back in last August.  ( I picked this up at BEA so expect a review closer to release)

What are you waiting on this week? Are you excited for either of these two books?

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BookExpo + BookCon Recap: Day 3-5

If you didn't see on Twitter/Instagram, I attended Book Expo and BookCon. It was from May 31-June 4th and was in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. This was not my first time attending, I went back in 2015 to BEA and I had gone to Power Reader Day in 2013 (which is what BookCon was before it became a big thing), and Book Con in 2014. It was in Chicago last year so I wasn't able to attend. 

This year was extra special because I was there covering the show for Teenreads.com, where I am an intern. When the posts go live on that site with my coverage I will be sure to link them! I was also posting on their Instagram and Twitter with all of mine and my friend/fellow intern Amanda’s shenanigans. 

You can read about my experience of Days 1-2 HERE

Day 3 - Friday

Book Expo Day 2

The second day of BEA was just a slight bit less crazy than day one, just a slight bit, and the day started off with Amanda and I sprinting to get Stephanie Perkin's new book There's Someone Inside Your House and then Unearthed by Megan Spooner and Amie Kaufman. Then we went to Amanda Foody's signing of Daughter of the Burning City, we had met her at the HarlequinTeen party and we had to go to her signing because of how great she was.

Friday morning was so productive right from the start. The Amanda Foody signing started 10 minutes early so we had some time to walk the floor before the panel we attended. We went to the Young Adult Buzz Panel that was moderated by Rebecca Murno, the editorial coordinator of Teenreads.com and the supervisor of our internship. She was a fantastic moderator, both funny and full of great insights about the books. She got some great answers from the authors on the panel. The panel included Tillie Walden for Spinning; Tochi Onyebuchi for Beasts Made of Night; Samantha Mabry for All the Wind in the World; Dashka Slater for The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives; and Nic Stone for Dear Martin. I met Tochi the day before at his signing and now I am even more excited to read his book.

After the YA Buzz Panel, Amanda and I went to Nic Stone's signing. Nic Stone had on a unicorn horn and her makeup was on point. Seriously, she is beautiful. I can't wait to read her book because it sounds amazing.

Amanda and I did all of the photobooths so many times. I don't know if the gifs are going to play, but they are so cute!

Do you see the beautiful man Chad Michael Murray from the distance? I am in the middle of a One Tree Hill binge and I am in love with Lucas. I wish I could have gone to the signing. I was on line to meet Jennifer L. Armentrout when I saw him from the line. Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of my favorite authors of all time and she recognized me from the previous times that I have met her at prior BEA/BookCons. I also went to Kerri Maniscalco's Hunting Prince Dracula signing and got an exclusive swag item!

Here is the final haul for Day 3! It is a bit smaller than Thursday, but still really awesome. 

Day 4 - Saturday

BookCon Day 1

Book Con wasn't as crazy as I had expected it to be on day one. It was a lot slower with a lot less books, especially as a press badge because I was unable to get autographing tickets. But for the most part,  it was very organized on the Saturday.

My day started with the Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco and Gunslinger Girl by Lindsey Ely signing. We hopped on that line as soon as we go into the show floor. Then we went to the Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott signing at the Entangled Booth. I went to several of the EntangledTeen signings and I have to say all of them were extremely organized and had really great lines. The employees working the booth always knew how many books they had and were just really fantastic.

After that we went to the Underlined Premium giveaway. If you were signed up for the Underlined newsletter or what was previously called First In Line you were able to get two books, a phone battery pack, a pen, a pencil pouch, a beach towel, and a tote.

In the down time we waited for the Owlcrate spin and win. I finally got the candle that I wanted. We also went to The Bookish Box giveaway where I won this epic Mean Girls compact mirror.

After that we took a break for lunch, went to the photobooths, and waited in line for a Shadowhunter giveaway. I also was able to finally caffeinate myself. Saturday was really rough for me because I was going nonstop for three days before while commuting home to Staten Island and waking up at 5am every morning. We then walked the show floor again. We went to one last signing at EntangledTeen for Hide From Me by Mary Lindsey.

Epic Reads had a lounge set up for their meet-ups, but it was open afterwards for people to sit in! 

 Here is my book haul for Saturday!

Day 5 - Sunday

BookCon Day 2

By the last day of BookCon, I was so extremely tired that I think anything was just annoying me. Sunday was by far the worst day. There wasn't really that much going on and what was going on was crazy. The lines were insane.

Penguin Random House in particular had a horrible booth. They clearly tried to have some organization with having autographing tables in their booth with the times listed on TV screens. But the inside was a mess with the way they did giveaways and the signings for big authors were a mess because they underestimated the crowd they would draw. It also didn't help that Penguin had one side and Random House had the other so if you asked one side about the other they got very snotty with you and didn't know anything.

There were multiple signings that either myself or my friends waited by PRH and were unable to get on the signing line when a real line was finally formed. The biggest mess had to be the Krysten Ritter signing. I think the big issue was that it was so late in the day so there wasn't really else to do so many people waited around for the tickets.

But I did get one and I got to meet Krysten for a brief few seconds for her to sign my book and take a picture with me. She was so nice!

I only brought home about four books on Sunday and maybe two tote bags. But Krysten Ritter truly was the highlight. 

Did you go to Book Expo or BookCon? What were your favorite parts? If not, which books that were promoted there are you most excited for?

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BookExpo + BookCon Recap: Day 1-2

If you didn't see on Twitter/Instagram, I attended Book Expo and BookCon. It was from May 31-June 4th and was in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. This was not my first time attending, I went back in 2015 to BEA and I had gone to Power Reader Day in 2013 (which is what BookCon was before it became a big thing), and Book Con in 2014. It was in Chicago last year so I wasn't able to attend. 

This year was extra special because I was there covering the show for Teenreads.com, where I am an intern. When the posts go live on that site with my coverage I will be sure to link them! I was also posting on their Instagram and Twitter with all of mine and my friend/fellow intern Amanda’s shenanigans. 

Day 1 - Wednesday

Bloomsbury Tour

 As part of BlogBoundCon, there were tours of the publisher Bloomsbury offered. Bloomsbury was a sponsor for the event and they wanted to bring in bloggers who have helped promote books to share some of their upcoming titles with. Bloomsbury is the publisher of Sarah J. Maas’ two series, A. C. Gaughen, and Emery Lord among others.

Everyone at Bloomsbury was incredibly nice and it was an amazing opportunity to see where all of the magic happens. There was a light breakfast and each member of the publicity team presented a title that they are excited for. During questions, they all shared some of their favorite under-rated Bloomsbury titles as well as their Hogwarts Houses. It was a pleasure to meet the Bloomsbury staff and receive some goodies from tour. It was also fantastic to meet some bloggers in real life. So thank you to BlogBoundCon for organizing the event.

The goodies that Bloomsbury gave us! Reign the Earth by A.C Gaughen and The Whisper in the Stone by Kamilla Benko

Pre-BEA Javits Shenanigans

After the tour, I walked over to the Javits with several bloggers. One of the most annoying thing about the Javits is that it is really out of the way to the rest of Midtown since it is on 11th Avenue and most of the food/stores are close to 8th, but I digress. At the Javits, I picked up my badge so that I didn’t have to deal with the lines of Thursday morning. Then I had plans to meet up with Melissa Lee from Live, Love, Read YA to hang out and get food before our evening plans. The funny thing was that while Melissa and I were walking around the Javits for a few minutes we ran into the third member of our squad, Brittany from Brittany’s Book Rambles.

The three of us spent several hours running around the Javits taking lots of pictures. I am a fan of photo-ops just saying. We also had some of the Javit’s chicken tenders, which I basically lived on for five days. (Sorrynotsorry). The show floor was technically not open on Wednesday, the ABA Bookseller lounge was, but the floor was still being built.

 And here are some of the pictures that we took…

  

HarlequinTeen Party

HarlequinTeen invited Teenreads.com’s interns to a cocktail party to promote several of their debut authors. It was such a fun party that my friend/fellow intern Amanda had the opportunity to go to. There were fancy cocktails that were themed for the three books; Zenith, Daughter of the Burning City, and All Rights Reserved. 

There was a balloon wall, so of course we took prom photos against it, and really great food. It was at this really fancy rooftop bar with an epic lounge area on a balcony. Amanda and I had the chance to talk at length with Amanda Foody, author of the upcoming Daughter of the Burning City, who is only 22 with her debut novel coming out! Amanda and I both agree that we want to become Amanda Foody’s besties. She is so cool and was so nice. Amanda and I also had the chance to talk to Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings, authors of the upcoming Zenith, they were both super nice and made us very excited for their novel.

Thank you Siena for inviting us! 

Day 2 - Thursday

Book Expo (formerly of America)

The official first day of Book Expo was amazing. I got so many of the books that I was highly anticipating from the show. Amanda and I picked up The Cruel Prince by Holly Black and Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller from the ARC 9 am ARC drops. Then we dashed over to the Harlequin booth for Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings signing for Zenith, who we had met the previous night. Melissa Lee was nice enough to pick me up an ARC of Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi, while I was waiting in that line!

Then Amanda and I walked around after the signing and went to the Owlcrate booth where we did a really cute photobooth with Harry Potter accessories. We also did the spin and win, where we got some new ARCs we hadn’t heard of. We then went to Emmy Laybourne’s signing of Berserker, which sounds sooo cool. After that we went to some photobooth’s for Shadowhunters and the Grishaverse experience.

Then we went to Adam Silvera’s signing for They Both Die at the End, which is one of my most highly anticipated books. I love Adam’s first two books. He was so nice! He also thought he had met Amanda before and now the running joke is that they are bestfriends, but he just doesn’t know it. 

Then we went to two more signings back to back at the Penguin Random House booth. First there was Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi, who was so enthusiastic and animated. We saw him the next day on a panel, but I will talk about that more in the next post. Then we met Kristin Cashore, who has a new book coming out called Jane, Unlimited. There were other ARC drops along the way, but after that Amanda and I called it quits for official Day 1! 

Did you go to Book Expo or BookCon? What were your favorite parts? If not, which books that were promoted there are you most excited for?

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May Recap

The past two semesters of school have been crazy busy for me and made me have to put blogging on the back burner. 

Books Read:

1. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
2. Hunted by Megan Spooner
3. Journey Across the Hidden Islands by Sarah Beth Durst
4. Lemons by Melissa Savage
5. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Books Reviewed:

• Journey Across the Hidden Islands by Sarah Beth Durst Kidsreads.com Review

Bookish Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday - Most Anticipated Releases for the Rest of 2017


Discussion Posts:

Where in the World has DanaSquare Been? - in which I updated you on my life, school, and my reading! This is my first non-promo psst in a long time and I am very excited to get back to blogging.

TV Shows:

• One Tree Hill - I am currently in the middle of season 6 and I started this in April. It has been my life for the past two months and I have no regrets. I love these characters and seeing their journey has been amazing. Brooke is my favorite character and I am so excited to see what happens to her. I feel like I am one of the last people to watch this show, but it has been a great journey. 
• Between - This is a Netflix original show that follows a town where a virus kills everyone over the age of 22. It was surprisingly good and I really enjoyed the two seasons I watched. I hope there is a third season after the cliff hanger ending.
• The White Princess - This is the follow-up mini series to The White Queen, which I loved, and it is really great. I love how these series have educated me on The War of the Roses while being an entertaining drama. 

Movies:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - I loved this movie. It was great to see all of these characters again, especially the introduction of Baby Groot. Drax was also a particular favorite of mine. It did feel like a filler movie and was really long. The plot could have been a lot tighter, but there was a ton of amazing scenes that I enjoyed.


Looking Forward To Next Month:
As of today when this post goes up I will be starting the crazy that is BEA and Book Con week! So expect several posts about that experience next week. I start my internship with Corvisiero Literary Agency next week, which is incredibly exciting! But I am also excited for my first full month of summer vacation and hopefully New York will give me better weather to be able to read and tan outside.

Do you post a monthly recap? I would love to read it!

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Top Ten Most Anticipated Books For The Second Half of 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks theme:

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books For The Second Half of 2017

I've decided to dedicate this to the books coming out this year that I am very excited to see at BEA/Book Con. 

1. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo 

I actually have an ARC of this book and I am so excited to read it! I love all of Leigh's books and I have heard fantastic things about this one. Especially with the movie coming out this week, I am even more excited to read this.

2. Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

AKA JESSICA JONES!! I've been a fan of Krysten since she was on Veronica Mars. I am incredibly excited to read her first book, which is a mystery/thriller. I hope it is great and I am really excited for the chance to meet her at Book Con.

3. If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This is clearly no surprise to anyone who knows me! I am the biggest JLA fangirl. I love all of her books and read them no matter what. I have met her several times and just love her. JLA is my most read author and I know without a doubt that I will love this book too.

     

4. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

I read both of Adam Silvera's books last year and I fell in love with his writing style and his characters. He writes such emotional books that will destroy you in the best possible way. I recently got my hands on an ARC of this book and I am admittedly holding off for a rainy day where I plan to cry my eyes out. 

5. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

This is Nic Stone's debut and a BEA YA Buzz Book! Rebecca Munro, the panel moderator for the YA Buzz Books is the editorial coordinator of Teenreads.com, absolutely loved this book and I take her opinion very highly as her intern. This is definitely a book that I need to read.

6. Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

I just started reading Stalking Jack the Ripper and I know that I am going to need the sequel right away. This book is dark, twisty and atmospheric. I am really loving the historical setting too. I am hoping to meet Kerri at BEA/Book Con. 

          

7. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

I have seen so much praise for this debut that I desperately want to get my hands on it. Honestly, I don't love this cover but I'm not going to hold it against the book. I am ready to read an East Asian inspired fairytale.

8. Daughter of the Burning City Amanda Foody

Truth be told, I don't know that much about this book other than the fact that it is set during a carnival. I just think the cover is really pretty. But Caraval definitely made me a bit more into the carnival aesthetic. 

9. Roar by Cora Carmack

I love Cora Carmack's books and I love fantasy, therefore I know I'm going to enjoy Roar. That sounds like a good equation. This follows a strong female protagonist and the hook of this fantasy is that the world is wrecked from violent storms.

10. There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

A NEW FULL LENGTH STEPHANIE PERKINS NOVEL!!!!! Count me in! Plus, it is a genre that I am dying for more of. Get it? Hahaha This is a slasher 90s movie thriller/horror novel that I can't be more excited for. 

What books are you excited for to release during the rest of the year?

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