{ Something Old, Something New } October 2018

Oh man, has it really been since APRIL that I did this last?? Gotta get this one going again!

{ Something Old, Something New } is a meant to help us focus on the new releases in our TBR piles and also hand-pick some older books that we've been meaning to read.

On my reading list for April 2018 was...

{ Something Old }

Caraval
by Stephanie Garber

Publication date: January 1, 2017
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 407
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



You can read my review here! (3 stars)


{ Something New }

Legendary
by Stephanie Garber

Publication date: May 29, 2018
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), fantasy



You can read my review here! (2 stars)

On my reading list for October 2018 is...

{ Something Old }
Of Monsters and Madness
by Jessica Verday

Publication date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 277
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), horror, gothic, retelling



First in the Of Monsters and Madness series. From Goodreads:

"A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.

Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on."

I love Edgar Allan Poe's writing - all of it, but perhaps especially Annabel Lee. I wanted to read this one a while ago, but I never got it done. It's really hard to find near me (had to do an interlibrary loan!) but hopefully I can get my hands on it in time for Halloween.


{ Something New }
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
edited by Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe

Publication date: August 28, 2018
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 405
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Suggested tags: young adult (ages 13-17), short stories, witches, LGBTQ*



From Goodreads:

"A young adult fiction anthology of 15 stories featuring contemporary, historical, and futuristic stories featuring witchy heroines who are diverse in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth.

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored."

I've had this one on my TBR for a while, and now that Halloween is approaching, it feels like the perfect time to read it!



What's on your { Something Old, Something New} reading list for this month? Pick a book that you've been meaning to read but haven't yet (your Something Old) and a new release or soon-to-be-released book (your Something New), read and/or review them, and share a link to your posts here or tweet it at me @PidginPea! I'd love to share your books and reviews when I do my { Something Old, Something New } post at the start of each month. If you'd like to read/review more than 2 books, be my guest! I'm hoping I can do { Something Old, Something New } AND a "something borrowed" and a "something blue" in the future too!

Want to put a { Something Old, Something New } button on your blog? I'd love that! Just copy and paste the code in the box below. I made the button using DeviantArt stock resources from flameshaft, gimei, and spiritsighs-stock and fonts from dafont.com and kevinandamanda.com.

<center><a href="http://pidginpeasbooknook.blogspot.com/p/something-old-something-new.html"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="747" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ1NTXh9BQne-X6VkNWTp3hXPYd1vvDMegno1E-g5V1t_kcusYOouvJgjf6OuHsjNiunpvU4QHMCQzw0Tz7pxGaf67oI7-A4N1kRYNOwFmmW19kWC-fuE7zrGgoxXHqaWPKo1Cowq8NE/s200/something+old+something+new.jpg" width="200" /></a></center>

{ Something Old, Something New } March 2015

{ Something Old, Something New } is a meant to help us focus on the new releases in our TBR piles and also hand-pick some older books that we've been meaning to read. (I'm hoping down the road when I have more time to read I can add in the "something borrowed" and "something blue"... but for now, when I'm lucky to read 2 books a month, it's just "old" and "new".)

On my reading list for February 2015 was...

{ Something Old }

Teacher's Pest
by Charles Gilman

Release date: May 7, 2013

I haven't yet posted my review... but it will be up soon!




{ Something New }


Beastkeeper
by Cat Hellisen

Release date: February 3, 2015

I haven't yet posted my review... but it will be up soon!

What was on your reading lists for February 2015?...

Amber Stokes (Seasons of Humility)

{ Something Old }   { Something New }
          

--------------------The Bachelor Baker---------Meant to be Mine
---------------------by Carolyne Aarsen---------by Becky Wade
----------------Read Amber's review here!---Read Amber's review here!

On my reading list for March 2015 is...

{ Something Old }

Substitute Creature
by Charles Gilman

Release date: September 24, 2013
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 171
Publisher: Quirk Books
Suggested tags: middle grade, paranormal, horror



Fourth in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series. From Goodreads:

"When a giant nor’easter dumps a blanket of snow on the village of Dunwich, Massachussetts, Robert Arthur and his friends find themselves marooned inside Lovecraft Middle School. The kids have no choice but to spend the night—while snacking on cafeteria food, sleeping on classroom floors, and facing off against a mysterious substitute teacher who may have a sinister secret. The latest adventure in the Lovecraft Middle School series features more adventures, more outrageous monsters, and another terrifying lenticular cover!"

{ Something New }

Vivian Apple at the End of the World
by Katie Coyle

Release date: January 6, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 262
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Suggested tags: young adult, apocalyptic



First in the Vivian Apple series. From Goodreads:

"Seventeen-year-old Vivian Apple never believed in the evangelical Church of America, unlike her recently devout parents. But when Vivian returns home the night after the supposed "Rapture," all that’s left of her parents are two holes in the roof. Suddenly, she doesn't know who or what to believe. With her best friend Harp and a mysterious ally, Peter, Vivian embarks on a desperate cross-country roadtrip through a paranoid and panic-stricken America to find answers. Because at the end of the world, Vivan Apple isn't looking for a savior. She's looking for the truth."

Look for my reviews for these books coming soon to the Book Nook!


What's on your { Something Old, Something New} reading list for this month? Pick a book that you've been meaning to read but haven't yet (your Something Old) and a new release or soon-to-be-released book (your Something New), read and/or review them, and share a link to your posts here! I'd love to share your books and reviews when I do my { Something Old, Something New } post at the end of each month. If you'd like to read/review more than 2 books, be my guest! I'm hoping I can do { Something Old, Something New } more often in the future too!

Want to put a { Something Old, Something New } button on your blog? I'd love that! Just copy and paste the code in the box below. I made the button using DeviantArt stock resources from flameshaft, gimei, and spiritsighs-stock and fonts from dafont.com and kevinandamanda.com.

<center><a href="http://pidginpeasbooknook.blogspot.com/p/something-old-something-new.html"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="747" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ1NTXh9BQne-X6VkNWTp3hXPYd1vvDMegno1E-g5V1t_kcusYOouvJgjf6OuHsjNiunpvU4QHMCQzw0Tz7pxGaf67oI7-A4N1kRYNOwFmmW19kWC-fuE7zrGgoxXHqaWPKo1Cowq8NE/s200/something+old+something+new.jpg" width="200" /></a></center>

New Release Round-Up: February 23-March 1, 2015

Young Adult


The Bunker Diary
by Kevin Brooks

Release date: March 1, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 264
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Suggested tags: young adult, horror, thriller



From Goodreads:

"Room meets Lord of the Flies, The Bunker Diary is award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?

I can't believe I fell for it.

It was still dark when I woke up this morning.

As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.

A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.

There are six little rooms along the main corridor.

There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out.

What's he going to do to me?

What am I going to do?

If I'm right, the lift will come down in five minutes.

It did. Only this time it wasn't empty . . ."

The Mermaid's Sister
by Carrie Anne Noble

Release date: March 1, 2015
Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook
Pages: 236
Publisher: Skyscape
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, mermaids



From Goodreads:

"There is no cure for being who you truly are...

In a cottage high atop Llanfair Mountain, sixteen-year-old Clara lives with her sister, Maren, and guardian Auntie. By day, they gather herbs for Auntie’s healing potions. By night, Auntie spins tales of faraway lands and wicked fairies. Clara’s favorite story tells of three orphan infants—Clara, who was brought to Auntie by a stork; Maren, who arrived in a seashell; and their best friend, O’Neill, who was found beneath an apple tree.

One day, Clara discovers shimmering scales just beneath her sister’s skin. She realizes that Maren is becoming a mermaid—and knows that no mermaid can survive on land. Desperate to save her, Clara and O’Neill place the mermaid-girl in their gypsy wagon and set out for the sea. But no road is straight, and the trio encounters trouble around every bend. Ensnared by an evil troupe of traveling performers, Clara and O’Neill must find a way to save themselves and the ever-weakening mermaid.

And always, in the back of her mind, Clara wonders, if my sister is a mermaid, then what am I?"

Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


Echo
by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Release date: February 24, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 592
Publisher: Scholastic
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction



From Goodreads:

"Music, magic, and a real-life miracle meld in this genre-defying masterpiece from storytelling maestro Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

Richly imagined and masterfully crafted, ECHO pushes the boundaries of genre and form, and shows us what is possible in how we tell stories. The result is an impassioned, uplifting, and virtuosic tour de force that will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck."

Mark of the Thief
by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Release date: February 24, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fantasy



First in the Mark of the Thief series. From Goodreads:

"When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing the lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds much more than gold and gemstones: He discovers an ancient bulla, an amulet that belonged to the great Caesar and is filled with a magic once reserved for the Gods -- magic some Romans would kill for.

Now, with the deadly power of the bulla pulsing through his veins, Nic is determined to become free. But instead, he finds himself at the center of a ruthless conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and spark the Praetor War, a battle to destroy Rome from within. Traitors and spies lurk at every turn, each more desperate than the next to use Nic's newfound powers for their own dark purposes.

In a quest to stop the rebellion, save Rome, and secure his own freedom, Nic must harness the magic within himself and defeat the empire's most powerful and savage leaders."

Other Middle Grade new releases for this week: