Waiting On Wednesday: The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I chose The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury. 


Release Date: February 23, 2016 by Razorbill

From Goodreads:

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years -- a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes. 

But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of Arabian Nights from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.

Book Review: Doll Junk: Collectible and Crazy Fashions from the ’70s and ’80s by Carmen Varricchio

When I saw the cover of this book on *Netgalley I knew that I had to immediately request it. I could barely contain my giggles at the site of it. I'm not a doll collector and as a child was never a snob over "fake Barbie clothes". But this book looked too intriguing to pass up.

This book is filled filled with dolls and fashions of Barbie (and other doll) knockoffs from the the 1970's and 1980's. Many are shown in their orignal packaging. Drawing from many different countries besides the USA this book displays the wide variety of knockoffs that were in mass production during the 70s and 80s.

As I stated I'm not a doll collector. In fact in my neighborhood I grew up in we had a lady who was well into her 60's who collected baby dolls. As in thousands of them. She would put them in strollers and cribs and dress them up and everything. At the time the kids in the neighborhood found it a bit odd and to be honest pitied her a bit. One of the other kids had sagely told me that the woman couldn't have children and so that was why she had them. Whether or not that is true I'll never know. But now as an adult I have to admit...well I WANT to play with dolls. After going through this book I have the burning desire to go out and buy some Barbies and huge pile of clothes to put her in.

This book was light on words but heavy on pictures. Some of the clothes were down right hideous but some made me want to rip it out of the original packaging and start dressing up Barbie (told you I'm not a collector...no collector would open the original packaging). In particular I fell in love with the Petra doll fashions. They may not have been as well made as Barbie's but oh man some look down right fun!

For me what was more scary than some of the fashions were the dolls themselves. Some looked possessed. Some looked like drag queens imitating Tammy Faye Baker. Some of the male dolls had mustaches (one a full beard). The rooted hair made some of them look crazy. Creepy children dolls who would give Chucky a run for his money.

Over all I LOVED this book. It was good for a chuckle, lots of nostalgia (hello crazy fashions of the past), and a return to innocence. I really and truly want to go out and play with some Barbies right now. I could never be a collector because I would want to dress up and play with them just like that "crazy" lady that I pitied as a child. No pity here just a longing for a time of innocence when imagination reigned free and the whole world was ahead of me.

A solid 5 out of 5 stars.


* I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion

Waiting On Wednesday: Death's Leash by J.D. Stroube

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I chose Death's Leash By J.D. Stroube.
Expected publication: December 1st 2015 by Euphoric Publishing & Design

From goodreads: 

The myth is wrong…

Death is only a man, but one who has control over all living beings. He chooses who will live or die. He commands the fates and gives the order to cut the thread of life. However, Death isn’t alone.

In the beginning of time, he realized that it would be impossible for a single figure to wield power over life and death, while still having time to punish the wicked. Death summoned the tainted souls of the dead and from them created a race of females. They would be the takers of souls, the guardians of the afterlife, and the harbingers of death.

They are Death’s Hellhounds. Wild, impulsive, and terrifying, these sisters have a solitary goal: to hunt down unspeakable evils. When Death calls his Hellhounds to embark on the Wild Hunt, they must forsake their humanity to consume the most depraved souls in existence. Six remain in the veil between life and death, but step through the threshold when Death calls.

Kali has spent her immortal life avoiding attachment. She hides her true self from all but her sisters. When Death gives her an assignment to hunt a rogue angel, she must confront the one man who places her heart in danger. Alone, she must face an enemy too powerful for a solitary Hellhound and find a way to break Death’s leash.

When wicked souls turn from the light,
And baying calls ring through the night.
Face your end or turn to flee,
For Death’s Hellhounds have come for thee! 

Cover Reveal: Ward Against Destruction by Melanie Card (Entangled Teen)

Ward Against Destruction (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer, #4)

by Melanie Card

Release Date: 10/05/15

Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Ward de’Ath used to the think that nothing could be more terrible than death. Now he realizes

there are worse things. Like his never-ending hunger for blood. Even if he conquers the

unbearable cravings that drive him headlong toward destruction,he’s a wanted man with a bleak

future.

Assassin Celia Carlyle learns she is the only one who can protect Ward from disaster. She loves him–she wants to help him, but no one can tell her how to save him from himself. And the confusing voices in her head scream to let him go.

But Ward's dark trials keep mounting. A malevolent evil is rising in the land, threatening to

unleash horror upon the world. The only way Ward can defeat it, and have the chance to marry

Celia, is by accepting his fate and becoming the one thing he swore he would never become..

 

***Books in this series***

Ward Against Death (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1)

by Melanie Card 

Release Date: 08/02/11

Entangled Teen

306 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive...

Ward Against Darkness (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #2)

by Melanie Card 

Release Date: 08/27/13

Entangled Teen

352 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

The last thing Ward de'Ath wants is more trouble. On the run from both the law and the criminal underworld, Ward and Celia flee Brawenal City only to stumble into the mansion of a powerful evil necromancer. And when Ward discovers the man possesses a dangerous grimoire, his duty leaves him no choice. He can't allow the necromancer to keep the grimoire.

But the mansion is filled with monsters--human and undead--and Ward has no way of telling who's friend or foe. The only person he can trust is Celia who dominates more of his thoughts and feelings everyday. But there are still laws in the way of anything but friendship. She's still dead and he's still alive . . . for now.

Ward Against Disaster (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #3)

by Melanie Card

Release Date: 01/19/14

About the Author

I have always been drawn to story telling. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling a story in my head or on paper. In grade school, we had journal writing time which I turned into story telling time, weaving tales of magic and adventure that mimicked the fairy tales and myths that I loved to read. It was there, with the help of two very special teachers, that I nurtured this love and started my journey as a writer.

I write fantasy, paranormal romance, and everything in between, seasoned with a good dash of adventure and mystery. Join me on my tales of magic, adventure, and romance.

Author Links:

   

Book Blogger Hop: August 14-20

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer

This week’s question submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews is:

Are you ever without a book?

Very very rarely. 95% of the books I read are ebooks. Most of those I read on my phone. I'm rarely without my phone so I usually have some sort of book (hundreds really) on hand. I'm a huge fan of ebooks and mostly moved away from reading "real" books. Most of the physical copies of books I read these days are my son's books. I just find ebooks more convenient. They take up less space, easier to find what page you left off on, and I can literally read them any time regardless of it is completely dark out or not. So yeah, as long as I've got my phone next to me I've got millions of worlds to explore. 

Thursday's Tale: The Wonderful Birch

Ok this tale was a wee bit...well messed up. This story is a Cinderella variant and you find a lot of similarities to the tale that we know. And then there are some really wacky things. This one was in Andrew Lang's The Red Fairy Book.

I don't even know how to summarize this tale as it is rather long. But basically a woman is turned into a sheep by a witch. The witch takes on the form of the woman. The witch has a daughter with the peasant woman's husband. The peasant woman had already had a daughter. The witch treats her daughter better than she treats her stepdaughter. The witch has the husband kill his wife who is in sheep form. Before the sheep is killed she warns her daughter not to eat any of her meat and to bury her bones. A birch tree grows where her bones were buried.

One day the prince holds a festival. The witch tries to keep her stepdaughter from going by throwing barley corns in the ashes. But the stepdaughter uses a branch from the birch tree and goes to the festival where the prince falls in love with her. At one point the witches daughter is gnawing on bones under the table and the prince kicks her thinking she is a dog. Her arm breaks. When the stepdaughter goes to leave her ring is left on the latch of the door because the prince has smeared it with tar.

Basically after that the stepmother twice more tries to keep her away from the prince. She throws milk and she throws hemp seed among the cinders but the stepdaughter used birch branch both times. She also gets her circlet and her golden slipper stuck in tar left by the prince. The witches daughter is again kicked twice more. Once breaking her leg the other time knocking her eye out.

Like in the regular Cinderella story the prince uses the object left behind to find the maiden. However the witch pares away at her daughter to make the items fit. The prince was ashamed of his strange bride and when he was about to take her away the stepdaughter ran up to him and asked him not to rob her of her silver and gold.  The prince then uses the witches daughter as a bridge so they can cross a river. The witches daughter wishes that a golden hemlock would grow out of her body so that her mother would recognize her.

From there the stepdaughter has a baby the witch hearing about it thinks it is her own daughter but then finds out it is not. She turns the stepdaughter into a reindeer and sends her own daughter in her stepdaughter's place. The baby is restless and finally the prince finds out that the witch turned his wife into a reindeer. He is told to burn her skin she takes it off. Eventually they live happily ever after.

Thursday's Tales is hosted by CarolsNotebook. Feel free to join in and read a tale of your own!

Waiting on Wednesday: Calvin by Martine Leavitt

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

I picked this book this week because I'm HUGE Calvin and Hobbes fan. In fact we name my son Calvin. And he is a blond pain in the you know what just like his namesake. When I saw this book I about peed myself cause it looks so freaking good!

Calvin

by Martine Leavitt

Expected publication: November 17th 2015 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) 

From Goodreads: In this latest novel from National Book Award finalist Martine Leavitt, a schizophrenic teen believes that Bill Watterson can save him from his illness if he creates one more Calvin & Hobbes comic strip.

Seventeen-year-old Calvin has always known his fate is linked to the comic book character from Calvin & Hobbes. He was born on the day the last strip was published; his grandpa left a stuffed tiger named Hobbes in his crib; and he even has a best friend named Susie. As a child Calvin played with the toy Hobbes, controlling his every word and action, until Hobbes was washed to death. But now Calvin is a teenager who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, Hobbes is back—as a delusion—and Calvin can't control him. Calvin decides that if he can convince Bill Watterson to draw one final comic strip, showing a normal teenaged Calvin, he will be cured. Calvin and Susie (and Hobbes) set out on a dangerous trek across frozen Lake Erie to track him down.