Waiting on Wednesday #38 + WWW Wednesday #8

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.
It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

Silver

by Chris Wooding

Publication Date: March 25, 2014

From Goodreads:

Paul is the new kid at Mortingham Boarding Academy, and he has a dark secret.

Caitlyn admires Paul from afar and resents that he only has eyes for Erika.

Erika things that she and Caitlyn are best friends, but she's wrong.

Adam is a bully with a major chip on his shoulder.

Mark is outgrowing his old friends but doesn't know how to make new ones.

In a few short hours, none of this will matter. Without warning, a horrifying infection will spread across the school grounds, and a group of students with little in common will find themselves barricaded in a classroom, fighting for their lives. Some will live. Some will die. And then it will get even worse.

Why I'm Excited

Like all books with this sort of premise, it has the potential of being stupid. But it also could be really awesome and really creepy. I'm hoping for the latter. Just look at the cover; isn't that chillingly awesome?! I have every hope that this book will focus mostly on the killing and surviving aspect, and less on the bonding and revealing one's feelings for a person.

Northwood

by Brian Falkner

Publication Date: April 1, 2014

From Goodreads:

Cecilia Undergarment likes a challenge. So when she discovers a sad and neglected dog, she is determined to rescue him. No matter what. But her daring dog rescue lands her in deep trouble. Trouble in the form of being lost in the dark forest of Northwood. A forest where ferocious black lions roam. A forest that hides a secret castle, an unlikely king, and many a mystery. A forest where those who enter never return. But Cecilia is determined to find her way home. No matter what.

Why I'm Excited

I love Middle Grade adventure stories, with fantastical creatures and magical items. It reminds me of being a kid again, believing that there really could be fairies hiding in the ferns and dragons buried under piles of leaves. What Reader doesn't love books that make them feel like that again? Northwood sounds like one of those books. I have an ARC, which hopefully I can get to reading soon.

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading

What are you currently reading?

Cole Randolph was just trying to have a fun time with his friends on Halloween (and maybe get to know Jenna Hunt a little better). But when a spooky haunted house turns out to be a portal to something much creepier, Cole finds himself on an adventure on a whole different level.

After Cole sees his friends whisked away to some mysterious place underneath the haunted house, he dives in after them and ends up in The Outskirts.

The Outskirts are made up of five kingdoms that lie between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death. It's an in-between place. Some people are born here. Some find their way there from our world, or from other worlds.

And once you come to The Outskirts, it's very hard to leave.

With the magic of The Outskirts starting to unravel, it's up to Cole and an unusual girl named Mira to rescue his friends, set things right in The Outskirts, and hopefully find his way back home before his existence is forgotten.

Book #1 in the Five Kingdoms series. Another ARC to read! I'm about six chapters in and am really enjoying it. I need to read more of Brandon Mull's books. It starts out with lots of excitement, and as soon as Cole reaches The Outskirts, it jumps right into mystery and adventure. Love it!

What have you recently read?

Knights errant aren't supposed to let the bad guy escape. But Sir Michael and his squire Fisk were up to their necks in mayhem (as usual) and Fisk's old mentor, Jack Bannister, quietly slithered away. Now Michael has tracked Jack to the notorious city of Tallowsport - and it turns out Jack wasn't exaggerating when he said that the crime boss he works for runs the town. With the judicars and the sheriff working for the bad guys, a lone knight errant aided only by his trusty squire and a pack of ragtag orphans shouldn't stand a chance. But the thing that really gets in Michael's way is that Fisk refuses to see his old teacher hang.

Book #4 in the Knight & Rogue series by Hilari Bell! The Author was so nice and sent me an ARC for review purposes. I gave this book 5/5 strawberries. It was amazing! The villain - Roseman - totally made this book. I love Fisk and Michael - always will - but Roseman was such a triumph. Totally reminded me of Magnussen from BBC's Sherlock.

What are you planning on reading next?

It's been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex's relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It's also been six months of waiting for Alex's parents to return to Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex's parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Book #2 in the Ashfall Trilogy. I liked the first book - it was a good disaster story. But I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the sequel. Ashfall dragged in areas. How is Book #2 not going to feel like one huge dragged-out story? Especially if Alex and Darla are just retracing their steps. But I have the ARC of Book #3 to read, so I must read this one first.