Waiting on Wednesday #42 + WWW Wednesday #12

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

It's a weekly meme about upcoming books we're excited about!

The Inventor's Secret

(Inventor's Secret #1)

by Andrea Cremer

Publication Date: April 22, 2014

From Goodreads:

In this world, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain's industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth, they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire's Machineworks.

The Inventor's Secret is the first book of a YA steampunk series set in an alternate nineteenth-century North America where the Revolutionary War never took place and the British Empire has expanded into a global juggernaut propelled by marvelous and horrible machinery.

Why I'm Excited

Maybe I shouldn't be. I get the horrible, awful feeling that this book will be chock full of useless preaching against the Industrial Revolution, and go on and on and pollution and global warming . . . . I'll scream if that's the case. I like steampunk novels; please don't ruin it with preachiness! If I'm wrong, though, this sounds like an awesome new steampunk series - and who isn't excited for new steampunk series?!

The Islands of Chaldea

by Diana Wynne Jones

(completed by Ursula Jones)

Publication Date: April 22, 2014

From Goodreads:

Aileen was supposed to grow up magical - just like the other women in her family. Unfortunately, she's just found out that the magic seems to have skipped a generation . . . but that's not her biggest problem right now.

In her world, there are four Islands of Chaldea. The largest and most magical island has been cut off from the other three for decades - and is slowly draining the magic from them.

But now a prophecy has come to light. Someone from Aileen's island will gather a man from each of the three islands, bring down the magical barrier, and unite them with the fourth island again. And according to the king, that someone is Aileen's aunt - who insists on dragging Aileen along; and the boy Aileen is sure she'll marry (one day); and the local boy with more brawn than brain. Someone seems to want to stop them, too . . . someone with an interest in keeping the Islands apart. But still, with magic on their side, nothing can go wrong. Right?

Why I'm Excited

It's a Diana Wynne Jones novel! The same writer who brought is Howl's Moving Castle!! Of course I'm excited! I'm ecstatic! I cannot wait for this book! It must come out soon!!

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Should Be Reading

What are you currently reading?

In the early 1980s, Ada and Stefan are young, would-be lovers living on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall. Ada lives with her mother and grandmother and paints graffiti on the Wall, and Stefan lives with his grandmother in the East and dreams of escaping to the West.

A novel set in East Berlin shouldn't be this boring. But it's making me want to claw my eyes out, I am so bored! And the narration style . . . . Don't get me started. Well, alright, get me started. First person present-tense narrations are bad enough for me most of the time, but second-person present-tense? Are you kidding me?! And let's not go into the descriptions of Ada's mole, her juicy lips, her front teeth that look like two twin surrender flags . . . And Ada's calling Stefan a coward because he's cautious about trying to escape East Berlin.

What have you read recently?

These pages are your link to the story of Ti'ana - known among humans as Anna - the first woman from the outside world to enter the domain of the D'Ni. She wandered into a place she never should have seen, and her intelligence and wisdom surprised some. And terrified others. When one young lord befriends her, then marries her, all layers of D'Ni society are shaken. But no one realizes just how deeply.

I gave The Book of Ti'ana 4/5 strawberries. I am, perhaps, a little bit biased because I am a huge Myst fanatic, and this book brought back soooo many memories. But I did my best to also be critical, and I think that I have been fair. The storyline is awesome - betrayal and revenge and forbidden love (done properly!) and a truly amazing world. The writing isn't the world's best, yet it still retains a rather classic feel to it. The beginning, also, may be slower for the "average Reader," but for a Myst fanatic is anything but.

What do you plan on reading next?

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . . But for Cath, being a fan is her life - and she's really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only want to talk about words . . . and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

That's right, people - The Reading Hedgehog is venturing into its third chick-lit of the year! Not only that, but it's a Rainbow Rowell chick-lit!! Have I lost my mind? Have I converted? Have aliens taken over and are now assuming my form and picking out what I read and are controlling my blog? The answer: none of these. I'm not a chick-lit fan and I never will be, but every once in a while - on the extremely rare occasion, I kinda, sorta enjoy a light chick-lit book. For whatever reason, Fangirl has always caught my attention every bloody time I've seen it. I'm not reading this book based on any reviews or friend recommendations (or warnings, for that matter). I am reading it purely because it keeps getting my notice, as books are somehow telepathically able to do. I have yet to read a book that's done that and been a failure. Fangirl could be the first. Or I could end up surprisingly enjoying it! We'll find out!!