An engrossing tale of a strange old man who loves his playtime, a niece who learns to love playtime too, amoung other things, a house full of endearing servants, tunnels and a most unusual self sustaining estate.
Did you miss yesterday’s Armchair BEA | Day 1 | Introduction post?
Today’s topics are Best of 2012 and or a giveaway! I’m doing both so be sure to check out both posts!
Don’t forget to stop by Armchair BEA for information on their Twitter Party as well as guest post from Joe Foster from Edelweiss on digital review copies.
Picking the “Best of” is usually not an easy task! Here are a few books I’ve read this year that I loved! If I’ve reviewed it a link to my review will be provided. Otherwise, I’ll just be doing a super mini review here letting you know why I loved it!
This book blew me away! Amazing world building. A phenomenal love story. A mystery like no other. And the characters! I couldn’t get enough of Ana and Sam. Sam is beyound swoonworthy.
This one was just a perfect example of the type of contemporary romance I die inside to read. Hadley and Oliver meet in an airport and things just blossom from there. I loved the vulnerability of them both. The unfolding of emotion and the stories they tell each other. A brilliant love at first sight story. I can’t wait to read more by this author! Her next book, This is What Happy Looks Like, sounds amazing and I can’t wait to read it in 2013!
A mermaid mythology love story at it’s best with very loveable characters, a plot that keeps you guessing and an ending that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the next book!
This series is just amazing. I’ve had Fire since BEA 2010 and I am appauld that I waited so long to read it! Fire was probably my favorite of the series. The world building is just amazing and the characters have such depth to them that you can’t help but love them all.
This book. Is. Amazing. I couldn’t get enough of it. I actually read the first pre-novella, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Throne of Glass, #0.1) , first and about died because I wanted to read more. I stalked the publisher to get my approval on NetGalley and I’m not ashamed. If you have the funds I highly recommend all the pre-novellas because they are totally worth the $0.99! The story and plot are rich with mystery, action, romance and tension! Oh, the tension! I can NOT wait for the next book and this one hasn’t even published yet! This, my blogger friends, is the only thing I hate about being a book reviewer. Those amazing books we get to read early and have to wait FOREVER to read the next one!
I just finished this recently and while it wasn’t an all time favorite read it was probably one of the most original things I’ve ever read. It is relatively close to the concept of Incarnate except that “A” reincarnates EVERY DAY into a new body. The story follows A through 40 days of being someone new. A is neather male nor female because A is an entity or rather a soul not a body. This book will quickly get under your skin and will hopefully give everyone that reads it insight into how it may be like to be in someone elses shoes.
Told in three separate story lines, Lois Lowry’s Son combines elements from the first three novels in her Giver Quartet — The Giver (1994 Newbery Medal winner), Gathering Blue, and Messenger — into a breathtaking, thought-provoking narrative that wrestles with ideas of human freedom. Thrust again into the dark, claustrophobic world of The Giver, readers will meet an intriguing new heroine, fourteen-year-old Claire. Jonas from The Giver is here too, and Kira, the heroine of Gathering Blue. In a final clash between good and evil, a new hero emerges.
I am a HUGE Gena Showalter fan and I eagerly await her new YA series! I was told I’m quoted in the ARC edition so I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Hoping to grab a copy on Thursday, but I’ve been promised a copy from Harlequin Teen.
She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.
Her father was right. The monsters are real….
To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….
Publishing October 30th, 2012. And I just noticed the Kindle Edition is $13.99!!! I hate it when ebooks are over $9.99. Grrr!
This is a no brainer. One of my all time favorite series. And if you read my introduction post this series has one of my favorite male characters ever. Since this will follow a younger character of the series, I’m not so sure how much of Barrons will be in there. Here’s to hoping though!
“I’m currently working on a trilogy that features Dani, Christian MacKeltar, Ryodan, and the mysterious ‘Dancer,’ set primarily in Fever-Dublin. Each installment in the trilogy is a stand-alone mystery, however there are larger plot arcs unfolding in the background…
..For those of you who have been worrying—the trilogy is not YA. If I had to categorize it, I would say it straddles the line between YA and adult uneasily. …Many of the questions I left unanswered in the FEVER series are addressed in this new series.
I read and really enjoyed Catching Jordan by Miranda. I’m hoping to grab an ARC at BEA. But I am grabbing a copy of Catching Jordan to host a giveaway here so stay tuned for after BEA for that!
Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.
Now Parker wants a new life.
So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?
But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?
Companion to CATCHING JORDAN.
That’s a look into what I’ve read and enjoyed and what I can’t wait ot get my hands on!
If you haven’t heard about this book yet, allow me to please introduce you to THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas!
Summary (Goodreads)
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.
Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.
This was originally a writing on Fictionpress.com as Queen of Glass. It will be released on August 7th. Until then Bloomsbury is releasing novellas for $0.99 each. I highly recommend the novellas. I’m actually liking them slightly more than the book itself, which is available on NetGalley.
Do you pre-order any books? Let me know what you’ve pre-ordered via a comment!
I follow a lot of series so I usually pre-order those next in the series to ensure I get them as soon as they are released. But sometimes I forget.
Here are the books I have on pre-order as of today!
Drink Deep releases November 1. I hope to be participating in the Blog Tour, just waiting for a confirmation on a date! I just let my sister borrow this series! We’ll both be anxiously waiting for this book!
Reckoning (Strange Angels, # 5) also releases November 1. I recently shared this series with my sister and she loves it just as much as I do!
Crossed, oh how I love this series! Matched was one of my most favorite reads last year. Crossed is also releasing on Novemer 1. Man, I’m going to have a hard time deciding which November 1 release I’m going to read first! It’ll have to be one of the first two so that I can pass it along to my sister. This one will be passed on to my mother-in-law, aunt, and cousin and her daughter!
I’ve been reading so many awesome reviews of this book that I decided to pre-order the paperback edition that features the new improved cover that matches the upcoming release of Prized (Birthmarked, #2), which releases November 8th but I have a review copy waiting for me from NetGalley.
I’m a John Green fan. I haven’t read all of this books yet but I just know I’ll love them so I’m kinda saving them for a rainy day. This book is special because if you pre-order it from Amazon.com you will receive a first edition SIGNED copy but this is only good for pre-orders and is not guaranteed after the on-sale date, which is January 10, 2012.
There are quite a few other books I’d love to pre-order but I must feed my pre-existing conditions first. 🙂
So, I started this book last night and finished it this afternoon. I’ve written my full review for it already. (Aren’t you proud!?)
The problem I’m having is that IT WAS SO FREAKING GOOD! I have to share it with you now. A little bit any way. The other problem is that it doesn’t come out until Valentine’s Day 2012!
It’s available on NetGalley so if you’re a member go grab this now and read it!
So, read this little bit of my review that’ll post in full on Feb. 13, 2012. You will love this book if you love YA Romance at all. Think Simone Elkeles.
Graffiti Moonby Cath Crowley272 pages, Knopf Books for Young Readers, (2012-02-14)
Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He’s out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy’s stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she’s managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they’re suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.
Most Memorable Scene
Goodness me! There are way too many. The scene where Malcolm finds Ed and Lucy in the park is one of the best! Lucy sure knows how to handle herself.
“Why don’t you give it to Leo? Wait, I know, it’s because you’re scared of him, you cockroach-eating-coward motherfucker.”
I look at her. “Motherfucker?”
“Motherfucker,” she says.
“The next one to call me a motherfucker takes the message,” Malcolm says.
“Motherfucker“, Lucy and I say together.
Romance
Gah! This book is so packed with so much swoon it’s not even funny! I thought for sure my heart was going to burst a few times with the amount of “Awwww” that came pouring out of some of these scenes! I was a giddy teenaged girl all afternoon! Yes, I read this in only one afternoon! It’s amazing and you have to know what happens and it’s so easy to read the words just flow into you and fill you with pure joy.
Preorder this book. I promise you won’t regret it!
I know I just posted about this series the other day but this truly deserves another dedicated post!
Karen Marie Moning just announced on her Facebook page that she has contracted to write a trilogy set in Fever-Dublin featuring Dani, Christian MacKeltar, Ryodan, and the mysterious “Dancer”! And the cherry on top? She’s agreed to write TWO MORE books after the trilogy back to the core story featuring Mac and Barrons!!!! SQUEE!
If you have no idea what I’m even remotely talking about you need to go purchase the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning RIGHT NOW! It’s the best Urban Fantasy series ever, well, it’s bloody amazing in the least.
Slideshow of books available via Amazon.com below:
In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.
First Line
We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck. – page 1, Feed by M.T. Anderson
Plot
Wow. The plot to this book is insane. Computer chips installed in human brains. Instant access to everything on the internet in YOUR BRAIN! Pop up ads galore, instant purchasing, access to everything. EVERYTHING.
But at what cost?
Setting
This story begins on the moon. The MOON! How cool is that? The settings in this book are amazingly cool. The details and the concepts of the future are in abundance. The cars are called upcars, meaning that they FLY! Houses are in pods, or something. It’s just an awe experience. This book would make an awesome movie.
Writing
ZOMG! The writing is insanely weird but incredibly unique and amazing. The jargon and slang used are out of this world: mal, unit, meg. Those are a few of the made up words. It takes a while to catch on to their meaning but once you get it, you get it.
There are a lot of “like” with Titus narrating, which is annoying yet true to character.
I also love the formatting of the chapters. Most are small and the chapters titles are pretty interesting.
I think what M.T. did with this book in out of this world. Seriously.
Originality
If you haven’t figured it out, this book is out of this world. It’s set in the future where humans have installed chips in their brains upon birth. I can’t say much more on the originality because I really don’t want to spoil all that there is to the originality.
Characters
Titus is the main character and the narrator. He’s roughly 16 or 17 I believe. He and his friends go to the moon for spring break, where he meets Violet. Titus and Violet make friends while there. Then there’s a tragic accident that leaves Violet, Titus and his friends all in the hospital for a while.
Violet is different from the others. She got her feed later in life. She and Titus date. She is smart, has a quirky father, and has a different outlook on life than Titus and his friends.
Titus’s friends really got on my nerves. I couldn’t stand the girls and the boys where ass hats. The characters made the book interesting but the future meek and unwanting.
Passion
Titus and Violet’s relationship is sincere, cute, and relatable. The end of the book just tears you apart but it’s an important ending and I commend M.T. on writing it.
Overall
A must read by anyone who owns a computer or is remotely involved in the technology of today, especially teens who are addicted to texting or video games.
It’s an eye opener to how we are connected to our technology and where it could possibly be one day in the future. It is a disgusting look on a very sad world we could one day live in. It will make you think and reevaluate your use of technology and the resources of the Earth or at least make you think of how far you’re willing to let it go.
It’s also a beautiful love story.
Cover/Title Bonus
I love the cover and the title. The cover also looks like the moon to me and not just a bald dudes head.
In closing, I must ask that you read this book and then share it with everyone you know. It’s not the absolute best book in the world but it has a pure and enlightening message that should reach as many people as possible.
Have you already read this? What did you think? Let me know in comments! Please don’t post any spoilery content!
Disclosure: Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything a very small percentage of the purchase price will be awarded to Book Reviews by Jess.
I recently finished two books. One I’ll be reviewing in a bit and one that doesn’t come out until May so I’ll post my review closer to that date but it was soo good I need to talk about it a bit now.
First, I just finished Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. I hate the descriptions that are up for this book but it was freaking amazing.
When her boyfriend dies a most untimely death, Aura–who can see ghosts–is forced to reconsider her relationship with the living and dead in SHADE.
Shade will be released May 4, 2010 and I’m so sad that you can’t get a hold of it until then! Pre-order this. It’s worth it!
I haven’t read any of Jeri’s other books, which are adult, but I think this book just converted me and I may have to check them out soon.
This book kicked major ass. It has paranormal, teen angst, GHOSTS!, awesome friends, music, lots of action, well not really action but this book flowed awesomely and kept me awake most of the night to try and finish it in one day!
The thing that I liked the most was the concept of time. You know how a lot of books revolve usually around a few days to a few weeks? And you’re like, how did they fall in love in such a short amount of time of knowing each other? Well, this is nothing like that. It’s at least a years worth of time but it’s not drawn out and boring at all.
The characters in this book were another thing I just loved. They were so deep and alluring and REAL.
The issues/topics of this book are another strong point. Death, sex, drugs, love, and trust.
You will want to read this.
Books that I think are similar, yet nothing like this book because it is truly an unique book are:
In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.
I read Feed by M.T. Anderson last week. I’ve had it on my wish list for quite a while and the hubby bought it for me for Christmas.
It is awesome and you need to read it. That is all. Review coming soon.
If you’ve read either of these already please link me to your review or tell me in comments what you thought!
Disclosure: Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything a very small percentage of the purchase price will be awarded to Book Reviews by Jess.
I’ve seen a lot of posts about best and least favorite books read in 2009.
Here are a few I just can’t believe how awesome they were! I’m including links to my reviews, if available. I’ve broken it down into Adult and YA categories.
If you haven’t read any of these books you really should! At least read my review and see if it’s something you thing you’d enjoy.
Here’s to hoping we have some awesome books in store for us in 2010!
Disclosure: Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase anything I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price. All funds are used for shipping on contests.
