Welcome back!

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!

Armchair BEA | Day 2 | Giveaway | Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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!

Best I’ve Read and Loved in 2012

Incarnate (Newsoul, #1) by Jodi Meadows

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.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

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!

 

Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon #1)  by Anna Banks

I reviewed Of Poseidon recently!

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!

 

Fire (Graceling Realm #2) by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue (Graceling Realm #3)  by Kristin Cashore

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.

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)  by Sarah J. Maas

Publishing August 7th.

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!

Every Day by David Levithan

Publishing August 28th, 2012.

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.

Books I’m Dying to Read

Son (The Giver Quartet #4) by Lois Lowry

Who knew that this was coming out? Not I! I just found out recently while reading up on what books to look for at BEA this year.

Publishing October 2nd, 2012.

Summary (Goodreads)

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.

 

Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

Publishing September 25th, 2012.

 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.

Summary (Goodreads)

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….

Iced: A Dani O’Malley Novel (Fever World #1)  by Karen Marie Moning

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!

Summary (not really) (Goodreads)

“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.

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Publishing October 1st, 2012.

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!

Summary (Goodreads)

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!

Feel free to link me to your post!