Books I'm Thankful I Read This Year (2011)...

Since it was American Thanksgiving yesterday, I thought I'd blog about the books I'm thankful I read this year, whether published in 2011, or not. Somehow, I almost feel like waiting until the very end of the year to post something like this, because I could end up adding to the list between now and then, but I won't. 

By the way, I'm very grateful for the book blogging friends I've made in the past six months, despite me not being the most social person in the world, on the internet nor in real life. BJ (Dark Side of the Covers), Lan (The Write Obsession), and Andrea (The Bookish Babes), all of you are THE BEST!!! I adore you ladies, and I hope life treats you well forever because you deserve it....

The entire Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa! These books have become my favorites in not only the YA reading grade, but probably of all books. I just love this exciting world Kagawa has created. Because I have an extensive love of anime and manga (even some video games), I was right at home with these books, as Julie drew so much inspiration from those familiar-to-me sources. She'll take something everyone is familiar with (faeries) and spice them up with anime-like action and lovable characters. She's so brilliant!

This Dark Endeavor, the first book in The Dark Endeavor Chronicles series by Kenneth Oppel. This book made me cry my eyeballs out! I can't even really explain why it did that, and I'm probably the world's biggest freak because of it, but it got to me. What a magical read this was for me. 

I've had issues with Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein character since I first read about him back in college--age 19. Oppel managed to make me LIKE him. Whoa. That was a feat of epic proportions. That's 15 or 16 years of having issues with the guy. I'm totally hooked on this series and it's amazing characters. I just adore mad scientists--yes, I'm weird. 

I really loved The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith, which is an adult vampire political adventure novel. I still haven't read The Rift Walker, book 2, but I'm saving it for the perfect time, sometime before book 3 comes out in 2012. 

Although, I took issue with some of the technical writing in this book, I otherwise completely fell in love with the story and the characters. The romance was so sweet and amazingly well-done between Adele and The Greyfriar. Best part was that they grew as characters together, and BECAUSE of each other. These two make a fabulous, ideal couple that makes me believe even the tiniest more in transformative love. 

And, the Greyfriar is my book boyfriend! Swashbuckling, heroic, super handsome, blue-eyed... the list goes on. He's not perfect, but he's just awesome!

And, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare works its way into here because, there, I found another book boyfriend in Jem! Okay, he may be a teenager, but he was born long before I ever was. I'd just have to make sure he's not my ancestor, or something. I definitely have no Chinese ancestors, but I do have English ones, so.... Oh, right. He's fictional! Dodged a bullet.

This is a great series, but I mostly like the book because of Jem. I'm strangely obsessed with the name 'James' already, have been for years now (I do NOT know why). I love silver-haired men, and I love the sickly ones because I just want to make them all better. I have a gift for taking care of the ill--it's true. Not to mention, he's the sweetest, most gentlemanly character ever created besides Mr. Bingley from Pride and Prejudice...

Shiver from The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Steifvater. I loved this one from the first sentence, as it transported me directly into the story, time, place, sight, smell, everything. The prose is rich and delicious and who doesn't love these characters when you read this? 

Sam, you are just an awesome character. I'm not even into werewolves, but he's not the typical werewolf guy. Sweet and romantic. Wonderful book, and I need to read more from the trilogy.



Other than these, I loved Across the Universe by Beth Revis, but it's a sci-fi, which I don't blog about. Love Elder and Amy. They are my favorite YA couple. Elder is total LOVE.... 

Review: "Beasts and BFF's" by Shannon Delaney

"Beasts and BFF's" (13 to Life Prequel)

by Shannon Delaney

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: December 17, 2010

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 12+

Amazon.com

Meet Jessie Gillmansen as she realizes that things might not be what they seem in the town of Junction.

My Review

This is a such a super short and plotless story, it is clearly designed only to get the reader to read the preview to the first 13 to Life novel. There's nothing wrong with sticking in a preview to the next installment of a story, but I expect the main story I'm reading to be an actual story. This reads like watching only the opening scene to a teen horror flick.

It goes like this: three teenage girls go for a run out in the woods. The redhead hates the blonde and the brunette is friends with both. Some scary unseen beast growls in the bushes nearby and scares them half-do-death, then takes off. Redhead's boyfriend drives up, is seen talking to the hot captain of the football team, and the girls all pile into the redhead's boyfriend's car to go watch said hot football captain practice. The. End.

What is that? That isn't a story! Thirty percent of what was in my Kindle file was the above “story” and the remaining seventy percent was the beginning preview of the first novel. This prequel did nothing to convince me to read it because it showed me how disinterested the author was in writing it. What's more, I can easily read the preview to the first 13 to Life novel on my Kindle by downloading a free sample. This short “story” gave me a tiny glimpse of some characters that I never got to care about. It was completely pointless.

My score: 2 out of 5 stars.

Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1)

by Kiersten White 

Genre: Paranormal

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

Source: local library

Age Rating: 12+

Amazon.com

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal. 

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. So much for normal. 

My Review

This is an entertaining little story. I read it really fast because it sucked me right in. The main character and narrator, Evie, is hilarious, and she comes off as a very believable teenager. I think the YA voice is done perfectly in this novel. She and Lend had some very witty dialogue together that made me chuckle out loud many times. Teenagers … <rolls eyes>

The story struck a nice balance between humor and seriousness, something I think is very difficult to do, so go Kiersten White! She is a fabulous story-teller and her writing is superb. The characters are charming and mysterious, making it truly a delight to read. I also noticed that there is no profanity in this book at all. Just the word “bleep” several times. Literally. And, the middle finger gesture seeped in a couple of times, but how offensive is that if you're just reading about it being done? <shrugs>

(So, moms, don't worry about your kids reading this one. It's pretty safe for preteens.)

Fans of paranormal fantasy fiction featuring the staple characters—vampires, werewolves, faeries, etc.—and those who would love a cute, hilarious story with an original premise will get a kick out of this one.

My score: 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Werewolf

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: August 1, 2009

Source: AudiobookSync.com

Rated: Teen (13+)

Amazon.com

Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance.

My Review

I downloaded the audiobook version of this novel from AudiobookSync.com and couldn't wait to listen to it. Glad I didn't hesitate. I was kind of leary about whether or not I'd like it, since I could tell the writing was sort of “flowery”, and I'm not a big fan of that. But, this book turned out to be fan-freaking-tastic! I fell into the story so quickly and easily, as if I were right there experiencing the entire saga with the characters. Everything came to life in my mind. I love when I have that type of experience with a story.

I also feel the shifting first-person POV between the two main characters, Grace and Sam, worked very well. I realize now that I like books that do this, although I haven't read very many that do. You get to see the story through both their eyes all along the way, and they are very convincingly different from each other—another reason this worked so well. The voice actors were magnificent and sounded exactly like how the characters should sound, age-wise and personality-wise.

I ended up falling in love with the premise of this book after getting into it because of how cleverly it deals with what is so seemingly cliché: teen girl falls in love with paranormal teen boy. That general idea sounds super boring and overdone nowadays, but this book makes it so new and fresh again, unlike any other take on it before. It's the natural way the characters come to know each other and fall in love that makes it work. The author mentions in a Q&A at the end of the audiobook that she wrote these two characters doing and saying what came naturally for them, not forcibly writing them into a set plot. It shows, and it's just brilliant.

Grace and Sam are wonderful characters, neither quirky nor unusual, but very realistic. That realism is what grabbed me because that's what I feel is necessary for a paranormal novel to succeed—the paranormal invades the real world in some small or large way, but it always seems as realistic as possible. Shiver succeeds wildly at this and I'm sure that had mostly to do with why I loved it so much. So glad there's two more books in this series to read...

My score: 5 out of 5 stars

Book Haul #5

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!

It's time for this week's Book Haul blog post, although I don't know if the books I got are patriotic (that's why I added the flag. It makes up for lack of patriotism...). I got some really "revolutionary" books this past week. Well, they're just awesome.


Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)
by Maggie Stiefvater

Amazon.com

 Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance.

I got this as a free audiobook from AudiobookSync.com's Summer YA audiobook program. They gave this book away for a week, so I snatched it up like a hotcakes were going out of style. I need to write my review for it, since I couldn't resist diving straight into it as soon as I got it loaded into my iPod.

The Soulkeepers (The Soulkeepers, #1)
by G.P. Ching

Amazon.com

The night sexy and mysterious Abigail Silva comes to Jacob Lau's bedroom window, he doesn't believe she's real let alone a supernatural force who lives just across the street. Abigail says she's his Helper sent to train him as a Soulkeeper, a gifted warrior responsible for protecting human souls. But Abigail has secrets, and as Jacob is pulled into her strange world, he learns those secrets could cost him his family, his girlfriend, and even his soul.

Let's just put it this way: The Soulkeepers is a rare book to have garnered many 5-star reviews at Goodreads.com. Now, that is saying something. At least, I take note of any novel that can get those reviewers to like it enough to give it as many stars as possible. I quickly bought this on my Kindle when G.P. announced it was going off sale a day or two later. Didn't want to lose such a great chance to get it cheap.  

And, this cover.... You need to bury me because my corpse is three days old. I LOVE this cover to death! Uber love. One of my favorites. Can't wait to read this one.

Things To Do in Denver When You're Un-Dead
by Mark Everett Stone

Amazon.com

For ten years Kal Hakala has been the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation's top man, the longest surviving agent in its blood-soaked history. There has been no case he couldn't crack, no monster he couldn't kill. Until a plague of zombies in Denver turns into an investigation of a vicious serial killer dubbed The Organ Donor. Fueled by rage and a hatred of all things supernatural, he dives headlong into the one mystery that could finally kill him.

I received this as an ARC from the publisher as I was asked for a review of it. Clearly, it's a comedy and I've been craving something funny to read for a little while, so this came along at just the perfect time. 

Summer's Crossing (Iron Fey, #3.5)
by Julie Kagawa

Amazon.com

A Midsummer's Nightmare? Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Summer Court prankster, King Oberon's right hand, bane of many a faery queen's existence—and secret friend to Prince Ash of the Winter Court. Until one girl's death came between them, and another girl stole both their hearts.

Now Ash has granted one favor too many and someone's come to collect, forcing the prince to a place he cannot go without Puck's help—into the heart of the Summer Court. And Puck faces the ultimate choice—betray Ash and possibly win the girl they both love, or help his former friend turned bitter enemy pull off a deception that no true faery prankster could possibly resist. 

I actually got this ebook on my Kindle a few weeks ago, or so, for free (and it still is!). I just forgot to put it in a Book Haul blog post earlier. I've read this already and my review will be going up after I put up my review for The Iron Queen, the book that just preceed's this short story. I'll just say I was very excited to get this, since it's all Puck's POV and how could that NOT be fabulous?

I love getting awesome book hauls!

Future Reads #3

What's coming out soon that I can't wait to read (and that you should read, too)?

Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3)
by Maggie Stiefvater

Publication date: July 12, 2011

Amazon.com

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater.

In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

I'm currently reading Shiver, the first book in this series, and I totally love it! Now that I know the third installment is ready to be released very soon, it made sense to me to make it the subject of a "Future Reads" post. This series is so amazing!

Download FREE YA Audiobook Titles All Summer!

*Ignore that is says "2010" on the banner ad*

I've got some great news! AudioBookSync.com is giving away 2 FREE YA audiobook titles EVERY WEEK ALL SUMMER LONG! 

This week they're giving away an audiobook version of SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater (June 23 - June 29). We all know that is a popular YA paranormal romance read!

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

Amazon.com

Sync Audiobooks DL link

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

I haven't read this series yet, so image how excited I was to see I could get not only a free book, but a free audiobook at that! You can be sure a future review is coming out of this, even if the book is a couple of years old already... 

And, if you love reading non-paranormal/fantasy books, they'll be giving away plenty of YA titles in other genres all summer long. 

Happy listening!