Excellent Reads

What if a high-tech computer game was a gateway to the dangerous Realm of Faerie? WHEN A GAME… Feyland is the most immersive computer game ever designed, and Jennet Carter is the first to play the prototype. But she doesn’t suspect the virtual world is close enough to touch — or that she’ll be battling for her life against the Dark Queen of the faeries. TURNS REAL… Tam Linn is the perfect hero — in-game. Too bad the rest of his life is seriously flawed. The last thing he needs is rich-girl Jennet prying into his secrets, insisting he’s the only one who can help her. WINNING IS EVERYTHING… Together, Jennet and Tam enter the Dark Realm of Feyland, only to discover that the entire human world is in danger. Pushed to the limit of their abilities, they must defeat the Dark Queen… before it’s too late. INSIDE THE GAME... Jennet Carter escaped the dark faeries of Feyland once. Now, fey magic is seeping out of the prototype game, beguiling the unwary and threatening everyone she cares about. M...

On a personal note 2012 has been a big year for me- I finished my undergrad (a B.A. in bioarchaeology anthropology), I started grad school (a Masters of Library and Information Science), I finished the first draft of the WIP I have been working on since summer '11 (and I edited two-thirds of it), I adopted out ~35 kittens in the summer (and only kept 2 for myself! ;) ), and I saw my little sister get engaged. However, on a blogging-note (number-wise) 2012 hasn't been quite as big of a year as I would have liked- I only managed to read 112 books this year (whereas last year I had read 137). Of those 112 books I reviewed a mere 88. Unfortunately real life got in the way of reading/ blogging many a'time (especially around exam time and grad school app time). But... Those 88 books review brings my blog's grand total to 223 books read and reviewed . Not two bad in a little over 2 years time, in my opinion. However, on a personal blogging-note it was also a big year- I made s...

This year I challenged myself to read 125 books. And by books, I mean novels, novellas, graphic novels, mangas, and short stories. Over 100 of these 125 books were actual novels, which was the goal! I've been keeping track of smaller goals on the sidebar, but since they're about to be deleted for my 2013 lists, here they are! 12 New Releases) 1. A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison 2. Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent 3. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore 4. Black Heart by Holly Black 5. The Calling by Kelley Armstrong 6. Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr 7. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 8. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 9. Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready 10. Storm by Brigid Kemmerer 11. Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom by Anthea Sharp 12. Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong 12 Books That Have Been on my Shelf Too Long (YA) 1. Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien 2. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger 3. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale 4. Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler 5. Keeping You a Sec...

Here is my list for 2012: start Jan 1 and end Dec 31. N = Novel Na = Novella M = Manga GN = Graphic Novel A = Anthology Short Stories are listed at the bottom January 1. Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent (Na) 2. The Secret Circle 3: The Power by L Smith (N) 3. Static by Tawny Stokes (N) 4. GunShy by Seleste deLaney (Na) 5. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (N) 6. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (GN) 7. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (N) 8. Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer (N) 9. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (N) 10. Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer (N) 11. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (N) February 12. Dragons Don't Dance (beta-read) by Julie Particka Kulmb (N) 13. The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (N) 14. Everblue by Brenda Pandos (N) 15. Feyland: The Dark Realm by Anthea Sharp (N) 16. The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross (Na) 17. Black Butler volume 8 by Yana Toboso (M) March 18. A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison (N) 19. Trees by Harry ...

For Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, life has not been a fairy tale. After the mysterious disappearance of their parents, the sisters are sent to live with their grandmother--a woman they believed was dead! Granny Relda reveals that the girls have two famous ancestors, the Brothers Grimm, whose classic book of fairy tales is actually a collection of case files of magical mischief. Now the girls must take on the family responsibility of being fairy tale detectives. I think The Fairy-Tale Detectives may be my favorite middle grade book I've read this year. The world Michael Buckley created is so much fun and filled with so many of my favorite fairy tale characters. Sabrina, and her little sister, Daphne, are sent to live with their Granny Relda, after their parents' disappear. Daphne is thrilled to finally get to meet her grandmother, but Sabrina is not to be fooled. The girls were told that their grandmother had passed on. Sabrina wants nothing more than to escape. After much convinci...

Today I am excited to have Juliana Haygert, author of "Her Heart's Secret Wish", stop by the blog to tell us a bit about her writing process!  Like most writers, I started writing at an early age. But then it was just a hobby. During college, I stopped writing. Not sure why, though. Too busy? Even though I wasn’t writing anymore, my mind never stopped creating stories and making observations “ah, this would be an awesome detail for a story” and things like that. Around 2008, the urge to write again was overwhelming. I started writing again, and I started thinking about it as more than a hobby. For the first time, I thought about trying to get published. While I wasn’t writing my first real manuscript, as I call it, I researched about the process, the agents, the editors, the wants and wishes, all of that dance. Early into 2010, I finish my first real manuscript and submitted to agents. I’m serious. Man, I hope they don’t remember me. The writing was horrible. Horrible! Ye...

Meet Skulduggery Pleasant Ace Detective Snappy Dresser Razor-tongued Wit Crackerjack Sorcerer and Walking, Talking, Fire-throwing Skeleton --as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil. The end of the world? Over his dead body. I scored a set of Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy at a used book store a few years ago. As so many books do, they sat on my shelf, unread. I finally read the first book and quite enjoyed it. I often find myself having difficulty getting into Middle Grade books. I have trouble relating to the characters. I'm thirty, so I'm old enough to be a mother of these 10-12 year old kids. It's a paranormal, action adventure. So every time poor Stephanie gets within sight of danger, I'm going "Why isn't her mother with her?" or "Go home where it's safe!" And that wouldn't be an exciting story. I thin...

Today on the blog I have Morgan Keyes, author of Darkbeast , a middle grade fantasy, answering a few questions about her inspiration for her new novel. But first, check out the synopsis. A girl’s love for her raven may put her life in jeopardy in this gripping tale. In Keara’s world, every child has a darkbeast—a creature that takes dark emotions like anger, pride, and rebellion. Keara’s darkbeast is Caw, a raven, and Keara can be free of her worst feelings by transferring them to Caw. He is her constant companion, and they are magically bound to each other until Keara’s twelfth birthday. For on that day Keara must kill her darkbeast—that is the law. Refusing to kill a darkbeast is an offense to the gods, and such heresy is harshly punished by the feared Inquisitors. But Keara cannot imagine life without Caw. And she finds herself drawn to the Travelers, actors who tour the country performing revels. Keara is fascinated by their hints of a grand life beyond her tiny village. As her bir...

Today is the last week of one of my most favourite weeks in the book blogging community- the Top Ten lists of 2012! This year's Top Ten of 2012 is hosted by  Lisa from A Life Bound By Books ,  Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic ,  Jaime from Two Chicks on Books ,  Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads , and  Rachel from Fiktshun ! *In no particular order. Because... Seriously I don't know which I want more than the others* (Images property of owners) 1) "Isla and the Happily Ever After" by Stephanie Perkins: I love Stephanie Perkins, like, LOVE LOVE. I think that it's safe to say that I have a girl crush on her. Why? BECAUSE SHE CREATED BOTH CRICKET AND ETIENNE! So admittedly I have little idea what this book is about (and there is still no cover), but Ashley and I have BIG ideas (basically the above image- plus robots and each of the previous characters putting all of their various talents to use). 2) "The Indigo Spell" by Richelle Mead: With a...

Today is day three of my most favourite week of the book blogging community- the Top Ten lists of 2012! This year's Top Ten of 2012 is hosted by  Lisa from A Life Bound By Books ,  Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic ,  Jaime from Two Chicks on Books ,  Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads , and  Rachel from Fiktshun ! *In no particular order* ( Image Credit ) 1. Jace Wayland from Cassie Clare's "City of Lost Souls": This is a given. I don't think that Jace will ever not top my list of book boyfriends. He is the epitome of YA book boys IMO. ( Image Credit ) 2. Adrian Ivashkov from "The Golden Lily" by Richelle Mead: I have been a Dimitri fan through and through, however, I have felt myself becoming more and more drawn to Adrian as Richelle's "Bloodlines" series develops more and more. Adrian made my heart a complete puddle with his confession in "The Golden Lily". ( Image credit ) 3. R from "Warm Bodies" by Isaa...

Today is day three of my most favourite week of the book blogging community- the Top Ten lists of 2012! This year's Top Ten of 2012 is hosted by  Lisa from A Life Bound By Books ,  Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic ,  Jaime from Two Chicks on Books ,  Mindy from Magical Urban Fantasy Reads , and  Rachel from Fiktshun ! *In no particular order* 1) Adrian and Sydney from "The Golden Lily" by Richelle Mead: I never thought it possible for me to love characters from Richelle Mead more than I love Dimitri and Rose, however, with each installment of this series I am realizing that it is entirely possible. 2) Noah and Echo from "Pushing the Limits" by Katie McGarry: Broken girl and bad-boy. Could it get any more perfect than that? ( Image credit ) 3) Four and Tris from "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth: Bad-ass and bad-assier (and what is perhaps best about this coupling is that Tris, the female, is the bad-assier one). ( Image credit ) 4) Tamani and Lau...