Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking for the Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under my Tree.

Books I have already read and NEED TO OWN/NEED A PHYSICAL COPY OF

1. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
2. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
3. Something Like Normal by Trish Doller
4. After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
6. Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
7. Far From You by Tess Sharpe
8. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
9. The Falconer by Elizabeth May
10. Parasite by Mira Grant
11. The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord (I just sent my ARC to my #TBTBSanta and can’t wait to replace it with a beautiful

2015 Releases, or: I NEED SANTA’S MAGIC TO DELIVER THESE BENEATH MY TREE

1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer
2. I Was Here by Gayle Forman
3. The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski
4. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
5. Winter by Marissa Meyer
6. Untitled Raven Cycle #4 by Maggie Stiefvater
7. The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
8. The Devil You Know by Trish Doller
9. We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
10. Kissing Ted Callahan by Amy Spalding

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten New to Me Authors I Read in 2014

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking for the Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2014. This is something I would like to track on my 2015-Read spreadsheet, along with information such as debut, pages, and rating with a separate sheet tracking DNFs instead of just removing them from the ARC TBR or OWN TBR lists. Goodreads tracks that information, but since I use the spreadsheet because it’s easier to look at and I can easily track re-reads, I think I need to include more information going forward.

 

1. Taylor Jenkins Reid: After I Do and Forever, Interrupted were both very important books to me this year
2. Lydia Netzer: How to Tell Toledo From the Night Sky and Shine, Shine, Shine were both 4 stars for me, but I can’t get these quirky stories out of my head
3. Tess Sharpe: I gave Far From You 4 stars, but after spending the rest of the year thinking about it, I love it more and more. And I love her pups, in a totally non-creepy way.
4. Sara Benincasa: Great was great, but I love her even more for her feminist rants and Beyoncé-love.
5. Emery Lord: I loved loved loved Open Road Summer and The Start of Me and You and she’s so cute and hilarious and has an equally cute and hilarious (I assume) one-eyed pup.
6. Brandon Sanderson: I don’t know about his dog situation, but I finally read one of his books this year….even though I’ve bought several over the years.
7. Katja Millay: While I’m still kicking myself for not reading The Sea of Tranquility sooner, I think about it almost every day.
8. Ellie Marney: While this is my most recently read author on the list, I am so wrapped in the Every series and contemplating moving to a country where book 2 is available for purchase.
9. Rae Carson: The first series I read in 2014 was Girl of Fire and Thorns and WOW what a way to start off the year!
10.  Lastly, a tie (but not a tie for last place!): Elizabeth May and Marie Rutkoski: The Falconer and The Winner’s Curse were two of the best fantasy novels I read all year and I would remiss not to mention these two.

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2015 Releases

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking for the Top Ten Books I’m excited for in 2015. Ummm I have a feeling I won’t be able to contain this to a top ten…

 

1. Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman
2. I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
3. FAIREST by Marissa Meyer
4. The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
5. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
6. I Was Here by Gayle Forman
7. WINTER by Marissa Meyer
8. Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin
9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
10. The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski
11. THE RAVEN CYCLE #4 by Maggie Stiefvater
12. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
13. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
14. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
15. Golden Son by Pierce Brown
16. Salt and Stone by Victoria Scott
17. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
18. The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May
19. Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein
20. The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente
21. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
22. Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
23. We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
24. Tonight the Streets are Ours by Leila Sales
25. Armada by Ernest Cline

 

I had to stop looking at 2015 releases once I got to 33 books and then edited the list down even more from there – and it was super hard! Basically, if these were the only books I read in 2015 I would call it a success because they are all extremely important sequels or standalones/starts of new series from authors I love or debuts that sound amazing or just plain ol’ GIVE IT TO ME NOW books.

Top Tep Tuesday: Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait For

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking for the Top Ten Sequels (I’m going with any upcoming book in a series) I Can’t Wait For.

1. Winter – The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
2. The rest of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
3. The Well of Ascension – and the rest of the Mistborn series) by Brandon Sanderson – I had so many #mistbornfeels and then it took me a while to get the next book and I’m nervous about jumping back in
4. The Missing – The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst – I read this book was cancelled, but I’m holding out hope
5. The Winner’s Crime – The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
6. The Vanishing Throne – The Falconer by Elizabeth May – FINALLY BECAUSE THAT CLIFFHANGER
7. The Boy Who Lost Fairyland – Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente
8. Fairest – The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
9. Symbiont – Parisitology by Mira Grant – this is supposed to come out in a few weeks and I’ve seen/heard NOTHING
10. This Shattered World – Starbound by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
11. Salt and Stone – Fire and Floor by Victoria Scott
12. Golden Son – Red Rising by Pierce Brown
13. Rewind – Newsflesh by Mira Grant – 2016 WHYYYYY

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books for an Introduction to Fantasy

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is talking about what we would give to readers who aren’t familiar with a certain topic or genre. I’m going with….fantasy, which should not be surprising at all – especially since it’s in the title.

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman: Urban Fantasy with mythological undertones
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor: Fantasy isn’t your thing, but you love beautiful writing? This is going to be an important series for you
3. The Fairyland Series by Catherynne M Valente: Middle grade, but holy moly it’s for EVERYONE \
4. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: More sci-fi than fantasy, but fairy tale retellings are so fantastical that I’m going with it
5. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: I’m new to this series, but it’s more urban fantasy but with magic! If wizard detective doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what will
6. Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott: A little Hunger Games-y, but I thought this was a super fun read with a dystopian lean
7. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski: Another recent release, but with more romance and historical-ness
8. The Falconer by Elizabeth May: If you told me this book was about fairies and not falcons, I wouldn’t believe you either, but it’s totally fairies
9. The Unearthly Trilogy by Cynthia Hand: More paranormal romance than the rest. It surprised me that I liked a series about angels so much, but there it is
10. Red Rising by Pierce Brown: Another dystopian-y read, but sometimes you just get on a kick. I read this right at the end of last year and it skyrocketed up my top ten list FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR

 

And of course, the honorable mention: Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling: Obviously, this is the series that really got me into fantasy. It’s about magic, and it is magic and FRIENDSHIPADVENTUREMAGIC

ARC Review: The Falconer

Title/Author: The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Publication Date/Publisher: May 6, 2014/Chronicle Books

Series: Yes, The Falconer #1

Source and Format: Received an advanced reader’s copy from the publisher via Netgalley

Rating: 5 stars

From Goodreads:

Heiress. Debutant. Murderer. A new generation of heroines has arrived.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844

Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.

Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.

But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?

WHY IS IT CALLED THAT??

Oooooh, okay. I get it.

But where are all the falcons? Is that another word for faery?

There’s one…mentioned. WHERE ARE THE FALCONS??

(I got kind of hung up on the title.)

The Falconer is the first faery book I’ve read, I think, and I SUPER LOVED it. 5 stars, for me, is usually something that wrecks me emotionally…or fantasy – though the two are never mutually exclusive. I always think that I don’t even like fantasy, but I’m always wrong.

Because I love it. I always put it off because the books tend to be so long and part of a series with equally long, or longer, books – so the time commitment and the waiting between books is enough to put me off it entirely.

The only thing you need to know about The Falconer is to READ IT, but if you take some convincing, here is a checklist of things it has that I love:

• Nicknames based on last names: this is only my whole life’s goal and like 80% of the reason I got married.
• Girls kicking butt: Faery butt, but also SOCIETY’S BUTT.
• Love triangle: kind of. I don’t really even like love triangles but this one isn’t so bad.
• Pixies getting drunk on honey: okay, this isn’t a thing I normally love, but I love it now.
• Steampunk?: I don’t know, but there are a lot of cogs.
• Science!: Aileana is an engineer! At 18! In 1844 Scotland! AND SHE HAS A TITLE! (she’s amazing).
• Cliffhanger: This is not a thing I like it all, so consider this a warning! The Falconer #2 is slated to fly in until 2015 and anything could happen by then. The world could end! I could go blind and deaf and lose my hands in some sort of freak accident and never find out what happens after they….

Oh. Spoilers. Just read it!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2014 Debuts I’m Excited For

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking for the Top Ten Debuts I’m excited for in 2014.

1. Red Rising by Pierce Brown (1/28): I read this towards the end of December and WOW. This is going to be one of the ones I recommend the most this year. I seriously loved it so much I want to never stop talking about it.
2. The Falconer by Elizabeth May (5/6): I have heard tremendous things about this, and since it doesn’t strike me as a JUSTINE book, it obviously is.
3. The Murder Complex by Lindsey Cummings (6/10): Apparently murderous teenagers are my favorite thing ever (see: Red Rising) so I’m so excited for this one.
4. Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy (3/18): I love bucket lists and the cancer element of the story guarantees tears. Which, for me, is great because I love to have my soul crushed.
5. Half Bad by Sally Green (3/4): WITCHES. I love a story with real magic, so I’m hoping this one is amaaaazing.
6. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman (4/22): I am still a little wary this this could go either way, based on the subject matter, but early reviews have said it’s fantastic.
7. Wild by Alex Mallory (7/8): YES
8. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (4/1): YESSSS
9. Something Real by Heather Demetrios (2/4): I had this one, and then I missed the archive date so I didn’t get to read it. Reality TV YA Contemporary has gone badly for me, but it’s also been great. I firmly believe Something Real will fall into the GREAT camp.
10. The First Fifteen Lives of Henry August by Claire North (4/8): This sounds so extremely interesting. I can’t wait!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2014 Releases I’m Dying to Read

This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking for the Top Ten 2014 Releases I’m Dying to Read. There are probably so many I don’t even know about, so I’m really excited (and sad for my TBR) to see what everyone is waiting for this week! Onto the books!

1. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor – I just read Night of Cake and Puppets and LOVED it. It was a nice little trip back into this world but I really want the 500+ pages to be back with Karou and Akiva (and Zuzana and Mik since I love them even more now!).
2. Landline by Rainbow Rowell – everything about this sounds amazing
3. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi – I didn’t realize how invested I was in this series until the wait for Ignite Me. I definitely hope Warner gets what’s coming to him (or dies maybe). Actually, everyone but Kenji could die and I would be more or less okay with it.
4. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson – YES YES YES
5. Cress by Marissa Meyer – basically I’m dying because it feels like everyone has already read this one but OH WELL I’ll just keep waiting over here by myself I guess.
6. Free to Fall by Lauren Miller – an app that keeps you from ever making a bad decision? I bet it goes terribly wrong in the book, but who wouldn’t want that?
7. The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson – so I still haven’t read Tiger Lily (don’t shoot), but this sounds so amazing. I feel like Jodi Lynn Anderson would be one of my favorite authors…if I would just read her books.
8. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo – I completely forgot this one and had to come back and edit it in because it would have been a TRAVESTY if anyone thought I forgot it – which, okay, I kind of did.
9. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – well the early buzz for this is definitely working. It doesn’t even matter what it’s about, but when something comes that highly recommended by Jamie, I know I’m going to love it.
10. This Shattered World (Starbound #2) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner – I’ve been dying for this for over a month already and the wait will surely kill me.

Those are the TOP books I’m excited for…but obviously there are more than ten, so here’s a few more:

1. Wild by Alex Mallory – YA TARZAN RETELLING. What are the odds there’s a loincloth?
2. Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern – this cover is very appealing to me and the story sounds interesting, though this one could go either way.
3. The Falconer by Elizabeth May – There is a VERY vocal crown on twitter that loves this one. I think this is going to be a book that doesn’t sound that interesting to me but I end up loving. Historical fiction-y stuff never really screams JUSTINE BOOK at me, but I have loved all of it that I’ve read. The inclusion of faeries also worries me, but we’ll see what happens.
4. What I Thought was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick – I LOVED My Life Next Door and can’t wait for more from Huntley Fitzpatrick.

I’m sure there are a TON I’m forgetting, so hit me with a link to your TTT so I can add even more books to TBR!