Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Here's a little info about the meme taken from Larissa's blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's theme is: BEST BOOKS [SERIES] OF 2010!

Wow this one is hard! Of course all the topics that come up each week tend to be hard to answer, because I always have more than 5 to answer for! So these selections will be from books that are in series that released this year, of course the book in the series itself won't necessarily be #1 or the last one!

And naturally they are in no specific order!

13 to Life by Shannon Delany, the first in her debut YA series, which is just titled 13 to Life Series, so far.

Rachel Vincent's Shifter series, this one ended this year with the conclusion to the series, Alpha! I adored this series from beginning to end. Even if Faythe drove me a little crazy sometimes!

Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series is one of my all time faves! I love how there is a different main character for nearly every book and how some characters return to be the MC for more than one, like Elena, Paige, Hope, and now Savannah! Waking the Witch starts Savannah's books, which if I recall is a 3 book situation! Still waiting for the day Cassandra tells her story, just waiting for Cass to tell Kelley!

Juliet Blackwell's Witchcraft Mytsteries, I started this series just earlier this year and fell in love with it right away. It reminded me of Victoria Laurie's mysteries, which have a mystery and a little bit of paranormal into the mix! A Cast-Off Coven was the second book in the series and I can't wait for book 3, Hexes and Hemlines this June!

Nicole Peeler's Jane True series, I'll admit to having been skeptical about this series at first, because the cartoony cover threw me off. But then I picked it up, read the BOC, and then headed for the cash register because the storyline sounded really good! Can only say that I am glad I looked beyond the cartoony cover because this series is awesome! There is so much snark and humor in it that I LOL every time I read these books! And there is still action, mystery, romance and plenty more that make this a must read series! This cover was Tracking the Tempest, book 2 and I already read the third one Tempest's Legacy with help from NetGalley.

 Other notable mentions* 

Maria Snyder's Glass series, this trilogy came to its conclusion, with Spy Glass, this year as well. I liked Opal's story a lot. There were definitely some surprising twists that I wasn't expecting. Still like Yelena's slightly more, but it could just be because it was the first trilogy.

Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, this one too came to an end this year with Last Sacrifice. I enjoyed it. Somethings disappointed me because they weren't further explained, but still love the series overall and will miss Rose and her friends, looking forward to the spinoff series like I mentioned earlier!

Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, I started this one this year, a few months ago actually and immediately fell in love with it at the end of Darkfever, book 1! It has a very interesting storyline and the characters are just filled with surprises. My only regret is starting this a tad too soon, because I was 2 months away from Shadowfever, the final conclusion. 1 month down, 1 month to go! 

*Notable meaning I'm cheating and want to mention a few other series that I totally love that had releases this year. Dreamfever was released this year in this paperback format, so it can count! ;)

**Also wanted to add that I would've put Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series up, but since there wasn't a release this year (2010) for that series, I withdrew that one. Although I did enjoy her Night Huntress WORLD series that released this year as well!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly blog post by Kirsti over at The Story Siren.

This is also my birthday edition as I got a few books for my birthday as well!!

First off I started the week off by buying myself a copy of Juliet Blackwell's new series debut If Walls Could Talk

I adored her Witchcraft Mysteries series so I had to check out her new series A Haunted Home Renovation!

Then in the mail came my SIGNED copy of Soulless that I won in a contest over at Candace's Book Blog, I got books 2 & 3 from Gail but since she was out of book 1 Candace mailed me a copy!

Then I downloaded some freebie stories from Amazon that are prequels to some of my fave series! So I had to get those as well, can't pass up something that's free!

First is Jenna Black's Remedial Magic

And then I got Shannon Delany's Beasts and BFF's

Then my good pal, NetGalley finally set me an E-ARC of Pale Demon by Kim Harrison which I'm reading now and loving! Of course I started it Friday and my cold threatened to be worse that day, so I didn't get much of a good start. But still I have it!! And St. Louis has been mentioned several times as that is the first stop Rachel is making on her lovely roadtrip!! And Kim's coming here in March too, so I soooo can't wait! Have to take notes as I read so I'm prepped for that signing!

Then for my birthday I received a real treat that I had to actually order myself and then talk my mom into buying for me ;) Richelle Mead's Succubus series! I have read book 1 but am behind on 2-5, so I ordered those SIGNED from Richelle's local bookstore!! I got Succubus on Top, Succubus Dreams, Succubus Heat, and Succubus Shadows.

Then the last part of my birthday gifts was a copy of Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick! Kept hearing a lot of good things about this one, along with some so-so's and thought I had to give it a try!

And the extra icing on the cake was a $25 gift card to Borders from my aunt! That can get me the majority of the last few books that release this year! Talk about awesome!!

And this actually the one I got!

So I had a wonderful week filled with books!! And my TBR pile has gotten wayyy too tall! It's a disaster! And I LOVE IT!

What did you get this week?

Book Blogger Hop

This blogger hop was created by Jennifer at Crazy for Books.

Here are the rules:

1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below (be sure to include how long you've been blogging and what genres you review!). If you post about the Hop on your blog, please link directly to your Hop post (don't forget to answer this week's question - see below!).

2. Visit other blogs in the Linky List! Make new friends! Follow new book bloggers! Talk about books! Rave about authors! (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)

3. Post about the Hop on your blog! Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!
4. In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!):  "What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

That is a tough question! But like Jen said, first it's the plot on the BOC that grabs me. If that sounds interesting enough that is what motivates me to read the book in the first place. But the book can fall flat if the characters aren't great. So I would say the plot comes first, but then the characters are an up close and personal second! Because both are necessary to make a GREAT read!

Review--Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

ROSE HATHAWAY HAS ALWAYS PLAYED BY HER OWN RULES. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir Princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardian to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose- for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back… and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your life is about saving others, who will save you?

I finally finished Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead today and the wait was seriously too long! It had been awhile since I last read Spirit Bound, but it wasn't long before I was completely caught up with what was happening. Queen Tatiana was dead, murdered and Rose was suspect #1 out of 1. Rose has been in trouble before, most of which she has caused, but this one irritates her the most because she didn't do it, even though she and the Queen weren't exactly BFFs.

Rose is stuck in prison for the first few chapters, but that's not where the book takes place. Oh no, for we all know Rose doesn't just sit around and wait to be saved. She has to do something to help save herself, but she is going to need help. Her friends come to her rescue and send her off for her own protection but even that doesn't last long, not with Rose!

This book was just so freaking exciting! The mystery, the action, the suspense, the romance, the humor, just everything was incredible! There were quite a few twists and surprises but all were enjoyable. And there was quite a bit of detective work going on between Rose and Lissa. Lissa wasn't there with Rose too much, but Rose checked in on her in her special way, so we got to see an equal amount of Lissa and her ordeals. For Lissa was in the running to be the next queen/ruler herself. Which was another problem all on its own!

It's hard to go into many details without giving something away, but Rose has two things to accomplish on her task. Find out who the real murderer is and assist Lissa in a major way that might help her chances with becoming queen.

I don't want to get too into the romance parts, because it's spoiler like, but they were definitely good. Nice and sweet, I thought. And like I said plenty of shocking surprises along the way. Such as the identity of the murderer. I figured it out along with Rose once she knew, but we the readers weren't privilege to it yet, I came to my own conclusion and was right!

I am sad to see this series end, but it has been a fun trip! And I must give profound thanks to my friends Cem and Aly for telling me about this series and that I HAD to read it! Best advice ever!

So naturally I have to give the book 5/5 stars because it was just wonderful! Looking forward to Richelle's spinoff series as well to continue the adventures in the same world but with different characters!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!

Today is my birthday! I turn 23 today and it's hard to believe. Mostly because everyone tells me there's no way I look 23. I really don't know where I got that "look" from! Oh well! Not sure what my plans are today, might have to wait til Saturday to celebrate! But I thought I would have a virtual Disney Princess cake here because Disney just rocks!

My actual cake will likely be this:

A cookie cake from Great American Cookie Co! They are my fave cookie cakes ever! Nice soft chewy chocolate chip cookie and the icing is so sweet and good and the chocolate icing is nice and fudgy like! Yum! I love my birthday, it allows me to eat one of these with no guilt!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

This week my pick is Jenna Black's Shadowspell! I loved Glimmerglass and cannot wait to read the sequel. Things were getting pretty interesting for Dana last I saw her!

On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?

TITLE: Shadowspell
AUTHOR: Jenna Black
GENRE: Young Adult (Urban) Fantasy*
RELEASE DATE: January 4, 2011

*Wasn't sure how to classify this one into a genre, the Fae are involved but the setting is still somewhat modern even if it's not our world. So went with a sort of YA UF.

Contest Alert-The Nerd's Wife

There is a major Blogiversary contest going on at The Nerd's Wife, Arena will be giving away quite a few books and mostly all signed ones as well to celebrate her blogiversary! And there will be a GRAND prize winner who will receive an Amazon Kindle!

There are many prizes to be won, so head on over today to become a follow to be one of the lucky winners!

Click here for details.

Contest ends December 31, 2010

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly blog post by MizB over at Should Be Reading.

My copy of Last Sacrifice still has not arrived which is really upsetting me, but the time did allow me to go ahead and start Maria V. Snyder's Outside In! She's one of my fave authors and her YA series is extremely different from her two adult trilogies and I enjoyed the first one very much! Expecting the sequel to be just as fab!

Teaser Tuesday Rules:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a page

3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE

4. Name the title, author, etc.

"The Hum meant the power plant was doing its job, producing electricity and heat, keeping us alive.

Silence meant the opposite. Until that moment, I hadn't known true terror." p 23

(Page number comes from my E-galley ARC copy, page number and quote are therefore not final)

TITLE: Outside In
AUTHOR: Maria V. Snyder
GENRE: Futuristic Fantasy YA
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

Cover Art--Kelly Meding

Here is the cover image for Kelly Meding's Another Kind of Dead, the third book in her Dreg City series.

No BOC description yet, but will post once I see it! This title will release on July 26, 2011!

Review--Bone Gods by Caitlin Kittredge

EVER SINCE CROW-MAGE JACK WINTER WAS LOST IN HELL, THERE'S ONLY ONE WOMAN WHO CAN SAVE BLACK LONDON. HER NAME IS PETE CALDECOTT.

Witch hunts are on the rise and supernatural turf wars are reaching a boiling point. Then, just when it seems life couldn't get any worse for Pete, Jack reappears--but he's no loner the man she's always known. Hell has changed him forever. And he's brought back with him a whole world of trouble...

A cabal of necromancers is using ancient, unspeakable magic to turn the tide of war in their favor. Then, as the city is about to sink into chaos, Pete received a chilling directive: To end the war, you must kill the crow-mage. Beset from all sides, Pete finds herself turning to an unholy source for help...even if doing so could destroy Black London--and life as she knows it--once and for all.

Caitlin Kittredge's third book in the Black London series, Bone Gods, wasn't too bad of a read. It wasn't the greatest in my opinion, but it still had its moments. What set me off at first was that the BOC mentions Jack returning, but Jack didn't end up returning for nearly 160 pages. It was a little less than that but not by much. It was hard to get into what Pete was doing, knowing that Jack was supposed to turn up at some point. I guess if that wasn't acknowledged I could've enjoyed the first chunk more, but then I would wonder why Jack was on the cover in the first place. So really there's nothing to be done about that.

Another reason why it was hard for me to get into the story was, one I got a cold about midway and it made reading a little difficult along with comprehending. But it was just something about the story that made me confused with what was happening at certain points. And again, I didn't read over the weekend so maybe that two day break along with my head cold made it harder to remember certain things.

There was still some romance in the book. One very steamy scene between Pete and Jack. Pete and Jack have a very odd relationship which is refreshing, for at times I wonder if they still want one another with the actions they take. There seems to be a confliction between them at times as well. One minute Pete is happy with Jack and content and then a chapter later, she's ticked at him. Of course Jack is a complicated guy, so who could blame her?

The action was still pretty well paced as well.Pete has to take drastic actions to solve this case and it will have leftover results that haunt her. Overall a decent read, but not the absolute best. The ending had quite a bit of a shocker. Two really, but then I figured one out, sort of, but the real shocker was at the end, in the last 3-4 pages or so. Totally didn't see this coming which is odd since the first part happens all the time. Won't go any further that that!

Overall I give the book a 3.5/5 stars. Like I said a decent read that was entertaining at times. Because of the short break I took while reading and getting sick might have muddled my opinion a bit, but it was still a good read if not a great one.

And since my copy of Last Sacrifice still has not come in the mail yet, making me very upset, I will have to dig through my TBR pile to find something else to read!

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Here's a little info about the meme taken from Larissa's blog:

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Fell free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's theme is: BOOKS YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS!

I actually put a few books on my list for Christmas and my Birthday as well since that's in 4 days! So I'm not sure when I'll get these. So once again these are in no particular order:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I kept hearing many positive reviews on this series so I thought I had to start it so book 1 went on my list!

Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel. Yet another new YA debut that I heard a lot of positive things about so I added that to my list as well!

Succubus on Top by Richelle Mead. Really I'm asking for books 2-5 because I only read the first one!

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent, which might be hard to get under the tree since it comes out after Xmas!

Ghouls Ghouls Ghouls by Victoria Laurie, another book that releases after Xmas! Opps! :P

And there are a few more books that I want that come out after xmas that I want but might have to wait. The first 3, well 6 really since I want books 2-5 of the Georgina Kincaid series, are ones I know I'm getting for Xmas because I had my mom buy a few when they were on sale! Probably wasn't supposed to see that, but oh well!!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly blog post by Kirsti over at The Story Siren.

Well I didn't get my copy of Last Sacrifice this week. Was really bummed out about that. This is what happens when you preorder books!

But I didn't come out empty handed though! Not by a long shot! This week I got SIGNED copies of Changeless and Blameless by Gail Carriger that I won in a contest at Candace's Book Blog. Thanks to Gail and Candance both!

Then I got a SIGNED copy and a magnet of Wait for Dusk by Jocelynn Drake from a contest over at Literary Escapism! Thanks Jocelynn and Jackie!

Then in another contest from Literary Escapism I got a copy of Poison Kissed by Erica Hayes.

Then from NetGalley I got an E-ARC of Nicole Peeler's Tempest's Legacy, which I already read and loved! My review will go up next week. And I also got an E-ARC of Maria V. Snyder's Outside In which will be my next if my copy of Last Sacrifice doesn't come soon!

And while not necessarily a book, I also got a holiday card and calendar magnet from Jeanne Stein! Thanks Jeanne!

So that was my mailbox this week! Not too bad even though I didn't get Last Sacrifice. It should be here tomorrow though! What did you get this week?