Monthly Book Recommendations

Goodness, guys and gals!  Where did the summer go?  Who knows, who cares, but it's time to get back in the swing of things and bring you more Monthly Book Recommendations!  Click on the photos to go to goodreads.com and read more about the books.

The Between by LJ Cohen
Fae, Faerie, and magic - honestly, it's not my usual cup of tea, but LJ Cohen did a great job with characters here.  Lydia doesn't like her stalker, in fact, she wishes he would just go away.  But he isn't the strangest thing to happen in her life.  Her fate has always been tied to the world of Fae, and she has to make hard choices in order to save her family.

You can purchase The Between from amazon.  You can read my full review on examiner here.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
This is such a great coming-of-age story with zombies.  I loved how even though the zombies are a big part of the piece, it was more about the humans and how they dealt with being in this world.  Benny is growing up in a town where the people are more scary than the undead, and it's done almost flawlessly.

You can purchase Rot & Ruin from amazon.  You can read my full review on examiner here.



Run by Patti Larsen
I've read this whole series - The Hunted - and it's quite good.  It's dark for YA, but done really well, and super action packed.  If you prefer slower-paced novels, this series is not for you.  They are always trying to get away from something, and things never quite seem to pane out for the best with Reid.  Highly recommended for a fun, fast, and action-packed read.

You can purchase Run from amazon.  You can read my full review on examiner here.




Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The re-telling of Cinderella... with steam punk and dystopian elements?  Okay, I bit hard.  I loved this book, absolutely adored it even though I was very well aware of how it was going to end.  It was a quick read, fun, and who doesn't love fairy tales?  Well, if you don't love fairy tales, this probably isn't the book for you - but I promise you, it's good.  Well written too!

You can purchase Cinder from amazon.  You can read my full review on examiner here.

Monthly Recommendations

I am blogging A-Z starting tomorrow, so I figured I would post this one day early!  Here are my monthly book recommendations.  If you feel like purchasing any, you can follow my link.

Poke by Dalya Moon
YA Paranormal Romance
Zan has the weirdest supernatural power ever:  He sees the future of girls who poke him in the bellybutton.  It's usually a turn off, so he's never been with a girl before.  That is, until he finds Austin.  When she pokes him, he doesn't see anything.  This starts the love story where Zan immediately wants to be with her because there is finally some mystery in his future.  This was a fast-paced and very fun novel.  After I got over the whole "poking bellybuttons is a super weird power," it was really enjoyable.

You can purchase Poke from amazon.


Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
YA Urban Fantasy
While I admit there are some similarities to some bigger name books out there, I still really adored Leigh Fallon's characters.  It was a fun read, with tasteful romance, and the main character's love was far less creepy than some other YA stories out there.  Megan and Adam have reason to be drawn to each other inexplicably.  It's a cute, fast read, and I'm interested to see where Leigh takes it in the future.  I am hoping that the follow up has more deviations from the normal YA UF, but I will definitely read the next in the series regardless.  It was a lot of fun.

You can purchase Carrier of the Mark here.


My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
YA Paranormal
This was a fun read.  Rachel Vincent gives you just enough description to lead you into the frightening world of discovering your true nature (and who knew that bean sidhes could be cool?)  It's a great first novel in the series, and I am interested to read more.  Definitely on my recommended list.

You can purchase My Soul to Take here.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
YA Paranormal Romance
I feel weird calling this YA Paranormal, because I feel this more focuses on the unraveling of Mara's sanity.  A lot of people leave this book wondering, "Okay, what on earth just happened?"  But that is part of the charm, as the book leaves you with more questions.  It's the first in the series, and it definitely jumped into a good start.

You can read my full review here.
Or you can purchase The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer here.

Monthly Recommendations

Prized by Caragh O’Brien

YA Dystopian

The second installment of the Birthmarked Trilogy does not disappoint.  It picks up with Gaia trying to figure out her new place of residence.  Not only is it completely backwards from the Enclave, but it is just as bad in some respects.  Gaia has new elements to deal with, especially a huge sense of confusion.  But her desire for justice is stronger than ever.  I am waiting anxiously for the next in the series to come out, as Caragh O’Brien’s writing has turned into one of my favorites.

My full review can be found on examiner.com

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

YA Paranormal Romance

Reading the dust jacket, I thought this was a novel that I had seen before.  And okay, it does have all the typical YA elements of romance in it, but I really liked this one.  Mary Lindsey creates an amazing background for all her characters, and the plot got so enticing towards the end that I couldn’t stop reading to sleep (consequently, I paid for this the next day at work).  Definitely recommended for anyone that likes paranormal.  It’s not horror, but there are some suspenseful moments.

My full review can be found on examiner.com 


The Clockwork Giant by Brooke Johnson
YA Steampunk

Brooke Johnson went the self-publishing route, but she does her debut novel justice.  The Clockwork Giant focuses on Petra Wade's attempt to make herself known, not just as a woman - in a society where women have no standing - but as an engineer.  The descriptions of the clockwork, the intricacies that Brooke includes in her writing make it a fantastic read.  If you are interested in reading a self-published author, this is where you should start.  Oh, and there was a good amount of editing that went into the piece, so you don't have to cringe through the "Your so nice." <--- I hate those.  You can also read my full examiner review.

All of these books were part of my To Be Read Pile Challenge.  To learn more about the TBR Challenge, click on the button in my sidebar!

Monthly Book Recommendations

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
YA Science Fiction - Dystopian

Highly recommended because of the main character, Gaia.  O'Brien creates an amazing character that works so fluidly in the dystopian world of the Enclave.  She accidentally falls into the hero role because of her good nature and naivety - and her blind determination to save her parents from jail.  O'Brien's writing is well composed, descriptive, and still has you hanging on the edge of your seat.  Though it is not as action packed as some other YA Dystopian novels, I feel like this one is a great change of pace for someone that wants a mellower, but still intriguing Sci-Fi read.  I have a longer review on examiner.com.
*TBR Pile Challenge book*

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 
YA Zombies / Horror / Romance

Here’s the deal: People that expect this to be a gnarly, gut ripping out, zombie story will be in for disappointment (I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest, though, and I love brain gushing zombies as much as the next person). While Isaac Marion does give us several gory details, his story focuses on “R” a zombie that is way too intelligent. A zombie that feels trapped in a useless body and a useless life and wants to find a reason to live again. Enter Julie. He happens to fall in love with her because he ate part of her boyfriend’s brain (whoops). Marion does a great job with describing what it would be like to be an intellectual person stuck in a rotting, walking corpse. The descriptions are fantastic, and I overall really love the story.  I have a longer review on examiner.
*TBR Pile Challenge book*


Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
YA Urban Fantasy / Vampires
I know, I am so far behind the times.  I picked this up solely on a whim and because some people on goodreads really recommend it.  I wasn't disappointed, but I think the pacing could have been a bit strong in the beginning.  But once I got into it, I tell you... Richelle created an amazingly vicious and beautiful vampire world.  My hope for this series is that it gets a little bit darker, because I really want some deliciously dark YA vampire stuff.  But so far so good, it didn't disappoint, and thus it makes it onto my recommendations list.  For a longer review check my examiner. 
*TBR Pile Challenge book* 

Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard
YA Contemporary / Fiction

I had the pleasure of reading this as an Advanced Reader's Copy - and was I happy that I won it.  Jennifer Hubbard's writing was so enticing.  She did such a good job at portraying what life would be like after an attempted suicide.  Ryan's brain is muddled, confused, and he's just starting to figure himself out.  Hubbard's writing and pacing are quiet, but they sneak up to you.  Her words weasel their way into your brain and you are thinking about them for a long time afterward.  This is a great read if you want a change of pace from the action-packed dystopian literature.  I was very pleased.  My full review is on examiner.
*ARC Book*

Monthly Book Recommendations

Happy New Year!  If you are anything like me, you are probably feeling a little under the weather this morning.  Though I don't party like I used to (college is only two and a half years behind me, but it seems like a lifetime ago), I do love the beginning of another year!  A few glasses of wine or champagne, and I can celebrate a new year with my beloved husband.  We go into part two of our first year as a married couple - and it has been brilliant so far.

We have arguments, sure.  And sometimes, for an outsider looking in, you might think "What on earth are they doing together?!"  But five seconds later, you blink and you miss it, we're back at our best.  You think, "There is no one better suited to be together."  That argument that seemed to last a lifetime was no longer than five minutes.

And most of the moments we spend together?  Perfect.  In every way.  I even love the arguments, because they prove that we still have our own opinions and thoughts - we were not put on this earth just to please each other, but to push each other to be our best.  And that's what he makes me, he pushes me to be my best.

But enough kind words for the man in my life, here's what you all were waiting for!   
The monthly recommendations:

Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster
YA Science Fiction

You are now obsolete.  Everyone else has been upgraded, save our main character and a handle of other people.  Kyle has been left behind.  Mike Lancaster paints the story as a teenager would, giving the key details, but leaves out a massive amount of description, but he gives us enough.  It is a fast paced book that flies by.  It's a simpler story with a straightforward plot - but it is very interesting nonetheless.  I like it, and describe it as another "snack read."  At the end, I was satisfied, but I wanted a bit more from Kyle's story.  There is apparently, according to Goodreads, a book titled 1.4 coming out in January.  I don't see how this novel could have a sequel, but I would still be interested in reading it.

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
YA Sci-Fi

Guys... you must.  This book.  This.  It is one of the best YA romances I've read in awhile - and it has zombies!  ZOMBIES!  The fact that our beloved main character, Nora, takes a good half the book to really fall in love with Bram, it makes it that much more touching.  It is believable, even though he's totally and completely dead.  And Habel takes some liberties with story telling, every chapter is from a different character's point of view.  And it is done quite flawlessly.  Her use of Victorian language, the style of prose, all of it is pretty incredible.  This is a bit of a harder read for YA, which is why I think it is a great crossover book (or it at least has cross over appeal).


Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
YA Fantasy (on the cusp of Urban Fantasy - but it's more Fantasy)
When this book was coming to an end, for some reason, I really wanted it to stand entirely alone.  I think Taylor did such a good job at sucking me into the main character that I wanted to have her story wrap up at the end.  I know there's so much more that she can go into, and I will definitely pick the next book up - but I still wanted the ending to be "good" for our main character, instead of being a bit more ambiguous.  With that being said, Taylor does well with description.  The end gets a little heavy handed with telling instead of showing - but the rest of the novel is beautifully woven.  Because of this, I do recommend it.  I wrote a full review on my examiner.com page.

Winter Wishlist: Week 2

Week Two of the Winter Wishlist Blog Hop!

This week is about posting what I would love to give during the holiday season.  So this is kind of like my monthly recommendations, in a way.  This is going to include books and bookish things :)  There are so many awesome recommendations out there - so please check out the other blogs that are participating in this hop!!  Here we go!

The Books

The Child Thief - YOU MUST READ THIS.  I can't believe I forgot about it until now.  Brom's version of Peter Pan is not only fantastically mischievous and a little evil, but our main character is a problem child of his own.  This version of Peter Pan is more twisted than what you get from Disney, and it's so well written.  Beautiful words, characters, and voices.  Really, I cannot say enough about how much I love this book.  Seriously, put it on your wish list - now.  (Maybe I should do a giveaway of this book at some point - ooohh boy).  [As Read Now, Sleep Later points out:  This is a very dark book - you probably shouldn't read this if you are squeamish or don't like dark books]

What Dreams May Come - Yes, I know it was a sappy cheesefest of a movie (but honestly, I love Robin Williams), but the book is something else.  While the movie only scratches the surface, the book dives into philosophical topics of what afterlife is like.  Matheson did his homework - he took a little bit from every kind of religion out there, and interviews from people who were clinically dead before coming back.  And he mushed it all together.  I love this book.  It's a good story, regardless of what you believe religiously or otherwise.

The Vanishing - Here I am being a creeper again.  This book is about a man who finds his wife's kidnapper.  She disappeared without a trace.  And the ending... *shudders*  For a good, short, creepfest, you should read it.  Great character development, great plot, overall... love.

Bookish Things

These might be more writer things, and I might be doing a bit of a shameless plug in promoting them (I designed them) but I still think they are great gifts.  (I bought some for myself for Christmas, and we might buy them for someone else we know for a birthday - shh!)

Regardless, you can get both designs from:  http://adorningschemes.spreadshirt.com/

If you don't know what "I'm on a horse!" is from, you can look at the comic strip for NaNoWriMo:

Anyway, I think that's it for now - if I think of any other recommendations, I will post them later this week :)

Monthly Recommendations

With NaNoWriMo now at a close, I present to you my monthly recommendations.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
YA Dystopian
I had to admit, looking at the premise of the story, I was a little skeptical as to whether or not I would like it.  Uglies is the first book of Westerfeld's series - and it is based on looks.  Everyone is ugly until they are 16, then they get an operation and turn pretty.  But life isn't so easy for Tally Youngblood and nothing seems to go as she planned.  The end of the first book put me in a daze, although it did take me awhile to really start loving Tally as a MC.  She seemed very boring at first, very run of the mill, but as you soon find out, her coming of age story brings her into excellence.  I quickly grabbed the second book in the series, Pretties, and was not disappointed.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
YA Dystopian (of sorts, more futuristic, but in a society that is so dystopian that our main character doesn't even know that much about the past - they don't even have guns - bows and arrows all the way!)
Do not judge this book within the first 25 pages, I almost did - and I almost missed out.  Moira Young action packs the book, it's 460 pages of dialogue and action.  What was hard to swallow was the way the main character, Saba, talks (writes).  She doesn't use quotations, she uses "an" instead of "and" but once you get past the dialect, this book is fantastic.  I couldn't put it down - and literally finished reading it in a day.  Though the style was hard to get into, once you are into it, you are there.  Saba's world comes to life and you are enthralled by this strong girl that is going across the world to save her brother.  This is the "princess saves the prince" story, and it's really incredible.  For a debut novel, Moira Young certainly hits the mark.  Highly recommended.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Adult Fiction
Another debut novel that is fantastic.  Tom Rachman creates the world surrounding the newsroom.  This book is great to pick up once and awhile if you don't have time for longer works - each chapter is a very fluid, brilliantly written short story that focuses on one of that staff members, and even a reader, of the same newspaper.  The story is interwoven to an extent, and each comes to its own brilliant ending.  This is worth a read, because the stories are beautiful.  His characters are deep, flawed, and perfect all at once.  Some of the stories are funny, heart-wrenching, or downright disastrous. 

Monthly Recommendations

On the first of every month, I will be posting a few books that I have read that I recommend - and why I recommend him.  So here is the first of the month recommendations:

Trapped by Michael Northrop
YA Realistic Fiction
A quick read where you are inside the head of Scotty Weems, who is trapped with seven other kids in school during the worst blizzard.  Having lived in New Hampshire, this kind of storm seems a little unbelievable, but Northrop really gets the terror that Weems is going through.  It is a retrospective story, and in the first chapter, Scotty tells you that not all of them made it out alive.  That had me hooked.  I call it a "snack read" as it is quick and light, but still fun.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
YA Dystopian
While the first book, The Hunger Games, still remains my favorite, the second installment is definitely worth the read if you liked the first.  And if you haven't read The Hunger Games, I highly recommend that you pick it up.  It's more of the first with some twists and turns, and still focuses on Katniss' emotional confusion - love is a complicated thing, isn't it?  Especially when you are both fighting for your lives...

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Adult Dystopian (less extreme, though)
Some of the concepts in this are a little too adult for a YA reader (as in, I wouldn't recommend this for a 16 and under reader).  I think 17+ would be good for it - especially adults.  Since Dystopian novels are all the rage right now, I figured I would pull this recommendation out of my hat.  It was one of my favorite reads in college.  Kathy grows up in a private school, where they learn the "meaning" of their life.  They will all become donors, where they will slowly have their organs harvested.  This is not a rebellion story, but a tragic tale of love and coming-of-age where these children have all accepted their fate from the very day they were born.  Very twisted, but beautifully written.  And hey, they even made a movie that you can watch with some popcorn once you read the book.

That's all for this month.  If NaNoWriMo doesn't consume all of my November, then I will have some more recommendations on December 1st.  I have quite a few books that have been recommended to me by other people that are on my to read list.  We shall see.