Best of 2013

Top Ten Books of 2013!

We're getting close to the end of the year, and I am officially taking it easy on the blog for the rest of 2013. Kicking off Christmas week I am going to put up my list of the top ten books I read in 2013. This was hard, really hard.

There is a mix of YA, and adult on here. It was a good year for both genres. I've indicated which titles are adult. Each of the books link to my review (if posted).

1 Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

Katherine Longshore brings Anne Boleyn to life effortlessly. Her voice stayed in my head long after I had finished the novel, and Katherine's brilliant writing only improves with each novel. She creates a sympathetic, yet still driven portrait of the doomed queen. Fans of Anne Boleyn will relish this one, and newcomers to the Tudor court will find much to enjoy as well. It's sexy, scandalous, and heart pulling.

2 Night Film by Marisha Pessl (adult novel)

A mind warp at it's finest. You'll feel like you're in one of Cordova's 'night films yourself as you question everything. This novel dares to question belief, perception, and reality. Does believing in something make it reality? It's thought provoking ending will make you want to read the novel again.

3 Vicious by V.E. Schwab (adult novel)

Victoria Schwab blurs the lines between good, evil and creates something in between. Vicious wants to make you question mortality, and your definition of the 'anti-hero'. Needless to say, she succeeds. Vicious is not only thrilling, taunt, and addictive, but it's brilliantly written. I, personally, was left wanting to beg her for more. You won't soon forget Victor or Eli after reading this one.

4 Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

An intoxicating duology that ends with a fantastic finale. Bethany has created a world that is rich, characters that will immediately grab you, and has ended the series in the most fitting way. It's decadent, dangerous, and yet there is a little light of hope, which is exactly the message of her story. Araby grows leaps and bounds and remains one of my favourite female protagonists. 

5 Tampa by Alissa Nutting (adult novel)

After finishing Tampa I felt two things - shock and disbelief. A provocative, controversial novel whose main character, Celeste, is someone you will never forget. Alissa takes what could have been a disaster, and creates something thought provoking, and brilliantly written. It made me want to discuss it with everyone, but it also made me want to warn them (and I think that's exactly what Alissa was going for).

** Tampa is REALLY adult. It is not intended for the younger readers**

6 The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (adult with cross-over appeal)

Another debut novelist who impressed me with her writing. The world building is fantastic, and Paige is a character I am going to love seeing evolve and change throughout the novel. An impressive set up to what appears to be an amazing series. If you're looking for the next series to get obsessed with, this just might be it.

7 Cress by Marissa Meyer

I don't want to say to much, as this one is not on shelves yet. I will say that I fell in love with Cress (both the book and the character). Marissa Meyer's third novel has set up what is going to be one spectacular finale. The writing is just as engaging as the previous novels, and the plot is tight. This is a series where you can tell the author has planned, and plotted and is weaving everything together. I am so excited to watch everyone fall in love with Cress once it's released, she's truly wonderful.

8 Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Willem may just be my favourite male voice. He's exactly what I imagined while reading Just One Day, except even more so. He's just as swoony, just as complicated, and just as infuriating as you would anticipate after reading Allyson's story. This novel completes her story in a way that you won't be able to imagine one without the other. They are two sides of the same coin, and Gayle's writing shines as she brings Willem to life.

9 Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

I loved Born Wicked. It was everything I wanted out of a witch novel. Star Cursed only improved on an already fantastic story. Jessica Spotswood's writing is impressive, and her characters are rich. The stage is set for the installment to this series, and the stakes just keep getting higher. A heart ripping ending, mixed with delightful characters, made this one an easy choice for this life. If you haven't checked out this series - do it immediately.

10 Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

I cried my way through a large portion of this novel. Leonard Peacock's head is not a pleasant place to be, but there is no denying that Leonard's story MUST be told. Matthew Quick creates sympathy in a character who, at first, may seem undeserving. As you unravel Leonard's secret you quickly come to feel his pain. Matthew Quick has creates a timeless story that will crush your heart, and yet give you a little ray of hope as well.

Any of these titles make your top ten this year? Will you be adding any to your reading list in 2014? Let me know in the comments (link me your top ten if you've posted yours!).

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

Tampa by Alissa Nutting
Release Date – July 2, 2013
Publisher Website -  Harper Collins
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader
Pages -  272 pages
My Rating- 5/5
**obtained for review from publisher**

**ADULT CONTENT AND POSSIBLE SPOILERS**

**All Quotes Taken From Advance Reader Copy**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Celeste Price is an eighth-grade English teacher in suburban Tampa. She's undeniably attractive. She drives a red Corvette with tinted windows. Her husband, Ford, is rich, square-jawed, and devoted to her.

But Celeste's devotion lies elsewhere. She has a singular sexual obsession—fourteen-year-old boys. Celeste pursues her craving with sociopathic meticulousness and forethought; her sole purpose in becoming a teacher is to fulfill her passion and provide her access to her compulsion. As the novel opens, fall semester at Jefferson Jr. High is beginning.

In mere weeks, Celeste has chosen and lured the lusciously naive Jack Patrick into her web. Jack is enthralled and in awe of his teacher, and, most important, willing to accept Celeste's terms for a secret relationship—car rides after school; rendezvous at Jack's house while his single father works late; body-slamming encounters in Celeste's empty classroom between periods.

Ever mindful of the danger—the perpetual risk of exposure, Jack's father's own attraction to her, and the ticking clock as Jack leaves innocent boyhood behind—the hyperbolically insatiable Celeste bypasses each hurdle with swift thinking and shameless determination, even when the solutions involve greater misdeeds than the affair itself. In slaking her sexual thirst, Celeste Price is remorseless and deviously free of hesitation, a monstress driven by pure motivation. She deceives everyone, and cares nothing for anyone or anything but her own pleasure.

With crackling, rampantly unadulterated prose, Tampa is a grand, uncompromising, seriocomic examination of want and a scorching literary debut.

Lolita meets American Psycho. Those are what comes to mind whenever someone asks me to describe Tampa. It's an uncomfortable narration from the mind of someone who not only is aware of their misdeeds, but takes pleasure in them. This novel is as graphic as warned, as controversial as you're expecting, and yet surprising as well.

Alissa Nutting's debut stunned me simply because it didn't read like a debut for me. It's carefully crafted, intelligent and woven in a complex way that brings the layers of the story together perfectly. The subtle satire, commentary and the fact that she makes you examine your own reactions to the story are just some of what makes Alissa's talent immediately evident.

Celeste is one of the most developed characters I've read in a while. Her voice is so resonate that she easily leaps off the page. I've read that people are made even more uncomfortable by Celeste because of how real she appears. I totally believe this. Alissa Nutting's depiction is distressing because Celeste causes us to examine things in society that we want to rationalize.

Even more distressing are those brief moments where Celeste shows you she's someone other than the monster inside. The brief moments where she makes you laugh. She has a dark sense of humor that will undoubtedly cause you to laugh uncomfortably. She also is keenly aware of her desires and the wrongness that exists in her. "At times, I wished that my genitals were prosthetic, something I could slip out of" she confesses at one point. It's this stark realization that offers a brief glimpse at a more complex, fully realized character that prevent her from becoming a caricature.

Contrasting this however is the side of her that doesn't care. Her predator side that runs on desire and instinct. Her reference to never having children because she didn't want to put herself in a position of having to resist if she had a son, the chillingly blunt declaration that closes out the novel, and the systematic way she goes about fulfilling her desires. To Celeste the only one who matters IS Celeste and everyone else is either in her way, or something to use and discard when no longer wanted.

Her narcissistic nature displays itself in her desire to be a yard stick of sorts for these young boys sexual future. She states

Like a tollbooth in his memory, every partner he'd have afterwards would have to pass through the gate of my comparison, and it would be a losing equation. The numbers could never be as favorable as they were right now, when his naivety would be subtracted from my experience to produce the largest sum of astonishment possible.

She wants to be something they compare others to. She wants to stand out, be remembered. She says it would be a losing equation for the other girls. It's this narcissism that flows through the entire novel. The side characters, especially Jack Patrick, lack any definition. We barely learn anything about him or others. To Celeste he's simply a means to scratch her itch. She'll dispose of him once he's worn out his usefulness. It's this aspect that is brilliantly done by the author and reads like a deliberate choice considering the narrator. She lets you into Celeste's head, and every single detail is written what that in mind.

Society views this type of abuse a certain way. Female perpetrators are viewed different than male. The victims are also treated differently based on gender. Male teachers who abuse young female victims are immediately vilified. They are deemed to be exactly what they are - guilty of a crime. The wrongness of their actions is without question. The female victim is offered support, told that what happened was wrong and not her fault. It's a different story when reversed. Turn on any news report, view any online article dealing with female perpetrated crimes of this nature and you'll see a glaring difference. The male victim is often deemed "lucky" or something similar. Lascivious comments are made and often a refrain of "If she were my teacher I wouldn't be able to stay away either". The onus is put on the victim, the offender is almost made out to be a victim herself. This typically corresponds with declarations that she 'fell in love' and 'couldn't help herself'. Society expects that a female would only act this way out of some attachment and feelings. The entire notion of a female like Celeste doesn't cross many people's minds. This novel turns this idea on it's head, and makes you confront the reality head on. Female abusers do as much damage to their victims as male, and the male victims are just as violated as the young female victims. We as a society just haven't learned that yet.

There is also an undercurrent statement on women and how society views them. Celeste realizes that as she ages her desires are going to harder to sate.

There was no way for women, for anyone, to gracefully age. After a certain point, any detail like the woman's cheerleader hairstyle that implied youth simply looked ridiculous. Despite her athletic prowess, the jogger's cratered thighs seemed more like something that would die one day than something that would not. I didn't know how long I had before this window slammed down on my fingers as well - with diligence, and avoiding children, perhaps a decade. The older I became, the harder it would be to get what I wanted, but that was probably true of everyone with everything.

This underlying sub commentary also ties in with the reaction to these types of cases. A young beautiful woman is desirable to men, therefore it's not considered abuse because what straight man wouldn't want to have sex with a beautiful, experienced woman. This fails to keep in mind that these are BOYS who are being taken advantage of by someone in a position of power. Her beauty should have nothing to do with it. I am curious, and this novel made me consider it, how society would react if the perpetrator was a woman who wasn't conventionally attractive.

Is this novel for everyone? No, of course not. I do think that anyone who thinks they'll be okay with the subject matter should pick it up. Alissa Nutting has made an immediate fan out of me. Tampa is controversial, hard to read, and will make you squirm. The message it delivers is an important one however, and any conversation it brings forth is definitely needed. A brilliantly written, unflinching look inside the mind of a female sociopath who stays with you long after you've read this short, unputdownable book.

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews). 

Small but awesome mailbox this week consisting of two review copies

Tampa by Alissa Nutting (Goodreads)
Belladonna by Fiona Paul (Goodreads)

Huge thank you to Penguin Canada for the copy of Belladonna. I am part of the Canadian blog tour and will be posting my stop within the next 2 weeks.

A huge thank you to Harper Collins Canada for the review copy of Tampa. I've heard good things, so I am looking forward to seeing how I feel once I've read the book.

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Here are my obsessions this week:

BOOKS

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

I have to admit I am super curious about this one. Just read the Goodreads synopsis. It's being called a female narrated Lolita, and that immediately piqued my interest. Is it controversial? OF COURSE. It's supposed to make you uncomfortable, and repulsed. It sounds like one of those books that will invoke strong opinions, and that excites me. I love novels that make you think, feel, and yes, even squirm a little. Needless to say, I am most likely going to check this one out. I might see what others thing first, because there is a potential for this to be a bit of a mess, but something tells me it's going to be an intense, and well written read.

cover of Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

I.Can't.Even. This cover is so pretty. It's one of those covers you immediately want to hang on your walls because it's so striking. The synopsis also sounds amazing. If you follow my blog you're well aware of my fairytale obsession, so this seems perfect.

TV

Friday Night Lights

If you haven't watched this incredible series, please do it immediately. I LOVE it so much. I am hoping to binge the rest of the series that I have left really soon.

OTHER

Vacation Dreaming

As usual, I tend to start day dreaming about vacation this time of year. Sadly I won't be going on any kind of vacation until after BEA 2014 but that doesn't mean I am not already in planning mode. I am debating either Disney World again, Los Angeles/Las Vegas trip, or perhaps even going to Europe again (I have been dying to to go to Italy). Each of them have huge drawing points, and I am in full research mode.

So what are you obsessed with this week?