Favourite Books Since I've Started Blogging

I was recently asked about my favourite books. The books I would make everyone read if given the chance. The books that stayed with me years after I've finished reading them (or will stay with me).

Since I am out of town, I figured this would be a perfect chance to create a list of those titles (at least so far). I am keeping it to ones that I have reviewed on the blog. They'll all link to my review if you wish to check them out.

1 Stolen by Lucy Christopher

My first review, and I still love this one more than words can express. It's literally become a joke with the ladies of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Club because I mention it so often during our chats. Incredibly written, emotionally draining, and it's a book that plays with your head. In the most beautiful way possible, of course. This one is making it's way to the big screen with Ryan Kwanten as Ty.

2 Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Jodi Lynn Anderson's beautiful writing reduced me to tears as Tiger Lily ended. This retelling of Peter Pan not only feels fresh and different, but is one of my favourite adaptations of all time. An unforgettable story about the girl with the crow feather in her hair, and the lost boy she fell in love with. It gets bonus points for being narrated by everyone's favourite pixie.

3 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

One of the best twists, EVER. I didn't see it coming, and (for me) it was brilliantly executed. Gillian Flynn's sharp, smart writing combined with a wrenching story of a couple falling in, and out of love serves to add a depth to this anything but typical mystery.

4 Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

Pretty sure Katherine's next book Brazen will be added to the list (I am halfway through and it's beautiful) but it's her portrayal of Anne Boleyn that stunned me. A novel that focuses on Anne's life, rather than her death. It shows that everyone deserves, and should fight for, their voice to be heard. A surprisingly uplifting and hopeful message that adds a bitter-sweetness to Anne's fate.

5 Vicious by V.E. Schwab

A deliciously dark look at what it means to be a hero, and villain. Unforgettable characters combined with Victoria's brilliant writing, and a rich, complex plot to create what is basically a perfect book. I ache to go back to this world and these characters. This one surprised me in the best way possible, and made me a Victoria Schwab fan for life. Apparently this one is also on it's way to the big screen. #DaneDehaanForVictorVale

6 Anna and the French Kiss/Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Cute and fluffy is what most people probably think when they read the titles for these books. WRONG. They are adorable, but they are also filled with humour, heart, and a realness that seeps from the pages. The characters are so completely developed they feel like friends, and it quickly became one that I want to read over and over again. Both of them. There are plenty of swoon worthy passages throughout the novel. The stand out in both is Stephanie's attention to the little details that go into a romance. The inside jokes, the little gestures, and the moments that make everything stop. She captures that falling in love moment effortlessly.

7 Just One Day/Just One Year by Gayle Forman

A duology that when combined tell the romantic, and engrossing story of two people's journey to each other. Often romance is about the couple, but Gayle shines a light on the two individuals inside that couple. We get to know them each so well, and this is a case where each novel is dependent on the other. Allyson's story isn't complete without Willem's and vice versa. It's the kind of novel that inspires wanderlust, and might just inspire you to take a few chances.

8 We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

The less I say about this one the better. E Lockhart's gorgeous writing will pull you into the dreamy, summer vibe, but the mystery will keep you burning through the pages. Read it. Lie about it. Just make sure you experience it unspoiled as it's one that is meant to be experienced along with the characters.

9 Love Letters To the Dead by Ava Dellaira

A novel that is both heartbreaking and healing. It's letter style narration was done impressively well, and the emotions and character development impressive for this style as well. Ava's work reads gut-wrenchingly real that it feels like you're reading someone's personal letters at times, rather than a work of fiction. The celebrity angle works for the character and the story in a charming way. They become characters themselves. This was another surprise for me, but I was happy to fall under it's spell.

10 Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

I hugged this book when I was done. It's that adorable, and fun. It's one of those books that makes you feel good. The journey you take with the characters comes complete with a musical playlist which only adds to it's charm. The characters, the writing, and the depth this novel has is wonderful. It's one to pick up this summer and enjoy by the beach.

This is my no means a full listing, but these are the books I would want to make everyone read if I could.

What books make your EVERYONE MUST READ list?

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!).

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Release Date - September 24, 2013
Publisher Website - Tor
Publisher Social Media -  Twitter
Pages -  368 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**obtained for review from publisher via BEA**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

A masterful, twisted tale of ambition, jealousy, betrayal, and superpowers, set in a near-future world.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

Does having super powers automatically make you a hero? Victor Vale, and Eli Cardale set out to become heros. What happens instead is a delicious revenge story filled with some of the most compelling characters I've read this year. No words I can write will properly do this book justice. This book is so much more than I anticipated, and left me breathless.

Flawed is this book's middle name. The characters are so flawed; brilliantly so. There are no heroes or villains in this story. It's all about perspective, and degrees of grey. What makes a villain, what makes a hero? Victoria Schwab forces us to look at our definitions for each of these and re-evaluate them. Victor and Eli are both fundamentally skewed, and they both have sociopathic tendencies. The entire time you're questioning who is the hero, and who is the villain. Does killing those with super powers make you a hero because you might be saving people from them? Does killing a killer immediately make you a hero? Does belief and faith in what you're doing automatically make it righteous? Does a crack (or two) in your cold exterior mean you're not as messed up after all? These questions are brilliantly woven throughout the novel, and there are no easy answers.

This friendship is so far beyond dysfunctional. Victor and Eli are both brilliant, both driven, and calculating. They both are capable of being ruthless, cunning, and single minded. They have a competitive nature to their friendship that leads them to constantly want to one up the other. It's not hard to see how this went from friendship to enemies, even in the early stages. 

The mood is capture effortless by Victoria. It's steeped with darkness, and gore. The scenes detailing their attempts at developing extraordinary abilities are as chilling, as gripping, and dizzying as you expect. I held my breath at points; especially with Eli's attempt. As their obsession with this grows, the reader's apprehension grows along with it. You can see the oncoming carnage, but can do little to warn the characters...even if you wanted to. Part of this novels allure is that unapologetic, unflinching descent into this world, blood and all.

Sydney's innocence is ripped from her. Her character is the most innocent of the group, and seeing it taken from her time and time again is crushing. I had a instant soft spot for her, and ached each time her faith in something was proven false. Her age masks a mind that takes in everything around her and understands more than her young years show. I felt protective of her, and nearly sobbed when she's trying to find her 'safe place'.
Serena has her own crimes to answer for, and her own demons. Eli's side-kick is persuasive and lethal. All these side characters are fleshed out. Each characters motivation is made clear, and that's why they're so compelling. As flawed as they are, you understand them. It's all too easy to get inside their heads, and it's terrifying to see that it's not such a stretch.

The narration jumps all over the place. Instead of a linear story, we get it in glimpses. Their time at college is woven along with current time. This may sound confusing, but it adds to the story. It provides a delicious build up to the midnight countdown, and what's to come. The way the story unravels also allows for a much cleaner story, and one that is paced properly. Sleep stops being important because all you want to do is get the next part of the story, regardless of what 'time stamp' you're dealing with.

A gory, dark, and engrossing look at revenge, redemption, and the age old proveb that absolute power can corrupt. This is a world that practically makes me want to beg for a sequel. The characters and their story demand it and readers will be clamoring for more.

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

There are so many amazing books that have been announced in book deals recently. I don't have pretty covers to show this time, but I do have lots of awesome sounding future releases to share.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

This sounds AMAZING! Slated for a 2013 release, Bloomsbury has purchased the publishing rights. The writer? She's 20 YEARS OLD! I am in awe. Oh and this is the first in a SEVEN book series. Here is the synopsis on Goodreads

The Bone Season begins in 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. She works as an envoy between secret cells: she drops in an out of people's minds. For Paige is a lucid dreamer, a clairvoyant, and in her world, the world of Scion, she commits high treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes forever. Attacked, kidnapped and transported to Oxford, a city that has been kept secret for two hundred years, she meets Warden, a Rephaite with dark honey skin and heavy-lidded yellow eyes. He is the single most beautiful and frightening thing she has every laid eyes on – and he will become her "keeper".

Warden already sounds yummy and I love that the character is almost 20. A little older is nice. I want more fun, twisty, intense novels that feature 25-30 year olds.

Vicious by Victoria Schwab

The author of The Near Witch has some amazing sound novels coming out. The Archived sounds awesome. It's her other novel that has me pining though. Here is the Goodreads synopsis

About two best friends whose college experiments to create supernatural abilities wind up turning them against each other.

Amazing right? A 2013 release by Tor books. This is being called a more adult read, and the characters are college aged. I am dying to find out more about these "supernatural abilities" that they are trying to create.

Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker

Twin Peaks meets The Village? YES PLEASE! Harper Collins has this awesome sounding novel scheduled for a 2014 release. Check out the Goodreads synopsis

Natalie Parker's BEWARE THE WILD, pitched as Twin Peaks meets The Village, in which a claustrophobic Louisiana town is dominated by its sinister, encroaching swamp, which swallows up a boy who is instantly forgotten by everyone except his sister, and replaced by a mysterious girl from the past who is intent on taking over his family and his life.

I enjoyed Twin Peaks. It's weird, a lot quirky and it had a pretty great mystery surrounding it. The synopsis has me pining and Harper really does have awesome titles.

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Once again Harper strikes with an amazing sound title coming out in 2013. The City of Thousand Dolls sounds creepy,and awesome. Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Nisha Arvi is a casteless orphan in an empire where caste and tradition are as unchanging as the roof of gray sky above her head. The only exception is the City of a Thousand Dolls, an estate where abandoned girls are trained to be anything from assassins to courtesans to nobleman’s wives.

Nisha is not so lucky. When she finds out that the City Council want to sell her as a slave, and also that they are hiding a series of mysterious deaths among the girls, Nisha makes a desperate bargain. If she can find the killer, she’ll have a chance at a caste and a future.

But it won't be easy, because in the City of a Thousand Dolls missteps are as easy as wearing the wrong robe. And when Nisha suspects an old friend of the murders, she puts both of their futures in jeopardy.

I love the mystery surrounding the storyline and the creepy feel of the estate itself. I think this one is going to be fantastic!

TV

Vampire Diaries season finale

Elena chose a Salvatore, some people left Mystic Falls, and lots of awesome, insane and crazy twists happened. The Vampire Diaries knows how to do a season finale (and season premiere). I was on the edge right until the jaw-dropping ending that will have a serious impact on all our beloved characters next fall. If you are not watching this show I just planned your summer for you. You can thank me later.

OTHER

Teen Author Carnival

Teen Author Carnival is a huge event that happens in New York around the same time as Book Expo America. It gives the chance to meet some of your favourite teen authors. This year Michelle Hodkin will be there so I am so freaking excited. I am going to bring my hardcover of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer for her to sign. Lots of other fantastic authors will be there and I am excited to chat with so many of them. If you want to learn more check out the Teen Author Carnival website.

So what you are obsessed with this week?