Top 13 Books of 2013 and Books To Read in the New Year!

Hello, welcome, welcome! As the year draws to a close I’m going to reflect on my favourite novels I have read this year. This was a really tough one guys!I have read a lot of good stuff and a lot of not so good stuff, but more good. 🙂 I also have a giant list of books I need to read so if you see a book you really though should be on here, I probably haven’t read it yet! I’ll throw some at the end and these are book I WILL have read sometime before the end of 2014. New Years resolution is to read these books because most of them have been on my TBR for ages and it’s making me feel guilty! Ok more of a New Years goal than resolution. Whatever works!

Top 13 of 2013

1. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare: You all should know by now that I absolutely adore this series! This is the 3rd book in the Infernal Devices Trilogy and I am completely devoted to this series and the author Miss Cassandra Clare. I love the characters, I love the world and the story.  I cannot say enough good things about these books! They make me laugh and cry and theorize like a madwoman!

2. Poison Study by Maria V Snyder: The first time I read this book I put it down then almost immediately started re-reading it. The other two book in the series aren’t as good but they’re still ok. The book was phenomenal though. It’s high fantasy about a girl facing the death penalty for murder and she’s offered the choice to instead become the food tester instead for the Commander (ruler of the country).

3. Daughter of Smoke and Bone & Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor: Again I have nothing bad to say about these two novels! Its brilliant, the world is beautiful and woven so well. If you haven’t read this series go start! It’s witty, it’s fast paced and the characters are kickass! Again high fantasy, I’m not sure how to explain it but it’s amazing.

4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore: More leading ladies kicking some butt! This is a really great book where children who have two different coloured eyes are “gracelings” and they have special powers.

5. Angelfall by Susan Ee: Post-apocalyptic novel where angels have descended and they are destroying humanity and they have no more idea why than the human. Penryn (teenage girl) ends up with the angel Raffe, both are heading to the same place but for very different reasons and the common goal of survival keeps them together in a shaky alliance. A very dark book, the humor in it is very snarky, but it is a fantastic read and the 2nd book just was released.

6. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver: Is actually the second book in a trilogy. I read the first one when it came out in…2011? And I kind of forgot about it until this year so I picked this book up. I love it. It is my favourite in the series by far. It is a dystopian novel in a world where love in considered a disease and everyone gets “cured” so they can’t feel love. Its really interesting, Delirium is the first novel and it ok, but Pandemonium just hits the ground running! If you have read Delirium and are kind of on the fence about reading the next one, just do it! It is amazing.

7. Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr: I really love Melissa Marr’s writing. Wicked Lovely was so good so when I saw this book I had to read it! It is another fantasy but this time with daemons opposed to faeries.  I’m pretty sure its part of a series but the next book isn’t out as far as I know.

8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Not a YA novel, this is an adult fantasy. There isn’t much of a difference, just where you will find it in a book store if you go look. It is essentially about two young magician’s dueling on behalf of their teachers in an ancient game with a circus as their stage. It really interesting, writing is amazing, there is a lot to process though.

9. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: A historical fiction set in WW2 an Allied spy has been captured by the Nazi’s and they are making her write out a confession, which is what we read. This book starts really slow but it’s very compelling. I find diary novels much harder to get into but this one was really good. Very well written and interesting,  it’s obviously well researched.

10. P.J.O series by Rick Riordan: Ok so this is 5 books, but how can one pick only 1? Percy Jackson and the Olympians, yes I am so late to this party! I just read them for the first time this year and I adore them! Everyone know what these books are about right? I don;t need to go over it? I mean there are 2 movies out. (Terrible, terrible movies though. Seriously read the books! They are 500 times better)

11. Entwined by Heather Dixion: I read this book twice this year actually. I get most of my books out of the library so I picked this up once, loved it, went back a few months later saw the pretty cover and picked it up a second time, not realizing I had already read it. No complaints though it is a wonderful book! It is a spin off of the 12 Dancing Princesses, and it’s really well done.

12. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown: I’m so behind  for this train, I know! This is the first book in this series, not The Da Vinci Code as the non-readers of the world (peasants!) think. They made the movie second, but the book is first. I love Dan Brown’s writing! It pulls you under, the mystery is amazing there are so many twists and turns just when you think you have it worked out something changes. I hadn’t seen the movie when I read this book so that made it even better!

13. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald:  Read this after I saw the movie and I’m in love! The movie was a great interpretation of the book I think. I love them equally! I might be writing about this for my final English Exam so I’ll need to start re-reading!

 

Books I need to read because I have wanted to forever and I just haven’t because there are always other books (these are not in order!)

• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: I have heard nothing but great things about this series and the 2nd just came out.
• Legend by Marie Lu: I think there are 3 books out now and the book community online has just raved about them.
• Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout: I actually own this book.  It is one of the few on my shelf that I have never read.
• Eternity by Elizabeth Miles: Actually the 3rd book in a trilogy I started. I should finish it just to finish the series but as you can see from my Book Rants on Fury and Envy I have a lot of frustration with this series and am running out of motivation.
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: Again here has been so much hype about this book and I have been meaning to pick it up since it first came out.  Sometime this year I will get to it!
• Assorted classics I have on downloaded onto my iPad (most of them are free on the iBook store, just FYI) I cannot recall them all but I will get to them…at some point.
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin: I don’t even remember what this book is supposed to be about, but its been on my list forever so must have thought it was a good idea at one point!

So yeah! I have about 65-70 books (counting whole series as 1 book) sitting on my TBR list but I will get to these ones for sure sometime this year because they have been sitting there forever!

That’s it for this! Bye guys! Hope you had/are having a lovely holiday!

Loving you is suicide
I don’t know should I go or should I stay
I’m trying to keep myself alive
Knowing there’s a chance it’s all too late
But I heard you say you loved me
That’s the part I can’t forget
And I wish that you’d come save me
Cause I’m standing over the edge

“Suicide” by Cathy Dennis

Just a quote for you all from a song I like. 😀

Ah Stress!

Hey everyone! I’m sorry I’m such a terrible blogger! I have been busy with school and really that’s it. I worked 13.5 hours this weekend so that’s my excuse. I am halfway through Rose Under Fire (by Elizabeth Wein) and it’s taking me a long time because it’s sad and my life is really stressful at the moment, I actually broke down crying the other day just not a good time, and I don’t want to read sadness. That’s shallow of me because Rose Under Fire  is about a girl in a Nazi internment camp and my life is not nearly that bad but just I can’t bring myself to read a sad book. The Painted Girls (by Cathy Maria Buchanan) is next on my TBR shelf and I don’t know much about that one but I think its another sad one. I think I’m just gonna have to take a break and re-read read some fluffy, feel good novels. If you want to recommend me some that would be great! Reincarnation  by Suzanne Weyn will be re-read though. If you don’t know I love this book, it makes me so happy and I need a new copy because I have read it so much it is falling apart! It makes me heart smile though and my heart needs that!

Lets see, I have possibly  fractured my tibia (shinbone) I slipped on ice and fell into a step so I’m going back to the doctor! I know I’m a walking disaster. Well limping currently. I really hope its not fractured and my mom is just over reacting! I can’t dance though and I going crazy! Dance was canceled last week because of the snow and the week before I missed contemp because my partner was sick! Withdrawal! I am doing Alice in Wonderland in drama class though! As well as acting I am also directing it, unofficially! We’re in groups of 5 and we picked the Mad Tea Party scene and I kind of just took over because the 30s (Grade 12s) are the directors (It’s a 11/12 class) and the other grade 12 doesn’t like directing as much so yay! So excited! I think I’m going to make it really dark and creepy  😉

School pretty much sucks at the moment. Calculus I have another test for tomorrow and no matter how much I study for these I’m getting 65% consistently. Yet on worksheets I’m getting 85-90% on so logic! English would be good but I need a 90 in it and that’s hard. Really hard even though I love English. Social I don’t try and don’t care about because it is not needed for nursing, I just need to pass yet I have an 82 somehow.  Yet last year I actually tried really hard and got 76 so…. I don’t know. I need to get my Work Experience done but it’s painful. The reading is so boring. I have gotten accepted into MRU for my second choice program, yay I guess! It was Open Studies though and I think the admission requirement for that one is 55% I could use it to raise my high school marks for a year then transfer into Nursing the year after. I won’t find out about Nursing until February I think. Stress!

Ummm, yeah! Sorry this was a complaining post! I’ll try and have a better one soon. Bye lovelies!

Book Rant: Shades of Earth

RATING: 70%

GENRE: YA, Sci-fi

SERIES: Across the Universe Trilogy, #3

SERIES RATING: C

Hello beauties! Today we are discussing the third and final book in Beth Revis’ Science Fiction trilogy, Shades of Earth. This book, in my mind, was the best of the series but I still was not thrilled with it. If you haven’t started it, if Sci-fi is your thing then go for it! I think you will like it. It’s just never been my genre. Ok Spoilers part here! Bye guys!

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Ok so more stuff happens in this book than the other two, but seriously I had to make myself finish this series.  I really was reading for the sake of getting through it. When I was 3/4 done I was ready for the end. Enough suspense, I just wanted it over. And then the last 1/4 was very, very disappointing. I did not like it. At all. I think Elder coming back was a horrible move, I know it’s sci-fi and we have mutated humans, but really? Way too far fetched. I didn’t like the killing of Amy’s mom, it was really unnecessary. That’s one for my book-related pet peeves, when authors kill characters for no reason  other than to inflict pain. Sometimes they can do it really well and it adds to the story (Cassandra Clare, Laini Taylor, Lauren Oliver…) but normally it just feels really forced and not necessary. Amy’s dad dying made more sense because he was military, the leader, him dying was more natural in the story.

Chris, so much discontinuity! If he was on the planet originally, how to he end up with the group? Assuming he manages to subtly do that with only Amy’s dad knowing,  why does Amy’s dad assign him as her body guard immediately? Eyes like that aren’t normal, he sound at least have mistrusted him more. Certainty not trust him with his daughter off the bat. If I just landed on an alien planet and some humanoid with freaky eyes walked up to me and said he was the last remaining  survivor of the previously landed human settlers, my reaction would be “Well that’s awful convenient…for you” I would let him be with us in case he was right but he would have no clue about anything in our group. He’d be treated like a prisoner, not in that he would be kept locked up, but in that I don’t trust him at all. He would have constant supervision but subtly so he didn’t know the extent to how I didn’t trust him. Yeah he would notice and have those people killed because that’s how his character reacts, and then it “ok, the people in charge of you have all magically turned up dead? Again, convenient for you. Bye, bye!” or then lock him up and figure out what the fuck is going on and what his people want. Then we could have gotten right to the peace negotiations or at least has a round table to discuss what’s happening. Also because Chris was so high up in their encampment, he should have KNOWN no one in the settlement knew shit about the FRX and their actions/plans. And if I was Amy, Chris being able to re-program the shuttle would set of warning bells. She probably didn’t say anything because it’s what she wanted but still, trust should be going down. SO MUCH DISCONTINUITY! People’s actions make no sense!

I liked Elder more nearing the end of the book when he started really becoming a leader for his people. At the beginning he was the same as the other two books (pretty weak, unorganized, and just not a leader who knew what to do. Not his fault, he is young) but as we go alone he really steps up so I was really happy about that.

That’s pretty much it, bye guys! Kisses!